Before everybody starts hating me... here's the next one! ENJOY

Chapter 18

"I've got an idea!" Jane suddenly called out, making everbody jump a foot in the air. Before anyone could ask what she was talking about, she disappeared to her lab which was one floor down. Thirty seconds later she was back again, holding a small, transparent box in her hand. It wasn't much bigger than a dice. Tony who was still trying to stop his nose from bleeding, made a excited noise when he understood Jane's idea, but the scientist ignored her boss. Bruce nodded. He understood too. A couple of seconds later he also understood Tony's reaction. He frowned…

Thor didn't understand at all. He looked up from his dying brother – who followed his stare – and waited for his wife to explain. Jane kneeled next to her husband.

"You can store it in here!" she said to Loki who was clearly having trouble with holding his eyes open.
"We use these cubes in the Energy Converter. It can store an unlimited amount of Energy and convert in to whatever we want kind of energy we need…"

Thor frowned. He didn't quite understand yet, but he thought it was great. This was Loki's chance!

But the young king smiled and shook his head almost invisible. "You must think I'm stupid…"

Thor looked at his brother in disbelief. "What in heaven's name are you talking about! Do you want to die!"

Loki smiled and closed his eyes for second when a new pain wave raged through his body.

"You just said you use these cubes for your research!" he explained. " I give you the Tesseract Energy and you have everything you need to complete you idiotic plans!"

Jane and Thor shared a look. Honestly, Jane hadn't even thought about that possibility. Now that Loki mentioned it, she couldn't help but feel excited about it, but Thor's eyes made her change her mind.

"I promise I won't use it…" Jane said with pain in her heart, but Tony was quick to interfere. He grabbed the cube from Jane's palm.

"No!" he exclaimed. "This is one of my tools! If Mr. Reindeer here wants to use it, he has to live with the consequences!"

"Tony!" Jane called out furiously, but Stark wasn't going to give up that fast.

"Jane!" he said with an excited flickering in his eyes which only appeared when he'd finally found the solution for a problem he'd been working on for months. "Don't you see! We'll finally be able to finish our work! To build a unlimited power source! Please! I know you're thinking it too!"

Jane opened her mouth to answer, but Loki was first. He was using all of his strength and anger to keep the Tesseract Energy under control. How stupid could someone be!

"You imbecil! Don't you see what the Tesseract can do! You're going to destroy your own world!"

Tony looked down on the God of Mischief. "I'm not building a Tesseract, only an unlimited power source!"

"Don't lecture me, metal man! When are you going to understand that you won't be able to control it! If you use Tesseract Energy as a prototype, you eventually make a knew Tesseract! Stop being such a puny fool! If you use this Energy, I will have to stop you and you don't stand a chance against Asgard!"

Loki had never felt so much hate for someone, accept his brother of course… From all puny, unimportant, irritating human beings, Stark must have been one of the few with some brains! He should understand!

Loki shivered and breathed out. A small cloud of blue Energy left his lips and floated into the room. The Tesseract was making its way up again. In a few minutes, Loki wouldn't be able to resist any longer. Not that he would make it that far. The Energy would have killed him by then…

The young king looked at his surroundings. Honestly, he'd never though it would end like this… here… on Earth, of all places, in Stark Tower, surrounded by his former enemies… Great!

Loki closed his eyes. Thor was calling his name, Jane was crying and Tony was hesitating, but the young king didn't care anymore. He just wanted to die. Slowly all sounds faded away, the pain disappeared and the darkness took hold of the God of Mischief…

-xxx-

"Loki…" a voice sounded through the darkness, but it wasn't Thor's or Jane's… No, it was a voice Loki only heard in his dreams if he was lucky. A voice he'd feared to forget. A voice he'd missed and craved for…

The young king opened his eyes. He wasn't in Stark Tower anymore and he would have been completely alone if it wasn't for the beautiful, smiling woman in front of him. Loki felt a tear run down his cheek. He couldn't believe his eyes. Did this mean he was dead?

"My son…" Frigga, former Queen of Asgard, said while she reached out for Loki's hand.

