Running at Full Tilt: Chapter 8
Oh dear...it's been a while hasn't it? I apologize, but school happens :/ Spring break is almost upon me though, which is both good and bad. Hopefully I'll get some actual writing done over my one week of freedom! :) We can only hope.
Angst! Fluff! Some sweet bits that make you want to both cry and hug a Loki!
I also realized that I have never put this in: I have no beta. Any and all mistakes are my own!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Predator movie or characters, same for Avengers. That belongs to Marvel.
Warnings: Violence...probably lots of angst.
Why You Listen to Loki
After another round of rations was passed out, they all settled in to eat and chatter idly. Certainly, they were all itching to leave and execute their plan, but given the weather and Loki's warning (which he did not elaborate on), they were stuck where they were.
Eventually Loki started a small fire for warmth, spelling the smoke away, so it didn't just fill up the cave. Thor settled himself right beside his brother, when they all gathered around the fire. Loki scowled and scooted away, but did not say anything. His brother took it in stride and only rested back on his hands. The rain was long forgotten, and they either held soft conversations with each other or stared into the flames, lost in their own thoughts.
What Loki had told the doctor was true. There was no longer any toxin running through him, which meant that he would not experience any waking nightmares. However, the toxin had stirred up memories Loki had shoved deep into the depths of his mind, wishing to forget them. As he watched the flames dance before him, and felt his magical strength siphoning off to take care of it, images flashed before his eyes. Darkness. Pain. Stars far too far away to offer any sort of comfort. He had been so far gone from Yggdrasil's branches, that Heimdall could not see him, not matter how much he prayed to the Norns that just this once the Gatekeeper would spot him.
He had been hurt, angry. He had thought at the time that what he was doing was what was right, what his fa- Odin would approve of. But none of that mattered now. Loki was not Asgardian. Loki was now the villain, and would never be accepted back into the Allfather's graces. Which was fine, Loki told himself. He no longer cared for the old man's approval. It was never his to attain to begin with, so there was no reason for Loki to care if his actions hurt others. No one cared for him.
No one had come.
Loki startled back and smacked at the hand that touched his face. It was then that he noticed everyone had stopped talking and was staring at him like they had never seen him before. Loki looked back at the offender (Thor, of course) and scowled fiercely.
"What?!" The Trickster ignored how tight his throat was. Thor's eyes were…sad, and his hand was still extended.
"Loki…" The green-eyed god furrowed his brow and looked at the other man's fingers…noting that they were shimmering with water. He reached up to his face and was horrified to find that tears had slipped down his cheeks unnoticed.
He quickly wiped them away and stood. Loki glared at Tony, and grew more mortified and angry at the understanding that was written across the inventor's face. There was nothing for them to 'understand'.
"We had an agreement that he would stay away from me." Without waiting for any kind of response, Loki stalked to the mouth of the cave and turned his back to all of them, staring out at the rain.
Bruce, who was sitting next to Thor, patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. Thor barely acknowledged the doctor, rubbing his fingers together.
It had been very hard when Thor first thought Loki dead. He mourned and refused to come out of mourning for weeks. His father had accepted it for the first few days, but after that, the Allfather began insisting that he move on. Thor refused, and they were at odds for a long time. They still were if Thor was being honest. His friends tried to coax him with hunting trips and sparring games, but nothing could interest him. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three tried to be understanding, but they had not loved Loki as Thor had. It was his mother that finally got him out of his 'funk'. Thor had not seen her smile in weeks, much like he could not bare to see his own.
Then one day Thor was sitting in Loki's room, the curtains closed and the door locked. He kept replaying that moment on the bridge over and over again. Seeing his brother fall, not being able to save him, knowing that he was partially responsible for driving his brother to do what he did. His grieving and self-hatred cycle was interrupted by the doors bursting open. A small part of his heart leaped, imagining it to be Loki, about to scream at Thor for invading his privacy. He could not help the disappointment that came when it was his mother. However, the woman before him appeared fierce and more lively than she had in weeks. She walked directly over to the curtains and threw them open, nearly blinding Thor. With another burst of magic, she freshened up the room, as it had been gathering dust. Then she turned to him, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him out of the room.
