Lonesome stranger
With a crowd around you
I see who you are
-Homeless Heart by Amanda Stott

Killing a god was nigh on impossible. That was the only reason he was still alive. The only reason he wasn't being cooped up in a cell was because Thor had stubborn refused that a god would be treated that way. Thor was an idiot.

"Don't you know what they call me?" Loki had asked. "A homicidal maniac. A deranged lunatic. A demon that takes the form of a human. Are you sure it is wise for you to keep me unguarded like this? Who knows what my arbitrary desires might dictate me to do next." Each of those names had hurt him, but Thor didn't need to know that.

"Brother, you are none of those. Even if you were, which you are not, you would always be my bro-" Thor was cut off by Loki's hiss.

"Don't call me by that name, Odinsson. We both know that I am not your.. brother, so do not prolong that foolish facade of caring for me any longer. It's disgusting." Loki was disgusting. It was only fitting that the one who had always sworn to be close to him would hate him. It would be the final ending Loki was looking for. Hate me, hate me.

"Brother," Thor emphasized the name as he gave Loki a sympathetic glance. "I have never pretended to love you. You will always be my brother if not by blood then in spirit. We were raised together in the same house and by the same people. By my definition you are my brother and I shall not be dissuaded from that."

Loki trembled from all the emotion that overwhelmed him. It was not acceptance or gladness as Thor hoped, but it was anger. "That is the point!" Loki burst out angrily. "We did not get raised in the same household though you like to believe it! You were raised by people that loved you! That was something I never felt nor would I ever feel! Don't think that anything that has happened will change that! I've been trying for thousands of years now, Thor. Don't tell me that I misunderstood them!"

The words wouldn't stop coming out. Two thousand years of pain came undone as Loki began to near hysteria. "Misunderstanding would mean that ignoring me whenever I did better than you in anything was a gift? That they loved me and ignoring my existence was their way of showing it? My only purpose was to be the one that made you look good! Thor did better than Loki. That was my only job! To let there be someone that you could do better than!" Loki yelled angrily at his brother.

He ran a distressed hand through his hair as he tried to get himself to calm down. He wasn't like this. Loki Laufeyson was supposed to be a calm and collected man. He was supposed to be the villain in the story and be the character whose only purpose was to give the super heroes someone to defeat. He was born like that and he'd die like that. If he could die at least.

The ending always ended with the villain dying. He wanted his story to end, but he couldn't force it close! Why couldn't he just die already? "Brother, Allfather's only desire was to shield you from the attention that the other courtiers would give you if you were placed in the spotlight. You know that he hide your true heritage for your own good." Thor reached out to hold his brother only to find his hands smacked away.

"This is one of your faults, Odinsson." Loki hung his head and stared into the carpet. "You want to walk through the world making light of everyone and everything." His gaze turned up to Thor and a downcast look lit his features. "There is good and there is bad. Good cannot fight against good. There is only enough good in the world to make one side good."

If there had been a pool of goodness, Loki was sure he had drawn the short straw. He was scrawny, he was only brains and no muscle, he was a trickster, he was cruel. Thor was strong, he had a heart of gold, he was honest to a fault, and he was kind. Thor was everything he was not. It was ever so painfully obvious that Thor was the hero in this story and that he was the villain.

"Please, just give up. I am the villain and I deserve nothing more than what a villain deserves. Let them toss me in the prisons to rot. This is what I was destined to do, just give in." Thor looked at his brother despairingly.

He really thought that it was his destiny to suffer through his entire life. Thor didn't want to believe that his family had done Loki ill, but a creeping part of him knew there was no other way to look at it. Loki was being torn apart from the inside and it was all their fault. "That isn't your destiny, brother. You aren't meant to suffer. Look at me, brother."

Thor grabbed Loki's chin and forced the younger man to look up at him. "You are the smartest person I know. Considering we've all lived for two thousand years it means more than a Midgardian would believe. You are the best sorcerer I have ever met. People have trained for thousands of years longer than you and they do not meet your skill. There is much opportunity on Midgard, I have seen it. You may not want to admit it, but this world suits you more than Asgard. It is not a shame to love Midgard, my brother. I will love you either way and nothing anyone will say will change that."

Thor pulled his younger brother forward and wrapped the man in a hug. Loki struggled to get away, but soon realized it would be fruitless. "This isn't my ending... Stop trying to tell me these lies..." Loki whimpered softly.

Words like Thor's were to be the end of him. Words like Thor's would give him hope. Hope was something he was never to have, so why did he long after it so much?

Hey all! I hope you liked this. :D I'm thinking this could be a lead in to a recovery fanfiction, but I wasn't sure what you all would think. It would also be a good place to end a one-shot so... Review and tell me what you think? (;