A/N: Nice and short first chapter. Not sure when the second one will be out. I'm putting Balance on hold for now, though I will finish it. Eventually... Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: No. Not mine.

Will you hold the line?

When every one of them has given up and given in, tell me

In this house of mine

Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost, tell me

-Imagine Dragons

-Natural

"Hello, mother. Have I made you proud?" They are safer as your enemies.

"Please, don't make this worse."

"Define worse." It was an honest question.

"Enough! I will speak to the prisoner alone." I'm just another stolen relic, locked up, here, until you might have use of me. No. Not even that. Simply another prisoner awaiting execution. Laufey's son. The truth was out, Odin would have no qualms about killing him. Good. He would finally be able to rest, to have peace. Just keep up the act a little longer. Loki laughed.

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Do you truly not feel the gravity of your crimes? Everywhere you go, there is war, ruin and death." Everywhere I go? Thor was the one who craved war and you are hardly a peaceful being.

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you."

"We are not gods. We're born, we live, we die. Just as humans do." So I said for the better part of a thousand years. Was I ever listened to? No. Our lifespan in nothing like a mortals. They were not his words.

"Give or take 5000 years."

"All this because Loki desires a throne." I never wanted the throne. Just a little longer. Just keep up the act for a little longer and I'll be dead.

"It is my birthright!"

"Your birthright was to die. As a child, cast out onto a frozen rock. Had I not taken you in, you would not be here, now, to hate me." Do not procrastinate me. That was your mistake, not mine. I owe you nothing, you worthless, sorry excuse of a father.

"If I am for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just, I don't love them." When you do talk to me, it tends to end badly. The Odinsleep must be so nice, to be able to drift into dreamless, restful sleep.

"Frigga is the only reason you are alive and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeons." Loki felt as if he had been struck. No! He had planned it so perfectly! They were supposed to kill him! Sentiment only brings more pain. How monstrous must he be to get the axe?! He had committed treason, tried to decimate Jotunheim, attempted a dishonorable death and had attacked Midgard, killing innocent people. What would it take to just die?!

"And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strife to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the Nine Realms and then yes, he will be king." The damage I have done?! As if you are innocent. As if Thor is innocent. You hypocrite!


One year later... Roughly...

Loki paced his cell. Back and forth. Back and forth. Over and over and over and over again. Occasionally stopping to read or conduct the basic necessities of life, Loki repeated his routine for a year. It was good. He needed to be alone. You deserve to be alone and you always will be. He did. Every scream of every person he had killed played in his head on a constant loop. Collateral damage. The thought didn't make things better. Thanos would come, it was inevitable. Loki had merely stalled him. He had lost two Infinity stones, put together a team to defend Midgard- Earth and killed most of the Chituari.

Collateral damage. Was it worth it? Directly, he had only killed about 27 people. Indirectly was another story. How many agents had died when he used the Tesseract and collapsed the facility? How many people had the Chituari killed? How many lives had he ruined by killing parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or friends? How many orphans and widows had he created?

How many people still had nightmares about having their mind, their will stolen from them? He did. He had to cast several cloaks, illusions and sound blocking spells to mask the screaming, the tossing and turning. He remembered every action he committed. Every scream he uttered as the Mind stone tore through his carefully guarded mind, uncovering every secret, every lie he had ever told himself. Yes, he did deserve to be alone. It was why he pushed everyone away. At least one of the reasons.

Reason number one; He was a monster. Monsters did not deserve the comfort of a mother waking one up from a night terror. They didn't deserve the protection of a brother, the promise that they will always have your back. Monsters didn't deserve a father who would actually care. Actually notice. Monsters were the villains, a part he had played well. Monsters deserved to be hunted down and slain, or locked up in a cage for eternity. They deserved to be tortured. They deserved to be pawns, to be used.

He deserved everything. He deserved to be told no, to float through endless blackness, waiting, praying for death to take him. He deserved to be tortured. Deserved to be the son of three murderers. Odin, who had lied, stolen, killed, banished and ignored. Laufey, his biological father, late king of the monsters Loki was. Laufey, whom had attacked Midgard, slaughtering countless individuals. Thanos, the worst of all. Thanos, who wiped out half of entire planets. Thanos, who tortured his own so called children.

