Jane Foster stood on the balcony outside of her chambers of Utgard Hall. Her caramel colored hair danced about her shoulders with the breeze as she glanced over the city before locking her gaze on the scenery beyond.

Jotunheim really was beautiful this time of year.

While autumn on Earth was full of color and peaceful and relaxing, the change of seasons on Jotunheim reflected the delicate balance which held the Realm together. Thick snow in the mountains tapered to icy foothills while the valleys remained a more temperate climate reminiscent of Earth in autumn.

Of course, it didn't really matter what the temperature was outside her chambers. Jane had long ago mastered the magical art of warming herself. If that wasn't enough, Loki had insisted on placing a spell over the chambers to ensure her comfort. He was always thinking of her.

As if she had summoned him with the thought, Loki entered their chambers, drawing Jane's attention back inside the palace walls.

She hadn't summoned him.

She could.

She often times did.

But not this time...

No matter how many times Loki entered a room, she was always awestruck by his presence. His raven black hair was cut to a length just below his ear by her request. She loved his hair no matter what length he chose, but this length suited him best on Jotunheim. With this style, his red eyes seemed to sparkle with life.

Jane remembered the first time they had discussed his hair:

"You only want my hair to be short because of Midgard's preference," Loki had thrown long tresses over his shoulder with flourish.

Asgard. Midgard. Jotunheim. No matter the location, Loki was prone to becoming a bit of a diva.

"Loki, you exist as both Asgardian and Jotun. Don't you think a hairstyle to fit both would be a good idea?"

"Long hair suits me in either, thank you very much."

"Long hair on the King of Jotunheim makes you appear bloodthirsty. Sorry, but it does. This cut will make you so much sexier."

"Sexier?" Loki had actually scoffed at her, "What does that have to do with ruling?"

"Will you just trust me?"

"Fine."

Loki had relented. Afterward, the King had gathered the lustful eye of many Jotuns who wanted nothing more than to be summoned by their sovereign. It seemed every subject of Jotunheim suddenly wanted Loki's undivided attention.

Loki had a burst of pride.

Jane reminded him whose idea it had been.

Loki disagreed.

Jane warned him to admit the truth.

Loki didn't see what all the fuss was about.

Jane leeched his magic from him, forced his hair to become blond and grow past shoulder length.

Loki had immediately apologized and readily admitted Jane was right...as usual...and he promised to make it up to her. After giving him back his magic and returning his hair to its normal color, she had made him announce to everyone at court that his wife was the genius behind his haircut.

Looking at her husband now, it was hard to believe she used to think his magical powers were responsible for her response to his presence. Over time, she had come to accept the fact that she was forever hopelessly in love with Loki...

Helason

Laufeyson

God of Mischief

Crown Prince of Asgard

King of Jotunheim

Protector of the Nine Realms

Avenger

Yeah, Jane loved Loki...even with his mouthful of titles.

Jane stepped inside from the balcony and closed the doors. No sooner had the door latched, Loki had his arms around her waist and spun her to face him.

"Good morning," She offered sweetly before Loki cut her greeting off with a kiss. She wound her arms around his neck as he lifted her against him.

"Good morning," Loki replied as their lips parted.

"You were up and gone early today," She met his eyes while her fingers danced in his hair.

"One would think your Celestial heritage would make you more aware of the passage of time," He grinned slightly, "I was up at my normal hour. You're the one who slept in."

Jane shrugged half heartedly, "I was tired. We did save the universe yesterday after all."

"Yes, we did," He replied, "Speaking of which, Mother requests our presence on Nornheim."

"Nornheim?" She asked in confusion, "Why?"

Loki paused as he lowered Jane back to her feet, "Actually, Mother is just the messenger."

"The Norns are requesting us? Whoa," Jane stepped slightly away as she processed the information, "Why? What did we do wrong now?"

"I have no idea," He admitted as he watched his wife's thoughts spiral into their own kind of logic.

Watching Jane as her mind calculated infinite possibilities had always been one of Loki's favorite pastimes where she was concerned. Her hazel eyes shifted back and forth as if doing so would allow her to find an answer to a still unforeseen problem. Her face always tensed ever so slightly while her jaw slackened and she worried her lips.

