"How do we do this?" Pietro asks.

Wanda looks at Loki with a frown. That is a very good question. How do they get him into the shower? Do they have to take all his clothes off out here and then carry him in? But they can't take his pants off when he's sitting down. How do they...?

"We did not think this through, did we?" Pietro asks.

Wanda cracks a smile at that. "We will figure it out." She rests a hand on Loki's head, and Loki looks up at her. She scrunches his hair, the closest she can come to ruffling the tangled, matted mess atop his head, and he smiles.

There's a knock on the bathroom door, and Thor doesn't wait for an answer before he opens it, a pile of (Steve's) clothes in his hands. They're not sure they'll fit, but Steve is probably the closest to Loki in size so it will have to do. Thor puts them down next to the sink before he turns his attention to his brother. Loki stares at him with wide eyes, and Wanda opts not to mention that the smile on Loki's face disappeared the moment he saw his brother.

"What would be the easiest way to do this?" Thor asks.

Wanda and Pietro glance at each other uncertainly. At least they're all equally as confused.

"Like this," Pietro says finally.

Pietro grabs the hem of Loki's shirt from behind and pulls it up. Loki clamps his arms to his sides, holding his shirt still as much as possible. Pietro glances at Wanda, who takes that as a sign that he'd like her help. She takes the hem of his shirt, too, and tries to help Pietro pull off up, but to no avail.

Wanda sighs and lets go of his shirt. She sits down on the lip of the bathtub and looks at Loki with a frown. Loki doesn't meet her gaze, still staring at Thor.

"Loki," she says quietly, "will you please let us take your shirt off? You will feel much better after you take a shower."

Loki doesn't respond, his gaze still glued to Thor's face.

Pietro looks over at the god and says bluntly, "I think you are the problem."

"I am not the problem," Thor says.

Wanda shakes her head. "I understand that you want to be here for your brother, but he has made it as clear as he can that he does not want you to. If you want to know that he is safe, wait outside the bathroom, but you cannot stay here. You are only making things worse."

Thor hesitates, his gaze returning to Loki one more time, before he nods. "You may be right," he admits. "I just... I don't want to leave him. Not again."

Wanda nods sympathetically. She understands, in a way. She doesn't want to lose him, either. She's terrified that Loki will go back to Asgard and she'll never see him again. She doesn't blame him for being afraid of the opposite. But for Loki's sake — for Loki's sanity — it's not a choice.

Pietro lolls his head back, exasperated. "You are so dramatic," he says. "Go. Loki will still be here in a few minutes."

Thor reluctantly does just that, but the soft thud against the wall as soon as he's out of sight says he's not going anywhere. As long as Loki's okay with that, though, so is she.

Wanda looks up at Pietro. "Try again." She'd offer to help, but she thinks it might do Loki more good to have her in front of him, at eye level and directly within sight.

Pietro grabs Loki's shirt again and tries to pull it off, but Loki still clamps his arms in, fighting back without moving a single muscle. Pietro looks at Wanda helplessly and shakes his head.

Wanda sighs and rests her hands on Loki's knees. "You've worn these clothes as long as we've known you," she says. "They are ripped and dirty. Don't you want to wear something clean?"

Loki looks at her blankly.

"We have new clothes for you," Wanda says. "They are clean and fresh and they only have holes where holes should be, and I think you'll like them much more, so can we please help you get cleaned up and changed?"

Loki hesitates, but then he stops gripping his arms so tight, and Pietro is able to pull his shirt off fairly easily.

Pietro sucks in a sharp breath. "Wanda..."

Wanda furrows her brows. She gives Loki's knees a gentle squeeze before standing up and joining Pietro. Her stomach lurches at the sight before her. His entire back is bruised, every inch of skin covered in varying shades of blue and black — and that's not even to mention the cuts and scrapes littered across it.

"Do you think that it's dirt?" Pietro asks hopefully.

