Loki was lying on the cold, hard ground of a piece of rock that hurtled through space. He thought he had known pain. He was wrong. Every part of his body was screaming and howling, a soaring burning that intensified whenever he tried to move. As a Jotun, although a runt one, he was able to survive much greater physical pain than every Midgardian and many Æsir, but even his strength and endurance had limits. His skin was littered with cuts and bruises. There was hardly a bone in his body that had not been broken and mended by magic only to be broken again.

But the physical pain was nothing in comparison to the mental anguish he felt. Thanos had rummaged through his brain and dragged all the memories to light that Loki would have kept locked away forever.

The many times he had been pushed aside and forced to hide in the shadow of Thor's greatness.

The envy he had felt on his brother's coronation day.

The anguish and self-loathing when he had found out about his true parentage.

But most of all the mind-numbing and heart-breaking feeling of loss and helplessness when he had held Sigyn's lifeless body in his arms, almost a century ago and yet so clear in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

That seemed to be Thanos' favourite memory, for the Titan would return to it time and time again. Loki was close to breaking at this point. The continued onslaught on his body and mind was just inches away from crushing him. The brief pause that Thanos granted him did not help, it only intensified his fear of the things to come. He did not even know what the Titan wanted of him. After letting go of Odin's spear on the Bifrost, Loki had fallen for what seemed an eternity, flying past galaxies and worlds, lost in time and space. Finally he had felt a pull that had directed him towards a barren little asteroid circling around a dying sun. There Thanos and his minion, the Other, had waited for him. He had tried to use his silver tongue on them, but the Titan had only cast one look at him and the God of Mischief had been silenced. Then his torment had begun and Loki had lost all track of time. He could have been at the mercy of Thanos for a week or a year or a century, he did not know.

Suddenly, the stifling silence around him was disturbed by the soft rustle of clothing. Loki tried to brace himself for the things to come, but he had long ago given up the urge to fight back. He did not even open his eyes when he felt someone kneeling down beside him. The feeling of soft fingers brushing against his temple nearly made him cringe away. What new torment had Thanos come up with now?

"Loki."

The sound of a familiar voice opened his eyes with a jolt. He was greeted by haunting golden eyes and a gentle smile.

"Sigyn?"

His voice broke when he said her name. He felt a lone tear seeping from his eyes and trickling over his cheek.

"Shhh, my love, it is alright. I'm here."

Gently and carefully her fingers brushed away the tear. Then she cradled his head into her lap and started stroking his hair. The warmth of her skin and her soft caressing slowly melted away the pain in his body. Loki reached up and touched her snowy hair, just to make sure that she was real and not a figment of his imagination. He saw that she still wore the Yggdrasil pendant he had given to her over a century ago.

"Am I dead?"

When she shook her head, her loose hair brushed against his arms.

"No, my love, you are not dead."

"Then how are you here?"

For a moment an expression of something that was almost annoyance flickered over her face, but it was gone in a heartbeat and her voice was soft when she answered him.

"Is it not enough that I am? I do not know how it is possible, but I do know that I have not much time."

"Please, do not leave me."

At the thought of her abandoning him the panic in his chest, temporarily silenced by her presence, raised its ugly head again. He dug his fingers into the loose grey gown she wore, but she pried his hand open with a sad expression and laced her fingers through his.

"I am so sorry, my love, I cannot stay. But there is hope. Lord Thanos has a proposition for you."

"Thanos? What has he to do with this?"

Loki's voice had become defensive. Sigyn tried to calm him by stroking his face.

"He enabled me to come here. He wants you to help him, and in return he is willing to help you."

"He wants my help? Then why did he torture me like this?"

Loki made to sit up, but Sigyn just laid a hand upon his chest and gently pushed him down again.

"Lord Thanos wanted to test you. He wanted to see if you would break. But you did not and so now he is positive that nothing afterwards will ever break you. Now he knows that you are strong enough."

In a sick and twisted way that actually made sense.

"What is his proposition?"

"Lord Thanos once owned one of the most powerful weapons in the Universe, the Tesseract. But it was stolen from him and hidden away on Midgard. And now the mortals have found it - the same mortals that helped Thor during his banishment. But the Tesseract belongs to Lord Thanos. He wants you to return to Midgard and find it for him. In return he will give you the power you need to exact your revenge on Thor and Odin."

"How? How will I take revenge on Thor and Odin?"

"By destroying what they love. Thor is strangely smitten with that meagre world of Midgard. With the power Thanos will give to you, your conquest of it would be swift. The mortals are made to be ruled. They will kneel before you. You could be their king."

Images flashed through Loki's mind, of him sitting upon a golden throne almost like Odin's, with the whole world kneeling to him. He could almost see how it would destroy Thor. Maybe he would even pay a visit to that insignificant mortal woman his brother was infatuated with.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"So Thanos would give me power in return for this weapon of his? What should stop me from taking this power and keeping the weapon for myself?"

The same expression of anger as before flared across Sigyn's face, only stronger. But it was gone just as quickly as earlier and replaced by a look of concern.

"Please, Loki, do not even think about that. Lord Thanos has shown what he can do to you. Imagine his wrath if you would anger him."

A shudder ran through Loki's body at the mere thought of the pain that Thanos could inflict on him. Sigyn felt it and took his face into her hands. She smiled down at him.

"Lord Thanos has also sent me here with a promise. If you return the Tesseract to him, he will use its power and open the Doors of Hel."

The implication behind these words slowly sank into Loki's brain.

"You mean… he would…"

"Yes. If you return the Tesseract to Lord Thanos, he will return me to life. We could be together again, my love."

Loki's hands were shaking as he reached up and trailed his fingers over Sigyn's cheeks. He felt the familiar surging of magic under her skin. Her eyes welled up at his touch and a single tear escaped to trail over her cheek. That small crystal-like drop made up his mind. He pushed his protesting body up and turned to face Sigyn. Then he took her hands in his and pressed them to his chest.

"I promise you, I will get this weapon back to Thanos so that we can be together again. I will conquer Midgard and we will rule it together as King and Queen. I promise."

.

.

.

The Other watched the dark-haired man that lay upon the hard ground and seemed to talk to himself. Thanos' servant shot an inquisitive glance at his master whose eerie blue eyes were trained upon the fallen prince of Asgard. Mildly curious the Other tapped into the mind of the Asgardian who called himself the God of Mischief and caught a glimpse of the vision that Thanos was planting there. A young woman with golden eyes, white hair and pointed ears held the prince gently and stroked his face. She spoke of Thanos' plans and the promise that the Titan would return her to life in exchange for Loki's help.

The Other turned and observed the grim smile that played around his master's lips.

"He believes all that? Maybe he is not what we need, if he is so gullible."

The Titan's smile disintegrated into a scowl after this criticism. The Other backed away.

Thanos' reply came in a gravelly whisper laced with bottomless malice.

"He believes it because he wants to believe. Fear is a good motivator, but mixed with hope it is unbeatable. He will do everything I want."

Author's Note: In my headcanon, Sigyn and Loki were a couple about a hundred years or so ago. But she died in a fight with Loki unable to save her. Needless to say he was devastated. Which explains why he is willing to help Thanos in return for her life, with the whole 'I-can-hurt-Thor-and-Odin'-thing just as the figurative icing on the cake.

Besides, can somebody please tell me why I apparently like to hurt Loki in my stories? He just always ends up as the punching bag...

Constructive criticism is always welcome since English is not my native language ;)