United

Chapter 5

"What were you thinking?! We were so close to getting permission from Fury to settle here!" Thor yelled as he paced the small room.

Loki stood against one of the walls, leaning back with his arms crossed.

"He threatened to kill Brunnhilde, and you and I both know that the minor stab wound I gave Fury was just to incapacitate him long enough to evade capture. Everything is fine!"

Thor shook his head, crossing the room to stand in front of Loki.

"No. Everything is very not fine! Fury has agents crawling all over the city with warrants out for your arrest! Why in the nine realms did you stab the head of an organization that holds more power than we even know?!"

Loki sighed.

"I'm not ready to give up my freedom just because he doesn't trust me. These people need to trust me more than Fury does, because let's face it, brother. They're scared. They need solid leaders who currently aren't being held against their will at a SHIELD base!"

They glared at each other for one intense moment.

"I get it. You don't want to deal with Fury's crap."

Loki threw his head back and sighed.

"You don't get it. You think you do, but you don't. I don't care what Fury throws in my face. He can talk as much as he wants about me."

His eyes met Thor's, and the blonde could've sworn that he saw tears glistening in them.

"I can't live my life like this, Thor. I don't want to constantly be on the run, but I also don't want to live my life in shackles. The thing is, I feel like I'm barely free. I don't think that I have any hope left."

Thor could see it in Loki's eyes. He really was afraid.

"Look, Loki. I can't pretend to know what you've been through, so I'm not going to try to. But listen to me when I say that I will do whatever I can to help you. No one's going to put you in a cage, and no one will ever touch you again."

The trickster smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"I wish you trusted me."

Thor's expression hardened.

"I'll trust you when you give me a reason to."

Loki let out the breath of air that he'd been holding in and left the room.

The truth was, Thor trusted Loki with his life, but it didn't feel that way sometimes, and it was hard to let it show. One thing was certain, however. If they kept hiding their true feelings, it would tear them apart.
***
The first body was found three days after the incident at SHIELD. Thor and Loki had gone into the city in disguise to expand the amount of midgardian clothes and rations they had stowed away at their temporary settlement. Loki had ditched the suit he'd worn last time they'd visited Midgard and instead wore his usual black leather pants, a plain green t shirt, a black hoodie that covered his eyes, and a pair of dark sunglasses. Thor also went for an inconspicuous look and went for casual Earth clothes with a red baseball cap and sunglasses. His eyepatch had been magically covered up by an illusion that Loki created, making it look like the king had both of his eyes.

They had traveled through the city for no less than twenty minutes before Thor froze.

"By the Norns...." He breathed, staring down the alley in front of him.

"What is it, Thor? What do you see?"

The blonde motioned for Loki to step closer, causing the trickster's boot to step in something sticky.