~Asgard, 4 (Earth) Days ago~

Staring at the dark churning waters of Silver Lake, Frigga chewed her bottom lip furiously.  How in the nine Sigyn had managed to drag Jane to the lakebottom without killing the little human was beyond her.  As far as Frigga knew, there was no breathing device in Asgard that would cater to human lungs under water for that long, much less keep the pressure at that depth from crushing the poor thing.  However, she was keenly aware that the young Vanir sorceress, despite her devastating grief, had been developing her powers exponentially since Loki’s passing, and Frigga believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sigyn had used those powers to return Jane safely home, even if she didn’t know precisely how.

She pulled the hood of her cerulean cloak over her cheek, shielding her face from the teeth chattering wind and stinging rain as she trudged through the wet sand toward Sinir who was sitting under the protective cover of a huge ash tree near the eastern shore.  Wary deep brown eyes watched his once master’s mother as she approached him. With a soft snort, he nodded at the sight of her familiar, though long unseen, warm smile.

“Good Sinir,” she greeted him, gently dropping to her knees next to him, petting his shining black mane with soothing strokes.  She nodded to the water. “Are you waiting for Sigyn, as well?” The dark stallion only stared at her, looking as though he’d been sworn to secrecy.  She smiled sadly, sniffing back the tears that were building the longer she sat with Loki’s (now Sigyn’s) horse.  She hadn’t had any real contact with this beautiful creature in an age…

“Go go go go go go!” Frigga shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to carry the sound further across the temporary race track on the outskirts of the training arena for the annual Royal Equine Races.  It was the final race, the championship, and Asgardians of every color, every age, every profession, every social status were in attendance. Nothing brought their people together quite like the Races, an affair more beloved than a coronation even.

Bouncing on his feet next to her, Loki, smiling more brightly than all the stars combined, clapped his hands before thrusting his fist in the air with a shout of “SINIR!!!” as his shining with sweat stallion, hooves thundering, crossed the finish line first, by a nose.

The entire arena erupted into raucous cheers, the people already on their feet, applauding Loki’s champion as the last of the eighteen horses behind Sinir finished within seconds of his win.  Turning to her son, Frigga threw her arms around him in a tight hug as he laughed, perhaps in a bit of shock since it was the first year Sinir had even been eligible to compete.

“Sin won!  He won! I can’t believe it!  He did it! By the Norns, Sin did it!” Loki shouted, beaming with pride as Asgardians all around him clapped him on the back and hugged him.

Frigga laughed, clasping arms and nodding at the citizens around her, happier than she had thought possible for her son.  Loki needed this. He DESERVED this.  He’d been training Sinir without end for years, turning the young stallion into a full blown race master.  Even Odin’s eight-legged steed hadn’t bested him!

A highly respected working class merchant from the outer city market called out over the heads of three rows of still cheering (and completely drunk) Æsir. “I knew ‘e could do it, Prince Loki!  Me and m’wife bet on ‘im!”

“Us too!”

“Well done, Your Highness!”

The crowd grew louder, chanting “Sin-ir!  Sin-ir! Sin-ir!” as Loki, the green cape attached to his shoulders flying up on the breeze behind him, descended the steps toward the champion’s podium where his horse was lapping up a substantial amount of well earned water.  A gorgeous garland of white and blue muna lilies were laid over his back by the royal race’s coordinator and owner.

Tears in her eyes, Frigga smiled broadly, clapping as Sinir quickly trotted to Loki once he was in the horse’s eyeline.  It was in that moment, as Loki’s open arms came around the stallion’s lengthy, perfectly muscled neck, that something she’d never imagined she would hear happened.  The crowd was now chanting “LOKI! LOKI! LOKI!”   Even Thor, whose horse had placed third had run to his brother and hugged him, encouraging the chanting of his brother’s name with his fist in the air.  Loki eyed him sideways with a smirk and turned to the crowd, bowing with a dramatic flare. Rising once more to his full height, the applause and cheering grew louder.

Knowing Loki rarely received this type of enthusiastic recognition for his hard work, Frigga whispered his name under her breath, the bittersweet occasion causing her heart to both swell with pride and ache simultaneously.  A week from now, the citizens would have all but forgotten this moment…

The memory faded away, and Frigga ran a hand down her face, now wet with tears.  The grief was still painfully deep in her bones every time Loki visited her thoughts.  Dropping her forehead to Sinir’s muzzle, she sighed heavily. She was relieved that he’d survived the battle, to know he wasn’t alone, and that Sigyn cared for him deeply.

“It’s alright,” she said, rubbing his shoulder. “I won’t tell anyone where Sigyn went.” Sinir nodded in response.

“Mother?”

Sinir stood in an instant, pounding his front hooves into the sand before backing away from the intruder.  Frigga hadn’t heard anyone approaching, thus the gruff voice startled her, and catching her breath, holding her chest, she turned to see Thor, a look of deep confusion pulling at his features.  He offered a small smile, half-hearted at best, and walked to her, his hand outstretched. Blowing out a nervous breath, she allowed him to help her to her feet.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, frowning as he gestured to their surroundings. “At this hour?  In this weather?”

“About that,” she glared up at him from under her hood, “if you could make the rain stop, I’d appreciate it.”

He snorted, looking away to hide the roll of his eyes. “Yes, I’ll get right on that.”

With a regretful sigh, she looked down at her positively soaked and sand covered feet. “Forgive me, dearest.  That was unkind of me.  I know you want the storms to end as badly as I do.”

“You and everyone else,” he returned his eyes to her, staring at the hood of her cloak as she continued to watch the ground. “Me most of all.”

Raising her head to meet his eyes, her face fell. “This has been hard on all of us.”

“Why are you out here?” Thor pressed, choosing to drop the subject of mutual grief.  He had no desire to discuss Loki.

Averting her gaze, she cleared her throat, pulling her cloak tighter around her body. “I’m waiting for Sigyn.”

Raising an eyebrow, he pursed his lips. “Waiting for Sigyn,” he repeated.

“Yes,” she answered plainly, as though that somehow cleared things up for him.

Jaw clenched, he swiped at the wet strands of hair sticking to his cheeks. “Would you please further explain what is going on here?” He didn’t appreciate curt one word answers.  He was too tired, too cold, too on edge already. “Waiting for Sigyn to what?” He looked around, seeing nothing but endless lake and beach and vegetation.  Where was Loki’s precious paramour anyhow?

Frigga licked her lips, hesitant to elaborate.  By taking Jane to Midgard through an undisclosed portal, Sigyn had broken Asgardian law.  Space travel with anything other than the Bifrost was illegal.  It was, in Frigga’s mind, an entirely unfair and unjust law, in that it was unspoken.  The public had never been informed of that policy set forth by Odin some three hundred years ago—not that he’d shared the location of the portals with her.  His intentions had not been malicious, wanting only to protect Asgard from foreigners with less than benevolent intentions, but she’d never agreed with the premise that simple knowledge of portals (or use of them) would cause a sudden influx of violent criminal non-citizens in their realm.  As far as she was concerned, Odin was irrationally afraid of foreigners, of others, of non-Asgardians, and that fear had been the driving force behind many of his laws.  

This law in particular was immoral, though.  How could anyone be justly accused of willingly committing a crime if that person didn’t know it was a crime in the first place?  It baffled her, and she hated that her own voice of reason was drowned out by the louder voice of an all-powerful king.  Nonetheless, that was the law, and now the top enforcer of the law was Thor.  She feared telling him what Sigyn had done.  He’d always held Odin on a pedestal, looking up to his father as the greatest king since the beginning of time.  If Odin had set such a policy in place, where the punishment was no less than five years in the dungeons, would Thor follow it?  He didn’t know that law existed.  Maybe it was best it stay that way.

