Jane was not feeling well. Along with the visions and headaches came a dizziness that made it hard to concentrate on anything. She was confused by the guard coming towards her, not walking at all like a guard. No one else seemed to notice at all when he came in.

The guard pulled of his helmet with one hand, and almost as like a piece of paper was being torn, the disguise fell away and suddenly there was a tall girl standing in front Jane, her long, blonde hair falling onto her armored shoulders.

"Gods, these Asgardins and their stupid hats, am I right?" She laughed, smiling a little to herself and coming closer to Jane. The guards still saw nothing.

"Who are you?" She asked carefully, unsure of this new character. So far, all of the magic she had seen had been amazing, but she didn't exactly trust it. She liked to be able to understand, to be able to explain why and how things worked, but this... Fairytales weren't exactly scientific. ANd there were a hell of a lot of people who wanted her dead right now. Definitely good to take the cautious side.

Jane stood, a little shaky. The guards didn't notice her getting up or talking either.

"Eve Caster. I'm here to help," said the young woman. She didn't look particularly threatening, in fact, she had some kind of spark of happiness, of goodness, that made it evident that she was on the side of the heroes.

"How? The healers told me that there wasn't anything that they could do," Jane asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you would call a healer," replied Eve. Again, her face shimmered to reveal another look, this one with sharper lines and pointed ears. An elf. But not one of the dark ones. She somehow looked prettier that way. More like she was herself.

She reached over, putting two fingers on Jane's forehead, and began to whisper in another language, one that sounded ancient. The headache abated almost immediately, and Jane sighed in relief, not noticing Eve's face go pale.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet. That was just to take the edge off. I can't get rid of the Aether, but this should help keep it from destroying your life force."

"What did you do?"

"Well, like I said, I'm no healer, but I did transfer some of my power to you. Part of me. It won't last long, but it should be enough. They're on their way to bust you out now," Eve said, moving her hands to apparently work some kind of spell.

"Thor?" She asked, somewhat excitedly.

"Sif. Thor will meet us at the ship," she said, smiling a bit at Jane's reaction. Thor and Jane made a cute couple.

"You're coming too?" Jane asked, picking up on the plan.

"Yeah. Like I said. That power won't last long. You'll need more help. And moral support. It's gonna get rough. Don't tell anyone that I'm there though," she added quickly.

"I won't, but why?" Jane asked.

"I have a bit of a uh-history. Let's just say that not everyone would be too happy to see me. It'll take too long to explain," Eve finished, noticing the look Jane was giving her. The topic was clearly closed. Jane frowned. There was something that Eve wasn't telling her. A guard came into the room and looked around, holding a tray.

"I'm not hungry," Jane said, trying to dismiss him as quickly as possible.

The guard crumpled to the ground as someone hit him over the head from behind.

"Good. Let's go."

Sif motioned for Jane to follow, and Eve led the group out.

XXXXX

"When you see Loki, slap him in the face for me, won't you? I can't do it without breaking my cover," I quietly asked Jane.

"Why?" She whispered, glancing at Sif to see if she could hear any of our conversation. She couldn't. I had made sure of it.

"Well, I could say something noble, like for New York, but really, it's cause he's a jackass. Trust me. It'll be satisfying."

Sif, the warrior maiden, led us through what seemed like a labyrinth of hallways, one that had become familiar to me over the past few weeks. She stayed quiet. Mostly, I expect because she was jealous of Thor's affection for Jane. Awkward.

We were drawing close to the rendezvous point, and I could see the two figures waiting there, one in cuffs. As we got close, Jane took a step towards Loki. He got a clever glint in his eye.

"You're-" she began.

"Loki. You may have heard of me," he finished.

She slapped him right across the face.

"That was for New York," she said.

"I like her." He replied to Thor.

Cheeky little bastard.

Guards came from two directions after us.

"I'll hold them off. Take her," Sif motioned. Time for us to go.

"Thank you," Thor replied, taking Jane along towards the ship.

I was just about to follow them when Sif stuck out her sword and held Loki behind it, very nearly accidentally impaling me.

"Betray him, and I will kill you," she threatened.

"It's good to see you too Sif," he replied in a mocking tone. His spirits seemed to have lifted since he was let out of prison.

We continued, half running down the halls, towards the Dark Elven Harrow Ship that was our destination. Malekith had left it after he had crashed, and that made it perfect for our use.

When we finally arrived at the plaza, Volstagg, a heavyset ginger warrior and previous ally of Thor's, was waiting for us.

"I will give you as much time as I can," he told us.

"Thank you, my friend," Thor replied. Volstagg nodded to Jane, but again, Loki was held back.

"If you even think about betraying him-"

"You'll...kill me? Evidently there will be a line," he replied. There already was one. And I was at the front of it.