"If you don't stop chewing on your lip, you are going to draw blood. Stop worrying. Mother wouldn't lure us into any danger," Loki attempted to soothe her while grazing his fingertips along Jane's arms.

Jane gave him a pointed stare, "Oh really?"

"Okay, she has done it before but just the once."

"Asking us to join her on Muspelheim only to find out that she and Surtur were in the middle of a gigantic pissing contest was enough. I'm not really keen on accepting an invitation from her regarding any Realm other than Asgard."

"This time, Mother was only the messenger."

"Doesn't really help," Jane frowned, "If we have to save Hela from the Norns, so help me, she is going to need saving from me afterwards."

Loki chuckled, "Fair enough."

"So when are we leaving?"

"As soon as you are ready."

Jane focused her power to change her casual Midgardian blue jeans and tee shirt to a dress befitting the Queen of Jotunheim. The icy blue cloth draped over her shoulders, gathered around her waist and fell effortlessly to the floor.

Loki grinned as he spoke, "I'm surprised you're not choosing to appear in your Celestial form."

"I'm trying to trust your mother. Appearing as my Celestial self might seem more provoking than trusting."

"You're right," He agreed as he shifted to his Asgardian form and tucked her hand in the bend of his arm, "However, I am not about to use the Bifrost to travel to Nornheim."

Jane's mouth quirked a grin of her own, "You don't exactly trust her either, do you?"

"Let's just say I prefer not to be seen until we know what we are walking into," He patted her hand gently.

She smiled with a quirk of her head, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

With a wave of Jane's hand, a spiral of white light spun before them before opening into a clear portal. Loki smiled and escorted Jane to Nornheim.

Stepping onto Nornheim was an experience Jane was never quite prepared for. Standing in the roots of Yggdrasil was breathtaking to say the least. Long thick branches sprawled towards the sky, reaching through the universe to hold all of creation together.

Loki led Jane through a path towards the Cave of Ages. As they approached, they saw Hela standing near the entrance as she conversed with Thor.

"Ah, here they come," Hela beamed as she turned towards her son, "My son."

"Mother," Loki smiled warmly.

Hela smiled warmly in return before casting a glance towards Jane, "Jane."

"Hela," Jane replied simply.

"You should address her as Queen," Thor grumbled as he leaned against the rock cavern's opening.

Hela smiled proudly.

Jane took a deep breath and clenched her teeth, trying to will her stubborn streak into obedience.

"Why the invitation?" Loki interjected, drawing attention to himself to diffuse the situation between his wife and his mother.

Hela eyed Jane for a quiet moment. Jane returned the Queen's glare.

"Yes, right," Hela turned sideways, "The Norns wish to give you a gift."

"Why?" Jane asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

"Ha, you can take the girl off of Midgard but can't take Midgard out of the girl, huh?" Thor laughed haughtily, "Always suspicious."

"Uncle?" Loki turned with a smile to Thor.

"Yes?"

"Go hammer something," Loki declared pointedly.

Hela chuckled as she waved her fingers towards Thor, "Go ahead, Brother. You can wait for me at the Bifrost site."

Thor twirled Mjolnir in his hand before casually walking down the pathway, muttering something under his breath.

"He still isn't happy that you are going to be rightful king of two Realms one day," Hela addressed Loki as she shrugged, "Now, back to the business at hand. Come along," She moved with a catlike grace that was more gliding than stepping.

Jane looked to Loki for any signs that he was still uneasy about this situation. He shrugged in answer while taking her hand reassuringly in his. They walked into the Cave of Ages, an impressive rock structure nestled within the roots of Yggdrasil. Small candle like flames burned in jagged outcroppings of rock, leading towards glowing room several yards away.

"They are here." A trio of voices echoed amongst the cavern walls.

"This probably isn't supposed to scare me, but I have to tell you I'm a little on edge right now," Jane whispered to Loki before they stepped inside the room.

Loki squeezed her hand as they stepped towards an alter in the center of the room. Three robed figures stood behind the alter but several feet apart, making the room seem altogether smaller than it should have been.

"Loki, son of Hela and Laufey," The Norns unified their voices, the resonance pronouncing their authority over all things, "Jane, daughter of Isabella Foster and Ego the Celestial. Step forward."

