Chapter 8: Another One Bites the Dust
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I think I'm on a writing roll. I cannot promise another chapter tomorrow, but I expect to have chapter 9 out by this Sunday for you. Review. Each review saves a Loki. Also, no Lokis were hurt in the making of this chapter.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
"Yeah, let's be clear, I'll trust no one. You did not break me.
I'm still fighting for peace. Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart."
― Sia's "Elastic Heart"
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Jane's twenty-seventh year
"The Aether is feeding from his life energy," Odin told the small group. His eyes never left Jane's form.
The princess switched between staring at Odin and Logan, who remained a lifeless counterpart upon the examination stone table. "Give it to me," she insisted.
Thor flinched and closed his eyes, "Then you would die."
She shook her head, "Not right this second, Thor." As she rolled her eyes, she lightly punched him, "You're awfully thick sometimes." Her light smile dimmed as she glanced over to Calder and Frigga.
Jane quickly settled her focus back to Odin. In exchange for my powers permanently, I will give you crucial information regarding Loki."
Odin scoffed, "What could you possibly know about that boy that we do not already know?"
She narrowed her eyes, "I know where he is." She turned to Thor, "And I have proof."
Both men were rendered speechless. Thor swallowed, but Odin spoke first after a brief time to gather his thoughts, "How long have you known?"
Jane smiled smugly, "Not very long."
"As your king, I command you to tell me."
Jane moved so that she was precisely parallel from Odin on the opposite side of the stone examination table. The princess leaned down so that her hands supported her weight next to her son's arm. "And I refuse on the ground that you told my son to die in my place," she answered stubbornly.
Her left brow rose in challenge.
Odin lifted his staff and thrashed it against the floor, creating a loud clanking noise, "Damn you, Jane! This is no time to play around."
Jane took off her ring and offered it across the table, "It's the only way I can save my son, and it's a chance for you to see yours again."
Odin cast a disproving frown down at the ring, but eventually looked up at Jane again, "How can you be sure the Aether won't harm you?"
"I can't know for sure," she began. Her eyes never left his, "My body naturally aligns with my powers of healing when they are activated. My body heals at a phenomenal rate. Perhaps it will continuously heal with the Aether in me."
"That's a daft theory!" Odin declared.
"I survived the Tesseract," she uttered. "A year after obtaining it…on the first day of reconstructing the bifrost, the Tesseract couldn't be contained, so I pushed you out of the way, and the power flowed right through me." Jane smiled despite tears biting at her eyes. "Do you remember?"
Odin swallowed, "Yes."
"I survived giving birth to a Jotun."
"Yes."
"I survived Thor's thunder when we were fighting Lorelai. She turned him against me when she broke free of her incarceration."
"Yes."
"I survived…," she spoke, pausing when her throat tightened, "I survived Loki."
Eventually, Odin replied, "Yes."
She pointed down at her lifeless son's body, "This…I won't survive."
Odin glanced down at the ring and looked away. He partially began to walk away, but as his back was moved away from Jane, he glanced at Frigga, who nodded. He exhaled a held breath and closed his eyes.
Odin turned and claimed the ring, bringing it to his lips. He whispered inaudible words against it and then clasped it tightly in his fist. "You will tell us before you are given this," he declared. "And since you cannot trust me, I shall bestow the burden to Thor. He will give it to you after we hear these whereabouts of Loki."
Thor took the ring and stared at Jane, "I'm not certain this is wise."
Jane smiled uncertainly, "I have to do it."
Odin tapped the staff against the floor, "Out with it, Jane."
She scowled at Odin, but glanced down at Logan. "Loki found Logan and brought him here."
Everyone threw their attention to Calder, who winced and appeared rightly confused. Jane rolled her eyes, "An imprint of Logan's body was pressed on the ground I observed at the lake. Logan was there for hours before he was found."
Frigga stepped forth, "How can you certain it was Loki?"
Jane glanced down at Logan and smiled again, "Loki gave this necklace to me long ago. When he left, I sealed it in his room without anyone's recollection. I even have forgotten about it."
Thor neared Logan and placed a hand on Jane's. She did not move her hand away. "Jane, he's…"
She nodded, "He's in Asgard. He's been watching. It's the only reason of how he knew to go looking for Logan and the necklace confirms he knows this is his son."
Frigga leaned on Odin, but she focused her attention on Jane, "Do you think he is here because he means to harm us?" The queen hadn't adjusted to a son she could not love. It was only natural.
"I knew him on a very intimate level. I was able to infiltrate his thought process and understand it most of the time however brief our relationship was," Jane added reluctantly. She glanced to Odin, "It's in his best interest to be as close on our side as he is capable. I'm sure he sees Logan as a chance of redemption for his failures."
Everyone fell silent, but Jane was quick to reach for Thor's other hand for the ring. He pulled back and Jane scoffed, "Thor, the ring. It's my only chance to save Logan."
He shook his head, nodding, "You're right."
"Odin," Jane called.
She captured his attention.
"I plan on releasing the Giants from the cell tomorrow. They are Logan's guardians," Jane shared.
"They will return to Jotunheim, or I shall execute them as soon as they are free," he retorted.
