Sacrifices

by Funygirl38

The sequel to my story "The Initiative"

10. Chapter 10

1.

Sarah pulled the suitcases down from the top shelf in the closet, careful not to swing them down hard as Fen was playing around her feet with the horse and king from his Lego castle play set. She twisted around and gingerly stepped over Fen and his toys, then set the suitcases on the bed, bouncing the baby carrier where Madison lay, her hands flailing at the smiling spinning monkey on the bar before her, turning her attention to the sound of Sarah unzipping the largest suitcase only for a moment.

"The little monkey likes the little monkey doesn't she?" Sarah said as she leaned down and kissed Madison on the head, causing her to rub her hands on her face, and Fen to start running around the bedroom chanting,

"Little monkey, little monkey, little monkey…"

She returned to the closet and started to take her summer dresses down, folding them and putting them in one side of the large suitcase, nearly stumbling over the horse and king left there without their servant.

"Fen, pick those toys up, mommy is going to sprain her ankle for sure." Fen either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her, still running in circles in the middle of the floor, "Oh you are so tired, aren't you, trying to keep yourself awake?" Sarah said, turning back to the closet for some jeans and shirts.

"Fen," She heard from the hallway, "Pick those toys up like your mother said." She glanced to the bedroom doorway as Loki walked in, hands on his hips.

"Glad you're here," Sarah was folding her jeans on the bed, "You pick out your clothes, your majesty. I'm doing mine, Fen's and the baby's bags."

Loki raised an eyebrow but walked to the closet, patting her on the behind as he passed her, making Fen giggle as he rushed over to her to do the same thing.

"Nice job," Sarah sighed as she stood up trying to catch Fen while he darted out of her reach, "Anything more you want to teach him?" She came up to Loki as he faced the closet and smacked his behind in turn, making him jump and Fen laugh even harder,

"Hey, I didn't hit you that hard, you hurt." Loki said whirling around, a half smile on his face as he grabbed Sarah's wrists, making her screech in mock fear as she tried to pull away from him, only managing to land on the bed, on her side, laughing and pleading,

"The baby, Loki, the carrier.." as Loki turned her over on her stomach, pressing her into the mattress,

"Should we spank mommy?" He said to Fen who jumped up and down,

"Yeah! Yeah!"

Loki chuckled, "Okay, so we're saying mommy has been bad?" Fen put his hands over his mouth and giggled, nodded.

"Okay," Loki raised his hand. "Don't you dare, Loki. I'm telling you, you're going to be sorry later." Sarah cried, struggling to crawl over the bed away from him,

"Ready?" She heard him say, felt him move as he raised his hand higher, heard a loud smack and suddenly Loki was lying across her, face forward on the bed.

She turned her head around to see Thor laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, Fen was on the floor kicking his feet, roaring and she felt Loki rise from the bed, mumbling, "I'm going to kill him, truly kill him."

She turned to see Thor retreating with all haste from the bedroom with Loki steps behind. She sat up on the bed and looked at Madison,

"Daddy's a meany isn't he, shaking you all up, spanking mommy." She received a squeal and the bounce of a restless foot in response.

"What the heck is going on?" She heard Jane and turned to see her walking into the bedroom, Olivia on her hip shaking her head. "The guys just went out the back door one after the other." Jane sat down on the bed beside her and Sarah nodded,

"They were having a bit of fun, Fen followed them didn't he?" She gazed about the room,

"Oh yeah he was hot on their tails, didn't want to miss any action." Sarah held out her hands to Olivia who reached out for Sarah, "I can't get over how blond she is," Sarah said and Jane smiled, brushing a stray curl from Olivia's face,

"I'm wondering if it'll stay that blond or get darker like me, hey should we bring a lot of heavy stuff like sweatshirts and jeans?" Sarah nodded,

"I would, it gets cold up there at night by the ocean. I have to go and pack Fen's bag, his activity backpack, the rest of mine and of course Loki's stuff. I almost had him doing it too before we got to fooling around but I'll manage to corral him later."

Olivia reached back for Jane and she took her into her arms. "What time are we leaving tomorrow morning?" she asked, standing back up from the bed. Sarah stood up as well, walking back to the closet and taking a couple pairs of jeans and a couple pairs of dress pants off the hangers on Loki's side of the closet,

"I'm guessing around six a.m., check in time at the house is one p.m. so that gives us some leeway. You don't know, Jane, I'm so happy to be going on vacation. It's been almost four years since I had a real getaway. I mean try having a honeymoon in the palace royal, don't get me wrong, we made do with the time we had." Sarah grinned as Jane looked at Madison,

"Yeah, this I see. I'm going to go to finish with packing myself. I think the brownies should be cooled by then and we can make sundaes." Sarah agreed and Jane left her alone with Madison, musing over the day that Loki had asked her to be his wife.

The twelve night festival, Jul, the Norse new year, was in full swing and Sarah hadn't seen Loki in three days what with the rituals, the hunt that Odin and the able men of the Aesir had enjoyed for ages and the celebrations. Sarah had kept company with Frigga, Sigurd and the other ladies of the court, beginning to feel a little left out, worried that she wouldn't see Loki before she went home for Christmas at Lizzie's house.

"They never grow up," Sarah had remarked to the room full of women, getting many a nod and a murmur of agreement.

"That's why they need us, to take care of them, and what do we do? We take care of them, now who's the fool and who's the wise man in that case?" Sigurd replied when, moments later, Loki strode into the room in his ceremonial armor, cloak whirling about him, three days of whiskers on his face, scooped Fen up into his arms and bent down to Sarah, kissing her much too quickly for her taste and she would have openly admitted she was the biggest fool in the room right then and there.

"Mother," Loki had said, "Would you please watch Fen for us for a while? I have to talk with Sarah." Frigga nodded,

"Of course, give him to me." She held out her arms and Fen crawled into her lap, his arms around her neck as Loki had turned to Sarah, a slight grin on his face, and held out his arm,

"Come with me, my lady."

Sarah had kept stealing glances at him as they walked along the corridor in the torchlight, his smile growing wider as he noticed her,

"Has it been so long since you've seen me that you don't believe your own eyes?" He said softly, hugging her arm to his.

"No, " Sarah had replied, "I'm just not used to seeing you with a beard." He laughed at this,

"Would you like me to shave before I kiss you again?" Sarah had actually blushed then, feeling silly on account of it as well,

"No, shave later, kiss me first."

Then he had turned to her and they had shared what could possibly have been the most sensuous kiss she could remember, were it not for the next one, and the one after that, leaving them both breathless, lips inches apart from each other and suddenly he was pushing her away at arm's length.

"Sarah, I have thought long and hard upon what I am going to say next." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them,

" You have been my light in the darkness, my dearest heart, you have borne me a son, stayed by my side and given me more love than I ever thought possible. You've shown me what it is to live for another person, to give of yourself to keep that light in your life. I want to have you always with me Sarah, please," Here Loki knelt to the floor and Sarah had felt her knees go weak,

"Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He had taken something from his pocket and now held it out to her. She tried to still her hands which had started to tremble as she reached for his. He took her left hand as he stood up, slipping a gold band inset with emeralds all around it onto her ring finger. She looked into his eyes then, glistening with tears and whispered,

"Yes I will," He smiled wide, taking her up in his arms, his embrace strong, the hammering of his heart against hers, fueling her joy as he put her down and let out a war whoop ringing to the rafters, mingling with her laughter.

On the way back to the sitting rooms, he had told her that it had taken him months to select the stones and the design for the ring, arguing back and forth with the goldsmith, wanting to have the perfect chance to ask her, the perfect place,

"But on the way back from the hunt, I could think of nothing else and I knew I must have your answer in my heart before you left for Midgard." She had reassured Loki that anyplace he would have chosen would have been the perfect place for her, not because of the place but because of the question itself and he had given her a look akin to worship. When they had told Frigga of their news, she had nodded at Loki,

"I was beginning to worry, only a little mind you, that you would, what is the phrase you taught me, Sarah….oh yes, drag your feet forever." Sarah had looked away as Loki had glanced at her suspiciously…

The slam of the back door and sounds of raucous laughter and the stereo in the kitchen being turned on brought her back to the present. She zipped up the full suitcase and picked up Madison's carrier gently as she had fallen asleep, her chubby little hand hanging off the monkey's tail, then headed out of the bedroom and to the kitchen where Jane was getting down bowls from the cupboard.

Sarah put the carrier with a still sleeping Madison in the living room where she could see her but out of the way of the rowdiness that was developing in the kitchen. "Party Rock Anthem" was blaring from the stereo, Loki had Fen in his arms and was dancing around the kitchen, hopping around, laughing with him, Thor behind Jane clapping her hands for her as she rolled her eyes, smiling, Olivia in her high chair, banging on the tray, and suddenly Loki had his arm around Sarah's shoulders,

"Come on, tell mommy to dance." Fen giggled,

"Dance mommy," Sarah shook her head but finally was into the rhythm, saying into Loki's ear,

"The neighbors are going to report us for loud music and excessive partying." As the song ended, he turned to her and replied,

"With any luck they'll wait till tomorrow and we won't be here." Sarah walked to the fridge and took the ice cream out of the freezer, walking over to where Jane was cutting the brownies into squares and putting them in the bowls on the kitchen table.

"Hey get the chocolate syrup out will you, sweetie?" Jane said to Thor. Sarah heard a whimper, turned and saw Madison staring into the kitchen.

"Another world heard from." Loki walked past her to the living room, taking Madison from her carrier. "Hello, princess," He cooed, kissing her cheek,

"How about some sweets for the sweet?" Sarah put some ice cream in bowls for Madison and Olivia,

"You've got bath duty if she gets it all over, just wanted to say that up front," Sarah said to Loki, " and after treats, we have to get the cars loaded, it's almost eight-thirty now." They sat around the table chatting and eating, listening to Fen talk a mile a minute between bites, Sarah watching Loki feed Madison who was seated on his lap. He had let Sarah convince him to cut his hair a bit shorter for the summer and she had delighted in the waves and curls that it had created, dressed in his jeans and a dark green t-shirt with a baby on his lap trying for all the world to grab her ice cream bowl and put it on the floor in her effort to get more ice cream to her mouth, Sarah had to smile to herself at how far from the god of mischief he seemed at this very moment.

It was close to ten-thirty when they were all finally able to drag themselves into bed, having finished packing the cars, cleaned up the kitchen and put the kids to bed. Loki slid under the covers beside her as she was leaning over her to her nightstand to set the alarm for five fifteen the next morning and began to nuzzle the nape of her neck, his arm wrapped around her.

"Oh no, mister," She elbowed him backwards, "Real early day tomorrow, save it for vacation." She half expected him to continue, a small part of her wanted him to but was relieved when he sighed and simply pulled her close to him,

"Alright, I give in. Saving it for vacation," he reached beneath the covers, giving her behind a playful squeeze and they were both asleep in minutes.

2.

Sarah walked into the bedroom for the third time and shook Loki again.

"Come on, your brother and sister in law are up, Fen is awake, I fed the baby and I now have to get her dressed, we've got to load what's left into the car and if you don't get up, I'm going to pour ice cold water over your head." She walked into the bathroom and turned the faucet on for emphasis unaware of the fact that he'd jumped up and was right behind her, so as soon as she turned, he was staring her in the face,

"Loki! You little shit." He grabbed her in a bear hug and kissed her,

"Good morning to you, too"

Sarah poked him in the ribs and he let go of her. "Come on, it's getting late. I'm going to get Madison dressed."

Loki stretched and turned to get dressed in the clothes he put out last night. He was in the kitchen five minutes later, grabbing the bags sitting by the kitchen door and carrying them out to the cars, passing Thor who was heading back inside, on the way out.

"It is a mystery to me, brother, why the womenfolk insist in bringing half the things we own on the trip with them." Thor said glancing back at Loki who shrugged and smiled,

"Don't ask, just do what they say, isn't it easier that way?"

Loki came back into the kitchen at the same time as Sarah and Jane. Sarah handed Madison to Loki,

"You can take her out and put her in the car seat, we're almost ready….Fen?" She called into the living room where Fen was laying on the couch half asleep, "Come on, the L train is leaving the station, kiddo."

Fen rose like one of the undead, eyes still closed, and padded into the kitchen, only stopping when he met Sarah's knees, wrapping his arms around them. She reached down and picked him up.

"You can sleep on the way, little prince." She whispered in his ear as he hugged her neck tighter. She was walking gingerly down the steps from the kitchen porch when she felt Fen lifted out of her hands as Loki took him.

"You're going to break a leg like that. Do we have everything now?"

Sarah looked back at the house and then to Jane who nodded,

"Anything we really need we can get there, I think. We've got the kids, got the husbands, the clothes..oh." Sarah walked back up the stairs into the house and came back out with a green and gold backpack, closed the door behind her and locked it.

"Five hours in the car with a busy boy with nothing to do, I don't think so, can't forget his activity backpack. Now I think we're ready."

Traffic was beginning to pick up a bit when they finally reached I-95 and she tried to keep her mind on the driving but Loki had brought up an old subject again,

"I don't see why you wouldn't want me to try finding work. There must be something I could do, teach self-defense, sword fighting."

Sarah shook her head, "Not much call for sword fighting, I'm afraid you're about five hundred years too late. Besides I make very good money at S.H.I.E.L.D." She had been transferred back to S.H.I.E.L.D. shortly after they had arrived back on Earth, she was of a mind to believe that it was Fury's way of keeping closer dibs on the family but if it paid the bills, so be it, and Lily was still there as well.

"Besides, if you were out in the public and anyone, retired agent, police, security guard recognized you, would you really want an angry mob of New Yorkers coming at you?" She paused and peeked at him, "Then again unless they had face to face contact with you, I think you'd be hard to recognize," The song they'd danced to in the kitchen the night before came on the radio and Loki said,

"Hey buddy, here's our song." Upon receiving no answer, he turned his head to look in the back seat.

"Asleep?" Sarah asked, and Loki nodded.

"You know, you've become pretty well adapted to Midgardian life." Sarah said, watching Loki pull down the mirror above the visor on his side. "You probably could blend in as long as you weren't in your court dress. Maybe we need a trip to Asgard." Loki grinned and patted her shoulder,

"You just want to see me in uniform." Sarah grinned back at him,

"You know you look good in it, don't be such a tease." She looked over at Loki who winked at her and put his head back against the headrest, watching the scenery roll by.

They pulled into a rest area off I-90 near Auburn, Massachusetts at around nine in the morning, Jane pulling up beside them.

"We all need a rest stop, Fen especially." She said as Loki got out and started to unhook Fen from his car seat. Thor came around the car to Loki, "I'll go with you, the ride so far has been far too long." Sarah and Jane had also exited the cars and were unhooking the girls, Sarah chancing to look up at Thor, Fen and Loki as they walked into the building,

"Hey," She said to Jane, "Watch this one." Sarah had spied two teenagers walking out of the building who had spotted the boys and were now rubber-knecking them and squealing, as if on cue, Sarah watched one of them, a blond girl with a mini sundress on and pink sandals, walk straight into the concrete barriers at the end of the walkway while her friend erupted into peals of shrieking laughter.

"It happens everywhere we go, I'm beginning to get a complex." Sarah sighed as they headed into the rest area with diapers and a box of wipes. "They get stared at all the time."

Jane laughed and elbowed Sarah, "Um, we stare at them all the time too."

"Yes but we can, they're ours to stare at." Sarah replied as she and Jane walked into the ladies room and took the changing tables beside each other. Sarah heard Fen's voice outside the bathroom, then Loki's.

"No, mommy is changing Maddy in the girls room, understand, not the boys room." Sarah giggled,

"You can send him in, honey. He's only two and a half." She heard Fen's sandals slap the tile floor and he was hanging onto the changing table that jutted out from the wall, peering at Madison's dark hair, and petting her head,

"Hi Maddy."

Sarah slipped Madison's bottoms back on just as Jane was picking Olivia back up. "She's all arms and legs like daddy isn't she?" Jane said as she watched Madison kick the air happily. Sarah picked her up and they headed back out to the main lobby, "So is Fen." She handed Madison to Loki and grabbed Fen's hand as he passed her.

"We're going to get some juice and we'll be out if you want to head out. Do you guys need anything?" Loki held up a water bottle he'd already gotten and Thor shook his head. "Come brother, let's get the brood settled back in."

Fen climbed into his car seat and sat down, Sarah hooking him in,

"Do you want to color for a while? Or maybe play with your dinosaurs?" Sarah asked him, as she rooted through the backpack,

"Dinosuars!" Fen cried, and roared as Madison swiveled her head around and stared at him.

Sarah handed him a couple of dinosaurs and closed the door on his subsequent growls, got into the driver's seat and with a honk to Jane, they headed back out onto the highway.

"Did you see those girls eyeing you as you guys went inside," She asked as they sped down the highway,

"Yes we did," he said, "I heard them afterwards too, what did they do?"

Sarah smirked, "They ran into a concrete barrier." She felt Loki stroke the back of her neck,

"Don't get jealous, dearest heart. I am yours alone." Sarah glanced at him,

"But they were young girls, something I'm not.." Sarah felt Loki's fingers against her lips.

"I've told you that it doesn't matter, I want to hear no more on the subject."

Sarah sighed. They had discussed the subject one night in Asgard soon after the wedding. They had lain in their bed talking, her head resting on his chest when he said to her,

"What if there was a way to make you as one of the Aesir? To slow down your aging so that it would almost seem to stop? Sarah had raised her head off his chest and looked up at him,

"You couldn't ask me this when I was twenty-four?" Loki had pulled her up to him and kissed her,

"What's wrong with you now?"

