Lost Before The Dawn

Warnings: Mentions of sensual situations.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Playlist: 'White Horse' from 'Snow White and the Huntsman' and 'Such A Prize' from 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2'.

"There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story."
- Frank Herbert

Jane had stopped, late that night, over the border into New Mexico. Not wanting to risk a motel, they'd stopped in the middle of the desert, going off-road until they found some rocks to shelter behind. Jane wasn't sure how much dust and sand her car could take, but if it meant they stayed one step ahead of SHIELD, then she'd just have to feel guilty.

Sleeping in a car wasn't exactly comfortable, but it wasn't like the back seat was any better. In the end, she'd leant her seat back, settled onto her side and tried to ignore the curious, amused eyes watching her from the passenger side. She'd need all the rest she could grab, after her emotionally wearing goodbye with Erik, and as a result, she slept like the dead, barely even feeling hunger despite her stomach growling. Loki had insisted she eat something before passing out, and she'd managed a banana and some crackers before determinedly settling down in her seat to grab a few hours sleep.

She awoke with the wheel sticking into her thigh, and the gearstick impaling her in the side. For a second, she sleepily wondered why the hell she was stretched out halfway across the car, when she realised she was in Loki's arms, her head tucked beneath his chin, and her still injured ribs throbbing.

"Ow," she muttered to herself, as she shifted and fidgeted in his embrace. She glanced up at him, features dark in the pre-dawn gloom, and winced.

"Not a reaction I'm used to upon awakening, I'll admit," the reprobate God/pillow rumbled, chuckling, before his voice turned concerned. "Your ribs? I did think that the gear-stick was not, perhaps, the most comfortable of resting places-"

"Loki. Shut up," Jane grumbled, as his hand swept beneath her shirt and t-shirt, clamping firmly over her injured ribs. She felt a tingle of magic against her skin, and then the dull pain faded, and she breathed in relief. "Thank you."

"First she tells me to shut up, then thanks me," Loki muttered. "You Earth women are far too complicated to deal with."

Jane rolled her eyes and looked away, ignoring the hand still curved around her ribcage beneath her shirt. "What time is it?" she asked.

"Only a few hours from dawn by my reckoning," he replied, his hand caressing her skin sensuously. Jane shivered and cocked a brow as she met her lover's eyes.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it," she muttered. "Sex in a car is not comfortable. So, down boy."

Loki chuckled and raised a brow right back, matching her body language even as his hand curved around to press against her back, shoving her closer into him. Jane rolled her eyes with a sigh, exasperated as much as her body was reacting traitorously, and kissed him. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, asking for entrance, and she gave it gladly, caressing the warm weight of him as he invaded her mouth. Her hand clenched in his hair, as he groaned against her lips, his body pressing needily against hers.

"Come on!" Jane gasped, pulling away. "We need to get going. We're only a couple of hours away."

Loki nodded, but she thought she glimpsed an odd expression on his face…was he nervous?

I suppose he has a right to be. He might have destroyed that portal, but I bet his Dad is still going to be pretty upset about everything else…

Wordlessly, Jane reached over and kissed him again, letting him know silently that she was with him, no matter what. She'd only just got him back, she wasn't to let anyone take him away again. All-Father or no All-Father.

"Come on, let's go," she breathed as she leant back, starting the engine with a rusty-sounding groan.

The further they went, the more on edge Jane felt. She kept glancing at the sky, just beginning to lighten, and uneasily wondered if SHIELD was on their tail. Please just let me get there. Please…

Suddenly she heard a familiar roar of repulsors soaring through the air, and a Jeep speeding up behind them. Her eyes widened, just as Loki called out to her.

"Off road, now!"

She jerked the steering wheel, jolting around as the car struggled on the rocky, unstable desert ground. She dodged again as a familiar red and gold figure flew into view above them, and she gasped. Stark.

"We're nearly there," Loki breathed, as Jane all but stamped on the accelerator, just managing to keep ahead of the pursuing vehicle, jerking the wheel again. "If we survive this infernal journey."

"Hey, think you can drive better, be my guest!?" Jane snapped irritably, as they tore past the glowing lights of Puente Antiguo, Jane's breath catching as she caught a glimpse of her old lab, then they were past it, back out into the desert again. Jane didn't need Loki's instructions now, she knew where she was going blindfolded.

She jumped out of her skin as they crested a rise and sped down the other side, as a tap came against her window. Looking sideways, she realised Stark was flying alongside them, and he was tapping against the window.

With a sigh, she rolled it down, slowing slightly. "Are you crazy?" she barked, and even though she couldn't see his face, she could imagine the billionaire inventor's look of offended incredulity.

"Am I crazy?" he retorted. "Pot calling the kettle black there, Foster."

Jane rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Stark?" Loki asked from beside her, over the roar of the wind as Jane concentrated on not totalling the car.

"To talk. I'm guessing you two are headed off-world and we decided to come see you off. Plus, you've got about thirty minutes before a whole squad of SHIELD goons are going to be coming after you," Stark explained, as Jane slowed the car. Loki nodded to himself, before glancing at Jane.

