"They will be here soon," Loki thought as he hung in his cell, "perhaps they will have mercy and kill me."
His arms ached, his legs numb, he wondered briefly if they even worked anymore.
"What does it matter? Kill me or not, I will never leave here."
At the beginning, Loki had hoped Thor would save him, but he had discarded the thought along with any dreams of escape long ago. Loki's life was a mix of physical torture from guards and mental torture from Thanos. Loki hardly noticed the lashings anymore; Thanos had long ago stripped him of any hope of a day without them.
"Funny," Loki thought, "it sounds like Thor is calling my name," the idea almost amused him, "how ridiculous."
Loki tensed when he heard the door open. He nearly sighed as the first lash cut through his mangled skin. All the same, he let out a scream, both because of the unbearable pain and because he knew if he didn't, they would never stop; so he screamed and screamed. Suddenly an alien, searing pain coursed through his skull; whatever it was, it felt white-hot on his frost giant skin.
"Do you feel that?" the deep voice in his head growled, "you will always feel that."
Loki was faintly aware of a guard grabbing his face.
"... No one is coming for you..."
Loki could've rolled his eyes, of course no one was coming, but all the same he mustered up his strength and spat in the direction he knew the guard was in. He was vaguely aware of being back-handed and the guards leaving him to shake with uneven breaths.
"Let me die," Loki pleaded silently.
"Loki!" a voice boomed, sounding strangely like Thor.
"Ignore it. It's only your mind," he wanted to believe that his once-brother was really there, but Loki had heard that voice many times, and every time he had opened his eyes with hope, he had seen nothing but his cell walls. He did not have the strength to give in to his mind now, he could not take the disappointment of realizing the voice was only in his head.
"My brother!" The voice screamed, "Awaken! I have come!"
Loki's eyes snapped open, "Thor?" he rasped with an abused voice.
Thor stood before him, nodding.
"Surely it is not so. Only a dream. Only a trick" Loki whispered. He refused to believe his eyes, hating his delusions for torturing him so, hating himself for giving into them once more.
Tears ran down Thor's cheeks.
"Now I know I am dreaming," Loki smiled coldly, "the prince of Asgard, weeping over a frost giant."
"Asgardian or no, it matters not. You are Loki, correct? Are you not the same Loki who I played with as a child, who I allowed to sleep in my bed when he was plagued by nightmares, whose endless pranks I endured?" Thor smiled through his tears.
Loki scoffed and looked away, there was a part of him that wanted to believe that Thor was really standing there, but the part of him that refused to be disappointed again was larger, "do you not see me, are you blind? I am not your brother. I never was."
"I see a brother" Thor said, "I see a friend"
"You have no brother," Loki frowned, the idea of Thor actually being in front of him, of rescuing him, was something Loki could simply not bring himself to believe.
"Let us argue elsewhere," Thor sighed as he began pulling Loki's limbs free of their bindings.
"You are an idiot, brother," Loki groaned silently, "just let me die."
At that moment, Thor finished releasing his arm restraints. Once Loki's feet hit the floor, his body was sent into shock and his vision went black.

