For we once so loved the world by HowlingDarkness95

Chapter 7

The Avengers minus Bruce were sitting in what was left of the living room where Captain America was giving his report to Fury, the stoic man becoming slightly disgruntled when Steve reported the damages and the casualty. When that was done, Steve rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, looking at his team mates. They all sat around in varying degrees of solemness. Despite the fact that they had only known Percy for several weeks, he had wormed their way into their hearts, becoming the little brother that they all looked out for. No one was unaffected, not even the assassins, though the only indication they gave were the frown on Clint's face and the emotionless mask on Natasha's. Tony sat in a corner, uncharacteristically quiet, and though the rest of the team had told him that it wasn't his fault, they knew that the feeling of guilt wasn't so easily appeased. Tony carried the blame that he could have closed the portal earlier, even though the Captain, Natasha and even Bruce had told him that it was a matter of coincidence, the timing of the events just coincided at the same time. There was no way he could have gotten from the lab they were testing in to the level where his upgraded suit was held, to the rooftop immediately. Unless he could teleport. Nevertheless, Tony couldn't assuage the feeling of guilt, and carried this burden like he did with Yinsen's* a lifetime ago. None of them had suffered any fatal injuries, seeing as how there wasn't as many chitauri as the battle. They had mostly concentrated on the tower, aiming for the avengers themselves, rather than spreading out to the city, so there was hardly any collateral damage as well.

The only person who had been affected was Percy, and the teen lay in the infirmary with no sign of waking up. The five heroes were silent, Tony remembered the agonizing scream that ripped from his throat when the Chitauri sorcerer gripped his skull. They didn't know what the alien had done to the kid, only that it had been excruciating and that none of them had been able to do anything to stop it.

In a way, Tony mused, this is worse than Yinsen. At least back then, he hadn't seen how Yinsen fell, only the aftermath of it. Here, Tony could pinpoint the exact moment that Percy's scream was cut off. And he didn't know which was worse.

Thor had claimed that it was magic, or seidr, as the proper term was, but confessed in the same breath that he had little to no knowledge of it, only that it was considered a womanly art in Asgard. There were rarely any males who would dare to practice seidr, for fear of being disgraced and called ergi*, the highest form of insult to a male. The glare from Natasha would have sent him into a laughing fit if the situation had been different.

"Loki had always been the one to practice seidr, he surpassed his tutors and our mother even though Father discouraged him continuously." Thor said hesitantly.

Well, Tony thought, there goes our hope of finding out what's wrong with the kid.

The lift pinged and five heads swiveled to it watching Bruce step out of the lift. Steve looked at him, taking in the doctor's haggard appearance, "Bruce, what is wrong with him?"

Bruce gave him a look, "That's the problem, there isn't anything wrong with him."

The avengers traded confused glances, Bruce took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose, "There isn't anything wrong with him physically. His vitals are normal, he hasn't suffered from any internal injury, he doesn't have a concussion, though there's a slight bruising at the back of his head, but not enough to render him unconscious or to cause any form of internal swelling. The only injury he has is the various small cuts and scrapes from fights, and a crushed wrist, which would not have sent him into unconsciousness. By all accounts he should be awake. Even his brainwaves are normal, and by normal, I mean when we are active kind of normal. Not the sleeping kind of normal. I don't know what is keeping him comatose."