Jane cannot stop crying into her pillow. After supper, Darcy comes by with Fandral and neither can get her to explain why. She manages to tell Fandral to go ask Sif. Darcy volunteers to go get ice-cream. Both depart for their missions, leaving Jane to cry alone.

Darcy returns first, an entire cart of ice-cream, baked goods, and coffee with her. She pulls the cart beside the bed and hands Jane a pint of AmeriCone Dream. Jane says nothing. She sits up, finds a spoon, and digs in. Darcy sets up her iPod and speakers and plays her Spice Girls list.

"OK, so you have got to at least say something so I know you're not a zombie."

"I'm only explaining this once, Darce," Jane whispers.

"Then tell me something else. Something only your bestie should know."

Jane takes a few bites of her ice-cream before she answers, still quiet, "I told Thor I love Loki."

Darcy smiles, "Awww, that's sweet. I wondered when you were going to admit it."

"Admit?"

"Well, duh, it's been pretty obvious you two are super close. Like, actually-should-be-married close."

"Oh. Is it that obvious?"

"Eh, probably not to people who aren't me. But yeah. And you're cute when you're in love. All sweet and bashful about it." Jane blushes, "Yeah, just like that."

Fandral arrives halfway through Wannabe. Darcy turns off the music when she sees the look on his face. He sits down on the bed. She hands him a pint of Chunky Monkey and a spoon. He takes a few bites before she finds the courage to ask.

"Soooooo...what the ever living fuck is going on? Why do you both look like someone's kicked a puppy?"

"It's far worse than puppies, Darcy. And Sif told me Thor ordered Jane to speak of it only with those who already knew. Thor is trying to figure out what to do with Loki. He fears keeping him in the dungeons with the other political prisoners will send a message of lenience, especially after Thor granted Jane the night she returned from Midgard. Yet there are few other places to put him. The other prison, in the outlands, is for foreign born traitors and they are often worked to death. He thinks he might be able to secure a spot there, but the risk is real. And he is also considering execution."

Darcy drops her spoon, "FUCK."

"Do not forget that Jane's life is bound to his."

"DOUBLE FUCK."

"Precisely."

"Loki already paid for standing up for me, though. Thor had him punished. And I'm not allowed to tell Loki about this new fuckery," Jane says, staring into her ice-cream.

"Sif made me swear the same. I...I don't know how to handle this. None of this makes sense- not this, not his change in your visits, not his harshness regarding Loretta. Thor has always stood on Loki's side. There must be a motive here that he will not reveal."

"Can I tell him?" Darcy asks, "And then can I go after Thor? Because this shit's insane."

Fandral sighs, "While I am grateful you would offer, we run the risk of Thor's anger if we do. He intends Loki not to know his fate, and so I think we must keep this between ourselves. Were we to say anything...it could sway Thor to act in rash anger instead of reason. We cannot do anything that would threaten Loki's life."

Jane grabs a pillow and flings it across the room, "Fuck Thor! I hate him!" She dissolves into tears.

Darcy rubs her back, "Oh, don't cry in the ice-cream. We found out the hard way that it doesn't taste as good salty."

Jane throws a second pillow, "I just lost Mom! I just got back! What the fuck does he think he's doing? Why the fuck now? Just...fuck!"

Fandral takes her hand, "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to not allow him to kill you both. I cannot stand by if such an order is given, no matter his reason."

She bites her lip and tries to calm down a little, "You'll commit treason if you have to?"

"Absolutely. Treason has never stopped me from doing anything that needed to be done before, it will not now."

There is a knock on the door, "If that's Thor, I'll get the taser," Darcy says.

"If that's Thor, I'm going to kill him good and dead before you get the chance," Jane replies.

Fandral answers the door, "Sif. You may not be welcome here."

"I know. But I need to speak freely without the ears of the king present."

"Dunno- if it was just his ears and not the rest of him, we might be OK with that. I've got a knife- you have a box to put 'em in?" Darcy calls. Jane snorts.

"Jane. May I enter your rooms?"

Jane lets a moment of quiet pass while she thinks, "I suppose so. But if you're here to make excuses for him, you're gone."

She walks to the bedroom with Fandral following and leans on the doorframe as he settles back on the bed with his ice-cream, "I assure you, I am not."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I think what he is doing is cowardly and ridiculous and irrational. Because I have told him I will not sleep beside him until he reconsiders. He was not happy and blathered about duty to my king. I told him I have a duty to no one, not even my king, as I am now queen and, should he die, even mysteriously, I would gladly rule Asgard in his place."

"Lady Sif, I doubt he took that well," says Fandral.

"Of course not. But then I left. I will sleep elsewhere tonight. He will have time to think. Alone. For that is what he will be for the rest of his life should he follow through with this stupidity."

"His desperation for an heir will surely bring him to his senses. Even if he has no heart for Loki, and cannot see reason about Jane, he surely will not risk never touching his wife again."

There is a moment of silence during which Jane swears she could have heard a pin drop before Sif says, "He does not need to worry about an heir."

Darcy once again drops her spoon.

"You will none of you speak of this. I have not yet told him. But it is confirmed. And were I to have to kill him in his sleep, the line of kings...or queens...is safe."

Fandral pats the bed beside him, "Sit. Now."

