Just in case anyone's super squeamish, there's a bit of violence in this chapter, but it never gets graphic. Now don't go making assumptions, either! ;-)


Beneath

Chapter Sixty-Five – Prey

Loki did not go to lunch. He did not go to dinner. He did not go to bed. He did not go to the Weight Room. He did not leave his chambers for anything other than a brief visit to the men's room.

He stared at the walls. He took down the cardboard and stared out the window.

He picked up the poetry book and read Ulysses until he had memorized it and the words washed over him as syllables deprived of meaning.

He picked up The Art of War, opened it to the beginning, and began to read it slowly, from the beginning, as he had not done since purchasing it so many centuries ago. He was soon engrossed. He was soon laughing. How young and naïve I was! It's a wonder Thor didn't report me to Odin and have me locked away for sedition. "All warfare is based on deception?" Not for Odin All-Father. "Line them all up and let them start slaying the enemy!" – that's his method. He'd known this book contained concepts that the Aesir would view as unorthodox, but at the time he hadn't possessed the experience or wisdom to recognize how truly radical some of its teachings were for the Realm Eternal. When one's warriors were the best in the Nine Realms and every single man received a warrior's training, perhaps one saw no need for art.

The five faults of a general. Sun Tzu must have had Thor in mind when he was writing this. The fearless son of Odin was the very image of two of the five. "Recklessness, which leads to destruction. A quick temper, which can be provoked with insults." And Odin intended to make him king.

He continued to read, immersing himself thoroughly in the book, pausing for long periods of time to look back on a lifetime of experience in battles large and small. Some of it provoked bitterness rather than laughter. "The skillful leader subdues the enemy without fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field."

It wasn't my choice. It wasn't my plan. I would have done it differently. Less fighting…fewer deaths. He tightened his jaw and looked away for a moment. Then he looked back at the text. At least I did one thing right, so to speak. It wasn't lengthy. Unfortunately that wasn't because I overthrew any kingdoms.

He kept reading, right through the chapter on spies. There on the small book's pages were instructions on how to convince Vigdis to turn against Brokk. But Loki knew now that Thor would never look at this book. He'd probably never looked at it when it was first given to him. Not once he got to "All warfare is based on deception."

He reached the end, and turned back to a short passage that had turned his stomach cold and hard, propelling him forward and past it without lingering. Sun Tzu seemed to be writing about territory here. Geography. Location. But it didn't matter. He was writing to Loki.

When the enemy has amassed and is ready to march against you… "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear. Then he will be amenable to your will."

There were many things on Asgard that Loki could seize which his opponent held dear. On Midgard, there was only one. The one he'd promised to visit all along.

/


/

Jane kept an eye out for Loki the rest of Monday without catching sight of him, and when he didn't show up for breakfast Tuesday morning she figured he had gone back into brooding mode, or whatever he preferred to call it. It was something of a let-down, but she told herself she should have expected it. Even with as much as he'd told her yesterday, it wasn't like he'd really initiated anything. All he'd wanted with her yesterday was an assurance she wasn't going to rat him out to SHIELD. Everything that came after that was because she'd asked. The novelty was in him answering, not in him wanting to talk about Asgard and volunteering information of his own accord. She couldn't help wondering, though, if maybe on some level he did want to talk about those things. After all, Asgard was his home. Surely he missed it.

She was still thinking that over as she got set up in worn jeans and her blue Australia T-shirt in the Science Lab, hair pulled up in a ponytail.

"Hey, Jane, working in here today?" Austin said, pouring another cup of coffee from the pot near Jane's desk.

"Yeah. It's too windy outside. Too cold. I didn't feel like making the trek."

"Yeah, same here. Carlo and me are enjoying the balmy indoors today. Where's Lucas?"

"Uhhh…" And brain freeze hit. "Brooding in his room" was probably not the best answer.

"Well, when you see him, will you please pester him about the darts tournament? I swear if he doesn't start playing with us Wright and me are going to hogtie him and drag him down the hall kicking and screaming. Kidding, kidding," he added at what Jane figured must have been kind of a panicked look on her face. "Girls," he muttered with a smile before giving her a friendly nudge on the shoulder and going back to his desk.

