The Truth Hurts More Than Lies
by TimeAndLife21
He could remember the other prisoners now in the darkness that is his mind. Various magic wielders who were screaming. Yelling. Crying. Bleeding. His cellmate was no better. An older man who just laid on the ground with unseeing eyes. That man has been broken long before he arrived.
And when the Chitauri came, the man went mad. Fighting against the unnatural beings in a tongue that Loki couldn't recognize. He didn't come back.
Loneliness wasn't a comforting thought for him. He had been alone long before he fell. He couldn't remember the days passing by before he heard a scream. A female scream. Through the All-speak that Loki has, he could hear she shout and yell.
"Unhand me! I will not be bullied like this!"
He could hear the screeching of Chitauri. The newcomer must've killed one of their own. Maybe two if she was lucky. He heard another scream before his cell door opened. He hardly looked up as the same female was thrown into his cell. As the cell door closed the woman spun around and rammed into the hard bars.
"You will regret taking me away! When I get out of here, I'll show you the true meaning of Nightmares!"
She wore a battle outfit. Not unlike his own. It was black and blue metal that covered every inch of her body save for her head. Her hair in the dim moonlight was the color of ink. Similar to his.
"It's no use." He said gathering the strength to uncurl himself from his position not he corner.
She had turned around to look at him. He could see the pale skin, much paler than his by comparison, and her eyes were a deep blue. Like the dark waters of Alfhiem.
"No use? They can not hold me here forever." She said before slamming a fist against the cold bars.
"Don't you think I would have escaped if I know how to get out?" Loki chuckled.
It was painful to even talk, but the woman was grating on his nerves.
"I can't stay here. I must return Home." She said as she lost a bit of bravado.
"I'm afraid, my lady, that you will not get out alive. Give up for now. Save your strength for the pain later." Loki said before closing his eyes.
"Why do they have me here?" She whispered low enough for him to hear.
"I don't know." He said honestly.
Loki could remember many of the conversations that he and the woman had. it seemed that both had somethings in common. Both had elder brothers. Both were the overshadowed siblings. Both had magic that they could wield to their advantage. Both were shunned by the people and subject they had, just because of the great magic that they wield.
"On my world, My Kingly brother is the Symbol of the Sun. He would rule the day with a kind and stern hand, and I rule the night. As I am a symbol of the Moon." she explained to him one day after she had returned from her session of tortures.
He listened intently. It was nice to have someone to relate too, even if either of them might die tomorrow.
"I have never seen a subject come to me when the night falls. As I would walk into the villages and cities during that time, even with my Night Guards, no one would come to greet me, their Princess." She said as she would sit next to him out of breath from her defiant screaming.
"So your brother was more worshiped than you." He asked her.
"I still love my older brother. He was there to teach me to rule the nights as he would the days. He was there for me when our parents were killed when I was but a child." She had told him smiling sadly.
Over time, when both were subjected to the horrors of needles, knives, lightning, fire, water, and many others, they would help each other. Both knowing each others pasts and deeds.
He had finally gotten her name.
Selene.
Quite fitting for a woman of the night. It was truly a horror that she was killed in front of him before he was taken control of the Chitauri army. She was his only friend and confident in that Hell. When she was gone, so was his will to live. His first friend in a long time was dead as a chitauri spear impaled her through the heart.
He could still remember his begging to work for them so that she could live. They didn't even grant him that. She remembered her eyes, which was full of defiance. She wasn't afraid to die. But he could still remember that tear that fell from her face as she was executed in front of him.
He could hear beeping in his ears.
Before he opened his eyes, he hoped that he was truly in Hel. He didn't know what to do if he was still alive after all this time.
"Can I ask why in the Seven Hells, we have your crazed psycopath brother here after everything he did?" Fury glared at the Avengers in front of him.
It's going to be a while before New York can rebuild itself. Thousands dead. Millions of dollars will be going into rescue, hospitals, and such to save those who have been wounded and injured. It hasn't even been a day since the Invasion when he heard that the god that created all this chaos was currently in critical condition in the ER room.
Fury was anything but merciful and demanding that he wanted the God of Mischief patched up. He wanted to kill the bastard himself.
"Well, Given the fact that Reindeer games was quite literally bleeding all over my floor in my penthouse, I think it's safe to say that we had to keep him alive." Tony said as he crossed his arms.
Tony didn't like what he saw when the Avengers came into the ruined penthouse only to see the God of Drama in his mind, bleeding everywhere on his floor, looking like he went to hell and back again. he had snuck a look Thor and saw that the only injuries that the god of thunder had was an small stab wound on his side. That was pretty much everything for the guy. And he did mention that Asgardian physiology can heal better anyone else. A small stab wound like that would heal in a couple of hours.
Loki on the other hand…
"He looked like he went through a meat grinder, Eyepatch." Tony stated. "I'm pretty sure that Hulk didn't put that much damage into Loki when he pounded him into the ground."
Bruce looked a little sheepish at that. He could barely remember even remembers the things that happened in the battle. So he wouldn't know.
"My brother never looked like this when we were fighting. I have…" He paused in guilt. "I have never seen injuries like that before."
"I don't care. He killed a lotta people when he brought those damn aliens with him. The Council wants justice." Fury argued.
"And You shall get your justice. Once Loki faces his in Asgard, I'm sure my father will help with what he can to assist in repairing your cities and compensation for your people." Thor said frowning.
"That's not the point. The point is that Your brother is a criminal. Criminals need to be taken care of as soon as they are captured." Fury said.
"With Loki still in medical, We need to make sure he's alive." Steve finally piped up.
At this, a Doctor, in his older years, covered in blood stains came into the room with slightly haunted eyes.
