oOo

Chapter 13

Loki stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes were dark and heavy, and his hair had gotten really long since his fall from the bifrost. His bright green eyes were now faded green with lingering hues of blue. His bare body was riddled with bruises and scars that were now healing, thanks to his magic.

"Look at how wasted you are." Loki eyed himself.

He was so broken.

"No one will want you."

Loki turned himself around, tilting his head so he could look at his back. There were claw marks on his hips, and it caused Loki to scowl at it. It was a faded reminder of his time with them and Loki hated seeing it on his body.

He really wished that Thor did not see it.

Loki could remember how those sharp nails dug to his hips as he was bent forward. Those low moans and sounds of pleasure echoing in his ear as the pain had shot through his body all while the fear of succumbing into the darkness threatened him.

"Stop it." He cursed. "It is over, forget it."

He shook his head, trying to drown the uncomfortable thoughts.

"You've moved past that." Loki frowned. "Bury it with all the horrors in your life."

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning his head to look at his back again. There were other marks all over him, from different situations.

He had a faded bite mark just by his neck, and he hated how his illusion could no longer conceal it. His magic was too low, that the entire illusion vanished. Loki absently rubbed his wrist, thankful that Thor had gotten off the bounds. Why Thor did it, he did not know. Though he knew that Thor might have figured out that his magic was low and could no longer allow himself to escape on his own.

Great.

Loki went into the bath tub and enjoyed the warm water. He scrubbed off what he could in parts that he had long desperately wanted to clean and it was a wonderful feeling to experience.

He had not felt simple joys in a while.

And he was thankful.

When he was finished he dried off and changed into the clothes that were given to him. It was a dark blue V-neck and tight black pants. Loki didn't know how Thor found them but he was glad they were clean and brand new.

"I suppose it is time." Loki looked in the mirror. "Look at you, you look so horrible."

When had he not?

Suddenly he felt the world spin and his heart stop beating.

Ba—dump.

"Norns." Loki braced himself on the sink. "Maybe the heat has gotten to me."

Ba—dump. Ba—dump.

"Ow..." He clawed at his chest.

Ba—dump.

Loki tried to draw breath as it momentarily deprived him of any oxygen and soon he went into a coughing fit that alerted Thor and a familiar guest that was waiting outside his room. Loki hunched over the sink, and took a deep breath, trying to draw the air that he knew was there.

Why did his chest suddenly feel heavy?

Ba—dump.

And why did it feel so familiar?

oOo

Tony had finished his coffee and had long since thrown it in the trash. He was lying on Loki's bed, playing with his phone while Thor absently paced around the room, waiting for Loki to finish. Tony would eventually glance at Thor, but looking at his face only made Tony grimace more than he should. He knew Thor was upset that Loki was in the bathroom for a while, but trying to coax Loki out was going to be the hard part.

So why not wait it out?

Thor was grunting, very loudly, much to Tony's annoyance.

"Taking too long?" Tony asked, not even looking up from his device.

"I am worried about him." Thor stopped his movements. "Usually, he does this when he is upset."

Yes, that's the word.

"He has every reason to be upset." Tony shrugged.

"But why is he upset?!"

"Dude, calm down. You're being too meddling."

"And you are not?"

"Okay, be grateful that you have company over here." Tony pointed at the bathroom door. "And relax, I do that too sometimes too. The upset thing, but not in the bathroom, I don't like water that much. Usually I go for the hiding in my basement sort of thing."

"I do not like this." Thor took a deep breath. "Do you not feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"That feeling."

"What feeling?"

"I don't know. It is heavy, dark and sinister."

"You're being paranoid, Thor."

Suddenly Loki was coughing inside the bathroom, and both Thor and Tony's attention went straight to him. Thor turned his attention back to Tony, who was now sitting on the bed, staring as Loki continued to cough.

"Okay you're not paranoid." Tony shot him a worried look. "I think you need to check that out."

Thor started banging on the door.

"LOKI!?" He called. "LOKI, WHAT IS GOING ON? Are you well?"

