Chapter Text
Life in prison.
Even though it had been two months since the moment when Odin spoke of Loki’s fate, something about those words still weighed heavily on Thor’s shoulders. He sat alone on a balcony, gazing out at Asgard. But even though it was a beautiful sight, it did little to lessen the weight on his heart. Every time he blinked, he saw Loki’s closed-off face behind bars.
Something was wrong with his brother. Thor had only grown more convinced of that fact every time he visited Loki. There were times when Loki was completely clear-headed: sharp and biting and bitter, lashing out like a snake. Those were the times when Thor didn’t stay very long, because the last thing that he wanted to do was cause Loki even more pain – and because hearing Loki spit such vitriol hurt too much.
But then there were the other times when Loki was… strange. Small, almost. Quiet. Dare Thor even think it? Shy. That wasn’t a word he ever would have used in relation to Loki before, but now it seemed apt. During those times, Loki barely spoke. He either ignored Thor entirely or just sat there and stared at Thor with big eyes, as though willing Thor to understand some unspoken, secret message.
The dichotomy between the two Loki’s was maddening and Thor was struggling to understand the basis behind it. Maybe Loki had just disconnected from reality after being caught and punished for his crimes, but Thor didn’t believe that was the case. No, there was something more to it all. And he felt as though if he could only figure it out, Loki would be so much better off…
“You’re not enjoying the festivities, my son?”
At the sound of Frigga’s voice, Thor startled and jumped to his feet. “Mother!” he exclaimed in surprise, looking at the Queen of Asgard as she slipped out onto the balcony with him. Like always, Frigga looked absolutely stunning in a green gown. She had been wearing that color a lot more lately, Thor had noticed.
Because of Loki?
“I don’t blame you. I could use a bit of a break myself,” Frigga said, fanning herself lightly. “It’s warm today. Warmer than usual.”
“Loki used to use his magic to keep the room cool,” Thor admitted. It was something that Loki had never shared with anyone; Thor was pretty sure that Loki thought that no one else was aware. Thor only knew because he’d stumbled across Loki calling forth the cooling winds during one particularly extended event.
Frigga gave a slight smile. “I know. Who do you think taught him the spell?”
Thor glanced at her curiously. “You did?”
“It made everyone’s lives a little more bearable for a time,” Frigga said cryptically, walking across to the railing. She stood there for a moment, looking out at her kingdom. With her hair piled high on her head, surrounding her crown, she looked every inch the beautiful queen.
Yet Thor couldn’t help thinking that there was something melancholic about her demeanour.
“Mother…” He wasn’t sure what to say, or how to say it, only that he knew there was something that he wanted – no, that he needed to say outside of Odin’s hearing.
“You’ve noticed it too. The change in Loki,” Frigga said, not looking at Thor. “At first I wondered if it was because of his punishment. Loki never did take well to being cooped up. I used to think that to Loki, being trapped was the worst punishment imaginable. But now I believe I know better.”
“You do?” Thor said, more than a little baffled as to where this conversation was going. His mother got like this every once in a while, and Loki had always been the only one who knew how to speak to her. It was like the two of them had a language that was all their own.
“There is more magic in the world than either you or I can think of, Thor. I know that Odin thinks poorly of magic, but that is because he doesn’t understand it. Magic can do wonderful things, but it can also do terrible things.” Frigga’s voice was very soft, so that Thor had to strain to hear her over the sound of the music and crowds behind them.
He struggled to understand where Frigga was going with this. She had moved on from talking about the change in Loki to talking about how magic could do both great and terrible things, so… Thor stiffened and looked sharply at his mother as a sudden thought struck him. Frigga finally met his gaze, facing him full on.
She looked old, Thor realized with a jolt of shock. When had that happened? For the first time, he noticed the lines at the corners of Frigga’s eyes and the strain around her lips. Loki’s betrayal had been hard on all of them, but Frigga had definitely borne the brunt of the grief. That it was showing physically was enough to send a chill down Thor’s spine.
“Mother?” he said, too many questions surging to the forefront of his mind for him to be able to choose just one.
“I believe something happened to Loki,” Frigga said.
“Something?” Thor echoed.
“Something that changed him. He is not the person that we knew,” she said, and she seemed so certain.
Yet still, Thor hesitated. “Mother… Loki betrayed us because he wanted to, not because someone made him.” That was something that Thor had needed to make his peace with, painful though it had been.
Frigga sighed. “I know that, Thor. I’m not so blind as to not recognize what my own children are capable of. What I meant was that when Loki fell from the bridge, wherever he was… He won’t speak of it, not even to me, but something happened to him. He is changed.”
She kept using that word ‘changed’. As Frigga continued, Thor started to realize that she didn’t necessarily mean an emotional change.
“Frost Giants are þarfr,” she whispered.
Thor tensed. “I’m aware,” he said slowly.
Asgard was not like earth. On earth, humans were divided into three categories: Baseline, Little, and Caregiver. All three categories were widely accepted, and they co-existed in relative harmony. But on Asgard, you were þarfr or gœðalauss. Useful… or useless. Capable of functioning… or a Little. There was no in between. Thor himself was þarfr, and so was almost everyone he knew.
Anyone who was gœðalauss was hidden away. They were considered to be blights on society, because they could never contribute in any meaningful way.