Wanda gives him a look. No, it is not dirt. There's some dirt, but beneath the grime that covers his skin, he's undeniably very bruised. She'd thought his face and his arms were bad, but that's nothing compared to this. How did they never notice?

Wanda sits down in front of him again, and she takes Loki's hands in her own. "Does it hurt?" she asks quietly.

Loki lowers his gaze, which is enough of an answer for her. It does hurt. Of course it does. He may be a god, but he's not immune to pain.

"We will be careful picking him up," Pietro says. "Here, help me with his pants." He pushes the tops of Loki's knees down, and Wanda does the same, helping Loki straighten them a little. Loki keeps his feet planted firmly on the leg rests, though they can only support so much weight.

Pietro scoops Loki up from his armpits and holds him up a few inches off the chair, and Wanda pulls his pants and underwear down as quickly as she can, giving Pietro a chance to put him down and take a breather. Wanda slides them all the way off his legs, and finally, it's time to get Loki into the shower.

"This is going to be much less fun when he is wet," Pietro remarks.

"Do not remind me," Wanda mutters.

Pietro scoops Loki up again and Wanda grabs his legs, and together, they carry him to the shower chair fairly easily. Loki pulls his knees into himself, but the chair is too small to really prop his feet up, so he tries straightening his legs. He only gets so far before he gives up and pulls them into himself again, until finally, he straightens them just enough to rest his feet on the faucet. It looks incredibly uncomfortable, but he doesn't seem to mind.

"You know," Pietro says, "maybe we should have begun heating up the water before we put him in there."

Wanda frowns. He does have a point.

But then Thor's voice comes through the closed door, saying, "He does well with the cold. He won't mind."

Wanda raises her eyebrows. She looks at Pietro, who just shrugs. Well, hey, if Thor's sure...

Pietro turns the shower on, and he quickly steps back before he gets wet. Loki ducks his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Is it okay?" Wanda asks quickly.

Loki gives a small nod. She really hadn't expected an answer, but she's glad to have one.

Wanda grabs the washcloth Tony has so graciously allowed them to use (and probably ruin) and soaks it in the shower water. Pietro squirts a big glob of soap on it, and Wanda massages the soap into the washcloth, watching as it suds up under the stream of water.

Pietro pulls down the shower head and rinses Loki down. The dirt slips down his body in waves, and some of his real skin shines through. He looks much paler without all the grime coating his body. She wonders briefly how different he'll look when he's completely clean — how he'll look when he's completely healed. She can't imagine him without the bruises and the cuts.

Pietro puts the shower head back up in its stand. "Do all American showers have detachable heads?" he wonders aloud.

"Probably," Wanda says. "America is a strange place."

"Hmm." Pietro shrugs. "I would believe it."

Wanda gently presses the washcloth against Loki's back, and he flinches. It makes her heart ache to know that this is her doing; she's the one that's going to be hurting him until they've finished. But she's not sure this can wait until he's healed. He really does need a shower.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," Wanda says. She's not sure how he'd do it, but he'd do something. He'd reach out and grab her or he'd move away or something like that. He can make it known if he tries.

Wanda rubs the washcloth across his back as carefully as she can. Loki remains still the entire time, but she can see the tension he holds throughout his body. When she pulls the rag away, it's soaked in dirty water and accented with streaks of red. She grimaces at the sight of Loki's back now. Some of the old wounds have opened up, and blood slowly trickles down his back, carried by the shower water.

Wanda lets out a long breath. Okay, she'll go slower. She'll be more careful. But even the lightest touch in the wrong place draws blood, especially as she moves from his back to his chest and then his arms. The water falls from his body in red-tinted droplets, and she tries not to think about how much it must hurt.

Still, throughout it all, Loki is still; silent. His every muscle is tensed, and his face contorts in pain when she touches him the wrong way, but he doesn't flinch again. He doesn't whimper or whine. He's just frozen.

"How do I wash his other arm?" Wanda asks. It's on the other side of the shower. She can't reach it from here.

Pietro thinks about that for a moment, then turns the shower off. "Like this."

"I am not getting in the shower," Wanda deadpans.

