Note: Sorry this chapter took so long. Real life, writer's block, constant rewriting of...everything...got in the way.

I used the extended version of this scene because, well, I liked it :)

Anyway..enjoy!

XII

The first thing Sigyn noticed about Loki's hideout was a distinct lack of privacy. The place was practically crowded with scientists and mercenaries and guards carrying large guns. The artificial light was harsh and yellow and made a faint buzzing noise she didn't like. Loki had his arm through hers and kept her close to his side.

"Sir?"

Sigyn never saw the man who addressed them. Loki materialized his cape and had it draped around her, covering her line of sight, before she could turn around.

"What is it?"

"Who is she?" She felt Loki tense before the man continued. "Will I need to get an extra protection detail or is she the type that can take care of herself?"

Loki's arm curled tighter and brought her closer to his chest. "You don't need to concern yourself with her yet. And we're not to be disturbed." Then she was being dragged along some ways before a door closed and Loki dissolved his cape.

"Don't need to concern yourself with her?" she repeated, giving him a teasing smile.

"Not ready to reveal you to the masses just yet."

They were in a small room with a cot that would maybe fit the both of them if they were practically lying on top of each other and not much else. The light was dimmer here, most likely due to a dying bulb or two. The only other piece of furniture was a crude table, and atop it was a golden, bladed staff with a glowing blue gem. Sigyn dropped her bag and took a step towards it.

"I wouldn't touch that," Loki said, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. His lips brushed her ear and it sent a shiver along her skin.

"What is it?" Whatever it was, it was practically radiating some sort of irritant that scratched just at the edge of her nerves.

As though he could sense how it affected her, or maybe because it had the same effect on him as well, Loki waved his hand and the staff disappeared. "Just my weapon."

She must have had a dozen questions about that staff -what it did, what made it give off that kind of energy, where he got it—and was just about to ask them when Loki's lips found her neck.

Suddenly all the questions she wanted to ask didn't seem so important.

She turned around, her arms wrapping around him, and brought her lips to his. Loki's hands roamed eagerly along her hips, her sides, before one made its way to her hair.

"Oh now this is different," he breathed with a smirk. His fingers worked through her hair, breaking the glamour that had turned her hair dark brown. It was an older glamour, and stubborn to remove; it felt like he was lightly tugging on her hair.

"The new color suits you. Just allow me this moment of nostalgia."

The clump of hair she could see in her peripheral was dark blonde, and Loki was grinning.

Until he touched her left cheek.

"What's this?" Sigyn couldn't speak, didn't have time to before he was removing that glamour as well. She winced; this one was older still and felt like a layer of skin was being ripped away.

Loki's silence was far more unsettling than anything she imagined he could say. She could dissect his lies, his subtle body language and facial expressions, but his silence was still an enigma.

"How did it happen?" He was unhappy. His voice was flat, clipped, and sharp. No, unhappy was a poor word to use. Loki was furious.

She swallowed hard before answering. "When I opened the portal, the other side opened and dropped me out of the sky. This is the only one of my injuries I couldn't heal properly."

"How many did you have?"

"A few cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, some scrapes and bruises." Perhaps if she said it calmly enough, like reading off an ingredient list, he wouldn't worry. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Foolish girl. You could have been killed." Loki was tracing her scar, from cheek to jawline. The scar tingled where he touched it "You exhausted too much energy on your other injuries before you could get this one. Or this happened inter dimensionally. Either way I can't heal it completely either. Doesn't diminish from your beauty, though."

Loki's hand was underneath her shirt again, ghosting along her skin. With a sinful look, he had her back pressed against the cool stone wall, his lips to her neck and nipping at all the places he knew would make her sigh and moan. Oh, she had missed this.

"Loki," she breathed. She ginned, her fingers tangling in his hair, and she pressed her lips to his ear. "My king."

Those, she knew, were the magic words, and she was rewarded when Loki kissed her with renewed fervor. They clawed at each other's clothing. Her over-shirt ended up discarded on the ground while she struggled with his armor.

