Gyda tucked one final embroidered cushion behind Jane's back, filled her a cup of strong black tea, and adjusted her footstool by a last half-inch before Odin finally lost patience with her and ordered her from the room. Gyda scrambled; the All-Father's voice not only thundered with command, it also betrayed more than a hint of impatience.

Jane swallowed her nerves along with the tea. The heat and bitterness helped pierce through the fog that insisted on billowing up in her brain in a way that sleep so far had not managed. Of the past twenty hours, she had been unconscious for fifteen…but upon Gyda's shaking her awake that afternoon, it had felt like she'd just shut her eyes.

At least she looked better than Odin. Aside from a bath and a hasty shave, he looked as harried and rough as a prisoner still.

But her hosts would not wait. The critical question—what do we do next?—was before them, and however much Odin hated it, Jane mattered quite a bit in how that question was answered.

So she had followed Gyda through the motions of bathing and dressing, toddled into the morning room, opened her eyes and ears wide, and waited.

"There are two things I insist upon," Odin began heavily, "first, that Miss Foster—with our thanks—be escorted back to Midgard at the earliest opportunity. The second is that Loki be escorted—with thanks as well, if he wishes—immediately back to the dungeons."

Jane chewed on the inside of her cheek. Now was not the time to question the King's right to rule his own kingdom, but how dare he dispose of her like so much useless baggage! At least Loki had no compunctions about staying silent.

"Indeed, you would have it thus," he said, taking a careful sip of mead, "but you may find that a difficult goal to achieve. The Queen herself promised me my freedom in return for my assistance, and Miss Foster is here as the honored guest of your son."

"Neither my son nor my Queen had authority to make the decisions they did in my absence," he replied, "Their decisions cannot hold in view of my will."

"Allow me to disagree with you on that point, Husband," Frigga interjected. She alone among them all sat rigidly upright, but her bearing was not tense. On the contrary, for the first time Jane had known her, she seemed entirely at ease. Even in the face of Odin's glower, she smiled sweetly.

Of course, Jane thought, he is her husband. She must be so happy to have him back safe at last. The whole family's reunited.

"I treated with Loki in good faith. His knowledge of the pathways of Yggdrasil have been instrumental in analyzing the effects of the approaching Convergence. Furthermore, he has behaved with honor throughout his leave,"

Jane would not look at him; one look might betray everything to Odin's shrewd gaze. They were the only two in the world who knew what Loki had really been up to behind the scenes. 'Honor' wasn't quite the word she'd use.

"If I withdrew his promised reward, I would be the one deserving of imprisonment. Not our son."

"As he has been so fond of saying, he is not our son. Merely a stray wolf we let over our threshold who has grown enough to show his teeth. He was imprisoned for causing death and disruption on Midgard, and he will be so until the debt is paid. Or do you value human life so little, my Queen, that his fault in their deaths is not just cause to importune your child?"

"Say rather that the value of your life was worth the commuting of his sentence," she countered, stepping right over the question of value, "Asgard needed you. All of Yggdrasil will have desperate need of your leadership should the chaos Miss Foster and Loki predict come to pass. Indeed, these unpredictable portals have already caused chaos. Who else can see the Nine Realms through these troubles if not for you?"

Privately, Jane couldn't help but think this was overstating Odin's importance. After all, he hadn't done all that much for them directly while Loki was down on Earth mucking things up. Then again, the Bifrost had been broken and he hadn't had the Tesseract then either.

Now…well, it might be nice to have a few of Asgard's elite warriors stationed on Midgard in case everything went crazy. The latest forecasts the computers had given her about the probable consequences of more portals—held open for longer intervals—were troubling, to say the least.

But Jane doubted that was his plan. His eagerness to get her away from Asgard told her he was much more concerned with his people's safety than mortals.

"Well, I'm willing to leave," she said, speaking down to her teacup when the accumulated stares of the others fired an embarrassed blush in her cheeks, "aside from being a danger to Asgard—and I'm surprised Malekith isn't back already—I can do more for Earth now, with what I know about the Convergence. We have to figure out a way to minimize the portals and the thinning of the barriers between dimensions, or we won't make it through."

"Jane," Thor spoke for the first time, "you do not have to leave. Surely others on Earth will be able to solve the problem without you. But they may not be able to ensure your safety if the elves follow you there."

