He seemed well enough at first.

Upsetting furniture was not unexpected, though to merely stand for hours and clench one's fists was considered mild-mannered. The Aesir guards whispered amongst themselves, pitying that pathetic imprisoned prince. They could not see the magic behind the movement – the doppelgänger created to dissuade their approach.

Behind the mask, a storm of anger raged against every surface. He pulled his bookshelf to the ground, tore pages from the volumes by the handful, burned them to cinders in his palms. He grabbed his bed by the end, upturned it, ripped apart his sheets. He stomped though the table, the chair, and kicked the bowl of fruit clear across the room. He threw his crystal vessel of alcohol against the wall opposite him; it shattered into a hundred thousand tiny shards. The fiery drink sprayed across the floor, igniting several books still semi-intact. The prince, still clothed in only a simple tunic and simple trousers, felt the splinters lodge into his heels. He invited the pain; he refused to heal himself with magic, leaving splatters of blood across the white floor. Still, his anger was not satiated. He became a hawk and crushed fruits between his talons in a bloody mess. He became a wolf and shook apart his pillows. He became a bear and clawed at the walls.

His strength faded, and he reverted back to an Aesir, slamming his palms into the wall again and again. Great black streaks mirrored the scores. Ashes from the fires. Loki slumped against the wall, down into the pile of shards, and screamed.

He screamed from his core, from the pit of fiery hot rage that swelled inside of him. This kind of hatred for the entire universe was something Loki did not know he had. The room burst into flames, the tangible proof of his rage, hatred, guilt. He screamed and screamed until he could scream no more, for his tired throat would not let him. When he could not scream, the fire ceased. The broken prince reverted to seethe in a silence so cold, the room froze over. A blizzard encased him in ice. He lost his Aesir form and became a Jotun. That ugly monstrous truth gleamed back at him from the broken glass, now a mirror.

"How was the funeral?" a guard whispered outside the cell. Loki's doppelgänger twitched, turning his ear ever so slightly to listen in.

"Miserable," the approaching guard responded. "Odin could not speak for his heavy heart. Have you heard word, or shall I tell you?"

The third guard cleared his throat and jerked his head toward the prince. The three looked up. The mild-mannered Loki stood still and clenched his fists. The first guard lowered his gaze.

The second guard gave a terse frown. He seemed to be more polite than his comrades. They would not have told Loki news of the funeral. He was a prisoner, why would he care? But he was also a prince, and the second guard knew better. "The Convergence nears, and the dark elves of Svartalfheim have come back from the dead. They still seek the Aether, which resides in one of Thor's mortal companions. He brought her to Midgard to protect her, but the dark elf leader, Malekith, followed the scent of power. The All-Mother died protecting the mortal. She trusted that the prince would find a way to vanquish our returning enemies."

"Tis foolish that our beloved Queen threw her life away for so short-lived a creature," muttered the third guard.

The first guard shifted on his feet. "She always had faith when no one else could. It was because of her that our King has lasted so long. What will happen now?"

The second guard narrowed his eyes. "We will live like she lived, having faith where there is none. It is not yet the end."

"She had faith in me," Loki spoke up. The three guards turned to him again. "She had faith in me, and look where I am. Do you know why I am here? Do you know why I am imprisoned? A prophecy uttered two thousand years ago has resurfaced, and the All-Father accuses me of being the one to carry out the curse. Frigga had faith that I would not start the Ragnarök, and look where we all are now."

The guards kept quiet.

"Do not hold onto blind faith. You will receive nothing but disappointment."

The guards bowed their heads and shuffled further into the dungeons, where they questioned amongst themselves the truth in Loki's words. It was always hard to tell with the God of Lies.

҉

Thor trudged his way to the throne room. Jane's plea echoed in his mind.

'"Please, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."'