Then Loki went still, his forehead touching hers and breathing hard. "Damn," he murmured, slamming his fist against the wall. He pulled away and kissed her forehead. "Stay. Here." She wanted to argue that she wasn't a dog that could be ordered to 'sit' and 'stay' but he continued. "Just for right now, Sigyn. Stay here."

The door shut, and locked behind him as he left, leaving Sigyn alone in an unfamiliar, cold stone room.


For several long minutes after his conversation with the Other ended, Loki just sat there, letting the warning sink into his mind.

You think you know pain. You will long for something sweet as pain.

His head still throbbed and he remembered the 'trials' they had put him through, to see if he was really worthy to wield that accursed scepter and command the Chitauri. It had been worth it, he'd thought, once he had the Earth. If he failed…

They will peel off her skin and carve her flesh from her bones while you watch. Before doing it to you. Much as he loved her, she was a liability. Away from him, he'd always worry that someone, be it S.H.I.E.L.D., the Chitauri, or his benefactor, would find her, and he couldn't afford that much of a distraction. Taking her with him would put her right in the thickest part of the danger, but at least he'd know where she was.

"Sir?" Barton said as he approached him. "Selvig's close to figuring out what he needs to keep a stable portal open."

The news, coupled with his earlier 'discussion' with the Other, had the adrenaline pumping through him. "Let me know when he has something."

There was more Barton wanted to ask. Loki could tell by the way he hovered for just a second before turning to leave. He wanted to know about Sigyn, be it out of sheer curiosity or because he wanted to know if he needed to reorganize their security. The reality of too many people knowing of her existence was dizzying and he didn't need this now. He had too many other things to worry about.

Loki dropped the scepter off in the secure area around the Tessaract, it was too much of a distraction, and returned to Sigyn's room, praying she had listened to him.


Loki didn't look well when he returned. He barely looked at her as he came through the door. Sigyn knew from experience that bombarding him with questions, even though she was practically bursting with them, would get her nowhere. So she sat cross legged on the bed as Loki picked up her bag and started going through its contents.

The books he treated with reverence, carefully flipping through the first couple of pages before setting them down on the table. Her journal he took more time with but never asked for an explanation to any of its contents.

"Who's is this?" he asked as he held up the vial of Jane's blood.

Sigyn picked at the think blanket covering the cot. "Just the blood of a very foolish mortal." He didn't need to know about Jane's involvement. It was a conversation that wouldn't end well and one that could wait. "It's been useful though."

He looked at her for the first time as he held up the little knife she'd brought. "This is your only weapon?" She nodded, and he frowned. "You came to a strange world without any means to defend yourself?"

"You know I'm no warrior." Sigyn wasn't a child who needed scolding. And Loki should know her well enough to know that just because she didn't have a weapon didn't mean she was powerless. "Besides, it would have been a little obvious, walking around Midgard with a sword. Not to mention being followed sort of makes stealing a weapon from the armory kind of difficult."

But it was the bowl that really kept his attention. He rotated it in his hands, studying each detail as though he were committing it to memory. "And you were able to find me using only this?" She explained how, sensing that was going to be his next question. The chant, the blood, the vague clues, everything but Jane and Darcy's involvement. "Then it is clearly more powerful than I thought." He smiled at her, and for the first time since before Loki's fall she felt the warm, fluttering feeling in her chest. "And you are quite clever for figuring it out." He placed the bowl back into the bag. Already lost in thought and staring at the ground, Loki fell into a worrying silence.

"Loki…" she crawled over to him. "My love, what is it?"

"Nothing." Another lie.

Sigyn glanced towards the door as she heard the pounding of a pair of boots running in the hallway. "Is this rabble is your army? This is how you'll conquer Midgard?" She knew enough of history to know that a large army did not guarantee victory, and that a small group could bring down whole kingdoms. But this was Loki, her Loki, and she would feel better if he had a whole army greater than the Einherjar at his back.

"Of course not, darling." He hesitated, then his voice dropped to barely a whisper. "You've heard of the Tessaract?"

