Nora swore she was going to punch Fenrir in the face next time she saw him. After all she did to help him (granted he helped her, too) he just up and attacks Ryssa, Arryth, and herself while Loki ran off towards the water. He knocked Ryssa out first, before kicking Nora in the bruised side hard as hell, causing her to fall to her knees and curl in on her side. She thought about calling for Loki, but she currently couldn't breathe. Before she got back up, Fenrir had snatched Arryth, now unconscious as well, and had made his way back into the woods.

Asshole, Nora grumbled, as she tried to hold her breath from the sharp pains in her side. Suddenly, Loki was there, kneeling over her and shouting. There was a sudden searing pain in her arm and then some new cloaked figure appeared with Arryth in his arms. Fenrir, you traitor, Nora mentally growled. Then again, why was she surprised? He was a criminal, after all. Curse her for trying to think the best of people!

"I don't want anything from you," Loki nearly hissed, anger hardly concealed in his voice.

"Oh? How about your brother?" the other man, Nora used the term man loosely, smirked with his weirdly shaped teeth. Nora remained quiet, but did manage to sit up shakily behind Loki. She quickly looked over to Ryssa to check on her; she was breathing, so she was alive.

"You don't have my brother," Loki stated, a new sense of calm in his voice.

"I do enjoy proving you wrong," the creature snickered, pulling out a winged helm and tossing it towards Loki, the metal ringing as it rolled to a stop. From what Nora could see, Loki had frozen as he stared down at the metal helmet and the creature stood there grinning. Quick as a whip, Loki flung his hand out, sending a small, yet dense, blast of energy towards the creature. The cloaked figure moved quickly, forming a blur as he moved out of the way. Nora flinched when about five trees were nearly taken out where Loki's attack had blasted through.

Before Loki could attack again, the creature held out a staff that appeared and he hit the butt of it on the forest floor. A large shifting portal formed behind him as he slowly stepped backwards, Arryth still dangling limp under the creature's arm. "We'll be waiting. Perhaps Lord Thanos will be willing to trade." As soon as he was finished talking, he disappeared backwards into the portal.

Loki started cursing in other languages as he turned back to Nora. She watched as he glared towards the waterfall, chest heaving slowly as he breathed. Not wanting to rush or push him, Nora scooted over to Ryssa to pull her into her arms. After some slight shaking and attempts to awaken the young elf, Ryssa remained unconscious so Nora let her be. She wasn't entirely sure how she'd react to her brother being taken anyhow. If she was anything like Loki with his magic, she'd probably lash out at anyone and anything. She did not want to be on the receiving end of that.

"What now?" Nora finally asked Loki, looking up at him. He seemed under control now, or at least as much as she could expect from him given the circumstances. Slowly, he turned to her and knelt down.

"I'm going after that bastard, and getting my brother back," he answered concisely, his eyes burning in rage.

She nodded, "Alright, but what if that's what he wants? He wants you to follow him. I don't know anything about what happened with you and that weirdo, but whatever it is-isn't good. It's probably a trap-"

"I know it's a trap," he snapped.

Tamping down her frustration, she let the snappiness go. "So what about us? Are Ryssa and I just going to sit here? Nearly defenseless..."

"I know that, but I still have to-" he began, as he rose and turned for the portal.

"Loki, listen to me," Nora told him, catching his coat as it flared out slightly behind him. She gave the tailed section a sharp tug, pausing him. "I'm all for you getting Thor back, trust me. I'm only telling you to think! Don't just rush into the portal that the weirdo created. You know it's a trap, but you don't even know where that thing goes. Take a minute to think!"

He clenched his fists, but finally turned to look down at Nora. "Think about what."

Nora figured it was supposed to be a question, but it sure as heck didn't sound like one. "Say you go through the portal over there, then Ryssa and I are just going to sit here. I'll be completely defenseless with or without an unconscious elf child. When she wakes up, you know she's going to rush through that portal to find Arryth if it's still open. Then what? She follows you to wherever: she's pretty strong, she'll be alright, but what if something happens to her? She isn't at full strength, just like you aren't." Nora inhaled and exhaled quickly. "You're supposed to be the mastermind, not the one who goes charging in."

