Why Do You Still Bother? :

(Takes place after the last chapter of 'Second in Command' and goes all the way to the first chapter of 'Revenge.')

(Author's Note: This plot bunny came RIGHT after I updated last time and decided not to leave me the hell alone. Gotta love it when that happens. This is what happened to Loki and what he was told when he was first apprehended and taken back to Asgard.)

Loki had seen the hurt and anger in Phoenix's eyes right before she fled. He did not know when, how, or even why she had started to actually care about him, but it had happened. She was someone that strictly cared only about him and not Thor, instead. He had chased her away, but it was for her own good. He did not want to see her in chains beside him, and right now, he was too broken to flee properly.

When Loki was finally able to move, he pulled himself out of the hole in the floor. The beast had actually made holes in the floor with his body. Just as he was able to put himself into a sitting position, he heard movement behind him. He moved and turned himself around, seeing all of the self-styled 'Avengers' posing behind him, ready to attack.

Loki looked up at Stark. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now," he said flippantly. He groaned slightly when Rogers reached down and jerked him off the ground by one of his arms.

Rogers glared at him. What did he expect Loki to do? Apologize? Beg for forgiveness? That was highly laughable. "You're under arrest," Rogers gritted out to him. Loki grinned at him before spitting a mouthful of blood on his shoes.

OoOoOoOo

They had thrown him in another cell. The only reason that he hadn't already escaped was that it seemed that Thor had brought along a gag and a set of chains from Asgard. For all of Thor's talk of 'coming home,' he seemed to have been prepared to bring Loki back as a prisoner. Loki wasn't too concerned. It just wasn't in him to be, not about Thor. There were much more important things to be concerned about, and much more important beings.

He spent one night in the jail of SHIELD, his not-brother coming to talk to him, to plead with him. Loki was barely sure of what he wanted, though. He turned him out mostly, letting Thor babble his nonsense, and, when he was spent, leaving him in silence. Loki wondered what he could have done differently. He should have tossed away that bloody arrow from Barton, for one. Phoenix had even been trying to warn him that his arrows did things, like explode. At least then, they wouldn't have been blown out of the sky and he directly into the beast's path. He also should have run from that large green thing instead of taunting it. As if it would understand any sort of reason.

None of the other Avengers came to visit him, thankfully. Loki wasn't sure if he could take any sort of gloating on their parts. They actually thought that they had won. It was amusing to think about. They were creatures who lived such short life spans. Worse come to worse, he could simply wait them out and watch them grow old and die. Even the man out of time would eventually age.

This was merely a momentary setback.

He also had a woman on the outside, as long as she didn't let her anger get her in trouble. She was likely to light a town on fire with that anger of hers. He had certainly gained a fiery creature as his companion. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of her, but something deep inside of him told him that she would do what she could to get him back, even if that took raiding Asgard on her own to do so. He hoped that it didn't come to that.

The next day, when they gathered to send him back to Asgard with Thor, he felt her nearby. He had felt her nearby the day before, too, even when he ordered her to leave. Now she was closer, possibly even too close for her own good. It took a bit of searching, but he spotted her. For someone who claimed to hate hiding, she was good at it. It seemed that none of the others had spotted her, not even she SHIELD agents who were hidden away themselves, watching as he was sent back.

She was poised and ready for attack. He knew that things would go badly if she did so now. He could see that she was still badly hurt from the day before, still favoring one leg over the other. Anything she did now would likely just get her caught as well, and sending her away yesterday would have been for nothing.

Don't. He did not want to have her lose herself to her anger. Not here. He watched as she looked around before realizing that he was speaking in her mind.

Why not? He had nearly fallen over when he felt her burning white hot rage come through with her mental message. She was even angrier than he had expected. Her anger actually touched him a little, surrounded by people who either pitied him (Thor) or opening mocked him (the rest of the so called 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes).

