Author's Note: I was debating making last chapter a super long one, but decided this fit better as part two.

FYI the beginning is a flashback

The earth beneath Loki quakes, rousing him from the most wonderful dream. At first, he is confused. The dream had been so warm, so calm. Not like this world of ice and darkness. Loki focuses his mind, trying to pull himself back to that place where there was tranquility. Had there been music?

He can feel the remnants of the dream fading like a drawing in sand as the waves wash up on the shore.

The earth rumbles beneath him again and he opens his eyes wider but there is nothing but a perpetual darkness. Loki tries again to remember the dream. He pushes himself back into his mind, but all he can feel is the cold dark surrounding him and penetrating his very being. He remembers dancing. But there was something else… He searches. Maybe it was her smile. He hums lightly to himself, trying to remember the music. How did it go again? The harder and harder he tries to remember, the more it slips away.

He groans, defeated. Though he can't remember it, Loki knows it was a good dream.

Loki's certain he will never see Jane again. Loki had given up hope that Jane had even survived this past year while he was rotting away in this cell. Is that how long it's been? Time passes so slowly here, void of anything except the thin balance of survival and death. The only passage of time being breath and the beating of Loki's weakening heart.

The shadow-shield could only last so long through the distance between them. It was an unraveling rope from the start. After the first three months of his imprisonment, he felt the shield snap. Gone. He felt his grip on that rope finally slip away and then Jane Foster was lost to him. That night Loki screamed through sewn lips. That moment was what Amora had been waiting for. With no shield, there would be nothing standing in her way between her and Jane. Loki could only hope that Thor had headed his warning.

The earth gurgles again. He can hear footsteps approaching, thundering down the corridor of the dungeons towards his cell. Farther off is the sound of men shouting, the clatter of armor and clash of swords. The familiar song of battle.

Loki shuffles to stand and paces through the darkness towards the sound. The footsteps grow closer. Garbled voices find their way to his ears, inaudible through his cell wall. For a moment, Loki thinks this is just another fit of his own madness come to haunt him. But then…

Without warning, light enters his world once again. He screams through trapped lips and falls to floor, hunched in a ball. His eyes burn and flood with tears from the sudden onslaught of light.

"Loki? Brother, forgive me!" A voice says, like the rolling of thunder itself. Loki can smell the blood on his armor, can hear his steps near. "You must come quickly, war is upon us!"

"My lord," the unfamiliar voice of a young man says, "Are you sure it's him?" There is a pause, like Thor isn't sure for himself that this crippled thing before him can be his brother.

Loki chuckles darkly, it comes muffled past his sewn lips. How different he must look after these many months spent in darkness, kept an inch from starvation and dangling over the edge of insanity. How disappointed Thor must be to see the fallen god now.

"It's him," Thor says, his voice hollow. Rough hands grip Loki's frame and he whimpers like a dog, still pinching his eyes shut. No one has touched Loki in almost a year. It's all too much. This new world. It's too bright, too hard, too cruel. The young man sling's Loki's arm over his shoulder. It's all too fast, making Loki's bones creak. Loki wails in protest.

"Careful, Baldyr. He's very weak," Thor says. Loki tries in vain to peel his eyes open but he's have better luck looking straight into the sun. Loki hears the tearing of fabric.

"Here, this should help," Thor says and Loki feels his brother's hands wrap cloth around his face to shield his eyes. It smells like earth and blood. A strip of Thor's own cape.

Always the hero, Loki growls inwardly.

"Come, we must hurry…" Thor says and suddenly they're moving too fast for Loki to keep up. He hobbles along, leaning all his weight against the young man.

Could this be a dream?

Could this be a vision sent by Amora to taunt Loki? So many times had he been sent visions of freedom, torturous vile dreams that made him scream upon awakening. A grin pulls at Loki's lips, tugging against the restraint of his punishment.

"Come, my lord," Baldyr encourages Loki.

My lord, Loki scoffs to himself. No one would call Loki the Traitor, Loki the Liesmith, Murderer, and Frost Giant 'my lord'.

You think you're so clever, Amora. Loki is weakened, but still as dangerous as a cornered wolf. Loki uses his arm slung around Baldyr's neck to trap the young man, and his weight takes them to the floor.