He stood there, silently watching her as she watched his mind worked. He didn't seem like he was going to explode at her for telling him what to do, for which she was thankful. Angry Loki was a little scary, and she did not want that turned to her again. The few times he had turned on her were more than enough for her, thank you. Gods, Nora thought. That seemed like forever ago. Ryssa began twitching in her sleep, and Nora gave him an expectant look, trying to nudge him without saying anything more.

He stood there for a few more seconds, and Nora could see he was still thinking. Then he bent down slightly to look directly into Nora's eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes," Nora answered slowly, but honestly. Then he put his hand out for her to take. Nora looked at it, her hand going to take it before she stopped herself. The last time he touched her, it had been like a giant burning (yet somehow freezing) pain on her arm. Looking down, she noticed that the skin was a vicious red with the edges turned black in the vague shape of a hand.

"I'm sorry about that, I wasn't thinking," he told her sincerely. "I'll heal it after I've gained some more of my magic." Two thin leather gloves appeared on his hands, and he held his out to her again. "Let's go."

Nora nodded as she let him pull her up gently, Ryssa still asleep in her arms. She was glad that elves were not nearly as dense as Asgardians, or else Nora would be straining embarrassingly. "Wait," Nora said. "You said 'let's'... I'm going with you through the portal?"

Loki maneuvered Ryssa onto his back, piggyback style, and held out his hand again. "Yes, you're going too. I can hardly leave you here defenseless as you so put it. You said you trusted me," Loki reminded her, a small smirk playing on his face.

"I do, but... I get the sense wherever that portal is going, that it isn't good. You sure I won't just, you know, slow you down?"

He gestured with his hand still held out to her. "Don't make me carry you through it," he threatened gently. Nora could tell he was trying to remain calm and think like she had told him, but she could also see the underlying tension in the way he held himself. He may be trying to play it off, almost like a giant joke, but he was worried.

She forced a weary smirk. "Fine, but if I have to save you, I will never let you live it down."

"I would expect nothing less, Nora," he chuckled as she finally took his hand.

Nora's talk was all bravado because as they took the dozen steps to the portal, her stomach began doing some unpleasant flips and her heart raced. However, she trusted Loki's judgment. Bracing herself, Nora held her breath as they went through the portal. Unlike the one the twins had created where she could see the other side of the portal, this one just stood there, a seven feet tall swirling mass of energy. Reaching the portal's other side, Nora exhaled slowly. Thankfully, portal traveling didn't seem as jarring and dizzying as teleporting did.

Gone was the sunshine, trees, and waterfalls. It appeared to be the later part of dusk where they ended up; the sky lit just enough to provide the minimum amount of light to see. Looking around, Nora noticed they were in some sort of desert looking area, with large rocky cliffs near the horizon. The sky held several chunks of floating land in them, like the chunks had been upended into the air and decided to stay there. The gravity seemed normal, and she wondered how the land stayed floating in the air. Everywhere around her, Nora could see the swirling colors of space itself in the sky similar to what lay beyond the Bifrost on Asgard. All in all, it looked barren and deserted.

"Keep moving, and do not stop," Loki demanded, pulling her hand to move her forward. She instantly followed, and got hit with a very chilled breeze of air that shifted sand into the air. After shivering, Loki's coat disappeared from him in a flash of green light and appeared on her, fastened in the front tightly. The bottom swished against the sand with each step, nearly tripping her, and the sleeves flowed past her hands. "It is colder here than Asgard, keep that on. You're Midgardian jacket will not prove useful here, I'm afraid."

She nodded even though he wasn't looking at her. He just kept pulling them forward at a brisk pace. Nora noticed her feet felt like they were almost sinking as they walked, and she tried to keep up with his longer strides. "What about you? Or Ryssa? Don't you need your coat, too?"

