For You

The body count is high, very high. The palace floors are soaked in blood, spilled from both sides, but the pain doesn’t stop there. All throughout Asgard the news of Frigga’s death spreads and the people start to lay out their black clothing. In the palace Thor cradles his mother to his chest and weeps into her bloody hair. He should have protected her, he should have been there to save her. Arianna cries silently and when the library doors open, her tears fall even more upon seeing Xaven. Xaven’s hazel eyes take in the scene before her and her knees give out from under her. Fandral is quick to lower himself to the floor and scoop the young princess into his arms. He holds her tightly as the world Xaven knew crumbles around her.

“G-gradma…” Xaven’s voice is beyond broken and it tears an even bigger hole into Thor’s heart. Hogun blinks away his tears and walks over to Thor. Slowly he bends down and places a comforting hand on Thor’s shoulder. With no words needed to be said, Hogun helps Thor to his feet and Thor collects himself, wiping his tears from his face. Clearing his throat, Thor issues the order to collect their dead and prepare them all for a grand send off to Valhalla tomorrow.

“Should we tell your brother?” Volstagg questions softly and Thor nods his head.

“Loki should know of his mother’s death.” Volstagg nods his head and he waves over a guard.

“Deliver the news of the Queen’s death to Loki-”

“Tell him that his mother died during the attack,” Thor cuts Volstagg off giving a more personal message and the guard leaves to deliver the message. Thor watches as Fandral helps Xaven pick herself up off the floor and she runs right into Thor’s arms. Arianna walks over and wraps her arms around Xaven and Thor holds them both tightly. “They will pay for the wrong doings,” Thor vows.

In the dungeons Loki paces the length of his cell, his thoughts are running wild as he waits for Cora to visit him. Loki needs to see her face, he need to know that she is okay. The dungeon doors open and Loki sighs hearing heavy footsteps, it’s not Cora. Standing in front of the glass with his hands crossed behind his back, Loki waits to see who has come to visit him. A guard stops in front of Loki’s cell and Loki’s raises an eyebrow. The guard looks…sad? And it makes Loki uneasy. “The Queen…” The guard struggles for words and Loki says nothing. “Your mother, she…she died during the attack.” Loki’s face gives nothing away as he stares at the guard. “Did…did you hear me?” Loki nods his head and uncrosses his arms from behind his back. “I-I am sorry for your loss.” With that said the guard leaves and Loki is alone.

Frigga is dead? How can that be? Frigga, his mother…Loki’s hands ball into fists and his power pours off of him, sending everything in his cell crashing against the walls. Grabbing his cot, Loki throws it as far as he can and it bounces off the magic wall. Looking for anything to destroy, Loki spot his books and he strides across the cell, stepping on shards of glass. Tears threaten to fall as Loki ignores the pain and tares the books apart, ripping the pages form the spin and covers in half. She was not supposed to die! Frigga cannot die! Frigga is his mother, his mentor, the one who chased the monsters away at night when he was younger…

How much time passed? Loki has no idea, but he is now on the floor with his back against the wall and his foot bleeding. His tamed hair is frizzy and wild, like a beast in the forest. His eyes are moist, but he refuses to cry, his has no energy left to cry. Loki’s mind runs through the events that led up to this moment…did he kill his mother? Yes, Loki out of spit and rage sent that monster right to where Frigga would be. “I…” As the realization dawns on Loki his heart stops beating and the ice in his veins starts to try and encases the muscle. “RAhhhhhhhh!” Loki’s upper body is projected forward as his screams, his hands bend on their own accord and the ice forming around his heart cracks from the sheer amount of power from Loki’s pain and guilt. Loki slams back against the wall and he pants heavily as his heart beats painfully in his chest.

Tear burns Loki’s eyes turning his iris red and Loki’s nose starts to drip. The air is hard to breath and Loki fists his hair, burring his face in his arms as his tears spill over and soak into the sleeves of his shirt. Loki knows he killed his mother and he can’t take it back.



“Everything that we do from here on is a risk, there is no other way. If we’re going to succeed we need to go through with this unseen.” Thor looks around at the group around him, The Warrior’s Three, Heimdall, Arianna and Xaven.

“What do you require of me?” Heimdall questions looking at Thor with his golden eyes.

“Keep my family safe,” is Thor’s only replay and Xaven starts to speak up, but Thor cuts her off.

“We have to save Cora.”

“The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract is gone,” Hogun points out.

Heimdall: “There are other paths off Asgard, ways known only to a few,” Heimdall says in a knowing tone as he gazes at Thor.

“One, actually.” Everyone stares at Thor confused, but soon they realize he means Loki.

“No.” Volstagg shakes his head and Thor looks around at his family and friends.

“Loki has yet to learn that Cora was taken. All he knows is that Frigga was killed. I know my brother and I know he will seek vengeance; that alone will put him on our side. Once Loki agrees to help us, I will then inform him about Cora,” Thor explains and the group all look around at each other speaking with their eyes.

“I believe in Uncle,” Xaven states. “He loves Cora and would do anything to keep her safe, he won’t betray any of you.” Xaven’s words are spoken with true conviction and Thor nods his head slightly, not having the strength to state otherwise.

“I do not like this, but it seems that your mind is set…” Volstagg grumbles.

“We will help you, my King,” Fandal says and the others nod their heads in agreement.



Hearing footsteps, Loki mutters a quick spell to make his cell and himself seem neat and clean. The footsteps get closer and Loki rolls his eyes seeing Thor standing in front of his cell.

