I was feeling in a very writer-y mood today, so I'm spitting you out another chapter today!
I noticed some grammatical errors in the first chapter that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet and probably never will fix, but I'm just pointing it out to lay my failures before you all ;) And also so you know I know, if you noticed!
He tightened his cloak around himself ask Odin approached, glaring slightly just for show. He was sure he'd have a lovely bruise on his head… But what did it matter, when nothing did? He didn't care anymore. Even his own brother hated him, he'd heard it in Thor's voice. It had been the vague hope that his brother would sit down, talk to him, listen to him. Understand him. But no… His own brother had given up on him, just when Loki had most wanted to beg him to take him back. He supposed he deserved it. He'd done so much wrong over the years… And besides, however brutal Asgardian punishment might be, it could never come close to Oriax. Tony was here, he thought to himself suddenly. Tony shouldn't be here, Odin might do heavens knows what to him. Surreptitiously, he leaned away from Tony, trying to rely more on his own feet than Stark's shoulder. The world spun slightly, and his head throbbed.
Odin was here, standing in front of him, face more furious than Thor's thundering tantrum storms. He probably thought he'd been back in New York to harm or even kill the avengers, and that the avengers had captured him. He looked carefully at Tony, whose iron mask slid up. His brown gaze met Odin's, just as strong and unyielding. "Man of Iron." Odin said simply, then turned. "Thor, we can't have mortals on Asgard – why did you bring him here?" Thor frowned, looking at Tony angrily. "I didn't. He followed me into the Bifrost after attempting to stop me taking my brother back to the justice he deserves."
Loki hadn't thought he could crumble inside any more, but the words hit him somewhere deep inside, further tearing up the shreds of the shreds of his heart. Odin gave a thoughtful nod, then made a gesture towards Tony. "Guards," he commanded, and four of them stepped forwards. Loki took a step forwards, eyes flashing slightly, opening his mouth. "Silence!" Odin roared, raising his staff in his hand and banging it down on a floor. Loki felt his father's magic wash over him and suddenly a golden clamp appeared around his mouth, a solid weight preventing him from speaking. Tony raised his hands as if he were about to shoot the guards, but Loki put an arm across his and pushed down, forcing Tony to lower them. Both of them glared daggers at Odin, who simply pointed to the guards to take Tony to the side of the hall. Loki would have murdered Odin – had he the strength – when he noticed Tony had a similar mouthpiece. He managed to stand by himself and look Odin in the eye.
"You escaped from your cell here. You defied my justice. You have failed me as a son, no matter your true parentage. I can no longer treat you as my own." Slowly, the mouthpiece vanished, but Loki still said nothing. "Fifteen lashes and an extension of two hundred years on his sentence. See to it." Loki felt rather than saw Tony's indignance as he elbowed a guard in the gut, shaking his head violently. Odin glared at Stark. "Put the mortal in for company, too." And now Loki was indignant too, because no way was he going to let Tony live out his life in some Asgardian prison because of him. "No." he stated simply, voice low and quiet, letting Odin turn back round. "Oh?" his father asked. "Twenty-five lashes and he goes free." Odin smirked, but it was mirthless. His eyes glittered with disgust and anger. "But not back to Midgard." Loki's eyes flashed again. Odin made as if to leave, and then Loki decided there was only one way that he could make Odin see reason, and ensure Tony would be able to return to Midgard. "I'll let you into my mind. I'll let you see my memories," he whispered, even quieter than before.
Odin whirled round, eyes widening. Loki had never let anyone into his mind, ever. Only his mother, when he was younger, and only when it was absolutely necessary in his magic instruction. He'd known this would appeal to his father, because it was so… Uncalled for. So intriguing, and Odin always wanted to know the reasons for things. "The lashes first." Odin commanded, and Loki nodded, relieved that they had come to a bargain. Even if he would have to face the whip again much sooner than he'd hoped, or even contemplated on. The guards tried to pull Tony back, but he shrugged them away and glared so hard at them that they must have decided to leave him alone. Good. They wouldn't mess with him. A few more guards peeled away from the walls and led him outside to the square. He could hear Tony's – and Tony's guards' – footsteps behind him. He didn't particularly care that he was going to be given his lashes in public. It didn't matter anymore. When he looked inside, all he saw was numbness, and the urge to keep Tony alive, safe and happy.
