Chapter Text
He had been so close.
He’d had a head start, with Lady Tam’s spell still wearing off, and Asgardian forces confused and unsuspecting. He had been in the vault, with the weakened and love struck prince. He could not, ever, have hoped for a better opportunity. Not if he had married Thor and waited millennia. Nor was he risking anything - Odin would not be moved to mercy by his son’s new interest in it, no matter what Thor thought.
He’d had to try. It had seemed like a gift from fate, like permission for his realm to live.
He had been so close. The Casket’s ice had held any who tried to stop him, and he had made his way to the bifrost. He had read much of it; he knew the Casket could command it.
He had not seen Heimdall coming.
Heimdall. His father had told of him in stories. A great warrior, with eyes that could see anything he wished. Loki had not seen or heard of him since arriving, and had hoped the man was dead or gone. Had forgotten about him.
Had been defeated and captured by him. Once Heimdall had separated him from the Casket, Loki had really had no chance against the legendary warrior, all the less so missing a chunk of his power.
Now Loki was in the throne room once again, trying to understand how he could have been so close and failed, trying to think of some way out of this. His magic was bound by runed collars and cuffs, and guards stood around him.
Thor was there, at his defense despite the stabbing. He would have liked to get to know Thor more. He had a nobility that Loki thought would blossom over time, rather than wear down. Perhaps he would even undo some of his father's damage.
Or perhaps despair was making him sentimental.
“It is my fault; I brought him into the vault! You cannot condemn him for wanting to save his realm! Father, this was an act of desperation; you yourself left him no other choice!”
“I did not think you would be naive enough to be taken in by Jotun trickery, Thor.” Odin said. “Bringing him here was a fool’s mistake. I wanted to see if the Jotuns had changed, if this new generation was more to be trusted than those I had known. And in only a few days, he has twisted your mind, attacked you, and stolen treasures from our vault!”
Loki snorted. Stolen?
“He saved my life!” Thor protested, furiously. The warriors he had been sparring with when Loki had first seen him were with him, keeping him from approaching his father, or going to Loki. They did not look happy about their task, seemed to be trying to calm Thor, but they did it all the same.
Odin ignored that, and turned his attention back to Loki. He seemed to plant himself, and become even more formal and kingly. “Prince Loki of Jotunheim. You are accused of attacking the crown prince, and theft from the royal vault. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
Did he expect Loki to care about this… trial? “What is it you want from us? Do you want Laufey’s head on a pike? I will bring it to you myself.” His father would be willing to make that sacrifice. “Only do something! My realm is dying! Save us or kill us!”
Odin grunted. “For your crimes, I sentence you to immediate execution.”
Heimdall stepped forward, grimly, sword in hand.
Thor shouted and fought his friends, but he was weakened and hammerless.
Loki laughed.
“I wouldn’t recommend it, your highness! Not unless you think your son a fair trade for Laufey’s!”
Odin growled. “Say what you mean, you serpent-tongued creature!”
He gestured his chained hands toward Thor. “He was dying. Lady Tam was not lying when she said he had only a few minutes; her strike took a huge amount of his power.”
“What did you do, Laufeyson?”
Loki smiled. “Saved his life. I put my own power into him, enough to sustain him. Kill me, and he will die soon after.” He had been so frantic at the time he hadn’t even thought of this benefit. But now that he had it, he would certainly use it. “Of course, he will recover in time.”
“How much time?” Odin’s displeasure seemed to darken the room, and make the air tremble.
Loki tilted his head and looked away, in a show of thoughtful calculation. “It was a great wound, but he is exceptionally powerful. It might be only a few centuries.” He smiled at Odin, showing his teeth. “Of course, it will be hard to really be certain until I die and he survives it.”
“Loki….” Thor sounded stunned.
Odin turned, to look at Thor, and Loki saw calculation in his eyes, and felt a chill for the first time since entering this heated realm.
What was this creature, who called himself king? Was his own heir so disposable?
But then Odin sat back in his throne, watching Loki thoughtfully. “Then you present a problem. Imprisoning you carries too many risks. I do not think a trickster such as you would stay put the centuries required.”
No, he didn't think so either. Especially not with Thor so sympathetic.
“I cannot kill you. I cannot allow you to return to your realm; they might kill you themselves, to kill Thor.”
They might.
“Indeed, I must protect you like my own flesh and blood. Hmm.” Grim amusement spread across his face, as an idea seemed to occur to him. “Like my own family.”