"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action." – A Street Car Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
The cell, whilst not dripping with stagnant water, the scent of decay pervading the stone walls and rats scurrying across his feet, was not what the God of Mischief was accustomed to.
But then Loki mused, he could have been housed in the most splendid room Asgard had to offer but he would still be surrounded by four walls - unable to leave, lost even to his magic.
Loki winced, he did not want to think of his magic, they had taken it from him, citing his own well being as a form of justification. He missed the constant hum of energy. The effortless flow as it traveled down his limbs only to be expelled from his fingertips, granting him the ability to cast illusions and spells.
Roughly pushing the thoughts of his past power to the back of his mind he tried to dwell on other things. But as always, his mind drifted back to those that would keep him their prisoner. He had been a year in the cell, not even books for company. His mother - Frigga - came to visit him, he more often than not sat in silence whilst she spoke.
"This is not forever Loki, Odin expects you to learn from your actions and to seek atonement for them... Your casting down is his way to achieve this, and perhaps as a way to absolve himself of all responsibility. But we cannot deny it - we have failed you..."
Her words more often than not riled him - what did she know? She presumed so much and asked so little. But whether it was a case of sentimentally or a genuine longing for change, Loki found himself softening to her words. Much to his ire. He was too weak, too long caged.
The clattering at the door alerted him to the arrival of company, it was most probably her again. Strangely, Loki found himself perking up at the prospect. The thought of another soul, however detestable, alleviated some of his torment.
The heavy key in the lock turned, the iron hinges screamed in protest, but eventually that door opened. However, it did not reveal the golden Asgardian he had been expecting, the brief feeling of warmth withered and died in his chest. His eyes narrowed.
"Brother," Thor nodded his head. "May I sit with you?"
A tremor of annoyance passed across Loki's face, and for a moment he was reminded of their youth - when out of sheer spite he would remain silent for days, never a word passing his lips. It was only until his resolve broke and the two became friends again that he would resume talking. But this was not the case now; they simply could not kiss and make up. Too much had been said, too much had come to pass.
Raising his head Loki fixed Thor with a stare. His brother was unusually grave, not that his other visits had been marked with a distinct amount of happiness.
"Loki..." Thor tried again, hoping his adoptive brother would prove to be more responsive this time round.
And still Loki remained silent, unwilling to return his brother's call. He knew that he was being petty, that he was reverting to the boy he long thought buried but then that was all he knew, it was his last point of reference, they had not been brothers for a long time - not really.
"Please brother, I need to speak with you. Whatever wrongs we have done each other must be put aside."
A flicker passed across Loki's face, "You put me in this cell and demand I recant my sins. And now you declare that I am not doing it fast enough, that I must do it now?"
Thor suppressed a sigh, "I do not come to dictate to you how you should go about your sentence... I come to ask for your help."
At Thor's words the God of Mischief smiled, a small chuckle escaping his throat. "My help Thor? Are you genuinely asking or do you plan to hold my incarceration against me? Another hundred years if I don't..."
"No!" Thor quickly exclaimed, his hands shooting up in defense.
"Then what? What possibly could the Mighty Thor need help with? You have bested me in every way brother, I do not see what I could do for you." Loki's words rang with disdain, his eyes full of self-loathing and rage.
Thor bit back his tongue; his mother had told him of Loki's mind. He was indeed full of hatred and wrath, but more often than the not rage was directed inwards. Loki was broken, his heart shattered and his mind twisted, but Thor could trace the cracks back to moments in their shared life when he could have done better and helped his brother.
"I ask you because I have little knowledge of magic," Thor responded, his eyes downcast.
"Magic?" Loki echoed. "You might not be aware, but I seem to have misplaced mine."
Thor sighed, "I know we bound your magic but we had little choice.
"You had a choice Thor," Loki frowned. "What magic do you speak of?" Despite himself, his interest was piqued.
"The Infinity Gems." Thor's voice was hollow, his gaze heavy as he waited for Loki's reaction.
"But the Allfather?" Loki's voice was suddenly centuries younger, the lines on his face wiped clear as his eyes widened in shook.
"We are in possession of the Gauntlet, the Gems have long been scattered about the Nine Realms."
"Which one?" Loki's voice was suddenly hard.
"We don't know for certain," Thor sighed. "I am asking you to help me Loki."
"Where is it?" The dark haired god suddenly demanded.
