transemacabre | [FIC] The Thousandth Man, Part V

Title: The Thousandth Man
Pairing: Thor/Loki
Warnings/Ratings: See Part I.
Summary: Back in Puente Antiguo, Loki and Thor finally get to spend some quality time together. NSFW: Sexual content

Their new friend Owen drove Thor and Loki to Puente Antiguo the next morning, bright and early. Fortunately, as both Thor and Loki were hopeless with directions, Jane Foster's base of operations in the old Smith Motors building was hard to miss.

"Awright boys, take care of yourselves and remember, don't trust the police," said Owen as he waved from the cab of his pickup truck. "À bientôt!"

"Gesundheit," Thor called back as he and Loki waved farewell.

As Owen sped off, Jane and Erik came running out of the RV, Darcy strolling behind. "You're back!" Jane gasped. "I can't believe it." Her hair was unbrushed, and her eyes ringed with dark circles. She looked like she hadn't slept since Thor and Loki saw her last.

Erik was nervously peering down the street. "Did anyone spot you on your way here?"

"No, I don't believe so," Loki told him as Erik tried to herd them towards the RV. "What is happening?"

"These guys, they said they were from the government," Jane began. "They showed up last night. I guess someone had seen us with you, and tipped them off. They said they were with something called SHIELD, and they confiscated all my research, my equipment, my photographs, my backups, the backups of my backups..."

"They stole my iPod!" said Darcy.

"They stole Evanescence!" cried Loki in horror.

Jane tugged at him and Thor. "Settle down now. You two need to hide in the RV. I don't want anyone seeing you here, or those SHIELD guys will be back. Just lay low for a couple of days, okay?"

Loki climbed into the RV and collapsed on the bed, but Thor paused on the steps of the RV. "You have been a gracious friend to us," he told Jane. "I thank you. And I and Loki will do all we can to see that which is rightfully yours restored to you."

Jane sighed. "Look, I don't know what you truly are," she admitted. "But I know you're not of this world. I'm on the verge of something amazing, and I think you two are part of it. But right now, just keep your head down." She shut the RV door and ran back to her work station.

Thor climbed in the shower, while Loki pouted on the bed. He did not understand the humans' passive response to the theft of their belongings. On Jotunheim, the stronger took from the weak, and one must be vigilant and aggressive to defend oneself. That was why Loki, always so puny for a giant's child, had devoted himself to magick. He could never out-fight another Jotun, but he could out-wit one. Erik, Jane, and Darcy should march into the SHIELD base and take back their belongings, he thought. With Thor and I at their sides, they could not fail. Perhaps I will suggest this to Thor later.

But when Thor returned from his shower, Loki forgot all about that idea. Thor was clad only in a towel and his clean skin gleamed. Loki gave him a slow once-over, from his shoulders down his chest and belly, to the tempting little trail of hair that drew his gaze to where it disappeared beneath the towel. Smirking at Loki's frank stare, Thor climbed into the bed next to him. His wet skin smelled of soap and something that was uniquely Thor.

"There's an ancient Asgardian custom," Thor said, settling in next to Loki, his hand on his hip. "Whereby vigorous lovemaking increases one's magickal powers."

"I think you're making that up," said Loki, struggling not to laugh as Thor leaned over and rubbed his face against his neck. "I don't think that's a real cust-- ha, your face is scratchy!"

"And yours is clean-shaven." Thor kissed his chin and then his lower lip.

"I'm a Jotun, we can't grow beards," Loki replied, but kissed Thor back hungrily. His right hand wandered lower, plucking at Thor's towel.

"Brazen," Thor mumbled against his mouth.

"But not unwelcomed," Loki said, pulling away to kiss the pulse-point of Thor's neck. His hands stroked Thor's member, urging him to full thickness. Thor flushed, his breaths coming in little pants, and Loki's own manhood swelled in anticipation.

Loki mouthed at Thor's neck, thrilling at how Thor's pulse quickened at his touch. Thor shifted beneath him, laying back and spreading his legs, the towel falling open so that Loki might look upon him. Loki's hands worked between Thor's legs, one on his member, the other caressing his sac and then slipping behind to tease at his entrance.

When Loki's kisses trailed lower, Thor arched up against him, painfully hard in Loki's grasp. Loki tongued at his tip, then sat up to get a look at Thor's face as he lay with his hair wild against the pillow, his eyes bright and pupils dilated. Thor smiled at him, at him, not keeping his eyes closed, not pretending Loki was someone else.

