Loki stood alone, having walked far away from Jane's camp to where the secret gate between Asgard and Earth stood. He turned to the sky, lifting the veil surrounding the realm that he had summoned when he had arrived.

"All-Father!" he shouted to the sky. He paused, then smiled nastily, certain Odin was watching and listening. "You thought I was dead, didn't you?" he taunted. Then his fists clenched, and he continued, "Did you feel bad, for killing me?" He shook his head in disgust and fury. "I suppose it is merely wishful thinking on my part to believe that that might even be possible." He took a breath. "Why?" he shouted. "Why did you do this to me? What did I ever do to you, to make you take everything from me? Why did you take me, if my blood disgusted you so much? Why didn't you just kill me? I could have had a world! I could have been happy! You took me from my home, and you took my home from me - why? What gave you the right to do this to me?" He paused, fighting back tears of rage, as he finally unloaded everything raging around inside of him that had been threatening to boil over for more than a year. "I trusted you!" he roared. "I believed you had a reason to favor Thor over me! I tried, you know! I tried everything I could think of to earn, if not your favor, then at least your commendation! When working hard to be better failed, I tried to make you see what he was…and even when I succeeded, and you banished him for his arrogance and thirst for battle, did you think any more highly of me? Did you consider, for one second, that perhaps I could take the throne? No! You decided to sit on your hands and wait for Thor to sort himself out! You would have waited forever before even thinking of looking at me!

"I did not question it, though!" he went on. "I thought you must have seen something in him that I did not, that you had a good reason to praise him despite his faults and look down on me despite my merits! I thought you were judging me fairly! After all, you were the All-Father, the wise king Odin One-Eye!" Loki's voice dripped with mockery as he recited Odin's titles. "And then I found out that it was all because of my blood," he snarled. "I did not choose to be born a Frost Giant! I did not choose to be taken away and raised on Asgard! You hated me for the very reason you took me in! Why? Why did you do this? Look at me!" he shouted angrily at the top of his lungs. "See what I've become? See what you've reduced me to? I have no home, no family - nothing! I have less than nothing! You even took my blood!" He shook his head furiously again. "What I would give, to be able to accept a place in Jotunheim," he said, gritting his teeth against the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. "The Frost Giants are a great people, and I would give anything to be one of them…to wish to be one of them! But when I look at them, all I see are foes, monsters to be slain, even though I know they are a far better people than the Asgardians will ever be…and that is your fault! It's your fault my blood disgusts me, though consciously I would rather be a member of that society than any other!" He broke off again, the effort of fighting back tears of rage becoming almost unbearable.

"The worst part," he finally went on, "is that I do not hate you for what you've done to me. In my heart, you are my father, and I will always love you as such, though I should hate you with every fiber of my being, and though you will never think of me as your son." His eyes narrowed until he was glaring at the sky once more. "But I do hope that you'll pay, for what you've done to me; that someday, fate will be as cruel to you as it was to me…as you were to me. If there is justice in this universe, then one day you will know what it's like to have everything brutally stripped from you!"

"Loki!"

Loki turned to see Darcy hurrying across the desert towards him.

He took a breath, re-burying his pain and anger, and acknowledged her with a nod. "Lady Darcy," he said.

She blushed at the title and gave an embarrassed smile, and Loki in turn felt a bit of embarrassment for addressing her in a way that was not simply polite in her culture. This will take some getting used to, he admitted to himself.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he replied.

She smiled. "Right," she said sarcastically, "you're just shouting at the sky for no reason."

He smiled back at her, then sighed and turned back to the sky. "Odin One-Eye is all-seeing, all-knowing," he told her; "or, at least, he can see everything, if he chooses to."

"Hey," she said, putting a hand on his arm. For a minute, he was shocked by her boldness, but quickly decided to accept the gesture, as he really wasn't superior to her in any way; at least, not anymore.

He said nothing.

"What your dad did to you was wrong," said Darcy, "but…it's over now. There's no point in shouting at the sky; he couldn't take any of it back, even if he wanted to."

"I am aware of that," Loki sighed, "but I wish…"

"Don't wish," Darcy said. "Just…move on." She gave him a hesitant half-smile. "You're gonna live here now, far away from him. He can't hurt you anymore."

Loki turned to her…and smiled. "It is no longer about him hurting me," he told her.

She shrugged. "Well, the point is, you're away from him now," she replied. "Him, and those freezer people-"

"Frost Giants," Loki corrected.

"Whatever," said Darcy. "The point is, you're away from it all now." She took his hand. "Come on," she said. "Come home."

He smiled at her again. "It seems my first impression of you was incorrect," he said; "you're actually quite good at this."

"I'm not trying to manipulate you-"

"Yes you are."

Darcy laughed. "Well, okay, maybe a little," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean I'm wrong, or that I'm lying."

"True," Loki conceded.

They smiled at each other for a minute.

"Come on," Darcy said again, and they walked back to the camp together.

~o~

Everyone was stunned, not least because Loki's rant was mostly new information to most of them.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous roar, and Odin, Thor, Heimdall, Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three turned just in time to see Yardaff bellow with rage as ice shards formed around him, then started spraying forcefully in every direction, as Yardaff's anger reached its peak. Everyone quickly ducked for cover, and they all just barely managed to avoid getting punched full of holes as ice daggers shot through the air like bullets.

"All-Father!" Yardaff roared at the top of his lungs, turning on Odin and walking towards him, the ice storm caused by his fury finally abating, if only just.

Odin stood and faced Yardaff without flinching.

"See what you've done?" Yardaff shouted at him furiously, his anger somehow still icy despite its intensity. "See what you've reduced him to? My own brother, crown prince of Jotunheim, reduced to shouting prayers for justice to the skies and accepting the consoling touch of a mortal girl! This is an outrage! You have disgraced my brother, my family, and my race through your insolence beyond any chance of forgiveness!" He clenched his fists. "Do not think you will go unpunished for this," he hissed, the cold fury of his voice more terrifying than his outburst had been. "My brother's prayer will be answered. I will ensure it, no matter the cost." With that, he walked over to where Loki's helmet had landed, picked it up, and left the throne room. Everyone was too stunned to even question where he was going. Luckily for them, he went directly back to the isolated gate back to Jotunheim.

Everyone turned to Odin, who met their looks with defensive contempt.

"Father…" Thor finally said.

"I regret nothing," Odin stated bitingly, and he turned and left.

When he left, everyone turned to Thor, who was silent. Seeing his brother shouting with helpless rage had torn at his heart, ripping open further wounds that had only just begun to heal.

"Thor…" Lady Sif finally began softly, stepping towards him.

"Leave me," he hissed, turning away from her and the others.

Lady Sif paused, then nodded sadly, even though Thor couldn't see, and left, Heimdall and the Warriors Three following behind her.

Thor quickly wished he hadn't sent his friends away; being alone made the pain worse instead of better. More than just pain, though, he felt confusion. Who was to blame? Who was the villain - Loki, the Frost Giants, or…his own father?

Try as he might, he could think of no answer.