Chapter 4

Darcy followed Erik and Coulson through the sterile hallways of the super-secret government compound. During the flight here, she'd learned the redhead's name was Natasha Romanoff and the archer's was Clint Barton. He hadn't given his first name easily, had said it was none of her business, but she'd worked her magic on him. It was basically the same technique she used on Jane and, occasionally, Erik: pure, unadulterated tenacity and her knack for knowing which buttons to push and how hard to push them, not to mention her natural charisma. Everyone caved.

Another agent had joined them, Maria or something of the sort. She led the small group to a pair of double doors, while updating them on the artifact's latest activity, and into a cavernous room filled with computers and data machines and people in white coats. It was Jane's dream lab, the kind she'd have if people actually gave her money to work.

"And here, Dr. Selvig," Agent Maria announced, "is the artifact we call the Tesseract."

She gestured to a large metal contraption that held a glowing blue cube. It was pretty. It would make for good mood lighting if she was able to sneak a sexy soldier in here while everyone was asleep.

Erik reacted far differently. His mouth slackened and he stared at it, wide-eyed as if in awe. "What is it?" he asked.

"We don't exactly know," Agent Coulson said. "But we think, if put in the right hands, it's capable of producing portals. This is how you'll get Dr. Foster back. You just have to figure out how."

Erik and Darcy were being used, but she was fine with that so long as it was mutually beneficial. She would get Jane, they would get the ability to teleport.

"May I?" Erik asked, stepping to one of the computers.

Coulson nodded, and Erik wasted no time in getting to work. They watched his fingers fly over the keyboard as if he'd been working there for ages, muttering about what he'd found. He lost her at gamma radiation.

"He's probably going to be busy for a while," Darcy said. "Where can a girl go to freshen up?" She was covered in dust, her hair was windblown, and she was still partly in the guard uniform from breaking out Loki.

"Later." Romanoff nodded to the doors. "We need you debriefed and quickly, before you forget anything."

She gasped in mock offense. "I have the memory of an elephant." With a bright smile, she added, "Lead the way, boss."

oOoOo

The royal guards ushered Loki down the extensive Rainbow Bridge stretching across the water, through the city, and straight to the palace. The long walk would feel endless, each dogged step a reminder of his inability to teleport, of his imposed mortality.

He didn't look at the soldiers—they were beneath him, after all. Practically servants. Instead, he held his head high and walked as if they were simply attending him. The chains' constant clanking ruined the effect, not to mention the cuffs digging into his wrists. The guard who had bound him would pay, one way or another.

Jane's concerned gaze flashed in his mind like a knife thrust between his ribs. He hated that she had such an effect on him, but it was just the bond. He was actually pleased to have a moment free of her. Longer than a moment if Odin had his way. The knife twisted, and his steps faltered just enough for one of the soldiers walking the horses to take notice. The young man said nothing, though.

A strong breeze pushed into him, fluttering the rough fabric of his farmer's tunic and whipping his hair about. Not being able to smooth back the stray strands irked him, but the vain thought was forgotten as an odd smell had him lifting his nose and breathing in deeper to place the scent. It reminded him of charged air, of Thor. But that wasn't right.

Halfway over the water, he stopped and looked over the Bifrost toward the empty sky. It rippled, like on a Midgardian blistering day. Except it wasn't hot, not even warm. The guards tugged at his chains and spoke meaningless threats, but he only had eyes and ears for the oddity.

Heimdall stepped out of the golden dome and looked out into the distance. He sensed it too.

"What is he doing?" one of the soldiers asked. "The mortal should've been sent away by now."

Jane moved to the Gatekeeper's side, and Loki had a sinking feeling. "Get down!" he yelled.

The guards looked at him like he was mad, but then a shimmer, gliding through the air, caught their attention and they finally understood.

"We're under attack!" the commander shouted. "Protect Asgard!"

