The guard took Loki back to the room he had come from, his dark and lonely cell. As the door closed behind him Loki breathed a sigh of relief. For now, he was alone. And he could think without the constant teasing of the staff just beyond his reach, or the equal pull of Thanos's words. He knew that he had been used, and he knew, equally well, that he had been glad of it—that for one moment his outward actions had come far too close to the truth, and he knew that he must not let himself be so easily swayed in the future.
Yet equally well, he knew it would be harder and harder to resist. What he needed was his own purpose, something so strong it would override all of Thanos's attempts at coercion.
But he was at a loss. For he had no purpose. He had had no purpose since he fell—none but escape, and yet the simple pull of freedom would soon die under the greater lure of knowledge, of peace.
So he turned his thoughts back, back before the fall, and his eye lit upon Thor—bright Thor, whom he loved, whom he hated, whom he tried to kill and who tried to kill him. For one moment he thought he felt phantom arms encircling him, and Thor whispering something into his ear.
But he banished the thought. He turned his eye upon Odin—Odin, who had said he would never be good enough, who had known he was a monster and had said nothing.
And then his thoughts went to Midgard, where the fair Jane resided, the mortal who had stolen Thor's heart in only days. Midgard, least of the Nine and yet central to it all. Midgard, from whose ground he might see Asgard above. Thor would surely not allow any threat to his precious realm. But how would he get there? He must have another design, one more suitable, one Thanos would find believable and one which he himself could believe. He looked down upon the tiny world and saw the death and the destruction and this time he did not glory in it. This time he wept, and he reached out and took from them their freedom, and gave them peace.
And all around the globe, his subjects knelt to him, and he was a greater king than any in all of the Nine. And their worship and praise filled him, and he felt at once loved.
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