"Jotun, remember?" Loki asked sardonically. "The cold is what I'm comfortable in. Ryssa will be fine, her magic will help her even if she's unconscious. You have no such magic, therefore you are hapless against the weather. That coat is imbued in magic and treated fabrics, you should remain warm fairly well."

"Okay," she nodded. "But where are we?" She had a sinking suspicion where, but figured she'd ask anyway.

He exhaled harshly, his hand squeezing hers slightly. "The Void."

They continued walking in a tense silence, Loki still pulling Nora along. After what had to be a few hours, her legs began to slow. Between Loki's longer strides and him pulling her along still, she was exhausted. However, feeling the tense atmosphere, she didn't want to complain so she trudged on and tried to distract herself with her new surroundings.

The sky remained darkened, but now Nora could make out a fairly large moon in the distance, and more sporadic chunks of land in the air. She noticed the sand shifting every now and then even though there was little-to-no breeze, and she kept a wary eye out. Tall, rocky pillar-like structures jutted up from the sand in places, but Loki passed by them without a glance and avoided them. When she squinted, Nora could swear there were things that crawled in the shadows on the rocks, and she walked a bit faster despite the pain in her feet. Nora felt like they were being watched from all directions even though they were in the open besides the rocky pillars, and it put her on edge. There was definitely something creepy about this place.

More sand shifted like something was underneath it, causing Nora to jump as it came closer, only about twenty feet away. "Do not stop," Loki told her quietly, while tugging her along a bit faster.

"What's under the sand? Do you know?" Nora asked. "It's some freaky sand creature, isn't' it? It's probably waiting to eat us right now."

"How'd you know?" Loki asked, a small tone of surprise in his otherwise tense voice. "There aren't stories of this place on Midgard, are there?"

"I'm right?!" she yelped, keeping an eye on the area around them. "And, no. Not that I'm aware of, but there's plenty of movies and stories everywhere that cover an entire spectrum of horror and space creatures. Remind me to show you sometime, assuming we get out of here. You'll definitely have to watch E.T.," she answered, shifting a little closer to him.

"I will do my best to remember," he indulged her flippantly.

He went quiet after that, and Nora tried to keep up so she could see his face. After a few attempts, she stopped trying. His strides were just too long, and her feet hurt too much to walk as fast as she would need to. Ryssa remained draped over Loki's back, while he had his other arm reached back under her legs to keep her up. After a few more minutes of silence, Nora was starting to get a bit fidgety. "Okay, I hate to be that girl, but when are we going to stop walking? I'm just curious, not complaining," she assured him, trying to keep herself from sounding like a complaining child. Mentally, she was desperately hoping his answer would be "right now" and she could finally collapse and take a break.

Loki remained silent as Nora waited for an answer. He had to have heard her, there was no way he couldn't, unless he was outright ignoring her. She tried not to feel too dejected, he had a lot to deal with. But dammit if she didn't like the complete silence in whatever weird place they were in. She missed Darcy; she'd fill the silence with witty commentary and keep her occupied. Nora would even take Jane trying to explain to her all the stars or listen to her figure out how the chunks of land were floating in the sky. Ah crap, they must be really freaking out right now, Nora thought. They must think she was kidnapped or dead somewhere.

Well, the kidnapped part wasn't too far off, she thought wryly.

"We should reach solid land in about ten minutes," he told her finally, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"How can you tell?" Nora asked, squinting into the distance. "I can't see anything besides sand."

Once again, he was quiet before she saw his cheek rise in a small smirk. "Well, I am a bit taller than you..."

"Always causing trouble," Nora feigned a sigh, a slightly exasperated shake of her head followed.

"I thought you were the master of trouble?" he asked, looking back at her finally.

"Considering I found my way to some other dimension-realm place, after ending up on Asgard, I'd say I am the Master of Trouble. You should be kneeling before me and pledging your loyalty," she smirked, eternally grateful that he was having a conversation.

"I kneel for no one," he smirked back. Then he focused forward again, still pulling her along. Nora rolled her eyes at him. His mood swing from serious to joking and charming were...well, charming. She wasn't sure how he pulled it off, but was glad he did.

