A/N: It's a new Lokane! Yes, it will probably be just as epic as "Between Worlds" wass… that said, though there may well be elements in common between them, they take place in entirely different universes in my head. Also, disclaimer for this one: I'm basing early events on my own personal twist on the events of Thor 2, as predicted by me based solely on the trailer available on Youtube. So, if you feel spoiled, you probably aren't… this will likely be very AU to what happens in the movie. But I can't wait for the movie to come out to write this. There's still not enough Lokane.

"You must be truly desperate, to come to me for help."

– Loki, Thor 2 (Trailer)

None of this is quite how he had expected. Of course, he isn't quite as… grounded… as he once was. Things are often a little fuzzy around the edges. There are walls in his own head he can't quite break through. Hurts he edges away from in the darkness. He's always been alone; always a little lonely for it. Now he wears it like a cloak. The madness is in his veins, the darkness has wormed its way into his very being. There's no escaping what he is, what he has become.

Still, it would take a true simpleton to accept the words of a dark elf at face value. Only a fool accepts that a sacrifice must be made before first exploring all other options. Yet, here Thor is, ready (if not willing) to let his little mortal be snatched up and stolen away from him. As if she has not been his focus throughout all this. As if he has not slowed their progress to ease her exhaustion, has not given up his own rations to feed her, has not trudged across the plains and hills and mountains with one arm protectively wrapped about her. No, he will ignore all his efforts and sacrifice her, the tiny human woman who changed him. In the name of what he believes in. It's foolishness. Pure and stupid and thick-headed. It's very Thor.

And Loki is, ultimately, very Loki. And there's a spell for this, if Thor would simply ask before charging in while pretending to be noble.

In the end, he doesn't do it because he cares about Thor or his mortal pet, he does it because he can. And damnit, if it doesn't feel good to have Thor stare at him incredulously; to have the mortal woman gaze up at him with eyes that whisper of confusion and thanks. He shrugs. Sacrifice is stupid, he tells them, when there is nothing to be gained for it and no purpose behind it. Besides, Jane's life is her's to give, not Thor's.

He ignores the tightening in Thor's jaw at that; pretends he doesn't see the sudden change in Jane's expression. Her eyes have not widened. She doesn't see him for the first time. That sort of thing happens in fairy tales and hero stories. Loki has no place in either, thank you indeed.

"We're from different worlds. Maybe they were separate for a reason."

- Jane, Thor 2 (Trailer)

Three days is what it takes them to get back to Asgard. It's less than it took to get them into enemy territory, but it somehow feels longer. Longer because none of them is actually present. They are all entirely lost in their own heads. It's as if the silent, lonely madness that surrounds Loki has spread into them like a disease. Jane won't let Thor touch her now, not after that moment spent hovering in air, caught in dark magic that ripped and tore at the edges of her sanity. She saw the moment when he gave her up. And that's all there is really. When the fate of worlds sits in the balance, she is what Thor will give up. Every single time. She dreams that moment back into life every night. She dreams it, and it eats at her. It eats at her that it is Loki, bitter and twisted and hollowed out by madness and darkness, who saves her. Loki who hauls her to her feet. Loki who scolds Thor. It eats at her, and leaves her quiet and cold.

In the end, Jane thinks that this how love dies. In a sudden instant, it withers inside your chest and your throat, leaving something bitter and hollow behind. She practices the speech she will give Thor as she walks. Her eyes don't leave Loki's back. If she looks away, she'll search out Thor, and his open, honest eyes will melt the ice around her heart. She won't be strong enough to say the words until she's found the right ones, and the right moment to say them. Until then, she's better off ignoring him. Because she needs to say the words. She needs to free her broken heart from the wreckage of the what-might-have-been's.

Which is exactly why her heart breaks all over again when they return to Asgard, and Thor falls into an easy run that takes him up the steps to where Sif stands, strong and easy, as if she hadn't taken a spear through her side only a little more than a week ago. For Thor picks her up with the sort of ease that suggests practice and spins her about with something like joy, and he sets a kiss on her forehead in the same moment he sets her feet back upon earth, and the tenderness he does it with is like a knife in Jane's heart. She doesn't need to say the words, doesn't need to give Thor any speeches about how they come from different worlds and are better off apart. He knows this already. Has always known this. Only she has been the fool.