A/N: After literal years of attempting to write my own Lokane fanfic (as the pile of notebooks on my desk with half-written stories in it can attest), I finally caught a plot bunny that would cooperate. This story is meant to combine all of my favorite parts of the Thor movies: Thor & Loki bantering like real brothers, Loki's descent into madness, and the crazy amount of potential chemistry he had with Jane in the few minutes they were onscreen together.

This 57k-word* story is 99% completed, just a few minor edits left, so I hope you enjoy! No beta, so any mistakes are my own.

*Edit 10/29/20 - That was a naïve estimate... We're at just over 80k now. Whoops!

Disclaimer: The MCU is not mine, I just got bored while social distancing.

Chapter One – Day 1, Part I

"There's been a disturbance on Svartalfheim."

They were certainly not words that Loki had ever expected to hear, especially not from Odin. Svartalfheim had been a barren wasteland of a planet for millennia. There simply was no reason for anyone to go there. Except, apparently, someone had.

And so, Odin had sent Loki and Thor to investigate. Loki would have gone on the mission without a fuss, but Odin's manner had made this venture all the more intriguing. It was rare for Loki and Thor to go into a potentially hostile locale without a few warriors for backup, but Odin had called for discretion. It was as if he were unsure if what was to be found on Svartalfheim could be trusted with anyone else.

Loki reflected on this as he and Thor flew through the Bifrost. Heimdall was aiming them to as close to the sensed disturbance as he could manage. He had not really seen anything; it was more that Heimdall's vision of Svartalfheim had briefly become even more clouded than usual. Quite frankly, Loki suspected that had to do with the approaching Convergence, but if Odin thought that something more could be going on, then Loki wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Suddenly, his feet hit the ground, and Loki immediately catalogued his surroundings, squinting against the harsh light. As expected, there was sand, sand, and, oh look, more sand. Even if this planet had not been the resting site of thousands of Dark Elves, it was not exactly valuable real estate. He waited impatiently while Thor landed beside him and did the same.

"Do you think the entire planet is like this, or did this 'disturbance' just happen to occur in the dullest part?" Thor questioned as he finished his perusal.

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Considering the planet has been dead since before we were born, I assume it all looks like this. I don't see anything odd down here, so could you fly up-"

Before he could finish speaking, Thor had already whirled Mjolnir and soared into the air. Loki sighed. Sure, that is what he wanted Thor to do, but would it kill him to wait until he finished his sentence?

Thor dropped back down a few moments later. "There is a cave beyond that hill there." He gestured to his right with Mjolnir. "Everything else is barren, so that must be the spot."

Begrudgingly, Loki concurred, and the two trudged over the sand toward the rocky cavern (Loki refused to let Thor pick him up like a child and fly him there – pride was well worth the cost of some sand in his boots). Eventually, they reached the entrance. It was impossible to tell how deep the cave was; it was like staring into an abyss. Loki conjured a white light in his palm. Still, he could see nothing. A barrier of some sort must have been erected to prevent the outside world from seeing within.

"I guess we'll have to go in if we want to see. Ready, brother?"

Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. "I'm always ready."

Together, they crossed the threshold. Loki slowly relaxed as he glanced around. The cave looked, for the most part, like an ordinary cave. Except that the ground declined the further the cave went in, and it curved out of sight. Thor started marching ahead regardless, and Loki hurried to keep pace with him, reducing the intensity of his light to a more inconspicuous level.

The path down seemed to take ages. Loki imagined this was what descending into the pit of Hel by foot might feel like. Round and round they went, not daring to make a sound in case the end or an enemy was nearby.

At last, the path stopped curving and opened into a vast cavern. Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder to hold him back (as if Loki were the one who would recklessly stroll into enemy territory) at the entrance. The path jutted straight out into the space and ended abruptly, with unending depths on all sides, but that was not the most unusual part. Nor was it the massive stone pillar that was almost at the end, coming straight down from the ceiling that must have vaulted up to ground level. No, the strangest thing was the unmoving woman sprawled out in front of the pillar. From this distance, it was difficult to make out any species indicators, but since she obviously was not a Dark Elf skeleton, she must have been the disturbance Heimdall had sensed.

Thor whispered, "What do you think? Damsel in distress or a trap?"

Loki wished he had a better answer for one of the rare times that Thor asked for his opinion, but he was at a loss. "I can't tell from this angle. This does not seem like a good place for an ambush, but why else would someone be down here?"

