Chapter 4

Thariel ran his hands through his hair. He walked down the palace hallways, dragging his feet. He very much believed Loki would be dead and he had no interest in telling the royal family the prince was gone. He lifted his cup to his lips and drank, opening the door to Loki's room. He coughed and gagged on his water, doubling over at the sight.

Loki was sitting straight up in bed, fully alert, and was manipulating green fire. He turned his attention to Thariel.

"Hello healer." He spoke clearly, no scratchiness in his voice.

Thariel cleared his throat.

"How are you feeling Odinson?"

"Quite remarkable actually." Loki sounded surprised, as surprised as Thariel looked.

"You have made quite a recovery it would seem."

Loki extinguished the flame and turned his full attention to the healer.

"Whatever you have done, I thank you. I…I feared I would not make it."

Thariel cleared his throat again and bowed.

"It is my duty as head healer to always take care of my wards." He stood straight once more. "Now, let's see to you."

Loki stripped off his over-clothes and sat on the edge of the bed. His skin was lightly pink, no longer the burned red-and-black it had been before. His scars were healing at a faster pace, some of them no longer there. All of his reactions were fine, his reflexes back to normal.

"We'll keep you here for a few more days, just to make sure you stay alright. After that, you should be fine to leave."

Loki nodded his head and started getting dressed again.

"Would you like me to bring your fiancé here?" Thariel asked.

"Yes, please." Loki said hurriedly. He was desperate to see Elani.

Thariel bowed again before leaving the room. Loki got up and walked across the room to retrieve a glass of water. He remembered when he had first woken up, and seen Elani.

He was fuzzy, so tired. He knew he was safe, but he was so afraid The Other had conjured up a vision of Asgard just to make him think that. He felt something warm in his hand, recognized it as another hand. He struggled to open his eyes, to see what was going on around him. If he really was in a vision he wanted to find out.

He finally got his lids to obey him and open. The hand left his but soon two blurry shapes were standing over him, blocking out the light. He felt a soft, gentle touch on his face. He instinctively leaned into it, sending pain flaring up his left side.

He hissed in a breath and felt a cooling touch on the pain. He rocked back and forth in a sea of green, cool light. His eyes closed again.

Loki wasn't sure how long it was after that that he finally opened his eyes again. When he did he saw Thor standing off in the corner talking to someone. The other person saw Loki's open eyes and walked over. He announced himself to be Thariel, his healer, and proceeded to shine a light in his eyes.

Loki closed his eyes and tried to shrink back into the pillow. He heard a soft, lilting voice. A voice he had thought would never touch his ears again. He opened his eyes again and saw Elani standing over him. He knew it was her even as his brain registered the shock at seeing her look so…different.

He wanted to ask her what had happened but he couldn't speak. His throat was dry, his mind couldn't form words. Thariel brought a glass of cool water to his lips and he gulped it down, cool rivulets streaming down his chin. Elani smiled and wiped his chin off for him.

He swept his eyes over the room and they finally landed on Thor. He asked the question through his eyes, what had happened? Thor understood immediately. He asked for privacy; once Thor was sure Elani and Thariel had left the room, he sank into the chair beside Loki's bed. He took his brothers hand in his and sighed.

"I am so sorry Loki." Thor's voice was a hoarse whisper. "The Chitauri…he controlled my body somehow and…" Thor bent his head over Loki's hand, ensconced in his own. "She was hit with Mjolnir. I'm afraid she's looked like this for months; trust me brother, she has healed quite well." Thor breathed in deeply. "I am truly sorry."

"I'll let them back in now."

Thor got up and opened the door to his room, leaving Loki with his thoughts for a moment. Elgethel had done this to his love. He closed his eyes and blinked back the tears. She was still beautiful to him; she always would be. He was just glad to be back, to have his family around him once again. He could care less if her face was marred by thick scars.

Elani again sat beside him and took his hand. He stared unwaveringly into her eyes and said the first words he had in months. His voice was hoarse, from disuse and abuse, but she heard his words clear as day.

"I love you."

Loki turned as the door opened once again. Elani stood there in the doorway, a lost expression upon her face. He noticed she was wearing his old clothes, and that the shirt had blood stains on it. His blood. Thariel leaned down to whisper in her ear before leaving the two of them alone.

Loki grabbed the glass of water and sat back down on his bed. Elani never moved from the doorway, her eyes trailing his movement.

"What's wrong darling?" He asked gently.

"Are you…is it really you?" She whispered, barely audible.

Loki grinned at her.

