A/N: Here's chapter 22, finally. I'm really trying to finish this series up before I move onto the next, but the last chapter (which I've yet to write) is proving extremely difficult.

Hollow Skies - Chapter 22

Even with how terribly tired Loki was, and even when his eyelids felt like the weight of Mjolnir lay upon them, he managed to lift them when he heard Fandral give a battle-cry. He thought for sure that he would kill Tony, but instead he'd... stopped. Why did he not kill him? It would be so easy; the mortal was without his armor. Why did the Dashing Warrior stop?

For a while, nothing happened. Loki's body was attempting to heal itself, but he was at the end of his rope. It was becoming more and more difficult to even stay conscious much less maintain his magic. But as he tried his best to rest - while he had the reprieve, however short - his thoughts wandered back to what Tony had said. 'This place isn't fucking real...this place is all fake.' What did he mean?

Sif slowly leaned over him. "So what do you think, little trickster? Would you like him to watch you die? Over and over, we can show him. Perhaps we'll play with you like he did, so he can see." At this she looked up to smile at the mortal, then leaned back down. "He doesn't truly remember, does he? Like you. You're so much the same. We can show him- give him a demonstration of what he did to you for so many months. Yes, we'll play with you. Would you like that, Loki?"

Unable to even open his mouth, he could say nothing.

For what seemed like a long moment, no one said anything. Then, Tony finally spoke up and asked a very strange question, his voice distant and quieted: "Why do- what did he ever do to you?"

It was barely even a second, but Loki noticed how Sif's brow furrowed ever so slightly before it was just as quickly replace with a fierce and livid glare. Her face slowly, far too slowly, turned toward the mortal. Loki couldn't see Tony from his position, but he couldn't imagine he wouldn't feel the urge to step back from Sif's deathly stare. However, the fact that the mortal was apparently silenced told him the answer.

"Do you truly wish to know?" asked Sif, her voice even and calm as she continued to look at Tony. "Do you believe you deserve to know?" She smirked. "Very well then, you did lose a year of your life; fair is fair, as you mortals say." There was a long pause, where Loki could not help but hold his breath despite the agony it caused him. Then, she said in a steely voice: "It is because he exists."

What? Loki wondered if he'd misheard, somehow.

"Because he is who he is. Because we loathe him with everything in us. Because he is a stain on this universe and I would happily erase him from existence." She paused, then backed away from Loki. "But I cannot; so I will do the next best thing. I will make him suffer, as he deserves."

By the end of her tirade, Loki was crying. Not sobbing, as he so often did of late, but he felt the warm tears fall down his face. "Why?" he couldn't help but ask in a shaky croak. "Why would you hate me so? Who- what are you? I know you are not Sif. I know you are not my brother. I know you are not Tony Stark. So why- why are you so angry with me? Tell me. Please, tell me. Who are you?"

Through this, Sif had not even glanced at him. Then, she smiled. It was a small smile, and there was something strange about it. "Alright." She turned her head to face him squarely. "Alright."

The whiteness came, blanketing and cold, changing the environment once again.

His breath, so suddenly, returned, and he was blinded, but for only a moment. When he opened his eyes he was - as many a time before - suddenly standing. He was not in his armor, or the tatters he had been wearing, but was, in fact, wearing his favorite outfit. But...perhaps no longer his favorite. He had been wearing it when he'd been told the truth by Odin about... about what he truly was, an outsider and a monster. Was this choice of outfit meant to be a new torture, or a strange mercy? He couldn't decide as he looked around.

He was in Stark's home.

No...

Sif was standing before him, and to his side, Stark.

"No...no, please..." Loki whispered as he was paralyzed, his heart viciously beating in his chest. His eyes darted around everywhere as he fought to stay upright, fought the rising panic that threatened to engulf him.

The shieldmaiden smiled a little at him, then tilted her head. "Oh, very well. It was just a bit of fun."

Everything went white again for a moment, then just as quickly was replaced by the throne room in Asgard. Loki blinked furiously at it, wondering if where he'd been a moment before had been only in his mind or...

