Chapter Two: An unexpected alliance
"You wanted us to meet you here?" Fandral prompted as he entered Thor's personal chambers, his dark indigo eyes lingering on the mortal woman who clearly wasn't supposed to be there.
"Yes. Thank you my friend. Take a seat," Thor greeted amicably, ignoring the unspoken question.
"I was just escorting Jane to her latest meeting with the healers," Sif intoned drily. "Alas, we seem to have taken a wrong turn."
Volstagg's lips quirked in mild amusement. "Aye, that is a shame. You are bound to be late now."
Fandral gave a slight nod, claiming the seat at the other end of Thor's table. "I believe that I can guess what you've called us all here for."
Thor inclined his head, prompting him to continue.
"The Allfather has forbidden us to go after Malekith at the present time... If I may be so bold, Sire," Fandral bypassed the pause, knowing that Thor would consent, "Without use of the Bifrost, I do not see how you expect to sneak them out of Asgard."
The others all stared at Fandral with varying expressions of incredulity and confusion. Sif was the first to address it aloud.
"Them?" she echoed, nonplussed.
Jane was looking back and forth between the two warriors, seeming merely curious about how he had known.
"Jane and Loki, of course," Fandral clarified. "I assumed that this must be in regard to the Queen's warning..." He trailed off at the forbidding look that Sif flashed him for mentioning Thor's late mother.
Thor's shoulders dropped a little and he admitted, "You were correct in your assumption," ignoring the wordless protests from Sif and Volstagg's side of the table. "And I have a plan, that I believe will work, but I require your help."
"You cannot trust him," Sif reminded the thunderer.
"I am aware of that," Thor acknowledged, continuing undaunted, "As you know, there is but one person in Asgard who truly understands the many passageways between the worlds."
Volstagg sighed. "Loki," he lamented softly.
"I can retrieve him from the dungeons myself easily enough. However, I will need your help, Lady Sif, in getting Jane to us in time to make our escape. Heimdall will deal with my father and his guards at the Bifrost, while Loki and I make our way to our true transport."
"He is going to betray you," Fandral noted.
"I don't think so," Jane quietly disagreed.
"You do not yet know him," Sif dismissed, prompting Thor to let out an impatient huff that was far more characteristic of his moody little brother.
"This is an act of treason. If you do not wish to aid me in this venture, I will understa-"
"I have no qualms with it," Fandral said easily before the prince could even finish giving him an out.
"I am with you as well," Volstagg agreed with a half-nod, although he, at least, sounded less casual about it.
"I will assist you, out of loyalty," Sif stated, shooting Fandral a pointed look. After a pregnant pause, she broke the silence by observing, "There is little time to waste."
"Ah, Brother Dearest," Loki drawled sarcastically as Thor walked into view outside of his cell. "After all this time, he finally decides to grace me with his presence."
Thor stood, stone-faced, on the other side of the faintly shimmering force-field, his weary eyes halfheartedly tracking the movements of the energetic prisoner before him. "Enough, Loki. No more illusions."
The false Loki straightened, his expression taking on that disturbing emptiness that Thor had never been able to get used to. Then it was overtaken by a wave of golden light that swept the facade of Loki's entire cell out of existence. Thor blinked a couple of times, taking in the absolute broken-heap that the real cell had become, and the smears of blood that stood out against the white wall and floor (and more importantly Loki's hands and the sole of one foot). The thought that 'Our mother would have an absolute fit if she was here to see this' floated unbidden through Thor's mind before he could stop himself.
"Did she suffer?" Loki asked from where he was slumped against the far corner. His voice was quieter than usual and sounded painfully raw.
"I did not come here to discuss our mother's fate," Thor deflected. The marauder who had threatened Loki before stepped closer out of poorly-veiled interest as Loki replied.
"Then pray tell, Thor, why have you come here? Was it to mock?"
"I have a proposal for you."
