A/N: Here's the next little section. Sorry. Still sorry. Who else got Agent of Asgard. Stoked for the next issue. Woah never got comic books before.
Winter Comes Again..
Loki had been sentenced to be cast out of Asgard. Exiled to wherever he happened to end up until further notice, which was certain to be a very long time. He supposed he should have seen it coming. And he also supposed, as an after-though, that he should have been grateful. That for his crimes against both humanity and those against the greater nine realms, that he was only being exiled and not tortured and killed for his actions. Though, his magic was definitely being repressed and unusable for all intents and purposed should have gone without saying.
He sat now in silence, waiting in the cell deep in the Asgardian palace, under the tightest security he could ever imagine. He leaned against the back wall, tapping his bare feet against the cool marble floor. A chain clinked between his wrists and he could already feel the effects of Odin's suppression of his magic. He clenched and unclenched his pale hands as they hung off the edges of his knees. He observed the other war criminals in the cells around him with absolute disgust. This was no place for a prince.
Loki rolled his bright eyes as the guards in front of his cell and all the prisoners who peered through the magical cell walls to gawk at the once elegant prince. His hair was a mess, he was sure of it, and deep circles had set in under his eyes from his time under the command of the Chitauri. He had been stripped too of his armor and sat in just his pants and a loose fitting shirt, completely plain and not at all royal in any way. He snorted. How easy it was for them now to look down on the former prince. Once they had respected him, but now he could practically hear their silent ridicule.
However, he wasn't vengeful. He was just tired. Tired and wary of the opportunity he'd been given. If he really was feeling bold he would say even thankful to his brother. Thor had been the one to convince the All Father to only banish him and not send him to the darkest dungeons to be tortured for all eternity. He was originally going to be imprisoned and most likely beaten close to death, he could only assume. The guards of the prison were ruthless and he would no doubt be the target of their abuse for a long time to come. But, for now at least he was relatively safe. Thanks in part to the quick thinking of Thor and he was nothing but grateful.
Loki let out a heavy sigh and let his head fall back against the wall with a soft thud. He was so tired. Tired because of his time under the control of the Teseract, and his unplanned time spent on the throne, and his loss of control over his envy and in the end, himself. He hadn't been entirely in control of his own self for a long time and he was feeling bold, he was truly sorry. He didn't know exactly how to say it and even if his silver tongue could find the words, he wouldn't be able to say them. He thumped his head against the wall a few times before the heavy sound of boots outside of the cell made him stop.
"Leave us." Thor's voice addressed the guards, who hesitated then disappeared down the hall of cells. "Brother, are you alright." His voice was soft and suddenly incredibly concerned.
Loki opened his eyes slowly. "Yes I am fine." Thor looked distraught. He looked torn and his eyes were narrowed in the direction the guards had gone. Loki let out another long sigh. "I believe I owe you-"
"You owe me nothing." The blond sat in front of the magic glass with his long legs folded up carefully and he picked at his pants almost self conciously. "I just want you back from all of this madness brother. That is all."
Loki's bright eyes searched his older brother's face carefully. "Me too." He admitted quietly. "So I thank you."
Thor smiled. His face was always so full of sunshine. "Just know that when you come back I will be the one to punish you for your crimes in a sparring match."
Loki managed a sad smile. He could already feel anger bubbling in his chest and he struggled to keep it suppressed. He was unhappy, infinitely unhappy, more unhappy then he had ever been. He wanted to scream and destroy all the furniture in the sparsely furnished cell, but he couldn't. His magic was bound as tightly as his hands and he wanted nothing less than to appear ungrateful in front of his brother who had stuck his neck out to allow him this opportunity. So Loki sat completely still and watched Thor carefully. He picked at his fingernails inently and tried to think about something other than the fact that he would be thrown into the stars without his magic soon.
"I've convinced father to send you to Midgard." Thor finally said. "You will be safe there."
Loki looked up from his fingernails. "You did what?" His blood had run cold. "Are you daft? I tried to.." He trailed off. "You can't seriously think that a good idea brother."
