Thunder

Loki hadn't lied when he told Steve that he wasn't fond of thunderstorms.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the storm. There wasn't much in this world that Loki feared, and did these idiotic mortals actually think that he would confess those fears to them? If so, then they were dafter than he had originally thought. No, he wasn't afraid of the storm. The storm was Thor. Thunder was his brother in one explosive nutshell. It was vicious, brutal, and relentless. One minute it was there, and the next, it had vanished into oblivion.

The real reason that Loki didn't like thunderstorms was because they reminded him of his childhood. He had had a childhood that most would consider blessed. A father that loved him, a mother to fuss over him, and a brother to look out for him. It almost seemed selfish to ask for more. But that beautiful illusion had died away when Odin had revealed his true bloodline. He was Loki Laufeyson. And Thor wasn't his brother anymore.

When they were little and storms would darken the skies, Thor would hunt him down in the palace and hold him until it passed. At first, Loki had been reluctant. Even as a small boy, he knew that what he felt for his brother wasn't normal, wasn't kosher. He feared the consequences of his actions should he tell Thor how he felt. But once the older boy held him in his arms, Loki always felt better. The horrors of the storm were a distant memory. It was all… serene.

And now, he watched as his not-brother stalked back and forth in front of his fallen body, a look of betrayal on his handsome face. "What has caused this, Loki? Why would you do this to me, to the Allfather?"

Loki blinked. Just the mention of Odin caused a ball of disgust to form within his stomach. "You know full-well what has caused this, Thor. Don't pretend to be blind. I know that you cannot be so daft."

"I am not daft, Loki. I can see." The look of betrayal melted to one of hurt, but still he continued. "You are upset with me because you cannot claim the throne of Asguard. You wish me dead so that you may prosper."

This time, it was Loki's turn to look hurt. "Do you really think me so selfish, br- Thor?" He choked back a sob at the word that he almost said. Now, that would be a lie. "I care not for the throne of Asguard."

Thor, momentarily floored by this unexpected turn of events, stopped his pacing and turned to face his brother. "What, then, is it that you desire? It's my fault that you are this way and I should be the one to correct it."

"How I would love to blame you for all of this!" Loki exclaimed hurtfully. "You don't understand in the least. You are as daft as ever! It is that bastard, Odin, who you so callously call the Allfather, who withheld the truth of my birth."

Thor flinched when Loki disowned the Allfather, but did not let this deter him. "That doesn't make me any less your brother, Loki."

"If you cannot see the monster within me, Thor, then you are blind as well as stupid." Loki hissed.

Thor didn't know how to react. His brother so rashly insisted that he was the one who was blind, when Loki was the one who couldn't see that Thor didn't care if it was blood that bound them or something else entirely. What he felt for his brother, be it love or lust, was not altered by his Jotun anatomy. But Loki didn't want to listen. Loki was lost within his own mind, a victim to the demons that lurked in the dark shadows within him.

And then, Loki turned on him. He reached into the breastplate of his armor and removed a long, slick dagger. Thin, electric blue chains of magic whipped around the steel blade and it slowly elongated until it formed a full-sword. Thor swallowed hard. The manic look in Loki's eyes told his intentions. Only one of them would leave this battle tonight. Thor's fingers tenderly wove there way over the surface of the hammer's handle, but he had no intent to use it.

"Foolish Thor, you think that I care whether you live or die?" Loki swiped his sword blindly. It frayed the long, blond hair of the older warrior.

"I should think so." Thor answered confidently.

Loki swung again, but this time with more accuracy. The enchanted blade sliced into Thor's bicep. Crimson blood slowly trickled down his muscled arm. "And why think that? I care not for anyone, and not a damned soul cares for me."

"I care for you." Thor muttered softly. Pain flickered in his eyes as rain fell from the heaven's, causing his fresh wound to sting. Loki stared at him blandly.

"I don't care for your lies."

"It's not a lie."

Loki's eyes flickered. For a moment, Thor believed that he had made it through to his brother. But then, the light vanished and Loki thrust forward with the blade. It impaled the blond's shoulder. "I don't take well to liars."

Loki could hear the splash of each individual rain drop as it fell from the sky and hit the rock beneath them. Thor fell to his knees, the hand leaving the hammer at his waist to curl around the handle of the sword. The magical current fizzled around his wound, and thin rivers of crimson red blood rolled down his arm and back. Distantly, thunder cackled in the sky. The magical current in the blade immediately died out. Loki stood before his fallen brother, trembling.

