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Chapter Text

Your cellphone was ringing on the night stand. Jane Foster. Your half sister was calling you at some awful hour of the night when you should be sleeping.

“Hello?” You answered the phone groggily, putting the receiver to your ear.

“You are not going to believe this!”

You glanced at the clock and sighed. “Go on.”

“So you remember that guy I told you about, Thor, the one from legend, he legit is from legend, I have proof.”

You nodded sleepily, silently listening to whatever she was rambling on about.

“This job I was given, remote,” as if on cue the phone staticked, signaling the poor connection. “So something happened in New York, Thor was there and I wonder if it’s related to why he never came back.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jane almost seemed to be talking to herself. “That would make sense, he left to go do something his brother, Loki, was up to and then he never came back except for this alien invasion, it has to be related!”

A burst of bright light seemed to explode outside the window of your small farmhouse. You squinted your eyes, staring at the stunning beam of light coming from the sky and make a circle of sorts in your yard.

“Uh Jane, I’ll call you back.” You set the phone to flashlight and hung up on the still rambling Jane.

Thankfully, the animals were in the stables and the only thing seeming to get damaged was the singed plants growing in the area. Still though, you leapt up, grabbing a jacket and slipping into more suitable trousers for being outside.

Your hand gripped the door handle by the time the light vanished. In your boots, you hesitated abruptly, worried about what sort of alien technology could have done this.

Bracing yourself, you took the plunge and opened the door, hurrying out into the yard with your cellphone for a light. You made your way to where the beam had appeared, all but blinding you it felt like.

At the center of the circle of singed grass made by the beam, you saw a dark shape.

Rushing to its side, you realized it was a man. A heavily armored, leather clad, and honestly quite strikingly handsome, man.

He opened his eyes, gasping softly, clearly having taken the brunt of the impact on his back where he landed.

“What happened?” You managed to ask, dropping to your knees by his side.

“Wait!” the man tried to choke out, but it was too late.

A snake rose in the grass, ready to strike at you, but instead, it coiled into a wristlet. Wrapping itself around your wrist, it then tightened in on itself, fangs sinking into its own body until it couldn’t move.

You screamed, trying to get back from the snake. It was a brilliant shade of crimson, contrasting starkly against the green plants. Your phone fell to the ground, luckily landing light up and you scrambled to grab at the snake. It didn’t give.

To your side, you saw the man slowly sitting up, one hand on his forehead as he rubbed at it wearily. His eyes flashed and he lunged at you, eliciting another scream. You fell back into the grass, the man knelt over top you and had one hand over your mouth, successfully muffling your screams.

“Silence.” He breathed, though it was clearly a command.

For some reason, your body listened. Your screaming stopped immediately. You tried to squint at his face in the light of the moon, stars, and your slightly far away cellphone.

“There.” You could make out a look of satisfaction on his face, clearly pleased that you had listened.

You struggled beneath him, no longer screaming but still wiggling as you might to get him off of you.

This seemed to register with him and he stepped off you, rising to his feet. Once more, he rubbed at his pale forehead, framed by black feathered hair. He wore strange armor that you could barely make determine what it was. He moved to step away from you and an ear splitting scream cut through the air, yours mixed with his deeper, quieter one.

The man spun around, swaying where he stood as though he might collapse before scrabbling back to your side. The pain in your wrist was unbearable, it felt like a million needles being stabbed into it, fiery burning sensations and also somehow cold at the same time. You had never felt pain like it before.

Tears flooded your eyes as you lay gasping for breath. You lifted your hand to look at what had caused the pain, registering slowly that it was the snake. Body trembling, you looked up at the man through teary eyes and then you noticed that the tail of the snake had followed him… the two of you were connected by a rope of red.

“Are you joking?” the man grunted, rubbing at the snake, trying to soothe the ache in his arm. At the same time, he looked to the sky, speaking to some unseen being. The man moved back until he was once again very much in your personal space. With his unhindered hand, he grabbed your hand and held it to his eyes, studying the snake. “Quaint.” He spat bitterly, looking again towards the heavens. “I know you thought this would work because of Thor, but truly? You had to bind me to this?”

You sat up, touching your head with your free hand and rubbing at it. Your eyes followed the snake from you to the strange man.

“Thor?” You asked, finally able to speak.

The man closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly. “Do you know the realm we’re on?”

“Uhh… realm?”

“Midgard, typical.” The man grit his teeth and shook his head, once more looking up at the sky.  He glanced down at you, “get up.”

You shook your head, fighting the urge to hug your snaked hand to your chest, trying to pull away from him.

The man’s eyes flashed in anger and he bent down, grabbing your connected hands and pulling you to your feet.

You swayed for a moment, surprised that no pain followed. Then you looked again at the snake rope entwining the two of you. “Why is that snake… What is that snake?” You managed to choke out, studying it. You had seen all manner of snakes on your farm, but this? This was beyond you.

Etched into the snake’s belly was a set of weird runic figures. You squinted at them, trying to figure out what they were in the growing light of dawn.

How long had you been out here?

The sky was a hazy grey, threatening to rain and the sun barely cut through the morning fog, but you could at least better see the man standing beside you.

He was dressed elaborately. Golden accents on his leather and metal armor, some strange jacket that seemed to pass down to his knees, even a black belt strapped across his armored chest. All accented with black, green, and gold.

Panic struck you again. Your mind flooding with fear at this unknown intruder, the snake tightly wrapped around your wrist and biting back your scream, you tried to bolt.

As soon as the snake went taut, you stumbled to a stop, arm wrenching behind you, still connected to the man. The burn returned, nausea welled in your stomach and you felt darkness clouding the edges of your vision like you might faint.

You felt a strong hand on your shoulder, tugging you back until you fell into his chest, the two of you tripping and falling to the ground in a pile of bodies.

The pain passed once again and you whimpered, feeling tears streaming down your cheeks. Rain was just starting, light pellets here and there, but it would be a downpour soon.

The man grunted, once again detangling the two of you and rose to his feet. He kept his connected hand wrapped around your forearm and with viselike strength, he pinned you to his side. “Don’t move.” He gasped out, voice breathy from similar pain.

You looked at his arm gripping you, the snake, and it clicked. If the snake was stretched too far, if it became taut with distance, pain would course through you. Crippling, debilitating, awful pain.

“You realize too, now, don’t you?” He asked.

You nodded mutely.

“So you’re not going to run?”

You nodded again, eyes wide. He still hadn’t released your arm and the fingers were digging through your jacket and into your skin.

Slowly, carefully, he pried is fingers’ grip from your arm and let go, allowing you to stand of your own accord.

“What the hell is going on?” Words finally reached your mouth. Indignation flooded through you and you felt your cheeks heating with anger. “Who even are you? Why are you attached to that snake? Where did you even come from?” You half yelled, half asked, words coming out in a blur.

The man rolled his eyes.  “I am Loki.” He hesitated.

You squinted your eyes at him, studying him back. “Loki? from those old legends?”

A pained look crossed his face and he nodded.

“Wait, what? The Loki? Where’s Thor?” You looked around, searching the area as though Thor might miraculously appear at that moment. He did not.

Loki held his free hand out, catching the rain in his palm.

Every instinct in you told you to scream, to run, to do literally anything. You felt frozen like a rabbit being hunted.

“Thor isn’t here, obviously.” Loki said through grit teeth. Then he paused, “how do you know Thor?”

“My half-sister, Jane, she literally just called rambling about her boyfriend and how he was in New York fighting some aliens. Well I guess he’s an alien too…” You trailed off.

You twisted your neck this way and that, trying to look around the ranch without moving. The animals were coming awake and you knew your helper would be there sooner than later.

“We can’t be out here.” You said, scanning the sky for government jets or any other threats, flying people maybe.

You instinctively reached to clasp his hand, tugging him along after you. To your surprise, and his - it seemed, he started to slowly, reluctantly, follow after you.

You reached the doorway of your house and keeping your hand as close to him as you could, you stepped inside. Loki followed you, raindrops dripping from his hair. He had a nasty split in his lip, looking very fresh and a few other bloodied yet seemingly healing scratches on his face, one particularly on his tall forehead.

“You are Thor’s brother, right?”

Loki rolled his eyes again, shutting the door behind him. “Adopted.”

You nodded slowly. “So Jane was serious about aliens attacking New York?”

Loki arched his brow at you but didn’t answer.

“Wait, were you involved somehow? Jane’s been going on and on about different theories of why Thor won’t visit and she said something about his evil brother.” You snapped your mouth shut.

You felt very vulnerable in your darkened home, standing so closely to this dangerous alien criminal.

Loki used his free hand to lift the snake and look at the markings on its belly, changing the subject. “Of course.” He sighed heavily, eyes scanning over the symbols.

“What?” You asked immediately, unable to hide your curiosity at this strange turn of events.

“Odin Allfather has made it that this snake is to remain bound to you and I, until such time as I am worthy of Asgard again.” Loki snerked and shook his head, cursing softly. “Damn you old man. Worthy by whose account?”

