Tony took the ARC reactor straight to the master control room and put it on the floor. His surly mood was not improved when JARVIS reported, "Registering a satellite phone call, sir. From the Triskelion, Director Fury."

"Oh this day doesn't quit, does it?" he muttered. "JARVIS, make sure you're encrypting our location data."

"As you wish, sir."

Tony faced the receiver. "Evening, Nick. How's things?"

The stern visage of Nick Fury appeared on the screen. "Tony. Would you mind telling me exactly what the hell happened in New York? What did you do?"

"Do? Me? Nothing. It wasn't my fault!" Tony protested, overdoing it a little, but hey, it was true. "There was a portal, some magic thingamajig came through, made everything really cold, and me and Thor and Bruce fixed it." He lied boldly, hoping to skip right past the leather-and-cape-wearing failed conqueror.

Fury didn't quite buy it, glaring with his one eye at Tony. "I have a report of Thor and his crazy brother on Park Avenue."

"What? Loki? Haha. I haven't seen any goat-horned maniacs." Which was, mostly true, Loki didn't have his ridiculous helmet with him.

"Oh, good. Because I can't imagine why you'd be protecting a war criminal, Tony," Fury warned.

Tony grimaced. "So judgy. SHIELD isn't exactly innocent themselves, y'know. I've read plenty of secret files you don't want out there in public."

Fury's brows lifted into a deep furrow on his forehead. "You threatening me?"

"Do I need to?" Tony countered. He grabbed M&M's out of the dish and popped two in his mouth. "I'm just saying, pots and kettles. Glass houses. Clichés. Because I think if it actually was Loki, you'd disappear him to some lab for 'experiments.'" He put air quotes around experiments, because what he really meant was torture and he wanted Fury to know he meant that.

"I would not."

Fury's indignation was refreshingly genuine, even if Tony didn't believe it for a second. "Your organization would. Because they have. Trials seem to be a bit sparse in the record, Nicholas. I have quite an allergy to torture on helpless prisoners, cuz, been there, done that, bought the shrapnel." He tapped the hard case in his chest. "So let's leave it as read that I'm not going to let it happen."

"He killed hundreds of people, mind-controlled my agents, and he brought in aliens to conquer our planet," Fury insisted, in an angry growl.

"And he threw me out of the Tower. I know. I was there. So he deserves to get chained up and autopsied alive? I don't think so." He thought of Loki before that memorial, upset and a bit crazy, and shook his head. "Look, it's not that simple. This big bad Thor told us about is real. He's the one behind Loki's attack then, and he's the one behind the magical blizzard now. Loki's our ally and, like or not, we need him."

Fury read between the lines. "Loki was in New York. You've seen him. Where is he?"

Tony ate two more M&Ms and kept his gaze on Fury's so he wouldn't lift it and look at the two Asgardians on his sundeck. "Safe."

"I could require you to turn him over."

"Require?" Tony snorted. "You can ask, pretty please, cherry on top, and I'm gonna say no."

"You don't want me to come get him," Fury warned.

"You know Thor's with him, right? Hovering very protectively over his little brother. Oh, and we've got another Asgardian, by the way. Lady Sif. Standing guard, too." Right outside the window, in fact, he could see Sif waiting at the entrance to the sundeck, watching Loki and Thor in the prow. Tony shook his head. "Nick, don't make this a disaster. Look, none of us did beans; it was all Loki who just saved our planet from an Ice Age, and maybe total destruction if that magnetic field weakening had continued. Do you want to piss him off, when the final boss fight is on the way?"

"Are you really going to put yourself outside the law like this? Harboring that monster?"

It was like Nick didn't even hear him. Tony wanted to smack him in the face. He knew Nick could think outside the box, but right now he was acting like he'd never heard of not following orders blindly.

"Well, you seem to think you're above the law, so we're even." Tony closed the connection with a sharp wave. "Damn it. JARVIS, initiate silent running mode. Head east, we need open water."

"Yes, sir. Silent running mode engaged."

"Good. Since nobody took up my quinjet offer, I guess they're all staying. I'm going to go sabotage the quinjet's comms, before any of our weak links get any cute ideas."

"Sir, if I may inquire, are you certain of this course of action?" JARVIS asked, as close to a "are you out of your goddamn mind?" as he got. Apparently he was taking lessons from Pepper when Tony wasn't around.