If he and Wright ever did try something like that, Jane saw a desperate phone call to SHIELD in her future, with screams of terror in the background.

Loki should be playing darts with them. It was probably just the kind of thing Odin wanted. Loki getting to know people. Coming to care about them. At least she figured that's what Thor had done. Thor was…open to people. Once he got a few Pop-Tarts in him. "We're out of eggs. Do you want to go down to Izzy's Diner and get some hot food?" "Yes, let us go to Izzy's Diner!" he said with his second smile – the first coming after a few bites of strawberry Pop-Tart – and wow, were his eyes big and the most amazing shade of blue. And that night, when Erik wanted to go for drinks, Thor went with him, drank with him, carried him back to my place.

Jane sat back and sighed, still waiting for all of the Yggdrasil data to load onto the computer here. Thor was willing to learn. Willing to listen. Loki needed a nudge. He wasn't going to get to know anyone here, not even her, really – in nearly three months he'd hardly asked anything about her, and what little he'd asked when she thought he was Lucas was probably done solely to manipulate her – unless she actively pushed him into situations where he could. She'd already tried that for a little while, after their joint return from Asgard, but she'd virtually given up after a week or so of constant no. Maybe I need to take the choice away from him… She squeezed her eyes shut hard to try to clear them of an image of her and her fellow Dark Sector scientists capturing and hogtying him, dragging him off to activity after activity. Maybe some other way…

The computer stopped "thinking" and her data came up on the screen. She turned first to Young-Soo's 3-D model of Yggdrasil's interior. Loki was right – of course, she thought with a flash of annoyance. It was filled with other branches, way more than seven. But why then were all the rest of the realms convinced there were just nine? Loki had said he'd been to at least one other, the Chitauri world, he'd as much as confirmed. So were there millions? Billions? Trillions? The anomalous energy signatures inside Yggdrasil didn't resolve neatly into a simple tunnel structure – mathematical modeling predicted that the branches themselves further branched.

There was a simple way to collect further data. Send a probe. They'd been lucky that Yggdrasil automatically drew the probe to the far end of the tunnel and released the probe over Asgard; originally Jane had expected they would have to direct it there themselves. It had saved them time to have Yggdrasil take care of that for them…but it wasn't like they couldn't have done it. Pathfinder was programmable, and the sheer power of the arc reactor allowed it to maintain a link with the probe. That link could be used to direct the probe's passage within Yggdrasil.

But it was risky. Loki had been confident that a probe sent through Yggdrasil would reach Asgard, and based on his assurance – and her own excitement that might have overridden caution just a touch – they'd tested it. Who knew where these other branches went? More importantly, who knew who might be on the other end and curious to know where that shiny metal sphere had come from…and who might be able to follow it back to Earth? Eager though she was for answers that it seemed even Loki could not provide, there was no way she was going to undertake something like that without SHIELD's backing, and some kind of additional safety protocol.

SHIELD's backing couldn't come until SHIELD knew of her breakthrough. Her breakthrough with Loki's help. SHIELD couldn't know of her breakthrough until the station opened and Loki left…

"Oh," Jane said, sagging in her chair.

"Everything okay?" Wright asked from his desk just a few feet from hers.

"Uh, yeah, just…unexpected results. No big deal," she said, and Wright went back to work. But it was a big deal. As long as Loki was here on Earth and she stood by what she'd told Thor and what Loki had insisted she swear to, she couldn't tell SHIELD anything about Loki's involvement. Which meant no Pathfinder. No interstellar travel. And no exploring or even discussing exploring Yggdrasil's other branches. Not until Loki served whatever sort of punishment he was supposed to serve here, and learned whatever exactly it was that his father wanted him to learn. She wished she could ask Odin; she would try to make sure he learned it quickly.

She held back the dark laughter that the idea made bubble up inside her. Loki hadn't responded well to her efforts to "teach," though she had to admit her methodology had probably not been very sound. He responded better to her when she listened, when she held back her anger even in the face of his, when she was direct but not accusing. Of course he responds better to that. Doesn't everyone?