---

Loki awoke to loud voices and very familiar screams.
"Am I dreaming?" Loki wondered as he opened his eyes, surveying the room. A shudder went through him as he locked his eyes on the man he had once thought was his father.
Not only was Loki now sure that he had been brought to die, but behind Odin, stood Thanos, grinning that sadistic grin. Loki leaped from whoever was carrying him, landing on the floor painfully. As he looked to each of his, once thought to be, family members, Thanos stood behind each one. Loki scurried on all fours, going anywhere but towards them. His head collided with flesh, and looking up sent a sinking feeling in his gut as he gazed upon the face of an all too familiar Avenger.
"Where do I go?" Loki thought frantically. It was either Thanos, his most likely criminally intending family, or the Avengers; neither seemed to have a favorable outcome.
All the panic, the pain, the fear crashed onto Loki like a frost giant seated upon his chest. All logic and pride forgotten, Loki crumpled. He folded in on himself, preparing his body for whatever pain was sure to come and, without meaning to, a horrifying sob escaped his chattering teeth.
"Brother," Thor's voice was painful in his ears, "we will not hurt you."
Loki's teeth bared, his body stiffened, he knew it was a lie. They had brought him here to be executed, there was no other explanation, "You lie," Loki's hoarse voice choked.
"Do you jest?" Thor's voice cracked, "Why would I lie?"
"If you have brought me here to die," Loki's body trembled with an alien fear, "then proceed! End this horrible game! You will be doing me a favor. Death will be more pleasant than waiting day after day in that cell, wondering if I should die from the hands of guards or lack of any sustenance. It is obvious why you have dragged me here. Not only my family," he put so much malice in the word that even Odin cringed, "and the midguardians, but you even go so far as to call Thanos to aid you?"
The shaken group was now staring in confusion.
"You are truly cruel," Loki sobbed.
"My son," Frigga squeaked, "will you not listen? Will you not look at me? My little one I-"
"Do not speak to me as if you are my mother!" Loki attempted to inject hatred into the phrase, but it came out as a desperate plea, "Do not force me to listen to these lies. Do not give me these false hopes of acceptance."
"But you are mine," Frigga quivered, "I raised you."
"You raised me to..." Loki trembled, "to be what? A play thing for your son? A peace offering to Laufey?"
"Loki-" Odin interjected.
"Look at me!" Loki screamed, lifting his face the people he once loved, still loved but could no longer bring himself to believe loved him. "Do you not see me? Are you blind? I am a monster, plagued by monsters! I am the outcast of monsters! How should I except that you want me... When my own people did not?"
Odin slowly took a step towards Loki.
"He's going to kill you," the deep voice growled inside his head, "I'll be glad when he does."
Loki watched in terror as Odin neared him.
"I don't want to die," Loki whispered, scrambling backwards on useless limbs. He collided suddenly into what was obviously legs. He turned his head to see the patriotic Avenger looming over him. Quickly, he looked behind him and saw Odin standing close by. When he turned his head, he was met with the never pleasant face of Thanos. He let out a cry, scrabbling backwards, away from Steve, from Odin, from Thanos until his back hit the wall. He flung his hands in front of his face, "why did you bring him here?" he asked in a pleading voice.
"Who?" Thor asked.
"You know very well who!" Loki trembled, "Not only do you bring me here to die, but you torture me further by having that here!" he pointed to Thanos.
They looked at him in bewilderment, for Loki was pointing at a blank wall.
"There is no one but us, brother," Thor offered.
"Lies!" Loki cried, "It is not bad enough you allow him to torment my mind endlessly, now you bring me to him on a silver serving tray!" Loki was bawling now, the prospect of what the combined groups would do to him pushing his fragile mental state over the edge.
"Loki!" Odin boomed, attempting to calm his youngest, "We have brought no such thing here! We brought you here because Thor rescued you, we had no idea you were being treated as such!"
"Then why is he here?" Loki screamed, "I can see him clearly! He is standing beside you! And do not tell me you were blissfully unaware of my situation! On the contrary, I am certain that you were, undoubtedly, blissfully aware!"
Odin looked and stuck out his arm forcefully. To Loki's eyes, it seemed that Odin had passed right through his torturer.
"It is in your head, Loki," Natasha said softly, "there is no one here to hurt you."
"He is here!" Loki whispered, "his voice is pounding in my skull like one thousand frost gian-" he stopped as he realized his analogy.
"That's right," the voice of Thanos boomed through the room, causing everyone to jump, "remember, Loki, you are an abomination. You are a disgrace. No one wants you. No one cares about you. Neither Asgard nor Jotun will ever accept you."
"Stop this!" Thor screamed, running to his little brother.
"Oh, you moronic prince," the voice chuckled, "you can't help him."
Thor spun around madly, trying to locate the source of the voice. All the while, Thanos returned to his torment of Loki, who was curled against the wall, tears streaming down his cheeks.
In a sudden, jerking movement, Thor threw his hammer towards the ceiling. They heard a thunk, and the voice stopped.
"You blasphemous idiot!" Thanos boomed, materializing before Thor, "You dare strike me?"
Loki could only stare, for the first time in over a year, the voice did not rattle in his head like a never-ending echo. He felt more himself than he would've ever dreamed.
"Leave my brother's mind!" Thor boomed.
Thanos grinned before unsheathing a long staff from his cloak.
Odin, Clint and Bruce quickly jumped to aid Thor. Tony flicked his wrists and the metal briefcase he had been carrying unfolded and quickly covered his body as he rushed into the brawl. Flashes of lightning, arrows, energy, sword and fist struck against their antagonist.
Frigga and Natasha quickly rushed to Loki's side. He was shaking, propped against the wall, transfixed on the battle before him. He seemed petrified. This was not the lively trickster they knew, there was no light in his eyes or silver on his tongue. This was Loki in his rawest form. It pained them, more confused in Natasha's case, to see the proud demigod reduced to a quivering child. The two women moved to carry him but he fixed them with a pleading stare.
"Do not make me leave. If you loved me as I once loved you," he was speaking to Frigga, "do not make me leave."
"Why?" Natasha asked.
"For once," Loki's voice strained as he forced his way up the wall, "I am myself," he looked at the kneeling women and gave them a genuine smile, "how better to show it than in battle?"
Frigga made a move to grasp Loki's arm, but was stopped as Natasha pulled her away. Frigga started to question the fire haired girl, but stopped as she looked up at her son.
Loki was bracing himself against the wall, taking deep breaths. He then took a shaky step, then another, then another. Frigga gasped as green smoke surrounded Loki, his armor materializing with every step. She gasped again to see that the battle had stopped, everyone stood stock still, watching Loki. Then, in a split second, Loki raised his staff.
Before Thanos could react, a blast of green forced him off his feet, slamming him against the wall. There Thanos stayed, crumpled on the floor like a very ugly doll, for only a second before disappearing in a swirl of smoke.
"Now," Loki said, swaying dangerously, "that, as midguardians say, is 'done and over with'." Loki grinned before collapsing.
"What just happened?" Tony asked.
Everyone simultaneously shrugged.
"Puny god beat ugly monster," hulk grunted.