Nora noticed the change of the sand before Loki told her that they were on solid ground finally. He finally released her hand, and she immediately sat down, flopping her legs out in front of her. There was a dark rocky surface underneath her, the top covered mostly in sand. No wonder she hadn't seen it.

"I hope you know I'm not moving for at least five minutes, maybe ever again," she sighed, rubbing her feet through her shoes. She pulled her shoes off and dumped the excess sand from them. Loki jostled Ryssa until she was laying in his arms before he set her down gently, then proceeded to stretch.

"Don't get too comfy, we still have a while to go until we have a safe place to fully rest. That bastard put us into the middle of nowhere," he told her, nearly growling the last part to himself.

"That weird cloaked guy? I'm sensing you two have some... issues?" she asked, even though issues didn't seem to cover it by the look on his face. He stood there silently, a fierce scowl on his face. Then he looked at her expectedly as Nora still sat on the ground. "Five more minutes?" she tried, forcing a smile. At his deadpanned look, she sighed, pulling herself up and put her shoes on. "Alright, Oh Mighty Leader, please proceed," she grumbled, trying to ignore the pain in her feet as she followed closely behind Loki.

Eventually, after Nora had mentally complained to herself for probably an hour, Loki had found what appeared to be a cave to sleep in. He had gone in first to check its safety. He nearly had to double over to actually go in, but he had soon come out and led the way back inside, carefully jostling Ryssa so she didn't hit the walls. The inside was far bigger than Nora had expected. She had thought they'd be crammed in the cave like sardines. Not that she would have minded. She was tired and exhausted, and there could be worse people to be trapped in a cave with than Loki and an unconscious Ryssa. There was more than enough room for each one of them to spread out with a handful of space between them. As soon as Loki gave the word that they could finally rest, Nora sprawled out and almost instantly fell asleep.

The whip cut into his back again, leaving him gritting his teeth and breathing harshly through his nose. He was sure that his back was ravaged to Hel by now, the disgusting Chitauri beasts had been at it for... a while. It was long ago that he lost track of time. Loki gasped as another dry heave forced its way through him, the action pulling at his new lashes. He couldn't tell if it was from the pain or the poison they poured down his throat earlier. It seemed it wasn't enough to torture him from the outside anymore. Now they were attacking him from the inside as well.

Quietly, he could hear the creatures hissing and communicating to each other from behind him where he was hanging limply. He long gave up trying to stand up, proud. Instead, he saved his energy for healing himself later.

Soon he was released from his shackles and dropped unceremoniously to the rough ground. The crude, yet stubbornly reinforced, shackles kept his hands bound together. A matching pair was wrapped around his ankles as well. They hadn't bound him at the ankles at first; he had earned those after his third time trying to escape.

Vague, blurry shapes of the Chitauri invaded his vision, or what was left of it. His vision had been impaired after a particularly inspired bout of torture a while back, and they had yet to heal it. They would. They always did. It was no fun playing with a broken toy.

"Still putting up a fight, Princeling?" the Other's voice sneered from somewhere above him.

"But of course," Loki answered smoothly, even though his voice was rough from disuse. "I am quite stubborn that way. Perhaps try the whip with the barbs again," Loki quipped, trying to keep his panting for breath to a minimum.

"Not quite yet," the Other hissed. "I've yet to hear your screams. I thinks it's time to rectify that."

Loki tried to smirk, even though it probably came off more like a grimace. "You'll have to try a bit harder if you want to break me, creature." Like hell he'd scream. If he hadn't yet, he'd be damned to let them get to him now. His refusal and stubborn pride was all he had left, if that inconvenienced them in some way then Loki was all too happy to oblige.

Suddenly, a staff appeared in his vision, a dim blue light emanating the blurred darkness that was his vision. Loki could feel the magic from the staff, fighting its way into his body and mind. Within moments, he regretted his words and taunts for them to do worse. Whatever that energy source was, was dangerous. He could already feel it trying to invade his mind, easily slipping past any magical defenses he could put up for protection like smoke.

