Chapter 24

Maria went cold.

She offered no resistance as Loki's hand closed around her arm and suddenly, she wasn't staring out of the hole in the Helicarrier where Thor had once been any more. They reappeared at the edge of the vast vessel, the side open to reveal the smaller aircraft hovering in the sky outside. Loki marched her forward towards it. Maria could only stumble with him.

Her body and mind had gone into some sort of shut down; Thor was gone. Just like that he was tumbling down to Earth and - the last of her senses turned to ice - and Maria wasn't sure if he could survive that or not. He was a god but...what exactly did that mean for him?

Maria was numb and lifeless as she was lead up the platform to the small craft and was forced into a seat. She didn't care. She couldn't register the world around her enough to care.

She was jerked back to lift when the door of the craft closed and it began to travel harshly through the air, almost knocking her off the bench she was perched on.

A chuckle drew her eyes upwards.

Loki's eyes were crinkled in the corners, his thin lips curved in a grin. Maria felt sick just looking at him. He'd done this. Her life was perfect - well, not perfect, but livable at least before Loki had been put into the equation. She'd take Jason's beatings any day to being hunted down for her life. Now Loki had her and she wished she could just go back to being the scared, bruised university student she'd been before all this had begun, before Thor had knocked fatefully on her front door that day.

Thor...

No, scratch that, she thought: back to when Loki was but a shadow in the back of her mind, but Thor was still there. Her breathtaking guardian.

Her breathtaking guardian that was currently plunging to his possible doom. Maria didn't want to believe Thor could die but... how could anyone survive that fall? Every inch of her instincts told her it was impossible. The world would simply cease to exist without Thor in it. It just couldn't live without him.

And then Maria realised just how true that was. It couldn't live without him. Loki would summon his army, invade and without Thor, there was no one who could stop him. Sure the Avengers were strong but without Thor, they would just be delaying the inevitable.

Thor couldn't die, she told herself. She could feel her eyes widening with the fear that she might be wrong. He couldn't.

The air craft was surprisingly quiet for what she expected. With all the raging noise of the explosions and the roar of the twirling blades when they'd first stepped up to it, the near silence inside was a stark contrast.

And Loki was still watching her.

Her glistening eyes crept up to him once more. She wasn't afraid anymore. At least, not of him. "I-is he dead?" her voice squeaked. That was all she was afraid of now. Screw the world, screw her fate, screw the god in front of her - Thor was the only thing that mattered. "Will he die?"

The glint in Loki's eyes gleamed. "I don't know." he replied in that quiet, yet deadly voice of his. Too calm, she thought, too settled for all the things he'd done. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Maria was just about to open her mouth to ask how when it hit her and she had her answer.

They'd know if he came to save her or not.

Her eyes hardened as she watched the merciless god in front of her. "When are you going to kill me too?"

Loki laughed, the sharp sound making Maria jump. "So eager." he mused, his sly smirk slipping back into place. "I still haven't decided if I shall yet. I can see why Thor was so bespotted. You are indeed a most beautiful creature."

"What?" Maria frowned. "You're not going to kill me? I thought you needed me to unlock-"

"Taking the energy from you would not kill you." Loki cut off. "It would hurt, yes, but not enough to die from. I could unleash the force of the Tesseract and let the army descend, and keep you for myself."

Maria's skin crawled. "I'm taken."

"You yourself doubted whether he was even alive or not." His eyes gleamed with smug satisfaction as Maria glanced away. The flash of pain in her eyes only spurred him on. "You should not gamble your fate so recklessly." He went on, leaning back. "There are hard times ahead. Things I could easy shield you from if you simply surrender yourself to me."

Maria opened her mouth to throw it back at him - but something incredible cut her off.

Thunder.

Her eyes rolled up to the roof of the air craft, a smile creeping at her lips. She didn't bother to hide it - she was proud! Opposite her, she could see Loki's gaze roll skywards as well.

She scanned around the craft for a window but there was nothing from her angle, just cold dark walls encasing her. It didn't matter: her mind could easily envision it, imagining the sharp forks of lightning splitting the sky, the lashes of rain darkening the world around them with the black clouds they came from. And then the thunder, so low and deep and powerful it rumbled straight through her chest. It sent shockwaves through her system.

He was alive. And he was angry. The god's fury cut through the sky, splitting the Heavens with his message to her.

He was coming for her. He was alive and he was going to fight his way back to her. Maria was grinning inconsolably as he gaze lowered back to Loki, Thor's promise tingling through her so strongly the pain in her torso was numbed to nothing.

Loki's green orbs were hard and cold.

"He's coming for me." Maria smiled, glad the god opposite her was unsettled. Any bad news for him was good news for her. And this was the best possible news she could have hoped for! "You couldn't kill him after all."

She expected Loki to be angry, and she had every expectation that he would take it out on her. In the space of a second a thousand possible senarios raced through her head; him rising and striking her across the face, him plunging his palm against the bloody expanse of her shirt, using his magic to draw every bit of pain from her he could muster while his teeth were gritted with fury.

