The moment Percy grabbed Loki's hand (and didn't that sound like some romantic comedy movie?), he felt a tug in his navel. Somehow, he had closed his eyes, and he felt as though he was traveling in limbo. He thought he heard the screeches of the chitauri, which sent faint tremors of fear into his heart, but he never let go of the hand.

It was a jolting transition that brought them back to the physical world. Percy's eyes snapped open, and he was rewarded with the sight of white-washed walls and sterile air. He blinked a few times, feeling like a fish out of water, excuse the analogy. He gasped, breathing in deeply, the medicinal smell of hospitals and clinic comforting him for once. He blinked again, noticing that Loki was sitting beside him, coughing up a storm, their hands still connected. He quickly pulled away, shocking the god into awareness.

Loki's eyes widened, "Perseus wait!"

Percy's eyes widened, "Wha-?"

He doubled over, crashing into the trickster god, sending them both to the floor. He gasped, gripping the god tightly as pain radiated throughout his body. He wanted to scream, but the pain paralyzed him. He heard people shouting in the background but he couldn't make his body react. He felt as though he was held underwater, the familiar feeling of drowning coming back to him again-everything was so muted-he couldn't draw breath-what was wrong with him?

When Loki felt Percy draw his hand away from him, he immediately snapped back into awareness, and cursed himself for forgetting to warn him. it was such an amateurish mistake, and he cursed again when he saw Percy's eyes grow vacant, his body slamming into his. Loki had forgotten that he was on the edge of the bed, and the added weight on him brought them both to the floor, Loki twisting his body such that Percy fell on him.

He cursed again, dragging himself into a half-sitting half-kneeling position as he tried to shake Percy out of the pain filled daze. He pulled Percy into his lap, gripping his head tightly, trying to get him to focus on his voice.

The avengers barging in didn't help any, if anything they further aggravated the boy. His body was reacting instinctively to the noise, but what he needed now was silence and focus. The mind was a dangerous thing, and Loki cursed silently for forgetting the boy's condition when he got to the chitauri's home planet. He snarled at the avengers, trying to get them out of the room, but they took it as a sign of provocation. Only when Loki glare at Thor, trying to get him to understand, did his brother finally get the message. The golden prince herded the avengers out of the infirmary, assuring them that his brother knew what he was doing.

Loki waved his hands and the door slammed shut. As a precaution, he reinforced the door with a spell, so none of them would enter unnecessarily and disrupt the process. He gripped Percy's head, mirroring his movement earlier and pushed his thoughts into Percy's mind. He could not communicate with him verbally so he chose the telepathic way instead. Using his magic, Loki used a similar numbing spell as the one he used on Percy in the chitauri's home world. The effect was almost instantaneous.

Percy blinked at the sudden absence of pain. He swallowed, the pain had disappeared so quickly that he was left wondering if t wasn't just his imagination. He looked up at Loki, realizing that he was in the other man's lap, but too drained of energy to care. "What...?" he asked, exhaustion lacing his voice.

Loki looked at him, "I apologize," he said stiffly, "I had forgotten that your injuries would have carried over-"

"Wait, you mean I'm full of holes now?"

"No you foolish Halfling." Loki said, scowling, "Your injuries, which you sustained on the chitauri's home planet were inflicted on your mind. But the pain is nonetheless real, and when I brought your consciousness back to your physical body, your mind was trying to marry the fact that your physical body was unharmed with the knowledge that you had undergone extensive torture."

Percy blinked, feeling a heavy weight settle on his eyelids. "What, okay... I just..."

Loki moved to stand up, "Sleep Perseus, I promise that you will wake properly this time." He said, carrying the already sleeping boy onto the bed.

The trickster god waved a hand, dispelling the spell he had placed on the door. Almost immediately, the avengers all barged in. Barton barreled in first, gripping the front of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. Loki gazed dispassionately back at him, while Barton snarled, "What the hell did you do to him?"

Loki smirked back, ignoring the doctor who was fussing about the sleeping demigod*, and tilted his head challengingly, "I did nothing to him. in fact, you should be thanking me for bringing him back."

Clint snarled and slammed him against the wall again, "You fucking asshole, he was screaming his head off, we all saw, and you were the only one in there with him so what the hell did you do?"

Before Loki could answer, Steve butted in, "Barton, stand down. Now." When Clint didn't move, Steve barked out, "Hawkeye, I said stand down!"

Clint bared his teeth at the god, shoving him once and stepping back. Steve gave a meaningful look to Natasha, who stepped beside Clint and dragged him out of the infirmary, whispering in his ear as they left the level. Loki stood by the wall, straightening his tunic, brushing off invisible specks of dirt. Steve turned to Bruce, asking, "How is he?"

Bruce replied, "He's fine, really just sleeping now, his brain waves are showing the normal signals now. But I don't know what happened before..."

Tony snorted, glaring at the god of lies, "Well, we do know what happened. Rudolph here did something to him. Obviously."

Loki smirked, "Name-calling Stark? How petty."

