A Gods Favor

I Have A Plan

Elora sat in the library with Thor pacing behind them. Jane had come to them that morning expressing that she'd had some type of vision from the Aether of Asgard darkened and they had learned shortly after that Odin had Jane taken into custody.

"We're running out of time, El, there has to be something!" Thor pounded a fist on the table beside Elora and she turned slowly to glare at him. "Apologies, I'm just..."

When he trailed off and collapsed into the seat next to her Elora put a hand on his. "I know, and I swear I am looking at this from every angle but the Aether is not a disease so it cannot be healed and it is not an effect of magic or power but a source of it. There is no way to dispel or counteract it. The only ways I can possibly think to get it out of Jane are either incredibly dangerous or nearly impossible."

"At this point I am desperate and willing to try anything, even dangerous or impossible." His shoulders slumped.

Elora had never seen Thor so dejected, even when Asgard was cut off from Midgard then he at least had known Jane was safe and that one day he might have the chance to see her again if they could mend the bridge but now, with the death of Frigga and the threat of Jane's looming over them. He seemed to have lost all the light that usually poured out of him.

"Then you're going to have to try dangerous." She slid the notes she'd been scribbling down toward him. "The Aether is a source and while there may be something out there that can negate or counter its power we don't have time to look. So the only other option is to pull it from Jane."

"So how do we do that?" He asked, sitting up with hope sparking in his eyes.

"We don't." She dropped her gaze unwilling to believe she was about to suggest this. "We don't know enough about it to understand how to manipulate it and even if we had the time to learn I would be unwilling to risk Jane's safety on trial and error. However Malekith already knows how the Aether works and he wants it out of Jane."

"No." Thor stood abruptly and Elora followed him as he stormed out of the library.

"Thor, he is coming for it one way or another. We can use that to our advantage, we can set the terms on which we face him to give us the best possible chance to save her!"

"I will not put her in danger."

"You are killing her if you don't." Finally catching up to him Elora grabbed his arm and made him look at her. "I am not saying we give the Aether to him but use him to get it out of her and when it is out you destroy it before he takes it. From what I can understand in the little information there is, the Aether must be fully removed before it can be transferred so there is a window, a very tiny window, where you have the chance to save her and destroy it. Otherwise she dies and the Aether finds a new host and we are back to square one."

Thor's jaw worked side to side as he contemplated her words.

"There are Journals from Bor's time that describe how they contained the Aether and I believe I could condense the mechanism and make it portable but it won't matter because I do not know how to manipulate it out of her and we do not have time to waste. We have this, a chance to free her and to keep the fight away from Asgard, Heimdall's Allsight and my scrying cannot see the dark elves but we know they won't give up. We have to act fast so let's do it on our terms."

"Make the container." Thor growled before storming away again.

"Thor-"

"I want a back up plan," he looked over his shoulder to her. "In case your first one doesn't work."

-

Late that night Elora stood beside Yrsa and Heimdall as Thor sat with their friends and hatched a plan to get Jane away from Asgard. Odin had told Thor he would not allow them to go to the dark world with Jane and that he planned to fight Malekith on Asgardian soil even with their defenses down and the unavoidable loss of Asgardian lives.

"There are other paths off Asgard. Ways known only to a few." Heimdall said and Elora's eyes closed, understanding more quickly than the others what was coming next, who he meant.

"One, actually." Thor's voice was low and cautious, ready for the disagreement to come.

-

Loki sat against the wall of his cell, torn books and upended furniture surrounding him and he was glad he had chosen to keep the illusion of his put together cage up when his brother approached.

"Thor, after all this time and now you come to visit me." He projected from the illusion of himself standing at the barrier. "Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki, enough." Thor was somber but stern. "No more illusions."

Loki wasn't sure how Thor knew, his illusions were perfect. But he was tired and didn't see a reason to keep up the charade if he was being called out so he let it drop.

"Now you see me, brother." Loki watched as Thor rounded the corner moving closer to where he sat on the ground. "Did she suffer?"

No one had told him, he had no idea. Outside of the guard who had delivered the news that Frigga was dead and the few whispers he had picked up he had little information and not Thor, Elora or even Yrsa had come to give him more.

"I did not come here to share our grief. Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

"Go on."

-

Under her illusion Elora walked beside Sif as they headed to the room where Jane was being kept behind a guard carrying food.

"It's not very fun breaking someone out when the magic makes it so they can't even see us." Sif grumbled low.

As the guard opened the door and walked inside they could hear Jane say she wasn't hungry.

Elora dropped the illusion and made a sweeping gesture. "Please, enjoy yourself."

Sif grinned wickedly and ran up behind the guard and in two quick moves had both him and the one who had opened the door knocked out on the floor.

Jane stood and began to back up in fear as Elora came into the room with a soft smile.

"Good," the elven woman held out a hand. "Let's go."

The trio of women walked hastily down the corridor where Thor and Loki waited and Elora once again dropped her cloaking illusion when they got near.

"Your..." Jane began to walk faster towards them, eyes locked on the trickster.

Loki met Elora's gaze for a moment before he spoke to Jane. "I am Loki, you may have heard of me."

Jane smacked the smarmy grin from his face and Elora could not help the laugh that escaped her.

"That was for New York." Jane hissed as Loki rolled his neck and looked to Elora who had stopped just behind Jane with Sif.

"I like her." He said his grin slipping back but this time with a bit more of his mischievous gleam.

Elora could hear footsteps echoing down the corridor. "You need to go, Sif and I will buy you some time." She said to them before she and Sif turned and readied to hold off the oncoming guards but as she raised an arm Loki grabbed it and pulled her back to face him.

"Come with us, come with me and once we are out of Asgard you and I can go wherever you want. Do whatever you want."

Thor and Jane had started down the hall away from them and Elora could hear the ring of metal as Sif unsheathed her sword but all she could focus on was Loki's hand on her his grip desperately tight and his face just inches from hers.

For one moment, one wildly blissful and absolutely ridiculous moment she considered it. Considered forgiving him and running away to have the future she had dreamed about for a millennium, happy and with him. But then that empty spot in her soul ached and she pulled out of his grasp.

Sif called for her help as Thor yelled for Loki.

"What I want to do no longer involves you." She turned her back on him and threw up her hands a shield of blue light blocking more guards from entering the hall and when she glanced back he was gone.