Chapter 16 - Forging the Bond
The first thing Jane realized was just how big Loki's hand was in comparison to hers. His hands were rough and coolness radiated off of him. She filed that information away for later, wanting to know why he was cold compared to warm. Long, slim fingers enveloped her hand, sending shivers up her arm.
"Jane Foster, this is what the future holds for you if you decide to walk down this path with me."
The world around her shimmered, morphing into something else. Around her and Loki were scenes of a possible future of them together. In one image she and Loki stood on a hill watching a herd of Unicorns graze. In another they stood in an ancient observatory, staring as the sky as Loki pointed out stars to her. Jane winning a nobel prize for her work in astrophysics. Dancing under the moonlight shining through a tree with metallic golden leaves. Watching as two children, a boy and a girl, chase each other through a field of flowers below two suns handing in the sky.
Underneath all of these images was a warm sensation slowly filling her body and heart. It felt like a net of protection being woven around her, finer and lighter yet stronger than anything man made. There was a sense of peace, and of wholeness washing over her. Jane also felt stronger. She felt invincible, full of energy and excitement. Wonder at the world that she lived in. Pride that she had helped shape the Universe in a way that, while was devastating for a time, ended up being for the betterment of all.
After all of these images and feelings subsided, she felt a heat building inside her. A hunger. The hotter the desire built, there was a whisper of a cold chill that followed. The two extremes danced around each other, moving in to caress each other before drifting apart. It was then that Jane knew. She was the heat, and Loki was the cold. Two opposites that when joined together were able to forge amazing things.
Blinking Jane returned to the real world around her. Loki now sat in his leathers and armor. Honestly Jane preferred him dressed as the warrior prince that he was compared to a human. Not that he didn't look good in all black; it was just until she got to know him better, this was the Loki that she pictured in her mind.
"Will all those things happen if I accept this bond you offer?"
"That and more." Loki gave her a half smile, but sobered quickly. "Yes, our future will be long and fruitful, but it must be of your choice. I have already made mine, many years ago. I have no one left but Thor, and until after the Decimation, he cannot know that I am alive. I fear that even then, our relationship will never be the same. Especially once he finds out about you and I."
Drawn to Loki in ways that Jane couldn't even articulate, she scooted closer to him on the couch, reaching out to cup his cheek in her hand. It was a primal urge to reach out and comfort him. With a soft sigh he leaned into her touch, eyes slipping closed in bliss.
"You shouldn't worry about your brother." Jane spoke softly, soothingly. "We parted ways amicably. In reality, we never could have been. Not because of our bond, but because we were so very different."
"You said 'our bond'." Loki opened green eyes to gaze at her hopefully. "Does that mean you accept me?"
Jane tilted her head and considered her heart before answering.
"In time."She watched Loki's face fall, but she pressed on.
"Loki, you've known about this bond for longer than I can comprehend. I'm going to need time to open up and let you in. I won't make you wait forever, but I do need a little time."
"Very well, my Jane."
Over the next weeks Jane and Loki spent time together, learning more about each other. He would tell her more about the history of the stars and planets that he had traveled to, and she would share her past and research with him. Together they watched the news coverage of the fall of SHIELD, Jane gasping in horror as she watched the Triskelion collapse into the Potomac River. She jumped every time her phone rang, afraid it was either Hill or Fury wanting to bring her in to restore her research. The only time she was contacted from them, it was a text message from a secure number that she knew to be from Maria Hill.
'The King survived Checkmate.'
"What type of message is that supposed to be?" Loki asked leaning over her shoulder to read the message, the two of them having been working on updating her star charts.
"It means Nick Fury is still alive." Jane supplied, knowing the basics of the code words used for the higher up players in shield due to her security clearance. After her first run in with SHIELD, they had placed her on retainer at Red Level clearance. She answered only to Fury, Hill, Banner and Stark, and by extension Ms. Potts.
"You've gained some powerful allies since we last met in this timeline." Loki commented dryly.
"More like babysitters. They want to make sure I don't develop interdimensional space travel without their knowledge."
Loki snorted, and it was just another thing they had in common. Dislike of SHIELD as a whole. Individual members were friendly, but overall, the operation was unwieldy and difficult to work with. Luckily, out in the backwater town of New Mexico, Jane stayed off their radar more often than not.
More time was spent together, and each day the bond between them grew stronger. Loki's magic began seeping into Jane, awakening her latent magic. All humans had the seeds of magic within them, passed down from their ancient ancestors who were children of the first beings in the Universe. Over time, the two species bred, and the magical lineage was diluted. Prolonged exposure to powerful magic would awaken the magic within, and now Loki was tasked with training Jane to control her power. Otherwise she could blow her lab up.
"LOKI!" Jane called one morning, smoke filling the lab. She was coughing and waving her hands when he appeared in a green shimmer. Speaking an ancient word the smoke disappeared, everything that had been disrupted in the lab returning to their proper places.
"What happened?" Loki teased with a smile, making Jane cross her arms. Embarrassed she answered.
"I sneezed."
Loki was impressed by how quickly Jane grasped the theories and practicalities behind using her magic. Despite setting her lab on fire with a sneeze, she was able to control her powers quickly. He suspected that having had the Aether inside her also altered how she handled her powers. Because of her affinity for knowledge and having been tied to himself, Loki had a notion that Jane was a little more than mere human now.
Loki continued to train Jane in her magic, keeping an eye out for when he needed to step back into the timeline to make certain the future continued in the way it needed to. Once again, they were on the sidelines as the world watched as the Avengers fight a homicidal robot on the other side of the world. Needing to get away from the media coverage, Loki took Jane out into the sands of New Mexico.
