Okay, bit of a short update this week, mostly to get the expositional necessities out of the way. Big things happen here, very big things. I only had one person follow/fave/review for this so thanks to :Sackiara, you are why I wanted to go ahead and get this out. Honestly guys, not gonna lie, little let down by the lack of response for my last chapter. I don't know what I'm doing, or not doing, that is causing you guys to not give me any kind of feedback, but the only way I can change things is if you let me know what they are by REVIEWING. I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but it really does mean the world to me to hear from you guys. So please, even if it's just to tell me you hate something or want me to chance something, please just leave a review for me ok? Anyway, enough from me and onto the story.

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Fight, Flight and A Mission

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She was sore, very sore, that was the first thought that came into Riley's mind as she woke the next morning. It confused her at first, her mind searching for a reason to explain the soreness. But then images of the night before began to surface and she found herself grinning through the muscle pain. It had truly been an interesting night. She stretched, her breath hitching in pain as her side complained.

"Ah, finally awake." The voice sent her into immediate wakefulness, her whole body primed and alert. She thought for a moment of feigning sleep, acting as if she were merely resettling herself. There was no real light to speak of, just the soft white fuzz on the TV screen, but she knew there was no fooling the elf sitting in the corner.

"It's a little early for me, could you come back a little later? Maybe in a hundred years or so. I should be awake by then." She tried to push as much confidence into her voice as she could, hoping to project a power she knew she didn't have.

"Don't be rude, I'm not here for you. Where is the Asgardian?" He stood, walking purposefully over to her, a blade flashing in the light of the TV as he neared her.

"Which one?" She sat up, scooting back across the mattress so that her back was pressed firmly against the wall. She had a moment to question her tendency to corner herself before the blade was pressed dangerously close to her neck.

"The one you so enthusiastically coupled with last night." His voice was both harsh and condescending. It sent a wave of anger through her that overrode her common sense. She met his gaze, ice gathering in her hand as she prepared to strike.

"I do hope you're talking about me." Loki spoke from the corner, the door swinging silently shut behind him. Malekith paused, a lazy smile spreading across his face as he turned, his body taking a combat stance.

"You have something I need." Malekith began to approach Loki, his movements looking more like a great cat than anything near human. Riley tried to catch Loki's eye, warn him or offer assistance, but all he did was slowly sit down the bag he was carrying. She thought she saw him wave her off, two fingers barely twitching in a downward motion, but she couldn't be sure. She kept herself ready, the chill in her hands becoming almost painful as she held the ice back. If he needed her, she would be ready.

"Oh? And what would that be might I ask?" He began to circle the elf, Malekith moving to match him so that they were always facing, neither advancing or retreating. It was to be a long game between them. "You have the Aether, surely there is nothing of mine you require." A lazy smile spread over his face, looking almost gruesome in the low light.

"There is something else. Something I have been searching for. You carried it for some time. I sensed it again in that mortal's dwelling. A stone, from your world, ancient and quite powerful. With it I will be able to link this pathetic realm and our own. Once they are joined, I will rid myself of the light and all who reside in it. Where is the stone?" Malekith stopped his circling, moving forward in a sharp motion. Loki vanished just as Malekith's blade pierced the air where he'd stood.

"I'm afraid you will have to be a bit more specific. There are many stones in Asgard. I have one of them with me now, though I suspect is it not the one you are after." As he spoke, he made a complex gesture with his hand and a glowing blue cube appeared, spraying ice, snow and frigid air all around Malekith, encasing him in several feet of clear hard ice. As he did, his true Jotunn appearance seemed to fade into view. Riley took her moment to sink the ice into the floor, creating a perfect seal around the elf. She flew out of the bed, tossing all her belongings into either her purse of the bag Loki had put down. She left the beer, knowing that now was hardly the time for it, but she grabbed the chips and candy bars. She had no idea where they were going or if she would be able to eat soon and the last thing she needed was for her blood sugar to drop mid sprint. She shimmied into her jeans as Loki faded back to his usual appearance and was pulling on her shoes as he slipped past Malekith. "That won't hold him for long. We must go, now." He grabbed her arm as she grabbed the bag and pulled her from the room, shutting it and sealing it with ice as well.

"What the hell was that about? And where did you go? What's in here?" She tried to stop and look, but Loki merely continued to pull her along.

"Take me to your vehicle, we must get my brother and be gone from here at once." His tone had gone back to the normal cold distance she had grown accustomed to. Well, at least he wasn't acting any different toward her. Maybe he would once they were out of the incredibly dangerous situation. She stopped herself mid thought, wondering just how insane she was to be worrying about a potential relationship during a flight for her life. She took him around the corner where she'd parked and they were in the car and gone before Malekith could clear the building.

Jane woke to the sound of the door slamming. She'd stayed up most of the night, alternately researching and trying to get a hold of Riley. She gasped as she saw Loki standing above her, face cold, literally and figuratively, a hand reaching down toward her.

"Whoa! What's going on?" She sat up and away from him, scurrying back across the floor until she bumped into the solid back of her boyfriend.

