Chapter 7:

Thor watches Jane from across the space, drawing the strings of his sack tight.

Her own eyes are fixed ahead, unseeing on some indistinct spot. She doesn't notice him studying her, and he frowns deeply.

"Something troubles you." He states finally, and it takes a moment before she seems to hear him.

Her head snaps up, eyes dazed as they find him.

"Hmm?" She asks.

"You are distracted Jane, and distant since you woke. What ails your thoughts?"

A long moment passes, where still it seems her mind is trying to catch up to his words. And then she glances away, seemingly embarrassed.

"That obvious, huh?" She asks.

Thor smiles thinly.

"I am not so dense as some might have you believe." He answers.

She smiles back, glancing at him a moment before her eyes flit away again.

"I know." She says softly, falling silent once more.

Thor watches her a second longer, before dropping his pack and moving closer.

"Jane," he pushes, kneeling down at her side once he reaches her. "tell me what the matter is."

He reaches out, taking hold of her hand, grasping it gently.

She looks up at him, and he sees a kind of nervous upset in her eyes that he can't understand, or place.

Is it because of what happened yesterday? The attack from the marauders?

"Jane?"

"I saw Loki wake up last night." She blurts out suddenly.

Thor's expression immediately grows concerned, and confused.

"From… from a nightmare, I guess." Jane goes on. "He just… shot up and was breathing hard and…"

Her voice trails off as Thor's features seem to soften, and he nods vaguely.

"Loki has ever suffered night terrors." He says. "As a child, he used to come to my chambers at night, seeking comfort from the dreams he had." He smiles faintly at the memory, his lips quickly falling though as he goes on. "But it has been long centuries since he has shared what dreams plague him with me. I do not know the things which haunt him now."

Jane's own lips pull into a frown, glancing away. She swallows thickly, hesitating to say the words which wait to be spoken, the questions she finds herself weighed down by since the night previous.

"He has…" she pauses, eyes closing against the horrible images which flash in her mind. "his back." She breaths. "he has all these…"

"Scars." Thor says for her.

Her head snaps up, eyes wide.

She nods weakly.

"And… and his lips, around…" her hand raises, fingers touching her own lips as though to demonstrate.

At this, Thor glances away, face falling in some unspoken agony.

"I didn't… I mean, before," Jane says. "why couldn't I…"

"Loki wears a glamour about himself to hide the scars." He says. "Even with his magic bound, it is still within him, and thus can be applied to his own person, if not to others."

"Oh." Jane says distantly. Again, she swallows, her throat suddenly dry.

"He must have let the glamour drop while he was sleeping and not realized it was not in place when he woke, if you saw…" Thor begins to explain before trailing off.

"What… I mean, what happened… to him?" She hears herself ask, realizing a moment later that she wishes she hadn't, that she doesn't know how Thor will react.

She sees his entire frame tense hard, and suddenly she's afraid.

"Many things." He replies, and she remembers Loki's words matching those from last night. "Loki is oft one to find for himself trouble. He has many enemies. Many beings who wish him harm." Thor pauses, glancing away, towards the tents flap. "There are those times when those who do have found him in their possession." He looks back, face as hard and serious as Jane has ever seen it. "Rarely have they hesitated to take advantage of their position then, and his." He finishes, and Jane feels sick.

Thor's eyes go distant then with memory.

"There is a myth, in your Realms legends, of my brother transforming into a falcon and being captured and held prisoner by a giant for three months, locked away in a tiny box."

Jane blinks. She hasn't heard of the story, but she hasn't read much on Loki at all, she realizes, having relegated her research mostly to Thor.

"The story is true." Thor says. "Only the details are incorrect. It was not three months, but three years he was held captive. None of us in Asgard thought a thing of it. Three years may for you mortals seem a long time, but for us, it is but an instant. And we knew Loki was on a quest. It is not unusual for such things to last years at a time. And though Loki can and often does shape shift, he was not a bird when the kidnapping occurred."