The two holding his chains dropped them to reach for their swords. Steel rang as weapons were slid from their scabbards. Footsteps clomped against the crystalline bridge as the men shifted into fighting stances. What they could do against the enemy was beyond Loki. Then again, they could do a great deal more than he. Irritation hardened his jaw.

The invisibility cloaking the long, slender aircraft vanished as fire bloomed in the core. Heartbeats later, a flash erupted and the Bridge bucked in response to an explosion. It had happened so fast his mortal eyes hadn't caught the fired shot. Two more deafening explosions occurred before he realized he'd been knocked to his back and was staring up at a swarm of Dark Elven aircraft streaming overhead in one direction like a tumultuous river.

"Help me!" the soldier who'd bound him pleaded.

Loki flipped over and saw the man hanging off the edge of the Bridge by his forearms. The royal guard couldn't pick himself up. He was a disgrace.

Loki considered letting him fall to his death. Payment would be settled then, but he thought of that blasted woman, Jane, and the wretched bond.

Cursing himself under his breath, he crawled to the soldier, gripped one of his arms with both of his still-bound hands, and pulled back, just enough for the royal guard to get his weight forward and haul himself over the edge.

"Thank you," the soldier panted, pale from fright.

Loki ignored him and looked around. A couple bodies lay not far from them, fire consumed half of the buildings leading toward the palace, bubbles of dark smoke filled the air where the enemy aircraft had been taken out, tracer rounds, bright and unmistakable, flew through the sky toward the Dark Elven force. Most missed or were easily maneuvered around. Then he turned to see how the Bifrost—Jane—had fared, and he jerked back.

A monstrous version of the Dark Elves aircraft hovered behind the dome, far larger and imposing. However, it was Heimdall, running at him with his sword raised overhead that had him clambering to his feet.

"Hands!" the Gatekeeper yelled.

Loki stretched his arms out and pulled his wrists as far apart as the cuffs allowed. It wasn't much, a mere inch or two. He twisted back from where the blade would fall, doing his best not to think of how much it would hurt if Heimdall missed. The Asgardian weapon could easily cleave him in two.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. The Gatekeeper's heavy footfalls landed as fast as his heart pounded. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Louder. Closer.

A slight breeze, a soft snick, then the cuffs fell from his wrists, and he was free.

Loki breathed out hard.

"Come," Heimdall said, already running back to the Bifrost. "I can't start the force field until you two are on your way."

And without the force field, Asgard would surely fall, especially with half of its forces off world. Loki ran faster.

They sped past Jane standing at the entrance and stopped at the central platform where Heimdall thrust his sword into the slot. Jane moved to them, staring at the lightning streaking out of the sword and forking across the curved ceiling and walls.

"Stand here." Loki motioned her to the other aperture, now opening and closing in a dizzying effect as the dome's outer shell spun faster and faster.

"Remarkable," she said, watching everything closely. The sheen of her wide eyes reflected the white lightning.

The long protrusion extending out of the Bifrost clanged into place, leaving the aperture officially open and lit up in a sea of colors.

Jane inched closer to him. "This is it?"

"Yes," he said, absorbed in her presence again.

She took his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers as if they'd done it a thousand times. Not expecting the casual, yet intimate contact, he gaped at her.

"May the Norns favor you," Heimdall said, then pushed the sword further in.

An invisible force seized his body, sucking him into the opening, pulling every molecule through space and time. As a mortal, the effect was stronger, harsher. His mind swam to catch up, tumbling end over end, as if falling over a waterfall and hitting every rocky prominence on his way down.

Jane's touch never left him, though. They held on tighter, flying as one across the Void, colors streaming past, hair and loose clothing whipping about, and Jane...smiling? Loki peered at her the best he could through the torrent and discovered that she was indeed beaming. The sight made his heart flutter, just as it had when he'd first seen her this lifetime.

Three hundred years of isolation with only her as his North Star, because she could both help him gain a longer lifespan and find the portals to lead him home, had brought him closer to her than anyone besides his mother. Only, Jane didn't know that, couldn't know that. Not if he was to be free of the soulmate bond.

