Takes place during events in The Avengers 

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

Loki heard Fury reply to his taunting, but he didn't hear the words from his mouth. In fact, he barely knew what he, himself, had just said. He was simply buying time, waiting for the moment when the Hulk would take center stage against a team that was barely his own, and when Loki could be free to make his escape. He didn't care at all about anyone on this floating fortress other than one; he only cared about where they were holding you and how he would reach you. If his connection to Barton was holding, the archer would already be following his orders to retrieve you and keep you safe.

"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

The one-eyed man was speaking again, certainly something grandiose and riddled with conceit and delusions, but Loki wasn't concerned with content at this point. His mind was divided as he kept just enough focus on the man to throw him off; Barton and his men were on the way, he could sense that, and soon you would again be at his side and they would see their insignificance as they bowed before him.

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close," Loki spoke again, "to have the Tesseract, to have power...unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," Nick scoffed, turning and finally leaving Loki alone, just as he had been waiting for.

Loki turned his back to face the rear wall, away from the few cameras that he could see, projecting his illusion of strength to appear still for anyone who cared to be watching. He couldn't wait any longer; the more he let his imagination get the best of him with how they might be torturing you or how they might be turning you against him, the more heightened his panic grew. Even though his mind was clouded by turmoil, he tried to reach out again despite the countless attempts that had ended in nothing but failure.

Where are you? Please, my love, answer me. Please.

~~~

In a room that was no more than a few hundred feet away from where Loki was being held, Thor stood guard at your door with arms tightly folded over his chest in his best show of determination to keep you there. Your history together went back for more years than were worth counting, and it was definitely a love/hate rollercoaster to say the least. Early on, Thor was one of your best friends, being the one to introduce you to his troublemaking brother; it was a decision that he came to regret years later due to things exactly like this. You and Loki were too perfect for each other, and Thor was the most prolific enabler of them all.

"Where did you take him?"

Thor stood silent, trying and failing to keep his attention from you; he made the mistake of looking at you as you waited for his reply, and he couldn't help but relax the angry posture that didn't reflect how actually felt. You were, for all intents and purposes, his sister in many ways, and to be the one assigned to keep you under lock and key amused and hurt his soul beyond measure. "That's not of your concern, (Y/N). He hasn't been harmed."

"Of course he hasn't," you scoffed, "that's not the SHIELD way, now is it? Merciful to a fault. Which leads me to ask, since when have you turned into such a company man?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You left Asgard to find us, did you not? Tell me, with the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-father have to muster to conjure you here?"

Thor's cheerful disposition faded just as quickly as it had appeared, and he stormed forward towards your cell, the heavy stomp of his feet enough to shake the glass wall that served to separate you both. You always knew that his bark was far worse than his bite, yet the slam of his fists against the barrier between you still took you aback a step. "Enough of this, (Y/N)! Stop playing to his will! Tell me his plans and I will keep you safe, I promise you. He has no control over you, and I will be sure that he never does."

"You say that as if I'm acting without choice, Thor. As if I am incapable of choosing my own path. Think you so little of me?"

"You know that I hold you in the highest regard. I always have, and I still believe in you to do what's right." He stood steady, his body so close to the glass that it nearly connected, just so that he could be next to you and so that he could command your attention. He wasn't trying to be overpowering, but it was something that he couldn't avoid as a man of his stature. He knew that it didn't intimidate you in the least, but he held out a little hope that it would at least make his point.

"I'm sorry that I've grown to be such a disappointment," you whispered, "but you should consider that your judgment of character is askew."

"Never," he answered, equally as softly in both tone and expression, "not with you."

"Thor, we need you in the lab," Nick's voice boomed across the room, "Romanoff got Loki to crack."

"Last chance, (Y/N)," he offered one more time, "make your choice before you stand on the wrong side where I cannot reach you."

"My choice was made long ago, old friend." When he turned to leave, the disappointment in you palpable as he walked away with hunched shoulders and a defeated shuffle of his feet, you felt the smallest pangs of guilt, but they weren't enough to sway your commitment. "Do not worry about me, Thor. Your precious little humans will need you far more than I."