His vision went completely black, everything disappearing but his gradually panicking thoughts. He felt his body sag limply against his wishes, arms barely holding him up as he sat on his hands and knees. A new energy settled in his chest and mind, seeping through his magic and physiology. Sharp pains splintered through him as the energy expanded and spread through him. Instinctively, his body locked up, his breath leaving him with a slight whoosh. Then the energy snapped and exploded within him, tearing through him.

He had no control of himself anymore. The last thing he remembers is screaming, his body arching backwards painfully-

"Loki!"

His eyes snapped open, unseeing, his body instantly reacting to whatever was pushing at his legs. Right arm snapping out to grab the person, he pulled and threw them down under him, knife appearing in his left hand.

"It's me, it's me," the voice repeated quickly, shaking slightly but not fighting him. That's what gave him pause. The damned creatures would be fighting him relentlessly, they wouldn't just lay there motionless. The nightmare began fading away, finally letting him focus enough on the world around him to see. The cave...he was in the cave. A small figure was sleeping off to his left, back turned to him. Ryssa. That meant...

Nora was squinting up at him, bracing for any further attacks. Loki felt his body sag again, like he had been released from invisible threads, before scrambling back and off of Nora who he had pinned underneath him. Pressing his back against the cave wall, he covered his face with his hands and gripped his long hair. He hadn't had nightmares like that for quite some time. It's this Norns forsaken place, he mentally hissed.

"Loki..." Nora said quietly, moving towards him slowly. "Don't," she told him, still annoyingly gentle, pulling at his hands that were digging into his scalp. He resisted stubbornly, but she was determined. She wasn't strong enough to make him move, but he allowed her to pull his hands away from his head after a second, letting his hands fall into his lap. A small, gentle smile pulled at her face as he gained his bearings and control over himself. Nora crawled the couple feet over to the wall to sit next to him, arms almost touching.

"Sorry I scared you," he found himself apologizing, breaking the silence. "You should have let me sleep." Instantly, his mind rejected that statement. He was thankful she woke him up from the nightmares.

She huffed slightly. "Didn't seem like you were sleeping to me. You were nearly bowed off the ground, yelling. I didn't want you to go through whatever nightmare you were lost in." As she talked, she wound an arm around his and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Loki breathed slowly, feeling oddly vulnerable. Not even Thor or his mother knew he still had nightmares like that one. He could tell they had suspected before everything in his life went to Hel again, but neither had confronted them with their thoughts on the matter. Thor had tried, but Loki had brushed him off. Thor didn't need to waste time worrying about him.

"I know this is a stretch, but do you want to talk about it?" Nora asked him, not looking up at him but still hugging his arm.

"No," he answered. It was bad enough he was forced to relive those horrors. Someone like Nora didn't need what frequently haunted him in his sleep. She was too... good for that. He'd keep it to himself, like he had been. No one needed to know how weak and haunted he was.

He felt her smile through his shirt sleeve. "You like to be all mysterious, Loki Odinson, and you are sometimes, but you are also remarkably predictable." She exhaled, pausing for a moment. "Talking about it might help. I know you like to keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself, but I'd help you if you'd let me."

Why would you want to help me? he wondered. He realized when she answered that he had spoken that thought aloud.

"Because you need to realize you're not alone," she answered simply. "I care about you, and I want to help you if I can. If listening to your problems can help you, then lay them on me. We've been through enough together. I trust you; Maybe you should trust me now."

You can't trust anyone, a tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind. Some part of him knew that the voice was wrong. He had a few people he could trust. With certain things, at least. "It...It's this place," Loki answered vaguely, still holding back the worst of his memories and thoughts. "I'm sure you can surmise my time here was unpleasant to say the least. I had never intended on returning here. I was only here for around a year, I think. At least, that's what I've been told was the general time lapse of my absence."

"You don't know how long you were gone?" Nora asked, this time looking up at him. Her hair was slightly disheveled from sleep, his coat still encompassing her completely.

