A very tardy update. I hope this chapter pleases readers! Anyone looking forward to the new Avengers movie? Anyone betting Loki's gonna come back to life on very Loki fashion?

It was almost easy to forget how lovely Midagrd's sunsets were. Sure, Asgard's were breathtaking as well, but there was something...mournful about Midgard's. Maybe it was the lack of time those inhabitants truly had. Each sunset meant the end of another day. Another sunset closer to that final one. Thor wondered what the sunset had looked like on the day Jane took her final breath. He hoped it had been breathtaking as she had been.

Without his hammer, Thor once more felt powerless. He once more felt like part of himself had been ripped away. Last time Jane had found him. This time, there would be no Jane to offer him kindness and love. There would be no one waiting to help him. No mother to worry for him, no father to believe in him, no-

No one.

There was nowhere for him to go. He couldn't bring himself to accept Darcy's offer. When he heard that SHIELD agents were looking for him he was torn between going to them or avoiding them. It would be comforting to return to Stark Tower and allow himself time to mourn, but the thought of having to explain London and Jane to anyone right now was not something he wished for. So, he disappeared. Even without his powers, he still knew how to defend himself, he still knew how to avoid unwanted prodding. He would return to the tower on his own terms.

Not now.

For now he would move on, find a trade and make a life for himself. A new beginning after a brutal end.

"His skin's cold." Bruce murmured as he settled the blanket over Loki's shoulder. Sif hardly glanced up from where she was settled in her chair.

"It's supposed to be. His race has naturally cooler skin." She explained, tone bland. There were shadows under her eyes and her dark hair was disheveled. Bruce nodded in understanding, not bothering to prod for more information. Thor had mentioned Loki was adopted. Perhaps that was what he had meant. The Coup-contrcoup had robbed Loki of his very life. He was a shell. One day he had been awake, alert and healing and the next, he was little more than a vegetable. It had been a blow to Bruce, who had began to feel an odd amount of respect for the wounded God, as well as Steve, who without a doubt had grown fond of him. Sif was inconsolable, stubborn that Loki would come back eventually.

"I can have food sent up to you if you're hungry." Bruce offered stepping back towards the door. His eyes flickered to Loki one more who lay eerily still under the blanket. Sif shook her head, adjusting herself in the chair.

"Thank you, but no. I will eat later." Sif replied, looking towards Loki. "Do you know how I came to be the Allmother's personal guard?" She asked and Bruce shook his head.

"No, I don't think Thor ever mentioned it." He replied. Sif huffed a humorless laugh.

"It was Loki's suggestion...more or less. Several decades ago the Allmother's guard that came before me was killed in action and there were arguments on who would be his successor. Before me the royal family's personal guard had always been the top of the Allfather's guard. It was always a man. Always...," Sif looked down at her hands that were clasped on her lap. Bruce noticed her nails had been chewed down to the quick. "An agreement could not be reached on whom the Allmother wanted to guard her and Loki suggested it go to the one person he perceived loyal enough to protect the Allmother with her life...me as it were." Sif's smile was watery and Bruce did not dare interrupt her. "Even if we never got along, he still knew I was the best choice to protect his mother. Even Thor had not considered me, but Loki...he was perceptive. He trusted me with her...they all did and I failed to be there the moment she needed me the most."

"She would'n-"

"Don't," Sif looked up, eyes wild. "I appreciate your attempts, but let me have this. I need to make up for my failure. I need to protect him. Know this, if any of your comrades attempt to harm Loki while he is helpless, I will hold nothing back." She expected him to argue. She expected a fight, but Bruce Banner surprised her with a simple tilt of his head and a kind smile.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Later, the captain had convinced Sif to go to the city and take a break. He had handed her the currency their kind used and told her of some good cafes that served the coffee that Tho- that Sif had heard of. She had settled on a quaint little restaurant called Dudley's* that sat on the corner of a street nestled within the busy city life. It was charming and quiet and Sif sat in a corner table, staring out the window, barely touching the Norwegian Eggs that the sweet server had presented her. She watched a young couple pass by, arms linked and giggling.

She closed her eyes, resisting the urge to rest her head against the window and instead drummed her blunt nails against the table. "Sif." A voice suddenly shook Sif from her musing and she jerked back, hands reaching down and chair screeching as she moved to stand. WShe quickly recognized the man sitting across from her.

"Fanral," Sif hissed, releasing her grip on the dagger hidden in her coat. Her heart hammered in her chest as she slowly sat back down.

"Awfully jumpy, aren't you." Fandral settled against his chair, far more at ease then Sif felt among the mortals. "I came here to warn you that SHIELD is searching for Thor."

"What?" Sif hissed, glancing over her shoulder. The Misgardian cafe was buzzing with voices. No one noticed. No one knew who they were. There were no eyes watching her here.

"SHIELD is searching for him. He is to be brought to the tower." Fandral fiddled with the fork, expression troubled. "Heimdall came to the Allfather with the news this morning."

"Is Thor aware?" Saying his name felt odd and heavy, wrongness settling in her stomach as she thought of her old friend. Fandral shook his head, stealing Sif's cup without asking and sniffing it curiously.

"He doesn't know. SHIELD hasn't mentioned it."

"Stop him. In anyway you can. Make sure they never cross paths." Sif replied, allowing the man to drink the coffee, finding she no longer had an appetite.

"How?" Fandral set the cup down. "If I interfere, they will know something is amiss."

"Then you would do well to remain unseen, Fandral." Sif tossed the Midgardian currency onto the table and stood, ready to head back and look after Loki. Fandral lifted a hand to stop her. She reluctantly lowered herself back onto the seat, watching Fandral as he suddenly became uncharacteristically tongue tied.