As Thor opened his mouth to reply, the woman began to stir. The brothers' attentions snapped back to her, and they tensed in anticipation as the woman sat up and rubbed the back of her head, messing up her tangled brown locks even further. At last, she noticed them, jerking back in evident fear. "W-who are you? What did you do to me?"

The use of English caught Loki off guard, and he noticed the shock on Thor's face as well. It was not a common tongue of choice, especially in this part of the universe. But what in the world would a Midgardian be doing all the way out here? Swiftly hiding his confusion to take charge, Loki held out his hands in a placating gesture. "I am Loki, and this is Thor. I swear, we have done nothing to you. We've only just arrived after being told that someone had come down here." He paused to let his words sink in. When he saw her shoulders relax slightly, he continued, "Could you tell us who you are? And why you're here?"

"I'm Jane. Jane Foster. And I don't know." The woman trembled and wrapped her arms around her knees. "One minute I was in an abandoned warehouse, and the next I was here on this ledge. There was this… this light. In the stone. I remember wanting to touch it, and then I woke up on the ground just now." Her breathing grew faster. "I don't know what happened. How can I not know what happened? Where the hell am I? How do I get out of here?"

Thor left Loki's side before he could stop him. Idiot. The woman was clearly on her way to hyperventilating and did not need Thor's brusqueness.

"I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sure we can figure it out together." Thor reached the woman's side and crouched down. "Why don't we-"

A sudden surge of red light burst from the woman at Thor's touch on her arm. Thor was cut off and flew backwards, smacking his back on the ledge. The woman was blown back as well, her head hitting the rock with a sickening thunk and her arm and leg dangling precariously over the side.

Loki cursed Thor's stupidity as he hurried over to him. A quick glance told him that his brother would be all right in a moment or two, so he allowed the uncharitable thoughts. Thor was always too eager, going straight for the kill instead of taking the time to coax his prey into a sense of safety. The woman had obviously been unstable, and if Thor had been patient, Loki was sure he could have talked her down and convinced her to come with them. Now they had to take an unconscious, potentially violent prisoner.

With a great deal more caution, Loki made his way over to the woman. He could not sense any power emanating from her, but he had not before either, so that was not much help. Tentatively, he touched a finger to her palm and waited for a shock, but it never came. Bolstered by success, he carefully lifted her unresisting form into his arms. She was surprisingly light, and her clothing was unusual, but it had been centuries since he had been to the mortals' realm; perhaps they had evolved. Loki huffed a laugh at the thought.

Hefting his prize, Loki wished that there were a faster way to get out than the way they had come. He nudged Thor with his boot, eliciting little more than an incoherent grumble. "Come on, Thor; we haven't got all day."

Slowly, much too slowly for Loki's tastes, Thor got up, throwing a glare at Loki while he rubbed the back of his thick skull. "Let's see how fast you recover when the she-devil blasts you."

Loki only grinned at Thor's grouchiness; it served him right for not being careful. "Let's just get home. Then you can let Sif tend to your deathly wounds."

If he had not been carrying an unconscious woman, Loki was quite sure Thor would have hit him. Taunting Thor was just too easy.

Ready to leave this strange place behind, Loki led the way back up the cavern path, Thor sulking behind him. The path was just as quiet and boring as it had been on the descent. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Thor asked, "Are you sure you want to carry her?"

Loki scoffed. "What, do you doubt my ability to lift a female?"

"Of course not, brother. I am merely suggesting that, as you are our source of light, it would make more sense for me to carry her and for you to guide the way."

"Ah yes, but what if we do cross paths with some nefarious enemy using the woman as bait? You are far better equipped to take out a sudden foe."

Thor was quiet for a moment as he seemed to take that into consideration. "That is true, but it seems unlikely to occur."

Loki elected to ignore his brother after that. Being nonresponsive was always a certain way to irritate Thor, and he was actually trying to concentrate on his surroundings. He highly doubted this was a trap, but it never hurt to be careful.

Barely a minute later, Thor spoke up again. "Really, brother, you are making me feel quite useless."

"If you're really that bored, why don't you think ahead to how we are going to explain this to Father." He shot Thor an irritated look.

"But explaining things is your skill, not mine."

"Then take this as an opportunity to practice."

A/N: If you'd like to share your thoughts so far, I'd be happy to hear them. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.