Sarah had pulled her gaze away from his, "I'm old now. I'm forty-one." Loki had begun to kiss her hand, turning it over to nuzzle the sensitive skin at the pulse point of her wrist,

"It does not matter how old you are, love is timeless, ageless. Now be still, my love, for I wish to be the one to make you restless."

Sarah finally realized Loki was speaking to her,

"The turn you told me to warn you about is coming up, where were you just then?" Sarah put her blinker on, looking behind her to make sure Jane had seen her do so,

"I was back on Asgard with you." She could see Loki smile as he turned his head to watch out his window,

"Someday we will be there again." A strange chill went through her as he said it but she kept it to herself, chalking it up as the result of the strain of driving so long and she was happy when they finally saw the sign to the Yorks one mile ahead on I-91.

Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of Garnsey brother's rentals on Webhannet drive, in Wells. Sarah and Jane walked up the stairs to the front door,

"You boys stay with the kids, we'll get the keys and directions." Sarah said as they entered the office, a small room with brochures, boxes of envelopes and a long counter just inside the door.

"Hi, we're here to pick up the keys to our rental." Sarah said to a middle aged woman sitting behind the counter, "It' s under the name Laufeyson…L..a..u.."

"I have it," The lady said, "Right here," she handed her the envelope with a small map for directions. "Just down the road a bit, you have access to the beach as well. Enjoy your stay, rules and check out times are on the back of the map."

She handed the envelope and papers to Loki and got in, then took the map from him and studied it.

"Looks like we're just up on the right a ways right on this road. "

They pulled into the drive of the tall beach house and got out, Fen struggling to help Loki undo the straps of his seat as Sarah headed up the steps to the front door with Jane. The door opened up into the kitchen area, gleaming white with dark blue accents, the dining area beyond that featured a large glass topped table and six chairs with a view out onto the ocean beyond from a large deck with steps leading down to the beach. There was a large sitting area with a tv and dvd player, two red sofas and an easy chair to the right of the dining area.

"Too much white, I'd be paranoid if Thor got the least speck of dirt on him with a house like this. Let's go upstairs to see the bedrooms." Jane said as Sarah started up the stairs. At the top, there were two doors side by side and they went each one into the other. Both bedrooms had large sliding glass doors that slid open to an adjoining balcony which the girls walked out onto and stood watching as the guys, carrying Madison and Olivia, trying to keep up with Fen, walked out onto the beach towards the water.

"Don't let Fen get soaked!" Sarah shouted but her words were taken with the wind. "Come on." She said to Jane. They went back inside across the hall from their bedrooms to a smaller bedroom with two beds.

"We'll have to get the boys to bring the pack and plays up here." Sarah said, she peeked into the master bathroom which had a roomy tub, a separate shower and a wall length mirror in front of the sink counter, all done in shades of blue.

Sarah and Jane were back out to the car when Loki and Thor came back up the path directed by Fen. "Help mommy, daddy."

Loki handed over Madison and grabbed the first of the bags, Thor following suit as they trudged up the steps into the house.

"Wait a minute," Sarah said to Fen, handing him his backpack from the back seat, "You can help too."

Fen snatched his backpack from her hand and ran for the stairs, Sarah racing after him to steady him, Jane behind her with Olivia.

They were upstairs in the children's bedroom with the kids when Thor and Loki finally came upstairs, sweaty and panting,

"Is that all we have to bring in?" Thor asked Jane who looked around the room,

"The pack and plays on the roof? The girls need to sleep somewhere." Thor and Loki groaned pitifully and trudged back downstairs, Sarah and Jane trying to suppress their laughter until they were out of earshot.

"We're going somewhere to eat tonight right? We can make a simple lunch out of the meat and cheese we brought, then we can go to the store and grab some more groceries after we eat tonight." Jane asked Sarah as they walked into the kitchen and opened the cooler that Thor had left in the middle of the kitchen floor. Sarah pulled a loaf of bread and the deli meat out and sat them on the table in the dining room.

"Yeah that sounds good to me…only I don't know if they're going to feel much like eating," Sarah looked out the large glass windows at the boys fooling around down by the ocean. "Might as well feed the girls."

"It reminds me of home, brother." Thor sighed as they watched the waves rush the shoreline, Fen kneeling in the sand between them, digging with his hands, trying to pile the wet sand into a tower.

"Sarah says I'm beginning to look like I belong here on Earth, how horrible." Loki cast a glance back at the house as Thor appraised him,

"It is how they dress here on Midgard, always casual unless someone has gone to Valhalla or is to be wed, and not a chance of battle in sight either. It is not you, it is here." Loki held up a hand,

"We can pretend in the very least, at the store yesterday, I slipped a toy or two into the basket for Fen. They are soft swords, called Nerf or some other name. We can teach him to parry and thrust in the very least. I'll show you later." Thor grinned at Loki,

"Trickster."

Loki lay beside Sarah, panting, listening to her slow even breathing. He hadn't awakened her. He sat up on the edge of the bed and pulled on his pajama pants, stood up and walked to the glass doors on the other side of the bed. The full moon was out and it cast a bright white light across the water to the beach. He could see a couple walking down the sand, holding hands and he tried hard to recall the dream he had. He knew that he had been back in the realm of the Chitauri, standing on the stone steps leading up to the dais where Thanos stood. He had looked down the steps into a black void, up the steps into eyes blazing with anger, he had stumbled back then when he heard the voice,

"You have grown weak, Asgardian.."

The voice had shaken him from sleep, but the voice from the bed brought him back to reality and safety.

"Loki, what's wrong?" He turned towards the bed to see Sarah, up on one elbow, pushing her hair from her face. "Nightmare?" She threw the covers off and stood up, a bit wobbly with sleep, walked over to him and put her arms around his neck.

"Come back to bed, my prince." She mumbled into his chest, nuzzling the light hair there. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Yes my lady, maybe tomorrow evening we can take a moonlight walk?" She glanced out the window at the moon,

"Okay, if you come to bed we will. Been a long day."

She walked back to the bed and flopped back down with a groan. Loki lay back down beside her and gathered her into his arms, she putting her arm over his waist, a contented sigh signaling her descent back into sleep, a path which Loki soon followed.

3.

Loki rolled to his back and moaned, feeling like he'd gotten no sleep at all. He felt for Sarah on her side of the bed and found her gone, in fact he found the house curiously quiet. He crawled to her side of the bed and got up, going to the glass doors and looking outside at the sun low on the horizon, he stepped out onto the balcony and it was then he saw everyone was on the beach. He could see Thor playing with Fen, could just barely hear him roaring like a lion over the hiss of the surf. Sarah had a blanket wrapped around Madison and herself, Jane was holding Olivia by the hands while she tested the sand for walking purposes.

Loki came back inside, grabbed a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt, threw them on and trotted downstairs.

Sarah saw Fen look towards the house, his face brighten as he yelled

"Daddy! Uncle Thor is a lion." Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder as Loki came up behind her and whispered in her ear,

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sarah accepted a kiss from him, Madison didn't want to be bothered and she rubbed her face on Sarah's chest,

"I would have but you were so restless last night, thrashing around and all that I had to go lay down in Fen's room. I thought I'd let you sleep in seeing as it's vacation. We're not going anywhere until after breakfast anyway." Loki watched Thor and Jane nuzzle together over Olivia.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you,"

Sarah turned to him, giving him another kiss, this one making him tingle all over as she brushed her tongue to his lightly. "I was worried about you so I let you sleep." She put Madison down on the beach towel she'd brought out for the girls and wrapped the blanket around Loki and herself though any chance of intimacy was ruled out fairly quickly by Fen's appearance under the blanket between them. Loki looked down and popped him lightly on the top of the head to which he backed away and ran laughing down the beach…and suddenly Loki was looking at him, at Madison, like they were someone else's children.

He backed away from Sarah and stared at her for a minute, feeling coldly detached and he started to shiver as the feeling went away as quickly as it came.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Sarah pulled him back into the warmth of the blanket, glancing down at Madison to make sure she was still sitting there playing with her terrycloth monkey on the blanket, feeling Loki trembling beneath her touch.

"I'm cold, it's early in the morning and I'm cold." He said, wrapping his arms around her, closing his eyes.

Sarah pushed back, "Tell me Loki,"

He put his forehead to hers, sighed, "It was like I was suddenly looking through someone else's eyes. Like I didn't know Fen or Madison, or you.." he kept from her the fact that he had recognized the sensation, not daring to even think of it, so horrible was the implication.

"Should we go home?" Sarah said, her soft voice and soothing hand against his face serving to steel him, "No, this vacation means a lot to us. I'll be fine."

Sarah kissed him on the chin, "You tell me if it happens again, alright?" Loki nodded and picked Madison up from the towel, holding her to him, smelling powder and fresh air and her soft baby skin.

"Let's get breakfast." Jane said, walking with Thor past Sarah towards the house. "We've got to pack for the day unless you plan on coming back here to make supper before the fireworks tonight?"

Sarah shook her head, "We might as well make a day of it." To Loki, "Don't take too much longer, we're going to need help." Loki nodded, reached down and pulled the blanket up from the sand.

"Come on Fen," he yelled down the beach, watching Fen jump up from the sand and come running, "Breakfast then beach okay?"

Fen ran for Loki's legs and grabbed them, stopped and looked up at him with his big brown eyes, "Daddy's okay?" Loki reached down and took Fen's hand, heading back to the house,

"I'm fine, Fen, hurry before we get in trouble with mommy."

They were sitting at Short Sands Beach a couple of hours later, Loki and Thor having packed the car, all but the cooler, while the girls fixed breakfast to help expedite the mission, as Thor had called it.

Sarah and Jane had set up the small cabana while Loki and Thor took Fen down to the water and now they sat watching the boys and feeding the girls. Sarah wincing as Madison latched on,

"She's getting those teeth in really well. I'm getting close to saying enough is enough. Fen didn't latch on like that, I was able to feed him for a year before he wanted to eat like daddy which is saying a lot, he can really eat but doesn't gain a pound. Don't you hate that?"

Jane nodded, "Thor is the same way," She lowered her voice and leaned over, "I wonder if it's because of what they are, you know, gotta keep up that Asgardian image." Madison yawned and latched on again, her eyes slowly closing,

"Oh good, she needs a nap before tonight or all hell will break loose." Sarah watched as her jaw slowly ground to a halt. She pulled her away and laid her on the towel in front of them. "I'm going to go see the boys, I'll be right back." She stood, adjusted her bathing suit and looked down at herself. Two babies had made a little bit of a change in her body but she had managed to keep her figure well. She grinned at Jane who gave her a thumbs up.

Loki saw Thor wave and twisted around to see Sarah coming towards him in his favorite outfit, a black one piece bathing suit. She hopped up to him,

"That sand is hot, and this sand is cold. No happy medium." Loki wrapped his arms around her waist,

"We could make this sand hot."

Sarah nuzzled his neck, flicked the hollow at the base of his throat with her tongue, eliciting a groan from him.

"Daddy!" Fen cried, grabbing Loki's hand from Sarah's waist, Sarah giggled as Loki rolled his eyes and mouthed, "Help me"

Sarah came back to the cabana where the girls were now sleeping side by side. "Poor Loki, Fen's his shadow nowadays. Are you guys going to try for a boy?"

Jane nodded, "I mean we try, if you know what I mean, but it's yet to happen. I think I might be the one having trouble," She looked up the beach at Thor, "There's no way in hell it could be him, look at him." Sarah saw the boys down by the rocks with other people, looking in the tide pools, Thor with a pair of swim trunks and a blue T-shirt on that accented every muscle.

"I'd say he does well for himself." Sarah looked at Loki then, crouching down next to Fen in jean cutoffs and a gray button up shirt opened in the front. "I'll take mine though."

"You guys going to try for any more kids after the year is up?" Jane asked her while they admired the view.

"I don't know. Loki was so upset when I went on the pill after Madison."

She recalled the day she'd come home from Madison's three-month check up with the pills in her hand and he had asked her why.

"Because I'm almost forty-three and birth defects are more prevalent the older you get."

Loki had paced the living room floor before answering, "You are young, you are in great health, you make beautiful children." Sarah had been flattered but she was still insistent,

"Loki, if you want to try again after the end of the year, we'll talk about it but if you want to have sex any time within the next nine months, I'm taking the pills."

She remembered when she was pregnant with Madison, that Loki could hardly keep his hands off of her, she having had more than once to poke or jab him back to reality when he would misbehave during a ceremony, or at the feasts. He had confessed to her that the sight of her, belly rounded with his child, aroused him so that he could scarce contain himself and she had threatened him with bodily harm even though the statement alone had made her weak in the knees. At that point, at seven months, she was in no mood to be touched, petted or otherwise fondled, not even by the love of her life.

The boys were heading their way and Sarah pulled the wipes out of the diaper bag. "He's going to be sandy all over, might as well get a layer off of him." Fen landed on the sand in front of Sarah, his little hands as full as they could get.

"Mommy, look." He said, handing her a piece of driftwood, "A tree."

Jane and Sarah laughed, "It's a piece of a tree, honey."

Loki sat down beside Sarah as Fen continued, "And shells."

Sarah took out a paper cup, put the beach finds in them and nestled it in the diaper bag, "We'll keep them in here until we get back to the house." She looked at the time on her cell phone, nearly one-thirty. "Are we going to have lunch now?" She opened the cold bag on top of the cooler, taking out a bottle of apple juice and setting it beside Fen who picked it up.

"Watch me mommy," Fen said and held the bottle in his hands, ice forming around the outside of the plastic, his little hands turning blue until Loki shouted,

"Fen, stop that right now!" Fen dropped the bottle on the sand, startled, started to whimper, then to sob as he crawled into Sarah's lap, his arms around her neck, face buried against her shoulder, she turned to him and hissed, "Loki!"

Thor looked over at Loki who was sitting, his forehead in his hands, "Brother, you must have a little patience. Fen is young.." Loki put his head up and glared at Thor,

"And he is going to pre-school next fall, he can't be sitting there chilling juice bottles or making snowballs!" From her neck she heard Fen whisper, "I can make snowballs?" And Sarah struggled not to laugh.

"Yelling at him is not the answer, you startled him." Jane said, rubbing Fen's back.

"He has to learn not to do those things." Loki sighed, and held out his hands to Sarah. She managed to pry Fen from her and set him in Loki's lap who started to whisper in Fen's ear. Presently, Fen giggled and nodded, hugged Loki about the neck and hopped back down onto the beach towel where Madison was sitting up watching the whole excitement, Olivia still fast asleep. Loki put his hand on Sarah's shoulder and received a glare for it. "I'm sorry, Sarah."

"Mmmm," She growled, "You'd better be."

Loki stared out at the ocean, quiet, thinking to himself until Sarah nudged him.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Loki shook his head,

"Not hungry." Sarah sidled up to him,

"I didn't mean to sound so harsh, come on eat."

"Neither did I," Loki turned to her, "But I have a duty to teach my son to fit in wherever he may be. Isn't that why we came back to Midgard?" Sarah nodded, kissed his shoulder,

"Just try a little tenderness okay?" Loki didn't answer her,

Sarah opened a jar of baby fruit for Madison as Olivia stirred. "Hey that's a record, mommy got to eat first." Jane said as she picked Olivia up.

They had opted to eat at the Goldenrod café for supper that afternoon, not wanting to lose their parking spot for the fireworks and now the weather had turned a bit cooler, Sarah had put Fen's long pants and sweatshirt on him and was now bundling up Madison who was starting to fall asleep again as they sat on blankets on the beach. "I'm so tired," Sarah yawned, "I'm going to crash when we get back home." Jane yawned with her, shoved her for making her yawn.

"Me too, Olivia is already out," Sarah looked down in her lap, "So is Maddy."

Their chat was interrupted by the first volley that burst with white and red across the sky as Fen jumped up and squealed.

"Fen sit with daddy and watch, "Sarah caught him by the hand and pulled him into daddy's lap. The fireworks continued on for twenty minutes, Fen watching awestruck, daddy's arms around him. Sarah smiled at the scene and shifted Madison's sleeping form to get comfortable.

They arrived back at the house late, Loki carrying Fen, Thor behind him with Olivia and Madison over Sarah's shoulder. She lay Madison in her pack and play, slipped her jacket off her quietly, Jane settling Olivia down and pulling a light blanket over her.

"It got darn cold down there by the water." Jane said, stretched. "I'm going to bed, see you in the morning." Sarah walked over to Fen's bed, leaned over and gave him a kiss, then walked to the doorway and shut out the light.

Loki was sitting on the bed already in his pajama bottoms and he smiled at her when she walked into the bedroom and over to the bed, pushing him down and straddling him.

"Isn't this supposed to be a kind of honeymoon, my prince?" Sarah purred into his ear, nibbling at the lobe, then down his jawline to his mouth where he caught her bottom lip with his teeth, caressing it with his tongue, then breaking the kiss, "Get undressed, dearest heart, the prince desires his lady."

They lay there side by side, each panting heavily, their hands still interlaced together. They had made love with intense passion, he holding her above him as she rocked against him to her own climax his fingers pressed against her lips as she panted into them, she finishing him with her hand, feeling the slick warmth between her fingers as he spent himself into her palm, gripping the sheets hard, his teeth clenched together trying to still the cry of release his body all but forced from him.