The Tessaract was a legend among gods, supposedly one of Odin's post powerful treasures. It had long since been lost to history and myth. Some in Asgard even doubted if it ever really existed.

"Well, yes. Every child in Asgard has. It's just a legend."

"You and I both know that legends always have some truth to them."

The realization slowly crept up on her, slowly curling itself around her chest and squeezing. Loki was serious. The Tessaract was real and it was his. "Then…what the Hel are you doing trying to take Midgard? You could take back Asgard, or Vanaheim, or any of the Nine Realms and you choose-"

Loki was on her with the speed of a predatory cat. His hand clamped over her mouth hard enough that she let out an involuntary whimper.

"Don't ever suggest such a thing. I have a plan, Sigyn, and I've come too far to change it." He slowly dragged his hand away from her mouth and kissed her lips. "One day, soon, when this fight is over and the earth is mine, I will explain everything."

Sigyn wasn't as naïve as people—including Loki at times—believed she was. There was more to this; whatever it was it wasn't good, and she doubted he would ever tell her the whole truth. She brought her hand to his face and stroked her thumb over the sharp—so much sharper than she remembered—angles of his cheeks.

"You just seem much changed, my love. And I worry about you."

"Do you?" He smiled, and for half a moment things seemed as they always had been. "Then you are the only one in the Nine Realms that does."

No, your brother and mother and father did too. They mourned you, Loki. She wanted to correct him, to tell him how rarely Frigga smiled anymore. How Odin held court less often. How Thor made it storm for weeks on end because he was so utterly lost without his brother. The words were on her tongue until she bit it. Centuries ago, she had learned not to intervene in the brothers' battles. It was their cycle: Thor and Loki would fight, push each other to their limits, reconcile, and then start the cycle over again. This time…this time was just worse than all the others that had come before. Loki would realize that truth one day. And no matter what chaos he wrought until then, Sigyn would not leave him.

"Hmm," was all she said. Loki seemed to relax a little under her touch. His eyes were half closed and his breathing evened out. Finally, she dared to ask the question that had lingered in the corners of her mind ever since she learned Loki had survived. "What happened after you fell?"

Loki's mouth tensed, forming a thin, firm line until she brushed her fingertips down along his jaw. "I…experienced a great deal in my exile. I saw the Tessaract's true power, and I learned what my purpose is. These mortals, they kill each other by the thousands in petty wars. They lack leadership, and I mean to give them that."

Sigyn couldn't deny that; she had seen the news reports and footage of the wars and poverty that ravaged all corners of this world. Although she didn't remember Loki wanting to rule anything. He didn't until Thor's banishment.

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I came here. You'll need me."

Loki's gaze refocused back to her. "Pardon?"

"You've forgotten my heritage," she said with a coy smile. "I do remember a little of my father's rule of Vanaheim before the All-Father called us back to Asgard. And he made sure to teach us what we were too young to remember."

"Ah yes, the warlord's daughter. Who snuck spell books into her history lessons if I remember correctly." His arm slipped around her waist and pulled her close. "You would be my victory bringer?"

"I would."

"Why?" There was still a touch of coldness in his voice, like he still didn't believe that everything she would still risk everything for him. Perhaps he never would.

Because if making you a king keeps you alive then so be it. Loki was too proud to accept that. Sigyn may not have Loki's innate talent for lying, but she had learned a couple things from him. "Maybe I want to be queen."

He laughed, low and rumbling, and pulled her into a kiss. A kiss that was quickly deepened as Loki was drawing her into his lap. His hands roamed freely, starting at her thighs and travelling up over hips and sides and arms before one brushed along her cheek and buried itself in her hair. With a soft moan he pulled away, and Sigyn whimpered in protest.

"Later, my love." He nipped playfully at her neck. "This battle will not be lengthy."

Reluctantly, she slid off his lap and stood. Something felt different though. In her peripheral vision, her hair looked darker, like it had been since she arrived in New Mexico. Looking down, she found herself in Asgardian clothes: black pants, long green tunic, accented with bits of bronze armor. It all screamed Loki's.

"Midgaridan clothes don't suit you." Loki said, a wicked grin crossing his lips.