"Hey, what the hell? Who keeps changing the station?"

Stark. He still stood beside him, and he looked as confused and worried as the prince.

"And what about this?" Sif asked as she gestured to herself, her appearance suddenly morphing into another Stark look-alike. "Do you like this?"

"Oh fuck no," murmured Tony.

The other Stark laughed and again shifted appearances, this time into Fandral, then a second later into Odin. "What would you prefer, boy?" the image of the All-father asked Loki with a smirk. "Should I spoil you some before I take out your heart and play with it?"

Although he tried not to, Loki cringed and shrunk back at hearing those words come from his father's lips. He knew it wasn't his father - not only literally, but... In either case he did not like it. He shook his head because he didn't know what else to do. He tried with everything in him not to hug himself, because what horrors could this false-Odin inflict on him in this new form? Loki dared not show more fear than he already felt.

"No?" chuckled Odin. "Then what about this?" With one sweep of arms, the space before them - where Odin had been - burst with a violent outpouring of energy, blue and wild like purest chaos woven into the air. "I do so love the sensations of a physical body, but this feels much more natural."

Unable to help it, Loki shielded himself from the sudden onslaught, like a bright burning fire, but he felt no heat. Beside him, he knew Stark was doing something similar as he cried out. Loki didn't realize it, but he'd done the same.

"Is this what you wish to see, Loki?" said a voice like razored ice, coming from seemingly everywhere at once. The blue violence of light that played in front of them engulfed nearly everything, the throne, the air and Loki fought the urge to fall to the floor. "Is this what you sought? But don't you remember? You found me before."

Blinking behind his hands, Loki tried to look through the bright haze, but was unable. "I...I don't understand!" he shouted at the mass of energy.

"Of course you don't. And you don't remember either, do you? Not even what you used to call me? Your...'light in the dark'."

Loki shook his head in denial. No he didn't remember. Not any of it.

"Loki!" a sudden voice behind him made him jump. "Brother!" He turned around to find none other than Thor standing there.

"Thor?"

The thunderer rushed toward him as he, too, shielded his eyes. "What is this- what is happening?!"

"How nice of you to finally join us, Odinson," said the voice.

Loki couldn't believe it. Was it truly him? "B-brother?" Loki stuttered. The other didn't hesitate, he immediately grabbed Loki in a tight embrace and held him for a long moment.

"I have been trying to find you," murmured Thor against his head. "I fought through a throng of endless bodies, enemies in waves like the armies of Hela against only me. I tried to find you. But you weren't there, you weren't anywhere. What is happening?" He held Loki closer.

"That is enough."

Both brothers turned, although reluctantly, toward the brightness.

Feeling a sudden surge of frustration at...everything, at all that he'd had to endure, because... because what? He still didn't understand the reason. So Loki shouted at the mass of brightness, "What are you?! Tell me what you are - why do you hate me so?! Answer me!"

A heavy laugh resounded all around. "Recall, Loki, after you fell from your Bifrost. Don't you remember?" Loki shook his head, trying to remember. "No? You did express sadness at the time that you remembered so little of your home. But you got it back, even so long after the abyss. Perhaps... perhaps you might remember what the Mad Titan asked of you when you claimed you had some use. Can you remember that?"

He couldn't be certain, but the brightness before them seemed to be diminishing, if only by small amounts.

But what was it asking? The...Bifrost... The abyss...

He searched that time, that darkness he swam through, and what did he grasp hold of first?

X - X

"Little godling," Thanos had said, chuckling. "If you can offer me this, then I'll have reason to keep you alive. If not... Well." And he'd smiled. He smiled and Loki had tried to smile back, had tried to seem as confident as he wished in front of the Mad Titan, but instead, he'd trembled in his boots even as he grinned and nodded with all the eloquence he could muster. And it was all pointless. But Thanos' smile... It terrified him, so hollow and flat, like a sky with a vulnerable world beneath its gaze.

