I do not own Marvel or any of it's character's.

Rise and Shine Loki

Her voice was obscured as if she was only an echo, and Loki's awareness was blinded, but he could feel his chest rise and fall with every breath he took in. His brain throbbed heavily as the rest of his body began to respond to each of the slightest reactions to whatever cool touch dabbed at his forehead. The last time he ever felt this miserable was when he was violently thrown around like a rag doll by that green giant that had gone berserk on him when he invaded New York. Yet, there were soft touches that followed each rush of pain and it felt comforting. He tried to pry his eyelids open to awaken while the rest of his senses took their time to catch up. The faint voice had gotten closer now that he could almost hear his name."Loki? C'mon wake up." The woman spoke quietly, but he could hear it much more clearly now.

Hearing his name by the familiar voice managed to give determination to his nerves, and his eyes began to open up. Loki groaned from low in his chest, and blinked a few dozen times before he could focus on anything in the room. Suddenly he could make out someone, and with a few extra blinks he could barely make her out.

Jane…

"Yes. It's me. Just open your eyes." She responded to him, but he didn't remember saying anything, yet he could feel something moving his head to look forward, but his awareness faded in and out.

She touched his forehead again with what felt like a cold damp cloth and started to come back into consciousness again. Finally his eyes were open half way, but just enough to see that Jane was crouched right in front of him.

"Jane?" He said her name again, but wasn't convinced he was out of the woods just yet or if Jane was just a figment of his imagination.

He felt her fingers take his chin with the gentlest touch and feeling around his scalp with the other. "You had a hard hit to the head, but you'll be alright." He was finally able to comprehend her face and overwhelmed with relief that she was here with him and unharmed.

"You're safe…." His voice was hoarse and with a harsh intake of air, he coughed.

"Yes I am, and I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Jane spoke reassuringly which brought everything back into perspective.

Suddenly the sense of wanting to reach out and touch her had filled his mind, but just as he tried to do so he couldn't. Something was holding him back from moving to hold her. Anger rushed through him and his adrenalin began to rise. He looked up to see that both his hands had been bound tightly into what looked to be branches and sprigs woven together intricately and secured over each palm. Loki found himself sitting up against the wall, and his arms stretched up, with Jane sitting right between his legs. He tried to budge his hands free, but whatever they were incased in was extraordinarily impenetrable and enough to keep them in place. Not even a powerful God like him could get free. Anxiety began to take over.

"W-What is this? Where am I?" Loki yanked and pulled, but still he couldn't break from his restraints.

"Loki, please. Just calm down and I can explain everything, but you have to be quiet." Jane spoke softly.

"Get these off of me!" Loki shouted. The last thing he wanted was to get locked up again with no ability to protect those that he cared for. He looked at her with panic in his eyes which unsettle her. She really didn't want anyone to hear this. They needed to talk.

Jane tried to reason with him. "Believe me if I could I would, but I can't."

He ignored her attempt at reassuring him and kept pulling, "We have to get out of here. We are in danger. One of his assassin is on this ship and I won't let her touch you. We must leave now!"

She said everything that she could, but it was pointless when he was so unhinged. She tried to steady him, but his entire body was working against him and started to thrash out of control. Something needed to be done to keep him quiet so no one could hear that he was awake. She needed him silent so they could work it out peacefully. It was obvious that Quill or Gamora wouldn't allow her to speak with him once he woke up, so she had to sneak down here and wake him up instead. But her plan was null and void if she couldn't get him to stop. The less irrational he was the better. Jane didn't know what else to do, so she did the only thing that she knew would grab his attention.

Jane avoided his distress and grabbed him by both sides of his face and pressed her lips firmly to his. Loki struggled for only a moment before his tussling began to seize. The kiss was just what he needed. It was as if she had flipped a switch and his attention was directly at her disposal. Her mouth massaged his lips with a soft rhythmic pace that impelled him. His entire body felt like it was melting to the floor the longer she held him there. How in the world did he allow this to happen? When did her touch have this much of a profound effect on him?