Loki's verdant eyes narrowed to distrustful slits. "No..."
"You have not yet heard the terms of my proposal," Thor pointed out with a patience that indicated he had expected this response.
Loki ran his ever perceptive gaze over Thor, taking in every minute detail with an unreadable expression on his face. Thor waited silently for him to finish, observing the other prince in turn (although, admittedly less closely) until the younger man deigned to break the silence.
"How's your mortal?" Loki deadpanned.
You could at least wait and hear what he has to say, the gentle, male 'voice' from the prism suggested within Loki's mind.
Thor let out another Loki-esque sigh, giving his brother a flat look before continuing on with the matter at hand, oblivious to the movement of Loki's left hand reaching out to grab the prism off the floor by his hip. "I have come to take you from this..." Thor let his gaze wander over the destroyed innards of Loki's cell, "place."
"What for?" Loki replied in a tone that screamed 'bullshit'.
"I trusted you once, Loki. You should know that when we fought 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."
That wasn't very nice...He observed, communicating a feeling of discomfort on Loki's behalf. The consciousness seemed to be growing more communicative the more that they interacted, although whether it was by choice or necessity was still unclear.
"What is it that you want, Thor?" Loki prompted, sounding unexpectedly calm and patient in light of the current situation. I'm not very nice, he informed Him.
"I require your help in getting Jane to Svartálfheim without use of the Bifrost," Thor explained. The utterly unpredictable non-sequitur actually wiped Loki's mind completely blank for a fleeting moment as he tried to make sense of Thor's apparent insanity. This was definitely a first for them. It was hard for anyone to catch the God of Mischief off guard, but Thor? Loki could always rely on him to be, well... Thor. He was so distracted by it that he completely failed to notice when Thor turned away to pin the eavesdropper across the walkway with a menacing stare until the brute shied away from them.
"Is this a- No it's you; of course it isn't," Loki corrected himself, prompting a questioning glance from the Crowned Prince. "Have you hit your head rather hard recently? Why would you take anyone to Svartálfheim? And- Well, obviously the Allfather has forbidden it, as he is sane."
"It was the Dӧkkálfar leader, Malekith, who murdered mother," Thor explained, finally registering Loki's confusion. "I wish to avenge her."
Loki shot him a harassed look. It was obvious to him that there was a whole lot more to this story than Thor was telling. Even worse, Loki could feel Him becoming amused by it.
"Do you not desire the same?" Thor inquired.
"That explains why you want me to go..." Loki prompted, hoping that his lump of a brother would be able to fill in the rest for himself.
Thor stared at him for a moment. Just long enough for Loki's aforementioned hopes to die a horrible death, then explained "Mother gave me a warning..." Thor seemed to think better of whatever he had been about to say, explaining instead, "She made me swear to look after the two of you."
Loki stared disdainfully up at him. And that is why Thor is an idiot.
Loki, the consciousness within the prism chastened, not disagreeing outright, much to Loki's amusement.
You're right. It is merely one reason out of myriad others, he amended drily while pointing out aloud, "...So you're taking us to Svartálfheim."
"You accept, then," Thor concluded triumphantly, and Loki struggled to contain his mounting frustration.
He's doing that on purpose, the consciousness observed, which helped to calm Loki down a bit.
"I hate you," he told Thor.
"Good," the blond replied absently, prompting an amused chuckle that only Loki could hear. "Let's get started then, shall we? There is little time to spare."
Jane looked up from the book that she was reading upon hearing a familiar voice coming closer down the hall outside her room.
"I have been sent with food for the Lady Jane," Sif explained to the guards as she strolled past them into the guest chambers. One just shrugged, stepping politely out of her way, but when she had almost reached Jane, the younger one grabbed her shoulder. Jane noticed that it was the same bureaucratic-sounding aesir who'd resisted relaying her message to Thor the previous evening.
"Wait," he said, looking somewhat smug. "Why have they sent a warrior to deliver her food?"
