A/N

Hello. Actually updating on time this week! Not much to say about this chapter, except that I barely finished on time again. Please, please review, it keeps me encouraged. Tell me what you think, anything I need to do better... And whether you think this should be Maggie's last chapter. There's a place for her later in the story, but it's not really that important to the plot. Do you guys want to see her come back, or not?

Thor woke to Fandral roughly shaking him. Angry at being interrupted, he snarled and swatted his friend away.

"I'm sorry for waking you, but Heimdall wanted to see you. And I can't exactly tell him no."

Rolling out of bed, he snatched the shirt handed to him and pulled it over his head.

Fandral leaned against the bedpost to watch as the disgruntled man got tangled in his shirt. "Were you dreaming about Loki?"

He was familiar with many of his friend's dreams, and there was only one thing he could think of that would make him so reluctant to wake up. As well as he hid it from the rest of the kingdom, his friends knew how much he missed his brother.

Thor, who had finally managed to find the correct holes for the arms, looked up at him. "In a way." Before there was time for the somewhat confused god to question his answer, he stood and grabbed his cloak. "Thank you for telling me. I will see you later, in the courtyard as usual?" He left without waiting for an answer, leaving Fandral blinking in shock and somewhat concerned for his friend.

"You summoned me?"

"I did. Yesterday, you asked me about the realm of the Chitauri. I thought it to be a coincidence, but I now believe it may have something to do with a strange occurrence that happened on Midgard several days ago. While I deemed it unimportant at the time, your strange behavior over the past day has caused me to reconsider that."

Thor frowned and stepped closer. "What was it?"

"There were Chitauri in the city of New York." When Thor angrily began to interrupt, he continued. "There were only two of them, and they left quickly. They took nothing but a nameless child. Things such as this happen more often than you think, and I have learned to ignore them. However your recent interest in the Chitauri led me to believe this may be important. They do not leave their home, wherever it is, often."

The younger man stared at him, speechless. A nameless child, snatched by the Chitauri in the very city where his brother had been killed. "W-what do you know about the boy?" He coughed to cover up his hesitation.

Heimdall looked piercingly at him for a few seconds too long before replying. "I do not usually pay much attention to the individuals of Midgard. There are billions of them. This one managed to briefly catch my attention, however. He came from nowhere, and he had an stronger interest in the recent battle than one would expect from a child with no past."

That was Loki, almost certainly. "Is there anything else you can tell me, about the boy or the incident?"

"If you would like, I could sent you to Midgard to talk to the woman he had befriended. She would know more than I."

Thor considered his options. He could wait until he had a day without plans, possibly leaving Loki to the Chitauri's wrath for longer than he had to, or he could temporarily shirk his responsibilities and go now. It barely took a moment for him to decide. The memory of the terror on his brother's face when he had told him rescue was a ways away reminded him what was important. His brother was, and had always been, priority.

"Open the bifrost."

As the building began to spin, the god realized he didn't know where he was going. "Where do I-"

"I will put you down as close as I can to her as I can. The Chitauri were not careful, you will be able to find the right place. The woman's name is Margaret."

"Thank you." He stepped into the tunnel of light. As he hurled toward Midgard, he wondered what he was hoping to find there. Clues as to where his brother had been taken? Unlikely. If the creatures had revealed that, Heimdall would know. You want confirmation that your brother is not lying to you. He is, after all, a trickster. As much as he wanted to trust Loki, he had always been known for elaborate schemes and this would fit that description perfectly. But he knew his brother, and he knew what he would and would not do for the sake of a plan. If he could talk to someone he had been around, he would be able to tell once and for all what the situation was.

He hit the pavement hard, just managing to keep his balance. Squinting in the white light of a cloudy day, he scanned for signs of an attack. It wasn't difficult to find. The glass front of a store a few dozen yards away was completely shattered, and across the street a door had been ripped from it's hinges. Rubble and broken glass had all been cleared away but the actual damage had yet to be fixed. He started where the destruction was the worst, striding purposefully past a small group of terrified pedestrians. It had been a stressful week for the people who lived and worked on this street.

Thor stepped through the shattered window, deciding that the door was somewhat pointless at the moment, and smiled at the startled woman lying on the floor repairing the smashed tiles. "Hello."

She stared at him for several seconds before calling out hesitantly in the direction of the back room. "John...? There's someone here..."

A tired sounding man's voice replied. "Just a sec."

There was a crashing noise, and an angry curse before a ruffled looking blonde man came staggering from behind the counter. "Can I help-" He stopped when he saw the god standing among the mess of tools and scraps of tile. "Thor..?"

He had forgotten that he would likely be recognized on Midgard after the recent battle, even without his armor. "Yes. I am here looking for someone. A lady by the name of Margaret. Do you know where I might find her?"

John was still staring, somewhat stunned by the appearance of a superhero in his store. After a few seconds, he got his brain working well enough to stutter out a response.

"D-do you mean Maggie? She works across the street…" He lifted his arm in a pitiful attempt at pointing.

"Thank you." Thor nodded politely and carefully stepped back out of the broken window, heading towards the bookstore and leaving the confused man leaning against the counter wondering when his life had gotten so weird.

A knock against the doorframe woke Maggie from where she had been dozing. Since the door was gone, she had used a spare black curtain to try and block some of the freezing air that insisted on blowing inside, but it really wasn't doing that great of a job. She had fallen asleep curled in the blanket Luke had been using, having had almost no rest the night before. Her voice was rough with sleep when she called out, "Come in."

She nearly fell of her chair in shock when the huge man with the long blonde hair pushed aside the curtain and ducked into her dark shop.

"Hello. I apologize for my sudden appearance, but I promise you it is important. Are you Maggie?"