Looking at him now, she bit her lip, her mental war with herself bringing angry tears to her eyes.  This was her son.  He was a good man.  He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t cruel.  He also wasn’t remotely afraid of foreigners.  She was giving him a pathetic amount of credit for the character he’d shown throughout his life, character that she’d done her best to encourage.  Compassion, mercy, goodnessーall of which contributed to strong leadership.  The last three months of Thor’s lackluster behavior did not wipe out a lifetime of goodness.  Thor deserved better. He deserved her trust. She blew out a nervous breath.

“I’m not waiting for her to do something.  I’m waiting for her to return,” she started, eyeing him carefully as his aqua eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “She has taken Jane back to Midgard through a portal she read about in Loki’s journals.”

Thor’s jaw dropped. “What?  What portal?” He surveyed his surroundings again, completely bewildered by his mother’s words. “Where?”

“Keep your voice down, Thor, darling,” she hushed him, checking behind them for any prying eyes. “It’s at the bottom of the lake.”

He scoffed, beyond pissed that he’d been unaware of this door to another realm.  Of course Loki knew.   Of course he did.  He rolled his eyes and scowled.  Pinching the bridge of his nose because the insufferable chronic three month tension headache had instantly worsened, he leaned closer to his mother, lowering his voice like a good boy.

“When did she leave?  I had no idea that Jane was even missing!” he whispered heatedly.

“A few hours ago, at most,” she replied with a sigh. “The wicks in Loki’s chambers were still smoking when I went looking for her.”

“Looking for her,” Thor snapped, clenching his jaw. “Looking for Sigyn.  I suppose that’s been your number one priority of the last three months.  Looking for Sigyn.  Following Sigyn. Talking to Sigyn.  Sigyn, Sigyn, Sigyn.”

Taken aback by his tone, Frigga scoffed, squaring her shoulders. “And what, pray tell, is so terrible about that?” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to answer, cutting him off, her voice shaking as defensiveness swelled within her chest. “Sigyn is like a daughter to me.”

“And I am your actual son!” he gasped, incredulous, choking on the last word.  Sniffing, he swiped under his nose.  This ugly confrontation had been bound to happen sooner or later.  Oh that it hadn’t waited until they were hunched over in the middle of a torrential downpour, a freezing one at that.  Lightning lit up the sky, a deafening crack of thunder shaking the ground beneath them.

Shivering from anxiety more than the cold, Frigga opened and closed her mouth, at a loss for words.  How was she supposed to respond to that?  She bit her cheeks, swallowing back the indefensible words “well then act like you are!” that threatened to spill from her lips.  Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, focusing on the undying love she had felt for him from the moment she’d known she was pregnant with him.

“Yes, you are my son, Thor,” she said, voice soft but strong.

His face screwed up, lips trembling as he struggled to get his words out. “Then why do you ignore me?  You prefer your would-be-daughter over your surviving son.”

Jaw dropping, Frigga looked up at the sky helplessly and threw up her hands. “I’ve been ignoring you?  I quite felt it was the other way around!  Thor,” she slammed her eyes shut as bright lightning blinded her momentarily, “you ordered me to take over all of your responsibilities at court.  All of them!  I barely have a second to spare, to catch my breath, to eat!”

“Enough seconds for your darling Sigyn-”

“Meanwhile, you spend every second of the whole damn day on the bridge,” she spoke over him, thrusting her first finger against his chest, and he ran his hands down his face, holding them over his eyes, exasperated as she continued, “micro-managing the reconstruction workers to the point of madness, and then you return to your chambers, presumably to lick your wounds in the guise of romancing Sif!”

“That is not-”

“That’s not what?  Not accurate?  Not fair?  Not fair to whom?  You?  Or me?  The one you’ve dropped every single responsibility upon!  I am exhausted, Thor.  You are avoiding everyone.  Not just me.  And I was giving you space.  Space and time.  Space and time that I thought you needed in order to work things out in your head.  In your heart.”

She stopped abruptly, needing to catch her breath after that word vomit that had just exploded from her mouth, words that had been unsaid for too long.  She looked at him through teary eyes as his shoulders shook, his painful sobs, hidden behind his hands breaking her already broken heart into even smaller pieces.  Behind her, Sinir snorted loudly, and she turned around to see his dark brown eyes staring pointedly at her.  That look spoke volumes.  The horse’s heart was breaking further, too—For Thor.  She rubbed her eyes furiously, and chest heaving, she threw her arms around Thor’s neck, pulling him down against her as he continued to cry silently.  

“I’m sorry,” he said, the words muffled into her hair as his arms engulfed her.

“No, I’m the one who should apologize, dearest,” she pulled back to look directly at him.  She needed to make this clear. He needed to hear this. “Despite everything I just said, no matter how harsh my tone, never doubt that I love you, and there is nothing you can do to change that.”

He swiped his thumbs under his eyes, shaking his head. “You loved Loki more.”

Horrified by his admission, she had to keep from raising her voice to a pitch only wolves would hear. “That is so unbelievably untrue.”

He continued shaking his head, as though determined to stand his ground that she’d loved his brother more. “You spent more time with him.  You always did.  From the time I can remember at all.”

She scoffed. “That doesn’t mean I loved him more than you!  Just because I spent more time with him?  That doesn’t-”

“It does!  That’s exactly what it means!” he cut her off sharply, brow furrowed angrily. “If I were to say, for instance, that I love sparring just as much as I love reading, but then I spend all my time in the arena and never open a book, does it not then follow that I must love sparring at least a bit more?”

Looking away, she crossed her arms. “You are comparing the love I have for my children with hobbies?  Apples and oranges at their finest!” Eyes pinched, she rubbed her temples.

He rolled his eyes. “The logic is sound.”

“You aren’t a mother, therefore you don’t know that.  You cannot know that.  Listen to me, Thor,” she blew out a hot breath and returned her eyes to his, “I will give you that I did spend more time with him, but,” she continued despite his loud huff, “it was because I felt a deep need to protect him and care for him in ways that I saw Odin failing at.”

That stopped the retort that had been on the tip of his tongue, the suggestion that his father had neglected Loki.  Letting out a long breath, Thor blinked several times.  Yes, Odin had always been harsh on his brother, but Loki had been a bit of a devil, hadn’t he?  Or was it the other way around?  Had his little brother’s defiance been in response to an uncaring father?  Thor didn’t know how to process this.

Frigga dropped her eyes, fidgeting with her hands. “Loki was different,” she began, almost wistfully. “I adored him from the day Odin brought him to me.  This precious little creature, this baby boy, who smiled up at me as soon as he was in my armsーhe was mine.  Every bit as much as you were.”

Thor smiled sadly, thinking of Loki as a baby.  He remembered him well.  He remembered seeing Loki for the first time.  Thor had thought he was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.  And Loki did smile.  Quite a lot.  Thor couldn’t even remember him crying at all.  He remembered being so impatient for Loki to grow old enough to play with him.  

Gods, I miss that mischievous brat—He blinked back tears, stomach twisting with grief as his mother continued.

“As much as I loved and accepted him, I feared that our citizens would sense he was different somehow, and I felt a deep desperate need to make sure he knew that he was loved and cherished, at least by me.  And I hoped that love would strengthen him so that he could withstand the judgment and prejudice that was sure to come, or at least, I assumed would come.” She reached for Thor’s hand. “You were doted on by your father in ways you were never aware of, Thor.  Adored and praised for the smallest accomplishments.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you were praised for those things.  It’s just, he didn’t do that for Loki.  And by the Norns did it hurt your brother to not have that praise.  I saw how it hurt him.  You didn’t see it, Thor.  So I gave Loki what he neededーwhat I didn’t see you needing.”

