Loki did not recall much between the encounter at the gate and the moment he woke up in the medical center. He woke to wrist bound to the side of the hospital bed. The room was empty of any medical staff. It also appeared darker than normal. In the moment, he attempted to convince himself that the battle with Hela was nothing but a nightmare. A simple dream, perhaps. He began sit up the bed. Unfortunately, there was a painful reminder that it had all indeed happened as he remembered it. Loki quickly fell to his back again. His leg burned from it's injury. With his free hand, he tugged at the green blanket that sat over him. With effort, he tilted his head forward to witness the damage. Loki looked past the edge of his loosely fitting undershorts, which were apparently the only clothing he wasn't stripped of in here. Around the wound was a thick bandage, but the skin surrounding it was darkened black and blue. He cringed at the sight of it, but was suddenly distracted by something far more haunting.
Loki gasped when her face forced itself into view just above his. "You're recovering well, Brother," She said, smiling down at him. He stared back silently as she walked from behind the bed. There was a clear difference in her appearance from their last meeting. The black crown she wore was more polished and shining. She wore the same tight outfit, but now it was untattered and the metal framing glowed a deep green. When she knelt at his side, even her face was more youthful than when they'd first met. Less a vile witch, now more a dark goddess. He stayed quiet, the only tool at his disposal being a petty dreadful gaze. She only raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to thank me?" She asked. He furrowed his brow in protest.
"Thank you? Are you serious?" He spoke. "For slaughtering my friends or impaling me?" he growled. She laughed off his spiteful tone.
"For delivering you here to recover," she clarified. Loki shook his head and turned away from her.
"You'll never get gratitude from me," He insured her. She sighed in response, but Loki was sure she was only tooling with me.
"What about for allowing you to live?" She asked, cupping his chin and trying to make him face her again. He resisted, slapping her hand away with his own.
"You should have let me die," Loki said back.
"Now that's simply no way to treat family," she argued. 'Family' her voice echoed in his mind. He quickly turned to her again with rage.
"You!" He shouted, "You're not family of mine!"
She closed her eyes and smirked. Loki would have slapped the pompous smile from her face if is freed arm could reach so far across the bed.
"Perhaps our blood is different, Loki," She looked at him again, "but you and I share so much more than you're willing to admit. Besides, we both called him Father."
His blood boiled. He turned to face the ceiling again. Ignorance would hardly kill her, but he thought she would have to leave eventually if he stayed silent.
"Well, maybe if you won't thank your dear old Sister for your fast healing," She said as she stood to her feet again, "you'll at least thank your Queen."
'Queen' she declared herself to him again, just as she did on Earth. He had to bite his lip to stop himself calling her out. He wouldn't grant her the satisfaction of superiority again. She began to chuckle.
"You know," she started, "as your queen, I can see that your leg is entirely healed by sundown."
He ignored her still.
"Or…" Loki could only see her hand move for a split second before her palm landed lightly over his wound. "I could keep you in here indefinitely."
Loki cringed at the pain as she pressed down on his leg. He forced his composure back to ordinary, but when he looked at her, he didn't believe she bought it.
"A simple 'thank you ' is all I need."
She pressed harder. His body began to tremble against his trying strength. His head rocked back and forth. The pain was unbearable.
" Thank you, my queen." She mocked with a smile. She was enjoying this. Still, he said nothing. Harder she pressed and in a moment, Loki was sure he was beginning to hallucinate from the torture. Through his blurred vision, he would swear he saw a saw the glow of red eyes and a silhouette of curved horns at either side. Or maybe it was a trick of hers being planted in his mind. He had no idea. With all of his power, he stopped himself from responding to her demand of gratitude, but he couldn't last much longer. When her fingers finally dug into his flesh, his instincts took the best of him.
"Alright!" He shouted. "That's enough!"
She drew back slightly, but still she had her palm pressed on his wound.
"Say it," She ordered once more. He looked to her again as his vision began to clear up. Her smile was gone and she wore a hauntingly indifferent expression. Loki let in a breath and barred his teeth.
"Thank you," he forced himself to say. She nodded, but didn't take her hand away.
" Thank you… what?" She asked.
"Thank you…" Loki began, but stopped himself from addressing her as his queen. He didn't care to stay in this pain any longer, though. He forced himself to indulge her. "...sister."
Her smile returned to her face and her hand to her own side.
"Now was that so hard?" She asked. "I'll see to it that you're fixed soon," She said before bending her face back over his again. Loki felt her lips lay a light kiss on his forehead. It was as chilling as her skin before. "Until next time, Brother," She said before turning toward the doorway. Loki watched as she walked away and finally left and the door slide closed behind her.
He let out a breath of relief and exhaustion. Now his leg had become numb around the wound, likely from the excruciating abuse it'd taken. Soon he calmed the rest of his body, to the best of his ability. Even though she was gone, he still felt a presence around him. Loki scanned the dim room, sure it was empty, but equally sure he wasn't alone. He looked back to the opposite corner. There he felt my body go flush. Looking back from the dark corner of the room were the same red eyes. He stared back, spotting the crude shapes of the horns around them, but no other defining features visible from the darkness. They weren't visible for long. The eyes turned away after only a second or two of his studying them. He was intrigued, but still didn't know if what he was seeing was real. He wondered if this could be a guard of Hela. Perhaps just another patient in the infirmary? But Hela didn't take prisoners, aside from himself. She killed everyone else she saw at the gate, and surely anyone else who opposed her. Asgardians were hardly cowards. They would all fight for their home, but here she was just a moment ago, still standing.
Judging from his wound, he must not have been here unconscious for more than a day or two. That would be more than enough time for someone of her power, now amplified by being present in Asgard, to seize it. That was a bothersome thought. Though she was the one to have likely spilled it, Loki couldn't help but feel the burden of their blood on his hands. His calling for the Bifrost led to this. Last Asgard knew of him, they'd only seen him lie to them by taking his Father's place. With him in his position, they still flourished. Loki had finally been able to rule Asgard with prosperity. Now, they were probably only in calamity and only by his own mistakes.
He lied on the bed, cursing himself for letting this all happen. He wasn't able to sulk for long, be it a good thing or bad. The door slid open again. He was relieved to not see Hela come back through, but rather a nurse. She walked toward him, a look of fear and anger in her eyes. She finally stood over him, but he did not recognize her as being regularly staffed here.
"What is this?" Loki asked of her. She didn't say anything. She reached toward her waist-pack and retrieved a syringe with a small dose of a green fluid. She trembled in front of him. He had no time to question her further before she forced it into his arm. Loki winced in shock at the quick motion and jab, watching as the mystery liquid was pumped into is blood. She left swiftly without a word. He quickly started to feel numb again, now across his entire body. An anesthetic, it seemed. His eyelids began to feel heavy. A strong anesthetic. He turned and looked to the dark corner again as his vision began to fade. He saw the red eyes before his own finally fell shut again.