"Maybe she was in the neighborhood," Jane offered wryly, then swallowed and averted her gaze when the guard scowled down at her.
"It was a recent change," Sif hedged, but Bureau-Guard wasn't having it.
"Why was I not informed?" he pushed.
It was Sif's turn to scowl, this time in irritation."I confess, you have uncovered my deception," she admitted and grabbed the obnoxious guard's sword-wielding arm in one hand while she thrust him headfirst against his partner. The fight was over within a couple of seconds.
"Come. We must make haste," Sif instructed. Jane jogged after her down the corridors, being reminded once again of the aesirs' more formidable physique as she struggled to keep up with the Lady warrior.
"Loki," Thor called impatiently through the doorway while Loki continued to rifle through the silver and ebony jewelry box that Sif had let him keep in his youth, after she had caught him stealing it. It was where he kept his more sentimental, and useless trinkets hidden from prying eyes."I told you that we had little time. You must be dressed by now!"
"In a moment," Loki disagreed, but Thor barged into the room anyway, looking entirely unamused by his procrastination. Loki tried and failed to look apologetic."Uhm..."
Thor crossed his arms over his chest, looking stern. Loki was rather relieved that he had just managed to find what he was looking for.
"So I am," Loki admitted, suspecting that he was about to be struck for his trouble.
"I see," Thor acknowledged, glancing down at the box, then back up at Loki's expectant face. "That's a jewelry box."
"She gave it to me," Loki reflexively defended, speaking simultaneously with Thor's observation.
"Why..." Thor trailed off, debating whether or not his question was even worth asking. "You're done."
"Yes," Loki confirmed, pulling the empty pendant out as proof even though he knew that hadn't actually been a question.
Thor narrowed his eyes at Loki's nonsensical behavior before grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. "You will waste no more of our time, unless you wish for a life in the cells."
"Shall we get started then, Brother?" Loki appealed hopefully.
Thor shoved his arm as he released his hold and allowed Loki to fall into step with him. He was trying to act like he wasn't curious about the pendant, but Loki could feel Thor watching him open the empty cage the centerpiece of the necklace had long abandoned to slip the simple prism into it. It was a bit too colorless and understated for such housing, but Loki didn't mind so long as it remained secure.
"What is that?" Thor inquired, watching Loki hang the chain around his neck and tuck the altered pendent underneath his armor.
"Special to me," Loki answered with the faintest hint of a protective tone sneaking into his voice. "That is all that you will hear of it."
Thank you.
Do not let such comments go to your head. I had to tell him something, Loki hastily corrected.
You're protecting me, He disagreed, still sounding far too appreciative for Loki's comfort. I'm grateful.
And I am merely curious. You would do well to remember that.
There was a short, uncomfortable silence as Thor and Loki continued through the halls. It was broken, perhaps too soon, by Loki getting bored and bothering the older Prince. First he cast an illusion that turned Thor into Lady Sif.
"Why Brother, you look ravishing!" he teased.
"It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form," Thor pointed out.
Really, Loki. I wouldn't push him, the consciousness warned, but Loki ignored him. He disappeared the unwanted projection from Thor and took on the guise of an Einherjar lieutenant.
Thor ran his gaze over the latest projection, recognizing the perfect likeness of Lieutenant Rorik from his time with the soldier on Vanaheim. Then he went back to ignoring his obnoxious charge. Instead of being discouraged, Loki switched to Captain America's appearance in the next moment and danced mischievously around in front of his brother in hopes of getting a reaction. The consciousness reflected that he might be starved for attention, but Loki decided that He was only trying to ruin his fun and disregarded it.
"Hey, you wanna have a rousing discussion about Truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless
Amer-"
Thor shoved Loki back against a column, dispersing the illusion.
"-ica."
And clamped a hand over Loki's mouth with a deep scowl.
Loki shook off Thor's hand. "What?"