She sighed, took the ring and slid it on her left ring finger. Immediately, she winced as the biting numbness flooded her body.
She felt her energy being replenished quickly, and she felt capable for combat quickly after. Her powers were hers once again.
Almost immediately after, a man called out her name from outside of the room they all crowded. Suddenly, Dravice emerged from the door and heaved as he approached Jane.
He took her by the shoulders. "I told you to stay in your room!" He took a few more breaths before bringing her closer and nearly shoving Thor away from her, "I've been searching for you for hours."
"Dravice! Get off of me!" Jane shouted while she pushed him back without the use of her powers.
"Tell me what has happened!"
Jane sighed, but shook her head, "Logan has the Aether in him. I'm going to try to transfer it to me."
"What? No!" Dravice hollered back. "You'll be killed!"
Jane ignored his protests and wrapped her arms underneath Logan's shoulders and knees, "I'm taking this outside. I don't know what will happen, but I can't see this happening in a room this small."
Thor followed her as she rushed out of the door and away from the Medics area. The two ran, but at every intersection in the halls of the palace, Jane kept pausing to think of where to go.
"Jane! Where are we going?" he shouted with his hammer drawn.
Jane glanced up to him and shook her head quickly, "I have no idea, Thor!"
Thor laughed, "You have no plan?" He continued to stare down at her, disbelieving.
Jane stomped, "Go ahead and laugh at me. I'm thinking!"
He neared her and rested his hand on her shoulder opposite of Logan's head. "How are you going to potentially kill yourself without a plan?"
"I hadn't had the thought that, 'Hmm, you know what! Perhaps my son will be swallowed up by some wormhole and force-fed an ancient…thing that is slowly killing him.' I'm doing what I always do," she bickered as she stared at the three hallway directions she could choose.
She scrunched her features with confusion.
"Oh, yes! How do you term it…'just winging it'?" he sarcastically retorted.
Jane shouted in frustration, "What do you want me to do? Loki was the one who always made up the plans."
Thor laughed loudly, "That's a convenient lie."
Jane returned the loud, overdramatic cackle, "Let's revisit your glorious plan to march upon Jotunheim as a silly, highly misbranded cocktail of revenge and glory that nearly got you killed!"
He appeared disheartened: as if his pride took a beating, "That's not fair, Jane! There have been many times where my plans were successful!"
"Just focus!" she seethed with a prominent eye twitch.
He waited all of four seconds before asking, "Which way, Jane?"
"AH!" she screeched. She shoved Logan in Thor's arms and threw her hands up at her mouth, acting as an amplifier. "LOKI! Come out, come out! We need you to disturb whatever diabolical plans you have to tell us what the hell to do in the strange, once-in-a-fucking-lifetime scenario!"
As Jane looked at Thor, she saw his bashful, goofy frown. Jane groaned, knowing not to, but she asked anyway, "What, Thor?"
"This is really not the time to be mocking me, Jane."
She held his injured stare and jumped as she shouted as loud as she could. When she stopped, she put both hands at her temples, "This is so not about you right now!"
"Jane–" another voice called from a few yards down the hall.
Thor scoffed, "I am not making this about me right now!"
Jane angrily laughed, "Yes, you are! You are carrying my dying son, and you trying to convince me I've hurt your feelings."
"Jane–" the new voice called, quite closer.
"Are you saying I am whining right now? I am informing you of how I feel as you have asked me to do repeatedly recently," Thor argued.
Jane repetitively hit him, "You are so not the sensitive brother!"
"Jane!" the other voice shouted.
Both Jane and Thor bellowed at the same time, "WHAT!?"
Jane glanced over to see Calder, who was staring disbelieving above Jane. She looked up, seeing a pool of red liquid drifting high above her head. "Shit!"
Neither Thor nor Jane had noticed the Aether flowing out of Logan. The red pool flowed around Jane, who stepped away from Thor and Logan. Her body began to float gently above the floor of the hall.
The last thing Jane saw was the red liquid bolt down upon her.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Jane's twenty-seventh year
"You dare betray her, boy?!" Thanos roared.
A distorted, but familiar voice answered, but the words were not recognizable even when they were spoken in a language Jane clearly knew.
"We shall see your efforts soon."
The scene washed away from Jane's eyes. A soft glow transitioned in the darkness.
Malekith shouted with his arms in the air, "The Aether has been debauched by the boy! Thanos has betrayed me!"
And quickly, the scene faded to black.
"It's all going as I have planned, boy. You have fulfilled your promise of loyalty. Go back to your Asgard and play nice. As agreed, I will not attack it."
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Jane's twenty-seventh year
Jane awoke and groaned in pain. The light seemed offensive against the blur of darkness that still clung to her vision.
Her eyes shook open and saw Thor's face hovering above her.
"I saw…I saw..." Jane tried to say. Her voice was weak and barely audible.
Thor lifted her from the ground and frowned, "Do not speak, Jane. Logan has not woken. Frigga has placed the boy the encasement where Odin slept for protection. We do not sense the Aether in him any longer."
Her chest hurt, but she spoke anyway, "He's not awake yet?"
