The Adventures of Aunt Darcy and Uncle Loki

Loki, I Think This Is the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Summary: Loki has been released to do "community service" on Earth under the supervision of the Avengers. AKA The Avengers and Loki decide to call a truce and sometimes even like each other. Pre-Some Do Battles. TW: Discussions of suicide and torture.

Disclaimer for the Lawyers: I own nothing but an iPod on a slow decline.

On the Subject of Canon: "I'm aware that the head writers have made a decision, but given that it was a stupid ass decision I've elected to ignore it."

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Chapter I: A Family Matter

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The hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. - Henry from Once Upon a Time

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It was the night before Christmas and all throughout Stark Tower, the Avengers were partying, including the Asgardians.

"Why would you think my brother and I would dislike mistletoe?" Thor said as he squinted suspiciously at the plant hanging above Tony.

"Well, you know, the whole Baldur thing," Tony said.

Thor waved the name away. "That never happened. My only sibling is Loki."

"Good to know," Jane said, "Also, you are going to have to kiss Stark now."

Tony looked up. "Damn it."

"What? Why?" Thor said.

"If you stand under the mistletoe, you have to kiss whoever is under it with you," Jane said.

"Ah. A strange tradition, but I shall honor your customs!" Thor said enthusiastically. He gave Tony a smacking kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Stark."

"Thank God you didn't go for tongue," Tony said as Thor moved towards Jane.

Loki popped into the party carrying an armful of presents… right next to Tony. "He. He. He. Happy Yuletide, mortals."

"It's 'ho, ho, ho'," Sam Wilson said.

Loki shrugged. "Consider it my take on the tradition."

"Speaking of," Steve said as he took a sip of eggnog to hide his grin.

The trickster looked-up. "Yes. Mistletoe. I am aware. Darcy has been forcing me to watch those horrendous Yuletide movies with her."

"Come on Loki. I triple-dog-dare-ya," Tony said, wriggling his eyebrows.

He shrugged and tossed aside his presents. "Oh well."

Loki grabbed Stark by the shoulders, patted Tony's cheek, and then gave him a kiss while dipping him.

Tony Stark was not quite sure how he had ended up being kissed by the God of Mischief under the mistletoe at Christmas while being wolf-whistled by the Avengers and Tony's fiancée, Pepper. Tony had gotten pretty use to strange things happening… even if said strange things included snogging a guy Tony and the rest of them had wanted dead just a few months earlier.

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Two Years Earlier

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Everyone Should Listen to Frigga

A queen did not run; Frigga merely walked very quickly. When she entered the throne room where Odin was, Thor and Loki stood before him. The former was battle weary, but whole. The latter was in chains and gagged.

"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Odin asked Loki.

The muzzle disappeared. Loki stretched his jaw and cracked his neck before speaking. "I would say I was merely following what you trained me to be: a king."

"The Midgardians are not for you to rule," Odin said.

"Oh, no, you would place me in charge of a frozen wasteland of monsters just so you can have the slightest chance of a political foothold on Jotunheim so you would not have to destroy it," Loki said. He shook his head violently as if trying to get something out of his ear. "You are… a hypocrite and a liar, just as I am. Who are you to judge me?"

"I am your king and your father. Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin and death," Odin said.

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you."

Frigga noticed something odd about Loki's eyes.

"We are not gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do," Odin said.

Loki thought for a moment. "Give or take 5000 years."

Odin was unamused. "All this because Loki desires a throne."

"As you have said my entire life, it is my birthright."

"Your birthright was to die as a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in you would not be here now to hate me."

Thor unconsciously adjusted his grip on Mjolnir and stepped slightly in front of Loki. Frigga was able to move closer to her sons.

Loki said, "If I am for the ax, then for mercy's sake, just swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just ... I don't love them."

"My king and my sons, I would kindly ask all of you to be silent just a moment," Frigga said as she stood in front of Loki, "What happened to your eyes, my son?"

Loki shook his head again. "Stop pretending you are concerned about me. You have never been my mother."

Frigga gave a polite smile to hide the sting of the comment. "You know, you said the same thing when you cut Lady Sif's hair to distract me from your actions. It did not work then and it will not work now. I chose to be mother to you and Thor. You have always known I chose to the love the two of you. What happened to your eyes, Loki?"

The trickster gritted his teeth. "Just stop this. Stop this charade. You have never cared for me. You have simply used me to…"

Frigga touched Loki's forehead and caused him to fall straight back onto the floor. The queen nearly retched. Thor grabbed her as Odin descended the steps of the throne. "By the Norns… he was tortured. How can you not see it? The darkness and… I don't know what it was, but it was ancient and like death itself."

Odin took Frigga' arm. She patted his hand in acknowledgement of the touch. "We need to have him examined, husband. Decide as you will later, but not until he is healed. Please."

The All-Father nodded to Thor. Loki began to wake-up. "Ugh. I have spent far more time on the floor than I would want."

"It's because you are, as my friends would say, Low-Key," Thor said as he picked up Loki.

"I will kill you. I swear by the Norns themselves, I am the only one who will be allowed to kill you," Loki said with utter sincerity.