Thor looked down the hall to their right to watch a group of palace guards march past them, then frowned pointedly at Loki. "Be. Quiet."
Finally, Jane recognized two hushed voices at the end of the corridor and realized that they'd reached the rendezvous point. Well, no. Loki's keeping his voice down. I'm pretty sure that Thor's just decided to use an inside voice today, Jane thought with affectionate amusement.
"Oh, look. Your woman has arrived," Loki's scathing voice remarked as they came into view. "Lady Sif," he acknowledged, but Sif just walked past him to stand on the side of him that Thor hadn't claimed for himself, to monitor the corridor. Thor stepped forward and grabbed Jane in a tight hug, then pulled back, brushing her hair out of her face with one calloused hand so that he could inspect the bruise on her left cheek.
"I'm fine. Just a minor disagreement with the guards," Jane reassured him. "Don't worry. No one died this time." Then she stepped past him to face a mildly-intrigued Loki.
"Dr. Foster, I did not expect-" Smack! Jane interrupted Loki with a slap across the face, feeling only a tad guilty when she belatedly registered his chained wrists.
"That was for New York," she informed him as he straightened up again, already grinning down at her. "And I am nobody's woman."
Loki's grin stretched a little wider. "I like her," he appraised.
Sif, who had whirled around in shock at the sound of the blow, rolled her eyes at his behavior, but didn't remark on it. Thor was too preoccupied with checking his end of the corridor for threats to really react, but Loki glanced over at him anyway.
"Come, we should keep moving," Thor announced, walking back over to them and leading Jane away with one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. Loki moved to follow but was stopped by the blade of Sif's double-edged sword being pressed against his throat.
"I care not what your brother or his companion says. I do not trust you, Loki. So know this: if you betray them," Sif flashed him a frosty smile, "I will kill you."
Loki smiled down at her, although his grin seemed incongruously genuine. "It is good to see you too, Sif."
Sif squinted bitterly up at him before whipping her blade away from his throat and readying for the guards who were bound to come after them. Loki caught up with Jane and Thor just as they reached what was perhaps the largest indoor space that Jane had ever seen, only to fall behind again when Volstagg grabbed his arm. This time, Jane consciously slowed her pace, prompting Thor to glance down at her in concern. She looked back over her shoulder just in time to catch the tail-end of Loki and Volstagg's exchange.
"If you even think about betraying them-" Volstagg was interrupted by Loki's dismissive response.
"Let me guess. You'll kill me?" he intoned as though they were discussing the weather.
"Jane?" Thor inquired when Jane stopped walking altogether. She just shook her head at him, continuing to watch Volstagg frown at Loki in obvious confusion.
"Evidently, there will be a line," Loki elaborated flippantly then pushed past the warrior to follow after them. He arched an eyebrow in silent question when he noticed that Jane was waiting for him.
"It's not like we're going anywhere without you," Jane stated in lieu of an explanation, and he seemed mostly to accept that. Thor was already pulling her along behind him on his dash towards the ship, clearly having accepted the explanation without further thought.
When they got into the ship, Thor made a beeline for the pilot's station and began pressing different buttons at random. He activated the command consoles easily enough, but the rest of his attempts did not look promising. Jane just stood back and took in the monochromatic silver and gray of the bridge, trusting that Thor would never let them down, even if she wasn't feeling comforted by his haphazard approach.
Loki, in contrast, was far more willing to voice his misgivings. "You said that you knew how to fly this thing," he accused, hovering at his adoptive sibling's shoulder.
"I said: how hard can it be," Thor corrected, still fussing with the controls.
Oh dear.
"Have you tried all the buttons?" Loki prodded. He was more amused than concerned at this point, and the consciousness seemed reassured by that.
"Look at me. What am I doing?" Thor replied, annoyed, as he made a show of patting all over the consoles in front of him. "I am hitting all the buttons. Nothing is happening."
