Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 79

Loki flinches at the sudden sound. God, who is that? Who decided now is the right time to bother him? Can't they tell that he's busy?

He does his best to ignore the presence on the other side of his door. His focus has to lie here in Asgard. He jerks his head toward the passageway. "There."

Thor gently lays Jane down on the ship before taking control of the control stick. "You'll have to steer me in the right direction."

"I will," Loki says.

Knock knock knock.

Loki grits his teeth, his hands involuntarily balling into fists by his side.

"Loki?" Thor says cautiously.

"Loki?" Steve says mere moments later.

Loki grits his teeth. "Captain Rogers is at my door." He usually welcomes the Captain's presence, but not in the midst of a suicide mission like this.

Fandral snorts. "It must be so wonderful to have so many personal prison guards."

"I prefer to think of them as my personal servants," Loki quips, but his heart isn't in it. "Ease it left."

Thor does as he's told.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

Loki heaves a dramatic sigh. "Give me a moment."

Ignoring Thor and Fandral's complaints, Loki allows his consciousness to return to his physical form, and he opens his eyes to find himself back in his bedroom, seated cross-legged on his bed.

"Now is not the time, Captain," Loki says, making no secret of his annoyance.

"What's going on?" Steve asks. "Is everything okay?"

"Come back in a few minutes and I may be able to answer that," Loki says. "Right now, it remains to be seen."

"What—are you helping him now?"

"I was until you started knocking."

"Okay, sorry," Steve says quickly. "I'll leave."

Loki feels a pang of guilt—he'd wanted to rush him out, but it feels a little rude now that he has—but he pushes the thought aside as he returns to his brother's side, just in time to see Fandral jump off the side of the ship. It's oddly satisfying, even though he's sure he has a good reason and (unfortunately) is most likely not jumping to his death.

He scans his surroundings. Everything looks the same out here, so far from the city. It takes him a few moments to realize where they are and where they have to go. "Go right."

Thor turns the ship right.

"Not that far!" Loki says quickly.

Thor steers it a little to the left.

"Down," Loki says.

Thor brings the ship down.

"A little more to the right—I said little!"

Thor throws his hands up, exasperated, which is probably not his brightest idea when he's steering a ship like this. "Where are we going, Loki?"

"That's an excellent question," Loki says, "because it's clearly not Svartalfheim."

"There is nothing in front of us!" Thor says. "You are steering us into a wall of rock!"

"You are awful at giving directions," Thor tells him.

Loki runs a hand through his hair, exasperated. Fine. He'll do it himself.

... Hopefully.

"Move."

Thor scoffs. "Excuse me?"

"Move," Loki says again. "Let go."

"Why would I—"

"Just do it!" God, he forgot how exhausting it is to try to work with his brother. Fighting against him is so much easier than fighting with him.

Thor lets go, and Loki focuses all of his energy on the control stick. From this distance, he's not sure what to expect, but, to his relief, the control stick eases itself to the left.

Loki raises his gaze to the world around him. That's a little better. Now he needs to go down. A little more to the left just to get around the upcoming mountain...

"When did you learn to do this?" Thor asks.

"Just now," Loki says.

Thor scoffs. "Fantastic," he says sarcastically. "The fate of the Nine Realms rests in your ability to hone a skill you've only now realized you have."

"And I am doing it wonderfully," Loki adds, "thank you for noticing." God, he spends, what, eleven months working on his endurance and long-ranged magic, and this is the thanks he gets when he finally puts it to use?

Loki eases the control stick back to center. There it is. He can just barely make it out from this distance, but there's his secret passageway.

"No," Thor says immediately.

Loki smiles. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Are you mad?" Thor demands.

"You came to me for help," Loki reminds him. "Which one of us is truly mad?"

"You're going to get us all killed!" Thor snaps.

"Oh, relax, you big oaf," Loki says, rolling his eyes. "If I do not get you killed, the Allfather will. At least this way, we go out in a blaze of glory."

"Loki!"

"Or, to be more accurate, you go out in a blaze of glory," Loki says. "I, meanwhile, will be sitting on the couch watching Owen Wilson's filmography for the umpteenth time."

"Loki!" Thor yells.

Loki rolls his eyes yet again. He's risking his life being in Asgard against Odin's wishes. Can't he at least have some fun with it?

As they near the passageway, Loki focuses more, carefully gliding the ship through the hole. The sides scrape against the cave walls, but the bulk of the ship remains unharmed.

In the blink of an eye, the ship is soaring through Svartalfheim, skidding against the ground as it slows to a near-stop. Loki lets his telekinetic grip on the control stick fall. They've made it. The rest is up to Thor.

Thor breathes a sigh of relief. He crouches down next to Jane and gently rests a hand against her forehead. "Jane?"

She doesn't respond, lying limp on the floor of the ship. Thor brushes her cheek with the back of his hand, then looks up at his brother warily.

"Will she be alright?" Loki asks, not because he cares about her — of course he doesn't care about her — but because he knows it would wreck his brother if she's not.

Thor sighs. "I hope so," he says. He pushes himself to his feet. "I hadn't realized you could use your powers at this distance. Perhaps you could help beyond merely showing me where to go."

Loki shakes his head. "My strength is minuscule at best," he says. "I would be no help from here. But I do wish you the best of luck. I suspect you'll need it."

"Thank you, brother," Thor says. "For all of your help. I hope I live to see you again."

"You will," Loki says. He gives his brother a small smile. "I know you will."

And then he vanishes.

Now he's off to find the Avengers to distract him from the fact that he may well have just signed his death warrant.