Tony's gaze went to Loki and Thor standing at the rail, as Thor tried to pat his shoulder and Loki shook him off. Seeing the tall, dark haired figure silhouetted against the sky reminded Tony of facing Loki at the tower. At the time, he'd been fueled by the insane bravado of refusing to show how terrified he was of this alien invader. But it was different now. He thought of Loki lighting all those candles at the memorial, because of course he didn't give a damn for puny mortals. Was it nuts to pin his hopes on the thought that the God of Lies was lying about not caring? But as long as it was true that Loki wanted Thanos dead, their interests aligned anyway.

"Yes, JARVIS. I am. I know everyone's going to think it's crazy, but I don't think there's any other real choice. Even if Fury throws him in a cell in the Fridge and he doesn't get shipped off to some lab to get chopped up, all that'll do is make him hate us at a time some intergalactic evil mastermind is about to knock on our door. We can't afford that. And we certainly can't afford to piss off Thor, too. So I'm gonna keep Loki from SHIELD as long as I can."

"Understood, sir."

Tony was glad someone did, and he blew out a long breath heading back to the quinjet to sabotage the comm system. Silent running mode should block all outgoing transmissions, but the quinjet could punch through JARVIS' jamming so it was best to block it now.

Thor found Loki at the front of the ship. It was mostly bare deck all the way to the pointed prow, and Loki stood in the shade back from the edge, looking to the ocean that stretched out before them, all glinting gold in the sunset's rays. "Loki, you should rest," Thor said.

Loki folded his arms. "I am well."

Thor rolled his eyes at that lie. "You are not. You are exhausted."

Loki glowered. "I am not a mortal to need rest." He brushed past Thor to head for the railing, his cape billowing and tangling briefly around Thor's leg.

Thor followed. "And I am not one of them to be fooled by your posturing. You fell asleep on the flying craft."

"It's called a quinjet. Has no one told you?"

Thor was not even close to falling for that misdirection. He gripped Loki's shoulder, though Loki shook it off. "Loki."

"What? I rested enough."

Thor groaned in frustration. "Which is why you still wear your presentation armor," Thor observed dryly.

"Why should I change?" Loki returned.

"You never wear your full cape in battle."

Loki glanced deliberately to either side. "I see no battle here. Unless you mean your friends intend to attack me?" He lifted a brow at Thor.

"No, of course not," he reassured Loki.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." He turned his head to seek out where Sif was standing and narrowed icy eyes at her. "I hope your eavesdropping has been illuminating."

Not provoked, she lifted her brows at him and approached. "Your mood is turned quite foul. Thor is right; you should rest."

"When I wish your advice, I will ask for it, which will be never," he snapped at her. "The mortals' hostility is more entertaining than the two of you and your incessant tongue-wagging."

He spun and stalked away. Thor started to follow, but Sif caught his arm. "Thor, let him be."

Frowning, worried, Thor watched the direction he had gone. "He is exhausted."

"No doubt," she agreed. "But the harder you push, the more he resists, you know this. Let him come to it on his own."

She was right, Thor knew that, but she did not understand the whole of the problem, either. "It is not only his goat-headedness." His hands curled around the railing and he added more softly, for her ears alone, "I think he fears to sleep. He revealed that Thanos was in his mind, forced upon him terrible visions. He believed Mother was dead and his hand had done it." He shook his head, remembering Loki's terrible confusion and his grief for something he had not done.

"That, at least, I can confirm is not true, as I came from her directly. She is unharmed, and Asgard had the victory. We fought with the jotnar, who make for fearsome foes, but also impressive allies," she added.

Thor remembered giant battle prowess that he had taken so lightly and been proven quite wrong, and he was not surprised. "Malekith is defeated?"

"Utterly. He lives, but his halls are a ruin."

Thor wished Malekith was dead, but perhaps it could not have been helped. "Loki said Thanos had possessed Malekith?"

"So I was told. Loki and Thanos fought, and in the fight, somehow, Thanos was pushed out or retreated."

Thor lifted his brows, impressed that Loki had fought Thanos in magical combat with any success at all. Everything Thor knew of Thanos' power suggested that was difficult.

Sif continued, "So the Eternal One waits beyond Jormungandr yet."