Jane got on with her work, combing through every bit of data the probe had collected while passing through Yggdrasil and all of the analysis and modeling programs it had been put through.

But her thoughts kept drifting back to Loki – what he was supposed to learn, why he'd done what he'd done. Based on what she knew so far, his actions seemed way out of proportion. Can it really just come down to sibling rivalry? Your brother is stronger than you and was better at "everything that mattered," whatever that means, so you try to conquer a planet to get back at him? And Jotunheim surrenders the day you're born, ruining your birthday forever, so you try to destroy it? Then there's the adoption thing – is there some stigma attached to that in Asgard? But if so…wouldn't Thor have mentioned it? He said he didn't understand why Loki was so mad at him, but if adopted kids are stigmatized, wouldn't he have known that was a big part of why Loki was upset, why he didn't feel like Thor's equal?

The only rational thing she could take away from what Loki had told her, most of it just yesterday, was that he resented Thor because he'd always felt second-best. And although Jane had no siblings, she could imagine that it would be tough to live with that. But megalomaniacal world-conquering-tough? That was harder to swallow. Surely there's more to it… She used to think maybe he was just mentally unhinged, and that when Thor spoke of how much he cared for Loki, that maybe his feelings were a little misplaced, because whatever little brother Thor had grown up with, Loki was clearly evil now. She no longer thought it was so simple. He'd been hurt in life. As she thought about it, she realized she'd seen it all along. She'd known it when he was still Lucas to her, when he'd called his father an overbearing tyrant, when he'd said his brother had stood by while his father branded his wrist. Loki had told her he hadn't lied to her as Lucas. And while that was patently untrue on the face of it…at the same time she realized for the first time what he meant. He'd said his father wanted him to be something he wasn't; she'd believed he wanted to prove himself to a father who couldn't accept his interest in something other than the family business. She'd never dealt with anything like that – Erik hadn't always agreed with her theories, but he'd always supported her work – and she'd felt awful for him. When she'd realized who he was, though, she'd rejected all of that, and every ounce of sympathy she'd felt for him had evaporated into the dry air of the South Pole that trapped her here with Loki.

Now he was opening up again, somewhat, and Jane didn't think he was lying. And he wasn't unhinged. At least not entirely. There has to be more to it, though. He snarls and he snaps… An image of the loveable mutt from The Lady and The Tramp came to mind – that was definitely not Loki. He was more like one of those fighting breeds. Or…a wounded animal. Lashing out. Jane frowned, all concentration on the computer screen gone. He isn't an animal. And he isn't the only person who's ever been hurt, she thought remembering again that moment that would stay with her forever, the moment when Aunt Vivian told her, "I'm sorry, Jane, they didn't make it," the moment that had lasted so long because she couldn't fathom what "they didn't make it" could possibly mean other than the one thing that it couldn't possibly mean. You don't get a free pass because you got hurt. A wounded animal lashes out at a hand it doesn't know is helping it…not entire planets, and not out of revenge, and whatever reason he tried to destroy Jotunheim for.

Her thoughts were suddenly hurtling down a new path, out of control, dark, uncomfortable. He lashes out at me. Does he think I'm…helping him, somehow? In a way he doesn't want? She remembered the evening in the store, when she'd bought him a T-shirt and sweatpants, and out of the blue he'd compared her to acid. He'd been telling her about colors he refused to wear. And what does that have to do with anything? One of a seemingly endless string of questions she had no answers for.

She remembered what she'd told him yesterday, before things got derailed by his anger toward Thor. He isn't willing to learn. He doesn't want to learn. He doesn't want to let go of his anger…he doesn't want to be happy…and he never is…

Jane held onto that train of thought while at the same time recognizing she'd made a number of leaps based on just a handful of things she knew about him, and maybe some of her ideas were wrong. He is no wounded innocent mutt. But some were probably right.

Loki letting go of some of that anger would be better for him, and for Thor, and for all of Earth, if it meant he no longer felt the need to take his issues with Thor out on this planet. And it would be better for me, she had to admit. When he's not flying off the handle…he's kind of interesting to talk to.

