Chapter Fourteen

When Jane returned to the hotel room later that night there was a definite spring in her step that hadn't been there before. She didn't give any details and that was fine with Loki. He knew the details. In fact, he could still feel her lips against his. Probably best not to dwell on that or think about that, even if it he couldn't seem to dispel it from his mind.

The next morning Jane insisted on saying goodbye to her friends one last time – including "Uncle Tony" – before going back to Asgard. When it came time to leave, Jane wound her arms around Loki, She-Ra clutched tightly in her hand, and she made him promise to teach her how to go back properly next time.

Loki stared down at her as she spoke and remembered what it was like to dance with her. To kiss her.

Valhalla, he needed to stop this.

The instant they landed on Asgard, Heimdall informed Jane that the All-Father wished to speak with her immediately. Just like that, the light that Jane had carried with her was snuffed out. As they begin their way down the Rainbow Bridge to the palace, Loki found he can't stand to see her so downtrodden. The All-Father had that effect, Loki knew this all too well.

He stopped in the middle of the bridge and grabbed Jane's hand to stop her. She looked at him in question. "Do not let him make you cower, Jane," Loki advised her. "The All-Father likes to hear himself talk more than anything. He is known for his wisdom, but I find him to be lacking that virtue. What he wants more than anything is for everyone to follow his commands, no questions asked. Mother defends him, says there is a reason for everything he does. I've yet to find those reasons."

"So, what do I do? Just nod and agree and then do what I want?"

He smiled. "Yes."

The corners of her mouth twitched at the corners. "That's what you do, isn't it?"

His smile grew wider. "Yes."

Jane laughed then and some of the light returned in her. Loki walked her all way to where Odin waited on his throne to receive her. It didn't usually take much to anger Loki where Odin is concerned, but he was surprised that his anger this time was for Jane and not just the general annoyance he typically felt when Odin made a demand. Loki knew Odin didn't spend a lot of time on the throne. He was often too busy to actually sit there. The only time he did was when he wanted to intimidate someone. It's not lost on Loki that this is what Odin has planned for Jane now.

He was torn between wanting to tell her that he'd wait for her if she needed to talk after meeting with Odin and just leaving her be. Why did he care so much? Why was he angry for her? What did it matter to him whether Odin hollered at her for leaving Asgard in such haste and without a word to anyone? Why did it bother him to know that Jane would leave that meeting with the All-Father feeling small and insignificant?

Loki said nothing in the end. He left her there and forced himself to return to his chambers. He would not dwell on how Jane was faring with Odin. He would not think of her leaving feeling beaten down, small, and insignificant. He would not.

xxxxxxxx

"Jane Foster," Odin said as Jane stood before him. She wished she could say she wasn't nervous about this meeting, but she was. It was intimidating looking up at the All-Father on his throne, and logically she knew that he meant it to be that way. Still, it affected her. Especially the look of disdain and disappointment she read on his face.

He had never liked her, Jane knew that. He'd had some respect for the fact that she'd managed to keep Frigga from being killed by the Dark Elves, but it was a grudging respect. He didn't want her here, he didn't want her to have powers, and he didn't think she was worthy of any of it.

In all that, they were in agreement. Not that it mattered. Not that it changed anything.

Jane thought of saying his name in the same way he'd said hers, but decided it was probably best not to antagonize him. She just wanted this over, and quickly.

"Did it escape your notice, Jane Foster, that you are an Aesir now?" Odin asked.

"No, but I—"

"I do not care to hear you speak. You speak far too much."

Jane pursed her lips together. Okay then.

"Despite how we all may wish it were not the case, you are one of us now. You have been Chosen to be gifted with powers and immortality. Do you know how many of your pathetic race would love to have such an honor bestowed up on them?"

"Now hold on just a—"

"I said be quiet," he snapped, stressing the 't'. If she were closer, Jane was sure she'd feel some spittle upon her skin from that.

"I do not care what you want, what you like, what you don't like – I do not care for any of it. I care that you do your duty. Do you know, Jane Foster, what your duty is?"

Everything in Jane wanted to snap at him. To be sarcastic and childish, to treat him as he was treating her. Instead she said curtly, "Yes."

"And what is it?"

She cleared her throat. "To serve Asgard. To protect it."

"And the Nine Realms."

"Yes."

He got up then and Jane knew he was going to come down to her, get in her face, and berate her up close. She held herself rigidly, reminding herself that if she didn't fight back, it would be all over soon.

"You acted in a way that I suspect most Midgardians do – childish, rash, and impulsive. You rather reminded me of Loki, which is perhaps why the two of you seem to get on so well. I would, however, advise you not to follow down his path of self-destruction, Jane Foster. It is not a happy one. Instead, I ask – nay, demand, that you act in the way befitting a warrior of Asgard. You will treat me, my son, and Frigga with respect. As will you treat Lady Sif and the Warriors Three."

