Thor couldn't deny that seeing his brother in his rightful role as counsellor to the All-Father had stirred a painful hope in his chest. He knew that Loki was playing along because he had nothing better to do, no other outlet for his brilliance. However much Thor liked to ignore it, he did realize that his brother was brilliant. It wasn't a trait he'd appreciated until he met Jane. Still, was it not a cause for hope, this truth that Loki could do nothing but return to the life he knew? Surely he could do none else. Surely in time, things would return to how they had been.

His brother was not his only concern. Thor had been having strange dreams lately, dreams about Jane, seeing her at the end of a long tunnel getting further and further away, and he thanked the stars he had no gift of foresight as his father did. What he did have was a heart full of longing to be with Jane, to be with the woman he loved. A woman who would now live as long as he would, never to be torn from him by her failing mortal flesh. A grin split his face. His dreams were merely a reflection of fears he no longer had to face. It would take time for peace to settle in his heart. Time, and time spent with Jane. Which is why he was bringing her a special lunch for the two of them to share. Easily balancing the tray on one hand, Thor reached her door and pushed it open. He stopped in his tracks. There, sitting at the table, were Loki and Jane. And they were holding hands. Loki looked up at him.

Things would never be as they had been. His brother was a traitor, a criminal, a deceiver, and a thief. Thor put the tray down and flew across the room, ready to do anything to wipe that maddeningly calm look off his brother's face.

"You may want to reconsider this course of action, brother," Loki warned.

"Thor, this is the only-"

Thor's fist went through the space where Loki had been only a second earlier, and then a blast of aether came crashing into his side. Thor let our a surprised yell. Jane screamed. Thor looked up from the ground, trying to see through the arcs of energy in the room, only to see Loki materialize next to her and take both her hands in his. Everything went still, and Jane sat back in her seat, panting. She looked up at Loki. Loki frowned and looked at Thor. "Really, brother, would it kill you to stop and ask a few questions before you charge in like a bull defending its cow?"

"Don't compare me to a cow," Jane said. Already the damage and pain of the aether were being healed by Loki's magic, a skill he was gradually becoming expert at. She sat up straighter, tired, but unharmed.

Thor looked at her, then looked at Loki. Looked at their hands.

"Thor," Jane sighed, "if there was another way one of us would have thought of it."

Thor nodded slowly.

Loki could hardly believe his luck. Not only was he studying a very interesting phenomenon, challenging his knowledge and experience, spending time with a beautiful female, but he was making Thor jealous in the process. While doing absolutely nothing wrong. This almost made up for the grief and uncertainty his time advising the warriors had caused him. A grin split his face.

Thor approached with slow, deliberate steps, and pointed a finger at Loki. "If you ever even think of harming her, I'll-"

"Kill me," Loki finished dryly.

"This is no time for your games, Loki."

"It really is. You're being ridiculous. A more intelligent man would be grateful his woman was safe."

Thor furrowed his brow in concern and knelt down before Jane. Loki moved to the side, only holding on to one of her hands, and stared nonchalantly in the other direction, anticipating a touching reunion between his brother and the pet. He could still see them out of the corner of his eye. Thor had his hands cupping Jane's face, and leaned in to tenderly kiss her forehead. Jane beamed a smile up at him. Loki frowned.

"I brought you a special lunch, delivered from far away," Thor was saying. Loki heard the sound of metal being placed on the table, and looked over again. Thor removed the cover. On the tray were four rectangular pastries covered in colour, a couple bowls of scrambled eggs, and four large, triangular slabs of bread product with some sort of meat and cheese on top.

Loki's brow shot up. "That is the poorest excuse for a romantic meal I have ever beheld," he stated.

Jane covered her mouth with her free hand while Thor scowled up at Loki.

"You shut your mouth. I did this for Jane, not you."

"Thank the stars for that." Loki stepped closer and stared down at the tray, feeling amusement rise up despite himself. It looked and smelled horrible. It was fairly obvious the human was struggling to hide her reaction. So like Thor to make a blunder like this. Loki started to laugh.

Jane pressed her hand hard against her mouth. Thor looked at Jane, hurt visible in his eyes. She bit her cheek and schooled her expression. With her free hand, she touched Thor's arm. "Pop tarts, eggs, and pizza. You really did have to go far to get this for me, didn't you?"

Relieved, Thor grinned. "I found your friend Darcy and asked her what you used to eat and where to find it. She assisted me."

Jane groaned inwardly. Thanks, Darcy. Not at all embarrassing.