Get past the anger. Get to know humanity…or at least the microcosm of it currently living at the South Pole.

Jane finally turned her attention back to her work, but thoughts of Loki floated constantly at the back of her mind, and by the time Carlo came in chiding her for missing out on salami panini with vegetables from the greenhouse and she realized she'd completely missed lunch hours, the seed of an idea was already growing. A risk, maybe, but something she could only hope Loki would respond well to. Or at least wouldn't respond badly to.

/


/

The next morning, Loki leaned against the bar at the far end of the galley, enjoying the feel of the comfortable stretch of leather in his plain brown coat, pants, and boots, and soft green cloth, despite the recently-gained imperfections in the tunic and boots. The clothing helped remind him who he was. Why he was really here.

He observed in still silence as the cooks finished their preparations and the other station residents began to arrive, pouring coffee or juice, getting cereal or muffins or scrambled eggs and sausage patties and oatmeal. A scene he'd participated in many times over the months. It was different now. He'd never thought himself part of this group of people; now he stood physically apart from them, unseen by them.

His right leg still smarted from the magic. The All-Father had taught both Thor and him how to stalk prey, but he would not approve of this particular hunt. Neither the prey, nor the tactics.

"We'll take this one. His time is past," Odin whispered, pointing out a heavily scarred stag whose head must reach several feet above Thor's, and his antlers far above that.

"Time for his antlers to grace the halls of the palace," Thor agreed, drawing his sword from the scabbard that hung on his back, admiring its glint in the sunlight, and resheathing it.

"You need practice on the bow."

"My first choice was Mjolnir."

"I recall," Odin said.

Loki rolled his eyes. Thor would eat his food with Mjolnir if he could figure out how. Odin had for once put his foot down, though, and Mjolnir stayed home for their hunting trip to Svartalfheim. Loki was 74, Thor a recent 75, and it was their first hunt with Father since they were in their twenties. At least it was for Loki; he knew Thor had gone with him a few times since, when Loki was being punished, and later living in self-exile here on Svartalfheim. Loki had high hopes for this outing.

The three of them left the camouflaged platform they'd built over a large tree branch – no thanks to Thor, who'd spent most of the time complaining he could have done it better with Mjolnir – and crept slowly forward, downwind of the small herd, to take up another position their father had indicated.

Loki tried to get Thor to lag behind, to share an idea, but Thor was right by Odin's side, missing his signals. So Loki slackened his pace and trailed off on his own, and wasn't surprised that neither man noticed. He eyed with distaste the old stag his father has singled out. It did have an incredible pair of antlers, thicker at the base than his own waist, then rising and arcing back and branching again and again. They would be a magnificent prize – one that Thor would no doubt claim. Loki wanted the pelt. And this one was hideous, many of its scars entirely lacking the coarse pale fur that covered the rest of the creature's hide. And by the time Odin rained arrows down on it and Thor hacked it up with his typical enthusiasm…perhaps a few coin purses could be made from it.

Loki had a better idea. He'd meant for Thor to join him in this, but – he turned back along the alternate path he'd taken, straight out toward the herd – Thor had still not even noticed he was gone. He bristled at the realization, but pushed it aside. It wasn't like it was the first time that happened.

A few minutes later, he stood right in front of his animal of choice. Another Mammoth Field Deer stag, antlers not as impressive but perfectly symmetrical and still worthy of Asgard's walls, and a golden brown pelt with only a few scars, and those were nicely healed, speaking of a proud creature who'd fought and won battles. Loki had hidden himself thoroughly – sight, sound, even smell, the first time he'd tried that – and it had worked. His prey had no idea he stood right before it, arrow pulled taut in his bow.