Thor snorted, a poor attempt at humor. “Tricks?”

“Time,” she corrected, eyes narrowed.

Nodding, he sighed. “Fair enough.”

She reached up to grasp his shoulder, rubbing gently. “You were always so strong.  Everyone loved you.  And so good at heart, though perhaps a bit of humility would have done you well.” She winked at his dark chuckle.

“No one thinks of me as good anymore,” he sighed heavily, wishing desperately that he could turn back time.

“I do.”

“You have to say that because you are my mother,” he pointed out.

“That’s not true, and you know it,” she chided him, not harshly. “What is true, is that the people will see you as a good man, a good leader, but you must first show your face at court, dearest.  You must show them that you can be king, that you can and will rule with a just but gracious hand.  That you are not perfect, and that you made a terrible decision in the heat of the moment, but that you are capable of learning from it.  Humility is not a weakness, Thor.  It is a strength, and it is necessary.  Delegate the bridge duties to the workers, and come back to the throne.  I believe in you.  For heaven’s sake, Thor,” she rolled her eyes, “if the god of mischief could do it, then you certainly can.”

He stopped himself from complaining “Yes, but Loki was so much smarter than me! ” because nothing about that sounded kingly.  Truthfully, it wasn’t a fear of not measuring up to the standard Loki had set so much as it was just not wanting to rule without him by his side.  Thor could do it.  He just didn’t want to.  But he had no choice, and it was high time that he accepted that reality and adjusted his plans accordingly, so letting his eyelids slide shut, he lifted his face to the sky, letting the cold rain hit his face.  It stung, but it somehow soothed him, waking him from a bad dream.  Waking him from a three month nightmare of aching muscles and bones, of painful guilt, of desperate loneliness and self-inflicted isolation.  Of cowardice. 

Breathing in a freezing breath of air that burned his nose and throat, he shivered and opened his eyes.  His mother was still rubbing his shoulder, her touch soothing, and he felt the tension in his shoulders and neck almost magically fade away.  And in that moment, something incredible happened—The rain stopped.  Looking up, he watched in amazement as the dark storm clouds finally broke, starlight pouring through them.  The shift in the air was palpable.  What had been thick, heavy, oppressive atmosphere became lighter, fresher, cleaner.  Rolling his eyes, he dropped his head, and with a laugh, he put his hands on his hips.

“To think that all it would’ve taken to stop the damn storms was just to talk to you,” he sighed and met his mother’s eyes, returning the smirk she gave him that was so reminiscent of Loki it actually hurt. “Gods dammit,” he said under his breath.

“Gods dammit indeed,” she repeated, surprising him with her loose tongue.

He laughed, so relieved that the rain had stopped, so ready to prove himself to be a good king, so ready to be worthy to lift Mjölnir once more, that he was now bouncing on his feet.  Or maybe he was just cold.  The rain had stopped, but the cold was definitely alive and well.

“So, about Sigyn,” he whispered, suddenly remembering the portal.

“You must not tell anyone she left.” Frigga’s voice dropped an octave.

Thor frowned. “Why not?  Not that I intended to, but still….” he trailed off at the sight of his mother wringing her hands.

“I’ll explain when I’m not so tired and cold.  Why don’t you go back?  You need your rest because you are going to be in that throne room tomorrow.  Right?” Her eyebrows raised in question.

“Absolutely, I will,” he said, nodding once. “I’ll leave you to it then.” He turned to walk back to his horse that was now approaching him from the forest, but stopped short of climbing onto him. “You’ll be alright out here?”

Frigga smirked. “Now that the rain has stopped, yes.”

He rolled his eyes but laughed, and once he was situated on the saddle, he turned his horse and sped off back to the palace.

---

~44th floor, Stark Tower Two~

Day 4 on Earth, 10 pm.

Running shaky hands through his hair, Two paced up and down the hall of the could-be-straight-out-of-Asgard condo he’d shared with Sigyn over the last day.  One hour—He had only one miserable hour left before the ‘briefing’ with The Other.  Was it his own anxiety or Loki’s that was making a mess of his stomach?  Not that it mattered who was more responsible for the nausea.  All that mattered was that it was so unbearable, he’d actually thrown up all that rice he’d eaten at lunch.  Of all his experiences in this body, that was the worst by far.  He pulled a hand down his face.  No doubt that worst bodily function would be outdone by a far greater pain in an hour.  He absolutely did not want to do this, but he had no choice.

Head down and visibly shaking, he chewed his lip as he moved from the hall to the common area.  His copied green eyes slid from the floor up to Sigyn, seated at the kitchen island, scribbling furiously in a journal that Jane had given her, her tongue poking out every so often to lick her lips.  What she was writing about mattered not to him, but he needed a distraction, and asking what the Hel was so significant it warranted all her attention was the best option at the moment.

He cleared his throat. “What are you writing?”

Why are you looking at that rather than me?—That was the real question, the more petulant question, the one he wouldn’t ask aloud, even though he was the one with tears in his eyes, anxiety turning into an absolute panic with each tick of that huge clock down the hall, and he damn well deserved her full attention.  Not some insipid book.  “I’m brainstorming” was her positively vague and infuriating answer.  He rolled his eyes.  That wasn’t an answer, at least not a satisfying one.  Was that all she was going to give him?

“Brainstorming what to tell Asgard when their beloved king rises from the dead,” she added, sensing his displeasure.  She looked at him from under her brow through dark eyelashes, one eyebrow raised. “You can read minds, yes?”

Sighing heavily, he turned away and rubbed his eyes. “I’m exhausted, Sig.  Mind reading requires energy.”

Mouth forming an ‘o’, she closed the journal and set her pencil down.  Two sounded so very Loki in that moment, and it cut deep, reminding her that his pain was Loki’s pain, subdued or not.  Brow furrowed, she watched his back, feeling sick.  She had been so absorbed in the reality of being in Asgard in only a few hours that she’d all but forgotten the  tracking spell, the horror that Two still had to suffer through.

Her unpleasant symptoms had improved after her tift with Loki, and subsequent reconciliation, over a hypothetical pregnancy.  Through the bond, he’d given her the energy she needed to put something of a bounce back in her step during the tesseract shield test.  Certainly the success of the test gave her mood a boost as well.  Once they’d finished their midday meal, she and Two had excused themselves to ‘pack’ for the journey.  It had been a rather lame excuse for leaving the gathering of unlikely friends, but both she and Two had been too antsy to sit around chattering about human things that would certainly have no bearing whatsoever on a pair of immortals within mere hours.  Not only that, but it seemed highly unwise to allow herself to become in any way attached to these people that she was leaving, presumably for the rest of their very short lives.

So they’d returned to their floor around half past noon, and Sigyn had set to divvying up her Earth clothes into two piles.  One pile for Pepper and Jane to go through since it seemed a waste to simply toss the garments in the garbage, and one much smaller pile of things Sigyn wanted to keep.  The denim shorts with horseshoe pockets.  The soft grey cashmere sweater with a stallion silhouette across the back.  Apparently she liked horsesーwho knew?  And, naturally, the black stilettos for Loki’s sake.  She had zero use for them outside of their bedroom, but he’d loved them that much.  Not that she needed to pack them, since he could just conjure some for her, but in a shocking twist of events, she found herself wanting a piece of Midgard.  After all, it wasn’t in Asgard that she’d been reunited with the supposedly dead love of her life.

