Chapter 3: Test Number One

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A/N: I know Tony seemed kinda evil in the last chapter… but I kinda can't blame the guy. I mean, Loki did throw him out a window and kill thousands of people…

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Loki's been awake for a few hours now. Bad dreams had him up in the early morning hours. He decided it was useless to go back to sleep, so he stayed up reading some of his books. Currently sitting in his cell couch, Loki read and waited for Thor to come by so he could use the bathroom.

That oaf is taking his sweet time…

It wasn't much longer before the familiar sound of the cell door opening brought Loki out from his book. Thor, late as always, strode in carrying a tray of food.

"Good morning, brother! Sorry for my tardiness," Thor brought the tray to the table, "I had to wait until the others left the kitchen to sneak you some of our breakfast."

Loki didn't say anything as he stood up. He gently placed his book down and headed towards out of the little lounging area and into the middle of the room. Thor took notes of his quiet demeanor and just started to pull out the food.

"There was extra bacon leftover, but I had to make some more eggs and toast," Thor said before giving his brother a goofy grin, "I may not be the best cook, so I hope it's too your liking."

His younger brother didn't respond. As Loki got to the middle of the room, he stopped right in front of the bathroom and gave a glare towards Thor. His brother got the message pretty quickly.

"Oh… my apologies. JARVIS?"

The door slid open and Loki quickly walked in. Thor now felt very guilty for being late now. He kept setting the food out and tried to be patient for his brother's return. There was news he wanted to deliver and could hardly wait.

Thor heard the toilet flush, then the sounds of the sink running. Soon after, Loki emerged. He quietly padded over to the table and sat down in his usual seat across from Thor. The food looked far from appetizing to him. The bacon looked decent, but the eggs were dry, and the toast burnt. Thor, on the other hand, was digging in quite ravenously.

"Loki, I almost forgot," Thor excitedly exclaimed with his mouth full, "I come with good news as well!"

Loki leaned back in the chair; food forgotten. He wondered what Thor has in store for him today.

"Good new you say?" Loki scoffed, "Is it that you finally decided to release me?"

The older god swallowed his mouthful of food and frowned, "No, brother… you know I can't do that."

"Then I fail to see how this is good news."

Thor put his fork down and got serious.

"I came to say that I have talked to my friends about your knowledge of the Tesseract."

That actually got Loki's interest, "And?"

"And they accept your help," Thor said, "Be it some precautions…"

"Oh of course," Loki rolled his eyes, "I expect nothing less from your little mortals."

As eager as he was to finally get to start his plan of escape, he knew whatever contingencies would only make it harder. Nonetheless, Loki knew he could overcome them and escape. All it will take is time.

"The rules are your hands are to stay bound and chained… you are to be accompanied by an Avenger at all times… and any means of trying to escape, it will forfeit your help and you will go back to your room."

Loki put his fingers to his lips as he listened to Thor prattle off his rules. He had to admit, they were carefully thought out ones. He will follow them, but only to gain their trust. And once Loki is able to do that, they will remove the chains. Then, when the moment is right, take the Tesseract and run.

"To be honest, I am quite shocked your friends agreed to this," Loki replied.

Thor sighed, "It took much convincing, but we all know the Tesseract holds great power. With your help to harness it, Midgard will be protected."

He paused and looked into his younger brother's eyes in search of any mischief.

"Will you accept these terms?"

Loki sat up straight and pushed his chair back away from the table. Standing up, he smoothed down his tunic to remove the wrinkles.

"I accept your terms," Loki crossed his arms, "Shall we go then?"

"First, you will finish your meal," Thor gestured to his forgotten plate.

Loki rolled his eyes dramatically. It only got a stern look from Thor.

"Once you finished your meal… and washed… then I will return to escort you to Stark's lab."

The younger god gave him a disgusted sneer. He'll play Thor's game… for now. Loki and sat back down in the chair and picked up the plastic fork.

"Fine."

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Thor allowed Loki to have the bathroom stay open while he informed the others of Loki's agreement to the rules. An hour later, he returned to find his brother sitting and waiting for him. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower and was dressed in new long sleeve tunic and trousers. Before he addressed Loki, Thor looked to see if Loki has followed all of his orders. He looked over at the table to his brother's plate. It was messily picked at. The bacon was gone, but the eggs and toast were barely touched.

"Took you long enough..." Loki muttered.

Thor decided to ignore the food and get down to business. He approached his brother, who was now already standing up.

