Laufey had written up the documents once he and Loki had begun speaking of treaties, as it turned out. Helbindi fought it as hard and as loudly as he could, accusing Loki of having planned the murder of their father to ensure Jotunheim's submission to Asgard, citing that he had no love for his own country. A wolf in sheep's clothing, he called him. No one listened when Loki insisted it was Laufey's idea, and when the legality of the documents held up in the Jotun's own court Helbindi stormed from the castle, taking some three hundred men with him.

Without them, and with their substantial losses from the Other's attack, they were numbered at some 1500. Not even a full quarter of what was expected. Natasha didn't have to be a mathematician for the numbers to put her immediately on edge. What was more, their week was slowly coming to an end, and she knew the moment that Helbindi smelled even the quickest hint of weakness or dissention among the ranks he would reclaim the city, and the Norns only knew what would happen to the treaty after that. If anything, it would give him more of a reason to back off of the treaty and align himself with Thanos and the mad Titan's desires, no matter if his own life or those of his men's were at risk. He wasn't a man who was thinking clearly, too grief stricken and filled with anger to consider the pros and cons of each situation, and so as he disappeared over the blue horizon late that evening Natasha felt her heart sink down into the depths with him. What were they going to do now?

As if it wasn't bad enough, the stone in her pocket began to burn, Thor calling to her. Hopefully it was just to see how things were going, Natasha having explained to him the precarious situation that they'd been put into, and she excused herself from Loki's side to step towards the scrying station in the room adjoining the conference hall. In an effort to ensure they never went without communicating again, Loki had taught her the redimentary basics of scrying, had taught her just enough of the magic behind it that she would be able to do it, and so when she called to Thor the image was a little fuzzy. Not fuzzy enough to hide the fact that he was obviously worried about something, his brow pulled tight down in worry as he gazed up at her.

"My darling. I'm so glad to see that you are well. Aren't you?" He asked, leaning in a little closer.

"Yes, fine," she promised him with a smile. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to tell how nervous she was about the next day. "How are things there? What is wrong?" Her heart jumped at the thought that more could be going wrong, though she supposed if they had gotten attacked on Jotunheim it would only make sense that Asgard would suffer blows as well. That Thor was still alive was a boon, but still.

"I was wondering when to expect you back tomorrow. I have missed you. Greatly," he admitted, yet the lines on his face remained as hard as ever, a reminder that there was something else that was bothering him. It wasn't simply the distance that was making him nervous. Her eyes flickered between his, trying to discern what it possibly could be, but without the clear picture she couldn't make a thing out. The annoyance made her shift from foot to foot, gnawing on her bottom lip.

"I don't know, Thor. With Laufey gone Helbindi expects us to hold to the time limit that we placed before. Once we're gone, well, he'll try and take the city back I'm willing to bet anything. But if we don't leave in the alotted time he'll call us liars for giving him the time limit provided and say that we only ever intended to get Laufey killed." She and Loki had talked that bit out before, Loki worried about what his younger brother would do when the time came. What could they do when both actions were equally damming? What possible road could they take that wouldn't end in disaster?

"I need you here," Thor insisted, and his voice was edged with something that only made her more nervous. What in the nine realms wasn't he telling her?

"Just me?" She asked, and here she kept her voice quiet. If Loki overheard Thor asking for simply her, without caring whether he came back along on the journey, it would only end in an uproar between the two brothers. Not for the first time did she wonder how the hell had she happened to get into a situation, but her thoughts were cut short as he nodded his head, unwilling to give words to it. Her fears were shared, then, and Thor had always been far more clever and intuitive than those around him had given him credit for. Particularly Loki.

"What happened, Thor? Tell me everything," she insisted, hushing her voice and leaning over the shallow pool, watching as his shoulders slumped and his head hung forward. It looked almost as though she could touch his braids from where he was standing, and she longed to reach out and run her fingers through his soft cornsilk hair, but it would only disturb the image and destroy the tenuous connection. She contented herself instead with clutching the side of the basin.

"I have had an offer of peace and treaty from Alfheim," he admitted, though he couldn't have looked any less pleased about it. Natasha felt her heart plummet, her mouth going cotton dry as she stared down at him. A hundred and one scenarios passed through her head at the same time, each of them more terrible than the last.

"What'd they want?" She asked, managing to just barely keep her voice level.

"A marriage treaty between myself and the princess. As I am still unmarried and the king of Asgard they thought it would be the best way to align the strength of their warriors with our own, and solidify the ties between our two countries." She watched him swallow thickly and felt her own chest ache at the idea. Thor, married to another woman, sharing her bed when she beckoned? Doting upon someone else, kissing another woman's lips and whispering the same sweet promises in her ears as he had her own? Jealousy, hard and merciless, rose in her gut and choked whatever intelligent sentiment she might've come up with, ignored that the treaty was an easy, and a foolproof one that could help them to win this damn war, and shook her head.