He looked over at Sarah, once more, and trying to stop the pounding of his heart and the feeling of detachment that had come to him in the middle of their love-making, nearly causing him to throw her from him, enraged that a Midgardian woman would dare to try and bed him before the image of the woman he loved, rising above him, returned to his consciousness.

Sarah got up from the bed and padded to the bathroom, returning with a warm washcloth for him as she sat down beside him on the bed, her face illuminated by the light on the night stand beside the bed as she put the washcloth on his stomach and smiled. "A bit messy but damn hot, sweetie." She said as she kissed him. When he said nothing, she looked at him curiously.

"Any thoughts?" Loki shook his head, "Nothing but this," He took her face in his hands and kissed her again, trying to blot out any memory of the incident, succeeding only when she returned to the bed and cuddled to him in quiet contentment, falling asleep in minutes, he laying there much longer until he too succumbed to sleep.

4.

The day before they were leaving for home, Sarah and Jane were upstairs packing the suitcases. They had sent Thor and Loki out to the beach with Fen so that they could do what they had to without the boys under foot but more importantly, Sarah had wanted to talk to Jane alone. She walked into the bedroom and looked out the glass doors at the beach where Thor and Fen were playing in the surf, Loki sitting on the sand cross legged, not even glancing up at them, head bent down, hands clasped in his lap.

Sarah had nearly been asleep the night before, curled onto her side, against Loki who was laying on his back, arm behind his head when he spoke, his voice flat,

"Did you ever wonder what it felt like to lose your mind?"

Sarah's eyes opened slowly but she didn't move, "That's an odd question." But Loki didn't respond and Sarah finally turned over onto her elbow to see him, lying there, still awake staring at the ceiling, seeming as if he didn't even know she was there until she put her head on his shoulder and draped her arm across his chest, he slowly pulling her to him in a tight hug.

That morning Sarah had tried to get him to tell her why he'd asked that question the night before.

"What question?" Loki had replied. Sarah had told him what he'd said and he'd given her a thin lipped grin, "I don't remember saying anything last night." But Sarah was sure he did, when, after she had said something about it, he had risen out of bed, got dressed and gone downstairs without another word.

"Something is just not quite right." Sarah was sitting on Fen's bed folding the clothes she'd brought up from the dryer in the kitchen. Jane hesitated, then nodded,

"I know, I've seen it too, and have you seen the way Fen sometimes looks at him, kind of like he's trying to see him, he turns his head and squints."

Sarah put another stack of clothes in the suitcase beside her, watched Olivia and Madison playing in the playpen for a moment. "Fen and Loki have a special bond, I found that out early on. When Loki would be gone in Asgard, on a campaign or hunting trip, anything, I would always know when he was home before anyone else would." Sarah picked up one of Fen's shirts and smiled, "When Fen learned to walk and Loki was on his way home, Fen would cry to be let out of the nursery, he would sit there and just stare at the door until Loki walked through it."

Jane zipped up one of her bags, "He wouldn't say why he said that either?" Sarah shook her head,

"I was even considering not stopping at my parents in Rutland because of the way he's acting." It wouldn't do for him to have an episode in front of her father as they had only just managed to be cordial to each other that past Christmas. As much as Daniel disliked his son-in-law, the feeling was mutual. Sarah and Loki had been Christmas shopping one day when she had said aloud that she had to find something for Dad and Mom. Loki had walked up to the cart and dropped in a pair of boxing gloves, saying, "Well now that your father's taken care of…." Sarah had slugged him on the arm, telling him that he didn't help the situation any.

"But my mom wants to see Fen, it's been a month since we saw them at Lizzie's house last. I think we'll stop just for an hour or so. I can go back up next weekend to see them." Jane shrugged, "It's fine with us. If anything goes really wrong, Thor will be right there." They heard the doors to the bottom balcony slide open and shut a bit hard, open and shut again, then voices raised but indistinct. Sarah stood up and walked into the hallway with Jane behind her, listening.

"What are you thinking, brother? He was only playing with you." Sarah could hear little hiccupping sobs and she looked at Jane,

"According to you, I wasn't thinking at all. I didn't know what…." Loki's voice stopped short

She could hear Thor again, "What, Loki, what didn't you know?" then the sound of heavy footsteps up the stairs as her and Jane backpedaled into the children's room just in time to avoid Loki as he sailed past them into the bedroom and slammed the door, then Thor as he walked into the children's bedroom with Fen in his arms. He walked to Sarah and handed Fen to her, then leaned over and in a low voice,

"When we return to New York, I am going to try to convince Loki to return to Asgard with me, there is something very wrong."

Thor would not tell Sarah what had happened on the beach, only that it had frightened even him and he suggested she not ask Loki as well. "He does not recall doing what he did, it is useless to trouble him about it." But Sarah stood up, handing Fen to Jane,

"I'll be back," She walked across the hall, opened the bedroom door and closed it behind her. Loki was sitting on the edge of the bed facing away from her, arms wrapped around his stomach. Sarah had been ready for a fight when she walked in but when she was finally standing in front of him, her heart nearly broke. Great wracking sobs shook his body as he slowly rocked back and forth. Sarah knelt on the carpet in front of him, put a hand to his chin and lifted his face up to hers, seeing the fear in his eyes. He brought a hand to her face, caressing it. "Sarah, please help me." She stood, crawled up to the pillows and pulled him back to her, he wrapping his arms around her waist, head against her chest while she stroked his hair, not moving until his sobs had slowed and quieted, his shallow breath telling her he had given in to sleep.

She untangled herself from him and slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the dining room where Thor, Jane and the babies had retreated to, Fen now asleep also having cried himself out. She sat down in a chair,

"Loki cried himself to sleep." Sarah put a hand to her forehead suddenly feeling as if she was going to start crying as well, "Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on?" Thor and Jane exchanged glances.

"On the beach today, for the briefest moment, I believed I was looking at the brother I brought to Asgard chained and muzzled, five years ago." Thor said. Jane put her hand atop his on the table. "It is settled, he must go to Asgard when we arrive home."

Sarah put her head down on her arms. "Is it safe?" She felt sick to her stomach to ask the question, "Are the kids safe to be around him?" She didn't see Thor raise his eyes to the ceiling.

"I think we must leave the first thing in the morning."

When she went upstairs to wake Loki and tell him supper was ready, she hesitated outside the bedroom door, then opened it slowly. Curled up facing Loki was Fen, two fingers in his mouth, his other hand raised above his head, entwined in Loki's hair. Sarah leaned over the bed, gently untangling Fen's fingers and lifting him from the bed, cradling him in her arms. When she looked to Loki again, she was startled to find him staring at her.

"He came in a while ago." His voice was low, toneless. He rolled onto his back and sat up at the edge of the bed. Sarah was quiet, the low hiss of the surf outside the only sound through the screen on the glass doors. "What did you want?"

Sarah tried to ignore the abruptness of the question, "To tell you that we were having supper. Are you hungry?"

Loki looked up at her, "No." he ran his hands through his hair, looked away.

"Okay, but it's a long time until breakfast and we're getting an early start. You're just going to sit up here alone the rest of the night?" Sarah put Fen over her shoulder, suddenly stepping back as Loki rose from the bed and walked over to her,

"Don't you think I should stay up here, Sarah?" She had to find another place to look other than at him, afraid of what she was going to see but she persisted,

"I think you should join your family for supper, that's what you should do, what you do is up to you."

Sarah was stroking a still sleeping Fen's back and she felt Loki's hand join hers.

"Go downstairs, Sarah."

Sarah handed Fen to Thor and sat down at the table, pushing the plate of spaghetti away from her. She felt Jane put a hand atop hers as it set on the table. "That's not my husband up there, I don't know who it is but that's not the man I married."

Sarah lay with her arm around Fen, the house quiet. After she had fed Madison and put her down for the night, she had tried to get Fen to sleep but he was restless, kept sitting up in bed and staring through the doorway to the closed bedroom door across the hall, an odd expression on his face. At one point he said

"I can't hear daddy a lot." Sarah had said to him,

"Because daddy is probably asleep too." Fen had frowned and shook his head , frustrated, had gotten up and peered into Madison's playpen where she slept, as if to check on her. When he had hopped back into bed, she had ventured to ask if Fen wanted to say goodnight to daddy but he'd shook his head and cuddled up to Sarah, finally giving in.

Sarah had closed her eyes, telling herself she had to sleep, there was going to be a lot of driving tomorrow when she heard the bedroom door across the hall open, then the bathroom door in the hall shut. After a minute, the bathroom door reopened and she waited for the bedroom door to shut again but heard nothing, suddenly aware that he was standing behind her in the dark bedroom, staring at her. She felt his hand on her face, stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers, felt his lips against her temple and he was gone, the bedroom door finally closing behind him, only then did she reach up and brush her tears away with the palm of her hand.

"Mom, I know, listen," Sarah was trying to balance the cell phone against her shoulder as she dragged one of the last suitcases out to the car, handing it to Thor who stacked it in the rear cargo hold of the car.

"I can't promise we'll be able to stop, I can see maybe for an hour but we have to get home to New York." Sarah refused to worry her mother more than was necessary, "It'll be late when we come through and you know how traffic can get. Why don't we make a date for next weekend okay? I'll bring the kids up." Loki had walked by while she was talking, "Hello Annie," He had shouted into the phone, causing Sarah to give him the evil eye even if she had been relieved that he was engaging in a little friendly banter. She had, in fact, found Fen and Loki laughing and wrestling in the bedroom that morning after she'd taken her shower, while Jane watched the babies. She had shooed Fen from the bedroom so that she could get dressed and Loki had taken that opportunity to come up behind her and kiss her on the back of her neck, his hands on her hips which she had pushed back against him, making him chuckle and nip her shoulder. She had turned around to look at him and he was smiling at her.

"How do you feel today?" She waited for a clipped answer but he responded, "I feel fine, dearest heart. Perhaps my dark cloud has passed." When they had kissed, it was as if she had never kissed him before and was trying to make up for lost ardor and she began to hope that whatever had happened to him had indeed left them alone.

"I'll talk to you in a while mother. " Sarah said, and hung up the phone. "Okay do we have everything? Everyone's been to the beach to wave to the ocean?" Loki had Madison in his arms and he turned her to the glass doors leading to the deck,

"Wave bye, Maddy." He took her hand and waved it for her, "I think we're good now."

"Okay, we've got to drop off the keys at the rental place and we're off for home." Sarah followed everyone out the door of the beach house and locked it.

5.

The traffic was light for a Saturday morning as they headed over the Piscataqua bridge into Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"Big bridge, mommy." Fen said from the back seat. Sarah smiled when Loki responded,

"You should see the big boats underneath, keep looking out the window." He had turned in the seat and was pointing the direction for Fen. Sarah reached over and too Loki's hand, giving it a loving squeeze, receiving one in return.

"Boats, daddy. Big ones!" Fen gasped, Sarah and Loki laughing at his reaction.

"We've got to fill up when we get into Portsmouth, call Jane and tell her will you." Sarah handed the cell to Loki, "Just tell her to follow me."

The boys had taken Fen inside the gas station to get a snack while Jane and Sarah filled the cars.

"How is Loki today?" Jane asked, screwing the gas cap back on and walking back to Sarah.

"He's fine. We've been talking like nothing, he said he wants to go back to Asgard when he gets home just as a precaution, to talk to the Allfather, but other than that he's okay. When he mentioned Asgard of course, Fen started to fuss, saying he wanted to visit Grandpa Odin and Grandma Frigga and we had to explain that daddy was going this time and we could go later on." Sarah shook her head, "It's a juggling act to see both sets of grandparents."

Thor and Loki were back at the car by then, "Okay, we're all set then? Let's go, If we get separated, I'll pull over."

They were headed north through New Hampshire on I-93, nearing Lake Winnepesaukee when Sarah said to Loki, "We're not staying long at my parents today, I just want to stop in and let them see the kids," She glanced in the rearview mirror at Madison and Fen, both heads dropped to their sides, lulled asleep with the gentle rhythm of the car.

"Thank goodness for that," Loki had mumbled

"Loki, I heard that." Sarah retorted, "That's not fair."

Loki turned to her, "What's not fair is the way that your father treats me every time he sees me."

Sarah gripped the steering wheel harder, they'd been over this many times, ever since her father had right hooked Loki in the hospital when she was giving birth to Fen, "He doesn't treat you badly,"

Loki laughed, "No he doesn't treat me at all. When I say something to him, he grunts and ignores me, acts like I wasn't even there. I'm the father of his grandchildren, I'm married to his daughter. Do you think it would hurt him to make an effort to accept this?"

Sarah glanced at Loki, "And when he does these things, do you try to take him aside and talk to him? No, you walk away." She had wanted to mention that he was being a coward over a simple disagreement but she kept that thought to herself.

"It would do no good." Loki stared out the window at the lake passing far below them.

"Make the effort next time, you want me to hold him still for you so he won't walk away?" Sarah cried, shaking her head,

The sound of a growl made her turn her head to see Loki's fist come down fast and hard on the dash, when she heard the rip of plastic separating, Loki bellowing "Do not vex me so, human!" But Sarah was already whipping the car into a lake overlook they had been approaching where she slammed the brakes on, pulling the car into park, the seatbelt catching them both, waking Fen and Madison in the back seat. Sarah pushed her hand beside her to release her seat belt getting angrier by the second as it wouldn't immediately give and Loki was out of the car by then, walking quickly back towards Jane and Thor's car as Thor jumped out of the passenger side and caught Loki by the arm, Loki wrenching from his grasp and continuing to walk away.

Sarah opened the back door of the car and undid Madison from her seat, picking her up and bouncing her, making soothing sounds. Jane ran over to Sarah, "Will you get Fen out of the car seat for me please?" Jane leaned in and undid the clip, letting Fen push the bar up and scramble into her arms.

"What happened? Holy shit I thought you were going to drive off the edge of the road." Jane whispered to Sarah who had set down sideways in the driver's seat.

"Take a look at the dashboard, "Sarah told Jane who peeked inside to see a hairline crack running up the front of the dash halfway to the windshield.

"Oh geez, what went on?"

Sarah explained to her that they'd been on the touchy subject of her father and he'd flown into a rage,

"He said to me, "Do not vex me so, woman" or something like that and punched the dashboard. I don't want him back in this car Jane." She looked farther down the overlook parking lot where Loki had his hands through his hair, taking them away and putting his hands out to Thor who had his arms crossed in front of him. She could see them talking but couldn't hear what they were saying though she knew they were shouting at one point. She rocked Madison while Jane, with Fen on her hip, went over to her car to check on Olivia, Sarah going through the incident in her head, watching him hit the dash, hearing him, realization finally dawning on her.

Jane had walked back to her, "Olivia is still asleep, I opened the car doors for air flow. What?" she had seen Sarah's face,

"He didn't say woman, he said "Do not vex me, human." She looked again down the overlook lot where Loki was now staring back at the car at her and she glanced away.

"So you are saying that you are now remembering what you 've been doing, Loki?" Thor asked him,

"I remember yes but at the time it happens, I don't know what I'm doing. I told you it's like seeing through another's eyes. What do you wish me to do, we can only get to New York so fast. I told you I'd go to Asgard. As it is we have to stop at the in-laws first." Loki clenched his fists and brought them to the sky, "We could call the Bifrost right here if it weren't for Fury."

Thor shook his head, "We're not to do so unless the situation is extreme. You should go talk to Sarah, brother, she is the one you need to speak with now." He started to walk back to his car but Loki didn't immediately follow, staring out over the lake far below until Thor yelled to him to come along.

Sarah still sat looking at the pavement, rocking Madison who was nearly back to sleep against her shoulder when Loki walked up and stood in front of her, before he could speak though,

"I want you to ride with Jane and Thor." She watched Loki's shoes, blurring in her vision until he squatted in front of her and tilted her chin upward.

"I don't know what to say, Sarah, I truly don't." Sarah pulled her chin from his hand,

"Get away from me."

"Sarah,"

"Get away from me!" she shouted, making Madison jump.

Loki stood abruptly and walked away from her towards the middle of the parking lot, looked up and cried, "Heimdall…!" but never got to finish the request as Thor was quickly upon him, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him,

"No, brother, I told you, not here, I implore you!"

Loki shrugged Thor off him and yelled, "Then unless you wish me to walk to New York, I will be riding with you!"

Thor glanced at Jane who still had Fen in her arms, she nodded.

"Very well, get in the car. We must continue on."

Jane carried Fen back to the car, putting him into his car seat and locking it while Sarah did the same with Madison. "I'm sorry Jane, I'll owe you big time, I can't even look at him right now. Just let him sulk there, don't piss him off I guess. Emotions seem to fuel the episodes and we'd be working on high octane if he rode with me."

Jane came around the car and gave Sarah a tight hug, "It's going to be alright, I know you don't feel like it is right now but it will." Sarah nodded and Jane walked back to her car, knowing she hadn't told Sarah a truth, but given her hope.

It was early evening, the sun low on the horizon when Sarah pulled into a parking lot just before the intersection of Routes 4 and 7 in the city of Rutland, Jane following her in. She got out of the car and walked to Jane's driver side window and leaned down. "Loki, get in my car." Jane glanced in the rearview mirror as Loki hesitated, then opened the door, Sarah put a hand on Jane's arm, "I don't want to drive into my parent's yard with him in a separate car. I just don't have the strength to deal with 20 questions right now."

