Thaw

"𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞."

❅

"No time to waste," Loki continues, his face composed of a slight indifference while his eyes betrayed what he is truly feeling.

Belle looks up at him, confusion and shock mixed with worry for her father all evident on her face. Slowly snapping out of her shock, she goes to hand the mirror back to Loki, who only shakes his head.

"No, keep it with you," Loki smiles sadly. "Then you'll always have a way to look back on me."

"I- are you sure?" Belle says, a million different emotions and thoughts all running through her mind.

Loki only nods, and turns to grab his cloak that was previously cast aside on a chair.

"You need it more than me," he says with the faintest attempt of a smile, draping the forest green cloak across Belle's shoulders as she clasps it shut.

"Thank you," Belle finally speaks, wishing that she could say more if her mind was occupied with worry for her father.

Turning away slowly, Belle allows herself to glance over her shoulder one last time, meeting Loki's glassy eyes with her own watering ones before turning back, picking up the skirt of her dress, and running out of the previously forbidden west wing that she had come to enjoy the comfort of.

Racing down the stairs of the castle as fast as she could, Belle glances back at the once cold and unwelcoming castle walls that suddenly seem so warm and loving. However, the sound of the large doors of the castle swing open jolt her to move forward once again, and she runs across the threshold of the palace that she had warrily entered through not long ago.

"Well, Brother, I must admit, I had my worries, but look! True love truly does win the day!" Thor exclaims, entering Loki's chambers as he catches sight of his brother's figure hunched over the table that encased the blue rose.

"I let her go," Loki whispers, dried tears evident on his face as he turns slowly to face everyone.

"You WHAT?!" Clint yells.

"How could you do that?" Natasha says.

"I had to," Loki mutters, turning back to look at the rose.

"Because he loves her," Mrs. Potts finishes softly.

"Then why are we not human again?" Thor asks.

"Because she doesn't love him," Clint says, his heart lurching at the thought of his wife and children in the village, now doomed to be without him. "And now, it's too late."

"But she might still come back," Natasha says, trying to make her friend think on the bright side.

"I set her free," Loki sighs. "I'm sorry that I couldn't do the same for all of you. You all should go; our time is almost past."

❅

"This man is weak! He needs an asylum!" John shouts as a large carriage enters the town streets.

Zemo throws open the door to the padded carriage as the other townspeople throw Phil inside roughly.

"Have you ever seen the inside of a mad house, Phil?" John taunts quietly as he walks up to the carriage, knowing that the others around couldn't hear him. "You wouldn't last a week. Just give me your daughter's hand and I'll set you free."

"Go to hell," Phil spits.

With an ugly look of disgust, John slams the doors of the carriage shut before locking the padlock.

"Take him away!" He shouts with a sneer through the bars of Phil's makeshift prison.

"No!" Belle shouts, turning the corner as she rides in on Angel's back.

Gasps can be heard all throughout the crowd that had gathered as Belle quickly dismounts the mare before running up to the end of the carriage, pushing John away to peer through the window.

"Are you okay?" She asks hurriedly, gazing throw the barred window at her father's slouched figure.

"Oh, Belle," Phil remarks. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Let him out!" Belle turns to Vision, trying to reason with him. "He's hurt!"

"We can't do that Belle, I'm sorry," Vision says solemnly. "But they'll take very good care of him, we promise."

"My father's not crazy," Belle pleads. "John, tell him!"

"You know how loyal I am to your family, but you're father's been making some unbelievable claims," John says smugly.

"It's true, Belle," Sif said, stepping forward, and Belle looks at her friend with betrayal and hurt in her eyes. "He's been raving about a Frost Giant in a castle!"

"I've just come from the castle, and there is a Frost Giant," Belle says, doing anything she can to save her father and not thinking about the implications that her words could have.

"You'd say anything to set him free; your word is hardly any proof," John retorts.

"You want proof?" Belle spits, ripping the mirror from the pocket of Loki's cloak that still hung on her shoulders. "Show him to me."

The mirror obeys Belle's command at once, showing a sad looking Loki gazing out of the window of one of the towers in the castle.

The crowd goes hysterical in fear and dismay as Belle flips the mirror around to show them all.

"This is sorcery!" John yells, ripping the mirror from Belle's hands. "Look at this monster."

"No, stop!" Belle pleads, trying to pry the mirror back from John's grasp. "He's gentle and kind."

The crowd murmurs amongst itself as John cries, "the monster has her under his spell! If I didn't know any better, I'd say she even cared for him."

"He's not a monster, John," Belle spits as her grip on the mirror slips and she falls backward. "You are."

"I've heard of the effects of dark magic, but I'd never before seen it with my own eyes. This thing is a threat to our entire existence!" John cries, riling up the crowd that was quickly becoming less of a crowd and more of an angry mob. "We can't have her running off to warn the monster--lock her up too."

Belle struggles as the same men who threw her father into the carriage grab ahold of her, straining against their firm grips to no avail as she is thrown in as well.

"John, with all due respect-" Lemar begins, but is quickly cut off by his companion.

"Do you want to be next?" John spits harshly, venom leaking from the threat. "Fetch my horse."

Lemar watches hopelessly as John climbs atop the back of the carriage that held Belle and her father.

"This creature will kill us all if we don't stop him," John shouts, and the crowd shouts back in agreement. "Well, I say we kill the beast!"

"Kill the beast!" Repeats the crowd, and their cries echo against the padded walls of Belle's prison.

"Show me the castle," John says to the mirror, mounting his horse as the mob of villagers ready their torches and pitchforks.

❅

"At least he has finally learned to love," Steve remarks sadly from Bucky's side in the ballroom. After Loki told Thor, Clint, Natasha and Mrs. Potts what had happened, they all combined their strengths and managed to help Bucky get down the stairs to see his husband for one last time.

"A lot of good that does us if she doesn't love him in return," Clint mutters, thoughts of his wife and children alone in the village with no memory of him clouding his thoughts.

"No," Mrs. Potts says. "This is the first time I've had any real hope that she would."

Suddenly, the sound of a horse whinnying in the distance catches Peter's ears.

"Did you guys hear that?" The boy asks excitedly. "Is it her? Is she coming back?"

"Invaders!" Thor shouts as he spots the approaching mob in the distance.

"Well, there you go," Clint says sadly. "So much for true love."

❅❅❅