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"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," Loki remarked wistfully, as Thor threw a blanket over Jane, who was still semi-conscious.

"Probably some pretty evil shit," I responded, flexing my injured hand, "Glad we won't get to find out."

"You can't possibly think so little of me," Loki feigned offence.

"It would consume you," said Thor.

"She's holding up alright," Loki answered, "For now."

I cocked a brow. "Does that look alright to you?"

"She is strong in ways you'd never even know," Thor said.

"Say goodbye," Loki leaned in with a smile. I shoved him.

"Not this day," Thor looked away, surveying our surroundings.

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat," Loki stood as he spoke, eyeing me in his peripheral. I looked down. "You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you."

"That's enough," I spat, eyes still on the ground. "Enough."

"Will that satisfy you?" Thor asked lowly.

"Satisfaction is not in my nature."

I laughed.

"Surrender's not in mine."

"The son of Odin..."

"No, not just of Odin," Thor spat, standing and striding before Loki, "You think you alone were loved of mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."

"Trust?" Loki repeated, "Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?"

I shoved to my feet, placing myself in between them. I shoved them both back a few paces, and held up my injured hand to Loki.

"I was there. I was there when it happened. I let her die. This, this stupid injury held me down, stopped me from saving her," I snapped, my eyes glistening with unshed tears, "If you'd like someone to blame for her death, here I am."

"And it's not as though you were of any help in your cell," Thor remarked absently from behind me.

"Who put me there?" Loki asked lowly, then again, louder, "Who put me there?"

Thor shoved passed me, picking Loki up by the collar and slamming him against the side of the ship. "You know damn well who." Thor cocked his arm back, ready to fight. I held him back by the bicep. Not that I was any match for his strength. But when he looked back at me, met my eyes, he lowered his fist, letting go of Loki and pacing to the other side of the ship.

"Your mother would not have wanted you to fight," I said, my throat raw from trying to keep the tears at bay.

"Well," Loki said, a small smile pulling at his lips, "She wouldn't exactly be shocked."

I swiped at my eyes, as Thor and I both released a quiet chuckle.

"I wish I could trust you," Thor said.

"I wouldn't as far as I could throw him," I remarked.

"I think I could toss him pretty far," Thor said, raising a brow and looking to me, "Want to place bets?"

"You're all very funny," Loki said, pushing himself to his feet. Then, his face took a more serious expression. "But you can trust my rage."

Silence accompanied us after that, as we coasted through the dark wasteland, through and around wrecked airships and other machinery worn with age and destruction.

I sat by Jane, not looking back at Loki. I wanted to kick myself for almost crying in front of him. But Frigga's death weighed heavily on me, too. Not just because I'd failed to save her, but because she'd been among my closest friends when I was imprisoned.

The better half of an hour slipped by, before I noticed Jane stir. I looked down at her. A pair of inky black eyes looked up at me. "Well that's not what you want," I remarked hesitantly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Jane?" Thor called, as she pushed herself up to look around. She angled her gaze forward, and I followed her eyes. That's when I registered the massive ship coming down from the grey clouds, straight for us.

"Malekith," Jane breathed out. He had come for the Aether.

Loki set the ship down and we got off, making our way to the edge of a cliff that looked out over an empty field of black sand and ruin. In the centre of it, Malekith's ship.

A band of Dark Elves marched toward us, Malekith, and the creature that stabbed me, at their forefront.

"Alright, are you ready?" Thor asked us.

"I am," Loki affirmed.

The two of them stood, while I remained hunkered down next to Jane. We would have to make a show of playing along with Loki's charade.

"You know," Loki remarked as the two of them stood at the very edge of the hill, "This plan of yours is going to get us killed."

"Yes, possibly," Thor nodded.

Loki held his shackled hands out expectantly. "You still don't trust me, brother?"

"Would you?" Thor asked, before unlocking the shackles and freeing him.

He rubbed his hands together. "No," he said, unsheathing a small dagger from the folds of his jacket, "I wouldn't."

With that, he planted the dagger into Thor's gut.

"Thor!" Jane cried, racing to the edge of the cliff after them, as they spilled down the side. I grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her down. "No," she screamed, wrenching herself from my grasp and racing after them. I chased her down, keeping in front of her as Loki and Thor fought.

She raced to Thor's side as Loki's blade came down. And before my eyes, he sliced Thor's hand off at the wrist. I gagged. I knew it wasn't real, but it sure as hell looked real.