He actually had quickly to remind himself why. He wasn't enjoying being shackled and treated like a prisoner, either. You're still hurt and outnumbered. Plus, SHIELD agents are never far. He watched as her stance relaxed, showing that she was following his request. I'll send you a way to bring me back, and then we'll get our revenge. He then looked up at Thor, who was trying to get him to grip the container that the Tesseract was in so that they could go back to Asgard. With one final look in Phoenix's direction (to burn her image in his memory), he turned to Thor, gripping the container and soon they were gone from this realm.

Traveling by way of the Tesseract was a lot less enjoyable than even the bifrost. It had left him drained the last time that he had done it. If he had not had the scepter, he would have been at SHIELD's mercy when he arrived. When they landed in Asgard, he fell over, exhaustion taking over his form. He felt the hands of his brother wrap around his arms and lift him back up. People were nearby, taking the Tesseract. Loki kept his eyes on the ground, not sparing one of them a glance. He saw no need to look at any of them, even when he briefly heard Odin's voice speak to him.

He spared no words for any of them, and eventually, he was taken to the dungeon. Unlike the rest of Asgard, it was a dark and dank place, like most jails are, and he was happy to be in it. At least here, no one was staring at him and trying to talk to him, at least for now. They had removed the gag from his face as they locked him away, but the chains on his wrists had stayed.

He was glad that the gag had been removed. Now he could do the occasional spell. He could move his hands enough to do most things, at least the more minor spells. One of his minor spells was to be able to watch things from a great distance. Watching Phoenix was one of the few things that he could do to pass the time, and he wanted to know how she was doing. It hurt him to see how sad she was. He got to watch her as she walked away from New York, and occasionally got to see as she moved further south. He could only watch her when he was alone, which was sadly little.

Thor visited him every day. Loki came to dread hearing his thundering footfalls coming toward his cell. He had no idea why his brother continued to come. Loki tried to stay quiet during the visits, but, more often than not, they would devolve into shouting matches and Loki would scream at Thor until his throat was raw. Thor kept asking him why he had done everything, why he had tried to take over Midgard, and his questions would just eventually send Loki over the edge.

Frigga visited him several times, but not as often as Thor did. Her visits were almost tolerable. He did hate that he had hurt her. If she was the only family member that he had to deal with, he would be more likely to accept them back. She simply came and sat with him, sometimes talking, but once asking something that his brother never did. She asked about Phoenix.

She had been talking to him about things going on in the court, but he could see that there was something on her mind. She lapsed into silence for a few moments, before finally asking, "Why her?"

The question caught him off guard. "What?" It had been the first thing he had said during this visit. She seemed more content to just talk to him rather than need for him to say anything.

"The woman that you were with on Midgard," Frigga said. "You never showed more than a passing interest in any of the women here, but she caught your eye. Why her?"

He studied Frigga for a moment. "Because she believed in me," he told her. "She encouraged me." That wasn't all, though. He couldn't quite figure out just what all it was that connected him to her so readily. He could still feel her heat against his skin. He could still smell her scent. He couldn't believe that her belief in his cause was all that made him still want her. He just did not understand what it was.

Frigga did not appear to believe it, either. "You love her, son," she said to him. "You just smiled for the first time in the longest time when talking about her." He hadn't even realized that a smile had crossed his face, but she was right. He was still smiling at thinking of the lovely brunette who had somehow dug her way into his very soul. "I only wish that you had found her before all of this happened. Maybe our secrets would not have stung so much if you had someone to share the pain with."

He didn't answer, and watched as she stood up and left. A part of him raged against the idea that something so simple would have softened his anger toward Odin, the idea was ridiculous. Another part wondered if there was some truth to Frigga's words.

He'd never know if he continued to be stuck here. After Frigga was gone, he looked in on Phoenix again. He found her doing research this time, sitting at a table with what appeared to be a bottle of wine. He doubted that any books that she could find there would be of any help. He knew exactly what would help her, but he also knew that his old books disappearing would quickly be noticed. His non-father would likely be keeping track of any magical books that he had once owned, but all he could do was hope that any short time discomfort caused by that would be worth it. He searched the palace magically for the books, and, once he found them, did a simple teleportation spell about them. He knew that her magical abilities were still in their infancy, but he hoped that, with the right tools, she would be able to bring him back.

