Right as dawn approached Asgard, Orthani was up. She and Thor had a job to do whether they liked it or not.

"Go on, Thor, tell us another one of your stories!" she heard the voice of Fandral echo through the golden halls. "These tales of Midgard are always fascinating!"

Oh great. He hasn't been pardoned for a full day and he's already parading about spouting on about the war. Thor, you never cease to disappoint me she thought as she rolled her eyes. She followed Thor's thunderous voice through the halls, her cloak silently billowing behind her. She reached a door to the common room where Thor was talking with Sif and her warriors three. She heard laughter roar out as Thor reenacted a scene from his adventures.

Orthani opened the door quietly and snuck in, closing it softly behind her. The room was lit up by the fire pit burning in the center, which cast everyone in an odd orange glow. She just watched as Thor wildly waved his arms about, pretending to smash things with his precious Mjolnir as he told his tale.

"…and then I slammed the hammer down on the giant beast's outer shell, bringing forth a shower of lightning upon him and brought the monster down!" Thor overemphasized his actions and words. "And this great beast, which I hath fought, crashed into a building with such force that it reduced the walls to rocks; and the green beast which fought at my side in anger that I had taken his kill suddenly punched me through the wall that was still standing!"

Sif and her warriors roared in laughter at the wild acting Thor was putting on for them. Orthani couldn't tell if they had stayed up all night drinking or if they had just started their celebrations early.

Since she wasn't trying to stay hidden, Thor caught sight of her standing at the door. "Ah, Orthani!" Everyone's head turned to her, all eyes studying the one who had interrupted their drinking and merrymaking. "Welcome! Come and join us in our revel; sit, drink, laugh with us!" Thor extended his hand towards a couch to his right.

"We have a job to do, Thor," she said quietly. "S.H.I.E.L.D will need us there before the week is out."

The smile faded from Thor's face ever so slightly. "Must we go now? We just returned," Thor said, tossing his half empty flagon of whatever alcoholic beverage he had into the fire pit, causing it to shatter and the fire to suddenly blaze for a few seconds.

Orthani closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "Thor, we must. It is for Loki's own good-"

"Oh, going on about your dear Loki again, are we," Fandral scoffed as he picked up his own flagon from where it sat on the armrest of the lounge. "He is where he should be: Locked away from the rest of society. If only he was to stay there, then we wouldn't ever have another problem-"

"Watch what you say around me," she said lowly. "Especially when it comes to Loki. That will only end badly for you."

She heard him laugh as he shrugged off her words. "Leave it to good Prince Loki to bring us a stray-"

"Watch your tongue, Fandral," Thor said in a polite warning. "There is no need for such jests."

"My apologies."

"Thor, please. We must go-" Orthani tried to convince Thor to follow her.

"Give it time, Orthani," Thor interrupted her. "Traveling with the Tesseract on a regular basis could cause holes to rip through the universe. We shall wait until the week is out before returning to Midgard. Director Fury will understand, I assure you."

She remained silent, not really knowing if he was stalling or being sincere.

"The bifrost should be repaired before the year is out. Until then, using the Tesseract will only be for limited use."

Of course. And so I shall waste time away while something else tries to take over. Alright. You win.

She growled and swirled around to open the door. She yanked it open and stormed out in annoyance.

"Such a strange woman," Sif pondered out loud as she watched the door swing close.

"She has been through a lot," Thor said quietly. "I don't think anyone truly knows what she's gone through besides Loki. Maybe the Hawk as well, but even so."

"But Thor, who in their right minds would side with Loki?" Sif replied.

"He is my brother. Watch how you speak."

"Stop being so naïve, Thor. You know this to be true," Sif raised her brow at him.

Thor looked around him at his fellow warriors. "She is good for him, regardless of what anyone else thinks. We cannot dismiss her."

The warriors looked around at each other. They wanted nothing to do with her, really. They wanted nothing that had to do with the God of Mischief whatsoever, including the stray he had managed to bring home.

Thor looked at the faces of everyone around him. They weren't objecting him, so he took it as approval. "She is a friend. Do try and treat her as such," he said as he walked towards the door and exited, heading after Orthani and closing the door behind him.

"Orthani!" he called out after her, making her halt half way down the hallway.

"What? Come to chastise me once more?" she said, not even bothering to turn around to face him.

"No," Thor said as he briskly walked over to her. "I apologize for their behavior. They aren't too keen to newcomers joining them," he explained as he approached her.

"I don't blame them. I did, after all, storm in and slaughter ten of the guards. Everyone has a right to be wary of me," she said, still not turning to face him.

"Come with me. I will take you to Sylvie, the one who taught Loki everything he knows," Thor walked past her and headed down the hall.

