"'Cause I still believe
That you'll remember me..."
Chapter 12
"Tell me Loki, how did you get the Jotuns into Asgard?" asked the gatekeeper as he stood outside the Bifrost chamber, waiting.
So he knew I would come, Loki snarled in his head. He knew he wasn't the gatekeeper's favourite person, but he'd never imagined he'd go this far; to bring Thor back, just to uproot Loki... then once again Thor would be rewarded for being a monster, rather than punished. No.
Why did the gatekeeper have to be such a self-righteous being, just like the Warriors, just like Thor?! If he and the Warriors had just sat back and accepted their fate, things would have gone fine. The lying king would be dead, the monsterous brother too far away to do any more harm, and the race threatening war appeased.
But the gatekeeper's actions had changed that now. The lives to be lost, the destruction to be done... it was all Heimdall's fault. Damage control wouldn't be as easy as it should have been, thanks to the gatekeeper's intervention.
"You think the Bifrost is the only way in and out of this realm?" Loki growled impatiently, no time for the gatekeeper's calm stalling. Buying time for Thor to return no doubt. "There are secret paths between the world to which even you, with all your gifts, are blind."
All thanks to Summer, Loki added in his head. Her arrival had been the spark to ignite his research and then... so many others came to be clear. So clear it was a wonder he hadn't known about them beforehand! Now, it didn't matter; "But I have need of them no longer, now that I am king. And I say, for your act of treason, you are relieved of your duties as Gatekeeper and no longer citizen of Asgard."
Out of the way. Heimdall needed to be gone too, just like Thor. He was threat Loki couldn't afford. Everything was dangerous. Everything a danger to his plans. He couldn't afford that; he needed to be the best, so she would know, so she would understand...
Heimdall would ruin him at every chance if he could. He was loyal to Thor and Odin, not Loki, and no matter what happened, Loki knew that wouldn't change. He couldn't afford such a powerful liability.
"Then I need no longer obey you."
Loki's eyes snapped back to focus at the ring of the gatekeeper's sword, panic flittering briefly through his mind as it surged towards him.
What? Loki gasped in his head. Heimdall would kill him? Would fight him? He was that desperate?! He wasn't just in Thor's favour but actively clearing his path to the thone and to power, ready to sweep Loki away.
In the split second he had to act, Loki growled in his head. No - he would not let this happen! He would not let the gatekeeper ruin all his hard work! He had no weapons, nothing to defend himself but the magic already pricking at his palms and adrenalin coursed through him, knowing he had seconds to come up with something before he was too dead to do so.
Ice flooded through his viens, a stark difference to his molten anger, but he didn't have time to be surprised as something heavy clunked into his hands.
And his heart fell through the floor as he realised what it was.
He didn't need to look. He'd felt this weight before, this shape, this chill... and there was no denying the rapid build up of ice creeping up the gatekeeper's neck.
The Casket.
He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. He forced his distaste to the back of his mind - send the Casket away now and he might as well just step himself onto Heimdall's blade for him. It was suicide. He had no choice.. and it was mighty effective. It pushed back against him as the ice flew at the gatekeeper and Loki held on, gripping the bridge beneath him with the balls of his feet as well as the Casket tightly in his hands.
Loki didn't dare breath for the seconds it took for the gatekeeper to be smothered in ice, his body, his sword, his furious expression - all frozen in a thick layer of ice.
Then Heimdall moved no more.
A ragged gasp fled Loki's lips as the weight of the Casket settled back into his hands and he was left staring at the furious eyes of the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper that was frozen. Loki's eyes blinked back to the present and scoured, stunned over what he'd done. Was he dead? Would the ice kill him? Loki wasn't sure. The eyes looked very much alive, even restrained behind a wall of ice.
He'd done that. He, with the weapon of the Frost Giants, had done this. Loki's jaw gritted tensely, and his hands summoned the Casket away again. He couldn't even look at it.
Of all the things, why that?! Why?! Not a sword, or spear, or shield as any Asgardian would have better use of - but, no! The Casket. Ice.
