Double update cause school starts in a week... :( 

Hope you like it!

~Songs~

I just basically listened to a bunch of Native American/nature/peaceful music for this chapter, so I guess that works...

Edit: lokidottir

Chapter Thirty-One

~Nobody's POV~

Just as the sun begins setting (in the east), the group of fourteen travelers come across a clearing in front of a large copse of trees. Steve, Thor, and Tony deem this an appropriate place to make camp for the night, and, to Thea's surprise, the three of them, plus Max, procure tents from their large rucksacks that they've been carrying over their shoulders; Loki magiks the remainder of the tents from mid-air.

There are four tents, and Steve and Jane begin splitting everyone up. The girls will be taking one, naturally. Jack, Max, and Clint will take another. Archer (who apparently doesn't require a lot of sleep and prefers to hunt at night), Max, Tony, and Bruce will take another. This leaves Thor, Loki, Steve, and Sam to occupy the last tent. 

While the adults erect and sort out the tents, Thea and Jack walk around the edge of camp together. Both are tired, but unlike Leah (who is lying down, not quite sleeping, but still very tired on a blanket in front of the girl's tent), they don't want to keep still. 

"So what do you think of him?" asks Jack, nodding towards Archer, who is standing on the other side of camp, his eyes darting around as he watches the humans. 

"I don't like him," she says shortly, "He looks like Videl. He's a Velah. He drinks blood. I trust him even less than Loki, and that's saying something."

"Not really," says Jack casually, "Pretty much 'cause you do trust Loki."

"No," she says firmly, "I do not."

"Yes," he says, grinning, "You do."

"Jaaaaaaaaack!"
"Oh stop your whining and lying," says Jack, leaving her side and walking jauntily away.

She sticks her tongue out at Jack's back. 

Dinner is roasted sikle fish, with some fruit Jane had brought with her from New York. Archer was right; the fish are tasty when roasted over the low fire in the middle of the circle of tents. While the others eat, he silently slips away into the forest. When he returns an hour later, he looks slightly less pale, his crimson eyes even more red. 

That night, as is tradition, mock fights are held by the fire. Thea, at first, is in much too disgruntled of a mood and refuses to join in the fights. Eventually, however, after constant goading and mockery from Kyle and Jack, she agrees to fight the two of them, beating them both. Archer watches the proceedings with interest, but does not take part; Thea wonders how good of a fighter he is. 

"How about it, kitten?" says a low voice from very close beside her. 

Thea's eyes narrow, but she keeps them focused on Nat and Steve, who are going at it fiercely, "I'm not having anything to do with you, Loki."

"And you're still a stubborn mule, I see." 

And that is how another fight breaks out, even before Natasha and Steve finish theirs. Within moments, however, Thea is pinned to the ground. She struggles, but Loki is too strong, and she is forced to admit defeat. 

This, of course, causes Thea to become even more furious at Loki, and he is no nicer to her. When she is beat by Steve half an hour later, he laughs unkindly, driving her to near tears. She retaliates by aiming a punch at him, but misses, striking the hard tent pole behind him instead. As he smirks at her, she stalks away, plopping down beside Jack and rubbing her bruised hand and refusing to look at Loki or fighting any more. 

Leah, who has stayed up to watch the fighting and laughing about the majority of it, is now starting to lean against Thor's shoulder, her eyes drooping tiredly. 

"All right," says Steve, who has noticed, "It's time to get some sleep. Who's on the first watch? Tony? Loki?"

"And me," supplies Kyle, tearing off the remaining meat from the bone of a sikle. Thea looks disgusted, and he winks at her. 

"What about you, vamp boy?" asks Tony genially, leaning against the tent pole to look at Archer. The flames are dancing around Archer's face, and he looks troubled. Miryen is grazing on some grass about a hundred feet from the clearing. 

"I don't require much sleep," says Archer, "I will stay guard, with anyone else."

"Good," says Tony, clapping Archer on the shoulder. "All right, sleep tight everyone. Don't let the Velah bite."

A wind blows in from the tops of the mountain, making the night chilly, especially as the moon settles over the clearing. Thea, ignoring the cold, gives Leah her extra blanket and curls up in the corner, against the tough fabric of the tent, trying to stop shivering. Leah curls up next to Jane, and within minutes, is asleep. Jane, using the electric lantern Bruce had thought to bring with them, reads Pride and Prejudice for a few moments, while touching Leah's hair and talking in low tones to Natasha, who is also awake. 

Thea does not want to fall asleep. But walking many, many miles over hilly terrain has its toll on her, and within half an hour, her eyes have drooped just like Leah's and she's forced into a troubled sleep. 