He watched her as she, in frustration, destroyed much of the room in which she dwelled. She was such an angry creature when things did not go her way. Then again, he could be as well. He continued to watch as she slumped to the ground, anger spent, and saw as she received the books that he had sent, and the small note that he had sent along.

When you're done with your tantrum, I think these might be useful.

Stay strong.

L.

He let go of the vision of her just as she opened the book and smiled. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the walls of his cell. That little bit of magic had exhausted him. He understood that the shackles had prevented some of his magic, but now he suspected that the cell that he was in had some sort of magical dampening abilities as well. Those two spells should not have exhausted him so much.

OoOoOoOo

It had taken longer than he had expected for the disappearance of the books to be discovered. It was the next morning that Odin appeared outside of his cell, sending the guards into his cell to search for the books taken. Even so, he could tell by the look on Odin's face that he did not expect to find the books. Once his cell was searched, he was thrown back inside of it. Then Odin did something that he did not expect. He sent the guards away and stood outside of his cell.

"I am surprised that you have visited me at all," Loki said with an animalistic grin. "I haven't seen you since I was so welcomed back into Asgard."

Odin's face was a blank slate. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" he asked. "Where have you sent the books, Loki?"

Loki tilted his face at the Allfather. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, still smiling at the older man. "I haven't seen any books since I have been brought here."

"I am sure that you didn't need to see them at all," Odin said, eyes narrowed at him. "I assume that you sent them to her." Odin took a step closer to the jail cell door. "You have no understanding of what she is, do you? You would stay far away from her if you did."

Loki rolled his eyes. "What are you so afraid of?" he asked, pushing himself further into the darkness of his cell. "She is just one person. What is it that brings the great Odin so much worry?"

"She would bring Ragnarok onto all of our heads!" Odin shouted. "That creature would bring about the end of the world!"

"What are you talking about?" Loki asked, glaring at him. There were some hints that she might be something more interesting than he initially suspected, but he truly had no clue as to what Odin was talking about.

"You truly do not know," Odin said, softer this time. "She is Surtur, the fire giant who would end the world."

That elicited a snort from Loki. "Really, I thought that you would come in with something better than bedtime stories," he said, ready to be done with this. "Surtur is a myth, a legend. If you want to frighten me away, you are going to have to do better than that."

"These are no lies, and she is no myth," Odin said, his voice staying in that now calm tone. "I am the one that sent her there, to Midgard. I wanted to prevent Ragnarok and that was the way I thought to do it." Odin looked down at the floor. "This was before you and Thor were born."

"You mean before I was adopted," Loki snarled. "Why am I not shocked by more secrets?" He stood up from where he was hiding, moving toward the cell door. "They call me the liesmith but all you have done my whole existence is lie!" She had once said to him that oblivion would be better than her existence, as she had no understanding of who she was or why she was how she was. It was a sentiment that he understood.

"I did what I thought was right!" Odin yelled at him.

"Oh, like I haven't heard that before!" Loki snapped right back. "The great Allfather, always doing what he thinks is right and yet seems to only make things worse. None of your plans ever go right! Why do you even still bother?"

"Sometimes I do not even know the answer to that myself," Odin said sadly.

As Odin walked away, guards came back into the cell. Loki wasn't surprised when they fitted him with the muzzle again. It was their best way of preventing him from using magic. He lost track of time. Frigga and Thor continued to visit, but now he couldn't respond back even if he wanted to. Odin stayed away, and for that, Loki was glad.

He wasn't sure how many days that he had been left like this when he felt magic pulling at him. He was relieved that Phoenix had figured out just exactly how to break him out of this miserable dungeon. The revenge that he had planned for the group of humans on Midgard would now include Odin as well. He would make sure of it. He could feel himself being pulled back to Midgard, and he could only laugh.