"Perhaps if you tried pressing them, Thor," Loki corrected. "You can't solve every problem by smashing it, you know. You'll just break something."
"Listen-" Thor began, pressing a button to his left as he turned on the pesky Trickster. Naturally, that was the one that worked, and Thor blinked in surprise while Loki's face split in a smug grin.
Loki's victorious moment was cut short when a swarm of guards flowed into the chamber below.
"Thor!"
The thunderer didn't bother to respond as he began to take off, ramming the wings of the craft through column after giant, stone column in the process. There was a beat of silence, promptly broken by Loki. "I think you missed a column."
"Shut up," Thor ordered, keeping his eyes glued to the view-screen in front of them while he flew them out into the open sky. Jane leaned forward to peek out the closest window at the beautiful golden city passing by beneath them without letting go of her handhold on the wall. It was a breathtaking sight despite the circumstances, at least to human eyes.
"Why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot," Loki suggested.
"Is that so?" Thor replied. "Well out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"
They whizzed out over the city at top speed and he tucked them into an accidental spin that sliced them through a massive stone monument.
"Not a word," he warned preemptively.
"Now they're following us!" Loki observed, pacing around to Thor's other side only to be knocked down and slid right back into his previous placement by Thor's reckless piloting.
Bursts of red light streaked past them as he pulled himself to his feet using the edge of the console, only to be nearly knocked down all over again when the ship shook from an impact.
"Now they're firing at us!" he exclaimed accusingly.
"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki! It's not at all distracting!" Thor snapped, still not taking his eyes off of the view-screen.
Loki opened his mouth to speak...
Hold on! He cut in urgently, right before they went into another barrel-roll that would have proven far more perilous if Loki hadn't immediately grabbed the console.
The Trickster caught sight of falling rubble, and what was obviously a chunk of a massive marble face through the window and smirked. "Well done! You've just decapitated your grandfather," he announced sarcastically, then turned to look back at Jane when she collapsed in a motionless heap on the floor behind them.
"Oh, dear. Is she dead?" he remarked.
Loki! the consciousness chastened.
What? he thought back, while Thor called "Jane?" just to be sure.
"I'm good," Jane called a little breathlessly, giving a limp wave in an effort to seem less deceased.
You could help her, He suggested, at the same time that Thor pulled them into an inadvisable flip that had Loki clinging to the outer edge of the console again for fear of falling out of the harrow.
"Why?" Loki challenged petulantly, and accidentally aloud.
"Why what?" Thor drawled long-sufferingly.
Because you can. It will do you no harm to show a little consideration for others.
"Why must you include me in this farce?" Loki covered with practiced ease, pacing halfheartedly over to the dazed-looking mortal on the floor. "It is utterly pointless!"
I am only doing this to prove that you are wrong, he informed Him.
Not everyone in the world is like Odin.
She isn't from my world, Loki pointed out as he knelt down and prodded the breathing pile of fabric in front of him experimentally.
Even more so.
"What's wrong with you?" Loki inquired, ignoring the disappointed sigh that echoed through his mind in response to his lack of tact.
"Wha..." Jane murmured. Then she rolled over to face him. When she looked up at Loki, her strange blue and black eyes took him aback, but he recovered with admirable speed. "Too hot..."she complained in a raspy voice, and Loki reached out to rest a hand on the side of her neck. She was definitely feverish.
You can help her.
Loki's lips thinnedat His persistence, so he decided to test the mortal and prove his point in one go.
"Close your eyes," he instructed quietly, fully expecting Jane's inevitable rejection. To his astonishment, she simply passed her bleary gaze over his face once before complying. After recovering from his surprise, Loki concentrated and shifted the hand resting over her neck into it's cooler, jotun state, letting it linger just long enough for the barest hints of frost to form over his skin.
"Loki..." Thor called back, sounding suspicious. "What are you doing back there?"