"Malekith!" Loki shouted, wrenching Jane up by the waist, "I am Loki, of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift," he tossed Jane to the ground between us and the Dark Elves, who came to a stop mere feet away. "I ask for only one thing in return. A good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

The creature next to Malekith whispered something in a foreign language, before Malekith stepped toward Thor. He kicked him with his boot. "Look at me." And then, Malekith raised a hand, and Jane was lifted off the ground by some invisible force. I prepared to play my part in this plan, steeling myself. Shoring up my wall.

Then, Malekith began to pull the Aether from Jane. It came off of her skin like small grains of sand, building into a red shape of what I could only describe as matter. But it seemed to move, like it was alive.

When he'd finished, Jane dropped to the ground.

"Now!" Thor's scream kicked us into action.

Loki's hand shot forward as he worked his illusion, and Thor's dismembered hand came back. Then, he placed himself over top of Jane, as Thor called to his hammer. And me, I brought fire.

Thor's hammer summoned lightning that he shot out at the Aether, and I swept my flame in an arc down on the Dark Elves, throwing a number of them back.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous bang as the Aether burst, creating a dust cloud. Red fragments from the fractured Aether were scattered at our feet. But then, they began to rise back into the air.

I met Thor's hardened gaze, and then watched as the Aether materialized itself again before Malekith. He opened his arms, and the Aether entered into his body, in the same way it had left Jane's. Nausea rose in my throat.

When he'd absorbed it, he turned, making his way back to his ship and taking that creature with him. The remainder of the Dark Elves, some singed, others unscathed, pushed forward toward us.

Thor began to beat them back with his hammer, as I shot needles of flame out at them. It felt dangerously good to use my powers as a weapon again.

Suddenly, a beeping object wrung in my ear, as it careened overhead toward Loki and Jane. I turned, watching, as Loki shoved Jane out of the way, but was caught in the blast. It didn't work like any grenade I'd ever seen. It seemed to pull matter towards it, destroying anything it came in contact with. And it was about to come in contact with Loki.

"No!" I screamed, my voice hoarse in my throat as I raced toward him. But I would never be fast enough.

A blast of air overhead pulled my attention up, where Thor flew toward Loki. He caught him with just enough time to spare, and the two crashed into the ground. I released a shaky, relieved breath as I dove to my knees, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Don't you dare say a word," I warned him, hugging him close to me. He embraced me back.

"Perhaps the two of you might save this display of affection for after we've fought off the advancing Dark Elf army, hmm?" Thor suggested, standing.

He spun his hammer, and shot off in the direction of Malekith, who was retreating to his ship. I watched from a distance as Thor was knocked back by that creature. My hand throbbed just looking at it.

Thor was locked in combat with it, and seeming to lose horribly. Loki and I rushed to our feet, and stumbled forward, racing to help him as Malekith's ship retreated. But we froze at the group of Dark Elves in our path.

We shared a single glance, and then began to fight. I had to admit, I very much preferred fighting with him than against him.

I threw out flame at the advancing enemy, all the while trying to materialize a sword of fire with which to fight. But I felt my energy draining fast, and soon I could focus on nothing but fighting with my shapeless masses of flame.

I turned back to Thor as Loki downed the last Elf.

"Impressed?" he asked, holding up his dagger. "All that, with just this."

But he stopped jesting when his eyes landed on Thor, who was being pummeled to a pulp by the creature. The two of us exchanged a look and set off toward them.

Loki arrived first, and ran the thing threw with a discarded sword. It spun to face him, the end of the sword protruding from its chest. I was still several paces back, but I saw what the thing was about to do a split second before it did it. My heart beat slowed. I closed my eyes. Solidified my wall.

And I summoned a blade of fire.

I pushed it forward with all the strength that remained in me, and it soared toward the creature, slicing clean through the portion of the sword that protruded from its chest. Even I was surprised at the pure strength of my blade.

The creature turned to face me, its eyes narrowed in rage. It broke into a run. How it was still on its feet was beyond me. I opened my palm, calling the sword back to me, as Thor would his hammer.

It spun in midair, changing direction and whirling toward me.

I caught it in my hand, as the creature before me toppled to the ground. Its head rolled to my feet. My sword had gone directly through it, cutting flesh and bone. My fire had never been so strong.

And my energy never so depleted.

I stumbled to my knees as the blade of flame flickered out, along with my vision. I saw Loki rushing toward me as my head hit the ground.

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