The young king cautiously took hold of her soft fingers and let his mother pull him to his feet. That's when he realised he was smaller than his mother. Loki looked down on his body. He was younger! A child! The younger version of himself.

Wait… was this a memory? Loki looked around him, but there was nothing to see, but a golden light. There was no sky or floor. They just seemed to float around in … well, nothing. Yet, Loki could still feel something solid beneath his feet.

"Why are you crying, my son?" Frigga asked, but her words didn't quite found their way through. Loki was too busy looking at his mother. She was so beautiful and she seemed so happy. Frigga laughed and bowed forward to wipe of his tears.

"Your dead…" Loki heard himself say.

Frigga smiled.
"Only if you want me too.."

"Am I dead?"

Loki couldn't stop himself from sounding hopeful... Dying would be so easy at the moment. He would give everything in the world to just stay here – where ever 'here' was – away from all the pain and suffering.

"Only if you want to…" Frigga answered. The usual glimmer in her eyes faded for a second.

Loki pulled up his eyebrows. Frigga turned around and started walking. Their surroundings changed and Loki found himself in one of Asgard gardens'. Not the annoying – fish garden, but it was a garden Frigga always used to go when Loki wanted to talk to her in private.

Loki blinked confusedly. Maybe this was a memory after all, but when he looked around, he knew it couldn't be, because besides them, there was no one to be seen and nothing to be heard. No guards, no warriors practising in the distance… Just Frigga and Loki.

The young king ran after his mother.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

Frigga didn't answer and Loki knew he had to be patient, so he just waited and strolled next to his mother for a couple of minutes, enjoying the sight of Asgard that wasn't Asgard. Suddenly the Queen of Asgard stopped by a small pond. There were no fish in it, but it still seemed full of life. Loki, who hadn't expect the sudden stop, turned around and walked a few steps back. He looked up at his mother and waited.

"It's not your time yet, my son…" she said after a couple of seconds, the pain and sadness in her voice noticeably.

"I think I can decide myself when my time has come…" Loki said before he could stop himself. Despite of him being a child, his mind was still his own.

Frigga looked down on her son and smiled softly. "Exactly… Therefore you should understand why I'm telling you this…"

Loki shook his head. He wanted to answer, but his mother was first.

"You have so much more to give, my son! Not only to Asgard, but also to the other realms, to their inhabitants, to Thor and to little Frigga…"

"But that's not fair!" the young king shouted. Why was she saying this! Nobody wanted anything from him! He was the bad guy, after all! Asgard, the other realms.. little Frigga.. they all deserved so much better! Everyone would be better off if he was dead. At least this way he died doing something good…

"You're the king of Asgard, Loki. And Asgard needs you more than you think… You're their king and…"

"But I don't want to be king anymore!" Loki shouted. A short silence filled the air and the young king couldn't believe what he'd just said. Frigga kneeled before her son and wiped off the new tears that had started flowing down his cheeks again. Loki hadn't even noticed. His mother smiled kindly.

"I think you do…"

Loki shook his head. "It's boring!" he said softly.

"Trust me, my son. Very soon, you won't find it boring anymore…" Frigga said mysteriously. Loki frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Frigga smiled and got to her feet again. She put one loving hand on Loki's raven hair.

"Everything has it's time…" she said. Before Loki could ask anything else, she turned around and continued her walk. Loki had to run to keep up.

"My son, there are dangers out their only you can face. You must return to Asgard.. your people will need you…"

"But Thor won't let me and even if he would… I lose his trust the minute he finds out the truth about… well… everything…"

"Your brother will understand…" Frigga answered simply.

"Thor is too stupid to understand!"

Frigga smiled softly. "There is more to Thor than you think, Loki…"

The young king sniffed. "Right…" he said sarcastically.

"There is also more to you than you think…"

Loki looked up. Only one year ago he had agreed completely, but now he wasn't so sure anymore. He should have inspected the earth a bit better. Never, ever he should have allowed Tesseract Energy to remain under the surface. Why didn't Heimdall told him this? Even worse! The Tesseract Energy was their because of him in the first place. He'd almost got Frigga killed! It was only logical that he sacrificed himself to lock away the Energy. That way it couldn't harm anyone and that idiot of a Stark wouldn't be able to use it.

