Chapter 39: Mind and Love

Warning: contains a deleted scene from one of the movies. Just find it. Also contains a flashback from earlier in this story.

Wanda took her time to ponder Thor's question. She looked at Steve and Loki too. Steve looked back at her, but Loki kept his eyes down. Then, he turned toward her. And finally, she gave answer.

"If Loki agrees, I will. But I will also take you and Steve with me. You need to know it is an invasion of privacy. It will reveal the most honest truth there is. It is painless though."

Thor, then Steve, then Wanda looked at Loki.

"I have nothing to hide. I would prefer if not too many people were to see inside my mind, but I do agree," said Loki.

oOo

In the royal hall of New Asgard, there were just Thor, Steve, Wanda and Loki, as well as Heimdall, but he was just observing. The four of them were sitting in circle on the ground, Wanda in front of Loki.

"Now, this will be weird for you. Steve, Thor, you need to touch me. My shoulders would do fine. The physical contact would allow you to come with me inside Loki's mind. Now, Loki, you won't have control once I'm inside. I will have full control. Thor, you want to see inside Loki's mind. So what, exactly, do you want to see?"

"I want to know if he might betray us in the future. I want to know if he had learned enough to be set free," said Thor.

"And Steve, you want to partake that experience?"

"We will need another witness," said Thor. "I cannot be the only one."

"If Loki accepts, I will do it," said Steve.

"Loki, you still can refuse," said Wanda nicely.

"I accept. I doubt I will be set free, but I don't feel like betraying anyone," said Loki. "I have learned."

Wanda breathed in deeply.

"Okay, there we go!"

Thor and Steve grabbed her shoulders and she enchanted Loki with red magic. From Loki's perspective, it felt like a sea of red smoke came upon him.

oOo

He saw Thor, younger. There were in Asgard. Frigga was there too. And Odin. Just a peaceful family. Just love all around and no drama. It was so good to see them.

"Mama," said young Loki. "Thor!"

"Thor, be careful with your brother," warned Frigga seeing Thor running.

"Thor," called Loki happily.

"First, we are going to see all important moments of Loki's life and see the people he truly loves," said Wanda's voice like it was coming from outside.

Red smoke covered his eyes and he next saw Thor at his coronation, or rather, right before, while they were waiting. Someone handed Thor his helmet and Loki looked at it.

"Ooh. Nice feathers," said Loki.

Thor chuckled.

"You don't really want to start this again, do you, cow?"

"I was being sincere," defended Loki.

"You are incapable of sincerity," said Thor.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"I've looked forward to this day as long as you have. You're my brother and my friend. Sometimes I'm envious, but never doubt that I love you," said Loki.

"Thank you," said Thor touching Loki's horned helmet.

And they all felt Loki's emotions at that moment. He deeply loved his brother. And they all knew he had been sincere.

The scene changed again and they all saw Odin banished Thor from Loki's perspective, but they all felt a deep despair and knew Loki did not mean for his trick to go as far as to banish Thor.

Then, the red mist came back and they saw a big royal hall from the throne. Loki was now king but all they could feel was heaviness. They felt the weight of responsibilities and they knew Loki did not want to be king, but also loved it.

The next scene was later in time, on top of Stark tower when Thor confronted Loki. They were fighting and for Thor, it was weird to see the fight from his brother's point of view, to kind of see and feel a younger Loki fighting a younger version of Thor.

"Look at this. Look around you," said Thor. "You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"It's too late," said Loki like he was waking up from a dream. "It's too late to stop it."

And it was too late. Loki knew the war had started. It was too late for him to go back to Asgard and tried to regain his previous life. He had given in what Thanos had promised him.

"No. we can, together," said Thor holding his hammer.

But the mind control took back over and Loki stabbed Thor.

Next step was during the painful Hulk smashing. Then, they all felt something breaking inside Loki's mind. The link between him and Thanos had broken. Great!

They could feel Loki's emotions and it was intense. Loki knew he was guilty and in big trouble. He knew he had lost Thor's love. He had lost Thanos's trust. He had lost the war, but that did not matter. Loki then tried to shield himself and protect his emotion by pretending he did not care.

The next stop was colder. They felt cold and saw blue hands in front of them. Loki's Jotun hands. Loki was holding a baby, and he just felt true love. It was deep and like nothing else. They knew Loki loved Alex, but it was more intense than they thought.