"Thor!" Baldyr's cry is cut short with Loki's thin fingers wrapped around the boy's throat. He laughs through sewn lips. How tricky Amora must believe she is, how devious to make Loki believe that he is escaping. 'Baldyr' chokes and sputters.

Will the dream end now, Amora? Loki tightens his hands around the neck.

There is the cool metal of a sharp blade at Loki's neck.

"Loki," Thor warns, "Let him go. It's no trick."

How can I be sure? How do I know this isn't a lie? Loki whines like an animal and tightens his grip, the boy struggling less and less now.

How do I know I'm awake?

"Brother, stop!" Thor shifts, and Loki can feel an electric pulse of energy strike through his world. The leather strap sewn through his lips tingles with the same energy. Could it really be?

Loki takes his hands from the boy's throat. Baldyr gasps and pants to regain his breath but dares not move an inch with Loki still over him. Loki reaches out with a tentative hand towards that pulsing energy that calls to him. His fingertips graze cold metal, not a sword, but a flat surface. It sings with electricity and growls with the power of thunder.

Mjolnir.

His lips burn with a shock of energy. Loki reels his hand away. He backs off the Baldry and the boy scurries to Thor.

"Have I come to rescue a demon?" Thor asks, stepping close to Loki with Mjolnir in hand. Loki cringes away from the hammer. "Or my brother?"

Was there ever a difference? Loki can't believe that Thor had actually come to save him.

"I will put down the demon, here in this cell. But if you be my brother, he will have a chance. So choose wisely," Thor says. It doesn't make sense, Thor had finally stuffed Loki away just like he always wanted. Why save Loki now and not during the trial when his lips had been sealed shut? Did Thor forget whose hand carried out the punishment?

Loki bites his tongue until blood fills his mouth.

"The palace is under attack from Amora and her forces," Thor says, "I need my brother, now more than ever. Are you he?" The blood dribbles past Loki's lips and a muffled cackling laughter shakes through his chest.

"My lord, I think we ought to leave him…"

"Hush, Baldyr." Thor hisses, "Loki?"

Loki swipes the blood from his lips and turns away from both Thor and Baldyr. He is broken, far from saving from neither man nor miracle.

"Loki…" The god begs, lowering his hammer. Thor tightens his grip on the handle and closes his eyes. "You were right. Is that what you want me to say? You were right and I should have listened. Everything you warned me of has come to pass…"

Loki stiffens. Everything?

"And now I fear that I may be too late…" Thor takes another step toward Loki. "Amora had not only overtaken my father, but Heimdall and many others as well. Like a cancer, she has grown." Thor says, his voice becoming more desperate, "I cannot defeat her alone, Loki. I need my brother by my side. I need you."

Thor? Needing me? Loki works it over in his mind.

If this is a dream, then it is a good dream.

"Come, Loki," Thor takes Loki by the hand and raises him from the depths of hell.

They run down the corridor, out of the dungeons, and into the main palace. The sounds of battle rage around Loki, but he is blind to it all. Explosions sound from far off, the screams of men echoing back to Loki's ears. He can only imagine the blood and carnage, he can surely smell it.

"This way!" Thor yanks Loki down a series of halls and corners, the occasional enemy coming in their path but quickly struck down by both Thor and Baldyr. Though he is young, Thor must have trusted the warrior enough to aid him in the rescue.

Soon, the sounds of battle grow distant and Loki grows dizzy from the twisting stairs and winding passages.

"We have won't be able to hold them off much longer," Thor says, pulling Loki to what feels like a sofa. "Rest, you will need your strength."

The room chatters with voices, some Loki recognizes and some he does not. It's a war room, that much he can tell.

"Thor!" It's Hogun, the warrior from Vanaheim. "Finally, you're back-" he pauses. "That's him?"

"Aye," Thor sighs, and Loki can feel the eyes of the room on him, "We must move tonight. Where are Volstagg and Fandral?"

"They're holding the East wing corridor,"

"And Sif? How does she fare to the West?" There is a quaver to Thor's voice.

"Not good. We're running out of men faster than we can arm them." Not the answer Thor wanted to hear. There's the sound of a fist slamming into a table.

