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knowing whatever came next wouldn't be good. They floated through a deserted wasteland, filled with broken ships and parts. The sun shined brightly behind a shadow, as if it were eclipsing.

Thor covered Jane with a blanket, and Alex could see the despair in his eyes. Even she was beginning to feel wary about their plan.

"What I would do with the power that flows through those veins," Loki looked at Jane. Then, he turned to Alex. "Or yours, for that matter,"

"It would consume you." Thor spoke condescendingly.

"She's holding up all right, for now."

"She's strong in ways you'd never even know."

"You guys, now is not the time." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Say goodbye," Loki taunted.

Alex hit his arm, raising her eyebrows. Loki winked, causing her to scoff.

"Not this day,"

"This day, the next. A hundred years, it's nothing." Loki's voice rang. "It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman who's love you've prized, will be snatched from you."

Alex looked at Loki, knowing he was no longer talking about Jane. The grief over Frigga was still fresh in his mind.

"Will that satisfy you?!"

"Satisfaction is not in my nature,"

"Surrender is not in mine." Thor grew angry.

Loki smirked. "Son of Odin--"

"No, not just of Odin. You think you alone were loved of Mother? You had her tricks but I had her trust--"

Alex's eyes darted between the two. This was the last moment they could all be living, and they chose to live it by fighting. Only they would, she thought.

"Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?!"

"What help were you!?"

Alex intervened right as Thor started to raise his arm. "You two, stop!" She stood between them, but their eyes were locked on each other.

"She wouldn't want you to fight," Alex's soft words made both Thor and Loki look down at her.

"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked." Loki gave a small smile to Thor.

Thor began to smile back, chuckling. "I wish I could trust you,"

Loki gave a small pause.

"Trust my rage."

Alex's head turned up toward Loki, maybe three inches between their chests. She could almost feel the pain in his eyes. How did she not see this before? His pain, his heartache, that's what made him so irrevocably beautiful.

"May I help you?" Loki's smug voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He was looking down at her, their faces too close for her comfort.

"Yeah, try not to piss off our power source." She scolded, nodding to Thor.

"Don't discredit yourself."

She couldn't help but smile at his words. Her face dropped however, when she saw Jane sit up. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and the rest of her eyes were black. She was looking toward something, and as they kept moving, they saw a ship come into view.

"Malekith." Jane spoke hoarsely.

They dismounted the ship, and came up on a hill that overlooked the field. Many elves came staggering out of the ship, and Alex gulped. Both Malekith and the creature that killed Frigga were at the forefront of the group.

"Are you ready?" Thor spoke to Jane, who nodded.

"I am." Loki spoke up.

The three of them stood up as Jane remained seated.

"You know, this plan of yours is going to get us killed."

"Yes, possibly." Thor looked wearily at Loki.

"Still don't trust me, brother?"

"Would you?"

Loki smirked, and his hand reached for his pocket.

"No, I wouldn't." With these words, he plunged his dagger in Thor's abdomen.

Alex gasped, frozen in place. Jane jumped up, yelling Thor's name. He tumbled down the hill, and Loki menacingly followed.

Alex couldn't believe her eyes. The man she had just started to understand, whom she began to understand, had just turned before her eyes. He looked back at her, no expression evident in his face. Jane ran down the hill toward Thor, who was now struggling on the ground.

"You really think I cared about Frigga?" Loki taunted. "About any of you?"

He kicked Thor, who was writhing in pain. Alex's heart fell at these words.

"All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

Thor reached for his hammer, but Loki grabbed his wrist and sliced off his hand. Thor's screams and the sight of his bloodied hand was enough to make Alex feel sick. She ran toward Jane, holding on to her arms. But, Jane wiggled out of Alex's grasp and kneeled next to Thor.

"How could you!?" Alex finally spoke up, and dust began to gather around them. Her voice begged for Loki to look at her, and he knew if he did, he would break.

Loki ignored her, walking over to the pair on the ground. He roughly grabbed Jane, who thrashed in his arms. He held her before the elves, who had just approached them.

"Malekith!" Loki spoke. "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift."

He threw Jane forward, and Alex's hand shot up to her mouth.

"I ask only one thing in return...a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

The Dark Elves spoke amongst themselves, and Alex simply watched. She was stuck in place out of pure shock. Thor was clutching his injured hand, looking to Jane with worry in his face. Malekith slowly approached Thor, watching him struggle.

"Look at me," Malekith commanded.

