Warnings: Angst. And lots of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"I can't believe you just let Goldilocks go into Rock of Ages' cell without even trying to stop him." Tony complained, leaning back in his chair. "Really, Capsicle, you couldn't have at least tried?"

Steve sighed, glancing back at the two gods in the glass cage. "Loki's magic is bound and Thor has Mjölnir. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Tony shrugged, sipping at the water in his cup. "I guess. Still, I kind of want to hear what they're talking about in there. Could you push that button? No, not Cap. Birdbrain." Clint rolled his eyes, but pressed the indicated globe. Immediately Thor's booming voice reached them.

"- anything to say for yourself, Brother?"

". . . ."

"Do you even feel regret for what you have done?" Thor pressed none too gently. "For all the lives you've taken? And for what? Power?"

". . . . Oh, Odinson, you always have been an idiot. Tell me, why should I feel regret when I've done no more a crime than you? Than the Allfather?"

No one, least of all Thor, was expecting Loki to say anything, especially that. Clint growled, "After all this, how can he still think he's not at fault?"

"Shhhh!" Natasha shushed.

Thor tilted his head ever so slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

Loki stood up, his green orbs unblinking as they stared into Thor's sky colored ones. "Must I remind you of all the lives you took for fun while pillaging the other Realms? How about last year when you started a war with Jötunheim over a single insult? Do you even know how many Frost Giants you killed that day?"

"I -"

"One hundred and two by all of us combined. Fifty by you alone. What makes those events any different from what I did here? You were fueled by anger. At least I had a valid reason!"

"You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain." The Other's words still echoed through his head.

Thor took a deep breath. It was obvious to everyone watching he was trying to keep himself under control. "You yourself tried to destroy Jötunheim, remember? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Why, I was just following your father's shining example." Loki replied with one of his smirks plastered on his face. "Did he not annihilate all of the Dark Elves in the name of Asgard? All I was doing was terminating a race of monsters that repeatedly broke their treaty with you AND who tried to kill the mighty Allfather. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Don't try to get out of this with your lies!" Thor roared.

Loki tsked, circling Thor like a bilgesnipe before the kill. He still hadn't blinked. "If they were truly lies, you would know that and you would ignore them. Who are you trying to convince that they are lies? Maybe they are really truths that you're determined to conveniently ignore.

"Besides, why do you care about these petty humans more than you do the other races? The others are much more intelligent, stronger, faster, braver, and they live longer than these Mortals. Why do you fret over a few of their deaths when you ignore the demise of an elf, or that of a troll? Do you regret killing them? Yes, I destroyed lives down here, but you and Odin have done much more damage to the other Realms than I ever would! What makes these Mortals special? Is it because they resemble you Æsir? If I were a true Æsir, would I get a free pass through life like you? If my hair was blond and eyes blue like yours?"

"I hate to admit it, but Reindeer Games has a point." Tony muttered.

Thor opened his mouth to try to plow over his not-brother, but Loki was on a roll. "No interruptions!" The raven-haired man snapped. "Have you thought about the lives you destroyed? All the people that you, Sif, and the Warriors Three plowed over had lives of their own, families to return to. Why aren't you mourning them?

"Why are you even here, anyway? Are you going to try to mold me into someone you and I know I can never become? Are you going to use that as an excuse to lock me in jail for the rest of my life? Are you going to make it look like I actually have a choice in this? You and I both know that I don't, Brother!" The title was spat out with so much venom that it made even Natasha flinch.

Loki was panting, his breaths labored from the amount of anger and rage he had unleashed into the tiny space in such a short amount of time. The angsty feelings were almost visible. "Go ahead. Call me a liar. Call me Silvertongue, Liesmith, the God of Lies. I know you want to. You want to justify your behavior instead of change it. You want to say that everything I just told you is nothing more than a bunch of lies come from the mouth of a crazy man. Go ahead. It won't change the fact that you aren't any better than me. No Æsir is. Now, get out!"

Thor didn't have to be told twice. He turned around and stomped out of the glass cell. Loki smirked, ran a hand through his hair, and sat down once again, picking up the book he had been reading before.

No, I'm not using this to justify Loki's actions. This was just a little plot bunny I had about the hypocrisy of the Æsir.