His knees felt weak. He'd spent so much time telling himself he wasn't a monster. He was not... but the blue stained skin of his hands begged to differ with him as he glanced down. And he'd summoned their weapon. It had aswered to him, not telling the difference between him and the other monsters on Jotunheim.
Maybe because their was no difference, he thought breathlessly, even the flesh tone started to creep back into his complexion instead of icy blue. At this rate, he was just as much as a monster as Thor was.
Perhaps even worse.
XXX
It didn't take long.
Summer had found the sturdy duffel bag in David's closet, and it hadn't taken long to fill it with her few possessions. Some clothes for her and Ewin, some diapers for him, some food... she didn't know where she was going. She didn't know how long it would take to get settled.
She hadn't thought it through, she thought to herself as she tried to carry the bag through to the sitting room, taking great care to avoid looking at the sleeping figure in the bed. But she had few options. She had to go.
Ewin was fast asleep in his Moses basket by the end of the sofa and Summer glanced to him. The soft smile flickered over her face.
Don't worry, she told him in her mind as if she could insert her thoughts into his dreams. I'll make it okay. Loki will find us. He'll take care of us. He'll be like a father for you. He'll make it okay.
But for that to be true she had to get out of here. She didn't have a future with David. It was time to stop pretending she did.
The bag was heavy but she kept her huffs of exertion quiet. If David woke up now, if he found her... she didn't want to think about it. She probably wouldn't have the guts to venture out into the unknown like this if he hammered the truth of what she was doing home. She didn't want to face him. She wanted to just phase in and out of his life like a shadow.
She lugged the bag to the front door and set it down, glancing back over her shoulder. Silence, stillness. Good, she thought with an inward sigh fo relief.
Her attention turned to the door latch.
She winced as her fingers turned it and it clicked, cracking open slightly. She paused again, before proceeding. When no one stirred, called out or pulled her away from the door, she peeled it open as slowly as she dared, desperate to avoid any sound.
Silence bled in from the cold streets, the moment the door opened. Quiet, like she'd wanted. An ominous, deadly quiet. It sent chills through her. Summer stared at the dark streets beyond the door, beyond the safety of David's protection, heart beating fast.
Oh God, she breathed in her head. She was really going to do this. She had to, she told herself. For her, for Ewin, for David. Her head bowed shamefully; for Loki.
Her eyes were swimming with tears as she bowed her head, feeling the icy chill of the cold outside prick goose bumps on her skin. Or was that guilt? Chills of cold or of horror... she wasn't sure. She had to go. She couldn't stay with David anymore.
Sorry Ewin, she breathed in her mind, eyes welling with tears. Sorry Loki. You both deserve better than this.
Loki...her fists clenched at her sides as she thought of him. And willed him to forgive her. She'd slipped up, but now she had to rise to try to make it right, no matter how hard it would be, no matter how scary. She couldn't trust herself around David. It wasn't fair on either him or Loki, leading him on like this.
She blinked her eyes furiously and tried to focus. It will be okay, she told herself, tomorrow. Or the next night. Or the night after that. Whatever it took. It would get better. Loki would find her and she would be fine. She couldn't stay and she wouldn't. It was time to put the faith in Loki that he deserved.
Her eyes blinked clear of the tears and she stared clearly down at the doorstep, tears gone. Then a glint shone and caught her attention.
Her brow furrowed. What...
She bent at the knees, crouching down. The light outside was nearly non-existent. The object.. whatever it was. There was only the shine. The closer she got though, the more clearly she could see it.
Her fingers reached out and touched it, touched the metal, cold and icy from the chilly night air. It was smooth. Flawless.
Her heartbeat picked up; the pattern felt familiar.
Her fingers closed around it and lifted it up, bringing it to her face. Her lips ghosted apart in horror as she made out the unmistakable shape of the mermaid pendant, gleaming out at her accusingly.
The necklace... the one from Asgard. Summer's fingers closed around it and her eyes lifted to the street beyond, scanning frantically for the shape of a man. There was nothing there. But only one person would have this, she told herself. Only Loki would have this. And if it was here... Summer's blood ran cold; Loki had come. Loki had been here.