Tony glared at him, wanting to punch the god in the face, but Thor beat him to it, gripping his brother's arm tightly, "What have you done Loki?"

Loki's eyes flashed dangerously, "Oh so now it is I who has done something wrong is it? I have helped you bring back your youngest member from where his mind had wandered to, more than what you mortals have done and at your oh so polite request," he mocked, "And now you accuse me of having done something untoward to him. How honorable oh mighty Thor!" he snarled.

Steve strode forward to place a placating hand on Thor's arm, "Thor, don't. Loki," he said, turning to the god, "We all saw him screaming while you were holding him. the most logical conclusion was that you had done something to him."

Loki scoffed, "Of course he was in pain, you foolish mortals. He'd been held captive and tortured by your enemies, or did you perhaps think that he went on a vacation?" he sneered sarcastically.

The four avengers all exchanged shocked looks, Steve narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?" he demanded.

Loki sneered, "His mind was taken by the chitauri, obviously he would have been trapped with them. Did you think he feasted and celebrated with them?"

The avengers were all stunned at this revelation, and a part of Loki's mind leapt up in vicious delight. He blinked, trying to stave off the darkness that threatened to overcome him. Apparently, he wasn't as discreet as he thought he was since Thor frowned and looked at him, "Brother are you well?"

Slightly thrown off by the sudden question, Loki replied, "Yes I am. Though that is none of your concern." He yanked his arm away from his brother's grip, walking out of the infirmary, "Where do you mortals dine? I require sustenance."

Tony, Steve, Thor and Bruce all stared after him. "Did he just...?" Tony began. Bruce sighed and rubbed his hands together, "Yeah I think he did. Come on, we better make sure he doesn't destroy anything."

The four avengers all followed Loki out of the infirmary, allowing Percy to get the rest he deserved.

Percy felt as though he was underwater. Okay, not the best analogy since he could hear everything perfectly fine underwater, but he felt as if his ears were clogged up and his mouth stuffed with cotton. He tried to claw his way out of Morpheus' realm**. He blinked sleepily, wondering absently why the chitauri didn't wake him up in their usual way. He opened his eyes slowly, and was greeted by sterile lights above him. He blinked again, but the whitewashed ceiling didn't disappear. Percy moved his hand experimentally, and started in surprise when he found that it wasn't restrained.

What the Hades? He thought.

He flinched back when a hand landed on his shoulder, looking up to see Bruce standing above him, a kind look in his eyes. "Percy? Are you feeling better?"

Percy blinked, then scooted away from him, hissing, "What the hell are you playing at now?"

Bruce's eyes widened in confusion, "Percy what...?" he said, reaching a hand out, only to have it slapped back.

"Don't touch me!"

They had a miniature standoff, before comprehension dawned on Bruce. "Percy," he said gently, "You're in the avengers tower now, you're not with the chitauri anymore."

Percy eyed him suspiciously, but did not react in any way; Bruce took that as a sign to continue, "Loki brought you back. He said," Bruce paused, "he said that you were on the chitauri's home planet. Well, your mind at least. He brought you back. And that you had...suffered while you were there. Which is why you collapsed when you came back."

Percy ran his through his memories, he had vague impressions of bright green eyes staring into him, a body pressed against his and a low voice whispering in his ear. He frowned, blushing lightly, "Those," he coughed, "those were real?" he said hoarsely. Bruce nodded, getting up to pour a glass of water for Percy. "Yeah, he said that when he used his magic to transfer your mind back, some kind of discrepancy happened, I'm not too sure how to describe it to you though... I'm not an expert on magic." Bruce shrugged sheepishly.

Percy shook his head mutely, carefully sipping his water. He had suffered enough injuries to know that he had been deprived of water for a lengthy period of time and he shouldn't consume it too fast but he didn't care at this point of time. He gulped the entire glass down, relishing in the cool sensation of it trickling down his throat.

He cleared his throat again, deciding to take this situation step by step, "So," he started, "Where is he? Loki, I mean."

Bruce cocked his head in surprise, "Loki? Uh, last I checked, he was still in the living room..."

"What is he doing there?"

"Well, the rest of the avengers don't want to let him out of their sight. They're afraid that he'll be wreaking havoc somewhere else if they don't keep an eye on him. They're still discussing about where to put him." Bruce said.

Percy frowned, "Still? How long have they been discussing already? And how long have I been out?"

Bruce smiled, "About a day."

Percy felt his eyes widen, "A day? And they haven't come to any conclusion...?"

Bruce sighed, "Yes well, I was up there with them at first, but they kept going in circles. They don't know where to put him."

"Why? Shouldn't he stay with his brother?"

"Well, Thor did offer, but we all felt that it wasn't a good idea because Thor was biased towards him. Besides, Loki might take advantage of his sentiment to trick him or something. We also agreed that he shouldn't stay with me, because the other guy still hates him. and no one wants to deal with the Hulk daily..."

"Huh." Percy said, "Then the rest? I don't see Clint hosting him anytime soon."

