A/N: Yeah, so this was one of those chapters where I had no idea what was going to happen until it happened, so basically be on the lookout for random surprises. This basically ended up being TDW...with a twist. Have fun!
Disclaimer: Do I even have to put this anymore? Marvel/Disney's. Not mine.
15. Had Enough
"This is my fault."
"Loki, no, you mustn't blame yourself. If anything, it's mine."
"Actually it's your mortal's. Jane Foster? This is her fault."
"I suppose you do have a point. But it was her choice, not Jane's, to do what she did."
"And all while I could do nothing, because Odin locked me in a cell."
"Loki -"
"You know what? It is my fault. I sent the Kursed on his way. To her. Out of spite for Odin."
"You couldn't have known."
"Still."
"Loki."
"What?"
"Come here. We can mourn together."
Two Days Earlier
Thor had received an urgent communicay from Odin, requesting his presence back in Asgard. The Avengers had let him go, and had let him bring Loki with. Not that Loki would have stayed behind anyway, not when there was a chance he could see his mother again.
So they'd said their goodbyes (Tasha had told Loki she'd keep an eye on Rumlow while he was gone), and then the brothers had called on Heimdall and returned home.
Where Loki was promptly arrested, his hand torn out of Thor's, and thrown in the same prison cell that he'd been in before being taken back to Earth.
Needless to say, he was a little miffed.
He received word that Thor had been sent out to Vanaheim and feared for him; he knew the realm was currently being ravaged by war, and he also knew it was the result of his own actions during the Battle of New York. That regretful thought had him pacing his cell anxiously.
At least he was comfortable. Someone, probably Frigga, had seen to that. There was a cot that served as a bed, a chair or two, a small table with a stack of some of Loki's favorite books, and assorted small odds and ends for Loki to fidget with. He tried to distract himself with the books; it became futile after Loki realized he'd been staring at the same page for five minutes and not seeing a word. So he stood and began pacing again.
He couldn't stay still. He alternated between lying on his back on the cot, flipping a small cup over and over, and pacing the cell, which seemed to greatly annoy some of the other prisoners.
Because that was what he was, and what he'd always been here on Asgard, even when he was allowed to walk the streets. A prisoner.
When Fandral and Volstagg came through with a squadron of Einherjar and a truckload of prisoners, Loki couldn't resist stepping to the front of his cell and talking to himself.
"Odin continues to bring me new friends," Loki sneered to himself.
"The books I sent you, do they not interest you?"
Loki turned at the sound of his mother's voice. Frigga stood in his cell, looking regal and composed as ever, but Loki could see the love and the pain in her eyes.
"I've read them all," Loki replied.
Frigga nodded once, conceding the point. "How is life on Midgard?"
Loki searched for the right words. "Different," he said at last. "Better, I think. Though I miss you with every breath, Mother."
Frigga smiled. "And what of your...condition?"
Loki knew what she was talking about. "It's - easier. Natasha Romanoff, she's the same way, and we've sort of formed a pack. There's a rogue Valkyrie on Earth too, who we're sort of in a tense truce with. I think. It's more confusing, but it's also more liberating, I think." He'd never heard himself sound so uncertain before.
Frigga's smile softened. "So you have friends?"
"Yes," Loki said carefully, after a moment. "Yes, I believe I do."
"Loki, that's wonderful," Frigga said. "I don't think you've ever had more than one close friend before."
"Nonsense, Mother," Loki replied, with a smile of his own despite the situation. "You were my friend."
Frigga's smile grew. "And what of your relationship with your brother?"
Loki's smile faltered a moment - should he tell her? - but Frigga only winked at him. "I'm your mother, darling, and I was raised by witches. I see with more than eyes, and you know that."
"It's that obvious?" Loki asked, teasing a little.
"Only to me," Frigga said. "How long?"
"Only a week or two," Loki admitted. "The Midgardian New Year was when it started." Loki smirked and shook his head. "Gods, this feels so strange. I know we're not related by blood, but we were raised together."
"Love is love, my son," Frigga said definitively. "Even if it's a little unorthodox."
They fell silent. Loki glanced back out of the cell, watching the Einherjar wrestle the rebels or pirates or whomever it was they'd found on Vanaheim (Loki thought with a pang of Sigyn; was she all right?) into open cells. Frigga spoke again, drawing his attention back to her.
"I am sorry you were thrown in here immediately upon your arrival," Frigga apologized. "Odin was insistent."
"And you did nothing to stop him?" Loki bit out before he could stop himself, anger suddenly manifesting. "You did nothing to prevent me from being thrown back in this cell?"