Thor had a small smile on his face as he remembered how his mother had forced him to sit with her in the garden. She had then gone on to tell him that Loki would have smacked him upside the head for being so depressed. Even with how his brother behaved now, Thor could picture it.
When he had heard that Loki was alive and on Midgard, he nearly fainted, his heart lurched so hard…..and when he had learned that Loki was bringing harm and an invading army. Well, Thor was filled with rage. After all of his time mourning and grieving the loss of his little brother, sticking by his memory when he learned the truth of Loki's heritage and trying to convince his friends of Loki's goodness, it was like his baby brother was throwing it back in his face. But as he got his hands on Loki, as he saw the unnatural madness that lurked in his eyes, Thor just wanted to crush him in his arms, take him home and forget any of it had ever happened.
That was not to be, however, and as he defeated and chained Loki, a part of Thor's heart hurt. It was then that he thought his little brother truly had lost himself. Any attempt to speak with him or bring back his little brother from his darkness was met with scowls and venomous words. Things had come to a head, a month and a half in to his brother's imprisonment, when Thor had neglected his duties one too many times in favor of trying to talk to Loki. The Allfather had banned him from visiting his brother altogether.
But now, now they were back together again…and Thor didn't know what to do. He wanted to go back to how they used to be, but then again, had not what they used to be driven Loki farther from him? Thor shook those thoughts from his head. No. He had changed; they both had changed, but Thor still wanted to be brothers. Loki was avoiding him and throwing scathing words at him, but Thor refused to give up. These last couple of days had given him a close up into Loki's hurt. His brother never discussed his feelings with him, even before Thor's failed coronation. It was just not what Loki did. Seeing this side of his brother hurt Thor, knowing that Loki carried around so much pain that had spawned his great anger and being kept at arms reach or farther, forbidden to help.
Thor straightened then. Just because Loki did not want his help, does not mean that he would not get it. Thor had never back down from a challenge until he had beaten it into the ground…well, perhaps this required him to be a bit more delicate. However, the principle was still the same. Thor would not give up on Loki. It was simply not an option.
The others watched the interaction and fall out. None of them were surprised by how Loki reacted, but there was a…something there that suggested Loki might not have minded as much as he did.
Tony would have bet ten bucks that Loki was still doing his silent, man cry as he stared at the rain. It was the perfect setting for it too. Dark, pouring, emotional angst, Jack Skeleton vibe…it made Tony wonder how often Loki actually cried. They were seeing a different side of Loki, one that didn't not read super villain, but one that made you maybe understand why they went down that track.
Everyone kept glancing between Thor and Loki, as if they were actually torn with who to offer comfort to. Tony himself, was not one for giving hugs. That was Steve's job. If he had to pick, though, he would go with Loki. That man needed a hug. Maybe that was why he was a villain. Not enough hugs as a child. Then again, Tony wasn't in the mood to get his hand bitten off by Loki or his spine snapped by Thor in one of his bear hugs. So, the inventor stayed resolutely where he was, waiting like the others for something to happen.
Then something did, but it wasn't what they were expecting.
A low rumbling was coming from outside the cave. It wasn't thunder, though…it was more like…growling. Loki tensed at the mouth of the cave, and slowly got to his feet, until he was in a crouch, spear out.
"What is that?" Loki made a sharp hand gesture for silence.
"Hush!" Nobody moved, waiting for whatever it was to show itself. The scariest part was that Loki looked nervous.
The growling got louder, closer. It was dark, and with the rain pouring as it was, there was no way for them to see anywhere past five feet out the cave. But then…whatever it was got close. Really close.