"Of course it's me love."

He held his hand out to her and patted the bed beside him. She moved slowly to sit down beside him. Her hands went immediately to his face, tracing his skin, running her fingers through his hair.

"You're really awake?"

"Yes."

Tears started forming in her eyes.

"Yesterday…when you started…" She shook her head, not daring to finish her sentence.

He took her hands gently in his, holding them in his lap.

"I'm OK. I'm here, and I promise I never intend to leave again."

"Oh I'm just so glad you're safe."

She brought a hand to his cheek and he leaned into it. She traced her thumb across his cheek; how soft his skin was now when hours ago it had been scarred and still burned.

"I thought you weren't going to wake up." She whispered.

"I thought so too." He whispered back.

With her he could say what he never had been able to before. He could open up, bare his soul. He had truly worried about dying. She took him into her arms, gently still, and stroked his hair, like a mother comforting her child.

"Lay down with me."

He pulled her arms down and he put his around her; he pulled her down with him until they lay cuddled up with each other in his bed. They fell asleep like that, holding the other in their arms.

~O~

"Thor, Thor wake up."

Jane hovered over the God of Thunder, who still lay in her bed sleeping.

"Come on I made pancakes." She whispered in his ear, her hair tickling his nose.

He rolled over and smiled. Of course he was up. He got out of bed and followed her into the kitchen where there was indeed a stack of pancakes on his plate. She had even made him coffee.

"You know, I think you'll fit in well in Asgard." He said, sitting down.

"What do you mean?" She asked, lifting her coffee mug to her lips.

"I mean when you move there with me. I don't think you'll have any trouble adjusting."

"Whoa, hang on a second Thor. I'm not moving to Asgard."

"What, why not?" He asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"I thought you were moving here."

"To Midgard? All my friends and family are in Asgard, my people."

"And my people are here." She insisted.

"You can visit them using the BiFrost."

"And so could you." She retorted.

"I'm not moving to Midgard!"

"Well I'm not moving to Asgard Thor, and that's final!" She huffed at him and stood up, slamming her bedroom door shut behind her.

That conversation hadn't gone as well as he had hoped. He sighed and stood up; it was time he left anyway. He walked out of her room and swung his hammer, flying the rest of the way to the BiFrost site.

When he got back to Asgard he immediately ran into Elani, who looked very happy.

"What's happened?" He asked.

"Loki's woken up. Oh Thor, he's so much better, it's a miracle!"

Thor smiled; his brother was finally awake.

"And the healers, what do they say?"

"They're keeping him for a few days, but after that he can go back to his room. They say he'll be fine." Her smile grew even wider, and it was infectious. Thor found himself grinning like a buffoon.

"Where have you been?" She asked, walking down the hall.

Thor sighed. "I have been to see Jane. She has informed me she refuses to move here to Asgard and live with me."

"Is that all?"

"I refused to live on Midgard. After that she huffed off." Thor rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Elani, I'm so confused. No one will tell me what to do about Sif, and now Jane and I have gotten into an argument that I don't know how to resolve."

Elani sighed.

"Thor I can't tell you what to do. I will tell you this however." She stopped in front of the door to her room. "I can tell you that in the future, you are very very happy."

She inclined her head before walking into her room and shutting the door. Thor sighed; she wasn't going to be of any help. Just as he walked away from her door he spotted Fandral and Volstagg walking down to the sparring grounds.

"Friends, wait up! I wish to train with you!"

His friends turned around and smiled.

"The mighty Thor wishes to train with us? This is a privilege." They both bowed in a childish manner.

Thor's laughter boomed as he ran to catch up with them.

"Stop it you two or I will have to beat you."

"You haven't been training in your sword skill the past few months Thor." Fandral pointed out. He had a happy gleam in his eye. "Prepare to lose."

A/N: Been a while since my last author's note and I apologize. Things have been pretty hectic with school (Senior year!) and I have a new baby brother to help out with. My mom had to have emergency surgery a few weeks ago, but I've been trying to crank this out for you as fast as possible. Thanks for all the amazing reviewers and for those of you who have been with me since Thor 2! Only one more book to go after this one and then the Marvel Series 1 of fan-fics is over. I plan on doing a Series 2, completely unrelated to this one.

Thanks so much for the reviews, I love getting them, they make me happy. So please review as I write on to finish this story and the next.

Also, I apologize if these chapters are a little short or leave something to be desired, right now I'm just trying to write them. I promise I will go back and edit them to add more to the story. Everyone loves more story, right?