Loki immediately eyed the large satchel that Thor has hung over his shoulder. It looked rather heavy. He knew those were the chains. Loki hasn't seen them since he was originally brought here. They were made of the same metal as his cuffs- unbreakable.

Loki sighed dramatically and held up his wrists for Thor. His brother said nothing as he pulled the chains out from the bag. Loki noticed a sad look on Thor's face. He clearly did not enjoy chaining up his little brother.

As Thor finished fastening them onto each hand, Loki studied them. The chain was only a foot long and barely gave him any use of his hands.

"How am I supposed to assist with these on?" Loki held the binds up in emphasis.

"You are only there as an advisor," Thor explained, "There will be no need for you to touch anything."

Now here was another stupid thing that Loki had to add to his list of annoying rules. These things only complicated his plan in the long run.

"Loki," Thor said pulling his brother from his schemes. The older god pulled another set of chains out of the bag, "I need you to take off your boots."

"I beg your pardon?!" Loki furrowed his brow and looked at Thor, appalled.

"I must attach these chains to your ankles," he stated as he bent down to Loki's feet.

"My legs? Really, Thor!?" Loki was getting more furious by the minute. It was humiliating enough to be led to the Avengers with bound hands, but with legs too?!

"This was not my choice, but of the other Avengers," the blonde just looked up expressionless, "Please don't make this any more difficult…"

With his hands tied, Loki snarled and kicked off his boots awkwardly. He stood there and waited as Thor rolled his pants to expose the ankle cuffs. It took less than a minute to fasten the chains in place. Thor stood up quietly and looked at his brother. Loki, however, was busy staring at his newly bound legs. He was far from thrilled over it.

"You expect me to go barefoot?!" Loki's face twisted in disgust.

"No," Thor replied. Out of the same satchel, he pulled out some shoes, "I brought you a pair of mine to use."

They were shaped similar to regular shoes but were made of only leather and lined with soft fleece. Loki rolled his eyes and slipped his feet in. They were big being Thor's, but they will suffice. The ankle chains were at least longer than his wrist ones. They were a few feet longer, allowing him to walk without trouble… running, however, would be impossible. He tested the strength of his new chains by shaking his foot. Unhappy by the weight of them, Loki looked at his brother disapproving.

"Am I bound to your liking?" he wrinkled his nose.

"Watch your tongue, brother," Thor warned, "I may tolerate your words, but the Avengers will not."

With the warning, the older god roughly put his larger hand on Loki's shoulder and guided him to the door. Loki reluctantly allowed Thor to lead him out. The younger god couldn't help but feel anxious as he was guided down the hallways. The only sound was the chains on his feet rattling with each step. Loki has no clue where he was going in this maze of paths. It reminded him of the halls of Asgard in that sense. If one didn't know the way, you would be lost.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked inquisitively.

Thor didn't reply right away. He focused himself on making sure his brother wasn't going to make a run for it. There wasn't much to worry about since Loki was so chained up. But Thor wouldn't let his guard down.

"The penthouse," he finally said, "There, we will take the elevator down to the basement. That is where Stark's lab is located."

Loki was curious about Thor's description. A lab you say? He could only imagine what weapons of mass destruction the Man of Iron kept down there. The most obvious one would be the Tesseract, of course… but what else? Loki wondered if maybe his scepter was down there too.

Once they got to the penthouse, Loki knew exactly where they were. This was where he was defeated last at the hands of the Avengers. The window that he threw Stark out of was fixed and the Loki-shaped hole in the floor was filled in. He tried not to flinch at those horrible memories, instead, he walked with Thor into the elevator.

It must have been a way down as the silence of the space was uncomfortable to Loki. He felt like he had to say something to calm his own nerves.

"Who will be down there?" Loki asked innocently enough.

His older brother looked over at him curiously. It was an interesting question for Loki to ask. It was almost as if his brother sounded nervous.

"Stark, Rogers, and Banner," he responded shortly.

"Oh…" Loki looked away. He tried to stay impassive, but when Thor stated Stark would be down there, Loki felt sick. He definitely has not forgotten about the last encounter with that mortal. He was hesitant to ask the second part of the question; it will make him look weak. But the gnawing feeling of dread made him ask anyway.

Loki looked back up at him, "Are you staying there as well?"

Thor was a little thrown off by his coupled question. Was Loki scared to be left alone with them? The blonde couldn't think of any reason why he should be. His friends have shown nothing but support for his brother's redemption.