At eight o’clock, Tony had called Loki’s phone, and she’d answered it for Two, since he’d been passed out on the tile in front of the toilet.  Not wanting to leave Two alone, she’d refused the invitation for hanging out (whatever that meant) at a bar downstairs with Tony and Steve and Natasha.  Apparently ‘hanging out’ had been code for ‘briefing Sigyn on the return to Asgard ’, so Tony had handed his phone to Steve and the good captain had given her a quick rundown of the mission ordered by Director Fury.  Operation Fire and Ice was the mission name.  She understood fire, since she’d demonstrated on more than one occasion that was her specialty, but how would they know to associate Loki with ice?….

“We’ll take off at zero one hundred hours,” Steve said through the phone, adding quickly, “sorry, that’s one a.m.”  

He sighed and apologized for not knowing how Asgardians measured time at all.  Sigyn practically fell all over herself with reassuring him that apologies weren’t necessary.  Something about Steve Rogers made her want to be sickeningly nice to him.  The man was just so honest and respectful and good-hearted.  

“Romanoff is the creme de la creme of undercover operatives, so Fury assigned her to take the tesseract to Catalina at twenty-two hundred hours,” Steve continued, “and transfer it to you and Loki once we arrive on the island.  I’ll be your transportation, in a stealth quinjet.”

“Will not the island be swarming with SHIELD agents?” she asked, biting her top lip anxiously. “The place was practically obliterated after the tesseract imploded the compound.”

“No, it’s fine.  Agent Coulson’s team and….” Steve trailed off with a heavy sigh, and Sigyn could practically HEAR the man rolling his eyes over the phone when he continued, “Agent 13 have been working tirelessly over the past four days to clear the area of all evidence.  Councilwoman Hawley arranged for a press release about the quote unfortunate gas leak, too.  I assure you, the place is clear.”

“Ah, so that’s why Tony has been adamant that Loki and I not leave the tower during our stay,” she groaned. “Two aliens would have ruined the gas leak cover.”

Steve chuckled. “To be fair, no one would assume you guys were aliens.  Actors or models, maybe, but not aliens.  And yeah, journalists have been salivating like hungry dogs at every exit from the tower to get a comment from Tony about the explosion….”

“I’m terrified.” Two’s voice, even though it was barely more than a whisper, startled her out of her thoughts.

Hand flying to her chest, she blew out a shaky breath and pushed off the island, walking to the other side of the living room where he was facing the western window.  She came up behind him and snaked her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek into his back.  His breath was unsteady, his heartbeat rapid, and she felt it against her face.  Could she push any sense of assurance, any relief at all, through the bond somehow?  It had to go through Loki and then into Two, right?  She didn’t know how to use it, or if it was even possible, but she focused nonetheless on the bond as she would have if this man was Loki.  His dark chuckle bemused her.

“Darling,” he said, his voice deep and thick with emotion. “It doesn’t work quite like that, but I appreciate the effort.” He turned in her hold and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tight against his chest.

“I want to help, but I don’t know how,” she said, her words muffled against his shirt.

He sighed and pulled back enough to give her some air. “Just…. just be with me.  Stay here.  You can brainstorm later.” With watery eyes, his hands moved to her face, pulling her head up to look at him. “Please?”

Oh for Frigga’s sake, puppies would have been less effective at pulling her heartstrings.

Dropping her eyes, because looking into his was destroying her, she smiled sadly and reached up to grip his wrists. “Of course I will.”

With Two’s strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and hers around his waist, she stayed there staring out the western window at a neon city lighting up the night sky, drowning out the starlight for the next forty minutes.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Never before had the grandfather clock sounded so ominous, and it had her lips quivering as he trembled in her hold.  Oh that she could do this for him.  Torturous as the soon to come pain would be, she would take it onto herself in a heartbeat if it spared him from it.  Her gaze moved from the night sky to his eyes, green as ever.  They wouldn’t be for much longer.  Were Loki’s eyes green now?  They had been blue green when she’d seen him earlier during their argument.  By now they were probably putting emeralds to shame.  

Two met her eyes with his own and let out a heavy breath, his chest deflating almost violently.  “Time to go,” he whispered, voice shaking.

She turned her head to eye the clock behind her.  10:59.

Absolutely hating this moment, her heart sank in her chest, and biting her lip, she turned back to him. “I’m so so sorry.”

Pushing up onto her toes, she gave him one last kiss, his lips cold against hers. “I do what I must,” he choked on the last word and gently pushed her back by the shoulders, flashing her a fake as Hel smile.  

As she backed away from him, down the hall and into the shadows, she couldn’t hold back her cries any longer and covered her mouth to stifle the sound.  Gods dammit, where was Loki?  She looked around for the sphere, knowing it was futile.  Was he there, watching on as Two focused on the window?  As the clock woefully chimed the twenty-third hour of the day?  Shaking her head, she covered her ears.  That dreadful clock had never been so terrifying, alerting her to the horror that was about to take place in front of her.  But she couldn’t look away, grey green eyes focusing intently on Two who stood taller suddenly, chin raised in a show of confidence that she knew he absolutely did not feel, mimicking his master with perfect skill.

Tears burning her too wide eyes, she watched and waited as anxiety clawed at her insides.  Two said nothing, simply standing there still as a statue, as though he wasn’t capable of movement.  Was The Other a no show?  Oh gods, did the unnamed Big Bad know this man standing before him wasn’t Loki?  Her panic was growing to a fever pitch the longer Two stood there silent as the grave.

He IS there, Sig.

On edge as she was, barely clinging to her sanity, she was thankful her hands were already clamped over her mouth upon hearing Loki’s voice in her head, otherwise she might have screamed in shock.  Turning on her heel, she took silent steps to the bedroom behind her, following the bond that was now pulling her away from Two.  She should have guessed he was on this floor since the bond was working at all.  There in the dark, shielded from the city lights outside by black out drapes, she could just make out two hazy yet stunning jade orbs staring intently at her.

Loki ーrelief washed over her.  She wasn’t alone.  She didn’t have to witness this torture by herself.  Thank the Norns.

His pale face, heavily shadowed by his loose black hair, came into better view as her eyes adjusted.  Blurred behind the sphere, just barely visible, she saw him nod slowly.

Come ーhe held out his hand, two long fingers beckoning her closer.

She wanted to rush, to crash into him, but silence was imperative, so she forced steady slow steps instead.  Crossing into the sphere, he was clear as day, fair as freshly fallen Asgard snow drenched in moonlight, and her fear was replaced by awe.  His eyes held her in an almost trance-like state.  Having become so accustomed to the blue of the last few days, save for Two’s green during the last twenty four hours, seeing Loki with his natural hue right now was almost like seeing them for the first time.

“It’s working,” he whispered, wrapping his fingers around her hand and dragging her closer to him.  

“It is?  What is he saying?” she kept her voice low, straining to see down the hall.  She could only see Two’s shadow on the floor.

“He is angry with me.  I’m taking too long.  This mission should be over by now.” Loki scoffed. “Two is telling him finesse takes more time than brute force.” He smirked. “Well done, Two.  Gods, he’s fantastic, isn’t he?”

Licking her lips, Sigyn hummed in agreement.  Her heart was pounding harder than Mjölnir at this point.  When was the pain going to start? Could they please get this over with?

“Oh fuck,” he breathed, jaw dropping, eyes wide.

“What?  What is it?” she whispered heatedly, and when he didn’t respond, she grabbed his shoulders. “Tell me.”