Thor shook his head. Trapping Jane in a sitting room was far less efficient than letting her join his side in the coming hours before the Convergence. The mighty prince wanted only to keep her safe. A small council gathered before the shattered throne. It still made Thor's heart drop to see it in pieces, to see the strange ship laying unceremoniously in a pile of broken columns. Odin, Fandral, Volstaag, and a few soldiers Thor did not know stood around a holographic display of the palace.

"We are still unable to restore the palace shields," came Fandral's voice. "Our artillery cannot detect them, even Heimdall cannot see them. My king, we are all but defenseless."

"She is your prisoner now?" Thor spoke up, coming toward them.

Odin faced his son with a strange mixture of emotions. "Leave us," the king ordered, and the council dispersed. "I do not wish to fight with you," Odin sighed once the hall was cleared, stepping past the crown prince.

"Nor I with you, but I intend to pursue Malekith." Thor turned after his father.

"We possess the Aether. Malekith will come to us."

"Yes, and he will destroy us," Thor countered.

"You overestimate the power of these creatures," Odin chided.

Thor felt an odd twinge of fear grip at the pits of his stomach. "No, I value our people's lives. I'll take Jane to the Dark World and draw the enemy away from Asgard." Odin stopped. Fear was replaced with hope. "When Malekith pulls the Aether from Jane, it will be exposed and vulnerable. And I will destroy it, and him."

Odin turned to face Thor and the throne. "If you fail, you risk this weapon falling into the hands of our enemies."

"The risk is far greater if we do nothing," Thor pleaded. "His ship could be over our heads right now and we would never even know it."

The King dismissed his concerns. "If and when he comes, his men will fall on ten thousand Asgardian blades."

The golden haired prince would not be ignored so easily. "And how many of our men shall fall on theirs?"

"As many as are needed!" Odin snapped.

Thor winced, swallowing. It took great strength to not recoil, to hold himself steady.

Odin trembled, leaning heavily on his weapon. Thor wanted to go to his father; such grief and stress would send the aging king into the Odinsleep. But the All-Father would not bend to his weakness. "We will fight!" he snarled. "Til the last Asgardian breath. Til the last drop of Asgardian blood."

Thor shook his head. "Then how are you different from Malekith?" he murmured.

Odin gave a hollow laugh. It was spiteful. Hateful. "The difference, my son, is that I will win." And he turned, walked away, left Thor to stand before the broken throne.

"Is that the only difference, Father?" Thor whispered. "Is our victory the only thing that separates us from our enemy? Are we just as cruel, as vicious, as merciless as they? How can I stand by you and your decisions when I now see the faults Loki has seen all his life? How can I still believe with half a heart that Loki's death will put a stop to this madness that spins on around us, when you cannot even say one word in Mother's honor? You are suffering, Father. I cannot let our kingdom fall." And Thor left the throne room as well, retreating to an empty pub on the outskirts of the city.

Hardly half an hour after the prince sat with his goblet, a familiar figure drew near. Thor would have grinned had he the heart. He knew Heimdall would have heard his whisperings before the throne. "You were not at Odin's war council," Thor noted.

Heimdall waved a hand over the warmth of a fire pit, removed his helmet. "The Bifrost is closed by your father's orders. No one is to come or to go."

Thor nodded quietly. He suspected as much.

"We face an enemy that is invisible even to me. What use is a guardian such as that?" The gatekeeper and overseer sat heavily. There were far too many things in his life that he was unable to see. When one is gifted with the overwhelming power to see all, one pays special attention to that which is hidden. Many of Loki's movements were blocked, but in time, that came to be expected. However, the dark elves were quite another matter, and were also much more dangerous.

"Malekith will return, you know this." Their eyes met; Heimdall cast him a knowing look. Thor lowered his voice. "I need your help."

"I cannot overrule my king's wishes. Not even for you." He was not going to be accused of treason after all of this was over. He had too much of a guilty conscience, too many past favors weighing on his chest already.

Thor shook his head. "I am not asking you to," he assured. "The realms need their All-Father strong and unchallenged, whether he is or not. But he is blinded, Heimdall, by hatred and by grief."

Heimdall flashed an empty smirk. "As are we all."

