Chapter 2: Know Your Place

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A/N: Chapter deals with an awkward subject, but it hints to something the future chapters.

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Nightmares were a never-ending struggle for Loki, even before the Void. It stemmed way back to childhood. Countless nights of waking up screaming and the tears that followed. It was nothing new.

Tonight, was no different. Loki awoke in a panic, sweat dripping down his face. He gasped for air as he tried to calm himself. The digital clock next to his bed only said 11:00 pm. Loki sighed; it hasn't been more than three hours since he laid down.

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Loki realized how parched he was. The nightmares always left him breathless and his throat raw. At least tonight he wasn't screaming in his sleep. Loki threw his legs over the bedside to go in search for water. JARVIS must have sensed his motion as the lights back on.

-Is everything alright?- The computer asked, effectively startling the god.

"…Yes," Loki took a deep breath and sighed, "Everything is fine."

-Your heart rate seems abnormally high. Shall I contact Dr. Banner to examine you?-

"No," he snapped before calming down, "No, that won't be necessary."

All he wanted was some water and to crawl back in bed with the hopes that no more bad dreams will come. Over on the table, Thor left a plastic pitcher of water and a stack of paper cups. Cursing at their lack of trust in him to have any glass, Loki went over and poured himself a cup. He finished it in one go. The cool water felt good coating his parched throat, as well as helping ease his queasy stomach. He downed a few more cups before heading back to bed. Exhausted, Loki crawled back under the covers and snuggled in. He felt a little calmer now. Even though, the dreams were still fresh in his mind. After he was tucked under the protection of the sheets, lights slowly turned off. For some reason… this made Loki anxious.

"Wait," Loki called up to the ceiling.

-Is there a problem?- JARVIS replied.

"Just… don't turn the lights all the way off."

The AI did as was told and left the lights on a low glow. This helped ease Loki's panic, even though it was rather childish. He tried to keep his mind busy on something positive- which is impossible to do to the fact nothing in Loki's life was going well. He then remembered the food Thor brought tonight. It was so good. At that moment of time, it was pleasant, especially when Thor wasn't talking.

Soon enough Loki began to drift off. Before he let sleep take him, he prayed to the Norns to have just a dreamless sleep and to wake up feeling somewhat refreshed.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case tonight.

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Loki awoke after another dream. This one was just as bad. Again, he was in a panic, covered in sweat. His breathing eased as his senses could feel the sheets beneath him. This occurrence was getting very old, very fast. Loki debated whether or not to just stay up the rest of the night. He glanced at the clock to see how long he slept.

[2:00am]

Feeling like it was still too early to stay up, Loki just decided to go to the restroom and try laying down one last time. It took a little more effort to ease out of bed. Sleeping seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect on Loki.

-Are you sure you don't require assistance?- JARVIS asked again, once again causing the god to jump.

"No," he growled back.

The god dragged his feet to the bathroom door. He cursed himself for downing so many cups of water before going back to bed. Feeling gross from sweating so much, he thought he might as well splash his face with cold water since he was in there.

"Computer," Loki called out, his voice still groggy, "Open the door."

-I'm afraid I cannot do that.-

Loki cocked his head up at the ceiling and furrowed his brow, "And why not?"

-Mr. Stark orders were that you needed someone to be present to use it.-

Loki swore under his breath. He forgot all about that new rule.

-Would you like me to contact one of the Avengers to come assist you?- JARVIS asked.

If it was worse enough when Thor came in every once in a while, to allow him to use it, now he's got to ask? The very thought made his blood boil. Loki's punishment was to redeem himself, not be humiliated.

"That will not be necessary," Loki huffed, "Just allow me access."

-I'm sorry but, as I said before, I cannot go against commands.- JARVIS's voice didn't sway with his answer.

Loki could feel the pain in his abdominal increasing by the minute. He leaned against the wall, resting his head back. The last thing he wanted to do was beg this 'ceiling servant' to allow him access.

"It will only be a moment…" the god sighed.

-Then I will contact Mr. Odinson to come over.-

"No!" Loki snarled. He spun around and started pounding on the door. The Avengers removed the handle, so brute force was the only way he could try to open it.

-You are making this unnecessarily difficult on yourself.-

"Don't patronize me, you infernal device!" he snapped, going back to hitting.

Loki almost doubled over from another surge of pain. He finally admitted that JARVIS wasn't going to let him in without someone here. He, in no way in Hel, was going to piss himself out of sheer stubbornness. Loki wanted that shred of dignity to stay in tack.

The god sighed and gave in. Obviously, there was only one person he'd even consider- his damn brother. Cursing under his breath, Loki looked up at the ceiling.

"Contact Thor to come down," he paused, "But do not tell him the circumstances."

