To Teach a Trickster

Thor walked up to the throne, dragging Loki along beside him like a dead weight. The trickster struggled with the handcuffs on his hands as well as against Thor’s grip on his arm. Once, his legs buckled under him like a child refusing to do what it’s told, causing Thor to have to pull him up roughly and use both hands to push him forward. Loki twisted his hands around and tried not to wince as the metal cuffs pinched at his skin. He was fairly certain they would wear bloody grooves in his wrists by the time all of this was over. And that was only part of it. The muzzle on his mouth was also starting to become most uncomfortable, digging itself into his cheeks. On top of it all were the bruises and cuts he had received after the Hulk used him for a ragdoll. Every push, jab, and pull from Thor brought the pain of these wounds to his attention quite thoroughly.

When they finally stopped, Loki shot a glare at Odin, the two momentarily locking eyes with each other in silent revulsion—one being a disgusted father, the other being a defiant son.

“Behave yourself, brother,” Thor warned, letting go of Loki’s arm. Loki pulled away like a stubborn child, his stare venomous as he watched what would happen next. Shaking his head in exasperation, Thor turned to face Odin, offering the Tesseract to the All-Father. Loki continued to scowl at the two men.

“I’m assuming that all is now well on Midgard?” Odin turned his eye to his eldest son, reaching out to take the Tesseract.

Thor nodded. “Yes, Father,” He could tell Odin wanted to say more and was holding it back. “The wormhole the Chitauri were using has been closed, thanks to Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and Erik Selvig. Everything is well again, considering. Though, I regret to say that much damage has been done to that particular area of the realm. And there have been many casualties. There were a lot of unnecessary deaths among the people there, including some dear friends.”

Odin nodded grimly. “I’m sorry to hear about the losses, but I’m glad to hear that things have now been set right.” He then turned his attention back to Loki. “Now, to deal with this problem.”

Odin said it like Loki was some pest that needed to be exterminated, which caused an even greater hurt to surge through the trickster’s body. Wasn’t Odin happy to see him alive? Loki huffed indignantly, uttering a muffled protest. He turned his gaze to Thor as if expecting him to step in and defend him. Thor glanced at his brother before looking back at Odin.

“I thought you dead.” Odin continued, studying Loki. “I guess I was mistaken. Clearly, it was nothing more than another one of your foul tricks to deceive us all.”

Was that all? No, “Happy to see you, Loki.”, or “Happy to have you back, my son.”? Not even a hug? Just as he suspected, Odin hadn’t missed him at all. And he had a lot of nerve to blame him for his own disappearance. How could Odin say something like that when he watched him fall off the bridge without even trying to save him?

“Thor, you may remove the mouth piece from your brother’s face.” Odin gestured at Loki. Thor nodded and did as he was told.

“Father,” Loki started immediately after the muzzle came off. “I can see that you aren’t happy to see me. But aren’t you even the least bit proud of me?”

“For what?—Nearly destroying a world?”

“But…I didn’t…”

“Silence!” Odin interrupted.

“But, Father, I only wanted to rule it. I didn’t mean for it to be destroyed! Please, listen to me!”

Odin hit the bottom of Gungnir on the floor with a loud bang that echoed through the empty throne room and halls. Loki jumped and took several steps back, his armor, helmet and all, shimmering into place by reflex. He swallowed and looked up at his father.

“I’m tired, Loki.” Odin began. “I’m tired of seeing the destruction that follows you wherever you go. If you want me to be proud of you, do something that will make me proud of you. I don’t ask you to be like Thor. All I ask is for you to leave behind this hatefulness and spitefulness and do something that earns respect and honor. Until you decide to do this, all you will get from me is punishment.”

Loki glared at Odin with hate in his emerald eyes.

“I hereby strip you of your powers and banish you to Midgard,” said Odin. “The same as I did with Thor.”

“What???” Loki’s eyes widened in fear. “Th-this is ludicrous!”

