title: End of Our Time

notes: Lokane Pacific Rim AU

disclaimer: I own nothing.

The world was under attack and nations scrambled to get their armies together. Not soon enough, governments united to build the Jaeger Program to combat the monsters (kaiju, horrible kaiju) rising from the sea.

The day Loki Odinson was hailed the best Jaeger ranger in the world was the day he retired from the Program. It was traumatizing to witness your only brother's death in the hands (claws, more likely) of a monster. It was even more traumatizing to be connected to your brother's mind when his body and soul was forcefully taken from this world.

Nevermind that after Thor was ripped from Thunder Trickster, Loki was still able to pilot the gigantic war machine and kill the kaiju. He became the only person to successfully pilot a Jaeger alone, kill a kaiju, and survive. And people said he wasn't strong enough. Look who's stronger now.

But his brother was a big price to pay, the same people said. True.

Loki Odinson was never going into the Drift again.

Loki was retired from the Program but he still consulted from time to time, a little training for aspiring rangers here and there. It was hard to avoid Jaegers and kaiju altogether given that his adoptive father headed the world's Jaeger Program. Marshal Odin was infamous for working hard and driving people to the ground.

Odin was committed to the Program, that was for sure. So it wasn't much of a shock for his staff when he showed up to work the day after Thor died, 0800 hours sharp. He spent exactly 30 minutes (nothing more, nothing less) checking up on Loki in the hospital. He never went back, even on the day Loki was discharged.

"I'm sorry for being the one who survived, Father," he spat one day. He wasn't having a good one. (He wasn't having good nights either, with the constant nightmares.) "We all know you'd rather have your real son here with you."

As Loki stormed out of Odin's office, he didn't hear his father's soft, "No, Loki." I'd rather have you both.

On days Odin was feeling particularly hopeful, he allowed new ranger hopefuls (Trainees, Loki sneered.) to spar with Loki, just to see if he found someone as good as him. If he found someone Drift compatible, just like Thor was.

"You're trying to create another 'dynamic duo'. You'll fail, surely," Loki snorted.

Loki was right. No one was. No one could keep up with him and this created half feelings for Loki. Half relieved because he knew no one could ever replace his older brother. Half disappointed because sometimes he just wanted someone to share in the madness the Drift left inside his mind when Thor was unforgivingly ripped from it.

Pain pain pain – the right hemisphere is starting to flicker off and there's a drumming noise inside his head that's getting louder – there's screaming, too and he doesn't know if it's him or Thor or maybe both of them – Brother, please! – And there is a sword and it slices through kaiju guts and there is blood – blood blood blood everywhere and it's in his nose and mouth and ears, kaiju and human mixed together.

There was madness inside of him. But he tried to hide it between insults and a scathing wit.

"If you're the best the program can come up with, humanity is surely going to fail."

It was madness to go back into the Drift anyway, he thinks. Especially if you lost half of yourself before. When you live in someone else's head for so long, the hardest part is the silence when you're suddenly alone.

Loki was always alone.

Loki was smart and he appreciated science (it was science that got those Jaegers up and running) but sometimes the scientists Odin brought to the base were annoying as hell. There were these two guys that ranted on and on about how amazing kaiju are and how they want to see one live and up close. Crazy fanatics.

They were crazy but they don't have the echo of the Drift in their minds. They were crazy but they don't have madness inside their heads.

The kaiju just kept getting stronger and humanity was getting even more desperate. More and more money were being burned by new Jaeger technology but more and more rangers were never coming back.

And thus, the Jaeger Program was going to be shut down in favor of massive coastal walls that everyone hoped would hold.

"One last maneuver," Marshal Odin pleaded. "I think I've found someone who can help."

"You have eight months."

The new scientist Odin brought in today was different. She was a tiny young woman but looked serious and professional – compared to the kaiju fanatics, she definitely belonged to the sane and credible side of the scientists' spectrum.

She was formally introduced to Loki one day in an elevator. "Dr. Jane Foster," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm did some studies regarding the breach."