Reason number two; They were safer that way. You will long for something sweet as pain. Sentiment only brings more pain. Yes, pushing everyone away meant he alone would be punished when Thanos found him. When, not if.


Loki woke to the clamoring of prisoners. Voices crying out for release and freedom. At first Loki just dismissed it. He was perfectly content to be locked up and safe. Until another voice answered the others pleas, causing Loki to bolt upright.

"Find the traitor, Father has some fun planned for the Little Princeling. It is time for the Asgardian family to be balanced." Ebony Maw. How did they even get this far into Asgard? Where was Heimdall? Ebony locked eyes with him, Proxima behind him.

"Well well well, if it isn't the traitor himself. Can you open the prison cell, brother?"

"No. Our new friend may be able to."

"May be able to? Oh, you have no idea how powerful I truly am, do you?" Another woman stepped out from behind the two, dressed in black and green with an Asgardian stag helmet. She had two long serrated blades, one in each hand and walked as if she was a queen. The trio moved closer to his cell until the Asgardian was in striking range. One, two, three strikes from each sword and the barrier shattered. Loki stepped back, heart hammering in his chest. This was bad.

"This is the runt that Odin took in. Ah. His magic is very strong, though it has been tampered with."

"Who are you?"

"I'm hurt. Well, dear brother, I am Hela, goddess of death, Odin's firstborn." Odin's what!?

"Come. Father is waiting. We do not want to upset him, now do we?" Ebony's usual threat nearly sent Loki tumbling back into the abyss that was his memories. Hela held the sword to his throat.

"Now." Silently, he complied. He needed to find Thor and mother before he tried anything. The four walked in silence towards the throne room. Loki suddenly felt cold and it had nothing to do with being Frost Giant. Thor was laying on his side, bloody, Mjolnir shattered at his side. Mother was bound in chains, also bloody. Odin's head was at her feet, the body nowhere to be seen. Thor was hardly conscious and his mother's eyes were filled with fear, anger, defiance, protectiveness and was that guilt?

Thanos was sitting on the throne behind them, the Power and Space stones glowing in the gauntlet. No. Nonononononononononono. Ebony, Proxima and Hela went over to their master, standing at his side."I warned you what would happen if you crossed me, Princeling. Be thankful I am granting you the mercy of deciding who dies."

"You have the Tesseract, there is no need to kill them. Besides, I could care less. Kill them both, all they are is a burden." The lies slid off his tongue as he forced his voice not to shake.

"Then it should make choosing all the easier. Balance must be achieved, you know this."

"Kill me, certainly that is a better punishment than killing those I have betrayed and want dead."

"You cannot lie to me. I know you better than you know yourself thanks to the Mind stone. Choose."

Loki was facing a mother and her daughter. Both were young, yet one had to die. It was his final test.

"They must be balanced, choose which one dies." It was an impossible choice. The mother would do anything to save the daughter, yet death was a better alternative than becoming a child of Thanos. The daughter was much to young to die; only six or seven. Closing his eyes, two daggers flew, both hitting flesh. I can't do this.

"Loki. Son, look at me. It's alright. I'll join your father in Valhalla." His vision was blurring from tears, his thoughts and his breathing was coming faster and faster.

"No. No please. Mother I can't do this." Cursed tears were running down his face.

"Hmm. The hardest choices require the strongest wills. Kill the mother, take the brother. Perhaps this one can be taught loyalty." Hela's blade passed through his mother's ribs as the she, Ebony, Proxima, Thanos and Thor fell through a portal. Loki screamed, running towards his mother's body. No. Nonononononononononononononononononono. Flashes of green shot out, responding to his grief. What have I done?

A/N: Okay, the timing of this is weird. It is 2013, but the Guardians of the Galaxy have already formed, but not Guardians of the Galaxy two, so Nebula is still 'with' Thanos. The Avengers has happened (obviously). The Aether will be coming soon. I haven't decided if Age of Ultron has happened yet. Hela came a bit early since Odin died. There's probably going to be questions of how that happened, but We've seen what the Power stone can do and I'll explain that in a later chapter. So, Thanos has Power and Space, Reality is still 'buried', Time is with the Ancient One and Dr. Strange, who is being trained right now, Soul is on Vormir and Mind is either with Hydra or in Vision. Yeah, that doesn't make much sense, but hopefully it'll get better. Thanks for reading!!! Let me know what you think.