Day 666

Loki awoke to the bright sun in his eyes. He let a warm sigh escape his chapped lips. His throat, Loki noticed, was dry as he opened his eyes to the new morning. He had not slept we'll the night before. He had been uncomfortable and flopped from side to side throughout the long darkness. Loki sat up an reached for his cup of water. He took a refreshing drink but was interrupted.

"Loki. You have been summoned. Come with me." Said a guard. Loki thought this quite peculiar. No one ever wanted to see him. He let the thought fade though. His head ached an he was exhausted. Loki finished his water and stood, allowing the guard to shackle his hands and feet. The guard led him noisily to a place in the palace that he did not know existed. He entered the very large, very unnaturally bright room. In the center, there was a clear holding cell similar in some ways to the one he was forced into on the helicarrier. Loki noticed now as he looked at the strange cell that the unnatural light was actually coming from it and not the room. They must have needed a large amount of electricity to power that cell and have it emit it's light to the room outside it.

Loki was lead inside the cell and his shackles were removed. The guard left and closed the door behind him leaving Loki standing alone yet again. He paced the clear white box impatiently. Eventually he sat upon a milky white bench that rested against the only milky white wall. His wavy, untamed hair fell into his eyes. After what seemed like eternity, Loki heard faint footsteps. He looked up and saw Thor step inside the room and stand right outside his box.

Loki was surprised to see his brother. He had always caught glances of him but he never came face to face. This situation was unexpected and completely nerve-racking to him.

When Thor didn't speak, Loki decided to start. "Hello, brother." Loki said. Thor swallowed hard. "Loki." He said. Loki didn't show it but Thor not returning his hello knocked the wind from his lungs. Thor had given up then. At least it seemed that way. Nothing mattered anymore. Loki was already dead. "I need your help." Thor demanded with a booming, monotone voice. Loki was taken off guard. The mighty Thor, wielder of Mjolnir, needed the god of mischief to help him? Insane. He was dreaming.

"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help." Loki tested, his green eyes boring into Thor's blue jewels. "How desperate I am means nothing. It is the wrong reason. Intensity, safety, and the fate of others are, however, the correct reasons." Thor said. "Ah." Loki said sounding somewhat bored. "The great and powerful Thor needs the help of his worthless brother then. Is that right? And why? No. Don't answer that. Let me guess. You found some way to get to your petty human girlfriend and wait, something's happened to Midgard. Am I getting close?" Loki said.

All this was just an act. Thor seemed to catch on but he couldn't be absolutely sure. "I don't matter in this war. I am the protector of Midgard and it has come into danger. As its protector, I, as the name clearly states, must protect it. And I fully intend to do so. But things have gone far too out of hand for just me alone to handle. I hate to admit it but I need you help." Thor responded. His voice did not change and neither did his stern expression. Loki stared at him for a while, contemplating what to say next. He wanted to test the waters a bit. He wanted to see how far he could push his brother before he caved. The entire while Loki stared, Thor did the same. It was like those little contests the children on Midgard do. The ones where the children see who can stare the longest. Eventually, Loki looked away and glanced around the box. "But it's all for the human, am I correct? I've never seen you work so hard to protect someone, to keep them and what they love out of harms way." Loki said softly. And in a way, he was correct.

Even as kids, Thor protected Loki as if it was all he had to do. He wanted to make sure his little brother was always safe. But this human, this... Fragile girl. Loki's never seen Thor love something so much before. And he's going out and protecting her whole damn planet. For her. Pathetic. Sentiment is Thor's greatest downfall. It causes him to go weak. And as Loki looked at him now, there was something in his eyes that gave away his calm facade.

"Oh. But wait." Loki said as he looked at Thor. Thor glanced up and into Loki's eyes. They were full of concern and terror and he couldn't hide it even if he tried. "It's not Midgard that's in danger, it's the girl, isn't it?" Loki asked. "Well, Midgard might as well be in danger and if the girl is then most definitely so is her planet, but it's all her. Now I see the reason why you need me. You can't bear to lose the only thing you love most. The one thing that makes you truly happy. Who is it this time? It can't be the Chitauri again. They were defeated far too badly." Loki paused to think. "The Denizens." Thor said quietly as if to him self. Loki's eyes widened. "No. Malekith is... He's... Unstoppable. It is impossible. He and his army and far too dangerous and too well put together to ever be stopped. Brother, I am sorry but this, this battle you are planning. It can not be won. We will all die trying to defeat him. There is no way out of this. If he wants your human dead, she will be dead. And if you try to stop him, I fear, I know, that you will have to same fate." Loki said with concern in his voice.

The last thing he wants is for his brother to die. And for a human at that. But Loki thought about it. What if he had been the good brother and he had found himself a beautiful woman. A lover whom he cared deeply about. Would he not do everything to protect her? Would he not go to great lengths to keep her safe? Those are questions Loki pondered on and could not answer, for he has never had anyone and it seems now with the circumstances, he never will. "I must at least try though, Loki. For her. I promised her." He said. "There is no point in making promises that you cannot keep. There was no point in falling in love with a human. You know how often that world is in danger. If not from what they call aliens, then from themselves. You have never been able to keep your emotions in check have you? You always let them get the best of you. You let them contr-" "ENOUGH." Thor boomed, interrupting Loki's sentence midway. "Are you going to help me or not?" Thor commanded.

Loki had pushed him to his tipping point like he had intended. He almost regretted it. He didn't like seeing his brother angry. It didn't do him justice. Loki just looked at Thor. He hasn't moved from his bench nor had his sifted in anyway. He sat with his back against the wall, his legs in front of him and his hands clasped on his lap. Loki gave dirty grin. One that Thor had come to know. "Know that if you betray me, I will kill you." Thor said matter-of-factly. Loki's smile widened into one of a strange pride and readiness.

"When do we start?" He asked. And that ended the terrible, overwhelmingly long conversation. Thor walked out, Loki was sent back to his cell and awaited his call to duty with a sense that maybe he could prove to Thor that he had changed. That he wouldn't stab Thor in the back like he had before. He would do it, Loki thought. Thor will see.


A/N: This is a bit of a short little chapter but I finally finished it up. I've never done one the these little after word things before (I just found out how). I just want to thank y'all for the follows and favorites. It truly means a lot to me. I'll try to get the next chapter posted quicker. Thanks again!


A/N 2: Ok guys. I don't know if any of you will see this but I feel obligated to tell you that I won't be updating as soon as I hoped. I have to wait until after November 5th. I can tell you what I am about to say but I cannot go into detail. The reason I can't update is because I had the absolute amazing privilege to go and see the screening of Thor 2. And unfortunately, seeing it will have an affect on my story. And so I can't post the next chapter yet. All I can say is you guys are in for as real treat. I'll post the next chapter as soon as the movie comes out. Please bear with me. It's killing me to not be able to post. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. As always, thank you all for understanding.