You frowned, twisting your neck to try and read the runes as Loki had. Or you figured he had. “Odin?” You asked.

“Indeed. My adoptive father who sent me to this realm. In fact, we just came from my sentencing trial.”

“But if you were sent here to be punished…” You trailed off once again looking at the snake.

Loki nodded.

Your mouth dropped open. “You’re crazy.”

“You saw your mortal news, the chitauri? That big whale like beast?”

“The what now? Is that what Jane was talking about with aliens?”

“you… aren’t aware of what happened on Midgard in the last few days?”

“No, well yea, I mean there was something about aliens all over the news, but like…” You hesitated. “But what are you doing here? Why are you in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and why me?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions.”

“I just got off the phone with her. She was talking about Thor the god guy, and he’s your brother?” You strained to remember your half asleep conversation while Jane babbled excitedly into the receiver.

“Your half-sister?” Loki asked, tilting his head.

“Jane Foster, she’s some famous science lady. We’re not that close I mean, but we’ve been trying to reconnect since she met that guy in New Mexico and he ditched her, I think? She’s been going on about how her boyfriend hadn’t contacted her and then suddenly that call that he was in New York and…” You trailed off.

Loki sighed, looking at you before bluntly asking, “Thor’s mortal, she is your half-sister?”

“Thor’s what now?”

“The woman he met here on Midgard.”

“Well I mean, I know how crazy you’re going to think this sounds. But gods, aliens, whatever.”

Loki arched his brow.

You had the sudden stark memory of what felt like fifteen minutes ago when you had first met this stranger who now stood uncomfortably close next to you in the front hall.

Once again, you fought every instinct that screamed at you to turn and run, remembering all too well the pain you had experienced already.

“It seems Odin has a sense of humor after all.” Loki growled darkly.

You looked back at him.

“Please don’t.” He added, looking at your one arm half extended towards the door. “Surely you’ve caught on to what happens with this binding?”

You looked down at the snake wrapped around your wrist, to its tail leading to another snakehead wrapped around his wrist. “I’m so confused. A few months ago…” the memories were coming back. “Jane met this guy named Thor, and then she was going on about bridges and stuff and how he had to leave to stop his evil brother Loki and...” You trailed off.

Loki raised his eyebrows at you. “Is that so?”

“So Jane was telling the truth.”

Loki nodded.

“So her theory that Thor was back was related to you then? That’s why that disaster thing happened in New York?” You felt your blood run cold, taking an involuntary step back from him. Luckily your arm stayed extended so there was no immediate pain. Loki studied you silently. So, you tried to continue, “listen, we’re in the middle of nowhere, we don’t get TV out here, cellphones are one thing but like, I don’t use it to watch the news.”

Still Loki stayed quiet, waiting for you to finish.

“Jane just called. She said with her special assignment she was in some remote place but then like an hour later she called back screaming that her boyfriend, Thor the god of thunder, was in New York fighting aliens.” You paused. “I thought she was drunk or something.”

“No, your mortal city of New York was nearly wiped off the map,” Loki stopped speaking, silently rolling his shoulders for a moment. “now, how does all of this involve you?”

You nodded, your turn to be mute.

“Odin, it would seem, has a distinct sense of humor. Thor met this Jane Foster woman and after a short exile, he found it in himself to grow and stop being so idiotically war thirsty.”

“My half-sister, Jane?”

“Yes. And then, what Jane doesn’t know, is that Thor and I had a fight, and I was thrown from the bifrost.” You stared at him blankly. “Thor dropped me to my death at the end of the rainbow bridge that teleported me here tonight.”

“I thought Thor was a good guy?”

“Indeed. And I truly was the rightful king of Asgard, throne passed to me by the queen herself, and yet here we are.”

“But again… what does this have to do with me?”

“It seems Jane was tactical enough to sway my ego driven brother and Odin has similar hopes for me.” He narrowed his eyes at you.

“He what now?”

“Are you daft?”

“Listen, I’ve been awake for like an hour now, I don’t even know what day of the week it is until I’ve had my breakfast.”

Chapter Text

Loki blinked at you and sighed heavily.

Your phone started ringing and you answered it, holding up a finger to silently quiet Loki. “Crazy storms are due.” It was Nathan, one of your farmhands.

You nodded absently. “Yea, yea.”

“Did you hear about New York? My cousin’s roommate’s brother was rambling on about how there were like aliens or something?”

You blinked hard, glancing at Loki, knowing he could hear your phone conversation. “Hey, Nate, listen, you think you could take the day off today? I have something of a flu bug coming on and I didn’t sleep well.”

Nathan paused for a moment, “you’re offering me the day off? Hell ya! Sure, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you out. Thanks boss!”

“Yea, sure.” You nodded again. “You take care, too.”

“So you’ve successfully delayed your mortal employee from,” Loki paused, seeming to hesitate.

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be such an asshole to you, I’ve just got a lot going on and I have a ranch that I need to run.” You looked around, feeling harried.

Loki’s face softened. “I forgot this would be as much of an inconvenience to you as it is to me.”

You cast him a grateful look. As you looked at him, you felt your gaze lingering, originally you had only intended to give him a once over, or just speak in his direction but now that you were standing this close and the kitchen light was illuminating Loki, you had a chance to truly see him.

He had dark circles under his eyes, so dark they looked bruised. This was further accented by the split in his lip and the slowly healing scratches visible wherever you could see skin. He had a haunted look about him, something in his eyes that troubled you.

You recognized the way he was forcing himself to stand tall, remembering when you’d see other creatures with severe injuries.

Something in your wrist tingled, where the snake was and you felt alien emotions flooding through you. Some of it was intense pain, long lingering pain from injuries applied again and again. There was sadness too, abandonment, hopelessness, were these emotions Loki was feeling?

You swayed where you stood, a sharp stabbing pain burning down your back.

“You can feel it.” Loki said softly, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at you sadly.

“What’s happening to me? Why… It’s like the snake is connecting everything…” You trailed off, absently rubbing at the spot on your back and wishing against hope that the pain would lessen.

Loki looked away from you. “It’s an echo of what I’m feeling, yes. It’s seeming to go both ways.”

“What did Jane mean about you being Thor’s evil brother?” You asked abruptly, feeling the sensation of loss and betrayal flooding through you. Tears threatened to spill and you felt your vision go fuzzy.

Loki had looked back at you when he spoke, though he was now picking at something unseen on his hand, an absent, nervous gesture.

“It’s an empathy rope too, it would seem.” Loki muttered, holding up his arm to study the snake tied to his wrist.

You rubbed at your head. “I think I need a nap, or a drink.”

Loki chuckled.

You nodded at him to follow you, before winding your way into the house through the kitchen. You felt parched suddenly, as though you hadn’t drank water in weeks, maybe months. Your throat felt like parchment, dry and choking and you found yourself sweating at some unknown heat source.

Loki opened the cabinets until he found a suitable glass, tugging you towards the sink and filling it with water. “Drink. It’ll help.”

“What the hell happened to you?” you choked out after you downed three glasses of water. It would never be enough.

Loki looked away again.

You felt a pang of sadness. Your vision darkened, threatening to black out. Just as your legs gave way, you fell into darkness.

In the darkness, you saw Loki fighting with someone, his brother, Thor. You knew this instinctively as if you were reliving a memory. The years of Thor’s brash arrogance, the golden child, loved by all. A whirlwind of visions flashed in front of you, seeming to navigate the story of Loki’s life. And when it came to him clinging to Odin’s spear, hanging off the edge of the bifrost, you felt the hollow and despondent loathing coursing through your veins. You could feel the disappointment of your, his, people. Your father… His father? It was difficult to tell where you ended and Loki began.

Your hand slipped from the spear, and you were falling. It was dark, something was blocking you from knowing what was happening. Some force shielded you from the flames and screams that were also your own.

Your eyes shot open and you were breathing hard, laying on your bed.

Loki knelt by your side, studying your face as you stopped thrashing.

“What was that?”

Loki arched his brow at you.

“Who is Thanos?”

“How do you know about Thanos?” Loki asked sharply. He twisted around, searching the dark corners of the room but it was empty.

You opened and closed your mouth, stammering. “I, I don’t know. I just… It felt like a dream, I think I saw your life flash before my eyes.”

Loki scowled darkly and stayed quiet, but this seething anger radiating from the snake seemed to answer your question.

“What happened to you?” You whispered, the reverence of the moment demanding quiet.

Loki’s eyes snapped towards you then just as quickly looked away. “How much did you see?”

You shook your head. “Everything, I think, it goes dark after I, you, fell from Odin’s spear. You were dangling there, barely tethered to life and he told you that you weren’t good enough?”

Loki straightened up, wincing slightly at the movement and tried to turn from you, but his arm remained close to yours, ensuring the snake didn’t go taut.

Loki finally spoke bitterly, breaking his silence. “You saw that?”

You shook your head again, still feeling dazed. “what’s happening to me, to us?”

“There’s no point in telling Odin everything I’ve seen, I’ve done. Humans were murdered and I acted out against him, that’s all he cares about.”

“But what about Frigga? Why not tell her?”