He continued to stare wide-eyed into space.  Nausea rolled over her in waves in response to his silence.  Or maybe it was just that damn sickness that had plagued her over the past two days.  Either way, she needed to know what was wrong, and the bond was too bloody weak for her to tap into it and see for herself.

“Loki?” she pleaded, grabbing his chin, forcing him to look at her.

He blinked once, twice, three times and blew out a slow breath. “Thanos is his name.”

She frowned, confused. “The Other?”

“No,” he shook his head, “Big Bad.  I was to earn the right to that information only once my task was complete.” He smiled then, biting into his bottom lip. “I know not why he said it, but that was positively idiotic on his part.”

Raising an eyebrow, Sigyn let go of his chin, concern lacing her voice. “I think I’ve heard that name.”

Loki snorted quietly. “You and me both, darling.” He shook his head, eyeing her carefully. “Big Bad was an apt moniker.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” she whispered, chest heaving.

“It wasn’t supposed to, love.  At least we know who we’re up again-” he stopped short, doubling over just as Two’s piercing scream came from the living room. “Go…. to…. him,” Loki gasped through gritted teeth.

She didn’t need to be told twice.  Dashing into the living room, she found Two on the ground, his body curling in on itself.  Dear gods, he was actually crying blood, and it was mixing with his sweat and saliva, falling off his face and from his mouth in sticky splatters on the floor around him as he tried to push up onto his hands and knees to no avail.  Gaping at the sight in horror, she fell to her knees in front of him and helped him (with great effort) roll to his back, so he could lay his head on her lap.  He continued writhing in agony, his eyes scrunching shut so tightly it looked painful in and of itself.  His sobs were even louder than Loki’s had been two nights ago, and his hands seemed to flail about, blindly searching for something to grasp onto.  Crying with him, she tried to shush him, to wake him from this real life nightmare.

“Here,” she reached out to grab his hands, his nails clawing at her arms, drawing blood. “Two, darling, hold onto me,” she practically shrieked against ear.

“Sigyn,” he cried as she bent over him, kissing every part of his blood-stained face as his head rolled back and forth helplessly in her lap. “Make it stop!”

“It will, it will, it will,” she sobbed against his cheek, wiping the blood away with her thumbs.  

This was awful.  She’d thought he was a perfect copy of Loki, but she’d been painfully wrong.  Loki was so much stronger than him, and this felt like a sacrifice Two should not be required to make.  This wasn’t fair.  He didn’t deserve this.  But they’d had no choice! Loki couldn’t be tracked again! She desperately wanted to give the man in her arms all her strength, but he wasn’t bonded to her, so all she could do was attempt to soothe him by holding him.

“Hold onto me,” she said again, more forcefully. “Gods dammit!” she screamed into the empty space, rage building as the torture by some invisible force she had no way of fighting continued tormenting Two.  Smoke filled the air, seeping out of the tips of her fingers and the ends of her hair.  The wood in the fireplace behind the dining table burst into flames, sending sparks across the hearth rug, which caught fire, spreading rapidly toward her and Two, who was now biting into his own hand to keep from screaming.

Turning her head sharply to eye the flames, she thrust her hand out to the fire, and black mist shot out from her fingers, snuffing it out, leaving behind nothing but ashes and smoke.  Breathing a sigh of relief, she focused once more on Two.  His hair clinging to his sweat soaked brow and blood-stained cheeks, his now bleeding hand and scrunched up eyes…. none of which she could change.  He alone had to suffer through this until it was over.  Combing her fingers through his hair, she whispered words of encouragement into his ear, idly wondering if Loki was writhing on the floor in the bedroom.  Had his screams been overpowered by Two’s?  For certain, Loki was in pain because it was seeping into her own eyes.

Two’s head lolled to one side, and his face relaxed against her thigh then, and the pain in her eyes dissipated.  After several deep breaths in and out his nose, he managed to get one eye open.  Wiping the blood from his mouth with her sleeve, she bent down to kiss him upside down.  Awkward as it was, what with his nose pressed to her chin, he kissed her back as though his life depended on it, as though she was the only thing keeping him from plummeting straight to Helheim in that moment.  She pulled back to breathe, and his eyes both fluttered open, black lashes creating butterfly shaped shadows on his cheeks.

“Are they blue?” he rasped, struggling to turn over to his stomach.  He pushed up to kneel next to her.

Brow furrowing, she smiled sadly and reached up to cup his face.  Her bottom lip wobbled as she let her forehead drop to his. “Yes,” she sighed.

He nodded and rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. “It’s done then.  That was…. that was…. I was wishing for death.”

“Understandably, I would say,” she muttered, sliding her hands down his arms to grasp his hands. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Sighing heavily, he shrugged. “I do as I’m told.  Loki needed me.  Horrible as it was, I’m glad to have been of help.”

Sigyn hated the sound of that.  This whole situation was a horror show of epic proportions.  Yes, Two had been helpful, and better him than Loki have to go through that particular Hel, but she didn’t want him to feel that he’d been taken advantage of.

He chuckled, and she looked up surprised. “He’s not taking advantage of me.  He created me for a purpose, and fulfilling that purpose makes me….” he trailed off, looking at the ceiling as he seemingly searched for the right word.  Looking back down at her, he smiled, albeit weakly. “Happy.”

“Alright,” she said slowly, drawing out the word awkwardly, finding it extremely hard to believe he was happy after that ordeal.  

She’d become too fond of him to see him only as a creation to be used willy nilly.  He mattered, and allowing him to become important to her was almost akin to naming an animal that you were raising to be slaughtered.  She’d done that once at Freya’s house in Vanaheim. Once.  Naming a fluffy adorable little lamb was positively idiotic.  Then again, Two wasn’t going to be killed.  He could pop back up at any time.  Though she’d prefer it to be only under very specific conditions involving herself, Loki, and privacy.  Nothing more.  No more putting Two into painful scary situations.

“I need to lie down,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

“Are you alright?” she asked, following him into the bedroom, not entirely surprised to see Loki’s sphere gone from it.  

He fell face first onto the mattress with a heavy thud, croaking “I’m fine” and waving a hand.  She wasn’t convinced but didn’t want to press the issue, so she simply covered him with a blanket and kissed his temple.

“Captain Rogers will be here to take us to the portal in two hours.  I’ll wake you then,” she whispered.

“No, Sig,” he mumbled into the pillow. “I’m staying here.  He’s taking you and Loki.”

“Oh right,” she sighed, running a hand down her face. “So, this is goodbye then?”

Rolling to his side, he opened one disturbingly blue eye. “For now, yes.  Fear not, darling.  I’ll be available when you want me to join you and Loki and privacy,” he added with a sleepy wink.

Suppressing an embarrassed giggle (dreadful sound), she pressed her lips together. “You shouldn’t listen to my thoughts without my consent, you know.”

“Mmmm, apologies,” he murmured, nearly asleep. “Kiss.”

She kneeled next to the bed, and eyes sliding shut, she leaned in to press her lips to his.  He smiled against her mouth, bringing his hand up to her hair. “See you soon,” he whispered, letting his hand fall.  His breathing instantly slowed, falling quickly into unconsciousness.  She heard Loki’s voice then.

Come away, love.

Pushing to her feet, she turned to see Loki, still cloudy behind the sphere, leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, ankles crossed.  In the next blink, he was clear and Two was hidden in the sphere instead.  He was even harder to see than Loki had been.

“I’m sure you realized you could only see me in it because of the bond.  Two is a part of me, so there’s a hint of it, but not enough to use it properly.  You probably noticed that,” he finished with a smileーa genuine one that reached his eyes.  His gorgeous still green eyes.