"Yes, of course," responded Loki, but he knew the Titan had seen his fear, had heard the nigh indiscernible tremble in his voice. Still, he'd offered something of value and he'd accepted, and now Loki had to deliver.

He'd been sent away from the Titan then, to a place he could work.

It took a week before Loki had made contact. He'd been so proud, but mostly relieved that he'd been able to accomplish what so few could. The Tesseract! He'd reached through the void, through, perhaps, space and time itself, and touched the Stone the Mad Titan sought. But in that void he'd seen other things too, and he feared he would slowly lose his mind if he reached out too often, or for too long. So Loki limited himself as best he could. It was on the third week that the prince realized that the whispered voices he'd been hearing all along came not from the horror of the abyss, but from the Stone itself. The Tesseract was speaking to him.

Just a day after that realization, the Stone said its first, coherent and understood word: "Father."

Loki had been startled, confused. "What?" he'd said, feeling stupid for the word.

"Father," it said again. The voice shimmered like a vast and endless water that surrounded him. He saw it without eyes, and heard it without ears.

But what was it calling him? He couldn't let that stand. "No. No, I'm Loki."

"Father."

"No, I-"

"Father?"

"I am not your father."

A moment past, then it said: "Master."

"No-" Well, perhaps that title wasn't too bad. But no. "No, I am not your master either."

"Mother?" The endless water was bright and clear, almost blinding.

Loki chuckled. It was like a child. "No, my light. I am Loki."

After that, it hadn't spoken to him in some time. Loki was ready to be disappointed, but only a few days later it spoke again, but this time... it was a little different.

"Who are you?" it asked through the veil of magic Loki wove, across space and through all the in-between. The endless water was now more like flowing energy, cascading above and beyond.

"Oh, hello," responded the prince, somewhat taken aback as he sat up on the rickety bed.

"Or, perhaps," it continued, "what are you is a better question."

"You've certainly learned linguistic competency quickly," remarked the prince.

"And you've not answered my question... Loki."

He'd smiled then, and answered: "I am Asgardian, from-"

"Asgard. But that's not true at all, is it?"

He froze. How could it-?

"I can see through your lies, Loki. I do apologize. Was I not supposed to?"

Somewhat flustered, but still elated at the new communication, Loki let out a breathy laugh. "No, I... It's alright. However, it's not polite to read other's minds."

"I apologize," it said again, "but it's difficult to refrain when my brothers and sisters allow me new powers."

"Brothers and sisters?"

"Yes. You know them as the Infinity Stones. Curious," it said suddenly.

Trying to process everything that was unraveling before him, Loki quickly asked, "What- what is?"

"I never...thought before now. Before you. How did you teach me?"

In truth, Loki was uncertain how he had done it. It had almost been a fluke. Or perhaps there was something about this pocket of in-between space that somehow allowed it, or perhaps it was the interaction with this area of space along with his magic.

"You don't know," the Stone guessed. He wondered if he'd imagined the disappointed sigh in its words, seeming cold and tired.

"No I... I don't."

X - X

Loki's eyes went wide as he inhaled sharply. "You- you're the Tesseract?"

"Bingo!" said the blue light, which was much smaller than before, hovering before the steps leading to the throne. Loki hadn't even realized the environment still looked like Asgard.

"That's a weird word," murmured Tony.

The lights, blue and bright, formed into what looked to be a vaguely humanoid shape. Its 'head' turned to Stark. "Well you can thank yourself for that. I learned so much from you- from all of you." Its head turned to Loki next. "But from you I learned the most, trickster."

A sad smile grew on Loki's lips. "I suppose 'father' was not to your liking, then?"

It seemed to laugh as it threw back its head. "At the beginning it might have been - but there was a problem with that title, wasn't there?" It moved, hovered toward them. "You were unworthy of it."

"Loki," said Thor, "what is happening? Is that... is that the Tesseract? But how can that be?"

"Same question here, Rudolph," Stark interjected. "And why the fuck does it hate you so much?"