But he'd gone. He'd left. Without her. He wouldn't do that, she reassured herself. He'd told her he'd come for her and he had... so why had he left?
The answer flashed in her head almost instantly, an unknown force answering her question: the image of David kissing her blasted through her mind. Her heart stopped, breath leaving her in a misty sigh of horror. No... he couldn't have.
The minute she thought it though, she knew it wasn't true. There was no reason Loki would come for her then leave without even speaking to her. What one thing would turn him away so resolutely?
David. He'd seen her kissing David.
The breath gasped into her lungs, feeling the panic start to wash over her. Oh God. Looki had seen. She... she must have ripped his heart in two.
Her fingers gripped the mermaid pendant tightly. He'd left this. What did that mean? To Summer, she couldn't help but feel it meant he was leaving her behind. That he was through with her. No, she sobbed in her head. He couldn't leave her behind. If only she could talk to him, explain...
Explain what?, an accusing voice asked in her head. How can you explain away cheating? He'd kept his promise.
And she'd betrayed him.
Her eyes lifted to the sky, not even bothering to mask the tears this time. The clouds were dark. Angry.
Loki...
XXX
Monster or not, he would not lose to Thor. Not now... and Loki watched through the Destroyer's visor as the chaos unfolded on Earth. He sat back in the throne and watched with a contemplating mind.
"Ensure my brother does not return." He murmured to himself again, clenching the staff tightly in his hand.
The Destroyer threw Volstagg through a building as the command echoed in the machine's matrix.
A smirk pricked at Loki's lips.
He didn't dare leave this to chance. He'd lost focus for a moment - and that had been the slip the Warrior's had needed to get this far already. There was no way they could be allowed back alive, least of all Thor. And this time, Loki would see the job done, so there was no mistake.
It was his only choice now. Before, Thor had been bound to Earth by his own grief and repentence, but now, if the Warrior's told him the truth... there was no force that would be able to contain him. He had to die.
Thus far though, the mighty Thor had cowered in the background with the fleeing mortals. Pathetic. The Warriors attacked the Destroyer, fighting valiantly, but Loki knew it would not be enough. This would be their punishment for their defiance - death alongside the prince they'd fled to free from exile.
Everywhere was destruction. Buildings, glass, explosions - nothing was left intact, everything absolutely obliterated. The mortals were getting a fresh taste of the wrath of gods.
The through it all, Loki glimpsed his brother clearly at the end of the street. It was unmistakably him as he ran forward, in mere mortal clothes rather than any armour, aiding up a fallen mortal man in the middle of the road. He was not fighting. He was running away - just proving Loki's thoughts seconds later as he retreated back to the Warriors and mortals further down the street.
Loki's smirk deepened; there was nowhere for them to go.
It sent an excited flicker through his heart, a shiver. Loki fluttered his eyes shut and revelled in it; he was feeling something. Since Summer... since that day on Earth, he'd felt painfully numb. Cold. Empty. Like he wasn't even alive anymore. Maybe it was just the Frost Giant in him, chilling his blood... it scared him though. Not feeling anything. For months his feelings had been uncontrollable, always angry, seething, burning, feeling love for Summer and unparalleled misery that she had gone. Then he'd seen her and everything had crashed.
But this, watching Thor suffer, watching them all pay for his unhappiness... that made him feel something at last. And he clung to it with every fibre of hope he had left.
They were beaten, that much was obvious; the mortals were staggering away and the Warrior's Three clung to each other to keep themselves upright.
Loki's eyes darkened maliciously - he'd won.
He'd guessed the same realisation had gone through Thor's head too, watching as he hurried the mortals and Warriors on... but stayed himself. Thor knew, Loki thought to himself. He knew this was the end.
Loki watched with avid interest, as the last warrior in any state to fight strode forward down the road, with just a puny shield in his hand - and then Thor cast it aside with a faint clammer. Loki almost felt like laughing. He knew that it was hopeless, but he'd expected Thor to put up more of a fight than this!