---

"It's simple really," Bruce said, sitting in the healing facility, sporting a stiff Asgardian tunic. "It seems that 'Thanos' had some sort of hold on Loki's mind. Once Thor pulled him away, Loki was able to take control. I suppose he was suppressing his magic as well, which would explain why he is in such bad shape and the sudden burst of power. I imagine he also was dictating his mind, which means Loki hasn't thought for himself in some time"
"So basically, he was brainwashed," Clint offered.
"Meaning, the Loki who attacked us..." Steve said quietly, "that really wasn't Loki at all?"
"No," Bruce said, "Obviously if it had taken his entire mind, Thor would've known. It seems that this is the same thing Loki used on Clint… Loki was acting on his own… but it's like his morals had been replaced. We got a portion of it when we heard the voice. I imagine that Thanos has been feeding that worthlessness crap to him the entire time."
"Will he be alright?" Odin asked, uncharacteristically softly. Bruce opened then shut his mouth, but gave no answer, "Will my son be alright?" Odin boomed.
Frigga grasped his forearm, pleading for him to sit back beside her and Thor.
"He's in bad shape," Bruce muttered, "I... I'm."
"Listen, Santa Claus," Tony interjected, walking out of Loki's room, "Loki's in probably the worst shape possible. I understand that he's like Jesus or the brother of Jesus or something, but the fact is, all those tricks up his sleeve got yanked out. He most likely hasn't been fed or watered in a year, let's not get started on bathing habits, and considering that he's got a heap load of daddy and mommy problems, I suggest he doesn't stay here."
"You dare disrespect me?" Odin stood, fuming, and beginning to advance on the Avenger.
"He's right," Frigga said, causing Odin to turn in surprise, "how do we expect Loki to heal here, if this place is why he is so injured?"
"I saved his life!" Odin said, "If I had not taken him, he would've died! I was protecting him by not telling him!" Odin was pleading for someone to understand his defense.
"You protected him by telling him stories of how monstrous frost giants are?" Thor scowled, "Surely you realized that he would have found out sooner or later."
Odin turned from them, staring blankly at Loki's closed-door, "I only wanted what was best," Odin's voice shook, "now I've lost him."
There was a pause before Tony coughed, "maybe," he shuffled his feet, "it would be best if Loki went to earth with us."
Everyone raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously, I mean, reindeer games obviously isn't strong enough to wreak havoc. I doubt that he'd want to anyway. And he's not going to get any better here."
Thor stared at the door before nodding, "I will accompany them. Starkson is correct."
Odin sighed, accepting defeat, "very well, do as you wish."
"He will soon return as your son," Thor bowed, "I swear it."

Notes