Loki brushed away his concealment magic, then cleared his throat. The stag made a sudden bellowing sound, a warning call to his herd, and reared up on its hind legs, towering over Loki. He fixed his eye on his mark and released the arrow straight into the heart. The proud beast gave a keening call, then began falling forward – directly toward Loki, whose smile of satisfaction turned slightly more nervous as he began scrambling backward. The great beast's head just missed him, and he took a quick step to the right to dodge the antlers that would have knocked him to the ground hard; he nearly fell from the combination of the air whooshing toward him and the ground trembling with the enormous deer's collapse. But he kept his footing, and the smile returned.

The stag released a final breath of warm air through its nostrils right in front of him, then feel silent, eyes glazing over. One arrow, he thought with pride. He turned, seeking his father and Thor. Odin was standing from a crouch and motioning him forward. Loki's smile grew. But Thor, he realized for the first time, was shouting his name – and telling him to run. Immediately after Thor's voice broke through his euphoria, he heard a bellowing behind him. He spun around, then ducked under the fallen stag's antlers just in time to avoid being skewered. The animal, a very young stag, came to a halt and turned around, his hoof pounding at the ground as he stared Loki down. He looked around him and saw he was being surrounded by the herd. He wasn't sure how many were after the attacker in their midst and how many just wanted to see to their fallen herdmate, but either way, remaining where he was wasn't a good option. Loki took off running, dodging his way between two does who were just as tall as him but at least had no horns of any consequence.

"To the trees!" he heard his father shout, and adjusted his direction, hooves thundering behind him. His pursuers were fast, but so was Loki, and he raced across the grassy field at a zigzag, adrenaline propelling him forward all the faster. He made it to the tree line and kept going, soon reaching deeply enough into the dense woods that none of the adult members of the herd could get to him. One large male – the one his father had initially wanted to take – lingered, but a few minutes later even he turned back into the field. Loki's smile turned into a grin, and he breathed deeply, his lungs filling with rich Svartalf air. He felt alive. By the time his father and brother reached him, he was laughing, almost drunk on his success. This must be how Thor feels, he thought.

"Did you see that? It was perfect. And the pelt is nearly flawless, one arrow straight through the heart. For a second there I thought he was going to crush me. And Thor, you-"

"Loki-" Thor tried to interrupt.

"-can have the antlers, they're beautiful. Father, did you see? Isn't he an amazing…" Loki's smile faded along with his words. The look on his father's face was not one of pride. It was anger.

"If you're done now, we can leave."

"What's wrong?" Loki asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence. He glanced at Thor, who was frowning and staring at the ground. His stomach sank; this was bad. It was so bad, it turned out, that neither Odin nor Thor spoke during the whole walk back to the warden's hut. Odin signed for their departure and turned to go.

Loki lingered with the warden. "Father…you forgot…" Odin did not forget. "But…the stag…" Odin didn't turn or even pause. Loki ran after him, catching up to him and leaving Thor to trail behind this time. "Father, if I've done something wrong, then please tell me what it is."

"You tell me, Loki," Odin said, still not breaking his pace, leading them back toward their camp.

Loki bristled at those words, what his parents and especially his mother had said when he and Thor were boys and had gotten in trouble. "I'm not a child," Loki said, annoyance seeping into his voice though he tried hard to keep it out.

"No, you aren't," Odin said, finally stopping. "You're a grown man. So I shouldn't have to tell you where you've erred. A hunt requires skills, Loki, many of them the same ones that every warrior needs. And a kill should be made with honor, the animal treated with respect. You robbed that beast of the opportunity to use either his instincts or his strength to defend himself from your weapon. That was not a hunt. It was a slaughter. You interfered with the natural order of things…"

The lecture continued, and Loki tried to listen, but found the words soon washing over him without ever entering his ears. At the end of it, Odin had a question for him: "Do you still wish to claim that stag now?"

It snapped Loki out of his daze. Yes! "No, Father," he said dutifully, knowing this was the correct answer, and bowing his head with the proper show of respect and contrition.

"The villagers here will make better use of it than we ever would," Odin said, continuing on toward the large tent that had been set up for them. He instructed the servants to break it down, explaining that they were returning early.

Loki hid his disappointment behind a mask.

It was late at night in Asgard when the bifrost brought them back. "We'll try it again sometime," Odin said after mounting Sleipnir, barely looking either of them in the eye, then bade them goodnight.