"Rouse Thor, we must be gone from here as soon as possible. Riley, go and pack some things, a week's worth should do and remember, we must travel swift and light." Jane watched as Riley simply nodded, putting a paper bag down on the carpet before running down the hall. The sound of drawers being opened started up a moment later.

"What is going on?" Jane repeated, her voice beginning to gain a shrill quality.

"I will inform you both as soon as my brother is awake." Loki took the bag and walked over to Riley's alter, taking out a small sack and emptying it out onto the aged cloth. He proceeded to take everything from in, laying it all out in an ordered row before wrapping it all in the altar cloth itself. Once it was tied off at both ends, the whole thing began to glow faintly. He then removed another, larger sack from the bag and began to reset the whole thing. Jane sighed and shook Thor awake. He came to consciousness with his usual graceful snort and gaze blearily around the room.

"Ah good, some things never change. Thor, get up, we have a problem." He used the voice he reserved for battle conditions and watched as his brother's mind raced to full alertness.

"What is it my brother?" The tone of excitement in his voice made Loki feel slightly ill. It never ceased to amaze him, how quick his brother was to spill blood in the name of honor and glory.

"Malekith has discovered something about Riley and myself, something I have kept hidden from you. We must leave this place, this whole city, now." He finished setting the altar and stood, moving quickly down the hall. Jane could just make out a muttered conversation, but the words were too faint to hear. Both Riley and Loki appeared a moment later. Loki was carrying a large duffel bag over his shoulder while Riley had a much smaller one slung across her torso.

"How shall we travel?" Thor was already up and dressed in full armor. Jane was still struggling into her pants, modesty forgotten in the face of imminent bodily harm.

"I'm driving, and we're stopping for breakfast, nothing big, just drive through." Loki appeared about to argue but she fixed him with a stare and he sighed, resigned. "Oh for god's sake Jane, let's go already." She walked over to the woman, shoving her over onto the couch and forcing her shoes on her feet. "Seriously woman, how have you survived around these two for this long without knowing how to hustle. Now let's go." She turned, ignoring Jane's look of outright insult as she marched past a smirking Loki and out the door.

They had barely left the city limits, Jane was still passing out various breakfast items, when the car gave a lurch. Riley swerved to a stop, watching in horror as her town began to erupt into chaos in the rear view mirror. Jane turned, her face draining of all color as she watched the ship descend.

"Riley, drive, now." Loki's voice was quiet and full of command. Jane looked to the normally spirited woman, expecting some kind of push back, but all she saw was a quiet resignation as she shifted the car back into gear and took off down the road.

"Okay, will someone please tell me what is going on?" Jane looked between the still obviously stricken Riley and the stoic Loki.

"Malekith plans to take over not only your universe, but mine too. For that he needs the rune stones that I keep on my altar, the ones Loki stole. Apparently, since they came from your world, and were held by someone from your world, they form a bridge between the two universes." Riley spoke quickly, digging a cigarette out of her bag. It burst suddenly to life and she muttered a quiet thanks back toward Loki as she rolled down the window.

"You said that he had discovered something about Riley and yourself?" Thor turned to his brother, sensing there was something he wasn't sharing.

"It is not enough for the stones to simply be in my presence, or my possession. They must be close to something from both realms. The stone that fell through to this realm during the last convergence was apparently a joining stone. It needed both Riley and Myself to achieve its full power. Malekith intends to use it during the time of the convergence to spread the Aether through both realms." Loki spoke as if he had no emotion at all, simply stating facts as he stared out the window. Both Jane and Thor noticed the odd lack of tension between the Riley and Loki. The last time they'd been in a car together, it had devolved into an all out war, but now Loki seemed content to ignore the cigarette smoke and Riley seemed more than happy to drive in silence.

"What happened between you two?" Jane voiced the question, knowing it would probably get less than a favorable answer.

"We talked." Riley deadpanned, reaching for the radio knob. Classic Rock began playing in the car, a quiet sound in the background of the mayhem still barely visible behind them. "Why did he attack the city? That's the one thing I don't get?" She directed her voice back behind her, her eyes catching Loki's in the rear view mirror for a moment.

"He must have gone to your home, found the false altar we left and attacked the city out of spite. Perhaps he knew we were no longer there, thus the city was no longer valuable to him. Perhaps he thought we were still there and hoped to flush us out. It is hard to say." He shrugged and went back to staring out the window.

They drove through the day and most of the night, stopping only for bathroom breaks and drive through. It wasn't until Riley was falling asleep at the wheel that Jane insisted the stop for the night. The first place they found was a fleabag motel just off the interstate. It was like stepping into the 70's, there was even shag carpet in all the rooms. Jane expected Loki to complain, but he remained silent as Riley got them two rooms as far from the road as possible. Riley passed Jane a key card, keeping the other one in her back pocket as they headed back to the car. She drove them around to the back of the building and parked in a space that butted up against the forest that surrounded the little motel. Loki was out first, helping Riley from the car, keeping a hand over her injured side as she struggled to straighten up.