Jane can't quite keep the look of shock from her eyes at the revelation, but otherwise remains quiet.

"He was himself, and locked away in a small container, that much is accurate."

The thunder god's eyes drift to the floor, his hand around hers tightening minutely.

"The giant starved Loki." He goes on, voice almost a whisper now. "My brother had no food in all that time. No water. As gods, we need no sustenance to live. But still, we feel the pangs of hunger and thirst, and still, our bodies are affected by the lack of these things." He looks up at her, and she sees his eyes are wet with unshed tears. "Eventually, Loki was able to escape by fooling the giant, promising him he would lure me to him without the aid of my hammer. A trade, one Prince for another."

Jane's mouth falls open in shocked dismay, and Thor smiles wryly.

"He lied, of course." Thor says. "The giant released him to go and bring me to him. It took Loki another two weeks to make his way back to the city. He was wearing a glamour to hide the state of him from Asgard's people, and did not let it drop until he was within my chambers in the palace. I still do not know how he made it far as he did on foot. His magic was near depleted at that point, and he was unable to teleport. I recall him collapsing almost immediately within the door to my sleeping quarters, and me running to him. By the Norns, I still remember the sight of him. He was so wasted away. He looked as nothing more than a bag of ruined bones."

Thor's expression contorts in obvious agony at the memory, and for a moment, he has to pause, turning away from her and bringing his hand to cover his eyes.

"He told me what had happened," he finally begins again after a moment, hand dropping, voice wavering slightly. "barely able to hold to consciousness, and of the bargain he had made with the giant."

Thor's eyes slide away again.

"It cost Loki what little reputation he had then, of being a man of trustworthy nature, telling me of it and going back on his word to the giant."

"What?" Jane asks, confused. "You mean, people held that against him?"

Thor nods.

"Aye." He replies quietly. "A man's word is considered sacred among my people. To go back on it, no matter the circumstances, is thought unforgivable. Loki suffered much mockery and ridicule for sparing me the giant's wrath. And only a rare few have given his word any value since."

"That's…" Jane's voice comes out a troubled whisper. "That's horrible. I can't believe… How could they do that? When all he was trying to do was save your life?!"

Thor smiles bitterly.

"They justified it to themselves by saying it was Loki's own fault for allowing himself to be captured by a giant in the first place." He shakes his head. "He did end up leading me to the creature, under my urging, and I slew the fiend for him, of course. But it took many months for Loki to recover physically from what was done to him, and in all that time, not once did he allow his condition to be seen or known to anyone save myself and our… our mother."

He looks away, swallowing.

"Loki has ever been expert in secreting the evidence of his suffering." He says. "Therein lies the point of me telling you this, I suppose. And I… I suppose it is why for so long I never realized there was anything wrong with him. Why I could not see the discontent within him."

He shakes his head then, glancing back to her.

"But no, that is not true. It was… it was my failing as a brother to him. As the one who was meant to protect him. I should have seen. I should have known."

"Thor," Jane starts. "no. Don't say that. You can't blame yourself. I know you were a good brother. I know it."

Thor smiles sadly at her then, once more shaking his head.

"You are kind to say so Jane." He says. "But, there are things… so many things that have happened between Loki and I which I hold in shame now. Ways in which I have hurt him, which I fear may never be forgiven."

He lifts a broad hand, wiping at his eyes, and it scares Jane, how lost he looks then.

It seems not right. That one so powerful and sure should be so helpless.

She is about to protest again, to try and reassure him, when suddenly the tent's flap pulls back, and there Loki is.

He says nothing, does not even seem to notice them as he begins moving about, gathering various things which Jane assumes are his, books mostly. Jane hadn't even noticed them before, and she wonders where they came from. Surely they couldn't have fit into the small pouch Loki wears on his belt.

As if in reply to her puzzlement, the mischief god makes some intricate movement with his hands, and in an instant, the books he's holding vanish into seemingly thin air.

Jane gapes, unable to help herself.

