He was leading her out of the catacombs, but he was thinking that this was a mistake. They needed to get back to Earth, not go to Knowhere, looking for gods knew what.

He was unsure of the lot. Would Jane be able to contain the Reality Stone? Would the attempt kill her?

If Jane died, what would Thanos do?

"Are you gonna…transport us like you did before?" she asked.

"I am," he replied.

Jane walked up the stairs, thinking. He was being weird again…and there could be any number of reasons why. He was, after all, Loki. She reached out for his elbow. "Hey…"

"Leaving, Prince Loki?" Nindrol asked after them.

He turned, looking at the Elf. He nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Nindrol, for your assistance."

"Not at all. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Jane turned fully toward him now. He seemed to be different. There was something amiss here…"No," she reflexively said. At the moment, she didn't quite trust him. And it wasn't exactly a lie.

"Strange. The catacombs almost never disappoint."

"I didn't say I was disappointed," Jane replied.

"But you were unable…"

"They're amazing. And I could never be disappointed in something like that," she smiled.

"Let's go, shall we Ms Selvig?" Loki smiled at her.

Jane nodded and followed him out. "I didn't like him asking questions like that," she said after they descended the stairs to the street.

"He's nothing."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that he isn't going to say anything to anyone. He's a quiet sort. He works in an enormous library, for gods sake," he smiled at her and stopped. "So…you want to go to Knowhere to see the Collector, is it?"

She shrugged. "It makes sense. Maybe I can …" what? She hardly knew anymore. "You know, though…I am hungry…" when was the last time she had eaten?

He nodded, smiling to himself. "There are plenty of places here. We can walk just a bit and find one."

"Great," and she said it a little too enthusiastically, unsure if it was apprehension, or something best left unsaid.

"There is trouble ahead…" Heimdall was looking from the front of the ship.

"It's darker than I remember," said Thor, his eye searching for Nidavellir.

"No. The star is out."

"What?" his brow furrowed and he looked closer. Indeed, it appeared as though the star had lost its fire. "How is that possible?"

"Something…" Heimdall was looking on with a wary eye.

Thor moved to the helm and squinted. "It's out," he turned to the seer. "The star is out." They entered the star's pull and he blinked disbelievingly. "What's happened?"

Heimdall turned to leave the ship. "Thanos."

"Here?" Thor's brow furrowed. Why would Thanos be here, on Nidavellir?

"He's gone. Left it…"

The ship landed with a small thud, sounding much less impressive than it did landing on Midgard.

The pair disembarked and looked around. "It's cold…"

Heimdall's back went ramrod straight, waiting for a sound of life…"There's someone here."

Thor looked around. The darkness was so thick that he was still having trouble adjusting his eye. It was as though a veil had cloaked the star.

And they heard crying.

Thor looked around. "Eitri?" there was no one there…no one. And he hoped beyond hope that Eitri had survived Thanos, or whatever had laid waste to this place.

"Thor?" and the massive dwarf appeared out of the shadows.

"What happened?"

The dwarf slumped to the floor. Heimdall went over to him. "He slaughtered them all."

And Eitri sighed. He nodded. "I gave him what he wanted."

"What did he want?" asked Thor.

Eitri swallowed, looking up at him. "I …"

"Thor," said Heimdall. "Come here."

He walked over. "By the gods…" he breathed.

The mold for a gigantic gauntlet lay on the floor.

Wanda was holding Vision's hand. Everyone was bustling about, trying to prepare for Thanos, and to ensure Vision's recovery. "I'm here," she was saying.

And Tony was watching, thinking of Pepper. He should see if she's ok, then send her somewhere out of the fray. "Hey, Bruce? How's things going here?"

"I feel like I need another set of eyes. Someone who's not us."

"Yeah. Like a renowned astrophysicist who was in contention for a Noble Prize?"

"Well, I was thinking more biodynamics, but sure. You got a spare astrophysicist laying around?"

He smiled. "She was on her way, but was either kidnapped or killed by Loki."

This stopped him. "Loki? You mean Jane Foster? Thor said something about him bringing her here."

"Well, that was supposed to happen…"

"Where are we at here, Tony?" Steve Rogers walked up, a crease on his brow.