He kicked Thor over, locking eyes with him. Raising his hand, Malekith began to levitate Jane into the air. She struggled to breathe, her eyes widening as she came off the ground. He spread her arms, and a loud, high-pitched sound filled the air. A bright red substance began to ooze out of her, spiraling in the air.

Alex looked away, and toward Loki. He had been watching her, and the second she met his eye, he winked. She furrowed her brows, shaking her head at him in confusion.

She then fell to the ground out of nowhere.

"Loki, now!" Thor yelled.

Loki reached out to Thor, releasing the illusion of his lost hand. He reached for Mjölnir, and it came in a flash. Alex's jaw dropped at the sight of Thor now completely well. She slightly grinned at the idiotic yet genius brothers. Loki ran over, shielding Jane and Alex. Thor stretched his hand toward the sky, and lightning emitted from Mjölnir, meeting the red substance in the air.

A loud boom sounded, and smoke filled the air where the Aether just was. The dust cleared, and everyone looked at each other. Thor held his hammer, ready to strike. Alex stood behind Loki, who was still crouched over Jane.

Slowly, dozens of small red crystals began to levitate. They started to move, being sucked into Malekith's body.

Their plan had failed.

Malekith screamed out as the Aether consumed him. The substance filled the air, painting the bland grey with vibrant red. Suddenly, it all stopped, and Malekith slowly looked up. He opened his eyes, and all they saw was cloudy red.

"Oh, shit." Alex whispered.

Malekith and his disgusting creature turned around, and the elves advanced on them. Thor knocked a few out with his hammer that came too close. They kept coming, and Malekith's creature took a small glowing rock out of his pocket, throwing it toward them.

Loki pushed Alex and Jane out of the way, but was too late himself. The rock began to consume him like a vacuum, until Thor intercepted. He held Loki down, and the vacuum disappeared. Triumphantly, the two brothers stood with weapons in hand.

"I'll handle him. You take care of anything that comes toward them, and stay with them." Alex heard Thor tell Loki.

Thor swung Mjölnir aggressively, Malekith's ship in his trajectory. He flew toward the ship, but was knocked off track by the creature. Alex turned her head to see Loki surrounded by six elves. He had his dagger in his hand, bit was hopelessly outnumbered.

Thor battled the creature while Loki fought the elves. They both seemed to falter, and Alex couldn't bear to watch. She focused on Jane, who was beginning to fall unconscious.

Loki finally defeated all six elves, to Alex's surprise. She watched in awe as he elegantly used the most advance combat moves to do so. She watched him look over to Thor, who was still battling the creature.

Getting up, she ran to Loki's side.

"Don't grow tired on me," He spoke. Even in battle, he joked.

"No promises,"

The pair ran over, making sure the creature didn't spot them. It threw endless punches at Thor, and was preparing to throw a final one. It was stopped, however, by a long sword piercing through its abdomen. It turned slowly, looking Loki dead in the eye.

It all happened so fast, Alex had no time to react. The creature grabbed Loki, thrusting him toward itself.

The sword sliced right through Loki's stomach.

Thor yelled out, and Alex froze. The creature threw Loki backwards, where he hit the ground with a thud.

"See you in hell, monster." Loki spit out.

The monster had the glowing rock in his side, and began to be vacuumed into the void the rock created. It screamed out in pain, but disappeared in a flash.

"Jane," Loki told Thor, who nodded and ran to her.

Alex's feet were released of their hold, and she collapsed next to Loki. She held him up, and pushed the hair out of his face.

"You didn't listen to Thor, you idiot." She spoke just above a whisper.

He struggled to form a grin. "I know. I'm sorry, I'm an idiot."

"Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't let him kill Thor."

She smiled, a tear escaping her eye and catching on her lips. He had sacrificed himself to save his brother. The ultimate sacrifice.

Alex looked into his eyes, and his had never left hers. She felt her heart soar and fall at the same time. It simultaneously sang of fondness and pain. She had finally seen the small glimmer of good that hid deep within his soul. All his anger, his distrust, and sadness had dissipated right before her eyes, and transformed into hope.

Hope, that he clung on to.

She clung onto the hope, too. Physically, she clung on to him as his breathing became short. Emotionally, she clung on to him by getting lost in his stormy blue eyes. They began to close, however, and she felt another tear slowly fall.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch as the life left his body.

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𝚠𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚆𝙾𝚆 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟷𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜! 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢:)

𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚜