She was dying. Even without having studied anatomy past high school, Jane knew that the damage sustained to her pelvis and abdomen was far more than a regular human could stand. Maybe a super soldier or a god could take getting both hips and a good portion of their spine crushed, but the blood pooled beneath her broken body told her that she would not be so lucky.

By now, she wasn't really scared; she was pretty sure that had passed after the ceiling caved in and she realized she could no more move her legs than Helen Keller could read War and Peace. In hindsight, that wasn't the best analogy, but she was a little more concerned on other things at the moment.

Thor was a big one; they'd been dating (officially) for two and a half years now, almost to the date, and the entire team recently had begun hinting at a wedding. Jane wasn't really sure she bought into that – Thor was immortal, so far as they could tell, so what would two or three years of 'courting' be to him? All the same, she loved him, and thinking of leaving him forever in the next couple minutes caused a pain like an appendectomy without anesthesia.

Then, of course, came Erik. He'd been her father more or less since her parents died all those years ago – supported her through her graduate program, believed in her supposed insanity with the Einstein Rosen Bridge and even given his blessing over her dating an alien who'd dropped out of the sky claiming to be a god. She was determined, yes, but without his continued assistance and caretaking over the years, there was no way she'd have ever accomplished what she had.

The team slipped in alongside Erik. Thor had been one thing, but when she'd been invited to work with Tony Stark – the Anthony E. Stark – and live in the haphazardly renamed Avengers Tower alongside the superheroes who'd saved the world together and individually, well, she'd had to take a sudden seat on the couch to grasp the thought. Darcy was still around, too – they were all pretty sure SHIELD was just being stubborn and not letting her out of their grasp, not that she wanted to leave – and between her and Tony, it was a wonder anyone ever slept in the tower. The hijinks they got up to were enough to put Thor's little brother to shame.

"Ah. The woman."

Speak of the devil and he doth appear.

"I have a name," Jane spat out, startled by how much effort it took to rasp that.

"Hush, now," Loki murmured, crouching beside her.

Gone was the armor and leather the trickster was generally spotted in, replaced instead by a loose grey t-shirt and plain jeans. It was a good look, Jane mused randomly before catching herself. She was about to be humiliated by her supposed future brother-in-law while she was in the midst of dying. Not the time to note that he looked better in everyday clothes than intricate armor.

A cold hand sent a startled shiver down her body as Loki scowled, green eyes flitting closed; immediately, she could feel fire racing through her body. Magic, she assumed. He lifted his hand a moment and leaned into the chunk of concrete weighing down on her lower portion. As it moved, she decided that had to be magic, too (either that or near-death hallucinations) because there was no way anyone could just shove a hunk of concrete. As soon as the pressure was removed, two strong arms slid beneath her to lift her; she could only feel the one just below her shoulders, but she assumed the other was at her knees since she couldn't feel any weight pulling down on her spine as it would if her body was just hanging.

Great. Not only was she dying, but now Loki was going to kidnap her. That could only end well, especially once the Avengers found out and went on their usual rampage to find her. On the bright side, she'd probably die before he could do anything to her, and maybe the team would actually get a chance to catch Undesirable No. 1. Oh god, that's the bright side?

"This may sting a bit," he murmured softly, and she realized with a start that she was laying on the ground again, though she seemed mostly level.

His hand was once again on her shoulder like five slender ice cubes, and then the fire came back. Searing through the length of her body, it settled in her stomach and legs until she couldn't see except for white, white burning pain. Her mouth opened screamed out without her bidding. Loki's hand tightened, and after a moment, the burning lessened. Then, blessed, tingling cool slipped from his hand into her shoulder until it danced down to her toes and made them curl up in surprise. Wait. Toes… Confusion and horror filled her gaze. He was healing her before torturing her? Did his depravity know no bounds?

"The Avengers should find you here," Loki was saying, "but if they don't, you should be fine to walk soon."

Avengers…walk… his words filtered slowly through her mind, cloudy and broken up before it finally hit her. Loki had just saved her. Brows furrowing, she turned to him with a thousand questions in her eyes.

"Why?" she managed to whisper. Why save me? Why are you here? Why do you hate our world? Why do you have to hurt Thor?

He shrugged, green eyes grinning in a way that would make a single woman weep.

"He's my brother."

AN: This one goes pretty directly with 'In Pursuit of Kleenexes', which could theoretically go with 'Lady Loki's Pajamas.' The order would be this, then IPoK, then LLP.