Loki's breath was knocked out of him both by the impact and by Thor's full weight crashing on him. He gasped involuntarily, and in response felt Thor shift immediately off of him, though his grip on Loki's arms never faltered.
He felt an incomprehensible mixture of anger, fear and relief, the last of which he quickly tried to suppress. There was nothing relieving about being pulled worlds away from his plan, and undoubtedly face what Asgardians would call justice.
„Thor! What happened?"
Loki cringed a bit at the sound of Allfather's voice and was glad for the opportunity to lay on the ground, facing down a little longer. His line of thought was however rudely broken by Thor pulling him up.
„Did you summon us back here?" asked Thor. Loki couldn't help and notice that Thor didn't obediently explain and replied with an answer instead.
„You. I summoned you. I simply felt that you were in mortal danger and pulled you back. Tell me what happened," repeated Odin impatiently.
„We were on a... flying fortress. The mortals have a cage there that is released when a breach is attempted. We were seconds from hitting the ground at a deadly speed."
Loki shot a quick look at Thor, though otherwise he thought it best to stay silent and still as long as possible. Something was very odd.
„Loki was captured then."
„Yes, father."
Loki was now intrigued. This was one of the moments spent with his supposed brother and father when he didn't mind being overlooked and it was also one of the moments when being overlooked seemed very unlikely. The tension between Odin and Thor was palpable.
„You were supposed to let me know and come back with him the instant you had him," spoke Odin with steel in his voice.
„Things are not done. The Tessarect is still in the hands of people who are controlled by Loki! Midgard is still in danger!"
Loki doubted that very much. The power he had over doctor Selvig, Hawkeye and several others was dependant on his ability to control the spear. He had been only shortly separated from it, and he had been still close enough, when they captured him, but now that he'd travelled to different realm, he was sure that the hold would break soon. His plan was thoroughly ruined. Not that he would volunteer that piece of information right now, seeing the interesting argument between Thor and Odin.
„Your allegiance lies with Asgard!" yelled Odin.
„The king of Asgard is the protector of the Nine Realms! Midgard cannot be just left in danger, and the Chitauri cannot get hold of the Tessarect. No place would be safe then," argued Thor heatedly, occasionally waving Mjölnir, to the point where Loki was slightly worried he would get hit. He started wondering if it was time to speak up.
Odin looked at Thor with scrutiny for a moment and then replied, in much more levelled voice: „I will have Heimdall carefully watch over the happenings on Midgard. In the mean time, we have other matters to deal with."
Loki's time-out was clearly over.
„Guards!" called Odin authoritatively. Two armed men stepped immediately into the room. „Chain him, gag him and take him to the prisons. At least three men will be on guard at all times. No one can see him but me, Lady Frigga, and Thor."
Loki considered breaking his uncharacteristic silence before he departed, but before he formulated anything, his arms were behind his back, firmly secured with chains, and to his displeasure, a nasty, heavy metal muzzle pressed his jaws together. He was lead out of the room and vaguely recognized the direction they were taking him to. Thor and Odin both stayed behind.
The cells under the palace weren't an actual prison, that was elsewhere, but were for various sorts of short-time detainment, whether it was for a drunk guard who left his duty or a courtier's wife that was suspected of poisoning her husband.
Loki was pushed into one of the finer cells, quite to his surprise. He hadn't dwelt on thoughts of what a potential captivity in Asgard would be like, but looking back, he never would have expected what just occurred. He'd have expected Odin to yell, maybe even strike him, or kill him on the spot, alternatively drag him to instantaneous set up court and call for justice to be had on him. Not that he would be ignored while Odin and Thor resolved their issues, and then whisked away to a nice cell without even being threatened.
Discomfort from the bound hands and silenced mouth begun as hours passed, as an explanation dawned on him. One that would certainly be in sync with almost everything he'd lived through on Asgard. He wasn't important enough. His machinations with the Frost Giants, his appearance on Earth with a plan to rule it. All would be seen as acting out. He would be punished like a child and then forced to live on Asgard, with everybody finally free to treat him openly with disrespect and disgust.
After several more hours, he heard Thor's step again. It was becoming a theme. Loki a prisoner, Thor his visitor. He got up from the undignified position on the seat he was forced to take due to his restraints. Thor entered, looking grave.
„Will you now speak with me in the boundaries of reason?"
Loki could only raise his eyebrow. His muzzle was still firm in place.
„I realize you can't speak at this instant. I asked you a simple question that can be easily answered without words," elaborated Thor.
Loki nodded, seeing no reason to be burdened with the nasty implement any longer.
„Very well," said Thor with relief and produced a pair of keys. He stepped to Loki, turned him around and gently unlocked the chains. As soon as his arms shifted into more natural position, Loki let out a pained sound that surprised even him. His arms have gotten so numb that he wasn't expecting such pain when they were released.