Loki lifts the strap of cloth from his face and slowly opens his eyes. The room is low lit, hazy in the fain glow of torches. Soldiers buzz around the room, the clatter of their armor and weapons making his head spin. He puts the blindfold back and covers his ears. It's too much. Too much.

"If we keep losing men, I fear we have no choice but to retreat, Thor," Hogun says. Thor growls.

"And to where? If we do not make our stand now, Amora will only grow stronger, her grip on the Asgard will only tighten and then we have truly lost."

"We could relocate base to the mountains. There are several fortresses that will hold while we gather our numbers, hidden caves that will escape Amora's eye," another voice assures.

"And where in the universe exists that escapes the eye of Heimdall?" Hogun asks, "Her eyes see through his, there is no place we can flee that she would not be able to root us out and kill us all."

A flurry of voices erupt, shouting and layering one on top of the other. Too many for Loki to hear. Too much, too much!

"ENOUGH!" Comes the booming voice of thunder, and the room falls silent. Only the distant sound of battle rumbles now.

"Look here," Thor says and Loki can feel the eyes of the room rest heavy on him. He shifts, embarrassed for his weakened state.

"This is my brother, whom you saw punished for his crimes. Loki is our only hope for victory against Amora and her lot. His craft of magic can best hers, that I know for certain." Thor says.

"Was he not her teacher?"

"How do we know he is not her agent?"

"Can we even trust him?!"

"He could easily betray us, sire, is there no other way?"

"It was Loki who warned me of Amora in the first place and we are here now because I chose not to trust him," Thor admits and the room falls silent again.

"And how, may I ask, can he save us when he cannot even speak?" Fandral asks. Thor rests a gentle hand on Loki's shoulder, the only softness he's felt this entire time. Loki finds himself leaning into Thor's comforting touch.

"Brother, I know if you had words to speak, you would tell them better than I can," Thor says, then addresses the room, "You all have followed me thus far, and I admit I have failed you all by allowing this all to happen. Yet you still place your trust in me. Trust me once more, I swear, I will not fail you."

"She's too powerful," Hogun admits.

Loki grabs Thor roughly and tries in vain to speak but only muffled, desperate sounds come.

"Fetch me a quill and parchment!" Thor roars.

There's another flurry of movement and then Thor brings Loki to a desk. Loki adjusts the strip of cape, his eyes adjusted to the light. They sit now in a different room, Thor's quarters. Thor puts a quill in Loki's hand to write out a message in shaking hands.

Two words are scrawled on the parchment.

"Save Jane?" Thor says quietly. Loki scratches two more words.

Save Asgard.

"Brother, do you mean to say that saving Jane is the key to Amora's defeat?"

Loki nods vigorously. He scribbles another note.

Jane alive?

Thor's silence makes Loki's heart sink.

He shakes the note at Thor, tears threatening at his eyes.

Thor does not answer.

Loki, with tears in his eyes, slams his hands on the desk.

"Since we lost Heimdall, we've had no contact with Midgard," Thor says slowly and the pain seeps in. "We fear the worst for our Midgardian allies."

Loki's hands tremble. She can't be dead. He would have felt it. He would have seen it. He shakes his head, writing again.

Warning?

Again, Thor's face withers at the note. Loki's stomach grips in tight ropes.

"I tried brother, but Heimdall was overtaken and there were no other passages to Midgard. War broke out, there was no way for me to leave in order to see for myself…" Thor begins talking very quickly but Loki's mind is already swimming.

He slams his hands on the desk and shouts through his restraints. Thor wouldn't need for Loki's lips to be free to know what he would say.

"Loki, I am so sorry..." Thor tries to console Loki.

A howl of rage boils up from Loki's stomach and he pounds the table. A terrible pain sears across Loki's mouth, the restraints giving way.

"S…ssss…sorry isn't enough!" Loki's voice comes ragged from his throat.

Thor's face is struck pale. Loki's throat burns, and he coughs, his trembling fingers going to his lips. The strap of leather is loose in his fingers. He groans and pulls at the binding, but it disintegrates in his fingers, leaving pink scars around his mouth.