"We're just prepping our guy here."

"We need to speed it up. We don't know where Thanos is…"

Tony and Bruce sighed. "We got it."

Steve offered a curt nod and turned away. He walked briskly down the hall.

"They have no idea what they're doing, do they?" Natasha fell into step with him.

"Doesn't look like it."

"We need more brains."

"Yeah…I know. But I don't know if they'll come, or if I should even ask," he looked out of the window.

"Who?" she crossed her arms and looked up at him. "Don't hold out on me, Rogers," she smiled. "We've been through too much these past couple of years."

"Well, you remember the Prince? T'Challa?"

She nodded. "He's King now."

He smiled. "They've got brains to spare," and looked at his feet.

"Wakanda?"

"That's where Bucky's at."

Her hands fell. "What?"

He looked up at her. "Don't be mad, Nat. I haven't told anyone."

"Not even Sam?"

"Not even Sam. Too dangerous for people to know…." he looked out of the window again and grasped at the railing surrounding it. "We're here…at Avengers headquarters in upstate New York…and there's an intergalactic threat…" he turned. "We need whatever help we can get."

"Yeah ok. How do you get in touch with …" she paused. "Wakanda?"

"How well do you know Alfheim?"

"Well enough."

"Well enough that I'll enjoy my last meal ever?" she smiled.

"What do you mean?"

Jane looked at the road in front of her. It stretched long, and dusk was falling. A moon could be spied just on the horizon as a peachy color emerged. "I'm going to confront Thanos. What are my odds of surviving that?"

"Fair."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Well, you are with me Jane. A known sorcerer. I have some talents at my disposal."

She rolled her eyes. "I feel so much better."

He smiled. "Just here. There is a wealth of choices for a beverage. And the food isn't horrid."

"Like Earth?"

"You said it, not me," he opened the door for her.

Jane walked in, and the following scene unfurled before her eyes:

People, Light Elves, she guessed, were dressed in earthen colors…tunics mostly. They had varying skin tones, but almost everyone had reddish hair.
It was a dark place, but bands of dying light streamed in from the windows.

There was a lot of noise, mostly from talking. She swallowed, looked at Loki. "It's nice."

He chuckled. "Best keep your observations to a minimum. Not all Light Elves are completely…pleasant."

She furrowed her brow and looked around. They appeared to be harmless enough. She shrugged, following him to a table in the back.

They sat at a round table, and Jane apprehensively looked for some sort of menu…some indication that food was prepared here.

Someone approached them and placed a couple of mats in front of them. She raised her eyebrows.

"We'll have the harvest mead," Loki nodded, smiling slightly.

She left, and Jane looked out of the window. "Why are you being so accommodating and nice?"

"Would you rather I be disagreeable and inconvenient? Because I am well versed in them both."

"No," she looked at the table and swallowed. "But…I feel as though I'm missing something here."

"Such as?"

And now she looked at him. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you made the idiot decision to board that ship, and I told Thor that I'd bring you to headquarters. And I feel responsible for you."

"But then…why not bring me right to him then? Why go along with all this?"

He studied her for a moment. "Because there is something to what you say, and I am curious by nature. And…" he swallowed, looking down. "And I've grown to be concerned about your welfare."

Jane smiled. "Well, I guess that's something."

"It certainly is," he looked at her, brow furrowed a bit. "I've changed very much recently, Jane Foster. And this expedition is part of that."

Their drinks arrived, and the server left. She sipped. "I'm afraid," it took a lot to admit this to him, for she was unsure of him as yet. Despite his assurances, he was the God of Mischief.

"Of?"

"…of…of being right. And of being wrong."

"About your abilities to wield…" he paused, looking around. "The thing in question."

She nodded. "Strangely, I'm not very scared to die. I almost feel as though it's inevitable. But…what does it mean if I am more than human? What does it mean if I'm not? And why the fuck didn't I consider this before yesterday?"

"My guess is you had other things on your mind."

She shrugged. "Still…"

"Food?"

Loki looked up. "Is the stew fresh?"

She nodded.

"Two, then."

Jane followed the server with her eyes. "She's a strange one."

"She doesn't speak much English."

"Oh," she looked at him now. "What do they speak here?"