"He will attack again, search for some new crack," Thor said. "Now that his ploy with the Casket has failed."

"And we will stand against him," Sif declared.

"Indeed," Thor agreed, sharing her bold determination. He wished most of all to slam Mjolnir into Thanos' face and avenge all he had inflicted on Loki that had made him a shadow of his former self. "Come, let us be sure the others are not taking advantage of his exhaustion and ill-temper."

They went to the main seating area, a room that stretched most of the length of this deck inside, including a spacious area with comfortable seating, a dining area, and forward a kitchen space. Thor swiftly took a head-count: Rogers, Banner, Barton, and Romanoff were there. Loki and Stark were not. But since those two seemed unlikely to fight, Thor didn't worry that Loki was in danger and let himself and Sif be brought into the camaraderie of his Midgardian friends.

Loki hesitated at the hatch, heard voices, and decided he had no patience to deal with the mortals. He kept walking, heading aft of the ship to find a place where none of them would bother him.

The deck beneath the landing platform felt too dark and low so he climbed up. His body was reluctant to do even the most minor effort of climbing the ladder, and when he reached the upper deck, he was tempted to sit there and not move.

His cape billowed in the wind and wrapped the railing, and he remembered Thor pointing out that he should change it. He should take it off, but it seemed like too much effort. He wandered to the nose of the jet, seeking to go around to look at the propulsion system, but realized the entire back had no railing. Too tired to make a path or portal, he might actually drown if he fell in the sea.

He laughed mirthlessly at the thought. If only the mortals knew how easy he would be to dispose of right now. One could shove him over the edge into the water and he would sink straight down, his density greater than his strength or breath to save himself.

It might be like falling into the void again, sinking down into the dark water...

"You might want to stay back from the edge in case we hit a swell."

A sudden voice made him start. He blinked, realizing he was looking down into the water. Stepping back, he turned to look. Stark was perched on the nose of the jet, where a panel was open. He wore the gauntlet of the suit and held a bright, sparking tool.

After a moment, Stark lifted his brows and gestured with his free hand in invitation. "Did you want something?"

"From you? No. I thought the platform would be empty. What are you doing?"

"Sabotaging the quinjet's communications, so it can't contact SHIELD. Just in case any of our friends get too eager to phone home."

Loki walked closer, frowning at him and tilted his head to regard Stark curiously. "To protect me."

"Yeah, don't remind me." He shut the panel with a snap. "Look, Thor backs your claim that you're our play against the big bad. I saw what you did with the reactor, so I believe it. I still think you're a crazy megalomaniac, but you're what we've got. And locking you up doesn't help anybody."

"That would never happen, Stark." He smiled thinly, remembering. There had been more than one reason he'd made sure Asgard knew he was on Midgard. Though in hindsight he knew that calculus was influenced by needing to get the tesseract and Gauntlet near one another. He didn't want to think of that, though. "Barton was quite thorough in his description of what befalls those aliens that come into their possession."

Stark glanced his way, brows lifted curiously. "Aliens? Plural? Not just the Chitauri?"

Loki chuckled. "Oh, your world may be a primitive backwater, but others have found their way to it over the years. Asgard tracks them, but cannot remove them all."

"I should look in those files, find the aliens." Stark wriggled down the panels to let himself down to the deck. "So speaking of that, I was curious if I could see your other look."

"My other what?" Loki repeated, keeping his tone ignorant, even as his heart seemed to freeze up in his chest and icy claws tore at his insides with sudden anxiety.

"The blue skin," Stark answered, with a casual shrug. "I only got a glimpse, and I wanted to see it again."

The confirmation of what he had been hoping wasn't what Stark meant, nearly made Loki vomit all over the deck at the thought that these mortals knew. Stark knew; he'd seen. "No," Loki could barely shove the word out of a throat that had closed up. He tried walking away, and Stark pursued him.

"Oh, come on, it's interesting-"

Loki whirled around and glared in his eyes. "I am not here for your entertainment," he hissed through his teeth. The mortal looked back with that infuriating disregard for his place in the universe.

"I didn't say that," Stark insisted. "It's not to mock you, if that's what you're thinking. I mean, I can mock you without seeing it again, right, Grumpy Smurf?"

Loki clenched his jaw, knew he was being baited, but he still had to know. "And what is a Smurf?"

