Hi, hi, hi! :) 

Hope your Monday is going fabulously. 

Well, off to eat lunch now--- enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Fifty-Six

~Nobody's POV~

Loki gently removes the Bluetooth device from Thea's ear so that she can sleep without the radio reports waking her up. He then stands and takes off his cape, bending down to place it over the girl's peaceful body. Taking his scepter, he steps out of the cave room. 

*

Tony first encounters the "obstacle course" as he shoots out of his tunnel. He's in yet another open, cathedral-like room, and all the paths have come together. There is no pond, and no crocodiles, thank goodness, but there's something else: huge, thorny branches that snake through and upwards, so high and so tight that he doubts he can fly over them. It's something from Sleeping Beauty, the wall of thorns.

He can't see past the huge wall to examine what lies beyond. Instead, he radios, "Okay, who's close?"

"Close to what?"

Tony turns around to see Steve grinning at him, as he and Thor have just emerged from their own tunnel. Steve looks around interested. "Can't fly over it?"

"Not unless you want me to be skewered. And I'm not even sure if I can get through with this damned suit on."

Thor looks around the edge of the wall. "There appear to be enough spots where you can get through. If not, I can use Mjolnir to-"

"I wouldn't advise that," says Tony, copying what JARVIS is currently informing him. "One wrong bolt of lightning, and this whole spiky thing comes tumbling down. And I doubt those thorns are skin-friendly."

Shaking his head, Steve says, "We need to wait for everyone else. This is going to take teamwork, and lots of it." 

"While we wait," says Tony, lying down on the ground, suit and all, "I'm going to get some sleep."

As it turns out, Max and Peter are the next pair that reach the exit of the tunnel. Both are exhausted, and like, Tony, lie down and close their eyes after they hear the Captain's newest report. 

Natasha and Bruce are the last of the first half to make it. They're both bloodied up, and Natasha explains shortly, "Trap door." Apparently, it had taken a while to get back on track. 

"And now," says Thor, waving Mjolnir around absentmindedly (it causes Natasha's hair to flip around wildly). "We wait." 

*

"No..." she moans, "Let me... sleep, Bryce. I...I'm so tired..." 

"Wake up, Thea." says Loki sharply.

"Nopenopenopenopenope," She yawns, closing her eyes even tighter. "Must...sleep..."

He shakes her again. "Thea. Up. Now." 

"Nooooo..."

Loki sighs and pulls Thea up by her shoulders. Instead of standing up like he expects her to, Thea merely lets her body fall limply against his chest. "Too tired." she whispers.

"THEA!" 

"I'm up, I'm up!" she groans, trying as hard as possible to get her eyelashes to open. They're like lead and refuse to open. In a wave of fatigue, she leans even more heavily on Loki. 

Loki glares down at her, then stands, letting Thea fall to the ground with a soft thump, his cape still flowing around her. She doesn't even seem to notice. He kicks her gently, but hard enough to get her attention. "Thea!" 

"Nnnn...nnnn." she shakes her head.

"Thea..." he says warningly. "Get up right now, this is the last time I am going to say it."

"No." she whimpers. "Loki, please."

Loki's lip curls in annoyance. He stares at the ceiling, thinking. Then, he crouches down in front of her. "You had better appreciate this, kitten." 

"Mm." Is all Thea says as Loki slides his arms underneath her neck and legs. She wraps her arms  around his neck limply and leans her head on him. 

As Loki carries her out of the dusty, bone-strewn room, she whispers, "I dreamt...that monsters no longer existed...and that you were nice...and that Bryce was alive." 

If Thea could've seen Loki's face, she would have been surprised. Loki is stricken by her words, as he realizes for certain now that Thea is only a child wrapped up in a world of hurt and pain. He's also pained by her words, "monsters no longer existed"... and  "...that you were nice..." He knows that the "monster" Thea is talking about is not the Imeldi. He struggles to find something to say, then finally snaps, "Well, that's why it's called a dream. It's not real."

