A Second Chance // Thorki

Chapter Thirty

Loki could smell ozone in the air before he processed anything. All he saw was Bruce, gripping the head of the serpent with shaky hands, the poor little man in shock, two enormous fangs imbedded in his stomach.

And then suddenly, there was light, blinding and blue as Thor brought his fist down on the head of the snake, slamming it to the ground as he did so. Korg, while he was wrapped tightly by coil after coil of snake, was banging his fists rather fruitlessly in an attempt to fight back, and Miek was stabbing at the could that entrapped his friend. Loki, meanwhile, was on the ground, taking a moment to try and steady his vision and process what exactly was happening.

Banner gave a shout then, a pained gasp of a cry, which then turned into a rather angry shout, green crawling from his chest, covering his chest and body, eventually up to his throat, and face, almost doubling in size as the transformation took place, chest rising and falling with heavy, heavy breaths-
Until the snake bit down even harder, and with another strangled cry, he paled, green seeping away.

Once Loki finally got a grip on reality, he reached forward with both hands, palms glowing green as he made a sort of prying motion, using all of his strength in his Seidr to open the mouth of that serpent.

It's jaws were strong, but Loki's magic was stronger, and with a bit of struggling he managed to open his jaws wide enough to unsheath those fangs from Bruce's body.

"THOR!" He bellowed, arms shaking as he struggled to keep it open wide, "GRAB BANNER!"

Thor glanced back at him, then at banner- and in what seemed like a split second, Thor had swooped in and grabbed the man by the chest, jumping down and away just as Loki practically collapsed, the snake snapping its jaws shut once again, focusing on fighting Miek and Korg.

Thor stumbled to a stop in front of the sorcerer, leaning down to lay Bruce in front of him.

The man was quiet, still, his chest rising and falling shaking, eyes wide and searching. He was definitely in shock, a hand on his heavily bleeding stomach, the other just by his side.

"Don't panic," Loki ordered, taking a few deep breaths to recover from having to use so much seidr, "You'll be fine, just... take a deep breath, Bruce."

"I-I don't know if I can, I-"

He cut off, as Loki's hands were cold as he placed them on Bruce's body, the trickster squeezing his eyes shut. He even dropped his facade, turning a deep blue so he could force all of his energy into saving the man before him.

The world around them practically disappeared, the trickster opening his eyes again to an empty room, a simple white square, the wounded man in front of him bleeding out on to the floor, staining the delicate marble with deep, deep ruby.

"I'm bleeding out fast, L-Loki, sir, I-"

Loki silenced him with a steely glare, closing his eyes again, focusing, focusing, the image of a clock appearing before him.

It hurt. It hurt him so terribly to do so, but he did it, forcing the clock back a minute exactly, unable to go any farther back. It was there, he held it, stopping time, keeping him that way- keeping Bruce's body unbleeding and his wounds still for the time being, until they could get him back and put a patch on him.

"What did you- Loki, I-"

He gave a shaky, careful sigh, eyes fluttering open once again, and he was back to reality, Thor, Korg and Miek working hard to try and take down the snake before them, Bruce looking somewhat confused and scared, almost uncomfortable with the fact that Loki had hands on him.

"I saved your life." Loki uttered, somewhat dizzy and out of breath, the world swaying dangerously before him. He couldn't pass out. Not here, not now. Not while Bruce's life depended on him.