Loki led her through the facility, keeping her close to him. To anyone who looked at her too long, he either glared at them until the averted their gaze, or he physically put himself between her and them to block their sight. Most though, ignored her, as she followed Loki to a sectioned off area. At his command, the handful of people there scattered. Loki opened a silver case.

"That, my dear, is the Tessaract," he said, grinning proudly. "This will bring me the earth, and possibly more. Its powers are…"

"It interferes with the earth's magic." The color was the same as the veins of magic that lead her to Loki.

"It what?"

"It…it draws the magic energy in the nearby area towards it. That's how I was able to find you in the end." It was, simply put, wondrous to look at, a legend made real. It radiated raw power and flooded all of her senses. Loki deserves this, she thought with sudden clarity. He deserves to be king. Loki's hand settled on her shoulder and she said, "Just hurry up and take the Earth, Loki."

"Don't worry, my love," he said as he closed the case. "I intend to."

Sigyn followed Loki away from the Tessaract as a few people started filling back in. He'd fallen into one of his unsettling silences, and it remained until they had ducked into an alcove. She was backed against the wall, Loki's body flush against hers and his hands gripped firmly—but not painfully—around her arms. "You really wish to help me?" he murmured, his face just mere inches away from hers. She nodded. "Then you will do exactly as I tell you."

"I understand."

"I mean it, Sigyn." He held her chin lightly in his fingers and forced her to meet his gaze. "For your safety as much as my own."

"Sir," It was the same voice that greeted them when she first arrived. Loki stepped out of the alcove and in front of her, shielding her from the other's view.

"What is it?"

"Selvig has something."

"I'll be there in a moment." The footsteps faded before Loki looked back to her. "You are to stay out of sight until I tell you otherwise."

His voice was lower, commanding. This wasn't Loki speaking as he normally was; this was Loki speaking as the future king. And even if she wanted to argue, that tone stilled her tongue from doing so. She nodded, and as soon as Loki's back was turned, she let the invisibility spell wash over her. She kept her distance as he spoke with two men near the Tessaract, one of whom she assumed was Selvig.

Even shielded as she was, Sigyn still pressed herself against the nearest wall as Loki rounded the corner with one of the men in tow. "Is that why you failed to kill him?" Judging by the man's answer, or really his voice, it was the same guy Loki had shielded her from.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about this team of his. I would…test….their mettle. I'm weary of scuttling in shadow. I mean to rule this world, not burrow in it."

The hairs on Sigyn's arms raised and she got a sinking feeling in her gut. Loki was best at working in the shadows, at being that voice that manipulates people from the darkness, but now he wanted to abandon his greatest strength to claim Midgard? And then there was this…team the other man spoke of. She didn't like any of this. Nor did she like how Loki so enthusiastically agreed that what he was doing was a risk.

"If you're set on making yourself known…might be useful."

"Tell me what you need."

"I need a distraction…and an eyeball."

Loki grinned that half mad grin of is and looked directly at her. "You can come out now, dear." Sigyn shrugged off the invisibility spell off and materialized a veil to go over the lower half of her face. If Loki was insistent on keeping her identity secret, she would at least stick to that. The other man looked straight at her as she stepped out from her hiding spot.

"Who is she?"

As soon as she was close enough, Loki griped her hand tight. "She's…" Loki was struggling with what to call her. Wife? But they weren't married, not officially. Lover? That wasn't any of this man's business. Her name was off limits as well. "She's my companion." Sigyn smiled beneath her veil.

"She's coming with us, then?"

"She is."

"Then we better get moving. If we're going to get this stuff, we need to leave soon."

The staff materialized in Loki's hand, and the small bag with her belongings appeared in hers. With it came a sudden, cool clarity. This was real. This wasn't one of Loki's schemes that he started, made preparations for, and then abandoned out of boredom or on whim. They were going to war. "Where is this iridium?"

"Germany. Stuttgart to be exact."

Loki looked over at her, smiled and squeezed her hand. "Darling, I think it's time we have a proper celebration of our reunion."