Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything recognizable from the world of Thor; everything belongs to Marvel.
A/N: I want to thank everyone who has shown their support for this story. It makes me smile :).
Previously:
My captor turned me to face them and my eyes widened in fear, it was a dark elf.
"I have been waiting for the right time mortal. You were foolish to come out here by yourself." The dark elf laughed cruelly.
I tried to fight back in any way that I could manage, but I only ended up with my arm twisted and slammed against the grass. In the distance I could hear people coming and I wondered if they would make it to me in time, I hoped they would.
The last thing I remembered before blinding pain over took my thoughts was the image blasting the dark elf and then leaning over me and whispering.
"You will be alright." Loki told me before I lost consciousness.
Chapter Three
(Loki's POV)
I watched her walk out of the room with a small smirk playing on my lips. It would be just like that blubbering oaf to run a girl out of the room. I made my way over to ask Thor what was wrong with his lovely mortal.
"So, brother, do you make a habit of running off your dates now?" I smirked.
"I do not know what has made my Jane run off so. I should go after her." Thor mussed.
"No, no, you are needed in attendance here, I will go look for her. After all my presence will not be missed." I assured him.
"Your presence would be missed brother!" Thor said indignantly. I merely raised my eyebrow at him in a silent challenge for him to tell me someone else besides himself and mother that would miss me.
Thor contemplated the thought for a few moments but in the end he was able to produce no one's name.
I swept out of the hall and began my search to find Jane, no the mortal.
"Since when do you refer to the mortal by her given name?" I chastised myself.
I roamed the corridors looking for her. I checked her chambers and the library; she was nowhere to be found. I was beginning to become frustrated with not being able to find her, so I stopped and collected my thoughts.
"Where could she have gone off to?" I mussed. Then it hit me, she was in the gardens! When she was touring the palace earlier with my mother the gardens had practically enthralled her, it would only make sense that she had found her way back to them.
Another thought hit me as I was making my way towards the gardens.
"She is alone!" I thought remembering the events that had almost come to pass earlier. If she was unsupervised who was to say the person wouldn't try again. Alarmed I picked up my pace and headed hastily towards the gardens.
As I approached the gardens I heard her cry for help and I hoped that she would still be breathing by the time I arrived. I arrived in time to find see the dark elf stab her with a golden dagger and hear Jane scream out in pain. Anger boiled inside me and I saw red momentarily as I crushed the dark elf and watched him disintegrate.
I ran to Jane's side hoping that she was still alive.
"No!" I said as I made my way to her side. "Get up."
She looked at me through half closed eyes and realized that for the moment she was semi-conscious and aware of her surroundings. I sighed in relief, not once did I think about the fact that I should have been happy to see the mortal dying.
"You are going to be alright." I whispered to her as she lost consciousness and went limp in my arms.
I was about to pick her up and rush her to the infirmary when the guards finally decided to appear.
"Step away from Lady Jane, Loki!" They yelled holding out their weapons in my direction. I looked up at them and smirked. Maybe I shouldn't have killed the elf, now I don't have a way to prove my innocence. Sighing, I shook my held and held up my hands in mock surrender.
"What's life without a little unpredictability?" I chuckled to myself.
"We will not tell you again, step away from Lady Jane!" The elder guard yelled.
I stepped away and looked up at them.
"I was only trying to help, sadly I am not the culprit this time." I smirked.
"Keep your hands where we can see them Loki Laufeyson! You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Lady Jane!" The guard shouted as he moved to apprehend me.
I sighed knowing that I would be spending a few days in a cell before she would be well enough to explain to everyone that I was indeed her savior and not the monster that attacked her. I almost snorted at the irony because I was very much a monster.
"No need to be pushy, I will follow." I smirked. I followed them as they marched me back to the glass prison that I had come to despise with a blazing passion. They shoved me inside of the glass cell and removed my bindings as the reestablished the security around the cell to ensure that I would not escape.
The guards turned to leave but before the last one exited he turned around to face me.
"You deserve nothing less than to spend an eternity rotting away in here and even that is too kind a punishment for you. Not even you silver tongue will be able to talk your way out of this one. " He sneered at me. I could not help the mirth that bubbled in the pit of my stomach and before I knew it I was in the throes of full blown laughter. I was only able to gain some semblance of control over myself when the old man was gone from my sight.
I wasn't in my cell long before my mother arrived.
"Please tell me that what they are saying is not true! Did you stab her with the dagger?" My mother asked me.