They heard Loki call out his brother's name and that caused the two of them more worry than every, soon they heard Loki gasp and thumping noise at the door.

"What should I do?" Thor turned to Tony. "Can you open the door?"

"No, I can't. It's not automated." Tony said frantically."And that door is bolted like glue, trying the lock won't work either. Can't you just break the door down?"

Thor pressed his ear to the door, hearing Loki mumble something.

"He is talking to someone." Thor said.

"Thor, you better talk to your brother." Tony suggested. "I don't think leaving him in there too long would be a good idea."

"LOKI, OPEN THE DOOR!" Thor banged louder. "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

oOo

BANG! BANG!

Thor knocked heavily on the door and Loki tilted his head to see.

"LOKI!? LOKI, WHAT IS GOING ON? Are you well?"

"T—thor?" Loki weakly called.

Loki couldn't focus or hear anything, he tried to balance himself as the Helicarrier shook slightly, barely even a quake to those who are unobservant. Though, Loki noticed it, he knew immediately that something was wrong. Unknowingly, he glanced at the mirror and saw a familiar face behind him on.

"Ah!" He let out a gasp and accidentally slipped, hitting his back on the door.

Loki slid down, rubbing his burning chest and blinked rapidly out of confusion.

"N—norns, who was…" Loki's thoughts faded.

There was a dark figure looming over him.

Blue cloak, grey skin, golden bindings.

"You're… how did you—?"

"I am closer than you think." The Other grinned. "What games are you playing with these mortals, supposed King?"

"H-how are you here?"

Loki blinked, staring at the faded ghostly form of the Other, looming above him.

"Call it persistence…"

"I'm not playing games with you." Loki growled. "How did you get past Thor!?"

"I am a projection of your mind, a shadow that haunts you, yet is still real enough to cause you pain. That thread that links us together is still inside of you, and therefore I am in your mind and provoking you to do something about it."

"Your persuasion and delivery is stagnant." Loki mocked.

"No more games."

The Other knelt in front of him, touching Loki's knee, and gently pushing it to the side for Loki's legs to open.

"Our army, you had them killed."

"G—good." Loki began to shake, unable to contain his fear.

"You still have the nerve to fight us."

"It serves them right for being uncommandable!"

The Other's other hand caressed Loki's cheek and pushed his hair to the side while the other hand continued to touch Loki's knees. Loki growled lowly, trying to draw magic, but it felt so suppressed and low that he could get nothing out. Loki turned his head and slapped away the hand touching his face and the Other could only grin at him.

Loki knew that he was strong enough to push him away, to attack him, but he just couldn't. For reasons that were of the past, he sat there frozen on the floor and staring, unable to bring himself to fight.

He could just kill him if he wanted to, but the fear of angering a certain someone was not in his to do list.

"Master is not happy, but we all look forward to your return." The Other kept pushing Loki's leg firmly to the side, as Loki's hands went to the Other's chest to push him. "Some of the Chitauri wait for you as well. The mortals did not kill all of them."

"How did you get here?!" Loki stared, lacking the strength to push away.

"LOKI, OPEN THE DOOR!" Thor shouted from outside, insistently banging at the door. "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

"The lord had used his strength to send me here." The Other pried Loki's legs apart so he could come closer, clawing at Loki's knee.

Edging forward.

"S— stop. Y—you're an illusion." Loki had closed his eyes, shaking nervously. "You're not real! You cannot be here!"

"LOKI! OPEN THE DOOR!" Thor called.

"A message I shall send from my Lord." The Other inched closer to his ear, breathing slowly. "He wishes you punished. He wishes for me to return you to him."

"I will tell them of you." Loki breathed. "They will find you."

"My Lord made sure I stay in the shadows." He hissed, making Loki shiver. "And will they believe you? An enemy?"

"They know what happened to me. What they did."

"Do they really?" The Other trailed his fingers to Loki's waist, lifting his shirt. "We know this world contains a story, but are all those stories accurate? Do they tell of what happened to you? No?"

"How do you know that?"

"Your mind is not exactly closed as you thought." The Other chuckled, letting his hands rest on both of Loki's knees, as they were pried apart. "The master takes pride."