"Lady Jane, perhaps we have all been in error and your condition is not due to your being host to an ancient power of destruction, but merely your atrocious eating habits."

Jane looked up and sighed. There was no winning in this situation. In fact, she was pretty sure there was nothing worse than being humiliated in front of the unbearably witty Loki while being forced to hold his hand in front of the hopelessly romantic Thor. This was bad.

Thor sat down on one side of Jane, while Loki was forced to sit on the other. Thor glanced at him. "Surely there is a way for you to leave," he said darkly. "And stop touching her."

"I assure you, brother, nobody wishes that more than I. Unfortunately the only way would be for me to fill her with my magic again." Loki met Thor's eyes meaningfully. "It could have repercussions. I feel it prudent to avoid she has a bit more control. I will only perform the task when I leave at the end of the day, until she gains more control over it herself."

Thor's eyes widened. "But, surely...I mean..." Then he stopped. "Fine. I can understand that."

"What repercussions?" Jane asked. Thor shook his head.

"You do not need to know."

"That probably means I really do," Jane replied, looking back and forth between them. But they refused to respond. "Can't you just put a shield really close all around me so the aether can't escape?"

Loki met her eyes. "It would kill you," he said.

She stared back. "Oh."

So they ate, and Thor talked of his battles and adventures while Jane listened. She offered Loki some food, against Thor's wishes, but Loki denied, insisting that whatever was on that tray was not food. She considered him. His eyes were closed, and he leaned back casually in his chair, no doubt trying to tune Thor out. His dark lashes made perfect crescent moons against his smooth white skin, and smooth black hair pushed back to give full prominence to his elegantly chiseled face. His lips were expressive, and overall he gave off a poetic, mournful air. He was tall, but lean, built for stealth and quick moves. Dark, troubled, intelligent.

Evil. But she was pretty sure every man in Asgard could kill.

"Jane," Thor said. Jane turned her attention back to him. Thor's eyes flickered from her to Loki, then back. He gazed at her. "Is his presence bothering you?"

Jane considered. "Right now?"

Loki's eyes slid open, watching the interaction as though very entertained by the clumsiness of it all.

Jane was aware of Thor's certainty that she must be afraid of his brother. She wasn't. As far as gods went, he was really pretty interesting. Her interest was objective. He was a peculiar specimen and very inhuman and not even Asgardian, and nobody knew what would become of him at this rate. Very interesting. She had Thor, and crazy wasn't her type. But he was interesting.

Thor gave her a tender look. "I am sorry. I would have him leave, but the more time he spends with you until you learn to control the aether, the better."

Thor was mind-numbingly gorgeous and purely adorable, basically every woman's dream made flesh. How was it possible for one person to be the strongest, the sweetest, the best looking, and the future king of the universe? Thor was a little bit unreal and yet here is was. Jane touched his forearm. "You haven't fully explained, but I trust you." She smiled, knowing that would smooth over any blunders on her end. Thor reached down and placed another kiss on her forehead. He hesitated, then spoke.

"You may want to know that my brother has advised against a show of military might in the realms, instead suggesting food and merriment to reassure the people."

Jane was certain she must look as entirely confused as she felt. She levelled a look at Loki. He was staring at the ceiling, looking a bit like a child having to endure a mother's praise. "Really," she said, and felt her lips curl at the corners. The incongruity of the one they called Trickster was really starting to entertain her. One minute he wanted to kill half the people on her planet, the next he called for a little party to soothe the realms' rattled nerves.

"It is the surest way to maintain order," Loki deadpanned.

"My brother cares for the people in his own way," Thor stated, looking fondly at him. "I shared this to reassure you. For all his schemes, I do not believe he will harm you."

"You're a fool." Loki's accusation was halfhearted.

"Will you, then?" Jane asked Loki curiously.

"Jane," Thor cautioned.

The look Loki gave her was somewhat admiring. "Someone who actually wants to know the truth. Well done, Thor. Flowery words are not likely to satisfy this kitten."

Kitten. Now that Jane found irritating. "Finding answers is my life's work. This is a bit more personal. I'm not afraid but if you do plan on hurting me I'd like to know."

He laughed, closing his eyes again. "Thor, reassure your pet. She looks at me as though I were a fish to be filleted."

"Loki will not go back on the agreement that secures his freedom," Thor explained, "and I do not believe he would harm you either way."

