Unbroken

Chapter 64

A heavy silence filled the room, logic told Odin to so what Laufey wanted, avoid a war, but he didn't want to knowingly put Loki in harms way either.
"What'll it be Odin? I'm not asking for much" Laufey said, and Odin hated that he was right. He wasn't asking for loki back, he just wanted to see him, he didn't even say that he had to see him alone, Loki wouldn't be in any real danger.
"I'll speak to him. If he agrees to see you then so be it, but I won't force him into anything" Odin stated, then turned back around and left the dinning room. The guards would take laufey and Ilkay back to their chambers, and Odin could speak to Loki. But Odin was followed out by Thor and Frigga.
"Are you really going to let laufey get to Loki?" Frigga asked as she followed Odin out of the room.
"I'm going to talk to Loki, but I won't try to pressure him or make him feel like he has to do this, it'll be his choice" he said.
"You can't present him with that choice" Frigga said, she knew Loki would accept in order to avoid a war, and she also knew that when he accepts, it'll make him sick with anxiety.
"We don't have a lot of options Frigga. Laufey is threatening start a war, but he said he'd listen to reason if he's allowed to see Loki." Odin told her, and before she could argue he continued "loki will be perfectly safe. We'll all be there, it won't be a one on one meeting between him and Laufey. Other than being nervous, he'll be fine. And I can't risk the entire realm just because Loki is uncomfortable" he added. Frigga knew he was right, but she just didn't want Loki to be anywhere near laufey. She loved Loki like a son and didn't want to see him hurt.
"Fine.... I suppose you're right" she said with a sigh. "But don't force him" she added.
"I won't" Odin said, walking to Loki's room.
When Odin got to Loki's room he was surprised to see that the room was empty. He didn't know where Loki would've gone, especially considering that he didn't know where laufey was. The only person Odin could think to ask was Trinity, and she told him that Loki was in the training room within the palace. Odin went there immediately and found Loki doing to training with his daggers.
"Loki" Odin said as he entered the room. Loki threw a knife into the center of a target and then turned to Odin, looking a little breathless. Odin guessed that he'd been there doing exercises for quite a while.
"I need to speak with you" Odin said, Loki just nodded and walked over to him so they could speak.
"As you know, laufey is here. This morning at breakfast we started discussing the issue that has arisen. He is determined to cause trouble, but he said he'd be willing to compromise if you were willing to meet with him" Odin explained. Loki did everything he could to not betray the amount of dread he was feeling, but he wasn't able to stop his face from turning white as a ghost.
"He- why?" Loki asked, he didn't want to see Laufey, he didn't want Laufey to know that he wasn't in pain anymore. He didn't want to have anything to do with Laufey ever again, and he wanted to know why he was going to have to meet with him.
"I don't know. He just wants to see you. I know you're nervous about this, but it's not really as bad as it sounds" Odin said. A look of shocked disbelief appeared on Loki's face, but Odin continued to speak before Loki got a word out.
"You wouldn't be alone with laufey, Thor Frigga and I will all be there, and there would be plenty of guards present. I'll lay down rules for Laufey that state that neither he no Ilkay are allowed to have physical contact with you, and you won't be forced to speak a word to him if you don't want to. All he requested is that he sees you. So I thought that you could simply join us for lunch today. Laufey would be there, but so would the rest of us. You'd be perfectly safe" Odin explained, hoping that loki saw that this really wasn't as bad as it sounded. Loki was quiet for a long time, then he took a deep breath before speaking again.
"What would happen if I said no?" Loki asked, he wanted to know how important his cooperation was.
"That's not important" Odin told him, he wanted this to be Loki choice.
"It is to me... what are the conditions?" Loki asked. Odin sighed a bit.
"He's threatening to start a war. He said he'd only be willing to compromise if he was allowed to see you" he told Loki. Loki nodded slightly, trying to come to terms with what he was about to say. He really didn't want to say it, but he knew he had to.
"Then.... I'll meet with him" Loki said "I'll come to lunch and see Laufey" he knew it was the right thing to do.
"Thank you Loki. Laufey and Ilkay are back in their chambers now, so it's safe for you to walk around. I'll send Thor to your room at lunch time to collect you.  Hopefully this can prevent a war" Odin said, then he turned and left the room. Loki sat there alone for a while not doing anything. All of this made him sick, and he knew Laufey wouldn't compromise so easily.
"I doubt it..." he said to himself before going back to knife throwing.
About half an hour before lunch time, loki returned to his room and showered and got ready to see laufey and Ilkay. He was able to talk himself down, and he didn't feel so sick anymore, but he couldn't get the adrenaline to stop pumping, and he couldn't stand still for even a second. Once he was ready, he just paced the room until thor got there.
When Thor arrived he knocked lightly on the door, Loki was glad that he was finally here so he went and opened the door.
"Hey, lunch is ready" Thor said, he was trying to seem calm, like he wasn't worried about anything, but loki could see that he was armed. Loki just nodded a little bit, trying to eliminate all his tells that would give away his nervousness. The hardest thing to do was to keep his hands at his sides, normally when he gets nervous he keeps himself occupied by messing with his hands or picking at the calluses on them, but he did all those things on Jotunhiem and he knew that if Laufey saw any of his old habits, he'd have a way in to Loki's head. Loki wanted to appear to be a completely new and different person.
"It'll be fine Loki. I promise" Thor said, giving Loki's shoulder a pat. Loki couldn't find his voice, so he just nodded, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. The closer they got, the more anxious Loki felt, and then when they arrived and Thor went to open the doors Loki grabbed his arm.
"I can't" Loki said "I can't- laufey is in there, and so is Ilkay, I can't be in the same room as them again, I can't. They-" Thor put a hand on looks shoulder to make him stop talking. He was looking like he'd have a panic attack.
"By not going in, you let laufey win" Thor said. Which Loki didn't quiet understand "he has infected your mind with fear for your whole life, and by not going in, you'll be allowing him to continue to do that. You aren't his slave anymore Loki, he doesn't have to control you, so don't let him" Thor said "don't be afraid to win" he added, which made Loki understand how right Thor was. There was a moment of silence before loki nodded.
"I'll be right in. You go ahead" Loki said. Thor nodded.
"Alright, I'll tell them you're coming" he said as he clapped loki on the back of his shoulder, then entered the room.
When Thor went in, he saw that Laufey and Ilkay were already there with Odin and Frigga.
"There you are Thor" Odin said "I was just telling laufey that in addition to his son, your brother would also be joining us" he added. Thor didn't know why he was still acting like laufey's son and loki were two different people, but maybe Odin had something in mind.
"Yes, when will they be here?" Laufey asked impatiently.
"My brother is on his way now, he should be here any minute" Thor said. And he wasn't wrong. After only a few minutes more, the doors opened and loki walked in. Laufey had his back to him so Odin had to point out that he'd entered.
"Laufey, Ilkay, this is my son, Loki" he said, gesturing a hand to Loki. When they turned around, it was clear that they hadn't been expecting to see the man they'd abused for a thousand years.