Loki’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You saw her too?”

“Yes. You were the rightful king…” You scrunched your eyes shut and tried to think. “What happened?”

“You’re the first person to ask that. Believe it or not.” He replied dryly.

“Wait what?”

Loki shrugged.

“You went from a lifetime of like thousand years keeping Thor in line and then after a falling to your death, no one asked why you came back with an army? Let alone where you got it?”

Loki looked away uncomfortably.

“Thor starts a whole war, after a centuries’ long peace, and he spends a long weekend on Earth and that’s worthy enough? He didn’t change at all! He went brashly running in and risking his friends’ lives-”

Loki’s hand covered your mouth, silencing your babbling. You blinked at him. “It matters not to the Allfather.” He said wearily.

“So now you’re here as some sort of punishment?” You pushed his hand away and to your surprise he let you. “So what do you have to do to go home, do you even get to call there home after how they treated you?”

Loki chuckled darkly. “It will do no good either way. I imagine if I can become smitten with you in much the same manner as Thor is with your half-sister, that will be enough for Odin to…” He trailed off uncertainly.

After a moment he waved his hand and green light shimmered over it. Your eyes widened in shock.

“Odin can’t exactly take my abilities away in the same way he did Thor, and yet.” He sighed again, turning away from you.

“Hey, I may not know everything that’s going on with your,” you hesitated, wanting to say messed up family but didn’t want to offend him. “Family.” You said instead, “but might as well make the best of it.”

“And how do you intend to do that?”

“Well I can see you’re not some evil megalomaniac.”

Loki blinked at you but stayed quiet.

“And it’s not like I can really continue my life as normal.” You held up your snaked wrist. “So what do you want to do?”

“Just like that?” Loki arched his brow.

“Sure, why not?”

Loki smirked. “This might be the beginning of something lovely.”

Chapter Text

Loki sat down on the bed beside you, his bound hand close to yours, the other resting on his knees. He bowed his head in thought, eyes shutting briefly.

You realized, in the room, you were quite warm. Frowning, you considered your jacket and how it and the other clothes you were, seemed temporarily but permanently bound to you through the snake.

Loki looked up.

He seemed to sense your thoughts, barely twitching his fingers as green magic shimmered around you, the jacket appearing neatly folded beside you, you no longer wearing it.

“Well that’s convenient.” You murmured, staring at the snake after looking at the jacket. “I’d hate to be stuck in the same clothes forever.” You added, voice slightly mumbling.

Loki rolled his eyes.

You sat up on the bed, studying his face. It was hard not to notice the strange beauty he held, and your thoughts once more returned to Jane and her love.

Odin the matchmaker, it seemed, you thought wryly.

The corner of Loki’s mouth quirked up, he could sense your thoughts.

“So how much space do we have, because I was thinking of washing some of this mud off after rolling around in it trying to figure out who you were.”

Loki arched his brow looking down at you then in the direction of the bathroom. “We could test it I suppose.”

You nodded, brushing past him to rise from the bed and walk away, watching your wrist hang back where the snake connected the two of you. You bit your lip softly, moving further and further from the seated Loki. He seemed to instinctively raise his arm to be closer, to keep the snake from going taut. And then you were a little further way, maybe a meter or so.

You smiled, “ok that’s not so bad.” You moved a smidge more and the burning started, a warning.

Loki sighed heavily. “So that is the distance.” He looked again at the rope-like snake, seeing different runes carved into its belly, floating between the two of you. He quietly read aloud, “as the bond grows, distance may be added.”

You looked back at him, before seeing his gaze fixated on the snake’s belly. “What?”

Loki sighed, again, and shut his eyes in exasperation. “If I grow fond of you, in much the same way as Thor did of his mortal. I imagine it will give us more space to work with.”

You tried for a winning smile at him but Loki continued studying the snake.

Finally it was your turn to sigh. “Well I have to get cleaned up, at least let me get into the bathroom. Wash my hands, my face maybe, something.”

Loki nodded indifferently, rising from your bed and moving nearer.

You stood in the bathroom, Loki lurking at the doorway, and stared at your sink, then yourself in the mirror. Your reflection had aged overnight, or perhaps just in the last few hours. You shifted slightly and could see Loki in the mirror behind you. He was a polite distance away, as much as the snake allowed for.

Leaning against the doorframe, his eyes were shut while you went about your business.

Satisfied, or at least, good enough, you turned fully around to face him once more.

Loki didn’t seem to stir, despite standing.

You looked up at him, the dark circles under his eyes, the weirdly rapidly healing injuries that were visible, and tried to understand him.

“When’s the last time you slept?” You asked softly, rousing him.

Loki’s eyes opened and he looked around, seeming somewhat confused, a guarded look on his face. “I don’t remember.” He muttered, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

“Well I uh, didn’t get to sleep through the night, on account of your arrival…” You tried to make it sound lighthearted but the joke fell flat. “There’s enough room for two people in my,” you hesitated, “uh, bed.”

You were closer to him now than you had to any other person in your life. Sure you might’ve dated before, but nothing serious really came up. Yet, here you were, offering your bed to this strange man. It went beyond that though, you corrected your thinking. Already something of a bond had formed and yet.

Loki nodded weakly, his face still lightly pressed against the doorframe.

You kicked off your shoes, pulling back the blanket with one hand while holding the other back so Loki had more space. Then, turning back to look at him, you motioned at the bed.

Loki sighed heavily.

You felt your pulse speed up slightly, indignation rising in the heat of your cheeks. “Look, I don’t want some alien guy in my room either, you think this is easy for me?”

Loki studied you for a moment before frowning slightly. “My apologies.” He trailed off. It seemed to take a lot out of him to say that much.

You nodded, feeling your pulse changing for different reasons this time. Though the heat on your cheeks stayed. Climbing into the bed, you scooted as far over as possible until Loki stood beside the edge of the bed and you were on the other side.

Loki looked around disinterestedly, he seemed to be weighing how fatigued he was with whatever else was keeping him from sitting down.

“It’s a bed. I need a few hours’ sleep still. Then we can eat and go about our day I guess?” You muttered, pulling the blankets to your chin.

Loki finally conceded. His armor seemed to melt away, replaced with a green long sleeve top and black trousers.

You felt, rather than saw, him enter the bed. It dipped beneath his weight as you laid on your side trying not to look at him.

The brief glimpse you’d caught of him, outside his armor, he looked small, vulnerable.

An involuntary sigh escaped his lips as his head met the pillow.

Laying on his back, he stared at the ceiling, his bound arm stretched towards you and almost meeting at the middle of the bed.

You rolled back onto your back, studying the ceiling in the same silence. “Uh, good night, I guess.”

“Good night.” Loki murmured, seeming to drift off.

You tried to sleep, but every few minutes, Loki would begin to twitch and jerk violently in his sleep. He’d start awake gasping, breathing hard as he tried to catch his breath from the nightmares that had awoken him.

You watched him, time and again, forcing his eyes shut before drifting off and once more awakening violently. The process repeated for what felt like ages.

You must have dozed off yourself, because it was late afternoon when you finally sat upright, looking for your phone. It seems one of your other ranch hands had visited during the day, checking in on the animals and making up for your lax in maintenance. You let out a sigh of relief, knowing you had a bit more time to try and sort this snake situation out before reality would come rushing back at you.

Loki was in another one of his violent convulsions, eyes scrunched shut and brow knit together. The bed shook as he twisted and turned.

You looked over at him, watching the convulsions before they stopped again, his eyes opening. He looked more tired than ever. It reminded you of the animals you had worked with, in a way, but you had never seen them reach that level of exhaustion. To work an animal that hard was beyond cruel, you couldn’t imagine what that dark shadow he was forcibly keeping in his thoughts, preventing you from seeing what had happened in his tortured time with Thanos. You couldn’t begin to imagine the tortures and for that, you were admittedly grateful.

“Hey.” You said softly.

Loki’s eyes opened and he glanced towards you. His breathing had steadied again, though he still seemed alert and on edge, and yet also somehow on the verge of sleep. “What?” He demanded, voice scratchy from the suppressed screams.

“Do you want to get some food?” You asked. “If it’s been this long since you slept…” You trailed off as his stomach growled in answer. “c’mon, I got some leftovers in the kitchen.”

You scooted closer to him, hand accidentally brushing against his. The two of you instinctively pulled away, eyes meeting for a fraction of a second before returning to your thoughts of food.

Loki rose from the bed, stifling a yawn. You followed after him out of the bed until you could move past him to lead down to the kitchen.

Like a shadow, Loki lurked after you. In the kitchen, even as you set about heating up last night’s dinner, he stayed as far away as the snake allowed.

You set the steaming bowls on the table and motioned for Loki to take his own seat.

For a moment, he studied the food. He was clearly unimpressed with your leftovers, and you had a mental image of some of the feasts he’d enjoyed in Asgard flash before your eyes. It was hard not to be disappointed with such a simple meal.

“It’s the best I got.” You muttered, feeling defensive of your cooking skills.