"No, it was a dark elf. No one will believe me however until they hear it come out of her mouth." I answered.
"Well, you only have yourself to blame for why no one will believe you. You have broken everyone's trust one to many times, my son." She told me.
"I have already apologized to you." I sighed.
"Loki, my son, you could have had everything if you hadn't chosen this path of destruction that you are so keen to travel. If only you would let go of the bitterness that consumes your heart so entirely, my son." She pleaded with me.
"Tell me, mother, would you simply let it go? Would you be alright being a shadow, knowing that you would always be second best?" I asked.
"No, but I would have found a different way to achieve my goals then mindless murder and world domination. You may not have stabbed the girl, but I know you have something planned which involves the girl. I only hope that you see the error in your ways and realize you love her before you do something unforgivable." She told me softly.
"Are you supporting the idea of her with me rather than your precious Thor?" I asked amused.
"I was not saying that. It is obvious that the girl is still in love with Thor but she also cares more for you then she is willing to let on. I just don't want to see you ruin a chance at happiness because you wish to see us pay for past misdeeds against you. We cannot change the past Loki, but we can try to make the future better." She whispered softly pleading with me to understand her and hear her.
I did not show any outward response to what she had just said but my mind was contemplating the implication of her words. After a while she got up to leave but stopped just before she exited the door.
"You should know that the dagger was poisoned and it cursed her into an eternal sleep. The poison grows stronger in her system the longer she is trapped within her mind and eventually it will deteriorate her body after it drains away her life force. The only hope there is for her is that by some miracle she has the will power to escape the confines of her mind." She told me before disappearing.
I clenched my jaw tightly together as the implications of what my mother had just told me began to piece together in my mind. I knew the poison that my mother had just told me of and I wondered why she would torture me with such information.
"Maybe because you are the only one with the power to save her, you can enter dreams after all." I thought to myself.
Yes, I would enter her mind and force her to wake herself from the slumber that she had fallen victim to. I sat up straight and begin to meditate when I heard the door slam open and the sound of thundering steps.
"Thor." I smirked.
"BROTHER! HOW COULD YOU!" Thor's voice boomed rattling the glass cell slightly.
I shifted in my chair to face him and shot him an annoyed look through the glass.
"No need to yell," I chided, "I can hear you quite well without the unnecessary volume. Then again you have always held a flare for dramatics."
"YOU STABBED HER AND NOW THEY SAY IF SHE DOES NOT WAKE SHE WILL DIE! DO YOU HATE ME SO, BROTHER, THAT YOU WOULD TAKE AWAY THE ONLY WOMAN I HAVE EVER TRULY LOVED?" Thor roared in a distraught rage.
"You mean the woman who you have paid absolutely no attention to since she miraculously arrived her?" I asked.
Thor punch the glass which absorbed the energy of his punch and left no trace that it had been hit.
"I will never forgive you for this." Thor promised.
"Calm down, calm down, I did not stab your mortal." I told him.
"Are you jesting brother?" Thor asked calmer.
"Do I sound as if I am jesting?" I asked exasperated.
"You will never see the outside of this cell again if I find that you were indeed her attacker." Thor said.
"Duly noted dear brother of mine; is there anything else you needed from me? Or did you clear your system with your mini temper tantrum?" I asked in mock affection.
Left in peaceful silence at last, I settled back into my chair and begin to mediate as I searched for Jane's mind. It took me some time but eventually I was able to connect with her. I found myself in a dark entrance way with a wooden door standing in front of me. I stepped forward and opened the door to an even darker room. Looking around, I found the younger version of Jane curled up in a corner with tear stains on her cheeks.
I stepped towards her slowly and paused when her hazel eyes snapped up at me and narrowed distrustfully.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
"I mean you no harm; I am here to help you." I told her taking another step forward. I tried to give her a comforting smile which failed miserably as I am sure it resembled more of a malicious smirk.
"Who are you?" She demanded again.
"I am Loki." I told her.
"What do you want with me? Have you come to tease me as well?" She asked.
I raised my eyebrow at the sheer bluntness she was displaying. I had only seen a slither of this when Jane had slapped me. She was usually soft spoken, so very much different from the little girl I saw before me.
"I am not here to tease you. Why would you think I was here to tease you?" I asked.
"Everyone does. They make fun of me because I have no mommy and my dad is never around because he is always working. They also make fun of me because I am smart." She sniffled.
"Well then, they are all fools. Knowledge is the key to power after all." I told her.