"I do because Heimdal told me you used to flee to Midgard long before all of this to a very specific place to let yourself relax." Thor probed at Loki with his pale blue eyes and a slightly teasing smile. "That there was a human there, a girl. He said you tried to shield yourself with magic but every once in a while it would slide and he could see you there and you seemed happy."
Loki clenched his jaw. It was true, but certainly the girl had seen what he'd done in New York and would want nothing to do with him now. It had been a long time, easily two years since he had gone to the small town in California to see the girl with the dark hair who had found him in the snow screaming and punching at trees in the forest. She had taken him in and shown him kindness over and over again when he was feeling most like an outcast. No he was positive she would want nothing to do with him now. Not now that he was truly a monster.
"-Are you listening to me?" Thor's voice made him focus.
"Yes." He answered with a clipped tone.
"I was saying I've spoken with Heimdal. He can have you send near there. That is all."
Loki raised a black eyebrow. "Why brother. Why are you showing me this kindness."
Thor laughed. He stood up and straightened his pants. "You deserve a second chance. There was something inside you in New York that wasn't my brother. I know that you are good and I know that man is inside you somewhere yet Loki. You will be safe on Midgard so long as you behave yourself and you will return from this madness that over took you."
"And if I don't?" The smallness of his own voice startled Loki and he looked back at his thin fingers.
Thor didn't answer right away. He searched the face of the brother he loved. He knew that he was in there, somewhere. And he wanted to give that man the chance to come back before punishing the man who had attacked New York. "Do not lose hope Loki. I believe you will come home."
In a sweep of bright red, Thor was gone and Loki was left in complete silence. He was at a loss. So he would go to Earth, hope that no one who had some sort of grudge for what had happened in New York found him, and then what. He would return, the fallen Prince of Asgard, the once failed King of Asgard, the Frost Giant parading as a Prince behind a thin veil of magic, as the once puppet of the Chitauri and war criminal. He had nothing left and Thor was pretending that anyone in the palace still wanted him at all. That despite everything the people of Asgard would welcome him back. Thor was an optimistic fool.
Finally the uncomfortable bubbling in his chest turned, and Loki screamed. Despite the suppression his powerful magic leaked out in a wave and threw the furniture against the magical walls of his cell. He forced himself to his feet and destroyed anything and everything in the cell that he could grab and throw. His magic became more and more difficult to use and finally he collapsed in a shaking heap against the wall where he had started. He breathed heavily as he surveyed the damage in the cell with disgust. His hands were bleeding but he ignored it and hung his head, exhausted.
It was hours before the guards came back. They hauled Loki to his feet and dragged him from his cell, but not before knocking him around until his face bled and added to the red already leaking from his hands, feet and arms. If he were feeling more himself his silver tongue could have thought of a clever insult but there was nothing to say. They jerked him through the halls until they stood in front of Heimdal, Thor and Odin at the Bifrost.
"Loki." His father greeted with a formal nod, examining both his self-inflicted wounds and those the guards had added onto his pale face. "I see you finally let that frustration out."
Loki barely managed a small eye roll, but kept silent and kept his eyes on the ground.
"Well then if that's it, Loki, my son, for your crimes you are hereby banished until you learn the value of life and humanity." Odin nodded again to Heimdal. "Consider yourself lucky and do not think this an act of kindness. I will not hesitate to stop you if anything should appear to be strange in your behavior. You cannot block Heimdal's sight and he will be watching you." In a few long strides he was in front of the fallen prince and removed his shackles. "You have always been my son and one day you will be again."
He stole a glance then at his brother, who smiled to him sadly, before being ripped from Asgard and into the Bifrost. He was vaguely aware of how much it hurt to be thrown through space without any magic, to be for all purposes mortal. But he was feeling extremely lost. When he landed in the snow, he couldn't bring himself to move. He thought briefly that maybe his father had broken his promise to Thor. That perhaps he had been sent to Jotenheim to die in the ice like the monster he was. He thought that until through the haze he saw the moon. Earth's moon and he let out a long breath. He was safe for now. But he was improperly clothed and also barefoot and bleeding and he was positive none of those things worked well with cold. It didn't take long for him to start shivering and collapse into the white powder.