“You will stay there,” Odin continued, shooting Loki a glare for him to keep quiet until he finished, “until you learn humility, respect, and other qualities you currently lack. If that’s even possible,”

“What if it isn’t possible?” Loki stuttered.

“Then you’ll be there for a long time,” Odin replied, seating himself on his throne again.

“Bu-but why not just put me in prison? Why must you send me back to Midgard to suffer among the mortals?”

“You want to rule Midgard, don’t you?” Odin scowled. “You might as well see what life is like there from the inhabitants’ point of view.” He turned to Thor and handed back the Tesseract. “Thor, take your brother to Midgard and leave him there, and then return back here.”

Thor hesitantly took the Tesseract, worry and concern etching his face over his father’s decision.

“Father, may I look after my brother while he is on Midgard?” he asked. “I fear what might become of him while he is there alone.”

“Don’t worry about me, Thor, I can look after myself.” Loki rolled his eyes. Thor looked at him with both worry and annoyance before turning his attention back to Odin.

Odin shook his head, sadly. “I’m sorry, Thor, but that is not possible. I need you here to help repair the rest of the damages. But, since you show such concern for your brother, you may make accommodations for him with someone you trust before returning home. Perhaps these new friends you’ve made there would be able to handle the task of looking after him for you.”

“I’m not a child that needs looking after! I—” Loki blurted out, looking from Odin to Thor.

“Silence, Loki!” Odin shouted. “It is not your choice to make. After what you did, I am in agreement with Thor that you need caretakers! You say you are not a child, but you act like one! This is a punishment, not a stroll through the gardens!”

Loki lowered his head.

Thor thought over what Odin said. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were a bad choice, considering the fact that they had just brought Loki down. Handing mortal Loki over to them would be like handing him over to his doom. There was one other person he knew and trusted, though. He hated asking her, but he didn’t know of anyone else. His mind made up, Thor nodded and turned, offering one end of the Tesseract’s casing to Loki, trying not to meet his brother’s staring eyes. Loki refused to grab onto it. Thor poked him with it. The trickster flinched when it touched a bruised and overly sensitive area of his side.

“Loki,” he said in a gentle whisper, “take it.”

Loki shook his head, tears beginning to appear in his eyes. He was finally home, after all of this time. He was finally safe and free of the Chitauri’s abusive, brain-washing hold. Now Odin wanted to send him away. He wanted to send Loki away to live among mortals, the lowest punishment he knew of. He suddenly wanted his mother, the only person who truly loved him. Turning, he looked around the room for her, but she wasn’t there.

“Where’s Mother?” he asked in a watery voice. “I want Mother! I want to see her!”

“Loki,” Thor warned. He knew Odin was mad at his brother and he didn’t want to see the situation become worse than it already was. “Grab the Tesseract and let’s go.”
Odin only shook his head slowly as he regarded Loki.

Sighing, Loki grabbed onto the Tesseract’s casing and twisted. In a flash both he and Thor disappeared.

When Loki reappeared, he crumpled to the ground as if all of the energy had been drained out of his body. Thor grabbed onto one of the horns of his helmet to keep him steady. Loki didn’t remember feeling this way the last time. Then it hit him…Odin had taken his powers away. So, in a sense, all of the energy had been drained from him. He was now mortal. The very thought of it brought a sickness to his stomach.

“Are you all right, brother?” Thor said in concern, moving his hand down to grab his brother’s arm instead. Loki staggered to his feet, feeling dizzy.

“I-I think so,” He leaned against Thor and looked around at their surroundings. The Tesseract seemed to have placed them near a large apartment building. “Where are we?”

Thor said nothing the first few minutes as he pulled Loki toward the building. “I can’t say I agree with Father for what he has done. But at least banishment to this realm is better than death.”

“Speak for yourself.” Loki groaned, feeling dizzy again.

“I pity you, brother, which is why I’m going to leave you in the care of friends, at least to make your banishment easier and more comfortable,” Thor spoke in a caring tone.

“I don’t need anyone to care for me!” Loki snapped, pulling away from Thor. “I can handle this on my own.” He stumbled and Thor caught him by the cape and pulled him toward him, picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder to better carry him.

