Author's Note: As you have probably noticed, I will be including some short scenes from the movies in the fanfic including deleted/extended scenes but nothing from major battles etc. This fic will be focused on the bits in between or events that were in the movie but are now AU. I've tried not to include too many scenes from the films for the sake of tediousness.

Birds of a Feather

Chapter Two

"The Truth Revealed"

Stumbling down the halls and pathways, Loki found himself in front of the Casket of Many Winters. He placed his hands on it gently. His mind chased away all painful thoughts of Thor's banishment and concentrated on the other matter at hand. He had to know. He had to understand why his skin turned blue and resistant to the Frost Giant attacks on Jotunheim. Why had they affected everyone else but him? Could it have been because of the magic? No, his magic would not have turned his hands blue, surely. There must be something else.

He needed to consult the Casket. He picked it up carefully. It was quite a heavy thing but he held it securely in his hands and waited. He didn't have a long wait. His fingers began to turn a deep blue, so clear and quickly that Loki almost dropped the Casket with the shock of seeing it happen again and having it confirmed in his eyes.

"Stop!" A voice cried out behind him. He recognised it as his father's.

Carefully he placed the Casket down and looked down, the blueness having taken over his arms and face in less than a minute. His eyes shone with a redness that hadn't been there before. "Am I cursed?" he asked his father.

"No," his father replied.

"What am I?" Loki asked, his voice filled with anger, shock and disbelief.

"You are my son." The simple answer angered Loki and he knew it was because this was his father's way of avoiding the question. Slowly Loki turned around and faced his father.

"What more than that?" Loki asked darkly. A realisation began to sink into his heart and he slowly advanced on his father. "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day was it?"

It was a long pause before his father finally answered quietly. "No." He looked down at Loki from the steps on which he stood. "In the aftermath of the battle I went into the temple and I found a baby; small for a giant's offspring. Abandoned, suffering… left to die… Laufrey's son."

Loki looked on in disbelief. "Laufrey's son…"

His father nodded. "Yes."

"Why?" Loki asked looking up at his father in confusion. "You were knee deep in Joten blood, why would you take me?"

"You were an innocent child," Odin insisted.

"No," Loki's breathing was ragged. "You took me for a purpose. What was it?" He knew he was getting closer to the truth. When Odin didn't answer, Loki felt his rage get the better of him. Rage at Thor, the banishment and now this ugly truth. "Tell me!" he screamed.

"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day," Odin admitted. "Bring about an alliance, bring about an era of peace through you. But those plans no longer matter."

Loki looked at his father incredulously. The lies that he had been told all his life, the family that he thought he'd been born into when in fact he had no birth-right at all. A devastated look passed his face. "So I'm no more than another stolen relic?" he asked bitterly. "Locked up here until you might have use for me?"

"Why do you twist my words?" Odin asked his voice full of deep pain.

"You could have told me what I was right from the beginning, why didn't you?" Loki demanded.

"You're my son. I wanted only to protect you from the truth," Odin said honestly.

Loki's eyes were full of tears of rage, betrayal and sadness. "What? Because I-I-I-I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night?"

"No…" Odin said weakly before becoming overcome with an exhaustion that Loki seemed barely aware of.

"Now it all makes sense," Loki hissed venomously. "Why you favoured Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard," Loki spat ignoring Odin's attempt to reach out to his son.

It was only when Odin's hand fell that Loki truly realised how ill his father actually looked. He knelt down next to his father anxiously and felt his hand. His father was sleeping and Loki suspected he knew what was wrong. His father had entered Odin-sleep. He looked up.

"Guards! Guards please help!"

XMARVELX

It was just after 9 a.m. when Catherine awoke and put on a robe over her nightdress. She stepped into the lounge area of her apartment and stopped dead when she saw that Loki was sat there on the couch looking pale and shaken. She hurried over to him and sat down next to him on the couch, arms around his shoulders, gently resting her head in the crook of his neck. "Loki, you're safe," she murmured breathing a sigh of relief.

She took another deep breath then looked up at him. She was shocked to see the pain in his eyes as he turned his head towards her. She gently raised a hand to his face, looking into his eyes.

"Loki… what is it?" she asked in alarm. "Has something happened?"