"I feared Selvig might realise who I was," he told her, as she stared at him, then closed her eyes and groaned.

"Damn it," she muttered. "He probably thinks I'm a zombie like James was. We need to hurry."

"We're almost there. I can sense the imprint's magic," he replied, and she nodded determinedly.

They crested the last rise, and there it was, miraculously preserved despite the harsh desert winds, dark against the sand. The spot where Thor first crashed into her life, where her world changed forever. The place where it all began.

The Jeep caught up to them, and Jane caught a glimpse of blue, red and golden hair. Captain America.

She braked hard a few hundred metres away, and threw herself from the car, Loki beside her, as she defiantly faced down their pursuers, as Stark landed and Rogers got out of the Jeep.

Jane felt the shiver of magic as Loki altered his appearance, his leather surcoat and armour reappearing on his body in a flare of gold, as she clutched her jacket closer around her.

"Dr. Foster!" Rogers called her name urgently. "Are you ok?"

"She is fine, soldier," Loki snapped irritably. Jane elbowed him, although the movement hurt her more than him.

"I can speak for myself y'know," she hissed, before turning to the superhuman. "I'm ok, Captain. I know what I'm doing and if you just let us, we'll be off-"

"Do you? Do you, really?" Rogers snapped harshly, glaring at Loki who glared right back.

"Remember Stuttgart, mortal. I did not need my sceptre to defeat you there," he growled. "You insult Jane if you believe this is anything less than her own will."

"Yeah, and we all know how easily you can play around with someone's 'will'," Rogers replied, as Loki tensed and Jane sprang between them.

"Enough, both of you!" she hissed, before facing the Captain. "This is my choice, Captain. Accept it and move on."

Stark sighed as his mask retracted, and stomped forward. "She's right, Steve. Let her go," he told the super-soldier quietly, before stepping forward with a suspicious glare at Loki. "You going to be ok there, Foster?"

"I think so," Jane nodded, as Loki's hand crept around her waist. Stark eyed it, then stared at Loki intently, and when the alien Prince did not look away, he nodded.

"You're bona fide, 100% nuts but I trust your judgement on this, Foster," he murmured. He held out a hand to Loki, who stared at him, before he took it warily. "And you, Reindeer Games, you look after her, you hear? You sure as hell don't deserve her."

"I know that very well, Stark," Loki replied coolly.

"And I suppose…thanks. For helping us in New York, it doesn't quite wipe the slate clean but…" Stark shrugged. "We'll see."

He released the alien's hand, as Loki looked to the sky. "Jane, we must hurry," he told her, taking her hand and leading her to the circle. She inhaled deeply, relishing the dry, dusty air of New Mexico, looking up to the sky as it turned a deep shade of purple, then pink as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

"Jane!" Rogers suddenly called, as she turned to meet his gaze. His jaw worked, before he nodded to her. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she smiled, before stepping back into the circle and letting Loki pull her against him. She heard the roar of car engines not far away, and the whirr of helicopters overhead.

Taking one last breath, she said goodbye to her planet and her old life, before looking up trustingly into the eyes of the creature who had effectively changed it. Whether for good or bad remained to be seen.

"Hey, Jane," Tony suddenly called, as a wind sprung up, and clouds grew and expanded above them. She looked to him, squinting as the dust of the desert rose up in a miniature cyclone around her and Loki. "You made one hell of an Avenger!"

Jane shook her head and laughed, as Loki chuckled and raised his eyes to the heavens. "Heimdall!" he cried. "It is I, Loki of Asgard. Open the Bifrost!"

With a thrill, Jane felt her entire body turn to light, as her vision dissolved into tiny diamond pinpricks of light rushing past her, Loki's arms around her waist, her only tangible sensation. The image of Tony Stark and Steven Rogers, Iron Man and Captain America, watching their departure with awe and fear, burned into her mind, as she was ripped away from her world forever.

But that was ok. She had fulfilled her destiny on that world, and now she had another purpose, another path to follow.

Whether it lead to good or evil, Jane did not and could not know. Whether it contained heartbreak or joy, she couldn't know. Danger, loss, or love, she couldn't be sure of her future anymore, but she was done trying to control all that. Whatever came her way, she would fight and laugh and find her own way through it all.

And if it contained the man in whose arms she was nestled, then so much the better. She had no doubt that her immediate future was going to be dark and difficult. They were both broken, damaged creatures teetering on the brink of insanity and endless darkness, but Jane had also seen the light in Loki. Mere flashes, glimpses of a man above the petty bitterness and hurt of his past. A creature who did not need power, or a throne, to be worth something. He held power already, if only he could accept it, and that was the truth of him, Jane knew it.

And Jane was going to help him find that truth, the truth of who Loki really was and could be, no matter what.

Finis

To be continued in the sequel: Veritas. I'm on holiday from the 25th to the 9th July, so I will take some time to work on the opening chapters but will not post before the 9th. But stay tuned for more! Thanks for reading and reviewing!