"But—"

"It can be arranged that I can make you mute if I must," he hissed. "The Norns may have deemed you fit to hold that sword and carry that power, but I do not deem you worthy. You cling to your mortal ways the way a child does to his mother's skirts."

He circled her still, but he was silent for a while and Jane just gripped She-Ra with all her might.

"You will apologize to the court for your actions," he said. "Specifically, you will apologize for your slander against Lady Sif and the violence you showed towards her."

Jane opened her mouth to rail against this but Odin had stopped before her and from the look on his face, he was challenging her to do just that. Being rendered mute was not worth giving him a piece of her mind. She clenched her jaw so tight she felt it would shatter.

"You will train every day. You will learn the ways of the court, and you will learn how to control your baser, Midgardian behaviors and learn to conduct yourself as befitting this court and all of Asgard. Do I make myself clear, Jane Foster?"

Jane nodded and tears stung her eyes. Not because she was sad. Because she was angry, so very angry, and wanted to retaliate against him.

And yet…

Part of her knew he was right. She had acted like a child, but under the circumstances, couldn't Odin be at least a little understanding? She supposed though, from his perspective, no. He had to put up with her being on Asgard and in his palace as it was. He was already at his limit, and he didn't care to know or understand hers.

She did think that having to apologize to Sif was complete and utter shit. Not after what that bitch had done to her. And now she was going to have to apologize to the court like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"Do you have anything to say, Jane Foster?" he asked.

"No," she said, hating that her voice shook.

"Remember that The Norns have looked down upon you, but I do not. I have no trouble meting out justice as I see fit."

Odin's definition of justice was questionable. No doubt it would never swing her in her favor, either. She thought how she'd like to prove to him what a good warrior she could be – even better than Sif. And that gave her pause. Is that how Loki felt when it came to proving himself to Odin against Thor? The damage it had done, the mind fuck that it was trying and trying and just knowing that Odin would always find some fault, always look the other way and favor another again and again.

"You will issue your apology tomorrow morning when I gather the court here. I suggest you make it good. You are now dismissed, Jane Foster. I do not wish to see you again for the rest of this day."

Jane walked away from Odin. Walked. Not ran. Not marched. Just walked. Stiffly, with her head held up. She kept her eyes trained on the door and did not waver.

In the hall, alone, her bottom lip trembled as she made her way to the only one she wanted to see in that moment.

When he answered his door his dark brows were knit together. He looked on guard, but Jane didn't care. This was Loki. He was always on guard. And really, she couldn't blame him. Not anymore.

Instead, she hugged him. He held himself stiffly in her arms, but Jane didn't care. He was unused to such things like hugs. His mother may give them but Jane imagined that Frigga was careful not to do it under the watchful gaze of Odin.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"For what?" Loki asked. His voice shook a little.

"I get it. Odin is such a…" She even feared saying it, feared him hearing her.

"I know," he whispered and finally he hugged her back. "Was it terrible?"

She nodded. "I have to issue an apology to the court tomorrow…to Sif specifically. He…can he make me mute? Cause he threatened me."

Loki squeezed her tighter, and Jane was comforted by the fact that perhaps he felt concerned for her. If that was the case, that was no small feat where Loki was concerned. "He can find a way," Loki told her softly.

Loki, for his part, was consumed with so many feelings that he was unaccustomed to. Guilt, concern, the desire to take care of someone that was not himself. Guilt was first and foremost though. How did she do it? How did she make him feel things that others had failed to make him feel?

He had wanted this. He'd wanted to drive that wedge between her and Thor, and make the gap even wider between her and Odin. Yet now he felt he'd done what he'd set out to do a little too well. Before she was just a pawn in his little chess game. He moved her and the pieces about to where they needed to be so he could finally win the game (take the throne). Yet now he felt oddly…protective of Jane.

They weren't so different. Not anymore. Him, abandoned by his father and plucked by Odin from Jotunheim, raised to believe he was the same as Thor but forever being on the outside, never measuring up. Jane, chosen by the Norns to become an Aesir, forced to give up her human life and serve in the court, to serve Asgard and the Nine Realms, knowing that she would never measure up. Knowing that in the eyes of the All-Father and most of the court she was the outsider. As he was. He hadn't asked to be taken from Jotunheim. She hadn't asked to be taken from Earth. This…feeling he had for Jane was not just because she'd shown him some kindnesses. It was because he saw himself in her, saw how beaten down he had gotten in seeing her beaten down in the same way.

He didn't like it. He thought he'd enjoy it, but he didn't. And he didn't like that he didn't like it. Jane was changing things. Changing things inside him he didn't understand. He was about to push her away, to gain some distance, to stop this onslaught of emotion when she whispered against his neck, "You are the only one I can talk to."

She sounded as surprised and as troubled by that as he was to hear it. He had the sense that he didn't want to fail her, but how could he not? Failing others was all he knew how to do after all.