Frigga's eyes filled with tears, all traces of her smile gone. "Loki, my son, I tried. I fought against him. But your father -"
"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!" Loki shouted, all the anger he'd been harboring toward Odin since he found out he was a Frost Giant coming out in a sudden burst. Frigga, to her credit, didn't flinch, but she did blink in surprise.
"Then am I not your mother?" Frigga asked quietly.
Loki hated what he said next. "You're not."
Frigga blinked away her tears. "Hm," she said, a small, sad smile appearing on her face. "Always so perceptive, about everyone but yourself."
Loki's expression softened; he hadn't meant to lash out at her. He reached out to take her hands, but his own passed straight through.
Of course. She was an illusion. The Queen of Asgard wouldn't - couldn't - be seen going down to the prisons. Not even to see her son. Adopted, Loki reminded himself firmly as Frigga's illusion faded away, her face the last to disappear. Loki turned away from the pain in her eyes.
Little did he know that those two heartbreaking words - "You're not" - would be the last thing he ever said to her. That his last impression of her would be the pain in her eyes as she looked at him, her broken, hurting son, who used his anger as a defense mechanism.
He merely stood back and watched the Kursed liberate the prison. Even after the Kursed left him in his cell, out of sheer spite for Odin, Loki told him, "You might want to take the stairs to the left."
He was reading throughout the entire dungeon battle. Completely tuning out the screams and shouts of the prisoners, though he did catch Fandral's "It's as if they resent being in prison!" as he turned a page, and he heard Thor when he arrived ("Go back to your cells and you have my word no one will get hurt! ...Very well, you do not have my word!"). Loki purposefully paid no attention, as much of a relief as it was to hear Thor's voice.
He was still reading when they told him.
Loki barely heard them. The Queen is dead. No. It couldn't be true.
The moment the Einherjar left, Loki closed his book, stood up, and used his magic in a torrent of sorrow and guilt to completely trash his cell.
They didn't let him attend the funeral. He murmured the funeral rites anyway, quietly, in the shattered stillness of his cell.
"They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever."
He didn't cry. He'd forgotten how.
But he could still scream.
And so he screamed, a single question that no one would ever hear.
WHY?!
"Thor. After all this time, now you come to visit me. Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?"
"Loki, enough. No more illusions."
Loki bowed his head and let the illusion fade away, revealing his true self. His cell was a mess, ink all over the floor from the spilled inkwell and furniture broken and overturned. Loki himself sat with his back against the white wall, a mess; his hair was messier than he'd ever let it get, his eyes shadowed. He was barefoot, having lost his boots sometime during the destruction of his cell. He hadn't meant to snap at Thor, but the pain of Frigga's death was still too fresh in his mind.
Thor seemed to understand. The expression of love and concern that flitted across his face was enough to show Loki that.
"Now you see me, brother," Loki said, watching Thor as he rounded the cell to be closer to where Loki sat. Thor had a dark cloak over his armor, a look that insantly made Loki wonder what his brother was up to now.
Thor stopped as close as he could. "Did she suffer?" Loki asked, referring to Frigga.
"I do not come here to share in our grief," Thor said, though Loki could hear the pain in his voice. "Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."
Loki listened as Thor laid out the bare bones of his plan, and then leaned his head back against the wall with a bitter laugh and a smirk. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help." He paused, then, "What makes you think you can trust me?" His voice dripped pain.
Thor knew a defense mechanism when he saw one, and knew how to snap Loki out of it: by acting as if the love he felt did not exist.
Loki was damaged that way.
"I don't," Thor said, and though Loki knew he hated it he kept going anyway. "Mother did. I need you to know that when we've fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother is still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."
Loki knew he wouldn't, knew it was an empty threat, but still he smirked, Thor having successfully beaten his defense mechanism. "When do we start?"
Thor let him out of the cell; a simple spell and his appearance was as dapper as ever. Loki was mostly just relieved to breathe free air again, though he knew he could never be free, not here.
The two Asgardians started walking, Loki more energetically than usual. As they rounded a corner, Loki said, "This is so unlike you, brother. So...clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"
"If you keep speaking, I just might," Thor grumbled, but he smiled.
"Fine. As you wish," Loki said. "I'm not even here." As they passed a pillar he used his illusion magic to transform himself into an Einherjar. "Is this better?"
"It's better company at least," Thor said, half-teasing.
"Still," Loki said thoughtfully, "we could be less conspicuous." They passed another pillar and Loki worked his magic; this time they emerged with Loki looking like himself and Thor looking like the Lady Sif.