The red mist came back and took them to the compound. Loki was still blue and still holding a baby, but it was Storm this time. They just felt fatherly love for the baby.

Then, they saw a lot of flashes passing fast and felt a lot of love coming from Loki. It was like a firework of small moments, flashes of Loki's life at the compound with the other Avengers and the children. The love was different for each individual, but Loki, in a way, loved every one of them. Steve was more present in those flashes, but Tony, Bruce and Wanda were there a lot, but the love felt more like a deep trust. When it was a flash of Thor, the love was more intense and warm. And, of course, those who were the most present in those flashes were Alex and Storm. They were clear in those flashes, just happy and smiling. And Loki loved them so much.

"Loki," said Wanda's voice from all around. "That love is important to you, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Loki. "Yes, I love them."

"Do you realise that, if you were to do something wrong, you would lose their love and appreciation?"

Images of Loki alone in his cell at the compound arrived. He was alone and thinking about Alex during his first real punishment. Oh, he just wanted to be with his son and he promised himself he would never misbehave again, just so his son won't suffer the consequences. Then, the scene fast forward to Alex's visit in that other room. At the end of the visit, Loki hugged his son once last time and kissed him. Then, he set his son on his feet. Sam took Alex's hand and they both left the room.

"How did it go," asked Steve.

"It went well, but I realise how much me being punished is affecting him. Mister Rogers, I swear I will be a good... an obedient prisoner and you won't have the need for the cell anymore. I promise. I will do anything not to leave Alex again."

"I know you will. Time to go back to your cell."

Loki followed Steve out of the room and on the way to his cell.

The red mist engulfed the scene, and it was just red.

Loki meant his promise.

"I don't want to lose their love. I will never betray them," said Loki.

"Would there be any reasons why you would betray Thor, New Asgard or the Avengers," asked Wanda.

"Only one," answered Loki. "I would do anything for Alex and Storm, even betray others. But that's the only reason, I swear!"

Thor, Steve and Wanda knew the answer was truthful.

"Loki, have you learn your lesson," asked Wanda.

The mist opened on a new flashback. Loki's sentence!

"Loki Odinson, I take away from you your name, your rank, your freedom and I hereby made you a slave. Given your crimes in three different realms, you will serve all three of them. On the completion of your training, you will be sent to Midgard where you will serve those you offended for 1500 years. After which, you will be sent to Jotunheim to serve those you offended there for another 1500 years. Only once those services had been rendered, will you come back to Asgard to serve for the remaining of your life as a common slave," declared Odin.

"I wish for you to put the well-being of others before your own, to learn humility and responsibilities. I wish for you to learn to respect others and to know they are neither better nor worse than you. I wish for you to learn to respect not only asgardians, but jotnar and midgardians and to accept everyone without judgement. I wish for you to accept things you cannot change and to know the power of responsibilities. I wish for you to learn when it's time for mischiefs and when it's time to obey. I wish for you to learn discipline and control over yourself. I wish for you to repair what you have broken.

"As a slave, you will be under the slave bond with your future master. That also means you won't be able to use your magic without a direct order from your master. If you show you have learned as you should, then maybe, your sentence can be changed. But you need to pay for the damages you have caused and the lives you have taken. I doubt your sentence will ever change, but I also wish you could prove me wrong.

"Now, before you go back to Midgard for your servitude, you first must go through training. Three years during which you shall learn the proper behaviour of a slave,"

The flash ended as the mist covered everything once again.

Loki just hoped, with all he had, that the next flash would not be his training. He did not want to relive that! And they could all feel he did not want to go there.

When the mist opened again, it was just Loki and Odin on a balcony behind the throne room.

"I doubt your sentence will ever change, but I also wish you could prove me wrong," said Odin. "You had proven me wrong, Loki, because you changed. I phrased this part that way because I was hoping you would prove me wrong, and you did."

"But I have not done it all," said Loki. "I have not repaired all the damages I caused. I have not repair what I have broken."

"No," said Odin. "And this is why I won't change your sentence during my reign, but I hope my successor might have the chance."

"You want Thor to change my sentence," realised Loki.

"You are not ready yet, but I know you will. And you know you are not ready to get your freedom, but you will, one day, once I'm gone. Now, I know you have learned a lot from the midgardians, I just hope Asgard will learn from their way of living. There is so much more for Asgard to learn and an alliance with the midgardians will be worth it."

"You send me on Midgard to form an alliance," realised Loki.

