Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 126

It was easy to convince Thor to let them all listen in on Frigga and Loki's conversation.

It was a lot harder to convince themselves they wanted to listen to it. Not once they heard what he had to say.

The long stretches of silence in Loki's room are equally as quiet out here. Nobody wants to be the one to speak first. Nobody dares break this silence. Nobody would even know what to say.

But after that... After that, Tony can't keep himself quietly composed like everyone else. So once the silence settles in Loki's room, assuring them that neither is likely to speak for another few minutes, Tony turns around and puts his foot through the wall. It doesn't make him feel any better, but it does do a good job of breaking the silence.

Natasha balks at him. "Tony, what–"

"We should've known," Tony says.

"How could–"

"I should have known," he says. "God, he barely even tried to hide it! His freak-out with the scepter? His dreams about, fuckin'..." He gestures emphatically to the ceiling. "Outer space? That guy that was out to get him? He practically fucking told us."

Bruce, ever the peacekeeper he is, begins, "I wouldn't say he told—"

Another conversation comes back to him, and that just pisses him off even more. "I knew somebody held him hostage!" he rants. "I knew they wanted something from him! And it never even occurred to me that..." He can't bring himself to finish that sentence, so instead, he punctuates it by kicking another hole in the wall. He barely even registers the shooting pain in his foot. He's sure it's nothing compared to what Loki dealt with.

Steve sighs. "Tony, calm down."

"Oh, that is rich coming from the guy who's been yelling at everyone for two weeks straight," Tony says sarcastically. Calm down, he says. Why doesn't he take his own damn advice?

"Tony—"

"No, see, you don't get it," Tony snaps. "Because you're the saint here. You've been on the right side of this the whole damn time. You get to sit there and listen to Loki gush about how amazing you are and feel great because you earned it. I didn't."

"I think most of us are in the same boat right now," Natasha tells him, and the only thing he hates more than the sympathy in her voice is how wrong she is.

"No, you're not, because you couldn't have known," Tony says. "I should have. He's up there telling his mom how great of a listener I am, but he practically told me somebody fucked with his head before he got here and I never fucking noticed!"

Frustrated, he runs a hand through his hair. He can't believe this. He can't believe he could be this stupid. He can't believe Loki doesn't care. He's not an idiot. He said that things haven't been all that great between them for weeks, so he knows that Tony's been pissed at him. And yet he's telling his mother that Tony's nice; that his carefully maintained coldhearted facade is just that; that deep down, he's a good person and he's there when Loki needs him. He'd almost rather Loki have stopped after that first half. Maybe he wouldn't feel so shitty if he thought Loki hated him the way he should.

Thor stalks across the room to the doorway.

"Hey, where are you going?" Bruce asks.

Thor doesn't look back as he answers, "I need some air." His voice is tense, almost choked up, but that can't be it. Thor doesn't get upset. Not like this.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asks cautiously.

Thor stops in the doorway, his back to the Avengers. "For years, my brother has kept this secret, and for years, I've let him pay the price for actions that weren't his," he says monotonously. "Would you be okay?"