Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 123

Thor feels more wary walking into Stark Tower than he has in years.

It's not the first time Heimdall has warned him of Loki's antics, but it usually comes with some sort of explanation. He usually has something more to go on than a strong suggestion to return to Earth, so Heimdall's secrecy does nothing but make him nervous. What could he possibly have missed in the short time he was gone that even Heimdall won't talk about?

He's greeted within a minute of entering the lobby of Avengers Tower. It's strange to hear FRIDAY's voice instead of JARVIS's telling him to meet the others in the man cave, but he does as he's told anyway. He doesn't bother waiting for the elevator, instead using his hammer as his ride up the middle of the staircase. It's far faster than any man-made machine could be.

Everybody is still trickling into the man cave as Thor arrives. He glances around the room, taking in the sight of his friends. The atmosphere is so... tense. Steve's standing alone in the corner with his arms crossed. Wanda and Pietro stand by the doorway as though they're afraid they'll need the escape. Natasha's holding Snowflake over her shoulder, and Thor's not sure he's ever seen her with the cat. Tony's sitting on the couch with his head propped up on his hand, a look of utter exhaustion on his face. Everybody just looks miserable. Is this what it's been like since he left? What could possibly have happened while he was gone that led to this?

Once everyone's gathered in the room, Tony begins speaking, but his words are directed to Thor specifically. "We're having a bit of a Loki problem."

"In what sense?" Thor asks cautiously. What did he do? He didn't hurt anybody, did he? Wanda, Pietro, and Vision all seem to be unharmed, so he can't imagine that that's it. If he were going to hurt somebody, it would be them, right? Or at least somebody in this room, and everybody looks fine.

"In the sense that he hasn't left his room in a week and a half."

Thor furrows his brows. "What?"

"And believe it or not, that's not the worst part."

So Tony explains everything.

Thor listens in silence. He can't talk and process this at the same time. He spares the occasional glance at the others when the story calls for it. Wanda seems particularly apologetic. Steve seems particularly pissed — not a very characteristic sight, at least in his experience. It's strange. All of this is just so strange.

"So, yeah, that's what you missed," Tony says. "He's hiding and he's blue. What do we do?"

Thor frowns.

This is...

Really bizarre.

"I'm going to try to talk to my brother," Thor says. "Then perhaps I can answer your question."

"Good luck," Tony says.

Thor gives him a small smile, and then he's off.

This is going to be interesting.

From the outside, Loki's hallway looks the same as always. He never would have guessed that anything was wrong. He suspects that's about to change.

He knocks on the door. "Loki?"

He doesn't expect an answer. It seems Loki hasn't given many over the last two weeks or so. But, to his surprise, he gets one.

"Is it just you?"

Loki's voice is quiet, raspy. It's unmistakably his own, but even just his tone conveys that something is wrong.

"It's just me," Thor says.