Hazel stood in her window. She did a lot on nights when she was thinking about her mysterious prince from the stars. She had seen the newscasts, and seen the devastation in New York. She had seen the flashes and images of the stranger in her prince's clothes in Germany, but she couldn't see any part of the mild mannered man she had met in the snow almost two years ago.
She shook her head and gazed up at the stars. She would be lying to herself if she wasn't worried something had happened to Loki in New York, but she was lucky she thought as she was really the only one around who had a TV and internet access. If he ever came back she wouldn't have to explain what had happened in New York.
But Hazel didn't have a lot of answers. Honestly, after he had kissed her forehead and disappeared back to the stars, she hadn't seen him until he had appeared in the papers and all over the news after destroying a military base. And she knew that after seeing pictures of the person that had ordered the people in Germany to kneel, that something awful must have happened to her prince.
A flash lit the sky and Hazel jumped. The light she knew only meant one thing and she rushed to put on shoes
"Loki." She muttered as she rushed out the door and into the snow. She struggled to turn a flashlight on to look at the trees. There was no sign of the dark man as she stood carefully scanning the white dusted landscape. "Loki!" Her voice echoed back to her.
There was no answer and only the quiet fall of snowflakes against the leaves and the trees. She squinted into the darkness, but didn't see anything. Hazel took a few steps out into the cold towards the lake at the very edge of her property where they had first met and shined her flashlight into the shadows. Laying in the snow in a heap by the water was a dark figure and Hazel practically dropped her flashlight scrambling to get to his side. His hair was a mess and blood stained the snow around his face.
"Oh god. Loki can you hear me?" She asked as she rolled him onto his back. He dark hair fell into his bruised face and he groaned and cracked his eyes open. "Please.. What's going on. Are you okay?" She breathed. Her fingertips remained, shaking and nervous on his cheek.
"Decidedly not." He looked up at her carefully. "It's been a while, wouldn't you say."
Hazel couldn't laugh. At the sound of the voice she had longed for, for two years she felt tears leak down her face. She fell forwards onto her prince's chest with an embarrassing sob. "Where have you been? I saw you on the news. I didn't want to believe it was you."
He let out a breath and his bright green eyes slipped shut. "Clearly we have much to discuss but for now, I am quite cold."
"What do you mean? I thought you were never.. Are you bleeding?" Hazel sat up slowly, and her gaze caught sight of his hands and the blood on his face came into sharp focus against his pale skin. "Please tell me you're okay."
"I have a great many stories to tell you Hazel." He searched her face for a moment. "Do you think we could have tea? And pretend the last two years never happened."
Hazel gave him a shy smile. After a short struggle to get him to his feet, which were alarmingly bare, she helped him the house. She sat him at the table, after grabbing the thickest blanket from her bed to wrap around his slim shoulders. She hurried to get the warm tea to him. He gratefully wound his now bony fingers around the steaming cup and clutched it to his chest. He looked very very human suddenly and her heart stuttered in her chest. Her Prince, despite everything, had kept his promise.
"Is it really you Loki?" She asked in a small voice.
The man looked up from his tea and managed a small smile. "I believe so."
Hazel shook her head. She dragged the chair from the other side of the table and sat in front of him so their knees could bump together. The physical contact was comforting somehow. "What has the world done to you?"
Loki sighed. "That is a very long story."
"We have as long as you're willing to stay here."
"I wasn't myself. And, some bad things happened-"
"You destroyed most of New York."
"I didn't.. I.." The man trailed off. "My envy got the better of me I'm afraid."
"Your envy got the better of you? Loki you killed people! What happened to my gentle moonlight Prince-"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that." He hissed dangerously. "You can't even begin to fathom what I have been through. Two years have passed for you, centuries of time have past for me in the void. Years and years of torment and you have been here pining after me. You've seen what I'm capable of. I was a King!" He stood in a rush and shoved the table over in a rage and dropped his mug to the ground. His eyes were burning as he glared down at her.
Hazel blinked up at him and let out a shaking breath. "I'm sorry I didn't know.."
He looked down at the mess of shattered nick-knacks on the floor that had been sitting on the table. He blinked a few times and his now dull eyes slipped shut. "No I am so sorry. I will clean this up. I don't know what came over me."