Or maybe he was just a distraction, Loki fleetingly thought, scanning the group of Warriors down the street for a missing one. No. They were all accounted for.
They all wore the same confused, disblieving expression Loki felt in his heart as they froze in their escape, watching. Clearly, this was not part of their plan.
That just made Loki even more wary of what Thor was doing.
Thor just walked towards the Destroyer as if it were no more than Loki himself and not the deadly killing machine it was. And he had nothing. No weapons, no defence - not even a fighting stance. He was just ...walking. What was he doing?
"Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you," Thor said in a slow, patronisingly calm voice as he stepped ever closer to the Destroyer. Loki could hear him as clearly as if he were there himself. If he thought that sucking up would save him he was wrong, Loki thought darkly. "Whatever I have done to lead you to do this... I am truly sorry."
Sorry... after everything that had happened - to him, to Summer - and Thor thought he would make it okay with 'sorry'?! Loki's fist clenched.
"But these people are innocent." he went on in that self righteous tone of his. It made Loki's blood boil. "Taking their lives will gain you nothing."
Ironic how Thor now stood up for the 'innocent person' now, when it was those he cared for at stake. It only gave Loki even more desire to kill them, to hurt them, to take them away from Thor as Loki had had Summer taken from him.
But Loki wasn't sure he had the patience to wait much longer. He wanted the next kill to be one person, and one person only.
Only he was compelled to listen for a second longer as the former god finally stood before the Destroyer and held his ground. There was nothing proud or storng in his stance though.
Nor in his defeated voice: "So take mine... and end this."
Loki just stared.
Just... stared.
Was that real? His eyebrows lifted in surprise and it swept even his anger aside for a moment. Had Thor really just said that?
Loki glanced to the Warriors behind a second time, sure there must be some sort of trickery involved. There was no way Thor was offering his life up just like that, surely! Thor stared up into the Destroyer's visor, just an arms reach away, and Loki felt him try and see through to his brother, his eyes so calm, so quietly emotional...
And then all in a heartbeat, Loki's conscience hardened like ice. No, he growled in his head. Thor had not listened to Loki's pleas, and Loki would not listen to his.
There was a hopeless defeat in Thor's cool blue eyes as the words left his lips, offering up his life - what Loki wanted - on a platter.
And Loki's heart sank a little. It was too easy...
But then the visor turned from the suicidal man and Thor was lost from view. Loki felt the Destroyer turn.
And he woudn't allow it. His eyes narrowed, gripping the staff hard. His heart glowed with dark satisfaction as the Destroyer paused. It may be an easy death... but it was a death none the less.
Kill him, Loki thought mercilessly.
The Destroyer turned and struck Thor hard.
The thud was merciless and Thor let out a pained grunt. And it was no wonder - Thor went flying.
He was knocked back halfway down the street, and crashed harshly into the ground, rolling and rolling before his body finally settled on the dusty ground. He lay flat on his back... and didn't move anymore.
Loki just watched, mouth running dry as he watched the woman hurry to the dying man's side, throwing herself down to him. Wow, Loki thought breathlessly in his head. It was... Thor was dying. Lying there, woman frantically at his side... he was dying.
And he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He'd been braced for anger, for satisfaction, for joy... but he couldn't pin point any of those. The frown dug into his brow. He was supposed to be happy, right?
The Destroyer turned away, and this time Loki didn't stop it.
Thor was a monster, he told himself. He'd raped Summer, cast her aside, disowned his own son...how could be deserve anything less than this? Loki had done the universe a favour, saved everyone, not just himself. This wasn't about power, this was about Thor; about what he'd done, and what kind of man he was.
Now he was paying. Loki tried to steel his heart but it didn't erase the frown on his brow. He didn't understand...he forced himself to think of the reasons why he hated the man that was dead on the mortal world. To focus on that, to try and soothe the uncomfortable ache in his chest.
You've just killed your own brother, a voice chipped consciously in his head.
Loki growled against it instantly: not my brother.