Loki shook his head. He couldn't keep track of time where they had him. There had been no fixed schedule to anything, which was most likely part of his torture. Sometimes the creatures wouldn't leave him alone for what felt like days, and sometimes they'd disappear all together for long bouts of time. He thought he would starve to death a few times, unable to move while chained in place. But sure enough, someone would come and revive him as soon as he thought it would be over. Healers had been sent in after the rounds of torture to ensure he'd be prepared for whatever came next. "It is not something I like to remember," he told her quietly, stoically looking around the cave, like the shadows were going to attack.

Her face scrunched up in thought, and he could see her trying to mentally will him to talk. And dammit if he tried to keep quiet. But he was tired of fighting everyone, and all around tired. He just wanted one person to know what had happened; his feelings and what drove him. What broke him. Before he forced himself to care, he found himself telling her of what happened when he found out his heritage, and how he lead Laufey to Asgard before killing him. He told her of the fight with Thor and how he let go on the Bifrost, feeling like there was no going back to what was. Too much had changed. Not just him, but his whole adopted family.

He told her of how he had woken up in some new world of eternal dusk, where there seemed to be no direct sun, and only dim moons lighting the sky with the cosmos. After waking, he had discovered for himself the dangers of that world one by one, alone with only his magic and his anger to keep him company. The anger hadn't lasted but a week. Looking back, he could see parts of his plans that he could've done better, and parts of his plan that shouldn't have even come to fruition to begin with. Nearly shouting himself hoarse for Heimdall, Loki had waited another week before giving up. Odin had other ways to travel through the realms, although the usage of dark matter was strictly forbidden for anyone but the old man himself, but he never came for Loki. No one did. He had been abandoned yet again, only this time it was a deserted land of sand instead of an icy pedestal. The more he thought of the only family he had known just leaving him to wander, the more rage he felt grow inside him. How foolish could he be, anyway? If they didn't care enough for him to even try to look for him, he wouldn't care about them at all.

Then the creatures he had never seen before had found him, nearly dead on his feet, only his drive to stay alive to spite the universe had kept him going. They had dragged him to deep caverns made into the ground and locked him in a room. The Other had come back with the creatures, who he then found out were called Chitauri. The Other had gone on some hissed speech on how Lord Thanos had plans for Loki to help them get back a great source of power. Loki had refused. He wasn't going to help anyone but himself. What was the point? He knew as soon as he did as asked, he'd be discarded and most likely killed. Or at least they'd attempt to try and kill him. Loki had planned on fighting them every step of the way. Fighting was what he was used to. Fighting for attention in Thor and Odin's shadows, fighting for the very realm that would hate him on sight for what he was, even if he had been unaware just like the rest of them. He had spent so much time fighting for everyone else, for their approval and friendship and camaraderie. Now he was going to fight for himself, and damn everyone else.

After what had to be several months of torture (which he skipped over specific details for Nora), he told her of the scepter and how they had used it on him. First for more pain, then trying to control him. But Loki had been far too stubborn for that. He had almost succumbed a couple times, but he was not going to let anyone else win besides him. He had escaped for the fourth time, and had snatched the scepter from the Chitauri. They had been careless and left it near him as its magic worked its way through the air and into Loki himself. Looking back now, Loki supposed they had done that on purpose, to let him fight for a weapon to retaliate with. To fight for the scepter, instead of against it. Once he had gotten a hold of it, power he could scarcely remember having had washed through him like he was connected to the Great Tree itself.

The staff had healed him, had shown him glimpses of him ruling over his own people. And didn't that feel just perfect at the time. He had been kicked around, toyed with enough; not just by one race or realm, or two, but three. First the Jotuns for thinking him weak, then the Asgardians for lying, and now the Chitauri. But he was not weak, he had control of the scepter then. Now he was powerful! He could take over worlds easily with the energy it gave him, with the visions of the future. Perhaps he would go and destroy Jotenheim after all.