Thor sadly shook his head, "Mother says it cannot be that simple. He should recover in the days to come, though. She has remained at his side while you've been unconscious."
She raised a brow, "How long was I out?"
The god of thunder narrowed his eyes, "Only a few hours. I moved you to your room, but somehow you ended up on the floor."
She swallowed and snaked her arms around Thor's neck as he carried her out of her room. "Have I hurt anyone? What happened?"
He was looking, forward as he strolled down the hall. "You were surrounded by the Aether. Suddenly, you were floating and your body became limp as it entered you. It happened so quickly. After, you were glowing the red shade Logan had underneath his skin for only a brief moment. And then you fell to the ground."
"I'm glad no one was hurt," she idly said.
Thor swallowed, "How long have you known about Loki's whereabouts?"
She drew her brows together and exuded a dim anxious emotion on her features. "Since I held Logan when he came back."
"Is it true?"
She nodded apprehensively.
"Loki is hiding underneath our noses. How can we not have seen it?" he absently spoke.
Jane rested her forehead against Thor's neck. Quietly, she sighed, "Thor, this mess is only the beginning. I'm not quite convinced of Loki's involvement to the attack and the Aether. We may have a mass of other problems to deal with."
"I do not doubt that," he replied quietly. He continued his deliberate pace toward the chamber where Logan was.
"Thor?"
He shifted his gaze down at her briefly, "Yes, Jane?"
"People need morale. No one will want to fight in the current state of Asgard. We need to do something to boost the shaken confidence of our people," she absently suggested.
Thor nodded, "I am glad you agree. How should we approach this?"
Jane paused. She felt anxious and was hesitant to say, "We should set the date for our marriage."
He stopped and slid his eyes down at her. He did not speak, however. His mouth was agape and his eyes were unrecognizable.
"Set me down. I can stand and walk now," she gently stated. He complied, but continued to stare at her. "If we do this, I need to do something for me, first."
He swallowed, "What will you require?"
Jane sweetly smiled and moved her hand to his face, brushing her fingertips high on his cheekbone and down to his jaw. Her thumb stroked his rough, hard skin a few times, "I want you to examine how you feel for Sif."
His eyes went wide, and he choked. "I assure you I have no feelings for her. I remain firm in my promise to you of my faithfulness."
Her smile widened. "Sif is a distant, but constant friend. And she is in love with you. I need you to be sure you can commit to me without regret. No one has ever asked for your opinion on the matter of if you want to marry me. I'm giving you a chance to find something better than this."
Thor bent down and pulled her close to him, "Jane…"
"You should feel what I felt once. Being in love is wonderful. It's a magic of its own. I want you to be sure you can't feel that for Sif because I think you aren't being truthful to yourself. I'm blinding you to a potential opportunity for you," she continued.
He kissed her. And she let him. She raised up on her toes and he wrapped his thick arms around her small body, wrapping her up and pushing her close. The embrace was painful, but Jane would bear this if she needed to.
No one would know how to hold her. No one would ever know how to make her knees weak. Her Loki could no longer exist. Even if he had survived, he wouldn't be the same.
Jane had endured more than he ever had, and she remained loyal enough to her family. She survived without him, and she was going to endure the potent pain at her chest when she finally married Thor.
Thor deserved her loyalty. He never asked for any of the attention he received. In a crowd, he was intoxicating, too hard to resist. He was brawly, arrogant, and stubborn, but he was kind, protective, and wonderful with Logan.
He would never be the boy's father, but he could help with Logan's training. He wouldn't resent Logan. She knew this with her heart.
Jane closed her eyes, and she felt a dim spark of potential: the sort of potential that would be hard to fertilize and would take a lifetime to flourish and blossom. But that was something Jane could become distracted with.
Their tongues met and both were greeted to a stale spark of something unrecognizable. It was not entirely pleasant, but it was warmer than the wasteland they endured every day.
That was when Jane realized she could teach herself to love Thor a little with enough effort, but Thor deserved more than how life would be like with her.
He would always question her heart, which belonged to Loki. Logan safeguarded her heart now. He carried it in his hands, and if he were to die, she would no longer live.
She pulled back, but remained close to him, "You deserve more than this, Thor. You've kissed whores with more emotion."
Thor narrowed his eyes and appeared to retreat within himself as he spoke, "I…I will love you in time, Jane."
Jane sadly chuckled, "Thor, I don't have to end up with anybody. I'll be fine on my own." She swallowed and drew his attention by placing her hand on his, "After all you have been forced to endure, you need someone who will love you for all the days you live."
"Jane, no one else would ever understand…" he whispered softly.
Jane fought for the ghost of the smile that moved over her mouth, "If you can learn to love me, you can let someone else in enough to make them understand."
He shook his head and sputtered on about incoherent ideas, but she silenced him by moving her fingers over his mouth. "Please do this for me. We will announce our day will be in six months from today. In that time, I require you to examine how Sif makes you feel."
He grabbed her hands and moved her fingertips to his lips, kissing them softly and said, "Thank you, Jane."
She nodded and stepped back with her hand held out to him, "Take me to my son."
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Breviary-Rose
