Banishment
Your feet had barely touched the ground before the yelling started.
“Why did you bring us back?”
“Do you realize what you’ve started?”
“I was protecting my home!”
You kept your head down moving to Fandral, as Thor and Odin screamed at one another from across the Bifrost.
“You can’t even protect your friends? How can you hope to protect your kingdom?”
You felt something fly over your head and turned suddenly to see Heimdall catching the Bifrost sword. Not wanting to catch a scolding from him you turned back to Fandral only to realize your body was a lot worse off than you thought. The sudden turn made your head spin and vision go blurry. You stumbled to the side catching yourself on one of the nearby stairs. Sif was quick to your side.
“You pushed too far.”
She threw an arm around your waist pulling your arm over her shoulder to help you into an upright position.
“Get them both to the healing room! Now!”
You shook your head, trying to relieve some of your dizziness. Your vision cleared enough to catch the gazes of a stern Heimdall and a worried Loki before Sif dragged you out of the Bifrost and down the rainbow bridge.
You remember bits and pieces of your travel to the healing room. You remembered Frigga’s concern face, Fandral’s failed attempt at hiding his pain as the maids stripped off his armour. You also remembered Frigga holding you back, as you tried to help in his healing. But then everything went dark.
You woke a few hours later in your room, the night stars still shining outside your window. You slowly sat up, your head a bit heavy. You tried to piece together what happened after arriving back on Asgard but there were too many holes. Yelling…dizzy…Sif…healing…FANDRAL! You shot to your feet barely taking the time to grab a heavier robe as you dashed out your bedroom door to the healing room. You tore through the halls, throwing your robe on as you ran, nearly taking out several guards and maids in the process. Finally, you arrived at the door and quickly threw it open. Your eyes found Fandral sitting up on his bed being fed by three gorgeous maidens. The sound of you throwing open the door caused them all to turn to you.
“Ah, (Y/N), awake so soon. I was betting on another 3 hours at least.”
You clenched your fist trying to hold back your frustration.
“I said it would be a day at least.”
You cocked your head to the side to see Volstagg rummaging through a table of food, a bandage covering his right arm. You lost it. You took a step forward slamming the door behind you. Causing both men to jump slightly and the maidens to take off in the other direction.
“I wake up, in a panic, because I couldn’t remember if I was able to heal you two or not. And here you are, right as rain, lounging in the recovery room. Seriously?!”
They both turned to look at each other, before turning back to you. They both speak over each other trying to come up with some excuse.
“Well see we were going to explain it to you-“
“But like we said we thought you would be out for a little while longer-“
“And we didn’t want to wake you-“
“We knew you needed your rest.”
You sighed bringing your hand to your head. You were madder at yourself for passing out then them for…well really they didn’t do anything wrong. You figured it was all your pent up stress over the past few days coming out on them.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. Just next time write a note or something. You know I can’t remember much during the blackouts.”
“Ah yes, we will be sure to do so.”
Fandral gave a little wave and a half bow to you causing you to laugh. You shook your head as you left the room a smile on your face. Idiots.
You began to wander the halls. The night was relatively quiet, which was normal after a yelling match like the one you knew happened, even if you couldn’t fully remember it. You moved out to a balcony leaning against the railing and breathing in the night air. You closed your eyes slowly thinking back to the earlier events. Flashes popped into your memory, Odin and Thor yelling, a sword being thrown, Heimdall’s look of disappointment and Loki. Your eye’s shot open. Loki. You quickly turned and headed back into the castle, twisting through the halls at a quick pace. The memory of Loki replaying in your head. As you left the Bifrost his gaze was full of concern, at first, that is all you remembered. You took another quick turn nearly colliding with a guard. You swiftly turned, muttering out an apology before continuing on your way. Now that memory was different, more complete before you blacked out your gaze shifted to his arm. It was fractured but you distinctly remember seeing broken armour, torn fabric, and exposed flesh. Usually, when he was injured he would hide it, heal it himself, or if it was worse he would find you and clearly that didn't happen. You hoped he was fine, but something in your gut told you to find him.
You made one last turn coming face to face with the library doors. Still slightly worked up from your encounter with Fandral and Volstagg you threw the doors open a little more aggressively then you intended. This resulted in a loud thud echoing into the library. Well, at least he knows I’m coming. You quickly made your way through the library, hurrying to get to the back window. I swear if you are hurt and didn’t get it properly healed. You came to a sudden stop. The air was far colder than you were used to, even for Loki. You crept around the final bookshelf not entirely sure what you were expecting to see. The moonlight reflected off Loki as he sat on the windowpane, he held up his arm as if inspecting it. You sighed softly, he wasn’t injured. You took a step closer but paused again. The way the light hit his arm it almost looked blue. You shook your head, not wanting to believe what you saw, before walking out from behind the bookcase.
Loki turned as you entered the moonlight. You caught his gaze for a brief moment before he turned his gaze out the window, dropping his arm. Upon closer inspection, you realized his arm was perfectly normal, but Loki wasn’t. Something was very off.
“I thought you might have been hurt.”
“Why would you think that?”
His gaze didn’t leave the horizon.
“Your armour was fractured.”
He turned to you a hint of surprise on his face before turning his gaze to his arm, his fingers playing with the hem of his cloak.
“It was nothing.”
Liar.
“As long as you’re okay.”
You turned to leave but Loki’s voice froze you in place.
“I did not mean for this to happen.”
You racked your brain, trying to figure out his meaning before giving up and turning to him, a questioning look on your face. Loki was now standing next to the window. When he caught your expression he returned it with his own look for confusion before taking a deep breath and straightening out his posture.
“You haven’t been informed?”
“Of what?”
The question came out harsher than you intended causing Loki to make himself even taller as he paced around the room hands clasped together staring you down.
“Thor’s banishment.”
“What?”
That caught you completely by surprise. You broke eye contact with Loki dropping your gaze as you racked your brain as to how this could happen. Loki just watched you.
“How could this happen? Why?”
You brought your gaze back up to Loki’s and noticed a flicker of weakness in his gaze, but it was gone in an instant.
“Father said he was unworthy of the realms, of his title, of his power and simply cast him out.”
Loki’s voice was so matter-of-fact it. You've seen him act this way before, but never towards you. Something clicked in your brain and you slowly backed away.
“Loki, you didn’t…”
His strength faltered for a moment before he regained his confidence.
“I only wanted father to see what I saw. He was unfit to be king!”
His voice rose so much it echoed through the empty library. You froze. This was not the Loki you knew. Something happened, something changed him. You wanted to question him, console him, do anything to get your Loki back, but your brain refused to work clouded by to many emotions. You continued to back away.
“This was too far, even for you Loki.”
You’ll never forget the hurt on his face. It lasted for merely a second, but it was engraved into your mind for eternity. Your body was moving on its own now, your mind gone blank. You slowly turned and exited the library, holding back tears just long enough to reach the hall.