"A small blue creature. Fictional. Wears a white hat. I think they're Dutch. ." He waved a hand. "Point is, they're blue."

Loki found himself distracted by the thought if these 'Smurfs' were based on old memories of when Jotunheim had attacked Midgard, but shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought as useless distraction. "You will not call me Smurf or any of your other stupid epithets," he warned.

"Or what?"

"Do you enjoy having your head attached to your neck?" Loki returned and walked away, hoping it was done.

Of course, he should've known better. "Calling your bluff, Grumpy Smurf."

Loki groaned, irritated, and folded his arms. He focused murderous thoughts at Stark, hoping one of them might gather enough wild magic to happen on its own. It didn't. But thinking about it was as far as he was truly willing to go, though he wished otherwise.

"Figured." Stark's voice was more thoughtful when he added, "You shouldn't let it get to you."

"You understand nothing."

"Now that's not actually true, I understand a lot of things. And one of those things is that nobody should be ashamed of who they are. I mean, actions, sure, I hope you're ashamed of what you did in New York and all that. But not for what you were born."

Loki let out a bitter short laugh. "You don't even know what I was born, Stark, so spare me your ignorant blather."

"Fine, fine, you don't want to hear it. I get it. But here's the deal – you're a Smurf. And I'm gonna keep calling you Smurf until you relent and show me what you really look like again."

"Is that your idea of a threat?"

"Nope. A promise. That, to me, it was awesome." Loki barked a laugh at that. Stark was so... ignorant, it was unbelievable. But he wasn't finished, adding, "You were my first alien that wasn't one of those Chitauri bug people, and I want to see."

"Never."

"We'll see, Reindeer Smurf. But I'm hungry, so we'll have to deal with your issues later. I'm going to find some food. You're welcome to join me."

Loki could not think of anything he'd like less, but managed to reply without clenching his jaw too hard, "I need nothing."

"Suit yourself."

He was glad when Stark climbed down the ladder to the main deck and left him alone on the landing pad. He laid a hand on the jet as a wave of light-headednes left him unsteady. He wasn't hungry at all, but despite what he'd said, he knew he needed rest. But rest meant sleep and sleep meant dreams, and as short a time as he'd slept on this jet on the way here, he'd felt the looming shadow in his mind. He remembered enough of his nightmares under the influence of the Casket to know he didn't want to deal with them again. Not yet, at least.

A sudden sharp pain in his head drove him to his knees, and he held his head with his hands. Luckily it was short and soon ended. He looked up, wondering what it had been, to spy Munin winging his way down.

"Pigeon."

Munin landed on the wing edge of the jet, cocked his head to fix one yellow eye on Loki. He had something in his mouth which he lowered his head in offer to Loki, who reflexively held out a hand to receive it. Munin dropped a hazelnut in his palm. "Nut," the raven said. "From queen. And this."

He held out his left foot too, where he held a small message cylinder, and Loki took that and gave him back the nut. "Here, surely this is yours."

Munin didn't argue with the gift, swallowing the nut.

Loki gripped the message in his hand, glad to know she was still there. Still alive. But did he want to hear what she had to say? He already knew from Sif that he couldn't come home yet. Nor did he want to hear any disappointment about how he'd almost destroyed Earth.

Munin poked his hand. "See her."

"Why?" he asked Munin. "She'll cloak it in softness, but the message will be the same: I was supposed to come here to help, but I failed. Made everything worse. And so I must stay here and fight Thanos, even though I probably couldn't fight a butterfly right now." His voice turned ragged, and he had to inhale a deep breath to get himself back under control.

Munin rubbed his beak on the back of Loki's hand. He looked down at the bird, wearily surprised the bird was showing him any interest at all. "Watch message, cub. The truth is not so dismal as your fears."

With resignation, he held out his hand and activated the message. It grew into a full-sized hologram of Frigga, transparent and glowing, but displaying that she was still armored and wore a sword that he smiled to see. She looked very fierce, and appeared to be in Asgard by the shadowy colums behind her.

The image oriented itself to his eyes and she smiled. "Hello, Loki. Though I sent Sif to you, I also wanted to send you my love more directly now that we know of your victory. Your father and I are proud of you, my son. You controlled the Casket of the Ancient Winters, and that is a great achievement. Do remember you need rest, little one, and food. I know mortal food is difficult for you, but you need to find something to rebuild your energy."

