You keep my heart under the cover of night
Could be the devil in a clever disguise
Temptation leads us, it's too late for goodbye
Say you're here on my side
Want you here on my side
Come undone with me

Diving into destruction
Come undone with me
In the state of seduction
Come undone with me

Day One

Thor had left her on Svartalfheim. Left her…it must have been a mistake. He couldn't have done this on purpose.

Left her with his brother's dead body.

"Stay here," he had said. "I'll be back for you."

He'll be back for her.

This was insane! Black Elves milling about…

She got up and walked on unsteady legs. She found a cave…for a chill had laid rest to the land.

She wrapped her garments close, and laid on the floor of the cave.

Day Two

She had dreamt about Earth.

Dreamt of the sun in its high station in the sky.

Dreamt of singing birds and pretty posies and the ocean…

She got up and stretched.

Jane crawled to the entrance of the cave and looked out.

It was a dreary place…red seemed to ooze and pulse from the very ground.

She sighed.

She needed food, for she was weak from the affair with the aether.

Affair. And apt term…it had been inside of her…tearing her to shreds…violating…

And Jane crept outside of the cave.

Hands…someone's hands were covering her mouth…she writhed about attempting an escape…

She was being pulled back inside the cave…

"Do not scream…do not move…" came his voice uncoiling around her ear.

He let go.

Jane stood frozen. That was Loki's voice…

She felt him move to in front of her…

His left arm was wrapped in front of him…He was bleeding.

Jane swallowed.

"You're alive," she whispered.

"Well spotted, mortal…" and he backed away until his back hit the wall, and he slid down.

"How?"

"Well, my lungs intake breath, then they expel it…my heart pumps blood throughout my body…"

"No! How did you survive that wound?"

He looked crookedly at her. "I am much stronger than I appear to be," he paused. "I may need your assistance…"

And Jane herself made pause.

He needed her help…

He had murdered many…

But, he had saved her…

"What do you need?"

"I will conjure things…food, bandages…I will need you to help me dress the wound."

Jane thought, he can get me food, and agreed.

She helped him take off his armor and shirt…inch by painful inch…it peeled away.

There was a lot of blood…

And Loki then conjured things…

And Jane dressed his wound.

And he watched her in her occupation.

Day 4

…and he had watched her sleep since he arrived.

He couldn't sleep…the pain was too acute.

His magic did little to subdue it.

The Dark Elves would never find them…he had cloaked their presence with his magic.

"Want some soup?" she asked him.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need your strength."

"I am fine, mortal…my frame is much different from your own."

"Well, you conjured it. I thought you might want some," and she shrugged.

"My…Thor, he just left, did he?"

Jane swallowed.

She nodded, looking down.

"My my my…why would he do such a thing?"

"I have no idea."

Loki smirked.

"He said he'd be back…" she protested.

"But he didn't say when."

"No," and she stood up and went to the mouth of the cave.

"No," he whispered.

Day 7

She was restless. Spending a week holed up with Loki was trying…

Especially a Loki who was slowly recovering from a mortal wound.

"Jane…will you help me, please?"

She went to him.

He was trying to clean it again…

"You're better…you know…you can clean this yourself."

"But then how would I enjoy your close proximity to my person?" he replied, a devilish smirk on his face.

Jane rolled her eyes, and complied.

He watched her brow crease with concentration.

He watched her nimble fingers deftly work their assignment.

He watched her…and he felt something stir.

"Tell me Jane," as she moved away from him. "What first drew you to Thor?"

"Ummm…" and she laughed. "I guess…aside from the obvious…his spinning the universe into existence one night by the fire. It was wonderful to listen to someone else who shared my passion, but could see it from a different point of view, and with eloquence, describe it."

"'Obvious' meaning his braun."

"Sure."

Loki nodded, and began to put his shirt back on. "And did he tell you of the peaks of Jutenheim…those whose frost never melt…they fill the air with dank ice and disallow any life to sustain save the giants…and did he tell you of the pools of Alfheim…they which hold in them a steam which will heal any malady…it seeps its medicine, and causes the atmosphere to glow blue…or perhaps of Muspelheim…the thick lava does ooze down volcanic rock. It covers the land in angry orange….did he mention these?"

Jane swallowed. "No. Not exactly."