"Mm, brother," Loki teased, allowing his voice to take on a husky, slightly seductive tone. "You look ravishing."
Thor glanced down at himself, then glared halfheartedly at Loki and said evenly, "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form." Loki could have sworn he blushed, however. And his voice was the same as usual, which under different circumstances would have had Loki dying of laughter.
"Very well," Loki said, tone light once more. "Perhaps you would prefer one of your new companions, given that you seem to like them so much." He was, of course, talking about the Avengers, who were his friends too as Frigga had pointed out. For comedic effect more than anything, this time when Loki used his magic he brought Thor back to his usual appearance and assumed Steve's (the costume anyway).
Thor glanced at him and smirked. Loki grinned. "Ooh," he teased. "The costume's a bit much. So tight! But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging!" Loki turned around and walked backward as Thor glanced back over his shoulder. Loki continued in his best Steve Rogers impression, drawing his brother's attention back to him. "Hey, wanna have a rousing discussion about truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless Ameri-!"
He was cut off as Thor pushed him out of sight against a pillar, his hand over Loki's mouth to silence him. Loki pressed a quick kiss to his palm, then jerked his head away and said, "What?"
Thor tilted his head; Loki looked to find a pair of Einherjar strolling by, presumably on patrol. They hadn't yet realized Loki wasn't in his cell.
Loki realized how close Thor was standing at the same time the Thunderer himself did. Thor cleared his throat.
"This is a bit awkward," Thor murmured.
"I don't see how," Loki replied with a seductive grin. "Since you have me here..."
"Loki, we're kind of on the clock here," Thor told him, though Loki could tell his resistance was crumbling under Loki's grin.
"Come now, Громовержец, we can delay a few moments," Loki encouraged, trailing a hand down his side and enjoying the way Thor shivered beneath his touch. "And I'm not exactly able to go anywhere."
Thor gave in with a quiet, "Damn you." Loki's grin widened. He knew he'd won.
"What are you waiting for, Громовержец?" Loki murmured.
Thor studied him for a moment, a soft smile curving his mouth as he looked at Loki. Then wordlessly Thor kissed him, and Loki responded instantly, pulling Thor closer as the kiss went deeper, their tongues meeting the moment Loki opened his mouth to let Thor in.
Loki managed to turn the tables, flipping around so that it was Thor pressed against the pillar. That didn't last long, though, as Thor reversed their positions again, seeking dominance. Normally, the alpha wolf that slept in him would have protested, but at the moment Loki found he was enjoying being pressed back. He just wanted more.
They pulled apart, both breathless, Loki's head slightly spinning. "Tell me, Громовержец, are all your kisses this intoxicating?" he gasped.
"After we save Jane, maybe we can find out," Thor replied. Loki admired the attempt at seduction (which, Loki reflected, he was much better at, though being Thor his comment was working just fine) and kissed him again, lightly this time.
"Now, you could at least furnish me with a weapon. My dagger, something," Loki said. He got the feeling he knew what was coming next, but he had to be sure.
Thor considered him for a moment, then reached into his cloak. Loki kept his eyes on his boyfriend's face, not watching his hands. He had to at least act surprised.
"Ah," Loki said, feigning ignorance. "At last. A little common sense..." He heard the click and schooled his features into the appropriate expression of disbelief, holding up his now-cuffed hands.
"And I thought you liked tricks," Thor teased. Loki rolled his eyes, and they set off again.
"It's just because my friends don't trust you and Jane doesn't know you've changed," Thor attempted to explain.
Loki just nodded. "I know," he said. "It's alright."
Thor still looked worried. He lost the expression, though, as he and Loki emerged onto the main floor of the palace and saw the real Lady Sif waiting with Jane Foster, the mortal Thor was so fond of that had accidentally discovered the Aether's hiding place...and then taken the Aether out with her, putting them all in this mess with the Dark Elves.
Jane approached, incredulous. "You're -!"
"I'm Loki. You may have heard of m-"
Jane slapped him across the face. "That was for New York!" she exclaimed.
Loki merely grinned. "I like her," he told Thor.
Thor thanked Sif, then escorted Jane away as the Einherjar's shouts reached them. They'd discovered Loki was missing.
Loki moved to follow the Thunderer and the astrophysicist, but was stopped by Sif's blade. "Betray him, and I'll kill you," she warned.
Loki grinned. "Good to see you too, Sif."
She glared at him but let him go.