Loki and Thor held back, keeping their horses at a walk. They were halfway down the bridge before Loki spoke. "I don't understand. Why is it less respectful to do it the way I did? He didn't suffer. He was dead in seconds. Why is it better to loose a dozen arrows and once he collapses finish him with a sword? Was there not skill also in what I did?"

Thor didn't answer for a while, long enough that Loki began to think he wasn't going to. "There was skill in it, Loki...of a sort. I couldn't have done that. And I don't understand everything Father says, either. He's right, though. What you did…it's simply not the way a hunt is done. It was an astounding sight, Brother, you standing there right in front of that stag as it reared up. Like some illustration from an adventure book that I wouldn't have believed true if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I don't know how you managed to so thoroughly cloak yourself. But you shouldn't have done it. There was no sport in that."

Thor hadn't approved either. Of course. Why bother thinking for yourself when the great Odin All-Father is there to do it for you? Thor would certainly not approve of this, either, Loki thought as he watched Jane walk in. But then that was the whole point.

Double espresso. As usual. Oatmeal. Less common. She'd said whenever she got it she could swear it still had that funny taste she associated with the Diamox she used to take. He wondered why she was getting it today. Brown sugar and raisins added. The scientists seemed to all be congregating this morning, putting Jane and Selby at the same table, also fairly unusual these days. Loki smiled a hard, small smile, knowing that was his doing. It was too bad Thor didn't have some special fondness in his heart for Selby. That would be so much easier.

Odin had wanted to target the older stag. "His time is past." Loki had considered following the old king's strategy. A hidden knife. The beginnings of a deep bow of contrition. A knife drawn, and slid across a throat, or plunged into a heart, or both for good measure. A fight to hold off any attempt at healing. Would the curses cease to exist with Odin's last heartbeat? Probably. But he couldn't be certain; Odin's magic was his own, channeled and sharpened through Gungnir. Perhaps, then, if after slaying Odin he took control of Gungnir again... That uncertainty wasn't the only problem with this plan.

If he did it, there could be no hesitation. No weakness, no softness of any kind. Odin may be old, but he was not weak. Loki would have to make the most efficient kill of his life. But he wasn't sure he'd managed to stamp out the last remnants of weakness. Of sentiment. Of the boy who wished so badly for his father's affection and praise, of the man who'd screamed in anger and pain at the one who was not his father, yet still reached for his hand once he collapsed.

And then there was Frigga. She may have rejected him, but he hadn't managed to fully let go of her yet. He had already taken a son from her. If he did this, he would be taking a husband as well. He couldn't bear to imagine the look on her face when her hands dripped with Odin's blood and she turned to see his knife dripping with the same.

He'd thought it through again and again, and this was the only alternative he thought would all but guarantee success. His eyes refocused on Jane. She was laughing at something Wright was saying. He stared hard at her. You are nothing to me. You are just another mortal, he told himself, not for the first time since he'd decided on this course of action. A mortal who has never taken any action against me…except for that one slap, that hurt her hand more than my face. And I deserved it. He felt guilt curling in his stomach and pressed it down with a metaphorical fist. No more guilt! Especially not over her. No harm was done in the end. And no harm will be done here…not in the end.

He'd pictured exactly how it would go, thought through variations of what might happen. If Odin came but not Thor, that would be the most difficult problem to overcome. Thor's presence was key, for Thor would not call his bluff. Not once he made clear how far he was willing to go. If Odin was reluctant to remove the curses, Thor would insist …once he saw Jane bleed. If Odin still refused, at least he would be free of the bridge and be able to escape to Alfheim and have another chance at getting the curses removed.

He wouldn't cut her too badly, not too deeply. Just enough for Thor to know he was serious, and for Jane to believe it as well. "You won't kill her, Loki. If you do you'll only end up killing yourself, too," Thor might say. "Have you forgotten? I was willing to die once before. The only difference now is that I will take her with me," he would answer. He wouldn't actually go that far. He wouldn't need to. He would cut her, and suffer the same wound himself because of Curse Number One, and no matter what he might say to Thor and Odin, he did not have a death wish. Odin would remove the curses and release him, and in return he would release Jane. Thor would fly her straight to the Healing Room, and Jane's rapid healing would enable his own healing, and everything would be well again. No more frozen wasteland. No more Jane. And Thor will never forgive me.