Then he had met Thanos as he was escaping from the oddly high-tech -yet still crude- prisons and what seemed to be areas of living underneath the odd planet. He had wanted to just take Thanos out and be on his way, but even he was too weak at that point. The scepter had sent off warning bells through him, telling him not to attack just yet. Thanos, with his giant structure and purple skin was odd enough to Loki, but he spoke of power. Spoke of Loki no longer being on the low end of the rankings. Of being King.

Thanos had told him of the Tesseract, and while Loki didn't trust the large titan-like person, he trusted his knowledge of things Loki had not known before. The scepter had shown him these things as well. Before long, the scepter showed him visions of the glowing cube on Midgard. His nearly forgotten past brother's newfound precious planet. Where the human woman of his resided. How could he have passed up an opportunity to rule such a realm? He'd get to hurt his once brother and Odin all at the same time. They'd done nothing but hurt him, and now he would get a chance to return the favor in kind.

"Once I got to Midgard and had the Tesseract, the scepter still showed me things. It taught me things," Loki explained, still forcing himself to look ahead towards the mouth of the cave. He dared not look over at Nora. He had left out the more darker details of his thoughts and tortures, merely skimming over them. She hadn't pulled her arm from his yet, but she could still be in shock from what he was telling her. He expected her to be repulsed, even if a small part hoped that she wouldn't. He tried to kill that last clinging sense of hope before he would wind up hurt. "It showed Thanos betraying me, not that I was surprised. But it showed him stealing from me what was promised. There was no way I was going to come out of the battle alive. I foresaw my own death in quite a few ways, and then Thanos had the Other invading my mind as well whenever he wanted to communicate."

Loki told her of how he had changed tactics. Getting the heroes together, giving them a common enemy. They would have no choice but to attack him and fight the damned Chitauri army, and Loki was going to serve them up on a silver platter for all his days of torture. He had thought threatening to bring the alien army to Midgard would be what solidified the shakily founded Avengers. But it had been that man that shot him with the oddly strong gun that had done the trick. Loki had killed him because he was in the way, but it had helped him out more in the end. Nora had already knew of the fight, so Loki mainly summarized that. She didn't need to know how he had already known Erik Selvig had built an emergency shutdown. Selvig had thought himself smarter than the powers even Loki couldn't begin to understand. The scientist had no idea that what he thought was his own self of preservation, was actually Loki. Yes, he would be "thwarted", but the Chitauri army would be severely diminished. He couldn't attack openly, after all.

The Avengers thought themselves so smart as they found the scepter he deliberately left behind after facing Thor again. As if he'd just roll off the roof without a plan in motion and without his main weapon with him. If he could just get away in the madness, he could find a way off this miserable planet. Why had he ever wanted to rule there anyway? He couldn't quite remember, like deciding on this plan was some sort of child's dream. But he had to forget about the why, he had to plan what came next. He could cloak himself, travel through the realms. He'd have found a way to survive. But then Barton had to blast him into Stark tower, where the Hulk had regrettably smacked him around, tougher than Loki had anticipated.

That had smacked some sense into him, letting the grasp of the scepter fall away. It wasn't until that moment that Loki had realized just how the scepter had affected him so. How it made everything much more intense, making him feel invincible. Before he could fully come to, he had been surrounded by his brother and the other oafs of the planet, ready to attack him. Only Thor stopped them from trying to kill him. Loki was to be brought back to Asgard and tried for his crimes. Which was fine with Loki. He knew plenty of ways out of Asgard. It was rather stupid of them to accept him back into the world he knew better than most. But hey, that wasn't his problem.

Then Odin had those stupid stones of obedience put on him, like some sort of slave or something of the like. Actually, it was worse than a slave. Slaves could try and resist, even if it would not end well for them. They had the choice to make their lives easier or harder, to follow the rules or deny them. The stones had made it nearly impossible for him to reject them at all. They only allowed for total obedience.