They found Volstagg next, waiting by the crashed Dark Elf ship. He nodded to Thor, winked at Jane, and as the two entered the ship he too stopped Loki.
"If you even think about betraying him..." Volstagg warned.
"You'll kill me?" Loki guessed. "Evidently there will be a line."
Volstagg let him board the ship.
Thor wrestled with the controls. Loki had to admit, it was both annoying and endearing watching him struggle. But as the Einherjar neared and the ship still wouldn't move, Loki began to lose patience.
"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki told him.
"I said 'how hard can it be'," Thor corrected, attempting to slap the controls and see what worked.
"Whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster," Loki said anxiously as the Einherjar drew ever closer.
"Shut up, Loki," Thor muttered, still hitting the panel.
"I'm pressing every button on this thing!" Thor grumbled after a few more moments of this.
"No, don't hit it, just press it gently," Loki admonished.
"I am pressing it gently!" Thor exclaimed as he smacked the controls forcefully until something worked and the ship powered to life.
Thor attempted to pilot the ship out of the castle, turning it and slicing through about five or six more columns.
"I think you missed a column," Loki remarked sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Thor snapped, and then they were flying, albeit clumsily.
They shot out of the palace far too fast for Loki's liking. Thor's piloting was rocky at best.
As they flew through Asgard, narrowly missing many rooftops with the scything blade-like structure of the ship, Loki said, "Look, why don't you let me take over, I'm clearly the better pilot."
"Is that right?" Thor asked, righting the ship. "Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"
Loki sighed.
Thor piloted somewhat steadily for a few minutes, growing excited as his piloting got better. Then Jane collapsed behind Loki, who turned and said mildly, "Oh, dear. Is she dead?"
"Jane!" Thor exclaimed.
"M'okay," Jane managed. Thor kept going.
They soared through the air, and as Thor made the ship do a neat flip, one of the winglike edges smashed through a statue.
"Not a word," Thor warned. Loki just smirked.
He lost the smirk as he noticed the Asgardian warships falling into formation behind them.
"Now they're following us," Loki said urgently. The ship rocked as the Asgardian ships fired. "Now they're firing at us!"
"Yeah, thank you for the commentary, Loki, it's not at all distracting!" Thor replied over his shoulder.
They scythed through a statue of King Bor and headed towards the open water. Loki couldn't resist saying, "Well done! You just decapitated your grandfather!"
Thor didn't even tell him to shut up this time.
"You know this is wonderful," Loki said dryly. "This a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that! Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone will see us! It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant -!"
Thor shoved him out of the open side of the ship. Loki cursed himself for screaming. He landed with a thud on the deck of an air speeder piloted by Fandral. As Thor and Jane jumped out as well and the Dark Elf ship exploded above them, Fandral cracked a grin and apparently couldn't resist taunting him.
"I see your time in the dungeon has made you no less graceful, Loki!"
"You lied to me!" Loki accused. Then he smirked. "I'm impressed."
"Fandral?" Thor urged as another air speeder full of Einherjar appeared.
"Right," Fandral said. He strung a grappling hook, smirked, and said, "For Asgard!" before throwing said grappling hook to the other speeder and using the rope to swing himself over. Loki heard him shout, "Nothing personal, boys!" as he began to fight the Einherjar.
Loki took control of the speeder, steering them directly towards a small crack between two rock faces.
"Loki..." Thor said warningly.
"If it were easy," Loki pointed out, "everyone would do it."
"Are you mad?!" Thor yelped.
"Possibly!" Loki yelled back. It was actually a legitimate possibility.
They sped toward the rock face. Thor yelled as they squeezed through it, but Loki saw the telltale signs of a Bifrost portal opening around them.
And then they shot through and were cruising over the ashy plains of Svartalfheim. Loki couldn't resist: he said, "Ta-daa!"
Thor glared at him for half a second, then checked to see if Jane was still unconscious and kissed him lightly.
They rode in silence through the mountains for a while, breathing in the toxic air of a destroyed world as the dark rock flashed by around them. Thor alternated between watching Loki and watching Jane; Loki alternated between the landscape and Thor. Something about this world had awoken the wolf in him, or at least made it restless; Loki could feel the wolf deep in his subconscious, almost as if it were murmuring in its sleep.
"She doesn't look good," Loki said eventually, referring to Jane.
"She's strong," Thor said. "Stronger than most mortal women."
"But she is still just that," Loki pointed out. "Mortal. Might as well just say goodbye now."
"She's not dead yet," Thor said.
"Now or in a hundred years, it doesn't matter. One day she will die, and you will remain largely the same," Loki said. "You're never going to be ready."