Sometimes Loki caught her staring at him in the cafeteria. "I know his story," he overheard her say once. "The best surviving Jaeger pilot, huh?" she paused. "I imagined him differently."

"The breach serves as a sort of wormhole to the kaijus' world – something we can call an Einstein-Rosen Bridge," Dr. Foster explained to the people of the dome. Her brown eyes were wide and eager, as if she was a new recruit who hasn't experienced bloodshed and madness. Which, she was. "We take down this Bridge, and the kaiju won't have a way to get to us."

"We've tried bombing the breach before," someone interjected. "It never worked."

Everyone turned to Marshal Odin. "I have a plan."

In between working on something that could close the breach and socializing with her fellow men and women of science in the dome, Jane was able to find time to try the Jaeger simulator. Loki knew this because at nights when he couldn't sleep (in the midst of silence there is still an echo of the Drift in his head and it gave him nightmares), he walked around the dome and saw her in the training room battling some digital kaiju.

He thought nothing of it. Everyone in the dome tried the simulator at least once, just to know what they were really up against. Everyone was always curious.

And so Loki's curiosity over Jane's frequent trips to the training room won one night and he waited for her to finish to have a little chat. He checked his watch – it was almost sunrise (0400 hours into the day) and she was able to complete two drops that night.

Jane was nervous when she saw him outside.

"My father was an engineer – he helped build some of the prototype Jaegers. That's why I know how to operate one. I'm not exactly new to a dome," she admitted. She turned away but hesitated. "He was killed in the attack on Alaska a few years back."

Ah the classing tale of revenge. He gave her a dismissive nod and went inside the training room. Maybe he'd do some runs on his own, just to tire him enough to have a dreamless sleep. (God forbid he relives Thor's death in his nightmares again and again.)

A look of disbelief crossed Loki's face as he saw the stats on the monitor.

Authorization Code 0624152
User: Dr. Jane Foster
Drops: 26
Successful Missions: 26

Perfect kills in the 16 days she'd been in the dome. That was almost as good as Loki, Thor, and their father.

"We need the best rangers we can get," Odin told him. "Please reconsider."

The Warriors Three had fallen, together with the three men that piloted it. The Winter Soldier was buried with its rangers deep under the Pacific Ocean, beyond salvation. There were now only two Jaegers left: Odin's old Golden Allfather and Loki's (and Thor's, don't forget) revamped Thunder Trickster. 17 days left until Odin's master plan must be executed.

Loki dropped by Odin's bunk late into the night. "I'll screen men day after tomorrow."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jane Foster's frown go even deeper, if that was physically possible. This was Loki's eleventh match and he was able to beat all ranger hopefuls in less than three minutes each. No one was Drift compatible with him.

"Four points to zero!" The twelfth man was down. Loki looked to rest of the candidates. "This is useless, Father. I can pilot with you and I'm sure Heimdall will be able to find someone compatible with him in this bunch."

"We've tried before and it didn't work out," Odin signaled to the next candidate.

Loki beat him easily, too. He glanced up and saw Jane Foster still watching from the sidelines, brows furrowed. He strode up to her and sneered, "Okay what? You don't like how it's going out? You imagined this differently, too?"

"Excuse me?" Jane's face was red.

"Every time a match ends, you make this little – ," Loki made a face, "Gesture. Like you're critical of their performance."

"It's not their performance – it's yours!" she responded defiantly. "You could've taken down all of them two moves earlier. "

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Can we change this up?" Loki looked to Odin. "How about we give her a shot?"

Jane realized the hastiness of her words and fearfully turned to Odin. "I am not ignorant of your trips to the training room, Dr. Foster," he finally said. "Go."

So they sparred and they were both so graceful and vicious at the same time. It was more like dance than combat. They end with a 4-4 score, a simultaneous hit at the end. And they both knew.

Odin's voice rang clear. "This afternoon, 1800 hours at Mission Control." And they both understood.

Loki Odinson has finally found a new Drift compatible ranger in the small form of girl genius Dr. Jane Foster.

