What If…?
Loki didn’t stop to think. There wasn’t time.
He saw Thor on the ground, the Kurse striking him over and over and over. Thor wasn’t making any efforts to fight back anymore, and Loki knew that even the mighty God of Thunder couldn’t take those hits forever.
His feet were moving before he even commanded them to, a thousand plus years of instinct kicking in. He grabbed one of the Dark Elf weapons that lay abandoned on the ground as he ran. Suddenly, everything between himself and his brother didn’t seem so important, and there was only one thought in his mind.
Save Thor.
The Kurse reared up, and Thor’s body tensed up, bracing for yet another strike. But it never came. Loki ran up behind the monster and drove a large blade through his chest, causing him to falter in his attacks.
Thor stared up in shock. The Kurse slowly turned to face Loki. They were all still for a moment. Then the Kurse lunged, reaching his arms out to grab Loki, but the second they made contact the Trickster disappeared in a shimmed of gold and green.
That same light flashed beside Thor as the real Loki became visible again. He had a deadly smirk on his lips as his eyes locked with the Kurse.
“Have fun in Hel, monster,” he said, voice filled with venom and hatred.
The Kurse took one step forward and Loki’s hand twitched. The grenade clipped to the Kurse’s belt activated, consuming him as he let out a blood curdling wail.
Everything was quiet.
There was a rustling of fabric as Jane ran over from where she’d been hiding.
“Thor!” she yelled, dropping to her knees beside him.
“I’m alright,” he said quietly. He wrapped an arm around his ribs and hissed through his teeth as he moved into a sitting position.
Loki walked over and wordlessly offered him a hand. Thor stared up at him, then reached out and took it. Loki pulled him to his feet. He staggered but managed to keep from falling, and Loki stepped away again.
Jane moved to stand next to Thor, concerned for him but also eyeing Loki warily.
Loki ignored her and looked up at the darkening sky. A storm was coming, and the fierce winds of Svartalfheim were not something he was interested in dealing with right now.
“We should take cover,” he said.
Thor, who had also been surveying the worsening weather, nodded in agreement.
The black sand was being whipped up by the wind and biting painfully at the backs of their necks and legs by the time they reached a nearby cave and ducked inside, away from the growing storm.
Thor leaned against one of the walls, panting lightly as the remaining cracks in his ribs worked to knit themselves back together. Jane rubbed light circles on his back, but Loki noted from where he stood against the opposite wall that she looked somewhat agitated.
Several minutes passed, and this only increased. When the howling wind had quieted a bit and Thor was no longer panting, she huffed. Loki felt a headache immediately begin to build behind his eyes.
“So you guys didn’t think to maybe give me a heads up before pulling that stunt back there? Do you have any idea how freaked out I was when I saw Loki literally cut off your hand?!” Jane exclaimed.
Thor’s expression turned guilty. “I am sorry, Jane. We thought it would be best that you didn’t know so your reactions would not have the possibility of seeming forced. Loki and I have done this kind of thing before. We know how to make it look real. However we only had one shot back there and—”
“And we couldn’t risk you messing it up with sloppy acting,” Loki cut in. Thor glared but didn’t argue. “Though,” Loki muttered, “I suppose we managed to mess things up pretty badly regardless.”
They were all silent for quite some time after that comment. It was true. After all, Malekith had escaped with the Aether, and they were still right here.
Finally, Jane said, “He’s going to Earth.”
The brothers shared a glance.
“What?” Thor asked.
“Malekith. I saw him on Earth. But why would he go to Earth?”
Loki thought silently for a moment. When it hit him, he let out a sigh.
“The Convergence,” Thor stated at about the same time.
“So,” Loki said, “he’s going to go to Earth, release the Aether during the Convergence, and destroy the realms, plunging the universe back into eternal darkness. Splendid.”
“Well then, the winds have slowed somewhat,” Thor said, pushing off the wall. “We had best get there before he does.”