“The plan really did work,” she said, pointing to his eyes as she crossed the room to him. “The spell didn’t affect youーjust him.”

“Green is for life,” he said with a nod, pulling her to him as soon as she was within arms’ reach.  “I swear,” he said against her temple as her hands combed through his hair, “my mother must be an oracle.”

She cringed against his chest, scrunching up her nose. “Can we not talk about your mother, please?”

He placed one finger under her chin, lifting her face to look at his. “Pray tell, why not?” She didn’t answer verbally, only letting her forehead fall to his chest again, and he smirked. “After what you just witnessed in the living room, you still want to get my trousers off?  My gods, Sig.” His hand came up to tangle in her dark hair as his other trailed down her spine landing at the small of her back, pulling her further into him.

“So I-I-I’m a bit emotionally charged,” she stammered, face flushing, “because you aren’t dead…. or in p-pain…. or under a tracking spell cast by some nightmarish supervillain…. a-and I get to keep you…. in Asgard….in only two hours.” Was it so absurd to want to be as close to him as physically possible?  Was that wrong?  She couldn’t help how she felt.

She shook her head, sniffing loudly. “You don’t feel the sameーfine.  I’ll just go back to my journal and brainstorm again.  I can do that instead.  I’m sorry for being too clingy or sensitive or oh whatever,” she scoffed, pulling away only to be caught by his hand on her wrist, yanking her back to him.

“Who said I don’t feel the same?” he asked, voice so deep and gravelly it sent a shiver down her spine. “And no more brainstorming about what’s to come.  I’ve done enough of that for the both of us during my absence.”

Her eyebrows raised, hopeful. “Then….” she paused to clear her throat, “what would you like to do with these last few moments in Midgard?”

“Last few moments in Midgard,” he repeated, pulling her hips flush with his, “good gods aren’t those arousing words in and of themselves.” He laughed as she pushed up on her toes to attack his mouth with hers.

---

~Day 5 on Earth, 1:00 am~

Leaving Two asleep under the protective sphere Loki had created for him on the 44th floor had been heart-wrenching for Sigyn.  She still found it hard to comprehend Two’s existence and non-existence coming and going as easily as the snap of Loki’s fingers.  Stepping into the elevator for the last time felt like walking away from an open grave somehow, as though Two was dead, and the next time Loki conjured him, he wouldn’t be him anymore.  He would be ‘Three’ in essence.   Ugh, it wasn’t worth trying to understand, because she never would, but that didn’t stop her from putting up a fuss over leaving the man behind.

Loki had insisted that dragging an invisible man around with them was absolutely not an option.  Through clenched teeth, since Sig’s concern for his copy had irked him, he’d checked the reasons off on his fingers:

“One: it requires far less energy to sustain him when he’s unconscious.  Two: OBVIOUSLY bringing him with us to the portal would show Thanos and his army the location of the portal.  Three: the entire purpose for tracking Two was so that I wouldn’t be followed, Sig.”

“I know that, but-”

“No.   He stays at the tower, and I will dissipate him from the safety of the portal.  I can’t sustain him between realms.”

That had been the end of it.  No further arguments.  So here now in Tony’s penthouse at one in the morning, the two immortals stood, saying their goodbyes to the humans who had sheltered them when they could have instead chosen to abandon them or lock them up (or attempt to).  This reality crashed into Sigyn like a tsunami, gratefulness and sadness pulling her body under in a sea of, ultimately, pain.  She couldn’t believe the tears in her eyes at the sight of Tony shaking Loki’s hand and patting his back, a frown deepening the crease between his brows.  Was she actually sad to say goodbye to Stark?  Yes—Yes, she was.

She’d already bid farewell to Jane earlier at seven o’clock or so, who had told her to say “no worries, we’re good” (verbatim, please) to Thor.  Pepper had been there, as well, since she was driving Jane, who had refused a SHIELD escort for obvious reasons, to the airport.  She had a one-way ticket to New Mexico to meet Dr. Selvig once more at their home base.  Pepper had been all smiles, telling Sigyn that it was too bad they were leaving when it was just about to “get interesting….”

“Natasha has intel on Tony’s best friend Bruce’s location,” she chimed, bouncing on her feet. “He’s been MIA for several years, and it’s been so hard on Tony.  Anyway, after Catalina, Natasha is gonna find him and bring him to Stark Tower in New York City.  That’s on the East Coast. This is the West Coast.  You know what I mean.”  

“Sure.  Oh, well, that’s wonderful,” Sigyn smiled, though confused. “How does that translate to ‘get interesting’ though?”

“Bruce is the HULK…. you didn’t know that?  Big and green?  Okay, well, nevermind….”

They’d hugged awkwardly, wishing each other safe travels, and Pepper had said she would miss shopping with Sigyn.  That had been a decent laugh for both of them.  Pepper had then disappeared behind the elevator doors with Jane, both waving.  With a sigh, Sigyn had waved back, and that had been it.  How had her once self-declared mission of purpose, the mission to bring Jane home, turned into this?  

“It’s weird,” she heard Tony say to Loki, pulling her out of her depressing thoughts about missing these humans, “I’m actually gonna, maybe sorta miss ya, man.”

Loki snorted. “You have an exceptional grasp of your English language, Stark,” Loki said with a smirk, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. “I don’t think we’ll be needing these contraptions any longer.  Thank you for loaning them to us.”

Tony held up a hand, shaking his head. “Nah, keep it.  Something to remember me by.”

Loki laughed out loud as Tony wiggled his eyebrows. “I shall think of you daily, my mortal friend.”

“You say that jokingly,” Tony chuckled, pointing a finger at Loki, “but just watch.  You actually will think about me.”

“Yes, when I find myself in a particularly vexing conversation with my vapid brother, I likely will recall many of the words we’ve exchanged,” Loki acquiesced with a roll of his eyes.

“I hate to bring the lovefest to an end, fellas,” Steve interjected from the helipad where the quinjet was spooled up and waiting, “but when Fury says ‘zero one hundred hours’, he means it, and it’s five after.”

Tony nodded once and stepped back from Loki.  He offered a small wave to Sigyn. “I’ll miss you, too, Alice.  Next time you visit, try not to break any of my stuff, ‘kay?”

At that, Sigyn sniffed, and wiping away an embarrassing tear, she crossed the room and gave him a hug that bewildered both of them.  His eyes went wide, and he looked at Loki in a slight panic, thinking maybe a hug from his girl would piss the guy off, but Loki only offered a somewhat sad smile and put a hand on her shoulder, gently tugging.  

“I’m glad your friend is coming home,” she said, stepping back from Tony’s awkward embrace.

Brown eyes crinkling, he smiled. “Me too, Sigyn,” he said, surprising her by using her actual name. “Thank you for getting that thing off Earth and sticking it in ‘Odin’s vault’ where it belongs,” he said with air quotes and a laugh.

“Guys?” Steve, decked out in a dark blue stealth suit with a white star on the chest, yelled from the quinjet.

“They’re coming!” Tony called out to him, rolling his eyes and grumbling “boy scout” under his breath.

“Thank you, Stark,” Loki said, nodding to him and squeezing his shoulder before turning to Sigyn. “Let’s go, love,” he whispered, reaching for her hand, and she followed him up the ramp of the quinjet.  Halfway up, Loki turned around, walking backwards up the ramp, and called out to Tony. “If anyone shows up looking for me, tell them you incinerated me!”

“Glady!  I’ll throw in some gory details, too!” Tony shouted back, winking as Loki laughed and took the final step onto the quinjet.