We boarded the ship as the Einherjar came running from all directions. Volstagg reluctantly drew his sword.

On the ship, there was (unsurprisingly) more arguing between Thor and Loki. Jane was standing in the corner, apparently on the verge of having another episode. I could still hear them arguing while I worked on healing her.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki mused.

"I said 'how hard could it be?'" Thor replied.

"Stay with me here, Jane," I whispered. Her eyes were fluttering. They were beginning to take on a red tinge because of the object possessing her. Creepy. I was working as fast as I could to help.

"Well, whatever you're doing, I suggest that you do it faster," Loki rushed, seeing as the ship had still not turned on yet. He was right. Outside, the noises of the guards were getting louder. And Jane was getting worse.

"Shut up Loki," Thor replied, very graciously.

"You must have missed something," he replied.

"I didn't. I'm pressing every button on this thing," Thor said, beginning to get frustrated. He slammed more buttons as quickly as he could.

"No, don't hit it, just press it. Gently," Loki told him.

"I am pressing it gently! It's not working!" Thor roared, pounding random buttons and overall not helping.

"Oh for gods' sakes, you absolute IDIOTS," I called, invisible and silent, running over to the panel and flipping a large lever that clearly turned the ship on.

"Ha ha!" Thor yelled.

"You're welcome," I replied.

The ship began to lift at his command. It rotated around the plaza, taking out columns along the way.

"Jeez. Somebody didn't pass driver's ed," I muttered.

"I think you missed a column," Loki announced.

"Shut up," Thor shot back, trying to right the ship. He turned around, and shot out into the open sky of Asgard, still struggling.

"Look, why don't you let me take over. I'm clearly the better pilot."

I didn't doubt that, as Thor's driving was making me a bit car sick. Or spaceship sick. Whatever.

"Is that so? Out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

Jane began to stagger and fainted completely.

"Damn it," I muttered. The Aether was burning through the extra part of my energy that I had given Jane faster than anything I had ever heard of before.

"Oh dear. Is she dead?" Loki asked, unconcernedly.

"I could so hit you right now," I told him between spells, even though he couldn't hear. It still made me feel better.

"Jane!" Thor called.

One of the spells set in, and she stirred.

"I'm okay," she mumbled weakly. I worked even more feverishly, summoning some herbs from thin air.

Thor crashed into the top of a building. Men and their driving skills. Totally not the superior drivers.

"Not a word," he silenced, as Loki opened his mouth with an unruly response.

Three Asgardian skiffs appeared, full of guards, just behind us.

"Now they're following us," Loki stated, obviously.

The skiffs opened fire.

"Now they're firing at us," he added.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki. It's not at all distracting," Loki's sarcasm seemed to be rubbing off on his sibling.

A low dip of the left wing on the way into a tunnel took off the head of a statue.

"Congratulations! You've just decapitated your grandfather," Loki stated.

The ship was practically limping along now, from all of the crashes and shots it had taken.

We exited the tunnel into open air again, now next to a bridge with the city behind us.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant-" I laughed a bit at the look of shock on Loki's face as Thor threw him out the open door, screaming. He picked Jane up and followed. I set the autopilot for the nearby mountains with only the flip of a switch, and jumped off, following the brothers.

I free fell for several hundred feet, guided by the wind, and landed on a skiff that was now lagging behind the previously doomed vessel.

"I see that your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," laughed Fandral, another one of Thor's closest friends. He was blonde and dashing, fit to be a buccaneer.

Loki ignored him and turned to watch as the Harrow ship headed for the mountains, with all three Einherjar skiffs following it.

"You lied to me. I'm impressed."

"Well, you shouldn't be. It's not hard," I replied in the short silence that followed.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now take us to your secret pathway," Thor replied, casting a worried glance at Jane, who was now resting on the bench of the ship, hardly conscious.

What he couldn't tell was that he was looking straight through little invisible me, saying just about every other spell that I knew to try and stop the Aether from destroying Jane's soul. Not much.

I felt the boat pick up speed and fly more smoothly, as the driver changed. We split off to the right. Suddenly, we started skimming back and forth and speeding up to avoid a stream of plasma that flew by. Oh great. More guards.

We flew higher to avoid them.

"Fandral," Thor said.

In response, he sighed, and gave an exasperated glance.

"Right. For Asgard," Fandral said, sarcastically, as he grinned and grabbed a rope, saluting the sombre group and jumping off of the side, onto the enemy skiff. I grinned.

Our speed continued to rise at a frightening pace, and we were coming to a dead end. Emphasis on the dead, if we didn't slow down soon.

Thor noticed it too.

"Loki," he warned.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it," he said, in total concentration.