He felt her hands slide gracefully down to rest against his chest and she was effortlessly caught in the moment. It was then that he sorely wished he could hold her. He leaned his head in as far as he could to deepen the kiss as his pulse stabilized. Jane felt him kiss her back and it took her by surprise. This was in efforts to calm him down; not necessarily to share such a brief and intimate moment with him, but she found herself lost against his mouth and grabbed at his tunic to help pull him closer.

It took all the willpower in the world to part from him, but there was much they needed to discuss. As she pulled away, he couldn't help but stare deep into her eyes and begging for more contact with her. Jane had never seen him with such blissful longing, even from before. Seeing him this way reminded her that she was right in trusting him. He looked worn out and exhausted, which was also different from how he usually looked. It was almost reassuring that even a God like him was vulnerable, and knowing that Loki wasn't perfect made her fall for him even more than she wanted to admit considering how much she cared for Thor.

Those innermost feelings needed to be locked away. There was no time for them to focus on the complexity of their growing relationship, or whatever it was that was happening between them. Jane sat back on her feet and let her hands fall to her lap. She looked down for a moment and tucked her hair behind her ear. Typically the Trickster would have plenty of enough words to express what he was feeling, but Loki was stagnant and tried to make sense of what just happened. He was still hating the fact that he was cuffed to the wall, but did his best to remain composed for her sake.

"S-sorry I…I just needed you to be quiet for a moment so you can let me explain the situation to you. But first; how the hell did you find me?" Jane finally looked up at him with her piercing auburn eyes, trying to bring the attention back to the situation at hand rather than focus on their exceedingly alluded kiss.

Loki sighed heavily, and felt his head pounding once again. He took a bit of time to answer, but there was no sense in keeping anything from her, not when their lives could be in danger. "Heimdal; He knows everything. I watched them take you and I could do nothing to stop it. I went to him for help, and he did." It was difficult for him to speak fluently from exhaustion, but his explanation was enough that Jane made sense of it, but his expression still looked weary of his position. "I only wish I could've gotten to you sooner." Loki admitted regretfully.

Jane found that statement unnecessary, and instinctively caressed the side of his face to ease his guilt. It wasn't needed. "Hey, you're here now. That's all that matters."

Loki accepted her tenderness and leaned into her touch which made her blush slightly. Seeing him react to her affection was unpredictably wistful. She never knew he had it in him; it was…moving. When he looked at her again he could see there was something bothering her. "Did they hurt you?" The way he said it was less in concern for her and more like a method of getting a reason to hurt them if he felt the need, but Jane was quick to reassure.

"Not at all. That's what I need to tell you." Her tone was nervous but comforting, as if he had nothing to worry about, but he wasn't yet convinced.

Her explanation was brief, but she explained all that had happened in the last few days. She told him about the entire crew and her relation to Peter Quill which seemed to amaze him. Beyond all that, there wasn't much to tell Loki, but there was enough information to ease his concerns to better assess how he was going to be released out of confinement. Regardless of how much Jane trusted this crew, he didn't, and was already calculating plans to escape with her. Jane could see that he was mentally strategizing. Once she realized what he was plotting, she decided to be upfront with Loki and confess what has been haunting her and what she has neglected to tell him since day one. The God of Mischief was no longer giving her eye contact when she said the one name he never expected to come from her mouth.

"I know about Thanos." Her tone was low and somber, which caught Loki's undivided attention. Hearing her say the name of the most deadly being in the known Universe, was almost debilitating. He figured Gamora played some part in her new discovery, but before he could respond she had more to say. "He's been in my thoughts…controlling my dreams…torturing me…" Her voice carried but broke with her every word.

It took Loki a great deal of patience to listen to this without interjecting with a plethora of questions. She looked so frightened, and not just from telling him, but from having to discuss what's been happening to her in the past several weeks. Jane was scare to even talk about it. That was obvious, and she had every reason to be afraid. It seemed as though her rehashing on the past was difficult for her, like she had been harboring conflicted feelings for too long that they were finally catching up to her. Loki however, was not the best candidate for being the shoulder for her to cry on given his track record for dealing with sentiment. Not that he could offer much in the way of comfort from his given position. Even if he wanted to, he was securely attached to the damn wall. What was even more ironic was that he really did want to comfort her. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright; that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Yet, his given state was restricting him from doing anything but listen. Perhaps it was enough.

