A/N: It came to our attention today that we have named the majority of our Thor and Loki stories in this series (I say majority, because "He's like the Sun" and "Expectations" were written by just me) after various lyrics from Florence + The Machines songs. Just an interesting observation...

Here we go again. Pre-Thor again, and still in our series. Enjoy!

It Comes with a Price

He really did need to learn to say no. Thor would continue to pull him into these impossible situations until he learned that his little brother wouldn't follow him into them blindly forever. It hadn't been Loki who had made a thoughtless bet with a shifty-eyed Dwarf, nor Loki that had lost said bet, therefore losing his brother's most prized hammer Mjolnir to its creator's kin. Somehow, though, it was Loki who was expected to come up with a plan to retrieve the thunder god's hammer from the Dwarf's abode in Nidavellir, and Loki who now found himself inside said dwelling - a rather large structure that could only have been built by the crafting hands of the Dwarves - searching for the weapon. He had urged his brother to stay outside, knowing that his heavy footsteps would alert anyone within earshot of their movements. That was how he found himself pressed up against the wall of a room, trying to keep his breathing quiet and steady as he cloaked himself in a spell that should, if he stayed still enough, conceal his whereabouts as the owners of the place looked for their unwelcomed guest who already had the worst of reputations amongst their people. Loki really did have to learn to say no.

He slipped through a half open doorway and found himself in what appeared to be a minor banquet hall. Minor for the dwarves, of course, meaning it could still seat two hundred of their brethren. Only the middle table had been set and left behind, the hammer in the midst of the feast leftovers. It was only when he was upon the table and about to seize it that he cursed his cleverness - or his own stupidity. In leaving Thor behind he had guaranteed a clean getaway. The getaway would be without the hammer, though, for without Thor the hammer would only serve to stretch Loki's muscles as he attempted to lift it from it's home nestled amongst the meats and cheeses. He would have to bring Thor back anyway, or convince the careless fool to leave it behind.

Loki sighed and leaned a hip against the side of the table. His eyes fell on a corked bottle of wine, and two untouched glasses. Perhaps it would serve as distraction enough to get them out of this mess.

He held the small treasures in his hands, conjuring them away to an unseen place where he could call for them later. It was a useful trick he'd just mastered and he was pleased to make use of it at last. He could hear yelling down the hall and the sound of much smaller feet trampling down the grand hallway. He started for the window only to catch the eye of a single Dwarf that had happened to come to check on their prize. The axe might have been meant to hit him, but it shifted through the double that he left behind as he pulled himself up onto the window ledge and jumped the several feet down to the grassy field below. He was only grateful that they had not decided to stow away in the lower levels of the fortress or in their mines, which would have made for a much slower, less clean escape.

He glanced back, hearing the shouts behind him. Perhaps not so clean after all.

He raced off across the field, knowing that he would be spotted, but having little choice. He was quicker than his pursuers, and he'd have a good few minutes on them before they reached the place where he'd told his brother to wait for him.

He sighted his brother and breathed a prayer of thanks that he hadn't moved, wandered away, or worse, followed him into the fortress in an effort to be helpful. "We have to go!" Loki announced in way of greeting as he reached the blond.

Thor arched one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Do you have it?" he asked.

Loki leaned against a tree trunk and caught his breath. "Well, no. Not exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly?" Thor asked. He was beginning to get that stubborn look around his eyes, the one that told Loki that his brother would be marching back across the fields himself, through a sea of dwarves if necessary to retrieve it.

"First off, it was heavily guarded. Secondly, it is rather exhausting using magic consistently for long stretches of time and then running for ones life which leads me to point number three, I was discovered. So, I know where it is which is almost the same as having it. And I did bring a gift." Loki said. The wine appeared in his hands instantly and he offered it with a charming smile.

"But that's not Mjolnir," Thor grumbled.

Loki opened his mouth and then shut it immediately, biting his tongue against a harsh remark on Thor's intellect and his abilities to perceive the obvious. "If you'd like some, you should have some, but if you don't, I shall have it all for myself," the younger brother said instead, green eyes sparking.

"I'd have some, but I'd rather have Mjolnir, all things considered." Thor snatched the bottle from his brother, taking a long swig without bothering with the glass that Loki offered.

The dark haired Asgardian rolled his eyes and murmured something or the other about manners. "We really should go. They'll be right behind me."

"You go ahead. Wait at the Bifrost. I'll be there shortly." Thor said, taking another deep swig from the bottle.

Loki gaped at him. "You cannot be serious. You surely do not mean to infer that you're going back to the fortress. All the lies of pretty maidens hoping to reach greatness in your bed are going to your mind, brother. You may be strong but even you cannot defeat a thousand dwarves."

"They will not harm me." Thor said, popping his back and then his neck.

Loki winced. "They will not kill you. There is a difference, pray remember. And try not to drink the whole bottle. It would be better, no matter what we do, were you not staggering about." Loki said, snatching the wine from him.