~~~

It was only a matter of minutes after Thor left that the helicarrier began to shudder and alarms blared overhead; Barton must have finally arrived and the plan was underway. All you had to do now was to wait patiently for Loki to retrieve you, but patience was hardly a virtue that you held in the moment. You had yet to be able to connect to Loki since Thor had locked you away in this cell, realizing that there must be something within the walls that was keeping you from him. You wouldn't believe that it could be that he hadn't been trying to reach you as well, which had your intuition confirmed when the door to the room opened with loud yells that were quickly silenced by the man on the other side.

"(Y/N)?"

"Agent Barton," you nodded in confirmation.

He raised his bow hastily, though it did nothing to challenge his accuracy; with a quick draw back, he released an arrow that pierced the controls of your cell, allowing the door to open to your freedom. "This way," he commanded, not waiting to be sure that you were following. Barton led you into the hallway, taking you a few feet from your door only to stop abruptly with a point of his hand before running to his next target; it shocked you to see how close that Loki had been to you this entire time. "In there."

You had barely set one foot inside the doorway when you were greeted by Loki's arms around you, pulling you to him as if he hadn't seen you in years. "Are you alright? Did they harm you?"

"No, darling, I'm well. Tell me what you need of me."

"We need to get Thor into that cage," he set you down gently and turned, pointing to the glass cell that he had just escaped. "I want you to lure him in."

"Easy," you shrugged, "leave it to me."

"That's my love," he smiled, leaning in for a kiss, but before he could connect, the ship shook again under your feet. He straightened and looked past you towards the door, sensing that his plan was about to see its greatest moment yet. "Places, my dear. Stand ready by the controls and keep guard there. Once we have him in the cage, release it."

"Wait, what do you mean, release it?" you asked quietly. "That could kill him."

"Yes, I am aware."

When Loki had told you that his plan was to immobilize his brother and keep him from interfering, this wasn't what you thought that he meant. You were all for keeping Thor out of the way, but doing something like this was just going too far. The way Loki was looking at you as your mind raced with the reality of what was happening left you in a shocked silence; he was waiting for your reply, but you had none other than to nod blankly and shift your way from his grip to take your place as directed. He smiled faintly at your obedience and took his position just as Thor bounded into the room to see you both free of your containment.

"No!"

You watched Thor practically tumble into the cell, reaching out to grab what was a mere projection of his brother that he passed through like air. Everything around you began to move in slow motion; the door began to close, Loki's true form moved to your side, and the control panel that you were supposed to take charge of came to life. Looking from Loki to Thor and back, you found yourself struggling to commit your friend to his death.

"Darling?"

"Right," you jolted, smiling compliantly, but your eyes were locked with Thor's. Your hand drifted over the switch that would seal his fate, but you hesitated and it didn't escape Loki's attention.

"(Y/N)? Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not...but perhaps...it would be appropriate for you to do this. After so many years of waiting for this moment, I feel like I have no right to it."

"Always the thoughtful one. Thank you, my love." Loki had no hesitation in his motion to take your place, contrasting your reluctance to move from his way. You were thankful that he never once considered that you were rethinking the plan that he had crafted for so long, and that he was paying far more attention to Thor's face as he dropped from view over anything that you might be doing.

The cage held straight at first as it passed through each level of the carrier before finding only air beneath it. Just before the tumbling began, Thor had a moment of clarity that he never once expected, and a moment when his need to survive this became the only thing that he knew.

"Hey, big guy," you smiled, though your eyes were filled with panic and your body pressed to the glass as if it held any hope of keeping you upright with what was about to happen. "I think now would be a wonderful time to make good on that promise to keep me safe."

Back on the helicarrier, when Loki reached for your hand, only to pass though it like clearing away smoke to erase your projection, he was certain that the scream that erupted from his throat would reach you even as you fell away. He wasn't wrong.

Part 2

When your eyes opened for the first time after you were thrown from the cage, merely seconds before what would have been the certainty of your end, they were filled with dirt and stung as if shards of glass were impaled into their sclera. Your mind was scrambled and confused, trying to take in the surroundings of a world you didn't know through hazy vision, and trying desperately to find Thor; the last image you had of him was his failed attempt to grab your hand as you flew through the air, his fingertips just grazing yours before the hope of reaching you was gone.

"Thor?" you attempted, your voice gravelly and weak. "Thor, are you here?"