It was right at the edge of the magical barriers, growling at them. The Avengers were shocked at the fear that zinged through their chests. The creature's eyes were pure white, offset by pitch black fur surrounding them. However, that seemed to be the only place with consistent fur coverage. Everywhere else on the creatures body was a patchwork of black fur, cracked and bleeding green, gelatinous looking skin and mud. The fire reflected from its teeth, tiny razor sharp things. It almost looked as if the monster didn't have a mouth, only a whole clump of hundreds of teeth under its eyes. It was the size of a black bear and had claws like one.
Then it walked forward again, until it pressed right against the barrier and roared. Loki didn't even flinch, but his grip tightened around his weapon, and the others felt a strong pressure fill the cave.
The horrible monster prowled back and forth in front of the cave a few times, growling all the while, before it seemed to lumber off. The Avengers didn't unwind until they couldn't see or hear the creature anymore. Loki had slumped against the cave wall, and the strange pressure had gone down again.
"What was that thing?" Loki just stared at the wall as he answered.
"I don't know, but it only comes out during these storms. It can sense magical barriers, but fortunately cannot get through them, as you have just witnessed."
"Wait, you didn't know whether that thing would get through or not?" Loki glared at the archer.
"I have observed this creature before. It had not broken through my barriers before, but I make it a rule of mine not to trust anything on this planet. I had my magic ready, in case it did break through." Bruce rubbed his temples.
"So that pressure we felt, that was your magic?" Loki simply nodded, looking about ready to pass out against the cave wall. Tony looked like he wanted to ask a ton of questions, but a glare from Steve stopped him. That and Thor was approaching his brother, which made them all wary.
"Loki, you are exhausted. Come back to the fire and rest. You have protected us from much this day." Loki only managed a half-hearted glare at Thor, from the ground where he had sunk. Thor held out a hand, but Loki grabbed his wrist, just to be difficult.
Once he was on his feet, Loki let go of Thor and walked, shakily, back to his original spot by the fire. He slumped forward, once seated and ran a hand over his hair.
"Is that thing the reason you said we shouldn't leave the cave?" Loki barely lifted his head to look at Steve.
"Yes. It has killed more than one of the others brought here. There is…never much left of them." Thor reached his seat by his brother and sat a bit closer than last time. Loki was too tired to care. Calling up that much magic when he was weak and already hampered by whatever It had done to the planet, had drained him. He could feel his eye-lids falling, but tried to fight it. Loki did not wish to sleep, however.
Though the toxin was long gone from his system, it had dredged up what he had been trying to forget. Those thoughts swirled in his head, and Loki knew that sleep would only pull him back into that darkness, only this time, no berries could get rid of it.
Everyone was quiet. Banner and Stark were conversing about their Midgardian science and Romanoff was muttering in Russian to the archer. The Captain was simply observing everything, keeping watch though no one had their guards down. Thor, though, Thor would not stop staring at him!
Loki could feel his br- the Golden Prince's eyes on him, and it made him want to squirm. The giant oaf would not leave him be! Could he not understand that Loki did not want to be brothers again? That they were never brothers to begin with. That Loki was just a changeling in the House of Odin, good only for providing the shadow to the Crown Prince's sunlight. That Loki could not be anything more to him…than a monster to slay.
Eventually, Loki gave in to his exhaustion and laid down. Only to rest his body for a few moments, but it was just the beginning of the end. Within seconds, his eyes were shut, and his breathing even.
It was strange, to the others, seeing Loki sleeping in the midst of them. Loki was usually much more wary and cautious, so it only spoke to his exhaustion that he would fall asleep by the fire and amongst his enemies-turned-allies rather than in some dark corner.
Thor quietly scooted closer until his hip was practically touching Loki's head. He decided to press his luck and slowly reached out a hand and touched his brother's head. A fond smile slid onto his face, as Loki did not wake, but curled ever so slightly towards his touch.
Steve wished he had his sketch pad and pencils; Clint looked like he wanted to puke.
This is a little short, but I felt like I covered a lot in it. Next chapter is pretty angsty. Heads up ;)
Please review!