Jane didn't think so either, and was by now over the kitten remark. She still wondered what Loki would say. She took note of the familiar way the brothers interacted, the way Loki casually handed Thor the task of answering for him. The situation seemed very sad to her. They had obviously been very close, once.


Loki once again took supper in the gardens. He preferred it here, in quiet solitude except for the distant songs of the birds that fluttered in the night. Staring up at the stars, the nebula, the planets that gazed back at him. Trails and pathways, stories and memories. His mother.

Jane's glib remark about bitterness had somehow lodged in his mind, and any thought of his so-called family was a sharp reminder. He identified with bitterness. He had every reason to, and he knew that her talk of forgiveness was only one step from implying such a course for him. It was presumption at its highest. Everything he'd thought he'd known had been ripped from him in one single discovery, a discovery that, if it had been revealed to him earlier, would have explained every miserable injustice he'd grown up with, every second of every minute he endured the dreadful suspicion that he was somehow lacking, never knowing why.

Forgiveness could never undo what was done.

Jane Foster was in denial. With a mind like hers she certainly understood the folly of her kind, the hypocrisy of everyone around her. Behind that idealistic shell, did she seethe? He had seen her anger towards him. She was right to hate him. He had killed her people and come very close to destroying her adoptive father. And he didn't care. She had no idea the monster she was dealing with.

Loki plucked the head off a small purple flower at his feet. He stared at it. Tilted his head. He had company once again, it seemed. This time the intrusion was even less welcome. He stubbornly refused to look up from his desolation of the plant.

"I knew I would find you here."

"Yes, well, I hardly made a secret of it. Come to threaten me, brother?"

Footsteps approached, and Thor sat down next to Loki with a thunk. It was a familiar gesture and yet unfamiliar. Everything was different now and it would never be the same again. "I give you my thanks for helping Jane."

"You know my reasons."

"I know. Also, your counsel at the meeting was well spoken. Your wisdom has been sorely missed." Thor had never been comfortable with silence, and Loki merely waited for him to get to the point. He cleared his throat, returning to his real purpose. "I am grateful that she will be alright. She is very dear to me."

Loki let out a little laugh. So that was it. He was out here pondering his place in the universe and Thor came to worry over his pet. "If I wanted to hurt her I could have let the aether take her by now. What could I possibly stand to gain? Or perhaps you think I enjoyed prison."

"Revenge," Thor said, studying his brother's profile. The dark expression he wore was troubling. "Or perhaps just my own heartbreak. I do not pretend to understand what motivates you. I only wish things could be as they were before. I hope that they will be."

"Yes. Things were so much nicer when I lived in a web of deceit and you alone in the spotlight."

"No, Loki, but when you laughed, and loved, and treated us as family. We are still family. Without mother, all I have is you and father."

"And Jane," Loki said.

"Yes," Thor said. "I have Jane." Silence again. "You know that Father has asked me to take my men and seek out the source of these rumours of danger, to ensure that things are safe. I may be gone for many weeks." Silence. Thor clenched and unclenched his fists. "I have a strange feeling I cannot name, I cannot place. My hope is that it is for nothing."

"What in all the realms are you on about now?" Loki crushed the little purple bud in his hand. "I will not hurt your precious flower."

Thor stared at him. Looked away. Glanced back. "She is mine, Loki."

Loki sat up straight, eyebrows raised in genuine shock. He let out a spluttered laugh that was half amused half offended. "In your arrogance you assume that no man could resist the woman who has captured you. I assure you, mortals are no lure to me."

"She is mortal no longer."

In the back of his mind, Loki was aware of that, but he failed to see how it mattered. The woman was a means to an end and was the least of his concerns at the moment. The fact that her presence was reasonably easy to endure, perhaps more so than most he had encountered in his life, was a result of their shared goals and intelligence. They had an understanding and it had not taken long to arrive at it. That should be good news. His brother was being an idiot, as usual.

"Just know that if you hurt her, I will kill you. But if you take her from me, I will never forgive you."

Never forgive him. The words hit Loki with a force he wasn't expecting, and a lump entered his stomach. He looked up in time to see Thor get to his feet and walk away. Loki went back to staring at the sky. He had no care for what Thor did. He would never reduce himself to seducing a human woman, and of all the beings in the universe Jane Foster would leave Thor for he was certainly not at the top of the list. What strange thoughts his brother had. It was like he didn't know him at all. But then, that was no surprise, was it? They weren't really brothers.

Dismissing the entire exchange, he considered the night sky. Exactly where would he go after all this?

Loki snarled out an Aesir curse and proceeded to rip the head off another flower.