In every one of her incarnations, she'd been brilliant. It was just that technology needed to catch up to her theories. Killing her was the only way. The first time had been easy. He'd been angry, spiteful, and he refused to die as a mortal.

But then, it got harder, especially as he took the time to observe his would-be soulmate and found her alluring in every way. The realization that the Midgardian magic was not a fluke, that it had aligned him with his perfect match, had set him off enough to end her life the second time. If he ever hoped to restore his position as a prince of Asgard, he could not be saddled with a Midgardian. She would be a goat at a banquet table. Loki, the God of Mischief, son of Odin the Alfather, bound to a goat—it was preposterous.

The third had taken longer. He'd almost slipped and triggered the bond. His body had craved to be near her, despite his mind's protest. Finding her was even easier. It was as if he could sense her general location as soon as she'd been reborn. As a little girl, she had an uncanny knack for understanding what lay outside her planet. That was when he realized he could use her for more than just a longer lifespan, she was his way home. He'd sculpted her interest in the cosmos by leaving books of Yggdrasil, the Bifrost, and the Rainbow Bridge for her to find. The one he'd given her this lifetime had definitely not been the first.

The tunnel of light burst as it slammed into solid ground, and Loki righted them before they would hit head first. The landing was not as easy as a mortal. His knees buckled and his bones felt like they might shatter, but, at least, they were on feet instead of backs. The bitter memory of Odin throwing him into the Bifrost's path to Midgard like garbage, of crashing to the ground nearly broken and alone in the middle of nowhere, came to mind and made him grind his teeth.

"We made it," Jane announced, looking out across the snowy expanse.

Loki didn't acknowledge her. For some reason the streaming tunnel of light didn't instantly die out as it should have.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Heimdall should have shut it off by now."

"Maybe he's busy."

Fighting. He could very well be holding back the Dark Elven army. But he wouldn't leave the Bifrost open, not when it could destroy the planet and everyone on it. Unless he was dead. Which meant they would all soon die as well.

She tugged on their still-interlaced hands. "What aren't you saying?"

Jane. His chest ached for her. How was he supposed to tell her she would never get to finish her work, never see her loved ones again?

He faced her, caught her staring up at him, eyes full of worry, and swallowed. She truly was beautiful.

Loki smoothed back a lock of her hair, and, surprisingly, she didn't flinch away.

It would all be so much easier if she would just despise him. But he didn't think she had one hateful bone in her body, not in this life or any of the others. He certainly couldn't feel any such emotion from her. On Midgard, he'd sensed her so strongly. Maybe the effects of the bond was dampened offworld.

"Jane..." He took in an unsteady breath, his heart suddenly pounding. "I. This bond. You—" Words failed him. He was too used to hiding his emotions, too used to holding himself at a distance from everyone to say or even know how he he felt about her. He exhaled and tried again. "You were unexpected. And maybe—"

The tunnel's light flashed brighter, making them shield their eyes, then flickered in and out before erupting into an explosion that sent them flying through the air.

They collided with a mound of hard snow. Breath fled their lungs and left them coughing, gasping for air.

"What was that?" Jane finally asked, her teeth chattering slightly from the cold.

He stared at the spot where the tunnel had been, blinking back the bright spots still lingering in his vision. "The Bridge has been destroyed."

"How?"

"It's not impenetrable," Loki said harshly, pushing himself to his feet and away from her. Not only were they stuck in enemy territory as helpless as newborn babes, but Asgard had probably fallen to the Dark Elves.

Mother, he thought, pain lancing through him. They would surely kill her when they found out she had sent the Aether away. He looked at Jane, the box still hidden in her dress, and the pain nearly dropped him to his knees. Then they would kill her.

AN: thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following! I love reading your thoughts and predictions!

My beta, Mercury97, and my sister are awesome. Just putting that out there. :D