Lies and Truth

Thor and Loki crashed down on a cliff in the middle of nowhere, flying a long way down from the Quinjet above the clouds. Thor threw Loki to the ground and he hit his head hard, he groaned. Thor dropped Mjolnir, and pulled Loki to his feet. Loki had already dropped the scepter some distance away and realised he was no longer under the control of The Other. His thoughts were once again, his own.

"I thought you dead, brother." Thor said looking his younger brother in the eye. It had been months since Thor last saw Loki falling deep into space and undetected from Heimdall's mighty gaze.

"Did you mourn?" Came the reply, mockingly. Thor was the last person that Loki wanted to see at the moment, well and Odin of course but Loki figured that Odin didn't care enough care about him enough to bother searching for his body.

"We all did. Our father"

"Your father." Loki interrupted. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki snarled looking up at Thor as he started to pace around.

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" He tried, desperately hoping he could get his brother back.

A metallic crash filled the air as Tony landed next to the brothers. He lifted his faceplate to show his face. It was easier to talk without it. "What the hell are you doing with my stuff?" He asked the tall, blonde Asgardian. He stood in a defensive stance with his hand raised ready to shoot.

Thor put his hand up towards Tony to delay the questioning. "Not now Man of Iron." He said turning back towards Loki. "Brother, please." He begged.

"I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER!" shouted the younger prince. He continued in a calmer manner. "I do not wish to discuss this at this time, Odinson."

Tony stayed where was is hoping to gain more information from the conversation between the squabbling brothers, curious as to what could be so important.

"Please Loki. I just want to know why?" the older one tried.

Loki met Thor's gaze and was about to speak before another crash came from behind Tony. It was Steve. He got up and removed his parachute before standing next to Tony.

"What are you doing Tony? You need to bring him back." Steve was mildly annoyed at the delay. Tony stopped him from getting any closer to the two gods.

"No don't." Tony lowered his voice to Cap. "This could provide more information." he said focusing his attention back on the other men.
Loki's gaze returned to Thor.

"Why what Thor? What do you want from me?"

"You're still alive, brother. After all this time we thought you to be gone. Do you not remember what it used to be like before all of this?" Thor tried to understand what had happened to his brother.

"I remember you tossing me into an abyss." Loki knew this was a lie, but he wasn't expecting Thor to correct him.

"Brother, please. You let go of Gungnir yourself. You knew that if you fell into that abyss, you would certainly die and you still let go." Thor sounded upset.

"You want me to apologise for that? To be sorry for leaving you alone on Asgard? To be sorry for letting you think me dead? To be sorry for feeling like the only option I had left was to kill myself?" Loki's voice cracked at the end of the sentence, tears forming in his eyes. "Father must be so mad that his political plans are ruined now."

Tony and Cap looked at each other sadly. Tony watched intently, understanding what it was like to feel how Loki does.

"I did not mean it like that brother and I apologise. To be truthful, the only thing father has told me about your parentage is that you are adopted and not of Asgard, he did not elaborate further. When I returned from my banishment, you were there at the Bifrost trying to destroy a whole race. I understand now that you were just trying to do as I did and make father proud of you." It clicked in Thor's mind what his brother's intentions were before he ended up here and he felt disappointed in himself for being a bad role model when he knew how much Loki had always looked up to him. Looking back, he could see that their father had never shown any form of pride towards Loki.

"He wasn't though was he." Loki was bitter. "He never has been. I was hanging off the edge, over the abyss and he told me I still wasn't good enough." His bitterness faded and sadness was all that remained. "How was I ever supposed to return knowing that I had been lied to my entire life about my parentage and that I would never be your equal. He never was and never will be proud of me." it was too late now. He had already told Thor more than he wanted to but he knew that Thor wouldn't let the subject drop.

"Loki, brother, what father said at the Bifrost was unforgivable. Whether he is your real father or not, he took you in, he raised you and no father should ever say things like that to their child. I'm truly sorry that you didn't feel like you could tell me that you were feeling like this. Brother, know that I would never have mocked your feelings or loved you any less. You will not consider coming home?" He tried to reassure his brother in the hopes that he can understand what has happened.

"No. I cannot return to Asgard but I cannot stay here. I am not safe here on Midgard. He has gone for now but I have failed. He will find me and I don't want to go through that again." the memories of tortured plagued the young prince's mind.

"Who brother? What happened." He needed to know who would hurt his brother like this.

"Thanos. He captured me after the Bifrost. I was imprisoned and tortured. That scepter." He pointed to behind Cap and Tony where the scepter lay. "It knows my fears and hates. It thrives off them. I cannot control my thoughts or actions when he is in my mind. When you threw me to the ground I hit my head quite hard." Loki started to explain.

"I have injured you?" Thor jumped in, concerned.

"No, he has been removed from my mind. But I remember everything that I have done under his control. Those men that he made me use the scepter on. They may need to experience a similar injury. Or not because I am no longer under the control of the scepter myself. I don't know and I do not care to find out." Loki paced closer to the edge of the cliff they were stood on and peered over the edge. "I can't do it again." The thoughts of returning to the hands of Thanos were not pleasant. Steve took a step closer to Loki.

"Loki…. please, step away from the edge." Thor said in a calm tone. He was worried that he would have to witness his brother try again. The other three men shared a concerned glance between them.

Loki turned and looked towards Thor sadly. "Do not be concerned brother, I am not going to jump off. Not that a fall from this height would kill me anyway." That probably wasn't the most reassuring thing he could have said to his brother, but would have to do.

Tony stepped forward to offer some support. "Look, imma make a deal with you. Fury wants you captured and punished for what you did in Germany. If you agree to come back to the jet with us and talk to Dr Banner, then I will have a nice chat with Fury about what has happened because I know that you don't deserve to be punished for this. Okay?" Tony tried to make it sound as positive as possible, knowing from experience what it was like to be tortured.

"I will accept your most gracious offer, metal man, though I do not see why I need to see your doctor."

"Brother, you have been through a lot since I last saw you. We would like to make sure that you are not seriously injured." Thor reached out to place a reassuring touch on Loki's forearm, but the younger one quickly withdrew.

"Please don't." He said quietly. "I will see your doctor if it makes you happy, but I do not wish for you to be present, brother. I do not wish for you to see what they have done to me." There are things he doesn't want Thor to know about just yet.

"As you wish." Thor replied, hiding his sadness to make his brother feel more comfortable.

"Cool. If we're all agreed let's get off." Tony said clapping his metal-clad hands together. Tony called for Natasha to land the Quinjet nearby.