Warnings: We're doing some torture flashbacks today, soooo...PG14, just to be safe. Lemme me know if you disagree.
Frantic eyes meet his own as a silent confirmation is made. The winds of Asgard billow off the edge of the bridge. The light of a thousand and one stars shine down. Soft leather slips through his fingertips.
Loki lets go.
Not for any inane reason such as suicide. He is rife with grief, but too angry to give anyone the satisfation of dying. He shall not die this day. No, Loki lets go for the simple reason of escaping. Ignoble, perhaps.
But then, when has Loki Odinson (Laufeyson!) ever been righteous?
If one were to listen to the Nobility, not since his first century.
How fortuitous, than, that Loki does not listen. Else he would be doomed to face the High Court's wrath.
Loki has traveled the paths between the branches for years. Born the insults and scrutiny that comes from the High Court for these ventures. And knows enough of those hidden cracks to aim his decent from the bridge just right. Will the others mourn his death? Oh, without a doubt, some will. However, Loki plans on returning one day. Asgard is his home, regardless of his bloodlines. He shall not abandon her people.
No, he will return when he has something greater to offer the All-Father than giving the High Court his blood.
Odin is king first, father second, and Loki will not burden him with this decision.
So, Loki lets go, to the screams of denial from his brother.
0/0/0/0
Thanos catches him some two years in.
It is his own fault.
One cannot walk the Paths Between without incuring some sort of injury to their fae, their mystic core. Loki is careful to never drop his guard completely in this darkened realm. He soothes his battered fae with whispered words of healing. He watches his steps before and behind him with careful eye.
He forgets to watch below.
It is there Thanos' agent finds him.
Loki cannot recall how it happens, only that it does, and he lives to regret it.
0/0/0/0
The raw power from the gem tears against his shields like an unyielding ocean; slow, steady, and at times violent. It chips away at his defenses as the salt of the sea cuts away the stone cliffs. He writhes in his bonds. His mind is so consumed by the invisible attacks that he cannot truly appreciate the physical punishments the Chitaeri rain down upon his body. His mind, after all, can only focus on so much.
It matters not.
Loki knows these physical attacks weaken his stength too.
He can to nothing to stop them.
0/0/0/0
In some of those rare rest bits, ones designed to allow his mind to acknowledge his body's pain, she comes to him. Tall, lithe, and green as an emerald, the Daughter of Thanos comes to kneel at his side. When first she came, Loki thought her another tormentor. Now, he knows she is so much worse. She teases him with tiny comforts, innocent in their own gesture.
"Give in," she tells him, gently pushing his hair back from his eyes. "Let him win."
"No. I cannot."
"Than you will suffer," she says with tired eyes. "And he will still win."
0/0/0/0
Her sister is not do subtle,
"You will aid us!" she screams, digging her metal fingers into his chest.
He gargles a defiant, sickly, "Never."
She does not give up.
Neither does he.
0/0/0/0
Now he has trouble telling reality from dream. It all melds together. The pain, the screams, the demands, the memories, they are all one. And why should they not be? Thanos is called the Mad Titan for a reason. He does not just breath forth his mad scemes and power. No, he infects those around him with an insanity. No one can be in his presence for too long without becoming affected.
0/0/0/0
He cannot...cannot...no! Think!
It isn't...isn't...
No! He will not give in! He cannot! Cannot...
He cannot...he will...no...he...
0/0/0/0
"Why fight this?" Green asks.
0/0/0/0
"Let me, Father," Blue says. "I shall break him for you."
0/0/0/0
They come for him. Master is displeased. Master has told them to hurt him again.
0/0/0/0
"Loki is dead," Master says.
"No! I am not!"
"But soon you will be."
0/0/0/0
They let him rest today. Master is happy with him. He has done a Good Thing. Master will let him eat...perhaps?
0/0/0/0
"Loki is dead," he tell Master.
"Perhaps." Master sits forward. "But I do not believe you. Take him back."
They grab his arms. They pull him away.
"No, Master! Please!" he begs. "Loki is dead!"
0/0/0/0
Bright. He cannot see.
Pain. Has he done a Bad Thing?
"Runt is sorry."
Hot. He can't breathe.
0/0/0/0
(Present time)
Sweat clings to his arms and chest. It pools beneath his legs, tangled as they are the the sheets, and makes his nightwear stick to his skin. Tears brim in his eyes as he yet again recounts his time with Thanos. So much lost. So much still missing.
His door slides open and a disheveled head pokes through.
He sighs. "Thor."
"I felt you call."
"Only a memory. An echo."
Thor sits at his side, never touching but always close. Loki loves him for that.
"He did not reply?" Loki asks, for there is a glimmer of new sorrow in his brother's eye.
Thor looks away with a shake of his head. Hard muscles ripple as Thor clenches his hands into fists.
Loki brushes his fingers against a white knuckle. "Do not blame him so. He must keep the peace, if Thanos is to be thwarted."
"How can you say so with no anger?"
"You carry enough anger for us both."
"Should I not?" Thor glances at him. "I am allowed to rescue my brother, only to watch him die."
"As king, you will be asked these sacrifices too."
"Than I shall not be king!" Thor roars.
Loki chuckles, his chest heavy with the struggle to breathe. "So impetuous, brother."
They sit there, silent in his gentle admonishment.
At last, Thor stirs. "You truly feel no ire to...Father?"
"I am too tired for anger."
Silence.
"But not too tired for disappointment," he whispers.
Wow, my angst-o-meter was on big time today.
Yes, it's short. But that's because I'm on my family's iPad and can only type so mych before my fingers die (they're pretty much there now). Plus, this is all that cane to me. I must say, I think it's one of my best angsters.
Thank you ALL for being so patient with me. I hope to get a new laptop by the end of this month.
Reviews would let me know I'm forgiven.