You see? Loki insisted, yanking his hand away from Jane as if burned and drawing an almost-imperceptible squeak of protest from the feverish woman in response.
Well, to be fair, you've hardly been behaving yourself today.
Loki frowned, feeling strangely discomfited by His lack of support. Then he regarded his now snow-white hand and called over his shoulder "Your mortal is overheating," ignoring the limp attempt at a slap that Jane landed on his arm in retribution. "Do try again later," he teased quietly, then rose to his feet to engage Thor.
"Really Thor, even for you this is a moronic plan." He dropped into an impression of his brother's booming voice "Join me, Brother! I shall break you out of prison along with my ailing mortal companion! Come, let us fly away in the most conspicuous vessel available, which I shall pilot myself as I know not how!"
To their surprise Jane let out a girlish giggle, although it might have simply been caused by delirium rather than by Loki's Thor impression (skillful though it was). He had been perfecting it since they were both still small, after he'd discovered the potential that it had to irritate both of his older brothers while gaining approval from their friends.
"You see? This is a tremendous idea! Let's steal the biggest, most recognizable ship in all of the universe and escape in that! Flying it around the city, smashing into everything in sight so that everyone will see it! It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brill- Wuah!" Loki exclaimed, flailing his arms to try and catch himself when Thor unceremoniously shoved him out through the window in mid-rant.
"Hmmm," Jane hummed as Thor helped her up off the floor. Then she noticed Loki's sudden absence. "What? Thor what are you-"
"Hold on tightly," Thor instructed, not giving her any time to question it before he scooped her up and jumped out the window.
"I see that your time in the dungeon has made you no less graceful, Loki," Fandral joked in place of a greeting when a flailing blur of black, white, and green impacted the deck a couple of meters in front of him. To be fair, the youngest prince had technically landed on his feet.
Loki was almost finished picking himself up off the floor of the skiff when he heard a little yelp and a heavy thud, and turned to see Thor rising from his calculated impact a few feet behind him. He had landed even less masterfully than Loki, making sure to land with Jane nestled safely on top of him to protect her from the impact. He shot Loki a warning look while he returned his hammer to its place on his belt. Ah, yes...Air pressure. Loki ignored the warning and caught Fandral's eye, gesturing sarcastically toward Thor in defense of his reputation. The blond swordsman smirked in amusement but was quick to hide it when his friend turned to face him.
"Sire," Fandral acknowledged solemnly from his place at the tiller. "Jane."
"Ughhh..." Jane groaned, wandering past Loki to perch at the bow of the skiff. Her eyes had returned to their original color since Loki had last seen them, but she was still somewhat out of it. Fandral exchanged a significant look with Thor.
"We have little time before they discover our ploy," Thor stated. Glancing over at Jane, he cautioned, "Mind the edge."
"You lied to me!" Loki observed, and walked over to take Fandral's place at the tiller. "I'm impressed."
Thor just shot him a look and headed over to arrange the bedding at the stern, not noticing the way that Loki immediately repositioned himself so that all the others aboard remained within his field of vision. Fandral ran a discerning gaze over the younger man's face. He had noticed.
"You said that you could guide us out of Asgard," Thor reminded Loki.
"I am."
"I suggest that you hasten your efforts."
"Thor-" Loki was interrupted by a barrage of weapons fire arcing past from behind him. He didn't even flinch.
"It seems that we have been discovered," Fandral noted lightly, stepping forward and helping Jane over to the seat that Thor had arranged for her.
"Loki..." Thor urged.
"I already am."
"They will overtake us soon!"
"They will not," Fandral reassured them before the argument could truly begin. He paused to watch their pursuers gaining on them, and to gauge the distance, then drew his rapier using the point to cut a hanging cable to the necessary length. "Good luck, my friends!" he cried, doing a little bow before shouting "For Asgard!" and using the cable to swing away onto the pursuing skiff. In the distance they could hear him land lightly on the deck and announce: "I'm sorry about this chaps!" Then the sounds of clashing swords faded out of hearing range.
