You escaped back to 'your' suite and Loki the second you were able without flatly running away. You couldn't let Balder see that you were afraid. And you were afraid, afraid of him, afraid of what he was going to do, and damn afraid of whatever he meant by 'our work begins tomorrow'.

You had to get out of there before Balder decided to block your powers, or worse. You were actually surprised that he hadn't blocked them already, only your ability to teleport out of the mansion. There was probably also something keeping you from outright killing him, and you were sure it had to do with Loki's safety, which is why you hadn't tried it yet.

Loki was standing by the door waiting for you. You were glad he was doing better enough to be standing there waiting for you. You rushed to him and wrapped your arms around him the second you were inside, clutching him tightly, probably too tightly. You were scared and you were both in a really bad situation without a lot of hope that you could see. Your wits weren't helping you come up with a plan to get you out of there either.

You had one partial plan and it was really stupid, so you were saving that for desperation or a last resort, so you were really hoping to avoid using it.

"Shh, it's ok, darling," Loki soothed while you held on to him too tightly. He stroked your hair and held you in his safe embrace. "It will be alright. Whatever he's planning, he's not going to hurt you." You weren't quite sure you believed him on that point. Balder wasn't exactly logical all the time, and he was more than a little crazy. "Come, darling, let's get you out of those awful clothes and into something more comfortable," he bid gently. Had anyone else said that to you, they would have gotten slapped, or worse, but this was Loki, and he meant what he said. He wanted you in actually more comfortable clothes and knew you were uncomfortable being dressed up sexily for Balder.

You were soon back in the pajamas that were supposed to be Loki's, cuddled in his arms in the bed.

"By the way, why are both of our arms decorated now?" you asked him. You hadn't gotten a chance to ask yet, but both of your arms had soulbond marks, as did both of Loki's. "Also, they did bring you dinner, right?" you demanded, remembering that too. They were supposed to bring him something to eat. You didn't quite believe that they actually would.

"Yes, love. I ate," he chuckled at your willingness to defend him. Despite that you were at a disadvantage, you would defend Loki. "And you reforged the soulbond between us. This is the first I've ever heard of that a soulbond has been reforged. I do not know how it happened either. We will have to ask Mother when we return to Asgard," he answered, sounding just as perplexed as you felt. You didn't mind the new marks, though it felt strange and more powerful? More deeply powerful? You couldn't quite tell.

"I was hoping you'd know. I don't mind, but it is weird. And the marks seem like they're... etched in deeper or something,"

He nodded. "Yes, I feel it too, but I do not know how or why,"

You tried again that night to reach someone via telepathy, or reach past the shields with your magic at all, but it just wasn't happening, not without a lot more power than you had at your disposal.

You spent a long while more talking with Loki that evening about soul bonds, but neither of you came up with anything new, and eventually, you fell asleep wrapped in each others' arms.

*

You were woken early by the servant the next morning. She had another skimpy outfit for you to wear that day with her. You tried to protest, but she insisted that Balder had requested it specifically. It was nearly identical to the 'dress' from the previous night. You hated wearing such a thing and hated even more leaving the safety of 'your' bedroom. You had to let her drag you from the room, though you did get her promise that she would make sure Loki ate something. She didn't seem like she was lying to you, either, which was reassuring. You were good at spotting lies thanks to Loki's abilities. You didn't want to have to worry about Loki. You had enough to worry about for yourself.

You were led to a room that was a clone of the vault from Balder's last mansion. "Good morning, pet. You are intelligent enough not to fight me, are you not?" Balder asked pleasantly. You wanted to strangle him just for that pleasant greeting. It was too early for this shit. "I would hate to have to have these strong men force you to behave," the room held four huge bulking men, besides Balder. You didn't have enough magic to fight all of them, not when your power was still healing and strengthening Loki.

"What do you want?" you asked, warily, though you had a good idea what he wanted, and what he had brought you here for.

"I want you to lie down on the table and be quiet while I gift you with all of these powers," Balder replied pleasantly. That sounded like a terrible idea. No, a stupid-ass idea. You couldn't help backing a step away, terrified. You remembered how much the first power had hurt. "Pet, you don't want to fight me. I will win, and your lover will suffer," he reminded you, his voice still pleasant. You loathed that he was threatening your Loki, but you knew you were outmatched at the moment.

You had to bide more time.

"I'm not fighting," you told him, letting him hear the fear in your voice.

"There is no need to be afraid, kitten. You're perfectly safe. Come on," he bid, offering you his hand and waving the hulking men away. You didn't have a choice. You hated not having a choice, but Loki's safety was on the line, even moreso than your own. You took his hand and let him lead you to the table in the middle of the room, though you loathed every moment of it. The table was set at about his waist height. Balder lifted you by the waist and set you on the table effortlessly, though you flinched at his touch. You hated being touched without permission, hated strange men touching you, especially after you'd been raped. "Lie down, pet." You did what you were told, hating every second of it, and hating it worse when he used chains on your wrists and ankles to secure you in place. You panicked, fighting and crying from terror and PTSD, screaming as you pulled at your bonds, shrieking and your powers flaring. "Shh," Balder said. "You're ok. This is just so you remain still while you place the powers. No harm will come to you," he promised. Still, you screamed and cried, and fought, your mind remembering that terrible party, the terrible night when you'd been drugged and your powers reawakened by force. Balder's only response was to shove a wad of cloth in your mouth. "None of that. I haven't hurt you." You couldn't even think enough to contact Loki, to get his support in this hell.

Balder left the side of the table briefly but came back with a giant basket of the power spheres. You just stared at it in shock and horror. That was a lot of powers. A lot of powers. One by one, Balder held the spheres to your chest and said the word that put the power inside of you. You screamed at each and every one, long past the point where your voice gave out and your tears were spent. They all hurt like hell. You weren't supposed to have any of those powers. They weren't yours and your body knew it. You felt fevered and sick after the third or fourth one and were a helpless wreck long before the end of that torture.

You were nearly unconscious from it all before the end. That wasn't the worst part. The very worst part was Balder taking your right hand in his and reciting words that were familiar, but he had changed them. You couldn't pay attention to the changes, you could barely register the words at all. You couldn't move as he yanked the gag from your mouth and forced a kiss upon you, and couldn't fight the magic that burned into your arm

"Take her back to my brother, let's see if the consort still claims to love her after this," Balder demanded once he was done. One of the men lifted your limp body from the table. It took one on each side of you to hold you on your feet and drag you back to your suite, your limbs too heavy for you to walk on your own. They shoved you roughly inside where you collapsed into Loki's waiting arms.

"Loki-" you murmured in a whispered croak too weak and tortured, too hoarse to be from anything from torture.

"Hush, darling. You're safe now," Loki soothed.

You collapsed in his arms with a whimper and remembered no more.