Loki glanced at you, eyes meeting yours again before once more looking down at his food. He picked up his utensil and began to eat. Methodically, rhythmically, he sat there spoon from bowl to mouth, to bowl, to mouth, over and over. He was going through the motions of eating, in such a way that it seemed like he’d forgotten what food was.

Finishing his bowl, he reached for more, all but inhaling that as well.

You watched him, dumbfounded as you tried to finish your first and only serving. “When was the last time you ate?” You whispered. Something about the question, the situation, demanded a degree of reverence.

Loki paused from his methodical actions, studying the food. “I don’t remember.” He replied, voice equally quiet, though pained.

“Well, don’t make yourself sick.” You tried to offer a supportive smile.

Loki glanced at you, then back to the food, sitting down his spoon. It made a soft clatter as the utensil rested on the table.

You swallowed hard, your own hunger seeming to fade away in pity.

As soon as the sensation crossed your mind, Loki twisted violently towards you, fists clenched in anger. “Don’t you dare.” He hissed.

You blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“I don’t need your pity.” He spat, almost snarling the words out. Loki seemed to be trembling, but whether it was rage or something else, you couldn’t tell, even the snake’s connection was at a loss.

You opened and closed your mouth, trying to think of what to say.

Loki looked away.

“You’ve been through hell and back, and you don’t think I should feel bad for you?” You asked softly.

Loki shot you a nasty look.

“Well you still have it. If this pain in my back is half as bad as what you’re feeling, anyone deserves some sympathy for that.”

“Sympathy… empathy…” Loki shook his head. “It has been a long time since those words were relevant.”

You instinctively reached for his hand, your bound hand brushing the back of his.

Loki looked down at your hand, face impossible to read. You quickly pulled back. “Sorry, I just…” You trailed off, then paused frowning. “I’m not going to be on eggshells around you.”

Loki blinked again, looking at your face.

“Look, I know you got issues, but everyone does, it’s life. I can’t be all skittish around you just because…” you trailed off again, trying to think of why you shouldn’t be frightened of him.

A mental image flashed across your mind, your body, dead and bloody, dragging along the ground as Loki stood free.

You looked down at the snake uneasily, knowing what Loki was thinking. You swallowed hard. “I bet the enchantment prevents that… you know, you hurting me.” You tried to keep the doubt out of your voice before looking at him once more. The lives he had taken in the last few days… the humans falling before him flashed across your vision too.

Loki studied your face for a moment, once more returning to gaze at the snake. “No, I imagine you’re correct.” He murmured finally. “And dragging a mortal body on the ground as I go about my life would be terribly inconvenient.”

“Yea. Inconvenient.” You laughed breathily and somewhat sarcastically. “Something like that.”

Loki turned his gaze to the setting sun through the window.

“We’re going to have to take care of my animals together tomorrow. I can get out for one day, Billy covered, but I can’t do that again tomorrow.”

Loki frowned thoughtfully. “yes, I suppose that’s true.”

“You want to try sleeping again?”

Loki gave you a look that tried to be threatening, but instead you could only see the haunting horrors in his eyes. He didn’t answer.

You shook your head, wearily, grabbing the emptied bowls and put them in the sink to wash later. Loki followed after you silently, anticipating your every move just as you did it. That part of the mental link was convenient anyways, harder to surprise each other by moving in the wrong direction.

You trudged upstairs to your bedroom. Entering the bathroom, you brushed your teeth and took care of toiletries’ business, feeling embarrassment flooding through the connection on both sides. “Are you going to brush your teeth too?” You asked, Loki had stood around the edge of the doorway as best he could with his arm still stretched out to give you a modicum of decency.

Loki entered the bathroom, and you dug in the drawer for a new unused brush you’d gotten at some point in the past.

Loki studied the brush for a moment before he mirrored your actions.

You stood outside the bathroom, arm outstretched and waited for him to finish, your turn to try and offer him some privacy.

Loki exited the bathroom, once more the weariness of many months clinging to him.

You nodded at him, making sure he was following before crawling into bed. The bed dipped again and before too long, you had fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

You woke up slowly. You hadn’t slept this well in ages. And now? You felt so comfortable just laying there beneath the blankets, pressed against a warm pillow that also managed to be cool at the same time.

Your eyes fluttered open.

In the night, it seemed, you had instinctively sought out Loki. Your chest was pressed flush against him, legs tangled together and his head was bowed slightly, facing towards you. His face was pillowed on your breasts.

You felt your cheeks burning and tried scooting back from him.

Loki began to stir, shifting in his sleep. Despite that, you could hear his slow, deep, even breaths.

Breath held, and moving as carefully as you could, you wiggled away from Loki. For a moment, his grip tightened on you and then it passed, he rolled away, facing the other direction.

You cursed silently as you looked at the missed messages on your phone, all from Jane.

Jane had texted your name a bunch, trying to get you to answer, but failing that, began threatening to call you. However, your phone was silent so when she finally resorted to calling, you still missed it. The next series of texts were closer together, more urgent, concern evident in each one.

You put your hand to your forehead and sighed. Shaking your head irritably for a moment and glancing at the still sleeping Loki, you dialed Jane.

Jane screeched your name into the receiver, sounding somewhat hysterical. “What happened? First you were talking to me and then an entire day goes by after you mysteriously hang up because something was wrong? And then on top of that, there is some crazy physics happening like right where you live. It looks like the Einstein-Rosenburg bridge, there’s no way that’s possible. Right?” She took a breath, finally pausing.

You glanced at Loki who was still, though at this point through the connection you could tell he was feigning sleep, there was no way he hadn’t heard Jane.

Furrowing your brow, you opened your mouth to answer, trying to figure out what you might say in this situation. “I uh… yea… something happened, but it’s ok, everyone is alright, there’s nothing to worry about.” You paused, listening to her silence from the phone. “Are you in your car?”

“YES!” Jane yelled back, still sounding somewhat hysterical, “I’m like thirty minutes out from your ranch.”

Loki stiffened, sitting up and looked at you.

You opened and closed your mouth mutely, trying to figure out how to answer her flurry of questions.

There was another silence, broken only by the vague vehicle sounds passing through the phone. “There’s not someone there is there? Are they Asgardian?” She hissed your name and you could hear the accelerator on the car speeding up. “What’s going on, are you ok?”

“I’m fine, really.” You finally managed to answer, motioning for Loki to stay silent. He rolled his eyes. You continued, “listen Jane, you really shouldn’t have driven all the way out here, there’s nothing uh nothing really going on.”

“Those crazy readings are the same ones that happened in New Mexico, if we can recreate them, I bet I could find Thor again.” She was almost talking to herself at this point.

Loki scowled at the mention of Thor.

“Jane, honestly, have you done anything but mope about that guy since he showed up?” You felt irritated, probably from the connection, Loki’s emotions spilling into yours.

“I have!” She huffed. “I’ve been following different astronomic anomalies around the world and trying to figure out how to recreate the bridge.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Darcy, my intern, she’s been giving me crap for this too, why is everyone so determined to make me look like I’m the problem?”

“Jane.”

“Nope, GPS says to turn here, I’ll be at your house in five.” Jane ended the call.

You bowed your head, not wanting to look at Loki. “There’s no way I can hide you in like a closet or something, right?”

Loki raised his hand with the snake entwined on it. “I don’t imagine so.”

You nodded and sighed, wanting a long hot shower but knew that wasn’t likely. “C’mon, let’s go face her.”

The two of you took turns quickly cleaning up before hurrying downstairs at the sound of screeching tires. Your animals were making a fuss at the sound of a new arrival, and you knew you had to get back to tending them as normal.

Jane leapt from her clunky old van, rushing forward as you opened the screen door. She was carrying a bag and a metal instrument of some kind that was beeping and blinking as she ran towards you. Looking this way and that, she saw the mark where Loki had appeared, the one singed into the ground by whatever had sent him here. Her mouth dropped open and she stopped mid stride to look at it. “That is it!”

“Hey.” You called from the doorway, trying to keep Loki from being seen for as long as possible. He lingered behind you in the shadows, but there was no hiding forever.

Jane scurried back to her car, waving at you in acknowledgement before grabbing more scientific instruments to begin collecting information, or so you figured.

“I wish I knew what Selvig was up to, should’ve brought him…” Jane muttered to herself as she walked. “This is amazing.”

You sighed and stepped out into the sun. “I’m just gonna go take care of my stock, you uh, do you need anything?”

Jane was kneeling beside the runes on the ground, studying them carefully. She barely heard you just waving you off as she began writing things down and pressing buttons.

Loki rolled his eyes, stepping out after you and following you towards the large barn.

Inside the barn, the animals were in full frenzy, unhappy at being stuck inside for so long. You set about tending to them, Loki following close enough to you that you could work pain free and occasionally almost assisting. He was no stranger to livestock.

Animals tended to, you made your way back towards where Jane was, Loki lingering behind you. Uncharacteristically quiet, he loomed in the shadows.

“I can’t let weather patterns destroy this, are we due more rain? I have to check.” Jane had set up a tent of sorts over the image, trying to preserve it.

“Jane…” You started slowly, as she looked up at you.