"I see clearly enough," Thor responded.

"The risks are too great," Heimdall tried. There was little he could do to dissuade Thor, but it would not hurt to try.

"Everything we do from here on is a risk. There is no other way."

The gatekeeper dropped his head. "What do you require of me?"

"What I am about to ask of you is treason of the highest order. Success will bring us exile and failure shall mean our death. Malekith knew the Aether was here. He can sense its power. If we do nothing, he will come for it again, but this time, lay waste to all of Asgard. . . ."

҉

In the darkest hours of night, Thor held conference in a hidden dwelling with Heimdall, Sif, Volstaag, and Fandral. The four warriors sat at a round table, illuminated by the sparsest candlelight. The gatekeeper stood behind them, his back to the wall.

"We must move Jane off-world," Thor started.

"The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract locked away in the vault," Sif said immediately. Thor anxiously rubbed his wrists.

"There are other paths off Asgard," Heimdall answered. "Ways known only to a few." Again, a lengthy list of things Loki kept hidden.

"One, actually," Thor murmured.

Sif cocked her head in angry disbelief. Fandral turned various shades of white and grey. Volstaag looked as though he had just received word that his children were murdered.

"He will betray you," Fandral said after a few moment's deep breathing.

"He will try," Thor agreed.

"Well, what then?" Fandral asked, clapping the table. "Your lovely mortal is being guarded by a legion of Einherjar who will see you coming from miles away."

"I won't be the one who comes for her," Thor responded simply, glancing at Sif.

The Valkyrie gave another stare of angry disbelief. "And what of the All-Father?"

"It is my sworn duty to notify him of crimes against the throne," Heimdall answered.

Volstaag rocked on his chair. It groaned in protest. "Assuming you can get Loki's help, and you can free this mortal, what good would it do? We'd all be dead the minute we step outside the palace." And Volstaag much rather preferred to die in a glorious nine-realm war than in aiding an escape.

Thor nodded. "That, my friend, is why we won't be leaving by foot."

Another round of angry disbelief, anxious wrist-rubbing, upset stomachs, and somber expressions for all.

҉

"Thor. After all this time, now you come to visit me?"

Thor approached his cell, grim.

"Why?"

No answer.

"Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki, enough. No more illusions."

Loki bowed his head and the doppelgänger vanished, along with the pristine cell. The room was a disaster, the furniture destroyed and the man inside, shattered. Ashen claw marks haloed his head; blood dripped from his feet and left footprints around the room. The remnants seemed brittle, charred by hot fire and frozen in bitter wind. "Now you see me, Brother," Loki struggled out, voice harsh. 'Now you see me as I truly am.' Thor eased quietly toward the other clear wall, closer to where Loki sat. "Did she suffer?" he asked.

"I did not come here to share our grief," Thor replied, anxiously rubbing his wrists. "Instead, I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

Loki tilted his head, noting Thor's anxiety. "Go on," he demanded.

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard, and I will grant it to you – vengeance – and afterward, this cell."

Loki weighed the options and chuckled. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help," he croaked. "What makes you think you can trust me?" The god of lies, the murderer, the end-all?

"I don't." Thor paused. "Mother did." The answer forced the broken prince to swallow back his anger in the form of bile. "But you should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."

Loki hummed. 'Ah, yes, kill me like Odin wants. Mask your obedience with empty words, with your desire to save your beloved mortal. I see the soldier's hatred in your eyes. You try to be a better man, but you will always be the same foolish boy I grew up with. You cannot change, Thor. Nor can I. Just how far will you go? To whom will your loyalties remain? Which drowning man will you imprudently save? Let us play another killing game. Let us play seek-and-find.' And in Thor's eyes, Loki saw an agreement. "When do we start?"

Moments later, the princes darted through the halls. Thor kept a sharp eye on everything, continuing to turn at every imagined sound; it was only the echoes of their heavy heels. Loki, clad once again in his ceremonial garb, his snide and playful air, was forced to trot to keep up with Thor's anxious stride. "This is so unlike you, Brother," Loki smirked. "So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"

"You keep speaking and I just might," Thor growled.

