Shattered-(A Loki Fanfic and sequel to Broken)

Chapter Five

"Can I ask you something, darling?" Loki said softly, finally breaking the silence. He was still holding me, but I'd stopped crying. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Since you left." He began to run his hand through my hair. "I didn't know was else to do. I'm so stupid."

"You aren't stupid, Lilith." He kissed my head. "You've been through so much, my love, and you've been alone. I should have been there for you. You needed someone."

"I want to stop, Loki. I just... I don't know how."

"It will be hard, but I know you can do it. I'm here for you now. You don't have to be alone anymore."

We stayed silent for another moment, Loki still holding me.

"We ought to get going," Loki said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." We stood, and Loki wiped the tears from my face. He smiled as he took my hand. I grabbed my gloves on our way out.

"Stay near me." He guided me back through the halls and took us to a wing I hadn't seen yet. He entered a code into a panel in the wall and a pair of doors slid open. "After you," he said.

"Quite the gentleman," I told him with a smile. He returned it and followed me as I walked into the unfamiliar room. It was filled with all sorts of people who were sporting rather... extravagant styles. Loki took me to a couch that sat in front of an opening, displaying a large arena. The seats were filled with people chanting. "Wow. That's a lot of people."

"Do you have nothing like this on Midgard?" he asked.

"Well, sort of, but I never go to them. Besides, I could never afford to sit in these kind of seats. But it wouldn't matter, I'm not a sports person, anyways."

"Neither am I, but watching Thor lose is rather amusing. Hopefully, that won't happen tonight." He grabbed my hand as if he needed a sign of reassurance.

Thor walked out of the doors on one side of the arena. He had a helmet in his hand and a weapon in the other.

"Did he get a haircut?" I asked, clearly amused by it.

"It would seem like it," Loki said with a smile of his own. Thor put on his helmet and readied himself for the yet-to-be seen champion.

The ground seemed to tremble beneath us as the champion undoubtedly approached.

Part of the wall burst into pieces as the Hulk emerged.

"I have to get off this planet," Loki said as he dropped my hand.

"Is that—" I stopped when I realized he wasn't sitting next to me. I turned around to see him bumping into the Grandmaster. He sat back down beside me, the Grandmaster filling the space on the other end of the couch.

"Loki!" Thor yelled from below us. "Look who it is!" I saw Loki tense as he slouched into the couch. I took his hand and scooted closer to him. The Grandmaster looked confused. "I know him! He's a friend from work!" The whole arena went dead silent.

Thor said something to him that I couldn't understand since the crowd resumed their cheering. He must have said something wrong because  the Hulk's face went dark before he punched Thor across the arena.

I heard myself hiss through my teeth. Loki looked worried as I held his hand tightly. I buried my face in his arm since I couldn't bear to watch Thor get brutally beat up. At some point, the crowd went silent, so I sat up.

Thor had slammed Hulk into the wall. Everyone was in shock. I looked up to Loki to see the slightest spark of hope in his eyes.

"Come on, Thor." I wasn't sure if he meant for me to hear that, but it was nice to hear him rooting for his brother. 

Thor was saying something to the Hulk that seemed to calm him. But all of a sudden, Thor was thrown against the wall again.

"Damn!" Loki shouted. I could feel my hand sweating in his. His hand was still cool, but I could feel the tension flowing through him. I planted my face back in the side of his arm. He pulled it out from under me to wrap it around me. His embrace was comforting, but I still feared for Thor.

"He can do it, right?" I asked. Loki hesitated before saying anything.

"He can. I know it."

"Come on, Thor." I think he was too worried about his brother to realize that I could hear him.

All of a sudden, the ground trembled beneath us and thunder shook the stadium. Loki leaned forward in his seat like he was intrigued. I looked down and saw lightning coursing through Thor's veins. It flowed from the tips of his fingers and up his arms to his eyes.

"Come on," Loki whispered. Thor was about to strike, but the Hulk jumped into the air. Thor was going to move, but the Grandmaster pressed a button on the contraption he held in his hand. Thor's body shook as he fell to the ground. His eyes widened as the Hulk's fist met his face with full on force.