"Loki?"

Sigyn stepped forward in a trance, her ears ringing and her feet barely able to feel the ground beneath them. She could almost convince herself she was asleep, that she was ensconced in her bed and in the throes of a particularly lucid dream – if it hadn't been for the infant she held, now fully alert and squirming, his whimpers rapidly becoming louder and more insistent.

She barely registered any of it, unable as she was to look away from the shackled man – Loki, it's Loki, it has to be, but that's not possible – whose face was bruised and bloodied, whose body was so sharp and tense she thought to touch him would shatter him where he stood, whose eyes were wild with pain and memories and recognition of her…but not the child in her arms.

His eyes dropped to Ari, and hers followed…to take in the wailing countenance of a fully-Aesir looking baby, the enchantment still concealing all of his jotun features. She looked back to the man – Loki, unquestionably Loki – in time to watch a full range of emotions cross what she could see of his face above the muzzle – going from pain to confusion to sorrow with a startling swiftness – before settling on an expression so flat and devoid of emotion it chilled the blood in her veins. He doesn't know this is his child.

She opened her mouth to speak, the words This is your son! on the tip of her tongue; but her view was abruptly and completely blocked by a large form in armor and a red cape.

"Sigyn! What are you doing out here?!" Thor didn't wait for an answer, turning back to the group to bark out an order. "Take him away! Through the back corridors – let no one else see!"

"Thor, it's Loki," she said, still in a daze. Did he not recognize who he'd brought back from Midgard? "It's Loki," she said again, attempting to push past him and getting nowhere. "I…he needs…just let me talk to him-"

"No," he said, holding her firmly in place. "He's not the man you knew, Sigyn."

"What? What are you talking about? It's Loki," she said once more, trying in vain to get him to understand. She was able to peek around one of Thor's massive arms just long enough to see the group of guards vanish into a side door, Loki hidden amongst them.

"Where are they taking him? And why is he shackled?"

"I don't have time to explain right now. Take Ari back to your rooms. I will find you later and tell you everything you wish to know."

"But Thor-"

"Now, Sigyn."

His tone was harsh and final, and it rendered her unable to respond before he turned and walked away, disappearing into the same side door Loki had been taken through. By the time she willed her feet to move, the door had shut and locked from the inside, leaving her alone to wonder if she'd imagined the whole exchange.

They had promised Loki a kingdom of his own; instead, he was broken and ruined, being dragged to the dungeons of Asgard by a few of the very guards that had once pledged to serve him and his family – not really your family, Loki, never forget it – utterly defeated and alone.

The Midgardians had been more resilient than he'd expected, but even the toughest among them couldn't have matched his power at full strength. Yet the Other had been afraid of being unable to control him, and as such, had kept Loki weak. It had been a fatal mistake.

Still, he'd held his own, even managing to control dozens of the mortals to his purpose – until Thor had arrived. That was one of the few things he hadn't planned for.

Loki had been stunned when his brother – not brother – had shown up on that Midgardian flying contraption, all muscles and rage, plowing through the man in the metal suit as though he was no more than an insect. Stunned, and though he would be loath to admit it, a little relieved.

But any hopefulness he may have harbored dissipated quickly when the first words out of Thor's mouth were not I'm here to help you or I'm so happy you're alive but instead, Where is the Tesseract?

He'd allowed himself to believe that Odin had been concerned enough about him to send Thor; but no, his brother – not brother, you idiot, how many times must you remind yourself – had merely been there to help those Midgardian maggots and retrieve the Tesseract.

From then on, everything had started to come apart. Try as he might, he could never quite gain ground on the mortals again, and in the end he'd found himself smashed into the floor of the metal man's living chambers by a beast of a creature, surrounded by "Earth's mightiest heroes" as Stark had called them. Mighty enough to bring a god to his knees – but only because he was weakened and they had another, stronger god on their side.

The shackles had been degrading enough, but the muzzle had added another level of humiliation that had almost been too much to bear. The only thing that kept him going was the promise that he was going back to Asgard. He knew they'd never let him see her, but he had to know that Sigyn was at least safe.

