Thor didn't hear from Loki for another two weeks. He had the staff search the entire palace for him, and even turned his entire room upside down in search of any sign of him.

Nothing.

After a full fortnight with no word, the King was ready to set out a search party, when the young Jotun suddenly appeared, again. He was seated on the railing of Thor's balcony, staring with a vacant expression at the rising sun.

"Where have you been?" Thor gasped, grasping Loki's shoulders in desperation. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Tavros Vilison." Loki whispered in a hoarse, yet triumphant voice, a mischievous smirk adorning his lips. "Over two hundred slaves, Halgan district. Arrested two days ago. All slaves officially liberated."

"What are you talking about?" Thor demanded.

Loki's smirk stretched into a truly devilish grin. "You're welcome."

For a full minute, Thor's brain desperately tried to comprehend what his brother was talking about. All he could comprehend was how tired, beaten, yet victorious Loki looked. Bags under his sparkling eyes. Head held high, yet shoulders slumped under the burden of weariness. Bruises all across his skin, but the smile remained.

"You've been gone for two weeks." Thor breathed. "What happened to you?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "I did exactly what you told me not to. Put together a sting operation with the Einherjar, and pretended to be a slave for sale. I kept in contact with the guards, and when I had irrefutable proof, I sent for them." Loki slid his tongue over his dry, cracked, bleeding lips. "Took longer than I'd anticipated, but it was nothing I couldn't take."

Thor blinked in surprise. "You freed the slaves? It was…"

"Are you proud?" Loki smiled weakly, his knees buckling for a few seconds, and he collapsed forward into Thor's arms. "Sorry…" He whispered, "…Tired."

Thor wasn't sure whether to be impressed or furious. "But… I was so worried."

Loki straightened up, his cheeky smile returning. "I'm flattered. Please, may I go to bed, now?"

Thor picked him up gently, and distractedly carried Loki over to his room.

"I'm not an infant, you know." Loki noticed good-naturedly. "I'm not too tired to walk for myself."

"But I missed you." Thor protested, gently laying him down on his pillows. "Sleep well, now, alright?"

"Oh, I don't know." Loki yawned, pulling the quilt over himself. "I might just sneak out while you're not looking…" He was already asleep.

Thor quietly stood up, and crept out of the room, making sure to lock the door behind him. Sure, Loki could probably pick the lock, or something, but it was the thought that counted.

Two hundred slaves, in the Halgan district, Loki had said. Now free to make lives of their own. Yes, it had been worth it. Yes, it had been a noble and courageous thing for Loki to have done, but Thor couldn't help feeling frustrated at his brother.

In truth, he could have Loki arrested for rebellion against the throne. He could've died, out there, and he pretty nearly did.

And yet…

Two hundred slaves. Loki was a hero, really.

Thor sighed, and returned to his room. He couldn't really stop Loki, so all he could really do was try to help.

That afternoon, Loki awoke from his exhausted sleep, rather stiff, but no longer exhausted. Thor was busy in the throne room, so Loki returned to his room, and practiced his writing. As his pen moved over the paper, his mind wandered to the previous weeks he'd spent in bondage. Sure, at any moment, he could've mentioned how he was royalty, and gotten out of there faster than you could say "knife", but it was different, somehow. It was easier to bear the labor, the cussings, the beatings, when he knew what it was all for. When he wasn't just looking for the next opportunity to make his master look like a total idiot. He had a purpose, there, a mission, perhaps, and he refused to give up.

When the Einherjar had finally come in, guns blazing, Loki had been treading on extremely thin ice. Tavros Vilison had somehow caught a whiff of Loki's treachery, and had been watching him more attentively than ever. One more day, and he probably would've sniffed out exactly what Loki was up to. Probably not his identity, but definitely how Loki was intending tot urn him in.

For once, Loki was using his talent for scheming and lying for the law, not against it. He'd always been doing it for the betterment of the masses, (typically his own closer friends) but knowing that this was actually the Right Thing to do, it changed the game, a little. It made him bolder, but not so much that he was reckless. It encouraged him, and kept him going, even on the nights he lay awake, hunger gnawing at his stomach, and the chill biting his fingers.

He had to get out there, again. He had to be on the field, working for the underdogs, once more. It was the least he could do, having been given the position he had, with the knowledge of both sides of the kingdom, one might say.

Skimming his gaze over the atrociously crooked letters scrawled across the page, Loki grimaced in disgust. To be honest, he was better at being a slave than a prince.

What kind of prince couldn't even sign his own name?

Rolling his eyes in self-deprecation, the young Jotun stood up, and slipped into his light armor, then made his way to the courtroom. Walking briskly down the halls to the throne room, he hopped up the stairs to the throne's dais, and flopped into the chair on the left hand side of Thor's.