"Tony told me bits and pieces of that," Nora told him. "He said, and I quote, 'He was a total asshole at first, but he grew on us after a while.' Then he told me about how you saved his life, and came back a Jotun, which freaked him out at first because he had watched you die and disappear. Is that what Heimdall meant forever ago, about you dying?"

Loki nodded, suddenly feeling tired and elated at the same time. He felt...lighter somehow. Perhaps this is what it meant to trust someone with your secrets. Norns knew he had enough of them. Not that Nora already hadn't known some of them anyhow. He knew she wouldn't tell anyone else, but he didn't quite trust her enough to want to stay around him after what he had tried to explain. "Yes, it was quite the 'freak out' for me as well. I had no idea who I was, but Stark had seemed vaguely familiar. It wasn't long after that I regained my memories. Then I went back to Asgard to face Odin. We talked, and we came to a truce. He reinstated me as a Prince of Asgard, and everything went back to a relative normal. Jane and yourself turned up only a handful of months after I had returned, and you know the rest."

"That's... That's..."Nora exhaled, trying to think of a proper response. Loki couldn't really say what an appropriate response to all of that was. Suddenly, she shot up from him and moved away from him. A sense of dread and shame filled him. Of course she'd react badly. How else was she supposed to react to all of that? "Stand up," she demanded, standing a few steps away from him with her hands on her hips, looking down at him with a relatively blank face. After a second of consideration, he did reluctantly. At least she couldn't physically harm him. Loki brushed off some sand from his trousers, and before he knew it, Nora had lunged at him.

He expected a lot of things. Accusations, slaps, kicks, a scowl or two at least. So when it registered that she was hugging him again, he stood there, momentarily in shock. Whenever she had escaped the tower and flung herself at him, he understood that. He was someone she considered strong that could help her in that current situation and she was happy she had survived. But now... now he was just confused. A small, confused yet fond, smile graced his face. Nora called him predictable, and she was anything but that.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that," she whispered against his chest, squeezing him as hard as her mortal strength would let her. Then she exhaled sharply and took a step back. "And if I see that creepy, reptilian looking bastard ever again, I'm going to kill him."

"You will have to wait in line," he replied, the small smile refusing to go away. There was something entertaining about her getting particularly vindictive. Like a kitten with its hackles raised. "I didn't think you could be that vicious, I'm impressed." Of course, words and actions were two different things, but he appreciated the sentiment. Sentiment, he nearly scoffed at himself.

She sent him a brazen smirk, before sitting back down on the cave floor. "Alright, you're going to try and get some rest," she told him. "Don't even try to argue. Like it or not, you're our best bet out of here alive and you need rest. Besides, Ryssa will probably wake up soon, and you'll probably have to help contain any magical outbursts."

Loki raised an eyebrow at her, still standing over her as she sat down. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered sarcastically, surprised a human would try to order him around. How far he had fallen. Then again, it was Nora...and she was right, regardless. He knew he wouldn't sleep for a while, not after the nightmare, but that didn't mean he couldn't rest his body. Laying on his back, hands behind his head, Loki watched the ceiling of the cave, letting his mind wander. Nora shuffled around, trying to find a comfortable position on the rocky ground before curling up on her side, head propped on her arms. Loki watched her for a minute, a vague warmth in his chest, before he closed his eyes to rest.

Holy cow, this chapter fought me in so many ways. First it didn't want to be written, then I got sick and had no time to type, then the second half of this didn't seem to want to end. I tried to summarize his previous time in the Void with just enough detail, while trying to keep it short enough so it wouldn't be an excessively long chapter. Seriously, I could've written about his previous time here so much to make another freaking story. But this chapter is only slightly longer than the others so I guess I succeeded...Maybe? I also typed up the second half at 4 in the morning because I couldn't sleep so forgive me if it reads weird or there are any mistakes.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! Pretty pretty please leave a review and let me know what you think! I seriously adore hearing from you guys! Y'all are amazing! Hopefully, I can get another chapter out quickly... but (thanks to a friend) I'm officially Ladybug and Cat Noir trash, so...I'm sure you know how it goes...

Toodles -K