ONE-SHOT (Original)

Loki was bleeding, a lot. He was in too much shock to really understand how truly injured he was, but the fear and horror written on his brother's face told him how bad it must have been.

"Oh my God," Thor exclaimed hysterically. "What did you do, Loki? How did this happen?"

He pressed his hands against the wound, which seemed to have been caused by a dagger-like object, and tried to keep pressure on it to alleviate the bleeding.

"Thor..." Loki mumbled, losing consciousness. "Please... just leave me here..." he began to cough violently, then, and blood started to fill his mouth.

"No," his brother responded, despite knowing there wasn't much he could do to stop the bleeding. "I-I can't just leave you here to die."

"Thor..." the younger God croaked out. "Thanos will... be here... soon..."

The God of Thunder shook his head, "What does it matter? He's already taken everything from me, what more could he do?"

Loki could see the pain in his older brother's eyes, and it just about broke him. "Don't... say that. You have friends... on Earth... I'm sure they're... worried about you... right now..." Loki trailed off, devolving into a coughing fit. His vision danced for a few seconds, but he managed to keep the darkness at bay for the time being.

"What's the point?" Thor said, voice thick with emotion. "What's the point if you don't go back with me?"

"Please..." Loki begged. "Just go." He began to feel a cold type of numbness settle over him. There was wasn't much time left.

"I can't," his brother sobbed. "I can't just leave you here!"

Thanos would surely find them soon. If that happened, they'd both be dead. "Just... take this and go," Loki mumbled, summoning enough of his magic to conjure up the Tesseract. "As long as Thanos doesn't have this... he won't be able to... accomplish his goal."

Thor gave Loki a somewhat disappointed look. "I thought you said you didn't have it."

Loki mustered up a weak laugh. "Did you honestly think I'd just leave it to burn with the rest of Asgard? I thought you becoming more perceptive."

Thor, a bit hesitantly, took the Tesseract. "I'll give it to Valkryie," he said, reluctantly standing up. "But then I'll be back for you."

The Asgardian warrior was holding of Thanos's crew, but both Gods knew that the distraction wouldn't last for very long. Thor knew his time with his brother was running out quickly.

"Don't bother..." Loki said. His breathing became a bit shallower, "...I'm as good as dead, anyways."

Thor saw he blood seeping through his brother's jacket, and how Loki's Asgardian form was starting to crack at edges just slightly. This really would be the end.

"No one should have to die alone," Thor said resolutely. "Even if I can't save you, I won't let you suffer alone."

"I appreciate your... sentimentality, Brother, but you really... must... leave now..." Loki broke off into another coughing fit, blood coming out of his mouth.

Thor shook his head, "No." He bent down again and took his brother's hands in his. "I'm not leaving you."

"Thor..." Loki gasped out. "Please don't take this... the wrong way... but get the hell out of here..." His vision began to blur at the edges. "You have to... get out of here..."

"But—"

"No," his brother cut him off in the sternest tone he could manage. "You are not going to stay here and get killed because of me." He coughed up some more blood. "Consider this... my last request."

The God of Thunder paused for a moment. "But Loki..." he felt tears streaming down his face.

"I know," his brother said sympathetically. "I really wish... that things hadn't... come to this."

Thor let go of his brother's hands and gave him an awkward hug that left blood stains on his armor—not that he cared. "For the hug we never got," he explained.

The God of Mischief felt tears sting his own eyes, and let them fall down his cold cheeks. "I love you..." he whispered hoarsely.

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, Thor couldn't help the chuckle that erupted from within him. "I know you do," he replied simply.

Loki managed a small smile, "Go," he urged. "Please. Valkyrie won't last very long... up against the Other."

Thor nodded somberly and straightened up again. "I'll make sure this is kept far, far away from the Mad Titan," he said, gesturing to the Tesseract.

"Thank you," his brother whispered, nearly inaudible. "For actually... listening to me... this one time." The God's eyes shone with tears, and he could no longer pretend that he wasn't scared of dying. He'd hold up for Thor's sake, but on the inside he was fucking terrified of what death would mean for him.

The God of Thunder gave his younger brother a tight smile. "I know we'll see each other again," he said with conviction. "I've no doubt about that."

Loki was not as certain as his brother, but he couldn't bear the thought of spending eternity without Thor. "I certainly... hope so," he replied with a kind of lightness that he didn't possess.

Thor gave Loki one last sad smile before turning to find Valkyrie. "The sun will shine upon us again," he said with a confident tone. "I can absolutely assure you of that, Brother."

The dying Asgardian knew that Thor was talking about Valhalla, and he could only hope that his brother was right. He supposed he'd find out soon enough, anyways...

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't uploaded anything in a few days, still struggling with a bit of writer's block. :/ My next upload should be a continuation of the Loki turning into a snake story, and the one after that is probably going to be a prompt—because I've gotten quite a few of them and I've only managed to actually do two of them so far, oops—so yeah.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one! It's a sad one again, but the next one should cheer you up a bit! :)

In somewhat unrelated news, have any of you guys heard the rumor that there's some big announcement about A4 happening within the next week or so? I'm not sure if it's true, but I'm still intrigued. I'm guessing, if it is true, that it's going to be a title reveal or a trailer for Captain Marvel. If it's not one of those two things, then I have no idea what it could be. What do you guys think?

Anyways, I should have another one-shot posted tomorrow, or Monday at the latest!)