Thor would not hang from Yggdrasil—Loki was sure of it.

Burvek would be foolish indeed to give up fearsome Gungnir in order to pin one god to the World Tree, and as such no other weapon existed in the Nine Realms that could restrain Thor. And so it stood that the Chitauri would make himself vulnerable or Thor would break through and escape his bondage. Loki was betting on the latter. He refused to wonder where Thor would be imprisoned; he would live and that was all that mattered right now.

Sigyn had been winding her way expertly through the darkened palace halls as if she had traversed the path a thousand times. Thor's storm still raged outside, the thunder slamming and echoing against the outer columns as the rain poured from the low clouds, but she paid little heed to it. A turn down another passage and her pace increased, and curious, Loki cocked his head to see a strange look cross her face; almost of irrepressible anticipation, he thought. She halted suddenly and Loki gripped her arm for balance before looking up to survey their destination. Burvek had chosen an almost hidden wing of the palace as his private den when he was not appearing to be living in Odin's hall. The burnished doors had been kept securely fastened at all times, though Sigyn seemed to have endeared herself to the creature long enough to now be trusted with a key. Loki wondered at this, and as he set about committing every detail of this mysterious woman to his memory, he hardly noticed her unlocking the great doors of Burvek's chambers and pushing them inward. She stepped swiftly into the room and shoved the doors closed, and instantly she and the bird were engulfed in blinding darkness.

Loki felt a slight uneasiness prod his stomach as they stood for what seemed like hours in silence. His hawk eyes desperately sought out any point of light within the room, but the chambers had long ago been sealed against even the smallest ray of sunlight filtering through the walls. Wasn't she just supposed to tie him to a perch and leave? He was startled then when he heard the snapping of fingers and saw a sudden flame spring up inches in front of his beak. Fire dancing on her fingertips, Sigyn glared at him with cold green eyes, her lips set in a predatory smile.

"A clever little hawk you are," she said in a low voice, her eyes boring into his. "But no more a bird than I am. Drop the guise."

Loki let out a screeching laugh, but made no move to change form. She was a fool if she thought—

The fire in Sigyn's fingers blazed hotter as she brought the flames closer to the Loki's face, causing the bird to rocket backward into the air and strain upon his tethers. But Sigyn held the leather straps tightly in her other hand and with a sharp tug she wrenched him from the air to tumble crashing to the ground. Stunned, Loki struggled to right himself, but immediately felt the woman's boot pin his left wing to the floor. He let out a harsh squawk of fury, and lunged with all his might at Sigyn's foot, poised to rip through the boot leather with his sharp beak. She halted his dive by crushing his right wing under her other foot, leaving Loki splayed upon his back, his full wingspan almost stretched to its limit.

"Drop it now!" growled Sigyn and allowed her feet to slide sideways, pulling his wings even farther apart.

Loki screeched in pain, but moved only to fix the woman with a defiant glare.

It was when Sigyn pulled on his tethers and threatened to draw and quarter him did the anguish become too great for the bird to bear. With a terrible shriek, the hawk melted into a puddle of thick fog that swirled from the floor upwards to the ceiling. Wisps of smoke twirled about the column as it parted to reveal Loki's Aesir form just seconds before he lunged at her.

Sigyn had little time to register surprise before the stranger slammed her to the ground,and no time to struggle when she felt his strong fingers tighten around her throat.

"A clever little bitch you are," Loki hissed at her, his eyes narrowed in growing fury. "Have something against shape-shifters, do you? Or were you just following orders?"

"Who...are you?" Sigyn choked out.

"Ladies first," said the Trickster and loosened his grip on her by the slightest degree.

"Sigyn," the woman gasped. "Odin has graciously entertained…has…welcomed my presence in his court."

Loki cocked an eyebrow. "'Entertained'? Then you are not Aesir."

"No more than you are, Loki." A small, knowing smile crossed her face.

Loki's anger flared up at this, but he quickly forced it down. "Then what am I?"

"Such a difficult question." She rolled her eyes. "Only a Jotun can shape-shift like you did, and do it as if it were the most natural thing in the world."

Loki released her throat in surprise and stared down at her. "But you're not from Jotunheim."

"Guess again."

Then it struck him. Her looks, her little magic tricks, and that smug sense of entitlement. It was all so annoyingly familiar. "Oh gods, you're Vanir," he groaned.

"There's a smart boy," Sigyn crooned mockingly as she pushed him away. "But what does that make you? Jotunir? Aetun? Hum! There just isn't a name for your breed of mutt, I suppose."

"Shut up!" Loki snapped, leveling her with a venomous glare. "Tell me, what is a fertility goddess doing serving Odin, that great Allfather who sends his favorite son to rot on Yggdrasil?"

"You think he—" Sigyn jerked her head in the direction of the throne room. "—is Odin? My, and I thought a Jotun would be able to detect all forms of disguise."

