He certainly looked menacing enough to try to take over the world. That was Darcy's first impression of Loki, the man who would be king. She could see him being led by Thor and the rest of the Avengers through the courtyard at SHIELD as she sat in her office on the third floor and looked down. He had a black...thing...over his mouth- to prevent him from speaking, she supposed- and it totes added to his whole 'evil' vibe. He glanced up and caught her eyes. She felt shivers shoot all through her. Oh yes. This was a man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

"Thank god your ass got spanked," Darcy mumbled to herself. He frowned and she almost got scared he'd heard her, before reassuring herself that that was just impossible. "Spanked like a bad wittle baby who- oh shit!" He'd started glaring at her, which was extremely creepy, and also had her worried he'd overheard her again. Just in case, she decided to duck down from the window for a minute and stop talking. When she cautiously peeked over the edge of the window again he was looking at Thor. They both grabbed hold of some strange hourglass thing and they disappeared.

Huh. Back to work.

She couldn't wait till Friday. Karaoke! And this time Jane had gotten Thor to promise he'd come. She was so looking forward to that...

A 'little baby'! The impudence of that mortal! Loki fumed over it as he awaited judgment from the Allfather, who was, ironically enough, not his father. Oh memory lane...what a bitter bitch it was. He sneered at how shocked he'd been, the day he'd learned that he had been adopted. That he was actually a Frost Giant. A monster. Odin had practically taunted him with the crown since he was a child, but he'd never actually intended to give it to Loki. But then, why shouldn't he have taunted Loki? After all, Loki was no blood of his. Just a monster. A thing.

He supposed that he ought to be thinking over his transgressions and rummaging up some shame and regret over them. But he couldn't. Nor did he want to. He had done nothing wrong, and he refused to lie to himself about that. Instead he kept dwelling on the mortal's words. 'Spanked'! He had not been 'spanked' by the Avengers. If he'd really been trying, he could have beaten them all, he told himself, ignoring the tiny voice at the back of his mind that asked, 'well, hadn't he really been trying though?'.

Thor stood by his side, as always. Damn him, Loki thought viciously. Always there, witnessing every embarrassment of his, every moment of misery. As if he was gloating. Thor's presence mocked Loki.

Odin swept into the room and Loki felt the anger inside of him rise up. Resentment seethed through his body. That he was subject to this man's judgment...the knowledge was like acid through his veins. Frigga followed behind him and sat in the throne next to Odin. Loki avoided eye contact. He ignored her.

"Loki," Odin said, his voice strong and hard. "What have you to say for yourself?"

Are you serious? Loki thought, raising his eyebrows and pointing to the thing they'd put over his mouth. Odin rolled his eyes and motioned to Thor to remove it. Thor complied. Loki stretched his jaw from side to side.

"Better luck next time."

Odin frowned. "What?"

"You asked what I had to say for myself," Loki smirked.

Odin's expression became thunderous. "You joke? About something as serious as this?"

Loki studied his nails. "Umm, news flash: yes."

"Brother," Thor said, placing a restraining hand on Loki's shoulder. He was always doing that! Trying to restrain Loki. As if Loki was always about to make a big mistake. As if he had no faith in him.

"Do not call me that," Loki hissed, swatting Thor's hand from his shoulder. Thor's expression turned stony and unreadable.

"You feel no guilt for your actions? You feel no remorse?" Odin asked.

"I did not say that," Loki said. "I do feel remorse."

"You see, father-" Thor started, but Loki cut him off.

"Remorse that I failed. Remorse that Midgard still stands, instead of kneeling- bowing down before my might, as it should be."

Loki heard Thor sigh next to him, but didn't look his way. He kept his eyes on Odin. Honestly, it hadn't been a tactful thing to do- to be honest to the one who had it in his power to punish him rather severely, but sometimes Loki thought he provoked Odin just to see how far he could push him before Odin finally stopped pushing back. Before Odin just sentenced him to death. Truly, it surprised him that it hadn't come to that before. He'd certainly done his share of heinous crimes in the past. But Odin kept meeting every shove with another shove. So while it would have been easy to lie, to pretend remorse...he hadn't. Because he wanted to know- what would Odin do?

"Loki, I didn't want to do this, but I see not what other option there is." Odin said, his face grave.

Beside him Frigga quietly pleaded. "Odin, please..."

Odin shook his head though. "No, Frigga. He must learn." Turning to Loki once more, he said, "Loki, because you are...other, than Thor- you know I cannot strip you of your power as I did his." 'Other', Loki thought with disgust. You mean 'Frost Giant'. "But this band has come into my possession," he said, holding up an intricate brass band, "and while you wear it, it will stop you from accessing your particular brand of powers. You will wear it until I deem your lesson learned. In addition to this, you will return to Midgard with Thor as your keeper and you will assist the humans to rebuild the city that you destroyed. With the band on, you will be forced to live as a mortal. This will teach you how to appreciate mortals' lives- when you must live one."

...Well then. Loki was actually a bit impressed. This was surprisingly well thought out for one of Odin's plans.

"What say you, Loki?" Odin asked.

"No, thanks."

Odin shook his head in annoyance and tossed the band to Thor, who easily caught it. It occurred to Loki to just teleport out. Thor wouldn't be able to stop him. He'd be able to escape punishment for quite a while if he wanted. But he didn't. This was all just part of the game he played with Odin. He acted out, he behaved as badly as he wanted- quite horrendously at times, he admitted. But he always took his punishments. He was just trying to win the game they played, and he couldn't win if it meant nothing when he lost. So he allowed Thor to clasp the band around his right bicep. The brass melded into one solid piece around his arm, and he felt it's effect immediately. It was as if a great wind had swept through him and blown all his magic out with one breath. So this was what it felt like to be mortal. Strange. He felt almost...naked.

"Look after your brother, Thor," Odin said.

Thor nodded. "I shall, father."

"Goodbye, my sons," Frigga said sadly.

Loki refrained from the impulse to wince. His mother was the one person who held the power over him to make him feel guilt. He remembered back when he was a child, and she would always single him out for special attention. Thor had always been more interested in playing with his friends, but Loki had been a bit of a mommy's boy. He'd loved spending time with her. She would tell him stories for hours.

Shaking the memory off, he still refused to look at her. It...hurt. It was an unpleasant feeling, and he avoided it as much as possible.

"Be careful," she said.

Clasping the device they traveled to Asgard with, Thor and Loki returned once more to Midgard.

A/N: I am not sure what to call the hourglass thing they travel between Asgard and Midgard. I kept wanting to call it a Portkey, but I'm sure that's wrong =P