"No."

"I haven't given an answer yet," Thor admitted. "I do not wish to, though Frigga is advising me to take it into dutiful, diligent consideration-."

"I don't want to lose you."

It was petty, a cheap shot taken in a moment of honest vulnerability. She loved Loki, adored her husband, but she loved Thor the same. The situation between them had been a precarious one but they'd worked it out, Natasha unwilling to figure any other compromise until the time had come, and there it was, presenting itself with bared teeth and death in its eyes. If they didn't accept the proposal then it was likely Alfheim would not help them, but if she did-. If they did, and Thor agreed, then she would lose him.

And if she didn't then they may all die either way, and there was no guarantees for what the afterlife held. Hela held no promises, played by what rules she decided to create. It was brutal, it was bloody, and it was absolute, without exceptions. So what was she to do?

The moment the words that had left her lips registered she wished she could take them back, swallowing thickly as she blinked quickly. That was stupid. A knee-jerk decision would only bring them more pain and more suffering, and if she was responsible for the destruction and death of them all then she would never allow her spirit to rest. Valhalla or not, she'd consign herself to the lowest pits of Helheim, to whatever Hela's mind could think of without question. It would be no more than she deserved, and she babbled quickly as she tried to force herself to think of something else to say, some promise that she could make to Thor.

"I didn't mean-Thor. Don't listen to me, it's been a rough day," she said, and she hated making excuses but if it got him to listen to reason then she would do it. "You need to do this. To follow through. Have you met the princess?" She asked as she wiped her face free of the anguish of the past with little difficulty. Hadn't she pulled off worse than this in the past? She'd convinced Erik that she was trustworthy, convinced Emma that Thor and Loki were worth saving, talked Odin and Loki both into allowing her to leave to track Thor and the Berserkers down. If she could do that then certainly she could pull herself together for a few minutes and salvage this.

"Natasha-."

"No, Thor. Listen to me-I need you to listen." She said, taking a deep breath. "We need them. If we're going to win, if we're going to do anything, then we need them." She said, and to her amazement she sounded as though she believed it. Not hard, she suppoed, when it was the truth, even if it was that harsh. "So that means that marrying her is a must. Is she comely?"

"Natasha-."

"Thor. Answer my question, please. I can always tell when you lie." She said, trying for a smile and knowing it turned into a grimace. Damn.

"Yes. She is." He admitted, and she watched his shoulders deflate. The truth, then. She knew it would hurt him to admit it, and her own ego took a slight blow to it. Perhaps she'd gotten too caught up in their charade, forgotten how precarious it all was and how easily it could tumble on down. She was an idiot for thinking so, she knew, and yet . . . and yet.

Her laugh sounded all the more forced courtesy of the ache in her heart. "Well then what are you complaining about? I'm certain she'll produce you with sons." She swallowed thick, doing all she could not to choke on the words. "And you'll grow to love her, Thor. And she you. You're far too easy to love, you great fool."

She watched a fat tear roll down his cheek before he could pull himself together and longed to reach out and wipe it away, kiss it away, make him forget why he was so sad however she could. She watched as he bit his bottom lip and squared his jaw and shoulders. He'd come such a long way since she'd first met him, no longer the playful boy on the cusp of manhood, obsessed with playing war. His shoulders ached with the burden of the kingdom and she wondered how long it would take before Loki's mirrored the slump, till hers did the same. She could already feel it on her back and wished more than anything to not.

"You will be fine. I'll never be far away, Thor. I promise." She said, and it was her turn to blink rapidly. "But I don't know how long we'll be here. I will do what I can to come back soon-Thor, I promise." Norns. Her voice broke on the last word and she cleared her throat and dipped her head down so he wouldn't see anything. She ached for him, to feel his arms wrap around her and hear his voice promise her that things would turn out well rather than everything going the opposite direction. How did it all come to this? "But I must attend to Loki now. As soon as I know more I will scry with you again and fill you in on what's happening. There's little more that we can do other than wait to see how it all turns out." And she hated every moment of it. "But agree to the treaty. I want you to."

"No you don't." He said, his voice cooled steel and his eyes just as hard.

"Thor. Do it. I can't-." She choked again, and found herself unable to reign her emotions back in. She shook her head, clearing her throat as hot, fat tears pushed past her eyes and dripped into the pool. The image disrupted, Thor's voice began to crack and waver, his promises that he loved her broken up as his image began to fade and disappear. Just as well, she supposed, and her fingertips released the edge of the basin as she collapsed to her knees, wrapped her arms around her sides, and cried until the ache in her chest dulled and the sun that had once been high in the sky was already starting its descent to the horizon.

A/N: Short chapter, yes, but I hope it was very much worth it. Thank you all so much for reading!