"I'm going to take the right side, if you don't mind. My left arm's kind of shot."

Jane strapped herself to her side of the cockpit. "Sure."

"The Drift can be overwhelming at times," Loki reminded. "Remember, don't chase the rabbit. Brain impulse triggers memories. Just let them flow, don't latch on. Tune them out, stay in the Drift. The Drift is silence."

"I know." She looked at him. "Don't worry. I can do this. Don't worry," she repeated to herself.

Initiating Neural Handshake. Ready to activate the Jaeger.

And suddenly –

Loki is Jane and Jane is Loki – Loki is smiling as he graduates top of the class with his Astrophysics degree – Jane is smiling as she tries to catch up with Thor, forever teasing her and playing games – Loki is crying as Uncle Erik tells him the terrible news of the kaiju attack in Alaska – Jane is crying as she holds the hands of her dying mother, and Odin is never the same again – Loki is laughing as he gets all his theories on other worlds affirmed by the best scientists – Jane is laughing as Thor gives her a congratulatory thump on the back after their first Jaeger mission –

And suddenly –

Jane and Loki are in a badly damaged Thunder Trickster and the lights are flickering and Thor – Thor, where is Thor? – Pain pain pain and there's a drumming noise inside their heads – And there is a sword – Blood blood blood everywhere and it's in their noses and mouths and ears –

They were reliving it again and again and again and the nightmares never end.

Jane collapsed in her side of the cockpit, her body at an awkward angle while the harnesses tie her up like a doll to be sacrificed. She experienced it all – his love and loss, his joys and pain. Such was the demand of the Drift.

"Disengage!" Loki shouted to Mission Control. He wanted none of this.

"I can do this!" Jane countered. "It's okay. I got this." She was shuddering and crying but she stood up and held her head high. "I can do this. I got this."

You don't have to go through this alone, was the silent message she never said.

And suddenly –

Neural handshake strong and holding.

They were fully calibrated with their Jaeger and Loki is Jane and Jane is Loki and they are united in a way that only the Drift can make possible.

Thunder Trickster was ready. "Okay. Let's do this."

They went through with Odin's master plan and the bomb detonated in the deepest part of the ocean. The breach was gone. Humanity was safe again but not without sacrifices.

"We need to abort!" Mission Control cackled in their speakers. "Our previous attempts never worked because the breach reads kaiju DNA only!"

"We can use the kaiju here."

"Father! Your improvisation will kill you!"

"Not pushing through with the plan will kill us all. I'm going to do this, Loki, and I need you to protect me. Can you do that?" Ever the marshal, Odin never sounded like a father to his sons. Except in that moment. "You can always find us in the Drift."

"We'll drop the bomb, marshal." It was Jane who answered.

Thunder Trickster was lost in the explosion as well, but Jane Foster had the presence of mind punch in the keys for an emergency evacuation for her and her partner just before the bomb detonated. She ran the numbers through her head, she knew them all. Impeccable timing.

"Breathe, dammit!" She dragged Loki out of his emergency pod and shook him hard. Nevermind that they were floating in the middle of the ocean.

Loki sputtered and coughed.

"The plan worked. Odin's improve worked but…"

"I know," Loki responded. Then he was laughing and shaking and maybe he was crying tears of both loss and relief. Humanity was safe again and Loki should be happy but –

"You can always find us in the Drift."

Loki had never felt so alone in his life.

Jane wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay," she was sobbing, too. "I got you. It's okay."

Loki remembered his first lesson on the Drift, "To let someone else in, to really connect…you have to trust them."

Today, the Drift was strong. The strongest he'd ever felt. And Loki closed his eyes as Jane whispered in his ear.

"It's okay. You're my partner. I got you."

notes 2: Eeep. There goes my first ever attempt at fanfiction. I got into Pacific Rim and then I got into Lokane and this happened. And yeah, some lines I got from Pacific Rim. The story sort of exploded and the characterization is all over the place. So. Yeah. Please forgive.

notes 3: Now I understand when people say they have formatting problems.