"I want you to focus, Jane." Loki called from across a medium sized crevasse. "Transport yourself to my side. Picture space opening for you like a door. All you have to do is step through."
He watched her take a deep breath and close her eyes. He could feel the magic crackle in the air as a reddish black portal wavered into existence in front of Jane. Even the shade of her magical signature contained traces of the Aether. Jane stepped into the magic, only to appear seconds later at his side. Opening her eyes, Jane smiled brightly up at him.
"Do you know you smell like mint and crisp nights?" She asked innocently, but the question nearly undid Loki. He was thrilled. The bond was nearly complete, only three more steps left before they would be bound forever.
"Yes. You, my lovely Jane, smell of cinnamon and sunshine to me." Loki wrapped an arm around her and drew her close to him. Over the weeks, he and Jane had begun the art of physical courtship. A touch here, a hug there. Nothing overt, but they were enough to kindle the flame inside their hearts.
Jane inhaled deeply and asked softly,
"What am I smelling? Now you smell like leather and metal."
"You're smelling my magic, my very essence." He smiled gently at her as her eyes grew larger. "It means our bond is maturing."
"Really?" She leaned more into him, comfortable being near him. "What is left to be done?"
Loki spun his magic, and together they reappeared in Jane's lab. He glanced at the windows around them, and the rolling curtains lowered, giving them privacy. The television clicked off. All his attention was focused on the woman in his arms. She was hot as the summer in his arms, aura as bright as the sun. Her cinnamon eyes were open and trusting, and anticipation built inside Loki.
"All that is left, my beautiful Jane." Loki whispered, lowering his face to hers. "Are a freely given kiss, and a night of unrivaled passion."
For a long, breathless moment, neither one of them moved. Time was frozen even as Loki felt his heart thundering in his chest, reveling in the echo of Jane's heart. Then Jane moved, rising up on her tiptoes and pressing her soft lips to his. Lightning flared in Loki's veins, fire trailing from Jane's hands as she slid them up and locked them around his neck. Quickly he materialized a stool under her feet, knowing that their height difference was significant. Everything, every past hurt, every past misdeed melted away in the presence of the blinding light that was the essence of Jane. Shadows that had shrouded his heart and soul for millenia fell away, leaving him as clean as a newborn babe. Loki could feel his soul reaching to hers, and felt the tingle of excitement when her soul brushed against his.
Jane was unable to resist Loki any longer. Each day his scent grew, his voice sunk deeper under her skin, his face was burned into her heart, his name tattooed onto her soul. Cold, sharper and more thrilling than anything she had ever known sliced through her, feeding her hunger. She felt herself, her true inner self opening up to the man before her. The intangible part of herself opened its arms to Loki, pulling him into her, shielding him from the world he had fought to survive in. She felt stronger and more vulnerable than she ever had in her entire life.
Lips slid and danced. Hands caressed and teased. Hearts beat together as one. Bright white hot light glowed around the two of them, green and red swirling together in a violent orb of mystical energy. It pulsed in time with their shared heartbeats, shivering with each breath that they took. As the two drowned in each other, the magic slowly morphed. Colors shifted, flickers of ice and flame dancing along the edges. Soon, the aura of the two of them matured into a beautiful golden glow. Shimmers of green and flickers of red echoed in the rich gold.
Gently Loki pulled back from the kiss, neither of them willing to let the other go. Breathing deep he opened his eyes to look upon the true visage of Jane. Their souls, now having been joined, gave way to their true selves. Jane was radiant, the glow of her magic lighting her skin up from within. She was bright like the sun. At the same time though, he knew that he was dark like the night. Slowly, the magic around them settled over them like a blanket, covering them in shimmering gold. FInely spun gold that sank into their skin, reveling at the near completion of their bond.
Jane gasped at the Loki that stood before her. He was blue, with eyes the color of blood, his black hair even darker than before. Swirling lines traced all across his skin, decorating the sapphire dark blue of his skin with lighter lines of cobalt. Coldness radiated from him like heat would normally radiate from a person, causing goosebumps to spread across her skin. Other than that, he looked the same. Unable to help herself, Jane reached up to touch a swirl on his left cheek. Ghosting her fingers over it she felt him shiver, watching his red eyes slip closed.
"You're beautiful." She whispered. "Why are you blue though?"
Red eyes flashed open, looking at her in surprise. The blue began to melt away when Jane shook her head. She wanted to keep looking at Loki this way, wanting to trace and memorize every line of his face.
"Don't change, please."
"You finally see the real me." Loki sighed softly, arms slipping from around her to help her down off the stool he had conjured.
"The real you?" Jane echoed as Loki led her to the couch, settling herself down next to him, snuggling into his side, turning to look at him. Now that she was used to the chill coming from him, it felt like a cool breeze on a summer day. Enough to give you a chill, but not enough to make you cold.
"I'm not Asgardian like Thor. I come from a race of giants from Jotunheim. I am a Frost Giant."
Loki held his breath like he was afraid of what she would say, and Jane's heart broke for the man before her. This man was ashamed of what he really was. No one should feel that way. Jane wondered why Loki felt that way. He was exotc and had more power in his pinky than anyone she had ever encountered.
"I don't know what a Frost Giant is, but I don't care. To me, you're Loki. Nothing more, nothing less."
Loki let a huge breath out, and Jane knew that every last fear with his heritage just melted away. Something deep inside the both of them clicked, and suddenly they knew that they were completely bound. They felt the mutual passion rise, and with a smile they both teleported to the apartment upstairs.
Together, they moved as one, sinking into the paradise that only the two of them could create. In indulging in each other, the last link of the bond shimmered into place. Now, they were one, and nothing could rip them apart. All through the night they explored each other, delving deep into the magic binding them. It was the start of the rest of their lives.