"Loki…" Thor gasps. Loki's head stoops low, tears falling down his face. Thor takes a few steps back from Loki, collapsing onto a nearby chair.

"Send me," Loki rasps. Thor shakes his head.

"No, I will find an envoy to send to Midgard but first I need you here-"

Before Thor can finish the sentence Loki is on his, his hands gripping his shirt and shaking him violently.

"You took me away from her and you will send me back or so help me by the Nine Realms…" Loki threatens.

"If you so much as dare to betray me I will throw you back in that cell where I found you, demon," Thor counters. Loki chuckles darkly, backing away from Thor.

"If what you say is true, and Jane is lost," Loki pauses with darkness in his eyes.

He knows the words he wants to say: Then you have already stripped me of everything you could possibly take.

But he cannot reveal his heart to Thor.

"If what you say is true and Jane is lost, then I am afraid this Asgard is gone with her," Loki finishes. He finds the sofa and eases himself down.

"I'd like a fucking drink now, please."

"Loki?" Jane's voice shakes Loki from the mire of his memories. He runs his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes for a long moment.

How do I know this is not a conjuration? What if I am still in that cell? Could this all be a torment sent by Amora?

Loki opens his eyes to Jane sitting across from him at the kitchen table. It's morning. A cup of coffee steams before him and a large plate of food makes his mouth salivate. Jane… In these past weeks alone she has improved immensely. Her once gaunt form has filled from training and a proper diet. He knows for a fact that she is sleeping well.

If this is a dream, then it is a good dream.

"Sorry," Loki takes a sip of coffee. "You'll have to repeat the question."

"Well," Jane fumbles around for words, "How were you freed from this?" Jane touches her own mouth to illustrate her question. Loki's eyes linger for a moment too long on her soft, plump lips. Jane takes notice and looks away.

"I spoke the truth," Loki answers curtly, neatly placing his napkin on his lap and cutting into a sausage.

"Yeah but aren't there simple ways to get around that? Like if I asked you what the answer to two plus two was you could just say four. Right?"

"I like the way you think," Loki dabs his mouth delicately with the napkin. "Unfortunately, a curse binding one to the truth, means binding one to a fundamental truth of being. It's complicated."

"So what was your truth?" Jane asks.

Loki pauses.

"Maybe for another day, Foster," Loki says, taking another sip of coffee. "Your cooking has improved greatly."

"Don't change the subject."

"I'll change what I like. How would you fancy being green for the day?"

Jane sighs and stands from the table, rolling her eyes.

"You're so annoying."

Loki smirks and watches Jane clear her plate and disappear into the kitchen.

Sorry isn't enough!

He repeats the words to himself over and over again, feeling their truth weigh more and more with every repetition.

She would never accept him for this fundamental truth. Some wounds are too deep for apologies. Would there ever be enough apologies for Jane? Could Loki apologize for taking on Amora as a student and lover? For betraying Thor? For becoming indebted to Thanos to attack Midgard? For everything that led to Eric and Darcy's demise. To the wound on Jane's belly.

However civil they appear to be now, Loki knows the deep discontent that curdles just below the surface of Jane and Loki's interactions. There are rules now meant to be strictly followed.

Loki cannot touch Jane, except for the purposes of training.

Loki cannot use magic, except for the purposes of training.

Loki cannot go into Jane's room, except to rouse her from nightmares.

Then there are other unspoken rules of their interactions.

Loki cannot look too long at her, especially at her lips. One which he broke today.

Loki cannot engage her in conversation, except for that pertaining to the Aether. Or training. Or Thor. He also broke that one today.

He sighs. Loki thought that he would be able to do this, to love her from afar. Yet, as the days carry on it is becoming more difficult. Loki knows that he will have to accept that someday she will no longer need his tutelage, and then she will be gone from him again. Like a business transaction, not unlike the first time they had sex. And it all boils down to his fundamental truth: sorry will never be enough. But perhaps time can mend some wounds. By the Nine Realms, Loki hopes so.

Yet, if it came to the latter. Then Loki will always have these memories. Memories of lingering a moment too long on her lips. Of the one time she begged for him. And the dreams. He will have the dreams too, he thinks with a smile.

Loki pauses. An idea.