Thor hadn't mentioned her once on Midgard. It hadn't surprised Loki – they had been a little busy after all – but now he knew better. Thor hadn't wanted him to know the truth.

There she'd been, hiding at the end of the Bifröst when they'd arrived, and he could have wept at the sight of her…but she hadn't been alone. A beautiful, pink, Aesir baby in her arms and a wedding ring on her finger. She'd plainly wasted no time moving on from him after he'd let her go.

Loki would never admit it to anyone, but he'd been a fool. He'd allowed himself to hope there was still a chance that he could redeem himself and possibly gain back some of what he'd lost, but it was clear now everything he'd ever wanted was gone for good.

The guards shoved him into a small holding cell, not daring to remove the shackles or muzzle for fear of what he would do to them if they did. He didn't even look at them; he just collapsed onto the small bench situated in the corner, waiting for his former father to come and mete out his punishment. Left with only his fractious thoughts, Loki hoped Odin would put him out of his misery and kill him quickly.

Sigyn stood outside Frigga's chambers waiting for the guard that had been stationed outside to fetch the queen, Ari crying steadily on her shoulder. She should have gone straight back to her own chambers as Thor had asked, but she was desperate for answers.

Frigga finally appeared after what seemed ages. Dressed in her robe with her hair braided over her shoulder; she had clearly been asleep, yet she ushered Sigyn in without hesitation.

"What is it dear?" she asked, directing Sigyn to a chair. "What's happened?"

Ari began to relax the moment he started nursing, and with his cries quieted, Sigyn was at last able to calm herself long enough to gather her wits.

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty, but I didn't know where else to go," she began. She told the queen everything, how she'd seen the Observatory light up, and then sneaked down to the Bifröst in time to see Thor return – with Loki. "He had him chained up like a criminal. He wouldn't even let me speak to him! Why would he do that?"

At the mention of Loki's name, the queen had fallen into the nearest chair, her hand over her mouth. "I knew Thor would return him to us."

Sigyn just looked at her, agape. "Did you – did you know he was alive?"

"Only recently did we receive word –"

"Why did you not tell me?!" Sigyn's sharp voice startled Ari, who had nearly been asleep once again, and he began to whimper. She switched him to her other breast, shushing him and tracing his facial markings until he settled down. "Forgive me," she said, taking a deep breath. "I meant no disrespect."

"Sigyn, we didn't want to raise your hopes, in case Thor was unsuccessful in retrieving him. That would have been too cruel."

"And bringing him home in chains wasn't? What could he possibly have done to warrant that kind of treatment?"

"We aren't clear on all the details, but it seems Loki was working for someone in pursuit of an artifact on Midgard. That Thor has returned with him must mean he was able to not only rescue his brother, but gain the artifact as well."

"So, he is no more than a prisoner now? Will I ever get to speak to him?"

"Absolutely. I will make sure of it." Frigga knelt down beside Sigyn, looking at the peaceful face of her grandson as he slept. "Your father is not lost to us forever, little one. He just needs a little help finding his way back."

Loki didn't have to wait long for his first visitor. No sooner had the guards left before Thor was opening his cell door.

"Those shackles are preventing you from using any magic. If I remove the muzzle, will you talk to me?"

Loki nodded. If he was going to have a private audience with Thor, he might as well use the opportunity to have some of his many questions answered.

Thor approached him warily, reaching behind Loki's hair to unclasp the muzzle. As soon as it was clear of his mouth, Loki spoke. "I'm thirsty. Can you spare your prisoner some water?"

"You will have everything you need in time. For now, I wish to talk."

"Then talk."

"Sigyn wasn't supposed to be there," said Thor, his eyes sorrowful.

"Why not? You didn't wish to parade me in front of her like a common criminal?"

"It was never my intention for her to see you just yet."

"And why would she want to see me at all? She's obviously doing quite well for herself without me."

"Are you so blinded by your anger that you can't see the truth?"

"And what truth is that, dear brother? That she couldn't bear to be alone, that she tethered herself to the first inferior man that came along, spread her legs wide for him and gave him a child? Please, enlighten me."