The Tesseract laughed its all-encompassing laugh. "You mistake one for only one. I am we as much as me. I am my brothers and sisters. I, alone, have the gift of thought so I...borrowed a little of the others' power. I've kept them safe, don't worry."

Loki didn't understand its meaning. "I don't- I don't understand-"

"That's nothing new," smirked the Tesseract.

Glaring at it, Thor said, "Answer us when we ask questions."

"You mistake a willingness to answer some of your questions for a desire to actually help you understand. The trickster's right: you're an idiot."

Thor growled and looked ready to throw Mjolnir, but Loki held him back. "Don't- brother. We are in its domain. Yes?" He turned to the brightness of the Tesseract.

"Ever so clever, little trickster. I knew I idolized you at the beginning for a reason."

Loki was taken aback by that. 'Idolized.' What an odd word. He tried to remember back, remember his time in Thanos' domain, but the thoughts that lay there were slippery and soft - they drew away easily, fish in an ever-moving pond.

"That's right," encouraged the Tesseract, "Wrack that supposedly big brain of yours and maybe you'll find your answers."

He didn't want to listen to it, but he did want to remember. So much of his past had seemed to disappear, and he wasn't sure he could ever get it back. He was frustrated at his inadequacy, at his lost sense of self.

"But can you get it back?" asked the Tesseract. "Or, if you could, would you even want to? You were nothing before, and you're still nothing. Knowing would make no difference."

Thor said something to him, but Loki was too lost in those words to hear him.

Was it... reading his mind?

It chuckled, "Sorry about that; I can't resist." What had it said, that it had borrowed some of the others' power - the other Infinity Stones? "Well, yes," the Stone seemed to answer him, "my brother Mind gave me that power. He's still on Midgard, you know, and he's been such a help with those pesky mortals. We did have so much fun playing with them."

"Loki," Stark said, "what the fuck did you do while you were out there?" The words themselves should have been accusatory, but his tone reflected only curiosity.

Feeling suddenly ashamed, that he'd more or less brought this on himself, Loki shrunk back. "I-I don't... I don't know."

Thor spoke then, "You brought the Tesseract to life?"

"All the Infinity Stones, actually - to a degree," added the Tesseract.

"Thor," Loki looked to him, eyes lachrymose, "Brother, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know this would happen. I didn't know. I was just trying to survive, trying to-"

"Yes, yes," sung the cube, "you had no choice, is that it?"

Thor was looking at him with a strange expression, and Tony, too. Loki felt so alone, suddenly. He backed a little away from Thor as his body and heart screamed not to. "I...I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have, but I did. I didn't know this would happen."

"Brother..." Thor moved forward and bent down to look him straight in the eyes. "I know. I understand."

Loki shook his head. "No, no you don't. It was- it was the Mad Titan, he...he..."

"You do not have to explain, truly."

"I," Tony put up a finger, "wouldn't mind some explanation."

Thor shot a glare at Tony.

"Fine, never mind," murmured the mortal.

Loki nodded and moved forward, burying his head on Thor's shoulder.

The Tesseract laughed. "Oh how fun. You two are so close, closer than most brothers. Right, Tony?"

They all looked to the mortal, who responded with, "Uh..."

"Look, I don't..." Tony trailed off. The brothers were looking at him, and Thor looked ready to be angry. Well, fine, whatever, thought Tony. "Yeah, fine. You guys are kind of... you know, close. I mean, for brothers. I mean, not that there's anything... weird... about that..." he trailed off again as the thunder god's eyes grew harder. "Never mind," he said as he pursed his lips.

"You mistake our closeness for some sort of perversion, is that your meaning, Stark?" Thor asked with far too much bite for someone who was supposed to be his friend.

"Hey, no-"

"It's alright, Thor," Loki murmured quietly as he looked down. "He is right. I should stand more on my own. I rely on you far too much."