There was a small building on the side of the square where he would be permitted to change. With remarkable speed, the guards attached heavy chains to the large, usually decorative post in the middle of the square. His stomach twisted as he remembered, remembered everything. But twenty-five lashes only, and not delivered by her. So, he didn't say a word as he walked into the small room and stripped himself down, donning the plain tunic and pants they had given him. He wrapped his beloved cloak around his shoulders, determined to hang onto it to the last moment. The guards were there as he emerged, immediately seizing him and roughly dragging him to the post. They ripped the cloak away from him, and hesitated. The tunic he'd been given had short sleeves, revealing his mangled arms in all their scarred, malnourished glory. He heard them mutter uneasily. One of them, eyeing the deep claw marks down his left arms, looked faintly sick, but nonetheless, the demonstrated perfect Asgardian logic. "Illusion," they grunted between themselves, then as soon as they were done backed away a little too quickly. Loki twisted his hands inside the manacles. They were loose enough that he could move them slightly, though they still rubbed on his scars a little. Not as tight as Oriax's, though they would still bite a that he was used to the feeling of chains, manacles, and the expectation of pain. He heard the crack of the whip behind him and jerked reflexively, the memories coming back. He forced his breathing to stay slow and measured.
A crowd was gathering. Focus on that. There was no sign of… Of his mother. Frigga. Thor and Odin, together on the balcony. But no Frigga. She probably did not know. Another crack and the first lash hit his back, drove the breath out of his, the memories surging back in the place of the air. He struggled with himself before his vision cleared and the pain sliced through his body. It was oddly refreshing, sharpening his focus rather than dulling it. Again. A brief surge of memories more easily pushed down with the pain helping him focus. He didn't cry out, didn't even let his expression change as the whip came down again and again. It wasn't Oriax, he had to keep reminding himself, it wasn't her. Look at the crowd of jeering Asgardians. They were not her. Odin and Thor. Not her. Tony… Tony. He was… Crying. Loki could see the few tears from here as he struggled against the guards. Twenty, he counted in his head, as the whip struck again. He had made it to forty… Forty-seven or so with Oriax. Twenty was easy. It wasn't even the pain that made it easy, the pain was insignificant. It was just pushing down the awful memories and keeping the awful fire from flooding his veins again and again.
Twenty-five, easy. He hadn't cried out once. He was stained with enough blood to hide the scars. When the guards unshackled him, he grabbed his cloak from the floor and glared at them a little, before standing and wrapping it around himself. They just gaped at him, probably astounded by the fact that he could stand. They had no idea. No idea what he had suffered and still stood up from. He led the way back to his old cell, limping, leaving a trail of blood behind. But on the way there, just as he was passing through the great hall, he saw two figures. Heimdall and Frigga. His mother… Face filled with rage. For a moment, he was terrified that even his mother hated him now. But the rage was not directed at him. For himself, he made out… Grief, anguish… Love. He stumbled towards her but the world had suddenly started to spin and the last thing he recalled was her smooth hands catching him and lowering him gently to the floor as he collapsed.
Odin stormed in moments later, a furious Tony in tow. Though Tony's anger abated somewhat as he saw the obvious anguish with which the woman – presumably Frigga – handled Loki. She'd turned him over and was muttering something under her breath. A faint light emitted from her hands, and immediately the blood vanished, leaving behind twenty-five half-healed stripes on Loki's back. Frigga shrieked, literally shrieked, as she took in the mess of scars that wasn't from the past twenty-five lashes. Odin walked quickly up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's an illusion," he insisted firmly, then motioned to the guards, who led a shaking and gaping Frigga away. Odin glared at Heimdall, who closed his opening mouth with a snap. Loki was coming back to consciousness. He sat, though he was supporting himself heavily on the floor. He reached out a hand to Odin with a slight grimace on his face and Odin laid his hand over it. Almost immediately, Loki's face morphed into a silent scream and Odin's brow furrowed, then tuned into a horrified expression. Before becoming determined, and then Loki screamed for real, trying to jerk away from Odin, but some unseen force held them both in place. He pushed his guards away with an angry snarl and moved towards Loki, but Heimdall stepped in his way. "We cannot interfere with this spell," he murmured gently, a warm hand on Tony's shoulder. Frigga was yelling at her guards, until eventually they let her go and she half-ran, half-stumbled to where Tony and Heimdall stood. Odin's face grew in fury and desperation, then became almost pleased. Loki looked as if he were being ripped apart, before howling out an animalistic, "NO!" – which Odin must have ignored, as Loki went incredibly pale and collapsed on the floor, breathing shallow, eyes closed but moving wildly beneath their lids. The spell must have lost its grip because Odin stood, face rapt with horror and deep regret.