Thor's hand was around his neck before he could draw another breath. "Speak ill of her again, and I will rip your tongue from your mouth and sew your damned lips shut myself."

Loki couldn't stop the malicious smile as it spread across his features; Thor was so quick to come to Sigyn's defense, there had to be only one explanation – Thor must have been the father of her baby. If he'd had the use of his hands, Loki would have fought back, hoping they could kill each other once and for all; yet he could only stand there, helpless to the unbidden images flooding his mind, images of Thor and Sigyn together. As soon as the grip around his neck began to loosen, he spoke again.

"Oh, I see now. That's your child, isn't it? I had something you couldn't, and so once I was gone you took it for yourself. Tell me, then. When you were comforting her in her grief…was her cunt as wonderful as you'd imagined it to be?"

Thor grip tightened, even more forceful than before, before he lifted Loki up and threw him against the far wall, hard enough to hurt but not kill. Still shackled and terribly weak, Loki was unable to stop himself from slumping to the ground in a heap, still miserably alive when all he wanted was for his wretched existence to come to an end.

"You aren't worthy of her, or what she's done for you."

"And what exactly has she done for me?" asked Loki, fresh blood dripping from the cut across the bridge of his nose.

"She has given you a son. You are his father, Loki."

Loki looked up from the floor, narrowing his eyes. "That's not possible. You're a liar." Even as he said it, he knew he was wrong. Thor was virtually incapable of lying, even to save his own skin.

"I speak the truth. She discovered she was with child a week after what we all believed was your death."

Loki shook his head. "That baby was clearly Aesir. Now, I'm no expert," he scoffed, "but I'm fairly sure a half-jotun baby wouldn't look like that."

"It's an enchantment, put in place to protect him outside the walls of the palace."

"I don't believe you," said Loki, yet there was no conviction in his words.

"Believe me or not. It doesn't make it any less true."

"Odin, he would never allow a half-jotun child to be born in Asgard."

"Sigyn informed him it wasn't his decision to make." Thor stood over Loki, looming over him with undisguised contempt.

Loki turned away from him, his mind reeling. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she loved you. Still loves you. And your son. She risked her life to bring your child into this world. Even if you're no longer able to love her in return, she at least deserves your respect, not your cruel words."

Loki turned back to Thor. "Why did you not tell me before, on Midgard?"

"I was told not to by father. He feared you would think it a trick to force your return to Asgard. I disagreed at the time, but now I see he was right. You have the proof right in front of your eyes, and yet you still don't believe it."

Loki sighed; he knew in his heart Thor was telling the truth, but it was so difficult to absorb the information he was being given. "She was wearing a wedding ring. Do you have an explanation for that as well?"

"I think you would recognize it if you saw it up close. It's the one you had made for her."

Loki got to his feet as quickly as he could manage, closing the distance between them with gritted teeth. "That wasn't yours to give."

"I didn't give it to her. Mother did, and you should be grateful for it. She spared Sigyn the indignity of being an unwed mother, allowing her to pass herself off as your widow instead."

"And what will she be now? A martyr to a dishonored husband, broken and shamed? Or is the Allfather planning on finishing what he should have done all those years ago to make her a widow in truth?"

"Your punishment has not yet been decided, Loki-"

"What is he waiting for!? I'm here, at his mercy. Why drag it out?"

"Because of your son. Father believes there is still good in you. That you still have it in you to be the best man – and father – you are capable of being."

"Ah, yes. Because he was such a wonderful role model for me."

"Your bitterness will only serve to destroy you, Loki. It is not yet too late to change your fate."

Loki sat hard on the bench, the manacles on his wrists clinking together, all of the fight in him gone. "My fate was decided long ago, when your father stole me from my home and raised me as something I'm not."

"Get some rest," said Thor. "We have a lot to discuss tomorrow. Perhaps you can even properly meet your son." He stood there, waiting for a response, but Loki just sat in silence until Thor turned and left.

"My son," said Loki, once he was certain he was alone. "Heir to my misfortune."

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before the guards came for him once more. If he'd been able to sleep at all, he couldn't remember; his exhaustion prevented him from putting up any sort of fight as the guards moved him from his holding cell to a larger room at the end of the hall.

