Gentle Heart

“Are you sure about this? You don’t have to do this.” Thor mumbles as he is inches away from the pink haired goddess. She shifts uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze as she claims her certainty of it all. Talen certainly did not want to catch the gaze of Thor or any of his companions.

“I’ll—I’ll do it. Whatever it takes to ensure Jane’s safety, even if I have to get on my hands and knees begging for Loki to comply.” Her voice continues to shake as her grey eyes dance around the warriors surrounding her, doubtful of her skills. Honestly, she wouldn’t put much faith into her either.

Fandral’s voice cuts through like ice causing Talen to stiffen, “He will want something from you after all the pain you have caused. You are in the center of all of this after all.”

“I will give him anything within reason.” Her gaze lands on Thor as he leans forward to interrupt her, but silently recedes when he sees her glancing at him with a hint of warning. For a moment, the golden haired god recoils seeing the resemblance of her mother within her when she is determined.

Regardless of her semi-lax nature, he remains on his toes ready to jump in to save her if needed. Sadly, it seems that Talen has seal the notion of doing this all on her own even speaking with Misa to permit access to Loki’s dungeon. It didn’t sit well with him; Talen doing this alone, but the rest agrees that it’s necessary causing less attention.

The plan has been going smoothly so far, Talen convincing Loki and the three start to walk towards their next destination where Sif will meet them with Jane.

“What’s with the sour face, dear brother? Do you not like how I look?” The sweet voice of his beloved being tainted by Loki has him in disgust.

“Not when you are disguised as her.” His voice tight and forced, noticing that Talen in Loki’s form being frighteningly silent. Thor didn’t see ‘Talen’ jutting out her lower lip in a pout before swaying her hips and thrusting her bosom out in a seductive manner.

“I feel incredibly innocent in this form. How do you cope with being so gentle? It’s distressing.” An uncomfortable snarl leaves ‘Talen’s’ lips before a light green glow and a flash switches his form into a broader and bolder character. “Ah, that’s much better.” Talen freezes at the sound of Steve’s voice giving her heart a painful squeeze that she hasn’t seen him in a century.

Unfortunately for her, Loki catches her tearful gaze and taunts her. “Oh? Does the young healer’s heart belong to the patriotic soldier? What a twist in the story! Especially since my brother has his eyes on you. Do I give you a dull ache in your chest? A hole that will never be filled unless you are pressed against me?” Talen retracts as Loki approaches, his form standing hand in hand against her own guise as the god of mischief. Before Loki can wrap an arm around her to make her even more uncomfortable, Thor pulls him away and presses him against the wall with his hand covering his mouth.

Ignoring the brothers’ bickering, Talen notices a couple of soldiers making their rounds and she presses against the wall into hiding. As the footsteps fade into the distance, she notices that her bubble gum hair falls into her face, confused, she glances at her hands to see that she is herself again and Loki in his own form.

A disgruntled expression on the god’s face as he glares at his older brother. “What?” Loki finally follows his brother’s gaze watching the two soldiers stroll by without a glance in their direction. In the spirit of things, Loki tries to convince Thor to furnish him a weapon to defend himself and Talen fights the urge to show her displeasure.

She lingers in silence as she hears the satisfying clink of the handcuffs latching itself onto Loki’s wrists. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you have used these? Perhaps on our soft hearted healer?”

Talen fights the blush trying to force its way onto her pale cheeks. Pushing herself off the wall, she notices Thor’s large body blocking her view from the frost giant as they make their way to the first checkpoint. Weaving through the hallways, her forehead starts to pulse, a dab of warmth spreading from her temples to the center of her forehead.

As they reach their destination, waiting on Sif to escort Jane to them, the pulsing turns into a dull throb, increasing with each passing minute. Loki catches on, adding a few words. “Seems your other lover is on her way, brother.”

Thor’s blue eyes peer to the slim frame of Talen’s noticing the crescent mark on her forehead glowing dully. “Are you alright?” The concern lacing his voice makes Talen want to gag, she hates how gentle he is with her considering that he sees her so much more than a companion. The goddess wanted to focus on the task at hand, brushing aside his question as she sees Jane coming from a distance.

At first, Jane only had eyes on Thor as a sense of relief washes over her form as she makes her way over, but the moment she catches movement, she sees Loki standing right next to him and her expression is one with rage. Something Talen thought Jane would express when it came to her and not only Loki. The sharp slap echo in the hall as the mortal retorts that it was for the city he nearly destroyed to oblivion.

Loki only smirks in satisfaction, “I see why you like her.” His tone and gaze glance at Talen as if saying he has no clue as to why the oaf of a god ever even has feelings for her. Maybe she is looking into it too much, but the sickening feeling doesn’t go away. It doesn’t take long for her to hear the thundering footfalls of the soldiers coming their way.