Her eyes softened with sympathy and she held out a hand as if to touch him. "I know you want to come home, darling. Sigyn has told me how you suffered in Svartalfheim." He gasped and almost as if she heard, she nodded. "Yes, she still lives, and she has left Svartalfheim to come with me and wait in Asgard for you. She says she owes you something that you may collect when you return." Her smile suggested she had suspicions of that that 'something' might be, and she was pleased by it.

Loki closed his hand tightly around the small cylinder halting its playback. "She's alive?" he whispered.

To his surprise Munin answered, "Sigyn Durns-daughter is with the queen, yes. Made welcome guest in Asgard."

"Is she- is she well?" he asked, his voice rough. "How does she fare?"

"She fares well, cub."

He felt dizzy and had to lean against the jet as his legs felt weak. This was all too much. His mother was still alive, Sigyn was still alive, and Odin wasn't angry or disappointed? It seemed like it must be a dream, but if it were, he would rather not wake from it.

Spirits rejuvenated by this surprising turn, he reactivated the message and Frigga continued, "Stay with the mortals, protect them against Thanos. Your father says you need to check Jormungandr when you are able; he fears it is weakening. Be strong, little one. I know this is a time of trial for you, but know this- I believe in you. Your father believes in you. Only you can do what must be done, but do not try to do it alone. Thor and Sif, and these powerful mortals must be your allies. Work with them. See to it that evil is defeated, together. You can do this. I have a message for Thor, as well, so give this to him. My love goes with you always, Loki." Then as the image began to fade, she reminded him, "Eat something! And rest!"

Then she vanished, and he looked at the empty air where she'd stood. His heart eased those tight bands that had held back his breath for so long, and he released a long sigh.

Munin hopped up on his hand. "Food."

loki lifted his hand to Munin was level with his eyes and teased. "You're just lucky I can't eat you, bird."

Munin launched himself off Loki's hand and scraped talons through his hair, not amused, but Loki chuckled anyway. Munin circled the boat while Loki made his way down.

Loki pulled open the hatch that opened into the main lounge area, to find Sif and Rogers arm wresting at the table, while the others egged them on. It was a scene so familiar to his life before that his step hesitated, an old feeling of standing on the outside struck and he nearly ducked back.

But Stark saw him. He was behind the bar, pouring himself something to drink. "Hey. Look who decided to be sociable. There's food in the galley, help yourself. You want that drink finally?"

Loki was about to reflexively refuse, but it sounded appealing. "Yes, I do." Stark made a second of what he was pouring for himself and slid the glass down the bar to Loki to catch. Loki saluted him with the drink in thanks, and turned to watch the match.

In the fight, Rogers and Sif were both straining, and Loki was surprised they were evenly matched. So if it was not a matter of pure strength, they should be measured by something else. He fished out an ice cube and crushed it between his fingers. The odd noise startled Rogers enough for Sif to slam his hand down with a triumphant cry.

Rogers turned to glare at him. "Hey! That's interference."

Loki shrugged, unrepentant, and shook the ice shards from his hand. "It was fair. She was focused, you were not." Sif grinned and saluted him with her flagon. "Thor!" he called to get his attention, and tossed the cylinder. "There's a message for you."

Thor grabbed it out of the air and grinned. "Sif has shared the news. I am sorry to have missed such a great battle." He headed outside to see Frigga's message to him, while Loki ducked into the kitchen area to look for something to eat.

As he prodded suspiciously at the food spread out on the counter, he sipped at the drink. There was strange plastic-looking yellow sauce and what were supposed to be vegetable chips but smelled of salty aluminum. Black and white circular sweetened things did not smell like food at all. Other things he knew would make him ill. Nothing he could eat. He hurled a platter of some foul things and his tumbler at the closed cabinets of the pantry. The smashing glass did nothing to ease his abrupt surge of temper. "It is no wonder you breed and die like rabbits when your food is so abominable!"

There was dead silence in the other room and they stared at him when he emerged. Rogers started to say something, but Loki ignored all of them to grab two bottles off the bar. Hating that he didn't have enough strength to teleport himself through the door, he shoved open the hatch and fled back outside, to get away from them and their wretched existence.

... tbc...