“Little brother, if you weren’t in such a sad state right now I’d tan your hide for that stubborn remark.”

Loki growled and kicked. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Thor delivered a firm warning smack to the wriggling bottom over his shoulder, causing Loki to yelp in surprise and fall still. “Care to test me further?”

“No…” Loki said, weakly.

“You’re already in enough trouble as it is, Loki, please don’t make it worse.” Thor began walking again. “I fear what Father might do.”

“Y-yeah, me too,” Loki said, quietly.

“Jane is a kind and wonderful person. I think you will like her.” Thor continued. “And I expect you to treat her well. Don’t give her trouble.”

Loki said nothing as Thor made his way to the second floor of the building.


“Thor?” said Jane in surprise, opening the door wider. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I was, for that matter?”

“Long story,” Thor simply said.

“Let me go, you blundering oaf!” Loki shouted, his legs kicking furiously, his booted feet hitting against the doorframe. He tried kicking Thor’s face as well, but Thor put a stop to it by grabbing hold of his legs and pinning them in place. Jane’s attention was suddenly drawn to the man slung over Thor’s shoulder and she stared blankly, her mind taking awhile for everything to sink in.

“I need to talk with you. May I come in?” said Thor. “It’s important.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Jane stepped back and opened the door wide to allow Thor and his flailing brother through. When she closed the door and turned around, she finally recognized who it was over Thor’s shoulder. “You brought him here???”

“Yes, I had to.” said Thor.

“He just got through destroying New York, and you bring him here to my apartment? Shouldn’t he be in prison somewhere??”

Thor stood Loki on his feet and pulled him over to a chair, forcing him to sit down. He then turned to Jane.

“Jane, he’s been stripped of his powers and banished to Midgard…er…earth. He’s harmless and weak now—a mortal just as I was when you first met me.”

“Oh, that’s different,” Jane said sarcastically. “Thor, it still doesn’t change the fact that he killed innocent people.”

“I did not!” Loki protested, fighting the handcuffs that were badly getting on his nerves. “I was brainwashed and forced to do it against my will. I would never kill anyone…for fun, anyway. You have to believe me! For once I’m telling the truth!”

“Shush, Loki,” said Thor, throwing a glance back at the trickster. Loki huffed and sat back in his chair and pouted. Thor turned back to Jane. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Sure, what do you want me to do?”

“I need you to look after my brother for me.”

Jane studied Thor’s face for a few minutes, not entirely getting all of what he had just said. “What?”

“I need you to look after my brother during his banishment here on Midgard.”

“You want me to look after Loki?—the God of Mischief?” Jane blinked, her voice rising. “You want him to stay here??? Thor, are you insane?”

“Yes, he is. And I don’t need looking after.” Loki grumbled from his chair. “I can look after myself just fine.”

Jane and Thor ignored him.

“I had hoped that you would be kind enough to offer him a place to stay, yes,” Thor answered with a slight shrug. “But if it’s going to pose a problem…”

Jane slowly shook her head. “Thor, I…I don’t know if I’m up to the challenge of this. I don’t feel like I’m prepared…”

Thor tilted his head a bit. “You weren’t prepared when you met me.”

“This is different. That’s,” Jane gestured at the trickster and lowered her voice, “Loki sitting over there. Besides, he can’t stay here forever. Thor, I’ve got a life. I’ve got work. I’ve got research to do. I…” Jane threw her hands up and let them fall back down to her sides. “There’s no way that I can babysit your little brother.”

Jane looked over at Loki again, noting the trickster’s hard stare at her. A chill ran down her at the thought of him living in her apartment.

Thor sighed, taking the Tesseract out from under his arm where he’d been carrying it. “I’m sorry, Jane. I know it’s a big task for anyone. But, I have no one else to leave him with. It would be cruel to hand him over to the Avengers. You’re the only other person I trust. I just thought maybe you could look after him while he’s here to keep him out of trouble. He doesn’t need to be on his own. Not yet.”