Loki blinked back tears as he stared into her eyes. "Thor has been banished… and I am not my father's son…"

Catherine looked confused for a moment, blinking quickly. "What?" she asked. "Tell me everything, from the beginning. Don't leave anything out… you can tell me…"

XMARVELX

The explanation took about twenty minutes but the last ten minutes following the explanation had been spent in complete silence. Catherine kept hold of Loki's hands as she tried to make sense of what he had been through; the pain, the confusion and so many questions that his father was in no fit state to answer. She couldn't begin to understand what Loki must be going through. She looked at Loki's forlorn face and her heart broke from him. She hurt to see him hurting. He looked like a desolate child and she ached to reach out for him again but she could see that smothering him would no good right now.

"Loki…" Catherine said. "Your father is right about one thing. He raised you, brought you up, loved you-" she began but was taken aback at the fierceness of his reply.

"But did he?! Did he really?" Loki snapped. "He was never going to treat me like an equal. He just saw me as something he could use!"

"I'm sure that's not true. He loves you," Catherine insisted.

"What do you know?!" Loki turned on her. "You weren't there! How can you know?"

Catherine bit her tongue and looked away. For the next few minutes the only sounds in the room were their ragged breathing. After a few moments she felt Loki's hand cover hers.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm sorry, I…. shouldn't take it out on you."

Catherine shook her head. "Loki, it's okay, you're angry and it's not like you can talk to your father at the moment."

"No," said Loki. "But that doesn't excuse me getting angry at you," he said gently rubbing her hand.

She smiled up at him trying to reassure him. "I know it's a lot to take in but all those years weren't a complete lie. It's obvious your father loves you and I don't think it was the prospect of peace that was the only thing that made him take you in. I know you're angry and you have every right but it doesn't mean everything you know has changed."

He smiled weakly at her. "Not everything…?"

"Not everything" she assured him. "You're still the same person you always were. It's just something new you discovered about yourself," she told him.

"It doesn't feel like it," said Loki honestly. "It feels like everything was a screen and now I'm seeing the real me. I just wish my father had told me sooner."

"Maybe he just wanted you to be happy. Because look at you now; you're not because you know the truth," Catherine spoke. Immediately afterwards she realised it was the wrong thing to say. Loki's anger flared up again and he broke from her, rising to his feet and looking down at her.

"You think he should have kept on lying?" he asked her in raw disbelief. "You think I should never have found out? So does that mean you think I am a monster? That it's so terrible, what I am, that I should never have found out the truth!?" His voice was full of rage and grief and there was nothing Catherine could do to stop it.

"Loki, I didn't mean it like that," she said standing up. "Just listen-"

"No!" Loki snapped. "I'm done listening. You've said enough," he said and stormed off, caught up in his anger and sadness.

Catherine stared after him visibly shaken.

XMARVELX

Loki was full of rage, betrayal, grief and about a million other emotions at once as he stormed through the castle away from Catherine's apartment. How dare she… How dare she suggest he was better off still in the dark? How would she like it if something was kept secret from her all her life? Surely she would want to know the truth? He knew that he was glad to know why his father, or rather, adoptive father had favoured Thor all these years? True it didn't make the bitterness go away but it was good to know that there was a reason that didn't necessarily involve Thor being better.

He stormed into his father's chambers where his mother, Frigga, was sat dutifully by his bedside. She looked up in alarm at Loki's temper and stood up quickly. He paused in the doorway seeing her alarmed expression. Despite the fact that his mother would have been in on the lie, she had always treated Thor and Loki equally and he had no quarrel with her. He could see the lines of tiredness and anxiety on her face and he couldn't bring himself to shout at her.

"Loki… what on earth is wrong?" she asked.

"Mother," he said walking further into the room and letting the doors close behind him. "I learnt the truth about my parentage last night from father. Did you expect me to be happy about it?" He knew he was being rude but he couldn't help the desire to lash out at people, hurt them as he had been hurt yesterday. It was irrational but it felt a little good.

"Loki," his mother spoke gently. "I know you are angry at your father-"

"How did you guess?" he snapped moodily before pausing. "I'm sorry, Mother." She gestured for him to sit on the other side of his father's bed and he shook his head. He didn't think he could stomach sitting next to the man who had lied to him for so long. However when he saw his mother's sad expression, he was sat down before he realised it.

