The hall door opened to admit Thor and Maria Hill. Neither of them looked particularly happy. Not that Clint had seen Thor looking anything but grim since he had come back to Earth.

"How did the test go?" Steve asked, sitting up straight. He has a red mark on his face from leaning his cheek on his fist.

"I need to speak with my brother," Thor replied brusquely. That got everyone's attention.

"Is that wise?" Clint said, "We want him to talk, and historically speaking, you don't have the most relaxing effect on him…"

"I need to talk to him. Now." Thor growled. Clint snapped his mouth shut. He wasn't in a hurry to find out if he could use a bow one-armed.

"He has permission from Fury," Hill told them, arms crossed. It was clear she did not approve of this herself. Not that Hill approved of a lot of things. Mother Teresa could give free trade rainbows to underprivileged leprechauns and Hill would disapprove.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Try not to burn too many bridges, alright?"

Thor stalked out of the room, cape swirling dramatically behind him.

"I don't think that was the best metaphor to use in this instance," Banner told him.


Loki glanced up when Thor walked into the room.

"Odinson," he drew out the word, "now this is a familiar situation. Come to beg a favor, or will it be threats? Or will you dazzle me and do both?"

Thor stared at his brother through the glass.

"How long?"

"Ever articulate," Loki marveled, "Your knack for leaving your audience in suspense is truly incre…"

"How long did you fall?"

The question burst forth like a thunderclap. For a split second seemed as though Loki's eyes widened, his lips thinned, his skin paled. Then he chuckled. An open, honest laugh, so different from his mad laughter in the ice temple or his vindictive glee.

"I can honestly say I was not expecting that," he said, leaning back against the wall, "Somehow you still manage to surprise me from time to time."

"How long?" Thor repeated. Loki's lips twisted into something between a smirk and a grimace.

"Long enough."

"I want to know. Tell me," Thor demanded.

Loki shrugged. "Weeks, months, years. I know not, and I care not. Why should you?"

"Why shouldn't I? I am your brother!"

"Ah, yes. Brother." Loki spoke the word as though he tasted it, savoring it in his mouth. "Perhaps I may find the words, brother, if you answer a few questions of my own."


"You recording this?" Stark asked Coulson from Miya's room. They had turned on the surveillance feed again the moment Thor had stalked out of the room looking for Fury.

"We have hours of tape chronicling his every breath in that cell," Coulson reminded him from his seat by Miya's bed, "do you really think we wouldn't record this?"

"Just checking," Stark replied, "because whatever's about to go down, it's going to be good." He shifted in his somewhat uncomfortable chair. "I knew I should have grabbed popcorn when I had the chance."


Within the cell, Thor was considering Loki's offer. It seemed simple enough, but it was Loki he was dealing with.

"Very well," he said finally, "ask your questions, and I will answer as best I can."

Loki leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers together.

"Tell me, Thor, what is a Jotun?"

Thor looked confused.


Hill looked confused. Romanov, Barton, and Rogers looked confused.


Stark and Coulson looked confused.

And Miya, with her slight insight into the working of the mischief maker's mind, felt confused.


"Why would you ask this? You know very well what a Jotun is," Thor hedged. Loki smiled, displaying perfect white teeth.

"My memory has been playing tricks on me of late. Please, brother, enlighten me. Grant me a portion of your boundless wisdom."

Thor's jaw tightened as he sought a diplomatic answer. Loki could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

"A Jotun is a Frost Giant, a member of a race which lives upon the frozen realm of Jotunheim," he said carefully.

"I see," Loki said with an innocent tone, "And how do Asgardians view these Frost Giants?"

"Loki," Thor said in a low tone, "these questions are pointless."

"Are they?" Loki's eyes glinted, "if they are pointless, then what is the harm in answering? What is a Jotun to an Asgardian?"

"They view them as…dangerous. A threat."

"Monsters?" Loki suggested lightly, "filth?"

"Brother…"

"What crimes are they accusing me of on Midgard?" Loki asked suddenly.

"You know well," Thor answered, thankful for the change of topic, "You attacked them unprovoked, killed many, and sought to rule over them."

"Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me. Now, why did you attack Jotunheim?"

Thor inhaled sharply.

"Surely you cannot have forgotten," Loki continued, "Even I, with my poor memory, can remember how we went to Jotunheim on the day you were to be king. If I recall correctly, their king was allowing us to return home. Why did you attack?"

