The Bargain

Chapter 60: Epilogue

Sixtieth Installment: Epilogue: The Never Ending Journey

Summers in Asgard could be unbearably warm. Thor had never really noticed it growing up, so it was for the first time it actually concerned him. He hurried through his large bedroom chambers, headed for the balcony. The doors had been flung wide, allowing in a breeze that felt slightly cooler than the dead air. Standing leaning against the railing, his wife looked like a goddess. The wind stirred the gossamer-light folds of her gown, clinging to her curves and the gentle swell of her pregnant belly. She had only recently begun to show.

Jane turned when his booted feet scuffed the floor, and she smiled, standing on tiptoe to accept his kiss. "You were gone for a while," she commented.

"Too long a while," he agreed, even though it had been only two days. Even two hours felt too long, these days.

She curled her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. "What did Hel say?"

Sighing, Thor squeezed her as tightly as he dared. She had only seemed to become more delicate to him after learning she was carrying his child. A bittersweet announcement that had helped alleviate his grief to a surprising degree, though at times it still felt crushing.

Though their plan had worked, it didn't feel like a victory. He could still see everything so clearly. Jane's portal had taken him and Thanos and that dwarven explosive through the gate out of the Nine. Only an eyeblink before the explosive detonated, Loki pulled Thor back through the still-open gateway, back into the safety of Midgard. Then his brother and the gateway above him had vanished in a blinding wave of gold. Hel had assured him she could no longer sense a single gateway, and the Allfather and Heimdall had confirmed it.

"Lady Hel just said the same thing she's been saying since that day," he told his wife, pressing his nose to her chestnut-brown hair and inhaling her scent. Cinnamon and vanilla. "Loki is dead."

Jane shifted, pulling back so she could peer into his eyes. "But we never did find a body."

Thor kissed her forehead. "The sheer power he was wielding easily could have completely destroyed it," he said. Even the thought of that was painful. It had prevented the royal family from giving Loki a proper burial.

"Wouldn't Hel know for sure?" Jane insisted. She had been the optimistic voice of hope, somehow confident that Loki had managed to survive after all. "I mean, she is the guardian of the underworld. Wouldn't she be able to find his soul?"

"Perhaps," Thor confirmed, "but perhaps not. If Loki had well and truly been consumed by Yggdrasil . . ."

Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. They were small and soft and smooth. "It isn't like you to be so gloomy. We don't know he died. You should be holding out hope."

He covered her hands with his and pulled them down to his lips. "If I hold onto hope now and learn later he is truly gone, my heart would break."

Of everyone who had known and loved him, only Jane and Frigga seemed sure Loki was still alive. Thor truly wished he could believe it.

Jane sighed softly and tugged on her hands, bringing him down to her level so she could kiss him again. When she pulled back, her eyes were shining. "Just consider what you know of your brother. He's the smartest man we know, he's he most clever, and definitely the most resourceful. If anyone could survive, he could."

Closing his eyes, Thor embraced her again. "Yes," he whispered. He didn't have her confidence, perhaps, but he certainly had faith in Loki's ability to survive.

If you yet live, my brother, I hope I will one day see you again.

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