Temptation

Deja vu

"So you got rid of the snivelling little toad then?" The voice above him was as familiar to him as his own. He smiled coldly and looked up.

"Malekith. So, you had no plans to keep him alive either, then?" Loki stood and looked down at the white faced figure before him. Malekith's coal black eyes glittered, and his long, white braided hair only added to his ghostly presence. How had he gotten into the room without him being aware? Not many people could sneak up on him. Well, there was only one he could think of at the moment, and she was somewhere in Russia looking for her sister.

"Not part of the plan. Never was. You, on the other hand... you could still be VERY useful to me."

Loki nodded, circling the smaller creature, like a vulture waiting. "Go on?"

"Well, as we originally said, you give me Zola, I give you Midgard. That still stands." Malekith looked at the circling figure with smug self-satisfaction. He knew Loki's hubris would be undoing. Or so he thought. Loki paused, looked sidelong at him, and smiled.

"Ah well, you see, I don't want to share anything with you. Not Zola, not Midgard, not the nine realms." he shrugged. "You see, I just don't trust you. Some people think I have Daddy issues," he paused and smirked. "I don't. I just have issues with the people that THINK I do. And you, dear Malekith, sought to exploit that very thing. Odin may not be my father, but at least I know where I stand with him now. You? You would betray me, betray everything for the next big power trip. Nine realms? Not enough. You'd be off trying to FIND trouble to get into." he stopped walking and stood face to face with Malekith. "You and I? We're not so different. Each of us feeling we were denied our birth right, our destiny? Well, the thing is, we ARE very different. And you know why?" he stopped and looked down at him, waiting. "Well?"

Malekith could barely speak he was so angry. "Go on." he hissed.

"Because I'm not prepared to tear the Cosmos apart to get it. One day, it will come to me. My destiny, my purpose. I'm not willing to kill every living soul to get it." he looked at Malekith, and the elf stared back, suddenly making a connection that even Loki had failed to make.

"So that's it. That's your reason." Malekith smiled with a coldness that shocked even Loki. "The girl."

"What?"

"The girl.... Eva... yes, Eva. You want peace for HER sake. I see that now. Perhaps then, SHE is the obstacle I need to remove, not SHIELD or Odin or any of the rest..." his thin lips turned up at one corner into a twisted smile. "I understand now. If I want ANYTHING, all I have to do...." he made to walk away, and Loki grabbed him.

"No!" he struggled with Malekith, and in the scuffle, Malekith was cut by Loki's dagger, dark red, almost black blood smearing onto the floor. Zola watched in horror as they battled back and forth, gaining and losing the upper hand. Finally, Loki grabbed something from Malekiths' belt. With a click, it was armed, the counter beginning immediately.

Malekith looked down in terror as he realised what had happened. The Dimensional Detonator hanging from his belt glowed red and then orange and then....nothing.

The three of them regained consciousness lying in a field looking up at the sky. A bird flew high, it's song telling Loki he was in one piece, but where? That was a different story. He sat up, Zola and Malekith unconscious beside him. As he looked around, he sighed and dropped his head.

"This is a nightmare." he said to no one in particular. Well, no one wanted to hear it. The only people within a mile it seemed were now arranged in a ring surrounding the three of them and all pointing lethal looking blades at them. He roused the other two who sat up immediately and were equally shocked.

One of the captors raised his blade and stepped into the ring. Someone else took his place. "You." he barked at Loki "Asgardian. Why are you here?" he jabbed his sword at Loki, who stood, gathering his wits. He towered above the man, and Loki, wrongly, felt a sense of renewed power.

"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with....." A huge blast to the side threw them all to the ground, showering them in debris. A second blast, further off, reinforced the attack. Smoke billowed from some unseen fire that now raged.

Malekith, it seemed, had been tracked. And not by anyone Loki wanted to see ever again. A swarm of Dark Elves in full battle gear, armed to the teeth, descended from a ship hovering to the east of them, their weapons raised.

Battle commenced.

What seemed like hours later, but was probably only minutes in truth. It was done. The local tribe - Vanaheim warriors it turned out - had fought like madmen, slaughtering Elves in so great a number that they retreated, dragging what was hopefully a mortally wounded Malekith with them. Loki would have preferred to finish him off himself, but he was denied that pleasure.

The compensation? The death of Emil Zola. As he walked amongst the corpses, he found him. Face down in the mud, a blast wound between his shoulders.

Loki smiled. Justice, it seemed, had been served, and he hadn't had to lift a finger.

As he surveyed the field, a messenger appeared and spoke to the Vanaheim commander. He marched over to Loki, taking a knee. "My prince, we must return to the village. News... terrible news..." When he looked up, his face, despite his best efforts, was wet.

Loki helped him stand. "Tell me?" He said quietly. The captain shook his head softly as if in disbelief.

"They're gone. They're all gone..."

The village had been the fire. The entire village. Wiped from existence. The few survivors burned almost beyond recognition. Loki felt, for the first time, the true cost of victory.

The remaining warriors all eventually located their families. Not a soul remained alive. The air was filled with howls as husbands found wives, fathers found daughters, and brothers found sisters.

Loki walked slowly through the devastation, the acrid smell of death and destruction making him gag. He couldn't look away, his guilt making him torture himself with sights that no one should be forced to see.

He was about to go and find the captain to offer the assistance of Asgsard to those survivors who wanted it when he heard it. At first, he thought he was imagining things. It was an animal. Or the wind in the ruins. Then he heard it quite clearly.

A child. Crying.

He looked around and saw nothing. Only smoking ruins. He paused, waiting, head on one side listening.

There. In the trees to his left. He walked over quietly, slowly. The crying got louder. As he neared a thicket of saplings, he became aware of a pair of prone figures. Now dead, the badly burned pair had seemingly
tried to flee to safety. They'd been horribly injured, but one thing had spurred them on. Their child. It was that child that now sat crying beside them, his little eyes filled with fear.

Loki knelt, holding out a hand. "It's ok, little one. I won't hurt you. Shhhh."

The little boy, dressed only in a shirt, itself singed, toddled forward, arms outstretched. He couldn't have been more than 2 or 3. Loki felt his heart tear in two as he thought of the sacrifice his parents must have made trying to save him.

Instinctively, he knew what he must do. Conjuring the child some clothes, he sat on the ground and let him settle. For a moment, the child held out its hands to the blackened figures,
"Mama.... dada....mamaaaaa." The pain in the cries filled Loki's eyes with tears.

"Shhhh little man, it's going to be ok. You're safe now,I promise." He cuddled the boy, and gradually, he calmed. He snuggled into Loki on his lap as a soft lullaby filled his ears. His head drooped, and he fell asleep, exhausted by fear and grief.

As Loki carefully stood, he knew what he had to do. In a move, he would never have believed possible, he called out.

"When you're ready, Heimdal." He held the child close as they sped towards Asgard, towards a new life.

Was history about to repeat itself? Only time and a lot of love from him and Eva would tell. For the first time, nerves shot through him.

Eva. How the Hel was he going to tell Eva.