Author's Note: Yay first post of the new year! Thank you to those of you that have been sticking this out with me! Hope you all had an awesome Christmas and New Years! This chapter's title is from the song "Hopeless Opus" by Imagine Dragons. Do enjoy and reviews are very appreciated!

My Hopeless Opus

Odin had ordered it that he was never to see Frigga again, but Loki knew that not even the All-Father could always keep his queen from doing what she pleased. Though her presence in his cell was just projection, her actions still disobeyed direct orders.

Loki wanted to express his gratitude towards her appearance, towards all the trouble she went to secretly providing him with lavish furnishings and books, but all he could focus on was that he was stuck inside a cell in a dungeon filled with common criminals. It was never in his nature to be caged and he was starting to resent his mother for requesting his life to be spared.

I'm not some pet falcon to be trained and held captive.

Loki paced his cell despite his mother's presence, feeling inwardly keyed up at the arrival of more marauders, all lined up to be imprisoned. Again he was back in the void, where the Chitauri captured anything that came within reach, torturing and killing for their own amusement – or as in his case, determined if their prisoners were of use.

He was keeping his anxieties in check, but only just barely, managing to comment on Odin's seeming endless supply of prisoners while sounding unaffected.

"The books I sent, do they not interest you?" Frigga's projection asked.

Loki turned back from his first class view of the dungeon's goings, giving her his tight-lipped rebuttal.

Of course books were one of his chief interests, but he enjoyed reading most as an escape from the presence of others. Now there was nothing left to escape from, not physically anyway. His body was ensnared from the freedom it do desperately sought and his soul was a prisoner to the horrors of his own mind. He didn't much hold the desire to read anymore.

"I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki."

"Have you?" he inquired, thinking that he could have been comfortable and free in Death's embrace by now, "Does Odin share your concern?" his mother's brows rose at the condescending tone his voice held, "Does Thor?"

"You know full well it was your actions that brought you here," she got to the meat of the subject.

"My actions?" he queried again, he then not so subtly but quite elegantly pointed the finger of blame towards Odin and the great lie of his life as the cause of his actions, thus bringing him to this sorry existence. The great lie that Loki was meant to be a king.

"A king?" her voice chimed in, "A true king admits his faults."

It was the same tiresome lesson that Odin had been preaching to him since his capture. A lesson that seemed to apply to everyone except Odin himself, who had murdered and plundered on a scale that even Loki's doings could not touch. And they were speaking to him about faults?

"Your father—"

Loki's carefully crafted shield of emotions crumbled suddenly and he responded in the only way he knew how at the moment, erupting into anger, "He's not my father!"

The queen didn't bat an eyelash at his outburst and betrayed no intimidation in her calm words, "Then am I not your mother?"

Loki scoffed, his senses wild and on high alert and screaming at him to hurt her! Hurt her for denying you the peace of death!

"You're not."

As soon as the words were out he wished he could take them back. The hollowness in him increased in a way he didn't imagine possible, like he had ripped a part of himself off and tossed it away. Hurting her only seemed to reflect back at him and ultimately injure his fragile psyche even more.

Frigga – no his mother, allowed the words to flow off of her as though they held no contempt at all.

"You're always so perceptive about everyone but yourself."

He tried to remain firm on the conviction of his words, but the longer he stared at those eyes that continued to look on at him with love and devotion, he caved.

'I'm sorry, mother,' he wanted to say, but his pride was holding him in check.

Loki couldn't look at her any longer and it was all he could do to walk up to her, mournfully shaking his head and to pass his hand through the projection, disrupting the flow of her magic and silently dismissing her from him.

His mother slowly shimmered away in a green halo of light, all the while holding his gaze tearfully. The God of Mischief did not know if she understood how he truly felt, but he thought that she did. He wasn't sure how he would go on if she didn't.

For a while after his mother's visit, Loki spent his time with his boots rooted to the floor, staring at the place she previously occupied. Thoughts and memories flew anxiously around the little cage that was his mind, blending into one another until he could no longer tell one from the last.