"Really?" She asked uncertainty.
"Of course."
I had managed to get close enough to her so that she was only an arm's length away. I had not expected for her to launch herself at me.
"Why did you say you were trying to help me?" She asked curiously.
"Because your older self is trapped in an eternal sleep from which only she can wake herself from. If you don't wake up you will die." I told her.
She didn't respond but her grip around my neck tightened.
"You are really cold." She mumbled as she buried her face deeper into my neck.
I was momentarily shocked by her reaction as people usually recoiled at the sheer coldness of my skin, but she was enjoying the coldness that I radiated.
"It seems you are an enigma Jane Foster." I thought to myself.
"I don't want to leave." She pleaded.
"You want to stay in a dark room forever?" I questioned. The scenery changed the moment I asked the question and I found us in a meadow by a small pond. Jane was now dressed in a simple white dress and her brown hair shined in the sunlight.
"I don't want you to go away. You are my only friend, the only one who understands how I feel." She pleaded with me.
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
"I can see it in your eyes." She said shrugging her shoulders like it was obvious.
"You will die if you do not wake up." I reminded her.
She spun around to look at me again with her large hazel eyes.
"Do you promise you won't leave me?" She asked.
"I will not leave for as long as you wish to have me near." I found myself saying before I could fully comprehend the words that had just come out of my mouth.
She skipped over to my and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek before backing away. I closed my eyes and touched the warm spot on my cheek that her kiss had left behind. I opened my eyes long enough to see the older version of Jane smiling at me before the dream world faded.
(Jane's POV)
I jumped up disoriented and looked around at my surroundings. I was in the infirmary again.
"You are a danger magnet. Why can you ever not just avoid trouble? Is it virtually impossible for me to achieve?" I thought to myself.
Looking around the room, I realized that there were no healers present in the room. If I hurried I could slip away quickly and avoid spending a week in this place. I went to get off of the bed when I felt a strong wave of dizziness overcome me and I fell back onto my place in the bed.
"Well, it looks like I will be here for a while." I thought.
I sat upon the bed pondering how I ended up in the infirmary again in the first place. The events of the previous night's events came flooding back into the forefront of my mind. There had been a grand feast and lots of dancing. I had danced with Loki and enjoyed it.
I remembered the coolness that radiated off of his skin and I remember wanting to pull him closer to my persons. Then I remembered fleeing the hall in favor of some solitude in order to collect my thoughts. The feeling of the sense of dread that I had felt resurfaced again as I remembered the dark elf appearing out of nowhere and my screams for help before he stabbed me. The pain was virtually blinding and I had felt as if my insides had been scorched away.
"Lesson learned, go nowhere by yourself." I told myself resolutely.
The most shocking recollection was remembering that Loki was the one who had saved me from the horrible creature. My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a healer.
"Lady Jane, you are awake." Clovis smiled at me.
"Yes, I am and I feel wonderful." I lied hoping she would fall for it and let me out of this place. I hated infirmaries.
"Well let me check you vitals and if you turn out to be fine then I will let you go." Clovis assured me.
I tried to sit up but once again the dizziness and now nausea were too much to bear.
"I thought you said you were feeling better." Clovis asked raising an eyebrow.
I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly at her and tried to put on my best angelically innocent face, though I am sure it held no effect. Clovis would hold me captive in the infirmary for at least a week.
"You are not ready to leave the infirmary yet." Clovis told me sternly leaving no room for argument.
"Can you at least find Thor for me please?" I asked politely.
"Yes, I will inform the prince of your awakening." Clovis said as she turned to leave.
Ten minutes passed and Thor came bounding through the infirmary door.
"Jane, are you well? Nothing like this shall happen again, I assure you." Thor promised.
I looked at him amused and slightly exasperated.
"I am fine, but according to Clovis I am not ready to leave the infirmary. However, I may feel better if I received a kiss." I said smiling at him.
Thor's crystal blue eyes sparkled with laughter as he leaned down to kiss me. As always the kiss didn't last too long and he pulled back before he lost control of himself. I tried desperately to push away the unwanted feeling that I got every time he did that. After all, I cannot be angry at him for his gentlemanly ways.
"I am glad that you are safe." Thor told me after a few moments of silence.
I smiled back at him and grasped his hand for good measure; it was good to be in his presence again even if I had to almost die in order for it to happen.
"You have Loki to thank for my survival. If it hadn't been for him, I am sure the dark elf would have killed me." I told Thor.