Standing in front of Thor with his hands clasped behind his back, Loki asks, “Thor, after all this time now you come to visit me. Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?”

Thor stares at Loki and sighs, “Loki, enough. No more illusions.”

The smirk on Loki’s face vanishes and suddenly Loki's cell is transformed. The illusion ripples away and Thor stares down at Loki as he sits on the floor surrounded by broken pieces of furniture and blood. Loki turns his head slightly towards Thor, “Now you see me, brother.” Thor bites the inside of his cheek and moves closer to the window of Loki’s cell. “Did she suffer?” Loki’s voice is soft as he asks and Thor narrows his eyes slightly.

“I do not come here to share in our grief. Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament.”

“Go on,” Loki sighs out in boredom.

Thor eyes Loki for a few moments before he continues. “I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard and I will grant it to you, vengeance. And afterwards, this cell.”

Loki chuckles without any humor and turns his head so that he can see Thor fully, “You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?”

Thor holds back his snide remark for the sake of getting Loki to agree to help him. “I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with the glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you.”

Loki smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, “When do we start?”



Sitting on the throne, Thor waits for the guards to bring Loki up from the dungeon. Arianna stands to Thor’s left with her hands clasped in front of her and a small frown on her face while Xaven stands below Arianna with her lower lip between her teeth. The Warrior’s Three stand to Thor’s right and their eyes are fixed on the main door, waiting for Loki to walk through.

“It is not too late to call this whole thing off, My King,” Volstagg says glancing up and Thor and Thor shakes his head.

“I will give Loki one chance and one chance only.” Thor’s words echo throughout the throne room and shortly after the main door split open. Six guards enter with Loki in front of them chained in the very same set of chains that he was sentenced in. Loki walks with his head held high and he winks at Xaven who has a large smile on her face. Seeing Xaven’s reaction, Loki grins and Arianna narrows her eyes, not liking the exchange. Loki stands in front of Thor and he mock bows.

“You summoned me…AllFather?” Loki’s words are bitter and teasing making everyone glance at Thor for his reaction.

Thor’s face holds no emotion as he stares at Loki. With his hands rested on the arm rests of the throne, Thor looks regal and at ease as he thinks over how he would like to tell Loki the news of Cora’s kidnapping. “Loki, I have called for you to discuss a matter of the utmost importance. For you this could be weighed as more important than our conversation from yesterday.”

Loki raises an eyebrow at Thor’s words, his mind racing with endless ideas as to what could be more important than seeking revenge for his mother…one thought crosses Loki’s mind and he lets his gaze drop from Thor’s. One by one, Loki counts the number of people standing below Thor. Thor’s wife, Xaven, Hogun, Fandal, Volstagg… “Where is Cora?” Loki’s voice is clam as he stares at everyone, his eyes stopping to observe Thor whose eyes no longer hide any emotion. “Where is Cora?” Loki questions once again, his voice taking on a slightly harsher tone and his eyes narrow in speculation.

Seeing Loki’s clam and careless facade starting to crumble, Thor rises to his feet and holds his hands out in front of him, “Loki-”

“No…” Loki shakes his head as his mind thinks the worst. Loki stares up at Thor, his eyes wide and wild as they gloss over in unshed tears, pleading for Thor to tell him something else. The others all hold their breath, not daring to make a sound or move in fear that they might set Loki over the edge.

Seeing the distress in Loki’s eyes and the unmistakable panic starting to cloud Loki’s mind, Thor is hit with an image of Loki from their childhood. Wanting to fight off his little brother’s fears, Thor’s heart clenches for he cannot ease Loki’s fear with what he has to say. “Loki…” Thor starts to walk down the steps towards him. “Cora has been kidnapped.”

The panic and distress melts from Loki’s eyes and is replaced with utter disbelief. “She w-what?” Loki jerks his head back, his chest caving inward like he has been hit by Mjölnir.

“Loki-” Loki’s mouth opens trying to find the words that have escaped him and Thor reaches his hand out towards Loki’s shoulder, but Loki stumbles backwards out of Thor’s reach; staring at Thor like he doesn’t know him. Thor sees the look in Loki’s eyes, it is the same look he himself once had when Loki stabbed him at Stark’s Tower. Loki feels betrayed and Thor wishes more than anything that he didn’t.

“Uncle!” Xaven rushes over to Loki and wraps her arms around his waist. Stunned by the sudden contact, Loki stares down at his niece with confused eyes. “Don’t blame father, it wasn’t his doing! I swear it. I-I wanted to help her, b-but sh-”

“Hush now child,” Loki’s voice is soft and he slowly raises his arms, so that Xaven is now between his chest and the chains cuffed around his wrists.

“You have to get her back, Uncle. You have to!” Xaven begs, her voice muffled slightly, by Loki’s chest, but Loki can hear her clear as day. Loki hears the tears in Xaven’s voice and he does his best to hug her tightly in his chained embrace while resting his cheek on top of Xaven’s head.

“That is enough. Unhanded my daughter,” Arianna orders and Loki picks his head up, his blue-green eyes staring right at Arianna. Arianna squirms under Loki’s gaze and Loki smirks lifting his arms to release Xaven.

Cocking his head to the side, Loki takes in Arianna’s defensive stance, “Have I threatened you before?” Loki’s voice is normal and smug, his eyes holding nothing, but that sparkle of mischief as he gazes at Arianna.

“Loki,” Thor warns and an amused smile tugs at Loki’s lips before it vanishes and he turns his attention to Thor.

With clear determination in his eyes and hint of any tricks up his sleeves, Loki’s raises his cuffed wrists, “Unchain me, brother.”