There were runes carved into the threshold of the doorway. As he passed through it, he could feel the enchantment in the room that prevented him from using the most dangerous of his spells, rendering him no more powerful than he had been as a child, just learning rudimentary magic. Once the door was shut behind him, the guard on his left pulled out a key and removed Loki's shackles before shoving him into the single chair in the center of the room, hastily retreating from the room with his companion as soon as he was finished.

Loki rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had chafed them, calling forth the most basic and harmless healing spell he could manage to ease the irritation. Even that was a struggle; the runes on the door had been complicated and ancient, far beyond his ability to overcome.

The door opened once again, and he didn't even need to turn to it to know who had entered.

"Allfather. Come to make an example of me?"

"Come to speak to you."

"What is there to discuss?"

"Your future," said Odin, stepping in front of Loki to look down on him with a weary expression. "You have many choices ahead of you, my son –"

"I am not your son."

"I spared your life once –"

"And I spared yours. In the weapons vault that day, I could have ended you as you slipped into sleep, and no one would have been the wiser."

"And yet you didn't. What stayed your hand?"

"Love. Misguided, foolish love. And look where it's brought me," said Loki, indicating the room they were in. "A prison cell in the only home I've ever known. Punished for trying to live up to your expectations of a son."

"It is a punishment for me as well, to see you here. To wonder what I could have done differently. To wonder how it could have ever come to this."

"You should have left me to die on Jotunheim. Think of all the heartache you would have been spared."

"I will never regret saving you, Loki. You will always be my son. Once formed, a father's love is not so easily extinguished, regardless of the selfish actions of his child. Something I hope you will learn for yourself before long."

"What do you mean?"

"You saw your child, did you not?"

"I saw a child, yes."

"Your child. Cooperate now, and you may yet see him grow to be a man."

"From a prison cell? How will that be a benefit to either of us?"

"This doesn't need to be a permanent solution for you, Loki. As I said, you have many choices ahead of you. Let us hope you are still able to make wise decisions. But before then, I must take precautions."

He raised his hands out to Loki, the words from his lips sealing almost all of Loki's magic from his use. Loki could feel the words like a physical rope, binding the spells and enchantments up beyond his reach.

"I have left only the most basic magic for you, allowing you to maintain your Aesir form but little more. One day, perhaps, I will be able to trust you enough to unbind the rest."

Loki just sat in the chair, unwilling to look his former father in the eyes. He supposed he could have thanked him for at least leaving his appearance, but he wouldn't grant him even the smallest of victories. He sat there, completely silent, until Odin eventually walked away.

After Odin left, Loki was taken to the prison washroom and allowed to shower and change clothes before being escorted to his final stop, a large cell at the very end of the innermost corridor of the dungeons.

This one was free of bars; he would instead be contained by glass walls protected by a force field of ancient and powerful magic he would have no chance of breaking through. Invisible to the naked eye, the field would give him an unobstructed view of the rest of the prison – currently empty of any other prisoners. It was exactly the kind of thing to break him – utter and complete boredom with no end in sight.

Unlike the other cells, his did contain a fairly large bed, along with a chair and footstool, and a few small tables that held some flasks of water, some parchment and writing utensils, and several books. He picked up one of the books, sitting in the chair and nearly nodding off before a familiar voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Loki?"

"Mother," he said reflexively, turning to see Frigga standing outside the door of his cell. "I suppose I have you to thank for these arrangements?"

"You may be a prisoner, but you are still my son. I will not have you rotting away down here like some sort of forgotten artifact."

"But is that not what I am?" he asked, rising from his seat. "An artifact that has outlived its usefulness?"

"You mustn't think that way. You still have much to live for." She turned away, motioning to someone behind her to come closer.

Thor stepped out of the shadows, sliding a rune-covered key into the lock to open the door. He stepped into the cell, his face serious. "Don't even think about trying to run, brother. You will never make it past the door."

"Don't worry, Thor. I have nowhere to go."

"We have brought someone else to see you, Loki," said Frigga, following Thor into the cell. As she moved aside, Sigyn stepped forward from behind her, clutching what appeared to be a wriggling blanket to her chest.