Once you cleared the grit from your eyes, allowing the tears to wash them clean, you rolled to your side with a wince of pain to see Mjolnir imbedded in the ground next to you. Convincing yourself that it wasn't the pain that was making your decision, you chose to stay where you were, knowing that if Thor was still alive, the hammer would respond. You stared at it, your breath held in anticipation of seeing it move, but it remained eerily still. There was no way that you could have survived the crash and he hadn't; you wouldn't allow it to be true. It was more likely that he had abandoned you out of anger and disappointment in the choices you had made, but it still didn't explain why Mjolnir had yet to shift.

"(Y/N)?" came his voice, finally, from just beyond a grove of trees that your body had barely missed crashing into. "(Y/N), answer me!"

"I'm here," you called back, hoping that the strength of your voice was enough to carry. Pushing through the breath that caught in your chest when you tried to move, you crawled up onto your knees, and then precariously onto your feet, stumbling to a small tree to grab ahold of to keep yourself upright. When your equilibrium calmed and you felt steady, you took a few steps towards his voice, but as your eyes lifted to see Thor approaching, it was only a matter of seconds before he was right in front of you with a grip on your arms that made you forget any pain that you were already in.

"People have died!"

"I know, and please believe me when I say that I am sorry for that."

"You could have died as well, (Y/N)! That was a stupid thing to do! You should have stayed at Loki's side! At least there you would be protected!"

"Am I not protected at your side, Thor? It was you who promised my safety, not Loki."

His sneer softened at your words, his grip lessening enough to set your feet back on the ground, though he had yet to release you. He wasn't sure who's side you were on, and even though there was nowhere to run, he couldn't take any chances. "Yes, you are safe at my side, that was not a false promise. However, you are not free of responsibility and I am not free of my duty in ensuring your restitution for the crimes that you have committed. You chose the wrong side, (Y/N)."

"It was not a matter of choosing sides, my friend. It's a matter of loyalty...and love, I would suppose."

"You sound as if you are not certain."

"It's not that," you answered quietly, lowering your gaze away, "it's that I don't know if that will be enough so that I will be forgiven."

"If that was your concern, why did you enter the cage with me? Why would you so blatantly disregard Loki's plan and put yourself at risk?"

You knew the answer, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to say, but in the moment as he stood over you, eager to hear your rationale, you couldn't find the words. Loki had been building his plan for too long, and with you at his side; you knew every step and every nuance. You could easily warn Thor as to what the next step would be, but as you had said yourself, there was a matter of loyalty. "I chose to stand with Loki, as I will continue to do upon our return," you began, feeling his grip tightening again, "but no matter what his plan is, and with no matter to my agreement or conflicts, one thing was certain in my resolve, and will always be so regardless of where we find ourselves to be. I couldn't stand by and let you die."

"There was no way to know if I would survive the fall, (Y/N)."

"Then I couldn't stand by and let you die alone."

~~~

The only way that Thor would agree to take you back with him was if you gave him your word that you would stay at his side, even if Loki tried to draw you in to and back to him. You were sure that Loki had assumed that you died in the fall with Thor, so you gave him your word, hoping that he would take it as truth so that you could find your way back to take your place in the battle that had been planned for far too long. The Chitauri were coming, and nothing would stop that; but you worried that if Loki tried to lead them under his own duress because of your loss, the war would be over before it could begin. All that was needed was for him to see you alive, even if that meant you were bound to stay at his brother's side, but once you had arrived at the epicenter of the event, it took all of your strength to not run to him.

"Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

"You can't!" he yelled back to Thor from atop his perch at Stark tower. "There is no stopping it! There is only the war."

"So be it." Thor steadied his stance and looked from his estranged brother and towards you as you stood ready just behind the glass windows of Tony's home. With a quick nod, you made your move, walking out onto the platform to where Loki could see you.

"Loki, I'm here."

"(Y/N)?" he gasped, leaning in with a squint of his eyes in the bright sun, unsure of whether or not he could trust his own vision. "I thought I would never see you again." Loki stood still for a moment, watching you take a few steps away from Thor and towards him, but his expression shifted from disbelief to acceptance quickly. He took a step back and straightened, extending his open hand to you. "Come, darling. There is work to be done."

"Do you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to be forgiven."

"(Y/N), remember your promise," Thor warned, taking a step closer to you. "You are to stay at my side. Look around you. Do you think this madness will end under his rule?"

"It's too late to stop it."

"No, we can. Together."

The power that Loki had over you was unmistakable, and you could feel it take hold with each passing moment that your eyes were locked with his. You knew what you had to do in order to take your rightful place next to him; it would break the promise that you had made to your friend, but that meant nothing when compared to the promise that you had made to Loki long before. "Hmm, sentiment," you sneered, spinning on your heel to face him, your hand spearing a dagger into his side before taking quick steps back. Loki jumped down and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you to the ledge of the building and leaping into seemingly nothing.

"(Y/N)!" Thor screamed out for you through his pain, crawling to the edge to look for you. When the two of you flew past him and into the distance, he groaned in both relief and frustration, cursing himself for being so stupid as to believe that you were ever on his side.

