I Could Have Done It

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An alternate ending to the Bifrost scene of Thor. What if Loki had not fallen into the abyss? What if he couldn't? What if the order they hung from the Bifrost was not Thor then Loki, but instead Loki then Thor? What if?
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"If you destroy the Bifrost, you'll never see her again!" Loki shouted, voice loud over the crashing of the rainbow bridge. What was Thor thinking? Did he really care about the Jotuns that much? idiot. Loki screamed some more words at him, but Thor simply turned to look at his brother before raising Mjolnir above his head. Loki jumped to his feet, but too late.
"Forgive me, Jane!" roared Thor as he brought his hammer down, delivering the final blow to the bridge. Loki leapt forwards but the force of the explosion flung him off randomly, flailing, looking for something to grab onto, anything to stop tumbling into space.
Gungnir. Loki's hand wrapped around the King's sceptre. Thor was dangling on the other end and for a moment they were falling down, down into the abyss; together. Then abruptly, a halt. A hand gripped Loki's ankle firmly. Odin. The old fool. Come to save Thor, instead got the bastard.
Thor pulled his other hand up to the sceptre, holding on with all his strength. Loki struggled to keep ahold, his palms clammy and Thor alomst unreasonably heavy. Loki look to Thor. He seemed terrified, the possibility of the certain death of the abyss not an appealing idea to him. Loki the twisted his neck to get a view of Odin. The old man's poker face was as bad as ever, worry and anger and hate visible for all to see. A sudden wave of desperation overtook Loki.
"I could have done it, father! For you! For all of us!" With the last words, he glanced back to Thor, almost as an appeal. Thor simply stared back. Odin's face was stony. He seemed to be thinking, thinking about Hel knew what. Actually Loki knew exactly what: what a terrible idea rescuing a runty Jotun babe had been.
"No, Loki." he said, finally, coldly.
How could he? Odin was cruel. Did he not see what Loki had tried to do for him? Did he not see how hard he had tried to prove his worth? To show he was just as damn good as Thor. Or did Odin just not care?
He could let go now. He could worm himself free and know that Odin would not mourn for him but for his golden son. He considered shaking his foot free and condemning himself to death. He deserved it. He was a monster, and monsters didn't get a chance. Monsters didn't get anything but hate. Even when they tried so hard, even when they tried to commit mass genocide to please their adopted fathers, bastard sons got nothing. Nothing.
And then Thor.
His brother. But not. Not by blood. By mind? Weren't they? Loki hesitated as he connected with Thor's eyes. They welled with emotion; raw. real. Was it for him? Or was it simply fear? Loki rather suspected it was the latter, but still. Loki's hesitation was a moment long enough to doubt. He could kill himself, that was the easy part. But he could not kill Thor. He could not kill his brother.
And suddenly they lay atop the fragmented remains of the Bifrost. Loki wanted to wail. He did not want to be there. Curse Thor. Curse him to Helheim. Hel was surely where Loki's soul was bound, after all. Odin was fussing over his precious son. No time for his little adopted monster.
Loki ran straight into his mother's arms.
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