Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 38

Thor caught Loki in the lobby before he could vanish from the tower. "Brother? What's happening?" He asked. Morgan's cries of pain had gathered the team he asks as Morgan's cries of pain had gathered the team. Thor, however, went straight for his brother. He had to stop Loki before he did something stupid.

Loki backed away from his brother with panic and fear in his eyes. "Don't touch me, Thor. It isn't safe," his voice shook and he wrapped his arms around himself, afraid to touch Thor, afraid to hurt anyone else.

Thor held his hands out in a placating gesture. "Calm down, brother, everything will be alright," he soothed. He didn't know what was going on, but he would do anything and everything in his power to make it right. He would do anything to help his little brother. It was his job to protect his little brother, as it always had been.

Loki shook his head fervently, panic and terror in his eyes. "No. Nothing will be alright. Not anymore. I need to get off this realm," he insisted, looking up at Thor and pleading with his eyes for his brother to understand.

Thor switched tactics. Loki was too panicked to talk to him reasonably. "You're going to leave Morgan?" He couldn't imagine Loki wanting to leave Morgan, not after everything they'd been through.

Loki shook his head again and Thor thought his brain was rattling with how hard he was shaking it. "I hurt her, Thor. I won't risk doing that again. I can't stay here!" He whimpered, panicked and afraid. Thor couldn't even get close to him to try to soothe him.

"I doubt you hurt her on purpose," Thor reasoned with him, continuing to block his escape. "She will forgive you, but not if you abandon her,"

"I won't risk it. I would never forgive myself if I were the reason something terrible happened to her," Loki slowly moved around Thor, taking a one step at a time to sneak his way around his brother. He was ready to flee the second he got the opportunity.

"Brother, this isn't the way-" Thor started. He had to convince Loki to stay.

Loki's expression cracked for an instant, and Thor nearly got through to him, but the moment was interrupted by a roar that could be heard throughout the tower: "I AM GOING TO KILL THAT ASSHOLE FOR HURTING YOU!" Stark roared, his rage was clear in his tone. It wasn't like Tony to be able to be heard throughout the entire tower.

Thor looked to Loki, his own fear in his eyes. He'd never heard Tony that angry either. "Go. Mother will help you. I'll hold off Stark," he told Loki and turned to the elevator so he could hold off Tony while Loki escaped somewhere safe until this blew over. Thor wanted to give Loki a head-start. Nothing would be sorted out while Stark was trying to kill his brother. Thor prayed that Loki would listen for once and go home like he was told. Frigga could sort him out and calm him down.

She always could, no matter what had her son upset, Frigga always managed to sort him out. Even when he found out the hard way that he wasn't Asgardian. Even when he'd had to take the throne of Asgard when he wasn't ready for it, when Thor was banished and Odin in the Odinsleep and the throne had fallen to him.

Loki turned and fled from the tower as quickly as he could. However, he didn't go to the Bifrost as Thor thought he was going to. He wouldn't, couldn't, risk hurting anyone who matter to him, especially not his beloved mama.

He didn't know where he planned to go, just that it couldn't be Asgard. And preferably would be somewhere where Heimdall couldn't see him. Without thinking about it, he ran straight toward the portal to Jotunheim, jumping in as soon as he got close.

The portal dropped him in a fairly unpopulated area, as most of the hidden portals Loki had found in the realms were in unpopulated and out of the way areas. They was why they were still hidden. People didn't know about them and didn't know to go looking for them. But Loki had made a study of such things.

Loki sighed as he looked around the barren wasteland of Jotunheim. He needed to find somewhere safe to hide out. Loki barely noticed the cold, though his Asgardian form shattered and he was left in Jotun form. He trudged along in a random direction, hoping to find somewhere to hole up in to be miserable alone.

He eventually found an abandoned cottage in the woods and made his way inside. He set up a fire in the fireplace and laid down on his cloak in front of the fireplace to get some rest. He was safe and exhausted and alone with his thoughts and misery over what he'd done.

Morgan would never, ever, forgive him for hurting her as he did. Or running away.

But he'd had to. He had to to keep from hurting her worse. He'd already hurt her enough.

She was so much better off without him.