~~~

"What did you think you were doing? I thought you dead, (Y/N)."

"You never told me that your plan was to kill him." You held your grip tight on Loki's waist as he flew the Chitauri chariot over the city, but it almost felt as if he were taking corners a little too close just to spite you.

"I was unaware that it was required of me to clear my decisions with you."

"I could say the same."

"If the opportunity presents itself again, (Y/N), I will succeed. Know that," he warned. You were about to retort, but his hand raised and thrust back just in front of your face; you startled as if he were about to connect, but instead, his hand closed around one of Barton's arrows before it could strike you down. "After I kill that one, of course," he hissed, shooting a cold stare towards the archer.

"I can't allow you to kill Thor, Loki. Please understand that it has nothing to do with my allegiance, nor my love for you. He is as much my brother as he is yours, and I cannot stand by while his life is taken by your hand. You may not see it now, but it would be a regret that you would suffer with for years to come." You could feel the muscles of his abdomen tighten and the expansion of his chest as he took a deep breath to maintain his calm at your words and your lack of respect for his rule. You didn't worry that he would put you in danger willingly, but it was a mistake that could be the final one you would ever make.

"Well," he sighed, his voice calm, "that is truly unfortunate."

"Loki-"

Your words were cut off before you could say any more; he tipped the chariot enough so that when he pulled your hands from around his waist, you slipped from the seat and into the thin air below with nothing to stop your descent before you could smash into the hard concrete. You didn't have enough time to react, barely getting a final glimpse of his profile before falling away; he didn't even have the courtesy to look at you again before letting you go. You resolved yourself to your fate and closed your eyes for the impact, hoping that there was a chance for you to survive just as you had done when the cage that held you and Thor crashed only hours before. With the injuries from that still affecting you, the chances of surviving this were slim, and he must have known that as well as you.

"Woah! Woah, heads up," you heard a voice echo from just below, reverberating between the buildings over the sounds of thrusters that stalled just long enough for Tony to stop and catch you. "Well, hello there, sweetheart. Nice of you to drop by. I happen to know a guy who would love to see you."

~~~

After a few short hours more of battle that proved once and for all that Loki had misjudged the people of this planet, you again found yourself at Thor's side, only this time you were shackled at your hands and feet with your chain held firmly in Steve's hands while his new friend said his goodbyes. He had yet to say a single word to you since Tony delivered you to him, but the unspoken speech that he wanted to berate you with was clear in every look that he shot your way. Thor's disappointment in you couldn't be questioned, and you didn't argue with how you deserved it.

You stood silently, almost stoic in your posture, though you didn't feel it at all. You were surrounded by the Avengers, and despite the acceptance of your guilt, you weren't about to let them see how weak you felt in their presence. You wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing the pain that you were feeling when Thor led Loki to stand before you, his mouth muzzled so that he couldn't speak to you.

"I am sorry," you whispered softly to him, glancing to Thor to be sure he wasn't listening, "but when we return to Asgard, I will do whatever I must to convince the All-Father that I was under your control. It is clear to me now that your love was only to achieve a desired end, and I cannot let that go unpunished."

His answer was a subtle nod, still avoiding your eyes. After Dr. Selvig placed the Tesseract into its container, Loki took the handle at one end as Thor took the other. He held his open hand out to you to take, waiting unexpectedly patiently while Steve removed the chain that bound you in place.

"(Y/N), it is time to go. Take my hand." When you didn't immediately comply, your eyes shifting from one Avenger to another, he took a step to the side to bring himself closer, his expression shifting to one of concern. "(Y/N)? Remember what I said. Do not stand on the wrong side where I cannot reach you. Unlike my brother, I am one to keep the promises that I have made."

"I will remember," you said in a whisper, finally reaching out for him. With a quick turn of a hand and a bright flash of blue, the three of you were gone, leaving the group left behind to wonder how soon it would be before they encountered you again.