Chapter 2

"When I look into the face

Of my enemy

I see my brother

I see my brother"

"Brother" The Brilliance

Jane had decided to visit her brother in law for the first time in the four years. Since she'd met Thor's dark and menacing younger brother, she actually made quite a point of avoiding him before, but after that strange night she found and insustainable need for answers only he would give her; according to Thor.

She'd seen Loki four times in the past four years and that had originally been quite enough for her. The first time was when she'd visited the healing chambers with Thor, directly after the Aether incident and Loki's injury on Svartalfheim, because her husband to be hadn't wanted to go alone. He didn't know if Loki would want to see him. It hadn't actually mattered what Loki had or hadn't wanted, he'd been feverish and delirious for much of the conversation.

It had been so uncomfortable that Jane didn't remember anything besides the coiling of Thor's shoulders as she tried to comfort him, the nervous looks coming from the healers everytime Loki would get to excited and wring that sickening rattle cough from his severed lungs, and the terrifying brightness of Loki's emerald green eyes. They hadn't looked that green when she'd met him for the first time. They been a murky blue-green. But in the healing chambers they'd been sharp and bright as polished emerald.

Second, he'd been at the wedding, though he'd refused to stand by Thor's side as his brother, opting instead to stand in the shadows and avoid Thor's gaze. He'd met hers once as she was swearing her eternal soul together with Thor's, and she had noticed he hadn't even worn his ceremonial garb. When that still startling emerald gaze met hers, she'd sent him a scathing glare. Hadn't Thor said something about ceremonial armor showing your relationship to your family? Was Loki blatantly throwing his family out? What better an event to do that publicly in than his brother's wedding? She hated him. She hated that he got to walk around free after trying to smash New York, after killing Thor in New Mexico, after stabbing Coulson to death. Even if she hated Coulson, she hated Loki more.

Third, a year later, she'd seen Loki at the breakfast table only once, when Thor had expressly begged him to come and eat with the family. Jane couldn't particularly blame him for avoiding those… she found that when Thor and Odin weren't yelling at each other they were mastering the art of passive aggression. Odin usually played the instigator by either vaguely insulting Loki or herself and then Thor not so vaguely would remind him that they were both, technically by law, his children and he would be a far better king if only he would recognize his children, subjects and allies as equals. Then a heated debate on politics would begin and end in an icy shut down by Odin who always left said family breakfasts early.

So, no, Jane couldn't particularly blame Thor's outcast little brother for avoiding these awkward family breakfast's… she could only imagine how much more pleasant they must have been when Frigga's seat wasn't empty.

The only meal Loki had been at Odin had railed at him loudly the entire time and this time Loki was the first to leave. He sat prim and proper and let Odin scold him for this or that and blatantly mock him for his shortcomings and failures while he ate his meal as if in complete ignorance that Odin was even speaking.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that attempts to reconcile with Midgard are still failing miserably! If it weren't for your brother we might have a full staged rebellion. After your pitiful little invasion they refuse to make treaties of any long period of time for fear that it will happen again. When I assured them that…" And on and on and on. Thor kept trying to speak up, but Odin had this growl yell thing that always made him shut up. All it did to loki was illicit an award worthy eye-roll.

It was probably the only time Jane had felt anything other that hate or fear around Loki. She almost respected him for that interaction. She wasn't Odin's number one fan by any means. Thor continued trying to intervene and defend his silent brother, but Odin wouldn't have it and he kept huffing and puffing till the house blew down.

"-and you're mother would be ashamed of you, you ungrateful Jotun-veslingr!" Brought an abrupt end to his tirade.

Her husband had sucked in a sharp breath beside her. Her brother-in-law had raised a knife thin eyebrow and lifted his head to stare at Odin who, to his own defense, had snapped his mouth shut finally and looked as though he might have realized he went to far with that one.

Jane, for one, didn't know what a jotun-veslingr was, but she was guessing by the three men's reactions it was highly insulting, and she felt how painful the barb of their mother must have been wielded against him. Ashamed of you.

"I know." Loki said after a few moments of letting Odin marinate in his own made silence. Then carefully, he set his spoon down, stacked his own plates and stood quietly. "Good day, Prince Thor, Lady Jane," He offered them each a formal, rather than familial title, and a slight bow. "Allfather." He deadpanned without a bow, before collecting his dishes and carrying them out.