Loki's fingers slid from crotch to thigh, stroking the underside of Thor's knees, even as Loki put his tongue to Thor's cock, licking from base to tip, then taking him into his mouth for a moment before pulling back to lap at his sac.

"Loki," Thor gasped out, "I want you -- inside -- please -- I want..."

Loki paused just long enough to grope desperately for Jane's bottle of hand lotion he'd spied laying in a cubby-hole beside the bed. "You want me like this?" he asked, slicking his own cock.

Thor swallowed and nodded, spreading his legs wider, easing under Loki. Their bodies came together; they were well-matched. When Loki pressed in, there was a moment of resistance, then delicious friction.

Loki's eyes narrowed to slits, savoring the blissful sensation. He tried a little thrust, and then another. Beneath him, Thor released a deep breath with a soft moan behind it. Bracing himself over Thor, Loki drove in harder, lost in the sensations. The bed creaked a little, bumping against the wall, making them both chuckle nervously at the sound and the realization of how impassioned their coupling had become. Thor grasped Loki's shoulders and strove to meet him.

Jane's hand lotion rolled off and fell under the bed, forgotten.

It only took a few thrusts before Loki could hold back no longer. His breath hitched, then became pants, and then he was moaning as he came. He slumped over Thor, pressing his face to Thor's chest, conscious of the hardness pressed between them.

Thor shifted so that Loki lay by his side, pressing himself against Loki's buttocks. Chuckling low in his throat, Loki said, "I mounted you already. Reciprocation is fair."

In an instant, Loki's male form shifted, and his female form lay beside Thor. Stiffening, Thor sat up a little. "You wish to couple with me as a woman?" he asked Loki.

Writhing under him, she brushed her fingertips across the powerful span of his shoulders. "Loki is always Loki. This form is as much Loki as the other."

Thor tentatively cupped a breast in his hand. Full and warm and soft, as beautiful as the rest of her body, and he flicked his tongue over a nipple even as his fingers sought her clit. Wet and ready for him, and Thor grew even harder, something he would've sworn was impossible but moments before. Positioning himself beside her, Thor lifted Loki's leg and pushed in, Loki's hand helping to guide him to her. Thor's arms locked around her body, holding her tightly, securely. A hand cupped her cheek, and Loki turned her head so she could catch his fingers in her mouth, lavishing them with her tongue, sucking at them as he pounded into her.

Loki was so slick that Thor's thrusts were almost frictionless. Thor lost himself in the feeling of hot tight wet. It was as if a key turned in a lock, and Thor shouted Loki's name as he came, spilling into her.

Thor clung to her through the aftershocks, kissing her neck, winding his fingers through her hair. Loki lay content in his arms, drowsy and sated.

Thor kissed Loki on her eyelids, then pulled away regretfully. "I must be going to be the bathing room and cleaning myself," he said, picking up the towel as he stood. Loki smiled fondly at that towel; it had served them well.

"I'll miss you," murmured Loki as Thor walked to the tiny bathroom. A loud rapping at the door roused her from her reverie; shifting back into male form and shrugging into his clothes, Loki opened the RV door and found Darcy peering up at him curiously.

"Are you guys all right?" she asked, giving him a knowing look. "The RV was rocking back and forth."

Loki cleared his throat. "All is well, I assure you."

"Yeah, okay, doc and Erik may be too gay for science to pay attention to anything else, but I know something's up. You and blondie an item now?"

Loki sat on the bottom step of the RV, Darcy kneeling beside him. "I hadn't thought of it in such a way," he said softly. "But that would be fair to say, yes."

"Have you guys known each other long?" Darcy asked, blowing a bubble with her gum.

"I suppose you could say I've known him all my life," said Loki. "Though I could never have imagined our shared fates would bring us... here." He gestured vaguely at the New Mexico horizon.

Darcy nodded sagely. "Tell me about it. All I wanted was six college credits."

The RV's door creaked open a crack. "Loki?" asked Thor, peeking out.

"I'll be right there," Loki told him, standing up.

"Hey," said Darcy, flicking her head at Thor. "He wouldn't have a gorgeous blond brother, would he? Who's single? And heterosexual?"

"You guys!" Jane's voice rang out as she ran towards the RV, clutching a pair of binoculars in her hands. "Look up at the sky! Something strange is happening!"

"What?" Loki walked towards her, while Thor stepped out of the RV, clad once again only in a pair of well-worn jeans. Pressing the binoculars into Loki's hands, Jane directed his gaze in a southeasternly direction.

