On Monday morning Loki manages to drag himself to school. He's still numb about seeing Thor on the news, not entirely certain what to think or feel.
What if they ask questions? The paranoid part of his mind begins formulating a thousand different situations, none of them pleasant, and all of them ending up in his family's inevitable exposure and humiliation.
As always with these things, it's never as bad as it seems; not a single person says anything to him all morning, for which he is glad. But at lunch Sif and their other friends seek him out, urgent questions on their lips.
She explains that she was passing through the living room while her parents were watching South Today, when Thor's face had come up on the screen. She'd frozen, watching with an intensity usually only reserved for her love of tennis and literature, as DI Symmonds talked through the case and how a full search had been set up for Thor. It had suddenly all clicked into place for her, and Sif had realised the full extent of what Loki had meant, that Tuesday when he'd given his explanation.
Loki's face twists when he realises he's been found - it was of course, impossible for no-one to notice, but he'd hoped nonetheless. "So now you know," he says bluntly, not looking at anything. Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun look guiltily away, not sure what to say given the situation, but deeply regretting not helping further.
"I know your mum's been gone a while," Sif begins, and when Loki doesn't say anything she decides pressing on would be better than letting the silence get awkward. "And you and Thor had to do a lot together." Loki winces at the mention of Thor's name, and Sif bites her lip, feeling even worse. "Just...if you need anything, just text me. Whenever, whatever, just text me, OK?" The offer is on the table and Sif won't retract it, but Loki's unresponsiveness concerns her.
"The same goes for all of us," Fandral adds, and the other two nod in agreement.
.
Sif comes over that evening to cook a proper meal for Loki and Odin, since they've both been living off pasta pots and leftovers for the past few days and she feels they ought to have a decent meal. She makes beef casserole, which both father and son appreciate more than they say, but she knows they're grateful from the speed with which they devour everything on their plates.
So far, Odin's drinking ban has been going well. There is still beer in the fridge, but it's been untouched for over twenty-four hours now. He explains what he is doing to Sif and she takes the initiative to throw it out when he's left the room.
While Sif does this, Odin sits with Loki in the lair. His son is curled against his side, fingers clinging tightly to his father's old jumper and face buried against his shoulder to hide the wet streaks staining the dark green material. Loki hasn't said a thing since lunch. He sets a sort of challenge to himself - if his father is giving up drinking, maybe he should give up something too, to help him cope. He thinks through all the things he holds dear enough to give up, but the only one is Thor, and his brother has already been forcefully taken away from him; the whole still gapes open, torn and bloody.
"Do you want to do something tomorrow, son?" Odin asks softly, fully intending on pulling Loki out of school now the public eye knows what's happened to Thor. But his son gives no answer, just a strained noise from the back of his throat. Loki shakes his head, decided on what his challenge will be. He'll give up talking, until Thor comes home, and if that means it's for the rest of his life then so be it. It's not worth communicating with a world cruel enough to take his nearest and dearest from him so suddenly.
.
Over the course of a week Thor is provided with school equipment and textbooks, presumably so he can continue his school studies through self tutoring. Not that he's ever planned to be kidnapped, but he's seen movies, and never has the victim been treated like this. What kidnapper would see it as important for him to continue his school work whilst being held hostage? Thor can't make sense of it, but a lot of things about this don't make sense.
He's been well looked after, fed, washed, and even given some company from one of the men that took him. Thor's tried asking questions about his books and the seemingly desperate urge of his kidnappers to keep him learning, but the response is silence.
He bites his lip and gets on with his physics work, even though he's always detested the subject. He might as well make use of the opportunity to feel normal again.
.
Three weeks after Thor disappeared, the news changes. Volstagg, Sif, Odin and Loki are sitting in the lair, where the TV has been moved because it's become Loki and Odin's main haunt now, under the excuse of it's Odin's room and Loki won't stay in the front room any more. He never explains why; he's kept to his internal promise and won't speak a word to explain it, but the others suspect it's because the memories haunt him. More than once Sif has had to physically fight Loki for his bedding, or rather, Thor's, to make sure it gets washed.
It's become a routine, to religiously watch every presentation of South Today available: at 6:30 and 10:25pm every weeknight, always hoping for further news of Thor. And it just so happens that this Monday evening something turns up.
Sif is the first to recognise the face of the police officer, DI Symmonds, and immediately calls for hush, turning up the volume. Four pairs of eyes glue themselves to the screen.
And suddenly a true silence descends on the room as everybody stops breathing. The case has made headway. They've found a body.
Odin is the first to react, crying out at the screen, "No!"
Sif has seized Volstagg's hand tight; there is an ominous crack as one of his knuckles clicks under the pressure. Her face is as pale as the chipped limestone fireplace to her left.
Loki's eyes are glazed; he can't see the screen, can't see anything really, except the black spots dancing back and forth over his vision. It's not a sudden pain, like you'd get from a physical blow - in a sense that would be easier to bear. What he feels is a slow, burning ache, a leeching of his strength until there's nothing left inside him but the insatiable anguish of grief.
The detective calmly explains that the body belongs to a young man, most likely in his mid to late teens, and that DNA tests and dental records are being checked, but it is most likely to be the body of the missing teenager, Thor Odinson, who disappeared three weeks before. She tells the reporters of the situation smoothly, like a well-oiled machine that's done this kind of thing a hundred times before, but any person with an ounce of intuition can see it's hurting her too, to deliver this news. And wherever Brenda is, her eyes are following the story too, with a desperation for it to be a mistake and a bottomless sympathy for Loki and Odin, who are both feeling their hearts break simultaneously.
The body was found in the woods a few miles away from the Co-op, on the edge of the city. Half the police are working on confirming who the deceased is, and the other half are frantically searching for other evidence that could lead to the kidnappers and better explain the circumstances of the young man's death. As of yet, the only thing they have to say is that he was most likely beaten to death.
The article finishes. Sif switches the TV off and finally lets go of Volstagg's hand, turning to look at Odin and Loki and preparing to offer comfort. The father had dropped his head to his lap and is weeping quietly, his body shaking with the spasms his sobs send through him; his son hasn't moved, but his hands are trembling and white. Sif closes her mouth - nothing she could say would help them now. But she tries anyway.
"I'm so sorry."
A/N: Hang in there. It's not over yet.