The golden Æsir guards dragged the dark being by the arms towards the throne of Odin, which was capped by the regality of a liar and flanked by an equally deceitful wraith-mother who acted as though she loved him so dearly... Thor led the procession as if it were almost a funeral, his face downcast in some mix of shame and regret. A sly smile and threads of menace wisped across Loki's face as he was led down the familiar Asgardian halls. They have ceased to bring him any comfort; the last strings of faux-familial affection had fallen from this place and he regarded it now as if it intentionally bore into his gut. It raked him of his usual defenses, and his expression faltered occasionally to reveal a secret dread.
The regal Odin, who had so cleverly masked his intention of using the monster-child with "love" and father-figure-esque behavior, peered down at Loki from atop his self-righteously royal position. A chilling silence struck the fallen prince deep in the chest as Thor and he - aided by guards, albeit - finished approaching the stairs that led to Odin and Frigga's feet. Thor moved away from the fore of the procession, knowing his opinions on what should become of Loki would be regarded as clouded by hope and love for the one he calls brother. The wraith-mother queen's eyes were glazed over and her brows furrowed upwards, her left wondering where the beautiful child had disappeared to, and how he could have been replaced by this creature full of violence and spite. Her lips were clamped shut in the same manner that Thor was bereft to move from the defense of his faux-sibling. Odin sneered, fitfully and opened his mouth to speak, condemn.
"Until enough objectivity towards your crimes can be mustered by the Court and I, Loki Laufeyson, you will be imprisoned. When such a time comes, you shall be tried and punished for your violations of morality." Plucking his damning eyes from the prisoner, Odin faced the guards and commanded, "Take him."
Before Loki had a chance to form a retort, he was yanked around by the two guards that held his arms and more than overtly elbowed in the ribs by the golden guard on his right. Several other guards drew in to the front and behind the three, leading and following towards the dungeons.
Thor sat dejectedly in his chambers. He would not be permitted to participate in Council today, as Odin had forbidden it. The prince - heir to the throne - allegedly was unable to provide sound counsel while deciding upon punishment for the 'wretch'. Apparently, Frigga had enough mercy and wisdom in objectivity to account for his absence today. His gut churned at the thought of Loki at the whim of the unforgiving Council... after his brother's true heritage had been revealed, the court had justification for their irrational hatred. His adept mastery of the use of daggers and magic seemed a far too 'feminine' pursuit; his adoration of books in favor of sparring and weaponry was condemned since they were children.
Thor grimace at the past and how smoothly the court's obvious and harsh disdain for his brother had merely shifted in their reasons for it. Couldn't they see how they have hurt him so?
An abrupt rapping on his chamber door interrupted his painful retrospection. A muffled, but clearly distressed "Your highness, there are urgent matters to discuss" caused Thor to jump from his sitting position and open the door. A messenger stood, nerves wrecked, outside his chambers, peering up at the mightily built prince's visage.
"Prince, the prisoner Loki Laufeyson has escaped!" wrenched itself from the prisoner's lips.
At this news, Thor dressed himself in his armor and cape, then hefted Mjölgnir, with long and purposeful strides, to the throne of Odin for further clarification.
Upon arrival, and seeing Odin's facial expression as worried as it was, Thor boomed across the throne room, "Father, what is the meaning of this?"
Odin turned his face upwards to the impending arrival of his son. "Loki has escaped. He could not have been left further than a day before his trial was meant to be held. You must locate him, using whatever means you deem necessary, and bring him back here for... a slightly harsher sentence."
Thor did not argue as he wished, simply because he knew that finding his brother was crucial to the protection of Asgard and the other realms. He set off in search of finding his favorite universe-gazer.
In the wee hours of the night, when sleep evaded him - a usual occurrence for the small amount of genius, occasionally alloy-clad inventors of the world - Tony Stark would usually be in his basement-turned-workshop, tinkering with something generally useful as to occupy his mind and lull it into a more relaxed state. After the incident there, in New York, Stark Tower reminded him a little too much of alien warfare and gods from other planets, so sleep evaded him even more often.
Usually, the tightness in his chest, that either kept him from sleep's sweet embrace or yanked him from some dream of inner turmoil and more warfare, would drag him downstairs to his lab. Usually the tightness of his chest was the thing that actually awoke him. But tonight, it was not the anxiety that stirred him from his sleep and dragged him around his skyscraper, but a disturbingly boisterous sound that came from the balcony outside his room.
Tony awoke with a start at some vaporized-sounding sound and flung himself over the side of the bed as to avoid the most contact with the thing that made the horribly familiar-sounding sound. He cautiously rose from the floor behind his bed and peered above the mattress. His balcony door handles began to jiggle, and he whispered,
"Jarvis! Why didn't you alert me to the detected threat?"
"Because, sir," the system said a little too loudly for Tony's comfort, "There is no threat. The Æsir prince has been registered by you as a non-threatening entity. Balcony doors have been unlocked to permit entry for authorized persons."
Tony lay his torso back down on the bedside floor in a fit of resignation. His balcony doors were suddenly thrust open as Thor realized that they opened to the inside of the room, and the god gave a boisterous, "Hello, Man of Iron! I have difficult news." Tony groaned.
The unwelcome, but too frighteningly powerful guest to deny continued, "Loki has escaped Asgard's prisons! We must awaken our friends and prepare to find him!"
"Now? This couldn't have waited until morning?" Mostly rhetorical, but the giant, golden man confirmed with a terse head shake. "Jarvis, wake up the rest of the team members. Alert SHIELD." He muttered beneath his breath, "fucking robbing me of my sleep like Bonnie or some shit..."
The Avengers crouched, sat, and stood around the coffee table in the living room nearest to their bedrooms. It was convenient, because of middle-of-the-night situations like this - in which Norse gods plopped in with urgent requests on a whim - that the team had liked the extra security provided by all living in Stark Tower. The rest of the team turned to face Steve as he piped up, all too tired to come up with anything intelligent to say to the news of Loki's escape.
"Thor, where are we headed?"
"Back to Asgard, where we will seek the counsel of Heimdall in order to find Loki."
"Can we all get dressed first?" inquired Natasha, still clad in her pajamas.
"By all means, armor up and prepare for battle!"
The clock read 5:43 a.m. by the time everyone had geared up and gathered with Thor back on Tony's balcony. "Gather close to me," commanded Thor calmly. As everyone formed a loose circle around Thor, Tony grumbled, "Beam me up, Scottie," which earned him a smirk from Clint and a confused look from Steve, who stood in front of him.
Thor bristled. "Heimdall," he stated firmly, raising an arm.