"Something was different in you when you were in New York.. When you destroyed that base and hurt all those people. You were envious before Loki but you were never like that, never violent. What happened to you?"
The Prince had knelt to the floor and began to scoop shards of the broken mug into his pale hands. "There was an attack. More or less. And Thor lead our friends into Johtenheim, a horrible snow wasteland we were told of when we were children full of terrible foul monsters. One of them grabbed me, and revealed to me a terrible truth. That my father had taken me from their king, I suppose now my true father, when I was just a baby and I was raised to be some sort of bargaining chip. After some.. Altercations, I fell into the void. I was lost to Asgard, they thought me dead." He continued to clean up the floor. "The Chitauri, a brutal alien race, found me and tortured me for what must have been centuries. I lost sight of myself and they sent me to Midgard, here, to do their bidding. They threatened me with violence but I relished the power. After I was defeated by your Avengers, my father imprisoned me. My brother argued for me to be sent here.. To you. And here we are." He ended without looking up at her.
There was a long silence before Hazel dropped to her knees beside him to help him pick up the floor. "Are you human then? If you're here?"
"For all intents and purposes yes, entirely mortal." He still didn't look up to her.
"You were tortured." She searched his bruised face carefully.
He didn't answer except with a slight nod.
"They manipulated you to hurt the people in New York?"
Finally his eyes rose to her. "I would rather not talk about this anymore, if it's all the same to you. I promised I would return to you, and you would have me no matter what. I don't want you to think less of me then I fear you already do. If you don't mind.."
Hazel nodded. "I will still have you. No matter what. When you're ready to talk if you think it'll help you I'll listen." She spoke but kept her eyes on the floor, picking at the scattered shards of her salt and pepper shakers. A silent moment passed before Loki started coughing. She looked up quickly and realized how sick he looked for the first time since they had come inside. "How long were you in the snow?" She asked urgently.
"I don't feel too well.." Was all he muttered before collapsing into a clammy heap on the linoleum.
She jumped to his side, touching his forehead lightly. "Oh god no.. Let me get you to bed. You're burning up. Are you hurting anywhere? Please be alright."
After a short struggle, she half carried him down the hall into her small bedroom. She helped him into her bed and rushed into the bathroom to get medicine for his rapidly spiking fever. If she had Nyquil or something she thought he would be fine at least until the morning but she hardly ever got sick so she had hardly had any medicine. A knock on the door interrupted her frantic searching. With a bottle of the horrible green liquid in hand she rushed to her door and peeked through the peephole, leaving a very pale and confused looking Loki trying to get comfortable in bed. A less than pleased looking man was standing on the other side of the wood, looking around warily with his one visible eye. Hazel's hand tightened around the Nyquil as she chewed nervously on her lip.
"I know you're on the other side of this door. Who you are is another matter entirely. Open the door so we don't have to bust it down." The man knocked one more time on the wood and added, "I am not a patient man"
Hazel hesitated then ran back to her bedroom, her socks padding against her hardwood floor. "Loki someone is here and he looks angry." She knelt at his side and he struggled to focus on her face. She set a cool hand on his burning cheek. "Drink a cup full of this, terrible but it will help you feel better."
"What will you do?" He managed to say as he took the medicine and eyed it carefully. "Your hand feels heavenly. My skin feels like it's on fire."
She smiled and set her other hand on the opposite side of his face. Before he could relax though, there was another angry knock on the door. "I'm going to see what that guy wants. Just stay still and quiet. Drink that and try to relax. Promise me."
"You have my word."
With that she squeezed his hand and rushed back down the hall and to the front door. "One second, let me grab a coat-"
"You better just open up kiddo. You've kept me waiting for long enough." The man set his hands on his hips and eyed the door with disdain.
Hazel hesitated, than opened the door enough to see the man face to face.
"Well, that's not I was expecting. You're… Small." He looked down at her and raised his eyebrow. "May I?" He motioned to come inside.
She opened the door with a few shuffled steps backwards and he strolled in in a swoosh of leather. "Um.. Can I.."
"I don't know can you?" He clasped his hands behind his back and turned on his heels. "Do you know why I'm here Miss Hazel Brown."