He almost looked like he was enjoying that, the consciousness reflected.
"He was," Loki muttered, more focused on steering the skiff away from danger than on who had spoken to him.
"He was what?" Thor asked.
"No matter," Loki dismissed, seeing the cliff-face that he'd been searching for finally come into view.
"Loki..." Thor said anxiously once it became clear that Loki was steering them straight into a solid slab of rock.
"If it was easy, everyone would do it," Loki replied, his eyes glued to the almost imperceptible crevice splitting the cliff up ahead.
"Are you mad!?" Thor exclaimed.
"Possibly."
Thor ducked down to shield Jane's blissfully-unconscious form on the bedding behind him, right before the skiff scraped through the crevice at full speed with sparks flying everywhere. A disconcerting sensation of absence overtook them and complete darkness engulfed them all for a split-second. That second began to stretch without any evidence that time had passed, nor any proof of their existence whatsoever. Before Thor could truly fret for Jane's survival within the overwhelming lack, the air pressure returned along with light, and time, and gravity, and sound, and they burst out onto the barren wastes of Svartálfheim. It really had only been a split-second.
"Ta daa," Loki deadpanned.
Thor looked up to glare at him and noticed that he couldn't seem to catch his breath. Thor stilled, his anger forgotten. He couldn't understand why Loki would even be out of breath in the first place.
"Are you alright, Brother?"
"I'm not your brother," Loki deflected, releasing his grip on the tiller and crossing to the far end of the skiff as Jane began to stir.
He's only worried about you.
Do not presume to speak of things that you do not understand, Loki objected internally, struggling to hide the tremors that were running through his entire body, as he pressed his back to the paneling.
I do understand. At the surge of defensive rage that this comment triggered, He sent a gentle impression of security that Loki resisted on reflex.
I will not be manipulated! he snarled at Him. Loki couldn't seem to get any air.
I'm not trying to trick you, Loki... the consciousness soothed, barely refraining from another attempt to comfort him telepathically.
You truly believe that you can deceive the God of Lies?!
"Loki?" Thor questioned with mounting concern, watching Loki begin to struggle for breath. "What is it? What is wrong with you?!"
He didn't mean that.
Loki let out a wordless snarl and pressed his back harder against the paneling.
Thor frowned down at him, confused, and rose from his seat. "Brother?" he demanded more urgently, starting towards Loki. A delicate hand reached up to grasp his bicep, halting his progress. Thor looked back at Jane.
She shook her head at him. Her expression was solemn.
"Hang on," she told him in a carefully-modulated tone before stepping between the two men. Loki's eyes zeroed in on her face with fierce intensity, reminiscent of a trapped wild animal. Jane slowly knelt down facing him, careful to keep both her hands in view all the while.
"Okay. We're okay," she said in the same calm, modulated voice that she'd used to speak to Thor. It wasn't patronizing, nor especially gentle, merely patient. She was relaying the facts.
Loki didn't respond outright, but the intensity of his ragged breathing settled down a little.
"I just want to come a little bit closer to you. Will you let me do that?"
The way that Loki's brow crinkled together would have been unnoticeable if Jane hadn't already been watching for it.
"That's fine; we can wait here as long as you want," she assured him.
"Jane-" Thor began to protest, but Jane held up a hand to silence him with her gaze still resting steadily on Loki's face.
"Whatever it was that you did back there on the ship. That really helped me," Jane continued. Thor narrowed his eyes, but he knew better than to push the matter in their current situation.
"I didn't get a chance to thank you for that."
Loki tensed up immediately and his breathing sped up again. Jane held her hands out in a submissive gesture.
"I was just hoping that you might give me a chance to return the favor." Luckily, that turned out to be the right thing to say, because Loki relaxed and gave her the slightest nod.