Up close and in the light, she looked even lovelier than when he'd last seen her, walking away from him in the Allfather's throne room what felt like a lifetime ago. Her body was softer around the edges than he remembered, a mother's body, and it pained him to know he had missed so much. He stood still and watched her approach, oddly unsure of what to say. She spoke first.

"I thought I was dreaming. But you're real. You're really here," she said, her eyes swimming with barely suppressed tears.

"Yes. I'm really here."

She smiled then, and the tears spilled out and down her cheeks. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Nor I you," said Loki. He looked from her down to the blanket she held as it moved again. In that moment, he was certain he didn't want to see what was beneath it. The room suddenly felt much too small and foreboding; he wanted them all to go and leave him to his misery.

But before he could stop her, Sigyn pulled the blanket down, revealing a tiny jotun baby boy, with a head full of black hair and skin the exact shade of his mother's eyes. Loki couldn't help but recoil in equal parts fear and wonder.

"His name is Ari," said Sigyn, and the hopeful look in her eyes was almost more than Loki could stand.

"Ari," he said, testing the name on his tongue. "For your father."

"Yes."

They stood that way for a moment, neither of them daring to come closer to the other, before Frigga spoke up.

"Would you like to hold him?"

He looked to his mother, eyes wide. "I – I can't do that. I don't know what to do."

"None of us do the first time," she said, gently taking Ari from Sigyn's arms and moving toward him. "Hold your arms out like this."

Loki did as she asked, and it felt as though he was moving underwater. Frigga placed Ari in his arms. "Just be sure to support his head, darling," she said, adjusting the crook of his elbow beneath the baby's neck.

Ari was at once light as a feather in Loki's arms and heavy as a stone in his heart. He looked down on his son – for he was without a doubt his son – and could see nothing past the jotun markings and blue of his skin, a terrible reminder of the monster he truly was beneath his false exterior.

It was as if Ari could sense his father's apprehension, and he began to cry. On instinct, Loki grasped his tiny hand, hoping in some strange way to calm him; instead, he watched in dismay as Ari began to cry louder, his hand going icy cold around Loki's finger, which appallingly began to turn blue itself.

He tried to summon up a spell, desperate to fix his hideous half-jotun child permanently – to rid him of the horror of his true nature – but with most of his magic bound, Loki could do nothing more than mumble ineffectual nonsense at him, watching in terror as the change in his own skin continued to travel up his arm. How could anyone love a monster like this?

Somehow, the infinitely small part of Loki that instinctually recognized Ari as his own won out over the larger part of him that wanted to throw him, long enough to look at Sigyn pleadingly, hoping she would take him back. Before she could get close enough, Thor stepped up.

"No, brother, you're holding him too tightly. Here, like this," he said, taking Ari from Loki's hands and cradling him in his own. At once, Ari began to settle, looking up at Thor with what Loki could only describe as a look of pure adoration. Of course Thor would usurp my own son from me.

Rage bubbled up inside of him. "Get out," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Look, he's fine now. Here, try again-"

"I said get out." Louder this time.

"What?"

"Get OUT! All of you!" Immediately, Ari began to wail once again. "And take that repulsive creature with you!"

He ran from the group, huddling in the far corner of his cell and hugging his arm to his chest until the blue faded. He turned back only once, just in time to see Sigyn looking at him with an unfathomable sadness, and Thor locking the cell door behind them as they retreated. He screamed as the doors at the far end of the corridor shut and locked behind them, sealing him inside like a wild animal in a cage.

His entire body shook as he stepped away from the corner. He had burned completely through his anger, and in the fire's wake, he was left with nothing but the ashes of despair, sifting through his fingers like so much dust. He couldn't even muster the energy to hate himself anymore. He lay on the bed – thank you not-mother for sparing me the discomfort of sleeping on the floor – buried himself under the furs, out of sight of the guards he was sure were watching him, and wept until his eyes burned, his sides ached, and sleep finally claimed him; a sleep filled with dreams of a tiny blue baby with his eyes.

A/N: Thank you so much for all the follows/reviews! I love hearing from each and every one of you! 3