As the ramp closed, Sigyn looked out the windshield of the cockpit to see Tony staring after them, one hand in his pocket, the other waving goodbye still.  She and Loki waved back, both feeling oddly somber after having longed for this moment for what had felt like ages.

“It’ll be about seven minutes,” Steve said, flipping a switch above his head from the pilot seat and pulling the yoke toward him.  The jet lifted off the ground, and with a push of the throttle, it seemed to rocket forward.  With an embarrassing shriek, Sigyn instinctively grabbed a loop of material above her head to keep from falling over.  Even Loki stumbled a bit.

“Sorry.  The jumpseats are right next to you if you wanna strap in,” Steve offered with an apologetic smile.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the warning, Captain.”

Steve chuckled, focused on the sky in front of him. “You should fly with Romanoff.  Talk about a rough ride.”

“I imagine Stark would have a highly inappropriate response to that,” Loki said, smirking as he watched the city disappear beneath and behind them.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Tony rarely has an appropriate response to anything involving me.  Nat is my friend.  Nothing more. A female friend, yes, but that is all.”

“She is beautiful,” Sigyn said with a shrug, “no one would fault you for wanting more, if you did.  Or maybe they would.  Working together complicates things.”

“Uh, yes.  Yes, it does,” Steve chuckled. “I once had a thing with a woman I worked with a while back.  We’re talking ages ago.  She’s ninety-one now.  No, really.  Way too long of a story.  There actually is a woman I’m interested in now.  Even worked up the courage to ask her out for coffee.”

“Congratulations on your bravery, Captain,” Loki quipped, and Sigyn elbowed him.

“I know that was sarcastic, but in all honesty,” Steve sighed, easing the throttle back a touch, “I think fighting Nazis was less terrifying.”

Sigyn covered her mouth to stifle a snort.  Asking a woman to court him was scarier than nearly dying in a bloody war?  Good gods, this poor man.

“It’s okay,” Steve said, hearing the muffled laugh, “you can laugh.  Though the saddest thing is, she turned me down.”

“What woman in her right mind would say no to you?  Is she blind?” Sigyn scoffed, then quickly pressed her lips together, since Loki had raised an eyebrow at her.

Steve sighed. “Turned out she kind of worked with me too, but I didn’t know it.  Well, we have the same employer.  I thought she was just my attractive neighbor in DC.  A nurse named Kate,” he added, as though it mattered what her cover was. “Romanoff told me at lunch that her name is actually Sharon.  Agent 13.” He sighed and once again Sigyn heard the roll of his eyes, though all she could see was the back of his head. “Fury hired her to protect me.   Spy on me would be a more accurate statement, though.”

“Ask this Sharon woman out ‘for coffee’ again, Captain,” Loki piped up, doing an uncanny impression of Steve’s voice.  

Raising an eyebrow, Steve looked at Loki from his periphery.  He was surprised the man had even been listening.  Honestly, he’d only been talking to fill the silence.

“She only said no because she didn’t want to blow her cover.  That is all.  Is that the island?” Loki pointed to what looked like a rocky and deserted warzone off the coast.

“Yep,” Steve affirmed, adjusting the yoke up, and the nose of the quinjet took a steep dive toward what was left of Catalina.

“Oh gods…. ugh,” Sigyn groaned, holding her stomach, feeling like she might throw up from the fast change in altitude.  Loki left his spot in the cockpit to help her out of the seat she’d strapped into.

“You alright?” he whispered, hands on her waist to steady her.

“I’m dizzy again.  Lucky me,” she mumbled, leaning into him as he slung her new leather satchel filled with her few Midgardian souvenirs across his shoulder.

“Just hold onto me,” he said against her temple, moving a hand to the back of her head, his thumb rubbing her neck.  

Gulping back bile (lovely), her eyes slid shut, and she nodded weakly.  Thank the Norns, his familiar woodsmoke and peppermint scent calmed her stomach as Steve set them down smoothly near the rocky shore but not directly on the beach.

“Last stop, folks,” Steve said, grinning as he unbuckled his seatbelt and flipped the switch that opened the hatch.  

Walking down the ramp and stepping onto the sunken rocks, Loki’s heart was in his throat.  He’d been here many times, though it had been at least a few hundred years since his last visit to the portal, and he’d certainly never stayed for so long.  He was going home, Sigyn with him.  Tears blurred his vision further with each second.  Holding his hand out to help her off the ramp, they exchanged big smiles, her excitement at the sight of the water doubling his own.  

“Hey, soldier,” Natasha’s smooth voice floated on the breeze, just barely audible over the crashing night waves.  She’d been waiting just east of their landing site for the past thirty minutes. “You’re late.”

Crossing the uneven rocks as easily as a gymnast on a balance beam, even with the weight of his ever present shield on his back, Steve smiled. “Five minutes.”

“Late,” Natasha reiterated with a smirk, producing the shielded tesseract from the same backpack Tony had used to bring it to the tower that morning.

“Is that a…. jet ski?” Steve gaped, pointing behind her.

“Belassi B3R Sport,” she nodded.

“Tony’s?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Salvaged by Agent 13’s crew,” she nodded again, stepping around him, and he turned on his heel, following her toward Loki and Sigyn who held each other, still as statues, looking down the beach.

“What a day for Tony.  Bruce coming back, and his jet ski was saved from imminent death by tesseract?  It’s like Christmas,” Steve chuckled.

Kissing the top of Sigyn’s head, Loki turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.  She looked up at him, then around his shoulder to see Natasha holding the cube out for them.  The redhead then removed her backpack, and setting the shield inside, she zipped it.

“It’ll travel best inside this,” she said, setting it inside Loki’s outstretched hand.  Sigyn then grabbed it out of his hand, despite his scowling at her for doing so, and pulled it onto her back.

You are already carrying my bagーshe rolled her eyesーyou aren’t a pack mule.

I know I’m not a MULE , Sig, but you’re illーhe reached for the backpack, but pulled his hand back, thinking she might burn his fingers just to prove her point.

You know me so wellーshe smirked, pushing up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

Rolling his eyes, Loki couldn’t help but smile and caught her mouth with his own before she could pull back.  They pulled apart at the sound of clearing throats.

Natasha reached out to shake their hands. “Good luck, you two.  Earth is grateful.  Thanks for not burning me,” she added with a crooked smile when Sigyn’s fingers clasped around her own.

“Lucky you,” Sigyn crooned, winking at her as she shook Loki’s hand.

“I’ll see you in NYC after I drop off Bruce.” Natasha eyed Steve, one eyebrow raised. “Pizza in Brooklyn?”

“Definitely,” he hugged her and watched her walk back to her ridiculously fun getaway transport.  As she sped off down the coast, he turned back to Loki and Sigyn with a smile, his blue eyes crinkling around the edges.  He then gave them a small salute, bowing his head slightly, tapping two fingers sideways against his forehead.

“Okay you two, this is the end of the line.” Like the supersoldier he was, he sprinted back to the quinjet and had it back up in the air, nearly out of sight within seconds.

Without further hesitation, Loki grabbed Sigyn’s hand and hurried to the portal site.  He remembered it well.  Even with the altered shoreline from the explosion, the extra depth of the portal bent the waves, alerting them to its presence.  He didn’t relish getting soaked from the swim to the bottom, and honestly, he was a bit concerned that it would be difficult for Sigyn in her current state, but they had no choice.  He was strong enough for the both of them.

“Is Two still back there?” Sigyn gasped, out of breath from the fast walk.

Norns, please let this sickness cease once we’re homeー she hung her head.

Loki nodded, closing his eyes, and breathing deeply, he urged his magic to pool in his chest and rush out to his extremities in a blast of green light.  With a violent shiver down his spine, he was back in his leather Asgardian attire, and Sigyn was clothed once more in her Vanir armor.

