A/N: Set immediately after the Avengers movie, prequel to 'Parole on Midgard'. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you do like it, review, by all means. Constructive criticism is welcome. I would like to thank Reader-anonymous-writer for his/her thoughts on evil Loki vs. apologetic Loki which he/she gave me in a review to 'Parole on Midgard'. Hopefully this story is up to par.
Sigyn waited with Frigga and Sif and the other ladies of the court. Today Thor and Loki would be coming back. Heimdall had told them of what transpired on Midgard. Sigyn glanced around. She was anxious to see Loki.
"Here they come." Heimdall called from his post on the remnants of the Bifrost. A cheer went up from the gathered citizens of Asgard. A great cloud of smoke and a loud rumbling filled the air. As the smoke cleared, the forms of Thor and his brother became visible. Odin stood up and walked forward to them. Two guards took the Tesseract from Thor, and immediately carried it to the weapons vault. Odin pulled both of his sons into a hug. Sigyn's breath caught in her chest when Loki's gaze fell upon her. She smiled, but he made no reaction. His eyes were empty, and his mouth bound by a silver muzzle. Frigga sensed the younger woman's disappointment. She put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"We must hope for the best, dear girl." Sigyn nodded.
"Of course, milady." Loki continued to stare at Sigyn, even as two other guards came forward and carried him away. She glanced over at Sif, who was just now greeting Thor with a sisterly embrace. The Warriors three were clustered around their friend, waiting for their chance to greet their prince and leader. Frigga laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Why do you not celebrate?" Sigyn shook her head.
"Do not mistake my somber mood for apathy, my queen. I rejoice that your sons have returned, but I cannot celebrate until my mind is at rest about Loki." Frigga glanced around.
"Go to him. Once you have seen him for yourself, come join the rest of us at the feast. I would hear news of my youngest son. You have my permission." Sigyn smiled and ran down from the dais.
Down in the dungeons, Loki was safely ensconced in his cell. He sat on the stone bench, his hands still bound, but they had at least taken the muzzle off for now. He glanced up when he heard a disturbance coming from down the hall. A woman's voice rose above the guard's protests.
"Let me go to him!" Loki stood up and walked over to the iron door
"The All-father has not given me permission to allow visitors."
"I have permission from the Lady Frigga. Please, I just want to see him for myself. Let me go to him, I beg of you." Loki recognized that voice. The guard considered the wisp of a woman before him.
"As much as I fear the All-father, I fear Queen Frigga more. I give you ten minutes, no more. Swear that you will vouch for me before Odin if anything should go amiss."
"I swear upon my honor as one of the Asynjur that I will allow no harm to come to you. Nor will I commit treason by allowing Loki to go free." The guard nodded.
"Very well Lady Sigyn. You may pass." The woman ran down the hall and came to a stop in front of the cell.
Loki grasped the bars with such force that his knuckles turned white. He wasn't sure yet whether or not he was glad for her presence.
"Why have you come?" He finally said. Sigyn's face showed no emotion, but she couldn't hide the tremble in her voice when she spoke.
"I had to see you." Loki backed away from the bars slowly, a sadistic smile spreading across his features.
"Did you now? And why, might I ask, would you want to see me, of all people. The oath-breaker, traitor, murderer, usurper…Does none of that mar your opinion of me?" Sigyn watched her friend's face for a moment before answering.
"I make no excuse for what you've done, but I know you Loki. Those things you did are not a part of you." Loki shook his head.
"It always has been a part of me. I only just recently discovered it." Sigyn held up her hand.
"No! You were bidden by someone else to do them. I'm waiting for the Loki I knew to show his face." Loki sat down again, as far away from her as he could get.
"And if that Loki is gone forever, what then?" he asked. A single tear fell from the Sigyn's eye. In the silence, Loki could hear the drip noise it made as it hit the cold slate floor.
"Then I will find him. I will find a way to get him back. And I will never let him go again." Loki chuckled to himself.
"Your trusting nature makes you such easy prey, Sigyn. Will you ever see that your love for others is a weakness? A vulnerability?" Sigyn stared at her friend, not believing that he was actually saying this. "You're like the rest of them, two-faced, lying. Claiming to love me, but always wishing Odin had never seen fit to take me as his son."
"Loki, you lie to everyone else; don't lie to yourself. Love and trust are both strengths, but you fail to see them as such. You mistrusted everyone in your family, and look where it has gotten you! Your suspicions of everyone made you vulnerable to your new master, whoever he may be. Who knows what he said to you to make you think that we could ever hate you?! Whatever he told you, it is lies." Loki flew at the bars, positively furious. He clung to the bars, lips pulled back in a feral snarl, eyes flashing. The door rattled as he tried to reach through it.
"WRETCH!" he spat. Sigyn backed up just out of his reach; else he would've had her by the throat. His shackles prevented him from going any farther. "I'm not weak! What do you know of my suffering, what I've gone through?" He lunged again, nearly snapping the chain that ran between his hands. His voice dropped to a dangerously quiet level. "I will not be slandered by a mere girl, and I will not suffer through anymore of your drivel! Begone!" Sigyn clenched her jaw.
"I can't leave you like this." Loki laughed mirthlessly.
"Did I not just say begone? Go-leave. I wish to be left ALONE!" he roared the last word. Sigyn staggered back, as if the words were a physical blow. She swallowed her sob and stood up straight. She smiled slightly, but her eyes were sorrowful. Loki glared at her.
"I will do as you wish, but you have not changed my mind. If you ever have need of me, I shall come when you call. Farewell, Loki." There was no tremble in her voice this time. With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away down the hall.
He couldn't believe it. She'd actually left him. Alone. The realization of what he'd just done hit him all at once, and it suffocated him. He eased himself onto the floor. Sigyn was right. This wasn't him. It was Thanos using him as a mouthpiece. He curled up against the iron grate, trying to hold himself together. Surely Odin would be coming to speak with him soon, and it would not do to have tear marks on his face.