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..••°°°°••..
"What?" Loki demands. Thor nods solemnly.
"I have worked out a protection detail with the guards, and the team and I are working hard to figure out a solution," Thor assures you. You take a deep breath, knowing that there's little Steve and the others to do if it's Laufey targeting you.
"Thank you, Thor. For everything."
"Of course, Lady (Y/N)," he says. "I shall keep you updated. Brother, a word?" Loki glances down at you, and you nod, letting him know you're okay. As soon as Loki and Thor leave the room, you sit down on your bed and let your mind wander.
Why would Laufey be targeting you? He has no fight with the Avengers. Unless he's trying to hurt Thor, there's no reason for him to go after you. You sigh, knowing that Loki is probably beating himself up for something that's not his fault.
A few minutes later, someone opens the door. You look up and see Loki paler than usual, and your heart sinks. You rise from the bed and walk over to him, taking his face in your hands. He avoids looking at you directly.
"Loki, what is it?"
"This is my fault," he replies. You furrow your eyebrows.
"What? No. How could this possibly be your fault?"
"Do you not know who Laufey is?" Loki asks meekly.
"He's king of the Frost Giants," you reply, "on Jotunheim."
"Yes, but he is more than that," Loki says. "Do you know what I am?"
"A god," you reply, not understanding where he's going with this.
"Yes, but again, I am more than that."
"I know that, Loki."
"No, you don't." Loki removes your hands from his face, and you step back as Loki's pale skin turns blue. Faint markings rise from his skin, and his normally blue eyes bleed red. Your eyes widen and you stumble back a little more, shock running through your system.
"You're a Frost Giant," you whisper, you voice hardly audible. Loki looks down, shame written across his face.
"Yes," he admits, his voice soft. You examine him, your heart clenching at the despair emanating from him. You approach slowly and rest your hand on his cheek. You ignore the sharp coldness of him and bring his face up so he can look at you.
"Loki, I am not afraid of you. Knowing what you are doesn't make me love you any less."
"Maybe not, but knowing who my father is may."
"It's Laufey," you answer. His eyes widen. "Loki, I can read between the lines," you smile. Loki fades back to his usual self. He takes your hand in his and squeezes, trying to bring warmth back into it. You smile at the action and move his hair from his face.
"Why are you not afraid? he questions.
"Because you are not either of your fathers. You are the son of Odin and the son of Laufey, yes, but who you are is up to you. To Thor, you're his pain in the ass brother, but he would die for you. To me, you're someone I trust with my life and the man I love. It doesn't matter who your father is. It matters who you become despite that."
"I've made so many mistakes. I've done terrible things. I tried to take over your world. I could have killed you."
"But you didn't. I'm right here. And you weren't in your right mind. You were being controlled. No one can fault you for that. Please believe me when I say that you're not evil."
A lone tear slips from Loki's eye, and you wrap him in your arms, wishing you could take away his self-hatred.
"I don't deserve you," Loki whispers into your shoulder.
"You deserve me and so much more." You pull away and lead Loki to the bed, pulling down the covers and climbing in. "Lay with me."
He does, and you curl into his side. Your eyes droop, the last few days finally catching up with you. As you drift off, Loki kisses your head.
"I promise you, (Y/N), I will protect you with my life."
..••°°°°••..
Your head pounds as you open your eyes, only to see a dark sky. You frown, sitting up slowly. You shiver, wrapping your arms around yourself as a cold breeze rushes over your skin. You look around, letting your eyesight adjust to your odd surroundings.
Nothing but brown dirt and dust. That's all you can see for miles.
"Disgusting, isn't it?" a deep voice says. You look around, your eyes struggling to make sense on anything you look at. "Oh, it'll wear off eventually."
"Where am I?" you ask, your voice foreign to your own ears.
"Svartalfheim. It's not Jotunheim, but it is better than most planets." You finally find the owner of the voice, and your stomach flips.
"Laufey."
"Ah, so you've heard of me. Tell me, does my reputation precede me?"
"Hardly. You're more underwhelming in person," you snap unwisely. You try to piece together the events that brought you here, but the last thing you remember is falling asleep in Loki's arms.
Loki.
"Where is Loki?" you demand, struggling to your feet.
A cruel smirk forms on Laufey's face.
"Dead."
