A/N: I know I did not post anything yesterday, so I will attempt to post another chapter this evening. I thought it'd be better to do two shorter ones than make you wait until the end of the day for one long one.

So... Anyone lucky enough to he at San Diego comic con this weekend? If so, I'm officially jealous of you. I've seen the footage from Tom Hiddleston's surprise (?) appearance. If you haven't seen it, hop on either YouTube or tumblr. It's a must. He's so adorable.


Part Seven

Loki did not stop until they'd reached the outer halls of the palace that opened up to overlook the city. The fresh air blew past them and he finally released the fuming crowned prince. He did not look Thor in the eye, nor the others, as he leaned against the railing, eyes steadily watching the early morning movements of the kingdom below them. He could not, lest every ounce of his control shatter.

"That arrogant, terrible, insolent, son of a-" Thor cut himself off, letting loose a growl of frustration as he usually kept quiet these days. If there had been something to wreck, he might have, but Loki had made sure to lead him to a place that everything was very secure in its place. "He thinks to come here, to our home, and insult-"

"What they said is not untrue," his younger brother murmured and he could feel everyone's eyes on his back as he spoke. "Lyall is half-Jotun and I am, in the strictest sense of the word, a bastard son."

"But-"

"No," Loki cut him off, looking as if he were just barely keeping himself in check. It was a battle not to walk back in there and slay them where they sat, but that would do no good. Perhaps he'd feel better in the moment - he was quite certain he'd feel better about it in the moment - and perhaps they might even deserve it, but it would do no good in the grander scheme of things, and that was what they needed to focus on. Otherwise they were simply pawns in the Jotuns hands. "Peace with the Jotuns does not mean that we must like them, Thor, it means that we do not kill them and they do not kill us. That is all there is to this. Another few days of their words is just that and we'll be done with them."

"And if there's more to their words?" Lyall murmured softly, joining Loki against the railing. "You and Sif were only there a few days, did you even get into the gathering places? We know nothing more of what they may be planning than we did before you both went, other than the alert that they'd come early."

"It was a power play."

"People make power plays for a reason."

Loki sighed heavily, long fingers massaging the bridge of his nose. He just wanted it over and done with, whatever the case might be. "They do," he breathed out at last, turning to face his friends and brother. He looked as if he might say something, but then didn't. He bit back the words instead, the silent decision made. "Yes they do," he repeated again softly. "Thor, please tell Father I'll be along a bit late to the beginnings of the talks. I'm sure you'll be fine without me."

"Where are you going?"

A thin smile stretched his lips but didn't reach his eyes. He simply reached out, hand touching his brother's arm in an affectionate gesture he'd developed - as openly affectionate as Loki was when other's eyes were on him - and turned.

Thor caught his thin wrist. "Please don't keep secrets from me, brother," he pleaded.

"I'm not. I just don't know anything of fact yet. I swear I will tell you when I do."

The crowned prince sighed as he watched his brother leave. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Loki lies.


There was something awe-inspiring about the reconstructed Observatory at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. The Bifrost had been one of Loki's great joys to study as a child, often trying to sneak past Heimdall to get a better look at the workings that could not be easily seen. He was always caught in his younger days, often sent on his way, and very rarely allowed a closer look. In those childhood days, he'd thought Heimdall hated him. Now, as he approached and the Gatekeeper's all-seeing eyes came to rest on him, he was sure of it.

There were no greetings of "Good Heimdall" or "My Prince" between them any longer. It truly depended on the day if he Loki received much more than a grunt of acknowledgement at all. Today was not a good day.

"Let me assure you I had nothing to do with their entrance," Loki stated as he approached. He knew what the Gatekeeper thought, and it would be best to clear the air if he were to have any hope of gleaning the knowledge he needed.

"Your words mean little here," Heimdall responded, eyes boring through him. They might leave a physical hole if they stayed fixed any longer.

"Even so, we have a common problem at hand. One that is shared with all of Asgard." He paused, waiting.