"I acted in pride in response to a slight."

"That's right, one of the guards called you a princess. A capitol offense to be sure."

"Loki…"

"How many Jotun did you kill that day?"

Thor was silent. His eyes fell to the ground. His stomach churned as he remembered the pleasure he took in every Jotun death.

"Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands, even? Who knows how many fell to their deaths as you destroyed the ice beneath their feet. But you had to fulfill your promise. What was it? To teach them a lesson, break their spirits. Or were you acting on an earlier vow? To 'hunt down the monsters and slay them all'?"

"Those were words spoken in ignorance and arrogance," Thor said, earnestly, "and I am sorry, Loki, for the pain they have caused you."

"They are the words of every Asgardian for thousands of years," Loki retorted, "They are the truth we were taught, raised to believe. That the lives of some are worth more than the lives of others. That it is a crime for some beings to simply be alive." He smiled bitterly. "After all, the All-Father did not exile you for killing Jotuns. He cast you out because you refused to admit your sport endangered Asgardian lives."

Loki rose from his seat and stepped closer to his brother. "You question my motives. What does a monster need of motive? My motives, dear brother, are as important as my life is to your people." He moved until he was inches away from the glass that divided them.

"This is the truth," Loki hissed, "that I am your enemy, that I was born your enemy, raised to oppose you. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you will accept that your brother was a passing dream and you will destroy the creature who took his place."

Loki stepped backwards. He spread out his arms as if offering himself up.

"Here I am, brother. You've found the monster. Fulfill your promise."

As he spoke, blue shot across his skin. His formerly pale arms contrasted vividly with the short orange sleeves of his prison shirt, and his blood-red eyes burned. A single frozen breath misted in the air.

A moment later, Loki collapsed in a heap on the ground, unconscious. The dark blue skin faded away, leaving Thor to stare at the crumpled form of his brother.


The moment Loki started changing colors, Miya barely had the time to think 'All I asked was an hour' before she was pulled under again.


He plummeted through the Void, the dark, the hollow spaces of a nightmare sky. As the vacuum of space tore at him, he wondered what his mother would say when she learned what he had done. That he had tried to kill her son. That he had tried to steal her love. That he had been willing to destroy a world and an entire race to prove himself worthy.

Would she weep? Weep for his loss? Weep for his failure? Weep for the fallen son?

Or would she curse the day her husband forced her to adopt a weakling runt, so monstrous that even a Jotun could not allow him to live?

He wished that the emptiness which raged around and inside him would consume him.

But Death was not that kind.


"Breathe."

Miya gasped on the hospital bed. At Coulson's command, she shut her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and grabbed fistfuls of the stiff sheets. After a moment she exhaled, her body shuddering as she forced herself to relax.

"Well, that was…better," Tony said awkwardly, "Not as much flailing, and they probably couldn't hear you screaming in Denmark this time."

Coulson and Miya ignored him. "What do you remember?" Coulson asked gently. Miya closed her eyes again and concentrated.

"Not much to report," Miya told him after a moment, "More falling. And god angst."

"God angst?" Coulson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mom-related god angst, to be exact."

"Loki has a mom?" Tony said in surprise, and then corrected himself, "I mean, I know how the birds and bees work, but it's a bit hard to wrap my mind around the concept. Except that he was adopted, and all that. But I suppose even Jotuns have moms." He tinkered with his equipment for a moment before a question burst forth from his lips.

"Do you think it's true? What Loki said about Thor."

"Yes," Miya said without hesitation, "Thor didn't even try to deny it.

"Even if it is, we have to keep in mind that Loki is a master manipulator," Coulson reminded them. Miya recognized "Robot" Coulson when she saw him. Coulson became "Robot" Coulson whenever he encountered a morally or emotionally conflicting situation. She would never have guessed that Loki would manage to bring out Robot Coulson, but here he was.

"Whatever he's saying, he's purposely designing to cause confusion, sympathy, guilt, or whatever emotion fits his own twisted needs. This is when it becomes important to compartmentalize."

Tony sighed. "Well, at least now we know how long it takes for the disks to respond. And that Loki doesn't need the Casket to turn blue. Don't know why we would need to know that."

Loki, the master manipulator. The strategist. The Jotun. The Asgardian. The outcast. The traitor. The fallen son.