She returned to the car where Loki now sat in the passenger seat, belted in, staring forward, and she pulled back out onto Route 4.

Daniel Miller was on the riding lawnmower doing the front lawn when they pulled into the dooryard. He shut the mower down and got off, taking a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiping his forehead, then started for the car where Sarah had already gotten out and was opening the back door to unlock Fen who was already yelling "Poppy," and struggling to lift the bar of his car seat while Sarah tried to hold it down to unhook it.

"Fen, don't lift up yet, gee." Sarah sighed. The back door opposite hers was opening and Loki leaned into the car undoing Madison's car seat and taking her out of the car. Jane had already undone Olivia and was walking back to Sarah who had released Fen who promptly ran up to her father who had picked him up in a bear hug,

"Buddy you've gotten so big," Daniel exclaimed,

"Sarah, I didn't hear you pull up," Her mother called from the porch, a dishtowel in her hands that she was using to wipe her hands dry. She trotted down the steps and to Sarah, giving her a great hug, turning to Loki in turn and doing the same, eliciting a small smile from him. She held out her hands to Madison who leaned over into her arms.

"Oh she looks like she just woke up." Annie said, rubbing her back as she laid her head on Annie's shoulder.

"Nana," Fen exclaimed from Daniel's arms, "We went to the beach!"

Daniel put Fen down so he could go to Annie, "I got you a present." Fen said when he was firmly wrapped around Annie's legs, jogging Sarah's mind. She went back to the car where Loki was now leaning on the hood, arms crossed. She watched her mother give Jane and Olivia a hug, Daniel shaking Thor's hand, and she was momentarily mad at her father for not doing the same with Loki. She pulled the little lighthouse figurine out of a bag that said York Beach on it in bright blue letters and shut the trunk, stopping at Loki's side and leaning to his shoulder,

"Can you at least be happy that my parents love the children?"

Loki said nothing, but she noted an almost imperceptible nod.

Daniel looked over to them, "Sarah bean, you look tired. Are you sure you don't want to stay overnight. It's going to be midnight or better before you get to the city."

Sarah handed Fen the figurine and walked back over to her father, "I don't think so dad. I want a day to unpack, do laundry, get everything ready for work Monday."

Daniel was ushering everyone inside the house, "Annie get the ice cream out of the freezer," and Fen's voice piping up, "Ice cream!" Sarah stood at the top step of the porch and looked down the driveway at Loki who hadn't moved. She sighed and walked back down the steps to him.

"Are you coming in?"

"I wasn't invited, did you not notice?" Loki retorted and she grabbed his arm,

"The invitation was implied, get in there." But Loki wouldn't move and Sarah was getting angry, "Goddamnit Loki, don't do this to me. " she said in an angry whisper.

Daniel poked his head out of the kitchen door behind them, "Sarah, are you coming in?"

Sarah turned to her father, "Yeah dad, we'll be right in." ignoring the scathing look Loki had given her.

"He asked you to come in, not me but it's alright though, you didn't miss me for the last two hours, what's a little longer?" Sarah's hands slamming down on the hood made Loki jump and he stood.

"Do you know how badly you scared me this afternoon? No you don't because you say you can't remember what you've done!" Sarah cried.

"And you wouldn't let me talk to you about it either, you told me to get away from you. Do you remember that?" Loki was now nearly shouting and besides being worried that there was going to be another episode, Sarah was just waiting for her father to come out the door, she took a deep breath,

"I know, I was so afraid….of you." She couldn't say it any other way, she put her arms around Loki's neck and hugged him, feeling his back stiffen, then relax, finally feeling his arms around her waist,

"I was afraid of myself." He said, his voice low, the hug deepening, "I can never tell you how sorry I am, but I will make this up to you, dearest heart," She felt him swallow hard.

"Say that again, the words I love,"

Loki reached up and stroked her hair, "My dearest heart, you cannot truly know the depth and breadth of my love for you." He breathed in the scent of her hair, the lingering sea air, the musk of her perfume, baby powder, and was struck with the sudden terror of losing her. He kissed her forehead and looked up to see Daniel standing on the landing to the kitchen steps in the growing darkness, hard eyes fixed on them.

"You guys coming inside?"

Sarah turned from Loki, "Yes dad, right now." She took Loki's hand in hers and pulled him into the house behind her, Loki not caring to catch Daniel's eye.

Sarah had to shake her head again for the umpteenth time, willing the lights in the distance to get closer faster. She looked at the clock on her stereo, one thirty-five in the morning. At least the traffic was minimal. They had stayed for two hours at her parents before she was able to coax the children back into the car, for that matter that she was able to coax her parents to give them up. Loki had talked mostly to Annie, her father eyeing him once in a while and taking her to the side before they left.

"Is he alright?" Sarah had given her father a look of death.

"I don't know dad, why don't you ask my husband yourself?" Daniel had put his hand on her shoulder,

"If you need anything, like a place to get away to for a couple days, you come here, understand?" Sarah had nodded, kissed him goodbye and followed everyone else outside.

She thought she would never see a lovelier sight than the George Washington bridge when the clock turned to two in the morning. They were almost home, Loki had passed out along with the children long ago, near Albany, his hand on her thigh and she put her hand atop his,

"Loki, we're in New York." Loki reached over to the side of his seat and raised the back, looking at the skyline, rubbing the sleep from him eyes. "It's nice to be home."

Loki gave her a grin and watched out the window as they sped over the Hudson onto Manhattan island. "Who knew that I would ever be happy to see this vista again."

When they finally pulled into the driveway of the house in Brooklyn at around two-thirty, Sarah just sat there, her eyes closed, head back against the headrest.

"Come on," Loki touched her arm, "Let's get the kids inside."

Sarah stood up and stretched, hearing Jane behind her, "All I know is that I've been sitting in one position way too long. I vote for sleeping in tomorrow."

Madison had awakened when they pulled her from her car seat and now Sarah sat on the edge of her own bed, nursing Madison while Loki lay crosswise on the bed beside her.

"You're helping us unload the car tomorrow and then you're leaving for Asgard?" Sarah asked him, making sure she'd heard right.

"So Thor says, he thinks I should speak with the seer there as well, it'll be the same old drabble about my fate and other mystical bullshit."

Sarah pulled Madison away and brought the bodice of her nightgown around to cover her breast, then stood up. "I'm going to put her down."

Loki waved to her without looking, sat up and began to unbutton his pants, pulling them off and reaching for his pajama bottoms, slid them on as Sarah re-entered the bedroom and shook her head, picking up his jeans off the floor and draped them on the hamper beside the closet.

"Sorry, "

Sarah crawled into bed beside him, "I think you're too used to me picking up after you."

Loki pulled her to him, curled around her, "And what a pleasure it was getting used to you." He stroked her leg but Sarah was almost asleep, she grunted and grabbed his hand, pulling his arm around her stomach, they stayed that way until late the next morning.

6.

Sarah was lying on her stomach, clutching a pillow, starting to wake up when she felt the edge of the bed sink in and heard Loki's voice, "We unloaded the cars." Sarah turned her head towards him and rolled to her side.

"Who?"

"Thor and I, the bags are in the living room. The children are still asleep."

Sarah reached up and rubbed Loki's back, "Thank you, Jane and I are going to do laundry and unpack today."

Thor appeared in the bedroom door, "I'll be downstairs brother."

Sarah sat up, her back to the headboard. "You're leaving already?" Loki nodded, looked down at the carpet. "Will you be back by supper?"

Loki shrugged, "I don't know, it all depends on what happens while we're there."

Sarah reached over and pulled Loki to her and he stayed there for long minutes, his head against her chest, arms wrapped around her waist while she stroked his cheek. "I'd say call me but…" She felt him smile as he lifted his head to look at her. "I love you, my dearest heart."

She leaned in and kissed him, "I love you, my prince."

He sat up, "I've got to go, Thor is waiting, kiss the kids for me."

He stood and walked to the bedroom door, turned and said, "We'll try to be home for supper, I promise."

Sarah watched the doorway long after she'd heard the front door slam, trying to will him back home, to think of a way to fix him, to dispel the growing fear that something was horribly wrong. She pulled his pillow to her and breathed deep into it, her eyes closed to everything but the image of her husband still standing there before her.

Thor and Loki sat in a nearly empty car on the J train.

"Father will know what do." Thor said, glanced beside him at Loki but Loki didn't return the look.

"Will he? Forgive me if I deign to place too much confidence in his ability."

Thor shook his head, "He is a wise man."

"But he has his flaws," Loki closed his eyes, "As do we all."

"Do not judge him so harshly brother."

Loki held up his hand, "Please, Thor, let it lie. I will reserve my judgment for later."

They stared in silence at the East river passing far below them. "What if I really am losing my mind?"

Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder, "We will find you a new one." Loki turned to Thor who was smiling at him, slowly returning the smile in kind and shoving Thor's arm before Thor's face faded into sincerity,

"You will be alright, brother."

Loki watched the lights of another station flash by outside the window, "Then you must be sure enough for both of us."

Fury watched Thor and Loki walk into his office. "What brings the two of you here for the rainbow ride? Just visiting?" Loki nodded, Thor spoke up,

"We are going to see our father. We have matters to discuss with him." Fury raised an eyebrow,

"Problems? Or just a bad case of homesickness?" Loki looked to Thor, then,

"Are you saying we cannot go home?" Fury shook his head,

"Be my guest, I'm just interested to know why since you're aiming this bridge to the top of my building." Fury put his hands behind his back, "As a matter of precaution." Thor put a hand on Loki's arm before he could respond,

"Thank you, Director, excuse us, we promised our ladies we would try to be home for the evening meal."

Fury nodded, watched them as the door slid shut behind them and sat at the monitor atop his desk, clicked on the remote cameras and observed them all the way to the rooftop.

Loki looked around him at the skyline of New York, then to Thor and nodded as Thor called out "Heimdall…Open the Bifrost" and stories below them, the scepter began to hum to life.

The royal guards bowed to them as they entered the throne room. Odin was presently amidst a throng of his closest advisors and they hung back from the crowd until Odin spotted them at the edge if the circle and waved them forward.

"If you will excuse me, my friends, " Odin bowed to the men surrounding him, "I would speak with my sons." The crowd dispersed until Thor and Loki were standing alone with Odin.

"What brings you here? Are the children with you?"

"No father, they're back on Midgard. We have come to you for advice." Thor glanced at Loki, standing there, his face unreadable,

Odin looked at Loki, walked up to him and put a hand to his shoulder, "What troubles you my son?"

Loki explained to him the episodes of detachment, the feeling of seeing through someone else's eyes, the inability to control himself. He told him about the incident at the beach when Fen had been trying to play with him and he had grabbed Fen's arm hard and shaken him, started to walk to the water with him until Thor had shaken Loki hard enough to make him dizzy.

"I am frightened that I will hurt Sarah or the children and I have begun to doubt my sanity. What do I do?"

Odin waved his hand to them, "We will speak with Astrid, perhaps she will be able to see what we cannot."

Loki let out an exaggerated sigh and followed Odin as they left the throne room, feeling apprehension start to envelop him as they walked through the corridors to two large carved doors at the far reaches of the palace wherein dwelt the ancient seer, the one who had given the dire predictions so many years ago of the fate that would be his. She was incredibly old, hair gone stark white with the millennia, blind and toothless, attended by a young maiden who took care of her, fed her, bathed her, spoke with her, was destined to replace her some far distant day and it was this young maiden that opened the doors for Odin and his sons.

"Enter, your majesty, Astrid has been expecting you."

Loki peered into the dimly lit room from behind his father and heard the cracked rasping voice emerge from behind a low glowing brazier,

"You bring the son of Laufey with a question." Loki bristled at this and mumbled, "Senile crone."

Astrid cackled softly, "It seems that mine ears, are the only thing yet to fail me, my lord."

Astrid rose from the cushions she was seated on, the young maiden immediately at her side to assist her. She shuffled around the brazier, past Odin who was standing before her and to Loki who stepped back a bit until her outstretched hands found his face,

"My lord has become a man now..," She frowned, then cackled again, "And has given himself to a woman of Midgard!" She clapped her hands together, continued to laugh, then put her hand to his face again, "A son, the reflection of the father, a daughter, too, will follow the same path."

Loki glanced at Thor who wore a serious countenance as Astrid continued to search Loki's face.

"I see two into one, the past and the present together to shape the future, the change within will determine the path you choose."

Loki pushed her hands from him, "I come seeking answers, I wish to know what is happening to me."

Astrid chuckled, "I have told you of what you wish to know, that you do not wish to interpret them as you must, do not blame me."

Loki snorted, "Perhaps if you weren't so fond of speaking in riddles, I could make sense of your nonsensical drabble."

Astrid cackled loudly at this, "Odin, the young prince has changed little in all this time, I advised you to pay heed to his rashness, did I not?" Suddenly she was upon Loki again, her hand hard upon his cheek,

"Son of Laufey, you will face the greatest challenge of your long life, brought to task by your demons, your misdeeds come to haunt you…." She paused, "You can but hope to redeem yourself for it is a great trial indeed."

Loki pulled from her touch, backed into Thor. Astrid felt for the young maiden's hand, turning and shuffling back to the cushions behind the brazier, "This is all I can tell you, I must rest now." She leaned back, her sightless eyes staring at the ceiling.

Odin bowed to the maiden, Thor and Loki following suit and they left the seer's chambers.

"She still did not tell me a damn thing about why I came here." Loki groused as they once again stood in the throne room.

"On the contrary," Odin spoke up, "She told you much but you must listen to her and interpret them. Pay heed, my son, she has never failed to tell the truth no matter how cryptic it may sound."

Loki bowed to Odin, Thor doing likewise, "Nevertheless, I feel I have learned little. We beg forgiveness, we must take our leave. I wish to be home with my family. Give my love to mother."

Odin embraced Loki, then Thor in turn, "Safe travels to you. "

As they walked down the corridors leaving the palace, Loki stopped in his chambers. "I want to take something back to Midgard." Thor stood in the doorway, arms folded as he watched Loki walk to his wardrobe and pull out his set of battle armor, under tunic and great coat and drape them over his arm.

Thor stopped him at the door, "Why are you bringing these?" He touched the great coat,

"Astrid said I would face the greatest challenge of my life, did she not, that I understood in the very least and I think it highly unlikely that she meant training Fen to use the toilet, so I felt this was called for."

Thor looked down the corridor to his room, "Perhaps you are right, I will join you in a moment."

He returned with his own battle armor curled to his chest, "Let's away brother, the ladies will be waiting for us."

Fury was standing at the top level of the containment tank, staring hard at the scepter far below, the cracks visible in the clear case. Another flash of blue lightning rose and dispersed around the tank. Dr. Banner looked to Fury then back to the scepter,

"Any theories, doctor?" Fury asked him, eyes not leaving the scepter.

"Well, if I've done my research right, according to the data we already have on file from Dr. Selvig's work, I mean the energy signature is the same, it looks as if the scepter is trying to create its own portal."

Fury turned to Banner, "And we all know what happened the last time that circus came to town. I'm going to suggest we take the scepter to our maximum security facility in California. If it's going to open the door to the other side again, I'd rather have a better hold on what's coming through this time than we did the last time." He waved his hand and an agent was by his side listening to his orders.

Banner pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, "California?"

Fury was staring again into the tank, "It's an underground holding facility for items of this nature, it's remote, highly secure and very large. We call it Alpha One, you'd call it Death Valley."

7.

It was early afternoon when Thor and Loki stepped through the doors of the lower landing pad to be greeted by several agents.

"Gentlemen, could you come with us please?" The young man nearest to Thor waved his hand. Loki peered at Thor but he was already falling in step behind the agent trotting ahead of him.

"Is there something wrong?" Loki asked as they filed into the elevator, he watched the agent hit the button for sub level 6.

"Director Fury will fill you in when we arrive."

Thor spoke up now, "Why are we going to the holding tank?" The agents looked at one another.

"We're unauthorized to disclose that information."

Thor frowned and walked up to them, "We are expected elsewhere and I wish to know why we are.."

The door slid open at sub level 6 and the agents stepped deftly around Thor, "Follow us please."

Fury, Agents Romanoff and Barton, Tony Stark and Banner were waiting in a large conference room down the corridor from the large holding tank which seemed to be abuzz with activity when they passed it.

"Your timing is impeccable gentlemen, " Fury said as they walked through the doors and stood there, taken aback.

Fury gestured to two empty chairs, "We have a situation that has developed with the scepter. I'll let Doctor Banner elaborate." He nodded to Banner who stood up and touched the top of the table. A three dimensional image of the scepter in its protective case arose and hung in the air,

"Now isn't that so much easier than a plain old flat screen? Stark industries says "You're welcome." Tony piped up.

Banner ignored Tony and began, pointing to the energy cube at the tip of the scepter, "This little bauble right here started sending out an energy signature this morning identical to the signature the tesseract cube sent out when.." he paused and looked down at the table, " When Loki came through."

Loki watched Agent Barton's eyes slide to glance at him, then back at the image in front of him,

Banner continued, "It's continued to send out pulses of energy for the last six hours, some strong enough to put cracks in the holding tank," As if on cue, there was a loud thud, their chairs shuddering as Fury peered out of the plate glass down the hallway towards the tank, then looked around the table at all assembled there before he spoke again,

"And if it's going to create a portal like the tesseract, we don't want it to do so in the middle of New York again. We are sending two jets to California within the hour, one will transport the scepter, the other will carry the team for support. Loki stood up from the table, "Director Fury, if I might speak?"