"Midgard."
At this Loki laughed, "Now how do you wish for us to go about this? Do you plan on continually travelling from Midgard to Asgard so you can describe to me what happens?"
"You will journey with me," Thor answered quickly, unsure of what to make of Loki's amusement
"And do you not think those mortals you love so much on Midgard would take issue with my return?" Loki gave a small smirk.
"If you promised to do no harm," Thor suggested.
"The one with the eye patch, Fury, he was adamant I was not to set foot on Earth again, I believe he called me a war criminal."
"I will vouch for you," Thor replied stoutly.
Loki opened his mouth to speak before a thought struck him violently in the chest. "You should not be too hasty Thor, I would have ample opportunity to betray you."
"Do you plan to?" Thor challenged, his eyes steely.
And there was the crux of the matter. Did he wish to change? He could offer up a lie, taking advantage of Thor's trusting nature, as he so often had. He had nothing to lose and Thor everything. He was already sentenced to eons in this cell, if he was caught what was another 200 years? Thor would lose the trust and respect of his teammates and gain the added weight of guilt and responsibility. Yet, here was his brother asking for help, and perhaps a small part of him did want to be redeemed. To put away the lies and deceit, but it had been so long, did he remember how?
Did he want to change – perhaps he had done so already.
"I might," Loki shrugged his shoulders. "I cannot say for certain and it would require you to place too much trust in me, unfounded and untested." The God of Mischief sighed, his eyes just meeting Thor's – he had spoken a rare truth.
"I would gladly take that risk," Thor countered.
Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes; once more his brother was displaying his unfailing naivety and his unflinching desire to trust those around him. The two were opposite ends of the spectrum, Thor cared too easily and Loki did not care enough. But the Trickster had learnt to guard his heart, to trust someone would only lead to betrayal. It was in their nature, to spin lies and deceptions.
Maybe it was all a twisted attempt at self-preservation? And here perhaps he would find his motivations to help Thor. The Infinity Gems were powerful objects; he was not naive enough to think he could control them. But there were others out there who did. Others would seek to master the gems and with them, all existence. A lifetime in a cell was nothing compared to what others would do to him.
Thor was not a reason for him to help, the Avengers certainly not. But an existence governed by a creature that had the power of the gems and the gauntlet did not bode well.
"You do not need to take the risk Thor," Loki finally spoke, his voice soft. "I cannot promise you where my loyalties lie in relation to you. But I do not wish to see the gems fall into the hands of someone who would see the universe burn."
"Do you know of such a being?" Thor questioned, his voice hardening.
"There is always someone willing to seek absolute power," Loki replied somewhat cryptically.
"So you will help?'
"I could do with the walk," came Loki's acerbic response.
The gem appeared to be lying dormant, cushioned by black velvet and encased in glass it sat in the middle of the lab, taunting them in its silence. Whatever testing Tony and Bruce put it through, the results were hardly earth shattering.
"Chronium and vanadium," Tony sighed. "Beryllium, aluminum and cyclosilicate."
"You basically have a very big emerald," Bruce interjected as he removed his glasses to rub his eyes. "I guess it's pretty unusual to get one that size but there's nothing else there that would suggest other worldly powers."
"But it did something," Natasha replied vehemently. "That thing changed all of those people."
"Well right now, all we can figure is that we have an exceptionally large rock." Tony sighed, "And I'd so hoped for something interesting."
"So that's it?" Steve asked, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.
"Well we can't find anything..." Bruce offered lamely.
"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there," Natasha could barely believe the words were coming out of her mouth; she was not one to have so much blind faith. She prided herself in being a rational creature. "It's magic right? Needless to say we don't know how it works."
"Whenever we've come into contact with magic - we've been able to read the energy coming off it in some form or another... Not this - there's nothing." Bruce replied softly, almost as if he was trying to lessen the blow.
"So we hand it over to Fury?" Steve piped up.
"Might as well," Tony answered. "Pepper prefers diamonds anyway."
"I'll make the call." Natasha offered, keeping her voice level. She was not about to gain herself a reputation for sentimentally, if you could even call it that.
But whatever it was she was convinced the gem held more secrets than it was letting on. Pulling out her SHIELD issued phone she punched in the number.
"Fury." As ever his voice was terse - perhaps it was a side effect of him trying to keep six superheroes from killing each other.
