The feel of metal tightening around her throat, the chains cutting into her skin and the breath being forced from her caused her to jolt awake, her head spinning. She brought her hands up to her neck and wheezed, lurching forward; only to cause herself more pain. She struggled, tears forming in her eyes as she moved to get away – but couldn't. She was trapped, completely and utterly trapped. The sting of the newly forming bruises began to grow, and she knew that they would leave big marks – if she wasn't to die that was.

"Loki.." She choked out, her eyes rolling back into her head as she struggled to keep consciousness. But he didn't answer, instead she heard a whimper. As if he himself was struggling, and as if by magic (which it probably was) Sigyn managed to twist herself onto her side, only to come face to face with a crying God. Still asleep though. He wretched and twisted in his slumber, and the chains tightened around her neck once more.

A nightmare.

"Loki.." She choked again, but still there was no answer. The lightness in her head began to grow, and her surroundings became blurry as nearly all the air was forced from her lungs. But she knew this was her last chance, and she called out his name as loud as she could before feeling her head knock against his chest.


He jolted up, cuffs pushing away from his body as soon as he had heard his name echoed from around his mind. It wasn't a matter of why his name was being called, but who it was being called by. He knew her voice anywhere, it had haunted his dreams and been a very small part of why he continued his life. He wouldn't admit it, but she was part of how he had agreed to go along with Thanos' plans. To say she saved him would be a bit of an overstatement, she was not his saving grace. She was not the light of his life, she could not change and mould him. He was too strong to be pushed around in such a way, even if it was done out of love. No, Sigyn was just a person that occupied a small corner of his mind, and he could never seem to shake her away. So instead of trying to be rid of her, (Which would probably involve killing, and the idea of killing her took it a little too far) he chose to go along with it and accept that she wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

But just because he put up with her did not mean he didn't care for her. Loki cared very much for her wellbeing, perhaps almost as much as he cared for himself. But obviously, she wasn't that important – not right now anyway. Sigyn was his wife, and yes; he did love her. But not enough for him to let her go to live a normal life, and not enough for him to sacrifice his need for revenge and power. But enough for him to keep her safe.

Well, as safe as he could.

Unfortunately, unconscious the dark part of his mind that he desperately tried to lock out crept up and consumed him, he could not control his actions and everything felt so real. He could feel the pain, he could feel the torment and the need to protect himself – but the feeling of not being able to also came about, and now as he stared down at her potentially lifeless body, for the first time in long while – he was worried for another person.

His cuffs made it hard for him to shake her shoulders as she lay awkwardly on his lap. The bruising around her neck made it awkward for him to move her at all, in case he hurt her or somehow damaged her even more.

"Sigyn.." He called, once again he shook her shoulders. His shackles rattled, and his eyes grew wide as she didn't respond. He slapped his hand across her face, leaving a red mark across her cheek. But still; she didn't wake.

His eyes grew even wider and his breath caught in his throat as he pulled her up, holding her as she was next to lifeless in his arms. Her skin was growing colder by the minute, and he couldn't see the familiar rise and fall of her chest that he had watched so many times before.

Was she dead?

Loki didn't know, and the thought to check didn't come to him; his eyes clouded over as he stood from his position in the bed, holding the girl aloft in his arms before he let out a single shaky breath.

Gone in his arms.

He allowed himself to take another breath, his eyes closed gently as he prepeared himself. The thoughts he had only just banished from his mind returned, and once again he was back where he had met the Chitauri.

He was back in the walled room.

He was back with the danger.

But just as he was about to fall into his nightly madness, he heard a cough.

And then a splutter.

And then a groan.

His eyes blinked open immediately, and he saw Sigyn, struggling to draw in a breath with heavy lidded eyes.

But her skin was still cold? Almost blue...

And then he saw it; hands were blue. This meant his whole body was blue - which meant he was killing her as he held her. Literally freezing her to death in his arms. He gasped and immediately turned back to his Asgardian form, and cradled her closer as she struggled to get away, her head lolling to the side as she recovered from unconsciousness.