"I actually will not," Thor said, "They said not to worry and that I may go meet up with Jane. She is in town for a conference after all."

Loki was lucky Thor didn't have X-ray vision or he would have seen his legs starting to tremble under his loose-fitting clothes. He was really going to leave him with these men. At first, Loki was scared, but anger grew quickly.

Of course, Thor is leaving me! He always does!

His brother's trust in his human friends was disgustingly strong. He has already proven that from the bathroom events that happened recently. This was no surprise. Thor would be off with his lady friend while he leaves Loki to defend for himself.

The ding of the elevator actually made Loki jump. He felt Thor's hand tighten his hold on his shoulder. Loki glances over to see his brother still looking down at him.

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, his expression showed concern, "You have been acting quite nervous lately."

"'It's nothing," Loki dismissed.

Thor decided to drop the subject and walked Loki out of the elevator and through the hallways. It wasn't long before the reached the glass door to Tony's lab. JARVIS was already aware and opened the door on their arrival. Just past the doorway sat the three men. They were deep in conversation. The door opening, however, cut them off. They watched as Thor entered, with his chained brother at his side.

"Took you guys long enough!" Tony scoffed.

"My apologies, friends Stark," Thor smiled before gesturing to Loki, "My brother is ready to assist you in any way he can."

Loki never made eye contact with the three men. He stared hard at his feet. The tension in the room was uncomfortably strong.

"Great," Tony clapped as he pushed up out of the chair. He was quickly followed by Bruce and Steve, "Let's get started then."

Loki didn't like the man's chipper attitude. Something was off about all of this. None of them should be happy to see him. Loki was pulled from his thoughts by Thor patting his shoulder. He looked up at Thor to see his older brother smiling fondly.

"I will take my leave then," he said.

Loki couldn't help but look at his brother with pleading eyes. His bright green gaze begged Thor to stay. The older god quickly took notice and put his other hand on Loki's shoulder, so they faced each other.

"You will do well, Loki," Thor smiled reassuringly, "I will be back tonight."

The younger god broke his gaze and stared down again. He constantly kicked himself for his continuing to hope that his brother will be by his side. Loki got one more pat on the back from his brother before taking his leave. Loki has no choice but to watch- the only person he cared about- to leave him.

"So…"

Loki turned to the sound of Tony's voice. Stark and the others were standing right there. He immediately put on an emotionless mask to hide his anxiety. He will not allow them to read his face.

"Here's how it's going to go, so listen up Reindeer Games," he continued.

The god decided it would be best to listen to what the mortal has to say… whether or not he'd agree to it.

"Bruce and I have been going back and forth trying to decipher this Tesseract of yours. From what we've already pulled out of you before, this is the Space Stone. That means it can transport things through space. You still with me?"

Loki nodded, annoyed.

"Our project is to figure out how to use this as more of a time mechanism and-"

"That will not work," Loki cut him off.

"And why's that?" Bruce added frustrated but curious.

Their pure ignorance made the god sigh out loud. Their pitiful minds cannot grasp the knowledge of the stone's abilities. If only they knew of the other stone, the Time Stone.

"You cannot control time with the Space Stone," he stated matter-of-factly.

"And that is where you're wrong, kid," Tony smirked as he walked over to a computer. Pressing a few buttons, a blue projection came up off the stone. Tony walked around the hologram and used his watch to rotate the image.

"The answer is black holes," he continued. The projection followed Stark's words and a black hole appeared above. He turned back to face Loki. The god's face stayed unfazed.

"Black holes warp reality and defy the laws of physics, including time and space. If we can create our own black hole and control where they lead… Boom! Time Travel!"

"That seems like a stretch," Loki said. He tried crossing his arms but found he couldn't with the chains on. Instead, he let them drop forward.

He watched Tony walk over to another table. This one has a large machine on it. The thing was a mess of wires and gears. Loki could have sworn by the looks of it that it was just a hunk of recycled metal, not an actual machine.

Stark didn't say anything and went up to it and flicked a few switches. The noise it made was horrid. It screeched and groaned as the motor started chugging. Soon blue lights flickered on and lit up the whole room.

"This is it?" Loki raised his brow. He could hardly believe this pile of garbage could control time, let alone make a black hole.

"What? You've never seen a time machine before?!" Stark gave his new baby a pat.

"No, I haven't," Loki replied with a deadpan expression, "And I know for a fact this is not one."

