The Avengers: Finding Young Loki

Resurrected

The Avengers were numb as they returned to the bridge. Clint had gone to wash up and change his clothes, but when he got back, his expression was dark. "I want this Dokkalfar dead!" he hissed between clenched teeth and the rest of the Avengers agreed with him.

"I want his ass in the ground by night," Tony said as he furiously typed on a computer, putting Thor's comm to good use. He activated the tracker and set Jarvis on hyper search. As he continued to type, Jarvis' search area became smaller as he closed in on Thor's location.

"Excuse me sir, but I'll have Thor's location and you'll be able to kill the bastard elf that has him," Jarvis said. Him, Jarvis, cursing made all the Avengers look up. "No one will call me JV anymore," Jarvis said in a rather sad tone.

"Don't worry Jarvis, we'll give him an extra kick in the pants just for you," Bruce said.

"That would make me so happy sir," Jarvis answered before he pinged and found Thor's location.

"Got you!" Clint said.

When Thor opened his eyes, he was chained with his back to a wall. His armor had been removed and he was wearing were his pants and red undershirt. Thor looked around and he saw strange symbols painted on the walls. He guessed that it was in the old language of the Dark Elves. Thor strained against the chains but a snicker made him look up. Dokkalfar was standing in front of him, wearing one of those masks he had seen the servants of Malekith wear. "Awake? Good. I wanted you to learn the news from me," Dokkalfar said as he pulled out a whip.

"What news? I already have a firm grasp of the obvious!" Thor hissed, pulling on the chains even more. "You want revenge like any petty creature would. I killed the last of your race, your last chance of plunging the galaxy and Nine Realms into darkness. And good riddance!" The whip made a cracking and hissing noise as it lashed Thor across the face. Thor did not cry out, and the blood slid down his cheek. Thor looked up at Dokkalfar and he did something he knew Loki would have done. He grinned.

"You dare look down on me Asgardian?! My race ruled the Nine Realms before even the Vanir came into power! You are the last person to turn your nose up at me!" Dokkalfar shouted.

"Oh?" Thor asked, his swollen lips slightly impeding his speech. "I thought I was looking down at you?" Dokkalfar's face became very angry and he lashed out with the whip again. Thor lowered his head to protect his face, but sometimes Dokkalfar would strike from below and rise up, causing Thor's head to snap backwards. As he continued to strike, Thor closed his eyes and imagined all the fun times he and Loki had had together. As children, and when Loki had been brought to Avengers Tower. All the good times they had had, driving Odin crazy, or playing with the Avengers. Thor concentrated on Loki's smile and laugh. Before he became cynical and conniving, his laugh had always had that spark of good humor and fun.

"You think your friends will save you?! You think Loki will save you?! Well, you're in for a rude surprise. He's dead!" Dokkalfar said as he let the whip descend again. This time, Thor's head came up and he caught the whip in his teeth. Pulling down hard, Thor yanked the whip from Dokkalfar's grasp.

"You lie! We have thought that Loki's been dead before! Twice! And he's always come back! He's not dead!" Thor yelled after spitting the whip from his mouth.

"But I stabbed him myself. Right between the ribs. He's not the adult he was when he faked his death before. He's just a teenager, with nowhere near the amount of power he had before. He's dead!" Dokkalfar said triumphantly before he walked away. Thor sagged in his chains, watching as the blood dripped from his face and onto the floor. Soon, he saw tears mingling with the blood and falling with them. Was Loki really dead?

I refuse to believe it! Loki's alive! If only because I need him to be, Thor thought.

The Avengers had left the hellicarrier to get Thor back and tell him the bad news. Jane, Erik, and Darcy had walked back to the medical wing. They stood outside the room where Loki was still lying, encased in ice. "What will they do with his body?" Darcy asked, her hand pressed against the glass.

"I assume they'll send him back to Asgard to be buried. Maybe they'll be able to get him out of the ice," Erik said. Jane said nothing as she walked the doctors begin to prepare the ice for transportation to a freezer until they could send it back to Asgard. One of the doctors wrapped belts around it, and another attached them to a pulley. They were about to lift it up and place it on a gurney, when it suddenly started to crack. They were so startled that they let go of the ropes and the belts broke. Jane, Erik, and Darcy held their breaths as they watched the ice crack more, sending twisted patterns all over the smooth, white surface. The doctors cried out when the ice finally exploded and sent shards flying everywhere. Jane and Darcy were through the door in an instant, but a mist had taken over the room. Jane waved her hand out in front of her, but she could hardly see her fingers in the wispy tendrils of mist. As her hand waved again, something caught it. Jane gasped and she felt a shiver go through her body. The hand that had hers trapped, was cold. An icy feeling in the form of a muscle spasm took hold of her and Jane felt for a moment that her own heart had stopped. The hand then lost its grip, and instead, held her own very gently. She saw the tapered fingers were blue and soft, caressing the palm of her hand. That was when she was pulled in and found herself staring into a pair of red eyes. Black strands of hair fell across his forehead, and the expression on his face was one of pure joy.

"Loki," Jane whispered.

"As always, it's good to see you Jane Foster," Loki told her as the blue color faded from his skin. He kissed her hand and then let her go. Jane stepped back and took a good look at him. He looked the same, except that he had a scar on his torso from where the knife had entered his body. He quickly conjured up a green shirt and slipped it on.

"What happened?!" Darcy's voice asked as she appeared from the mist. With a wave of his hand, Loki cleared the mist away, and everyone looked at him. Erik and Darcy gasped when they saw him and the SHIELD doctors stared as well.

"I've been resurrected!"