"Sigyn." he said quietly, his hand tracing over the goose bumps on her arms. His eyes softened, and then dared to show emotion as she stiffened, staring up at him in almost terror.

His worst fear had been confirmed - almost. He had tried to hide it from her; the rage, darkness and the deep hurt he hid inside his mind, only to be unlocked when he could not control himself. Yes, she had seen his rage, darkness and hurt from years of being the second son, years of never being as good as Thor; years of being lied to.

But she had never seen the part of him that was twisted, destroyed and wounded from them. And hopefully, after this; she never would.

"Sigyn, please. Do not ignore me." He said again, this time his hand traced her bruising cheekbone. His brows furrowed as he realized how hard he had slapped her, but at least he could justify the reason. "I know that you can hear me. I do not like this... ignorant behaviour."

"Please put me down." She whispered, her voice coming back to her slowly. Once again, her voice was raspy and like it was on the day she had awoken from her Muspelheim. Loki nodded his head at once, and placed her upon the bed, but as soon as her back had hit the mattress, she was scrambling to her feet.

"Careful, Sigyn." Loki brought his hand up to steady her as she got to her feet, falling forward slightly. Her skin was still cold, but maybe it was his. He seemed to radiate cold now, it was impossible to lock it away. He had all but been consumed.

His eyes trailed down the back of her figure as she walked towards her clothes, and a pang could be felt in his heart as he stared at her. He had hurt her many times, physically, mentally, emotionally - all of it. It was the norm for their relationship now. He would hurt her, she would tell him she loved him, and they would forgive each other. It happened each and every time, she allowed him to test her limits until she did not care anymore, and then as soon as she recognized she missed him; she would force him to make up for all the bad things he had done by being emotional, showing him how she truly felt. By caring and loving him.

"I apologize, love."

"I am fine." She mumbled, pulling her dress from the previous day, but dropped it on the floor as soon as she saw how tattered it had become from their trip down to earth. Her eyes travelled over to the door, and she blinked a few times before she slipped into her shoes, tying the ribbons up her legs like she did every morning since she was a girl. The dress came to just above her knees - it was an under dress after all, and at least every Asgardian dress came to just above their ankles, or trailed behind the women on the floor. To have a dress above the knees was almost disrespectful, unless you were a Vanir; in which it was common to have slits up the dress, exposing the whole leg to the outside world.

But legally, Sigyn was an Aesir now. And she didn't suppose Loki would take too kindly to being embarrassed in front of the Aesir. But this was not Asgard, and there was only one other Aesir on the earth (at least she assumed so) and at this moment in time; Sigyn didn't care what he thought.

"Darling, I believe you have another garment to dress in." His eyes cast over the pile that her long dress had made, and Sigyn shook her head. Earning a stony gaze from Loki.

"No."

"You do not look proper."

"And I suppose a ruined dress is proper?"

Loki made a non-committal noise as he stood, legs apart in his usual power stance. And Sigyn let a faint smile trace over her lips as his familiar sharp eyes pierced her own. The need to reach out, pull him down next to her and just be close to her was overwhelming. No sex, no direct touching, just being able to interact with him.

That was what she loved about him; their relationship was not built on sex, or anything of that kind. Yes, they kissed, yes they made love; but that was not their whole relationship. He was her friend, she could trust him; or so she thought she could. He comforted her, kept her safe and entertained her.

He loved her.

Well, she hoped.

But that was enough, she loved him too. But she was not blind.

There was something wrong, something deeper was going on and Sigyn would not rest until she knew exactly what he was hiding from her.

It was strange, for a woman who hated lies and relied on loyalty; she had married into lies. Her wedding day had been a lie, his affections for the first few months of marriage had been lies; he himself was a lie.

His voice snapped her back from her thoughts, and she arched an eyebrow as he moved forward.

"Oh, and I suppose that wandering around in such a short under dress is proper?"

"I'd rather wear this than a ruined dress; and the women on Midgard wear dresses far shorter than this." She retorted, and a slick smirk pressed across his face.