"You never were one for sentiment, were you?" Thor asked, turning to Loki, who shook his head.
"Sentiment," he snorted. "It's more a curse than anything."
Thor studied him for a moment.
"You know I miss her too, right?" Thor said.
Loki knew he was talking about Frigga. "I know."
"I feel it's my fault," Thor admitted.
Loki felt a flash of irrational anger. "Your fault? Well, that would be a first, wouldn't it? Odinson -"
Thor must have known it was Loki's walls going up. That didn't stop him from firing back, "No, don't do that! You think you were the only one beloved of Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust!"
"Trust? Was that her last expression, trust? While you let her die?!" Loki exploded.
"What good were you in your cell?!" Thor shot back.
"Who put me there? WHO PUT ME THERE?!" Loki shouted.
"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO!" Thor roared, and raised a fist. Loki flinched, but Thor lowered his hand. "She wouldn't want us to fight."
"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki pointed out, calming down.
Thor smiled a little sadly at that. "I wish I could trust you."
"Trust my rage," Loki said softly.
They fell silent again. Then Loki sighed and said, "This is my fault."
"Loki, no, you mustn't blame yourself," Thor insisted. "If anything, it's mine."
"Actually it's your mortal's. Jane Foster?" Loki looked at her still-unconscious form. "This is her fault."
"I suppose you do have a point," Thor sighed. "But it was Mother's choice, not Jane's, to do what she did."
"And all while I could do nothing, because Odin locked me in a cell."
"Loki -"
"You know what? It is my fault. I sent the Kursed on his way. To her. Out of spite for Odin."
"You couldn't have known."
"Still."
"Loki."
"What?"
"Come here. We can mourn together."
Loki shook his head. "One of us has to fly this thing, Громовержец." That, and the wolf in him was stirring restlessly, something that worried Loki greatly.
So Thor came over to him and wrapped him in an embrace. Loki closed his eyes, resting his head on Thor's shoulder, his cuffed hands finding a weak spot in Thor's armor and grabbing hold. He wouldn't cry; he thought he may have forgotten how. But he did allow himself to feel, to mourn, and his hand tightened on Thor's shirt.
"We need a plan," Loki said eventually, voice slightly muffled from talking into Thor's shoulder.
Loki gently disentangled himself from his brother's embrace, though Thor kept a hand on his waist.
"Did you have one in mind?" Thor asked.
Loki glared halfheartedly at him. "What makes you think I have a plan?"
"Because you're the Trickster?" Thor offered. "Because you always have at least three plans?"
"This was your insane idea," Loki pointed out. "So you get to make the plans."
Thor rolled his eyes. "Well...I sort of have an idea, but it involves you betraying me."
Loki smirked. "Do you think I have a death wish?"
"I think you're good at betraying people," Thor laughed. "And Jane doesn't like you much, so she's still expecting you to be the villain."
Loki looked at him seriously. "What do you need me to do?"
"You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed, right?"
"Yeah, possibly."
The three of them stood on an ash-covered hill, Jane still weak but awake and conscious once more. Loki and Thor both stood in front of her. The wind whipped the hair of all three, Jane's skirts, and Thor and Loki's capes about viciously, and even in the darkened lighting of the blacked-out sun Loki had to squint to see Malekith and his delegation of elves, Kursed included, as they marched across the plains of their homeworld.
"I wouldn't trust you," Thor said, as Loki held out his cuffed hands, "if I had any other choice."
Loki shook his hands out as the cuffs fell away. "I wouldn't either!" he said, and in one fluid movement drew a knife and stabbed Thor, who tumbled. Jane rushed to the edge of the hill, shouting, "Thor!" as he fell. Loki siezed her and dragged her down with him as he followed.
Thor tried to get up, but Loki kicked him. Thor tried to summon Mjolnir, only to howl in pain as Loki cut his hand off, much to Jane's horror.
Thor collapsed as Malekith and his delegation stopped.
"Malekith!" Loki yelled, wrestling Jane into place. "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift!" He shoved Jane forward; she landed on her knees in front of Malekith, who looked mildly surprised. Loki continued, "I ask for only one thing in return: a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!"
The Kursed muttered something to Malekith in the language of the Dark Elves. Loki waited.
Malekith stepped over to Thor. "Look at me," he said in slightly halting English, though it was obvious he'd learned the language. Thor glared.
Loki tuned out what Malekith said next, as he was busy studying the Kursed. He'd read about them before: no weapon of any enemy could harm the creature, as the thing was already dead in a sense. Its soul was forever bound to the Realms, trapped in darkness. The Kursed did not feel pain, nor did they offer mercy. They were created only to kill.
