A/N: It never fails... If I say I'm not going to be able to update on a daily basis, that's when the next chapter is able to go up the next day. Ah well.

Part Two.

The halls were… quiet. No parties were planned for the evening, no urgent meetings to attend, no catastrophes that threatened the whole nine realms and beyond - be it of his making or otherwise. Even Odin had taken a trip away from Asgard, leaving Thor as the temporary ruler of the realm and his adopted son in an increasingly rare state of solitude.

The younger prince of Asgard found himself standing in the marble hallway, trying to wrap his mind around it. It had been some time since he'd heard such silence.

"M'lord?" a stuttering voice said from the bend of the hallway. Loki turned his emerald gaze back, dark brows twitching down and together at the sight of the servant that stood wringing his hands. "M'lord?"

"Yes? What is it?" the second prince asked with more snap to his voice than he meant. All forbid that he enjoy the few moments of silence he'd found.

"Heimdall requires your presence."

"And does Heimdall think himself so great a station that he might order the son of his king to his presence?"

"He did not say, m'lord. He… well he… He only asked that you come."

Loki watched the round message-bringer for a moment, knowing that his steady gaze was causing even greater discomfort and he could not bring himself to care. Finally he pushed a sigh through his nose, coming out in more of a huff, and waved a thin hand in the air, dismissing the servant. He watched him scurry away and could almost hear his brother in his mind chastising him for being uselessly cruel. He pushed the little voice aside as he walked, knowing that to have Thor's overreaching kindness picking away at his every action would make him little more than a doormat for Heimdall's usual irritation that accompanied any time that he was forced to speak with Odin's adopted son. Some really should learn to let things go.

The Gatekeeper stood at his post, tall and his golden eyes almost brooding as Loki approached. He was unphased by the broad, charming smile that the prince flashed him, giving a somewhat mocking bow. "You called, good Heimdall?"

"You are in fine spirits this morning," Heimdall groused, appearing to be in no better.

"Yes, I'd been looking forward to something I've seen little of in the last collection of years: a bit of time to myself."

Heimdall might have quirked an eyebrow beneath his helmet, but it was difficult to say. He waited until he saw the second prince shift his weight in a sign of impatience. "Your brother's friends on Midgard require your assistance, as part of our agreement with their people."

Thin lips twitched downward. "The Avengers? Why aren't you calling for Thor then? I'm not meant to go alone. That is also part of the agreement."

"One that you often ignore for your own purposes," the Gatekeeper said pointedly.

An entertained smile flashed across the trickster's face. "This is not untrue," he agreed.

"And it is not the Avengers. The Son of Coul seems to need your specific skillset."

"Specifically me?"

The Gatekeeper did not answer, merely stared unblinkingly at him.

"Hmm," Loki hummed softly. Coulson and he had spoken only a handful of times since his disasterous trip to Midgard where he'd nearly killed the SHIELD agent. Granted, one of those handful of times had been to deliver a set of notes that promised to be very useful should the Midgardian agency ever find themselves or any of their allies pit against Thanos. It had obviously done something to win him favour, but he had hardly expected to be called individually for something. Fury was still convinced that the god of mischief's mere presence might cause some sort of massive explosion and countless fatalities. "Did he say what it was for?"

"I have seen."

"Don't tell me everything all at once now."

Heimdall most certainly scowled from beneath his helmet and Loki grinned broadly as he felt his own magic pull and he caught glimpses of what the Gatekeeper had seen. The smile turned to a frown at the he watched clips of the events that had unfolded in the past hour. "Coulson has a new team of children." Green eyes flickered to meet gold. "I'd appreciate if you would not bother my brother with this unless absolutely necessary."

"Though it pains me to agree, Thor has a tendency to chase after you."

"With Father gone someone should watch the realm," Loki acknowledged, a bit more amusement seeping into his voice. "Though of course I might stay and we can allow Thor to fumble around with this threat in my place."

"You need not convince me further, Silvertongue. Do you require the Bifrost?"

"When do I?" Loki asked and faded from the realm.

Phil Coulson liked to think he was a fairly intelligent individual, but even he was not quite sure he would ever fully understand the communication system that Thor had mapped out should they ever need anything. By mapping out, Thor had simply meant that SHIELD was given the knowledge that Asgard's Gatekeeper would be able to hear their call for help. The agent tried not to think about the fact that that probably meant that the towering Asgardian heard more than just requests for help.

Coulson sank into the chair behind his desk and let his face fall into his hands, fingers massaging at his temples as if it might ward off the headache that threatened. He had to be going crazy to have even tried, he decided, but with the newest report from May saying that the plane seemed trapped in auto pilot mode and communications completely cut off, he was running shy on options.

The air in the room seemed to shift and the SHIELD agent perked, gaze shifting through split fingers.

"You mortals and your curiousity. Someday it will be the end of you."

Coulson did his best not to jump at the drawl that came from behind him. He turned to see the face that matched the voice, green eyes sparkling with more amusement than he was comfortable with. "I was expecting your brother."

One dark eyebrow shot up. Damn Heimdall. He'd certainly gone out of his way to make it sound as if Coulson had requested him personally. The trickster was sure he'd find a way to return it quickly enough. "Really? You wanted Thor, god of thunder, to handle the delicate, potentially lethal foreign technology that you've unearthed in a condensed space such as this? You might as well have saved time and called your large green friend to take a swing at it. It might cause less overall damage."

"Point taken."