"Sorcery?" she asked simply as she suddenly jogged after him, having to walk quickly to keep up with his giant steps.

"Yes. Word of caution: she is worse than Loki is."

Great. That is just what I needed.

"Learn all you can in the next few days. We will leave for Earth on the fortnight, and I do not know when we will return-"

"A fortnight? Fourteen days! Are you mad?" she exclaimed in frustration.

"Even if we left tonight, Nick Fury would not be able to reassemble the team until then, seeing as though all have scattered. It is best we stay here for now. You must learn all that you can. I'm sure it will be of use to you in the future." Thor led her through a giant doorway and into a giant, spacious library filled with rows upon rows of towering golden bookshelves sitting underneath a magnificent domed roof.

"Sylvie!" Thor called out, and his voice echoed throughout the hall. "Where is she. She is always here, normally…" he muttered as he looked around wildly for this so called 'Sylvie.' "Sylvie! I demand you answer me!" he called out again.

"Calm yourself, Thor," a voice floated from in between the rows of bookshelves surrounding the center circle they were standing in. "What is it you need? I am a very busy woman, Thor."

"I have brought to you a student. Heimdall believes she is to excel in the arts of sorcery. Will you teach her?" Thor got to the point quickly as a blond haired woman in rather skimpy Asgardian clothes approaching them with a book in her hand.

She gave a menacing chuckle. "And what makes you believe that I am to be willing to teach her, hm?" she spoke coyly.

"I have denounced your exile for you, have I not?" Thor spoke firmly. "I have allowed you back into our kingdom. You are bound by law to do as I request, are you not?"

She gave him a scowl and tossed the book she was holding on the large round reception-like desk in the center of the room. She smoothed out her green attire and brushed the blond hair out of her face. Her deep green eyes rolled in annoyance. "Must you always be so crude?"

"Sylvie."

"Thor."

She had a stare down with the God of Thunder. "Will you teach her or no?"

Sylvie looked past Thor to Orthani, who was standing there awkwardly. "You want me to teach this whelp?" she looked at Orthani apathetically.

"She has a darkness she needs to learn to control. You can teach her so," Thor grabbed Orthani by the shoulder and pushed her forward towards this strange woman.

"I'm more curious as to what happens to her if I don't," she said fluidly as her nails clicked against the wood of the front desk.

"Then do it for Loki's sake."

Sylvie's eyes perked up at the name. "Loki, you say?" she mulled over the name of her former magic protégé. Her eyes glanced over Orthani several times, studying her like she would book. "Ah, so Loki's managed to find himself a pet, has he?" she droned.

Orthani remained silent. She wasn't going to let this woman get under her skin. Not yet, anyways.

"Ah yes, she's got a strong aura about her. Just as Loki did, except this is different," she mused as she started walking around her, inspecting Orthani very closely. "While her magic might be offset to his, what makes her strong is her undeniable fury to kill. Interesting…" Her circling made Orthani nervous.

"So will you teach her?" Thor asked her again.

Sylvie continued her vulture-like circling around Orthani in silence before answering him. "Fine. I shall teach her. Not because you ask me this favor, but rather for my former student. Come; you shall be my apprentice," Sylvie grabbed Orthani's wrist and started dragging her towards the door.

Why must these people be so touchy, Orthani grumbled to herself as she was dragged back down the very hall she had come from. This can only go so well.

She had one more days to suffer through; one. Then she would be able to return back to Earth to possibly help Nick and his team of Avengers solve the puzzle Loki had left for her.

She had gone through tough magic training, and Sylvie wasn't really the most patient of teachers, which only frustrated her more. Though she had discovered, with Sylvie's guidance of course, that fire was her strength; and it made sense as well. With fire, you can have light to shine through the thickest darkness imaginable. With its absence, her darkness reined. Her balance between the two was fire. She wasn't able to do much at the moment, just a few quick tricks and easy spells, including the one her darker half had used in the raid of Asgard, which was extinguishing and reigniting flames. Most of what she had been taught was fire, simply because she was able to pick it up quicker than anything else. All sorcerers had a strength such as this: they would have a stronger area of magic than others, and hers happened to be with fire and flames.

Oh Loki will have a ball with this was her thought when she and Sylvie had made this discovery. Not only was she able to pick up on fire magic quickest; but fire also kept her head on straight, and it was the one thing that stopped her from going absolutely crazy during her stay in Asgard. With the vicious hazing from Sif and her warriors, being secluded into almost absolute solitude away from the others by choice, it was enough to keep her walking on the thin line of sanity. Thor, however, was the one who pulled her out when he, Sif, and her warriors went out hunting or adventuring as they always would. He had fought alongside her in war and had therefore gained his respect and friendship in turn. At least he was friendly.

