A Darker Shade of Green
-CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS-
Summary: Thanos is after ultimate power, and Loki holds the key to finding it. But when Loki's memory is lost to him, only his redemption can retrieve what his soul has hidden. Will be Loki/Jane Foster.
A/N: Hello everyone! Wow, I haven't written fanfiction in... oh God, 5, 6, 7 years? But of course, Avengers got to me and now Loki won't leave me alone until I mess with a few plot bunnies so that I feel better. I apologize for how dark and vague this chapter is. Following chapters will have a considerably lighter tone and will contain explanations! It will also be primarily romance later on, even though this chapter is very... not? Also my apologies for mutilating any Marvel canon.
Prologue
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Loki hissed in pain as the venom sizzled into his skin, leaving raised welts trailing after it. The cell floor was dank and cold, and the slim window cut into the stone above him afforded barely any light. The venom seeped in from the grate above him, slowly and unevenly so that he could not guess when the next drop would fall. At first he'd had many visitors. Some had come out of curiosity, others came seeking answers. A few he was sure came only to gloat, and he silently cursed their smiling faces. His horrific punishment, however, assured that not many smiled for long, and it was the burning pity in Sif's eyes that haunted Loki's dreams at night.
His face twisted into a snarl of pain and anger. Pity. How dare she pity him. She had no reason, no right. None of them did.
Through the pain, Loki heard the sharp clack of the cell door being unlocked, and he didn't have to look up to know who it was. Thor was the only one who ever visited him anymore, but his visits came unwaveringly and persistently. And every single time, he asked the same question.
Loki glanced up through his eyelashes, his eyes green embers burning, daring Thor to ask again. But he would never answer, for if he did, he knew his story would be twisted and used against him.
It always was.
Thor flinched even more than Loki when the next drop of venom made its burning trail down his brother's back. He bit his lower lip, that damnable pity showing clearly in his perfect blue eyes, which were tearing up as usual. How typical. And then, constant as clockwork, the question fell brokenly from his lips.
"Why?"
Loki screwed his eyes shut as the memories flooded in.
He was being pulled in every direction, extending infinitely across space while existing nowhere at all. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, couldn't think, and in the span of the moment it took for him to fall through the wormhole, he lived through a lifetime of pain. Something was there, in the in-between world. Something found him. Something whole, beautiful, intriguing. Something that his soul reached for, that his being snatched before it finally thudded into numbing darkness.
Fragmented recollections followed. Waking up in captivity, knowing that a portion of his memory was missing, had been intentionally locked away in his own mind. They tortured him. Endless pain as he laughed hysterically, knowing that what they sought was beyond their reach because it was beyond his. It was there, smooth and cold in his mind, but the pain scattered his wits and he was unable to retrieve it. Soon, the pain washed away the memory of how to recover it entirely.
They were angry with his refusal to cooperate. They found new and interesting ways to torture him, never letting the pain become so monotonous as to become forgettable. And in the end, he had given in. He had helped them, had wanted to help them. They promised the glory, honor, and respect he was due, while simultaneously promising more pain for failure. But whatever he had received in that place between worlds was lost to him, and so they made due with a new target. The tesseract.
It was easy to control the weak minded humans, to manipulate them into doing as he wanted. And he had been close… so close…
The promise of pain, of destruction lingered in his mind. And now, they would come for him. And this time, with the tesseract lost to them, they would find a new way to break him and take what they truly wanted. And there was no way to stop it.
"Why?" his brother pleaded.
Slowly, Loki smirked. And as always, the question went unanswered.
*l*l*l*l*l*l*l*
Thor wearily paced the throne room, avoiding his father's eye. His brother's silence troubled him. Loki had never been one to withhold words, true or otherwise. A false explanation he could have dealt with, even an explanation along the lines of "I was bored and I wanted to." But the silence was disturbing and foreboding, and Thor sensed a coming storm.
Running a hand through his hair, Thor finally turned to Odin, who had been watching him intently. "Father, I—"
He was interrupted as the palace shook, nearly sending him to his knees. Odin leapt to his feet, only to be knocked down again as another blast shook the room. Thor's grasp tightened around Mjolnir's handle as he moved to help his father. As they moved together towards the door, it burst open, revealing Heimdall. His eyes were solemn and his mouth was set into a grim line. "Forgive me, I did not see them until it was too late." He bowed his head, "The attack force is made up of an alien race that you have dealt with before," his orange eyes glanced to Thor, "called the Chitauri. But they are not in command, and their leader is… in Shadow. They have already acquired something from the weapons room, a golden gauntlet. But their true target is locked in the cells below the palace."
Thor's eyes widened as he made the connection.
"Loki."
*l*l*l*l*l*l*l*
Loki jerked back against the wall as the door at the end of the passageway splintered. They had come for him, as he knew they would. He struggled vainly against his bonds, but they wouldn't budge. The Chitauri leading the way smiled sickeningly, revealing rows of sharp teeth as he leisurely advanced on the prisoner.
With a deafening roar, Thor swept into the room. Mjolnir flashed once, twice, sending its victims flying in several directions. "Brother!" Thor unlocked the cell door and began removing the bonds that held Loki in place, intent on moving him to a more secure location. "Are they here to rescue you?" he demanded angrily as his brother slumped against him.
"No," Loki rasped, his voice hoarse from disuse, "they are here to punish me." Finally free from the flow of the venom, Loki succumbed to the darkness. Thor caught his unconscious brother, concern and fear marring his features. He turned to find Odin in the doorway.
"Heimdall says the Chitauri's current master is after something Loki has but cannot reach. He does not know what. But one thing is clear—they must not get it from him." Odin moved to his two sons and softly lay a hand on the younger's fevered brow. "He is not safe here. We were not prepared for this attack."
"What will you do?" Thor asked, frowning.
"Remove his memory to neutralize the threat that Loki himself poses. Then I must send him somewhere. Somewhere they won't think to look for him—somewhere safe." Odin gently smoothed back Loki's jet black hair, "Somewhere where he can regain a sense of his true self, away from the pain of past mistakes."
Thor cast about but was only able to think of the one person who had helped him when he had needed it most. He was hesitant, but they were short for time and he could think of nowhere better.
"Jane," he said softly, "Send him to Jane."
A/N: This first chapter is very short, but it was only the prologue and it had to end there. Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, and if you're interested in reading more. Remember, this *is* a Loki/Jane fanfic despite the Also, as a side note, the title is subject to change.