Chapter 14 - Reunion with Jane, Part 1

Loki watched events unfold as they needed to from his hiding place in the branches of Yggdrasil, using the power of the Tree of Life to mask his magical signature from the Universe. He watched as Jane was infected with the Aether, the magic he had given her helping to ease her suffering and holding her soul to the light when she wanted to give up. It hurt him to watch, just as it had before, but this time Loki knew that she would survive and thrive because of her trial.

He could also feel Thanos gathering his power and resources. It was imperative that he remained hidden until after the Aether had been removed from Jane. He needed Thor to be off scouring the Universe on his quest to understand the vision the the witch Wanda Maximov had given him in order to go to Jane and explain what was to come. Loki was careful to not use too much magic, lest he give himself away.

After Jane returned to Midgard, she began to heal from her time being the vessel of the Aether. The Infinity stones were a potent source of magic, and once they have touched you, they leave an indelible, intangible print on you. You are shielded from the magic of the stone that changed you, and by extension, you are granted immunity from the effects of the other stones. It was like an inoculation. Once you were exposed, you had immunity. Shortly after returning home, Jane parted ways with Thor, and Loki waited a little longer before he let himself be known to her.

Nearly nine months had passed since Jane's adventure on the Dark World, and she was just now beginning to feel like her old self. Darcy had finished her tenure with Jane, and had decided to move on to other pursuits. They still kept in touch, but it wasn't the same. Even Erik was different. It took him a long time to recover from Loki, and he had decided that he needed a change of scenery. All the way to Ireland. That left Jane all alone in New Mexico.

"Yes, I am fine." Jane was three way calling her two friends one night, peering through her telescope and taking notes on the stars that she saw. "I am nearly healed all the way, and I'm sleeping through the night again."

"If you're sure." Erik hedged, sounding sleep drunk.

"I am. For some reason, something inside me kept the worst of the darkness and pain away. I could feel it and knew it was there, but it was like seeing it from the other side of a glass wall."

"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it worked." Darcy popped a bubble with her gum on the other end of the line. "I hate to jet, but I've got a party I've got to get to."

"I also need to go. It's early here, but I need to get ready to teach my next class." Erik sighed.

"You guys go," Jane said with a bittersweet smile, missing their voices already. "Same time next week?"

"You bet."

Once they were gone Jane looked up at the night sky once again and muttered to the Universe,

"How did I survive the Aether? Everyone said I should have been dead."

"I saved you." A familiar, smooth and dark voice spoke from the shadows. Stifling a yelp Jane turned to see Loki step into the pale circle of light put out by her lantern. Her heart started hammering and she began shaking.

"I thought you were dead." Pain echoed in her heart as she remembered Thor's cries. Watching as the life drained from Loki's body, the agony of having to leave his body behind.

"A necessary deception." Loki sighed, shoulders slumping. "I had a bounty on my head, and in order to survive, I needed to fake my death."

Jane crossed her arms skeptically. Seemed like a pretty convenient excuse to her. She knew of Loki's penchant for trickery and subterfuge from Thor, so she also knew to not take everything the silver tongued trickster said at face value.

"Why are you here Loki? Don't feed me a line of crap either. Tell me the truth or I'm calling Heimdall."

"Heimdall would be a good friend to see again." Loki passed by Jane to settle onto the low concrete wall surrounding the roof. "When and where I came from, I just watched him be murdered before I died."

"What?" Jane was shocked. Not just by the words Loki spoke, but the way he spoke them. He looked defeated and worn down, nothing like the Loki that she had known during her travels with him to the Dark World. "Where's Thor?"

"Which one? The one from this timeline, or mine?"

"Wait a minute. Timeline?" Jane moved to stand in front of Loki. "Time travel isn't possible."

Loki's eyes flared green as he murmured, "Remember."

In a flash, the past rushed back to her. Their meeting not even two years ago. Their kiss. All of it. Stunned she looked at Loki and realized he was the same now as he had been then, nothing had changed. Even Thor had changed from the last time she had seen him. Was it possible?

"What happened to you?" Jane finally uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to him, standing at his side. "You aren't the Loki that was with us, are you?"

"No, Jane, I'm not." Loki lifted his hand and an orb of light appeared. Cautiously she reached her hand out for it, stopping just shy of her fingers brushing it. She was mesmerized by the colors swirling inside it. Like last time she was helpless to fight the allure of his magic.