Tony gave a short snort to the god's small jab at his ego and turned back to start messing with the machine. Bruce came over shortly after to help.

It was awkward as Loki stood there, being ignored, and watched them. He glanced over at the Captain who was standing by himself. He wasn't close to the other Avengers, but more in the middle of them and Loki. Clearly, he wanted to be within close proximity to their residential villain just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

Steve exchanged glances with the god, eyeing him carefully. Tony was right, they couldn't trust him. It was out of desperation of figuring out the Tesseract that they even allowed Loki out of his room. He watched the god sneer at him then look away. He was clearly agitated that none was paying attention to him.

"So, where do I come into all of this?" Loki couldn't take the silence anymore, "You have your theories, you built your machines. Why would you want my assistance?"

That got everyone's attention. Tony and Bruce stopped fiddling with the device and looked at him.

"That's right," Tony said, 'Everything's built and ready to run. Problem is, is that they're plenty of kinks to work out. We need to run tests. Therefore, we need a test dummy."

He openly gestures to Loki, "And that's where you come in."

Loki had to work hard to hide his shocked reaction. A test dummy?! That's what I am to them? He took that as quite an insult. They didn't need him for knowledge, just as a lab rat.

"This is ridiculous!" Loki growled and made a step forward to Tony, but, in the corner of his eye, he could see Steve shifting towards him. Clearly, the Captain grew uncomfortable at the god's raised voice. Steve hasn't even said one word yet since Thor left and it made Loki suspicious to his purpose.

He gestured to the Captain, "And he is here because…?"

"Because we needed some muscle here," Tony scoffed, "I can't trust you as far as I could throw you… well actually, you're pretty scrawny. I probably could throw you far… Screw the idiom! You know what I mean!"

Loki decided it was best to stay where he was. Here remembered Thor's rule about causing any trouble forgot his help. That, and he knew that it could end with him pinned to the ground by the Captain.

"And why would you think I would ever agree to be your test subject?" Loki sneered.

"Why?" Tony crossed his arms and smiled, "Are you scared?"

"Of course not!" he retorted, "I'd rather just not be a smear across the universe at the hands of your primitive device!"

"This isn't the first time…" Bruce finally stepped in. Tony didn't help keep the situation calm., "Loki, we've obviously done more testing before this."

"We started with this," he continued holding up a pear, "We tweaked this machine hundreds of times. Now, when we send the pear, it always comes back to us. Sometimes it changes ripeness… thus we're bending time. A pear was the best subject item due to its short shelf life."

"So, with that test successful, we now need a live test subject," Tony said.

"I refuse to consent to this," the god glared back at the mortal. Why on earth would they think he'd do this so willingly?

"So then," Tony shrugged and turned around to fiddle with the machine, "I guess we gotta just tell Thor that his baby brother is a scaredy-cat."

"I told you, I am not afraid!"

Stark turned back around and smiled, "Oh yeah?! Then prove it!"

Anger blinded Loki's common sense before he could stop himself.

"Fine! I will!"

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After Loki- unintentionally- decided to be the test dummy, Stark and Banner went to work on setting it up. Rodgers stayed standing guard over the god as they did. It took half an hour to have things set and ready. The machine was on and Tony had a bunch of projected screens surrounding its control panel.

Stark rubbed the grease on his jeans and stood in front of Loki. The god was still standing in the same spot, impatiently waiting for something to happen.

"So," Tony said, "Our plan is that we are going to send you into the past by a few days. You're going to land in the penthouse kitchen. There will be a bowl of pears on the table, grab one. We'll give you five seconds to do it before we pull you back."

Bruce was holding a clipboard, scribbling down notes furiously. His glasses were tipped on the edge of his nose as he focused on writing down the calculation. Not looking up from the board, he walked next to Tony.

"We want to see what happens to the pear when you return, he says, "It might be just like it was last week, or it might be overripe. We just don't know."

Loki mentally shrugged and accepted their plans. Be it stupid, he really felt he had no choice in the matter. With Thor gone, there was no one to back him up if everything seemed too suspicious.

"Let's get this started," Tony said and walked to the control panel before turning to Banner, "Ready, Brucie?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Bruce put down his notes and went over to the machine. He picked up this odd sphere-shaped device and pulled it up off the table; Several cords and wires were attached from it to the machine. In all the whole device was the size of a basketball and as heavy as a bowling ball. The most prominent thing about it was how it gave off a blinding, blue light.