"You knew of their arrival," Heimdall pointed out, "and you cloaked yourself from my sight."

"At Odin's wishes."

"The Allfather requested it?" the taller Asgardian asked, tone declaring his blatant disbelief.

"Not... explicitly." Loki closed his eyes. He was too tired and too frustrated to play at this any longer. It was very clear that the Gatekeeper only put up with the second prince because he had to and for no other reason. They had never found common ground between them again after Loki had left him in a block of ice and they probably never would. "Were you able to sense their arrival?"

"I was not."

"I thought as much," Loki mused aloud. He took in a deep breath, mind pulling the possibilities together. "Perhaps-"

"Asgard is not the only world that has received cloaked visitors as if late." Heimdall's bright eyes had been closed as he spoke, but they opened again and Loki resisted the urge to simply return to the palace and forego this particular plan, flimsy as it had seemed at its conception.

When the Gatekeeper did not speak again and Loki did not budge from his place, the prince gave of small snort of irritation. "Would you care to share your meaning perhaps?"

Heimdall studied him carefully. "Knowledge grants great power, and this knowledge is due to the Allfather once it is had in full."

"And alas he has already been contained for the morning. Thor as well. I suppose, good Heimdall, that you must settle on me. What have you seen?" When silence once again met him he felt as if he might snap, but contained it. "This is for Asgard. You may hate me all that you wish, but do not allow that hatred to stand in the way that my methods might actually help our home."

Heimdall stepped forward from his place so that he was standing on the edge of the bridge, overlooking the void that Loki had once dropped into. He looked over at the dark haired prince, as if expecting him to follow, and when he reluctantly did one large dark hand stretched out of the nothingness. The trickster's magic aided him in seeing the shared Sight and he briefly wondered if this was how Heimdall saw everything.
It was as if looking through a prism, the images pulling at odd angles and yet fit together in such a way that Loki knew they were not of the same originating space. He saw the Elves - Light and Dark - Trolls, Dwarves, and various other creatures of the Nine Realms. Some seemed wholly undisturbed, but Heimdall's Sight showed much to fret over in the way that the ice gathered around them. It may not have been clear to all that saw it, but Loki knew its meaning and he felt Jotunheim's deep-set cold within him as his green eyes fell onto the image of a Mortal that he recognized from his time on earth. Through the fractured images he could be seen speaking with a few younger agents of SHEILD, looking very much like he was after the elusive answer to his own icy problem.

"The Jotuns mean to attack the Nine Realms," Loki breathed the sudden realization. "This news must immediately go to Father. Why hadn't you sent word?"

"Look there, Loki. What do you see?"

"I see the war that Asgard has tried so desperately to avoid at the entrance way of all the Nine!"

"You see ice and you see questions," Heimdall corrected.

"We know that-"

"And you, that always has everything in place before your move is made, what will your accusation be? That Asgard's Gatekeeper saw ice building on all the worlds?"

Loki frowned. The Jotuns would turn it around on Asgard if this was not handled properly. That was why they'd cloaked themselves to begin with. He'd already witnessed the cleverness of Leifr and he would not be outdone by him in it. "If they mean to attack an ally of ours," he mused out loud. "Thor is better suited for speaking with the Mortals. Has he done as he was supposed to and gone to the meeting or is he lingering and waiting?"

Heimdall seemed to search the palace for a moment before he found the crowned prince. "Your brother is where he is meant to be."

The trickster sighed. "Very well. Then it looks as if SHEILD must settle for me." He began to cast the spell to slip through to Midgard, but stopped very suddenly, eyes locking with the Gatekeeper's. "I know you hold no regard for me, and I should not truly expect you to, but... Please watch over him for me while I am away. I'm not yet certain why, if their goal is to take Asgard as they would the other worlds, why the king of Jotunheim would come here himself."

When he received the nod of understanding, Loki was gone, shifting through the branches of Yggdrasil to a world he'd much rather avoid.


TBC