Fury said nothing but was silent so Loki continued. "Let my brother and I travel with the scepter." Tony Stark rolled his eyes, Agent Barton sat back in his chair, arms crossed, "The danger to us would be minimal, the Bifrost itself is a portal that we've used for millennia,"

"And we all know the story about the scepter.." Tony interrupted, Loki trying hard to ignore him,

"If the scepter is indeed trying to create its own portal and does so while the jet is in the air, you would be risking the life of the pilot, "

Fury nodded, "These agents are prepared for such a sacrifice,"

"And the people on the ground if the jet falls out of the sky?"

Tony smiled, "You could add to your tally then,"

Loki glared at Tony until Tony stood up and stared at him across the table.

"Gentlemen, " Fury said, "time is growing short, Loki?

"And if the scepter is lost in the process, if someone finds it, human or otherwise, the scepter has proven unpredictable, if someone found it as it is now and touched it, who knows where portal would lead? There are far worse than me in this universe.

"And we've met them, thanks to you." Tony said and finally Loki turned to him,

"Could you possibly find it in your heart to shut up?"

Tony leaned over, palms flat on the table, "You know, if you hadn't brought that little party favor with you when you came here, this wouldn't be happening."

Loki slammed his fists on the table, "Do you not think I know this. Do you think I don't know what I have done? I can never hope to clear my own ledger," He glanced at Agent Romanoff who was staring back at him. "Must we continually visit the past?" Another shockwave pulled everyone back to the present,

"This scepter could kill you too." Fury said, stared hard at Loki, "And you Thor,"

Loki smiled, "We are far stronger than you humans, " he looked at Banner who raised an eyebrow and gave a slight grin "For the most part."

He sat back down in his chair, suddenly weary, "It is my fervent wish to prove that I am worthy of being a part of the Initiative so that perhaps when Fen and Maddy are grown, they will know of a father who is worthy of their respect and the monster will be but a distant memory, laid to rest."

Fury stood silently, hands behind his back, then, "Loki, Thor, you're with the package, Barton, Romanoff, Stark, you're in the support unit. You've got twenty minutes before we're ready."

Loki stood in the emptiness of his former chambers on level 3 with Thor who had already changed into his battle armor, "Astrid was right, was she not, brother?" Loki pulled the heavy leather armor over his head and started to strap it on,

Loki ignored Thor's comment, "We have to call Sarah and Jane and tell them what's happened."

Loki had pulled Fury aside and asked him to bring Sarah, Jane and the children to S.H.I.E.L.D. and he had agreed though they would be gone before their arrival. Thor reached into the pocket of the jeans he had folded neatly on the couch, pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Loki. He had refused to carry one no matter how much Sarah had harangued him. He listened to the phone ring once, twice, then Sarah's voice on the other end. "Thor?"

Loki sat on the couch, "No it's me, Sarah. There are agents on their way to pick up you, Jane and the children."

"What?" Sarah cried, "Why? Where are you?"

"I'm at the office, we both are. There's a problem with the scepter, they're transporting it away from the city." Loki put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes.

"What does that have to do with you and why do we have to come there, when are you coming home?" he could hear the panic in her voice.

"I don't know Sarah, we're bringing the scepter to a secure facility and I'd rather.."

Sarah interrupted him, "What the hell do you mean you're bringing the scepter, how?

"By jet, I want you and the kids here to be safe. "

"I don't want you to do this, what did you find out in Asgard?"

"Sarah," He said firmly, "We don't have much time, please listen to me, come here with the agents and we'll talk when I get back. It'll be alright."

Sarah was silent, then in a small voice, "Promise?"

"Yes I promise, is Fen there?" Sarah called to Fen, he could hear her handing him the phone,

"Daddy?" Loki smiled at his voice,

"Hey buddy, daddy has to go on a mission. I want you to take care of mommy and Maddy okay?"

"Mommy wants you to come home, daddy." Loki sighed,

"I will Fen, not right now. You can come to the office and talk to the agents alright?"

"Okay,"

"Love you, Fen. Give the phone back to mommy."

"Love you, daddy."

He heard Sarah kiss Fen then, "Loki? Please be careful."

"I will, I love you, my dearest heart."

"I love you, my prince."

"Hand the phone to Jane, we've only got five minutes."

He handed the phone to Thor and pulled his gauntlets onto his hands, listening to Thor, waving him out the door as they headed to the elevator up to the landing pads.

Fury was at the landing pad with the jets, when he saw Loki and Thor, he pointed to the jet closest to him and headed up the walkway. They saw the scepter in its clear case which was now showing stress cracks along its length, held to the floor of the jet by wide nylon straps, the small cube at its tip glowing bright blue, flaring then darkening.

"Gentlemen, there will be agents waiting for you at the facility. You will transfer the scepter to them and remain there until they have secured it. Good luck."

Loki watched Fury walk back out onto the landing pad and signal to the pilot. The walkway rose into place and Loki and Thor strapped into their seats on either side of the container. "They should just destroy the cursed thing." Loki grumbled, seeing Thor nodding across at him.

The jets rose into the air above Manhattan as Fury's phone beeped, "Your guests are here, Director."

"Escort them to level 3, please. I will come down to talk to them."

Loki had dozed lightly as the jet hummed beneath their feet and the scepter had dulled to a blue glow, turbulence had awakened him and now he looked at Thor who seemed deep in thought, then at the pilot, sighed,

"Thor, do you think they'll trust me after this?"

Thor looked at Loki, "Time will tell, be patient brother."

Loki was about to answer him when the scepter started to glow brighter and brighter, suddenly sending out an intense shockwave that flew out around it, through the cabin of the jet. They heard the warning bells going off as the pilot sought to maintain control of the jet, they could hear him as he said, "The instruments are going crazy, trying to level out again.", Into the mic on his helmet. They felt the jet pitch to the left and drop quickly before it seemed to level off.

"Where are we?" Loki called to him,

We're currently at thirty thousand feet over Denver, Colorado." The pilot responded as Loki looked down at the scepter which had started to glow brighter again, this time the shockwave splitting the container in two and shooting through the cabin, sending them plummeting, the klaxon bell loud in their ears, "Hold on, I've lost power. Restarting the engines,"

"Where the hell did they go?" Tony cried, his voice metallic in his suit, staring into the darkness of the night sky, "They were there and then gone."

"They're losing altitude quickly, system failure, trying to restart their engines. The scepter is causing massive interference." Natasha said from the co-pilot's seat. Tony hit the button for the walkway, "Maybe they could use a little help." He stepped off the walkway and into the sky,

Loki could see the scepter building again to another shockwave, hearing the engines finally cough to life and he undid the straps holding him into his seat. Thor had been watching the pilot and he turned to see Loki kneeling before the shattered remains of the container, stripping off one of his gauntlets, the hum of the scepter growing louder. "LOKI NO!" Thor bellowed, struggling with his straps but Loki looked at Thor,

"It's the only way." Loki whispered, his voice barely audible above the buzz as the scepter built to a fever pitch and Loki's fingers wrapped around the handle.

"LOKI!" Thor cried as electric blue light enveloped both Loki and the scepter, turning to blinding white then just as suddenly winking out as if by the flick of a switch.

Tony's voice came over the cabin speaker as he appeared out of the starboard side window, "Hey what's going on in there, you guys need a hand?"

Thor stood over the broken container, breathing hard, "Loki's gone."

"Gone?" Thor could see the pilot looking back at him,

"The scepter was out of control, it would have dropped the jet out of the sky as.." He paused, clenched his fists, "Loki said it would."

"Where is he now then?" Tony asked,

"You did not see what happened. We have to return to New York immediately."

Sarah was sitting with Jane on the couch in their former chambers trying to keep the children amused until the boys arrived back home. Fen had brought his Lego castle set with him and was playing with the horses when suddenly he jumped to his feet, breathing fast and looking around the room, startling Sarah who'd been rocking Madison to sleep.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Sarah said, putting out her hand to Fen,

"I can't find daddy." Tears were starting to form in his eyes,

"He's gone on a mission, Fen, he'll be back."

"No, I can't find him here." He tapped his head, looked around the room again,

Sarah felt a rush of adrenaline as she turned to Jane, then back to Fen.

"I can't find him!" Fen had finally started to cry and he crawled onto Sarah's lap while she rocked both him and his sister, "Shh, it'll be fine, daddy will be home soon."

Sarah looked to Jane again but Jane was hugging Olivia tightly, burying her face in her little shoulder.

Sarah had managed to put Fen and Madison down to sleep on the bed when the door to the chambers slid open, she glanced out of the bedroom doorway and saw Thor walk in and up to Jane, speak to her and look towards the bedroom. Suddenly her knees felt weak as she sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to see Thor standing in front of her. "Sarah come with me." She stood up,

Jane said, "I'll watch the kids." She kept her eyes trained on the floor as they walked past her out of the quarters.

The conference room on sub level six was dimly lit when Sarah walked in and stared around the room at Agent's Barton and Romanoff, Tony Stark, Banner and Fury.

"Where's my husband, where's Loki?" She asked, she had turned to Fury who had put his head down.

"Sarah," Thor began, seeing Sarah start to sway, he took her by the arm and sat her in a chair. "You must understand the sacrifice he made.."

Three hours, you were gone for three fucking hours!" Sarah screamed at him, "What could have happened in three hours?"

"The scepter was tearing the jet apart, he did what he did to save us, the pilot, the people on the ground below.."

Sarah found it getting hard to breathe as she thought of Fen's panicked voice, "I can't find daddy up here."

"We're so sorry.." Natasha began but Sarah erupted at her, voice hitching as she fought to keep control,

"None of you are sorry, you tolerated him but you never accepted him and not one of you were ever in a position to sit and judge him."

Sarah rose from her seat and forced her feet to move her into the hall, only making it a short way down the corridor before her grief overwhelmed her and she sank to the floor, rocking and keening, tears streaming down her face onto the carpet. She heard the door hiss open behind her and Tony's voice above her,

"You're right, we tolerated him, in fact I enjoyed tormenting him, but when Fury said go as a team we did, and when one of our team is compromised, it is a loss to us all, irregardless. "

Tony put a hand on her back and took one of her arms to lift her from the floor. "Besides, we really don't know what's happened to him. We only know what Thor saw, hang onto that, okay? Let's get you back to your room,"

She felt another hand at her shoulder and looked up at Thor, a fresh spate of tears starting as she hugged him, felt him lift her in his arms, "I will take her back to the rooms."

She lay on the bed with Fen and Madison who were still sound asleep. She had come into the room and sat on the couch, cried with Jane, who had made her cry harder to think that she had gone from hating Loki to sharing in the grief of his loss. Thor had set on the floor, his face hard. Finally she had sent them to their own quarters, saying she wanted to be with the kids alone for the night.

She had never felt so helpless in her life. If he wasn't gone, why couldn't Fen sense him? She pulled Fen to her, feeling his heart beat against her palm, he heaved a big sigh and felt for Sarah's hair, catching a strand and stroking it. Sarah lay there, watching the darkness until the next morning, hoping each minute, each second, she would wake from this nightmare to find Loki curled around her, his arm draped over her stomach.

8.

He was falling, looking up at a cloudy blue sky. He could hear the roar of falling water and was able to register to his right, a large waterfall seconds before he struck the water hard, the impact driving the air from his lungs and moments later a sharp, blinding pain as his back collided with a jagged rock at the river bottom. Instinct told him to breath in and cold river water rushed into his lungs as panic, then sheer terror set in as he desperately tried to find a foothold at the bottom of the river, darkness beginning to sweep over him as he fought to remain conscious until he felt a large rock beneath him and with what strength he had left, he propelled himself upwards, feeling the air against his face, another wave catching him, pushing him backwards where one hand found more rocks. He held onto them, wedged his fingers between them and pulled himself forward, away from the torrent, flopping over onto his stomach, half in, half out of the water, retching violently, purging the river water from his body and taking great lungfuls of air, until, after long minutes, he was able to drag himself further up onto the smooth rocks lining the shore of the river. He lay there panting, aching his mind racing.

The last thing he remembered was Thor yelling "Loki, No!" as he grabbed the scepter.

Loki sat up a bit too quickly and was rewarded with a searing pain at his back. He crawled to the river bank onto grass and tree roots and stood up, removed his remaining right gauntlet, pulled off his great coat and looked at it. The tear at the back was a good five inches across. He felt up his back to where his under tunic had torn as well, drawing a sharp breath as his fingers touched the still bleeding gash across the middle of his back.

He lay the great coat on the river bank, drew off the under tunic and lay it out on a tree root, put the gauntlet back on his hand, then stepped back down to the river's edge to look for the scepter. After a few minutes, he spied the glow of the cube at its tip beneath a rock in the middle of the river. He walked upstream a few yards and waded in as far as he could until the water became too deep and he took a deep breath and dove towards the blue glow, the current swiftly pushing him until he was nearly past it. He felt rock beneath his feet and forced himself against the current, careful to reach with his right hand until his fingertips found the curved blade of the tip and he pulled upwards, breaking the surface of the water with the scepter in his grasp.

When he was finally back on the riverbank, he sat down and took in his surroundings. The waterfall some yards distant, the trees, the landscape, and knew at once that he had stood here before. He gazed downstream where the river rounded a bend and out of sight,

"Alfheim?" He said aloud. He put his damp under tunic on, then his great coat, wincing as he did so, picked up the scepter and climbed to high ground, finding himself at the edge of a field , forests surrounding him. The river before him, he knew to be Udar.

"I must find Freyr." He looked at the scepter which had ceased to throw off energy pulses, and briefly considered calling the Bifrost but not until he had spoken with Frey and discovered why the scepter had brought him to this realm. He began to jog along the edge of the river, following it downstream to where he knew he would find the king of the light elves in his silver palace.

Sarah was running on automatic, still, after two days. Pepper Potts had called to talk with her, as had Lily when she heard what had happened at the office and Sarah had thanked them for their concern. When Sarah had agreed to return home with Jane and the children, Lizzie had been there waiting for her in the living room.

"I spoke with mom and dad, mom wants to come down and be with you and the kids. Dad says he's sorry to hear what happened."

Sarah chuckled wryly and shook her head, "Loki would say that's about all you're going to get from him too." She bit her trembling lip hard to stop the tears that threatened again for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last forty-eight hours. She looked at Fen, playing quietly on the floor with his horses. Every once in a while he would glance up, sometimes he would go to the window and look at the sky, then return to his toys.

"I wish I could see inside Fen's head and know what he's thinking." Sarah watched him walk over to Madison and Olivia playing on the floor nearby and pat them both on the head.

"What will you do now?" Lizzie asked.

Sarah clasped her hands together, "I'm going to continue to work, I have to make money to support Fen and Madison and I've already got a home with Jane and Thor here. I don't want to take Fen away from family,"

She had come in the living room the night before after putting Madison down for the evening and found Thor on the couch asleep with Fen in one arm and Olivia in the other, Jane had said she didn't want to disturb them so had left them there.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to visit Asgard without him, with all the memories there." Sarah leaned back into the couch and lifted Madison who had toddled over to her and had been trying to climb into her lap. "God I miss him so much." Which was all it finally took and she cried while Lizzie held her and rubbed her back.

Sarah had stood in her bedroom, looking at the bed, finally walking down the hall to Fen's room and laying down beside him in his bed as he fidgeted and played, trying to do everything but sleep.

After a while, he lay quiet, staring out the window at the few stars they could see in the sky,

"When's daddy coming home?" He asked and pointed out the window.

Sarah felt like screaming but instead rubbed Fen's back, "Do you remember daddy and uncle talking about Valhalla where warriors go to live after…" She stopped, couldn't say it. "That's where daddy is."

"But when is he coming home?" Fen asked again,

Sarah was too weary to try explaining to him again that he wasn't, she simply said,

"I don't know, " she hugged him then, "Go to sleep."

Fen lay there staring at the stars, listening to his mother's breathing slow, he put a hand up and found a strand of hair, twirled it. He had felt his father's mind once briefly that afternoon but it had gone as quickly as it arrived, like a light bulb when someone flicked a switch. He fell asleep with his eyes on the night sky.

Loki had bedded down beneath the boughs of a low pine tree that evening, burying the scepter beneath a carpet of needles, the blue glow muted. He lay quiet, watching the forest floor as it shown dim white in the light of the full moon and thought of Sarah, Fen and Madison, he even thought of Thor, Jane and Olivia, if they were trying to find him, if they even knew where to start looking, if they knew he was alive. Once again, the urge to call Heimdall was overwhelming but he glanced at the blue glow before him, took off his great coat and covered the scepter with it, then he closed his eyes and soon was asleep.

The sounds of branches crunching underfoot awoke him some hours later. He opened his eyes but didn't move. He could see that the sun was starting to brighten the sky overhead and he lay still, listening, when a pair of boots stepped on to the root of a tree inches from his face. He slowly burrowed his right hand beneath his coat to the handle of the scepter and gripped it, feeling the hum against the leather palm of his gauntlet, and waited as another set of boots joined them and another. The he heard a voice, distinct, gruff, and terrifyingly familiar.

"We have searched half the day and most of the evening. We must return soon, he will be waiting for us."

Another voice, "And if we appear before him empty handed, we will be fortunate to come away with our heads."

"Then we will keep looking."