"What is it, Loki?" asked Thor, hovering over his shoulder. "Is it one of ours? The Asgardians come to return us home?"

Loki stared through the binoculars, slack-jawed. In the distance he could see a swirling blue whirlpool erupting from the sky, a fissure in space-time itself. Someone was opening a door between worlds.

"It's not one of yours," Loki said, lowering the binoculars and turning to face Thor. "It's one of mine."

Loki flung the binoculars at Jane, then grabbed Thor by the shoulders and hissed, "We have to get out of here. Or I have to get out of here, away from the mortals. They'll be killed instantly."

"What's going on?" demanded Jane, her eyes wide and frightened.

Not even waiting for Thor's response, Loki turned to her. "Do you have a vehicle that will work?" he asked. His skin had become as pale as marble, and his green eyes seemed fever-bright.

"No, the head gasket should be fixed in the morning--"

"Not soon enough." Loki caught her and Darcy by the elbows and began pulling them towards their base in the old Smith Motors building. "Get as far from here as possible. I will ride the bicycle into the desert as far as I can before Byleistr catches up with me."

"Who?" asked Darcy.

"Loki, wait!" Thor ran after them. "What are you doing? Who is Byleistr?"

"My brother," said Loki in clipped tones. "Come to kill me."

Darcy took her gum from her mouth and tossed it in a trash can. "For real? Why?"

"If he's here, that means Laufey is dead. If Laufey is dead, that means Helblindi has seized power and that means my time is up," Loki screamed.

"What in the world is going on here--" Erik said as he ran over, but Thor held up a hand, beckoning for silence.

"Loki, explain once more and more slowly," Thor said. "I will stand with you against any foes, but I must know what we are up against. Who are Byleistr and Helblindi?"

"My brothers."

"Why would they want you dead?"

Loki's eyes clenched shut. "Because I am Laufey's firsborn. If he is dead, then I am next in line to the throne. Helblindi will not stand for any challengers. He will kill me, and you, and then march to the gates of Asgard itself." When he opened his eyes again, they welled with tears.

"How did they find you?" Thor wondered, resting a hand on Loki's shoulder. Unconsciously, Loki sagged against him.

"My magicks. Helblindi is the second-most sorcerer in all of Jotunheim. He can trace my magicks, and he will find me wherever I go."

"Who is the first sorcerer in all of Jotunheim?" Thor asked.

"I am." Loki pulled back from him, gesturing at the three curious humans. "We are wasting precious time. I have to get away from the mortals before Byleistr tracks me here."

"Hey look, if someone's trying to kill you," Darcy said, pulling a taser from her purse.

"Yeah, we're not going to let someone walk up and murder you," Jane told Loki. "We'll call the cops, take you someplace safe..."

"Your concern is touching," Loki told them. "But my brother Byleistr is a Jotun, a Frost Giant. He stands three times your size, and his merest touch will necrotize your flesh. Your only hope is to get as far from me as you can."

Thor set his jaw and said, "I will stay by your side, Loki."

Loki couldn't stop himself from smiling at the poor fool. "Thor, you have not your powers," he said. "And you if are killed alongside me, who will remain to seek revenge for my death?"

"LOKI", came a roar in the distance, so loud that Jane and Darcy screamed with fear and Erik almost toppled over. The single word was followed by a growl, deep and forboding, that rattled their very bones. Nothing on Earth could make such a sound. Nothing from Earth.

"Too late," gasped Loki. "He's found me."

The pounding sounds were so loud that at first they sounded like the crack of thunder, and it was some moments before Darcy realized what they were: footsteps. "Oh my god," she cried, grabbing hold of Jane. "This is for real-real, not for play-play."

"Get them to safety," Loki told Thor as he ran towards the approaching footsteps.

"What are you doing?!" Thor called after him.

"Reasoning with my brother," Loki replied. He ran behind the Smith Motors building, out to where the town faded into the sands of the desert, and sure enough, he could see Byleistr ambling towards him. Poor Byleistr, always so misshappen. If Loki was a runt, Byleistr was some throwback, with his protruding jaw and arms so long he could walk on four legs as well as two.

Spotting his brother, Byleistr grinned horribly and loped towards him, dropping to all fours. Loki braced himself and called out, "Still doing our brother's dirty work, are we?"

Byleistr skidded to a stop, startled from his mission. One thing about Byleistr: he was easily distracted. "What do you m-mean?" he stammered in his raspy voice. He circled Loki warily, backing up until his foot bumped the rear wall of Smith Motors.