At this point, she had shoved her nose in the library, just searching and skimming through books to see if she could find something to give her a lead on what this entire new threat was about. Loki wouldn't help her, probably because the second he spoke he would be hunted down like an animal.

Tesseract, Tesseract…Oh come on, they must have something… she thought as she flipped through another book she had pulled from the shelves.

As every other source of information, it only held what she already knew, and it was nothing that could help her. She growled and slammed the book shut. That's it. Loki, you're getting a visit from me.

She slipped through the hall of the library silently as she headed up to her chambers, the leather tails of the overcoat to her armor swishing ever so softly at her ankles. She reached the chambers and quickly reached for her cloak hanging over a hook on her closet door. Night had fallen a few hours ago, which would make this entire trip easier. She pulled the hood over her head and then silently walked out of her room after grabbing a candlestick sitting on her bedside table.

She noiselessly sauntered through the halls towards the passageway that led to the prison that Loki was being kept in. She was like a shadow, barely even visible had it not been for the orange flame lighting her path.

When she reached the spiral staircase leading down to the prison, she quietly shielded the flame with her hand and then blew on it gently as if she was trying to extinguish it, though it was her new little trick: instead of going out, the orange flame suddenly burned black with shades of grey. She silently slipped down the stairs, her heels not even making a sound against the stone. She paused at the bottom and peeked around the corner, checking for any guards before she bolted inside to raise the alarm.

Two guards. Brilliant she thought as she ducked back behind the stone wall. She crouched down to the ground and tried to think. After she had concocted a plan, she glanced back around the wall keeping her hidden.

Please let this work she silently hoped as she opened her hand and sent a quick burst of fire towards the guards to catch their attention. The second she heard them scuffling towards her, she bolted back up the steps, through the door, and then jumped on the wall directly above the door on a small ledge to hide. She held onto the framework of one of the golden arches molded to the wall and blew out the candle. She held her breath as she watched the guards erupt from the door directly below her and look down the two hallways, one straight ahead and the other heading off to her right.

"You go that way, I'll go this way," one of the guards ordered, and they split to search for whatever had caused the commotion.

When they got far enough away, she jumped down and landed without making a sound and darted back down the spiral staircase, the train of her cloak twisting and contorting in the wind as if it lived and breathed on its own. She held the candle up to her lips and exhaled, and the black and grey flame suddenly sparked back to life. She again peeked around the corner before she darted inside, just to be safe. She made a beeline for Loki's cell and then crouched to her knees when she reached it.

"Loki!" she hissed quietly, which made his head snap towards her to see who had just called his name. He gave her a confused look and then rushed to the bars.

"What the hell do you think you're doing down here?" he hissed back.

"I need answers. You can't just tell me to do something without giving me somewhere to start," she whispered as he crouched down in front of her on the other side of the bars.

"Are you aware you can't actually be down here," he said back, trying to hide a faint smile that crossed his lips.

"Yeah. That's why I've distracted the guards, genius. I believe I have two minutes before they start heading back. Which means you have two minutes to talk," she said, looking over her shoulder towards the staircase.

"Are you mad, woman?" Loki gave her a shocked look.

"Just a little," she flashed him a smirk. "Now talk. Give me something to go on. Who is behind all of this?" she questioned quickly. She didn't have much time.

He grinned. "I cannot say. He will be here faster than light if I even so much as give you anything on him," Loki whispered.

Her smirk fell. "Dammit, Loki. Please? I can't do this without something to start with," she spoke in a hushed sense of alarm.

"How about the Tesseract? That seems like a damn good place to start," he snarked at her, speaking as if she was incompetent or something along those lines.

"I have. There's nothing. I'm not stupid, so don't treat me as such, you wretch," she softly snarled at the way he spoke to her.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Apologies-"

"Don't even bother. Just hurry up and give me something," she cut him off, trying to hurry him along.

He shrugged. "I cannot give you anything. I do not know what to say."

She growled and bolted away from the bared door.

"Don't!" Loki called her back in a whisper. "Wait, don't you leave yet," he wrapped his fingers around the bars as he watched her walk towards the spiral stair case.

"What, Loki! If I wait any longer-"

"Look to the Tesseract. She will give you answers; more than books or scrolls can ever give you!" he cut her off, knowing time was of the essence.

"That doesn't help me at all!" she hissed back, turning on heels to head back to him.

"Will you get out of here before you get caught? My father will have your head!" he hissed dangerously at her when she turned around to face him.

The clanking of the guards armor started clamoring back down the stairs and Orthani froze, as did Loki.

For someone who is supposed to be stealthy, she's damn terrible at it he slapped his forehead and shook his head from side to side. Great job, Orthani. You deserve a medal of honor for that one, dear.