Loki watched the boots pass him, only until he could no longer hear their footsteps did he consider moving. He raised his head from his arm and peered through the branches beside him, his eyes confirming what his mind already knew. He waited until it was quiet again, crawled out from beneath the pine tree, pulled his coat from the ground and threw it on, then he stooped low and picked up the scepter, choosing his steps wisely, trying to make as little noise as possible as he started walking in the same direction as his visitors.

He arrived at the edge of a clearing, aware that beyond the far tree line, he would see the silver spires of Freyr's castle rising high into the valley below. He made to step out into the field of tall grasses when the high whine of an engine overhead caused him to drop to the ground. Looking up at the sky, he watched two small skimmers fly low over the clearing and away in the direction he was heading. When it was quiet again, he sprinted across the open clearing, reaching the far edge in a minute and dropping again as two other skimmers flew over the clearing again. His heart was pounding wildly as he stood and headed further into the forest cover through which he could see distant the forest drop away to the valley below.

As he approached the far tree line, he held back, watching in horror the scene below him. Freyr's castle was surrounded on all sides by leviathans, heavy armor plated troop transports, skimmers darkening the sky. He skirted the tree line trying to get a better feel for the size of the army spread out before him, coming to the trunk of a large tree and flattening himself to the trunk.

If he were to call the Bifrost now, they would see it. He had to get as far as he could from Freyr's castle and warn the Allfather of what was happening. He sidled around the trunk of the tree, keeping his eyes to the castle and thus never seeing the rifle butt that struck him in the back of the head, dropping him to the ground.

He opened his eyes slowly, seeing the ceiling of one of the inner chambers of the palace high above him. He sat up, his head throbbing, lay back down on the floor where he'd been deposited, finally getting to his hands and knees and standing. He glanced around the room, stopping at the blood soaked sheets on a small bed, overturned furniture, narrow window showing the far horizon where the sun was low in the sky. He must have been out for hours, suddenly turned scanning the room, realizing the scepter was gone. He walked to the window and looked out. He was in the highest reaches of the castle, in one of the towers. The rattle of the door opening behind him made him stiffen and turn, two drones, tall, grey-skinned, reptilian in form, dressed in heavy armor, walking towards him, one gestured for him to come to him, and he seemed to walk towards them until he reached them, disappearing before their eyes.

He ran down the empty corridor looking for the nearest stairwell heading downwards, he needed to find a skimmer and a rifle, if only the dull ache in his head would stop, he could think clearly. He rounded a corner at the end of the corridor and nearly stumbled down the stairwell he'd been looking for. He took the steps two and three at a time until he reached the next floor, stopping at the bottom and easing around the wall to peer down the hallway which seemed deserted as well. He'd started down the hall when he heard rapid footsteps coming down the stairs behind him. He turned, reached down to his boot, pulled the short dagger from its side holster and holding it against his forearm, was already leaning into the blow he struck across the throat of the first drone that emerged from the stairwell, pushing it to the side to plunge the dagger into the chest of the drone following his counterpart, but he would not go so easily down and he reached for Loki's shoulder, then his throat, holding tightly and pushing him back to the wall at his right, uttering a roar that Loki knew would bring more drones to his aid. He pulled the dagger hard downward, feeling it hit and split bone as it slid downward to the drone's underbelly, the drone uttering a gasp and dropping to the floor. He stepped over him, knelt down and removed his rifle from the drone's utility belt, stuck his dagger back in his boot holster and started down the corridor again until he could see the next set of stairs at the end, sprinting towards them, his steps slowing then stopping as the corridor began to fill with drones filing up the stairwell.

He looked at the rifle in his hand and at the drones before him, raised it with a roar and started to fire at the one in front, the others sidestepping around their comrades and surrounding him, grabbing, pulling the rifle from his hands. He managed to draw the dagger again, swinging it in a wide arc, hitting one drone then another, tearing through skin, ripping the cheek of another, before there were simply too many of them holding his arms, hands, turning his wrist, forcing the dagger from his grasp, finally dragging him to the stairs, downward until they reached the main floor of the palace, pushing and pulling him through the great silver chased doors into Freyr's throne room, though he was nowhere to be seen, however, Loki had little time to wonder about Freyr's whereabouts as The Other glided up to him, chuckling.

"We knew that you would come, that the scepter would call to you once again,"

He struggled against the drones holding him, trying to free his hands to wrap them around The Other's throat until he heard another voice, quite stronger, looming in the darkness that had enveloped the silver throne at the end of the chamber.

"What troubles you, Asgardian? Will none of your parlor tricks work while you're held firm by my drones?"

Loki stopped moving, stood there as the hulking form of Thanos moved into the light of the setting sun streaming in from one of the ceiling high narrow windows, the scepter humming in his hands. Thanos followed Loki's gaze to it and laughed aloud. "Did you expect me to wink out of existence when I touched it? The scepter is my birthright, it needed a little alteration to set it right again but as you can see," Here Thanos pulled the scepter back and a blue bolt of energy shot from it to the ceiling above where a hole had suddenly opened to the sky, pieces of stone raining down on them from the blast, "It is once again working most beautifully."

Thanos walked up to him, "Had the Earth woman known what she was crafting when she touched the scepter to the Tesseract, she would have let the Chitauri overrun the earth instead. She has made a weapon with no equal save the Tesseract itself. If she had accidentally hit the scepter to the cube, she would have laid waste to the whole of the planet."

Thanos pulled Loki's chin up with the point of the scepter, "You knew so little about the scepter you thought you commanded. Through it, I have watched you woo the human female named Sarah Miller, mate with her, produce offspring. It was I who made you question your sanity as a little gift for your abject failure to deliver the terran world to me." Here Thanos gave him a playful slap on the cheek with the side of the scepter's blade, "I waited, bided my time until my army, so depleted from the terran projectile, had regained its strength, then I called on the scepter again to assist me, creating a portal to the worlds you knew, so that I might have them all, removing all places you might think to hide from me."

The Other chuckled again.

"I mean to use you to a higher purpose this time, Asgardian, though I doubt your actions will speed you to your Valhalla. Rather you will add yet another story to your name, another word your people will call you by, Destroyer."

Thanos lifted the scepter once again, "Have you nothing to say, Asgardian? Will you not try to defend yourself to the jury?" here he waved his hands to the throng of drones surrounding them.

Loki stared hard at Thanos for a moment, then spat on the ground before him, "Fuck you."

Thanos's face hardened at first, his red eyes glaring at Loki, then a smile split his lips,

"Do you not remember what it was like to have, what did you call it, unlimited power, to rescue the pitiful earthlings from the struggle of their daily lives, to give them peace?"

Thanos stepped up to Loki and pointed the scepter at his chest, "There will be no peace for you."

Loki could feel fingers of current running through his chest, along the muscles of his arms, through his torso, to his legs, taking his breath away as the current finally found its way to his mind, the feeling of detachment now complete and yet somehow flawed as he found his will was no longer his own but his mind still knew what it had before, his thoughts racing but his body unable to comply. He watched Thanos hold the scepter out to him and he took it, brandishing it like the weapon he had known so long ago on the Chitaurian world, and stood, finally on his own, waiting for orders from his leader.

"There now, " Thanos said, clapping a hand on Loki's shoulder, "Let's try this again shall we?"

9.

Loki watched the drones come and go as he stood, silent beside Thanos, his mind focused on the battle that had been laid out before him.

"Once back on Asgard, you will find a way into the palace unseen," Thanos had told him, "Infiltrate it from within, kill all you see, let nothing stop you from obtaining the Tesseract. We will attack from without and when we are finished there, we will return to Earth with the scepter and the Tesseract to finish what we started."

As the hours wore on, in the slow, relentless pace, preparing for war, Loki still stood. Every once in a while, images would flash through his consciousness, a woman with raven hair…he would try desperately to remember her name, staring at the ground, frowning until Thanos would say something to him and the thought would fly from his mind. At one point, he had asked Loki if there were indeed a way into the palace no one knew about and Loki had nodded, recalling a small door around the outer walls of the city, knowing he had used it countless times, sure that once he opened it, he would be able to travel its length blindfolded were it required, the reason why maddening him beyond anger.

At one point, Thanos had taken him aside and, like a secret maniacal childhood friend, had confided in him that they had decimated the palace of the light elves, captured Freyr, imprisoning him with the dark elves who, as Thanos had said this, he had chuckled, "Will suffer the same fate as their prisoner when we make our way back to our world. It is enough for now that they are subjugated. I will have the whole of Earth at my feet first."

"Preparations are nearly complete," The Other said as he bowed to Thanos who was now sitting on the silver throne of Freyr. "We will be ready to move on to Asgard within the hour."

Thanos stood up and opened his hand to Loki who handed him the scepter, "We must leave this world and return to ours where we will open the portal to Asgard and allow our forces to enter into the realm of the gods."

Thanos held the scepter and waved it before him, the air shimmering, rending, splitting to reveal the cold, dark world that was the domain of the Chitauri beyond it. Thanos handed the scepter back to Loki and walked through the portal, Loki following him, The Other calling to the drones in the palace, the murmur carrying beyond the walls, to come to the portal. Loki turned to the great rend in the fabric of time and space behind him and thought to himself, "Asgard."

Fen's eyes popped open in the near darkness, his nightlight the only source of illumination. He sat up in his bed and looked around the room, seeing Madison's crib and the bedroom door cracked open a little bit. Mommy had gone to sleep in her bedroom tonight but hadn't gone to sleep until later because Fen had heard her crying again. She was crying all the time with daddy gone. Daddy. He had heard him in his head, saying Asgard and it had been so loud that Fen had thought for a moment that daddy had finally come home. Fen jumped down from the bed and walked down the hall to mommy's room where he could see her sleeping, facing away from the bedroom door.

He slid downstairs on his behind and went into the kitchen where a light over the stove lit the top of the range. He knew now where his daddy was. He opened the back door and walked out into the yard where the light of the full moon shown on his swing set. He walked out into the back yard, looked up at the sky and said in a voice bigger than himself, "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

Sarah opened her eyes at the flash of light, waiting for the rumble of thunder and for Fen to come crying into her room. When no thunder followed the herald, she sat up in bed, walked to the window and looked out at the moon in the cloudless night sky.

"It had to be a dream." Sarah mumbled, then padded down the hall into Fen's room, stopping short of a scream when Fen wasn't in his bed. She trotted back to the hallway and looked down towards the bathroom where the door was half shut.

"Fen are you in there?" Sarah whispered, pushing the door open gently and seeing no one in the bathroom, was on her way to the stairs to see if he'd gone down to the kitchen for a snack as he had in the past, when she heard her cell phone on the nightstand ringing. She ran for the phone, catching it on the last ring and was surprised to hear Fury's voice on the other end.

"Mrs. Laufeyson, could you tell me if Thor is in the house at this minute?"

"What?"

"Thor, is he home?"

Sarah tiptoed down the hall and peeked into Jane and Thor's bedroom where he could see the two still forms side by side beneath the covers.

"Thor is here, what's wrong, Director?" She was walking down the stairs as she spoke.

"We have had indications here that someone called down that damn rainbow ride about three minutes ago and the hit was right outside your house."

Sarah let the phone fall away from her ear, then, "Director I'll call you right back, I think I know what happened." She shut the phone before Fury could answer her and raced back upstairs to get dressed.

Heimdall watched Fen walk from the portal, waited, and realizing no one had accompanied the boy, came down from the podium and took him by the hand,

"What brings the little prince to Asgard at such a late hour?" Heimdall bent far down to ask him.

"Daddy is coming here." Fen answered him, starting to pull him out onto the Bifrost but Heimdall held firm,

"I cannot go with you, I have sent for a guard to escort you to the Allfather, he will care for you until your mother arrives." As if on cue, Fen turned to see a horse being reined in by one of the palace guards who reached down, picked him up and put him on the horse, jumping back up behind him.

"See that another horse is sent here for his mother, I am sure she will want to make all haste to the palace." Heimdall said to the guard who nodded, then looked at Fen, "Ready, little prince?"

Fen clapped his hands and laughed, "We're going to see daddy!"

Sarah had shaken Jane awake and told her to listen for Madison until she got back. Jane had gasped, covering her mouth so as not to wake Thor. "He didn't, he called the Bifrost, oh boy Sarah, there's another lesson we're going to have to teach him." Sarah had nodded and hugged Jane and run downstairs, outside, moments later stepping into the gold dome and shaking her head to Heimdall, running to the horse that he had gestured to, waiting at the archway on the bridge. She heaved herself up and turned to Heimdall,

"If you don't see Fen for a while, it's because he's going to be grounded until he's in grade school." Sarah clicked her tongue to the horse and was off towards the palace.

Thanos stood upon the barren plain in the dim starlight, the scepter in his hands again as he waved it before him and the air shimmered, split, the whole of Asgard lay out before them as he handed the scepter back to Loki who stepped through the portal first, the cube at the end of the scepter glowing bright blue.

"He is as mischievous as his father." Odin sighed, his hand atop Fen's head, Fen having hid behind Odin's legs when he saw Sarah striding towards him through the empty throne room where Odin and Frigga had come to meet him when the guard arrived with their grandson.

"Fen what were you thinking?" Sarah cried to him, "You know you're not supposed to come here alone until you're older. Mommy has been so worried about you."

"But mommy," Fen replied, a pensive tone to his voice, "Daddy is coming here."

Sarah put her arm around her stomach, a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes, "No Fen, daddy isn't coming here, he's not coming anywhere Fen, he's gone." She hadn't wanted to talk like that in front of Odin and Frigga, hadn't wanted to say it, as if keeping it inside would somehow make it not true, but she had reached her limit and when Frigga put her arm around her shoulders, she felt like she wanted to lean over and cry on her shoulder.

Instead she said to Fen, "Do you want to go to our old chambers and sit for a bit before we go home? You can try on the helmet?"

Frigga said in her ear, "Do you?" Sarah gave an imperceptible shake of her head then shrugged as Fen was dragging her out of the throne room and into the corridor beyond.

They sat on the bed looking around the room, Fen rubbing his hand along the curve of the horns atop the helmet in his lap, Sarah holding the side to keep it on his lap.

"I want to wear this mommy." He tried to lift it but it was far too heavy.

Sarah sighed, "Maybe someday."

Loki strode away across the fields at the edge of the palace walls, silent save for the swish of the grass at his legs, trying to reach the wall before the palace guards, a couple hundred yards distant at the south entrance, spotted him. The door was right in the same place he had seen in his head. He stopped, felt for the ancient brass handle and pulling it open, slipped inside, waving the scepter in the air for Thanos to see before he closed the door behind him, the light from the scepter lighting his way as he headed further into the city and the inner palace. After a minute, he could hear the skimmers whine overhead and he picked up the pace, trotting now.

Sarah heard the explosions at first distant, then a little closer as she jumped from the bed to look out from the portico, her breath coming rapid now as she turned around, grabbing Fen and putting him behind her as they backed into the recesses of their chambers. She hadn't seen the skimmers up close but the chilling photos that had been all over the papers of the downed vehicles had never left her, nor had the fear of seeing them again. She could hear guards shouting in the corridors and she was halfway to the doors with Fens hand in hers when she heard a click behind her and she whirled around to see a wall panel sliding open beside the wardrobe and from the darkness emerged Loki.

Sarah put her hand to her mouth, her legs threatening to give way beneath her as she started to run towards him, he finally registering that the chamber was not empty, raising the scepter and pointing it at her, teeth bared, ready to strike,

"Loki!" Sarah cried, "what are you doing?"

The voice cut through him like a knife, confusion crossing his face, the scepter slowly falling to his side, Fen finally breaking free of Sarah's hand and running up to him, putting his arms around Loki's legs,

"Daddy, I knew you were gonna come here."

Loki looked down at the child clutching his knees then back up at the raven haired woman, anger fueling his frustration as he pulled Fen from him and strode up to Sarah.

Sarah started to back up until her legs met the bed and she sat down hard unable to move away any further without crawling over the bed, he not stopping until he was leaning over her staring at her, breathing hard, lips parted.

"I know you," Loki said, his voice harsh, guttural. "Tell me your name, human."

She looked up into his eyes, terrified of what she saw, or rightly didn't see there, recognition. His eyes were hard, cold and calculating. He put a hand to her face but there was no love in his touch as he squeezed her jaw and put the tip of the scepter to her chin, "Tell me your name before I run you through."

Sarah started to tremble then, she could see Fen standing beside Loki, watching, his mouth hanging open and she finally found her voice,

"Sarah"

The name seemed to draw the very breath from his lungs and he backed away from her, looked to the door into the corridor then to the panel in the wall and back again, his hand curled convulsively around the scepter once or twice, then he reached out and grabbed her wrist without a word, starting towards the panel in the wall but she pulled free of him and grabbed Fen's hand.

"What are you going to do with us?" She asked Loki, knowing now that this wasn't the man she loved staring at her in disbelief, but a god who had taken it upon himself to bring about the destruction of the human race so many summers ago.

He grabbed her wrist again and yanked her roughly to him, "Do not pull from me again."

She let herself be lead into the wall panel with Fen trotting alongside her, the only light that of the scepter itself. As they made their way through the long tunnel, Fen tripped and fell, and she once again yanked her hand from his, picking up Fen and jumping as he reached for her arm, gripping it hard.

"I will carry the child," Loki took Fen abruptly from Sarah's arms, "There is little time."