"You're probably right about the elves, but not about the rest," she replied. While Thor was usually never one to underestimate her talents or intellect, he also sometimes failed to remember how behind humans were in scientific advancement when compared to the Aesir.

"Right now, I'm the foremost expert on the Convergence humanity has. If I go back to Earth with even a quarter of the information I've gathered, we can probably figure out a solution between us. But if I don't go…even SHIELD and Stark Technologies couldn't possibly gather the intel and synthesize a solution in time.

"Besides which," she finished gently, wishing she dared hold his hand in Odin's presence, "I'm not going to put Asgard at risk just because I'd be safer here. That's not right."

"Then I shall return with you to Midgard," he declared, "and ensure that any elf who dares take the Aether from you bitterly regrets it."

She swallowed hard around a sudden lump in her throat. "Thank you," she croaked, then tried again, "not just for me, but for Earth. The Avengers will be happy to have you back…especially if the worst happens."

"No."

Everyone started at Odin's stone-carved declaration. Frigga's warm smile dropped; Loki sat forward and set his cup aside. Thor turned slowly, shoulders tightening and fingers drawing slowly together into heavy fists.

"No?" he asked. Jane knew it was a test of the waters, and she doubted Odin was going to give an inch.

"No," Odin repeated. "The crown Prince of Asgard must stay where he is needed. On Asgard. You may have agreed to fight with this Midgardian band when they have need of it, but such an oath cannot come between you and your duties here. The Convergence approaches; it will affect all Realms. Asgard cannot lose one of its most skilled warriors on the eve of battle."

"I had assumed, Father," Thor spoke with diffidence, but Jane saw the lines of tension around his mouth and between his brows, "that our sorcerers would be able to shield Asgard from the effects of the Convergence, as Midgard will seek to do. Surely with so much more experience in such matters, Asgard is likely to be better protected than Midgard when the time comes?"

"There are no certainties in these matters, my son. The only certainty is chaos. You are needed here."

"I am needed there!" he cried. "You rightly punished Loki for the deaths he caused on Midgard. If I do not go with Jane, and the dark elves follow her…Father, they nearly destroyed our Palace in search of her! How much more damage will they do to civilian populations on Earth? I would be responsible for their deaths by my inaction."

"Your responsibility is to your people!"

Thor opened his mouth to shout a reply, but Loki beat him to it.

"There is no need for this bickering," he said, grinning when both Odin and Thor turned to him with wide-open mouths, silenced before giving voice to their fury, "Not when a solution lies directly before you."

"What solution? Be quick!"

"This is not the time for your games, Loki," Thor said, still clearly ready to fight whenever the opportunity arose. "What do you suggest?"

"I suggest accompanying Miss Foster myself."

Thor sputtered; Odin refused. Under cover of their accumulated noise—not softened by Frigga's interjections or Loki's pointed rebuttals—Jane found herself isolated in the icy chill of careful calculation.

"He's right," she said. She had to repeat herself several times before she was heard, but eventually, an uneasy silence reigned.

Thor broke it. "Jane," he began, "you cannot think that SHIELD will welcome him."

"They won't," she admitted, "If SHIELD doesn't take him into custody and lock him in their deepest, darkest cell the minute his boots touch ground, I'll be very surprised. But," she hesitated, knowing how her words would hurt him, "Loki will be a big help. He knows more than I do about the Convergence; he understands the data we've gathered better by far. And he knows how to get between realms, and he's a sorcerer himself. Just as handy in a fight, if the elves follow me.

"Plus…" and now she swallowed hard, because she was about to piss everyone off, "you don't want him here," to Odin, "and I want him with me."

"Why Jane," the man in question drawled, a teasing smirk plastered crookedly on his face, "I never knew you cared."

You know damn well I care, she mentally grumbled. Now was not the time. Picking Loki over Thor was a tactical decision. It made sense. But not a single second of it was going to be easy.

"Now, All-Father," Loki didn't drop his grin as he addressed Odin, "out of the mouths of Midgardians. You hear how valued I will be there, how essential to the effort of preserving mortal lives. Can you listen to Miss Foster's petition with a hard heart?"

"Miss Foster does not speak for her kind," he was not amused by Loki's flowery speeches, "She admits that they will not be pleased to see you. Indeed, if they learned anything from your last encounters, they will not believe a single word you say. I fail to see how that will be helpful in preventing disaster."

