Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel-characters!

Summary: When Odin tries to take Loki's magic away as punishment for his crimes on Earth, something goes awfully wrong. It will be up to Thor to save his brother, even if that means saving him from himself. No Slash!

AN: I don't know what I am getting myself into, but I decided to start this story. The idea just came to me and I had to get it out of my head! I will try and update this regularly. I had so much fun writing this chapter, so please let me know what you think of it. Enjoy!

Also, all credit of the picture used as 'cover' for this story goes to ASGARDIAN SOUL on Tumblr! Her creations are awesome!

~ The Opposites ~

Chapter 1

The computer screen indicated no new data, but Tony knew they were missing something. He was currently standing before a high table, one hand supporting the other that was currently supporting his chin. He was in a pensive mood, one that was slowly transforming into a venomous mood. Tony disliked it when he failed to get answers.

Luckily, Bruce Banner was still around to uplift him. "You've been staring at that thing for thirty minutes now," he said, "are you expecting answers to jump out of it?"

Tony spun around and smirked. "No, but I often experience revelations when I focus long enough on something. You know, that's what you get with a high intelligence."

"I have a high intelligence."

"Apparently not high enough." His smirk grew wider.

Bruce only threw him a questionable glance before turning back to his stack of papers that showed dozens and dozens of graphs. Tony knew that looking at those wouldn't get them any new information either, but he would wait for Banner to figure that out.

There was another five-minute-silence.

"Maybe the thing is just switched off," Tony suggested.

Bruce peered over the edge of his glasses. "That's actually not so farfetched." He stood from his seat and walked over to Tony. They went to stare at the weapon together. "It hasn't worked since Loki left earth, has it?"

Tony began to nod slowly. "All it has done is give of some minor gamma radiation."

Carefully, Bruce reached out and placed a hand on the scepter. He didn't know what he'd expected to happen, but he knew they had reached a complete dead end. The scepter did absolutely nothing. It didn't begin to increase its power, nor did the amount of gamma radiation rise. For all it mattered, the only dangerous aspect of this weapon was its pointy end.

Bruce let a sigh escape from him.

"Maybe we should try to connect it with some sort of energy-source," Tony said.

"The only power-source that got this thing working was the Tesseract," Bruce countered, "and we no longer have that."

"The only power-source we know of," Tony corrected him.

Bruce walked back to his desk, rummaging through his papers again. "We'll have to find something else then."

The blue core began to light up. Tony instinctively stepped back, his arms dropping beside his body.

"Uhm, Bruce?"

There was a part in Tony that told him to pick up the scepter, to examine it up closer, but there was another part of him that screamed to run away. However, Tony was never one to listen to the sane part of his mind. He carefully approached the table with the scepter upon it.

"Tony, don't!" Bruce caught Tony's arm and pulled him back. His hand shot out to point at the alarming new readings displayed on one of the computer screens. "There are high readings of gamma radiation. It looks like the weapon is switched on again."

There was a loud bang.

Tony and Bruce quickly shielded their faces away even though they had no idea what had just happened. Did something just explode? When they dared to look up again, they found they were no longer alone in the lab. On the other side of the table stood the one person they'd hoped to never see again.

Loki looked disheveled with ashen gray skin and messy black hair. His cheekbones stood sharp underneath his sunken wild and dark eyes. He looked like a wild beast that just escaped its cage. His gaze switched quickly between Tony and Bruce who slowly backed away. They were in no way prepared to fight the God of Mischief.

There was a moment of utter silence before Loki grabbed his scepter in one swift movement. He fired the weapon, sending a bolt of energy towards Tony and Bruce. The two Avengers could only jump aside. Tony wasn't the religious type, but right now he was praying that Bruce would not turn into his alter ego.

Loki disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Tony and Bruce surrounded by a half destroyed lab.

"Uhm," Tony said uncertainly when he knew Bruce was still himself, "what did just happen?"

~ o ~

A few hours earlier

~ o ~

The halls of the palace were mostly empty. These were strange times for Asgard and Thor knew how that came. Much had happened the last few months and things were only beginning to settle down. The Æsir had been outraged when they had learned Thor had brought back home his brother Loki. They had given him most awful names, but only the term War Criminal had truly stuck. The Æsir had only been calmed when Odin had assured them Loki would face just punishment in time.

That time was today.

In a few hours, Odin would summon Loki to him where he would proceed to extract his magic from his body. Thor knew what such a fate meant. He had lived it himself when Odin had taken his power from him all those months ago. He remembered his time on Midgard with Jane fondly.

But Loki was not in his chambers to which he was normally obliged to stay. Being the youngest son of the King did have advantages and Loki was allowed to use the grand bath chambers of the palace, along with the library. Thor knew his brother well enough to know he would find him in the latter.

When he entered the library, Thor made sure that his presence had been noticed. He pushed open the doors with much force and closed them in the same manner. They fell shut with a loud bang. Only Loki and four guards were inside, but Thor found it much too crowded anyway. He had never understood why Loki had found his sanctuary here. This place was dusty and boring.

"Leave us," he ordered the guards with a dismissing flick of his wrist.

"But the King has ordered that Loki must remain under constant guard," one of the four men replied.

"He will be under guard," Thor said annoyed, not liking that his order had been ignored so easily, "my guard. Besides, he has no way of escaping this room. You will remain waiting outside."

The four guards nodded and left.

Loki had not even bothered to look up the entire time. Thor cared not and went to sit across from his brother. They sat at the head of a table which was filled with books, old and new, thick and thin. Loki seemed to be absorbed in a tale Thor had never heard of. It told the story of Greek Gods on Midgard or something.