"No, it was not part of the plan, it was mostly part of the consequences of the plan," said Odin, "but it is worth it. You know more about the humans than most of our citizens, I just hope you could share it eventually."

Loki did not know what to say about all of this.

"Loki, you are my son. Now you know about the weight of the responsibilities of being a father," said Odin. "It is a heavy mantle and I am proud of you, my son. All children are different and unique. I knew you were different from Thor. I never treat you equally, but I always gave you equal chances. Do you remember the magic lessons you got when Thor was still learning how to control his powers? Different individuals, equal chances."

In that moment, he understood he had become a better person because of his children, he understood his father had found a way to punish him and to make him learn so he would have a way out of his misery. By not sentencing Loki to the death penalty, like so many expected, Odin had given Loki an opportunity to not only learn from his own mistakes, but from others' mistakes as well. Odin's plan had worked to perfection.

"Thank you, father," said Loki.

"You did it yourself. And I am so proud of you. I was expecting you to grow, to change during your sentence. I was worried when you took longer to complete your training, but once you start to understand, you changed. I was not expecting you to change so fast once on Midgard, so I am proud of you, very proud.

'Being a father is not a title, it is a responsibility,' said Odin. 'Same with being a king. Being a king is a heavy job. As a father, you need to put the well-being of your children first, not necessarily their desires. As a king, you need to put the well-being of your people first. You can be so much more, and I know you can be good at whatever you choose to be.

"Now, there is information I need to transmit to both you and Thor," said Odin.

The mist closed again. For a while, all four of them just hang in a void of dark-red smoke.

"Thor, does that answer your questions," asked Wanda's voice.

Loki felt like he was floating, like he could not feel his body, but he could feel the presence of the others.

"Yes, it does. Odin wanted me to set Loki free once Loki would be ready," said Thor's voice. "But, I'm curious, could you show us the slave bond, please, Wanda?"

"I can try."

It was an even weirder sensation, like a powder showing an invisible laser in the dark. Loki knew magic, and it was unusual to see the magical link, but there it was, two links coming out of nowhere, twisting themselves around two distinct parts of Loki's mind.

"What are those," asked Steve who was not familiar with magic.

"The one that seems double is the link between master and slave allowing both of us always to know the exact position of the other," answered Loki. "It goes both ways because I can know your position and you also know where I am."

"And the other is the magic block," said Thor in a deeper voice.

"It is a single tread coming in because it doesn't need a way out," explained Loki.

"It's beautiful," said Wanda.

"Yes, the bond between master and slave is a powerful one," said Thor. "Ancient magic, and it is beautiful. Although, this one is not as beautiful."

"It has decayed," completed Loki.

"What does that mean," asked Steve.

"Well, the position link is not as healthy as it should be. We barely use that one to find each other, so it is not being used a lot. You know I am always at the compound and it's rare I need to find you," explained Loki. "There is the decay of not being used. However, the other link is stranger. Coming out, it is rusty, but where it is holding me and preventing me from doing magic, it is very strong and very healthy."

"But what does it mean," asked Wanda.

"It means Steve doesn't want to control Loki's magic," said Thor. "Neither of them uses the position link, so it is decaying. But only Loki is keeping on the magic bond. With time, the position link would go away if neither of them keep it healthy. Loki, how often do you think of the fact that you don't have your magic?"

"Nearly every day. I miss my magic so much, you have no idea," answered Loki.

"And friend Steve, how often do you think of Loki as your slave?"

"Not often," said Steve. "He should not be a slave."

"It would explain it. Loki is keeping that part of the link very strong, while you, friend Steve, are doing nothing to keep it healthy," said Thor.

"So magic is alive," said Wanda.

"Magic is always alive," said Loki. "The illusion works until it drops, until people stop believing in it."

"I am ready to give my verdict," said Thor.

And then, Loki felt like he was put back inside his body. It felt like coming out of the water, without being wet. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Thor and Steve sharing the same expression.

"That was weird," said Steve.

"Indeed it was," said Thor. "Do you do that often?"

"No. Only with Vision so far. And I tested it with Pietro once."

"It's a propriety of the mind stone to be able to see people's mind," confessed Loki. "I got it used on me and I used it on others. The stone gave you some of its powers, but you also have more. You are very powerful, Wanda."