At least try to find something to do instead of emotionally murdering yourself over and over again. It's growing immensely tiresome.

Loki quickly drew his attention to his cell and the few little things brought from his room and for once wished he had a cellmate. Then at least he could amuse himself at their expense.

As that was not the case, he busied himself by tossing and catching one of his potion bottles as he lay upon the his new bed. It was hardly an exercise in coordination, but at least it was something to keep his senses from completely dulling.

Bowm! Bowm! Bowm!

The repetitive sound of prisoners beating their fists on their shimmery cells while crying out broke Loki's concentration. It grabbed at his attention and the former prince decided to see what the entire ruckus was about.

From what he could see a cell several lengths down from his was being taken over by a strange beast of a prisoner. It convulsed and blackened as though it were being cooked from the inside out, then became bigger and more menacing. The man – if Loki could honestly call the thing that – grabbed one of his cellmates and pressed him against the energy field keeping him contained. The energy field couldn't handle the stress and fizzled out.

Interesting. Odin told Thor and I that all the dark elves had been slaughtered…and yet right here before me is a fabled Kursed.

Loki watched on with eagle eyes as the beast mercilessly killed two Einherjar. With no one else to stop him, the Kursed stomped from cell to cell, releasing every prisoner with brute efficiency. His power was a thing to behold and clearly matched Thor, perhaps even outmatching him. The more he saw, the more Loki's interest grew until it piqued when the Kursed came upon his cell.

Both beings scrutinized and measured each other with the cold precision of two ancient predators. The snake and the lizard.

What a lovely chance at escape, Loki's thoughts the mutated dark elf a conspirator's grin, Loki threw his baited line into the water and waited for a hint of a bite.

Loki thought he had the Kursed trapped on his hook when the latter stepped forward for a closer look, and he could see the beast's hatred for Asgard equaled his own. But then the Kursed's interest turned to skepticism. He quickly extracted himself from Loki's hook altogether and turned away, giving him no more regard than a callous shake of his head.

Oh I will have a hand in this, even if it's from this cell.

"You might want to take the stairs to the left."

The beast glanced back once more over his massive shoulder before heeding the words of the Trickster.

It wasn't long until more Einherjar, accompanied by Fandral and Volstagg, appeared to wrangle the unruly escapees into submission. Loki was quite pleased with the discord surrounding him, so much so that finally he finally decided to indulge in the reading material that Frigga provided him with.

Soon too Thor joined the fray with a grand entrance as was customary of his character. Uncharacteristically though, the Thunderer offered the marauders a chance to return to their cells peacefully, but it was to no avail. The skirmish continued much to the God of Mischief's delight.

A sudden series of intense crashes echoed above the dungeons and everyone, Asgardian and marauder alike paused mid-fight to contemplate what was going on. Even Loki was caught unawares. The more he trained his ears the more he also thought he heard the fire of longboats outside the palace.

So this isn't just an isolated incident, but a full-scale attack on Asgard.

Deep-gutted dread seeped into the primal part of Loki's brain, but he quickly stamped it back down.

Isn't that what you wanted, Asgard in ruin? And once it is taken over surely you'll discover an avenue of escape.

He silently agreed with the resentful side of his conscience and relaxed back into the world of his book.

So immersed in reading was he that he failed to notice the prisoners had been seen back to their cells, as well as the quiet the once again enveloped the dungeons. It wasn't until he heard his name being addressed that he regained his sense of the world around him. Before his cell stood an Einherjar with his helm cradled under his arm, such a position spoke of important news to be delivered.

The previous feeling of dread returned full force. It moved down to the pit of his stomach and settled there.

Something's not right. He sensed it, he knew it immediately without any words having to be spoken. When the Einherjar confirmed the suspicions of his gut instinct, Loki's heart sucked in on itself, transforming into a black hole in his chest. If he thought he hated Odin and Thor before, then he never truly hated anything in his life more than he despised himself at this very moment.