Jane had finished her breakfast and was walking out with her gaggle of scientists.

It was all for the best.

/


/

That night, Jane knocked on Loki's door after dinner. "Hey, uh, so, I haven't seen you since Monday morning," she said when he appeared.

"No, you haven't," Loki agreed, standing in his doorway.

"It's Wednesday evening."

"Your grasp of the days of the week is impressive," he said coldly, without the teasing tone he often took with her.

"Uh-huh. Your capacity for brooding is impressive." Jane paused, expecting some snarky comeback, but none came. "Well, I thought maybe since you said you enjoyed that story I told you from mythology, maybe I could tell you another one."

Loki forced his eyes to remain on hers. "Perhaps another time."

"Come on, it's a good one. You and your father and some other guy go out and kill an ox and try to cook it, but-"

"Why are your storytellers so convinced that we consume oxen?"

"I don't know. We already established that the mythology's only partly true. But come on, let's find someplace quiet and I'll tell you the whole story, and you can tell me how wrong and stupid it all is, you'll enjoy that," Jane said with a smirk.

Loki eyed her and her for-whatever-reason friendly smile, and thought. If he agreed, he could suggest they go out to the jamesway, though he doubted that was what she had in mind. He could do it now. It was the perfect opportunity; she wanted to be alone with him. She was watching him, and waiting. He frowned and decided. He'd already settled on doing it tomorrow. If he improvised, he could make a mistake. It was best to stick with the plan. "Not tonight. Perhaps tomorrow."

"Tomorrow…I don't think I can. I've got a lot of work to do, and it's house mouse, but don't worry, we're on bathroom detail, and our deal stands. I'll cover for you. But Friday night, how about then?" Jane asked, trying not to look too eager, and hoping he wouldn't press on Thursday, since her excuse was pretty flimsy. She worked according to her own schedule, and if she didn't get something done on Thursday she could just do it on Friday.

"Friday is fine."

Jane gave a big smile and left him alone, deciding since she hadn't been able to coax him out, she would go get some more work done in the Arts and Crafts Room. At least she'd be able to get him out of his room on Friday; she'd been a little worried about that.

Loki watched her go, then closed the door. They wouldn't be here anymore on Friday. She could tell her stories to Thor.

/


/

On Thursday morning, Loki sat at his desk and waited. He knew exactly where Jane was. She would go to breakfast, then she would report to the women's bathroom, while Selby and Wright went to the men's bathroom. After that she would go to work. When they didn't need the privacy of the Summer Camp jamesway, she usually worked from the DSL, since her other equipment was out there. He hoped it would be the same today. He needed to get her outside.

When the time approached that should have her finishing her cleaning soon, he took a deep breath to steady himself, then left his room with his water bottle to go linger at the water fountain in the hallway outside the bathrooms. A few people passed by, and each time he acted as though he were filling his bottle, but still everyone spoke to him. "Good morning, Lucas." "How's it going, Lucas?" And of course, "Did you sleep okay?" With only a couple of exceptions, he'd kept to himself here, and it seemed that was respected. Few people tried to engage him in conversation, and even fewer – recently only Jane and Austin – tried to invite him to their social events. They knew what his answer would be.

"Hey, Sax Man," Wright said when he emerged from the men's bathroom, Selby behind him. "We're playing next weekend. Didn't you say you played something?"

This again? He hadn't heard the "sax man" thing in at least two months. "Did I? Not since my youth, I'm afraid."

"Well, why don't you come give it a try? We're all just horsing around really. Making some music, having some fun. We'll do some practicing this weekend, you should jam with us, see what happens."

Loki forced a smile. "Certainly. Why not? Though I'll warn you not to have any expectations."

"Awesome. And darts, Friday night, you in? I saw you out there shoveling on Monday, your shoulder's got to be healed."