"Why is it that you're required to stay within the four walls of your room, but that you still manage to spend hours in the library?"

Loki peeked over the edge of his book, his green eyes narrowed. He had never understood why Thor insisted on spending as much time as possible with him while he could be outside sparring with Sif and the Warriors Three. Thor had tried to explain, but Loki only met him with defiance and disbelief. Thor truly did just want to spend time with his brother. He truly did hope to rekindle their brotherly relationship.

Loki had told Thor repeatedly that too much had happened for that to be possible.

"I rather be here than in my bedchambers," Loki answered plainly, his gaze returning to the book, "I grow awfully bored staring at those walls."

Thor dreaded to think what would happen if Loki did grow bored. It had never predicted much good during his childhood and it had been catastrophic during his adulthood. It was so that his mischievous had grown into evilness, but those times were gone now. At least, that is what Thor kept telling himself. He refused to believe his brother was evil while he sat so peacefully before him with a book in his hands.

"I know this is mother's doing," Thor said, leaning back in the chair and balancing it on two legs, "she probably convinced father to allow you this much freedom. She still trusts you, Loki."

"What? She trusts I won't try anything?" Loki estimated his chances at actual reading his book were very slim now that Thor was there. He tossed it onto the smooth table surface and locked his gaze with Thor's. "It's not that I can actually try something," he said through clenched teeth while lifting his hands to show Thor the magical iron chain that bound them together. Luckily, the ten inch chain granted Loki much freedom of movement.

But Thor knew that wasn't what Loki was referring to. The chain prevented him from using magic and had been created by Odin himself. Thor had told his brother he should find it an honor that Odin would need to invent something like that solely for him. Loki had not been amused by that comment.

"The punishment is just, brother," Thor said and he was painfully reminded of how much he sounded like his father. He could see that Loki was thinking alike since he cocked his head to one side, his eyes a shade of 'are-you-kidding-me'. "What I meant to say," Thor quickly added, "is that father is only trying to help you."

"By taking away my magic?" Loki sounded extremely skeptical. "It is what defines me, Thor, and he is about to rip it from my very veins."

"You will have a chance to earn it back," Thor defended the punishment, "I have gone through it myself. After I tried to provoke a war with Jotunheim, father took away my power, but I proved myself honorable and worthy and I regained that power."

"But your forget," Loki added cynically, "I didn't try to provoke a war. I tried to destroy Jotunheim and when that failed, I tried to enslave an entire planet."

"Pft," Thor waved away the comment, "but you showed remorse."

Loki raised one eyebrow. "Did I?"

Thor had to admit that Loki had in fact never showed remorse. Then again, he wasn't the type of person to regret any action. He would rather fall of a cliff than admit fault. Perhaps Loki was a proud person in that way, but Thor knew his brother well enough to know what he was actually thinking. Again, that's what he kept telling himself.

"It matters not," Loki sighed. He rummaged through a stack of books and ended up opening an old one in a strange language. Thor wished he knew what the title read, but he didn't want to ask Loki since he would only smile knowingly while remaining absolutely silent. "Are you not bored yet, Thor?"

"No," Thor replied, letting his legs rest on the table. It earned him a glare from Loki but Thor only smiled back. "I told you since the very beginning that I would visit you every day. I was not talking about brief visits."

"You know what I think?" Loki leaned forward over the table as if he was about to tell Thor a dark secret. "That this is my actual punishment: putting up with you every afternoon while I can't magic you to silence." He went ahead and pushed Thor's feet off of the table. He then leaned back with a smug expression on his face.

"That was-that was cruel, Loki," Thor feigned a hurt expression.

An actual smile curled Loki's lips upwards. One he tried unsuccessfully hide behind his book.

Thor knew he would remember this moment for a very long time. It was the first time that Loki had smiled without darkness in his eyes. It was the first time he had showed actual amusement. Thor made it his task to make that happen again.

"I will never leave your side," he said on a more serious note. He wasn't sure why he suddenly changed the subject or the mood, but he felt he had to tell Loki this. Perhaps he wanted to assure him of this now that he still could. "No matter what happens, you are my brother."

Loki's shield was back up in a blink of the eye. The youngest brother never felt comfortable discussing feelings. He had learned it made him appear weak. "Why are you saying this?"

"Because I may say that father's punishment is just," Thor explain, nothing but sincerity in his voice, "but I also know there lies a difficult time ahead of us. I don't want you to think that you must face this alone."

"At times, you appear the simplest soul in this realm," Loki said, "but then with a snap of your fingers, you turn around and say something…almost wise."

"I'll consider that a compliment," Thor smiled faintly, trying to lighten the mood again.

"Consider it what you want," Loki shrugged, "I know what it means."

"Oh yes?"

"It means you are starting to look like the Allfather."

That, in Loki's eyes, was most definitely not a compliment, but Thor chose to ignore that. Before he could reply, the doors to the library opened. One of the four guards stationed outside entered. He placed his right fist over his chest – approximately where his heart would be located – and bowed his head curtly. "The Allfather has requested both your presences."

"Ah," Loki sighed, slowly placing his book back onto the table, "so the time has come."

Thor rose from his chair. "Are you afraid?"

"Of course not." The words had flowed so easily from Loki's tongue that Thor actually doubted whether they were a lie or not. "I just want to get it over and done with. Then this abominable chain can finally be removed." To put strength to his words, Loki rattled the chain. Its ring echoed softly through the room.

Thor inhaled deeply. "Then let's go."