"Some of us are not built as lightly as you, brother!" Thor answered with a boisterous laugh, grabbing it back again and drinking from it.

Loki let out a frustrated breath, took it back, and smashed it against the rocks. "And some of us do not have our wits dulled so easily!" He peered around his brother, ignoring his protests of good wine wasted, and saw the Dwarves approaching. "Come on! Whatever it is we do, we shouldn't be caught here."

"Afraid, Loki?"

"Cautious. There is a difference, and it might do you some good to learn a measure of caution." He grabbed his brother's arm, pulling him after as he started deeper into the thicket. He could feel Thor begin to slow behind him and he turned to unleash another round of insults to see Thor's face drawn in a painful way. He pushed him behind several large, fallen logs and they ducked down together.

Thor sat down heavily, his head going to his hands as if the entire world spun around him. Loki's irritation immediately shifted to worry as he placed a hand on the larger Asgardian's shoulder. "Thor? Brother? Are you well?"

Thor shook his hand off. "I am fine. Too much sun followed by too much quick wine. We should continue."

Loki frowned and he searched his brother's face for truthfulness. Thor had many excellent qualities, the fine art of deception not being chief among them. "What? You do not wish to circle around and take them from behind?" the dark haired god jibed.

"They will care for it with painstaking efforts, as they created it. I do not fear for its integrity. Let us go back before Father is aware of what we have...gotten ourselves...into." Thor coughed harshly, bringing his hand to his mouth.

Loki's hand still hovered over his brother's shoulder and he jerked back slightly, startled. Thor was never sick, and it was certainly never this sudden.

Thor turned away and coughed again. "Go, Loki. We must go." he said.

Loki grabbed his shoulder again and pulled him back to face him. Thor wiped the palm of his hand against his pants. Green eyes flickered downward and latched onto a small smear of discoloration. He grabbed at Thor's hand instantly, not giving the elder prince any room to move away, and turned it over so he could see. A bit of red stained white palms, standing out starkly against it. Thor's face had gone several shades paler within moments and fear clawed at the god of mischief. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" he murmured, hand going to his brother's face. He had gone clammy, beads of sweat already beginning to form. It was too fast. They needed to find a way out.

Loki's keen mind flew into overload, searching for the best escape. There was no way that Thor was moving from that spot, not by his own power at this rate. Certainly the Dwarves had not meant to poison the sons of Odin. There must be some explainable mistake at works here. "Stay here," Loki murmured, decision made.

Thor almost reached for him, to stop him from leaving, but resisted at the last second. There was a time -maybe not so long ago- that he would not have hesitated, that reaching for his brother would have been the natural response, but they were older now. Time was slipping away from them more quickly with every passing year and decade and soon one of them would be named heir to the throne of Asgard, the chosen son. As much as their father had told them when they were children that they were both made to rule, it was becoming more and more evident that only one of them was meant to rule Asgard in Odin's stead. And so as time was slipping away, they were slipping away from each other and it was beyond Thor as to how to keep the closeness of their youth. So he let Loki slip out of sight, even as he felt his chest spasm and coughed more blood into his hand.

Loki spotted the dwarves approaching and held his hands up with a broad smile on his lips. "Peace, friends," he called out. "No one is running from you. Why do you chase with axes as if you mean to dice us?"

"We ought to, Silvertongue," one dwarf answered, eyeing him suspiciously. "When you appear from nowhere for no particular reason, it never bodes well for us."

Loki continued to smile, chuckling slightly as he did so. "No one has wronged you."

"You came to wrong us. We won Mjolnir back from your brother fairly, which is more than it might be said when a deal is done with you."

"Now, how fair might it be with my brother as the deal-maker? You know he is slower to think and quicker to speak and boast."

One dwarf raised an axe, causing the dark haired prince to take a step back. "And why did you stop, princeling?"

"Surely you meant no harm to come to a son of Odin. Your wine has set wrongly with my brother and he needs to return safely to Asgard. What will you require from me to make this happen?"

A dwarf called Elpin considered. "Much should be required from you. You have caused us no end of strife. You should have known better than to come here. I cannot imagine that Odin Allfather did not expressly forbid your presence in our lands. Perhaps we will be kind and return you already disciplined."

Loki tilted his head and tried not to let his smile become nervous. "Surely my lords, we could make repayment of some kind. We are not children to be slapped on the hand and sent to bed without supper."

Elpin smiled, a frightening look on a dwarf of his disposition. "No. The sons of Odin are no longer children, and we are no nursemaids. Come. We will think of some way for you to make restitution."

The nervousness set deeper into him and Loki's smile faded. "I fear you do not understand me, friend. My brother is ill. He must return to Asgard without delay."

Elpin continued his twisted smile. "You shall return, prince, when we are done with you."

TBC

A/N: I hope this is matching up to what you've come to expect from this little series. This is leading up to another story that will technically come after "Breath of Life." We haven't started writing it yet, but the ideas have been bouncing around in between us.

Please let us know if you like it!