"Fine, yes, my shoulder's better." Wright kept up the banter for several more minutes, Selby putting in only a few words here and there, and it went on long enough that Jane came out of the women's bathroom, saying a quick "hi" as she ducked past them.

And so began a day of frustration. He soon found out Jane was working in the Science Lab, and instead of asking her to go outside with him then, he backed off, told himself he could wait, a better opportunity would come. He went to the galley for lunch, but Jane did not. Afterward, when he steeled himself to do what he had to do and went to the Science Lab, she wasn't there, and Selby said he didn't know where she was. He'd looked nervous when he said it, but Selby often looked nervous these days, so Loki simply frowned and went out into the moonlit day to look for her in the jamesway and the DSL. Not finding her in either place, he trudged back over the ice, running into Austin along the way. "Haven't seen her," Austin said to Loki's question, not breaking stride on his way out to the Ice Cube Lab.

There were only so many places she could be, and if he started opening every door to look for her, he would draw suspicion. With the radio on his belt he could call her directly and ask where she was, or ask her to meet him, but he'd never once contacted her by radio, so that would draw suspicion as well.

He went to his desk in the Science Lab, turned on his computer, and pretended to do work, pulling up whatever files Jane had last opened, and saw a rendering of the other tunnels branching off of Yggdrasil. So now she knew he'd been right. He caught himself smiling and quickly straightened his mouth into a neutral expression. He told himself he wasn't avoiding the task he knew he had to undertake, that it was simply important not to raise suspicion even if he was leaving here permanently. He'd thought that before, and no longer took "leaving here permanently" for granted.

At dinner time he loitered behind a corner, visible but largely hidden, until he finally saw Jane approach and enter the galley. He followed, seating himself at the table with her and a group of seven others, including all of the Dark Sector scientists except for Selby. They chatted about various inane things, asking him more questions than he thought was usual. When they were finishing and Loki asked Jane if she would go out and look at some data with him, she said she could not, that she and Su-Ji were working on something after dinner.

Loki stayed behind after the others left, contemplating whether he should forcibly take Jane from her room in the middle of the night. He could silence her screams, and her struggles would be no obstacle. She wouldn't be properly dressed, though, and she was a modest woman, always putting on that robe on the rare occasions when he happened to come to her room before she had dressed for the day… His jaw trembled with anger. This isn't about her, it's about me. It doesn't matter what she's wearing. And her comfort hardly matters under the circumstances. Still, he decided against it. It would be another improvisation. Jane was feisty; strong in her own way. Something could go wrong. He could wait another day. She'd already agreed to meet him Friday evening. He would do it then.


/

So...yeah. To steal a line from the next chapter...moving on. I have a question for you. I look at those "Story Stats" you get on here, and I can see on the "Views" by chapter, that these numbers never make a lick of sense. And the most glaring example is regarding Ch. 51 "Determination" (the one where Loki goes racing after Jane to prevent her from falling to her death, at the very end). For last month, August 2013 (I just checked), there were 108 views of Ch. 50, 118 views of Ch. 52, and a whopping 477 views of Ch. 51. So I'm guessing this means some people really like that chapter in particular? If you read Ch. 51 fifty-one times last month, I would love to hear from you! I have a slightly obsessive nature and I find all these numbers so odd, especially in this case when I'm not sure what would make this chapter such a favorite (except maybe the Loki-racing-after-Jane thing in the end?). I can't predict these things.

Moving on again, thanks as always for your comments and questions and so forth, and just...WOW. This story has crossed 1,000 reviews. I wish you really knew me and could know that it's not some false modesty with which I say...wow, and am just amazed and stunned and of course delighted.

Teasers for Ch. 66 "Surprise": Ummm...at least one surprise happens.

Excerpt:

"Ready to tell your story? You must have prepared it very well by now," Loki said.

"Yeah, I reviewed it. So, let's go to the galley. The dinner crowd's pretty much gone."

"'Pretty much?' If you're going to tell me stories from your mythology, then we need privacy, Jane. Let's go out to the jamesway instead."