-Very well.-

He just begged he'd get the message to him fast. In the meantime, Loki grit his teeth in agony and continued to hate himself for his past actions.

The static of JARVIS returned.

-Mr. Odinson seems to not want to wake.-

"Dammit, Thor…" Loki hissed, shutting his eyes in pain. He should have known it would be impossible to wake him. This whole thing was a lost cause.

-Instead, I forwarded to message to Master Stark since he is still awake in his lab.-

Loki's eyes snapped open to the response.

"You did what?!"

-He's on his way over now.-

Panic immediately filled him. Out of all the people Loki wanted, JARVIS had to send him. Out of sheer desperation the god would have even taken Rogers or Banner instead. Realizing he was only in his underwear, Loki dashed back to the chair his clothes were on. He threw them on as fast as he could without putting too much pressure on his bladder. He thankfully just finished fastening his trousers when the room door started to unlock.

The door opened, revealing Tony. He looked pissed that he had to leave his projects and come over. The mechanic was dressed in his jeans and a tank top smeared with grease. Loki could tell the man was exhausted from the dark bags under his eyes.

"You rang, princess?" Tony grumbled as he walked into the room to allow JARVIS to close the door behind him.

Loki swallowed to coat his now dry throat. His Silvertongue seemed more like lead now.

Tony raised a brow from the god's hesitation. The guy did call him… didn't he? Then why was he just standing there?

"Well?" he huffed impatiently. Tony had plenty of other things to do then a staring contest with the god at 2 am.

"I-I just require you to open the door…" Loki's act seemed to falter a little with the stutter.

Tony paused for a second after the prisoner finished speaking. The gears turned in his head and, slowly, his lips turned up into a smile. Loki cursed to himself. Tony clearly understood what was going on.

"Pretty desperate, huh?" Tony smiled wryly, "Desperate enough to call me?"

"You were not my first choice," Loki grimaced.

-Shall I open the door?-

"Not yet, J," Tony looked at Loki with a scary twinkle in his eyes, "Reindeer Games and I want to chat for a bit first."

Tony casually leaned against the wall. He acted like he was going to take his sweet time starting a conversation. The wicked grin never left his lips.

Now, this was totally worth leaving the lab for! Tony said to himself.

Loki frowned and tried to stand up taller to hide the fact he was pressing his legs together desperately. Whatever the mortal was going to throw at him, he knew he could take it.

"Either talk or open the door, Stark."

Tony cocked his brow, "My, my! You gotta lot of nerve telling me what to do. You are my prisoner after all."

Loki was having none of this. Stark was just messing with him now- stalling more like it. He hated being in such a compromised position in front of his most hated enemy.

"What do you want from me?" the god hissed.

"Want?" Tony chuckled, "All I want is just a little karma to come your way."

The god took in a frustrated breath. How was he to get Stark to open the door? Maybe he could threaten him with some ramifications.

"My brother would not approve of your methods…"

This made Tony let out a loud laugh. He took a few steps farther into the room. Not quite close to Loki but getting there. Loki, however, couldn't move. He felt glued in place from the pain. The god had no choice but to watch him approach.

"You think your big brother will always swing in here to save you?" Stark jeered, "Well I got some news for you, buddy…"

"Stark…" Loki's voice wavered from anger to panic before trailing off. Desperation was setting in fast… too fast. Was Stark really going to do this to him? Or does he just want to watch him squirm?

"Stark," he repeated before saying one of the words he hated most, "Please..."

"Oh," Tony laughed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically, "He says please now!"

"Please… don't do this."

"Oh, we're doing this all right!"

The awkward silence continued for a minute; both were trying to scheme. Loki was trying to bite the inside of his cheek to advert the pain. It didn't seem to be helping much.

"So…" Tony broke the silence, "Remember how I said if you tried to take over the world that I'd avenge it?"

Loki did remember but didn't want to confirm it to him. He didn't want to give the mortal any more leverage.

When no answer came, Tony just gave a goofy grin.

"Well, I'm avenging it right now."

"Your methods won't work on me," Loki sneered.

"Really? Okay then, let's test that theory!"

"Hmm, what to do? What to do?" Tony trailed off. He scratched his goatee as if deep in thought, "Hey, how about this!"

Loki realized now his heart was racing. He was truly nervous to see where this was going. The pain was causing sweat to bead on his brow.

"How about I'll let you in after we do a little game," Tony wagered before continuing, "How about… for every innocent person you killed… I'll add one minute before I let you in!"

The god had to hold back the urge for his eyes to not pop out of his head. This was no mere mortal, but a mad man.

"So… how many people did you kill again? Hmm, I think it was in the thousands. You seem like a smart guy, Rudolph. Let's do the math, shall we?"