"Of course I saw through it," Loki scoffed. "The true Odin would not sentence his son to die."

"Then you know that the Allfather is actually a Ch—"

But Loki wasn't listening.

The true Odin would not sentence his son to die.

Suddenly he laughed, and the harsh mirthless sound that escaped his lips echoed eerily about the chamber before finally fading down the dark recesses of the hall.

"That Chitauri bastard," Loki seethed, clenching his fists at his side. "He played Odin and had me bound in Jotunheim. He sent those snakes to torture me! I held up my end of the bargain, but I'm punished because those damned Avengers sent a missile to blow his race to Hel and back? Oh, I could rip his throat out with—"

Sigyn's laugh cut his rant short. "Then we are allies, it seems."

Loki spun on her. "There is nothing in the Nine Worlds that would make us allies."

"You need me," she said simply, and her tone pricked at Loki's curiosity.

"Why?"

"Because I know what will happen to Thor."

"What makes you think I give a damn about what happens to my brother?"

"Perhaps the fact that you just called him 'brother'."

"Force of habit."

Sigyn shrugged. "Nevertheless, he will be needed to reclaim Asgard."

"Oh, while I step back and let him do it?"

"Of course not. You just let him be the bait."

"Bait, hmm?" Loki began circling her, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. "And what's in it for you, my dear?"

Sigyn flashed him a mischievous smile. "Just you."

Loki smirked. "Me? But I owe you nothing."

Sigyn shrugged. "Only your life."

"Really, my life?"

She gave him a reproachful look. "Do you really think that Chitauri wouldn't see through your bird guise? Everyone knows Odin keeps only Hugninn and Muninn."

"Call it a brief moment of valour," Loki said, a sharp edge to his voice. "I wasn't going to stand by and let him kill Thor. Someone had to distract him."

"So you do care."

"Interpret it as you wish."

Sigyn casually smoothed the braid over her right shoulder. "Burvek knew it was you. He would have killed you, tied to that perch, had I not intervened."

"I thought it was on a whim that the creature called you in."

"Only after I put the idea into his head," replied Sigyn levelly.

Loki looked up sharply and narrowed his eyes. "I should have known."

"Really, Loki. You can't be the only one with a set of tricks. I'm sure you can do nearly the same thing, putting your own thoughts into other people's heads."

A wry look flickered across the Trickster's eyes, but Sigyn caught its meaning too late. "Don't you dare—"

But Loki was already mentally coaxing his second vision into focus. Looking at her again, he watched Sigyn's thoughts whirl about her head in wisps of violent purple hues as they branched and twirled past her shoulders, hips, and then to the ground. Unlike other gods' thoughts, which simply hung in dull hazes about them, Sigyn's sparked with intelligence and cunning in their perpetual whirling and twisting about. That her mind never seemed to be still intrigued Loki, if only that it reminded him of his own.

Lifting his chin, Loki fixed his gaze on one of the sharper purple tendrils that curled about Sigyn's head and shot a single thought into its ethereal claws.

What are you really after, Sigyn?

Sigyn gritted her teeth as she glared back at him. Suddenly, Loki felt a tingling sensation scrape along the side of his mind and grimaced. It seemed she could return the thought. As if I would tell you.

Loki closed his eyes and smiled. Drawing upon that voice of charm, he sent out another thought, slower this time and oddly seductive. Allies have a common goal, hmm? Come on, tell me what you're really up to.

She shook her head, turning away to pace about the room. I want the same things you want. Trust that.

Convince me. Loki's thought purred in her mind.

You don't deserve it.

Sigyn suddenly felt his mind withdraw from hers, and turned to see Loki standing still, looking at her with a curious smile.

"Your brother is in great danger without my knowledge," she said flatly, "If you would listen-"

A mocking laugh echoed about the chamber as the smiling figure before her fizzled out.

A projected image. Sigyn cursed herself for turning her back on him, even for an instant. Her gaze darted blindly about the chamber, seeking his face. "You cannot imagine the consequences of your actions now! Every second you waste-"

"Oh, the Vanir and their sacred fortune-telling," Loki's scornful voice rang from the rafters. "I don't believe the Aesir has ever needed your kind's alarmist notions."

"You're not Aesir."

"Then I need you even less."

Sigyn suddenly glimpsed a shadow step into the dim light of a high window. She sent a twisting thought wheeling toward its head, and Loki winced as the words struck his consciousness. I saved you.

Loki's response was nonchalant. And that means something? I would have done it myself.

There was a spark of urgency in her returning thought. You cannot win now. Not without me.

I don't trust strangers. I trust Vanir even less.

You don't understand what has happened.

I'll figure it out.

Foolish Jotun! her venomous thoughts spat back at him, I would have expected better from the son of Laufey-

Snarling, he envisioned a barb and shot it back, listening to her cry as it embedded itself in her mind. We're finished here. Get out.