"All sorts. Elvish. Norwegian. A few others you're probably not familiar with."

"Do you speak all of the languages native to Alfheim?"

"Of course I do," he sipped as their bowls came.

"It's delicious," she smiled, taking a bite. She figured that Loki was bright, but she was beginning to think that he was borderline genius. "What's the plan once we get to Knowhere?"

"Well, we'll need to speak to Taneleer Tivan. Which is irritating."

"Who's Taneleer Tivan?"

"The Collector I mentioned."

She nodded. "He has it?"

"Yes. And I suppose that once we get it, we'll see what happens."

"…to me?"

He took another bite. "Yes."

"Last time it nearly killed me."

"We would do well to avoid that this time round."

She sighed. "Yeah."

He looked at her, then leaned in a bit. "Jane…are you certain that you want to attempt this?"

"No. But I don't know what else to do. What if I can stop him?"

"What if you can't?" he wasn't sure why her determination to face the Titan caused him disquiet, but there it was.

"Then I'll know. And I'll likely lose my life…but…" she swallowed, suddenly not so hungry. "But at this point, I hardly care."

"What does that mean? Are you pitying yourself?"

"No. Yes," she figured she'd be honest. "I'm a joke in my field. I've been made into a punch line where Thor is concerned. I'm all alone…" and she realized just how pathetic she sounded. She played with her stew, then sat back.

He sighed. "I won't sit here and listen to this. So you've been made a fool of by Thor. You'll prove yourself by either my feigning interest, or by virtue of his being around you. As for your field, they'll certainly be convinced after all of this is over."

"I'm not even sure that I want to make him jealous anymore. I'm not angry with him. I …" she wasn't really thinking about him at all. "I just want to move on."

He smiled. "Then do it."

"I guess I'm just in limbo. And I feel as though I'm grasping, desperate for something to be real in my life. For something to make sense. Something to be good for a change. I can't tell you why I jumped on that ship, but there was a part of me that wanted to be reckless. To be free…to prove myself."

"And you think that should you discover your parentage, if there's anything to that, that you'll be free? It might not, you know. I have some experience in this area. And if anything, the knowledge was enslaving."

She lowered her gaze, then back again. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mentioned to you before that I was adopted. Well, what I didn't tell you was that I had spent most of my life believing that Odin was my real father. That I was an Aesir."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Oh…"

…and something along the periphery of thought ignited recognition. "You said that your mother died young and your father never remarried…did you or did you not know your father?"

She smirked, shrugging. "I reversed it. I didn't want to divulge too much to you. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Loki chuckled. "Touche, Jane Foster."

"So…you're saying that knowledge enslaved you?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"I dunno…" she sighed.

How could he expedite the process and get this mortal back to Midgard? She was waffling, and he couldn't waste too much more time. He'd rather avoid Thanos if possible. "Are you finished?"

"Yeah," Jane shrugged.

"Then let's get to Knowhere. I fear for our people."

"Our people?"

"Yes. Yours and mine."

She blanched. "Do you honestly think that Thanos is there already?"

"I am no fortune teller, Jane."

Her mouth set. "If we went to Knowhere now, how would we get back to Earth quickly?"

"My powers can get us there, I think."

"It can't hurt to try Knowhere, can it?"

It could. "Jane, if you are able to wield the Aether, it would make you a target. If not, it could kill you."

"I have nothing to lose."

He looked at her steadily. "I cannot believe that. You have your work. You have…Thor."

"I don't have Thor. And no one cares about what I say in the community any longer."

"Then you have me," he sat back. "It wasn't that long ago you kissed me," and there it was. He brought it up in casual conversation.

She swallowed. "I did."

"You regret it," he said without feeling.

"No. No, I don't," but she said it without feeling. "Though it feels almost a lifetime ago."

"We have travelled far, Jane," he drank the rest of the mead. "Surmised much. Shared some stories…"

She shrugged. Finished her stew. "Let's go. There is no point in waiting any longer. I'll either meet Thanos on Knowhere or Earth. Or else die in the attempt."

"Your optimism is unparalleled," he smirked. "Fine. Knowhere. But let's hurry. I fear for Midgard and her inhabitants…" he stood, left some units, and offered her his hand.

She took it.