Loki was almost sure he was going to pass out on the spot. Stark was truly going to do this. Either he actually wanted Loki to piss himself or not is the question.

"Let's go with basics first and slowly make our way," Tony paused as he tried to think up an equation.

"So how about starting with the first sixty casualties. That gives you sixty minutes," He gave a low whistle, "Wow, already got an hour just there, buddy!"

"Now let's see what five-hundred would do. You're lucky I'm a walking calculator, or else it would take even longer! So, five-hundred-"

Loki desperately started clawing at the door. Hysteria started to set in. The god couldn't believe this was happening. He rammed into the door as hard as he could. After, he regretted that. Loki grasped the doorframe for dear life. His face pouring sweat and his stomach did flip-flops.

"- that's five-hundred minutes so…" Tony started counting on his fingers, "divide that by sixty…"

The god started seeing spots. He now was heavily supported himself on the doorframe. Tunnel vision started to set in soon after. There was no way he was going to pass out over this. Not here; not in front of Stark.

Tony continued to talk out the math. He calculated equation after equation. It was only until he started to hear the odd sound of water hitting the tile floor did he stopped.

Tony looked to see Loki, leaning heavily against the wall with both hands hiding his face. The god was quaking, looking about ready to fall over. His pants were completely soaked as his bladder lost the fight. It dripped steadily down his legs and puddled onto the tile around him.

"Really, princess?!" Tony huffed, "And all over my nice tile too!"

Loki didn't respond. He kept his hands shielding his face, still unable to stop the flow. His heavy breath could be heard through his fingers.

"I was just about to let you in too," Tony shrugged- clearly a lie.

The god's legs trembled violently before buckling. He slid down into the puddle out of exhaustion. Still too embarrassed to pull his hands away, he hid.

"Oh jeez! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Tony mocked, letting out a laugh, "Guess we need to buy some pull-ups for you to wear at night."

The man strode up to Loki just short of the puddle around him. He waited patiently for the god to look up. When he didn't, Tony rolled his eyes.

"You think you can get away with killing all those people, just to get a slap on the wrist from daddy?" Tony spat, "Well I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to personally make sure you spoiled ass pays for it..."

He paused before looking at the mess Loki's made, then goes back to look at his trembling form.

"… one way or another."

Tony spun on his heels and headed to the door. He stopped temporarily to add one more thing.

"Oh, and JARVIS…"

-Yes, sir?-

"Keep the bathroom door locked," he glanced at Loki, "Looks like he doesn't need to use it anymore..."

And with that, Tony left. It left the god alone in his puddle of shame.

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It was late morning and Loki was still alone. He never moved from his spot on the bed. With his knees to his chest and arms tightly wrapped around them, he hid his face in shame. After the incident, he attempted to use the water from the pitcher to try to clean himself off. It wasn't very effective. Loki exchanged his wet pants for another pair. The soiled pair ones used to cover the accident spot. He was still in disbelief over the situation.

In some ways, he thought the Avengers were above torturous games like that; or maybe all of them but Stark. Now, he was weary of the mortal. Loki refused to use the word 'fear' in his feelings. He settled with saying he's hesitant to see him.

Now thoroughly humiliated, Loki begged the human wouldn't tell the others. He didn't want to be kicked any more while he was down. That, and they'd never let him live that down. Loki assumed that even Thor would probably take their side.

He flinched to the sound of the door opening. With his face staying hidden in his knees, Loki peered through his tangled hair to get a look. It was Thor, carrying a tray of food- as always. He looked upset as he strolled in and set the food on the table. Loki didn't move from his spot on the bed, as well as refused to make eye contact. Thor came to sit on the bed next to him. Loki inched away to show he didn't want that. Thor ignored it and studied his brother's defensive position. He hesitated to speak but decided it was better to talk than sit in awkward silence.

The blonde swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Stark told me about last night. I wanted to check on you…"

Thor could barely hear the sharp inhale Loki took. His body seemed much more ridged now.

"What did he tell you?" Loki mumbled into his legs.

"He said… he said you called for assistance to use the bathing chambers," Thor tiptoed on his words, trying to remember the conversation carefully, "He tried to come as fast as he could, but he was unable to reach you in time."

The blonde was thrown off by his brother's dry laugh. He tried to see Loki's face through his dark locks, but his brother made it impossible. Loki was clearly not sharing something.

"Is that the story he tells?" Loki scoffed.

His reaction made Thor nervous. Without seeing showing his face, he had no clue what he was thinking. The older god felt more hesitant than ever to continue this conversation. Was his brother sick and not sharing it? That was a very Loki thing to do.