"Well, rest up I guess and keep an eye out for anything that may try to kill you. If something does happen, book it into the woods, we're right next to you so we'll hear if something goes wrong. Otherwise, do not disturb for at least five hours." Riley slid the key card into the door and disappeared into the darkness beyond.

"Goodnight to you too, sheesh." Jane did the same with her door, flicking on the light switch by the door. The room was small and dark. The carpet was a burnt orange and the walls an even darker brown. There were circle on everything, matching the orange and brown motif until she felt like she was walking through a fun house. She was about to comment, maybe go ask for another room before she realized that it didn't really matter. They were on the run now and couldn't afford to be picky. She stripped down quickly, sliding under the covers and trying to get comfortable on the terrible mattress. Thor joined her a moment later, holding her close as they both tried to make sense of what had just happened. They were soon blissfully unconscious, unaware of the occupants one room over.

Riley and Loki were not so lucky. They sat on the bed, facing each other, eyes closed and palms pressed together. The room was so silent that you could hear the dust settle into the ridiculously long shag carpeting. Energy crackled around them, the air thick with tension as a ball of light began to form, pushing their palms apart. It began to glow, symmetrical at first, a perfect sphere of pale blue light but as it continued to grow, it became oblong, favoring Loki's side until it appeared to be two spheres, fighting for the same space. The growth continued, Riley's orb barely moving as Loki's became ever larger until eventually, it pushed Riley from the bed.

"Damn it!" She slapped the carpet beside her, struggling back onto the bed. She expected some kind of berating from Loki, some kind of chiding remark about not focusing or not having enough power, but instead she got a quiet chuckle and a smile. "What?" She tried not to be offended by the reaction. Her indignation on served to make him laugh harder. She looked at him, her face spreading into a smile despite herself. "What?" She repeated, leaning forward. His laughter was contagious and she found herself giggling slightly as she waited for his answer. It took him a moment to calm down, his eyes opening to reveal the first true happiness she had seen out of him.

"You looked ridiculous." He spoke softly, a joking tone in his voice.

"What, you wanted me to fall off the bed gracefully?" She asked, her tone incredulous.

"I did expect some awareness of your surroundings, yes." He teased, his smile fading into a lopsided grin.

"You said focus entirely on putting out my energy, I can't do that and focus on where my ass in on the bed." She tried her best not to sound defensive, hoping to keep this from becoming their normal, tension fueled arguing.

"Well then you must train until you can. But not tonight. You are our only way around and I will not have you controlling that machine while you are exhausted. Go to sleep." He got up, pulling down his side of the blankets and sliding between them, the majority of his clothing fading away. She sighed, stripping down as well and climbing in beside him. They laid there awkwardly for a moment before Riley turned toward the stoic god.

"This is gonna sound really weird but could I lay against you? I normally sleep holding a pillow, and you're laying on the only other one." She reached out toward him tentatively. He laughed again, raising an arm for her to scoot closer.

"We have been together rather more intimately than this in the past day. I fail to see how this would be in any way odd. You really must lose some of your prudence Riley, it does you no favors." He laughed softly as she groaned, hiding her face against his chest.

"I will never understand you. I think you do this on purpose, just to confuse me." She sighed, settling her arm around his waist and laying her head over his heart.

"Yes Riley, my whole purpose in life is to make yours harder." Loki had meant for his tone to come out sardonic and dry, but instead it sounded like good natured teasing. Truly this woman was having an effect on him.

"Well knock it off, I like you better like this." She stuck her tongue out at him as he stretched over to flick off the light.

"Duly noted, now go to sleep." He resettled himself, subconsciously pulling her closer as the light faded from the room.

The next few days passed in the same manner, drive all day, eat nothing but fast food and gas station snacks, camp out at a motel and get on the road far too early for anyone's liking. Jane had asked several times where they were headed, but Riley seemed to either not know, or not feel like telling. She had said it was on the West Coast, which gave Jane hope.

"So, what exactly are we going to do once we get wherever we're going? Sit around and wait for the end of the world?" She tried to inject some humor in the comment but she could tell that everyone was thinking the exact same thing.

"We need to find where the worlds are bleeding together. James thought that it was in the city, since that's where you came thought. But I've been looking over his notes and the explanations of the equations that you gave me, at least, I had been, until everything went to hell, and it doesn't make sense for the city to be the focus. If it was, then all the weirdness you've been telling me about world wide, would only be happening on or near the lab. His machine just opened the gate, like a remote switch, the gate itself is somewhere else, a lot bigger. Loki said he can find it once we're close, it'll feel kind of like the secret passage he was taking into Svartalfheim when James flipped the switch. I don't know exactly where that is, which is why I haven't told you where we are going. Now, will you please, for the love of the Goddess, stop asking so many god damned questions." Riley rattled the information off at lightning speed, clearly at the end of her rope with Jane's interrogation. Jane, for her part, had the decency to look chagrined, lapsing into awkward silence as she turned to stare out the window.

Okay, well there ya have it, another one done and some big changes happening. Like I said above, a review would mean the world to me so please, just take minute and leave me some feedback in the box. I always update faster if I know what I'm doing is being read/enjoyed. Cya in Chapter 12