*

Unlike her nights in the forest, Bruce and Kyle's medical room, and the plane, Thea does not wake up screaming and crying. It's not lost to neither Thea nor Loki that the girl sleeps better when Loki is near, even if he is just standing close by. She is horribly scarred by her experience at the Imeldi prison, and it seems that only the god of mischief can soothe her fears, having lived that nightmare alongside her, the child that caused the Fallen Prince to kneel to her at the Asgardian throne. 

*

~Thea's POV~

When I wake up, I'm on the ground again, and I realize that I'm next to Peter, whose arm is thrown haphazardly across my back. Yawning, I sit up, rubbing my eyes. I'm still tired, but the nap has refreshed me so that, at the minimum, I can walk for a while longer. 

The first thing I see, of course, is the giant wall of thorns. Thor, Loki, and Steve are standing next to it, pointing and obviously trying to figure out how to get around it. Everyone else is spread out on the ground, in various stages of sleep. 

I take out my phone and look at the time: five o'clock in the morning. So I'm not the only one reconsidering the idea of tracking a deadly substance at night. I begin to re-attach the Bluetooth device to my ear. I wonder how it had gotten off in the first place.

Loki is the first one to notice that I'm awake, although he doesn't say anything to me. Thor, however, upon seeing his brother's turned face, smiles at me, his blue eyes shining. "Ah, Thea. I trust you've slept well?" 

He still has blood crusted on his face and hands, presumably from the tigress, with perhaps his own blood mixed in. I want to be furious at him for killing the creature, but I know that he did what he thought was best. 

"Yeah," I say, my throat still a little raspy from sleep. "I'm all good."

"Excellent." Thor hands me an apple. "Our food supply runs low; we did not know the cave would be this deep nor this exquisite." 

"Exquisite" isn't exactly what I would describe this cave as, but all I say is, "How much longer?"

Steve answers for Thor. "We're estimating somewhere around two hours or so, once we get over these thorns."

"I don't think we're going to be getting over them." I point out. "More like through them." I eye the thorns; they're needle sharp. "And very carefully."

"Exactly," says Steve. "How about you rest for a little bit, and then in an hour, we'll start."

I don't end up resting; I end up doing what I do best- annoying Loki. 

"Will you teach me magic?" I ask, skipping after him (I stop the skipping after I realize how horribly childish it is) as he walks around the thorns, looking them over carefully. 

"We already talked about this." Loki says, not looking back at me. 

"But you never actually ended up teaching me in Asgard," I point out. And you said you would."

Still not looking at me, Loki says, "May I point out that our time in Asgard was limited?" 

"Well you can point it out, but it's no excuse."

"Thea, you're still a petty human, and I rather doubt you could learn any tricks. It takes one with superior skills to master magic and learn to conjure, not one with two left feet and a temper the devil could only dream of matching."

I glare at the back of his head, and I swear, he is smiling. "Did you just call me the devil?" 

Finally, he turns to look at me over his shoulder. Grinning malevolently, he says, "No, no, not at all, kitten." 

"Well, I should hope-"

"I called you worse than the devil." 

My glare intensifies. 

Loki chuckles mischievously. "Now, now, Thea, don't be upset. Two can play at this game, you know."

"What game?" I ask, twirling the emerald dagger in my hands. I should probably give it back to Loki, but I still might need it.

"The game you think yourself the master of- annoying me." He turns completely, walking the other way and pushing me aside with his scepter. "Which is the only thing, you are, in fact good at." 

"I beat you in that duel." I remind him proudly. 

He looks at me patronizingly, shaking his head in mock pity. "Oh, Thea, innocent Thea. Remember this: I only lose when I want to lose." 

"Evidently not." I point out. "Because you looked pretty beat to me."

Before I can breathe, Loki has whirled around, plucked the dagger from my fingers and tripped me so that I fall, sprawling to the ground. 