Loki's thin lips stretched, but some of the entertainment had left his gaze. It was replaced with a more serious tone, one that did nothing to ease Coulson's discomfort.

"You might be the better man for the job," the agent continued. "Being as well... traveled as you are. I take it you already know what we're in possession of?"

Thin shoulders eased up and sank back down in a half shrug. "Not entirely. I'll need to see it and then... Well we'll see what I'm able to do."

"Fair enough," Coulson said as he stood, careful never to turn his back on the tall Asgardian. He was sure the prince had noted this as well as the smile stretched wide again.

They walked down the hallway and Loki listened intently to the details of what had happened, nodding appropriately up until the point that Coulson explained the change of personality in his scientists and energy pulse. The prince stood still in his tracks. "Bickering is an oddity for them?"

"Like that it is."

Thin lips twitched as Loki approached the door, eying a particular bump that must have been a dent in the other side.

Coulson touched his ear, listening. "I've got to check on something," he said, gaining only a bit of the trickster's attention. "Don't spook my team and don't touch anything. I'll be right back."

Loki gave a half nod in response, fingers ghosting over the door. There was something of immense power on the other side, though it was well cloaked or barely holding on, he wasn't sure. Green eyes glanced down either way of the corridor before his magic shifted the locks and bolts, allowing it to slide open.

There was a box sitting on the table, small and fairly inconspicuous. It was dark, though as he approached it started to make a small, faint noise and blue veins pulsed gently. He'd just reached out to it when he heard the door slide open again and a panicked voice say "You shouldn't be in here! Who are you?"

Nimble fingers curled back in and Loki turned to see one of Coulson's team. He watched as recognition seemed to take hold of her and she began to stutter, pressed against the now closed door. "I know you. You brought the aliens. In New York. You're-"

"Here at Agent Coulson's request," Loki said easily.

"But why would he call you?"

"Why not make use of potential knowledge?"

Simmons didn't have an answer for that, but even if she had she wouldn't have had time to give it. The door slid open behind her, nearly sending her falling through, but instead she felt one strong hand grab her by the lab coat and she found herself suddenly staring at Grant Ward's back.

Loki tilted his head at the new presence, barely acknowledging the fact that a gun was now trained on him. "Hello."

"Don't move," Ward growled dangerously.

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly at the gun and he thought of Coulson standing in a holding bay with a gun nearly as big as he was and this younger agent hardly looked threatening. Ward barely got a shot off before the dark haired prince was in his face, hand wrapped around the barrel of the gun and forcing it up to the ceiling. His arm only twinged where the bullet had ripped cloth and skin, leaving a small trail of blood from a superficial wound in its wake, but he gave silent credit that the mortal had been quick enough to get the shot off at all.

Ward waisted no time in bring his free hand up to take a swing, but Loki caught that as well before tossing the now bent and useless weapon to the floor and hauling the young agent up by his collar.

"Loki! What did I say about spooking my team? That goes for maiming them too!"

Green eyes rolled in agitation and the second prince if Asgard dropped the mortal human to the ground, watching as surprise took Ward's feet from under him and he sat down hard.

Coulson continued to glare. "What did I say about not touching anything?" he demanded and Loki only shrugged.

"He attacked. I'm not going to allow myself to be shot to save your new pets' nerves."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Grant demanded as he picked himself up off the floor.

"He might be able to help."

"I go to sleep for one hour in forty-eight and the entire plane goes crazy."

Coulson didn't dignify the snark with an answer, but instead turned to see Loki inching towards their cube again. "Any ideas?"

"We've seen an increase of cross-dimensional technology as of late," the Asgardian said almost absently as he returned to look closer at the cube that was still reacting in the same way it had when Simmons had entered. He bent down close to it, though not quite touching it.

"Meaning that people are traveling between dimensions and crossing over technologies?" Fitz asked from the door.

"Exactly. Though Midgard - your earth - may not have easy travel between realms, that does not mean that others do not. The Bifrost, magic, ships that can sail the waters that cascade into the abyss... Creatures of the Nine are creative, and when there is profit to be made... Well that is certainly not limited to one realm or the other. Your realm is on the map now, so to speak, and even your technologies are being wrapped together with others."

"You think this is some sort of combination technology?" Coulson asked, allowing the immortal the room to observe.

"It's certainly not Midgardian technology, from what I see." He stretched out thin hands, a gold light spreading from them and the purr sounded again. "Traces of Asgardian bindings to keep some form of energy inside - see the runes here? - though the casing itself seems to be made by the Dwarves."

"Dwarves?" Ward echoed skeptically. "Like Snow White? Seriously?"

Loki blinked. "What is Snow White?"

"Nothing," Coulson cut off any further comment from the other agent that might turn into an irritable match. "You were saying?"

"Regardless of where the outer shell came from, there is great power beneath it." His fingers touched the smooth surface and the lights that had been faint grew stronger and it was hot to the touch. His eyes widened slightly as he felt the heat increase and it was almost as if it were working its way around his hands and wrists, leaving him with a strange, drained feeling in its wake. He vaguely heard his name and pulled his hands away, realizing that he'd been caught in a daze. The cube pulsed angrily, power building.

"What did you do?" Ward demanded.

"I think I just inadvertently gave it the energy boost it needed. Not my intent. Everyone out!"

No further encouragement was needed as they all but flung themselves into the hallway, Loki using his magic to shield them as the burst of energy followed, throwing mortal and immortal alike from their feet.

TBC