"Look what we have here." The mechanical voice spoke again and this time, Loki's stomach was in knots.

The huge figure slowly made his way through the kneeling figures of the Chitauri. He stopped when he was standing right above Loki. His mouth was twisted into an evil smirk.

"My lord Thanos." The Other addressed the Mad Titan. "We found him lying here. He must have fallen from the Void. He seems to be a weakling. I gave the Chitauri the permission to tear him apart as they find appropriate and enjoyable."

Thanos eyed him for a moment.

Then, without any warning, he slapped The Other hard across the face.

The Other landed heavily on his side. He either didn't let his surprise show, or he was used to this kind of treatment. Without a word or sound, he put himself back to his feet. His sight obsequiously on the ground, he waited for Thanos' next move.

For a while, nothing happened.

Loki was aware of the sound of his hoarse breathing and the panic rising inside his stomach.

"Do you have any idea who this is?" The Mad Titan spoke at last.

"No, my lord." The Other took a while to answer.

"I am surrounded by imbeciles." Thanos commented but continued. "This is Loki Odinson, a prince of Asgard." He paused, thinking. "How did an Asgardian prince appear down here?" He eyed Loki without expecting him to answer. "We will get to know the truth soon enough. This is the best thing that could have happened to us." Thanos smiled, but the smile never reached his repugnant eyes.

"Take him to the dungeons under the palace. Don't kill him in the process." He commanded and turned around to go back.

"My lord?" The Other asked hesitantly.

Thanos eyed him in annoyance.

"Can he be allowed to see the journey to the palace?"

Thanos didn't answer. Instead, he crouched next to Loki.

Loki kept the eye contact with the beastly monster in front of him. He had no idea what to expect.

"Loki." Thanos addressed the god on the ground.

"Yes?" Loki whispered terrified.

Thanos smirked.

Out of blue, he brought the palm of his hand onto Loki's forehead. Immediately, such an intense pain filled the God of Mischief that before he managed to utter a scream, he had been unconscious.

Thanos stood back up.

"I don't enjoy doing your work for you. Better remember that." He eyed The Other for a while longer than necessary and then set out onto his way towards the palace.

"You heard him. Safely transport him to the dungeons. He is a valued prisoner, should any harm come to him by your hand, Thanos will make you bawl for mercy." The Other instructed and observed as two Chitauri soldiers lifted the blacked out body up and the procession began their journey towards the dungeons.

…

"What on Earth is this?" Tony was dismayed. Since the claustrophobic feeling of falling ended, Tony found himself observing a hostile planet full of creatures that made his stomach twist. He didn't want to be there as he expected the environment to trigger one of his panic attacks. He didn't even want to imagine what Loki might have been experiencing.

…

Fury tried to observe every single detail of the strange planet and its master. He was terrified of Thanos coming to attack the Earth and he was determined to learn as much as possible about the enemy in order to successfully defeat him.

…

Steve was slowly finding his courage after his little breakdown when he had felt unable to suffer through Loki's eyes any longer. Now he felt it to be his duty to witness what happened to the God of Mischief. One of the reasons for this was, in the end, to fully assess Loki's responsibility for the attack on Earth and to determine how Thor's brother should be treated now. Steve knew that to do this justly, he must fully understand what led Loki to do what he did.

The Captain has also decided that as soon as this was over, he would find Bucky and finally have a proper conversation with him. Steve didn't know how it felt to have someone inside their head, but he had an uneasy feeling that he was about to find soon enough whether he wanted to or not.

…

Thor vomited as soon he helplessly observed his brother collide with the coarse surface; Loki's body being broken into unnatural shapes. He wanted to save Loki from the hostile place and tend to his wounds, but he knew that it was too late now.

With the Chitauri and Thanos approaching, Thor was becoming more and more disgusted by his past behaviour.

Why didn't he try to talk to his brother about what had happened?

Why didn't he try to visit him?

…

Frigga was standing next to Odin, both of them observing what was happening inside the Stark Tower from their place in Valhalla. They could see the Avengers being taken into Loki's memories.

"I taught him that spell." Frigga whispered.

Odin didn't reply.

"I need to see what he is showing them." The former Queen stated, and her hands began casting the necessary spell. If she could project herself into her son's unconsciousness before, she could do it again.

The Allfather caught her wrist.

"Frigga. Don't." He said, looking at Frigga seriously.

"Why not? Don't you finally want to know what happened to our son that made him do all those terrible things? Many times I have considered forcing Loki to perform this exact spell to show me what happened, but he was so distant. Maybe I could have been more successful had I been able to physically visit him."

Odin stared at his feet. He didn't want to say what he was about to say, but it was essential for Frigga not to dive into Loki's time in the Void. He could not lose her.

"Frigga, you don't want to see what happened to him in the Void. Let it be." Odin said finally, weighting each word.

Frigga gave him the look of disbelief.

"You know." She said calmly.

"Yes." Odin agreed.

"How?" Frigga demanded.

"I beseech you. Let it be." Odin said tiredly.

Frigga didn't need any more encouragement to cast the spell with the quick gesture of her hand. Before she found herself in her son's head, she caught Odin's wrinkled hand. She wasn't sure why her husband was so determined to prevent her from discovering what happened to Loki, but she would find out.

Odin was only her husband in Valhalla. He wasn't the King anymore. She needed not to obey him now.

I know the suspence for the real encounter with Thanos has been building for a while now, but there is more to be discovered than only Thanos' treatment of Loki.

"Your birthright was to die." (Just a little explanation for my depiction of Odin. I cannot forgive him this little speech.)