"Can't I just stay here, with you?" Loki asked after a couple of seconds. He knew he was being selfish, but that was just the way he was! He was selfish! He had told Thor the truth, right? And he had saved them! So why wouldn't he be allowed to be selfish now!

"I am not even here, my son, and you know that!"

"What do you mean! What is this!" Loki asked desperately. He wanted to stay so badly! It didn't matter if he would have to spend his time here trapped his younger body!

"You know what it is, Loki! You just have to accept it…"

"But that's not fair!" Loki screamed a second time. This time he felt how his tears started flowing once more, but he didn't care.

His mother turned around and looked her son straight in the eye. She put her hand on Loki's cheek and forced him to keep looking at her.

"My son, you've suffered more than anyone should in a lifetime. It is every mother's wish that her child is safe, happy and without pain. I am sorry I was not capable of accomplishing that… But I know you can take it! Don't let your hatred and grief be your guide. You are capable of so much more!"

"How would you know?" Loki answered angrily. He didn't want to be so blunt, especially not to his mother, but he just hated this!

"I have always known how special you are, Loki. Don't you dare to question that! I loved you and I will always keep loving you, no matter what may happen. One day we will be together again, but right know Asgard and your family need you!"

"I don't have a family!" Loki called out furiously. A sudden grief filled Frigga's eyes.

"You know that is not true, my son. And you know you have to go back…"

"But why would I do that!" the young king shouted desperately.

Frigga smiled.
"Look down, my son…"

Loki frowned, but obeyed. Through the tears in his eyes he looked at his feet. To his surprise he was no longer a child. He looked up and found he was now as tall as he used to be. He wanted to ask what was happening, but the words got stuck in his throat. Frigga smiled sadly.

"Because that is who you are, Loki..." she said with obvious pain in her voice.

Loki looked down in his mother's eyes. She was obviously trying not to cry when she pulled him closer and hugged her son tightly.

"I love you so much, Loki. And I am so proud of you.."

Loki closed his eyes and softly put his arms around his mother. He smelled and tasted his salty tears in the fabric on her shoulder. He smelled her golden hair as if she'd never been gone. He felt her thin fingers on his back, desperately shivering, hoping she'd never had to let go. He heard her voice in his ear while his surrounding slowly faded into darkness...

-xxx-

The cold air touched his skin while Loki tried to suck the metal flavoured air into his burning longs. What had happened? Loki couldn't remember. All he could remember was that warm feeling he'd missed so much.

Thor sat in front of his brother. The tears where streaming from his eyes. He kept shouting Loki's name, but the young king didn't react any more. Loki had closed his eyes and stopped breathing the moment he'd tried to stop Tony. Jane was trying to pull her husband away from his brother's body, but the God of Thunder held onto Loki as if he was scared that he would disappear the moment he let go.

Loki groaned silently. He would do anything to just let go and die, but for some reason he knew he couldn't. The noises around him started to make sense again. Cautiously the young king opened his eyes.

Thor couldn't belief it. Loki was breathing… well, if you could call it breathing of course. When his brother opened his eyes he felt more relieved than ever and had to suppress the urge to hug his brother.

Loki groaned once more.
"Stop crying you useless dimwit! Give me that cube before I change my mind!"

Jane let go of her husband's shoulder and rushed towards Tony. The billionaire was completely awe struck by the series of events, so she just ripped the cube from his grasp and ran back to Loki.

"Swear it on Frigga's life, you'll stop building a wanne-be-Tesseract…" the young king said before taking the cube from Jane. She looked down on the God in disbelief. How could he ask that of her… The scientist understood Loki wasn't kidding and that she didn't have a choice. Loki liked Frigga as much as everybody else, so if he required this big of a promise, he probably knew what he was doing. Maybe the Tesseract was more dangerous than she and Tony had expected. Jane bit her lip, but nodded.

"I swear…" she said.

Loki looked Jane in the eye to make sure she was telling the truth, but there was no question she did. So after another breath of pain he let Jane put the cube in his hand. Now it was only a matter of concentration and hoping that he wouldn't die before he was finished.