"No…he merely explained to you the branches of Yggdrasil…he offered no details about them…"

"Well, in a fairness…"

"In all fairness, you were blinded by his sinewy allure."

Jane was suddenly uncomfortable. "It's really none of your business."

"Where do you suppose he is, Jane?"

She ignored him, and went to the entrance, watching the light die on the dark elves's Realm.

Day 15

"You are better now. We can leave," she was sick of being stuck in that cave. Over two weeks she put up with him…and he was better. Time to go. "Why are you stalling?"

His eyes held a hint of sorrow, though Jane only spied it momentarily. "I am not stalling…I need to leave to determine what the best passage is…and I am hesitant to leave you unchecked."

"Will you take me with you, then?"

"No. It is too dangerous," he was standing, looking out into the landscape from their perch.

"I'm tired, Loki. I want to leave."

"It is unwise to act rashly. The Elves are not to be trifled with."

Jane rose a bit, accentuating her height, however meager aside Loki. "I'm going. Stay here or not, but I'm done," and she left.

And she made her way through the landscape, grey, low, foreboding.

After about an hour of walking, she grew hungry, and thought that the forest to her left might serve as a means to obtain sustenance.

Jane entered the bleak wood, and felt the temperature drop.

There…berries…and she picked some (something in her mind gave her pause…danger…poison…but such warnings are seldom heeded by a hungry stomach insisting its pain). So she ate some.

And the violence of her reaction, though not immediate, was intense.

She expelled the poison from her person and fell in a heap.

Day 16

Crackling fire…warmth…glow…

Jane's eyes were registering her surroundings…

"You do not enjoy listening to those who might know better, do you, Jane?"

"Loki?"

"Aye…I found you half dead. You are a tiresome mortal."

"Where are we?"

"Sheltered in the forest where you nearly perished. Never fear, no one will find us," and he handed her some water.

Jane took it, and sitting up, began to cry.

Loki rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

"I'm tired of being here. I want…I want to know what's happening…where is Thor? Why did he leave me here?"

"He left you, Jane, for one of two reasons. Either he thought you'd be safer here, which, honestly, even though he isn't the wisest of specimens, is a stretch for him…or he had tired of you and disposed of you accordingly."

"You are cruel."

He shrugged. "It is how I see it."

"Maybe something horrible happened to him."

"Perhaps."

"Don't you care, Loki?"

He smiled. "What good would that do? We have our own problems. Worrying about the hammer wielder will do nothing to aid our predicament."

Jane fell asleep by the fire, not caring to hear more.

Day 20

She was waiting for him to return.

He had been gone quite a while now…and she was beginning to worry.

The past few days had seen him leaving rather frequently, looking for safe passage back to Asgard.

She wrung her hands in agitation.

She hated being so tethered to him.

"Well…I'd say you were lovely, if not for that scowl painted on your face."

She turned and saw him there…and she was driven by something…she got up and went to him, throwing herself into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. "You were gone so long…"

He didn't respond, other than stiffing up.

"Yes, well," and he pulled away. "I think that we might be able to leave soon…"

She looked at his face. "Truly?"

He nodded, and went to sit on the forest floor.

And though Jane thought that she might have felt relief, part of her was distressed, and she looked at him differently.

He had saved her, twice.

He was there to comfort her, feed her. protect her.

He did these things…

And Thor was absent, abandoning her on an alien world to fend for herself…

Jane swallowed and sat next to Loki, and placed her head on his shoulder.

That night….

Somehow, she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Somehow, she didn't mind.

Somehow, she felt as though she could stay there forever.

And she traced a finger down his torso…

…lifted her head up…

He was awake.

And she wanted this. Her hand found his, and she grasped it, leading it to her heart…"You keep my heart under the cover of night…come undone with me…"

And he looked at her, began to pulse his hand, and hesitantly, with uncertainty, he sat up, and claimed her mouth.

She didn't care about anything now…and her clothes were gone…everything was empty…and now his…everything was bleak and black and forgotten…his hands covered her…everything was hinging on feeling this now…and he was on top of her, inside of her, he was everywhere, he was the only thing now….

Day 21

"My gods," the voice was heard.

Jane opened her eyes.

And there he was.

That man whom she had ached to see…

Standing above their tangle of bodies…

"Thor?"

He shook.

And disappeared through the wood.

Jane looked at Loki.

He was awake.

And he was smiling.