Frigga leaned against Odin. "I am sorry, but I could not say nothing. His eyes kept changing between blue and green. He has never done that before."

"It does not change what happened before he fell," Odin said softly.

Frigga nodded. "But it does give me hope."

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Thor Gets Hit on the Head and Finds His Brother

The next year was long and deeply unpleasant. There were some days when Loki seemed to be sarcastic, gloomy self. Other times, Loki was a cruel, twisted thing which tried to kill anything or anyone who came near him.

Which is why Thor was a bit hesitant following Odin's order of taking Loki to Nidavellir to go and try to find the Helm of Awer. "You will need someone with magic to find it. Loki will do well at the task."

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"Well, isn't this fun?" Loki said dryly as Thor dragged Loki by his feet through caves in the mountains of Nidavellir.

"You should not have angered the Dwarfs," Thor said.

"I did not need to do much given our history," Loki said.

"How much longer will this spell last?"

"I don't know. Maybe a few more hours. And you can lift me off the ground, you know. I am rather tired of being hit in the head by rocks."

"You deserve more than a few hits on the head."

"What? For harming your precious Midgard?"

"For making mother cry."

"… I agree."

Thor stopped walking and looked back at his brother. "You agree?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I do not regret much of the past two years, but I do regret harming her."

"I… I am relieved to see you feel some sense of…"

The ground fell out from beneath them.

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Thor's head was pounding as he struggled to his knees. The passageway they had fallen into was dark save for a few glowing, blue gems. Loki struggled against the binding of the spell.

"You have to wake up, Thor. Do you hear me, you oaf? Wake up or I will be forced to go to the depths of Hel to retrieve you. This stupid place does not get to kill you. Only I get to kill you."

Thor crawled over to Loki and laid down next to him. "Don't worry. I'm not dying yet. I think I just need a nap."

"No! You need to stay awake. Just give me a few more minutes to get out of this blasted spell." Loki was able to kick out one leg. "Ha! Now to get to the rest."

"It's… I don't understand."

"That is far too vague as you are a complete and utter moron who finds most things confusing. Tell me what you do not understand."

"You… you didn't kill the people you needed to… to put the Avengers out of the fight. You didn't aim for the heart."

Loki kicked out his other leg. "Bitterness is a paralytic. Love is a much more vicious motivator. I wanted your stupid heroes to stop fighting me, not go on revenge spree." He wrenched out his arm. "Yes." He rolled over and put a hand on Thor's chest for a moment before sighing. "I'm not good at this sort of thing, but I don't think anything is broken thanks to you thick skull. Your tiny brain might be a bit jumbled."

Thor patted Loki's arm. "You didn't want to win, did you, brother?"

Loki stiffened. "Of course, I wanted to win. It was my right…"

Thor shushed Loki. "No, no. I've heard you say it so many times, I can hear the lies now. Mother is right. Whoever or whatever had you really did twist you."

Loki huffed. "Are you forgetting Jotunheim?"

The god of thunder waved his hand. "Ah, well, I don't have much room to judge, do I? I tried it just a few days earlier, as you pointed out. I just grew up faster than you. One of the benefits of being the big brother. I get to be the more mature one."

Loki rolled onto his back and got his other arm free of the spell's grasp. "As much as I want out of this little piece of Hel, I don't think it is wise for you to be flying us anywhere."

Thor patted Loki's head. "It's okay. Got you. You'll make sure I don't die."

"You seem to forget what I tell you every time I see you: I am the only one who gets to kill you."

"Which means you are going to protect me. When are you planning on killing me? Now would be a great time. No witnesses. Reasonable cause of death. It's perfect." Thor sat up and pulled a knife out of Loki's coat. "Here you go. Go ahead and kill me."

Loki smacked the dagger out of Thor's hand. "Are you completely and utterly mad? Do not say that ever again!"

Thor smiled and patted Loki's shoulder. "You don't want me dead. You want me safe."

"Yes! Alright! I am the only one who gets to kill you and I will not kill you, are you happy now?" Loki smacked his head against the cave wall. "Damn it all to Hel. How did I end up here?"

"This cave? We fell."

"I don't mean this cave, I mean this entire situation." Loki rubbed his eyes. "I can remember pieces. I can remember the pain, the heat, the cold, the death… but I cannot remember its face or its name that put me there." He began to shake. "I remember the images put inside my head. I remember that most of all. You throwing me into the void. You killing me while mother watched on in approval. Those slow… slow deaths over and over again." He screamed and slammed a fist into the ground. "It's not real! It never happened! Yet it never goes away. It never, ever goes away."

Thor wrapped his brother in a hug. "Fear is always real, but what we fear may not be." He rubbed Loki's back. "You are my brother, Loki, and I love you. We will find out who did this to you. There will be retribution, even if it be against Death itself. They will regret the day they laid a hand on you."

Loki hugged Thor back. "I love you too."

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A/N: I've been down in the fandom dumps for the past several years, but Thor: Ragnarok got me back on the fandom train. This series even got me to win NANOWRIMO again!