Pietro rolls his eyes and takes the cloth from her. He climbs in front of Loki, taking over for the rest of it. While he does that, Wanda grabs a dry towel and gently blots Loki's face with it, taking special care around the eyes. She runs one side of it under the sink and works on cleaning his face up a bit. It makes a big difference.

Wanda tosses the towel behind her and takes his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze."You are doing so well," she tells him. "We will be done soon, I promise."

Loki nods, a small, barely perceptible movement. Wanda rubs his hand with her thumb, and she hopes it makes him feel better.

Pietro finishes washing Loki's arm and his front, and then comes his legs. Wanda lets go of Loki's hand just long enough to grab the shower head, then takes his hand in hers again. Pietro crawls under her and brings the washcloth to his legs, and Wanda keeps a constant spray on them, washing off as much dirt as she can without Pietro having to dig at it.

Pietro grabs a dry towel to cover the lip of the bathtub before he sits on it, all the way at the front. He brings the washcloth to the bottom of Loki's foot, and when he takes it away, it's covered in blood. His eyes go wide, and he instinctively drops it on the shower floor.

Wanda reaches over him to turn the shower off, then takes a look at Loki's feet. She lurches at the sight, a feeling of nausea overtaking her. The bottoms of his feet are caked in dirt and blood, open wounds covering nearly every inch of them. How have they never noticed?

"I do not know how to do this," Pietro admits.

Wanda shakes her head helplessly. She's not sure she wants to do this. She can't imagine how much it will hurt even just to touch them, never mind to truly clean them off. But it will make him feel better in the end. She's fairly positive of that.

So, after a few moments of hesitation, she turns the shower back on. She points the shower head at his feet, and Loki immediately pulls them back, so quickly that he loses his balance. Wanda sucks in a sharp breath, but in the heat of the moment, she can't think to move.

Before she even processes what's happening, Pietro is crouched down in the tub, pushing Loki's knees back and holding him up before he can hit the ground. Wanda angles the shower head at the wall behind him, but not before absolutely drenching her brother in water.

Thor bursts through the door, wasting no time in checking what the loud thud was. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Pietro deadpans, water dripping down his face. "No, it is not."

Thor raises his brows, but he decides not to ask what he's doing in there. "Is Loki okay?"

"He is doing no worse than he was," Wanda says. With a teasing smile, she adds, "Pietro, on the other hand..."

"This is why I do not like you," Pietro mutters. "Somebody help me sit him on the floor. He can soak his feet in the bath."

Wanda awkwardly reaches her arms out a few times in a few different ways, but she can't figure out a good way to do it.

"Here, allow me," Thor says, gently moving her out of the way. He picks Loki up from under his arms, and Wanda sneaks in to take the shower chair out from under him. Thor lowers him to the floor, and both Thor and Pietro step out of the tub.

Pietro snatches a towel off the counter and wraps himself up in it. He shoots Wanda a look, and she just smiles back at him. What? She wasn't the one who got wet. She's allowed to laugh.

Pietro starts running the bathwater, though Loki doesn't seem to notice, his gaze glued to Thor's face.

"You can go back outside now," Wanda tells him. It's not so much an option as it is an order.

Thor clenches his jaw, clearly frustrated by the recurring order, but after a pause, he decides to listen, walking back out of the room without another word.

Loki relaxes a little when the door closes. Wanda wishes Thor could see that. She wishes Thor could see how much more comfortable his brother is when he's not around. It might help him understand.

To Pietro, she says, "We can wash his hair while he sits here."

"Well, we can try," Pietro says.

When the bathtub is full, they do just that. Wanda mans the shower hose – why should she risk getting wet when Pietro's already soaked? – and Pietro lathers the shampoo in his hair. As he tries to work it into Loki's hair and scalp, his fingers get caught in the knotted mess. He pulls them out and tries again, but he runs into the same problem again and again.

Pietro sits back on his heels and sighs. He looks up at Wanda helplessly. "I think we have to cut it off."

