Author's note: Thanks for the nice comments, totally makes me write faster! This bit gets pretty dark for poor Loki. But hope may still come.
Read, enjoy, review :)
Time moved slowly for Loki, amongst the Tiphus and the constant fear they induced. Loki could not remember the last time he slept; every night the torture continued when he was alone in his cell, in the most horrific ways, but when the Tiphus came to take him away each morning he could see no evidence of the physical injuries he had felt. It was driving him insane. He stopped screaming when the Tiphus came for him, he merely lay pliant like a rag doll, eyes blank.
He may have appeared to be a mere shell on the outside, but inside his mind was where the true agony was contained. Loki listed each and every wrong-doing he had committed; he lamented his mistakes and the people he had hurt, including those he had cast off as his family. Thor, Odin and his beloved mother Frigga, they had been his kin for so long and yet he had betrayed them and raged against them with such force… Could he blame them for turning their backs on him now? I cannot, he thought to himself with great sadness. I deserve all of this.
The Tiphus came for him one day after he had spent a night believing the air had been sucked from his cell, suffocating him. When they yanked the door open and dragged Loki out, he gasped for breath but did not utter a scream. He did not protest his fate because he knew he would be taken to the white room again.
When the Tiphus dropped him on the floor of the white room he just lay there. When they ripped the gag from his mouth and poured liquid from a skull chalice he did not try to resist. However when the Tiphus exited the room and left him alone, his interest piqued. This had not happened before, they had never left the white room.
Loki took a moment to relax; normally any time he was alone, he was in a great deal of pain in his cell and any time he was in the white room, the Tiphus were torturing him. Yet now he could close his eyes and enjoy a feeling of nothingness. He could think or sleep… or plot.
Just as he was beginning to feel like himself again, Loki's vision suddenly clouded and his head started to pound. Of course, this must be the result of the forced drink he had been given. He started to retch, though nothing came out due to his empty stomach. He cringed into the floor, holding back tears.
The door of the white room flung open and Loki didn't dare to look up at the approaching Tiphus. His break had been too good to be true yet he still wished with every fibre that he could just have a little more time free of agony. He shut his eyes and lay motionless on the floor.
"Loki!"
The voice made him look up. This could not be…
"Loki, are you alright?"
"Sif?" Loki whispered, his voice hoarse and raw. The word still tasted so sweet.
Sif was a vision of beauty, just as strong and radiant as Loki remembered, her jet black hair framing her fierce and glowing face. He hadn't smiled for so long, yet Loki beamed now. Sif immediately ran to his side and laid a hand on his pale and gaunt cheek.
"Shhhh, you are safe now Loki," she said sweetly, looking deep in Loki's eyes, "Thor has brought some of his friends from Midgard; we are defeating Thanos."
"I can't believe it," Loki wept with happiness, "I thought I would never leave this place…"
"I couldn't bear that," Sif whispered and gently leaned down to press her lips to Loki's. She kissed him softly but with such a passion. Weak though he was, Loki kissed back with everything he had; she tasted like freedom to him. He wished he weren't bound so he could run his hands through her hair and touch he skin. Was it as soft as he remembered? He thanked Odin that he would live to find out.
"Sif, you must untie me," Loki was excited to finally be free and wanted to waste no time in getting there.
"Of course, My Lord," Sif said with a wink, running her hands over his bindings.
However before she could take action, the door was once more opened. And Loki was once more stunned by who was walking through it.
Had Thor always been so tall, so powerful and intimidating in all his fine Asgardian armour? Loki's eyes welled up at the sight of this familiar figure.
"Thor," he breathed, smiling, "Brother."
However Thor did not react. He merely looked down at Loki, a fleeting glance, before looking at Sif.
"Sif, what are you doing in here? Celebrations have begun for our victory. Come back to Asgard with me," he commanded, his voice booming in the confines of the white room.
To Loki's shock, Sif left his side immediately and went to drape herself in Thor's mighty arms. Loki stared up appalled as Thor and Sif stared into each other's eyes before locking lips, with an intimacy that made Loki blush.
"Brother?" he called up meekly, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.
Thor broke apart from Sif who was staring adoringly up at him.
"I am no brother of yours," he spat with such malice that Loki recoiled from the words.
"P-please, brother, help me," Loki whispered.
"Why, in the name of all the nine realms, would I do that?" Thor said viciously, his words stinging Loki more than torture ever could.
"I am so, so sorry, Thor. I wish to make things right, for you and for Father. I am sorry," Loki apologised, putting everything he felt into his words, hoping that they would reach the caring side of Thor he knew was there.
"You wish to make things right for Father and I?" Thor mocked, before laughing spitefully and leaning down to whisper in Loki's ear, "Everybody hates you. I arranged for Thanos' minions to take you. I knew it would help us to track Thanos down and destroy him, but more than that, I wanted them to torture you in every way, kill you from the inside out."
Loki blinked in shock, his mouth agape. He could do nothing but stare at Thor. Did he really hate Loki that much? Apparently so.
"In fact, I was regretful that I would not have a chance to torture you myself, brother," Thor said menacingly.
What followed was almost more than Loki could take. If anything was going to break him, this would be it.
For an undeterminable amount of time, Thor beat him with all his might. He kicked him, smashed his face into the ground, spat on him, taunted him. Loki wept and pleaded the entire time.
"Brother, please!" he screamed, but Thor merely continued more forcefully.
Sif stood in the corner of the room, laughing and clapping with glee. She kept crooning how much she loved Thor, how she could never love a creature as pathetic as Loki.
Thor abused his brother in every way. He beat him black and blue and he defiled him in that white room. Loki vomited as the weight of his brother pinned him to the ground, pain filling his body, Thor's grunts and insults echoing in his ears. Never had he felt so sick in his life; disgusted at Thor's actions and terrified for his own sanity.
When Thor had finished his assault, he and Sif left Loki alone, weeping and bleeding on the floor. They had laughed at the sight of him. They promised him that he would die in this room. And they hoped it would be agonising.
It felt like an age lying on the ground like that. Loki was almost catatonic as he processed what had just occurred. When he stopped crying, he merely stared blankly. He was on the brink, the edge of his own sanity and it seemed as if nothing would save him.
He didn't even notice when the Tiphus entered the room and picked up his limp, fragile body. They took him to his dark cell and left him. There was no torture this night, but Loki still could not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Thor's hateful gaze burning him. As he lay trembling, he could not help but ask.
"Brother, why?"
On Midgard, in New York City, in the place known as Stark Tower, Thor looked up, confused.
"You alright, man?" Bruce asked, genuine concern in his voice.
"Yes," Thor said in a not-at-all believable voice.
"We can't have you zoning out on us, big guy," Tony joked, although there was a serious note to his words; the Avengers were facing a most daunting foe and they needed to decide what their next move was.
"It is nothing," Thor said quietly, "I just thought I heard something."
"Was it the sound of me pouring another drink? Should we add pre-cognitive abilities to your resumé?" Tony asked, smiling at his fellow Avengers. Bruce and Steve smiled, but Thor did not.
"No. It was my brother's voice," he said, angst etched into his face, "It was Loki."