"Frigga… I… I'm sorry." A tear shone silver on his face before disappearing into his beard. He reached for his wife, but she swatted his hand away, tears sliding openly down her cheeks. "He has no magic!" she yelled at him. "I tried to tell you! Heimdall tried to tell you before all this, but you WOULDN'T LISTEN!" The last two words were screamed. Odin was shaking, too, and strode quickly to his throne before collapsing into it, face ashen. "What did you see?" she asked him. "You owe me this much, my husband. You just tore apart the mind of my son, this is the least you could do!" Odin shook his head quickly, then drew in a small breath and, recognising the truth of her words, stretched out a slightly reluctant hand to her. She walked towards it and took it. For about a minute, they were both still. Then, Frigga withdrew her hand, face calm but grave. "Thor will continue his instruction here," she announced. "Loki is to take his place on Midgard. I will explain everything to Thor, and then he will be able to see Loki." Odin simply nodded. "I should have seen it earlier, my dear Frigga. I… I apologise. I was wrong about… About so many things. I made Thor believe his brother to be… An awful person, not..." Frigga stared at him for a moment before embracing him, her own tears falling swift.
Tony walked over to Loki, feeling sick. Sick at what Loki's own father had done to him – but strangely glad he had apologised. Loki would be glad, he hoped, that he would be accepted into his family after this awful, awful mistake. Gently, he eased Loki up. He was still unconscious, still breathing too quickly, as if he were having a nightmare. He probably was. Stark made sure to put extra venom into his glare as he left the hall, Loki limp in his arms. Wordlessly, Heimdall followed, a hand on Tony's shoulder. He looked angry, too. Angry at the mistake that should never have been made. "I tried alerting Odin as soon as I saw Loki come through the portal some weeks ago. He… I told him Loki needed help. He said Thor would take care of it and sent me away, telling me never to let him hear me speak another word of the innocence of Loki. Banishing me to my post. I… I am sorry. I should have pressed him harder – shown him the truth…" Tony sighed slightly and shifted Loki in his arms. Heimdall was right, but he doubted that Odin would have listened. As they stood, about to leave to Midgard, someone ran up behind them. Frigga – with Loki's cloak. Tenderly, she draped it over him and pressed a small kiss to his forehead, before nodding at Tony, and stepping back.
For the second time that day, the Bifrost surrounded them and pulled them back to Midgard – right outside Avengers Tower. He entered quickly, hoping not to attract too much attention, and took the elevator to the common room. The elevator door opened on a rather surprised and immediately concerned Fury, who ushered Tony to the nearest sofa and helped him lay Loki down on it. Tony stepped out of his suit as the front of it opened, and he could have sworn Fury recoiled at the look on his face – still angry at Odin and Thor, the two of them. "Thor's staying in Asgard for now," he said curtly, then promptly flung himself down on the sofa opposite Loki's and felt his eyes slide close as he started to fall asleep, emotionally as well as physically exhausted. He didn't even have time to tell JARVIS to put the suit away, so it just stayed standing in the middle of the room, near Fury. Then he fell asleep completely.
Fury had to check Loki's pulse, he looked so death-like. Beating, but erratic. Banner, entering the room, halted as soon as he saw them. Fury motioned him over, inviting him to check over Loki. He did so, and Fury was amazed that the doctor managed to more or less contain his horror at he scars on Loki's back. Both their eyes narrowed as they noticed an amount of fresh whip marks, and Fury was pretty certain he'd throttle Thor the next time he would see him. He gripped Banner and they both left the pair to sleep, Banner appearing gravely calm, Fury barely able to control his anger.