I sent that beast off…I'm the reason mother is dead. I truly am a monster.

The black hole within him swirled and grew, searching through the vestigial emotions of his hollow being, until it found what it wanted. It began feeding, fueling itself on the rage and self-loathing coursing through his veins, swelling bigger and bigger.

Magic pulsed from him freely, uncaring of anything in harm's way. Furniture toppled over, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough when every piece of finery lay splintered, torn, and shattered around him. It wasn't enough when he tore at himself relentlessly, fingernails ripping into skin and hair, tearing at clothes, his feet cut from stepping on the broken remains of the scrying pool. It wasn't enough when he found himself on the floor, screaming out his rage and agony.

It wouldn't ever be mildly enough until Frigga's death was paid for it in blood.

He was no longer the God of Mischief.

No. He was Loki, the God of Vengeance.

"Jane isn't calling me back, Erik isn't calling me back, stupid S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't calling me back."

Darcy was a mess, a freaking wreck.

"What's S.H.I.E.L.D?" her intern piped up.

She almost forgot that she had invited him back to the flat, so that she wouldn't be alone. She hated being alone when she was freaking out.

"It's a secret," she said, proud of herself for maintaining an air of nonchalance.

On the inside she was a discombobulated ball of nerves.

What's going on with Jane and Thor up in Asgard?

Is she okay?

Where the hell is Erik?

Is space not really fine?

She tried Erik's cell again, but it went straight to voice mail so she left a concise message on how she was feeling.

"Darcy," the intern thankfully interrupted frantic train of thought, "you really need to look at this."

Darcy's attention was driven to the television where a news report showed recorded footage of man running around Stone Henge in the buff carrying some scientific do-dads. She paused the TiVo on the dazed face of the naked man. It was definitely Erik.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right…

Yet again Loki could sense the presence of the man he spent a 1,000 years of his life believing was his brother long before said man even arrived. Quickly he cast an illusion that encompassed his entire cell, depicting him as the calculating, unruffled prince that everyone knew him to be.

And yet Thor saw right through it. Loki grew weary of hiding behind his pride and bared all of his demons for the crowned prince of Asgard to see. If Thor was perturbed by the destruction of his cell or the distress of Loki's appearance, he did not voice it, but merely made his way around the cell to stand next to the energy field closest to the younger man.

Loki tilted his head to face him, "Did she suffer?"

"I did not come here to share in our grief," for once Thor sounded distant, cold, "Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

Even in his mourning, Loki was ever the curious creature. "Go on," he urged.

Thor gave him his terms; show him and his paramour through one of the secret pathways to Svartalfheim and Loki would be granted a what he craved most, vengeance upon their mother's murderers. Loki very much liked the bargain until Thor told him he would be returned to his cell. He looked about him in distasted, but realized this was the best offer he was going to get.

Thor needing aid from his little brother, such an odd circumstance we find ourselves in.

Loki chuckled lightly at the irony, not stopping himself from voicing it, "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't," Thor answered with an immediacy that almost made him proud, "Mother did."

Loki's eyes began to sting but he had long since vanquished himself of tears. He was dry of all sorrow and now only a dull pain remained, one he was not sure would ever go away.

"But you should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."

The only pinpoint of light in all this gloomy darkness was that now a purpose had once again been tossed into his lap. Loki latched onto it like a final lifeline.

This purpose he would not fail.

"When do we start?"

The second he was released Loki stretched limbs that had quickly become irritable and tight during his confinement. His magic surrounded him so that he was more presentable and battle ready. Then a genuine sense of mischievousness that he hadn't felt in a few years over came him. He humored Thor – or more accurately himself – by transfiguring their appearances in amusing ways. It only resulted in Thor's hand over his mouth to keep them from being detected by passing Einherjar. When he thought he was making a judicial decision by asking for a weapon, Thor's only response was to cuff him in magic represent shackles.

He was no longer so amused.

Quick footsteps to his left alerted him and Sif and Thor's woman met up with them

"You're…" the mortal began.