Jane looked up at Loki after letting go of her turmoil. She didn't even really notice how much she had been crying. It allowed her to remember all those moments when Loki had showed up to her apartment with all his tricks and schemes to distract her from her sickness she was forced to endure. What had happened in the last few days that had brought them so close? Looking at him now, he was surly not who he used to be. If he was lying, he was doing a damn good job, but deep down Jane knew that he was being honest. He had no reason to lie at this point. However, even if she was wrong and he was plotting against her, she wouldn't regret believing in him. It wouldn't matter. Jane almost felt naïve for thinking that, but at this point she could give a damn what he had done in the past. What mattered was that he was here for her one way or another which was more than what she could say for anyone else she knew back on Earth.

It took Jane a lot of self-control not to kiss him again, because she had to remain focused. Before she could speak Loki interrupted. "He's hunting you. He must truly believe you have some of that Aether left in you? That's very unlikely. Or perhaps it's something else entirely. One cannot really be certain when it comes to Thanos. He's not exactly the type to negotiate. If he wants something he gets it regardless of the reason. If he's after you, then flying through the universe is probably not the best course of action. He has many under his control, and he knows exactly how to work things out to his favor. It's better to keep running and keep a low profile."

"I can't do that." Jane declared, but Loki didn't accept that.

"Why not? Do you want to get yourself killed? Is that what you worked so hard to do? With what little time you have left you want to waste it to cut it that short?" Loki debated, but Jane wasn't accepting the running scared plan.

"Running scared isn't the answer. He will never stop if we don't stop him. If there's a chance that I can stop him I'm going to take it. If it kills me at least I'll know that I didn't die without a fight." Jane argued.

"You won't know if you're dead Jane." His tone was desperate now; trying to make her understand through bated breath that her choice to face Thanos at some point was absurd. He admired how persistent she was, but not at the risk of losing her. When Loki looked at her he saw that Jane was giving him the same look his mother did; trying to convince him of a choice that was not the right one. It brought up too much of that memory and it was excruciating. Losing Jane like he lost his mother, was not a history he was willing to witness repeating.

Jane could tell she was touching on a sensitive nerve, but she was still novice to this new responsibility over her shoulders. She was a part of something more important than her life. Being selfish and abandoning everything was not the answer, but getting Loki to understand that was proving to be more complicated than she hoped. It was sweet that he'd become so protective and concerned for her well being, but she needed his support. Fighting alongside her and not as her rescuer was more than needed. He had done that enough times for Jane to understand that she had her own purpose in life; to find a way for her to not feel useless in the face of danger. He could help her do that more by showing just how to accomplish this, instead of taking her away from everything.

But there were his own personal demons to consider, and Jane had only expected he was still suffering from his own losses, but she needed him to get that his mother's death was not in vain. "C'mon Loki. Where's your faith in me?" He looked at her with curiosity. "Why don't you help us?"

"Pardon me, I must've gotten hit in the head harder than I thought. I could've sworn you said that you want ME to help you confront Thanos." Loki mocked, but Jane just smiled at his lack of imagination.

"You heard me correctly," Jane corrected.

"That's absolutely insane," Loki refused.

"You don't have any harbored resentment towards him? For what he made you do?" Loki immediately heard those words come from her mouth in shock.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Loki spat harshly.

"You mean to tell me that you wanted all that chaos to happen? You were really prepared to kill your own family, and SPARE me the 'They're not my real family" bullshit. Blood means crap when you were raised and loved by them your entire life. I may not know the entire story, but I know enough to understand denial when I see it. I've met your family, and you couldn't possibly want the throne THAT much to have done as much damage as you've d..." Jane was cut off instantly.

"That' enough!" Loki shouted which made Jane jump.

Jane went too far; that she knew, but he needed to accept his past regardless if she had the right. If a bond was growing between them, then Loki needed to be aware of what that meant. Jane wasn't afraid of him. She could take the hits. He was glaring daggers at Jane trying to intimidate her out of saying things that he didn't want to hear, but Jane was resilient enough not to let his poison affect her. Yet, Jane felt maybe she could soften the blow a little. "Look, what I'm trying to say is I'm not blaming you. And you may not want to hear this, but it's not like you've heard this from anyone else, so I'm sorry." Jane paused for a moment to give herself more courage to speak. "I'm sorry that you were lied to. I'm sorry you were manipulated, and I'm sorry about Frigga. I'm sorry that you...well I'm sorry for everything."