When he opened his eyes and looked back, she had vanished. He looked around as subtly as he could while the two guards made it back down and headed back to their posts. Loki furrowed his brow.

"What are you looking at?" a guard spat at him as he walked by.

"Obviously not you," Loki said, looking up at the guard as if he was stupid or blatantly dumb.

The guard gruffly growled and walked past him, continuing his rounds. Loki looked towards the doorway and watched as a faded outline of a person rushed up the stairs without making a noise. A grin forced its way across his lips and he sat back in his cell. The nerve of that woman, my god. He shook his head in disbelief and got up, retreating back into the depths of his cell. I have a feeling she might land herself down here on her own. Sneaky little harlot.

"Nat, Clint! Come on, all of you, I need you in here!" Nick Fury called out to the round table of his Avengers to get them into the room where Bruce and Tony had worked to pinpoint the Tesseract not but a few months ago. The room had long since been repaired from Clint's little stunt and the Hulk's rampage, thankfully. He was already standing with the Captain and Bruce, and he had just called in the rest of them.

"What's up, boss? Clint asked as he and the rest of the crew filed into the room at Fury's command.

"We've got two more of our own on their way here, but we've got to get going on this ordeal with the Tesseract once it gets back here," Nick spoke to his group while leaning over the white table with touch screen computer controls.

"Oh, so Thor's coming back?" Clint asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Oh wait…that's right, only Tony knows she's alive, shit, Nick remembered. "Don't jump the gun here. Focus. We need to get started on finding out what Loki had behind him in that portal. If it's something bigger, then we're gonna be in trouble."

"Sir! We've got something up on the flight deck!" Agent Hill suddenly darted into the room. Nick let a smirk curl on his lips and he nodded, suddenly dashing out to follow Hill to the flight deck.

Clint and the Captain exchanged confused looks. The Captain darted out to follow Nick, and Clint followed in haste, bringing Natasha and Bruce to follow him. They all dashed out after him, wondering what the commotion was about. They watched as a bright blue aura swirled around in the center of the S.H.I.E.L.D symbol up on the second layer of the flight deck. The aura swirled into the form of two silhouettes and then settled, revealing Thor and a woman in Asgardian style armor and leather grasping ahold of the device the Tesseract was cradled in. As their bodies were solidified right before their eyes, Nick Fury went and greeted the two warmly.

Natasha looked as though she had seen a ghost. She quickly grabbed ahold of Clint's bicep tightly as she stared at the two with alarmed eyes. "Clint, it's her!" she gasped, tugging at his arm.

"Thor! Ghost! Good to see you guys made it out alive!" Nick said with open arms as he approached the two.

Orthani took the device from Thor's hands and unhooked the latch, opening the glass that surrounded the Cosmic Cube. She reached in and took it out with leather gloved hands. "Nice to see you too, Director," she said, haphazardly handing Thor the container and studying the cube intently as she approached Nick. "Where's Stark? Does he have the briefcase?" she asked, not removing her gaze from the glowing object.

Nick turned around to see Natasha, Clint, Captain, and Bruce all staring in confusion at the scene, but no Tony. "He's still inside then, I guess. Come on. We've got a lot of work to do here."

Nick led the two Asgardians over towards the group and ordered everyone back inside.

Natasha eyed Orthani, perplexed at what was going on. Orthani glanced up just quick enough to catch her and the rest of the confused looks, which pulled her from her thoughts. "It's a long and complicated story. I'll inform you all later," she spoke.

Clint's jaw dropped when she spoke. She had an accent? Since when did she…what?

A/N: Ok, I'm back to replying to reviews. WE'RE ALL GOOD.

Sherlock's-Avenging-THG: IS THIS SOON ENOUGH FOR YOU? xD I was literally going to post this and saw I had another review I didn't have before and I STOPPED TO SAY HELLO! Kinda funny how that worked out.

Goldbee: =D Thank you so much! x)

Guest: YES I AM A WHOVIAN! And proud to be one at that. =D

Cat-Natty: Aaaah, I know right? It's a perfect fit. x)

Captain Cynthai: Haha, yeah. She won't be too Sue. I'd have to kill myself. Or kill her. Again. Though that won't happen. Ever.

Berianireth of Lorien: -insert terrible joke about how my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.-

Mistress Serah: There's no way Loki can be in a normal relationship. It's impossible, therefore it makes it an odd should go by rather quickly. Hopefully. I wouldn't put you through another 6 or 7 chapter string without any Loki/Orthani stuff going on. I don't think I can suffer through that again. x.x

Wulfluver22: YES! Someone likes the banter between them. x)

Guest: Haha, I try and update as much as possible! It's tough now, because I don't have a plot that isn't mine to follow, but that's what makes it all the more fun. x)

The Red Dove: Don't worry, my sanity's long gone as well. x.x