He stepped closer in mild greeting, "I'm Loki, you may have heard of me."

Her form of greeting was to slap him across the face with enough force to whip his head around.

"That was for New York," she said, but there was a fiery determination in her eyes that had him wondering if she assaulted him for far more personal reasons. Reasons that perhaps involved one Darcy Lewis.

You have aligned yourself with a worthy friend, little one.

Loki grinned down at Jane, and whether Thor wanted his blessing or not, he said in admittance, "I like her."

Einherjar were already on their trail and Sif volunteered distract them. As he turned to leave with his brother, his throat was met by Sif's sword as she threatened him with death should he turn against Thor.

In return he smirked in that knowing way that she always hated, "It's good to see you, too, Sif."

Next they came upon Volstagg. The rotund man let Thor and his mortal pass onto the elven aircraft beyond, but made sure to stop Loki with the beginnings of a threat mirroring Sif and Thor's. Loki cut him off before he could even get to the real threatening for as fun as this all was, time was running away from all of them.

Once on the foreign vessel Thor started pressing the control panels, his misguided touches earning him little start up response. At this rate Volstagg would be overcome and the Einherjar would swarm the ship. The oaf continued hitting buttons, so in hopes to hurry things along, Loki suggested a lighter touch. This only frustrated Thor more into slamming his hands more vigorously and none so gently, but finally at least the ship powered up.

The engines provided thrust and in no time the ship was airborne. Thor's maneuvering however still needed adjustment for he took out nearly all the columns that remained standing on their escape from the palace. And Loki didn't even bother repressing his banter about it either. Soon they were flying over Asgard, causing a scene and they weren't free of pursuit for long. Gun turrets stationed throughout the city opened fire on them. Thor was forced into performing none-so-gracefully evasive maneuvers, causing his beloved Jane to faint.

They flew over the great body of water with which the Bifrost Bridge spanned, warriors in longboats hot on their heels and firing. Loki's remarks on Thor's piloting, which started as jests, were quickly devolving into insults on the sensibility of the entire plan. One moment he was questioning his brother's intelligence, the next he was airborne without the aid of the ship and descending fast. If he didn't possess the cat-like flexibility he honed over many centuries, he would have been taking a swim instead of landing on the longboat that Fandral was piloting below.

Thor had not been completely forthcoming on his escape plan after all, and he earned a little bit of Loki's respect, grudgingly as it was to admit. Finally some control was relented over to Loki. He took over the rudder, piloting the longboat towards the intended secret pathway. Fandral had to vacate the boat to distract straggler enemy longboats, leaving the two princes and the Midgardian to their journey on their own once again.

A thrill of excitement shot up Loki's spine now that he was allowed to show off his talents. Traveling through Yggdrasil's paths had been a joy of his that he shared with no one, a joy he also hadn't experienced in a few years. Loki was quite keen on enjoying it to the fullest.

As they drew closer to the rocky face of a particular mountain, Thor panicked, "Are you mad?"

"Possibly."

Loki increased the speed, and once inside the cave did so even further. He could not contain a gleeful "Ta-da~" when their longboat breached the pathway to bring them at once to Svartalfheim.

Now it was simply a waiting game.

While they were at a lull in action, Loki took his time observing Thor and his Jane. She was handled with a delicate care that he'd never seen his brother before use, and not simply because of her mortality. Thor truly loved her.

Loki sighed and turned his focus towards the relic that Jane possessed. "What I could do with the power that flows through those veins."

Thor seemed skeptical of the Trickster's ability to contain the Aether, much less wield it; that to which the latter countered by remarking upon the mortal's fortitude of containing it thus far.

"She's stronger in ways you'd never even know," Thor defended

For once Loki had to agree. Darcy had proven to him time and again that she was more than the constitution of her mortal frame. She sassed, defied, and challenged him in ways he thought not possible of such a lowly being. But that did not delude him from reality. Humans lived fleeting lives.

Jane was going to die.