Loki stared at her stunned, but allowed her to express her sorrows. It was the first time he didn't have anything to fire back with, and that confused him greatly. Loki was accustomed to shooting his venom whenever he felt threatened, but not once did he feel he had to with Jane. Why did Jane think she had to apologize when she was not the cause of any of this? She never tried to deny anything, or fight to convince him of the reasons why. Jane just expressed sympathy. Something no one else had done. The God never wanted to admit if that would ever be enough, but hearing them come from her was empowering and reassured him that not everyone that knew of The God of Mischief thought he was evil.

"Loki I..." She was about to add to her long list of apologies, but Loki interrupted her.

"Thank you..." Loki spoke with a genuine firmness and Jane looked up into his glowing green eyes.

"Stay and fight with me." Jane blurted out.

Loki's heart warmed by the thought, especially coming from her own voice. He allowed the words to fill his brain for a good several seconds to let them sink in. There was no use fighting his feelings towards Jane, nor trying to escape his past sins. Maybe it was time that he stopped running too. His sigh was resounding. "As you wish."

"Really?" Jane's eyes lit up as if she hadn't expected Loki to oblige. It made her sublimely happy which made her a little nervous, but even more thrilled that he had accepted.

"Understand that this is about the craziest plan I've ever heard of, and I in no way want to face Thanos," Loki's voice was scratchy from exhaustion and Jane waited to hear more of what he had to say, hoping he wasn't going to reconsider her request, "But I would rather face Thanos alone wearing nothing but my helmet, than to suffer the wrath of Jane Foster."

Jane couldn't contain the smile that spread across her face, nor the charming laugh that she gave from Loki's over exaggerated fear of what would happen if he said no to her. It was...flattering. Not to mention the thought of him naked seemed to make her face blush intensely and hoped that he wasn't noticing. The feelings she was having and trying to fight were swarming, but it was even more difficult trying to keep her body from reacting to them because her heart felt otherwise.

"I...don't think you have to worry about me Loki. You never have before." Jane tested.

Loki winced at her comment. "I didn't care about you before. I actually pity my brother; the way you're constantly running head first into danger. It's enough to drive a God insane."

Jane laughed again, trying to give him a taste of his own smugness. "What can I say I like to live dangerously."

Loki raised an eyebrow at her and let out an exasperated breath. Her tenacity seized to amazed him. They managed to come to an agreement which was surprising, and felt remarkably natural for the two of them. "So Jane, what happens next?" He tugged again on his restraints just to see if by some miracle he could get out of them.

"You just have to hang tight for a little while longer. I'll talk with Quill and argue my way into getting them to hear you out, but you've got to work that silver tongue of yours." Loki grinned that charming smile of his for the first time since the day they met on Asgard. It was refreshing and gave her just the motivation she needed to move forward with their plan.

Loki was impressed, but surprised that she even knew about his nick name. "Where did you hear that?"

"Thor told me."

Loki laughed this time and wondered just how much his brother told her about him.

All flattery aside, Jane's smile fell back into a straight line. " They won't listen if you get impatient with them. Especially Gamora; she won't tolerate any malicious behavior. She's convinced you're bad news. That you're still working for him." She looked disappointed when she said it.

"Can't blame her." Loki admitted nonchalantly.

"Just be...less mischievous? This has to work out. Otherwise I don't know what will happen, but whatever does, it's not going to be good either way. So, please just don't give them a reason to throw you off the ship." Jane tried her best not to sound like she was nagging.

Loki dropped his head back against the wall with a sigh wondering how such a request was even possible, and then looked her in the eyes again. "As you wish."

Jane was beginning to think she should've met Loki a long time ago, then maybe the entire insident in New Mexico and New York could have been avoided. Jane was not one to dwell on "what ifs", but she couldn't help but wonder if things would've been easier or different had Loki been the one she hit with her van. She shook her head from the thought immediately. Why was she constantly trying to dismiss her memory of Thor every time Loki was around. It was aggravating and made her feel like a horrible person. She cared for Thor just as much, if not more than Loki, but the God of Mischief was having such an applified effect on her. He made her do things she never thought she was the type to do.