“Prince Thor…” Talen mutters, lightly nudging him as her eyes stay glue to the hallway of the soldiers appearing.

Suddenly, Talen is hidden behind a cloak of deep raven locks as she hears Sif’s voice, “Take her. I’ll take care of them.”

“I should help.” Without precaution, the pink haired goddess steps forward only to be block by the arm of the female warrior.

“Don’t be foolish. I need you to take care of those two especially him.” Sif gazes at Thor, an understanding exchange between the two females. Talen nods stiffly as she falls back alongside Jane and Loki. After Thor thanks Sif, the three start to run down the hall. Talen behind Jane just in case she needed her.

With Loki right about to tag along with the three, he feels a blade against his jugular. The fiery irises of Sif meets his cool ones as she warns him, “If you betray him and or hurt Talen in any way, I’ll kill you.”

“Who would want to hurt that little pink bird? Certainly not I.” He curves his neck to avoid the blade. “It was nice seeing you too.” When he was free of Sif’s grasp, he catches up with the three with ease considering the bright pink hair is hard to miss.

Talen marks off the second checkpoint when she sees the large warrior, Volstagg standing next to the large black familiar aircraft. Her grey eyes wander along the edges of it as she studies it with precision. Maybe she will be able to aid Thor on how to operate it when they climb aboard.

In the midst of it all, she completely misses Volstagg threatening Loki while the god of mischief rolls his eyes muttering that he has to get in line first. Without a second thought, she climbs in first, taking the steps up into the control panel. She takes it in as the rest of the group joins her.

Her frail fingers carefully nudges buttons and anything that might turn on the ignition. The soft whirling fades much to her surprise only because she sees Thor presses every button on her right side.

Loki, being the brother that he is, challenges Thor on his incompetence on his knowledge on the aircraft. Thor slighted saying how hard could it be. Ignoring the two, Talen’s brows go up when her palm surrounds with light on the panel. “Prince Thor.” She hears a frustrated growl on her right, urging her to speak louder this time.

When his deep blue eyes sees her, she fights back a blush. She steps back as she lifts her hands to show him how it might work, “I think you need to use both hands to activate it.” When he follows her instructions, the aircraft comes to life.

“Looks like she isn’t worthless after all.” Loki mutters under his breath. Thor clearly hears it as he glares at his brother.

The low rumbles vibrate through Talen’s body as the aircraft gains its bearings. With Thor’s unsteady navigation, the thick blade of the spaceship slices through the columns that stand in their way. Talen stumbles, only to gain the grip of Jane’s as she holds on to her for support. The pink haired goddess mutters a thank you, not missing the snarky remark of Loki.

“I think you missed a column.”

“Shut up.” The blond growls. It seems the dynamic of brothers commences as Loki continues with his comments. Though in Loki’s defense, Thor’s piloting skills aren’t the best, destroying the landmarks of Asgard as he goes.

“If you keep this up, you’ll beat Talen’s score.” A sharp sting reaps into her heart as he weaves another hurtful remark on her part.

Thor standing rigidly, he mutters darkly, “If you say another word about Talen, I swear I will throw you off this ship myself.” The green eyed god only smirks at his brother’s remark, not convince that he will do just that.

Talen holds on to the human female as she feels her go limp. Withholding a gasp, Talen holds her close before situating her on the floor.

“Is she dead?”

“Jane?” Thor’s worried voice remains crisp and clear, fighting his natural nature to look back to see if she is alright. That is when Talen takes the lead, hearing the mumbles of Jane stating that she’s alright, but her skin feels warm underneath her palm.

“She’s alright…for now.” Talen whispers the doubtful words to herself as she focuses on the brunette beauty. A subtle red glow of her veins emerge from her neck and as soon as the healer’s fingers touch the area, pain erupts into her own body. She whimpers, pulling back as she sits there in shock at what she is experiencing. It’s nothing like she has felt before.

Still, Talen remains tactful noticing that they are close to their mark for Fandral. Talen hardly listens to the spiteful words of Loki of his brother’s grand plan of escape that he did not see the door opening behind him. It only takes a moment to see Thor shoving Loki out the door. Regardless of the plan, Talen remains surprised before she shakes her head when Thor takes Jane from her arms.

“You couldn’t be a little less aggressive?”

The thunder god only smirks, “He deserves it especially for what he has said about you.” The goddess mutters about his flattery as he allows her to jump first. Biting the inside of her cheek at the height, she shifts her teeth to bring in the corner of her lip in to produce a low whistle. When the satisfying flap of wings reach her ears, she smiles, but not before hearing Thor’s hearty laugh.

“Never afraid of heights, but when it comes to jumping, you are at your wits end. Truly, you are a peculiar one.”

