Return
The four-week sentence was up today and all of the Avengers eagerly waited for Loki's return. Thor went back to Asgard earlier that day to get his brother. They were all worried about the state Loki would be in when he returned, but that no matter what happened they would all help him through it.
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Loki sat in the corner of his cell reading "Hamlet" for the fifth time. He had lost track of the days since he had been in here. During these days his grief for Frigga had somewhat subsided, but his anger at Odin grew. The only things keeping him from lashing out were the magic dampeners placed in the cell and the books Thor had sent him. That, and his reluctance to show the Allfather how much he was struggling.
He was almost at the end of the book when he heard footsteps. He would have expected them to be guards bringing him food, but the footsteps were far too heavy to be them. "It can't be," he thought. He looked up to see the magic barrier down and his brother standing outside the cell.
"Thor?" he asked quietly. Thor came into the cell and the brothers hugged each other. Loki cuddled into Thor's arms, not realizing how much he missed contact with people. They eventually broke apart and they both stepped outside the cell, Loki involuntarily shivering at the familiar feeling of freedom. The brothers walked up the stairs leading out of the dungeon and made their way down to the observatory. Heimdall wished both of them farewell and sent them home with the Bifrost.
When they arrived back on the tower balcony, it was snowing. Any time a snowflake landed on Loki a little dot of blue would appear on his skin, then quickly disappear. They made their way inside the building. Loki looked around at the tower and sighed contently. He was back home.
Tony was standing in the kitchen when the brothers walked inside. As soon as he saw the mischief god, he ran to Loki and hugged him. Loki smiled slightly and hugged him back.
"We missed you so much!"
"I missed you too."
They broke apart. "How've you been bud?" Tony asked.
Loki shrugged."I don't know...how about you be put in a cell for 4 weeks with nothing to do but read a handful of books and you can tell me how it went" Loki said with narrowed eyes. On the inside though, he just wanted to get past this. His imprisonment brought back some hard memories that he would have rather forgotten.
Tony smiled, "So Loki is still Loki, good to know! How about you Thor?"
Thor looked around, confused. "Where are the rest, friend Tony?"
"Thor, It's just Tony... and everyone else is waiting for you guys in the band room. Come on!" Tony said ushering the brothers over to the elevator.
The elevator dinged and opened, only to have all of their friends rush up to Loki as soon as he walked in for a group hug. Loki's voice was heard from the middle of the swarm," Can't......breathe...." They all chuckled and let go.
The friends asked how Loki was with a very similar response to Stark's. They chatted and watched movies until 3 am, when Steve decided it would be a good idea for them to go to bed. They all parted and Loki made his way to his room.
He stepped inside and a small smile immediately made its way onto his face. He looked affectionately around the room at his books and the pictures of him with his friends. He continued to look around...and around... and around. He didn't notice anything was wrong until he realized he wasn't moving. He swiveled his head around only to see no exit. Trapped. He rushed to the door to open it and fell to the ground relieved when he saw that it wasn't locked. He took a few deep breaths to settle his pounding chest and walked over to his bed. He settled on the soft mattress, eyes and heart heavy, and went to sleep.
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Loki woke up and went down to the kitchen to see all of his friends were already awake. Natasha had made his favorite breakfast, Cinnamon Rolls and Pancakes, a welcome relief from the previous night. They all sat down and ate breakfast to some of their favorite songs to practice with. They laughed and sang along to the songs as they ate, merriment abound.
They had all just finished eating when the lights flickered and the tower vibrated a little. After a couple of seconds, everything went back to normal. C
lint asked with furrowed eyebrows, "Uhhh... JARVIS? What was that?"
"Something has landed on the balcony, sir."
Before anyone else could ask more, they heard the balcony door open. They all turned around to see two people clad in golden armor. Between them stood the man who had made Loki's life a living hell. Loki narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth as he stood from where he sat. "What are you doing here?" he growled.
"That is no way to talk to your king and your father Loki." The man calmly replied.
" You are NOT my king and you are CERTAINLY no father of mine..." Loki took a couple of steps towards the man. "Odin."