Thor sucked in another painful breath, Odin looked like his jaw might drop to the floor and the server girl looked like she might be about ready to panic as she trailed out after the quiet prisoner prince. Jane did catch the meaning of this cultural implication. Loki had just expressed that he had more in common with the servants that washed the floors, dishes, and toilets than the royal family. Whether that was because he was better than them or worse was left up to the interpretation of those at the table.

He never ate with the family again.

And Jane really couldn't blame him.

Then the last time she'd seen Loki was that night that he'd watched Frigga for them. After that incident she was too curious to ignore him any longer. Loki was a puzzle waiting to be solved. A mystery… and a dangerous one at that. Even as a young mother Jane couldn't turn down the chance at finding something new… especially with a healthy dash of danger. And honestly, a part of her was wondering if she'd like her psychotic-quiet-sullen-brother-in-law better than her oud-angry-racist-specist-bigot-of-a-king/father-in-law. Apparently Loki had lost a child. What had Odin lost? ...Well...his wife… but he was a jerk-face before Frigga died. He called Jane a goat. She had no idea what Loki was like before...his personal...tragedy (whatever it was) hit… but if Thor's reaction to any of this was anything to go by… Loki was a vastly different person. She wanted to know who he had been… what he once was.. And maybe (just for curiosity sake) who he was now.

Seeing him four times in the past four years, while living under the same roof as him simply wasn't acceptable anymore.

So the morning after Thor and her had gone out, Jane decided to visit her brother-in-law.

Thor was going to be in meetings all day with the Council and king, and she had a day all to herself and Frigga. So after kissing Thor goodbye and chatting with Gertrude, the older servant woman- and so far Jane's only real friend in Asgard save her husband- she packed up baby and book and set out on her mission. She didn't realize until she'd left their hall that she didn't have the slightest clue where Loki's chambers were. She sighed and shifted the sleeping Frigga to her other arm. She should have asked Gertrude.

She wandered a bit through the main halls and a few of the side wings she'd already explored, hoping for some inspiration. After a half-hour she was desperately looking for someone to ask but was a bit embarrassed to ask where one of her family members (estranged as he was) lived. She should know this. They'd been related for three years now!

Suddenly a shadow caught her eye and she noticed the red-headed servant girl that had waited on Loki at the wedding and the failed family breakfast. The girl looked to be a teenager-Jane was still not quite sure how many centuries that was here on Asgard, but on Earth the girl couldn't be more than fifteen.

She was short and slim, wearing a straight cut, forest green dress to show her Master's colors, and had an auburn red pony-tail that curled in soft wisps to the middle of her back. Jane opened her mouth to call out but suddenly stopped when she noticed… the child had pointed ears. Pointed. Long and gracefully extending from her head like a fawn of some kind. Her facial structure wasn't quite aesir or human either. She had prominent cheekbones, a round pointed chin, and full curled lips that almost met her small pointed nose. Her eyes were a bit too far apart to be aesir and too large to be human.

"Tolkien was right…" She couldn't help but breathe, "Elves are real." And not the creepy, mask wearing one's that were trying to steal the Aether from her either. Pretty, bright eyed, princess looking, woodland elves.

The girl was walking away, unaware of the Crown Princess marvelling the existence of her species.

"Oh! Excuse me!" Jane started towards the servant to ask for directions, but as soon as she stepped closer the girl's grey-green eyes flew wide and the she bolted like a frightened doe down the hallway.

"No! Oh-! Wait!" Jane called after the child. Had she scared her? Why was the servant scared? Most of the servants she'd met here were like Gertrude, open and friendly. Why was this little girl scared? Had someone hurt her?

Jane's eyes narrowed. After five years of hearing nothing but the worst of Thor's brother it was easy to jump to conclusions, and- with questionable judgment, considering the child in her arms- she gave chase in hopes that the poor girl might lead her to her master who was no doubt tormenting her. Righteous indignation surged through her veins. She was going to protect that girl. She gave chase.

After five minute sprint with baby Frigga bouncing at chest, Jane's breath had all but abandoned her. The elf girl was fast, too, she darted around corners and slipped through doors like she was the wind itself. Jane wondered breathlessly if elves were faster than aesir.

Suddenly as she rounded a corner the girl darted into a chamber. It was the only chamber in the hallway and the hallway wasn't in one of the living quarter hallways that Thor had showed her, but Jane could tell it was a chamber by the intricate lattice work around the frame of the arched doorway.

The door slammed shut and Jane hobbled over to it, gasping and pushing her hair out of her red and sweaty face furiously as she raised an angry fist to pound on the door. It didn't occur to her that this might not even be Loki's chambers but, possibly, a complete stranger's, until after she'd knocked. She wrapped her arms more securely around her infant and felt an uneasiness crawl through her belly as she once again considered how poorly planned her actions were… but there was a young teenage girl who very well might be in danger and she couldn't just stand by if she suspected something.