He's not the same man.
He screwed his eyes shut against the voice in his head. Yes, he was. People like Thor don't change.
You didn't give him the chance.
Loki's eyes snapped open, wide.
Thor was dead. That was it, it couldn't be undone. Banishing Summer - that could be undone. Disowning his infant son - that could be undone.
But death...
Loki turned away, gulping down the lump in his throat. No. No, he'd done right, he told himself. Thor had ruined Summer's life forever, and would have kept her away to endure it alone if he hadn't been banished himself. Loki would have never seen her again if Thor had had his way, and the never would have known their new family member.
But the gleam in his eyes as he'd walked willingly up to the Destroyer and his death... Loki couldn't shake it. Those hadn't been the eyes of a monster. Those hadn't been the same blazing orbs of the man who'd defiled Summer, who'd stood back and let her suffer for his actions.
His eyes fluttered shut. It was done now. Thor was dead. He was dead, and he needed to be. There was no other way, Loki told himself. If not for what he'd done, Thor had to die for what he would do: he'd come back and sweep Loki aside again, condemn him again, climbing ever higher on his younger brother's despair.
He had to remember that - Thor would ruin him, if Loki didn't get the upper hand first. Everyone would. Thor was just the first. Of course he was remorseful when he knew he was going to lose! That gleam in his blue orbs had been nothing more than a hopeless man's last plea for his life.
He was no different. If Loki had let him live, things would go back to exactly how they'd been before.
At least, that's what he told himself.
What did he do now? Kill Odin. Make peace with murders. He gasped out a ragged breath, and his heart ached worse than ever. His hand reached instinctively up to his collar bones, pressing through his clothes.
But there was no mermaid pendant to soothe him anymore. He'd cast her aside, cut her out... just as Thor and Odin had.
He'd started off for Summer, to undo the wrong that Odin and Thor had done her and yet here he was doing the same. But did he hate her or not? She'd betrayed him, but his mind was still plotting. Why? If the goal of his cause was truly lost to him then why was he still fighting? He just proved it, seconds ago, in reaching for the pendant - he still needed her.
He brought his hand to his head and tried to control all the fast thoughts, the raging emotions, trying to make sense of everything. He didn't understand. Everything had been so clear before, but now... now he didn't know.
And a crash from behind wrenched him out of his thoughts, and he snapped his eyes open, spinning around.
The Destoryer did the same and Loki watched through the visor with horror pooling heavily in his gut.
A blinding light burst where Thor had laid.
Lightning cracked down from the sky, meeting the man holding a very hammer-like shape to the sky, channelling the storm as power crackled back into the former corpse. Loki's breath stilled; Thor was alive.
Alive - and granted back his powers. Fuelled with the knowledge that Loki had been ready to kill him, to kill them all...
Loki swore in his head.
The lightning cleared and Loki was rivetted as Thor was revealed in all his godly glory. His armour coated his body, his weapon in hand, wind whipping around him majestically. And his face... his face wasn't pleading anymore.
The thunder god's eyes were dark as the skies blackened, cloud swirling in from nowhere. He really did have his powers back, Loki thought with horror. The suicidal man was god. A vengeful god, merciless, ready to fight against that which had tried to kill him, stood in his place.
Loki was helpless to watch through the visor as Thor lifted into the sky, moving effortlessly with the storm he'd created. Thunder crashed. Bit by bit, Loki's destruction lifted into the air, caught in the powerful winds.
The Destroyer wasn't far behind. It was carried off towards the hammer swinging god like a rag doll.
Fight, Loki willed with panic. Fight! It was still Asgard's most reliable weapon. There was a chance...obediently, the Destroyer shot a blast at the hovering god, but the hammer deflected it effortlessly as if the machine had simply thrown a fistful of fairy dust. Loki gritted his teeth as the Destroyer sent another attack.
Thor didn't hit this one away - he carved through it. The hammer charged a path through the fire as Thor flew towards the metal man, getting closer and closer every second, with a power that was unstoppable.
Then the visor went abruptly black.