"What is it?" She whispered, not taking her eyes off the ball of magic glowing before her.

"What I want you to know about what has happened and what will happen." Loki's voice thrummed with power, magic pulsing in his tone. "I've masked my signature the best I can, but you need to take the sphere, otherwise our journey will be over before it begins."

"What do you -"

Jane reached out and grasped the magic, mind plunging into its depths. She watched as a movie rolled before her eyes. She saw everything that Loki had experienced and had been a part of. Tears rolled down her face as she watched in horror as friends and loved ones died, unable to do anything to stop the madness. She also learned that Loki knew that the events to come were going to play out before they happened.

"See Jane? If I had not lied to both you and my brother, the Decimation would have arrived far sooner than the Norns wanted it." Loki's voice floated through the magic. "All the pieces must be in place in order for the path to survival to happen. There will be no victory to be celebrated, only lives to be remembered. Worlds to be avenged. Justice to be brought upon the monster responsible for all of this."

Jane finally surfaced from the magic, orb disintegrating in her grasp. She looked upon Loki with new eyes, eyes that could see past the facade and into the depths of who he was. This was a man who had seen much, done much and had lived through unspeakable horror. Her heart shuddered in sympathy, even as she wanted to ease his burden.

"How is it that I survived the Aether?" It was the first of many questions that Jane knew she would have.

"I needed you safe, so I gave you part of my spark. My magic. It bound your soul to this realm when your body became weak from the Infinity Stone."

Jane just stared at Loki blankly, mind refusing to work to understand what the Asgardian was telling her. She knew on an intellectual level that there was more to the Universe than she could have ever dreamed, but to come face to face with the proof of it made Jane uncomfortable. Not sure what to do or say Jane moved to sit in one of the chairs next to the table, letting the warmth and light of her lantern fall across her. It did little to keep the chill away that had settled over her.

"I see you are overwhelmed." Loki stood, leather creaking and armor clinking. "I will return tomorrow and explain everything in more detail to you. Sleep well Jane."

With a shimmer of magic the tall man was gone, as if he had never been there in the first place. Oddly though, Jane missed his presence. Feeling unsettled, she cleaned up and headed to bed.

The sun had just risen to kiss the sky when Loki materialized in Jane's lab. He knew she had yet to awaken, and he put the quiet to good use. Silent he shifted papers around her desk, reading her materials and getting a better understanding of how much astronomical engineering she had. He was not surprised that she had a solid understanding of how the Bifrost worked, even though she called it by a different name. She had even begun to dip her toes into the theory of time travel, but was a long way from cracking the code.

Loki himself had never heard of it having been done, not until he experienced it firsthand. Somehow the Norns made it possible for Loki to exist at the same time as his younger self, but cloaked from the other Loki's magic. In the back of his mind, he suspected it had something to do with the SoulBond that he shared with Jane. Leaving her papers where they were, he decided to explore the rest of the facility that his other half resided in. Bare and utilitarian, the basic structure was that of a warehouse. The bottom floor made up the laboratory as well as a small kitchenette and garage parking. Upstairs housed the apartment that Jane lived in now, and where she was currently waking up from her sleep.

Loki could sense her coming awake and knew that she would be down soon. He was also aware that she had convinced herself that last night was only a dream, a figment of her imagination. Hoping to not startle her further, Loki transformed his typical attire to that of a black dress shirt and slacks. Conjuring a bagel with cream cheese he settled in to wait for Jane.

"There is no way Loki was here last night." He could hear her muttering to herself as she descended the stairs. "You're just overworked and exhausted."

"I agree."

Jane shrieked and threw the book she was holding at Loki's head. Suppressing a chuckle he caught he book with ease, seeing that it was a nonfiction book about space travel.

"You do work too hard for someone who has the answers to their questions sitting right here." Loki smirked, watching Jane's ruffled feathers settle back into place.

"So, you're really here." She walked past him stiffly, gathering an apple, peanut butter and bread before sitting across the table from him.

"Yes, and I can tell you the reason for that now, if you would like."

"No." Jane shook her head. "I need coffee, food and more coffee before I want to deal with you or anything related to my work."

