A Mother's Love

Chapter 34

In the aftermath, I step outside of the new Avengers complex to find Loki staring out at the trees in concern.

When I step up to him, he hides his face from me and I ask "What's wrong?"

He's silent for a moment, before declaring "Ultron, he spoke to me, back in that church."

I furrow my brow and ask "What did he say?"

He takes in a deep breath, before declaring "He reference HIM."

I give a confused look, before asking "Him?"

He looks me dead in the eyes and declares "Thanos."

I sigh, before asking "You're afraid he'll come here?"

Loki looks back out at the trees, arms crossed and furrowing his brow to shield from the sun "Possibly."

"We've moved the Tesseract to Asgard, and you hide the Æther, off planet." I remind and he presses his lips into a fine line, before I declaring "Ultron couldn't have communicated with Thanos."

Loki looks to me and states "Ultron was corrupted by the scepter. The scepter was a bridge between us and Thanos."

I furrow my brow and insist "I won't let you take Jory from me."

He sets his jaw, before asking "Can we not just have a day where we don't fight? Just one?"

I furrow my brow and ask "You're doing this because you are scared?"

He looks to me with big doey eyes "I'm terrified, Thor." As I turn towards him, he declares "I can still remember every last little detail of what they did to me. And every time I close my eyes, I see them." He steps towards me as he states "I see them using Jormungandr as a bargaining chip. Threatening to cut off one if his body part, if I didn't submit."

I bat my eyes in disbelief, before I hear Jory state "You never told me that."

We look to him in unison, before Loki declares "You weren't supposed to hear to hear that!"

Jory glares at Loki, before asking "Is that why you've been avoiding me? Am I too painful to be around?"

Loki shakes his head, before insisting "No, baby, I-"

He crosses his arms and interrupts "Don't 'baby' me! Just admit that you can't look at me without hating me!"

Loki furrows his brow and states "I could never hate you! You are my only babylove, Jor-"

Jory narrows his gaze and motions to me as he screams over Loki "Are you pulling me away from Thor, the only father I have ever known, like you did my real father?"

Loki shakes his head and I can see the tension rising as he raises his voice "I never pulled you away from anyone! Your father-"

Jory screams out an interruption "My father was a hero!"

"YOUR FATHER WAS A SWINE!" Loki screams, causing Jory to jump in fear. I try to calm Loki with a touch, but the bottle has come uncorked and he simply slaps me off as he hisses "YOUR FATHER WAS A VIAL, REPULSIVE, SQUID, WHO BEAT THE LIVING FUCK OUT OF ANYONE WHO STOOD IN HIS WAY!"

I whisper "Loki, calm down."

He looks at me and insists "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!"

He turns back to Jory and screams "YOUR FATHER TRIED TO KILL ME, AND NEARLY SUCCEEDED! AND YOU RUN AROUND, INSISTING THAT YOU WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HIM, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?" He asks as Jory stands there in fear "HE WAS THE ONE THAT THREATENED TO MUTILATE YOU AS AN INFANT!"

As Jory sobs, Loki softens and I release him. He looks to Jory in self loathing, before beginning "Jory, I'm so-"

Jory flips tail and runs back the the compound. Loki stands there in shock, before declaring "I just- I just- just-"

I take in a deep breath, before patting his back "Stay here. I'll talk to Jory."

He nods, before turning his back to the compound.

When I follow Jory in, I find everyone standing in shock. I sigh, before walking over to Jory and kneeling in front of him.

He looks to me in desperation "Did you know?"

I take in a deep breath, before nodding "Yes, yes I did."

He sobs out and I grip his forearms, softly "We didn't want to hurt you, Sunny."

He shoves me off and insists "Don't touch me!"

I drop my hands, before declaring "Your father does not make you, you. We love you, regardless."

He turns away from me, gripping himself as if his sides were aching.

I furrow my brow and declare "Did I ever tell you that your dad was adopted?"

He turns halfway to look at me. When he doesn't reply, I continue "Papa isn't your dad's real father."

He gives a confused look, before asking "Who's dad's real dad?"

I give a weak smile, before declaring "Laufey was his name." I reach out for his arm and hold it, softly "He was a frost giant. Do you remember what I told you about them?"

He nods and I rub my thumb over his arm "Your dad was born different. A god amongst the giants. Too small for the giants liking."

Jory furrows his brow and I continue "His father cast him out, onto a frozen rock, as a babe."

His face softens, before I state "Papa, he found him, and held him in his arms. Took him to Asgard."

Jory wipes the tears from his face as I declare "Papa did some demeaning things, I'll admit." He gives a confused look and I explain "Turned him over the chance to be king. Paid more attention to me then him. Things like that."

I wave it off, before insisting "The point is, our parents aren't always our parents."

He sets his jaw, before asking "Is dad mad at me?" In that moment, he reminds me of a young Loki.

I can't help but smile at him, clarify "He's mad at your father, not you."

He's about to say something, when his attention pulls to outside. Worry covers his face, before he calls out "Dad!"

As soon as I turn my head, I see Loki running towards the compound, milliseconds before a ship hits down, causing dirt to go flying everywhere, and the compound to tremble.