And then Loki turns to them. If he notices her astonishment, he gives no indication, simply saying,

"We should be leaving soon."

And as quickly as he came, he's gone.

Both Jane and Thor are quiet then, readying themselves for the day, not another word said of what they'd spoken before.

/

In three days more of travel, they have been attacked four times, and each of those times, Loki has dispersed the danger before it ever really even had a chance to mount.

He seemed always to know before any enemies were even visible that they were there and from where they came, and he would kill them with such brutal efficiency, so quickly, that it was rare Thor ever even had a chance to take aim at any of them and win himself a victory.

Jane thinks she's seen enough violence in the last week to last her ten lifetimes, and she knows with growing dread that the real battles haven't even begun.

Loki seems driven to her, the way he has been pushing their travel, the way he has been engaging those who try to stop them with such uncompromising ferocity.

She's barely seen him rest. Only seen him eat a few, spare times, and only ever the most minimal amount.

She finds herself wondering how he maintains such a high expenditure of energy each day when he seems to take so little care of himself. And then she remembers what he is… an alien… or a god… she doesn't know. She questions if there's even any difference.

Thor has told her Loki is actually from a race of giants, Jotnar, they're called, born of snow and ice. And suddenly Loki's comment to her, about Frost Giants not feeling the cold makes more sense.

But Loki is smaller than Thor by a considerable amount, very clearly, and when she questioned him on it, he had told her that his brother was a runt, considered deformed and undesirable by a race which above all else values physical strength and prowess.

It was how, Thor explained, Loki ended up adopted by his family, how he was brought to Asgard and made a Prince of the Realm. He had been abandoned by his birth parents, left to die in the brutal cold of his home world, regarded as worthless, and a blight upon the Royal House of Laufey, Jotunheim's former King.

And only in the last two years had Loki found all of this out.

Jane had asked why it was kept from him. She didn't understand why a parent would keep something like that from their child, and Thor had told her their mother and father were only trying to protect Loki. Frost Giants were hated on Asgard, viciously. He told her if it had been known, Loki's life would have not only been utterly miserable, but he would have been in grave danger from the very people he ruled over as Prince.

Loki had anyway been singled out and bullied for being different, he said, for not fitting in. If it had been known he was Jotun, it only would have been worse.

Still, Jane didn't understand.

She didn't understand why they couldn't have told just Loki, let him know the truth, instead of growing up in a culture which taught him to despise his own race.

She wondered what they had thought would happen if and when he did find out.

As much as she was hesitant to admit it, she was beginning to understand why Loki was the way he was.

It didn't excuse all he had done. Not by a long shot.

But she understood, and it made sense.

In a way, even, she felt sorry for him. Though she wasn't about to say so, if the way she'd seen him react to pity was any indication of what she could expect.

What she had a more difficult time understanding was Loki's apparent contempt towards Thor.

Thor kept mentioning wrongs done to Loki on his part, ones he'd only just realized, but he wouldn't specify.

And from the stories he'd been sharing with her recently, Loki had once been so loyal a brother, he'd sacrificed his own reputation for Thor's sake, in a world where apparently reputation was everything.

But he now spoke with such venomous rage and vitriol against and to Thor, insulting him, it seemed, every chance he got.

It left Jane confused, and upset, to think that two people who had once been so close could grow so far apart.

They've finally settled in for the night, having set up camp, and for the last half hour, have all been sitting around the fire in relative silence, only Thor occasionally speaking to Jane.

Jane doesn't think either Thor or Loki have spoken more than a handful of words to each other all day today.

She supposes it's better than the fights they've been having periodically throughout this entire venture.

Finally, Thor announces that he's going to bed for the night, and as he stands, he holds his hand out for Jane, assuming she'll want to come with him.

"Actually Thor," she starts. "I was thinking of staying up a while longer out here, if that's okay."

Thor looks at her, expression befuddled, brow furrowing in clear concern.

She sees his eyes flick to Loki, and then back to her.

