The months had drawn one into another in an endless monotone of existence that was not life.

And Odin brought him forth again.

They argued. As they always argued.

Odin accusing and asking.

Loki accepting and defending. Never answering.

Finally, Odin drew up on his throne, and Loki felt all the light sucked out of the room and gathering, ready to strike.

"There is nothing that can be done." Gungnir rang against the tiled floor. "Take him back to his cell."

Suddenly, awfully, Loki knew that he could not go back. He couldn't face that cell again.

He lurched forward, and, startled at his own movement he stammered, "No – Father – wait."

All this time, not once had Loki called Odin 'Father'.

That gave the AllFather pause. Odin eyed him curiously. "There is more you would say to me?"

Dizzy heat flushed through his body. Wavering, he lowered to his knees. "Yes," he managed.

Above him, Odin made some motion to the guards, biding them away.

Sick and trembling, Loki opened his palm against the pattern of the tiles. It felt cold, and very, very far away from him.

"What is it that Loki would say?"

He didn't have it in him to take offense at the mockery of Odin's tone. His breaths rasped as he forced himself to raise his head. But he would not meet Odin's eye. He couldn't.

"….I…didn't," he swallowed thickly, gulping back the nausea, "…find them."

When he opened his eyes, Odin was watching him. There was no expression on his face and Loki steeled himself, turning his head away. Shame rose from the pit of his stomach and slid up his neck, but his desperation was stronger.

"I was…taken," he managed, thickly. Images flashed behind his eyes. Phantom pains jerked along the nerves of his arms and he dug his fingers against the ground. "They were working for another. They…kept me. For nearly a year," his breath hitched raggedly and he pressed his eyes shut.

"They wanted nothing," he continued at length, softer. "They never spoke to me. There was no end until…" he raised his head, unconcerned with the tears that streaked his face. "I found the Tesseract," he said. "I promised them I could get it. For a little price. A little world. I…I needed to buy time," his voice faded to a whisper, "and find a way to get a message to you…"

"A message?" Odin asked. "What message?"

"There," Loki dragged a shuddering breath, "is something out there," he said. "Something unlike anything even you have faced before."

Odin did not speak for what felt like a long time. Finally, Loki raised his head.

The AllFather was not looking at him. "This danger is great?"

"Yes."

"To withhold," Odin said slowly, "such warning, could be deemed treason."

Loki watched him levelly, but he couldn't bear the weight of his gaze and after a moment he shut his eyes.

"And I suppose that you brought your war on the mortals only to warn them?" Odin asked.

Loki winced, though he did not open his eyes. Tears burned his face.

"You kept your casualties to a minimum, relying on the fervor of your forces to blind them to your tactic."

"It…" he said, lowly, through streaking tears, "was my intention."

"You would plead your innocence in the events for which you were imprisoned?"
"No." He opened his eyes and looked at his father. "Not innocence."

"If not innocence," Odin gave a slight shake of his head, "then what?"

"I…" something shuddered inside his lungs and he doubled toward the ground. His hand came up and covered his eyes. Re-claiming himself he pushed it back down, grinding out, "I. Don't. Know."

"What proof have you? Beyond your words?"

"None." Loki put his head back to bare his throat and face his father. "I have none."

"Then why should I believe your word, above the words of my Gatekeeper?"

"Because I got past him!" Loki shouted. "If I – in his very realm – could sneak into the halls of your greatest enemy – What is to stop a threat outside of Yggdrasil to hide itself from him?"

Odin's face did not change. "What did you tell them?" he asked.

Loki's breath rushed in his throat.

"When they broke you," Odin shifted to lean forward on his throne. "What secrets did you babble in your pain?"

Flashes of light spun around his head, and Loki felt that he was falling again. Falling, and he could not breathe.

Then Odin's face was directly beside his. "What is his name?"

Thanos.

Loki woke. His face was wet with tears, his throat raw and his breaths shuddering.

Bitterly taking in the confines of his cell, Loki sat up and put his feet onto the solid ground. He wrapped one arm around himself, gathering back the jagged edges of his breath. His jaw ached from how tightly he had closed his teeth.

The hand he put over his face was cold.