Loki was determined to do to it what it had done to his mother.
Loki paid attention again as Malekith conducted some ritual to take the Aether out of Jane. Once it was out, the astrophysicist collapsed, and Thor said, "Now!"
Loki spun out of the way as he used his magic to drop the illusion, revealing a still intact Thor as he summoned Mjolnir to his hand. Loki shielded Jane with his own body as Thor launched a bolt of lightning at the Aether, blasting it apart and sending the Dark Elves stumbling.
The light died, and the Aether appeared to be gone...until it wasn't, as re-formed and Malekith consumed it.
We're screwed, Loki thought.
Malekith left, leaving his elves to take on Thor and Loki. One of them threw a black hole grenade and Loki jumped in front of Jane, shoving her out of range but almost getting sucked in in the process. Thor was the only reason he wasn't.
Loki flipped out his daggers and started fighting the elves off, keeping them away from the still-vulnerable Jane.
"Did you have to kick me so hard?" Thor complained as he blasted a few elves back with Mjolnir.
Loki broke one's neck and stabbed another, replying, "I had to make it look real, Громовержец."
Thor rolled his eyes and continued fighting. He went for Malekith while Loki held off the other elves. Malekith used the Aether and blasted him backward, then retreated into his ship and sent the Kursed after Thor.
No, Loki thought as the Kursed began to kick Thor's ass. I will not lose him too. Not after Mother.
Loki killed the last elf and abandoned Jane to help Thor. He needed something to get the Kursed's attention...
The Kursed didn't see the giant spike coming until Loki had shoved it through his back, just as the Kursed had stabbed Frigga.
Sufficiently distracted, the Kursed turned to glare at Loki.
And then siezed him by the shoulders and stepped forward, plunging the spike through Loki's gut as well.
An expression of surprise and pain appeared on Loki's face, though he'd expected the move. It was the only way for him to get close enough to activate the black hole grenade he'd stolen from one of the dead elves and leave it on the Kursed's belt.
The Kursed shoved him off and Loki fell, too much blood pouring too fast from the wound. It glared at him, seemingly content to watch him bleed out, but Loki wasn't dead yet.
"See you in Hel, monster!" Loki spat as an audible ticking noise made itself known.
The Kursed looked in surprise, but it was too late - the grenade exploded, and the Kursed roared, and then it was gone. It was over. Consumed by its own weapon.
So there, Loki thought.
Thor rushed to Loki's side and took his hand away from where it had instinctively rested over the wound. There was too much blood. Loki knew it was fatal; it had gone all the way through. He wasn't going to survive.
"No, no, no, no, no," Thor muttered, as if that could change anything. "Shh, it's...it's going to be all right," he said, and there were tears in his eyes. "Oh, Loki, you fool, why did you do it?"
"I'm a fool," Loki agreed, even as he could feel himself starting to slip away. "I'm a fool."
"No no no, stay with me, Loki, stay with me."
"I'm sorry," Loki gasped out, feeling like he had to apologize one final time for New York, for everything. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
He struggled to hold on, to be able to say this last goodbye, to be able to tell Thor I love you for the first and last time. There was so much he needed to say. So much he'd never be able to.
"Shh," Thor murmured, brushing his hair out of his face. "It's okay. I'll tell Father what you did here today."
Loki summoned the last bit of strength he had left and looked directly at Thor as he said, "I didn't do it for him." I did it for you. For Mother.
Loki's breathing became shallower, and shallower, and stopped.
It was white. Was Hel supposed to be white? He didn't think so.
Where am I?
He saw, materializing out of the light, what looked like...a wolf? What was going on?
You're not supposed to be here. The wolf had spoken, but it hadn't. You have a greater purpose, Loki Laufeyson. You're not dead yet.
He couldn't speak. The light grew stronger; it hurt his eyes, so he closed them. But it was warm, warmer than he had ever been, and this time he could feel the temperature rise, something he'd never really noticed before. It was warm, and it was bright.
He opened his eyes to look at the wolf, but it was gone.
He closed his eyes again as the light grew, and washed over him, and covered him completely.
Loki opened his eyes and gasped, then coughed as he inhaled a mouthful of ash.
His first thought was: Where's Thor?
His second thought was: How the Hel am I alive?
Loki looked around, realizing that he was still on Svartalfheim. But how was he alive?
He looked for the wound only to find none. What the Helheim?