Loki says nothing. Doesn't even seem to have heard Jane, his attention focused on a book in his hands.

"Are you sure Jane?" Thor asks, uneasy.

She nods, trying to smile reassuringly at him.

"Yeah." She says. "I won't be long, promise. I could just use a little more fresh air."

Thor hardly looks convinced, glancing once more to Loki. She can see the threat in the thunder god's eyes, the warning to his brother that should he try anything, he would only regret it.

Jane doesn't know if Loki even notices, his face still turned down.

Until at last Thor looks to her once more, sighing and nodding.

"Very well." He says, bending to place a soft kiss atop her head.

He gives her shoulder a light squeeze before straightening, whispering quietly against her ear…

"Do not tarry too long. I shall miss your warmth."

She smiles up at him, squeezing his hand back, nodding.

And finally he departs, Jane watching him as he disappears into the tent.

Silence reigns.

Only the sound of the fire crackling fills the air between her and Loki, and the occasional sound of animals, somewhere in the distance of the surrounding woods.

Jane would be frightened by it, if there weren't a god sitting four feet across from her.

Loki for his part hasn't once looked up from the pages of his book, turning them every second, and Jane realizes with a start that he can speed read.

Well, of course.

She would call the silence awkward, if she thought Loki felt anything of it. But he doesn't seem to.

She is about to open her mouth, to say something, beginning to question her decision to stay out here alone with him, when the sound of his own voice cuts her off.

"There are very few maidens who would ever possess the temerity to send the Crown Prince of Asgard to bed alone."

Jane looks up at him, confused.

"Excuse me?" She asks, not understanding.

And finally, the mischief god raises his eyes, and he's smirking at her, nodding in the direction of the tent.

"What you did just now would be considered a great insult in Asgard, the mighty Thor's chosen mate, refusing his will and want. And from a mortal, no less."

Loki's tone sounds absolutely scandalized, and Jane's eyes widen.

"What?!" She starts. "No, that's… I didn't mean to…"

Her burgeoning panic is cut short by his laughter, and she pauses, taken aback by the sound.

At the pleasantness of it.

Nothing at all like the mocking laughter she's heard from him before.

This holds only genuine, even good natured mirth.

And his eyes seem to sparkle bright with it, shining. And she's struck once more by how very young he seems.

"Fear not, Ms. Foster." He says. "Thor could do with the lesson in humility. He so rarely has had to face it." He bows his head to her, as though in reverence. "You have in this instance my admiration."

Jane blinks.

She doesn't know how to respond to that.

Loki makes it so she doesn't have to.

"But truly," he says. "you should retire for the night. We have perhaps another half day of travel before we reach the city, and there will be little enough time for rest from that point forward."

Again, Jane blinks, unsure what to make of Loki's sudden talkativeness, or the bizarrely friendly tone he's taking.

Finally, she's able to pull her thoughts together, clearing her throat somewhat nervously.

"Yeah, I… I suppose." She mutters quietly.

Another moment passes.

"It's been pretty rough out here, I guess." She adds absently, without really thinking, eyes shifting away.

Loki nods.

"Indeed." He says. "You have endured remarkably well, considering."

Her eyes snap back to him, narrowing.

Why the hell is he being so nice?

She sees his eyes travel up to the night sky, gazing upon it for long, quiet moments.

And then he sighs.

"Svartalfheim is such an ugly Realm." He says, gaze dropping back to her. He smiles thinly. "Now Alfheim, land of the Light Elves, that is a place you should see. They say Asgard is the most beautiful of Realms, but Alfheim, I believe, has a beauty beyond measure. And there is no race of greater magical abundance. They are, of all the Nine's beings, perhaps the closest to Yggdrisal herself."

Jane's eyes widen in wonderment. She swallows, trying to envision what such a place looks like.

"You've… you've been there?" She asks.

"I have been to all the Nine Realms, many times over." He answers swiftly. "And many places beyond."

"You don't need the Bifrost." Jane says, not a question. The realization suddenly hitting her, and all it could mean.