Darcy was going to die.

Loki urged Thor to do what he'd surely never be allowed to tell his Darcy, "Say goodbye."

"Not this day."

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you."

For once he wasn't offering his brother this advice out of spite, but to spare him the pain. Last night Loki learned that not even the Aesir were guaranteed reprieve from death. Their mother was gone in the blink of an eye, so what hope was there for Thor to enjoy a short courtship with Jane? The Thunderer should just cut things off here.

And still you continued contact with Darcy once you located her again, his thoughts seemed to take on the quality of his mother's voice, you valued her companionship, did you not?

That's a mistake I won't be making again, this time thankfully his thoughts manifested in the form of his own voice.

Truly?

That last thought was a mysterious and mildly frightening mixture of his mother's voice and his own. Loki was grateful to Thor for breaking him out of his thoughts.

"And will that satisfy you?"

"Satisfaction is not in my nature." And it wasn't, nor would it likely ever be.

"Surrender's not in mine."

Loki once again attempted to chastise his brother's foolish stubbornness, but Thor cut him off. In a flash their conversation switched from their opinions on human/Aesir love to a subject still fresh and more closer to home.

"You think you alone were loved of mother?" Thor stood to meet him eye to eye, "You had her tricks, but I had her trust."

"Trust?" Loki's mood darkened considerably, "Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?"

Thor's voice rose in challenge, "What help were you in your cell?"

"Who put me there?!"

Thor shoved him and backward against the stern of the boat, telling him just who that was. Loki was certain he was about to be struck quite painfully, something he probably deserved. His brother was right after all. Frigga's death was on his shoulders most of all, but he was too much of a coward to speak of such blame. It was always easier, much less painful to lie and deflect blame. In the end Thor relented and released him.

Thor confessed his wish to trust him, no longer expressing that tone of hopefulness the Trickster had grown accustomed to during their last battles. No, there was only tinge of a sorrow as though he too had died. Perhaps a part of him had.

Loki straightened himself and spoke quietly, but with conviction, "Trust my rage."

Finally Malekith's mother ship convened with them on Svartalfheim. Loki landed the longboat and the brothers and their mortal charge took the high ground to scout their enemies and ready themselves for battle.

The plan was simple but dramatic. Jane was left out of the full details so that when Loki stabbed and thrust Thor down the cliff, her reaction to his "betrayal" was real. Malekith watched on with his men and when Loki offered Jane to him, he leant his ear to the Kursed. The beast growled something in their native tongue. Malekith stalked towards Thor forcing him to watch as he started draw the Aether out of Jane. This time Loki knew for certain his baited hook had been bitten, and he was planning to fry the whole lot of them.

Before Malekith could draw the Aether into himself, Loki quickly withdrew his illusion from Thor so he could again call Mjolnir. Shielding Jane was his next task allowing Thor to conjure his lightning and blast the Dark Elven relic to smithereens.

Everything had gone according to plan until the broken shards of the Aether started to shimmer and rise, returning to their liquefied state. Malekith stepped forward, accepting the ancient power into his body. With the Aether residing in its intended host, the Dark Elves no longer believed it necessary to remain and headed for their ship.

Thor swiftly pursued them, taking down any of Malekith's men that got in his way. The Kursed tossed a sort of grenade over his shoulder, his aim more towards Loki and Jane than Thor.

No!

In the split second it took for Loki react, his mind was consumed with thoughts of Thor's expression should she die here today. And who else would take care of Darcy for him as well as this woman? He shoved Jane clear of the weapon's radius.

The grenade didn't explode, but imploded into a vacuum, sucking Loki straight up in line of its gaping maw. He looked down and saw that Jane was below him and safe and a slight sense of relief over came him.

He sucked in a calming breath to steel himself. Your friend is safe now. Goodbye, little one.

His brother hit him like a missile, tackling him around the middle to bring him out of harm's way, knocking the air right back out of his lungs. They quickly recovered their footing and the eldest went back on the attack.

