CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE —
( Ta-da. )

────────────────

Loki raged through the night, unleashing his sorrow with every smash, kick, and yell. His usually pristine black hair hung wild and messy, and his grand Asgardian robes lay discarded. Clad only in a rumpled, long-sleeved shirt and pants, he left a trail of destruction in his wake, shattering furniture and scattering glass across the room.

"Loki," Evelyn finally intervened, her voice firm, "enough. Stop harming yourself. She wouldn't want this for you."

Loki leant against the wall and slid down it, all while crying. He didn't want anyone to see him in that state so he put up an illusion of the two of them reading. Evelyn walked over to him and sat down beside him.

Loki leaned his head on Evelyn's shoulder and started sobbing. Seeing Loki so heartbroken was physically breaking Evelyn's heart, literally leaning on her for support. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as he cried. The crying lasted for at least an hour until they heard someone approaching. Loki sat up and wiped away his tears as Thor approached the cell.

Loki made his hologram walk up to the screen. "Thor, after all this time and now you come to visit me," he sneered. "Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki, enough. No more illusions." Thor knew his brother too well. The real Loki looked at Evelyn, and she nodded.

Loki stopped the hologram, revealing the current appearance of the room. It was a cluttered cell with scattered items strewn about. Loki, looking dishevelled himself, was seated next to Evelyn.

"Now you see me, brother," Loki said. Thor walked up to the other side of the cell to be closer to them. "Did she suffer?"

"I did not come here to share in our grief. Instead, I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament," Thor looked at the two of them.

"Go on," Loki said.

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard, and I will grant it to you, vengeance. And afterwards, this cell," Thor said.

Loki chuckled. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you," Thor threatened.

Loki grinned at Evelyn, then to Thor. "When do we start?"

────────────────

After breaking them out of their cell, Thor handed Evelyn a gleaming sword, a weapon to be wielded against the Asgardian guards. As the three prepared for their escape, Thor reviewed the plan again to ensure they were ready for what lay ahead.

"This is so unlike you, brother. So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?" Loki teased Thor.

"If you keep speaking, I just might," Thor said.

"Fine. As you wish. I'm not even here." Using his diversion tactics, Loki turned himself into an Asgardian guard. "Is this better? Still, we could be less conspicuous." Loki turned back into himself but turned Thor into Sif. "Hm, brother. You look ravishing."

Thor looked down at his body and then replied in his voice. "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form."

"Perhaps you prefer one of your new companions, given you seem to like them so much." Loki then turned himself into Steve Rogers in his full Captain America uniform. "Oh, this is much better. Woah. Costume's a bit much, it's so tight. But the confidence, I can feel the righteousness surging." Loki turned around and started walking backwards. "Hey, I'm with you, aren't I?" He asked Evelyn. "Do you wanna have a rousing discussion about truth, honour, patriotism? God bless Ameri—" Thor suddenly grabbed hold of Loki and placed his hand over his mouth. He pushed him against the wall, making Loki turn back into himself.

"What?" Thor looked to the side and watched as two Asgardian guards walked away. "You can at least furnish me with a weapon. My dagger, something!" Thor looked at him and got something out of his robes. "At last. A little common sense." Loki then looked down and held up his hands, which now had iron handcuffs.

Evelyn laughed at the look on Loki's face. "I thought you liked tricks," Thor laughed and then walked off.

"That was pretty clever," Evelyn said, walking beside Loki as they followed Thor.

"That's probably the first time he has tricked me in my existence," Loki told her.

Thor noticed Jane and Sif heading their way, so they quickened their pace to meet them halfway. Jane then pointed at Loki. "You're...?"

"Loki. You may have—" Loki was cut off by Jane punching him in the face.

"That was for New York," she told him with a huff.

Loki grinned down at her, then looked at Thor. "I like her."

"Sif," Evelyn smiled in greeting. The two of them had met each other when she and her team went down to earth to retrieve Thor.

"I hope Loki hasn't been annoying you too much," she said teasingly at Loki.

Evelyn patted Loki on his back. "Not one bit."

The guards began to approach them, their running echoing down the corridor. "I'll hold them off," Sif told Thor. "Take her."

"Thank you," Thor said.

They turned to leave when Sif held her sword up to Loki's neck. "Betray them, and I'll kill you," she said.

Loki chuckled. "It's good to see you, too, Sif." She let him go, and Evelyn took Loki to where Thor and Jane were headed.

"You don't have that many friends, do you?" Evelyn asked, and he shrugged.

"That must be why people here are so afraid of you, because of me," he told her.

Evelyn nodded in agreement. "That's alright, it's not like I'm going to come back," she said.

Thor, Loki, Jane and Evelyn met with Volstagg where Malekith's ship had crashed into the palace. "I will give you as much time as I can," Volstagg said.