Jane studied the floor before looking up at Thor again. “How long is he going to be staying here, exactly?”

“That’s entirely up to Loki.” he turned to look at his brother. “Once he learns what Father wants him to learn, he’s free to come back home.”

“And what does Father Odin want him to learn?”

“Humility and respect, among other things,” Thor’s jaws worked. “Pretty much the same as it was with me.”

“The God of Mischief learning humility? But…but that could take forever!” Jane groaned, suddenly realizing the reality of the situation she was being pulled into.

“Yeah,”

Jane paced the floor, occasionally stopping to look over at Loki. He didn’t really look all that menacing up close, but still…the thought of her being alone with him again raced through her mind…

“I apologize for this being so sudden, but I didn’t know what else to do,” said Thor. “I don’t want him being out there alone. Not after what he did in New York.”

Jane closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine,” she gave in. “I know I’ll probably regret this later, but oh well. I’ll keep an eye on him…for now, anyway. I want you to come back here after three months to check on things. If by then I discover that I can’t handle him, you take him somewhere else.”

“Very well,” Thor nodded in agreement. “And thank you, Jane. I feel better knowing he’ll be in good hands. He may be a…pest, but he’s still family.”

“Oh, please…” Loki mumbled under his breath.

Thor walked over to Loki and removed the handcuffs, giving him a silent look that said, ‘behave’. “I also should warn. He may be mortal, but he can still lie and he still has his silver tongue, cunningness, and mischievousness, so beware of that.”

Jane studied Loki, the trickster looking back at her with a haughty, mischievous smirk. She made a mental note to keep her bedroom door locked at nights.

“If you have any trouble with him, you know who to contact,” said Thor, taking the Tesseract in his hands and walking toward the door. Jane nodded. Thor smiled at her, taking her in his arms and kissing her.

“I’ve missed you.” he said when they pulled away.

She smiled. “I’ve missed you too. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you.”

Loki rolled his eyes and made a gagging gesture.

“I love you,” she said quietly. “I wish you could stay longer.”

“Me too, but I’m needed back in Asgard right now.” He gave her another smile, brushed some of her hair out of her face, and turned to leave.

“I promise I’ll look after him,” she called down the hall. Thor nodded at her then he disappeared in a flash of light. Jane stepped back inside and closed the door.

“THOR!” Loki roared, bolting up from his chair. Jane winced. “Don’t you dare leave me here!” It was too late, though. Thor was already gone. Loki stomped his foot on the floor and kicked at the chair he had been sitting in. It hit a computer monitor, knocking it over.

“Hey! I know you’re mad over all of this, but you don’t have to take it out on my furniture,” said Jane.

The trickster turned and started walking toward her, smiling. When he stopped in front of her, Jane lifted her hand and slapped Loki across the face the best she could. Most of the slap was absorbed by his helmet, but the trickster still turned a stunned expression toward her.

“That was for all of the damage you did to New York,” she said, rubbing the pain out of her hand. “Consider yourself lucky I didn’t aim lower down.”

Loki’s eyes widened and he placed his hands over his crotch to shield it, taking a step back.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be playing nursemaid to you,” Jane said, disgustingly. “You don’t deserve to even be here!”

“You think I wanted this?” he shouted. “If it makes you feel any better, I want no part of any of it! I can take care of myself!” He stormed past Jane and was about to place his hand on the doorknob but was jerked back.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Jane gave his cape another hard tug. “Walk out that door and I’ll have Odin personally come here and deal with you himself.”

Loki’s nostrils flared and he snarled at the threat, advancing toward her. He stared her down, lowering his horns and peering at her from underneath the rim of his helmet.

“What are you going to do? Charge me?” Jane stood her ground. “Take another step and I swear I’ll let you have it in the tender area where you don’t have armor.”

Loki stopped. He nervously looked the small woman up and down, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Pathetic mortal,”

“Look who’s talking. Thor said you’re mortal now, so watch what you say.”

