Working Title : Loki & Annie

Chapter Sixteen

Steve stepped from the elevator and saw Tony and Bruce, both men glanced at him and he saw Tony say something. Steve mentally sighed. He was too professional to let it show on his face but he was frustrated with this entire situation and it was all because of Tony. Despite everything Steve did that man had the ability to irritate him in seconds.

He had already done his workout this morning in anticipation of the stress he was going to be facing yet he had a feeling it wasn't going to help very much. Now he was in his sweats and just wanted to shower and grab breakfast before tackling the stack of reports that he knew Fury would have waiting for him. Reports that no one else seemed to even know about much less read.

Pushing the door open Steve nodded to Bruce. "Doctor Banner." He glanced at Tony. "Stark."

Banner nodded his head, "Steve."

Tony squinted, "Rogers. What brings you here?"

Steve moved his eyes to meet Tony's while remaining still. He had noticed Tony's hand resting on Loki's body. Now he turned his head to face Tony. "You said I should come and check on his status. So that's what I'm here to do." He turned to look at Banner. "Doctor?"

Bruce felt his pulse jump, thankfully just the once and he pushed away from the counter and came over to the side of the bed. "I just gave him his next round of meds. He should be done with most this evening, the rest over the next day or two." Bruce reached down and pulled the cape back to reveal Loki's head.

Green eyes blinked and met his.

Bruce took an involuntary step back while raising his hands. Steve came around to step protectively in front of Bruce who allowed himself to be forced back several more steps. Tony came around to their side of the bed in time to see Loki's reactions.

The boy was curled up, slightly on his back but more on his right side. Both hands were at his mouth, the knuckles on his left hand were pressed against his lips while the fingers on his right hand seemed to be trying to search for any holes  in his skin they could plug. His eyes were wide and just as filled with terror as they had been the last time they had seen him. He was eerily silent, not a sound escaped from his body.

Tony held his hands out, "hey kid." Those giant green eyes darted to him and for a second he internally cursed for calling Loki's attention to himself. What the hell was he going to say? "Hey, you're okay. We're not going to hurt you. We're friends of Thor's. Remember your brother, Thor?" There was no reaction other than Loki's eyes darted to Steve and Bruce before jumping back to Tony. "Easy kid. Relax."

Loki didn't look like he was relaxing. His body was starting to struggle, he was very nearly smothering himself. The sound of him trying to breathe through his nose was loud. Under the cloak they could see his shoulders moving. His legs were pushing at the mattress, he could have been trying to run or get himself off the bed. No matter what, it was clear he was going to do something they didn't want him to do in his building panic.

Steve was the one who knelt down on one knee. It lowered him closer to Loki's eye level but he had also moved forward so he was nearer to the boy. Softly he said, "Doctor Banner, maybe a small dose of that sedative? He's not going to calm with us just talking to him."

Bruce nodded and began making exaggeratedly slow movements as he prepared to give Loki another dose. He would give half of what he did the last time and see what it would do.

Steve gave Loki a faint smile, he was pretty sure the kid could tell a real smile from a fake one. "Loki, your brother Thor had to leave for a little while. He asked us to look after you. He'll be back as soon as he can. My name is Steve." He slowly raised a hand to point, "This is Tony and that is Bruce. We're going to make sure nothing happens to you. Okay?"