Thor and Volstagg did a forearm shake. "Thank you, my friend." Thor turned and walked towards Malekith's crashed ship. Jane smiled and nodded at Volstagg.

Evelyn was about to walk past when Volstagg stopped her. "Lady Evelyn?"

Evelyn turned around and smiled. "Volstagg, it's nice to see you again." Volstagg suddenly pulled Evelyn into a bone-crushing hug. "Yep, I missed you, too," she wheezed out.

"Volstagg, I advise you don't kill my daughter in front of me," Loki told him. Volstagg let Evelyn go and patted her head.

"I wouldn't hurt her," he smiled, and Evelyn hurried towards the ship. As Loki was about to follow, Volstagg stopped him. "If you even think about betraying them—"

"You'll kill me?" Loki asked. "Evidently, there will be a line." Volstagg let Loki go, and he followed after Evelyn.

Thor, Loki, Jane and Evelyn all boarded Malekith's ship. Thor walked up to what seemed to be the control panels and started tapping buttons, with nothing happening.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Evelyn said.

"I said how hard could it be," Thor told her and continued to press buttons.

"Well, whatever you are doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster," Loki told him.

"Shut up, Loki," Thor snapped.

"You probably missed a button," Evelyn told him, looking around at the hundred buttons on the panel.

"I am pressing every button on this thing," Thor said, continuing to do so.

"No, don't hit it. Just press it gently," Loki told him.

"I am pressing it gently. It's not working!" Thor smashed the buttons, and the ship came to life. "Ha-ha!"

Thor controlled the ship to go upwards and turn itself around, hitting a few columns on the way. "I think you missed a column," Loki instantly told him.

"Shut up!" He made the ship fly forward and out of the castle.

"Look, why don't you make me fly it? I'm clearly the best pilot," Loki told Thor as Thor manoeuvred the ship around structures and buildings.

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?" Thor asked.

"Oh lord, we're doomed," Evelyn mumbled as the ship rocked.

To the side, Jane collapsed onto the ground. "Oh, dear. Is she dead?" Loki asked without an ounce of sympathy.

"Jane?" Thor asked.

Jane lifted her hand to wave him off. "I'm okay."

Thor continued to fly the ship, hitting a building in the process. Evelyn was about to say something to Thor when he cut her off. "Not a word."

The Asgardian ships started to come up behind them, following their tail. "Now they're following us," Loki told Thor. Then, they began to fire in hopes of crashing the ship. "Now they're firing at us!" Evelyn fell forward as the ship was shot out. Loki grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back up to a stand before she landed on the floor.

"Thank you for the commentary, Loki. It's not at all distracting," Thor sarcastically said.

Thor dodged the fires from the Asgardian's. To avoid the shots, he tilted to ship to the side so that it could squeeze through a gap, cutting off a stone structures head.

"Well done, you've just decapitated your grandfather," Loki said.

"Why did we choose this big ass ship to flee on anyway?" Evelyn asked although Loki had the same idea.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea," Loki sarcastically told Thor. "Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape on that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so that everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!" Thor leant over and pushed Loki out of the ship, screaming as he fell towards the planet.

Evelyn walked over to the opening of the ship and looked down at where Loki landed. She stepped out of the ship and landed firmly on the next one.

"Hey, Fandral," she greeted the driver.

"Hello again, Lady Evelyn." He took her hand and kissed it. "It's lovely to see you again. You are looking marvellous."

"Fandral, I advise you don't flirt with my daughter in front of me. I will not hesitate to cut your head off," Loki threatened just as Thor landed with Jane.

"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," Fandral laughed. Evelyn looked in the distance and watched as the ship that was containing them was still being followed and shot at by the Asgardians.

Loki looked at Thor, amusement on his face. "You lied to me. I'm impressed."

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do what you promised. Take us to your secret pathway," Thor said.

Loki grinned as he took control. He steered the ship towards the right, approaching the mountains. Evelyn looked behind them and saw that the Asgardians had realised they weren't on the other ship and were now following them. Loki steered the ship away from their fires.

"Fandral," Thor said.

"Right." Fandral grabbed a rope from the ground and stepped towards the edge of the ship. "For Asgard." He jumped off of the ship and swung to the other one. He began fighting them, and then, when he was done, he saluted the group.

Loki continued to steer over a river when he turned the ship to the right and began to steer them towards a mountain.

"Loki," Thor warned.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it," Loki told him.

Evelyn stepped back a bit from the incoming mountain. "Are you mad?" Thor asked.

"Most likely," Evelyn replied simultaneously as Loki said. "Possibly."

Thor held onto Jane as they neared the mountain. Evelyn stepped beside Loki and prepared to jump off. Loki steered them between a thin gap, making the ship go through it. The same rainbow formed around them when Heimdall brought them to Asgard, and soon they popped up in Svartalfheim.

Loki grinned. "Ta-da."

AUTHORS NOTE

Pheebs/-rosepetal