"I will not allow it." Odin said, staring at the wall ahead.

"But he is our son!" Frigga shouted, frustrated at her husband. His arrogance and pride was clouding his judgement. She wanted to knock some sense into the old fool, but she just stood clenching her fists.

"He is not our son, Frigga! He is a Frost Giant! A monster! I cannot believe how I could've been so blind as to think him as anymore than that." Odin yelled in frustration. Why couldn't they see that Loki was an endangerment to them? To Asgard? To even the whole if the Nine Realms? They were living in past memories of the small boy who was once a prince. Now he was a criminal.

Thor stood watching his parents argue. He had tried to speak his mind many times now, only to be interrupted or ignored by both. When he couldn't bear the yelling and fighting and his own father calling his brother a mistake anymore, he left. No one tried to stop him, he seriously doubted that they noticed at all. He would deal with the decision of Loki's punishment later, all he needed right now was to see the younger man. To reassure himself that it was still his brother like he fiercely believed. The little boy who had acted like he was independent, yet followed Thor around everywhere he went. The little boy who was so fascinated with magic, and who had always been so excited to show Thor his new tricks.

The little boy that he loved.

The little boy Thor hoped still loved him.

Walking down to the dungeon, he fondly thought of memories he had with Loki. One of his favorites was when the youngest had been so keen on being by himself all day, not spending any time with his brother. He had said he was grown up now and didn't need him. Throughout the day while Thor walked around Asgard, he would catch glimpses of the black-haired boy behind him. Whenever he confronted him about it, Loki would say that Thor thought too highly of himself, that he was being self centered to think that he would even want to trail him. It wasn't until Thor bought a bag full of juicy, red apples then went to watch the sunset that the kid had tentatively walked up to him then sat next to him, taking an apple and not saying a word. They hadn't spoke the entire time until they got home and started heading to their bedchambers.

"Goodnight, Thor. I love you." Was the only thing that was spoken that night. Loki gave Thor a small smile then hugged him, and then went to go sleep. It was the best night of Thor's childhood.

Loki sat in his cell, staring at the ceiling. His head hurt like hell after being kicked, and he couldn't stop replaying his father's words in his head.

You are no son of mine. You never have been. You were only a pawn. And now, you're not even that. Every world would be better without your existence.

He had said the words so coldly, not hesitating to say any of it. He meant it. Odin truly hated him. Loki would be surprised if his punishment wasn't death.

Just then, he heard the door to the dungeon open. He heard thunderous footsteps nearing his cell and realized who it was with a groan.

Thor came up to his brother's cell and winced subconsciously. Loki's face was lined with bruises. There was a huge dark blue-green one and a split lip in result of being kicked. The scars around his mouth had mostly healed, leaving only faint pink lines. Loki sneered at Thor for looking so pitying, and Thor saw that his mouth had been bleeding too. Loki spit the blood out on the ground and turned away from the other god.

"So, what have you decided?" Loki asked Thor questionably. Thor had almost forgot the whole ideal had been real. Almost.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully.

"Then why are you here?"

Thor was a bit taken aback. Didn't his brother know that he cared about what happened to him? Odin may not, but Thor surely did.

"Because you are my brother, and I wanted to make sure you were alright." Loki turned back to him, and Thor thought he saw a flicker of hope, a flicker of love, in his eyes. But the trickster quickly masked it, wanting to slap himself for lowering his guard. Cause even if it was for merely a second, he knew Thor would've seen it.

"That and also, and I hate to say it, but your chances aren't looking good, brother." Despite himself, he winced. He'd been expecting a cruel punishment, but actually hearing that it might happen was a whole new thing.

"What does Frigga have to say about the matter" Loki had been kind of anxious to see where she would stand in all this.

"She is against giving you a punishment at all, but I think we both know she sadly won't be able to have an effect on Odin's mindset."

As if on cue, two guards swung the door open and were a little surprised to see Thor's presence. They demanded Thor return to his father while they got Loki. But Thor refused to leave without his brother. The guards then opened the cell to retrieve Loki, who couldn't deceive them without his magic, so he just let them take him. They were very aggressive, and Loki thought his father must've not given them orders to lay off. In fact, it was more likely he told them to be rough.

While on guard kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't try anything, the other circled around behind him and kicked the backs of his knees, causing his legs to give out quite painfully. The guard then took Loki's hands and putting the handcuffs on his already raw wrists. He tightened them so the didn't even budge. Then of course he brought out the damned muzzle, and with a smile. He must've known what happened. From the guilty little look on Thor's face, he knew Thor must've mentioned it. While the guard put it on, Loki pretended he didn't mind. But as it got tighter, he felt his stomach flip. Remembering his own blood being forced down his airway, the sharpness digging into his face, it terrified him. He shook his head slightly, trying to shake the feeling. The guard seemed to like him squirm and tightened it more. He felt the scars break open again and felt warm drops forming on the rim of the mask. He tried to tell him to stop, but he could not speak.

Thor watched as the guard knocked his brother down to his knees, then putting his hands in the cuffs, he knew he should do something, but he also knew anything that he did do would only make it worse for Loki in the end. So, just just watched. Then they brought out the muzzle. He felt his blood run cold as he remembered when his little brother had fallen, struggling to breathe and speak as Thor tried to figure out what was wrong. Then seeing the blood, taking the retched thing off to reveal angry red lines lining his brother's mouth and jaw. The guilt of realizing that they thing had been tightening around his brother but being too big of an oaf to realize he was in pain. He so badly wanted to help, but then again, that would make things worse.

Thor watched the man put the muzzle on Loki, and at first thought the youngest would be fine. He seemed to not care. But Thor also knew of his facades. Then Loki glanced over at Thor, his brilliant green eyes bearing into him, and he knew Loki was in hell. When the guard began to tighten the thing to fit, Loki started shaking. He shook his head as if he were saying "no". Thor suddenly saw a shift in the guard's expressing, and a sickening smile flashed across his face. Loki's eyes filled with panic as he just sat there, not knowing how to stop anything from happening. Thor saw blood welling up on the metal, and Loki squeezed his eyes shut in fear and pain. The sicko's eyes lit up. Thor had had enough.

"Hey, are you daft?!" He screeched, rushing over and smacking the button out of the guards hand then pushing him to the ground. Thor hovered over him, holding Mjolnir to his face threateningly. The guard's smile instantly disappeared and his face went as white as a sheet.

"I-I-I'm sorr-ry your maj-asty." He stuttered. Thor simply threw him out of the cell and grabbed the button, forcing it to loosen. The mask fell from Loki's face and he gasped for air, not being able to get enough in during his panic-filled state. Thor lifted him up gently and inspected his face, Loki being too dazed to do anything about it. He seemed fine, just little dots of blood here and there. Thor wiped it away despite his brother's weary glare.

"Come on, Loki. As much as it pains me to say, it is time to face father."

Loki lowered his head but nodded. He kept his eyes down the entire walk while Thor walked alongside him. He was terrified of what awaited him. They both were.