Thor flew off to take out Malekith but was headed off by the Kursed, who stayed behind to finish the job while Malekith and a handful of his men retreated into their ship. They seemed quite content to sacrifice a bulk of their force to destroy their opposition.

Loki peered around him, finding himself surrounded by the remaining force of Dark Elves. Until he vanquished them all he could not aid Thor, but he kept his patience and waited for them to initiate the fight. When the first advanced on him offensively, he retaliated by redirecting the attack. With his opponent off balance, slicing open the neck was child's play. The others swooped in on him as one, and he evaded and stabbed them one by one with the precision of a serpentine strike.

After the last fell victim to his blade, Loki looked over the battlefield to see how his brother fared. His earlier assumption was proven correct as he witnessed Thor being pummeled by the Kursed. With silent but hasty steps, Loki took up an Elven sword and sunk hilt deep into the beast's back; surely piercing his heart.

The shock of what little affect it did left Loki off guard and wide open. Before he knew how to react, he was impaled chest to chest with his enemy. The Kursed glared mercilessly at him, holding him in place for several moments so he suffered heightened agony before he was tossed to the ground. Fortunately the extra time spent upon the blade afforded Loki one last trick.

"See you in Hel, monster."

The grenade imploded in furiously unstable colors mirroring that of fire. The Kursed's body was compacted, rearranged so that it reached the most optimal size, then was swallowed up by a pinprick of light. The sight was very pleasing, especially the surprised and horrified screams. Loki almost felt invigorated until a renewed wave of pain swept over him.

I was wrong about the Other's torture. This is…I never expected this much…this much pain…

His brother was at his side instantly, cradling his body even as he weakly chided.

"I know…I'm a fool, I'm a fool," he winced, feeling his strength waning enough for his Jotun form to peek through the instinctual glamor of his magic.

"Stay with me, okay?"

Thor, ever-loyal Thor. Could he still truly wish for me to be by his side?

Knowing his time was quickening towards the end, the apology Loki wanted to say to his mother surfaced frantically from his lips.

Thor shushed him then nodded gravely, seemingly coming to terms that he was about to lose another member of his family.

"It's all right. I'll tell father what you did here today."

With the remainder of his strength Loki shook his head minutely, finding his neck too stiff to make the motion more distinguished. "I didn't do it for him."

He could only hope that Frigga too heard his confessions, wherever she was.

At last the pain subsided, leaving his body heavy yet relaxed within a shroud of calm where stillness accepted him.

She and the intern had managed to free Erik from the funny farm, but things only managed to get worse from there. Like The Birds worse. And Jane still was on Asgard.

"The better be fixing what's wrong with Jane," Darcy muttered to herself while clacking away at the MacBook, "because if they just went up in the clouds to bump uglies then I'm gonna be pissed…"

No sooner had she said that, Jane and Thor came waltzing through the door. Darcy jumped up, torn between bear-hugging her boss and interrogating her.

She chose the latter, "You can't just leave like that! The whole world is going crazy. The stuff we've seen is spreading. Did you go to a party?"

Jane ignored her to hug Erik and talk science, even though her friend was once again pantless. Darcy assumed it could have been worse. Thor asked Erik how he was, considering the last time the two of them had a run in Loki had been traipsing around doing who knows what with Erik's head.

Talk about skull-fuckery.

Erik laughed, but then his tone became a bit tense, "You're brother's not coming, his he?"

"Loki is dead."

Darcy barely caught Thor's answer from her side of the room, but she did. All the air seemed to get sucked right out of the room and her hands started shaking.

"Oh, thank god!" Erik sounded relieved before quickly back-pedaling, "I…I meant, I'm so sorry."

She could somewhat sympathize with Erik's relief, yet it stung to hear him talk about Loki in the manner he did; he didn't know the God of Mischief like she did. Clasping her hands together to keep them from trembling, Darcy kept herself turned away from the others until she took a good deep breath.

Alright Darcy you can do this. Everything's gonna be okay…

"Okay, so what's the plan?" she asked without tremor.