He shakes his head in response anyway.

What seems a million questions pop into her mind, and she wants to ask them all. About how he does it, if it's something he could teach others to do, if he would know how to build a machine to duplicate the ability

Somehow, she keeps them to herself.

Instead, she says…

"We've been doing all this walking. Since you got your magic back, couldn't you have just… I don't know, just…"

She waves her hands, unsure of the proper term.

"Teleported us to the city and saved you the burden of your aching muscles?" Loki supplies for her.

She stares a moment, and then nods.

"Yeah." She says sheepishly.

Loki smiles, and shrugs lightly, closing his book.

"I could have." He says. "But to carry both you and Thor and then myself would have left my power greatly drained, and have taken nearly a full, rested day to recover it. I cannot afford to go into battle against the enemy we face with my energy so depleted. It will take enough of a toll on me, opening the portal for Asgard's forces once we arrive."

"But," Jane begins, still not quite comprehending. "Really? I mean, you've been taking out these guys attacking us pretty easily. I thought…"

Loki chuckles, cutting her off.

"It is not the same." He says. "The Elves we have been facing, while possessed of magic, are not of great strength in it, and wield what little amount they do have clumsily. Malekith is a creature of an entirely different sort."

He leans back, regarding Jane closely a moment.

She stares back, both curious and with apprehension filling her gut.

"There are very few beings in the Nine Realms of significant magical energy. Fewer still who maintain any sort of mastery over that energy. Malekith the Accursed is one such being."

Jane hesitates, feeling her apprehension grow at the seriousness of Loki's tone.

"And you've… you've faced him before?" She finally manages to ask.

And Loki smiles almost sardonically.

"In a manner of speaking." He says. "I have little doubt Thor has shared with you a tale of glory and honor, if not to spare me, then to spare him and his father the embarrassment of the truth."

Jane's expression grows confused.

"I'm sorry?" She asks. "I'm not…" her head shakes. "I don't understand."

"Malekith once captured me." Loki answers without hesitation. "And tortured me."

Finally his eyes slide away from hers.

"This was many centuries ago, when I was barely more than a child. And though my sedir was great…"

Jane sees Loki's hands clench to fists in his lap.

"greater than his," he goes on finally, calm voice belying the tension in his frame. "he was far older, and far more experienced, his control over his energy well surpassing my own at the time."

He looks back to her at last, expression eerily blank.

"He understood how to suppress my power and keep me helpless. And he took full advantage of the fact."

Once more, he glances away.

"Only through sheer force of will did I manage to escape his hold."

He shakes his head.

"But the encounter was his great folly. For it spurred me on only to train harder. To better hone and refine my skills."

Jane sees he is clenching his hands so hard now, his knuckles are turning white.

"And it will be his downfall now."

He falls silent then, and for a long moment, Jane says nothing.

She can see the rage boiling through him, held down and quiet, and somehow, it frightens her as much as when he had come at her with threats on his tongue and violence in his movements.

"… What did he do to you?" She asks in a whisper, only realizing a moment after that she'd spoken the question aloud, eyes widening slightly in trepidation at his reaction.

She expects for him to explode, to yell at her and threaten her again for daring to ask.

But he only sits there, silent a long while, face turned away.

And then she hears him speak, voice so soft, she almost doesn't hear.

"… He stole away my hope."

And he says nothing more after that, until the fire has dwindled nearly to nothing, and he looks back at her, at last, his handsome features barely visibly in the dark.

"Get some rest, Ms. Foster." He tells her. "Tomorrow, our journey ends."

And Jane nods, giving no protest as she makes her way back into the tent, not bothering to ask if he'll be coming to bed too. She knows he won't.

She lays awake a long time afterwards, thinking about what he said. Trying to understand what he meant.

When she does, she feels her heart break.

/

AN: Thanks so much to everyone for your reviews and support! I hope you continued to enjoy this chapter, and please, let me know your thoughts!