Fanral rested his hands down on the table, fingers drumming over the surface, face falling into something uncertain. "Heimdall said Loki has gotten worse...he was supposed to heal here. The Allfather swore he would." Sif was uncertain what Odin had expected. Loki had the best chance if he had stayed where he was. Bringing him down to Midgard where Thor already was seemed like a very dangerous gamble. Was Odin expecting Thor to never reunite with his team or never find out?

"I don't understand , either," She admitted. "But my duty is to protect Loki. If Thor should arrive here, I will do whatever it takes to keep Loki safe."

"And if that means killing Thor?" Fandral's voice dropped into a mere whisper and Sif did not flinch.

"Then I will do my duty." There was no hesitation. Not anymore.

The next few months passed far too rapidly for Sif's liking. The Avengers were not a family. There was no kidding themselves. They had attempted to play nice and share space like one big happy family but they all knew very well it wasn't going to last. Tony had been dealing with one issue after another. Bruce seemed to be fading further and further from the tower and Steve eventually stopped showing up all together. It was fight after fight between him and Stark. Like an old married couple but lacking the fondness or loyalty.

When Steve went off to fight against a man called the Winter Solider, SHIELD fell and with it, their task to find Thor. But it also took Steve away from Loki's corner, his focus now on the mysterious man from his past. He was chasing a ghost, but unlike most, he had then chance to grasp it. For sometime, Sif began to fear the worst and began to plan to have Loki brought back to Asgard, knowing the Allfather's hopes could not be met in such allowed Sif and Loki to stay until Loki was well enough to travel.

But as it custom with Midagrd, things changed quickly. For awhile Sif thought they were safe. The Avengers reassembled to fight a new enemy. Ultron. Very soon the empty tower was occupied once more. Steve returned once more and Sif saw the changes in him, the exhaustion and new found raggedness that replaced Captain America's smooth optimism. Stark was ever the same, not bowing under what life threw at him, refusing to break. Thor was the obvious missing party, but a new woman filled that void. A witch like Loki, Sif had been told by Natasha when she came to see Loki's progress.

"Do you need aid?" Sif had offered and Natasha had looked conflicted between accepting and refusing.

"We could have used Thor." She replied, a keen eye fixed on the Asgardian. "You haven't heard anything?" Sif could picture Thor on that final day she had seen him. The coldness in his eyes when he had looked at them and the unsteadiness in his steps, as if drunk and uncertain on where to go next. Was it because of the loss of Frigga and Jane? Or the weight of what he had done to Loki? Did he have any real regret? That was not the Thor she had known, or wished to know.

'Not since Loki's assasult." Sif replied evenly, not a lie. Not really. Natasha nodded, looking to where Loki lay. In the months since Loki's medical scare, he had made very little progress. The progress he had made before had all but vanished, leaving Loki weak and vacant, eyes no longer focused and observing and everything that had made him Loki, all turned to ash. He would wake up and look at Sif but it was as if he were looking straight through her. His motor skills had deteriorated and he had to be taught the basics. Sif remained loyal and unfailing by Loki's side. No matter how bleak it all looked.

"Bruce said he seems to be reacting more." Natasha offered and Sif fought not to cling to it. She nodded instead.

"He has days where he seems to nearly recognize me. I...I think it is time I put him into physical therapy...something to get him moving again." Loki had barely made progress, but any movement or reaction had Sif hoping despite herself that he would come back.

"I'll see what we can do." Natasha replied, crossing her arms over her chest and looking back to Loki who was looking towards her, eyes giant and dark against his pallid face. This was not the face of the murderer who invaded New York. This was the face of a victim brushing death with the close caress of a lover. She looked away, feeling Sif watching her closely. "Steve's been asking about Loki. He wants to stop in to visit."

"He is welcome to come by," Sif replied, stretching her arms over her head, looking out the window to the city below. She was still attempting to find her place in this realm. Still trying to make a home of this place. "He is kind to Loki. Loki enjoys his voice." Loki always had soft reactions to kind voices and Steve always managed it in a way even Sif couldn't. She was glad he returned. Fandral's warning from months before still lingered in the back of her mind. Thor was out there. SHIELD might no longer be what they were, but if this realm had taught Sif anything, it was that nothing remained the same for long.

"We could use a telepath to reach into his mind. At least see if there is anything they could do."Natasha muttered and Sif shook her head, looking away.

"We have already tried reaching out to the X: Men. Charlies Xavier and Magneto are on an extended mission off Midgard...he is the only mid reader they could think o-" Natasha suddenly turned her head towards the door, expression shifting from placid to almost shocked.

"We have Wanda..." She whispered and Sif frowned.

"What?" Natasha jerked her head back to Sif.

"We have Wanda." She repeated.

"The witch?" Sif blinked in confusion. She could see Loki shifting from the corner of her eye, one bony hand jerking in the air before falling limply back to his side.

"Yes." Natasha replied, pacing around the room. "She has abilities. She can reach into the mind, she may be able to heal him or at least ease the trauma." Sif stared at Natasha, unblinking.

"You think it could work?"

"Maybe? It has to be better than leaving him like this." She indicated to Loki and Sif followed her line of sight to the sad sight on the bed. She nodded once, blinking back at her stinging eyes.

"Do it then. Like you said, it has to be better than leaving him like this." Loki's head leaned back on the pillow, staring at a point on the wall, she could see a speck of drool in the corner of his mouth and it only spurned her on. She reached forward and took his cold scrawny hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Anything to bring him back."

*Real place in New York I went to last year. Really good breakfast and it was in a nice area.