"We've stabilized him…" He said shifting from foot to foot.
"Is he conscious?" Fury asked.
"Just barely. We…we had to take a few things out of his body though." The doctor paled even further.
"Things?" Thor asked suddenly on the defensive.
"What are you talking about doc?" Tony asked.
This was weird, even for Tony. What things were in Loki's body?
"Ah…before we started surgery to sew his injuries up, we had to take an x-ray. Mostly for broken bones so that we can put them in a cast to have them heal…but while we saw broken bones…we saw…" The doctor paled even farther if that was anything to go by. "I'm not sure how he's even alive at this point, alien or no."
The doctor swallowed thickly. Wondering how to give them the news.
"It's best that you come with me." He said as he left.
Thor followed close after, the rest of the Avengers and Fury looked at each other and followed.
They came to a wall outside of medical where a few light boxes remain. All have pictures of a skeleton and such. But that wasn't the only thing that showed up on there.
Some of the Avengers had some experiences with the X-rays. Thor, and Steve to some extent, was confused about the blue-white negative pictures.
"Now, we found…needles and other such metal objects in the…patient." The doctor said thickly. "He needs a few more surgeries if we are going to get the rest out."
"The Rest?" Tony said as he looked at the pictures.
"Yes. We counted up to at least 67 pieces of metal including some a strange metal wire in his body. Most are close to certain organs, and the rest are along his spine and lower back. We managed to remove 10 of them, but we couldn't continue the surgery. He needs to rest for now. We'll have to give him another surgery three days from now. As this was an emergency to make sure he doesn't die." The doctor said before looking down in pity.
Thor's eyes looked over the white lines and circles that reside in his brother's body. How did those metal objects get there? Surely his brother's magic defended him against Midgard's weapons. Loki always had some sort of shield over his body to protect him. He also saw that there were a lot of breaks in the bones.
There were a few ribs that were broken, his left leg looks practically shattered, his pelvis was cracked, his right and left arms looked like they were just barely starting to heal, the fingers of his left hand were all broken, his skull have some hairline fractures, and much more that Thor stumbled back against the wall and stare at these internal pictures with horror.
"Geez, your brother looked like he took a beating." Tony said as he rubbed his hand on his face.
"Were there any other injuries?" Thor was afraid to ask the doctor.
"Ah…he has burns on certain parts of his body. Mostly in the torso area and the legs. He's currently on oxygen and we have a feeling that he has respiratory problems. His stomach is unusually small…and we also found traces of poison in his body as well." He said looking up at the God of Thunder. "Quite frankly sir, either someone wanted him to die slowly as possible, or something, because I've only seen cases of this in prison camps back in the years of Nazi Germany. This is worse."
"My brother was tortured?" Thor said turning to the doctor with anger.
"I'm not sure. He just barely woke up. He's not responding much though. I suspect that he's trying to accommodate himself to the situation at hand." The doctor said before nodding at him and the rest of the group. "If you ill excuse me…I need to talk with the other doctors about the surgery schedule in three days."
He left the room without another word.
The silence spoke loudly between the Avengers and Fury. If Loki looked like hell when he first arrived here on earth, what could possibly have happened to him beforehand? Was Loki putting up a front? Or is it something more?
Hela, Goddess of the Dead, hidden in the shadows of her castle, could feel the life force of her father dimming. But then as soon as it was dimming, it became strong again.
Hela frowned as her emerald green eyes glowed in the dark. It was too much. Her father had disappeared for who knows how long, and then suddenly showed up on earth not three days ago. Her father would visit her monthly, as per the agreement of the All-Father when he tossed her here, but he never visited since his disappearance 9 months ago.
It was maddening. She gritted her teeth and barked an order at one of her undead soldiers. Calling for her Hel Wolf, Garm, to her side. Her father was injured, and close to death. Even though her father was still alive, he could possibly die at any time. She didn't want that. She didn't want her father to wander this world of the dead. He doesn't deserve it.
She hoped her siblings would feel the pulses of magic that she is now constantly sending out. The pulses that connected her and her siblings to their father. Slephnir, her oldest Brother would break out of his paddock to leave Asgard. Fenrir and Jormungand would be on Midgard breaking free of their bonds as well. Jormungand would rise from the ocean into his human form, and Fenrir would dig out of the mountain that he was tied to.
Loki's magic was their magic also. Their father taught them ways that the Aesir would never understand. Magic that their father taught them. She hadn't seen her brothers in so long, but she had to get to her father. He can't die. And as Death itself, Hela promised that those who harmed her father will not leave the mortal plane alive.
She smiled to herself as she opened a portal. She would gather her brothers first. Then she would meet the ones who had defeated her father. It was going to be fun.
Tal21: Not sure If i might continue this one as that this is pretty much something to get rid of my writer's block for my Harry Potter stories, bit It's not too bad. Poor Loki, he's been through so much. But Hela is on the warpath and is the rest of Loki's children. I'm not sure how this story will turn of if I continue it. Eventually i'll put it up for adoption once I burn out this writers block. but until then, we'll see what we can do. :) I also have a really bad cold that is killing my throat and my head feels like Thor is pounding on it, so wish me luck for my health! I hope you liked this one. Oh and my OC Selene is dead. There will be mentions and flashbacks of her with Loki, but she is dead. Dead as a doornail. Take a wild guess of who I based her on. XD And she and Loki never had romantic connections. They were practically fiends in that place and they had to survive somehow. Also another reminder: NO SLASH IN THIS STORY! NONE! Thank you very much. I'll see you in the next chapter! :D
Question Time: This is a redemption story. What would you like to see of how Loki become redeemed later? And what kind of family sweetness do you want to see with Loki and his kids?
KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D