Loki locked his hands behind his back, leaning back on his heels cavalierly. "Ever since we were younglings, you've jumped at his every command. Does it not bother you to be more Helblindi's pet than brother?"

"I d-don't like your words," growled Byleistr, clutching at his head as though it hurt. "You always l-like to t-talk and talk and make me confused. Sire said not to listen to you."

"Ah, but Sire is dead, is he not? Helblindi's doing, I presume." Loki's eyebrows shot up. "Unless Helblindi put you up to that murder, too?"

Byleistr barked at him, a sure sign that Loki's words had hit their mark as an arrow slips past a chink in armor and pierces flesh. Seizing his chance before Byleistr could remember his mission to brutally murder him, Loki said, "Once I am dead, Helblindi will have no more use for you. He'll kill you then. In my kingdom, there would always be a place for you."

"Shut up," Byleistr rasped, and quick as lightning -- for if Byleistr had one talent, it was quickness -- he reached out and caught Loki by the throat, lifting him into the air. Loki dangled, his feet kicking uselessly, his fingers clutching at Byleistr's hand, struggling to breathe.

Byleistr drew him closer, and for one horrible second Loki thought his brother meant to eat him alive. "You s-smell different, brother," Byleistr rasped, and then Thor was upon him, swinging a length of metal piping like a hammer.

BAM! It connected solidly with the back of Byleistr's skull. Screeching, Byleistr dropped Loki ten feet to the ground. BAM! Thor managed a second swing, and this time something in Byleistr's skull gave way with a sickening, wet crack.

"ARRRRGH!" Byleistr's paw swung overhead, and Thor narrowly missed decapitation. "Asgardian! Y-you!"

Thor rolled off Byleistr's back, dropping his steel pipe as he did so. Byleistr was staggering, clutching at the back of his head, dragging one foot behind him. His moans were the moans of some dumb beast that could not comprehend its own pain.

Loki climbed to his feet, one hand around his neck, the other held out to cast a spell. He gasped out an incantation. Instantly, flames erupted under Byleistr, and a note of panic and horror joined the moans. The sand under Byleistr's feet melted into a sinkhole.

"Getting a little hot, isn't it, brother?" Loki croaked at Byleistr as the inferno engulfed him, his red eyes rolling in their sockets. Thor ran to Loki, grabbing him around the waist and bodily hauling him away.

Summoning all his strength, Byleistr lurched at them, catching Thor in a glancing blow, sending them both sprawling. For a moment Loki didn't know if he faced up or down, backwards or forwards; all he could see was sparks in his vision and all he could feel was the sand in his mouth. Crawling to his knees, he clutched at Thor, who lay unconscious with blood seeping from his scalp. Only a few feet away, Byleistr thrashed wildly in his death throes.

"Please," the word was more of a puff of air through Loki's abused throat as he struggled to drag Thor away from his brother's still deadly claws. "Please. Don't die. Don't leave me here."

"LOKI! THOR!" Dimly, through the haze in his vision, Loki could make out Darcy running towards him, followed by Jane and a figure that must be Erik. He tried to call out, to warn them to stay away; all Byleistr need do was breathe on them and they would die. But the humans were on him and Thor, trying with all their might to tug him and Thor to safety, and then Loki lost a few seconds, and when he came to, he could still hear Byleistr's screams, then the crack of gunshots and the wail of a fire engine. Then a strange man was leaning over him, trying to speak with him, and Loki slipped into darkness and did not dream.

***

Jane crouched on the ground, hands wrapped around her knees. The firefighters hovered over Thor and Loki, tending to their wounds, despite Darcy's loud pleas to be allowed to check on them herself. Erik was stumbling around, dazed, with the wide-eyed shock of a man who has seen something not of this Earth.

Both of Puente Antiguo's cops had arrived and pumped several rounds of amunition into the hideous monster that Loki had called his "brother" until it finally stopped writhing. Now its body was covered by a tarp, only a single horrible arm sticking out, outstretched, black claws gleaming in the sunlight. Jane shivered and pulled her legs close enough that she could rest her chin on her knees.

Several black cars pulled up, and a familiar man stepped out of one of them. The SHIELD agent who had commandeered her research. Jane stared at him glumly.

Agent Coulson took in the dead monster, the two unconscious men, and the shell-shocked humans. "Get Fury on the phone," he commanded one of his subordinates. "Get Tony Stark. Get anyone."