Winter Sunshine

Thanos

Loki had his magic back. The first thing he did involved casting a protection spell around Savannah. It was a feeble one, and Thanos could break it easily, but it still depleted half of his magic reservoirs. At least Savannah would be safer. Thanos would be able to destroy the charm, but no-one else could. Except for Loki, but that would defeat the purpose. The second matter was of Lokitty. Savannah loved her cat, so how would she take the news that her beloved feline was nought more than a fabrication?

Loki curled up next to Savannah, and fell asleep, pondering his new dilemma.

And that was how Thanos found them, as close to each other as possible, the tip of Loki's tail twitching occasionally. It was simple to disable the computer, and just as simple to destroy the weak protection-spell that had been cast.

Thanos ripped the covers off of them, and Loki leapt off of the mattress and hid under the bed.

'Hello, Ravennha,' Thanos said. 'Remember me?'

Under the bed, Loki gathered his magic. Out of the corner of her eye, Savannah saw her cat getting ready to pounce.

'No, Loki.'

'Loki? The Jotunn runt is here?'

'No, my cat.'

'Never mind, I shall find the traitorous coward, and then he shall have his retribution.'

'You haven't got Loki?'

If the sound of Savannah's hope angered Thanos, then the look of pure desperation in her eyes sickened him.

'I am going to steal your cat, Miss Winters, and then I will drown him. Worry not, I shall return for you soon enough.'

'No.'

'No?'

'No. He is mine, and you will not touch him. Understood?'

'We shall see.'

Then, to Thanos' shock, Savannah turns blue, and blasts him.

'Stay away from my cat.'

Loki sneaks forward again, and Thanos gets up, dusts himself off, and kicks him. Both Savannah and Loki hiss, one in anger, the other in pain. Savannah prepares herself to attack again, but Thanos disappears again.

Cold fingers close around Savannah's neck, and she closes her eyes and concentrates. Thanos lets go suddenly, and she smirks

'Did you burn me?'

'Did you kick my cat?'

'Yes.'

'Then yes. You deserved it, you ugly bastard.'

'Such courage,' Thanos whispers, and his lecherous voice makes Savannah shudder. 'How long will it take for you to cave?'

'Never.'

'We shall see.'

A painful throbbing starts up in the back of her skull, and Thanos laughs. It is not a pleasant sound. Savannah realises what he is doing, and whirls around.

Thanos is reading her mind.

But instead she sees children. They are smaller than her, but she steps back, suddenly terrified. She knows who they were. Who they are. Her childhood bullies. They start to taunt her, laughing and pointing. Then they morph into James and Henrietta, her foster parents, and they lean in, and say in unison-

We never loved you. You were an experiment, that went horribly wrong. You are an unholy abomination, a freak of nature.

The couple turn into The Avengers, who just laugh. Then they merge into Loki, who leans forward and strokes her face, before whispering a single word into her ear, a word that causes her to break down into uncontrollable tears.

Monster.

'Pathetic mortal. Your mind was far too easy to break. Maybe your body will be more resilient.'

He breaks her leg, and with a cry she falls to the floor.

'Or not.'

Loki leaps out at him, changing mid-air. His voice is rough, from lack of use, but they both hear his words clearly.

'Not her.'

The air around Thanos turns green, and he disappears, chuckling evilly. He has no magic left, it was spent teleporting Thanos, and it will be too dangerous to transport her manually. Not with her broken leg. He briefly debates going to get help, but he could not leave her for anything. Loki turns back to Savannah, who is bleeding from a black dagger embedded deep in her chest. Loki pulls it out, sniffing it suspiciously.

Poisoned. 

He weeps over her prone body, pulling her head into his lap, and stroking her hair. He would wait until dawn. Help would come.

It had to.