Oh my god, I think that's Thor. Why is Thor in my shop, and why didn't I comb my hair this morning?

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm Maggie."

"My name is Thor, you may know of me. Do you have time to talk?"

Maggie scrambled as discreetly as she could to sit up straight in her chair. "Y-yeah, I know who you are. And I'm not doing anything for a while, as my broken door isn't really attracting customers. Are you here about the aliens?"

"Thank you, and yes, I am. Do you know what the Chitauri were here for?" He walked across the shop in a few steps, coming to stop a few feet from her desk.

"Uh…" Wow, he was pretty. "They were here for the little boy. Luke." She shrugged sadly. "Or Loki, I guess."

Thor's heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard his little brother's name. "Loki?"

The woman sighed. "Yeah. I thought he was a really sweet kid, but they say he was lying to me to keep his identity secret. Although if that's true, I definitely get why. The Chitauri that came for him didn't exactly seem friendly."

The god looked closely at her. "And what do you think? The agents do not know everything. Do you believe he was lying to you, truly?"

Well.." Maggie glanced at the note peeking halfway out of a desk drawer. "I don't want to think he was. And honestly, it wouldn't make sense if he was."

Thor frowned. "How so?"

"He wasn't doing so hot when I saw him. He didn't tell me, exactly, but I'm pretty sure he was sleeping on the streets before I let him stay here, I think he was half starving. I've never seen a kid eat so desperately. And he seemed really sick, I was seriously starting to worry." She ran her fingers through her curls. "Why would a god subject himself to that, even if it was to hide from an enemy? Couldn't he have picked any of a thousand other forms that would let him keep himself warm and fed?"

An expression that almost seemed like pain showed on the man's face. "He was ill?" Loki's injuries hadn't left much room for doubt anyways, now that he thought about it, and this new information dispelled any that remained. His brother would never allow himself to starve when there was another option. Now that he knew for certain that his brother was alive and sincere in everything he had told him, there was more room in his mind to worry about him.

"Well he was coughing and shaking, even after I warmed him up. It's been pretty cold outside lately…" She shifted awkwardly. There was a superhero standing several feet away from her, almost completely without explanation, and it was making her nervous. "Umm, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so interested in him? If he was just hiding, have you come to track him down? Because I honestly have no idea where he is. "

The god leaned against the wall with a quiet sigh. "Loki is my brother, I wish to keep him safe from whatever revenge the man he was working with hopes to exact."

Brother… So Loki had had family.

"He was not lying to you. He honestly had no idea of his identity until very recently. Unfortunately, he is now very much aware and very much in danger."

"So why are you here?" She wasn't entirely asking out of concern. She still wasn't quite over the fact that there was a god in her shop.

"I came to confirm his story. As much as I love my brother, he is one of the most talented liars in the nine realms and his survival seemed to good to be true."

"But..." She wanted to believe the boy had been (more or less) innocent, but she couldn't help but question it. "How do you know he isn't lying to both of us, or faking the sickness?"

Thor shook his head. "There was very little doubt that he was lying to me after I saw his injuries. And while he can convincingly make himself appear ill, he cannot feign hunger anything like what you described. My brother has always had a small appetite, he cannot eat if he does not truly need to."

There were a few second while both of them processed the new information. Maggie broke it, her eyes narrowing as she comprehended what the god had said.

"Wait, after you saw his injuries? I thought he was with the Chitauri."

"Yes. Loki is a naturally powerful magician, I assume that the fear he is feeling allowed him to instinctively cast a simple spell and visit me in my dreams. It is similar to how a frightened human will automatically lash out with strength they were not even aware they possessed. Even when he was in complete control of his abilities and with a thousand years of training, he could not alter his appearance from what it was when he was awake, so yes. I could see his injuries even from my bed in Asgard."

This can't end well, Maggie. Just tell him what he wants and forget about the whole thing. If he hasn't already gotten him, he doesn't know how. Don't get attached, don't-

"How badly hurt was he when you saw him?"

Dammit.

"He was… not in good shape. The Chitauri were not kind to him, but I do not believe they mean to kill him. They did not seem to be the most intelligent of creatures, so there is someone powerful controls them. Someone who, from what I have seen, wants him to suffer."

He smiled sadly and added, "And if I have learned anything about my brother in recent years, it is that he would prefer death over suffering. Whoever this person is, they want to punish him. He will not be killed anytime soon."

When Thor spoke about revenge, she couldn't help herself from picturing the small boy who had fallen asleep on her floor alone somewhere in a cold dungeon, shaking and hurt. Somewhere in her mind she knew that she was probably exaggerating, but the image wouldn't go away.

"So when can you get him out?"

The large man's expression fell when she asked. "I do not know. I have already begun to draw attention to myself with my extra time in the library, but I am no closer to discovering the location of the Chitauri's home. I will continue to pursue every resource I have at my disposal, but I still fear I cannot get to him soon enough."

As much as Maggie didn't want to know, she couldn't help herself from asking. "What happens if you don't?"

"He will die. Whether they eventually kill him or he does it himself, he cannot live like that for long." Thor frowned vacantly at the wall. "I don't know how, or why, but my brother has been given a second chance. I will not let it be in vain." His gaze snapped back to her face, and he nodded farewell. "Thank you for your help. "

"No problem." He turned to go. "Hey-" No, no, don't do this to yourself. I swear to god, don't you dare…

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me if you find him?"

I hate you.

"Of course. You were kind to Loki when he needed it, we are both grateful."

The red of his tunic disappeared behind the curtain, and Maggie slumped back into her chair. She should have known letting a strange kid into her life would never have ended in anything but trouble.