Sometimes the cure for insanity is insanity itself.

Loki's mind was racing. He scrutinized the humans around him, observing their interactions. They were absolutely jovial, laughing with glee whenever they laid eyes on him. Mocking him. He turned his gaze down to the shackles that bound his wrist, and then eyed the muzzle strapped onto his face. It was all rather overdramatic.

He eyed the monster, now in his human form, who was placing the Tesseract in a container that Thor would take with them to Asgard. I should take it now, he thought briefly, which he quickly discarded. Now was not the time. He could not fool these mortals, the Avengers. They proved that much. The thought made him want to spit. Again he eyed the muzzle with disdain.

Thor stepped up beside him, offering the other handle of the Tesseract's container for Loki to take. He grudgingly lifted his shackled hand, grabbing ahold of it. His eyes met Thor's, and before he knew it, they were in Asgard.

His eyes darted back and forth quickly, taking in his surroundings. He'd let go of Asgard when he had dropped into abyss. He had not expected to see it again. Loki stiffened when someone familiar spoke behind him. The double tone of his voice alerted him to be Heimdall.

"Loki Odinson." Loki bit back a snarl behind the muzzle. He was not the son of Odin. How dare he?

Heimdall stepped around him, turning to face the god of mischief. "You are to be tried and punished for your misdeeds by the Allfather. He waits for you in the throne room, so make haste." His lips tipped into a faint smirk. Heimdall knew of what Loki had done and was prepared for Loki's punishment, whatever it would be.

"Come, Loki," Thor said heavily. "Let us get this over with."

Loki gazed spitefully at Thor from the corner of his eye as they walked. Was that all he was to Thor? Something that needed to be dealt with, something he wanted finished? That's all he ever was to his family. A burden, an alien, a monster. He freed himself from them - surely they had been relieved - and yet they brought him back to punish him. And for what? For trying to rule a realm that was always in discord? For trying to make peace?

Fools. All of them.

Thor handed Loki off to two guards so that he could deal with the Tesseract. Loki's heart began to race as they approached the golden doors to the throne room, and he found himself swallowing back bile. What would Odin Allfather say? How would he be punished? The only thing that Loki knew was that he could not lose the Tesseract. He had to know of its presence. Ultimately, he feared Thanos much more than he would ever fear Odin.

The doors opened and he was ushered inside by Thor. The room went silent. He came to a halt before the stairs leading up to the throne. The throne that had rightfully been his. Loki's eyes met Odin's.

"Loki Odinson," Odin boomed. "You are to be tried today for serious offenses. You tried to destroy an entire realm. You tried to rule an entire realm. You betrayed Asgard, allowing Laufey and his warriors into our realm. You froze Heimdall." Odin paused, then he hissed, "You nearly had myself, your brother, and your mother slaughtered."

Your brother. Your mother. Odin had gone mad! Thor was not his brother. Frigga was not his mother. Loki wanted to bare his teeth.

"For such serious crimes, you are to be severely punished." He sighed deeply, looking at his son in sorrow. "For now, until such punishment is finished being prepared, you will remain locked in your quarters."

Loki was puzzled. Was he not to be cast out? Stripped of his powers? Perhaps Odin knew that he could get out of many situations. He had survived a fall that should have killed him. The two guards approached Loki and roughly grabbed him, leading him to the room he was raised in.

BOOM.

The doors slammed shut behind him.

He gazed around the room. It hadn't changed; nothing was out of place, not even a scrap of paper, and it hadn't even gotten dusty. Someone still cleaned his room, even in his absence. As though his presence was still there, or as if someone wanted his room in pristine condition in case of his return. He raised a shackled hand and brushed the backs of his books with his fingertips. It had been so long since he had cracked their spines, these books he grew up with, reading these words that he learned from. He exhaled shakily through his nose. His heart felt painful.

He sat heavily on his bed, hanging his head. What was he to do? He was worse than dead if he did not take the Tesseract to Thanos soon. He knew not where Odin would place the powerful artifact; he certainly would not keep it in his Vault, which would have been easy for Loki to sneak into. For once he was unsure of what his next step would be. He was positive that he would come up with a solution, he simply needed more time to think. He had been mulling over possibilities for several minutes when something broke his train of thought.

A knock sounded on the door and it swung open. In its threshold stood Frigga. Loki found it strange, however, that instead of Frigga, he thought, Mother. She was not his mother, after all, but in his heart he still loved her as such.

He nervously met her eyes. What would she have to say about him?

"My son," she said softly as she shut the door. "What have you done to yourself?"

That was it. No chastising. No hateful words. No pain.

Mother.

A soft sound left his lips, muffled even further from the muzzle. But she heard it. She sat beside him on the bed, brushing the back of her hand down his cheek. "What has become of my son? What have I ever done to hurt you so?"

Not you, he wanted to say. Never you. Instead he leaned his head into her shoulder. Her scent was familiar, comforting. It made him want to sleep and never wake up. He was so tired.

Her hand gently brushed over his hair and down his spine. "My boy, please. I simply can't understand."

Loki knew he should feel horrified at himself when the tears slipped down his cheeks. All they were were signs of sentiment. Weakness. Irrelevant. But for once he couldn't find it in himself to care. "Mother," he mumbled through the muzzle. It was so muffled that he was surprised Frigga understood. But she did. She always did.

