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Every part of him hurt.
His wound from the elf scimitar still hadn’t healed fully and fighting with the elves only made it worse. He was slightly mollified by the knowledge that he wasn’t the only one hurting though if the pounding that Thor was taking from Malekith was any indication.
His role in the fight was mainly to protect Thor’s mortals while they set up their scientific equipment. It was quite amusing to watch them work. Jane Foster ignored him as he whirled around her, taking out the elves who would stop her from working. Although he would never admit it, it surprised him in a way – that she would trust him to protect her that blindly that she just expected him to be there if a dark elf got too close and so was wholly unconcerned by the battle going on not ten feet from her nose.
Selvig was another matter. He was focused on his task, but every time Loki fought an elf near him, he couldn’t stop flinching. That was more the reaction that he expected.
The other mortals – Darcy Lewis and the boy – alternated between ignoring him and shouting at or for him when the elves got too close.
It was incredibly satisfying in a way, to fight as part of a team once more as he had in the past with Thor and the Warriors Three. Still, it couldn’t last.
One of the elves caught him in a backhand across the face and he snarled before digging one of his knives into its throat, enjoying the spray of blood that that erupted as an artery was severed. There was a familiar wooshing sound behind him and he ducked and allowed Mjolnir – its owner nowhere in sight – to fly past, taking out an elf sneaking up behind Jane Foster as it did.
Most of the elves were now gone destroyed either by himself, Thor or Selvig’s machine. The rest were easily disposed of. They were too enraptured by the aerial fight going on between their leader and his brother.
Jane Foster shouted out in triumph suddenly and the next moment there was a boom.
Loki spun, daggers raised, only to see Malekith and Thor get sucked through a portal, Malekith and Thor along with it. Seconds later, his brother, carrying Mjolnir once more, was thrown down unconscious onto the gravel in front of his mortal love.
The elven ship began to crumble where it stood, slowly tilting on its access with Thor and Jane Foster directly in its path. A quick glance around showed that Selvig, Darcy Lewis and the boy were safe, albeit fighting off the last of the dark elves.
Cursing under his breath, he darted forward to where Foster was trying to wake his brother and threw one of his heavy arms over his shoulders and shooting a tiny blast of ice at his sibling. Thor came to blearily, allowing Loki and Foster to prop him upright as he shakily supported some of his own weight and the y hurried away, only for the ship to blink out of existence and the portals to close with a sucking noise that left only silence in its wake.
Thor regained his feet and Loki moved away from him as he and his woman stepped closer to where the ship had once stood tall in the middle of the Earth, talking about where it could have gone.
It was done…over.
Loki rolled his shoulders, loosening the muscles which had tensed in battle. He held out his hand and recalled his daggers to him. He may not have a similar bond with his weapons as Thor with Mjolnir, but his knives had saved his life more than once and he was not without his tricks with them.
The elves were gone, the ship was gone and this place – Greenwich – was partially destroyed but not completely wiped off the map. It was a success as far as he could see.
Selvig had moved to confer with Thor and Jane Foster now and he spun to see where the other two mortals were, eventually finding them partially hidden behind a column, wrapped in a tight embrace.
A curious feeling washed over Loki then, something that had he not known better, he would have taken as disappointment. He brushed the sensation off. Why should he feel disappointed in this girl’s choice? Oh yes, she had been pleasant enough earlier in the day when she was tending to his wounds, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Her most remarkable feature had been that she was wholly unconcerned by his presence in the paltry dwelling she shared with Jane Foster. Not that the reactions of her companions didn’t amuse him, but he was tired of everyone, including Thor, regarding him with wariness.
Still… he was here and had aided his brother as requested. He had not turned on them mid-battle.
She had made her request and he had obeyed.
She owed him.
It was a pleasant thought.
Still, he could not claim that which belonged to him if he were trapped in the prison back in Asgard, somewhere he was sure Thor would feel obligated to return him to, despite his reassurances that he would speak to their… Odin… on his behalf. His brother was well-meaning, but a fool where it mattered and Loki would not be returning to his cell.
It was easy to slip into the shadows while they were all preoccupied with the aftermath of battle and will himself out of Heimdell’s sight.
The two younger mortals had rejoined their comrades at last and they joked and congratulated each other on a job well done.
Thor was in the centre of their group – Thor was always in the centre – and smiled down at his lady love before frowning suddenly.
“Loki? Where is Loki?”
The jubilant mood of the humans vanished abruptly and they all began scanning the immediate area for him, Thor calling out his name.
Loki smiled and slipped away. He’d be seeing his brother soon enough he imagined, although he hoped that he would be seeing Darcy Lewis first.
After all, she owed him.
And he would be there to collect.