Loki snaps his head to look at them and quickly brushes the water out of his face (with his wet hands, so it doesn't help much). He shakes his head emphatically, his wet hair flopping around with every movement.

"I know," Wanda says sympathetically, "but there is nothing else we can do. It will not get better until we cut it."

Loki ducks his chin and covers the top of his head with his hands. The soap and the water drip down his face, and he squeezes his eyes shut again.

Thor cracks the door open. "There is nothing that will convince Loki to have his hair cut."

"His hair looks like a rat's nest," Pietro says.

"I do not care, and neither does he," Thor says. "Do not cut his hair. He won't be happy."

"It will grow back," Pietro says.

"I don't care," Thor says again. "Leave his hair alone."

The twins share a look, and finally, Pietro says, "Fine. We leave it and see what happens."

"Good." Thor closes the door again.

Pietro scowls, glaring at the closed door.

Wanda puts her hand on Loki's leg to get good attention. "You can stop now," she says. "We will not cut your hair. We will just wash it."

Loki reluctantly takes his hands away, wrapping them around his legs instead.

Wanda and Pietro work together to finish washing his hair, and Loki doesn't try to interrupt them again. When that's done, they drain the bathwater, but Wanda still holds the shower head, spraying around the tub and removing any faint bloody stains off the tub walls. If they've cleaned that much blood off, his feet must be looking better now, not that she can check now that Loki has them resting on the floor of the bathtub.

She rinses off his legs again, clearing any remains of the red-tinged water, and then the hard part is over. She takes a step back and looks at him, taking in the sight before her. He looks a lot different now, but she hesitates to say he looks better. His hair looks impossibly worse now that it's wet, and much of it flops over his face. Most of the dirt that had covered him is gone, but it's been replaced with the blood of freshly opened wounds, which is hardly an improvement. And it doesn't help that without his clothes, she can see all the cuts and bruises that she could never see before.

Pietro seema to disagree, because he says, "There. This is much better!"

Wanda raises a brow, but she doesn't argue. She grabs a towel from the counter and begins drying Loki's hair. She's a bit rough with it, but how else is it going to dry? And if the snarled mess is never going to get better, there doesn't seem to be any point in not making it worse. It really can't get much worse.

The drying process might actually be worse than the washing. It looks like they're going to be ruining more than just the washcloth unless one of the Avengers knows how to get blood out of them. It's just so hard to dry him off without aggravating his wounds. This will be much easier once they've healed — if they heal. But she's never seen him without them, so she almost wonders if they will get better. Maybe this is just how he is now.

Getting Loki dressed isn't any easier, but eventually, he's back in his wheelchair, sitting on a slightly damp towel and bleeding through Steve's nice white shirt. He wastes no time in hugging his legs again, much to Wanda's dismay.

She crouches down in front of him and takes his ankle on her hands. "I want to see your foot, okay?"

Loki doesn't react.

"I am going to pick up your foot," she tries again. When she doesn't get a response this time, she just does it, gently lifting his foot off the towel it rests on. Already, a big, red splotch stains the towel, and his foot seems to be actively bleeding, far more than any other part of him is.

"That is not good," Pietro remarks.

"Oh, really, now?" Wanda says sarcastically.

Pietro just shrugs, unbothered.

Wanda puts Loki's foot back down on the towel. She gives him a small smile. "Thank you."

Loki just looks at her.

"Pietro is going to wheel you out now," Wanda tells him.

"No, Pietro needs some dry clothes," Pietro corrects her.

"Maybe Pietro should have thought about that before he jumped into the shower," Wanda says teasingly.

Pietro makes a face at her, and she makes one back.

"Okay, I will wheel Loki out and you will do something about..." She gestures to him vaguely. "That."

Pietro rolls his eyes and waves her off. Wanda smirks to herself and opens the door. Thor clamors to his feet, and again, Loki's gaze goes right to him. Wanda puts a hand on his shoulder, rubbing her thumb against him comfortingly.

Thor frowns at the sight. "He's bleeding."

"Only a little," Wanda says. "He's been worse." She's seen him when he was worse. It just didn't feel as concerning when they were with HYDRA. It was always so dark in that room.

"That does not make me feel better," Thor says.

"Then do not look at his feet," Pietro says from the bathroom, towel-drying his hair.

"What's wrong with his feet?" Thor asks cautiously.

"Well, he does not have shoes," Wanda says. "And his feet have been many places. They may take some time to heal."

Thor nods solemnly. "If he returns to Asgard, he should heal quickly. We have the best healers in the Nine Realms."

"If he stays on Earth, he will heal just fine," Wanda says, a bit coldly.

Thor puts his hands up in a surrender of sorts. "We will see what happens."

Pietro stays in the bathroom, attempting to dry himself and his clothes as well as he can, so Wanda and Loki only have Thor for company as they go back to the living room. They don't speak a word, and they spend much more time focused on Loki than each other. Loki does nothing but stare at Thor. Part of her wants to ask what happened between them, why Loki seems so terrified of him. Part of her doesn't want to know – and she's not sure she can count on Thor to give her an honest answer, either.

The first one to speak when they reach the living room is Tony, with a possibly less-than-sincere, "Look at that! He almost looks like a person!"

"He looks like a wet mop," Clint deadpans.

Steve gives them both his best 'disappointed dad' look. "Not the time, guys."

"So, just to make sure we're all on the same page," Bruce says, "we're over him trying to take over the world, right?"

"He did no such thing," Wanda says immediately.

"Uh, yeah, he did," Tony says. "You wanna see the footage? Because there's a lot of footage."

"But yes," Natasha adds. "I think we've over that now."

Steve looks at Wanda curiously. "You didn't get the news in Sokovia?" he asks. "No TV, no newspapers...?"

"We got the news that was shown to us," Wanda says. "Loki was never in it."

Tony claps his hands together. "Alright, movie night! Let's watch Loki blow up New York!"

"Loki did not blow up New York," Thor says, unamused. "It was your people who wanted to blow up New York."

"Yeah, Loki just caused a few billion dollars in infrastructure damage," Clint says.

"And killed a hundred or so people in the process," Natasha adds. "But that's water under the bridge, right, Loki?"

Loki is, as always, silent and emotionless. Wanda looks down at him with a frown. They're lying, right? They can't be telling her the truth. No matter how many times they repeat it and how many people agree, she doesn't believe it. Loki wouldn't hurt anybody. She knows that, and nobody is going to convince her otherwise.

Wanda rests a hand on his head, and he cranes his neck to look at her. She gives him a small smile, but all he does is look back at Thor with the same wariness — the same fear — in his eyes.

"We're gonna cut his hair, right?" Tony asks. "At some point?"

"No," Thor says immediately.

"But—"

"Loki doesn't want us to," Wanda says. And so does Thor, and she's not going to try to convince both Loki and Thor to change their minds.

"Oh, he said that, did he?" Clint asks sarcastically.

"He communicated it very clearly," Wanda says. "He does that, if you are willing to listen."

"Yeah, that's great," Tony says dismissively, "but we're going to cut his hair, right?"

"I just said—"

"Yeah, well, I don't think Loki's in the right state of mind to make his own decisions," Tony says, "and he really needs a haircut."

"You have no right to tell him he cannot make his own decisions," Wanda says. "He may not be the same as he was when you knew him, but he is still his own person, and you should treat him as one."

Tony raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh," he says skeptically.

Wanda narrows her eyes. The commentary is really not necessary. But they'll see. One day, they'll understand that Loki knows what he's doing. He has his own thoughts and feelings, whether they realize it or not.

Thor swings his hammer up from the strap on his wrist and grabs it in his hand. "I am going home to talk to my father. I will be back soon, whether he chooses to come with me or not."

Wanda gives him a curt nod. He can leave. She's more than happy to let him. She just really hopes their father decides not to come. She doesn't want to risk losing her best friend.