"Hey!" I whine. I try to get up, but Loki's scepter is digging into my chest- it's not exactly puncturing it, but it's still a bit painful. "Loki! Get it off me!" 

He cocks his head, looking down at me, pretending to consider. "I'm not getting up until someone admits that they've lost." 

"You cheated. You didn't even tell me that we were fighting."

"Thea, the world does not inform you that it is going to knock you down before it does so. Evidently," he says, mocking my earlier words. "You just weren't ready."

"Of course I wasn't ready! Now please get your stick off of me." 

*

~Nobody's POV~

Thor looks over his shoulder to see Thea lying, prone on the ground, with Loki standing over her, his scepter on her chest. He thinks nothing of it until he hears Thea, in a distant-sounding voice, say, "You win. You win." Loki smiles triumphantly and removes the scepter. 

"Brother," says Thor, walking up to Loki. "What did you just do?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." replies Loki, brushing past Thor. 

* 

~Thea's POV~

An hour later, I've rested for a little longer, and feel even more refreshed, even though it's only six fifteen. Steve now assigns me to the task of waking up several people. This is easier said than done; when I try to wake up Kyle, he smacks me, growling sleepily, "Go away, you little nuisance." 

I kick him, hard, in the groin, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret later.

Peter is easy to get up, as is Jack. I give up on Max who is snoring so loudly, I'm surprised any of the others have managed to sleep. 

Eventually, after some meager breakfast, we're all gathered around the thorns. Steve, with his shield held in front of him, says us, "All right, this is going to take some teamwork. We're going to go in two lines, one with seven people, one with six. It'll help us protect each other. I wouldn't touch the thorns- they sting.

"I'm leading the first line. Behind me, in order, will be," he points the people out as he says it, "Loki, Jack, Tony, Bruce, Maria, and Max."

"Oh you've got to be joking," whispers Jack in my ear. I can't help but grin. Jack, sandwiched between Loki and Tony, will give me enough entertainment for a lifetime. Loudly, Jack calls, "Is there an option for switching, Cap?"

Loki and Tony roll their eyes simultaneously, although a few others chuckle. "Nope, sorry Jack," replies Steve. "We're all going to have to learn to work together." 

"Yep, as long as I'm not landed next to you," says Kyle, who is on my other side. "You're the biggest pain in the-"

"As I was saying," says Steve, trying to quiet the crowd. "Thank you. In the other line, it will be Thor, Thea, Kyle, Peter, Natasha, and Clint." 

Kyle looks like he's gotten shot by a stun-gun. I groan, although I would much rather be with Thor and Kyle than Loki and Tony.

"Yeah, and how exactly did you pick these lines?" asks Kyle.

"I picked them based on how much we would all keep each other moving. Let's go. Very, very carefully now. And don't try to blast them." He looks at Loki, Thor, and Tony carefully, "It could send this whole thing down on us." 

I nod, trying not to feel nervous.

"Let's head out. Now Stark estimates that this thing is about half the length of a football field. If all goes well, we should be out of here in half an hour."

Our lines will be running parallel to each other, and it's because of this that I discover I will not be as free from Loki as I thought. Steve's line placement is becoming even more tricky. 

Thor carefully moves forward, ducking under the first thorn. I'm plenty short so all I have to do is step over one vine and walk right under the thorn.  Kyle, behind me, is muttering something that I probably should not repeat here. 

As we get deeper and deeper into the thorns, they become thicker and thicker. The first person to be poked, as it turns out, is Thor. One of the thorns catches his cape, rips it slightly, and slides down to scratch his neck. "Argh!" he exclaims, not able to bend his arm back to touch the wound. "These plants, they burn." He informs us, "It would be wise not to touch them."

"Yes thank you, that's what we've been saying for the past ten minutes." says Loki sarcastically, who is right next to me. He's logically taken off his horned helmet, conjuring it into nothingness, but continues to carry his scepter. Until now, I've done a pretty good job at ignoring his existence. 