Jane watched Loki nervously. “We’re going to Earth?” she asked.
Thor seemed to catch her implication and looked over at his brother with a stern gaze.
Loki rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to lead some hostile invasion if that’s what you’re so worried about.”
“Another hostile invasion,” Jane corrected.
Loki smirked, but his expression fell to disdain as Thor pulled out the cuffs and held them open, expectantly.
“Are those really necessary?” Loki asked coolly.
“Yes,” Thor responded instantly.
Loki watched him with narrowed eyes. He hated having his magic bound, and finally being able to feel the full extent of it again after nearly a year of consistently having at least some level of bindings on had been so nice.
He knew there was no changing Thor’s mind though, so he reluctantly held his hands out, watching coolly as Thor locked the cuffs around his wrists and his magic.
Thor looked like he wanted to say something but Loki’s eyes were cold and closed off, and he eventually turned back around to face Jane. “To Earth, then.” The two of them began towards the exit.
Loki sighed. “Wrong way.”
They stopped.
“What?” Thor asked.
Loki was about to respond but was cut off as one of the worst sounds he’d ever heard filled the air. “What in the—”
“That’s me,” Jane mumbled, fumbling through her pockets and pulling out her ringing phone. “Hello? Richard!?”
“Richard?” Thor mumbled. Loki lifted a brow.
Jane ignored both of them. “Oh my goodness, this is amazing! How am I getting service here?”
Loki chose that moment to cut in. “Probably because there’s a portal that leads to Midgard,” he pointed over his shoulder and deeper into the cave, “right over there.”
Upon seeing her keys laying on the rocks over where he had pointed, Jane dashed over. “Hey Richard, I’ll call you back later,” she said and hung up.
“You didn’t think to mention that earlier?” Thor asked as he passed Loki.
“How was I supposed to know we were going to your precious little realm?” Loki snarked.
Bad move.
Thor stiffened and turned. He watched Loki closely, then took a step towards him. “Do not forget,” he said slowly, “the warning I gave you before I broke you out of prison.”
Loki said nothing but returned his brother’s gaze with equal intensity. Jane watched the two nervously. Finally, Thor turned away and headed towards the portal. After a moment, Loki followed after him, and the three moved through the portal into an abandoned building.
Jane led the way out of it into a parking lot and unlocked her nearby car with her newly retrieved keys. She and Thor got into the front seats, and Loki settled in the back.
As she pulled out, Thor asked, “So, who’s Richard?”
She huffed. “Really?”
Loki smirked. “Smooth, brother. Very smooth.”
They drove for a while before eventually stopping in front of a house that Jane stated was her lab. She unlocked the front door and the three of them entered, Loki at the back.
“Jane!” a young woman with brown, wavy hair exclaimed.
“Jane,” an older man, who Loki immediately realized was Erik Selvig, said with equal excitement and relief. Erik rose to greet Jane but froze as he caught sight of Loki, whose face went carefully blank.
“Darcy! Erik! I—” Jane started, and quickly glanced over her shoulder at Thor, who had stepped in front of Loki, blocking him almost completely from view. She turned back to Erik. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were here.”
Erik took a step back, looking like he was about to have a panic attack.
“Out,” Thor commanded as he turned back towards Loki and the door. Loki wasn’t about to argue and pulled the door open, exiting the house. “I’ll be right back,” Thor said to Jane before following his brother outside.
Loki could feel the anger radiating off his brother at the fresh reminder of all that he had done, and he wisely kept silent as Thor motioned for him to get back into the car. He took his seat, and Thor set Mjolnir in his lap, closed the door a bit harder than necessary, and went back inside without a word.
Once Thor was out of view, Loki breathed out sharply and allowed his shoulders to slump and his head to fall back against the headrest.
The high of battle was gone. There was much more still to come and many difficult decisions yet to make, but right now he just felt tired. Figuring he might be there for a while, he closed his eyes, let his troubles drain away, and fell into a light doze.