"They'll listen because I'll vouch for him," Jane said, "And because I'll make Loki's help a condition on my participation in the project. SHIELD may not trust anyone or anything, but they're practical. They know something's happening that they can't understand or prevent."

Jane spoke confidently, but she had her doubts. SHIELD knew what Jane thought of their organization—she had given them an earful during their efforts to "persuade" her into their ranks. They also knew what kind of mind games Loki was capable of.

Would they greet her efforts to help them as merely Loki's clever scheme to conquer them again?

"While SHIELD has its honorable members," Thor said, shaking his head, "Fury did not impress me with his willingness to trust. Perhaps I should accompany you and add my voice in your support. It would be a short visit," he went on, forestalling his father's objection, "and I would return once matters were settled between Asgard and Midgard.

"If," he finished, a mild, diplomatic smile clearing the storm clouds from his face, "I am to be King one day, I should practice such diplomatic courtesies now, do you not agree?"

"That sounds like a splendid plan," Frigga added her own support, smiling nearly as blandly and benignly as Thor. Sitting to either side of the King, they looked like two spiders wrapping him in a soft cocoon of pleasantries, "Thor is trusted and respected on Midgard; he will see to it that Loki is given a chance to assist. Surely that will satisfy even you, Husband?"

Odin did not look pleased to be outmaneuvered, but he was a shrewd man. Jane had a sudden and sneaking suspicion that he and Nick Fury had more in common than either might want to admit. He cut his losses.

"Since it appears I must be satisfied, Wife," he said, "I will endeavor to be so. Do not think matters are settled between us, however," he leaned forward and all the lightness in the atmosphere evaporated. His promise to Loki was deadly serious.

"Save Midgard if you can, but the blood of innocent thousands is still on your hands. I will see you atone for that."

()()()

"He is such an understanding man, my father, is he not?"

Jane barely looked up from the data she was collating; once off Asgard, she knew it would be pulling teeth to have Odin send her anything she'd missed. But still she tensed; she had been waiting for this outburst for hours. Loki had managed not to lunge across the sitting room and gouge out Odin's remaining eye, but she had seen how badly he wanted to.

She hummed a noncommittal noise. "I've known worse," she lied. From what she'd seen, Odin was a prime example of how not to raise your children. Outside of soap operas, she couldn't remember anything worse.

"Have you indeed?" he scoffed. He flicked idly through their recorded findings, marking a passage here and there; a desultory mirror of Jane's methodical efficiency. "When we discussed your own father, the pain of his loss made you cry nearly twenty years later. I am not sure I would shed a tear for Odin even twenty minutes after his passing."

"Well," she was not in the mood for this, "you had your chance to let him die. That fight on Svartalfheim was pretty hairy. So why didn't you?"

He laughed. "Cold words, Jane. Do me the courtesy to think the thought had not crossed my mind, at least. But no," he curled up three tablets and shoved them into a bag, "Odin's death would not have helped my situation. Fair causes or foul, Sif would have testified that I did my best to kill him. Frigga may forgive me my errors and love me all the same, but I dare not test maternal affection to such an extent."

"Probably wise," she remarked, stifling a smile at how predictable Loki was. Of course he had considered killing Odin. But Jane had known he wouldn't. Had she known because she trusted him to do what was right, or had she trusted him because letting Odin live was in his best interests?

If the two things coincided, perhaps Loki himself wouldn't be able to tell which reason caused the final decision.

However, she wouldn't judge. He had done the right thing for the right purposes in the past.

He fiddled around with a few more odds and ends, mostly watching her work through curious, narrowed eyes. "So, back to Midgard we go."

It sounded like a question. Jane glanced up, then away. "Yes," she replied. Then, softly, "Going home."

"Do you look forward to reclaiming your narrow little life? Away from Thor and the glamour of Asgard? Cataloguing stars and swimming in the sea?"

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," she sighed and shook her head. Some days, Hawaii felt as distant as Alpha Centauri. Had she really ever sat by the rolling ocean under the soothing sun, and done nothing but watch the waves?

"I think Asgard will be glad to see the back of me. But…" she hesitated. Her time in Asgard had been such a crazy mélange of soaring heights and plunging depths—and that was without counting her terrifying excursions to Svartalfheim—that it was hard to parse whether she would miss the Realm Eternal or not.