Loki closed his eyes and tried to remember the warm feeling he'd felt when he'd woken up. If only he could remember where he knew it from…the young king took a deep breath and focused on the raging Energy in his body. Slowly he felt how the Tesseract Energy concentrated in the upper part of his body. Loki opened his eyes again and stared at the cube. Now came the most difficult part: forcing it out.

The young king ignored his brother's worried face, Jane's interest, Tony who'd found out his nose was still bleeding, Natasha who was trying to decide if he was the good guy now and Bruce who was still not sure what to think of everything. The room didn't matter anymore, only the cube. Sound faded and everything else blurred until only Loki's heartbeat and desperate breathing filled the air.

I love you, Loki… a voice sounded through the young king's mind. He didn't know where it came from or who it belonged to, but it gave him the strength to force the Energy out. Slowly, a blue layer of pure Energy floated away from Loki's skin and made its way towards the small cube, which sucked it inside as a hungry animal. Everywhere on the young king's chest and arms, new waves of Tesseract Energy appeared and were drawn inside the cube where it tumbled and turned and formed a tiny swirling whirl.

Loki heard his heartbeat raise every second. The Energy clearly didn't want to leave his body and was tearing his insides apart in a desperate attempt to stay. Loki wanted to scream, but he couldn't find the air, so he tried even harder to banish every single last bit of Energy out of his body. Darkness was creeping in on his view, voices echoed around him, but the words made no sense. His heart was failing, his longs were gone, he couldn't think…

And then it was over. Loki realised he'd squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the end would come quickly. Was he dead? The pain was still there, even though it seemed to reduce, but he could be imagining that too. Hesitatingly, the young king tried to breath. It was difficult, but not impossible. So he checked his heartbeat. To his surprise his heart was actually starting to stabilize. Somewhere in the distance, Loki could hear voices which seemed to make sense again. Was that Thor's voice?

"Loki!" he heard, but it all sounded a bit far away as if he'd just woken up after a 'really great' party.

Cautiously, Loki opened his eyes. The light attacked him violently, but he forced himself to stay awake. Slowly the room started to shape itself in front of his eyes. Faces appeared. Thor's face was closest. His brother had never looked so worried, at least the young king couldn't remember a time Thor had looked that worried. Jane was looking over her husband's shoulder and seemed relieved, even though she was as pale as death.

"What?" the young king said with a forced smile on his face. "You didn't expect me to actually die, did you? I thought you said you knew me, brother…"

Thor grinned with tears in his eyes and before Loki could stop him, he threw his arms around his brother and hugged him tightly. The young king gasped for breath when Thor pushed the little air out of his lungs.

Before Loki could say anything, Thor'd already let go, grinning from ear to ear. The young king stared at him in surprise while he sucked a new portion of air inside his lungs. He cleared his sore throat.

"Don't you ever do that again!" he said.

Thor laughed. "What? We hugged as kids, didn't we…"

"You call that a hug…" Loki answered with a painful scowl.

Both brothers looked at each other and smiled. Thor offered Loki his hand and drew the young king to his feet. This time Loki managed to remain standing. On the screen he could see how his insides were recovering. Loki sniffed and looked at the now blue cube in his palm. Pure hatred covered his face.

"What are you going to do with it?" Thor asked after a couple of seconds.

"It's coming back to Asgard with me…" Loki answered darkly.

Thor frowned. "You think that's wise? It might give the Tesseract more power…"

"Well, it's not staying in earth!" Loki interrupted his brother. With one swift move of his hand the cube had disappeared.

The young king looked around him. Tony, Bruce and Natasha were staring at the scene in front of them, every single one of them not fully able no hide the fear in their eyes. Loki smiled.

"Boo…" he said with a playful grin playing on his lips. Thor sighed.

"Loki, please…"

The young king pulled up his eyebrows in fake innocence.

A sudden high pitched scream sounded through the room when Frigga came running through the door, straight towards Loki. The little girl threw her arms around The God of Mischief's waist and buried her face and tears in his clothes. Loki stumbled backwards. That was the second person to hug him within two minutes. Weird…

I know, a bit short, but I still hope you enjoyed it!

Please review!

Rumple x