The Servant Series (Loki fanfic)

Servant, Friend, Or Love? Chapter 2

A/N: Because I am the absolute worst about remembering to add chapters on wattpad (oops) here is a dump of the rest of the books pretty much. Book three will be out sometime after the next movie Loki is in :)

Chapter 2

I was silent the rest of the time spent with him that day. I noticed that when he came out of the wind room in his towel he held a regretful look, but he didn't say a word. As we walked through the corridors, a thoughtful, painfully silent air surrounded us, a slight trail hanging onto those who saw.

Once we reached the dungeons, he was led to his cage. The guards removed his cuffs. Before he entered the cell, though, he grabbed my hand and kissed the back. Recognition crossed my features and a relieved smile fitted my lips. He wasn't angry and he did apologize.

"I can't believe you..." I muttered, tired of watching the man battle between pride and regret. He kept stealing glances at me as I finished cleaning up the mess he made, clearly wanting to apologize for the cruel prank yet he didn't want to hurt his ego.

"The pride of a prince is one not to have blemish." he told me.

"Well, I have a feeling that with all the time we'll spend together you'll have many things to apologize about. How about we make up a signal, eh? Like, when you're sorry you did something, you kiss the back of my hand? That'd be hilarious." I scrubbed the floor harder. I hadn't actually meant it, but yet he picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. The anger left me just as soon as it came and I stared at him in disbelief.

I stopped and looked at my surroundings. Once I found where I was, having been so lost in thought I forgot to watch, I took the quickest path to the throne room to report that I didn't die or anything. Next would be the mental evaluation to make sure my mind wasn't being controlled.

My thoughts drifted back to the staff the Chitauri had given Loki. Wasn't part of its purpose for mind control? What if they'd been controlling his mind as well, but when the Hulk "smashed" him, he came to? What if...What if he was just too prideful to admit that in his depressed state after finding out what he was, he didn't tell them? Or what if the Chitauri tortured him enough that he caved?

I reached out the handle of the throne room's door. My mind wasn't working, though. I just stood there, staring out into nothing. What if this had all been the Chitauri using him? Obviously he wasn't blameless after what he did with the Bifrost and all, but...Perhaps he wasn't as bad as they claim?

I threw open the door and went as fast as I could to the place of kneeling without actually running. This did not go unnoticed by the royal family, but they stayed silent. Almost as soon as I was on the ground, the All-Father asked me to stand.

"What is it of such urgency you all but run here?"

"What if it was a mistake?" They all seemed shocked. Odin looked at the guards who carefully came closer. "Listen, I'm not saying he's blameless, but we know how powerful the Chitauri are. How merciless they are. What if he too was under mind control but the Hulk brought him back when he did the 'Hulk smash' thing to Loki? Or what if they tortured him enough he caved?"

"He admitted to his crimes."

"He's too prideful to apologize to someone. Do you honestly believe he doesn't have pride enough that he'd rather take the punishment of the crimes than admit he was defeated by the Chitauri?"

Odin glared. "Take her to the mentality healers. Let us be sure this is not Loki speaking." I stared up, wide eyed and exasperated. I turned my vision to Queen Frigga, who was questioning but not against the theory. Next was Thor. His face was hard, cold. He did and didn't want to believe me at the same time.

As the guards grabbed my arms, I told them one last thing. "I'm not saying it is certain; I'm saying that it is possible. Perhaps there is hope for him. Is it so wrong to believe we all have hope?"

xxx

As suspected, the mental evaluation was more in depth than normal. However, no matter what they did I was clean. When the healer told Thor the news, his gaze shifted up to me in a slight glare. Since the attack on New York, Loki had been a rough spot for him. I couldn't blame him, but it bothered me that just because I didn't have much, if any, hatred for Loki, he didn't seem to care for me anymore.

"Servant Astrid, please follow me." he ordered when the healer was done explaining. I followed, still knowing my place. It wasn't until we found a completely empty hallway he began speaking again.

"You believe Loki has hope." It wasn't a question. I'd made it obvious before that I thought as much.

"Yes, my prince."

He stopped and asked me, "Were you told that he stabbed me when I confronted him before the true battle?"

I stopped, my eyes widening as I turned to him. "He what?"

Thor nodded. "That's when I found he was no longer my brother. Please know that while I want to believe you that he has hope of redemption it will not be easy." His blue eyes were slightly more wet looking that normal. They had this slightly guilty look, as though he believed he was wrong for slightly wishing he had no hope.

I thought for a moment about the fact that I was a servant and he was royalty, but I went with the part of me that said we were friends. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a comforting hug. Being Thor and hardly caring about titles, he wrapped his arms around me, one arm around my waist, the other coming from my waist to my shoulder. He pulled me closer, showing he found this very comforting.

"I don't think anyone could blame you for partially wishing he was without hope. He's put you through so much. It is perfectly fine."

"You are much too kind for your own good." he whispered. "It might get you into troublesome situations one day."

I knew Thor didn't mean himself. He was referring to Loki and the feelings he helped me discover. "Some people are worth the trouble."