Chapter 22Jane felt her heart pounding in her chest. She could hear Thor and Loki speaking as she neared the library, voices deep and quiet. It was a meeting that was a long time in the making, and one Jane hoped would heal any scars between them. She would always choose Loki, but there was also a tender spot in her heart for Thor. She knew Loki sensed she had entered the room even though he didn't glance her way.
"You distracted Thanos when Stark moved to get the Stones. How did you know that you would need to be there? You've been in hiding all this time." Thor sounded troubled.
"Strange summoned me. Only he and one other person knew I had survived." Loki, ever the poker player, kept a calm facade. Only Jane could tell that he was as tense as she was, for the fine lines around his eyes were a little deeper, and his shoulders were a little more rigid than normal.
"Who else knew you were alive?" Loki sighed and closed his eyes, hands clenched into fists.
Jane knew that he still had some doubts about their Bond, that somehow she would still want the golden brother. He was wrong. She craved starlight and magic and emerald eyes as deep as the universe itself. Jane wanted dark silky hair and hands that could drive her wild. She wanted a scholar and a warrior. She wanted Loki, pure and simple.
"I did." Jane spoke up. Moving calmly and steadily, she skirted around the settee to stand next to the man she loved. For the moment, they refrained from showing any affection in front of Thor.
"Jane?"
"Hello Thor." Jane replied, no really sure as to what else there was to say.
"How did you know Loki was alive? How long have you known?" Thor sounded shocked and hurt, his blue eyes turning a stormy grey. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Thor, Loki came to me before the Aether took me. Even though he wiped my memory at that time, he placed in me some of his magic to help me survive the possession. I am alive because of him." Jane explained in a roundabout way.
"After the Dark World, he came to me again, but this time it was to stay."
"Is he the reason you decided that you didn't want to be with me?" The hurt in Thor's voice made her cringe, but she needed to tell the truth.
"No, not directly." Jane replied, twisting the silver band on her right ring finger, It was plain silver, nothing fancy, but it had been the first gift Loki had given Jane. She continued speaking before Thor could interrupt.
"I was still healing from the Aether, and I needed to focus on myself. I needed you to be free to protect the Universe, and I needed to come to terms with who I was. I was no longer just Jane Foster. I simply needed the time and space to figure it out."
"Yet Loki was the one you turned to instead of me?" The venom in Thor's voice was scalding.
"Believe me brother, this was something that was destined to happen, no matter what." Loki growled back. Jane rested a hand on his shoulder, letting him know that she stood by his side always. She felt him lean into her touch, and a modicum of tension eased from his body.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"How much of our childhood stories do you remember?" Loki asked instead. "Specifically the ones about the SoulBond?"
"Simply that they are romantic tales to make girls swoon." Wow, condescending much? Jane had to bite back the retort she wanted to make. Every now and then Thor sounded like the rough brute who had landed in the desert all those years ago.
"The bond is quite real, brother." Loki reached up and took Jane's hand into his own, letting their magical auras flare around their joined hands. "It has bound Jane and I together since the dawn of time."
For long moments Thor said nothing, frowning at the two of them. Loki continued to hold Jane's hand, thumb soothing her knuckles. It was a familiar gesture, and one that Jane was sure Loki was doing on purpose. Jane knew that what they were doing and who they were stung at Thor, but they are who they were meant to be.
"If it hadn't been for the Bond, and our connections to the Stones, we would have been wiped out in the Decimation. We were spared, and with Jane's help, you and the Avengers were able to correct the evil that Thanos had wrought."
Silence stretched between the three for many minutes, the only sound the ticking of the clock and the rumble of the traffic outside. Jane would normally chafe at silence, but now, the silence was a friend. She knew Thor had a temper, but she also knew that Loki was truly more powerful than his brother. Hell, she might even be more powerful than her former crush. Thor's fists unclenched and the tension drained from his body.
"So, the Universe saw that the two of you are parts of the same whole." Thor said wearily. "Then where does that leave me in this equation?"
"As a brother and a best friend." Jane replied before Loki could. With her left hand still in Loki's, Jane moved to reach out her right hand to Thor. Hesitantly he reached out, his large hand dwarfing her own. The three of them were bound together with so many ties that they knew there would be no way to tear them apart, even with rough emotions and hurt feelings.
"We are family. The three of us, right here." Jane made sure to look both men in the eye. "Asgard itself may be gone, but it's people aren't. Even the two crown princes are still alive to carry through the royal line. Right now things may be rough between us, but I know that Asgardians and Frost Giants are made of sterner stuff. However, Midgardians, with our life spans, have more flexibility. Together, Earth with give birth to a new generation of your people. In order for that to happen, we need to remain strong together."
The two brothers looked at each other before releasing Jane's hands. Light and dark came together in a hug of genuine affection, and Jane knew that the future would be brighter because of it.