It did not take me long to notice the alarm and immense sadness that appeared on Thor's face after I mentioned Loki had saved me.
"Loki saved you?" Thor asked skeptically.
"Yes. He heard my screams for help and killed the dark elf when he saw it stab me." I told him.
"I have to fix a grevious mistake, I will return to you shortly." Thor said distantly as he turned to walk out of the infirmary. I sat on my bed confused for a long while until I saw Clovis again.
"Where is Loki?" I asked curiously.
"He was imprisoned when you were found with a dagger in your chest and he leaning over your body." Clovis said.
"IMPRISONED?!" I shouted horrified.
"Yes? He was you attacker was he not?" Clovis asked confused.
"NO, HE WAS NOT MY ATTACKER!" I shouted.
"Well, I guess that explains the troubled looks on the prince's face and the emergency council meeting that has just been called to order." Clovis mussed.
"They will release him, right?" I asked.
"I do not see why they wouldn't, especially since you claim that he is not you attacker." Clovis assured me.
The anger I felt on Loki's behalf was still brewing inside me as I could not fathom how they just locked him away, surely he told them that he was innocent. A nagging voice in the back of my mind reminded me that they would have never believed him even if he did claim his innocence.
I sat silently ignoring further attempt by Clovis to a hold a conversation as I waited for Thor to come back to the infirmary.
It was two hours before Thor returned and my anger had yet to abate.
"You locked him away?!" I accused.
"We thought that he was your attacker! They found him crouching over you!" Thor defended.
"It occurred to no one that maybe he was checking to see if I was breathing?!" I asked irrediculously.
Thor shifted uncomfortably under my gaze as he thought of a proper response.
"Like I said Jane, we thought he had attacked you. Given his recent transgressions you have to see where it was a plausible assumption." Thor sighed.
"And he didn't tell you that he was innocent?" I asked.
"He did." Thor said.
"You and I both know Loki is the first to admit when he causes mischief or mayhem, I don't think he'd deny he was my murder if he was. He would want to see you hurt, but he was savior." I said.
"You speak as if you know my brother and you do not." Thor said in an almost petulant tone.
"Do you know him?" I challenged.
The more rational part of my brain was wondering why I was going through such great lengths to defend a man who had mercilessly killed thousands of people and nearly wiped Manhattan off the map of the United States. However, I still felt like he deserved recognition for the act of kindness he was responsible for. I truly believe that Loki is nothing more than an angry kid on the inside who hated being stuck in his brother's shadow and not loved enough by the man who claimed to be his father.
Another thing that had been eating at me was the sneaking suspicion that Loki had something to do with my ability to wake up. I hadn't thought that I would ever be able to wake up from the endless abyss that I had fallen into. Yet, moments before I woke up I remember a familiar voice that sound so very much like Loki.
"I will not leave for as long as you wish me near." The voice had promised me.
"Can you bring Loki to me?" I asked Thor suddenly.
"Yes." Thor said looking shocked.
Fifteen minutes later, Loki stood before me silently waiting for me to say something. I opened and closed my mouth a few times as I tried to find the right words to say to him. I found that my breath had caught in my throat and I found myself at a complete temporary loss for words.
He walked around my bed and settled himself in a chair adjacent from me and continued to wait patiently for me to say something to him. He was beautiful, there was no denying that. Once again his green eyes drew me in and I felt myself slipping farther and farther down a spiral that I had tried so hard to avoid.
"Stop it! Stop it now! You have Thor who loved you very much and wants to spend an eternity with you. Loki is a monster, he would never return your feelings anyway." I mentally chided myself like a five year old.
Loki quirked an eyebrow at me and smirked knowingly before he finally opened his mouth to speak.
"You called?" He asked as he leaned closer. I shrived when I realized how close our faces were and that all it would take was a slight movement from me for our lips to touch. In that moment I wanted to know so desperately what it would be like to kiss him.
"Yes, I wanted to thank you for saving me." I told him.
"I see." He said never taking his eyes off of mine.
"Loki?" I questioned wondering what was running through his mind. In the next moment his cool lips were on mine and I felt myself consumed with a burning passion that I had never felt with Thor. Loki's kiss was possessive like he was trying to impart his ownership over me and it only served to drive me crazy as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He pulled back not to long after and the look in his eyes sent another round of shivers down my spine.
"You should be careful Jane. I do not like to share." Loki said before leaving me in the infirmary alone.
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