Sarah had to trot to keep up with him and almost ran into his back when he stopped quick, glancing down a tunnel to the side that she would have missed altogether. He turned to the left tunnel and continued at a breakneck pace until they reached a small door and he swung it open slowly, the light from the torches hurting her eyes as she stepped from the darkness and realized they were in the royal stables.

Loki sat Fen down on the ground, grabbed a saddle from the rack, threw it on the horse and started to tighten the straps, Fen watching him as if he'd been giving instructions, when he turned and picked Fen back up again, setting him up on the horse, then looked to Sarah,

"Mount the horse, I will ride behind you."

Sarah pulled herself up onto the horse and waited until Loki had climbed up behind her, the scepter in one hand, reins in the other. She had been listening to the sounds of fighting as she traveled through the tunnel and now they were incredibly loud. She closed her eyes as Loki kicked the side of the horse to spur him on, turning him in the direction of the Bifrost.

She could feel Loki's heart beating hard against her back as they rode hard across the courtyard to the outer gates, drones that had managed to enter the outer reaches of the palace being dealt with by the palace guards around them, no drones making so much as a move towards them as they passed through the great doors to the bridge.

Loki jumped down from the horse and held his hands out for Fen who slid off into his arms, Sarah jumping down from the horse and standing there, stunned as she realized Heimdall was prostrate on the floor of the dome beside the podium.

Loki walked to him and lifted the great golden sword from the floor, walking up to the podium, he put the blade to the hilt and slid it into the portal key. Sarah watched the top spin hard as the Bifrost took aim and opened the pathway to Earth.

Loki pointed at the portal, "Return to Midgard with the boy."

Sarah shook her head and approached him, he raising the scepter but not pointing it at her, "Loki, stop what you're doing, please. Come home with Fen and I."

She could see him shaking and she went to put a hand out to him but he was suddenly at her arm, "Go, I can contain myself no longer!" He roared, pushing her towards the portal, stopping and turning to the archway at the other end, paused, then started to walk away towards the horse waiting there for him but before he could mount up, he heard the rasping sound of the sword being removed from its hilt as the dome slowly stopped spinning and he turned to see Sarah brandishing the sword at him.

"I won't let you do this Loki."

He shook his head, trying to clear it and walked back to Sarah, putting his hand to the blade and pushing the sword to the side as he approached her. He grabbed her arm tightly and held the scepter up to her face.

"Do you know what this is? What power it has?"

Sarah could hear Fen start to whimper, then, "Daddy?" But Loki paid no attention to him,

"You would challenge the scepter with a sword," He briefly considered touching her heart with the scepter but knew the child would be lost without her, "Only the Tesseract is its equal." Upon speaking those words, his face hardened again. His free hand shot up to her wrist, he twisted it quickly and she gasped in pain, the sword dropping from her grasp to fall to the floor. He bent down, picked it up and once again walked to the podium, driving the sword to its hilt as the dome turned and began to spin again.

"It will bring you back from whence you came." Loki turned and trotted down the podium steps, out through the archway, mounted the horse they'd ridden to the portal and with a kick of his heel, was headed off back towards Asgard where Sarah could now see the full extent of the fighting in the air, explosions here and there in the city as the skimmers and ground troops clashed with the Asgardian army.

"Daddy!" Fen cried, running towards the bridge until Sarah caught his arm and whirled him around, grabbing his shoulders hard, tears running down his small cheeks.

"Listen to me Fen, this is very important,"

"But daddy.." he sobbed and Sarah shook him gently,

"Do you want to help daddy?"

Fen nodded and Sarah closed her eyes momentarily, "Then you have to go back home and tell Uncle Thor and Mr. Fury that we need help, do you understand?"

Fen glanced back the way Loki had ridden, sniffled and nodded. She walked him to the portal, images running through her head, of her hand touching Loki's atop Fen's newborn head, of Loki holding his arms out as Fen took his first steps across the marble floor of their chambers, Fen and Loki wrestling on the bed, laughing, then she guided him through the portal and he was gone. She ran up the steps to the podium and removed the sword from the hilt to stop the Bifrost. Behind her, she heard a moan, spun around to see Heimdall moving and she ran to him.

10.

Fen felt grass beneath his feet as the bright light of the Bifrost ascended back into the sky and he ran towards the house to the kitchen door.

Jane was bouncing a fussing Madison in her arms when she saw the bright flash at the window. She went to the top of the stairs, heard the kitchen door open and close and called down, "Sarah, is that you?" jumping when she heard the phone ring in the bedroom and Thor's mumbled answer " Hello?" then thumping steps up the stairs where she turned back and saw Fen come over the top stair, race past her and into the bedroom. Jane glanced down the staircase waiting for Sarah to appear at the bottom, then heard Fen's voice, "Uncle Thor, daddy's in Asgard and there are bad people there too."

Jane nearly tripped rushing into the bedroom. Thor was still on the phone,

"Yes sir, " Thor put a hand up to Fen who was pulling at the sheets whining "Come on."

"In Asgard," Thor looked at Fen and said, "Is daddy alright?"

Fen shook his head, "He has the stick with the blue thing in it." Thor covered the mouthpiece with his hand and whispered, "He has the scepter?"

Fen nodded, "But he scared mommy and left us. He said for us to go home and mommy sent me here to get you."

Thor glanced up at Jane and jumped up from the bed, "Fen says Loki is in Asgard with the scepter. I think something is wrong, sir." A pause, "Do you want me to come to the office, I mean do you want us to call the Bifrost from here?"

"Right then, Fire island, yes sir." Thor hung up the phone and started to grab clothes from the closet, pulling on his breeches over his boxers and yanking his tunic off the hanger when Jane finally said, "Thor, what the hell is going on?"

Thor continued to dress, "We're going to Asgard, you stay here with the children."

"Who's we?"

"He said agents Barton, Romanoff and Tony will be on their way shortly to meet us at Fire Island, they're going to Asgard with me."

Jane shook her head, "Told you he knew about Fire Island, why are they going with you? What's going on that you need them?"

Fen pulled on Jane's nightgown, "There's fighting , I'm scared daddy and mommy will get hurt."

Thor shrugged, "If nothing else, we must see what's happened. Get dressed, I'll get Olivia, we have to go."

Fury's early morning call to Agent Romanoff's quarters was answered by the sleepy voice of Agent Barton, "Barton here."

"Agent, you and Agent Romanoff are needed as soon as possible at the landing pad."

Clint sat up in bed, glanced at Natasha who's eyes were already open, watching him, "We can be there in five minutes. Priority?"

Fury thought for a moment, "Yellow,"

The phone kept ringing for what seemed like forever and Fury considered sending over an agent to Stark Towers when he finally heard someone answer,

"It's five a.m. in the morning, this had better be someone calling to apologize for being late on a delivery of a case of one hundred year old brandy or the president of the United States and I'm not so sure I wouldn't hang up on him either."

"Stark, I need you at the office now."

Tony propped himself up on one elbow, "What for?"

"They've located Loki. He's in Asgard and we may have a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Tony was standing by the bed, trying not to wake Pepper as he walked out into the living area of the townhouse.

"He has the scepter again. I suggest you saddle up." Tony hung up the phone,

"Jarvis, you get that?"

"Yes sir, your…steed is ready."

Thor, Jane and the children pulled up in the empty parking lot of the Fire Island lighthouse, Jane getting out with Fen, the girls were asleep again in their car seats. Across the parking lot, Thor could see Barton, Romanoff and Tony suited up and watching them. Thor knelt down on the pavement and put a hand on Fen's shoulder. Fen had begged to go with him back to Asgard but Thor had forbade it.

"Fen, you must stay here and protect Aunt Jane, Madison and Olivia, will you do this for me?"

Fen nodded, looked at the ground, "Will you help daddy? Can we come after you stop the fighting?"

Thor put a hand on his cheek, "If I can, I shall come and get you myself, this I swear to you." He kissed the top of Fen's head, then stood and kissed Jane gently,

"Be careful," She said into his ear as he hugged her.

Thor walked up to the group and nodded to them. "Are we all ready?" he asked as he looked skyward,

Barton shook his bow to extend it, "Aren't we always?"

"Heimdall, Open the Bifrost"

Sarah heard the words as if far away, sounding like a record in slow motion. She stood up from Heimdall who was struggling to get to his feet, picked up the sword on the podium and drove it home in the hilt.

Tony stepped into the dome and looked around, "Whoa, that was about the freakiest ride I've ever had." He spied Sarah on the podium who was now running to Thor. She caught him by the arm.

"There's something horribly wrong with Loki. You have to find him."

Thor glanced out through the archway to see the skimmers hovering over the city, fires burning in myriad locations, flashes of light coming through the smoke.

"We must stop the fighting!" Thor cried, about to fly, Molinjr raised in his hand, when Sarah stopped him, "I think I know where he might be going if he hasn't gotten there already. He said something about the Tesseract being the scepter's equal. What if those….things out there get hold of the cube?"

Tony walked by her and through the archway, "Manhattan will seem like a play date, Jarvis, locate the cube for me, and be battle ready, got it?" Tony rose into the air, the Bifrost gleaming off the red and gold armor plating of his suit. Thor turned to Sarah, "I will find Loki, I promise you I will do what I can for him."

They watched him head in the direction of the palace, Sarah glancing at Clint and Natasha who were watching the sky.

Sarah heard a grunt behind her and saw Heimdall finally rising to his feet. "Will you be alright here, Heimdall?" Sarah asked him. Heimdall stared at her briefly, "I will continue to guard the portal, Lady Sarah."

Sarah was taken aback at this remark, he had only ever called her Midgardian until now.

"We have to get in there." Natasha said to Clint.

Sarah put her hand up, "I know a way, do any of those arrows light up?"

Tony stepped through the doors into the reliquary which was silent as a tomb, a stark contrast to the firefight he'd just come through to reach the small room. He walked down the stone steps to the Tesseract sitting on a dais to his left and picked it up. "I think it's not safe to be here alone, honey, come with me." He said as he ran back up the steps, hand at the ready for any more Chitauri he might encounter on the way out.

Sarah heard Clint and Natasha behind her in the near darkness of the tunnel, when they had reached the stables at the outer wall of the city, it had been deserted of horse and hands, surely recruited to the fighting that was now louder than ever. More than once Tony had flown overhead, guns blazing, but the sounds were now muted though unmistakable.

"How did you know about this passageway?" Clint asked.

Sarah had reached the point where they had veered off the tunnel and after a second's consideration, turned to the right and kept going, "When Loki found me, he used this passageway to gain entry into the palace, it leads right to our chambers beside our wardrobe. I'm thinking it must have been there as either a means to escape in situations like this, to protect the royal family."

She felt around the door they'd come to for a handle until she found a small arched pull and she eased the door open slowly, hearing the sounds of fighting getting louder as they crept into the room at the ready for anything. Sarah flung open the wardrobe to her right, reached into the bottom drawer and pulled out the short sword Sif had given her for a wedding present,

"For when he gets out of hand," Sif had remarked, and in the ensuing months, had trained her to be pretty proficient with it, a fact for which she was grateful now

Sarah ran across the bedroom to the large double doors which were ajar and peered into the corridor, waving Natasha and Clint through and following them.

"I'm going to try to find Frigga and Odin," Sarah started down the corridor to her left,

"We're going to find some action and try to keep the palace clear." Clint called to her as they started down the corridor to their right.

Thor watched for the bolt of blue that had gone up to the sky, trying to pinpoint where it had emanated from on the ground, he paused on the battlements around the city. A sudden roar and another flash of blue light and he finally had it. He looked back to the city where Tony was currently in the process of downing two skimmers into the waters near the Bifrost, and let Molinjr take him to meet his brother.

Natasha had seen the flash of blue light from the Hall of Heros, watched as it lit up the sky between the colossuses rising high around her and she started to run in that direction.

Sarah reached the Throne room only to encounter a phalanx of guards outside the doors, one of them shouting for the doors to open as they ushered her through and closed the door behind her. Inside, weapons of all kinds at the ready, stood the women of the court, Frigga included, who rushed up to Sarah and embraced her,

"My child, we looked all over for you and Fen after you went to your chambers, I thought you had been taken." Sarah shook her head,

"I was led out of the palace by Loki."

Frigga's eyes grew wide, "Loki is here?"

Sarah swallowed hard, "There's something wrong with him, your majesty. He didn't know me, he had to ask my name." She put a hand to her mouth to still her trembling lip, "I don't know what to do."

Frigga put her arm around Sarah's shoulder, "Neither do I, my dear. We must stay here and keep safe right now."

The last thing on Sarah's mind was to stay put here in this throne room but she stood with the women listening to the fighting growing closer and closer and she joined the women, watching the doors, ready for what might come through them.

Loki was exhausted, nearly to the point of collapse. He had been so close to reaching the reliquary at one point, nearly to the doors when Thanos had called him to be somewhere else and what could he do but obey? He brought the scepter around hard, connecting with armor, feeling it crack with the force of his blow, he brought the scepter back around, twisted it and drove it through the crack to the Asgardian behind it, grabbing the hand that was in the process of swinging a sword and driving the man to the ground. He turned away from the body, shuddering in the throes of death, and strode down the hallway that would lead him to the reliquary and the Tesseract within. He never heard the hum of the hammer that struck him in the back full force, knocking him forward to the floor, gasping for breath. He rolled onto his back, pointed the scepter in the direction from which the hammer had come and let fly with a bolt of energy.

Thor felt the power of the bolt hum through his body as he held Molinjr steady in the stream, walking forward to where Loki was trying to regain his footing. Thor had nearly reached him just as he was able to steady himself and he swung the scepter around to meet Molinjr with a great resounding ringing that reverberated throughout the air. Thor swung his hammer down toward the ground, forcing the scepter in the same direction as he reached for Loki's coat, only to find nothing there. He whirled around and ducked just in time to avoid the deadly blade at the end of the scepter, taking advantage of the fact that through the swing, Loki was now off balance and he swung one leg outwards, catching Loki at the ankles, tumbling him to the floor sideways. Thor crawled towards him, trying to get a grip on one foot but Loki kicked at his hand and rose to one knee in time to catch Molinjr in the chest, knocking him backwards again.

Blinding rage enveloped Loki as he stood up, nearly all conscious thought gone as he leaped forward at Thor, narrowly missing the hammer that flew past him, the scepter poised like a spear in his hand. Thor sidestepped him but felt the blade slip through the fabric of his tunic at the side and slice into the skin at his ribs. He spun around and caught another swing of the scepter with his hammer, this time twisting the scepter nearly from Loki's grasp. Finally, Thor could take it no longer and he shouted, "Loki, you must stop this insanity!"

The sound of Thor's voice brought him to a halt, crouched to pounce at him again. Abruptly, all the fear, the weariness, the rage, the unimaginable grief, coalesced within him and he rose to stand, staring at Thor at the ready with his hammer, uttering only the words, "Finish me,"

Thor brought his hammer down to his side, "No,"

Loki stepped towards him, teeth bared, the scepter starting upwards, "Finish me!" He growled,

"Slug him!" Thor heard from behind him and he glanced around to see Natasha running up to him, heard Loki roar, turned back to see him raising the scepter, taking aim at Natasha and Thor brought his fist around hard to connect with Loki's jaw, driving him backwards, sweeping his feet from underneath him, his back connecting first with the floor then his head, his hand relaxing, the scepter falling from his grasp to land skittering across the hallway.

"Do not touch it." Thor cried as Natasha bent down to do so, Thor walked over and threw his cloak atop it then walked back to Loki, who lay still, unconscious, a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth running down his cheek. He knelt on the ground beside Loki and patted his cheek, getting no response, patting harder with still no result, the roar of jets making him look skyward as Stark alit on the portico at the end of the hall,

"Where's Banner when we need him now huh?" he said, walking over to Loki.

Thor saw the Tesseract in Tony's hand, "The Chitauri weren't successful then?"

Tony was caught off guard for a minute, then looked down at the cube glowing blue in his hand. "Oh yeah, no they didn't get a chance to get near it." He nudged Loki's side with his toe,

"Come on sleeping beauty, you've got some talking to do and fast."

Loki heard voices far away in his head, the most annoying fact of it being that it was Stark's. He groaned, brought a hand up to his aching jaw and opened his eyes to an overcast morning sky. He rose to his elbows and looked at the faces staring back at him.

"There's something familiar about this." He mumbled, dropped back to the floor and groaned again, holding his head to stop the pain that had seated itself there and like the relentless rush of an oncoming flood, the last few days came back to him. He scrambled to his feet, vertigo hitting him like a freight train and he started to lose balance, caught up by Thor who stared into his eyes, "Brother, are you with us again?"

Loki closed his eyes and put a hand to Thor's arm, "Dear god, where's Sarah? Did she return home?"

"No, she's in the palace." Natasha spoke up,

Loki spun around, "Where's the scepter?" Thor pointed to his cloak draped on the floor and before he could react, Loki had thrown the cloak to the side and picked up the scepter.

"Brother, don't touch it!" Thor cried too late.

Loki shook his head, "Listen to me, the scepter no longer works the way it did on the jet. It is much worse, in fact, but I know of a way to destroy it and the Tesseract." He held out his hand to Stark who didn't move,

"Let's hear it then, " Tony said, gripping the cube tighter.

Loki looked to Natasha, "Do you remember how you broke the beam in New York with the scepter? If you had touched the cube with the scepter by mistake, the resulting shockwave would have laid waste to the face of the earth. The scepter will close the portal from where the Chitauri have entered into this world and I know where the portal is. I will take the Tesseract and the scepter, and I will destroy them at the portal. With any luck, the portal will close before the blast can do any damage here on Asgard. We have to stop the fighting."