Loki retreated to the lab to look over her notes again, letting her eat in peace. He could feel her watching him as he slowly made his way through her lab, peering into microscopes and flipping through notebooks. Now that they were in the same place, without any real restrictions, Loki could feel the connection between them glowing faintly. It was light and could be easily severed with malicious intent, but had been strong enough to survive the time in Thanos' realm. The only way it would be unbreakable was if the sealed the bond of their own free will. He had finally made it to the windows on the far side of the room when he heard Jane approach, footsteps quiet.

"Loki, tell me something. Does anyone even know you are here?"

"No, they don't, and it is imperative that no one does." He turned to look at her, seeing the sunlight of the New Mexico morning glinting off her hair and eyes. It almost made her look Asgardian. Loki felt a tug behind his heart, and the flash of a frown on Jane's face told him that she had felt it too.

"You said you would tell my why you are here. I'm ready to hear it." Jane crossed her arms and stared out the window just as he was. Time to come clean about it all.

"What do you know if Norse myth and legend?"

"Not as much as Erik, but more than most. Why?" Jane shrugged, still not looking at him. Loki sighed.

"In my world, there was a story of a phenomenon. While rare, it is not unheard of for it to happen. Have you ever heard of a soulmate?" Loki gazed sightlessly into the daylight, mind reaching back years to the day Frigga told him what the sensation in his heart had been.

"Yes, but they aren't real." Jane shuffled her feet, exasperation in her voice. "Each person is their own whole. Yes, you can find companionship and love in another person, but you don't need someone else to be whole."

"That is true, but only for a false connection." Loki shook his head, wearniness and apprehension settling into his bones. "When a soul is born, there are times when it is born incomplete. It searches for the other half. Sometimes they are reunited, sometimes they are not."

Loki turned to look at Jane now, studying her closely. Her eyes were still trained on the landscape before them, but her bottom lip was being worried between her teeth. He knew that she didn't fully believe in what she said, that there was a small kernel inside of her that knew he spoke the truth. Taking a deep breath he asked,

"When you were with Thor, did you ever feel like you were close to the one thing you wanted, yet it wasn't him?"

Brown eyes flashed up to his, flecks of red lingering from the Aether after all this time. In them he read the confusion she felt. Loki knew that he hadn't been subtle when looking at Jane over the course of their adventure, but at the time he wasn't sure how aware of her surroundings Jane had been. Now though, he suspected that she might have been more aware than she let on.

"Yes, but how did you know?" She asked slowly, arms falling to her sides.

"Because I felt the same way when we were saving you from the Aether Infinity Stone." Loki watched her closely. "Why do you think I protected you so fiercely after you were free? I could have easily sent you away from the battle, but then I wouldn't have been able to keep you safe."

"I don't - I'm not sure I understand." Her voice was faint and her eyes began to water, remembering the Dark World. The agony of having a living Infinity Stone pulled out of you by dark forces, of seeing the intentions of Malekith. The fear of the unknown and the power residing inside her.

"You Jane Foster. You and your amazing spirit, your fire, your thirst for knowledge. You have the other half of my soul." Loki confessed, body shivering. He could feel his control over his emotions slowly beginning to slip. "I have felt you for over a thousand years, and to know that I almost lost you before I had you was tearing me apart."

"NO!" Jane spun away from him, rubbing her hands across her face. "You can't claim to love me after everything you did. After all the hell you put Thor through. After New York. You don't get to play the victim here."

"Jane, Jane, Jane." Loki knew that this was going to be difficult. He understood that all she knew of him was what he had shown her and the world. He needed to figure out how to show her the truth of his very soul, the soul that even now was screaming for hers. "What I am speaking of is more than love. It is a connection that can't be expressed in mere words. It's something more. It's your soul calling out to mine, whether you want it to or not. We do not get to choose who houses the other half of our souls."

"Why me though?" Jane spun, throwing her hands in the air. Faint sparks of red trailed from her hands and the ends of her hair, remnants of power that only Loki's magical sight could see. "Is it because of Thor?"

Anger ripped it's way through Loki, but with a grimace he held it in check. Even now, his brother was thwarting him. Just like always. Not this time though, this time Loki would reap the spoils.

"Odin was the vehicle to introduction. Thor was the catalyst to bringing us together. The Aether bound us together so we may survive the coming Decimation."

"Let's skip forward a bit. What is an Infinity Stone and what is this Decimation you keep referring to?" Jane boxed up her emotions and Loki knew he needed to tread carefully. He let her shut down, for now. Soon though, she would have to face the truth.