Loki shrugged. "Fine, as you wish. I am not even here." Loki became a common guard in silver armor and a golden cape and a helmet somewhere between a pair of horns and a fish's fin. "There, is this better?"

"Better company, at least," Thor muttered under his breath.

"Still, we could be less conspicuous," Loki mused.

Thor became Sif as she (he) turned to glance behind. Suddenly, everything seemed to be much taller.

"Mm, Brother," Loki snickered, "you look ravishing."

Thor looked down and rolled his eyes. "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form." Thor's deep voice amazingly fit Sif's body.

"Very well," Loki grinned. "Perhaps you prefer one of your new companions, given that you seem to like them so much." Thor became himself, and Loki, Captain Steve Rogers. Complete with star-spangled uniform and shield. Loki considered it a small tribute to the man he had decided to save in the ice. "Oh, this is much better," he purred. "The costume is a bit much. So tight. But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging! Hey, wanna have a rousing discussion about truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless Ameri–!" But Thor clapped a hand to Steve's (Loki's) mouth and shoved him into a pillar. "What?" Loki hissed in annoyance, again himself.

He followed Thor's glance to a watch of two soldiers.

"You could at least furnish me with a weapon. My daggers, something." Thor eyed him quietly and removed a sickle-like blade from behind his cloak. "At last," Loki smirked, "a little common sense." The final word hissed out as something cold hit the top of his wrists. He looked down to see himself shackled. He glared at Thor.

Thor smirked. "And I thought you liked tricks."

The two rounded the corner. The soldiers looked at them in surprise, as if they could not fathom seeing Thor and Loki together on a walk. Thor set down his hammer. "And how is that a good idea?" Loki genuinely asked. Thor gave him a look and walked toward the soldiers, made quick work of them, retrieved his hammer, and marched to the opposite end of the hall. Loki followed, fighting quietly with his cuffs. Lady Sif and another woman came toward them posthaste.

"You're. . .?" the woman breathed, nearing the raven haired prince.

"I'm Loki. You may have heard of me." Suddenly his head swiveled on his neck so fast, he felt it crack. He let out a surprised sigh. The mortal had slapped him. The force did not hurt, though it was unexpected. So this was Jane Foster.

"That was for New York," Jane growled.

"I like her," Loki grinned, looking up at Thor.

A great clanking approached. "There they are!" Odin's top war general, Tyr, shouted. "Take them on my command."

"I'll hold them off. Take her," Sif nodded to Jane.

"Thank you," Thor nodded.

Behind them, Loki studied the mortal. Many thoughts filled his head, in fragments, unlike the usual cohesive sentences. Mostly it consisted of, 'why her?' and 'so plain' and 'has he still not learned?' and 'she'll die soon, like all the rest'. They all moved to leave. Sif held her blade to Loki's throat.

"Betray him, and I'll kill you," she hissed.

Loki gave a dark chuckle, eyeing her. "It's good to see you too, Sif," he murmured, looking her over. They shared a brief, forbidden memory; Sif let him pass.

They made their way to the throne room, where a large ship awaited them in the debris, and before that, an even larger man. "I will give you as much time as I can," Volstaag nodded.

"Thank you, my friend," Thor smiled, gratefully shaking hands.

'Look at you, minding your manners,' Loki thought incredulously, casting a scathing eye toward him. The mortal blushed to see him act so chivalrously. Again, Thor and Jane were let forward. Again, Loki was stopped. He was sensing a pattern.

"If you even think about betraying him," Volstaag started.

"You'll kill me?" Loki finished, smiling brightly. He bounced back on his heel. "Evidently, there will be a line."

They boarded the dark ship. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust; Thor sighed, grimacing in the shadows. He gave the controls a few awkward jabs. The control panel whirred in annoyance.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki questioned, leaning over Thor's shoulder.