That weird Tesseract-laugh echoed all around. "Actually, I think Tony is saying you two are a different kind of too close. Do you ever even sleep in separate beds now? Aren't you both a little old to be sleeping together? Of course, that would make it easier to do other things-"

"Hey, shut up!" Tony found himself yelling at the...whatever that thing was. How the hell could the Tesseract be this? He wasn't even sure what he was looking at.

Again, it laughed. "But I'm not finished, Tony. You've had the same thoughts. Come now, it's not as if they're blood related, so what would it matter?"

"Be silent," Thor seethed, but the Tesseract ignored him.

"In fact, Thor, I don't understand why you don't just fuck him already. Clearly you want to."

Before Thor could rebut, a small keening sound escaped Loki as he backed away from his brother. He shook his head desperately as he seemed to shrink into himself.

Thor sighed and reached out to him. "Brother, you know I would never- surely you do not think I would-"

"But why not? He might act as though he would hate it, but you know he would like it eventually. You see the way he acts. Don't you both see how much he craves subjugation? He's just waiting for somebody to take control over him. He wants it even though he can't admit it. Why do you think he wanted you to hold his leash, Tony?"

Thor swerved around to look at Tony, then back at Loki. "Brother? Did you...?"

"Yes, he did. I'm not lying, ask either of them."

Loki only managed a whimper as he continued hugging himself, so Tony decided he would have to clear it up. "Yeah, fine, it's true. But can you blame him? He's-"

"Of course we can't blame him," interrupted the Tesseract. "He's weak and needs looking-after. But you can't just use words, you have to show him physically how much you care, and to do that you have to show him that he belongs to you, that he's yours - because don't people take care of what's theirs?"

Tony, with as much emphasis as possible, rolled his eyes. "You are seriously one fucked up histrionic son of a bitch."

"Are you calling Loki a bitch?" it said without even a beat.

Okay...that was...

He refused to even think the word 'clever' because apparently the thing could read minds. "Shut up," he deadpanned. "And by the way, that's not how, well, anything works. Only sick freaks think that possessiveness is the same as love."

"No," interrupted the small voice of Loki. "It's right."

Tony turned to Loki. "You better not say what I think you're about to say."

The trickster moved a few steps forward and laid his head beneath Thor's chin, as if hiding there. "Please, brother," Loki all but whispered.

"Loki..." Thor's voice was low and uncertain.

"If that is what it takes to feel...to feel safe again, then you can have me. I won't fight back."

"No!" Thor grabbed Loki's shoulders and held him at arm's length. "Do not say that."

Loki cried as he hugged himself. "But it is true!"

"I do not care if it is true, I will protect you regardless. I will not...have you, in any sense of the word. Not now, not ever. You are my brother."

"B-but that will not last forever!" Loki cried. Thor furrowed his brow in confusion. "You have your Jane. And Asgard. Your duties. They will take you away from me and I'll be alone again. But if I'm...if I'm yours, completely and in every way. If...if I stay in your," he looked down at this, as if in shame, "in your chambers, then I will have naught to worry about."

"Brother, stop!" Thor shook him, as if he could jostle Loki's lost mind with physical action. "How can you say these words?"

As weird and inexplicably sudden this turn of events was, Tony found his mind wandering. Despite his worry for Loki's state of mind - especially now - he was also certain Thor would never agree, so it was all kind of moot. What was Loki getting at? Or the Tesseract, for that matter? Maybe it found it all amusing and it liked messing with the brothers' heads - which, from what he'd seen, made sense. But in Loki's case, was he that lost? It was like he'd completely misunderstood his brother all these years. Maybe he really was just that fucked up after all he'd been through, all... Tony sighed. He himself had had a hand in that, unfortunately, even if he barely remembered any of it except in half-remembered dreams. So, how could he help? Because he wasn't about to stand idly by waiting to see how all this played out.

A/N: Yeah I know! Terrible place to stop. Sorry about that. What did you think of this update?

Since we're very close to the end, if you have any questions you'd like answered, please ask them now. Hopefully everything will be answered by the end, but this story has been going so long that I might miss a few smaller questions that need answering. There should be at least two more chapters coming.