Loki After Endgame: Cheating Death

Chap 31: Some Wheels Just Keep Turning

"No I'm nothing like-" I stammer before catching myself. I leap to my feet and look her in the eyes, determination straightening my spine. "Actually, there's nothing wrong with being like Loki. He's a good person!"

She cocks her eyebrows at the word good, and her lips curl in disbelief.

"Fine, maybe good isn't the right word for him," I backtrack, "but he's not a monster. He can be trusted."

Her luminous eyes flick over me, but she says nothing as she takes a small bite into her apple; the silent room amplifies the loud crunch.

"I trust him with my life." I add, honestly.

A hesitant and somewhat satisfied grin plays at her lips, "Well you may have terrible taste in friends, but you certainly don't back down from a fight. I can respect that."

My shoulders loosen and I let out a small breath as she finishes her apple and tucks the knife back into the sheath on her boot. She turns to leave the kitchen and gestures for me to follow her to the cockpit. I follow her quickly and we both slip into the front seats as she takes the steering wheel in her slender hands. Her brows knit together and I watch her eyes flick over me a few times, as if she's trying to determine my character.

"Tell me how is it that you have come to know Thor so well?" She asks, after a brief moment of silence.

"It's a bit of a long story."

"Well we've got a long journey ahead of us," She grins, her smile genuinely inviting. "Entertain me."

Her smile is so warm and luminous, that I feel suddenly at ease, as if all is right in the world. I return her genuine smile and proceed to tell her my story. Telling her of my training with Wong, our subsequent encounter with Lady Death and the reason Loki left Thor behind.

"So he's safe? He's with these Galaxy Guardian's you speak of?"

I nod, "He's safe, but I imagine he'll be returning to Earth soon, he never manages to stray very far from his favorite planet."

A muscle in her jaw ticks and she turns away seemingly lost in thought. I wait to see if she has any more questions for me and when she doesn't, I stand, deciding it best to give her some space. But, suddenly she speaks, her voice full of warmth. "Thank you for your honesty, and for everything you've done for Thor. He couldn't have asked for a better friend."

I'm not sure how to respond, so I simply say, "Yeah, well... he was my best friend."

Her piercing gaze swivels towards me as she coaxes carefully, "Nothing more?"

I nod reassuringly, "You have nothing to worry about Sif. I prefer to keep all my relationships platonic. Besides I think I know someone who's already claimed his heart." I say with a teasing grin. This doesn't have the effect I envisioned; her eyes narrow and her mouth slams into a deep frown.

"I didn't mean anything by it." I add, scrambling to fix my blunder. "It's just that I saw a lot of Thor's memories. And I know that he was devastated when you got engaged to someone else. Is that why you didn't get married, because you still loved Thor?"

She shakes her head without looking at me, her gaze still fixed on the window, "No, I didn't get married because my betrothed died."

I gasp, "What? I didn't see that in Thor's memories!"

Sif's voice is small and deliberate,"It isn't something he likes to remember. Thor feels partially responsible."

"What happened, how did your fiancé die?"

Sif considers me for a moment, then sighs, "Six hundred years ago Lorelei attempted to use her magic-infused voice to enchant Thor and make him fall in love with her. But unbeknownst to her, it was not really Thor, but Loki in disguise. He and Thor had cooked up yet another witless scheme and Loki was impersonating him, to cover for Thor's absence. When Lorelei used her magic on the man she thought was Thor, Loki was able to resist her magic easily. But I suppose even though she failed at enchanting him, he admired her brazen disregard for rules. So, Loki let her believe that the love-spell was successful and professed his unyielding desire for her. After a few days, she realized it was Loki and not Thor that she'd tried to enchant. And while she was disappointed, she remained unfazed. Afterall, Lorelei only ever wanted a throne, and since Odin hadn't yet named an heir, she assumed that with a bit of scheming she could get Loki the crown. They dated for a few weeks wreaking havoc everywhere they went but," Sif pauses and eyes me slowly, "Well according to Thor, he ended it because she bored him. But personally, I think he was just using her. She's basically a psychopath. Anyways, Lorelei does not handle rejection well, and when Loki spurned her, she was became vicious. She came to me that night in a rage, accusing me of seducing Loki away from her. And she blamed me for her lack of a crown. I, of course had no idea what she was talking about and told her so." Sif pauses averting her eyes, as sorrow thickens her normally confident voice. "If only I'd known back then what she was going to do, I could have stopped her."