"I said, 'How hard could it be?'" he growled, trying the other side of the panel. Jane stood back, unsure of what to do. Outside the ship, the sound of battle grew louder and louder.

"Well, whatever you're doing, Brother, I suggest you do it faster." He had not meant to say "brother" that time; it slipped out before he could stop himself. He blamed it on sarcasm.

"Shut up, Loki," Thor growled, either to the full comment or the brother jab, Loki did not know. Loki unfortunately did not shut up.

"You must have missed something."

"No I didn't, I'm pressing every button on this thing." Thor's patience was quite tried.

"No, don't hit it, just press it gently."

"I am pressing it gently!" Thor resorted to slapping the dashboard. "It's not working!" Jane studied her shoes quietly. But the display powered up and a blue hologram of the throne room illuminated the ship. Thor gave a proud chuckle. Loki rolled his eyes. With the lights on, it was much easier to see. Thor handled the controls, powered the engine, rose the beast slowly into the air. The ship began to turn, and Thor had a difficult time stopping it. They regained balance.

"I think you missed a column," Loki said.

"Shut up!" Thor snapped. The ship burst through the only solid thing left in the throne room and then they were flying over Asgard. The ship continued to jolt and turn and spin, making Jane nauseous.

"Look, why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot." It was true; he had managed to fly a Chitauri chariot with no prior experience, and he could bank better than any of the wretched creatures.

"Is that right?" Thor snorted. "Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

"You don't fly, you glide, pulled along by your hammer."

The Aesir warriors shot at the black ship, mercifully missing with their massive machine guns. Loki stared in surprise. Asgard had resorted to such primitive weapons? They took a sharp turn and made several twists. Jane collapsed.

"Oh, dear," Loki sighed flatly. "Is she dead?"

"Jane," Thor called. She gave a weak wave from the floor.

The attacks kept coming. Thor caught the tail end of the ship on the healer's medical room. Loki shot him a look. "Not a word," Thor growled.

A squad of three personal flyers gave chase.

"Now they're following us," Loki said.

They had much better accuracy than the mounted machine guns.

"Now they're firing at us," Loki said.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki, it's not at all distracting!" Thor shouted. They dove into a tunnel, only just barely tilting in time. A stone statue was not quite so lucky.

"Well done. You just decapitated your grandfather." He was never a very friendly man, anyway. Thor gave a nervous glance back toward the crumbling statue. "You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that," Loki snarled. "Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Thor shoved him hard in the chest; Loki screamed, tumbling out of an open door. Thor gave a satisfied grin. He had always wanted to push his brother out of a moving object. He collected Jane and quite literally jumped ship. Their pursuers followed the black beast, which spun out of control over the sea.

Fandral could not ease his chuckling. A personal flyer manned by the womanizer broke Loki's fall; he landed heavily on his face. "I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," he smirked.

Shut up, pretty boy, Loki wanted to hiss, but instead he watched Thor, pulling himself up without the use of his tied hands. "You lied to me." He gave a nod. "I'm impressed."

"I'm glad you're pleased, now do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."

Loki gave a wide grin as he and Fandral exchanged places. The grin, the other men noted, seemed slightly psychotic. The flyer hugged the water, sending droplets into the fire-fed respulsors. They hissed. Another personal flyer came up behind them; Loki raised their flyer high into the air. Fandral grabbed a rope, gave a cheeky grin, muttered "For Asgard", and hopped over the side.

Loki began to feel a chuckle rising up in his throat. This was certainly not the easiest way out but it was the most fun. He had discovered this one some time ago, through the use of his endless cataloging. He found it safe to assume that it was the cave in which the Tesseract hid itself while it lived vicariously through its daughters.

"Loki," Thor called, feeling very nervous. Loki could hardly contain himself.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

"Are you mad?" Perhaps it was a bit late to ask that now.

"Possibly," Loki admitted.

The flyer just barely fit through the tiny gap in the rock face, metal colliding against deposits of unusual stone. In a flash of light, they were gone.

0:23

21.4.14