Jane held Loki's hand with a death grip as they stepped closer to the alter.

"You have slain the Mad Titan, restored order where there was chaos, saved countless lives through the universe," The Norns voices echoed, "We are grateful."

"It is always a pleasure to serve," Loki bowed his regal best. Jane took the cue and curtsied in deferrance.

"There is no prize worthy of this achievement. We can, however, offer you a gift," The Norns spoke, their voices seemed suddenly softer and less menacing to Jane's ears, "We cannot show you your futures. However, we can allow you to see how your other selves in alternate realities lived their lives. We will open our library to you. Your fates from infinite alternate universes are written in the tomes within."

"You mean we can read about other lives we may have led?" Jane questioned, "That won't effect our timeline?"

"It will not. Other than perhaps increasing your appreciation for the lives you've led here," The Norns spoke as the stone wall behind them rumbled behind them. A large wooden door appeared in the stone before swinging open to reveal a vast library beyond.

Books of every size and color filled rows and rows and endless rows of shelves as far as the eye could see.

Loki stood beside her, surveying the stacks, "Well, it seems things could have turned out quite differently."

"You think?" Jane asked rhetorically while trekking down a row of books.

"Why do you want to see what we are like in other universes? Are you not happy here?"

"Of course, I am," She stopped and practically collided with him. She wrapped her arms around him, "Oh come on, don't tell me you aren't curious about how things could have been different."

"Ah, there it is. Curiosity," Loki teased as he enveloped her in his arms, "I'm still not sure what to make of this."

"Why can't you just accept that we saved the universe and this is our reward? Why do you have to be so suspicious all the time?"

"Experience?" He asked with a half hearted shrug.

"Okay, I'll give you that," Jane turned and glanced over the books, "I guess I'll just choose a few at random."

"We can read them at night after the children are abed," He grinned, "If we can't find anything better to do."

"You're insatiable," She teased with a knowing smile. She walked down the current row and picked three books from the shelves, "Now you pick three."

Loki plucked three different volumes before they left the library to return home to Jotunheim.

Later that night...

"The children are asleep and all is well in the Kingdom," Loki spoke as he entered their bedroom.

"Oh my god!" Jane groaned, "What the hell?! Like seriously?"

Loki stopped as he slowly closed the door behind him, "All is not well in the Kingdom?"

Jane slammed the book in front of her closed as she looked up to her husband, "You do not want to know what kind of an insane life we led in this universe. You in particular."

"You started without me?" He casually leaned back against the door as he crossed his arms, "I'm greatly saddened by this turn of events."

"Don't try to play the guilt trip angle. We both know I'll make it up to you later," She flashed a flirty smile before wiggling her finger at him, "Come here."

With a whirl of magic, the King's armor became casual trousers and a green tunic while his Asgardian form became prominent. He crossed the room and sank down on the sofa beside her.

"What's the title on this one?" He asked while examining the red and white cover.

"Infinity War."

"Boring title," He noted, "Please...Tell me what you've learned so far."

"Your history is so twisted I'm still not sure I have it all right."

Loki raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Explain."

"Well," Jane took a deep breath, "You were taken as a baby from Jotunheim and raised on Asgard as Odin and Frigga's son."

"Excuse me?" He winced at the very idea.

"Yeah, as Thor's little brother."

"Ugh, sounds like torture," He groaned.

"You could call it that," Jane bit her lip, "You found out about your Jotun lineage the day of Thor's coronation."

"Thor's coronation?" Loki stopped as he sat up, "What the hell?"

"That's what I said," Jane sighed, "You let Frost Giants into Asgard through the vault."

"Seems I still had some good sense about me," He declared as he glanced at her then the book, "But why do I feel like this gets worse?"

"It does," She nodded, "The Frost Giants were killed in the vault. Odin was happy to let it go. He saw it as the moves of a desperate few not the tactical moves of a Kingdom. But Thor went ballistic and marched into Jotunheim. He was sent packing."

"But of course he was," Loki smiled brightly.

"He had defied Odin so, of course, the old man was pissed. He stripped Thor of his powers and Mjolnir before banishing him to Earth."

His smile fell. He met her eyes, "No...don't tell me..."

"My other self fell in love with Thor."

