When Steve re-entered the mansion, he knew immediately that he'd missed something big. It wasn't that there were holes in the walls, or any sort of evidence of a large fight. Nothing that drastic anyways. No, what gave it away was the sight of Tony sitting quietly in the kitchen with Bruce, neither talking. Even when Steve walked in Tony didn't move or make eye contact, he just kept staring passively at the glass of amber liquid that he held lightly in one hand.
"Hey Steve, how was your run?" Bruce asked, able to at least acknowledge his presence.
"What happened?" Steve asked, ignoring the question entirely.
Bruce looked to Tony who didn't look up from his glass before sighing and turned back to Steve. "We learned a bit more about Loki today."
That really didn't answer much, so Steve pointedly took a seat at the table. "What happened."
It wasn't really an order, but Bruce explained anyways. "Well, on the plus side, we figured out why Loki can't do magic. He has a series of scars running all over his body. I had noticed them before but I thought they might be a part of a religious rite or part of Asgard culture or something. It turns out the scars were made by the same people who put the brainwashed him, and they act as a permanent block on his powers. The good news is that unlike Asgard, earth is full of vain people who have over the years developed different methods to remove blemishes and scars. The treatment is fairly easy to use and administer, and in a matter of weeks I'm fairly certain that we can erase all traces of the scarring and Loki would have access to his magic again. Hopefully in time to fix the damage done to his lungs as well."
That did sound like good news, but Steve knew he heard a 'but' coming. Sure enough…
"Loki doesn't want us to do it." said Tony and Steve frowned.
"Why wouldn't he want his powers back?"
"That would be because he's convinced that Thor is going to be taking home to be punished even more for some shit he pulled a year ago. And he's convinced part of that punishment would be them taking away his magic again followed by even more torture."
Steve stared. "Why would he think that?"
"That's what we asked Thor." Bruce answered, rubbing at his temple. "We pretty much pinned him down and made him tell the entire story of what happened before Loki showed up here with an army. It… was more than we were expecting."
Steve waited for them to continue and when they didn't he prompted, "Are you going to tell me?"
Bruce did. The short version of it was that for a thousand years the worst thing Loki had ever done was cut off some girl's hair, the rest of it was just harmless pranks that did no lasting damage. And then some time over a year ago Thor was supposed to be king but the ceremony was interrupted by enemies breaking into Asgard. The events that led to Thor's banishment to earth also revealed to Loki that he had been adopted from the enemy race, and Loki apparently had some sort of mental breakdown and tried to destroy his birth race entirely and kill Thor. The whole thing had come to a head when Thor had tried to stop him, and Loki had let himself fall into the void of space. From there they all assumed that he had fallen to whoever had bound his magic and brainwashed him. There might have also been some torture as well from some of the things that Loki had yelled at Thor but they didn't know for sure.
"What we really need to take away from this," Tony said as Bruce finished the tale, "Is that A)" at this he held up one finger, "We might have unintentionally taken in a permanent refugee. And B)" another finger was put up, "Loki is fundamentally and comprehensively screwed up."
"Tony-" Steve started; ready to admonish Tony for his words but the billionaire cut him off.
"Oh no, I'm not exaggerating. Loki isn't some guy who found out that he was adopted and pitched a fit because he feels a little insecure. This is the worst account of finding out your adopted in the history of adoption! You didn't hear what Thor said about Loki's mother race. Let's put it in a context you can relate with. Lets say Loki was raised in your time, lets say in Poland, by a nice Jewish family. And then one day he finds out that he isn't really their kid, he's adopted. But not even the nice kind of adopted where the parents couldn't have spawn any of their own so they took in a kid instead. No, Loki was adopted because dear old dad wanted you use him for political reasons down the road. Add on the fact that he isn't the same people as his adopted family. His birth parents were the Asgard equivalent of Boogieman-Nazi hybrids, and his Dad is the equivalent of Hitler. There aren't enough therapists in the world to deal with this shit."
Steve sat there and played Tony's words over in his head. Suddenly Thor's casual dismissal of Loki's actions the day the met by claiming that he was adopted seemed like the largest understatement Steve had ever heard. "Well, we are going to have to deal with it. And first thing we need to do is figure out exactly what Loki is facing when Thor takes him back. We handed him off once without asking what would happen, I'm not doing that again. Where is Thor?"
()()()()
Loki was not hiding.
Hiding would imply that he had hope of not being found and there was little chance of that when he was trapped in the same house as the person he was trying to avoid.
No, Loki was merely enjoying the quiet of the library, savoring his freedom to do so while he could. There were many seats in the library, and Loki was occupying a squashy brown leather sofa that resided near the back by a large window that overlooked the gardens. Night had fallen, so there was little to gaze at but that did not stop Loki from staring out into the dark. He had tried to read, but he found he was still worked up from his argument with Thor and gave up the prospect of relaxing. Instead he went over the conversation over and over, picking it apart. Thor obviously had no idea what sort of punishment Odin had planned. He seemed utterly convinced that Loki would be welcomed back with open arms and all would be well again. Such a childish notion, one which did nothing to help Loki determine what actually would happen upon his return.
He sat there for a long time, his mind going over all the possible punishments Odin might inflict, from the terrible to the gruesome. The best he could hope for was a quick death. Everything else just made him sick to think about.
The peace of the library was shattered when the door opened and Thor stepped in. The blonde closed the door behind him, and with a slower stride than was normal, Thor came to the corner in which Loki resided. He did not speak, but sat beside him, ignoring the glare Loki sent his way.