He heard a wolf howling and looked around, only to realize that the wolf was in his head. It was the wolf buried within him, the one that was supposed to be asleep, howling at him as if to say, Wake up, idiot! You still have a life to live!
Loki listened to it.
He finished coughing out the ash - gods, that tasted horrible - and tentatively stood up. He felt fine, all traces of the gaping hole the Kursed had left in his gut completely gone. Even the blood on his tunic was minimal, though there, and the only sign he'd been injured at all.
He tried walking, since everything seemed to be in working order; when he found he could, he stopped.
Loki searched the ground for signs of Thor and Jane's leaving and used a simple spell when it became apparent his eyes wouldn't be able to pick it out. He followed the trail to a cave, where he could sense the difference immediately. The Convergence was almost upon them. The barriers between worlds were extremely thin here.
Loki stepped through, and appeared in London.
I remember this place, Loki thought, looking around briefly. There's much less smog now, though.
He renewed his tracking spell, and followed it to a nondescript apartment. He entered, and heard voices that sounded familiar - Thor, Jane, Selvig. A couple of others too, presumably Jane's friend Darcy. Loki didn't know who the other belonged to.
As Loki approached, he heard Thor say, "Loki is...dead." Loki hated the pain in his voice.
"Oh, thank God!" Selvig exclaimed. He bactracked quickly; Loki assumed Thor had given him a look. "I - I mean, I'm sorry."
Loki chose that moment to enter the apartment. The looks on their faces were priceless: Jane looked surprised, a woman whom Loki assumed was Darcy looked confused, a young man in the background looked rather lost, Selvig looked horrified, and Thor was somewhere between surprised, angry, and relieved.
"Loki?" Thor asked.
"Not as dead as you thought, brother," Loki said with a smirk.
Jane walked over and slapped him again. Loki barely flinched. "Better?"
"He's real," Jane announced.
Selvig looked nervous. "You don't have your scepter with you, do you?"
Loki shook his head. "That went into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody long ago. I do apologize for New York, Doctor. The mind control and all that."
Selvig looked slightly suspicious, but at least he wasn't glaring like Barton. It was now that Loki realized Selvig wasn't wearing pants, but he didn't comment.
"What's S.H.I.E.L.D.?" asked the young man.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" Loki asked.
"Ian," the young man replied. "My name is Ian. I'm Darcy's intern."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a secret," Darcy told him. Ian looked quite confused.
Loki turned to Thor. "Would you say something?" he asked. "Say something!"
Thor walked over to where Loki stood as the humans watched. Loki wondered what exactly the Thunderer was planning to do. That question was answered when Thor abruptly kissed him, apparently not caring that the humans were still watching. Loki returned it, a little surprised.
Thor pulled away and said, "Don't ever do that to me again."
"What, die?" Loki half-smirked. "It's not fun. I'm not planning to."
"Can someone explain what just happened?" Jane demanded.
Thor turned, apparently having forgotten the scientists were in the room. "Er..."
"We're together now," Loki said bluntly.
Jane looked surprised. Selvig just shook his head and muttered "Asgardians" under his breath. Darcy and Ian both looked confused.
"Wait, I thought you two were brothers?" Darcy asked.
"Adopted," Loki and Thor chorused. Darcy looked satisfied.
"Now, we need a plan to stop Malekith, don't we?" Loki said.
The six of them gathered around a map of the London area. Loki mostly tuned out Selvig's explanation of where the Convergence was going to be strongest, studying Thor. The Thunderer seemed quite intent on the map and Selvig's explanation, which Loki knew he didn't really understand. His blue eyes held sorrowful intensity. Loki feared for him; that determination might get him killed.
Loki fixed his green eyes on the map as Selvig drew lines all over it, all pointing to the same location, which he drew a circle around.
"Greenwich?" Ian said quizzically.
Thor gave a mighty look of determination that Loki and Jane both returned. Selvig looked a little nervous.
"Better get my pants," he said.
"Clear the area, come on, let's go!" Loki, Selvig, and Jane were walking through the university - well, more like running actually - trying to get the normal, unsuspecting Brits out of the way. Outside, Thor's battle with Malekith raged.
Which was why the humans weren't. Fucking. Moving.
"What are you doing?" Jane demanded of one of them. "Get out of here!"
"Are you kidding?" a young black man said. "That's Thor out there! Swinging his hammer around and everything!"