“Who all knows what happened here?”

“Just you and me.” You replied. “And uh…” You trailed off, glancing over your shoulder.

Jane looked at you, her gaze taking in your harried form, down to the brightly colored snake clinging to your wrist. Slowly she followed the tail of the snake until she let out a soft gasp. “Someone came through the bridge and you didn’t even tell me? Who is this?” She scrambled to her feet, still holding an instrument and moved to scan Loki.

You sidestepped, blocking her. “You didn’t give me a chance to talk.” You managed to keep the worst of your exasperation out of your voice.

Jane looked up from her machine, then back down, then up again at Loki. “What is that snake?” She breathed softly, lowering the machine. “It’s giving off weird energy patterns.”

“It’s a binding spell.” Loki answered for you, raising his arm to show where the snake connected.

Jane’s mouth fell into an “o” and she looked back at you. “You’re stuck to this person?” She leaned around you, still constantly glancing down at the readings on her machine.

“It would appear for the moment so, yes.” You glanced at Loki.

“She’ll find out eventually.” Loki muttered.

“Find what out?” Jane finally stopped looking at the machine, studying the still somewhat injured Loki. “Who are you?”

“I am Loki.” He replied stiffly. Through the bond, you could feel a flurry of emotions: of Asgard, of Jotunheim, of nowhere? There was a pang of loss that struck at you as you avoided looking at Loki.

Jane stepped back. “Is… it can’t be.”

Loki raised his eyebrows, trying to force the emotions from the connection yet failing miserably.

“You came through the bridge and…” Jane paused. “Asgard?”

Loki nodded. You glanced at him and though his face was generally emotionless, you could still feel the shifting discomfort.

“Loki isn’t a common name there, like John or Bob?” Jane said slowly. “Loki, like Thor’s brother?”

Loki grit his teeth. “And you must be Thor’s mortal who bewitched him so compellingly.”

“I what now? Weren’t you just mentioned in the news about that attack in New York? Like Thor was there and everything.” Jane studied him, eyes wide.

“I may have played a part in those aliens as you call them.” Loki replied evenly.

You could see the gears of Jane’s brain twisting as she fought to come to the realization of who he was. The denial came off her in waves.

“You’re Thor’s evil brother… The warriors, his friends, mentioned you had stolen the throne.” Jane swallowed hard.

Loki smiled at her, a rather predatorial smile, but didn’t respond.

Jane looked down at the snake and seemed to remember it connected to you as well. “Oh.” She breathed softly. “What the hell is going on?” She finally demanded, pushing past her nerves and rounding once more towards you.

“My brother was banished to Midgard recently. Our… his father thought it best that he learned humility that way. It seems he learned something of tempering his emotions and felt keen to pass on the lesson to me.” Loki said.

Jane nodded slowly, looking at you for confirmation.

You held up your hands defensively. “I was just investigating a loud noise and bright light in my yard, I didn’t ask for this.”

“Nor did I, if it matters any.” Loki muttered.

Jane blinked several times. “Those runes on the snake, they’re stopping you from hurting my sister?”

“Surprisingly enough, I’m not generally a genocidal nor homicidal maniac as many would like to believe.” Loki muttered.

“But you told Thor that Odin died and then sent that robot thing to kill him.” Jane shot back.

“That might have happened, yes.” Loki agreed.

Jane scowled. “And then that invasion in New York… where’s your brother, why didn’t Thor come back for me?”

“He destroyed the Bifrost, your precious bridge as you call it, and Odin had to muster dark energy to send him to Midgard to assist your other mortals in the ensuing invasion.” Loki said.

“The one you caused?” Jane asked.

“Yes, I might have been involved in that in some way.” Loki didn’t look at you.

Your mind recalled the excruciating pain, the image of that Thanos guy… the pain swelled in your back and you bit back your gasp of pain. “Jane, look, I don’t know where Thor is, I don’t know what happened in New York, and I don’t really know a lot of what’s going on.”

Jane looked at you, eyes flickering to the snake, then to Loki and back to you. “It’s some sort of empathy link?”

“How did you know that?” You asked.

Jane said your name emphatically, “did you not see the damage done to the city? And you’re not like terrified or hiding from this guy?”

You glanced at Loki, avoiding his eyes before looking back at Jane. “There’s so much more going on that no one else knows about.”

“Don’t.” Loki growled softly.

“Well if everyone knew the truth, they wouldn’t send that SHIELD organization after you and try and kill you or whatever they plan to do.”

Jane tilted her head. “Tell me everything.”

You did your best to repeat everything that happened, skipping over some minor details like sleeping beside him, and the extents of the tortures you could see and feel. Jane listened in rapt silence the entire time. Loki interjected when necessary, though he didn’t add very much. You could feel his uneasiness as you talked but tried to ignore it.

“Thanos?” Jane repeated.

“Don’t speak of him.” Loki muttered.

“But he’s the big bad guy here, right?” Jane asked.

Loki sneered then shook his head. “Things are not truly so black and white as you might like to believe.”

“SHIELD is going to freak out if they realize you’re here.” Jane said.

“Yes, so we’re trying to keep this on the downlow, no one else knows.” You replied.

“We?” Jane repeated. She looked down at the snake again, the empathy bond, then back to you. “You’re on his side of things?” Jane shifted nervously, attention returning to the many assembled machines then back to you.

“It’s not so cut and dry, I told you what happened.”

Jane nodded slowly. “If we can recreate the bridge though, I could see Thor again. Imagine the space travel too.”

“That doesn’t fix this snake situation though.” You replied evenly, feeling like you were lecturing her at this point.

Jane frowned. “Yea… but Thor… but I suppose if he showed up that would get on SHIELD’s radar even more and then there’s no chance they’d let you go.”

“Yes, that’s why we, I, am trying to keep this from spreading.”

“Does Thor know you’re here?” Jane asked Loki.

“I don’t believe so, he was assigned to use the tesseract for the repair of the bifrost and many of the other realms are rebelling, sensing Odin’s weakened state.”

Jane nodded slowly. “So it’s just the three of us.” She paused. “We have unhindered access to this entire site for now?”

“You think SHIELD is keeping track of the middle of nowhere?” You asked her.

As if by answer, the sky began to scream. Jets of all sorts seemed to materialize from nowhere and an entire convoy of vehicles grounded to a stop, surrounding the area.

Chapter Text

You weren’t sure how long the van drove in relative silence, the only sounds came from the vehicle itself. Fury watched Loki like a hawk with his one eye.

Loki continued to leave his head bowed, wincing at the occasional jolt of the van. You could feel the phantom pains in your back, mirroring his very real pain.

From time to time, when the pain left you less hazy, you tried studying the snake. It remained as unaffected as ever.

“Where are we going?” You finally broke the silence.

“A secure place.” Fury replied. He lowered his voice, as though Loki couldn’t still hear him. “Why are you helping this trash?”

Loki rolled his eyes.

You looked at Fury then back at the snake. “I really don’t have a lot of choices going on here.”

Fury leaned back, folding his arms and nodded but didn’t respond.

At some point, the van felt as though it had stopped. You couldn’t be too sure though, but as your ears began to pop, you realized you were probably changing altitude. Had your van been turned into a flying machine? You didn’t bother asking, trying to avoid casting a curious glance at Loki. If he really was a war criminal, surely you should be afraid of him.

The thought crossed your mind, but the memories of Thanos and everything else flashed at the same time and you remained silent. How could you explain to angry government agents that there was more going on than first appeared? Would they even listen?

The van you were in, though you realized it was more of a safe container than anything else, started to descend.

The back door open and you shied away from the blinding light of the sun. You were at some sort of strange compound. In the distance you could see rows upon rows of fences and security around the outer perimeter.

Fury stood up and nodded, motioning for the guards to shuffle you and Loki out of the van.

You walked open mouth, seeing the massive building before you.

“Avengers compound.” Loki explained to you softly. “I suppose with the helicarrier so damaged he can’t keep us there, the beast’s cell is gone as well.”

You looked around, trying to contain your growing panic.

“Yea, thanks for that. Luckily for everyone, Thor survived. Guess we had to find a better place to keep your sort.” Fury answered, still leading your huddled group. “We have a new location. Real power here probably remembers some of his new friends.”

Loki sighed. “The Avengers?”

“The Avengers compound.” Fury nodded, guiding you and Loki into the building, down many halls and to an elevator.

“Where are the Avengers?” You commented, trying to take in everything around you.

“Leave of absence. Stark should be here soon. We’ve been working on this compound for a long time.”

“It’s been like a week since New York, right?” You asked.

“Since Thor first showed up, we’ve been upping security.”

The elevator descended, everyone crowded in and pushing you close against Loki. His presence comforted you, to your growing surprise.

The doors opened and you entered a vast cavernous room, with a line of glass covered jail cells grouped together.

“Your new home.” Fury explained. “The World Security Council wanted your head, but I don’t think it would be good to alert the general public that you’re still here on Earth, tends to freak people out.”

“Back on Midgard.” Loki muttered.

