Author's note: I had this up on Ao3 originally, but I've decided to also put it up here. Hopefully you'll enjoy it! It's a slow build up, but should be sweet. Background relationships: Jane/Thor, Tony/Pepper, Clint/Pepper, Steve/OC, possibly.
Chapter 1
Today this ends
A blaze of ice blue energy ripped through the air and blasted a hole in the aircraft manned by Agent Romanov, Agent Barton and Steve Rogers, sending the flaming craft spiraling away. Loki quickly defended himself again as Thor lunged at him, their weapons clashing and Thor keeping him there.
"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?" Thor shouted.
"It is too late," Loki said, looking around, as if regretful. "It is too late to stop it."
"No, we can. Together," Thor said, hopefully. Thor saw what looked like an opening; he thought that maybe his brother was regretful of his actions and would join them to fight the Chitauri. He felt a pain in his abdomen as one of Loki's knives sliced through.
"Sentiment," Loki scoffed. "This is your weakness, Thor. You are so very easy to manipulate. That is why you will lose, and I will win." Loki stepped out of the way as Thor lunged at him with a growl. "You should have heard it. Your mortal woman…what was her name? Jane Foster? You know, your friends are not very good at hiding; so easy was it for me to find her. I told you, did I not? That I would visit her. Oh, yes, did I visit her. You have no idea the feeling, after I made sure her heart beat for the last time." An almighty roar of pain and horror erupted from the Thunder God as he lunged back at Loki, this time hitting him with Mjolnir, sending him crashing through the window. Thor picked up his brother by the neck, squeezing it tightly, anger and grief in his expression before it faltered and he dropped Loki. Loki escaped off the roof and onto a Chitauri cruiser.
Thor took hold of the Tesseract after Loki did and twisted it, taking them up in a familiar vortex and dropping them at the end of the Bifrost. He was met by the sight of Heimdall, diligently watching at his post. The gatekeeper did not turn, but he was by no means ignoring the Prince.
"Welcome back, your father awaits your return," Heimdall said. Thor nodded, having no words to say to the gatekeeper in his current situation, burdened with a tremendous amount of emotions. Love and concern for his brother, darkened and overshadowed by the feeling of disgust and horror at what he had done, along with betrayal. Thor felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back at Heimdall. "She lives." Thor's eyes widened as he knew who he meant without having to ask.
"Thank you, Heimdall," Thor said, his voice shaky. He pulled Loki along by the chains and walked silently along the rest of the Bifrost, then through the city where his fellow Asgardians praised his return, before looking on darkly at the fallen Prince in chains. Loki's eyes remained on the ground as he followed Thor through, unable to say anything back even if he wanted to. The doors to the palace opened and he was led through to the main hall where the thrones sat, the King and Queen already seated there, waiting. Sif and the Warriors Three stood off to the side, glaring at the form of Loki.
Loki was brought before Odin and Frigga, the former stern and the latter looking sad to see her youngest son like this. Loki had never been this bad before. Loki could see the disappointment and sadness in Frigga's eyes; the one who he once called mother, but now…he had no family. The anger was too deep in his veins; the betrayal, the favouritism, the overshadowing…everything. Loki turned his eyes to the ground once more, unable to face the emotion in Frigga's face. He was pushed to his knees by Thor and awaited his sentencing.
"You have returned…my son, you have disappointed us, your family, and Asgard," Odin stated. Loki glared a hole in the ground, but could not argue. "Your crimes are numerous: for sneaking Frost Giants into Asgard, the attempt on Thor's life and causing harm to the town he was banished to, for trying to destroy Jotunheim and its people, and lastly, for causing chaos and destruction to Midgard, where numerous lost their lives."
"For these acts, you will be punished," Odin said. "For your crimes, you will have placed upon you a seal, so that you cannot harm an innocent being, directly or indirectly, magically or physically. You will be reduced to a form similar to that of a mortal, so that you might learn how it is to be that which you wished to harm. Finally, you will be banished to Midgard, where you will be at the mercy of their Avengers. Thor will make sure that you will not be fatally wounded. There, you will aide the reconstruction and healing of their city."
Loki frowned at Odin; it was an awfully tame punishment. He had expected some form of torture, but then, maybe they knew it would not work; the look on Frigga's face told him that she had something to do with it as well. However, it would seem that he would not be allowed back to Asgard until he learnt something and there was no hope in all of Yggdrasil in fooling the old man by faking anything. He was shocked that his magic would stay, but then, he was grateful, even if it would be stifled somewhat. He watched as Odin pointed Gungnir at him and a light enveloped his wrists and neck. A muffled whimper came from him as the light seared runic marks into his wrists and throat. He felt himself become weak and started clutching at his throat.
Thor watched grimly as the punishment was put upon his brother. Even though what Loki had done was utterly despicable, he could never hate his brother. Despite Loki having told him he had killed Jane, Thor had been unable to kill him. Now he knew that Jane lived, it was pain off his chest. Thor only wished that they could rewind all of this; that they could go back to the friendly relationship they had before the coronation. That he had not made Loki feel inferior, even if it had not been intentional. No, if they could go back to that at all, it would take a long time. Thor only hoped that it was not impossible. He met Odin's eyes and he saw his father nod. Thor pulled Loki up off of the floor and Odin created a portal using the Tesseract, which Thor pulled Loki through.
Loki felt weaker and tighter being pulled through the portal in a weakened body. It felt almost as if time was going slower and that he would be driven mad by the transportation, or, rather, driven even madder than he already was. Finding out that you were the monster you were brought up to hate after two millennia of believing you were one thing and suddenly you're not…it was enough to bring all of the resentment to the surface and bring with it a new anger and hatred, twisting your insides until you have no other choice, but to just snap. Hanging off the edge of the Bifrost, holding onto Gungnir as his only link between his so-called family and the abyss…he had chosen the abyss. No matter what he did, he would never be Thor's equal. Death seemed like the only option. Though death did not come. Only madness.
They landed on the bridge that they had left from, the sun now starting to set and the city eerily quiet. Smoke billowed from various buildings and the sounds of sirens littered the air. Loki had been down to Midgard enough to know what each of the emergency vehicles were like, give or take variations of the many different cultures of the realm. It really was a sight to behold; there was a clenching in his stomach and he felt a little sick as there was the faint scent of burning flesh in the air. Thor grabbed him roughly and Loki found himself flying through the air quickly. Flying was infinitely more comfortable when it wasn't being flown through the air by Thor. They landed on the balcony of Stark tower they had been fighting upon not a number of hours ago.