"Well, I told the people to come back at 2 pm, so let's have lunch," said Thor. "Then, I will give my verdict."

oOo

Thor had to stay impartial, so he went to eat with Valkyrie and Heimdall. The rest of the Avengers had gone into town at the restaurant and they already had eaten when Steve, Wanda and Loki arrived. So the three of them eat together while the Avengers were at the park and playground right across the restaurant.

Pepper was still babysitting Alex and Storm who were playing. Well, Alex was playing in the modules while Storm was playing in the sand. Beside Pepper, Tony was looking at them.

"Do you ever think about it," asked Tony.

"About what," asked Pepper.

"This. Kids, family life. Something just nice and calm. No bad guy, just peace. And a little one or two running around."

"Is this your way of asking for children? Would the great Tony Stark settle down and have kids?"

"Well, I proposed. We still have to plan a wedding one day."

"I told you, I want something simple. My mother, our close friends, no one else."

"The Avengers are our close friends, right?"

"Yes, they are, but not the whole town."

oOo

"Nervous?"

They were eating in silence. Wanda was spent from her magic performance and was not sure she would attend the rest of the audience. Loki had also been silent because he was just thinking. And Steve had noticed.

"Odin wanted Thor to be the one changing my sentence. I despised Odin for so long, but I can relate to him. He was not so bad after all. Being king is a heavy mantle and he was wise. But there is always a reason for everything he does. I am thinking that he wanted the asgardian to see Thor in a specific light when he would resentence me. Odin knew Hela and Ragnarok were coming, he knew Asgard would most likely be destroyed. He also knew that by sending me to Midgard, it would solidify the alliance between our two realms. He planned and he wanted something specific. I think he could not change Asgard's laws about slavery and push Thor to be the one to do it at the beginning of his reign. The people are supporting Thor, and they are adapting to Midgard. This is the right time to abolish slavery. Odin places the pieces on the chess board, but Thor will win."

"So you think Thor will set you free," asked Steve.

"No, he should not. But his decision is of the upmost importance. It will affect how his people see him. If he set me free with nothing, they will think him far too lenient. If he let me in bondage, they will think him a strict king to be feared. He will need to be fair and just, to be worthy of his title of king."

"So, you are nervous for him, not for you?"

"For both of us. Vision talked about the multiverse and its possibilities. Thor will decide which path we are taking now and it will have a huge impact on New Asgard for generations."

oOo

Just before 2 o'clock, people were entering the royal hall once again. The plan was to listen to the few who still have something to say, and then Thor would give his verdict.

"Does anyone else have anything to say in this affair," asked Thor to the assembly.

A few asgardians still had their piece to say. Loki thought they would all say bad things about him, about how he should remain a slave, but it was not that bad, in the end.

"I was a royal servant back on Asgard," said one. "Prince Loki never treated us like our station called for, he was always nice to us and always use our names. I was suspicious when he asked my name the first time, but he used it not out of anger, but to make things more personal. I was afraid to mess up something with a royal Prince, but he was always nice, and the day I did spill water while watering the flowers, he just let it go and made the water evaporate with his magic. He cleaned up my mistake and did not even seem angry."

"I knew he was stealing food from the kitchen," said the former head chief of the royal kitchen, "but I also noticed he would sometimes cast a cleaning spell on the dishes. And for that, I am grateful. He made our job easier by cleaning up."

"Every warrior knows that saving a life in battle is not a life debt, but Prince Loki save my life in battle and those of my comrades. The situation was desperate and he made a wall appeared to shield us from our attackers. Everyone says that the use of magic is trickery in battle, but Loki is a trickster and I am grateful he used his magic to save us."

"He did betray all of Asgard, but during Ragnarok, he is the one who encourage many of us to leave our house and find cover. He urged us to go toward the bifrost. I believe Loki, even when he was a slave, did a lot for Asgard. It's kind of balancing the good and the bad."

Then, no one had anything to add.

"Since the slave used to be a prince of Asgard and my brother, I cannot make the decision alone. My friends here will help me reach a unanimous decision. We will be back with the verdict in a short time."

Thor, Valkyrie and Heimdall disappeared behind closed doors. During the deliberations, everyone just stayed in the room. The only people missing was Pepper and the children, but Loki preferred it that way. A trial would only bored the children and he trusted Pepper.

After a while, Thor, Heimdall and Valkyrie came back. They stood in front of the audience who just stopped talking, ready to listen. Thor was holding mjolnir in his hand like his father was holding his spear.

"I will now state the decision."