Loki did not have time to question what Thor was up to, as a moment later a heavy hand came around and rested on his opposite shoulder in an embrace. With a snarl, Loki twisted away from it, his fingers twitching with useless gestures that would have had Thor flying in the other direction if he'd had access to his magic. As it was, Loki was only mortal now, and had little chance of dodging Thor's second attempt. Impossibly strong arms darted around him at speeds he forgot Thor possessed and Loki was pulled from his cushion to he held in a firm embrace. It didn't matter how much he squirmed, thrashed, hit or clawed, soon Loki was trapped within Thor's grip. His arms trapped against Thor's chest and his head reaching just over his shoulder, Loki took the opportunity to yell and curse directly into Thor's ear.
All of it was ignored. All his threats, vile words and claims of retribution went unheard as Thor only held him closer.
"I mourned you." Thor said quietly when Loki had paused to take a breath. "I mourned you every day you were gone."
Surprise halted the threats in Loki's throat, and Thor hugged him even closer. "After you fell, Father told me what had happened in my absence. How you had discovered you were Jotunn. He told me that he fell into the Odinsleep before he could explain why he never told you, told either of us. I do not know why he told you that he took you only for a purpose, and told me it was out of sympathy. I do not know which is the lie or if it a mix of both. I do not care either." One of Thor's hands moved from his back to grip him at the back of his neck in a familiar gesture. "When Father told me the truth of what you are, I was furious, and was nearly banished again for all of my yelling."
"Furious to know that you had been raised alongside a monster no doubt," Loki hissed as he tried again to slip out of Thor's grasp but the elder god held fast.
"I was angry that he lied to you!" Thor corrected forcefully, shocking Loki into stillness once more. "And that he failed you so badly that when you discovered the truth, you lost your mind. I was angry with myself, if I had not been so foolish and gotten myself banished I would have been there and you wouldn't have been alone." Thor gave a great sigh that blew through Loki's hair. "I failed you as well brother. And I can not even blame my absence on it. When I returned from Midgard, I was so angry with you for your attack on me and the mortals. Even still I knew something was wrong, you were not yourself. But I allowed you to goad me into battle. You were lost then, and it was no-ones fault but mine and Father's. In the weeks that followed, none spoke of you to me either because they did not wish to or I could not bear it. I do not know. But I swear to you brother, on my hammer, on my name, on the Tree itself, I mourned you." Thor accented his words with another squeeze and Loki did not try to escape when his arms loosened again. "I felt as though I had lost a part of myself when I believed you were gone from us forever," Thor continued," I would have given anything at that point to see you again."
Thor fell silent then, and the library was quiet for a time as Loki sat stiffly in the embrace that had been forced upon him. Thor seemed content to hold on to him for the moment and gave no inclination of ever letting go. Normally such a thing would have bothered Loki, especially since contact with Thor always led to bruises and injury. But after an untold amount of pain dolled out by the Chitauri and the mortals, the comforting touch was a surprise that his body could not turn away from. And so Loki sat, torn between bracing for injury and leaning into the touch.
Eventually Thor shifted, and with a hand still holding on to the back of his neck, he moved back far enough to look into Loki's face. Loki avoided his eyes, not even close to ready to see what might be lurking there. Instead he focused his gaze upon the material of Thor's collar, finding that a much safer subject to look upon. Undeterred, Thor pulled him forward and Loki felt Thor kiss his temple before he was pulled further down to be tucked under his bearded chin.
"I will not take you back to Asgard Loki. Not against your will. If it is fathers wish to punish you for your actions while king, he will have to speak to me so that I can make him see reason. Surely you have already been punished enough, and I will not hear otherwise. But I do not expect you to believe me, or at least trust me to change fathers mind. So we will stay here until you wish to travel home. Heal brother, allow my new friends to release the bindings on your magic so that you can be whole once more. I swear that you will be safe here, I will not allow anymore harm to come to you."
Loki sat completely still in the embrace, his mind racing over Thor's words searching for the lie. Turning over phrases in his head to see how they could be twisted around and bite him later. But he found nothing. Thor could not lie. And his plan, such as it was, to grant Loki his magic back could not trap him once more. If the mortals really could remove the scars and release the bindings on his magic, he could hide from Heimdall again. He could walk between worlds again. Once his magic was back and at full strength, there would be no cell that could hold him and no eye could find him. He had nothing to loose by agreeing, and everything to gain.
Still, he found himself hesitating. Relying on Thor was never the safe option. Not for Loki at least. But he had little choice in the matter, it was either trust Thor, or continue living the limbo of this house that held him. Eventually Loki took a deep breath and nodded once, knowing that Thor was still waiting for a response.
The arms around him tightened once more in return and against his better judgment, Loki leaned into the hold a fraction.
Happy New year everyone!
And now for the bad news...
I really didn't want to have to say this, I worked very hard not to but apparently it wasn't enough... I will not be posting a chapter next monday. I am very disappointed in myself, I set a goal for myself and I am not meeting it. The problem is that I don't have the next section done yet. I thought with my time off work I'd have so much free time to write but I forgot that Christmas is a giant time vacuum. I promise to keep writing, and hopefully I will have something for the following monday. If not, then for sure the monday after that.
In the meantime, please take this as a opportunity to let me know if there was something specific you would like to see in the upcoming chapters. There is no guarantee that I will use those suggestions, as I do have most of the story line in place, but I am always up for some inspiration!
I hope everyone has a great new year! I know I'm looking forward to it! Iron man 3, Thor 2 and my wedding! Woo Hoo! Go 2013!
