Hi again! 

So sorry, but this is another short chapter. I've been busy with my surprise, which will be revealed in the Author's Note. :) 

Please enjoy... love you all!

~Sierra

Chapter Fifty-Five

~Thea's POV~

I run for about five minutes, not exactly caring where I'm going, as long as it's away from the pool of crocodiles. I hear Loki behind me, and know that he dearly wants to yell at me for getting so far ahead, but he knows that it's a dangerous thing to do. 

Finally, I slow down as we approach an upward slope that angles to the right. Coming up behind me, Loki says, ever so slightly out of breath, "If I had to choose between saving you and a random mongrel on the street from being shot." He glares at me. "I would pick the dog." 

"I know you don't mean that," I say innocently as I trek up the path, which is growing difficult, as the sand is pilfering around me in little clouds. I'm going to have to knock it out of my sneakers at the top. "You just said you cared about me two days ago."

Loki opens his mouth, then closes it. Five minutes later, as I am, in fact, shaking out my sand-filled sneakers, he says, "Thea, you are so naive."

I don't bother to answer, but sit down and listen to the radio. Tony has apparently successfully gotten everyone across the pond, which makes me feel much better. "What would have happened," I wonder aloud, "If Tony had accidentally dropped someone in that infested pond?"

Loki rolls his eyes dramatically. He's very annoyed with me right now, and I take pleasure in that. "I was also really worried about, like, the crocodiles running after us inside the tunnel. They can apparently run very fast."

"If you do not-"

"But here's the bright side," I say cheerfully, getting to my feet. "If they did, you were behind me. Guess who they would have eaten first!"

Loki snarls. 

I smile inwardly as Loki stalks after me, his scepter clanging on the ground. "What does that thing do, anyway?" I ask, pointing at it. 

"It blasts annoying girls into a thousand tiny fragments."

"Ah." I say, because this is probably true. 

Twenty minutes later, I realize that not only are my limbs beginning to tire, but I'm also hungry. I hadn't eaten much today because of nerves, and as Loki and I walk through the seemingly endless tunnels, I begin to dig through my rucksack. I pass through the photo of my family, the letters from my mother, some extra clothes, my water canister, and finally, pull out half a granola bar. 

"Loki," I call, because he has refused to keep up step-by-step with me, "How much longer will we be walking?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know," I say innocently. "I was thinking that you deity folk might have some sort of hyper-sense. Because, apparently you do know everything." I blink my eyelashes at him. 

Loki's nostrils flare from temper. "I do know that you're being peevish, annoying, exasperating, obnoxious-" 

"Loki, I don't need synonyms for the word 'annoying', I think you've made your point very clear." 

I hear him cursing under his breath behind me, and I smirk. I know it's not particularly nice to play my nerves off of Loki's temper, but I can't seem to help myself. 

Five minutes later, we hit another cross-roads with Kyle and Jack, the first one since the crocodile pond. Loki looks positively relieved that he gets company besides myself, and Jack looks even more thrilled. 

"Kyle's being an ass." he says as we travel down a soft, sand-filled spit of the underground tunnel. 

"So is Loki." I sympathize

We take pleasure in peeking over our shoulders at the fuming men behind us. Loki looks like he's about to tear my head off. I smile brightly at him and turn back to Jack. Whispering, I ask, "How much farther, do you think?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. It can't be that long. It's already midnight, we've been at this for nearly two and half hours."

"Yeah," I yawn. "And why couldn't we have done this in the morning?" 

Jack shrugs. He looks exhausted as well, and I suddenly remember that he is still recovering from an injury. 

We leave Jack and Kyle a few minutes later, turning right on our respective path. I'm beginning to get exhausted. "Loki," I say in a bleary voice. "I don't know how much longer I can walk."

"I'm not carrying you, if that's what you're asking." 

"No, no no." I say hastily.  "But why do we have to do this at night? We could've waited until morning."

Loki sighs. "Because we need to beat the Imeldi to the Mantra, you silly girl."

"But if they can't get in," I yawn, "And we still have time until the blue moon, then what's the rush?"

Loki rolls his eyes. 

Five or ten minutes later, my feet are dragging so much, Loki has caught up to me, the slow poke.  "Honestly, Thea," he says, elbowing me. "You need to keep up."

"Says the person who's been behind me the entire time." 

I speak into the radio, "Stark, how much longer?"

It takes a few moments for him to reply. "I'm not sure. Probably about two hours, because we're just now really beginning to go down."

"Two hours?" I moan. I turn to Loki. "I can't walk two more hours!" 

Loki rolls his eyes again, then, for the first time since we've been down here, speaks into his radio (I'd forgotten he'd even had one). "The truth of the matter is that Thea is dropping. She probably won't even be able to make thirty more minutes, Stark."

There's some silence. Then, Stark says, "We're all getting tired. We need to stagger this some, get some rest. Go ahead and let her get some shut-eye for an hour or so. Kyle, do the same with Jack, and Maria and Clint, you take a break. In about an hour, we can trade off. Heaven knows what we're going to have to fight at the end, and we're going to need to get our strength." 

I'm so relieved, my knees buckle as I sink to the ground, but Loki grabs my arm and pulls me back up. "Not yet, young lady. We're not resting in the middle of a tunnel."

"It could be another hour until we find one of those room thingies!" I exclaim. 

"Then we're walking another hour." 

"Loki!" He ignores me and begins to walk off. I don't have a choice but to follow him, unless I want to be by myself.

Thankfully, it's fifteen minutes until the next room. This one is very similar to the tigress's domain, but slightly smaller. I find the bones of another civet, or maybe even a rabbit, in a corner, with some of the fur still stuck on. 

I collapse into another corner, my breathing uneven. Loki sits down beside me, lying his scepter next to him. He leans his head against the wall, closing his eyes. My exhaustion makes me reckless, because I reach up and knock his horned helmet off his head. It clangs to the ground.

His eyes pop open, and they narrow as he looks down at me. "Sorry," I say dreamily, my eyes fluttering closed. 

"Are you?" He doesn't sound very tired. 

"No..." 

When I try to lean against him, he pushes me away. "Get off of me, Thea. You can't possibly expect me to be nice to you after you've been so irksome."

"Just another synonym for annoying." I whisper. I open one eye and look up in enough time to see a smile threatening the edges of his mouth. 

A few minutes later, I say quietly, "When will this be over?"

"I thought you were tired?" As it happens when one is in between sleep and consciousness, Loki's voice sounds loud and far away. 

"I...am..."

"Then go to sleep. You only get an hour."

"Okay..." I breathe. 

As I begin to drift off to sleep, I'm pretty sure I can feel Loki stroking my hair gently. But I could be wrong. 

~Nobody's POV~

Thea is correct. Loki is, in fact, stroking her hair as her heavy lids close as if they are sewn shut, her breathing regulates, and her body relaxes. 

Loki looks down at the human girl, the child that has flipped his life upside down. On the outside, he knows he rejects her, belittles her, and makes her feel inferior. But at times like these, Loki can take off his mask and realize that he can, in fact, care, and maybe even love, without even trying. 

He raises his eyes to the ceiling and sighs. 

"Oh Thea," he whispers as he looks at her. "You annoying, clumsy, stubborn little sprite."

-------

Hope you liked it!!!

Please VOTE and COMMENT! 

Oh, and read the author's note ;) You might enjoy it.