"What if...."Frigga Stayed

Safe

Deep in space, where the stars don't shine and the only sounds are the hissing of rotten creatures, a being scrambles up the steep steps to the highest rock in the asteroid field. When he reaches the top he rushes down to his knees before a large stone chair floating above the celestial rock. Atop that chair or rather 'throne' as this creature would call it, sits a large man clad in golden armor. On one of his hands rests a shining glove with six empty spaces waiting to be filled. His booming voice echos around.

"How is he, my son?"

The smaller man kneeling before him answers. "He is not getting better. But he is hurting and he is vulnerable."

"Perfect."

"The Odinson might be a problem..."

"He will help him get back on his feet. Then we will sweep them out from under once he is trusted by others"

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"Loki?"

Frigga entered the room to see her son collapsed upon his bed, curled into a ball. The unmistakable stench of vomit and blood filled the room. She placed the basket she was carrying upon the table next to the door and sat down next to her injured son.

As soon as she sat down, her youngest turned his head to her. "Amma?"

"It's me, darling. What happened."

"I... I started to feel sick when they brought food."

"Stress again?"

Loki nodded and nuzzled himself closer to his mother. She gently brushed a few stray hairs out from his face and tucked them behind his ear.

Frigga sighed a bit. She knew this was going to be uncomfortable for him, but she had to get the answers, and soon.

"I went to see Bjorn today. He told me to say hello to you."

He hummed contently.

"He also mentioned some things about the void I was not privy to."

He stiffened under her arm.

She turned to face him more and tilted his head up to look at her.

"Loki I need to know what happened there."

"Please... no."

He sounded so small and gripped tighter onto his blanket.

"Loki-"

"What's going on here?"

Mother and son both looked up to see Thor standing in the doorway. Loki shifted to sit up more and immediately regretted it as a wave of nausea came over him. Frigga looked at her youngest to make sure wouldn't get sick before turning back to her oldest.

"We were just talking, my son. What, may I ask, are you doing here?"

"I heard about the situation this morning and wanted to... uhh..."

"Make sure I was contained?" Loki asked the thunderer softly, but his voice still held every bit of bitterness it had since the coronation.

"Errr... yes I suppose." Thor took a second look at Loki and saw, "Why are you bleeding and... what is that stench?!"

"Thor-"

"It's alright mother." Loki cut his mother off. "I got punished for saving a child from unnecessary harassment and that punishment caused so much bloody stress to build up that I got sick. Sorry that the smell of blood and vomit is too much for your senses."

Thor's eyebrows scrunched together a bit and his lips ever-so-slightly parted.

"I'm sorry I had no idea..." Thor ordered some of the guards to dispose of the bin that the discarded food and clothes had been in.

Thor came over to Loki's bedside and sat down next to his mother and him. He paused for a second before asking, "Is this why you wanted his sentence to be reduced? Because he was sick?"

Frigga nodded.

"I'm..." he turned to Loki. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so cruel without knowing what was actually going on. I assumed the worst when I shouldn't have. Can you forgive me?"

Loki's mouth hung open for a minute. He promptly closed it when he realized he was gaping like a fish at the fact that Thor apologized. "Maybe not for everything but... I'll try... if you also forgive me for mine."

"I will try as well."

At that moment, any escape plan Loki had conjured in his mind went out the window. He never expected Thor to give him a second chance after everything that's happened. And he certainly didn't expect him to apologize. With both his mother and Thor, the person that he might eventually be able to call 'brother' again, he felt more energized than he had been since Jotunheim.

His thoughts were interrupted by Thor's own. "So what were you two talking about before I came in?"

"Something that can wait for a later date," Frigga responded. They all simultaneously agreed that it was better not to bring up too many serious topics in one day.

So they all settled in, with Frigga telling Loki about her trip to the lower district and Thor regaling his tales of adventure in vanaheim.

Loki was snuggled in between the two of them, laughing a bit when Thor would do impressions of the warriors. As he drifted off into sleep, he realized that for the first time in a very long time, he felt safe.