She shook her head.
"My name is Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. A mysterious energy source we've been tracking just dropped into your backyard. Now tell me, why are we here." He narrowed his single visible eye at her. When she didn't answer he sighed. "I repeat to you, I am not a patient man. You better believe me when I say I came out personally for this. Now tell me-"
Hazel clasped her hands together nervously. "He has the flu." She blurted out.
"Who does?"
She glanced down at the ground. "He's not going to hurt anyone. Not my Prince." She whispered.
"Stand down." Director Fury muttered into a microphone at his wrist. "Who are you hiding kid."
"You're looking for Loki aren't you?" She looked up at the tall man. "He's very sick. I found him beaten and bleeding in the snow. He's completely human. Please don't take him away from me. Not when I just got him back. He means more to me then you know." Her voice faded to a whisper.
The man eyed her carefully. "Listen to me kid. This is not a joke. He is responsible for the deaths of lots of people, my people. You surrender him now and we won't have to take him in and you for holding him from us. And trust me when I say that will not be a pleasant experience. He will be executed and we'll make you watch-"
"Hazel." Loki's voice made the pair of them turn. "I can't get the cap off of this." He held out the bottle of Nyquil pathetically and leaned against the wall. His dazed eyes fell on Director Fury and he sighed. "I am sorry."
"You are a sight, you know that?" He crossed his arms and turned to the fallen Prince. "Did the whole world domination not work out for you? You have to the count of three to tell me why you're back here before I beat you within an inch of your life and drag you into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters by your hair. You hear me?"
Hazel stepped in front of Loki. "Please just leave him will you?"
"Hazel.." Loki warned in a soft voice.
"Give me one reason why I should."
"He's sick. And he got cast out of his home for a second chance."
"Hazel I can speak on my own behalf." Loki said indignantly, standing up a little straighter on wobbly legs. "She speaks the truth Director Fury. Thor vouched for my need of a second chance. I am certain you could call him-"
"And why would I go through the trouble of doing something like that. You murdered thousands of people in New York." Director Fury squared up and easily met Loki's eyes over Hazel's head. "You deserve death by firing squad Your Royal Highness and then to be hung up by your ankles. I am not joking around."
His eyes fell to the floor before meeting the visible eye of the director without any sort of hesitation. "Then I will accept the consequences for my actions. My brother is a fool for sending me here."
"No. No! I won't let you take him. He was good and kind once, when he came to me before all of this." Hazel clenched her hands into fists. "You'll have to get through me to take him away."
"Hold your tongue." The fallen prince demanded softly. He set a feather light hand on the side of her neck. "I will accept the punishments that you deem fair Director Fury."
"Do you think you deserve this second chance." Director Fury asked him with a blank expression.
Loki didn't answer right away. Eventually he sighed. "If the very few friends I have made believe I do then perhaps I do." He said quietly. "I have done a lot of bad, and realize I have much to be sorry for. I don't deserve the kindness being shown to me."
"Hm." Director Fury watched him, and then turned his gaze on Hazel who still stood fiercely glaring at him, and blocking Loki as best she could. "You're lucky you've got at least one friend. We'll be in touch little lady." With that he was gone again out the door in a swish of leather.
Loki let out a long shaking breath as his cool composure shattered and sunk down the wall to the floor. "You may have just saved my life with your recklessness. You don't know what that man is capable of." He whispered to her.
She turned to give him a small smile. Her hands were shaking and she her knees wobbled dangerously. "Let's get you back to bed okay? I promise as long as you're here I will help you."
"I don't deserve this kindness."
"Oh stop. You are worth the trouble to me." She helped him back into bed. "We'll get you clothes tomorrow and you can stay here as long as you are.. er.. banished?"
"Banished yes." He affirmed. "I appreciate your kindness Hazel I do."
Hazel tucked her thick quilts in around his arms. "Just focus on feeling better"
She lay down beside him after switching the lights off and watched him sleep for a long time. The adrenaline was still pumping in her blood too fast for her to find sleep herself. She kept her fingertips on his hand. He was solid in front of her for the first time in two years and she couldn't sleep. Everything was alright for now.