And He Fell [Loki Laufeyson]

Specks Of Dust Cover Our Hands

TW: Panic attack

The first thing the God of Stories notices when he walks into the Wakandan palace is that the guards are certainly not prepared to fight a god. Loki's glamour hides him from the guards and the few people he notices that he can only assume are new additions to the Avengers. It doesn't matter though. What matters right now is finding his brother and fixing their relationship before it becomes too strained.

Loki lets a sigh escape his lips as he walks through the twisting halls of the palace, trying to find his way to his brother.

"He's a mad man, Natasha," Says a voice coming from the hall to the right. Loki's breath hitches, and he presses himself against the oposite wall. He listens to Steve Rodgers and Natasha Romanoff argue about what the next step they should take should be as they pass by.

They almost get to the end of the hall when Natasha suddenly stops. "We're being watched." She whispers. The small God sucks in a breath as she walks past him, looking right beyond his head. She looks around once more before shrugging and walking back to Steve.

"Excuse me! Coming through!"

Loki becomes as still as a board against the wall and he has to take a deep, shaky breath in to stop his anxiety from taking over.

Sarah, hurries past him, carrying a tray of tea. Steve and Natasha watch her curiously when she suddenly stops in the middle of the hallway and sets the tray down. She walks until she stands right in front of Loki and her eyes well up with unwanted tears.

"You're a little shit, you know that?" She says dryly. Loki releases his glamour with a sigh, and hangs his head. "I know." He says, even though he knows Sarah can't hear him.

He hears it before he sees it. The sound of a blade coming out of its scabbard is not an unfamiliar sound to Loki and he instinctively shoves Sarah out of the way before she can get hurt.

Once he knows she's safe, Loki blocks the dagger with a shimmer of green magic and he lets himself have a brief moment of satisfaction when he hears it hit the floor. "Who the hell are you?" Natasha growls when she sees the dagger bounce off the shield and onto the floor.

"Why, Agent Romanoff? Don't you remember?" Loki chuckles. "We had such a lovely conversation when I was locked in that cell." Natasha's eyes widen with realization. "Loki," Steve speaks up first, hands clenching and unclenching with each second that passes.

"Damn," Loki jokes. "I can not believe you caught me. Now, as fun as this conversation has been, I'm afraid I'm on a mission to see my brother. Now if you'll excuse me.." He helps Sarah up and gives her a small smile, leading her away from the two Avengers and into the hallway to the left.

They make it down two more hallways before the alarms start blaring in Loki's ears. 'Where's Thor?' Loki signs, while cringing at the noise. Sarah sighs and grabs his hand, leading him through the halls.

"What happened to you?" She asks suddenly. "I mean, one moment we're together on the ship and the next Thor tells me that you're dead." Loki tries to pull away his hand so he can answer but she pulls tighter. "Don't bother signing. The princess here is working on making me hearing aids. I'm wearing the prototypes right now."

Nodding, Loki sighs and begins his tale. "I did die," He starts quietly. "When I opened my eyes it was dark. There was a pedestal with my helmet on it. My childlike spirit was there with a magpie sitting on his shoulder. And then I killed him. I rebuilt my body and now I'm here." Whatever Sarah wants to say, it gets cut off by a blast of light hitting her in the face.

She falls onto the floor with a yelp and Loki steps in front of her, growling in anger. The Iron Man suit stands in front of them with its hand raised, preparing to fire again. Loki summons a dagger in his left hand and a bolt of magic in his right. Sarah groans behind him and he quickly sends a wave of healing magic around her body.

"Back off, Stark." The God snarls, letting his magic burn brighter. The man in the suit seems to get the message, and takes a step back, lowering his hand. The Iron Man mask falls away into nothingness and Loki stands face-to-face with the man he threw out of a window all those years ago.

He turns around and holds out a hand for Sarah to grab and pulls her off the ground gently. Sarah places a shaky hand on her burnt cheek and hisses from the pain. "Here, let me help," Loki mumbles replacing her hand with his glowing one, letting his magic heal her. "Thanks." She mumbles, flushing from embarrassment. "You're welcome." Loki smiles and squeezes her hand to comfort her.

"Thor said that you died." Tony says through gritted teeth. Loki shrugs. "I did. But now I'm back," Loki turns in a circle. "And in a new body, nonetheless."

"I'm taking you to Thor." Tony snarls, grabbing the God's wrist and pulling him along, leaving Sarah to walk behind them in silence.

Loki is not prepared for this.

If he were more honest with himself, Loki might admit that in all of his long years, he has never been more terrified than he is now. He can already feel Thor's power radiating from across the hall and he feels himself start to slip. He feels his breathing start to quicken and he rips his hand out of Tony's and stumbles back.

"I can't," Loki says suddenly, curling into a defensive position. "Loki?" Sarah asks and then he's falling. Falling from the Bifrost. Falling through the void. Falling into Thanos' clutches. And it all comes crashing, crashing, crashing until he becomes nothing more than a speck of dust on someone's shoulder. Easy to brush off and easy to forget.

And then there's hands. Hands on his tear stained cheeks. Then there's hands on his arms and around his waist. Pulling him out of the endless sea of hatred and fear that is his mind.

He opens his eyes wide enough to see Thor's face and cries harder. Cries for his mother. For his father. And for the sister he will never be able to know. He feels Thor move to cover his shaking body from prying eyes and in the chaos, he makes a note to thank him later.

"I'm sorry" he hears himself say; a voice without a body.

"Shhh" the other voice, Thor, says.

Loki knows he's shaking like a leaf under his brother's grasp but he's too frightened to care.

"Well," He says. "Get it over with then"

"What're you talking about?" Thor says, stroking his brother's hair soothingly.

He hears himself chuckle dryly.

"We made a promise when we were boys, didn't we brother? To slay all monsters that cross our path." Thor's hand stills on Loki head. "So kill me."

"You're not a monster, Loki." His brother-no, Thor-says.

Liar.

"I hate you," He weeps. "I hate you
IhateyouIhateyou." Two drops of water fall upon Loki's hair. And then somehow he feels his mother's magic surround him. Thor feels it too, he realizes.

His mother's magic.

He feels hands reach into his mind and pull him out of the darkness. "You're safe" They seem to say.

Loki feels his breathing slow and he takes a shaky breath in. He pushes himself closer to Thor and grabs his shirt. His brother holds him as he weeps silently into his shirt, still stroking his hair.

"I'm sorry"