"I asked him to be honest with you from the beginning," Frigga began. "There should be no secrets in a family."

"So why did he lie?" Loki asked after a contemplative pause.

"He kept the truth from you so you would never feel different," Frigga told him. "You are our son, Loki and we, your family. You must know that." She looked down at her husband. "You can speak to him. He can see and hear us even now."

"How long will it last?" Loki asked, glancing down at his father before returning his gaze to Frigga.

"I don't know," said his mother. "This time it's different."

This troubled Loki greatly. His father had been in Odin sleep before, several times but this time being different brought a hollow feeling to his chest. Was it possible Odin could die soon? Was it that serious? Would Loki's last angry words be how he remembered his adoptive son in the life beyond?

"We were unprepared," continued Frigga softly.

"I'll never get used to seeing him like this," Loki admitted. Out of him and Thor, Loki had always been the one to stay by Odin's bedside the most. Thor was far too lively to stay still for long, even as an adult. He always had to be doing something. "The most powerful being in the Nine Realms lying helpless until his body is restored," Loki continued softly.

"He's put it off for so long now that I fear…" Frigga's voice trailed off. She looked up at Loki. "You're a good son, you mustn't lose hope that your father will return to us… and your brother."

Loki looked up at his mother, reminded again of Thor's banishing and the prospect of never seeing him again. "What hope is there for Thor?" he asked steadily.

"There's always a purpose to everything your father does," his mother spoke softly. "Thor may yet find a way home." That was enough for one night, Loki thought to himself. He stood up, bowed his head slightly and headed for the door.

Speaking to his mother had calmed him. Frigga had always known what to say to him that would make him feel, not necessarily better but more at peace. He didn't feel so angry anymore.

He was taken aback when the doors suddenly opened and a group of guards bowed to him, their movements a clanking of metal. One of the bishops came into the room from the corridor holding a mighty staff. Loki's eyes widened when he recognised the staff. The bishop approached Loki before kneeling down and offering the staff. Loki looked at the bishop questioningly before turning to look at his mother who was now sitting up straighter.

"Thor is banished," she said simply. "The line of succession falls to you," she continued. "Until Odin awakens, Asgard is yours," she finished with a solemn look.

Loki turned back to the bishop, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief. Slowly, he reached out for the staff and gripped the cold bronze in both hands. It was heavy but not overly so. He stared down at it, his eyes darkened as he realised the power and responsibility that now lay in his hands.

"Make your father proud," said his mother, pride evident in her own voice. "My King…"

Loki turned to look at her, the shock and disbelief in his face being replaced by a firm resolution.

XMARVELX

The news that Loki was now King had spread like wildfire through the palace and the city by midday. Catherine had been having breakfast when her mother came round and told her the news. She had been pleasantly surprised but it was weighed down by the bad feeling that was between them since their argument. Catherine wasn't sure if she would even see Loki again in any scenario that wasn't some formal meeting or ceremony. As King he would surely have a lot of duties to attend to now.

Catherine was surprised when she felt a tear slide down her cheek. So much was happening so fast and with her friendship with Loki on the rocks, she felt, for the first time, rather lonely. She shook her head. It was a horrible feeling and not one on which she wished to dwell. She poured herself a coffee and grabbed her book, heading into the lounge to get some reading done. She wasn't one for gossiping like some of her neighbours. In general Catherine preferred a quiet life.

She'd been reading for quite a long time when she heard a knock on the door. She rose to her feet and answered it, rather glad that she'd taken the initiative to get changed today despite her lack of plans. It would be improper to answer the door in her night robes. A guard stood outside the door holding out a golden envelope to Catherine. She took it and the guard inclined his head towards her and left. She closed the door and examined the envelope. Carefully opening it, she unfolded the letter that was inside, inscribed with a beautiful handwritten note. She recognised the writing immediately as Loki's.

Catherine

I know I have a lot to explain to you and I will be requiring your family's presence at the Council meeting that I am calling tonight. After it is over, I would request that you stay behind and dine with me. I have a lot that I want to talk to you about but you do not have to stay if you'd rather not be in my presence longer than is necessary. I would not blame you if this was the case. However I do hope that you will consider coming as it would mean a lot to me.

Loki