It was supposed to be easier now.

It's over. He lost. The end.

But it's only gotten worse.

He can still hear those voices in his head. Thanos, the Other... they won't leave him alone.

He's tried not to let it show. He's tried not to let the guards see how far he's fallen, how haunted he's become. He doesn't need word getting back to his so-called family that he's truly begun to lose his mind.

Though he supposes it doesn't really matter if they were to hear what he's become. They've made it very clear that they don't care – that they've never cared, really. The only person who's ever truly cared about him was his mother, and she's the only one who's been forbidden from seeing him.

It's probably for the best. He would love to see his mother again, but more than that, he would hate for her to see what's become of her son in her absence.

Unworthy.

He can hear Thanos's voice growling in his head. He's unworthy – of Mjolnir; of the throne; of the warmth of a family's love. He had his chance to prove that wrong. He had a chance to prove that he was worthy, that he was a force to be reckoned with, that he had never been given the credit he so clearly deserved.

But he failed. He was bested by his brother once more, and now he's stuck in the solitude of this cell, far removed from both the people he loves and the people he hates. He doesn't know if that's a gift or a curse.

You could have had everything you'd ever wanted, the Other reminds him. But you threw it away.

"I didn't choose to fail," Loki mutters under his breath. He really did try. He just... he got too cocky. That was his downfall, ultimately. He got too cocky. He was too sure he could do it that he didn't even think to prepare for any obstacles he may face along the way.

He should have killed the so-called "Avengers" when he had the chance. Thor alone never could have bested him – and he takes a small amount of comfort in that. He may have failed, but it took a whole team to bring him down. Thor himself was never a threat to his success. If he'd been working alone, Loki would have all of Midgard under his thumb.

He really could have won, if he'd played it a little differently. Hell, he could have killed Thor if he'd been so inclined. If he'd known how this was going to end, he would have killed him. For a chance at changing his fate, he would have killed Thor in a heartbeat.

Your sentimentality gets the best of you, the Other's voice reminds him. You did this to yourself.

Loki leans his back against the wall of his cell and closes his eyes, his head falling back in exasperation. He knows his flaws. He understands his mistakes. He doesn't need the constant reminder of his failures.

He wonders what would have happened if he'd succeeded. What would have happened if he'd taken over that realm; if he'd been able to return both Infinity Stones to the Mad Titan and been left to his own devices as ruler of Midgard? He would have been happier, he's sure, than he is now. It would be hard to be less happy, really.

What would the Allfather have done, seeing his youngest son, his abandoned child, become the ruler of his own realm? Would he have tried to stop him, once the deed was done? Would he have tried to talk to him? Would he have finally realized that Loki always had something to offer, and that he'd been blind not to notice it?

What would Frigga have said? Would she have been proud to see what he'd become? Or would she have been ashamed to have ever called him her son? Does he even want to know?

He sighs and slides down the wall until he's seated in front of it, his knees pulled up to his chest. He's going to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement for one single failure. And, though it pains him to admit it, he deserves that. He failed what could have been – what should have been – the easiest thing he's ever done. If only he'd worked harder. He had the perfect plan. If he'd executed it better, then maybe...

But it doesn't matter. He failed. It's as simple as that. He had a chance to do something great, and he failed.

And now you'll never be free, Thanos growls in his ear.

Loki squeezes his eyes shut and clutches his head in his hands. "Stop it," he whispers. Stop talking to me. He knows he failed. He knows it. He doesn't need this constant reminder of his mistakes. He doesn't need this constant reminder of the people he let down – if he can even call those monsters 'people.'

Will this nightmare ever end? Will he ever be rid of these voices in his head? Or is he destined to be doomed by the mistakes of his past for the rest of his life; to never know a moment's peace again?

Though he hates to admit it, he'd deserve that. For following the whims of a mad man like he did, he deserves to be haunted for the rest of time. He just wishes he could be haunted by something else – by anything else. To hear that voice in his head every day... It will drive him mad, if he's not mad already.

Perhaps what scares him the most is that Thanos is still out there somewhere. He's still out there, without the Tesseract he sought and now without the scepter he entrusted Loki with. He must be fuming from his Sanctuary. He may well be concocting his plan for revenge as Loki sits idly by, letting the time pass in agonizing slowness.

His only hope is that he goes quickly. A year in Thanos's grasp was a nightmare in and of itself. He never wants to return to that. And to do it for years, until his body finally gives out from the tortures he'd be subjected to...

He couldn't.

He couldn't do it.

If Thanos comes for him, he will put an end to it, even if that means putting an end to himself before Thanos can do the same. He doesn't care if it's wrong; he doesn't care if it's the dishonorable thing to do. For his sake, for the sake of what little sanity he has left, he'd have to do it.

And then he hears Thanos's voice once more, a sinister snarl in his head. If you think death can help you escape what's coming, you may want to think again.

Loki swallows hard, hugging himself tight. He couldn't. He wouldn't. There's no possible way...

I own you, Loki. And you will never be free of me.

Loki buries his head in his hands.

What has he gotten himself into?