Hesitantly, he approached Loki with it, careful not to trip on its cords. Bruce one hundred percent didn't trust the god and was nervous to even be in the same room as him. Steve noticed and stayed close by to help ease his stress. The last thing they wanted was Bruce stressed.

"All you got to do is hold this," he explained and handed the sphere to Loki.

Loki took it awkwardly. The length of the wrist chains made it hard to hold. He held it to his chest to help balance the size of it. The god couldn't help but stare- fascinated- at the device. It felt strangely familiar in a way. The blue light it emitted almost hypnotized him.

"Is this the Tesseract?" Loki asked, not looking up from the ball.

"Yes," Stark confirmed, "The Tesseract is the thing that transports you… while the machine will be the thing that navigates you down the right path."

Pressing buttons on the panel, Tony made the machine grow louder. Gears inside his invention spun furiously.

"Okay," he said, "No more questions! We're starting this right now."

Tony instructed the Avengers to stand back. That didn't help Loki's silent nerves. He squeezed the ball tighter to his chest and stared at Stark.

"Just get this over with," Loki muttered impatiently.

"Okay then! I'd tell you this won't hurt," Tony shrugged while pushing more buttons, "… but I have no clue if it might or not."

Before Loki had time to open his mouth to say something, the sphere in his hands started sparking wildly. The Tesseracts blue light started to engulf the whole room. The sound it made was almost deafening. Loki could feel his hand tingling from its vibrations.

The tingling slowly grew to a feeling of pins being pushed into his skin. He had to grit his teeth to surprise a hiss of pain. Once it couldn't get any worse. Loki felt the same feeling he had back at the battle with the Avengers previously. The point when he got sucked into the black hole with the Chitauri. Only this time, he felt more crushing pressure.

At this point, Tony, Bruce, and Steve all have to shield their eyes from the blinding light. It was only a few seconds before the light disappeared completely. When they all looked back up, all that was left was the cords that were attached to the sphere and a small scorch mark. Loki and the Tesseract were gone.

"It worked!" Tony gasped, shocked it actually worked.

"We don't know that for a fact," Steve said.

Bruce didn't look up from the spot the good once was, "Well, in a few seconds we will…"

A few painstakingly long seconds later, blue sparks appeared in the exact same spot where Loki was. Before anything could be said, the blinding light came back and filled the room. The cracking of the sparks and light increased before sizzling out completely.

Loki reappeared in the same spot he disappeared. The god stumbled forward a little bit as his feet hit the floor. Thankfully, even with the chains on his feet, he didn't fall over. The sphere was still in his hands, protectively clutched into his chest.

The three Avengers started in shock as the light finally dissipated. Loki looked like he went through hell and back. His long-sleeved tunic was all torn up. One sleeve was ripped and slipped down his arm, leaving his shoulder exposed. His long, raven locks were windblown and not slicked back as it was previously. Loki widened his stance a little bit to stable himself. Taking a few shaky breaths, he looked up to them. His expression was a mix of shock and unnerved.

Bruce stepped back and scooted towards Steve. Loki's appearance really threw him off. None of them were expecting the god to return like this. He didn't know whether to run to him or run away. He looked up at the Captain who was sporting the same shocked expression.

"Is he supposed to look like that when he comes back?!" Steve stammered, staring at Loki. It was odd to him to feel any concern over the god. But, at the same time, he's never seen him so shaken up before.

"Yo, Rudolph," Tony ran past the two and up to Loki. He looked him up and down, "Where's the pear?"

"I didn't get it," Loki said breathlessly. He then took a second to try to compose himself. His clothes were beyond repair, but he straightens his posture, so he didn't look so disheveled.

"What?! What do you mean you didn't get it?!" Tony yelled back.

"I mean, I never appeared in the desired location," Loki stopped to take another haggard breath, "Instead I was thrown around inside your so-called black hole and tossed back here."

"Huh…" Stark went back to the control panel and started typing something down quickly before looking it over, "That's weird."

Bruce slowly approached the god and offered to take the sphere. Loki handed it over peacefully. He was happy to have his hands free to fix his hair- even if it was still awkward to do with the chains.

"Well, Bruce and I have lots of work to do then. We'll get this sorted out and have the next test up and running for tomorrow," Tony explained before turning to Steve, "Spangles? Can you bring Rudolph back to his cell?"

"That's it?!" Loki snapped at Stark, "You just drag me down here, test your machine on me, then send me back up?!"