She didn't expect him to lean back and grin. "Then I'll have to make up for the life I spared." he murmured deadlily. Ice washed through Maria's system, the smile dying on her face. "I don't like to share, Miss Maria. And if I can't have you when this war is won, I will make sure that my brother can't either."

Maria's jaw dropped open but no words came out. Her chest locked as the horror sank in afresh.

Something inside her refused to let her panic though. Stop, think, a voice urged in her head. Thor's alive. He's coming. He won't just abandon you. There's still time. The craft was still flying, Maria noticed. They still had to get to somewhere, to wherever the Tesseract was, before Loki would kill her. Thor had time. She wasn't dead yet.

She forced herself to take deep, steady breaths but even that couldn't stop the way her hands shook and trembled. The pain of her body ripped through her all over again and she tensed as the instinct to double over took hold. Moving only made the pain worse. Her breaths were ruined as sharp, rapid gasps took their place, her palms hovering over her injured skin, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. It was like a taster of what was to come. She had to grit her teeth and bear it.

"I can't have that." Loki suddenly murmured, leaning forward again.

Maria flinched as his hand stretched out but paused when he did, his palm hovering in the air across the air craft. She frowned: what was he-

Her mouth fell open all over again.

Her back arched back as a sharp cold sensation numbed over her wounded torso, chilling her to the bone. She could feel her skin tingle. It stung like hell, but behind that, her mind working frantically behind her wide eyes, she could feel a sense of soothing. Her body leaned back against the wall, chest heaving as she waited for it to end and for the world to make sense again.

Finally, the iciness melted away, leaving a cold chill on her skin. Maria hovered in place while she collected her breaths, head resting against the wall of the air craft.

What was that?, she gasped in her head. He'd done something to her cuts. Tentatively she lowered the hand that was still lingering in the air and - holding her breath - pressed a single fingertip against her stomach.

Her gaze shot down in an instant. What?, she breathed in her head, flattening the rest of her palm against her soaked shirt. Nothing; no pain. Her fingers clawed at the material and tugged it up her torso, revealing the smooth, unblemished - albeit, smeared with red blood from the oozing shirt - skin of her body beneath. No hint of a cut, of the splinters and debris that had embedded itself in her body.

Her eyes crept up to Loki. His hand was back at his side, eyes gleaming mischeviously. He'd healed her. The one who was telling her he was going to kill her had healed her?

It was like he could read the suspicion in her mind: "I need you in good condition when I present you to the world, my dear." the god explained calmly. "You shall have fresh clothes when we land also. I intend to show you off as the beauty you are before I kill you." His eyes twinkled. "Are you sure you would not like to reconsider my offer?"

Her gaze narrowed instantly, feeling her freshly mended gut twist. "I'd die first."

His smirk deepened. "I can arrange that."

Her heart skipped a sickening beat. She wasn't afraid of him, she told herself. That bold string in her heart clung to the hope the thunder gave her, refusing the let the fear from earlier control her again. He woudn't just abandon her.

Her head shook lightly, brow furrowing slightly in a mixture of confusion and absolute loathing. "Why are you doing this?" she gasped. "Why the... heal me, dress me up... why?"

Loki chuckled as if he found her amusing. "To - what is the phrase? - rub salt into the wound, as they say."

Maria didn't know what to say. She'd never imagined anyone could be so... so vile, so twisted. Yet here he was, sat in front of her, openly telling her just how evil he was as if he were proud of it. Everything about him made her stomach churn: his merciless eyes, his cruel grin...he was going to kill her and he was going enjoy doing it.

Then if I'm going to die, I have nothing to lose, a voice in Maria's head defended. She eased back in her seat, surrendering to what she couldn't control.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, her voice hard.

She didn't care anymore. What did she have to be afraid of now? She'd cried all of her tears, braced the pain, watched the man she loved be helplessly torn from her side... all that was left was a subdued rage. A 'what more can you do to me?' sort of adrenaline.

Her thoughts scoured back over her life, thinking of what she'd be remembered by. At least she'd had a taste of paradise before she'd perish. She'd had Thor. Even if it had been fleetingly. How could a mission to keep her alive have grown into so much? It was the worst thing that had ever to her, and at the same time the best. It was her salvation and her undoing.

And now it would end her.

Loki's eyes roamed to the front of the aircraft, though through the windshield was nothing but dark, thunderous clouds.

Maria half thought about what would happen if one of Thor's bolts hit them. Would the aircraft crash? Would it burst into flames? Would it simply explode? Any scenario would be a simpler death than what Loki inevitable had in store for her.

She loved Thor but she couldn't deny the sense of dread that crept into her system. Loki was just... too determined to be stopped. Too focussed. She couldn't see how anything could foil his plan when he had everything so calculated, no matter how hard Thor tried. If she hadn't been the sacrificial lamb, perhaps a small part of her would have admired his brilliance - before her unquestionable disgust kicked in, of course.

"To the Tesseract." he answered.