Fury ignored him. “I’m sorry you, as a civilian, are involved in all of this, but it seems we don’t have a choice.”

You managed a weak smile, trying to appear grateful. Conveniently, you had kept out the extent of bond between you and Loki that the snake provided. You feared them using it against him, and through that, you.

The glass door slid open, it was a meter thick. You and Loki were unceremoniously shoved inside.

In the room, there was a table like platform connected to the wall. It reminded you of a bed, without a mattress or blanket. It was too wide to be a normal seat.

You immediately crossed the room and sat down, feeling exhausted after the long trip.

Loki stayed standing, his back to you as he studied the various walls.

“I’d like to see you try getting out of this one.” Fury spoke through a speaker in the ceiling, though he stood outside.

Loki glanced at the ceiling then back towards the man addressing him.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet.” Fury grunted.

Guards stood at the glass wall, weapons at the ready.

“If you try and escape, scratch the glass, a gas will fill the room, able to tranquilize a large elephant. If that doesn’t work on you, we have some back up ideas.” Fury said.

“You’d kill the mortal at my expense?” Loki arched his brow, not looking at you.

You scowled inwardly at being referred to as ‘the mortal’.

“Casualties happen.” Fury shrugged. “Is that some sentiment I’m detecting from you?”

“Hardly. I imagine dragging a dead body with this bond would be tedious though.”

“Do I have any rights here?” You called out. “Do I get a lawyer or something?”

“Sorry ma’am, but you’re attached to a very deadly and very wanted criminal. Your freedom comes second to that.”

You pursed your lips and nodded slowly.

Loki chuckled, leaning against the wall, crossing one leg over the other at the ankle. “Where are your lost creatures, your precious team of heroes?”

“We’re rounding them up currently. They deserve a leave of absence, but with your ass back here, we might as well up the security.”

“Cool.” You grumbled.

Loki chuckled, his shoulders moving with his laughter, though it sounded hollow. “Well then, don’t let me keep you.”

Fury scowled for a moment before smirking. “Like I said, let me know if you want a magazine or something.”

You contemplated asking for a magazine but figured the comment was meant sarcastically. Vaguely through the bond you could recall Loki being in a similar cage in a different place being offered the same thing.

“What about food?” You asked, stomach growling in response.

Loki glanced back at you then to Fury.

“We’ll see.” Fury said then motioned for the extra agents to follow him, leaving two heavily armed just outside.

Loki moved back across the cell, sinking to the ground and trying to hide the discomfort in his back.

You silently looked at him, wondering how he was doing. Why should you care though? Oh right, because of this stupid snake keeping you connected, feeling everything Loki felt. You sighed heavily.

Loki chuckled darkly, arms resting on his knees as he gazed fixedly at the guards outside.

“Can they hear us?” You asked softly, scooting forward to keep the snake loose.

Loki shrugged. “I imagine so.” Unspoken though, you sensed something through the link, as though he might hide your conversation if he chose. Even through the link, it was hard to tell the exact limits of his magic. On the surface though, Loki didn’t seem terribly bothered.

“Do you think they’ll find a way to tell Thor?”

Loki glanced up at you from his seat on the floor, frowning thoughtfully. “I imagine Heimdall has already alerted the All-father.”

You frowned, mentally picturing the guardian of the bridge. It really was weird to imagine someone you had never seen before. “Cool, cool.” You bobbed your head, lacing your fingers together and looked at the guards. “What now?”

“I suppose we wait.”

“You don’t have some neat escape plan?”

Loki shrugged. “These walls are not enough to contain me, but I don’t know the extent of the snake’s binding.”

“Oh. You can’t leave because of me.” You felt uneasy, once again thinking about how easily Loki could kill you, even unarmed.

“Indeed.”

-

You began to doze. Laying down on the hard seat, you gazed at the ceiling, looking at the speaker and the numerous sprinklers looking things in the ceiling – taps capable of releasing the neurotoxin, you figured. Loki didn’t disagree.

“You caught him, a second time?” You recognized Tony Stark’s voice coming from the speaker.

Opening your eyes, you couldn’t see him at the door. Only the two guards stood there, watchful as ever.

“He can hear me from here?” Tony asked whoever must be near him.

It was Fury who answered. “Yes, he and the woman can hear you through this.”

“I’d like to see them. Rock of Ages shouldn’t have come back, and I imagine Banner’s going to want a rematch when he finds out.” You could imagine Tony smirking.

“Can they hear us from here?” You asked softly.

“We can, yes.” Fury answered you.

“Hey Tony Stark. Nice to meet you.” You told him your name.

“Sorry lady, sucks that you’re wrapped up in this guy’s mess.” Tony replied.

“Oh it’s you know.” You shrugged, waving your hand airily.

“I think there’s a link between them, why is she so calm?” The speaker cut out as Tony continued talking to Fury.

“Seems the director doesn’t want me knowing his intel.” Loki said from his seated position, glancing at the silent speaker in the ceiling.

You huffed lightly, laying on your back and staring at the speaker as well. “You think they’ll feed us?”

Loki glanced back at you. The pangs of hunger went both ways through the snake. “I imagine they’re debating on whether hunger can be weaponized.”

“Hello again.”

You sat up, turning to see a new face at the glass cell door.

Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, the link silently told you.

Loki chuckled, looking up at her from his seat on the floor. The guards had jumped in surprise, it seemed no one had noticed her approach.

“Ms. Romanoff.” Loki inclined his head in greeting.

“Loki.” Natasha glanced at you. You could only imagine how awful you looked, how long had you been down here? The spy pulled up a cellphone and studied it for a moment. She read your name out loud, your job as a rancher, your connection to Jane Foster, things you thought were irrelevant but still they had intel on you it seemed. Natasha finished with your full name. “Why are you helping this guy?” She knelt down, leaning against the cell wall, one hand pressed against the thick glass.

You balked. “Helping?” You held up your wrist showing the snake.

Natasha’s gaze fell on the snake, the runes that were likely less visible from where she knelt. “Well, what do you think you’re doing?”

You opened and closed your mouth, like a fish floundering for water. “I’m just trying to get some food right now.”

She arched her brow. “Fury thinks Loki will be more pliable if he’s weakened from hunger.”

You rolled your eyes, trying unsuccessfully to cross your arms. “That’s inhumane. What about me?”

Natasha nodded thoughtfully, a slight smile on her face. “He’s hardly human.”

Loki chuckled darkly, though he didn’t speak.

“Alright, but surely there’s gotta be laws about human treatment, Geneva Convention and all that?” You asked.

Natasha continued nodding, her smile fading. “Yes, I’d say so. We’re working in a grey area though.”

A flood of images rushes through your mind. You were talking to a man, he was holding a bow. The link supplemented the name Clint Barton, Hawkeye. He was talking about Natasha. Horror upon horror, the people she’d hurt, the things she’d done.

You were back in the moment breathing hard.

Natasha had stiffened and stood back up, there was movement outside of the other guards. Frantic hushed voices and when you opened your eyes – when had you closed them? – the flurry of activity died down.

Natasha was speaking into a receiver and her eyes landed back on you. “Are you ok?” She asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Part of you wondered if this was an act too.

“’m fine.” You mumbled.

Loki was standing as well, trying to be as far away from you as possible it seemed.

“Who’s Dreykov’s daughter?”

Natasha tilted her head almost imperceptibly, but you saw it, perhaps Loki saw it and through the link you could sense it. At this point, it was hard to tell where you ended and Loki began.

“What?” Natasha asked.

Loki looked towards you, uncertainty on his face, despite the confident and carefree façade he was holding.

“The explosions…” You trailed off, rubbing at your forehead, visualizing the horrors. “The Red Room?”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Loki. “What did you tell her?”

Loki held his hands up defensively. “Don’t look at me. You should answer her questions.”

“Fury.” Natasha put her hand to her ear. “There’s something with that snake binding.” She lowered her voice, but Loki heard as she turned away, “they’re connected somehow. Not just literally.”

-

Rough hands forced you from the cell. You were guided to a new room. Two flat metal beds in the center, close enough for someone laying on them to touch the other.

You were guided to one table like bed, to lay down, Loki in the other. Metal bars slid over you and you shifted uneasily trying to move against the bonds, but they held fast.

Loki, for his part, didn’t bother struggling. He seemed resigned to this.

Your breathing was short and fast, almost hyperventilating and if it weren’t for Loki, you’d be crying.

“What are you doing?” You choked out to the men in dark gear, hiding their faces. There was a mirror on one wall and something told you it was also a window to watch whatever happened in this room.

“We’re the medical team.” One of the men explained, pushing in a tray covered by a cloth. “We need to know exactly how much you know.”

Through the bond, unease coursed through you.

“Now then.” The speaker had a nasty scar across his cheek. He continued, “do you know what Hydra is?”

Memories rushed through you, Steve Rogers’ origin. “Captain America ended Hydra…”

The scarred man smiled and nodded. “So you’re aware. Cut off one head, two more grow back.”

You swallowed hard.

“Now, I shouldn’t be telling you this, because I’m a SHIELD scientist, but the truth is, Hydra isn’t dead.”

