Jane listened intently to Loki's "trust my rage" plan. Although she had been in and out of consciousness, she had been able to catch most of Thor and Loki's rather loud discussion on the small Asgardian airship/hovercraft/whatever this cool little winged thing was. It suddenly struck her how bad she felt for both Thor and Loki. The poor guy had just lost his mother whom he had loved for, like, a thousand years. The way the two were talking brought to mind something that Frigga had mentioned to Jane, not long before she died-the only time Jane had heard her mention Loki.

"I have two good sons," she had said. "One is lucky enough to have you; I do not worry for his fate. The other is extremely misguided. I fear he will never find the peace he so badly desires."

"Do you understand, Jane?" Thor's voice cut into her thoughts. They had just finalized the details for their plans to meet Malekith. Both gods looked at her expectantly. Not intimidating at all.

"Yeah," she said. "Basically, my role is to not panic and stay out of the way when you blow stuff up."

Thor smiled at her, and she fought back the urge to throw her arms around him. Loki's gaze shifted to the front of the ship.

"We'll be there in about four minutes," Loki said.

"More like 3," Jane said. He raised a dark eyebrow at her. "I can feel it." For some reason, Frigga's face flashed through her mind. A look of pained worry for her "misguided" son.

"Loki," Jane said, "when was the last time you had a hug?" the brothers both stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's a good question, brother," Thor said supportively, clapping him on the back. "Have you recently been embraced by anyone?"

"I-no-I mean, I don't want-"

"Frigga," Jane said quickly, "more than anything, wanted you to have peace." the suddenly broken look on Loki's pale face only fueled Jane's determination. She walked closer to him, heart pounding with embarrassment, and touched his hands to remove them from the wheel. He recoiled.

"I really don't think I need-"

"Loki, just accept the hug," Thor said, and Loki automatically raised his arms so Jane could duck under the handcuffs and wrap her arms around him. He was thinner than Thor, more wiry, but Jane could hear the same strong heartbeat that she heard when she hugged Thor. She gave a slow count to 15 seconds, trying her best to pour Frigga's love into him, and then finally let go. Jane ducked back out, and smiled at him. Loki and Thor simultaneously awkwardly cleared their throats, glancing away over the sides of the ship.

"Um, thank you," Loki said, looking like he wasn't quite sure he meant it.

"Can I have a hug too, brother?" Thor opened his arms half-jokingly, and Loki leaned away, glaring.

"There's no time for that," he said, "we've almost arrived."

A/N: for the full effect of this fic, hug a nearby pillow for 15 seconds.