*

The room is very dark, made darker by the thundering clouds from outside. Thea is tied up, in a corner of the room, her entire body aching. 

She is screaming. 

So is Leah. 

Videl's chest is bare like his brother's. He is leaning over Thea's little sister. She gives one last terrible shriek and then lies still. 

The bodies of Kyle, Jack, Loki, and Natasha lie next to Leah's, pale, emaciated, bloodless. 

The sight curdles Thea's blood and she wails

When Videl stands up, crimson is dripping from his jaws as he smiles at her, vindictively, mercilessly. 

Then, he makes his way over to her, and struggle as she might, she cannot break free from her bonds.

His breath is greedy and bitter. His eyes are wide and wild. 

He tilts back her neck, even though she struggles violently, but he is strong. Stronger than her. 

The worst is to come. Videl is looking at her, his eyes filled with bloodlust. 

He looks her up and down as if inspecting a toy he plays with. 

Thea's screams are silent, for nobody can hear her. 

Her body twists in agony, in fear, in oblivion. 

Videl's laughter grows louder and louder, closer and more haunting. 

"Do not try to run," he purrs in her ear as she screams. "Do not..."

*

She wakes up with a start, crying her eyes out, shaking like a leaf and breathing as if she has just run a marathon. Surprisingly, she has not screamed, either that, or her screams have not woken anyone. Natasha shifts slightly, but other than that, there is no other movement from the tent. 

Thea sits up, panting. She covers her mouth as she continues to cry, determined not to wake anyone. 

As it is with most nightmares, however, any noise brings her senses into overdrive. The crackling from the fire outside causes her to jump, as does the far-off, exotic cry of some sort of bird. Chills run up and down her arm, and she whirls around, half expecting Videl to be standing there, fangs glaring. 

Trembling, Thea stands up, wrapping her arms around herself as she does so, trying to fight off the bitter cold. Silently as a shadow, she creeps out of the tent, careful to zip it closed behind her.

She can see the shadowy figure of Steve Rogers and Sam at the edge of camp, talking in low voices with someone she assumes is Archer. She closes her eyes briefly, determined to get all vision of any Velah out of her mind. Thor is sitting by the fire, his back to her, bending low over what appears to be a bit of armor and steel. 

Thea, still shaking with fear and still breathing hard, walks over to the tent farthest from the fire. Carefully, she opens the flaps and creeps inside. 

There is only one shape in the tent, as all the others are on guard. Loki is spread out, his back to her, in a corner, a blanket thrown half on, half off him. Hesitantly, Thea inches forward, then gets down on her hands and knees a few feet from him. His dagger and sword are lying, shining in the darkness, a few feet from him, reachable at arm-length.

Reaching forward, her hand shaking, Thea touches his shoulder, then snatches it back as he shifts, rolling around on his side. 

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice is thick with sleep.

She doesn't say anything, but as he squints up at her, he perceives her tear-streaked face, wide eyes, and rapid, petrified breathing. 

"Ah," he grunts, blinking quickly so as to wake up, then sits up on his arm, "What was it this time?"

Thea begins to say something, but then stops, her shoulders shaking from her silent tears. She bites her lip.

"Was it that boy?"

"Y-y-yes...but it...it w-w-was Vi-Videl." 

Her lip trembles and she bows her head, crying, and Loki sighs, "Oh, come here, kitten," he reaches up and gently pushes her down onto the ground next to him. "Of course, you do realize I am still aggravated with you, correct?" 

She doesn't answer, but looks up at him with her big green eyes, tears trickling from their edges. Then, she nods quickly. 

"Hm," he says, then gazes down at her gently as she begins to sob quietly against his chest. Loki tilts his head and begins to stroke her hair, glancing around the tent as he does so, as if daring something to hurt her any more. "All right, Thea, hush now, stop crying." 

She eventually does, rubbing her eyes with her fists the way a much smaller child would. 

"Go to sleep," he says softly, "Nothing will harm you here."

"I...c-c-can't," she chokes. 

"Yes," he says, using his thumb to wipe a few of her tears, "You can. Try." 

She shakes her head rapidly, and Loki knows that she is now too terrified of sleep to venture there voluntarily. 

Letting out a deep breath, he says, "Just try, kitten. For me. Try for me." 

She makes a guttural sound in her throat, a sound of clear denial. Her teeth are chattering. 

Looking down at the girl, Loki takes a deep breath. Still stroking her hair, he begins to speak in a hushed voice, husky with sleep, melodic and quiet. It's a song. "The sky is dark and the hills are white...as the storm-king speeds from the north to-night; and this is the song the storm-king sings, as over the world his cloak he flings:"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;" He rustles his wings and gruffly sings:"Sleep, little one, sleep."