Your legs give out as you fall to your knees, your head swimming with the word.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
Loki's dead.
"He fought hard for you. Truly. But, ultimately, he was no match for me or my remaining forces."
Rage and grief fill your chest as you scream, stumbling to your feet and rushing at him. He laughs and just before you reach him, he swings his arm out, sending you flying. You hit the ground hard, the air leaving your lungs.
"You think that you, a mere mortal, could defeat me? And why? Because I killed the man you love?" he taunts. You get to your feet again, seeing nothing but red.
"I'm going to kill you," you promise, your voice shaking with rage.
"You have my permission to try."
Unwisely, you charge again, grief and anger blinding you of better judgement. Once again, Laufey merely swings his arm, and you land further away this time. You feel something crack and pain engulfs your entire body. You can't make a sound, the pain restricting your airway and vocal chords.
Laufey stands over you, a content look on his face.
"How I wish Loki were here to see this." He lifts his foot to end you, but a Laufey goes flying, accompanied by a familiar clang.
"Step away," Thor's voice booms. You can't move, your whole body in shambles from trying to take on Laufey. You faintly hear fighting, and the wind picks up, signaling that Thor is creating some sort of attack using his hammer. Little rocks chip away at your already bruised body, but you can do nothing but let it happen.
Suddenly, something is shielding you from the unrelenting wind. You slowly look up, but only see darkness. You close your eyes, letting whatever happens happen.
You don't know how much time passes, but soon your cover is lifted, and the wind is gone.
"He is subdued," Thor informs. "Is she all right?"
"(Y/N)?" a familiar voice asks, their tone fearful and uncertain. You try to move, you do, but you're too shattered inside and out to succeed. "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand."
You feel their hand in yours, and you focus everything you can into applying a little bit of pressure. By the breath the person lets out, it worked.
"It'll be okay, darling. We're going to get you fixed up."
You feel yourself being lifted from the ground, and you let the darkness pull you under once more.
..••°°°°••..
Pain.
That's all your brain can register-- you're in copious amounts of pain.
You groan as consciousness becomes more concrete, and you try to sit up, only to find that you can't.
"Slow down," a voice urges. You let them push you back down gently, and you work on getting your eyes to open. Light assaults your eyes as you wait for them adjust.
You know for a fact that you're not on Svartalfheim anymore, and that the voice beside you doesn't belong to Laufey.
You look to your right, and you stop breathing.
There, bloodied and bruised, sits Loki.
"Oh, God," you breathe, tears falling.
"Are you all right? How much pain are you in?" Loki asks, standing and resting his hand on your forehead. You shake your head.
"It doesn't matter," you rasp. And it doesn't.
Because Loki's alive.
"Then what's wrong?"
"You're alive." Loki looks down at you, and his eyes soften.
"You cannot get rid of me that easily."
"Laufey told me he killed you," you explain, your voice cracking at the memory of learning that Loki had supposedly been killed.
"He almost did," Loki admits. Your heart sinks and Loki catches this, taking your hand. "I fared better than you. Broken ribs, a concussion, plenty of cuts and bruises. What did he do to you?"
"Just treated me like a rag-doll," you joke. Loki doesn't smile. "I'm fine, Loki. I'm in worlds of pain, but it doesn't matter because you're alive. I- I thought that..." you trail off, unable to say the words Loki and dead together.
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Where's Laufey?"
"Dead." You let out a relieved breath.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm wonderful. I was the one to kill him. Long overdue, I'm afraid." You frown, and Loki moves some hair from your face. "I'm fine, (Y/N). Truly. After what he did to you, I wouldn't have let anyone else get the pleasure of killing him anyway."
"How romantic," you joke. Loki grins.
"I am known to be quite the romantic."
"Oh, I know." Loki turns serious, leaning toward you. Instead of kissing your lips, he kisses your forehead. You close your eyes and sigh in content.
"I love you, (Y/N)."
"I love you, Loki."
"Then stay here. On Asgard. With me. Be my queen."
"Yes," you reply without hesitation. Loki smiles, finally kissing your lips.
And as you melt into the kiss, it seems that everything falls into place.
..••°°°°••..
I will break down the gates of Heaven
A thousand angels stand waiting for me
Oh, take my heart and I'll lay down my weapons
— Run To You by Pentatonix —