A/N: New chapter! Yay! School picks up again tomorrow, not sure if I should promise slower or faster updates. Technically, this update shouldn't even come; I should be working on my laureate or homework or something, but I think its already been established that I'm an awful person, so yeah. Blame Skyrim. Also, fair warning, this chapter has some words in it. Not sure if they should push the raiting up. Also some pretty violent ideas are, er, discussed. Dunno if that should push it up either.

Chapter 9

Loki relived the experience.

~ "Corporate giant no belong in backstreets, no? What say you give me wallet, I give you whore?"

Odin, of course. He wasn't a corporate giant, per say, but he was large. Puttanna. Whore. Harlot. Derogatory term for woman, addressed at Mother.

Loki steps forward.

"Hey bastard, who do you work for?"

Quiet, detached. Clear, threatening tone.

"…what?"

Expected response. Reply by repetition.

"Who do you work for, asshole?"

"Mind your own business, boy!"

The game begins.

"My own business? You have my mother at knifepoint.

Truth. There is a knife against the small of Mother's back. Mother is scared. Loki is small. Assailant is large. Thor will be of no use. Words can be sharper than knives.

"I think that makes this my business. Don't think I can't tell from your clothes. Baggy, grey, and do I see a tattoo on your neck? Laufey would never allow that."

Truth. Laufey was half-and-half, and the Jew in him was what kept standards so high.

" And family would never hurt family's mother, now would they? So you're one of Surtur's mooks."

Surtur, Greek. Small-time celebrity, big-time criminal. One of Scudo's most serious competitors.

"If I had to guess…Mephisto's decina? Your face tells me that I'm right."

Mephisto – liar, cheater, thief. Laufey once told him 'you two are cut from the same cloth, Chiaro. Watch your back.'

"You messed with the wrong family, underling. I could have you hanged."

Lie.

" I could have you hogtied and quartered."

Lie.

" Would you like that? Or maybe you would like it better if I pulled you apart, bit by bit, and when all is left but your head and torso, stuff you in a barrel and fill it with acid. When they find you – if they were to find you – all they would find is a bucket of scum!"

Loki raises his voice. He takes a step forward. The man takes a step back. Just a soldier. Loki can say what he wants.

"I think that is what you want! Why else would you still have your fucking knife in my Mama's back, eh, bastard? Or maybe I'll follow you home, and slit all your children's throats in their sleep."

Empty threat.

" I've killed before, I can do it again and again and again and I wouldn't care."

Lie.

"My capo loves me, you know. He thinks I'm the most darling thing he ever saw."

Half-truth.

" And if I didn't want to do it, he would."

Lie?

" Maybe you've heard of him – Wade Wilson."

Half-truth. Something climbs up the man's back, something that looks and smells like fear. Wade Wilson is a monster, the most horrendous thing to walk the face of the planet. But not a Capo, oh no. Wilson is more than a Capo.

"Oh, I saw that shiver. You have heard of him, then! You must know he's a monster! And I'm a monster! We could both do you! We will cut you down the middle and to the side and pull your insides out while you still breathe! We'll make you eat yourself alive!

"So, if you have any fucking sense of self-preservation, any at all, you gonna drop that knife, turn around, and run as if your tiny little ass depends on it. Because it does."

The performance is far from perfect, but Loki is but a child. He feels no guilt, none at all save that his family has to whiteness. ~

He relived the experience over and over again. It was something like playing chess with yourself in your mind. He learned from it. Don't be so quick to drop names, more foul language, less apathy. Be angry. That's how things get done.

It wasn't long before Thor came to his door, hands shaking, blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No." Thor looked away with guilt. Loki tapped the bed next to him and pulled down the covers. It felt as though it had been ages since the two last shared a bed, though it was in actuality only a little under four months. "I felt so useless today."

"That's not your fault, Thor. You were out of your element."

The blond sighed and wrapped and arm around his brother's shoulders. He pulled the child in close and pressed his cheek against a head of soft, black hair. "No brother, I felt useless. As if I were naught but a damsel. I want…oh God, I never thought I would say this, brother." He scraped the back of his head, letting his eyes wander. They looked everywhere but at Loki. "I want you to teach me Italian." Loki blinked. "And I want to join the Mafia."

A/N: Guess who reads Journey Into Mystery? I do! Guess who still hasnt finished Everything Burns? I havent! So don't spoil it :P I have the books, but no time to read them :( And yeah, Surtur and Mephisto arent even the same denomination (Fire giant v. devil) but I figured, hey fire. So yes. And hrm. Ah. Mmhmm. So, tell me what you think, if you have suggestions, or are itching for spoilers. I'd be happy to provide ;) R&R!