Disclaimer: I don't own Thor, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Marvel and their respective creators. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any original plot ideas.

Chapter 27: The Devil To Pay

The snow came down in sheets, easily covering the tracks made by Thor's boots as he dragged Loki through the powder. The trickster struggled in the iron grasp, managed to spit out a fair number of vile curses before the thunderer spun quickly, sent him flying to the ground. He hit hard on his knees, felt the impact shake his bones as he growled, moved his eyes to Thor in time to see the god charge forward and seize him by the shoulders. Loki grimaced as he was thrown again, further this time, and ended up toppling backwards down the garden steps.

"What is the matter with you?!" Thor shouted over the howling wind.

Loki said nothing, pushed himself up into a sitting position and pressed a hand to his head. By the time all was said and done, he'd be going to bed with a godawful headache. Assuming, of course, Thor, in all his anger, didn't end up turning his keen mind into the equivalent of a broken egg.

He didn't look at Thor, knew that by ignoring him he was only serving to further anger his brother, propel his temper to even greater heights.

The prince grunted as Thor's boot collided with his chest, kept him pinned to the frozen ground as the thunderer knelt down, shook him and demanded to know why in Asgard he'd do something so damned stupid. Loki stared up at him a moment, did his utmost to look remorseful before lifting a knee to his brother's groin, caused Thor to fall away from him. With the elder prince hissing and scrambling about on the ground, Loki hurried to his feet, took the opportunity to greatly distance himself from Thor, knowing that it would only be a matter of minutes before he was chased like a stag at the heart of a hunt.

He blinked once, grit his teeth as Thor barreled toward him, jumping in a short arch and managing to catch him by the ankle. Loki fell back and smacked his head hard against the ground.

"Answer me!" Thor shouted in his face. "Why would you do that to her?!"

"Is this love, Thor?" the prince of lies retorted, stars still blinking in his vision. The thunderer looked mildly confused. "Is this for Sif's benefit, or for mine?"

"She has nothing to do with this!"

"Doesn't she?! Were it any of the others, you wouldn't react so violently! You wouldn't chase me down like this, see fit to humiliate me in front of–"

"You have done that yourself!" Thor roared. "The moment you chose to let jealousy get the better of you, you had already made yourself the fool!"

What nerve his brother had, lying to his face and trying to turn the tables like this. Did he not know that Sif had been the devil upon his shoulder, whispering in his ear and filling his head with ideas? Had he not seen her pursue him, follow swiftly after as he had sought to remove himself from the ridiculousness of the celebration? How daft Thor was, claiming to love his brother more than he did the others, swearing to protect him though Loki did not wish him to, only to turn in an instant and play at being a disciplinarian. The trickster frowned. Thor was starting to behave an awful lot like their father.

It was just a dance, Thor told him. Nothing to get upset over, and certainly not something that demanded he act out as he had. As if Thor could understand. He couldn't know what it meant to have something, someone, all his own. He couldn't fathom the importance of tying oneself to another, through more than words, than actions, than secrets.

"Don't you dare lecture me! You're not Father! I've seen things that you haven't; things you can't possibly comprehend!" Loki shot back, and knotted his hands in Thor's snow-flecked hair. The thunderer stared, his gaze still hard. "She is mine, Brother! She–"

"I don't care! I thought you were a better man than that! I thought you were above such repulsive behavior! To strike a woman–"

Loki growled, drew magic from his fingertips and set alight a bursting flame between them, the likes of which that caused Thor to snarl and jump back.

"Then you were wrong! Your judgment is flawed, and you can't see a damn thing that isn't thrown in your face!" The trickster shuddered, got to his knees again, ignoring the chill that whistled in his ear. "You are unfit to be king!"

Thor looked lost, as though he'd just watched the world crumble and die around him. The anger vanished from his face, his hands fell limp at his sides and his eyes appeared broken and wounded, as if everything he'd ever loved had slipped right through his fingers and into the abyss. The prince shook his head.

"Is that what this is about?" he said, and Loki could barely hear him above the storm. "Me? Our father's throne?"

He thought to say no, to explain that he hadn't meant the words that had come out of his mouth. But Loki found that he couldn't honestly tell his brother that his careless, hypocritical attitude, that their father's kingdom, had nothing to do with this. So he stared blankly at Thor a moment, moved his gaze to the ground and gently shook his head, still in utter disbelief.

This had started with the both of them, hadn't it? From the very first day Odin had led the two of them into the relic chamber, explained to them the purpose of the room, the power that the ancient artifacts within held. That, one day, were they to prove themselves worthy of such gifts, they would receive them. That, once they grew into men, fierce and all-consuming and skilled in the old ways of war, one of them would ascend to his throne, be named king. And Loki had come to realize in the days that passed them by, that none of this had a thing to do with Sif, with the Warriors Three, with their parents, or with anyone else. It had just been the two of them in this arena, right from the start.

And neither one of them could walk out until the other lay in the dirt.

Thor stood bitterly in the snow, the deep red of his cape swirling about in the wind. He sighed and shook his head.

As he turned, Loki could only grimace and shout after him, "Coward!"