"Yes, they do."

She scoffed, her hand rubbing her neck. His eyes softened, and Sigyn quickly pulled her hand away and cleared her throat, desperate for her voice to return once more. The sound of the rough voice had once made her cry, but now it only made her angry.

Why could she not heal like everyone else? Sif had probably faced worse, and so had each of The Avengers. But here she was, a Goddess who could not even retain her voice.

"Sigyn." Loki said, pulling her to feet.

"Yes?"

"Do not tell anyone of the events of this morning." It sounded as if he was forcing the words out, and Sigyn agreed with a single nod of her head. A half-smile pressed across his face, and he pulled her in, his arms wrapping around her waist for a moment as his eyes darkened, his lips about to press against hers before the sound of a door being opened sounded around the room, and then the figure of Tony Stark appeared in their doorway.


The man's eyes raised and he rolled his eyes, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as usual. He stepped into the room, and Sigyn and Loki slowly pulled away from each other.

"Is there something you need?" Loki drawled, his bored tone echoed around the room and Tony stared at him for a few moments before shivering - exuberantly of course.

"Jesus, what are you two? Human ice cubes?"

Both stood rigid where they stood, Sigyn looked scared, and Loki looked angry.

Maybe he had said the wrong thing.

"My body temperature is of no concern to you, Tony. And my wife's most certainly is not."

Tony coughed, wiping his arm across his forehead before nodding.

"Well, ice cubes; you're wanted downstairs."

Sigyn looked as if she was pushing Loki forward, or at least trying to as Tony spoke.

Housewife, maybe?

"Both of you." He said with a smirk, and Sigyn seemed to freeze for a moment before letting a smile appear. Maybe the idea of being out of Loki's company appealed to her, or she as putting on a brave face.

He hoped it was the first. If she fell in love with the man - well that was one thing.

But to want to be around him 24/7 - well then she was certifiably crazy.

And something told him the woman wasn't that far gone.

"Meet us downstairs in ten."


"That was longer than ten minutes." Steve mumbled as Loki and Sigyn finally walked into the out of use board room in The Avengers Tower - they'd be moving to the mansion eventually, but that wouldn't be for months, or even a year. Then it'd take the two even longer to get around, that was if they were still there. He hoped they wouldn't be.

He liked Sigyn, but Loki... Well Loki had them all on edge. How she put up with him, Steve didn't know. Just looking at him filled him with anger, but he knew for the sake of his world and his friends; he couldn't act on his impulses.

"We were lost in the halls.." She mumbled, taking a seat next to him. Loki seemed to visibly stiffen as she sat by the Captain, but he didn't say a thing.

"Yeah, it's pretty easy to get lost in here.." Bruce finished off for her, and Sigyn nodded her head, a small smile appearing on her face as she felt Loki lean back against the chair next to her, legs splayed and eyes sharp.

"But now that you're here; we can get down to business." The figure of Tony Stark strolled into the room, and Sigyn rolled her eyes, a grin coming to her lips when he stared directly at Loki, a confused look coming on his face when the God smiled.

He actually smiled.

Was this a good thing? Or did it mean he was planning something more?

A shiver went up her spine as she thought about it, and a look of embarrassment crossed her face when Steve immediately turned to her,

"Are you okay, ma-"

"Yes." She answered quickly, a little too quickly. But Steve knew when and when not to press, so instead he nodded his head and went back to looking to Tony, who now sat opposite them.

"So, are we going t get down to this business or not?" Bruce asked again, sat next to Clint who didn't look away from the window on the far end of the wall. But Sigyn couldn't blame him. She'd probably be the same if she were in his shoes.

"What business?" She asked, Loki seemed to be making no move to interact with people, except smiling at them when they looked at him.

Strange.

It wasn't like Loki to avoid conversation, only if he wasn't interested. And Sigyn knew he was interested, that much could be said by the quirk of his eyebrows whenever something he wanted to know more about came up.

"What we're going to do with you."

And then, as if by cue; Thor.

