"What if...."Frigga Stayed

Long Days Logged

A/N: Because of a request made I have decided to continue this fic. Hope you enjoy and if there are story elements you want me to include then by all means tell me and I will try and make it work!

Frigga would visit almost every day to help Loki through his imprisonment. And though her presence helped, his incarceration took its toll. Most days he would read the books that his mother would send, watch the creatures who entered the dungeons, and pace his cell like a caged animal...but there were exceptions. On some days he would lash out as his surroundings, on others he would not even get out of bed.

Loki felt undeserving of Frigga's love and told her so many times.

But one thing was clear to Frigga... Loki was her son, no matter what he has done and what he will do, he will always be her son that she loves with all her heart.

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It was a bad day.

Not just bad.

Terrible.

He was abruptly startled by the loud shouts and hollers of his fellow inmates early that morning. He had restlessly tossed and turned the entire night but found himself unable to fall asleep because of the dark memories and visions that plagued his mind. Because of this, every noise sounded like shouts in his ears for the entire morning. It didn't help that they never shut off the damned blinding white lights in every cell, even at nighttime.

His shoulder still ached from a few days earlier when he had hit it against the wall in anger and frustration. Apparently, according to the healer, he had broken his entire upper arm by doing so. Though he healed faster than humans, it still was gonna hurt like hel for more than a few days.

Then Odin had come down, not to see him but to take care of another matter entirely. When Loki saw him pass by without so much as a glance, he felt a wide range of emotions. Anger, relief, panic, and most of all, hurt. His heart ached at the thought of the father he had looked up to in childhood, only to be squashed by the sudden realization that his real father was a monster, and he himself was a runt, meant to die, saved only to be used as a tool in a twisted game.

He covered himself up with an illusion and fell back onto his chair, his arms hugging his knees close to his chest. He shivered like a leaf in the wind and his eyes were burning with tears, but he would not let any fall.

By the time he had calmed himself down, it was only midday. He had a steadily growing headache that was increased when he held back his tears, so it now felt like someone was trying to bash his head in.

The midday meal was passed around and Loki found out very quickly he could not stomach it. He felt nauseous after just a few bites and quickly made his way to the secluded washroom hidden inside one of the walls.

After emptying the small amount of contents in his stomach, he sat back heavily on the hard floor. He put his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut from the pain. Shivers racked his body.

Just when he thought he couldn't take any more of it, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder.

"Loki?" his mother asked in a gentle voice. She looked at Loki closely, then she saw some of what had happened and knelt next to Loki, holding his quivering figure. She softly lifted him off the ground and ordered the guards to open the barriers.

The last thing Loki saw was his mother's kind face telling him everything would be alright. Then everything turned to black.

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The first thing he heard upon awakening was arguing.

He is a criminal! Just because you care for him like a son does not mean that--

He is my son! And I will not abandon him!

I cannot allow this! My sentence was fair and just for his actions. He should have died, be glad I spared him that!

It is your sentence that caused this!

Loki stopped listening at that point, not wanting to hear any more of their bickering. He tried to discretely figure out his surroundings and after a quick peek at the room around him, he knew he was in the healing chambers.

His arm still ached and his throat burned from earlier, but at least the headache was almost gone.

He tried to rub his eyes but found that he could not move his hands. Another quick peek told him that he was chained to the cot he lay on. Of course. Why am I not surprised!

He opened his eyes slowly. Thankfully the room was dark so they didn't have to adjust so much. His mother finally had noticed his awakening and immediately stopped arguing and went over to him. She held his hand as she pushed a stray hair behind his ear. "How are you feeling?"

After a glance at Odin, he looked back at his mother. "What were you arguing about?" he asked, sleep still laced in his voice.

She sighed a bit and caressed his cheek. "Do not worry yourself with it. Just rest for me, alright?"

He looked at Odin and saw nothing but hatred in his eyes. He knew his mother would not keep anything important from him, but he still worried a bit. He gave his mother a slight nod. she planted a small kiss on his forehead and whispered that she loves him before leaving the room, practically dragging Odin with her. He looked around the room a bit more before his eyes settled on a window at the close end of the room. Loki silently thanked his mother for this, for he knew that this was her doing.

The ever-present stars of the Asgardian sky twinkled in the waning moonlight and Loki smiled a bit as the first rays of the sun peaked above the horizon to signal the start of a new day