Huffing, Loki turned his head and glared at the door.

“It’s for Thor I’m doing this. And I aim to see it through. So I want to get one thing straight right now. I will not stand for any trouble. If you so much as attempt walking out that door, I will tell Thor.”

Loki turned back to her. She still had her guard up, in case he decided to run her through. But she noticed that something suddenly changed in his facial features. The fight was gone from his eyes and his cheek muscles relaxed. He looked exhausted. Sighing, he walked over and stood before her, looking down his nose at her.

“Just watch yourself.” Jane pointed a finger at him. “This is my home, and what I say goes. I am in no mood to put up with your tricks.”

Loki smirked. “But I’m the God of Mischief.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s what scares me.”

“You have no authority over me, mortal woman.” he shouted. “You should be the one cowering before me!”

“Indoor voice, please. I live in an apartment.”

This made Loki even angrier. “Don’t talk like that to me, human!”

Jane sucked in a long breath and let it out in one exasperated blow through her nose. She pushed herself in his face. “As long as you’re undermyroof, Idohave authority over you. In case you’ve already forgotten, Thor left me in charge. So consider yourself under house arrest. If you wish to continue acting childish about it, I will treat you like a child.”

At this, Jane snatched the helmet off Loki’s head so fast that he didn’t even know what had happened until he felt a shooting pain through his right ear and realized that Jane had grabbed onto it.

“OW!” He cringed, gasping. Jane continued to squeeze it, causing the trickster to lean to the side. One thing was for sure. It reassured her that he really was mortal.

“Do I make myself clear?”

“YES!” Loki gasped out.

“So, who’s in charge again?”

“You are! Ouch!” Loki cried out, wincing. “Let go!”

“Good,” Jane let go and shoved the helmet back at Loki. He grabbed hold of it with one hand while he nursed his ear with the other, glaring daggers at the woman in front of him. Despite the pain and anger he felt, Loki couldn’t help but chuckle, watching Jane’s agitated state with some sort of sick pleasure. This could actually turn out to be fun, he thought. Brilliant.

“Come on, bull, and I’ll show you to your room.” she sighed at last, walking a short distance toward the small hallway on her right. Loki followed. She stopped in front of the first door on her left and opened it up, flipped the ceiling light on, and gestured for Loki to enter first. “It’s not much, but I hope you find it comfortable.”

Loki entered, his eyes scanning the small room. It was big enough for a bed, two night tables, a dresser, and a chair. Not much else could fit into it. Jane ran over and scooped up a pile of clothes from the bed and straightened up a few things around the room. She normally used it as a storage room, so it had become kind of messy since she moved in. She threw everything into a cardboard box and tossed it out into the hall.

Loki just stood in the middle of the room, allowing his helmet to slowly slip from his hands and onto the bed. It sort of made Jane nervous, mainly because she didn’t know what was going through that head of his. What was one supposed to say and think of a man who had just got through terrorizing New York?

“Well?” she said.

“It’s small…” Loki replied, sounding disgusted.

“Yes, well, it’s an apartment. What can you expect? I’m fortunate to have two bedrooms.” Jane snatched up a few more loose articles of clothing and threw them into the box. “Just make yourself as comfortable as you can. Looks like you’re going to be here for awhile, despite what we both feel.”

Loki walked over and peered out the window.

“I’m about to eat dinner. Uh…want to…join me?”

Loki turned to look at her. He still rubbed at his wrists. “No, not…right now. I’d like to rest.”

Jane gave a nod. “Fine, have it your way. I’ll save you something, then.”

“Bring it to me in an hour,” he said, simply. Jane turned a shocked expression toward him, not believing her ears.

“Excuse me? Do I look like one of your personal servants? It’ll be waiting for you in the kitchen. Come and get it when you want it.”

Loki glared at her.

“Bathroom’s directly across the hall. I’ll see about getting you some extra clothes.” At that she walked out, picked up her box, and disappeared. Loki stared a few minutes before turning his attention toward the window again. How dare that mortal treat him that way!

Notes