At his words, Thea begins to relax, but her shoulders are still shaking, perhaps from the cold, perhaps from fear, and her eyes are still open, but Loki keeps murmuring, "On yonder mountain-side a vine clings at the foot of a mother pine; the tree bends over the trembling thing."

"I...don't want to go to sleep," she mutters, her body trembling. 

He chuckles, then reaches back and brings the blanket over his body onto her own skinny frame. When he enfolds the blanket around her, she immediately curls up tighter, her breathing finally beginning to level. Loki is still murmuring. "And only the vine can hear her sing: "Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep."

Loki reaches down and lightly touches her eyelids. After putting up a good fight, Thea's eyes finally tremble and flutter shut, nestling her head closer to Loki's chest. He smiles and gingerly, so as not to shift her too much, he too lies back on the ground, on his side, wrapping his right arm around Thea. 

"Why...aren't you cold?" she asks, her voice slurred from fatigue. 

"Hm?" he asks, rising his head, his green eyes swiveling over to her. 

"You're...a frost giant...but you're not cold..." she pokes his hand, "You're warm."

"Well," says Loki, "Just because I am technically a frost giant doesn't automatically mean my body temperature is precisely like one."

"You're...weird..." she breathes. 

He laughs inwardly, "Not quite as weird as you, Thea." 

"Mmmhmm," she says defensively. 

"Did I not tell you to go to sleep?" he teases quietly. 

"I said...I'm not..." she says fuzzily. 

He snorts, rolling his eyes and then resting his head back down on his other, outstretched arm, "Whatever you say."

"Exactly."

He shakes his head in amusement, "All right, Thea, stop talking and go to sleep." 

"Uh...uh." 

He doesn't answer. Thea scoots closer to him, and he allows her to stay like that as her body relaxes. Loki reaches down and caresses her cheek gently with his fingers, then leans and kisses her forehead softly, "Good night, Thea." 

She doesn't reply, because she is already asleep, her shoulders rising and falling, her face peaceful. Loki closes his eyes, the cold not affecting him whatsoever. 

*

Two hours later, Steve enters the tent, looking quite anxious. "Loki," he says loudly, "Wake up, Thea's go-." 

He stops short as he sees Thea curled up next to Loki. Both of them shift and open their eyes at the voice; Thea looks frightened before she perceives that it is only Steve. 

"What is it?" asks Loki, who looks cranky now as he sits up and squeezes Thea's shoulder, urging her to go back to sleep.

Steve is shaking his head, his arms crossed in amusement, "Would you look at that," he says quietly to Thor, who has joined him at the tent's entrance. "And I thought the two of you were mad at each other still." 

Loki rolls his eyes and then leans back down, closing his eyes. "We still are." 

Thor chuckles, his voice loud, "I see that. Well, brother, I apologize, but when Natasha woke for her shift, she realized Thea was gone and-"

"Yes, yes, very well," snaps a very tired Loki as Thea shifts again, "Well evidently, she's here, and it took me enough trouble to get her to go to sleep, so I would appreciate it," he pushes Thea, who has begun to sat up curiously, down back on the ground, "If you would shut up." 

"We got your point," says Steve, walking over to the other side of the corner. Letting out a weary breath, he lies down and pulls a blanket over himself, "'Night, everyone."

A few more minutes, and then Sam walks inside the tent and collapses, exhausted a few feet from Steve. At this point, Thea has drifted back to sleep, her breaths coming out in little sighs, and for this, Loki is grateful. 

Thor, who has stayed in the tent only to re-supply his water flask, glances back at his brother, and at Thea. The child is curled up next to him, her forehead buried in his neck, his blanket wrapped around her tightly. Loki is sprawled out, long and lean, beside her. His black hair, longer than ususal, is mussed and tangled from sleep. On top of Thea's blanket, his arm is lazily wrapped around her tiny body, like a hawk sheltering its young, like a wing. 

Thor, who is not tired, but will be soon, smiles and then turns, exiting the tent, closing the flap behind him quietly. 

The king may sing in his bitter flight,
The pine may croon to the vine to-night,
But the little snowflake at my breast
Liketh the song I sing the best, ---
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;
Weary thou art, anext my heart;
Sleep, little one, sleep...

What shall you fear when I am here?

Sleep, little one, sleep.

Loved writing this chapter!

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~Three Tasks Fact~

The lullaby Loki sings to Thea is actually a Norse lullaby by Eugene Field, written in the 17th century.