Miya knew so much, but none of her questions were being answered. It was high time she got a few answers.

She bit her lower lip. "Coulson, I want to try something. Do you think I could talk with him?"


When Loki woke, Thor was gone. However long he had slept, SHIELD had left him where he had fallen in an undignified heap. He picked himself up and made his way to the bunk, sinking down into it.

He needed to control himself. He wasn't supposed to go at Thor like that. Then again, he hadn't expected Thor to ask such a question.

When he had burst in, Loki thought Thor was angry. The signs were all there. The taunt shoulders. The drawn face. The way he clenched his fists. He hadn't dared imagine that there might be another reason Thor was upset.

"How long did you fall?" Loki scoffed to himself. Such a pointless, sentimental question to ask. This was an attempt to throw him off balance. Nothing more. It couldn't be more.

Hopefully his little outburst hadn't caused the Midgardians to lose all patience with him. Not if he wanted them to even consider his proposal.

Then again, he doubted Fury would make any other decision. Not when he learned of the enemy on their doorstep.

"How long did you fall?"

Sometimes Thor truly baffled him. Why would he start worrying about that now?

How long had he fallen?


They watched Loki from behind the glass in the observation room. That is, Thor and Hill watched him. Most everyone else seemed intent on not staring at Thor.

"Sooooo," Steve said, tapping his fingers on the stainless steel table, "this isn't going very well."

"Thank you for that deep insight, Captain Obvious. You got him to crack before, Tasha," Clint suggested, "You might be the only one who can handle him."

Natasha shook her head, red hair swishing.

"Once burned, twice shy. Last time I played his ego, made him feel in charge. Loki may be arrogant, but I doubt he'll make that mistake with me again."

Clint shifted in his seat and looked intently at the ground.

"There are always…alternative methods of interrogation," he said.

Bruce looked at him sharply. Steve's tapping fingers curled into a fist. Natasha pursed her lips.

Hill kept staring at Loki.

Thor stood from the wall he was leaning against, walking over to where Barton was sitting. He towered over the agent and glared coldly down at him.

"I do not know whether you suggest this in seriousness or out of some desire to watch my brother suffer. Either way, I will not allow you to treat him in such a manner."

Clint returned Thor's glare.

"I'm not saying part of me wouldn't love to watch him get what he deserves," he replied, arms crossed defensively, "but I'm that not sick enough to torture anyone, even Loki, for my own pleasure. Besides," he said, lifting his chin, "you weren't so resistant to the idea when Fury suggested it two years ago. I read the file. So don't even pretend you have the high ground here. You lost it long ago."

"Are we really discussing this?" Steve interjected, pushing himself between Thor and Clint, "last time I checked, this was illegal. And even if it was legal, it's wrong. We're better than this."

Clint narrowed his eyes, but he did not respond. Thor backed up and walked to the other side of the room.

"Well," Bruce said, "that was helpful. I feel we bonded, I really do. Who votes we leave Loki in time out until he promises to behave?"

"Let me talk to him."

The others turned and looked at Miya in surprise. She stood in the doorway with Coulson and Tony. She was dressed in a standard SHIELD uniform with her hair pulled back into a long dark braid. Not so standard were the handcuffs restraining her arms behind her back.

"It's about time Loki and I had a chat."


Author's note:

Aaaaaaand I'm late. Again.

So, after watching Thor 2 (which was amazing), I realized that with a few tweaks, I could make Dream Walker canon compliant again.

Spoiler alert! I'm about to mention edits relating to the plot of Thor 2. Don't read past this if you don't want to see them.

I've made a few minor edits to Chapters 1 and 2. Basically, Loki's dream in Chapter One has Sif dead on the ground instead of Frigga (for obvious, heartbreaking reasons), and the Avengers discuss the fact that Loki was supposed to be dead in Chapter 2.

The big changes will come later. I've figured out how Loki got caught so quickly, and it involves a certain blonde enchantress. So now there's a whole new side plot I get to add to this already convoluted, blotted story I've got going on. What upset me the most is now I have to change a scene I've had written for about a year now. Frigga had some wonderful dialogue that needs to be reassigned, but it really doesn't feel the same coming from anyone else.

The fun part is that the bonus scene with the Collector fits perfectly with my plot.

As usual, comment and review! I'm easier to interrogate than Loki. Ask questions, get answers.

"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor." - Sholom Aleiche