Your eyes flickered towards the mirror, sweat beaded on your forehead.

“Not that anyone would believe you if you repeated this. You’ll be under duress you see.” The man pulled back the cloth on the tray, revealing sharp and sinister looking instruments. “But you see, Hydra knows a lot about conditioning. You know about the Red Room?”

You stared wide eyed at him, fear stealing your words.

“Answer me.” He slammed his fist on the table, shaking the instruments.

“Just that it’s a place.” You breathed out the words as fast as you could.

“What do you intend to do to us?” Loki finally broke his long silence. Even through the link, it was difficult to tell what he was feeling or thinking.

The scarred man smirked at Loki. “I’m glad you’re feeling chatty too now. I don’t usually like explaining my process to my prisoners. Why would I bother explaining what’s going to happen to a dog? You’re worthless to me, and yet.”

Loki narrowed his eyes.

“If you talk, I’ll talk.” The man smiled, picking up something particularly sharp.

You shivered and felt a comforting presence through the link, even if it was weak, like Loki was trying to calm you. “What do you want to know?”

“For one. We’d like to see the extent of how this bond thing works. We’ve studied the runes on this snake and we’re aware of what happens when one attempts to cut it. But, what if we utilized it?”

You swallowed hard again. The man looked at the sharp blade for a moment before plunging it into the muscle of your upper arm. You shrieked in pain as blood ran down your arm.

Loki’s eyes shut, and you were vaguely aware that he could feel it.

“You see. We have a theory.” Scarred man knelt down between you and Loki, eyes flickering at the snake. You felt nauseous, pain thudding in your head. “And you just proved it.”

“Wha-, what?” You stammered.

“What you feel, he feels too. And we don’t know a lot about the physiology of a god, well yet, but we’re going to find out. Can you imagine the weapon, the power, Hydra would have with a god in its ranks?”

“You can’t.” You felt tears in your eyes, shaking violently.

Another person stepped towards you, placing a balm on the cut and soothing the pain.

Scarred man continued, “we can’t have you passing out and ruining this just yet.” He explained. “We’re not going to kill you, we’re going to break you. And then, think of the possibilities.”

Hydra wanted to turn Loki into a weapon? It clearly wasn’t the first time they’d attempted this sort of thing, and yet, you were in a SHIELD compound. How could that work? Unless… something about SHIELD wasn’t right. Your mind raced, trying to take in all the information, latching on to what Loki knew and could share with you.

“Get to work.” The scarred man ordered the others.

Pain beyond imagine rushed through you from all sides, you couldn’t tell where the pain ended and you began. You writhed against the bars holding you down, crying and screaming with each new wave of pain.

“Enough!” Loki snarled, cutting through the haze of your mind. You had retreated into darkness, anything to avoid the situation.

Magic burst from him, throwing everyone in the room back, many of them colliding with instruments or striking the wall hard.

You lolled your head to the side, watching him shift forms, becoming smaller and squeezing out from under the bars. And then he was standing. His back was to you and he surveilled the room, seeing if there would be resistance. “I know SHIELD is corrupt, but this?”

The scarred man struggled to his feet. He mumbled into a receiver before drawing a weapon and focusing his attention on Loki. “We’re part of SHIELD, the good part. Well you might argue the bad part.” He chuckled, wiping some blood from his face.

“He’s stalling.” Loki muttered, loud enough for you to hear it. “He called for backup.” Loki turned around, breaking the bonds and lifting your beaten body into his arms. “The thing is, Hydra can’t contain me. You think this pain is something I haven’t experienced?” He laughed harshly, dark and cold. You curled instinctively into his body, wanting the safety he seemed to be offering despite the clear anger rushing through him. “You’re mortals. All of you, pathetic. If you’re going to control a god, you’re going to need a lot more resources than you have available.”

“How’d you control Barton?” The scarred guy shouted.

“This is beyond you.”

Loki walked towards the door, kicking it open. Armed forces rushed the two of you and began firing.

You winced, waiting for the inevitable. The end, the bullet that would strike you and then everything would be over.

Nothing came.

Loki had projected a shield around both of you and the bullets fell to the ground harmlessly. “Can you stand?” He asked you, his voice soft. “I need my hands.”

You nodded blearily and he set you on the ground where you swayed. The forces were reloading, attempting a new approach to Loki’s shield. You swayed where you stood, grabbing at Loki’s arm to stay standing. “Good enough.” He muttered.

With one arm protecting you, his free hand cast spells and illusions, threw daggers that had been concealed in places that no one would ever find. He was a flurry of death, decimating the attackers, and you were clinging to him for dear life.

An eerie silence fell after and you realized no one was left standing. Only your shaky breath broke the silence.

“Come.” Loki took your bound hand in his, tugging you along.

“What’s going on?” you tried to bite back the whine in your voice but you were exhausted, bleeding, and everything hurt.

Loki looped his arm around you, holding you to his chest and began to drag you down the hall. You stayed limp, feeling very much like a doll in his arms. Any other time this would have been pleasant, you realized, but this…

“There’s a subsection of SHIELD that’s been infiltrated by the forces that opposed the soldier.” Loki explained as he walked, head twisting this way and that, looking for incoming threats.

“But I thought SHIELD were the good guys.”

Loki chuckled darkly. “Law enforcement, but they are as dirty as any other. They have their hidden demons. That being said, the Avengers don’t realize the extent of SHIELD’s filth.”

“Which means?”

Loki paused before rounding a corner. “They don’t know where we’re at. And if Thor’s been contacted, the only being who would be much of a threat to me, to us, he wouldn’t blindly follow them.”

“So it’s a good thing?”

Loki nodded. He looked tired and you could feel that phantom pain in your back as he walked, keeping you upright. You tried your best to walk with him, but kept stumbling and forcing him back to dragging you.

You arrived at an elevator and Loki stopped, pressing the button to go up. Inside the elevator, Loki eased his grip on you and you fell to your knees, breathing hard.

Loki winced, leaning against one of the walls of the lift.

Sirens blared, the lights flickered in the elevator and an electronic voice spoke through the ceiling. “Prisoners have escaped. Armed, very dangerous, shoot on sight.”

The elevator jolted to a stop. Loki pried the doors open, you were between floors. He grabbed your hand and lifted you through the opening before following after.

Alarms blared, sirens shrieking and the lights were flashing. You could distantly hear people running but you were exhausted.

Loki’s hand was around your waist again, holding you to his chest as he began walking swiftly.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“No.” Loki answered through gritted teeth.

You nodded weakly, gripping his arm and tried your best to be out of the way as much as possible.

After several minutes’ searching, Loki found a stairwell and began to climb. He was breathing hard now, still feeling your exhaustion sapping his strength.

Another flight, another flight, another flight… a door opened and you recognized the red headed woman from before.

Black Widow stood in the doorway holding her gun at the ready. “Loki, stand down. This doesn’t have to get messier.”

“Do you know what your precious SHIELD is truly like?” Loki snapped, slowing to a halt.

Natasha’s gaze flickered over your relatively limp body, held tightly to Loki’s chest. You coughed weakly, some blood trickling from your mouth.

“What’d you do to her?” Natasha aimed her gun, brows knit.

“It wasn’t him.” You murmured, though your voice carried.

“What do you mean?”

“Your SHIELD people, they did this.” You managed to make out the words, feeling dizzier by the moment.

“What the hell is going on?” Natasha put a hand to her ear but the blaring siren seemed to have cut her communications.

“No response?” Loki arched his brow, sounding amused but his emotions read otherwise.

Natasha looked back to Loki. “You have one shot to explain things, and then I’m calling back up.”

You were on your knees, one arm held up limply by the snake connected to Loki. “Open your eyes, Agent Romanoff, your SHIELD is infiltrated, unless you think torture of a noncombatant is acceptable.” Loki gestured towards you.

Natasha lowered her gun, frowning and began to move closer to you. She checked your pulse, seeing as you were leaning limply against Loki.

“Confused?” Loki asked, trying to keep his voice light.

“This can’t be possible.” Natasha stood up, backing away again and giving the two of you space.

“Something sinister is happening here in the lower levels, it would seem.” Loki replied.

“You’re not lying.” Natasha muttered softly. She had pulled out a phone of some sort and was scanning it intently. “You weren’t supposed to leave your cell. How did you get out?”

“He told you, we were brought for questioning. They started cutting and…” You trailed off shuddering.

Loki’s hand touched your shoulder in a surprisingly comforting gesture.

You looked up at him weakly, trying to understand what you were feeling beyond extensive pain.

“If SHIELD is compromised…” Natasha began slowly. “You still attacked New York, you sent those chitauri, destroyed half the city.”

“No. There’s something bigger coming.” You shook your head wearily, knees sore from the concrete floor and the injuries you had sustained.

Natasha looked at you, then to Loki. “The Avengers are coming, we have reason to believe Thor is back on Earth.”

Loki nodded. “About time he cleaned up his mess.”

“Come with me, you try anything funny though, and I’ll shoot.” Natasha threatened though the fight seemed to have left her, confusion evident on her face despite her attempts to hide it.