Slightly annoyed by him, I use the emerald dagger- which I had stolen back from him- to very casually reach to my right and bend one of the thorns down just in time to catch the top of Loki's shoulder. He has armor on, but the barbed end of the thorn seizes him and yanks him back. 

I giggle as Loki has to stop and very carefully free himself from the point without getting scratched. I can practically feel his glare burning the back of my head. 

"And so we take the lead," says Peter jovially as, thanks to my little escapade, the other line has to slow down to accommodate Loki's delay. "Moving on up, guys, moving on up."

"This is not a race, Peter, we have to be careful." says Steve, but nobody actually adheres to that warning.

"Would you get moving, you horned prat!?" hisses a very frustrated and competitive Jack to a very frustrated and technically horn-less Loki, who has just now broken free from his thorny dilemma. 

"Jack, you should be yelling at your girlfriend, not at me."

"One, she's not my girlfriend, and two, you started it." says Jack. I can't see either of them, as I am level with Steve now, but I grin anyway.

"How did I start it?" demands Loki defensively.

"Because it's you. You always start things."

I laugh.

"She's the one who caused me to nearly impale myself." snaps Loki. "But remember Thea," he calls from behind me as I move below another thorny vine. "Two can play at this game." 

"I have no idea what you're talking-AHH!" I squeal as my body suddenly pitches forward without my permission. If Kyle hadn't reached out and caught me, I would have impaled my stomach on the thorn below me. 

"Thanks," I say to Kyle, my voice trembling. "You saved my guts." 

"Literally."

"Loki, that's enough." says Thor, who has turned around just in time to see my fall. "This is dangerous enough without your tricks." He turns to me. "And you as well, Thea. We need to concentrate." 

Five minutes later, someone cries out. Jerking my head back, I see that it's Jack, who has caught the end of a thorn as he has very gingerly tried to step over it. "Holy smokes, it burns," he hisses between his teeth, holding his wrist tightly. It's bleeding profusely. 

"Here." I say, unwrapping my arm bandage from where the arrow had pierced me. If he flips the gauze around, Jack will be able to wrap it around his wound cleanly. I hand it to Steve, carefully reaching out through the thorns. 

"I have a question." I say, mostly to keep conversation going. "Why are all these barriers here? It's unnatural for a place like Indonesia to have a magnificently hidden cave with all this crap."

"The Mantra is protecting itself," replies Steve. "That's our best guess. As to how the animals got in, that's anyone's guess." 

*

~Nobody's POV~

It takes forty-five minutes to get through all the thorns. The thirteen emerge, very nervous, slightly poked, and bruised, out of the wall of thorns. The first thing that happens is that Loki grabs Thea's arm and shakes her. "What was that for?"

"For being a smart-ass to Thor." she replies sweetly. "Now let go of me!" 

"If you think-"

But nobody gets to find out what Thea might be thinking, because suddenly, she stumbles, her eyes fluttering and her breath coming in gasps. 

"Thea!" says Loki, his voice hard, not from anger, but from concern. He catches her as she collapses, lying her gently on the ground.

"What's happening to her?" asks Natasha, hurrying over to the girl. "Loki, this happened on the plane. What's-"

"She'll be fine." says Loki softly, looking down at Thea, who is trembling violently, her fingers twitching as if holding something invisible. "She'll be fine."

Sure enough, Thea's eyes snap open. Blinking, she sits up slowly. 

"What did you see?" asks Thor, who has also come over, frowning. 

Thea closes her eyes tightly, as if trying to wish her vision away. Then, in a very shaky voice, she whispers, "Lahryi and Kafrandi have gotten inside the cave." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So sorry for the cliff hanger... ;)

Hope you liked it!

Please VOTE and COMMENT, if you do. 

Have a wonderful day, and don't forget to smile. :D

 From previous chapters: Anyone want to guess why Thea doesn't like Sif that much??? :) 

Also... Did anyone catch what happened with Loki's scepter?