Frigga was dead.

And she'd be very angry with him wouldn't she? Oh, she had always had several reasons to be disappointed in him, distraught with him, on many an occasion exasperated with him but angry? That was rare. And it was saved for exactly the sort of rare occasion as this, when Loki of the fastidiousness laid waste to his room. The books she had so kindly procured for him in shreds, the table, the very same that he would hide under when playing hide and seek could only be used as kindling for a fire.

He could almost hear her sigh and cross her arms, glaring at him while she waited for him to clear up the mess. But he couldn't.

What use was a book, a table, a bed, when his mother (because he may have not known what answer to give but she remained, as always, his mother) was dead.

But he could hear footsteps resounding in the empty stone passage and he knew to whom they belonged. Before he could even finish the thought the illusion as ready and the cell he called his home as neat as a pin to the eye and he prepared for the confrontation that was bound to follow.

After a year, Thor had finally come to visit.

"Thor. After all this time and now you come to visit me. Why?"

Frigga was dead.

And wouldn't she proud of her two boys now, working together to avenge her.

"You should know, when we fought each other in the past, I did so with the glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you."

Well perhaps not that proud after all. Quite a false statement as well. How could Thor not see him as his brother when it was only the prospect of avenging their mother that brought them together?

Lies, all of them, but Loki could almost find himself believing it. But a lie nonetheless. Such lies deserved tricks, and a trick Thor would get.

Eventually.

So strange though, to see Thor lying. Being cunning and what not. Trying so hard not to be transparent. Loki would wonder why but the answer Thor would think was true was a lie as well. He'd lay it at the feet of his little mortal scientist but that simply wasn't true. No this darkness in Thor came from something else and Loki, try as he might couldn't quite puzzle it out.

And not quite suddenly Thor had him pressed against a pillar, his hands wrapped around his mouth and neck and Loki almost relaxed.

There's the Thor he grew up with, always aiming for Loki's jugular no matter what happened. Happy, sad or angry that hand Thor wrapped around his neck was proof no matter what that Thor still saw him as his brother.

What do you know, Frigga would be proud. As was Loki when the handcuffs cuffed over his hand.

Finally, after all these years Thor had learnt not to trust so easy.

"Trust my rage."

Frigga was dead.

And wouldn't she be surprised? Thor had a plan.

Thor had a plan.

The little mortal slept while the plan took shape and for a moment Loki looked around to make sure Ragnarok hadn't come upon them. It involved charging in recklessly, yes, but it also involved lies and deceit. And it was Thor's plan. Every lesson Frigga had ever taught about working together and they only learnt it in enmity.

It ended like he always expected Thor's plans to end, of course. In pain (for him) and a disaster that remained un-averted (for the rest of the Nine Realms, but at least the mortal was safe, right?).

And his corpse was left to rot in the wilderness of Svartalfheim.

"I didn't do it for him."

Frigga was dead.

Dead defending a mortal, defending the fate of the Nine Realms. Upholding oaths that the Allfather had taken, to ensure the safety of those that lived on the boughs of the Yggdrasil. She died fulfilling her duty.

And there was Odin Allfather, cowering behind shields hastily resurrected, letting the infinity stone out into the world, letting Malekith lay out his plans in the darkness. Waiting for the war to come to him, never mind those eight realms that lay in between him and his enemy.

And he had dared to call Thor unworthy of the realms, of his title?

No, the Allfather would be judged. And he would be found lacking.

Already, Loki found as he walked in the guise of the Einherjar, the eyes that turned to him for guidance looked at him now with questions. Questions that the Allfather dared not answer. The omniscient, wise ruler they knew was gone and in his place was a man, cold and unfeeling. A man they were beginning to doubt.

And the oaths that Loki had taken when the Gungnir had passed into his hands bound him as well, Frost Giant though he may be. And he would do what Odin had failed to do. He would prepare Asgard for the war that would soon beset them.

He would prepare them for Thanos.

"We found a body."

Frigga was dead.

And maybe when it was his time come, Valhalla would have space for the Frost Giant changeling to greet his Vanir mother.

Would she happy to see him?