He strolled into the room, arms swinging as he proudly pulled up a chair (that was a little too small for him) and took a seat.

"Good morning, brother." He said, and Sigyn was expecting Loki to ignore the man. He usually did. Even in Asgard on early mornings, Loki would roll his eyes at Thor and go back to whatever he was doing. But today was different.

"Good morning." He answered back, and Sigyn took note of the lack of 'brother'.

But at least he was being civil.

"How are you on this morning?"

"I am-"

"No!" Tony called out, waving his arms in front of him to signal 'stop'. "We can have family time later, right now we have things to do. No goofing off."

Steve raised his eyebrows, and Tony narrowed his eyes.

"What,America?"

"You're one to talk about goofing off.."

Tony glared at him for a few moments before turning away, staring out of the window as he began to speak.

"What we're here to talk about is what happens to the Asgardians."

"What will happen to us?" Thor questioned, head tilted to the side as Tony shot him a look.

"No, no - nothing's going to happen to you.. More of a 'what do we do when there's no one to baby-sit.'"

Thor sat back in his chair, nodding his head as he motioned for him to carry on. Tony cleared his throat, turning his gaze directly to Loki, who in turn let out another smile.

"Usually I let my house guests do as they please, but somehow I don't think having you run around scot-free in my house is a good idea." Tony cleared his throat again, turning his eyes away from Loki. His gaze was too much. "But, I'm not letting you anywhere near my businesses. And I don't think SHIELD would be too happy with letting another bunch of agents look after you. They already have their biggest heroes on the case."

Steve, Clint, Bruce and Thor all nodded in unison.

"And I don't think Fury would be too happy if he found out that we messed up."

This time they all nodded - bar Loki.

"So... We need to find ways to occupy you."

Loki quirked an eyebrow, and Sigyn found the feeling of dread coming over her again.

Occupying Loki was no easy task, she had tried and failed many times.

"Now, since you're not opening your trap.." Tony pointed to Loki, and then moved his finger across until it landed on Sigyn, "We'll ask Mrs Loki what she wants to do; so?"

Sigyn paused, her breath in her throat as she thought.

What did she need?

"Clothes." She mumbled, her voice growing louder when she realized she sounded like a child, "I need clothes."

"Well, we can sort that out.."

"And so does Loki."

A grin rose to all of their faces as they turned to stare at the God, who in turn smiled back and motioned towards his Asgardian armour.

"And Thor does, too. Most probably."

"You do look like Lord of The Rings extras.." Tony mumbled, his hand placed on his chin as he nodded his head, "Okay, we'll do it."

Sigyn smiled.

"But not now."

And then frowned.

"We can't trust Loki, he needs to be kept locked here. I don't really want to spend all my money rebuilding the city - again."

"But-"

"Sigyn, you can wear some of Pepper's. She doesn't mind sharing."

"Unlike you." Steve mumbled, and Sigyn coughed to cover her laugh.

"I do too share." Tony said as he stared at Steve, who in turn look towards the floor.

"Well, not really.." Bruce said, a grin on his face when Tony feigned hurt.

"I share my labs with you, I share my house with the Avengers - I share my company with Pepper."

"Yes.." Bruce trailed off, head swaying to the side.

"I'm going to share my clothes with Loki." He said, hands on his hips as Bruce furrowed his brows, pure confusion coming onto his face.

"You're what?"

"You heard me."

"Sure.." Bruce mumbled, a grin coming to his face as he sat back in his chair, watching Tony move forward, hand on his chin again as he looked over Loki's body. They probably were the same size - Loki was taller though, but he could probably alter the clothes with his magic.

Speaking of magic, Bruce had been thinking all night about it. If he was just allowed to get Loki - or even Sigyn into the lab, he could find a way to stop the attacks. If he could understand the magic then maybe it wouldn't be so much of a threat.

"Actually." Bruce said, rising from his seat. Everyone turned to face him, and a feeling of nervounessness came over him. He shook it off, and turned to face Sigyn. "Do you think I could see you in the lab once you've changed?"