"T-Thunder…" he mumbled. The word came out hurried and it summoned unwanted tears to his eyes.

Suddenly, he was bombarded with memories of lying in his chambers, tears on his face, as Thor held him. This memory-Thor would whisper sweet words of comfort to him, assure him that the storm was outside and that he was inside, within the comfort of Thor's arms, and so long as he was there, Thor would make sure that nothing ever hurt him. Another cackle of thunder. The thunder would never hurt him because Thor was the thunder.

His eyes roamed to Thor's fallen body and he was immediately blasted with waves of remorse. "Oh, Thor!" He rushed over to his brother, yanking the sword from his body and discarding it, not even realizing when it turned back to a dagger.

"Loki…" Thor trailed, blood frothing on his chapped lips. The sword had impaled his heart.

"Shh, don't speak. Let me heal you. Let me fix you. Damn it, Thor! Don't close your eyes!" Loki chastised. With his bloody hands over Thor's chest, he tried to concentrate his energy toward healing his brother.

"No." With his unharmed arm, he yanked Loki down so that the smaller man's head rested on his chest. "Let me hold you. Just let me hold you until the thunder passes… And then after that, I can die."

Loki sobbed into his brother's chest, the blond's blood soaking his face, only to be washed away by rain. "You cannot die. I will not allow you to be so selfish…"

Thor smiled wryly. "I thought you cared not for anyone, and not a damned soul cared for you?"

"You should learn to expect a lie or two from the god of mischief."

"It comes with the territory, does it not?" Thor's smile had turned bloody.

Thor's arm clenched around him, holding him close as he whispered bloody promises of forever. Even on the verge of death, the one who mattered most to Thor was Loki. Loki, who was emotionally unbalanced, who had attempted to murder him, still deserved to be loved and cherished and held, just like he were an innocent child who had done no wrong. There was something cleansing about Thor's love for him. It made him feel… whole.

His eyes flickered to Thor's chest. Slick with blood, it was hard to imagine that he had once been a feared Asguardian warrior. Loki's eyes flickered to the side, where the dagger had fallen. It would be so easy for him to take it in hand and plunge it into Thor's slowly beating heart. It would be a mercy killing, really. He would end his miserable existence before he could suffer any more pain. But he abandoned the idea almost as soon as it came to mind. He couldn't do it.

Loki's eyes were dead as he stared at his brother's body. Each breath that he took was a mere shudder now and Loki could tell that it pained him terribly. But each time that Loki attempted to heal him, Thor steadfastly refused. Loki came first and foremost. The thunder seemed distant now. In fact, as the wet earth rolled down and melded with their frozen, bloody bodies, neither man was able to tell that the storm had already cleared.

Lifting a trembling hand to take hold of his brother's dark head, Thor leaned down so that their faces almost touched. "Forgive me, brother, for what I'm about to do." And then, tenderly, he brushed his bloody lips over Loki's.

The kiss ended far too soon, but Thor was breathless and he needed rest. "Forgive me, Thor, but I do not know what crime you have committed that requires atonement."

"I have wronged you, Loki. I should have told you from the start how much you meant to me. Maybe then, even if the same story had unfolded, you wouldn't come to hate yourself so…"

Tears dripped from Loki's eyes. "I am the one who should ask for forgiveness, Thor. I am the one who foolishly murdered the only one that ever loved me, and the only one that I ever loved in return."

Thor's dark blue eyes widened. The light had gone out of them a long time ago. "You love me as well?"

"I always have. That is why you were blind, Thor. You could not see the obvious truth. I have loved you. I have killed you."

Loki leaned down, capturing Thor's lips in a bruising kiss. His nails dug into the man's chest, blue fingertips forcing magic into the larger man's body. Thor's gargantuan frame lurched beneath him as the magic started to take effect. An invisible seamstress started to weave his wound back together and the flow of blood was staunched. Soon, the only evidence that there had once been a wound there was the blood on Loki's face and hands.

Thor took a deep breath, finally feeling as if the weight on his chest had been lifted. "You have loved me. You have killed me. You have saved me. Thank you, Loki."

Loki forced a small smile. He wiped the blood from his face on his cape, before he answered. "Don't get used to it." And then, he swooped in to steal another kiss from his warrior's lips.