Bruce grinned tiredly, "You're right about that, Tony vehemently denied as well. Saying that he didn't want to put up with a homicidal maniac who threw him out a window. That leaves Steve, but even he is unsure of Loki. The others don't want Loki to stay with Steve, something about not wanting him to corrupt the Captain, or whatever Tony said." Bruce smiled, " That, and giving him a level on his own is completely out of the question, even though JARVIS could still keep an eye on him. Figuratively speaking."

Bruce shrugged, "Who knows what kind of chaos he'd bring if he stayed alone. So yeah, back to square one. They should be debating on whether to put him with Steve or with Thor now."

Percy nodded, taking in all the information. He really needed to talk to Loki soon... He was struck by an idea, a completely insane idea, one that screamed 'Percy Jackson came up with it!' on it. He turned to Bruce, "You said that he doesn't have anywhere to bunk?"

"No." Bruce said slowly, "Why?"

Percy looked at him and grinned, a gleam in his eyes that sent warning bells ringing in Bruce's mind.

"Excuse me but he said what?" Tony exclaimed. He had gone down to his lab after giving his two cents on where Loki was supposed to crash, (really, no one except Thor or Steve cared whether or not he slept on the streets) but he came back up after JARVIS announced that Bruce was coming back up to the living room.

Bruce sighed, he'd been doing a lot of that lately, "I'm not repeating myself Tony."

Tony stared at him, then rounded on Steve, "Come on Capsicle, even you can see that this is a bad idea. In fact, this is the worst idea in the history of all bad ideas!"

Steve scrunched his eyes together, "Enough Tony, let me think. And don't call me that."

Tony threw his hands in the air exasperatedly, "Am I, the only one in this goddamned room, who thinks this is a freaking bad idea?"

He whirled around, watching all of the other avengers keep silent, "You've gotta be kidding me. Clint, what the fuck, back me up here, you can't possibly think this is a good idea right?"

Clint scowled, not wanting to be drawn into the argument again, "I'm not letting him near me." He said stiffly.

"That isn't even the fucking problem!" Tony shouted, "Come on Bruce! You know it's a bad idea. Letting that crazed god near him?"

Thor frowned at the insult at his brother, but Tony was on a roll.

"And Steve! Even you have to see it, why should the kid get to put up with Loki of all people? He's our problem!"

"Well," Steve said, glaring at Tony, "None of us wants to put up with him right? He can't be on the same level with Thor because you all said that he'd be biased. You announced to all and sundry that you didn't want to host him either."

Tony glared back, jutting out his chin defiantly, "Oh so now it's my fault eh? I just make one comment, and suddenly, this becomes my entire problem! I'm just looking out for the youngest member of this tower, well I'm sorry if I don't want to expose him to that fucking maniac anytime soon!"

Steve sighed angrily, "This is not about you Tony, why do you have to make everything always about you? Is this some sort of egotistical-"

"Egotistical what? Now you're calling my ego into question? We're fucking off topic here-"

"I take offense, my brother may have gone mad but even he would never willingly harm a child-"

"Oh yeah right, never willingly harm a child, there were hundreds of children in New York back then-"

"There is no guarantee that Loki will not try to find a loophole and cause harm. Percy is not part of the avengers-"

"ENOUGH!" Bruce roared, his irises turning green. Everyone froze and the room became silent. He breathed heavily, trying to get his anger back under control. He didn't want the other guy to make an appearance here. Not now.

"Bruce..." Steve said warily. Bruce opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) to see the avengers in various defensive positions. Steve had apparently pushed Tony behind him, Thor was gripping Mjolnir tightly and both assassins had their hands hovering over their guns. He breathed in and out, calming himself down, "I'm sorry about that."

"You okay there Bruce?" Tony asked, stepping out from behind Steve, ignoring Steve's slight frown. He didn't particularly care about the Hulk, Bruce was his friend, and he wouldn't be afraid of his friend. Besides, the other guy liked him enough anyway.

Bruce nodded silently. "Percy was the one who offered to let Loki stay on his level. It makes the most sense. I cannot put him up because the other guy hates him. The only other logical option is Steve, but you all are concerned that Loki may manipulate Steve if he is left alone with him. Percy has not had direct contact with Loki before, he won't be biased when it comes to him." Bruce took a deep breath before continuing, "And he can take care of himself."

Clint scowled, "What if he manipulates the kid? Who knows what goes on in that fucked up mind of his."

Bruce frowned, "I don't think he'll do that. I don't think Loki will harm him. No, don't look at me like that, if he wanted to hurt him, he would have just left Percy comatose. And yes, I know that it could be a ploy, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt. I don't know how to say it, but I get the feeling that Percy is the one person he won't harm." He looked at the avengers, having finished his little speech.

After a moment, Steve nodded, then sighed, "Unfortunately, I agree with Bruce. It seems to be the best option we have. I don't know if I can control myself around Loki either. No, Tony, don't look at me like that, that guy sets me off. That's settled then, Loki will move in with Percy. We'll lay down the ground rules with him."

He turned around, looking for the trickster god, only to frown, "Where's Loki?"