The door swung open to reveal exactly whom she was looking for, in a state she was not prepared for. He was wearing a rough , green cotton tunic rolled up to the elbows and a pair of well worn black trousers. His hair was long and curly, pulled back from his face mostly by a ponytail holding the top half back. He was barefoot. She rarely even saw her husband this casual. It wasn't...princely…

"Jane?" Loki asked, in absolute confusion. "Is everything alright?" He looked behind her as though there might be a horde of dark elves at her heels. She hadn't even thought of coming to him in case of an emergency. She thought it interesting that he thought she might. He was a murdering monster, why would she come to him?

When she really thought about it though… she still didn't know many people that she trusted… certainly not any that could defend her… and Loki had saved her life twice on Svartlehiem. She tucked that bit of information away for later. If she deemed him safe, and not to be hurting the girl in any way, she might consider making Loki an escape plan for her and Frigga worst case scenario.

"Loki-" she started not at all sure how she was going to get the answers she wanted out of him. But then she noticed a bit of movement behind him. Loki was fairly broad shouldered, certainly more slender than Thor, but definitely broad enough to have hidden a person behind him. Specifically a very small, red-headed person.

Loki noticed her stare and shifted a bit to the side so she could she the servant girl, who fearfully ducked her head and hid behind a curtain of curls. Small, paper white hands clutched at Loki's shirttail as she hid behind her master.

Loki frowned,

"Tevashala camu arús? " He murmured to the servant girl in another language.

The teenager nodded and tried to shuffle further behind him again. He didn't seem to mind her clinging to his shirt hem. He didn't even really seem to notice.

"Weh", The girl bit her lip and nodded.

"Were you chasing her?" Loki turned and frowned frowned at Jane.

She gaped at him like a fish out of water, "Wha- why- I- I w-was worried… she was scared and I- I was worried about her... "

"So you chased her?" Loki raised that sharp eyebrow she'd only seen used on Thor and Odin. She felt a bit sheepish now.

"I…" She sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," She promised the girl. A large pair for grey-green eyes peered out at her, still behind the safety of her master's shoulder.

"Resta us meh gurenti fara, jente." Loki murmured wrapping an arm around the girl and gently pulling her next to him so she could see Jane. The girl shrunk into his side.

Jane was struck by how comfortable the servant was with her master… more than that, how comfortable Loki seemed with playing protector for the girl. She hadn't seen behavior like this between the classes in Asgard… ever.

"Jane, this is Alannah." Loki explained, voice still soft and gaze still trained on the frightened servant girl. "You'll have to forgive her, she was simply startled by your… concern." The bright emerald gaze snapped to hers and she could see the slight reproach there in the already asked, Why were you chasing her in the first place?

Jane felt like a child herself as she said, "Hi."

She got a silent and shaky curtsy as a response.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before the red-headed servant looked up at her master with a pleading expression and Loki gave an amused smile before nodding and letting the child escape under his arm and into the safety of the room that he guarded the entrance of.

"Well," Loki cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Thank you for uh… checking on her... "

"I- uh, yeah, no problem…"Jane gave an uncomfortable laugh and nervously began to rub Frigga's back. Why had she thought this was a good idea? Why did she have this idea in the first place? "I- uh- I was actually looking for you…" she cleared her own throat awkwardly.

Loki looked at her dubiously, "Because…?" he asked.

"Constellations." She blurted, pushing her book into his hands. He accepted it in surprise and still looked at her uncomprehending. I'm trying to find a way to spend time with you, you dolt. She thought, but she said, "You, uh, you mentioned they were, uh, good, and I was wondering if..well, Thor said you know things, like, I mean, lot's of things, and well, I'm kind of branching out on my own here, since all my colleagues are you know, on a different planet and I was just wondering, if you had any advice or insight or uh...stuff.." She ended lamely.

Loki was looking at her like she'd grown a third head.

"Um...sure.."He finally said a half-a-beat to late. "I suppose… uh, I suppose you'd like to come in." He looked over his shoulder with a sudden look of panic.

"Uh, I can come back later," She started to back pedal quickly.

"No, no!" Loki opened the door all the way and gestured to her to come in, "I'm sorry, that was rude, it's just that… um, I don't get… visitors… Alannah, fruise! Irten ascha rusheh tyru!" He called into the chamber.

Jane gave a nervous smile and entered the lion's den.