"What?!" Loki almost fell off the sofa, "What?"

"You heard me," Jane rolled her eyes, "Your reaction is better than mine. I dry heaved."

"How far apart were we in this universe?"

"Far...and yet so close."

"How did we meet?" He spoke before a horrible thought crossed his mind, "Did we meet?"

"We did but you are missing a lot of your story here."

"Okay," He reigned in the curiosity for a moment, "Please continue."

"Odin told you about Laufey before he fell into the Odinsleep," She continued offering tidbits.

"Ah, Odin," Loki sighed with an ironic smirk, "Always one to seize an opportunity to avoid dealing with a mess he'd made, hmm?"

"Yep," Jane nodded, "With Thor banished and Odin in his sleep chamber, you became King of Asgard."

"Doesn't sound so bad."

"Sif and the Warriors Three rebelled. They went to Earth for Thor. You sent the Destroyer after them. Thor urged you to kill him to save everyone else. And you did. Then you tried to destroy Jotunheim."

"What the..." Loki stood from the sofa to fetch himself a cup of tea, "What the hell kind of life did I lead?"

"It gets worse."

"How?"

"You fell from the Bifrost and met Thanos. You went to Earth to conquer it for him while regaining control of the Tesseract."

"Evidently, this version of me was an idiot."

"No. Just desperate. You lost and Thor took you to Asgard to be imprisoned for the rest of your life."

"Where was Mother in all of this?"

Jane paused, "It seems Odin imprisoned her too. In fact, no one even knew about Hela until Odin's death. He erased her from Asgardian history."

"Oh dear..." Loki crossed his arms as he looked to the book, "I'm not sure I want to know anything else about my own story. Where are WE in this universe?"

"The us from that universe..." Jane's fingers slowly danced along the spine of the book, "We met on Asgard just before going to Svartelfheim where you died at the hands of a Dark Elf. Well, it looked like you died but you didn't. You banished Odin to Earth and took over his visage to sit on the throne."

Loki poured his cup of tea and laughed, "Sounds like a bit of fun, really. Can you just give me the highlights of the rest?"

"Your mother destroyed Asgard."

"Mother destroyed Asgard?" He repeated in a question as he stirred a bit of Midgardian honey into his tea.

"Well, Surtur destroyed Asgard. Thor had captured Surtur's crown before Odin's death. When Hela came out of Odin's prison, she returned to Asgard and wanted to conquer all the realms. The only way to stop her was to destroy Asgard. While Thor and Hela battled, you went to the vault and placed the crown into the Eternal Flame. Surtur rose and destroyed Asgard. So technically, I suppose you destroyed Asgard."

"This just gets better and better," Loki shook his head and sat back beside her, "Then what?"

"You were killed by Thanos. Choked to the brink before he snapped your neck."

"Son of a..."

"We can't win in every universe I guess."

He rubbed his neck gently, "And the other you? Did she and Thor live happily ever after?"

"No," Jane answered as she placed the book on the coffee table before her, "She dumped Thor. She buried herself in her work while avoiding death threats. She was finally gaining a sense of normalcy when Thanos assembled the Gauntlet."

"What became of her?"

"She died in the Snap. She wasn't taken by the Gauntlet exactly. She was on board a plane when it happened. Everyone on board except for her was rendered to dust. By the time she got to the cockpit to try to gain some sort of control, it was too late. The plane crashed into the side of a mountain."

"Surely, the Celestial stepped in."

"No," Jane replied, "I wasn't Celestial in that life. I was only human."

Loki sipped his tea as he considered the possibility, "I don't believe that. It's possible the Celestial was dormant but could have been triggered if given the right impetus."

"Always the professor," She teased as she gently captured his tea cup from him and took a sip for herself.

"Personally, I'm rather happy with the way our lives have turned out so far," He turned his body on the sofa to face her.

"So am I," She smiled as she sat the tea cup on an end table. She crawled across her husband to seat herself comfortably in his lap.

"Are you going to start another book this evening?" He asked as he drew his fingers down her spine slowly.

"One a day. I do have other things to do, you know," Jane wound her arms around his neck, "Like taking my husband to bed."

"Excellent idea," Loki agreed while taking her lips in a sweet kiss.