Jane rolled her eyes. Loki spotted an approaching Dark Elf and threw a dagger at it; it went down, but two more took its place. The humans turned to watch Loki as he darted ahead and took on the elves, blasting one with magic and flipping out a dagger to stab the other. Three more elves later Loki crouched, breathing hard, in the midst of their bodies. When it became clear that no more elves were coming for the time being, he stood and ran back to Jane, Selvig, and the humans, most of whom looked part terrified and part impressed.
"That was epic!" said the young man who had spoken before. "How did you -"
He was cut off as Loki waved a dismissive hand and transported the humans somewhere safe.
"Let's go," he said.
Loki stood guard as Jane and Selvig got into position. Whenever an elf came along, Loki dispatched it, keeping them away from the scientists as they messed with Selvig's macines to even the odds on the battlefield a bit.
At one point Loki turned in time to see Darcy and Ian appear, locked in a kiss. Jane and Selvig looked quite surprised.
"Darcy?" Jane asked inredulously.
Darcy abruptly broke the kiss and looked up. "Jane?" she replied, and promptly dropped Ian, who hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Ian!" Selvig exclaimed.
"Selvig!" Ian replied, wincing a bit.
Loki just smirked and blasted an incoming elf away with his magic, not even glancing its way.
Loki could never quite explain what happened next. Thor disappeared into the maelstrom surrounding Malekith, and Loki and the four humans all ran to the edge, watching, waiting.
Then the explosive combustion as Jane twisted the dial, and Thor was thrown backwards as Malekith fell through the barrier, leaving a destroyed college and a far too still Thor in his wake.
Both Loki and Jane ran out into the open, heading to Thor's side. Loki dropped to his knees on one side, Jane on the other.
"Please wake up," Jane fretted. "Please wake up. Please wake up."
Loki laid his hand on Thor's chest, sensing the life force within him. "He's alive," Loki said, "but barely. I can save him, but it'll take time."
"Time we don't have!" Jane exclaimed. Loki looked, already starting the magical process, to find the Dark Elf ship bearing down on them, gravity bringing it down on a collision course.
Loki closed his eyes and focused, bracing for the impact. At least he'd die trying to save Thor's life.
The impact never came. The ship had vanished, due to Jane's friends. Selvig held the barrier controller thing in his hand, his other still hovering over the dial.
Thor woke up. Loki kissed him.
"Now who's the one dying on who?" Loki accused.
Thor took his hand, and Jane's as well. The three of them sat there, silent in the stillness, as the Convergence passed above them, and somewhere in the back of Loki's head, his wolf howled.
Upon returning to Asgard, Loki was not immediately arrested. In fact, Loki was not there at all.
An Einherjar walked with Thor, battered and bruised but confident as ever, towards the ruins of Odin's throne room.
The Einherjar waited outside as Thor went in and exchanged words with his father. When he came back out, he looked immensely relieved.
"So he bought it?" asked Loki as they began walking again.
"He bought it," Thor agreed. "Now the only people who know you're alive that matter here on Asgard are Heimdall and Sigyn, who is safe back on Vanaheim."
For that had been their greatest ruse of all: Loki had cast an elaborate illusion when he and Jane ran to Thor's side, making it appear as if Loki was not there to any that may have been watching due to the Convergence. As far as the other Realms knew, Loki had died on Svartalfheim saving his brother's life and avenging his mother.
They reached the Bifrost undisturbed, and Loki let the Einherjar illusion fall away. He gave Heimdall a respectful nod, much as he had when he'd originally been taken to Earth, what felt like a lifetime ago. Heimdall returned it, then nodded to Thor as well.
"Will I see either of you physically again?" asked Heimdall as he activated the Bifrost.
"Who knows?" Loki shrugged.
"We'll see where life takes us," Thor added.
Heimdall nodded. "Fair enough."
"Until we meet again, Heimdall," Loki said.
Thor echoed the statement. Heimdall did as well, and Loki looked at Thor, intertwining their hands.
"Come, Громовержец," Loki said. "Let's go home."
There were warm greetings all around when the battered and weary Asgardians arrived back at the Tower. Loki retreated straight to his room. He needed a shower and some food, but he was also too tired at the moment to notice or care.
Tasha appeared in the doorway.
"Not now, Убийца," Loki grumbled. "I'm tired."
"Loki, I told them," Tasha said.
Loki looked at her, confused. "Told them what?" He assumed she was talking about the Avengers.
"I told them that I'm a werewolf."
On that note, we're done! *evil laugh* I know you'll all hate me for the cliffhanger now, but the next chapter will be worth it. Trust me. Also, are there any elements or characters from previous chapters you want me to include in upcoming chapters? (This includes characters from this chapter.) Please let me know in a review so I can make it happen!