"Why..." She asked, her voice trailing off as she lifted her gaze to face his.

"I, uh... I'll tell you when you're there."

Sigyn nodded her head, but the look of Loki's eyes darkening and his fists clenching didn't miss Bruce's eyes.


Pepper had given Sigyn an old blue dress (When she said old, it was last seasons.) and a pair of shoes to match. Not to mentioned the wardrobe that had been given to her. She'd never be out of clothes again - unless she got bored with them and demanded more.

Loki too had been given enough clothes. Mostly shirts, jeans and slacks. A couple of dress trousers, and jackets and pairs of black shoes - some converse. And Sigyn had to admit, they looked good.

"This won't hurt, I promise." Bruce said, a smile on his face as he tried to comfort her. Sigyn sat on top of the medical metal bench, and allowed Bruce to take arm. He'd briefly explained he was a doctor, and that he simply wanted to understand their race more - so she had agreed to let him take her blood, or 'DNA' as he called it.

"If you say so." She smiled, the feeling of the sharp pin piercing her skin caused her to bite down on her lip, but it was over as soon as it began, and the needle was pulled from her skin. He placed a swab of cotton wool over the small bleeding spot, and she held it to her arm as he placed the needle in a container, and then into a container and then a cabinet. The whole science processed confused her - she had never been good with potions, let alone whatever it was these scientists did.

Loki had however, but he had been good at everything. Art, magic, acting, dancing - everything. He was man of many talents, and even now he was stil excelling in them all.

But there was something wrong, and it hurt her to see it.

"Bruce, you are a doctor, are you not?"

"Yes.." He said, putting his tools away. She watched as he slipped his gloves off and dropped them into a metal canister, and then turned back to face her again.

"A doctor of the mind?"

"No.." he said again, he folded his arms over his chest and leaned back slightly, "Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

"You're a terrible liar." He said, a smile on his face as Sigyn slid down from the bench.

"There is no reason."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"I wanted help, that is all."

"For you, or for Loki?" His gaze scrutinized her as she shrugged her shoulders, pulling the cardigan that Pepper had also loaned her, and giving Bruce a final smile.

"It does not matter, I shall have to sort it myself." She gave him another smile, wrapping the material around her as Bruce tried to stop her, but she flinched and moved back faster than anything he had seen.

"I'm sorry, I won't hurt you.."

"I know." She spoke thought clenched teeth, trying her best to force another smile on her face, but instead it looked like a grimace. It had been her reflex to not let someone, other than Loki and perhaps Thor, touch her since the events of Muspelheim, or even that morning. Loki had hurt her, and she was till shaken. It wasn't that she didn't trust Bruce, she didn't trust his temper and she had no wish to come into contact with a monster - but she knew that Bruce was not the monster, just as Loki was not the monster - well not entirely. Part of her was growing to love certain parts of that persona. And she didn't know why.

"Do not take it personally." She breathed again, a smile coming to her face as Bruce stared; hurt. She blinked a tear back and turned away, rushing through the doors as fast as she could.

Now she wanted to see Loki.


Sorry it's not that good, I've had a god awful day and just wanted to put it up - so I'm really sorry if there's any errors and I hope it's okay for you all.

Guest: Aw, I'm glad you liked it! He may be a bit of a d!ck, but he has his tender moments~ Thanks for your review!

Guest: I hope this was quick enough for you! Thank you for the review!

vampireorvampyre: I'm really glad you liked Into The Void, I'm so glad it had such a positive response. It means an awful lot. And I'm gad you're enjoying this too! Thank you for your review!

Rachie-girl: Sigyn is to stay! Super bi-polar and a bit scary is how I like my Loki~ ;)
And yes, your shameless flattery definitely struck my muse! Haha, thank you very much for you review, they make my day every time!

Thank you to all the favourites and alerts, and even chances people have given this story; I really do appreciate it.

And again; I love reviews, especially constructive ones (I'm terrified I'm butchering Sigyn and Loki's relationship - and all the characters in general. *cry*) x