Natasha led the way and Loki trailed reluctantly after her, still gripping you to his side. You were struggling with consciousness again and through the bond, you felt your body going limp, while at the same time, everything went black.

Chapter Text

You were lying on a bed. You felt the snake still wrapped around your wrist. Your eyes fluttered open and you looked around the barren room. Your vision started to return, and you registered Loki sitting in a chair, beside your bed. There was a soft beeping in time to your heart.

“What happened?” You mumbled, feeling stiff in your body, numerous bandages were wrapped around your injuries.

The door opened and a tall blond-haired man entered. Thor, the link told you.

Loki’s eyes opened up and he straightened up in his chair.

A hammer held loosely in Thor’s hand as he looked around the room. “Loki what the hel is happening?”

“What did Odin tell you?” Loki asked.

Thor glanced at Loki then back to you. “He said you were being punished for your transgressions.”

Loki chuckled, his lips curling. “Indeed.”

Thor glanced again between the two of you. “Who is this mortal?”

“Your favorite pet’s half sister.” Loki replied, he still hadn’t straightened up in his chair. He seemed as exhausted as you felt.

“Jane? What did you do to Jane?” Thor snarled, holding the hammer out.

“I don’t know why I bother.” Loki muttered, shaking his head.

You opened your mouth. “He didn’t do anything. What’s going on? Someone please explain what the hell is happening.”

Thor looked over at you. “Are you entangled in my brother’s web of lies?”

You shook your head and lifted your snake bound wrist. “Only through what Odin did.”

Thor’s eyes narrowed, studying the snake. Realization crossed his face as he moved nearer to hold the rope, fingers smoothing along the runes.

“Father banished you to Midgard?” Thor murmured, sounding stunned. “And he didn’t tell me?”

Loki didn’t answer, he simply shrugged.

“Brother what is happening?”

“Odin sent me to Midgard, hoping I would be as easily swayed as you had been by a pretty human. He seemed to have forgotten the humans were still a bit cross with me.” Loki said.

Thor glanced at him then back to you. “Why didn’t you tell me there were powers beyond you doing this? I asked you who controls the would be king.” Loki’s eyes flashed but he didn’t interrupt Thor. Thor continued, “if you had told me… we could’ve stopped this together, before it got to that point.”

“Do you really believe that?” Loki asked, he sounded bored and resigned.

Thor growled. “If I had known something had hurt you, had sent you on this path…”

Loki stood up, eyes flashing again. “Would you have cared? Would you have not seen me as weak for my failed death? For succumbing to the will of an infinity stone?” He spat the words out angrily.

Thor floundered for a moment, glancing at you for some sort of reassurance.

“The snake has it’s bond.” You muttered, feeling timid. “I don’t even know how this works.”

“Brother.” Thor began softly.

Loki rolled his eyes and slapped away Thor’s outstretched hand. “Don’t bother.”

“Loki, please.” Thor tried again. “There’s a serious threat approaching Midgard and you could warn me, we could stop it, together.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Surely you feel something for the beings you would have ruled.” Thor replied.

Loki tilted his head. “Time and again, I continue to wonder if that miniscule thing you call a brain is ever used.”

“Loki enough with the insults, talk plainly.” Thor growled.

“You want me to bare my soul to you? Plead for mercy? I’m beyond saving, the only reason I’m still in this room is Odin’s damned magic holding me to this woman.”

“We could have protected you.” Thor pleaded softly.

Loki barked a short cold laugh. “You can’t even protect yourself.”

-

“Loki.” Thor tried again.

Loki crossed his arms and sat down, staying stubbornly quiet.

“Can you stand?” Thor asked you.

“I’m really exhausted after everything, I think I could manage though.”

Thor pursed his lips. “I wish to go see Jane but I think getting Loki home is more important.”

Loki rolled his eyes and didn’t move. “I don’t have a home.”

“Mother would say differently.” Thor replied.

Loki’s mouth twitched, his sarcastic quip failing at the mention of Frigga. Frigga, Loki’s adopted mother, a skilled warrior despite outside appearances – the bond told you. You felt Loki’s fondness for Frigga.

“We’re going back to Asgard.” Thor said.

“The bifrost?”

“Is repaired. Before I found out you were here, I was attempting to restore order to the realms. They had plunged into chaos without Asgard’s intervention.”

Loki scoffed but didn’t elaborate.

The door opened and a man in red armor appeared, Iron Man, and behind him Director Fury.

Fury spoke, “Thor, we need to talk.”

Tony lifted his helmet. “I think the security council is beyond talking now. They want Loki to answer for his crimes.” Tony jerked his head towards Loki.

“There are powers at work beyond your understanding.” Thor growled.

“Then explain them.” Fury snapped.

Thor scowled and shook his head. “What part of beyond your understanding do you not grasp?”

Loki chuckled.

Thor shot Loki a serious look before once more addressing Nick and Tony. “Loki needs to be moved off world, if what is to come reaches this world, humanity will suffer greatly.”

“So just like that?” Fury asked, crossing his arms.

Thor nodded. “Yes, we’re leaving. Now. Brother?” He grabbed Loki’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Loki sighed and lifted you from the bed.

You blinked, looking around in shock and feeling your face flush. Thor pressed past Tony and the director in the doorway. Loki followed, smiling lightly at the two men and waving.

Fury tried to speak but your trio was already halfway outside.

“Heimdall.” Thor said calmly, looking at the sky.

Loki’s grip tightened on you and the bifrost opened.

You were flying through space, stars and colors swirling around you. It was exhilarating. You tried to keep your eyes open, to see everything while gripping Loki’s arms for dear life.

Then you were still, standing in a large domed room.

“Welcome home, Thor.” Heimdall pulled his blade from the center of the room, closing the bifrost. Heimdall narrowed his eyes, “Loki.”

“Excellent to see you gatekeeper.”

“I see the bond is working on you.” Heimdall inclined his head towards the snake.

Looking around, still in Loki’s arms, you realized the snake was longer than it had been. You tilted your head curiously before looking once more at Heimdall.

Loki scowled and Heimdall laughed softly. “Your escort will be here shortly, Thor, a cell has been prepared for Loki.”

“Great…” you mumbled, “another cell. Are you going to torture us too?”

Heimdall looked at you seriously. “The queen has ordered Loki’s safe travel. This passes to you, mortal.”

A skiff landed outside the dome. At any moment you expected Loki to set you down, but for whatever reason he kept you curled in his arms. You searched the bond, trying to read him, but it was weirdly quiet.

-

Once more you found yourself in another clear prison cell, except this one had two beds, close enough together for the rope.

“I must talk with father, this is a serious matter approaching us.” Thor said from outside the cell.

Loki had set you on the bed and sat down on the other one. “By all means, brother.”

Thor turned and left and there was a new presence in the cell.

Loki’s eyes flickered in recognition, landing on the woman, Frigga.

“Loki.” She greeted him warmly, before stating your name and greeting you just as warmly. She moved nearer and inspected the snake. “It’s grown since it was attached. You’re doing well, my son.”

Loki glared at her, though you could feel conflicting emotions through the snake.

Frigga ignored his look and turned to study you. “It is a curious matter that you would be the human chosen. To be the half sister of the woman Thor loves.”

You rubbed the back of your head. You couldn’t really think of what to say so you merely nodded.

“I imagine the empathy bond, which has grown considerably, has helped. Hard to hate someone that you can feel so much from them.” Frigga smiled, she seemed pleased, looking between you and Loki.

Loki raised his eyebrows, eyes shutting for a moment as he smiled sardonically at her. “Yes, feeling the mortal’s pain has been truly enlightening.”

Frigga sighed heavily. “Loki this is for your own growth. Thor had such a good experience, we hoped the same would happen for you.”

Loki reached towards Frigga, his hand brushing through the illusion and she frowned as she slowly vanished from sight.

After a moment of silence, he looked at you. “And now you’ve met my adoptive mother.”

“She seems nice.” You offered, trying to sound supportive.

Loki shook his head wearily and grunted before laying down on his back on the other bed.

A long period of silence followed.

-

You stood up, and said, “hey wait Loki! The snake grew.” You almost had double the distance that you’d had back on Earth, Midgard.

With the length of the snake now, you could stand on opposite ends of the cell and not experience pain.

You beamed at Loki. “Does this mean…?” You trailed off as he gave you a quailing look. Probably not best to strain this new degree of growth. Falling silent, you made your way back to your bed, but you couldn’t stop smiling. “How long do you think they’ll keep us here?”

“Until you die, or I change to the degree Odin wants, I imagine.” Loki was lying on his back, tossing a metal cup in the air, catching it, and repeating.

“What? I die?”

Loki shrugged, sitting up. “I’m to wile away the rest of my existence in here, so that should be around four thousand or so Midgard years.”

“Maybe we can cheat the system somehow?”

Loki arched his brow. “Unlikely, this magic is very conditional.”

You sighed and leaned back on your bed, lacing your fingers behind your head and stared at the blank ceiling. “Still though.”

More time passed, you felt yourself dozing off.

Chapter Text