A Murder of Crows ://: ~Loki~

//Plan//

Thor and Tony stood together outside of Loki's room, Peter was already inside. 

Tony took a deep breath and looked to Thor, who in turn nodded nervously. 

He let the god open the door, while Tony contemplated how they would go about this. 

They were going to try to convince Loki to have a meeting with everyone about his past. 

Keyword: try. 

Stepping into the ever-chilly room, they were greeted by a rather common scene. 

Loki and Peter were sitting back to back, the teen wrapped in a blanket. Peter was doing homework while Loki was reading a book. The two often just sat quietly together, both seemed to benefit from these moments of calm. 

"Good morning, brother!" Thor announced their presence. 

Loki looked up from his book, shifting to see his guests more clearly. 

The god gave a small smile. 

Thor felt his heart swell just at the sight of his brother's grin. 

"Good morning, Thor, Tony," Loki said quietly. 

Both the elder brother and the engineer dreaded ruining this happy moment, but it had to be done sooner or later. 

It had been 2 days or so since the incident when Loki lost control. None of the other Avengers had seen the god of mischief since. 

In fact, Bucky, Steve, Nat, and Clint had not seen Loki since the camera. 

It would be difficult to convince Loki to meet with all of them at once, in a crowded environment, while being bombarded with questions.

They would still have to try. 

"Hey Pete, I need you to go talk to Steve. I have a little mission for you." Tony said to the boy quickly, giving him a wink. Peter understood almost immediately since they had planned this for a while now. He nodded and headed out.

It was Peter's job to convince everyone to meet with Loki. 

The god in question began to look a little nervous.

"Brother, we need to speak with you," Thor said, smiling weakly. Loki felt a small rush of fear. 

"What's going on brother?" He asked tentatively. 

"We...Well, we would like you to meet with everyone." Thor said it quickly as if that would lessen the impact of the words. 

"Brother..." Loki's voice had a hint of a warning in it. "Why would I need to do that?" He looked away. "Besides, they would certainly rather listen to you than me." 

"Loki, brother, please. We don't even truly know what happened to you!" Thor pleaded. Loki froze, face contorted in panic. 

Thor gently laid a hand on his sibling's back, removing it quickly when Loki winced. Tony tried his hand. 

"Loki, please. I really need to know what happened, we can help you get better if you just tell us." 

Loki still looked hesitant, but he caved. The god figured he owed it to those who saved his life. 

"Alright, but I need you to promise no harm will come to me." Thor looked slightly wounded at his brother's words. 

"Brother, do you still believe, after all we have done to protect you, that we would truly try to hurt you." Loki just looked away from his brother guiltily, who sighed. 

"Thor, I trust you with my life. I trust Tony and Peter as well. It is the others that I do not trust." Loki told his brother softly.

It seemed to make his brother happier. 

He was grateful. 

Loki had to consciously make an effort to keep the poisoned voice that whispered cruel things into his mind silent. It never truly went away, he doubted it ever would. In the silence that followed the agreement, the hissing whispers seemed to double in volume. 

The god bit his lip and crossed his arms, an attempt to keep himself from tearing at his flesh. 

Good for nothing.

You saw it.

You hurt him again.

Monster.

Monster.

They're just helping you to use you.

You'll see.

Before long, they'll hurt you just like everyone always does.

Like when that man used you when you were too young to know what he truly did.

Like when your father beat you and whipped you.

Like when Thanos did every single horror imaginable to you.

You'll see, my dear little monster. 

Thor broke the silence, dragging Loki form his thoughts. 

"Brother?" Thor's voice was weary, as though he was slightly afraid or worried. "Are you alright? You got that look again." 

Loki forced himself to look back up at his brother, smiling feebly.

"Of course, I'm alright." 

Thor grinned at his brother's response. 

Loki was always ecstatic to make his brother smile so effortlessly. 

Even a monster like him could make his brother smile.

"Brother, I need you to get dressed in more...covering clothes." Thor winced as one of his sibling's sleeves slid back to expose his bloodied wrists. 

"Right, wouldn't want to give anyone too big of a scare while I talk to them." Loki smiled at his brother again, though his lips twitched from the effort of keeping them angled up. 

Thor helped Loki pick out a more covering outfit that would still be comfortable, putting as little pressure as possible on his wounds. 

Now they just had to wait for the OK from Peter. 

~Meanwhile~

Peter was sitting in a room with Steve Rodgers, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff. 

"Look, Peter. I know that this is important to you, but are you sure it's such a good idea?" Steve began, having already been told the basis of the plan by Peter earlier. 

"It's a great idea!" Peter yelped defensively. It was Tony and Thor's idea after all. "We really need to find out more, and I can tell that at least two people have contemplated tearing Loki's head off themselves recently." Clint and Nat looked away guiltily. "We all want to have whatever happened cleared up, and I can't think of any better way to figure that out than by asking Loki in person." 

Steve sighed reluctantly. 

"Fine. Just because we want closure." Rogers hissed eventually. 

Peter beamed at the news. 

"Thank you Mr. Rogers!" The teen lept up to tell Tony the news while everyone else headed to the living room to wait for Thor, Tony, Peter, and Loki.