Fix You (Loki Romance)

Chapter 20

I think it would be wise to include a general trigger warning for the next few chapters. Here be dragons, so to speak. There will be torture. I don't want to risk overstepping someone's boundaries.

------------

Day One

Loki groaned and cracked his eyes open. He smiled grimly at his familiar stone surroundings. His room hadn't changed. There was still the smell of a body left to nature's whims, though he had never seen anything lurking in the shadows. The chains which had previously kept him locked in a damp corner had been raised so that he was suspended halfway up the tower-like walls.

It was a circular room. The stone walls stretched for what seemed to be miles before opening into a starless patch of sky that never seemed to receive any light from a sun. He was held up by his wrists, strung like a slab of meat waiting to be cured and cooked. His legs were shackled to the wall by his ankles.

Lifting his head with a slight groan of effort, he looked down. There was the sound of sniffing below him and the scratch of nails on stone. Something lurked below him, turning circles around the patch of room where his scent probably fell. If he got out, it wouldn't be by the floor. He'd have to climb.

But escaping seemed pointless. Thanos would always come for him. He would suffer any physical pains Thanos planned for him if it only meant he could keep his thoughts and memories at bay. His life was over. He was loathe to think of it any longer.

The hours dragged by. No one came, the creature below him settled down, the pain in his strained muscles even dulled. His rebellious mind wandered constantly to his last sight on Asgard. His memories danced near the edges of what happiness he had enjoyed, however briefly. No matter how hard he yanked his thoughts from those paths, they returned, gluttons for punishment, seeking the worst kind of pain as if it were amusing.

His head fell forward onto his chest and his bound body was wracked with silent sobs. The metal dug into his skin but he felt only the heaviness in his gut and the empty hole where he knew his heart had been. Everything was gone. All that he wanted, cared about, gone. He raised his head to the ceiling, trying to get his tears to stop.

The infinite black spun on above him, swallowing the sounds of his heaving breaths but providing no relief in return. It would not swallow him up as it once had. He could crawl out and into it, rip his skin in attempts to pull free of these shackles. But that was the point wasn't it? They wanted him to struggle, to fight to get out. They wanted him to kill himself in his desperation. But they were mistaken if they thought he would try. What desperation? What was there to want so badly? He bit his lip and his body arched away from the stones. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block it out. His eyes snapped back open. All he could see was her.

He saw her laughing and smiling at him. Saw her waiting up for him. He watched her in his memory, watched as her eyes shone with anger while she yelled at him. He cringed and his mouth opened in an anguished cry. The sound echoed throughout the tower. The creature stirred below him.

The door swung open and Loki turned to it, seeing the hulking figure of his "Master" standing there. Thanos released the bindings and Loki fell into a crumpled heap, crying out in pain. The blood rushed into his limbs and he trembled as it flowed from his wounds. His head swam and his vision tunneled for a moment. He looked blindly for be creature but it seemed gone. Had he imagined it?

Thanos grabbed Loki's tattered shirt and dragged him to his feet. "Walk." He commanded. Loki obeyed, following the shoves that became directions. He was led to a large stone throne room. Thanos stalked up to the marble throne and sat down, grinning at his captive. The Other stood beside the throne, gazing blindly into the distance. Loki kept his head down and waited for his sentence. Thanos spoke, his deep and gravelly voice bouncing off the walls. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you?"