And so the all-important sciencey pow-wow commenced.

Darcy hoped that sleep would come to her a little more smoothly considering how she had taken events earlier. Instead she found herself staring blurrily up at the ceiling in the dimness of her borrowed room, thoughts drifting back and forth over a particular god and what she would face tomorrow.

If Loki didn't make it, what the hell am I supposed to do? I am so toast…

A soft knock at her door brought her out of her head. "Yeah?" she called. The door opened and she could just barely make out a willowy silhouette between the gap of the doorway. She sat up to switch the lamp on and retrieve her glasses. "Jane?"

"Darcy, are you okay?" her boss asked quietly, poking her head further into the room.

"Me? Oh, yeah. I'm pretty peachy," her air of nonchalance began to fade, "W-What…What was he like this time?"

Jane stepped in, closed the door behind her, and padded over to her bed. The astrophysicist stood there hesitantly for a few moments then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Well…" she began then paused contemplatively, "he was a real jerk when I first met him. I slapped him…"

"No…"

"Yep," Jane had the decency to bite her lip and look a little guilty, "And he kept on being a jerk until I kind of passed out on the way to Svartalfheim, so I don't know what happened in between. But when Malekith showed up, Loki and Thor worked together quite well. He…he kind of saved us."

Darcy snapped up straighter in her bed, her ears perked. "What?" Usually she was the one that couldn't stop talking, but here she was speaking single words to keep a conversation going.

Jane nodded, "When the Aether was pulled from me and Thor tried to destroy it, he bodily shielded me from the blast. Then he saved me from being pulled into a black hole grenade. And in the end, he gave his life to take down the creature trying to kill Thor."

"Wow."

"Yeah, surprising isn't it?"

It wasn't his actions that were so surprising to Darcy that moment, but she just nodded anyway as her mind once again went far a field.

"You okay?" Jane asked, hand on her shoulder.

Darcy shook herself from her thoughts, "Yeah, I'll be fine," she patted Jane's hand, "we should get some rest. Big day tomorrow, saving the world and all."

"Not the world, Darcy, the Universe," her boss corrected with a nervous grin, "so let's make a good impression."

"Heh, yeah and get on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar even further?" her mouth curved into a grin of her own, "Maybe we'll be enlisted by the Avengers. I hear Captain America is a dish~"

They shared a laugh before it got a little awkwardly quiet. Darcy didn't know what to do so she hugged Jane tightly.

"Darcy?"

"Shh…just accept my affection."

I need this, because I may never get another chance again after tomorrow. I'll never have the chance to let Loki know how much he meant to me, she thought a bit bitterly. Jane was one of the last people to see him alive and she didn't even like him. It wasn't fair…

She didn't blame Jane though. She blamed life and its general way of messing with people.

Slowly Jane accepted the embrace, then she returned it with a fierce grip of her own. They held each other like that for a while then parted, exchanging goodnights before Jane left the room.

Darcy flicked off her lamp, but kept her glasses on as she got out of bed and made her way to her window. She parted the curtains and looked up at the night sky, a few of the brightest stars catching her eye. Religion was always something of a mystery to her, even after the Norse God of Thunder dropped literally from the sky. She really didn't put much stock in it, but spirituality was another thing entirely.

Loki said I had…astral projected…

That had something to do with the spirit, right? So that surely meant that his spirit was out there somewhere beyond the death of his body.

Oh what the hell…

"I admit it, you're a bit of a Nostradamus when it came to knowing your time was coming up," she spoke to the stars, her hand fidgeting with the hem of her shirt at first until she got more comfortable with the idea of talking to the dead, "but you were wrong about something. You were able to change, even if just a little. But don't think I'm claiming that I was the person behind it. You did all that yourself and I'm proud of you."