"Thank you Loki. I-I'll see you soon." Jane was about to get up from her spot, but Loki hooked his slender leg around her upper thighs and pulled Jane back and she fell against him with her hands against his stomach.

"With one condition." Jane's heart was pounding so hard her ribs hurt. Of course there was a catch with Loki. She wanted to smack herself and him for thinking it would be easy trying to reason with a selfish God, but being this close to him clouded her judgment just enough to hear him out.

"Name it." Jane said assertively. Her look went from thrown back to intrigued. Being this close to Loki caused a heat to grow low within her belly. She was practically laying on top of him. His gaze was hypnotic, but Jane was strong enough to play along and keep up.

Loki let out a soft chuckle of amusement; rather enjoying where Jane was positioned despite the fact that he couldn't touch her as much as he desired. It was fun making a game of this spark constantly igniting between them. She seemed to be calling his bluff, only he wasn't. "Kiss me again." He said as more of a demand than a request. He wanted her to seal the deal so to speak.

At first Jane wanted to shove him with disgust, but there was this unbreakable pull that he had on her now; so invigorating that it made her feel alive. It took her a moment to process just exactly how to respond. Doing so would solidify their agreement, but is that all it would mean? The fact that she really wanted to regardless of his offer was conflicting and a pain in her ass.

She dropped her head for a moment; hitting her head against his lean chest. Loki nudged her with his hip to motivate her decision. "Of course if you don't want my assistance..."

Before he could finish his sentence Jane curled her her hands around his neck and went for it. She was done arguing with heself about this and threw them in the back corners of her mind. All she wanted was to do as he said and kiss him. Only he wasn't half out of his mind this time. This kiss was much heavier, and instantly more intimate than before. Both of them were in sync with each other's movements and Loki was eager to show her where his nick name came from. Without much effort his lips parted hers and let his tongue graze hers teasingly. He felt her entire body react to this as her breath hitched, but it took her no time to begin her experiment. She deepened the kiss this time, letting their tongues move fluidly with one another's. The feeling was intoxicating and Jane was savoring every movement. His mouth was enough to drive her wild with lust, but before she could give in just a little more, Loki stopped excruciatingly slow. Jane gave a slight wimper when he did this and her eyes fluttered open and saw Loki's up close. So much so that she could see the light gold that sparkled in them. Loki felt her breath against his lips and the tip of her nose touching his. Jane was cursing herself for this, but there was no turning back now.

"And they say I'm trouble." He spoke deeply with his mouth hovering above hers.

Jane pushed herself away from him as much as it pained her to do it. Mistakes could easily be made at this moment, so backing off was an intelligent decision. Letting in a long inhale felt good. She didn't know exactly how long it had been since the last time she allowed herself to breathe. Hearing Loki call her trouble had opened up her eyes a bit more as she became more aware of the reality of the situation. Their push and pull relationship had only just begun and the more she longed into his mystical emerald stare, the stronger that pull got.

"I will help you." Loki purred in agreement and his taken expression had shifted instantly into a more professionally tamed demeanor.

"And I will find a way to get you out of here." Jane looked away from him to look around the room to make sure no one had been eavesdropping or taking a peek on their rather passionate interlude. When she glanced back at Loki she saw that he hadn't stopped looking at her. What in the Universe was happening?

Somehow, Jane was able to fully get back to her feet without the Trickster snatching her up for another steal of her affections. She forced herself to take her eyes and mind off of him enough to turn on her heel and leave, but right when she was reaching for the door, Loki spoke smugly.

"Don't be long sweetheart," He said as he leaned his head back with his eyes closed; trying to find a sweet spot to get himself more comfortable.

Jane chuckled softly, but failed to repl. She left the God of Mischief behind and shut the door behind her. With two fingers she felt her lips where Loki had been and took a moment to realize the complexity of it.

"Fuck." Jane cursed and went straight to her room and clutching her arms to her stomach along the way.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. It may take some time for me to post the next one, so bare with me. Thank you all so much for the kind reviews and encouragement.

~TheChampion04