Jane carefully crossed the space between them, allowing Loki every opportunity to stop her if he got uncomfortable again.
Thor looked on with interest while Jane leaned forward and spoke with Loki in a hushed voice. Then she took one of Loki's shaking hands and held it to her side while her dark eyes studied his face. Eventually, Loki's breathing fell back into its usual steady rhythm and Jane released her grip on his hand, but made no move to leave his side.
Loki looked pale and drawn and utterly miserable, avoiding eye contact with either of them and acting ashamed of himself. Thor opened his mouth to inquire about whatever it was that had just happened, but hesitated. Jane seemed to understand what this was, and she had warned him to be quiet. He figured that he should remain that way until she indicated that it was safe to do otherwise. Knowing that didn't make it any easier though.
After nearly fifteen minutes of weighted silence, Loki got up and walked over to check their bearing, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Thor frowned at him and shot a look at Jane, but to his surprise she stood up and returned to the seat, content to play along with his brother's delusion.
"There's a magnetic fault running through this valley," Loki reported, turning to regard him expectantly. "We should be able to ride it south for a few hours without much bother."
Thor continued to eye him sternly.
"If you would prefer an alternate course..."
"What happened back there?" Thor demanded. On the seat behind him, Jane cringed.
"I brought us through a passage, Thor, as you requested," Loki recounted slowly as though speaking to an especially dull child. "I would expect you to remember, as it was mere moments ago."
"That is not what I was referring to, as you well know," Thor insisted.
"Thor," Jane prompted, holding a hand out toward him that he ignored in favor of staring down his deceptive charge. "Please, just... come sit with me."
"I made a promise to mother."
Loki scoffed and pushed past Thor toward the other side of the craft, putting more distance between them. "Yes, and you are doing a splendid job: kidnapping me out of prison, dragging us both to the land of the Dӧkkálfar..."
"Do not think that you can distract me!"
"Distract you? How could I distract you? It's not as though you're the mindless oaf who swanned off and gave his heart to a mere mortal. Oh wait-"
As predicted, Thor grabbed the Dark Prince by the front of his armor and spun them around so that he was pinned against the wood of the mast.
"Thor!" Jane shouted, jumping up, ready to storm over and physically pull the two idiots apart if she had to.
Thor hesitated, then let out a deep breath and released his hold, stepping away from the disappointed Trickster. "Mother would not want us to fight."
"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki pointed out.
Jane was still standing poised in front of her make-shift bed, watching them both intently.
"Charging to my rescue, Dr. Foster?" Loki mocked. "Do try to remember who the villain is."
"Stop it," Jane snapped. She turned her reproachful gaze on Thor. "And you, stop falling for it!" with that she spun around and reclaimed her position within the nest of pillows, pulling the blankets over her with more aggression than was strictly necessary.
Loki watched her in thoughtful silence. After a beat, Thor sneaked his hand up to try and cup his brother's jaw, but Loki slapped his arm back down before it reached its target. No one was that sneaky. Thor let out a regretful sigh, looking like a kicked puppy, and let his gaze wander around them.
"That face doesn't work on me," Loki reminded him, still lost in his own meditations. His face scrunched up at the flicker of amusement he felt from the consciousness in reaction to his brother's unsuccessful overture, and felt Him recede to the edge of his awareness with a wordless apology.
"You are not well," Thor observed sadly, and a muscle in Loki's jaw twitched.
"I am capable. That is all that you require of me," was Loki's icy response, and the end to their conversation, since he then stalked away to sit near the tiller, refusing to acknowledge Thor's presence anymore.
A/N: Okay guys. That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, and as always I hope that you enjoyed this. Special thanks for this week go to icanhearthedrums for her help and support during a rather frustrating battle I was having against a series of computer glitches. Anyways, until next time my darlings. I bid you a fond adieu. Please review.
P.S. I had to re-upload this chapter due to my ongoing battle with the dreaded glitches. Sorry for the inconvenience.