She looked down as her fidgeting returned. "I'm sorry for turning you away how I did. Those weren't exactly nice parting words…and I never knew they'd be my last words to you. I wish I could have at least said goodbye or something," she then laughed nervously, "I might be joining you tomorrow if shit really hits the fan. But I'm not ready to die yet, so wherever that crazy spirit of yours is…I just wanted to ask if you'd give us some strength or just watch over us…however that sort of thing works, please…we could really use it. I could really use it."

Whether the fabled God of Mischief received her words or she just effectively spoke the craziest monologue of her life, Darcy felt better in just having said them. She was more at peace with herself and current role in the grand scheme of things.

Whoever said venting doesn't work is a complete a chode, were her last thoughts as her eyes fluttered in surrender to sleep.

The pain had long ago since drained from him as he drifted along a current where thought and physical sense no longer existed. He couldn't begin to explain the pleasant sensation washing over him continuously, sweeping him gently along with the current. He couldn't and he didn't want to bother to try.

All he knew what this was the most peaceful place he'd ever had the chance of visiting and that was enough for him.

Just as he was enjoying weightless journey to everywhere and nowhere, he halted so abruptly within the soothing current that it jarred his lower jaw against his upper teeth.

Teeth…what are teeth? I don't have teeth here, nor have I need of them.

The longer he remained static as the current passed on around him, the more he could feel the prickling numbness fighting against the cold.

When did it get so cold?

The prickling began all over, but gradually thinned out to his limbs along with the chill that racked his bones. That's when he became aware of the dull throbbing in his chest and the stitching sensation that seemed to sharpen the throbbing the more it went on.

No. This isn't…This wasn't happening before. Why am I feeling? Why am I thinking? What's going on?

The numbness receded further dwindling down to his fingers and toes. When the warmth slowly replaced the cold, it crashed him against some rocks and emblazoned the throbbing into a furious white-hot stab of pain.

A gasp was smacked out of him and he almost sat up from the dusty ground beneath him, had the agony of his wound not pushed him right back down. Eyes green and swift opened wide in their sockets to dart about and take in his surroundings.

"Impossible," he managed to choke out passed the harsh panting of his breaths.

Loki was back on the Svartalfheim.

The sense of being alone awhile seeped into his senses and he was able to see a sandstorm was raging in the distance when he turned his head to the side. His neck was considerably less stiff, but he still felt like death warmed over.

"H-How?"

He got his answer as mobility returned and he was able to duck his chin against his chest to examine himself. The sight that met him quickened the beat of his heart until it thundered anxiously within the cage of his ribs. Hovering just over his wounded torso was diaphanous green mass of what he could only describe to be his magical energy; only it was in its purest state and outside of his body. It undulated, never keeping the same shape twice except for a single thin tendril stretching from the edge of the mass. Never before had he seen his magic behave this way.

The god winced as the sharp, pointed end of the tendril disappeared quickly under the skin near his wound, only to come reappear on the other side of the incision. It crossed tightly over the slash, then repeated the earlier actions. The mass of magic was essentially stitching him shut and he really wanted it to stop for it annoyed him. That and he wished immensely to be returned to the tranquil flowing current of that place where nothing no longer mattered.

He attempted to sit up again but the pain continued to prevent such movement.

"Damnit…" he muttered as his thumped back and closed his eyes in defeat, begrudgingly allowing his traitorous magic to heal him.

A familiar caress of a hand pushed an unruly lock of hair behind his ear.

"Loki."

His body jerked reflexively, bringing his startled gaze to that of his mother's. Frigga was kneeling beside him, cradling his cheek with one hand while the other smoothed itself over his hair as she always had.

"M-Mother," he stammered, his brow knitting together, "I-I don't…I don't understand."

Why was she helping him after what he did?

She smiled down at him in that knowing way of hers and rubbed a smudge of dirt from his face with the sleeve of her gown.

"You are my son, Loki. And you still have so much purpose left in you."

A.N.: Sorry if spending more time than usual on the lines from the movie annoyed anyone, but I really wanted to dissect those lines and how they might fit into this fic. My take on why Loki said this and said that. The covering of the movies in this fic are officially over and now the real story can begin.