Thor wasn't unresponsive to this and after a moment that Loki considered hesitation, he slid his palms up and down Loki's arms to comfort them. Then he undid to muzzle too and waited until Loki overcame the pain in his limbs in favour of wiping his mouth clean of the smeared spit that the muzzle caused.
Loki was torn between being humiliated, angry, and grateful that it was Thor releasing him, and not someone who would rejoice in his current state. Whatever wrong-doings Loki had credited Thor with during his exile, and during their brief encounters on Earth, there was definitely no sense of glee, and no sense of cruel satisfaction coming from Thor.
„You will be tried. By the elders. You're charged with attempted treason."
„Attempted? That's rather surprising," reacted Loki and turned around to face Thor.
„You have mother to thank for that. She was very adamant that it was always your plan to kill Laufey and any other Frost Giant that you brought here and not let them do any harm at all."
Loki was quickly recovering from his meek mood.
„Of course. It's much better to have me look stupid than dangerous."
Thor didn't feel the need to react to that. He sat down and after a pause spoke:
„You are not yet charged with anything you did on Earth, and if you want it to stay that way, you should tell me what were the plans for the Tessarect and where it is."
„What could you possibly do from here? Didn't it ever occur to you that from some point, my involvement wasn't necessary?" Loki taunted, stalling some short moments before admitting his utter defeat.
„Heimdall hasn't said anything in all the hours we were arguing about you, so I assume it means nothing irreversible has happened."
„Why don't you ask him for details then? I'm sure he'll be quite chatty," quipped Loki.
„Because I am asking you," Thor stood up, getting angry. „I want to hear from you what damage did you inflict on the planet you're so jealous of!"
„Jealous?" retorted Loki, smiling coldly. „I wanted to rule the Earth, not slap it in the face."
Thor opened his mouth, his finger raising in a warning gesture, preparing for a sharp response, but seemed to stop himself.
„Just tell me."
„Your precious Earth will be fine," admitted Loki finally, with a small sigh. „The control I had over the people who were crucial to building the device is long broken now. I estimate no longer than two hours after we got here."
„And that wouldn't have been long enough for them to finish?"
„No," shook his head Loki. He sat down tiredly, the surge of his old-self that enjoyed taunting Thor fading.
For a long time, neither of them spoke, Thor occasionally pacing back and forth, Loki watching his shuffling feet apathetically.
„There was, uhm... footage. And photographs," started Thor suddenly. Loki looked up, waiting for him to continue. „They're images, moving images of what has passed."
„Yes?" nudged him Loki after Thor fell silent again.
„The S.H.I.E.L.D. had those of you from the moment you came through the portal. And some time after. You looked... bad," concluded Thor uncertainly.
Loki swallowed, though his mouth felt dry.
„Thank you very much for that compliment, your hair is way too long too, by the way," he answered with mirth, though it cost him some effort. Thor was far from fooled however.
„I am not joking, Loki," he crouched and looked his brother straight in the eye. „There is a reason why we don't communicate with many worlds beyond the Nine Realms. Those worlds are filled with darkness and..." he paused in surprise.
Loki's eyes have shifted from his brother's eyes and instead he was frantically blinking and switching his gaze from spot to spot rapidly. After long seconds, he seemed to be in control again and spoke softly:
„Do tell."
This confirmed Thor's fears. From the moment he saw the images of his brother, deadly pale with sunken, crazed eyes, he couldn't stop thinking about what places he could've possibly landed after he'd fallen.
„Loki," he started carefully. „If they made you do all this, you must say so."
Loki looked at Thor through almost closed eyes, contemplating what to say.
„Everything is so simple to you, isn't it? There is good and evil. Good deeds and wrong deeds. Either I came up with diabolical plan or I was tortured into being a puppet. There couldn't possibly be anything else."
„I don't think that," insisted Thor pleadingly. „Please just tell me what happened. I want to understand. After I thought you were dead, I learned more or less about everything that passed here when I was banished and you must trust me when I say that I no longer see things... you must trust me when I say I know now that you have been wronged and if I can understand you, I can also forgive you and maybe ask that you forgive me too."
Loki laughed, with a hint of hysteria creeping up.
„You understand nothing. You think that now is the time to reconsider? That now is the time to patch things up? Talk it out? Even if the elders don't sentence me to death, which I still think very possible, I failed them, Thor. The Chitauri. The Other. And they will come for me."
Loki's last statement was said simply, with no explanation, but Thor felt like he had been submerged in cold water, because such fear and resignation was like nothing he ever heard from his brother. At that single moment, all was forgiven. He understood his brother and he would never let him be hurt again.
„They will not. And if they will, they won't touch you and they will be very sorry they did," claimed Thor, sounding absolutely positive.
Loki closed his eyes.
A/N Thank you all for the positive reviews on the first chapter. As promised, the second one is here quickly and the third one should be up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.