"I think I will," she said aloud. "Miss it, I mean. For years, all I've ever wanted was to get closer to the stars, even though I knew it was more or less impossible. Not astronaut material. Now, here I am," she looked beyond him, out the windows to where the stars were already showing through the fiery veil of sunset clouds. "Farther than any human's ever gone.

"Maybe the circumstances could have been better," maybe Odin could have been friendlier, maybe you could have been less cruel, "but I'm never going to be disappointed that I came here."

"Even though you'll leave with such a dangerous souvenir? The things Malekith could do with the power that flows through your veins…does that not frighten you?"

"I don't frighten easily," she said, trying to sound staunch. Meanwhile, her stomach gave a shaky flip-flop.

Of course, the Aether; a hell of a souvenir, just as Loki said. "It's even more important that I take it away. The Aether could let Malekith wipe out the known universe…but it might help us just as readily. If we're going to seal the barriers between dimensions during this Convergence, we'll need all the power we can get."

"Is that where I enter into your best-laid plans, Jane?" there was a wry little smile playing at the corner of his mouth, but Jane didn't know whether he was mocking her or himself, "As part of the arsenal you will use to safeguard your planet?"

"Well, yes," she said, "keeping Earth safe is the priority. But I'm glad you're coming," she added, looking away again. Why was it so hard to hold his gaze all of a sudden?

"You can help me make SHIELD understand how serious the threat is."

"Indeed. I shall endeavor to serve in that capacity, my Lady," he said dryly, "despite my disappointment."

She knew she shouldn't ask. She knew it.

"Disappointment?"

Loki grinned. "Well, now that you have effectively been banished from Midgard, and since Thor has shown his cowardice in refusing to fight Odin's decision on that point, I thought you might wish me to replace him."

Jane had no idea where to start. She jumped to the end. "What do you mean, replace him? Thor's my friend; you're my friend…I think."

"The longer I know you, Jane Foster, the less I come to believe your pretty protestations of innocence. One does not do with a friend what you have done with Thor."

Considering how little she'd actually 'done' with Thor—though she swallowed and tried desperately not to blush as she recalled some of it—she knew Loki was just trying to get a rise.

Quantitatively speaking, Loki—no, she didn't want to think about it, no, no…

She tried to clamp down on the thought, but it came anyway.

Loki had seen her naked. That was more than Thor had ever done.

Jane would never grow to understand the strange workings of her odd mind. In the middle of her embarrassment, and on the heels of all these stupid recollections came a sudden, swift truth.

I need to break things off with Thor.

Her busy fingers slowed over the duel screens, and she pressed both palms flat against the table. Overwhelmed, out-of-breath. Her head bowed almost to her collarbone as the truth of it slammed into her with all the force of a bullet. She pressed her eyes closed against the sudden hot flow of resentful, regretful tears.

Before I leave, or before he does, I need to break things off with Thor. It's time.

"Jane? Come now, I thought you were stronger than to succumb to my poor jibes. Surely you know how Thor feels about you? It is just that he craves Odin's approval beyond the needs of his heart."

"Could you—" she felt suffocated, gasping, "Um, could you just finish up here? I—I can't…I can't think about this, right now."

Still nearly half-blind from tears and unwilling to look up and have Loki guess all her secrets, she stumbled away from the table and bumped against several others as she made her way quickly as she could out of the library. He called after her several times; she ignored each one.

By the time she reached the elevator to her floor, Jane was a hot, sweaty, teary mess.

One thing she decided she would not now nor would ever miss were the constant eyes everywhere. However much she might try to brazen out her bewildered storm of sorrow and anger, every single guard could see it on her face. She marched past them with head held high, swallowing hard until she could get inside her room and give free vent to her feelings.

But even there, Gyda was waiting.

"Lady Jane," she began, calling out from the bedroom, "I have gathered all your things and the gifts Queen Frigga sent, but I was instructed to ask if there was anything else you—oh, my Lady…what is it?"

"I'm just," she sighed, another two tears slipping down to her chin, "I'm okay, Gyda, it's just…" the sooner it was over, the better she'd feel, "Could you ask Thor to meet me here as soon as he can? I need to talk to him."

"Of course, my Lady," Gyda answered, face lined with worry, "Are you ill? Should I call the healers?"

"I'm fine," she repeated, "I just need to talk to Thor. Whenever he's free, but before we go down to the Bifrost."