“I was happy about that. I know that the Allfather would have abandoned Loki had he been gœðalauss,” Frigga said softly, the words meant for Thor alone. “I was so proud that both of my sons… and now…”
Finally, it all came together.
“Wait. You think… that Loki… he’s a gœðalauss?” Thor said, horrified by the implication.
But it made sense.
It made too much sense.
During his brief time on earth, he had learned a little more about gœðalauss – or Littles, as they were called there. Tony had told him a little about them before Thor left, mostly about headspaces. It was an interesting concept for Thor to learn about, since he had never really interacted with a gœðalauss before his time on Earth. But he had never thought those learnings would impact him so directly.
“I believe that he’s been changed in a way that Loki did not agree to.” Frigga’s tone was somber. “I have observed him and tested him from a distance, and it’s the most logical conclusion to draw. I’m not even sure if Loki himself knows what was done to him, though I suspect that he does.”
“I… but why?!” Thor said. He couldn’t fathom how such a thing could be possible, never mind why someone would do that.
“Gœðalauss, even one as stubborn as your brother could be, are much easier to control. Loki has done a lot of things, and most of them were of his own free will, but… more and more, I believe that he was influenced by outside sources when it comes to earth,” Frigga explained.
Thor’s mind immediately went to Hawkeye and Erik Selvig, and the brainwashing that the two of them had undergone – at Loki’s hands.
But was it truly Loki?
Or had someone else brainwashed Loki first, and then ordered Loki to attack earth and brainwash others in turn?
All along, Thor had thought to himself that Loki’s behavior on earth was out of the ordinary. It just didn’t seem like something his brother would do. Loki could be a whiny pain in the butt, but a tyrant? That just wasn’t Loki. He might have wanted accolades and praise but was wise and crafty about how he pursued those things. Sometimes he went too far – but what happened on earth was far beyond even that.
However, he had largely kept those opinions to himself, aware that it wouldn’t be wise to share those sentiments with the very people whose planet was under attack. They didn’t know Loki the way that Thor did. All they saw was someone who was trying to destroy their world, and they had reacted accordingly and understandably to the visible threat.
“If that’s the case, then there are mitigating circumstances. Loki shouldn’t be imprisoned!” Thor said. Hawkeye and Selvig had both said they’d had no control of themselves when they were brainwashed. If Loki had been turned into a gœðalauss, and then brainwashed on top of it all, then was Loki truly at fault?
“There is no point in discussing it with your father. He won’t listen to reason,” Frigga said. Her mouth tightened, eyes flashing in a way that usually meant trouble was brewing – it was a look that usually had Thor scrambling to do what his mother wanted him to do.
“Then… it’s hopeless.” Thor felt his shoulders slump. He didn’t really know what it meant to be a gœðalauss, or even what it meant to take care of one, but he did know that a gœðalauss did not belong in prison. Much less gœðalauss who was Loki.
“It is only hopeless if you give up,” Frigga told him. “There are places where gœðalauss are not frowned upon the way that they are here. Midgard, for example.”
“I know,” Thor said. “One of my teammates spoke quite fondly of gœðalauss. On Midgard, they are called ‘Littles’ and the people who care for them are Caregivers. The latter actively searches for Littles that they can take care of.”
“Yes, I had heard that too. It would be a better environment for someone like Loki,” Frigga said.
Thor frowned out at the scenery around them. “You mean someone would care for Loki that way? Well, I suppose that may work if the people on Midgard could come to terms with the idea of Loki having been brainwashed. It might be difficult to convince them, but many of them were intelligent. I’m sure they could be persuaded.”
“You are a man of words when you need to be, my son. I’m sure you could do it,” said Frigga.
“Wait – me?!” Thor exclaimed, pointing to himself in his shock.
“Who else?” Frigga favored him with a smile. “No one loves Loki the way that you do, Thor. No on else knows him the way that you do. No one else would be willing to care for him. I can’t have Loki sent alone to a planet where the first reaction against him would be fear or hatred, or worse yet send someone along with him who would not appropriately speak up for him. No, it has to be you.”
Thor stared at her in shock, speechless.
“And it needs to be soon. I can tell that Loki is deteriorating daily. I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to survive down there by himself. He needs you.” Frigga’s eyed bored into him. “I can help you break him out, but you would need to be the one who took him to Midgard. And you would not be able to return for some time. I know that it’s a lot to ask, but… there is no one else to ask.”
It was on the tip of Thor’s tongue to say no, and to reject this frankly ridiculous notion – but a cooler head prevailed at the last second. He realized now why his mother had approached him here on the balcony, where no one else would be around to overhear their conversation. What they were speaking of amounted to treason, since Thor would effectively have to break Loki out of prison.
If he said no, Loki would stay down there. Alone. Forever.
If he said yes…
It would mean taking Loki to Midgard. It would mean throwing themselves on the mercy of the Avengers and asking for their help. And they probably would help, especially if Thor could convince them that Loki had been brainwashed. It would mean stepping up as a caregiver for Loki and supporting Loki through whatever trials and tribulations that came their way.
It was a lot. Frigga was right; Thor wouldn’t be welcome back in Asgard for a long time, probably not until his father passed away or entered another sleep. But Thor was also conscious of the fact that he had been searching all this time for something to mend the relationship between he and Loki. Now there was this. An opportunity that would never come again.
He took a deep breath and said, “Very well, Mother. What is your plan?”