The whole group, save Thor and Loki, stared at Odin, shocked. "That's Odin?!" Tony whisper-yelled to Thor.
"Indeed," Odin answered.
Clint glared at him." He wasn't asking you."
Odin glared back."Thor, my son, tell your friends and Loki to show some respect!"
"No," Thor answered angrily.
Now Odin was the one with the shocked expression."What do you mean, 'No'?"
"I meant 'No'!" Thor boomed. He walked over and stood next to Loki. "You are going to apologize to my friends for intruding uninvited in their home, and then you are going to apologize to my brother!"
Odin scoffed," You have no right to make demands of your father, much less your king!"
If looks could kill, Odin would be dead 100 times over with the looks he was getting from the Avengers and Loki. Loki suddenly summoned a knife and made a move towards Odin. The guards stepped in front of Odin to block the incoming attack from Loki. Loki was going to battle the guards when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Nat. She practically dragged him away from the guards and Odin before walking up to the All-Father. The guards stepped aside.
"I'm sorry," Natasha said.
Odin inclined his head slightly. "It is all right, I do not blame you for the actions of the traitor."
Bruce was seething. "He has a name, you know!" The vein in his forehead turned green. Odin didn't even flinch.
Natasha sharply brought her knee up and hit Odin in such a way that Odin would never have children again. That made him flinch. He fell onto the floor in pain. Nat went up to his body, leaned over it, and said," I am sorry.... that I stopped Loki from doing this to you in the first place, but I don't want to see him get in trouble though." She turned around to face her friends and they all looked at her with shock and glee. Loki looked like he just won a million dollars with the smile he had on his face.
The guards went to help Odin up. As soon as he was standing Odin looked at Natasha and Loki with fury. "Arrest the traitors!" The guards grabbed Loki and Nat. Natasha tried to fight back, leaving one of the guards with a broken nose, but her escape attempt failed. Loki also struggled against his captors. They were brought to their knees. The friends tried to help but were shushed by Thor.
They were about to be handcuffed when Thor shouted, "STOP!!"
Everyone in the room except for Thor froze. "Father you cannot arrest them!"
"Why not!?" Thor desperately tried to think of a reason. "You are the ruler of Asgard. Not Midgard. Their so-called 'crimes' were committed on Earth, where you do not have jurisdiction without Earth's consent, hence you cannot arrest them because of a thing the citizens of Earth call 'democracy'."
Odin looked at Thor, then to Loki and Nat, then back to Thor. He sighed. "Let them go."
The guards released their grip on Loki and Nat, and the two ran to their friends with Nat mumbling something about 'fucking psychopath'. Loki looked at the guards a little timidly, which Clint noticed. He went up to Loki and whispered, "Don't worry about it, we would never have allowed them to take you. Bruce over there nearly hulked out!" Loki smiled at Clint.
Tony came forward and asked Odin, "So what were you doing here in the first place?"
"Right...I am assuming you all know that Thor's mother and my wife, Frigga, died."
Steve scowled. "Loki's mom too, but yes we know."
Odin seemed to ignore the first part of the comment. "Well, two days ago her will was recovered and it seems that along with her family, she mentions Loki as well--"
"Loki is her family," Steve said calmly, but firm, to Odin.
"In any case," Odin said as Steve was fighting the urge to strangle him, "The will has to be read with all parties mentioned in the will present at the place where most of the people in the will live. So we have to read it here since my son and Loki are current--"
"Enough!" Steve yelled angrily as he tried to move towards Odin, but was held back by Tony and Bruce. "Tony, let me at him! He needs to stop degrading Loki right here and right now!"
"I agree, but now's not the time to make rash decisions." Steve looked at Tony incredulously.
After a minute or two they got Steve to calm down enough to be in the presence of Odin without maiming him.
Odin continues as if nothing had happened," They both currently reside here, hence the will has to be read here." They all saw that there was no point in arguing. The less they argued, the earlier he would leave. They all sat on the couch except for Odin and his guards.
"Fine, just get it over with quickly," Tony told him.