"Yes," she said, "I will inform him of your wishes immediately. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you," Jane answered, swiping away the tears and doing her best to smile, "You were such a great help to me. I should be asking what I can do for you."

Her handmaid smiled, a dimple showing on one fine-lined cheek. "It was my pleasure, truly. Now I can say I have served guests from all Nine Realms!"

()()()

Do I really need to do this?

Every time she asked herself that question, the answer was always yes. It was never an unqualified yes, however. Jane dwelled with agony over the pain she would give Thor—Thor, who had always been there for her, who had saved and supported her, who had given her so much…and who did not deserve this.

But then, he deserved better. He deserved more than what was left in her to give.

Jane knew herself well enough to know that her heart was no longer her own. Part of it, a part that she hoped would never disappear, belonged to him. He had in many ways been her first love, a love-at-first-sight romance in the way she had never known before. She had thrown herself wholeheartedly into whatever they might have…and it had never worked out.

If Thor were the only person in her heart, perhaps she might have let this upcoming separation be just another bump in their winding road to happiness. But he wasn't.

Loki was there too.

Before, Jane had wondered whether Loki would ever prove himself worthy of her love. Now she knew; he already was proving himself. He had his rough edges still. But though he might hate, trick, and tease others, he had been truthful with her for a long time now. He respected her feelings; he obeyed her limits. With such a promising foundation, she knew it would be wrong not to end things with Thor before they (potentially) began with Loki.

So she paced, and worried, and tried to do neither.

Half an hour after she sent Gyda away, there was a heavy knock on her door.

Thor answered her shy 'hello' with a soft smile that had more than an edge of the turmoil Jane herself felt. Indeed, he almost grimaced as he said, "So, Jane. Once more we are to part."

"Yes," she said, and nearly broke down again. "But we're always going to be friends, Thor. I hope you know that."

"I do," he replied, stepping into the sitting room and drawing her after him to the sofa, "I would be a fool indeed not to value your friendship whenever it is offered, Jane. However," he took her hands in his and ran his heavily-calloused fingers between hers, "I do not believe you called me here to affirm our friendship."

"No," she said. God, how could she do this? All her well-reasoned arguments dropped from her tongue. She stared at him, somehow hoping he would simply pluck them direct from her brain and spare her the sting of saying them aloud.

In a way, he did. "You know I have loved—do love you, Jane Foster," he began, "I needed little time to do so. But I know well enough that things have never come easy between us."

"If it were just for the opinion of Asgard and your father, Thor," she wasn't a coward; she'd face them down with a grin if they stood in the way of her happiness, "but it's not. And I think now is probably the best time to tell you the truth."

"You need not say it, Jane," he smiled, broader this time; and though there was bitterness still in the expression, he went on, "It gives me joy to know that my brother's feelings may have an echo in yours."

She gasped. "How long have you known?"

"Remember that I have known Loki far longer than you," he replied, "though perhaps never as well as I should. Though I do not know you as well yet, Jane, you have borne much to ensure my brother's happiness and safety. Is there not something of love in that?"

"I'm sorry, Thor," she bent her head almost to their clasped hands. She bit her lips and closed her eyes, but her voice still choked on clotted tears, "I'm so sorry."

He kissed the crown of her head and she sniffled. "There is nothing to regret, Jane," he said softly, though his words were heavy as her own, "You are my friend; he is my brother. There is nothing to regret."

Jane slid closer and threw her arms as far around his shoulders as they would go. "I love you, Thor," she said, and meant it to her marrow. "You are brave, and kind, and sweet, and wise…and I will always be glad," she laughed, "that I hit you with my truck."

"And you, Jane," he replied, squeezing so hard she thought her ribs would crack, "are brilliant and beautiful as the stars you love. I will always be glad that the Norns chose you to find me. There is little I do not owe you; even to my brother's life…and future happiness."

"Well, we'll see about that," she said, drawing back and mopping at her face with the hem of her button-down. "Loki is…well, you know how he is."

"I do," his eyes were bright as binary blues, "far better than you. I forgot to give credit to your bravery, Jane Foster. You will need all of it to weather a future with him."

()()()

Now I've made myself sad. This has always been a Lokane fic, but I'm sorry to see Thor go. He's a gentleman right to the finish line, however.

Leave a note as always, lovely folks! And thanks (as always) for your kind words on my last chapter.