"They will still know."

"That does not mean they trust you."

"You are not the one I fear." Loki glared. "I do not fear you, you are just another mindless servant."

"Am I?" The Other grinned. "I helped heal you, while my subordinates played with you. You are lucky it was not my Lord. Our Lord."

"He is no lord of mine." Loki gritted his teeth.

"LOKI, GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!"

"Tell them. Let us see if you have courage to do so."

Suddenly the Other disappeared and Loki's eyes widened.

He bolted from the floor, knowing what Thor was about to do and ran forward to the wall. Thor knocked the door down. Loki was visibly shaking, as his knees gave out.

"At least he's fully clothed." Tony joked, peeking inside.

"What happened to you?" Thor walked forward, kneeling to Loki's side. "You are shaking. Loki, what happened?"

"I—I don't know." Loki shook.

"Brother… look at me." Thor cupped Loki's face.

"Did you hear it?"

"Hear what, Loki?"

"Him... did you hear?"

"I could only hear you, and no one else." Thor could feel Loki continue to shake. "Look at me, brother."

Loki's eyes were unfocused and faded, with a hint of blue but his voice was still firm and confident. He didn't want to risk looking like a mental patient in front of them. He vowed he would hide what insanity he had in his mind. But it was getting harder and harder to do so especially in this world. Loki could not hide, there was no way to hide.

"Stark." Thor called. "Loki's eyes…"

Loki's eyes were blown wide, and the green was gone.

"The influence they have on him must still be strong." Tony bit his lips, coming to Loki's view. "He's shaking so much."

"Loki, what happened?"

"I don't know!" Loki cried out. "Stop asking me!"

"Thor, bring him here." Tony said as Thor pulled Loki to his feet, dragging him to sit on the bed. "Easy, Reindeer Games, it's fine. What happened to you?"

"Why are you here?" Loki snapped at him, barely stopping himself from shaking. "Why is it that whenever I want peace, you are there to annoy me?"

"Because I came to get you two and I wanted to do some meddling." Tony frowned, wanting to know the situation. "What happened in there?"

"Loki, was it the Other?" Loki snapped his head to Thor. "Loki, answer me."

"Did you hear him? He was talking to me." Loki admitted, hands shaking and voice rising. "He was talking to me and you couldn't hear him. You couldn't hear! How could you not hear him!?"

"You are fine now, Loki. We will figure out a way to end the connection."

"He talked to me. He was… Thor he was…"

"I know."

"No, you don't know." Loki thought as he bit his lips. "You don't!"

Deep inside Loki wanted to scream to Thor that he's in here! He hiding… But the thoughts escaped him and he just couldn't bring himself to say it. His mouth was sealed shut, and he didn't know why. He hadn't been this frightened since he first entered the void and was tortured. He wasn't afraid of them, he wasn't but why was the experience so threatening?

Why did he feel like that?

Was it because he thought he had escaped so soon?

"Something happened, Thor." Loki whispered. "The tesseract is…"

Beep. Beep.

Tony shot them an apologetic look and took the call.

"Hello?" Someone was screaming on the other end. "I'll be right there. Yeah… sure. Okay! I get it! I know what to do… Damn."

"What is it?" Thor held onto Loki's neck.

"The tesseract acted up again."

This time, Tony saw the panic in Loki's eyes when Thor wasn't looking and in that moment, Tony knew that Loki was hiding something.

Tony turned to Loki.

"Come on, you're coming with us. It's not safe for you to stay here any longer."

"I'm fine." Loki excused. "It was just a relapse."

Tony wasn't buying it.

"Please don't tell them." Loki mumbled. "Don't tell them."

Thor and Tony exchanged glances, staring at Loki, who was cautiously looking around, sitting on the bed as if waiting for something or someone to appear. Loki looked like he was hyperventilating and Tony checked his watch before turning to the two gods.

"Your secrets safe with me." Tony regrettably assured.

oOo

TBC

Reviews lets you hug and comfort Loki.

Alerts, favs, etc. will get you to slap the Other.