"It is alright, brother," he leaned in and put a supportive hand on Loki's back, "Accidents happen-"

Loki immediately jerked up and slapped Thor's hand off; the older brother recoiled. It hurt more of his feelings than of his slap. Now, he was looking into his brother's piercing green eyes. Thor realized he upset him.

"It was no accident!" Loki spat.

Thor blinked, "What do you mean?"

"The mortal strode in here with the intention of making me do that to myself."

"As much as I want to believe that," Thor took a deep breath and bit his lip, "You have been hard to trust lately."

Loki only frowned. Of course, Thor didn't believe him- he never did. His brother always sided with his friends. Why did he even bother sometimes?

"But it doesn't matter," Thor leaned in, his eyes softer, "I understand that happens sometimes. I have known since we were young you struggled with it with your night terrors. And I never thought little of you for it when you-"

"How dare you bring that up!" Loki screamed. Those days were not his proudest moments of his youth.

He was certain there must be a way to convince his dimwitted brother the truth. When his eyes scanned the room in thought, he saw the blinking red light of the surveillance cameras. Surely there must be a recording of the events. Once Thor sees he'll know Stark lied.

"If you don't believe me," Loki lifted his head towards the ceiling, "Ask that computer of his to shed some light on the situation."

"Very well," Thor said. If this will please his brother, he wanted to do it, "JARVIS? Do you have any surveillance feed of this room last night?"

-It seems there is no footage in my archive.- JARVIS answered.

Loki shot up out of the bed in shock.

"What?!"

The younger god pulled at his hair in frustration. The mortal had outsmarted him again. He should have known this was going to happen. Loki started to worry he was losing it.

Thor looked at him concerned, "Loki…"

"He must have deleted it," Loki started to pace back and forth, "That spineless coward…"

-I assure you Mr. Odinson, I have not been tampered with. My system was merely rebooting overnight.- JARVIS explained. His response was a preprogrammed lie.

"See, brother. It was just a coincidence-" Thor tried to say but was cut off by Loki snapping back around. He looked like the epitome of a madman with his tangled hair, pale skin, and thin figure.

"No, you don't understand!" Loki yelled.

"Why is this affecting you so much?" Thor was absolutely thrown off by Loki's theatrics.

"Because," the younger's voice cracked, "Your so-called 'teammates' do not wish for me to be redeemed. They want me humiliated, broken. It is their revenge!"

"That is not true…"

The fight drained out of Loki. His shoulders sagged and he faced the opposite wall. There was no way to convince Thor. His brother was far too trusting in his friends. This only made Loki feel all the more alone. He kicked himself for ever thinking his brother cared.

"Just leave me," Loki sighed.

"I will not," Thor said and got off the bed, "Not when you are in so much distress like this."

Loki gave a weak laugh.

"If you called this distressed, then you truly don't know me…"

Thor grew increasingly worried. Ever since he returned his brother to Asgard, he seemed… off. His bitterness grew as well as his bouts out aggression once the cuffs were placed on him. As Odin explained the magic binds, he did admit it will weaken his brother. The All-Father assures Thor it was a good thing. Loki was too dangerous to be left at full strength.

"Why don't you take a rest for the afternoon," Thor broke the silence. He eyed his brother carefully, "You seem tired."

Loki scoffed, "So now that I have soiled myself, you treat me as an infant?"

There he goes again, twisting his brother's words.

"You know that's not true, brother."

Thor walked up to be next to him. Loki responded by turning his shoulder to close himself off. He didn't want Thor's pity.

"My friends want to redeem you," the blonde stated, "I will prove it. I still wish to propose the idea of you helping them with research of the Tesseract."

Loki did that low, eerie laugh again.

"I would wager high against them agreeing to your proposition."

"Just rest, Loki," Thor left his side to leave, "I'm going to talk to them now."

His younger brother didn't respond. He just watched Thor head to the door.

Thor turned around, "I will leave your meal here. After, I must report to SHIELD regarding a different matter. But I'll drop off supper early before I leave. The affair will take all day, so I'll be back in the morning."

And with that, Thor was gone.

Loki had had enough and just laid back down on the bed. The conversation completely exhausted him. He was convinced there was no end to his torture. Whether with the Chitauri, in Asgard, or here… Loki was a prisoner.

Cursed by the Norns… he thought.

He found his eyes growing heavy. The god blames the damn bracelets for the fatigue. It was just another thing to add to his growing list of reasons to hate life. Loki decided to just accept sleep. Since he didn't get much last night, a nap sounded good. It was better than moping in his thoughts.

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A/N: Poor Loki. The guy just can't catch a break.

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Next Chapter: Test Number One

Word Count: 3,950

Written On: 11-1-19

Updated On: 4-7-20

Posted On: 11-27-19