"Are you mad?" Thor asked, as we began to come within crashing distance. A small opening was just barely showing through a crack in the cave wall.

"Possibly," he replied, looking incredibly manic, steering with such focus that he didn't take his eyes off of the cave.

"More like probably, I think."

Jane smiled a little at my invisible sarcasm, although she was barely conscious. She was doing a tad better under my care.

Thor moved to protect her, as we hit the gap head on, flying through, the sides of the skiff grinding against the walls and creating a rainbow effect, not unlike the Bifrost.

Suddenly, we dropped out, bumping into land below, black sand spraying everywhere.

"Ta-da," Loki called as we touched down, apparently safe for the time being.

"No, I take that back. You are definitely insane," I said. I was forced to put Jane into a deep sleep to silence the Aether, as it had sensed its arrival home, to its master, and had gotten excited. Again, creepy.

I quietly worked. The sky stretched in brackish clouds in all directions over the dark, ashen plains. The light was eerie, pale even at near high-noon. There was a poison in this land. The others couldn't feel it, but since I was a creature of the light, the darkness in the air of this planet leeched into my soul and painfully stuck in my throat. It was killing me. Literally.

The dark was something that you feared as a child, someplace for the monsters to lurk, something that you were forced to end every day with before you went to sleep. And the Dark Elves were borne of the first darkness, the only thing that there was before there was light. They were the darkest shade, their souls the deepest, unknowable hue. And not unlike when you turn on the light after being in the dark for awhile, the bright flame of my spirit would briefly illuminate me in the eyes of any Dark Elf that would happen to lay eyes on me, regardless of whether or not I was concealed by magic.

Or at least that was how the stories went.

You mortals would probably, with all of your science or what not, just call it thermal imaging. Heat sensing, maybe. My body temperature always ran hot.

I think that my definition was better.

But either way, Maleketh would be able to sense my power from a ways away, so I would have to leave soon. Just a few more things with Jane, I reasoned.

Not only was it dark, but it was cold. Thor laid a blanket down over her. Loki looked on with a surprising disdain.

"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," he mused, still steering the ship. He wanted the power. But more than that, he wanted to test his brother's attachment to Jane. I didn't have to be psychic to be able to tell where this conversation was going.

"It would consume you," Thor immediately replied.

"She's holding up alright. For now," he contemplated.

"You're welcome," I said, to nobody who could hear me.

"She's strong in ways you'd never know about," Thor replied, with a hint of pride.

"Say goodbye," Loki stated plainly, like there was a bad taste in his mouth.

"Not this day," Thor replied, beginning to get agitated.

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you," Loki replied maliciously. He seemed almost... Worried? Was this whole conversation started because he was worried that he would lose me? Probably not... Just... Gloating.

"And will that satisfy you?"

"Satisfaction's not in my nature," he replied, almost as though rehearsed, a line that he had told himself over and over to push away love.

"And surrender's not in mine," responded Thor immediately. At least he was willing to fight for the woman he loved. Take some notes, Loki.

"The son of Odin..."

Thor rose at the mocking words.

"No. Not just of Odin. You think you alone were loved of mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust," he replied. Bringing up their mother was probably not a good idea in their present state.

"Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?" he questioned, his voice sharp.

"What help were you in your cell?" Thor baited.

"Who put me there? WHO PUT ME THERE?" He yelled, his cool attitude finally breaking. I guess that he was right. Everyone snaps eventually.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL. YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO," Thor yelled, cornering Loki on the skiff. He raised his arm to strike, as I tensed, ready to spring into action, but after a minute of glaring, he put it back down, and stepped away. Good thing this wasn't a stealth mission.

"She wouldn't want us to fight," Thor said, regretting his hot temper.

"She wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki said with a hint of a smile.

The pair seemed to quietly recollect over shared memories of childhood, both of them lost briefly in thought.

"I wish I could trust you," Thor said, a familiar sentiment among siblings. A sort of want to confide in them, prevented by an understanding of how real life worked. I have five of them. I know how it goes.

"Trust my rage," Loki replied quietly, to Thor's back.

A shiver went down my spine. We were getting close. I could feel it. And that meant that it was time for me to go. I took the sleeping spell off of Jane, and took one long, last look back at the brothers that were setting out to take out one of the most powerful beings in the universe. I hoped that they would be careful. Like that could ever happen.

"Good luck," I whispered to the stirring figure of Jane. But I knew that good fortune would never be enough.

SOOOO yeah. Just gotta say that this chapter was so fun to write. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also, just saying, but Eve still missed all the spoilers from Thor (one) and she doesn't actually know that Loki is a frost giant. Anywayyyy peace out homies. Have a good day/night/week/weekend.