"Way to make a dignified entrance." Thor commented in a hushed voice, shooting him a sideways grin.

"What have we got going on?" Loki gestured out at the courtroom, where there appeared to be some sort of trial happening.

Thor glanced at the two arguing men, and with a sinking feeling, Loki recognized one of them as Tavros. Sure, he was in a position of authority over the man, now, but it was rather hard not to be afraid of someone who has had the power to whip you bloody in the past fortnight. "Your man's trial." Thor whispered. "He claims he's done nothing wrong."

"I object." Loki muttered, rolling his eyes. "That pervert's done everything wrong."

"I know." Thor allowed. "Now, prove it."

Loki watched as the former slaver spouted lie after highly obvious lie. Honestly, Tavros was a shame to all liars, with how transparent his fibs were.

It was a quite the satisfying moment, when he glanced up at the royal dais, and recognized Loki.

"Oops."

"Oops, indeed." Loki smirked triumphantly. "I call my first witness up to the stand – Oh, wait. It's me." He stood up, enjoying the attention. "I solemnly swear to tell the truth, unlike some fellows around here are doing, in accordance with the laws of Asgard."

The crowd fell silent, and Tavros' cheeks turned a ghastly white hue that didn't suit him at all.

"As a former slave, myself, I figured I'd be the best option for my little sting operation. I can hereby testify that Tavros Vilison is, indeed, keeping slaves, since he technically bought me." Loki began. "Not only has he been keeping slaves, which has become illegal in Asgard since King Thor's coronation, he's also been abusing them, and I have the marks to prove it."

"Lies!" Tavros stammered, nervous sweat beading on his forehead. "I liberated my slaves the day His Highness ordered me to!"

"Then, how do you explain this?" Loki pulled a slip of paper out of his coat pocket. "Your Highness, witness exhibit A. My receipt."

Thor snorted in laughter, as he read the slip of paper aloud. "This document serves to verify that Loki Silvertongue has been sold to Tavros Vilison for a sum total of 500 gold pieces. Signed- Tavros Vilison." Thor laughed in amusement. "That's a pretty large sum."

Loki shrugged easily. "He apparently thought I was worth it. That is his signature, after all."

"How did you get that, you little rat?" Tavros demanded, his face pale and nervous.

"Swiped it on Wednesday. While you were pinning to the wall by my throat, remember?" Loki shrugged. "Gentlemen of the jury, I hereby accuse Tavros Vilison of slave holding, abuse, assault, perjury, and hurting my feewings."

A ripple of laughter swept over the court room.

"Honestly, 'little rat'?" Loki placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "That's just insulting!"

"How do you plead?" Thor put an end to the theatrics.

Tavros muttered something undiscernible.

"Insane?" Loki dead-panned. "I believe it."

"I said, not guilty." Tavros huffed. "Why must you insist on my humiliation?"

Loki folded his arms imperiously, but didn't deign to answer. "Jury?"

"He's guilty, your Highness!" They chorused. "Guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Thor sighed, and sent an amused glance at his brother. "One 'guilty' would have sufficed, I think. Guards, take him down to the dungeons."

The next week, Loki was gone, again.

Again, Thor searched high and low for him, but this time, having knowing where he went, wasn't too concerned. Loki reappeared after a week, naturally, and after a few hours of sleep, was right as rain.

It grew into a bit of a habit. A very nerve-wracking habit for Thor, to be sure, since he couldn't help worrying over Loki's welfare when he was missing. They were brothers, after all.

It had been quite a few months of this back-and-forth sometimes here, sometimes not action, when Thor found a handful of Einherjar conversing among themselves, readying themselves as if for battle.

"Good day, soldiers." He approached them cheerfully.

"Your Highness!" They all started guiltily, of one accord.

Thor knew they were up to something, it was obvious. "Where are you off to?"

"Training fields!" On man blurted.

"Hunting!" Said another.

Thor narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Which is it?"

They glanced at each other guiltily. "We can't tell him." Thor heard one distinctly whisper. "Loki told us he'd flay us alive…"

"You're going to get my brother, aren't you?" Thor deduced, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

The whole group slumped in defeat. "Yes, your Highness." One of the older ones confirmed. "But he ordered us not to tell you."

Thor clapped his hands in delight. "Can I come along?"

At least three of the soldiers groaned aloud, and all of them appeared to be far more irritated. "Your Highness…" One of them began, in an attempt to explain. "Prince Loki told us not to let you know, or you'd want to join us. We… we really don't want to make him mad, so…"

"I see." Thor smiled understandingly. "Well then, I'll take the entire brunt of his wrath. Shall we go?"

The Einherjar glanced uneasily at each other. "Very well…"

TheOnlyHuman.