Tony didn't move, "I don't trust you, after all, you just took a short trip away from your sanity. To hand you this cube would be like giving you a formula for mass destruction."

"I also have a wife and children I do not wish to see enslaved, or worse, by the Chitauri. You must trust me." Tony looked at Thor, then at Clint and Natasha. A sudden close explosion made them jump.

"And what if I give you this little nightmare in a box, and you take off for parts unknown to make your own little war?"

Loki put a hand to his forehead, "Stark, you have known me now for nearly five years,"

Tony interrupted, "Yeah I remember the first year, the "getting to know you" phase was a bit rocky wouldn't you say? Oh yeah and I recall you trying real hard to get a piece of me in Manhattan twice now..or did you forget the little incident when your own wife had to bust your ass? "

Loki ignored him, "You have helped my family, Miss Potts and Sarah are friends."

Tony stepped towards him, "I helped Sarah because I felt sorry for her, that she'd been seduced by someone as pitiful as you. Women are helpless when it comes to lost causes."

Another explosion thundered in the air, closer this time.

"Um, this probably isn't the place to discuss family matters, boys." Natasha said, crouched at the ready.

"Hurry, time is running out!" Loki said as Tony handed him the cube,

"Going to hate myself in the morning for that."

Loki turned to Thor, "Brother, see that Fen and Maddy are raised well. Tell Sarah that this was my choice will you? That I hope to atone for what I've done."

Thor put his hand atop Loki's shoulder, "Loki, there must be another way.."

"Promise me, brother."

Thor nodded, his face a mask of grief.

Loki gave him a small smile, put the scepter beneath his arm, and with the cube in hand started off down the corridor heading towards the flatlands surrounding the city, to the portal leading to the Chitaurian world.

Jane lay in bed, dozing lightly, they'd gotten home from Fire Island around six-thirty that morning and she had managed to put the girls down again after she'd carried Fen to his own bed so when he came racing into the bedroom and leaped up beside her, shouting "Auntie Jane, we have to go!" She nearly came up off the mattress.

"Fen, holy hell! Wait a minute, where do we have to go, what time is it?" Jane rubbed her eyes, peered at the clock on the bedroom nightstand.

"Fen it's only seven-thirty." Jane flopped back on the mattress.

"But daddy's okay, we have to go to Asgard."

Jane lay there and shook her head, "No, Fen, we're staying here until uncle comes back."

"But, Auntie." He whined.

"Fen, go play for a few more minutes alright?"

She felt him jump down off the bed, his little feet stomping out of the room as he mumbled,

"I'm going to call Heimdall."

Jane's feet tangled in the blankets and she fell on her knees at the side of the bed, "Fen! Don't you dare!" She shouted as she got to her feet, headed for his bedroom.

She found Fen pulling on a pair of pants he'd gotten from his dresser, both legs in one side.

"Not going very far like that are you, kiddo." She knelt down beside him and pulled them back off, turning them around the right way and sliding them over his feet and up to his waist, then sat on the floor.

"Fen, that means I'd have to bring the girls too. Can't we just wait for Thor to come back, maybe daddy will be with him."

Fen shook his head, "No daddy has to do something first. I think he's scared."

Jane stood up, "And you know this just by seeing it up here?" She tapped her own head.

Fen nodded, "Can we go?"

Jane put her hands on her hips, "I'm so going to be in trouble for this."

Fen smiled and Jane couldn't help but notice the same smile on his father.

"I'm going to get the girls dressed so you're going to have to wait though." Jane walked back out of his bedroom and into the girls room,

"So much trouble."

Thanos had been watching the destruction of Asgard from a distance when he felt the link between Loki and himself go cold. The Other felt it as well and looked over at Thanos.

"Stay here, command as you will, the drones, I must find him." Thanos turned and stalked off across the fields towards the open portal.

Loki's mind was a torrent of emotions as he jogged towards the portal. He could see perfectly what he had done in the last seventy-two hours, the lives he had ended in the ensuing battle, the list of misdeeds for him ever growing, how he had nearly killed Sarah. This thought made him slow down, stop, standing there, pain sharper than any knife as he wished for at least one more, kiss one more caress from her to send him on his way. Then he was running, determination set upon him like a mantle to end this insanity that he had to turn from when he had chanced to look back at Asgard.

The portal was there, shimmering, the black sky of the Chitaurian world contrasting against the verdant forest surrounding it. He walked up to it until he could feel the chill from the air flowing just beyond the other side. He set the Tesseract down on the ground and pushed it to the edge of the portal, one half in Chitauri, the other in Asgard, and raised the scepter, ready to push the cube over the edge into the portal, body tensed to follow it if need be to stop the resulting immolation from reaching into Asgard, when a voice from behind him stopped his downward swing.

"Asgardian, I see you have found my prize but I would prefer to have it in hand. Give me the Tesseract."

Loki bent down, picked up the cube and turned, but made no move towards Thanos.

"I am no longer yours to command, Thanos."

Thanos growled at this, "Disrespectful whelp, you will not address me as such! I command a force far larger than any you could ever imagine and the fate of your world lies in my palm. I demand the Tesseract and I will have it." He made to move towards Loki whose expression abruptly changed, fear crossing his face as he knelt to the ground and set the Tesseract before him.

"Forgive me, my lord, the Tesseract is yours."

Thanos smiled, menace dripping from his countenance as he stepped forward and bent down, picking up the glowing blue cube, intending to lash out at Loki with a well- placed kick for his insubordination but when he looked up, was met with only the view into Chitauri at the portal before him. Thanos spun around, the Tesseract held before him, finally coming face to face with Loki, the scepter crossed in front of him,
"You may take it to hell with you."

He rushed forward hitting Thanos full force across his stomach, sending him reeling backwards into the portal with a roar, then raising the scepter, turning it like a spear, with a short prayer to Odin, let it fly towards the center of the cube feet away from him into the other side of the portal, into the coldness of the Chitaurian realm, the portal starting to collapse immediately but not before he saw the scepter split the center of the cube, driving through it, lodging into Thanos's chest enveloping him in a blinding white light, the portal almost completely closed when the shockwave hit, throwing Loki a distance away to the ground as darkness over took him.

Sarah and Frigga were standing, swords at the ready, the fighting just outside the doors of the throne room when the shockwave threw them all to the floor, rumbling like an earthquake through the whole of Asgard, followed by silence.

Sarah stood up and offered her hand to Frigga who reached for it and pulled herself to stand, the others around them looking around the room, Sigurd pushing her hair from her face and striding through the crowd to the doors, banging on them, "Guards, what's happened," They stepped back from the great gilded doors as they swung slowly inward and a few of the royal guards peeked into the room, one of them bowing to Frigga,

"The intruders simply dropped where they stood, your Majesty. We can hear no more flying machines either. I think it is ended."

A murmur of thanks and praise be went through the throng of women but Sarah pushed through the crowd to the guard.

"What of Loki, has anyone seen him?"

The guard frowned, "I have not seen him since…" He stopped and bowed again to Frigga, "Forgive me your Majesty, I will not wound you with my words."

Sarah pushed past him into the hallway, nearly tripping over a drone lying just beyond the doors, turning, giving vent to her anger as she delivered a vicious kick to its head before heading off down the hallway in search of anyone who had seen her husband.

Jane blinked in the brightness of the interior of the dome as the Bifrost reflected the sunlight along its length, the sun finally having come out in the wake of the shockwave. Heimdall, looking worn out for the first time since she'd seen him, gestured to Asgard, "Thor will soon be here for you, I have told Odin of your arrival." Fen, who was holding Jane's hand, waved at Heimdall, who nodded once to him in return.

Jane stepped to the archway at once horrified by the scene before her and spun around to Heimdall,

"Why does the city look like a scene from Apocalypse?"

"The Chitaurians sought to obtain the Tesseract yet again but something has stopped them. The fighting has ended."

"Let's go see daddy." Fen said, pulling her forward.

"Fen we're going to wait for Thor right here." She held his hand firm and stood watching the skies over Asgard.

Odin stood in the great hall, bloodied, armor disheveled, speaking with his advisors when Thor, Tony, Clint and Natasha entered through the high arched doors. Thor approached Odin who turned to him,

"Father, Loki has closed the doorway through which the Chitauri came into our realm.."

Odin held up a hand, "And Jane is at the Bifrost with the children, I have sent horses to fetch them."

"Jane?" Thor bellowed, "What in Valhalla has possessed that woman?"

Thor walked back to the others, "I'm going to meet Jane, you must find Sarah and speak with her. I made a promise to my brother and I intend to keep it."

Loki moaned and rolled to his back, his body aching all over, the strength temporarily gone from him. He could feel blood on his face and he touched his cheek to wipe it away from the cut high on his cheekbone. He sat up and glanced about him at the grasses, flattened in the blast, trees snapped in half behind him, stood and looked down at himself, his great coat ripped, battle armor pitted and torn, then across the field to the rising spires of Asgard. With one last look about the field, he started jogging towards the city, determined to find Sarah before the day was out.

11.

Jane had just set Fen upon the horse the guards had brought for her when Thor set down beside her on the bridge.

"Jane are you mad? What reason would you have to bring the children here, it is far too dangerous right now. The city is in shambles."

Jane pointed to Fen who sat up on the horse waving at Thor, "He wants to see daddy," She pushed Thor aside and mounted the horse behind Fen, "You try and tell him no."

Thor looked to the two other guards, one holding Madison, the other Olivia and sighed,

"Follow me then, we will talk when we get to the palace."

Sarah had reached Loki's chambers, looked inside, then continued to make her way through the palace, looking for anyone who had seen Loki, each guard, any servant, they all said the same thing. They had not seen him since the fighting had stopped. She was nearly to the arboretum when she heard someone call her name along with the sound of metal hitting stone. Tony caught up with her, holding his face plate in his hands.

"Everyone is looking for you, where are you going?" Tony asked her, keeping stride alongside her.

"I'm looking for my husband, did Thor find him?"

Tony grabbed her arm and stopped her, "Yeah, Thor found him. Come on back to the Throne room with everyone else. It's still not safe around here, those skimmers did a lot of damage."

Sarah yanked out of his grasp, "So where is Loki, is he in the Throne room with everyone else?"

Tony hesitated, "Uh, no he's not…wait!"

Sarah had started to walk again, Tony stepped in front of her, blocking her path, "Sarah, listen, Loki was the one who closed the portal, he said he was going to take the Tesseract and the scepter to the portal and destroy them, he said that if he were to do it here in Asgard, it would destroy whatever world it was on…sounds so stupid now that I've said it…and yet here we are in our own little story book..." Tony glanced around him,

"He was himself again? How?"

"Ask Natasha, come on, let's get back to the palace."

Sarah put her hand up to him, "Tony, I am going to the stables and I am going to ride the perimeter of the city. I will either find his body or I won't find him at all but I will have my closure this time. Tell everyone I'm alright and I'll be back."

"Well at least let me go with you.." Tony said as she passed him,

Sarah shook her head, "I want to be alone, no sympathy, no pats on the back or telling me it's going to be okay." She stopped in the corridor and put her hands to her chest, "I need to do this on my own."

Tony watched her walk away through the greenery of the Arboretum, and looked up at the huge glass dome far above him, "How did they possibly miss this place?" And he was about to head back for the throne room when he turned back around, "Damn it, I forgot to tell her about the kids." He heard Jarvis's voice,

"Will you pursue her, sir?"

"No, Jarvis, the kids will be fine, let her do what she has to."

As soon as Sarah was out of Tony's line of sight, she bent over forward, holding her stomach, trying to breath. She hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye, to see him, to hear his voice again, to touch his face. The world shrank to a pinpoint as she slid down the outer wall of the Arboretum, legs bent underneath her, feeling the cool stone against her cheek as she tried to find the strength to get to her feet and was nearly there until the thought of finding his body made her stumble and catch herself at the stone bench before her, finally straightening back up and feeling her way along the wall, she made for the stables across the open courtyard.

Loki stopped, bent forward to catch his breath, the aches in his body being replaced in specific areas, the muscles in his legs screaming for relief, the scrape he had received along his back as he had fallen in what seemed like so many lifetimes ago, stung at every brush of his great coat and the tunic beneath. The cut at his cheek had stopped bleeding when he had stopped by a small stream and splashed water on his face and neck to cool himself off and he was ravenously hungry. He stood and stretched, seeing the stables some yards distant where he would enter the palace, cut through the courtyard and up to the Throne room where he hoped to find Sarah. He began to run again.

Sarah walked to the wall of the stable, finding Loki's saddle and eased it down from the hook. There were only two horses left in their stalls. She took the reins of a brown and white mare and led her out into the stable where she had set the saddle. She threw a blanket onto her back and then the saddle, hoping she didn't bring it down too hard as the mare fidgeted.

"Hey girl, come on, I know what I'm doing." Sarah patted her neck and then moved down to the straps at her belly, fastening them, hoping that she would have a good mix of not too loose or too tight as she remembered being unceremoniously dumped the first time she'd tried it herself. She pulled the strap a little tighter and started to cinch it around.

Loki had heard a voice somewhere in the stables, probably a servant. He followed the rows of stalls and was about to enter the center courtyard through the stable doors when a figure in silhouette saddling a horse caught his attention in the next to last row and he trotted down the center aisle, his footfalls muted by the hay strewn across the floor. When he was a few feet away, the figure turned its head to the side and he saw the profile of the woman he had fallen hopelessly in love with, seen upon waking up every morning, kissed before going to sleep each evening, for the last four years of his life and yet it still felt like he was seeing her for the first time. She was smoothing out the blanket underneath the saddle, the late afternoon sun shining through her brown hair, dappling her skin. If he had been told it was impossible to fall in love all over again in this instant, he would have laughed out loud. Finally he found his voice,

"Sarah."

Sarah spun around, her hand to her chest, backing against the mare until her mind was able to process what she was seeing and she felt her legs start to bend,

"Loki." She put her hand out and touched his face, he closed his eyes, a tear escaping down his cheek as he put his hand atop hers. "Oh Christ, Loki,"

She put her arms around his neck, as he caught her up in his own, her hiccupping sobs causing her to gasp for breath, "I thought I'd lost you."

He put her down and put his hands to her face, "I thought I was lost." She kissed him, long, hard, over and over again, their tears mingling with one another until her fingers grazed the slice at his cheek and he flinched,

"Oh god, you're cut pretty badly, let's get you to the healers." Sarah had grabbed his hand, determined to hold onto it now until the day she died, when Loki pulled back from her.

"Maybe we should get the children and return to Midgard instead, I've a feeling they're not going to be very welcoming at this point."

"You need to come with.." Sarah stopped, "The children? They're home with Jane."

Loki smiled, "The children are here, I can see Fen right now," He tapped his head, "The little sneak made Jane bring him here to Asgard."

Sarah stood there, her mouth open in disbelief, "He's grounded until the second grade, that's all there is to it. We're also going to have to teach him another thing, he called the Bifrost on his own to come find you."

Loki followed Sarah into the courtyard, "He did not."

Sarah nodded, "Oh yes, went right out into the yard in the middle of the night in his pajamas and gave Heimdall a shout."

Loki laughed and Sarah shoved him, "Don't you dare encourage him either." But she couldn't help grinning herself, the sound of his laughter like that of the most beautiful symphonies in the world to her ear.

The healers were inundated with wounded and Loki stood back from the rooms, waiting in the hall. "I still think we should go to Midgard, they have healers there too." He whispered in her ear and she glanced around her at the people sitting in the hallway. "Let's get to the Throne room and find the children then we'll see about it." Sarah suddenly felt as uncomfortable there as Loki seemed and they made their way through the hall to the Throne room, the royal guards swinging the massive doors aside for them.

Fen saw Loki first, "Daddy!" He pulled from Jane's hand and rushed to wrap himself around his father's legs. "Up, daddy."

Loki bent down and swung Fen up in his arms, kissing him on the cheek.

"Brother!" Thor cried, slipping through the throng gathered there staring in disbelief, "It is a miracle. You have come home to us!" he clapped Loki on the back and pulled him into an embrace, Fen laughing at the face Loki made for him.

Tony stood, arms crossed, watching the exchange and felt Natasha's eyes on him, "Do you have something to say, Agent Romanoff?"

"Like isn't it nice to be wrong once in a while? Or hey he pulled it off? Nope nothing at all."

Tony turned to her then to Barton, "If only she could fight with her sharp wit, we'd all be out of a job." Barton smiled and looked away. Tony shook his head and walked over to Loki who eyed him suspiciously, "Come to take me back to Earth to face Fury have you?"

Tony put his hands out, "Why? Did you want to? Because I would rather have a root canal than sit in that office being stared at by his one good eye."

Loki grinned and Tony hesitated, then put out his hand, Loki staring at it, "I don't do this too often so I'm probably a bit rusty but here goes," Tony sighed, "Job well done." Loki took Tony's hand and shook it.

"There I've filled my quota for the year, now, would someone please tell me how to get out of this place, it's been a struggle just to find a bathroom and I need to get home before Miss Potts has a fit, I've already made a big dent in today's schedule and tomorrow is filling up." Jarvis's voice interrupted, "Already filled sir, "Tony nodded, "Like I said, already filled."

Loki nodded, "I think for the first time, Stark, I am willing to agree with you, we need to get home."

11.