"Shh," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry we've hurt you so. We never intended it. I can't even begin to understand how you feel, my son, but I do understand that you feel pain and betrayal so strongly that you did these horrible things. We never wished this upon you. And now..." she paused, unable to say more. She shut her eyes, wishing she could block out the visions of the many directions the future could go in.

One of these many possible futures was coming into fruition. Odin and many guards slammed open the doors, marching in. "Frigga," he said. "You must go."

She held her son tightly to her. "You cannot do this," she said angrily. "How can you do this to your son?"

"It is for his, and our own, good." Odin said. "I do not wish it on him but it is the only solution guaranteed to work."

"Driving him to insanity is the only way it is guaranteed to work?" Frigga wept, jumping up and glaring at her husband.

Odin shook his head, "You know that isn't the only possibility. He could come out a better man. If not...if the worst does happen...at least the realms will be safe. At least Asgard will be safe."

Loki's gaze darted between his mother and Odin. What was Odin planning? What would he be forced to endure?

Odin's eyes met Loki's. "I am sorry, my son, but this must be done."

When Loki understood, he screamed a protest through the muzzle, making Frigga burst into tears and run from the room. Betrayal swept through Loki hot and fresh. How can she leave me?

Loki's shackled wrists were bound to the bed posts. He saw Odin approach him with a box covered in runes which he sat beside his son on the bed. "This will need to come off," he said. Odin's voice was even, and Loki was able to detect the uneasiness and unhappiness in his tone. He reached out, undoing the muzzle from his son's face and removing it from his mouth. "Good luck," he said wearily, and Loki knew no more.

XxXxXxX

Loki awoke to see only darkness. He sat, momentarily disoriented, when he remembered everything - and stilled in fear. Something made a noise in the corner of the room, and soon the sound of something slithering across the floor met his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could block out the being approaching him. He knew what it was, and he knew what was coming. That didn't mean he was prepared for it.

The next few hours were the longest of his entire existence.

XxXxXxX

"He's been in there long enough!" Thor boomed loudly to his father. "Lock that vile thing up! Let me see my brother!"

Odin eyed his son. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt; Thor was ever so forgiving of his younger brother, never letting the cruel and sometimes idiotic behavior of his brother stand in the way. Odin could not afford to be so forgiving, not when he had Asgard to protect. Finally he responded, "Very well. Let his punishment be done." He stood from the throne, motioning a couple of guards to follow, and walked with his eldest son to Loki's quarters.

The sight they were met with was very disquieting. Loki sat up against the headboard, his head turned away and his eyes screwed shut.

When he realized his father and brother were in the room, Loki let out a low sound of fear and tried escaping from them. Odin stilled him, saying, "It is done, Loki. It has been locked away."

Odin then sighed and added, "Now is the most difficult part. You must deal with the trauma yourself, in silence. These threads will not be removed until you face your inner demons and find whatever solution you need to be at peace again."

Thor yelled, "Father, no!"

"Silence," Odin admonished. "Do you wish for your brother to be well? Do you wish for your relationship to be mended?"

"Aye," Thor said regretfully. "I do."

Without any further words, Odin began to sew Loki's lips shut.

XxXxXxX

Every day Thor would visit his brother in his room. It never mattered to him that they never communicated in any way: just the fact that his brother allowed his presence without any protest was enough. All Loki ever seemed to do was sit for hours at a time, his mind clearly in other places. He always was well mannered and never showed anything too distressing. Sometimes Frigga would come as well, which is when Thor would take his leave.

He would always make his way back, however. The night was when Loki was the worst.

The first night Thor went to check on his brother he found him curled up underneath his bed, covering his eyes and shivering. Thor had been unable to coax him out of hiding, so instead he sat against the bedside table and sat awake with him all night, weaving tales of adventure for him in the hopes that his mind would not be consumed by terror.

Most nights went similarly, until one day Loki stopped cowering. He curled up on his bed, turned on his side facing his elder brother. That night he fell asleep. Improvements were made every night after that, until Loki finally could rest without Thor's presence. He even became more active during the day, much to Thor, Frigga, and Odin's relief.

Finally, after much time had passed, Odin decided it was time to silence Loki no longer.

The first words that passed through Loki's lips were: "Thor, if you spend one more night at my bedside, I am locking my doors and setting traps." Thor knew from meeting his eyes that he was really saying, Thank you.

Thor laughed, unable to help the tear that slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away quickly before his father and brother would notice. His brother was back. His brother was okay. They would be a family again. Eventually. They still had many problems to work out, but they would take it one step at a time. Thor hoped beyond all hopes that Loki would not return to villainy again.

Thor clenched his jaws tightly to keep from laughing. Loki's eyes held a smirk, a glint of his old non-hurtful schemes. He had turned Odin All-father's cape a brilliant shade of hot pink. Mischief, on the other hand...

Well, the world wasn't the same without it.

Notes: Well, that story came out of nowhere. lol! I hope you guys don't think I butchered Loki's character. This is just wishful thinking for him on my part. I want him to forgive his family and himself. I want Thor and Loki to be brothers again. I'd like to think that after the ending of this story, Loki explained that he needed to find a way to get Thanos off of his tail, and Thor helped him. I just adore Thor's love for his brother, especially in the comics. I thought I was going to sob when Loki died during Siege and Thor said to Sif, "I miss my brother, beloved. I miss my brother." And when they make flashbacks for Thor and Loki in their youth...ugh. All the brotherly feels.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! If you see any mistakes or think anything is worded strangely, please let me know! I always like kind criticism. Especially since this wasn't beta'd.