"Banner and Stark have finished conducting their tests - we're handing it over"
"You sound a little disappointed, need I remind you Agent Romanoff we do not want another magical artifact wreaking havoc over the general population?"
"No sir," came Natasha's response. "Will you prepare an evac?"
"Chopper's already on it's way. Touch down in five minutes."
"Roger that Sir."
With the click of the line Natasha pocketed her phone before returning to her teammates.
"Time to bag the gem guys, agents are five minutes out. Is the helipad clear Tony?"
"Yeah," the billionaire waved a carefree hand. "Pepper took the helicopter"
Loki sighed, he was loath to admit it but he had missed Asgard, and the past year had not given him ample opportunity to appreciate the realm for what it was. After all, a dark cell was not conducive to sight seeing.
For the briefest of moments he was given access to the life he thought long gone, astride a horse as he galloped towards the Bifrost, Thor beside him.
"Has Heimdall been told of my arrival? He might not take too kindly to my presence."
"Heimdall will not impede us on our quest brother."
Loki snorted, "I don't think it's as half as noble as you might desire."
"We journey to save the Nine Realms," Thor responded stoutly.
"Then may the Norns save us all."
"You doubt we will succeed?" Thor questioned as Heimdall ushered them into the golden chamber. Standing beside his brother Thor gave him such a penetrating stare Loki was almost forced to look away.
"I do not doubt your courage Thor. But I am afraid of..."
Loki's words were lost to the Bifrost as the two men felt a familiar tugging sensation, their insides pulled apart before they were forcefully squeezed together, their bodies roughly deposited on solid ground.
"You hear that?" Clint sat up sharply. Something large had hit the roof; a heavy thud seemed to reverberate throughout the building. Jumping to his feet the archer walked towards the window, looking out at the New York skyline he failed to see anything amiss.
"The chopper might have come back?" Bruce suggested, looking up to the roof.
Steve shook his head in response.
"Come on Red, let's go check it out." Tapping Natasha on the shoulder Tony gestured for her to follow
"You want us to..." Steve offered, making as if it to stand up.
"We got this Cap," Tony gave a small wink before dragging Natasha from the room.
The music in the lift was distracting to say the least; Natasha instinctively reached for the side of her leg only to find her fingers grasping at air. It was probably better that way; Tony wouldn't take too kindly to her shooting out the audio system in his elevator.
"Do you think you should stick behind me?" Natasha asked, her eyes fixed on the electronic dial; they were steadily moving up the building.
"Stick behind you?" the billionaire repeated, a smile dancing on his lips. "Are you planning jumping into the line of fire? I didn't know you cared."
"You're not wearing the armour and you're more vulnerable than I am. It makes sense."
"How exactly am I more vulnerable than you?" Tony shot back, giving Natasha a withering glare.
Natasha returned Tony's look, her eyes narrowed.
"Fine!" the billionaire conceded. "You go first, just don't come crying to me when you get shot in the ass."
Thor fidgeted with his cloak as he noticed the tell tale signs of an approaching lift.
"Stand behind me," he whispered sharply to Loki.
"Sorry? Stand behind you? I am not a child." The Trickster replied, affronted.
"We don't know what the reception will be like when they see us, it might be better if they see me first."
"You cannot expect me to hide behind you, as if you were my mother's apron strings?" Loki spat, his eyes boiling with rage.
"Mother never wore an apron, now get behind me!" With his words Thor roughly grabbed Loki and pulled the bristling god behind his back.
"The bell not good enough for you Point Break?" Tony's voice shot out across the rooftop and Thor did his best to smile.
Before any more could be said Natasha's arm shot out, grabbing Tony and preventing him from stepping closer towards the God of Thunder.
"What is the matter with you Agent Romanoff? If you wanted to go first so badly…"
"Since when did Thor have four legs?" Natasha quizzed, her eyebrow arching.
Loki wanted to hit Thor, and then he wanted to throw him off the building.
"I think they have noticed," the Trickster hissed into his companion's ear. "Maybe it was the fact you have one too many legs."
"They might not have…."
"So Thor, you wanna step away from whatever you're hiding?" Tony called out, his voice amiable.
With the grace to look slightly sheepish Thor stepped aside.
A/N: New chapter! Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think! And thank you the anonymous reviewer (s) - obviously I couldn't message you privately to say as much.