Steve quickly got over to Loki's side before tempers flared even more. He grimaced and put a strong hand on the god's shoulder. He glanced at Tony in his peripheral to see him not even paying attention to Loki's rant. He and Bruce were already unscrewing bits of the device and whispering calculations to each other.

"You're just going to ignore me?!" the god spat, "Just use me as your tool and hope I don't break in the process?!"

"Let's go, Loki," Steve said sternly, he gave Loki's shoulder a hard squeeze to get his message across.

Loki huffed and turned back around and allowed the Captain to guide him out. He didn't want to fight. He was tired of these mortals anyway. They didn't care about him. Loki was lucky to reappear in one piece after that horrible experiment.

It was an uncomfortable journey back to his room. Steve didn't say much, but he glanced at the god in the corner of his eye. Loki still looked pretty banged up. Here took notice of Loki's demeanor. The god appeared tired, his posture was not as straight, and he was oddly compliant to having Steve walk him around. The clothes he had on were still shredded and hung off his thin frame. Steve wondered if the guy even had another pair of clothes, but quickly brushed that off… telling himself he shouldn't care about the man.

They finally reached Loki's door and JARVIS opened it on their arrival. Steve watched the god walk in and turn to him. All Loki did was hold out his hands to signify he wanted Steve to take off the chains. It was nerve-wracking to the Captain to go and lean in to remove the links from his cuffs. At any point, Loki could just snap and attack him. At the same time, the god didn't look like he had any fight in him. It didn't stop Steve from staying on the alert when he bent down to undo the ankle chains.

Finishing up, Steve held the chains in one hand and stood up. He looked at Loki and paused before coughing uncomfortably.

"Do you… uhh," he awkwardly rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "Do you need me to open the door to the restroom before I go?"

Loki quickly turned his head away to hide his face. His cheeks burned red at the comment. Without saying anything, Loki just shook his head.

Steve put his arm down and looked away, "Well, okay then."

With the chains still in his hand, he started to the room's door. Steve stayed especially aware just in case Loki were to follow him- but he didn't. As he was about to walk out, Steve felt an odd pang of concern again and turned back to the god.

"Are you sure your okay?" he asked nervously, "You came back uh… pretty messed up."

Loki lifted his head back up to see the man. The god's posture changed. He folded his hands behind his back and stood up tall. Despite his ragged clothes, his regal presence shown through.

"Your concern is appreciated but not necessary, Captain," he stated.

Steve just nodded and left. Loki was finally alone again. It was a relief to be out of the presence of those pesky mortals. He was starting to regret offering his assistance now.

Loki was too exhausted to stand anymore. His body felt like it was pulled apart and put back together… his clothes really resembled that. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only 6 pm. Usually, that would be way too early to even think about sleeping, but Loki felt like if he didn't lay down now, he was going to pass out.

The god stripped off his torn clothes and crawled into his bed. A yawn escaped his lips unintentionally. He was uncharacteristically exhausted. Loki snuggled in deeper and started to think of what to say to Thor when he comes back. Surely his brother will ask how it went with his friends. Should he saw they were using him as a test subject? And how they almost ripped him apart? No. No for two reasons. One is that he will look weak and, most importantly, two… he wouldn't believe him. Loki lost his faith in his brother too many times to count. He won't be hurt again.

With sleep setting in, the god made the decision not to tell Thor about the events. He still had a shot of getting out by using their trust. The new question was: Will they accidentally kill him beforehand?

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It was around 8 pm when Thor finally returned home. He already had an argument with his friends when he was told they didn't feed his brother. The god had stormed out and made a can of soup to bring down to him.

When Thor entered Loki's chambers, his brother was nowhere to be found. He quickly put down the tray of food and rushed to look around. It didn't take long to realize his brother was curled up in a ball on his bed. The size of the bed and blankets pretty much swallowed Loki's slim body.

Thor didn't want to startle him but found it unnecessary when he realized Loki was sound asleep. As much as he wanted to ask him how his time went with the other Avengers, he didn't have the heart to wake him.

The god went back to pick up the tray of food then asked JARVIS to turn off the lights.

He'll ask Loki about his day tomorrow.

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A/N: Since this is MCU based and not comic-based, they are referred to as the Infinity Stones and not the Infinity Gems.

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Next Chapter: Test Number Two

Word Count: 5,727

Written On: 12-3-19

Updated On: 12-10-19

Posted On: 12-12-19