“Gods!” she shrieked, holding her chest, eyes wide. “I forgot you could do that.” She marveled at her armor, thrilled to see it again. “Why the Hel did I bother to go to all those awful shops?”

He laughed, happy to be in his rightful clothes once more. “Oh come now, you found a few things you liked.”

“Mmhmm,” she conceded, trudging through the wet sand and further into the waves.  With great pain, she focused on her magic, the fire beneath her skin growing hotter and flowing to the ends of her outstretched fingers. “I need your help,” she whispered, sweating from the effort and the heat.

Eyes wide, he quickly snaked his arms around her waist, afraid she might fall over from the way she was struggling. “What are you doing?”

“Opening the sea,” she whispered, feeling his strength and magic combining with hers despite his confusion.  

“What are you talk-” he stopped short, his jaw dropping as all around them, the water built up and pushed out away from them in gigantic waves.  Looking around in awe, Loki laughed in complete shock. He turned back to look at Sigyn.  Smoke curled around her fingers and wrists and wrapped around the ends of her hair.  

“Sigyn, this is….” his voice failed him as she pulled him down the seafloor toward the glimmering portal to Asgard.  All he could do was marvel at her magic. Despite her exhaustion, despite the illness, she was doing this.  The green light of his own magic was visible within the smoke, but his needing to aid her in this moment did nothing to detract from her incredible display of power.  

He didn’t take his eyes off her for one secondーI adore you.

She smiled, turning to him as they arrived at the portalーI know.

Let’s go home, Sig—With a flick of his wrist, green light swirled around his hand and shot up through the air, flying across the sky, straight over the island.  Closing his eyes, he focused on his sleeping double on the 44th floor of Stark Tower Two, still hidden in the invisibility sphere. The glowing green stream of light blasted nimbly through the plate glass window and hovered over the sphere, spreading out in all directions, before plunging through it.  

Two vanished in that second, and wrapping his arms around Sigyn, Loki jumped into the prismatic portal, the deafening roar of the crashing waves on Earth behind them echoing in the tunnel.  He held her tighter as they fell, pushing nearly all his energy through the bond, hoping her magic could part Silver Lake on the other side with his help.  Five seconds later, they landed on the sandy lake floor, the water stretching just enough to make a narrow path to the shore.  

Feeling newly awakened, as though from a far too long sleep, Sigyn grabbed his hand and sprinted as fast as she could in her heavy boots up the wet floor of the lake.  With each step, her heart pounded hard and loud in her ears.  It spoke to her with each beatーhome, home, home, home ーeven as the smoke began to pull back into her skin too quickly.  Loki was on her heels, rapidly overtaking her, now dragging her behind him, his legs kicking up heavy sand as his fingers tightened around hers.  The frigid air of Asgard hit her hard, rushing through her nose and mouth and into her lungs painfully.

Wonderfully.  

Her tears froze against her cheeks as her weakened knees weakened further, the familiar dizziness becoming too great.  Despair hit her like a punch in the jaw.  Why didn’t she feel better?  It was supposed to be an Earth illness!  Fuck, just let the water fall.  She couldn’t do this anymore.  Her magic screamed ‘ENOUGH!’, and Silver Lake crashed back down.  Panic took less than a second to set in because she’d forgotten she was too tired to swim, and (gods, no!) she was all alone and about to drown in Vanaheim’s falls all over again.  

But she wasn’t alone.  And this wasn’t Vanaheim.  Strong arms swept her up and ran the last few feet up onto the cold shore before the icy water could swallow them.  Falling to his knees, amazingly still dry, Loki all but threw Sigyn onto the sand before dropping completely to the ground.  The green light of his magic faded, and he rolled over onto his back, not caring that his hair was now covered in sand.  Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes, a toothy smile spreading across his face.  Freezing wind blew across them, shocking his senses.  It smelled of ash trees.  Of fresh snow.  Of sand and sea.  Of smoke.  Of Asgard.  He was home.  Dear gods he was really truly finally home.

“LOKI?!”

His eyes flew open.  It hadn’t been Sigyn’s voice.  Rolling back over to his stomach, he raised his head and choked on a sob at the sight of the only other woman he had ever loved running across the sand with her arms wide open.

“Mother?” he croaked, throat burning from the cold as tears fell down his cheeks, dropping onto his hands beneath him.  He’d almost pushed to his feet when Frigga was upon him, falling to her knees, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

“Loki!  My boy, my boy, my boy!  You’re alive, you’re alive!  My love, oh gods, Loki, my baby boy….” her words devolved into wailing as she kissed every part of his face.

He wrapped his arms around his mother, holding her like his life depended on it, shoulders shaking violently with happy crying.  She grabbed his face with both hands, wet azure eyes meeting glowing emeralds and a watery smile, teeth white in the light of the moons.

“I missed you,” he managed with trembling lips.

“Oh my baby boy,” Frigga wept into his hair, “I missed you more.  And you too,” she added, smiling down at a very pale Sigyn who was running her thumbs under her eyes, “my darling girl.”

Sigyn pushed up to her knees to hug both of them.  Three foreheads came together, their happy tears and laughing drowned out by the crashing of the waves behind them.  

FEARLESS CONTINUES IN CHAPTER ELEVEN: HOME IS CHAOS

Visit the Trilogy main page HERE.

Chapter links: ¹ You’ll Have Answers Later ² Talk Some Sense to Me, Sig. ³ Interlude in Asgard (Endless Grief) ⁴ Wild Magic (It’s All We Have) ⁵ Heat is My Specialty (What is Blue For) ⁶ Storms Pass, Loki. ⁷ Trust Me, I’ve Got This. ⁸ A Heavy Gift ⁹ Sick and Tired ¹⁰ Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green Is for Life Part 2) ¹¹ Home is Chaos ¹² Looks That Kill ¹³ Living Ghosts ¹⁴ No Rules (Tick Tock) ¹⁵ The Calm ¹⁶ The Storm

Chapter 17 Coming October 2021

CHAPTER TEN THEME SONG:

“Lifeline” by Imogen Heap

What Readers Have Said

About CH 10 “Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green is for Life Part 2)

“Omg poor Two, it’s ok rip my heart out and stomp on it!! They are back and that’s fantastic but now I’ve got so many questions. What’s wrong with Sig? Will there be a fight for the throne? Is Odin gonna wake up and ruin everything? What do you mean now the real pain can start?!? I’m dying over here!!”

-Ferbette, on CH 10 “Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green is for Life Part 2)” , 04 Oct 2018 (AO3)

“TELL ME THERE WILL BE MORE!!! *SHRIEKS IN DESPAIR* PLEASE”

-Burningarbitterheart, on CH 10 “Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green is for Life Part 2)” , 06 Oct 2018 (AO3)

“My gosh, so many feelings. I was actually sobbing towards the end, so damn emotional! Love that Frigga has her precious boy back, Loki sure deserves it (she to of course). If Sigyn can be healed by Eir all will be well, Oh and Loki has to kick Thor’s was for destroying the bifrost and sensing him into the vault. I am so so obsessed with this trilogy and this story is utterly amazing and brilliant, I’m rooting for both Loki and Sigyn, they make a hell of a team!”

-Maïté, on CH 10 “Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green is for Life Part 2)” , 02 Oct 2019 (AO3)

“We believe in Stealth suit superiority. I don’t want the real pain to begin. I’m scared.”

-Harrypotterfreakie, on CH 10 “Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green is for Life Part 2)” , 27 Aug 2021 (AO3)

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