“I was always the odd one.” The grey silvery wings glitter under the sun before Talen takes a small leap to be on her companion’s back. Whisper’s wings shift as he dives down towards the ship steered by Fandral, biting back a smile to see a disgruntle Loki as Thor lands with a hard thud.

The long thing fingers of Talen thread through Whisper’s mane as she guides him onto the ship, the clank of hooves as the only evidence of them landing. Swinging off her friend’s back, she goes to Jane. Thor giving Loki the reigns to guide them to the Dark World.

The snout of the horse brushes against Jane’s skin as he neighs in worry. “I know. She seems to be getting worse.” She mutters before letting her hands glow a deep green to relieve some of the discomfort, Jane must be experiencing at the moment. Right at that moment, the ship glides to a higher altitude, perfectly dodging the ship’s ammo behind them.

It wasn’t long before Talen felt someone sweep her hair into their fingers, causing her curly cotton candy hair to fly into her face. Spluttering, she hears Fandral chuckling as he grips on the thick rope, one foot against the panel as he salutes to them with his eyes on her. “Stay strong, little one.”

She wanted to curse Fandral for bringing up an old nickname that she hasn’t heard in ages, but she couldn’t feeling the tears threatening to spill as she watches him swing onto the other ship with ease. Inhaling slowly, she turns to see Loki steering them into a mountain with a small tight crevice. The unsteady voice of Thor, causes her to waver while Loki’s remains firm, “Steady now.”

The ship eases into the small hole as the sides start to chip away, creating sparks from the compact space. Within a few moments of terror, they are transported into another world, entering with a few jolts and a sly “Ta da.” From Loki.

As she takes in the environment around her, she peers up at the dark clouds cluttering together like a blanket above her, the dark volcanic rock beneath them and the stench of fire and death fumigating their airways. Involuntarily, Talen shudders and seconds later, Whisper mirrors her sensation so she pats his snout for effort.

When she sees a large hand shuffling the blanket around Jane’s small form, Talen nearly jumps before she peers up to connect with Thor’s eyes. An intensity blazes in those deep blue orbs, something burning for her, a passion that is beyond describing a feeling. The way he gazes at her is less territorial as most gods stare at goddess, but more of adoration and dare she say, love.

“If you are going to solidify your love for one another, no one is stopping you, but do it quickly if you must.” Loki’s bored tone brings them both of their trance. The goddess’ cheek color crimson trying to ignore the gaze of the prince any further.

“Now isn’t a time for jests. We must save Jane from the Aether.”

“She looks good to me. If I must say, she looks more appetizing with it flowing through her veins.” A tiny spark curls around Thor’s fingers as Loki raises his, wagging in disappointment.

“Not in front of your lovers, dear brother. What would Jane do when she discovers your heart is split into two? That your heart doesn’t completely belong to her?”

“It does.” Talen blurts out, eyes focuses on her as she speaks. “Prince Thor doesn’t know what he speaks of. Clearly, his love is misplaced. He loves me in a different way, not one of romance, but of friendship and nothing more.” Each word she speaks to be truth, the more it starts to hurt in the pit of her belly. She fights off the nausea when Thor whispers her name in shock.

“Oh? So you are speaking for him? You know his heart?”

The goddess shakes her head in defiance, “I don’t know, but it’s what I’m hoping. Besides…I do not reciprocate his feelings.” It’s for the best, she tells herself. What can she offer him? Truly? She can do nothing for him while Jane can give him everything he wants. Talen is an outcast, the enemy in most Asgardians eyes and she rather live in Midgard than go back to Asgard permanently.

“How the plot thickens! You surely know how to-”

“Tell me this isn’t so.” Thor’s broken voice breaks Talen’s concentration as his large form looms over hers. The warmth of his body coax her closer, but she fights the urge as she remains strong—for the both of them.

“I’m sorry. I-it’s true.”

Thor’s lips curl in disgust, “Then tell me blatantly then. Tell me that you don’t love me.”

How can he ask her of that? With Jane lying only inches away from them? Talen could not understand his reasoning, but she complies with a broken heart as she faintly tells him, “I do not…love-” her eyes begin to water as she looks at the god that has been in her heart for so many centuries, the same one that made her heart soar and explode at the same time when he kissed her. But it cannot happen. It can never happen.

Regaining her bearings, she spills the rest of the words out, “I do not—love you.” For the first time in all that she has known the prince, she has never seen him so heartbroken in her life. The life withdraws from his eyes as he staggers back in shock, taking it all in that she actually said it. He doesn’t want to believe it, he refuses to. Thor can see her brokenness, the way she holds herself and unworthy to be apart of anything other than living in a cell. The prince can see that she believes she doesn’t deserve him.

As much as he recites that everything that she had said to him was not true, his heart cannot stop from breaking as he stares at his beloved.