"At a loss for words, old friend?"

"Entirely. You were never one to speak of motherhood."

"I did not. But here it is."

"Thrust upon you, as it were." He winks. She punches his arm hard enough that he nearly drops his ice-cream. Then she starts laughing.

"That is a terrible pun."

"That's like, my level of dirty pun. Fandral, you're learning!" Darcy beams.

Jane picks at her ice-cream, "So how are we going to actually keep Thor from killing my husband? And, you know, me? And what the fuck is he thinking?"

Sif sighs, "I will pressure him as well as I can, but he is making the same mistake his father made. He is more king than family man. I fear what this child will endure."

"I am prepared to steal you both offworld and hide you if I must. Loki knows the ways in and out of the realm. I can secure passage. But Sif, you must warn me when he makes his decision. Most of the men will not turn on their king. There are only a few I could trust to stand by me if we have to fight an execution order as it is being carried out."

"Sooooo...I'm going to be an outlaw. Guess that could be fun. I'll help Jane pack an emergency escape bag. Get mine ready, too. Just like college- gotta have the overnight pack ready in the car in case of cute boys."

Jane looks from face to face, "You guys are serious about this?"

"Of course, Sister. Loki has found peace in your presence. We will have to put our trust in you that you will be able to keep him from doing anything incredibly rash, but the other option is to watch you die with him. And I will take the risk of rash action on his part rather than let Thor kill an innocent as a side effect." Fandral once again takes her hand, "I swear to you that I will stand beside you as your brother and I will do whatever I must to keep you both safe."

"Thank you." Jane turns to Sif, "But why now? There've been political prisoners in the dungeon before, right? I'm sure Odin had a few in there. Nobody got any ideas, did they?"

"Not that I am aware of. But Odin also was not trying to establish himself as a new king when he imprisoned Loki," Sif answers, "Thor fears an insurrection in the dungeon. Apparently Loki's stand has inspired other prisoners to be difficult."

"And what happened?" Jane asks.

"Nothing the warden was unable to handle. The prisons are tightly kept. Even a few defiant prisoners will not create upheaval."

"Well Thor's an asshole. How am I going to hide this from Loki when I see him next week? I've got to go in there and say that everything's fine, life and science is going great, when I know he's in danger. He'll feel so betrayed if he finds out I didn't tell him."

"We will find a way," Fandral answers.

"How?"

He thinks for a moment, then snaps his fingers, "Odin. We can tell Odin. He wants to sit and talk to Loki. We will have to be very careful how we engineer this, but-"

"I'm not really sure that's a great plan, Fandral. Odin's not exactly on Loki's good side," Jane says.

"No, but it may be the only way. One of us can make sure he knows we are sworn not to tell Loki. But the All-Father would not be so restricted."

"I will tell him," Sif says, "He is my father-in-law. I can make it clear that I am coming to him with a problem particular to his son. I can ask for advice. We will make sure Thor sees it this way if he finds out we met. Odin will verify it. I will swear him to nothing. We do not have the right to restrict him. And we will make it clear to Loki that this is not the way we want to deliver the news, but it is how we must in order to all uphold the orders of the king."

Jane nods, "Yeah. It's going to suck. But I think you're right. It's the only way."

"So what should I do?" Darcy asks.

"Take care of Jane. Our sister will need her rest. You and I can wait. You will stay here, with her."

"Oh? And where are you going?"

"I'm going to take care of Sif and allow her space in my guest room. And I am going to arrange for a meeting between Odin and Loki during Jane's weekly time. We must convince them both."

Sif sighs, "And that means I must corner the All-Father in one of the next few days."

Jane takes a deep breath and nods, "Right. Mission 'tell Loki' is a go. Let's all get some rest- this isn't going to be easy for any of us."

Darcy dips a scone into her ice-cream, "Or just have some more sweets. Come on, Jane, you know you're not sleeping tonight. Your head's going a mile a minute. I can see it right now. Everybody, get some food. We're going to end up in a people pile tonight, snoozing together. Some realism, folks."

Hours later, long after the food and coffee are gone, that is exactly what happens, everyone snuggled together on Jane's big bed. In the morning, they go their separate ways for the mission. Darcy takes Jane to breakfast and then Jane takes Darcy to the Hall of Science. Fandral goes to speak to Loki about meeting with Odin. Sif seeks out the All-Father.

Odin meets her in his study and assures her no one can listen in. She tells him everything. What Thor has proposed. Their plan. Their various ideas on how to proceed if execution or the outerlands prison are his decision. He listens carefully.

"So you are asking, by implication, that I to disobey the express wishes of my king to inform Loki of the threat to his life and to Jane's."

"Yes, All-Father. I was not sworn not to tell you. I was sworn not to tell him. Thor never prohibited me from discussing it with those he still considers family."

"And what of the other pieces? Of your plans for treason, should Thor choose the deadly paths?"

"You will have your own choice to make, whether to stand with us or against us."

"You are placing more trust in me than you place in Thor."

"Thor is thinking only of the throne and not of people. You once made the same choice."

"That I did."

"And it was a terrible one. Jane should have never been brought here so dishonestly."

"That is true. I had thought Thor would tell her how the ceremony worked at the very least. I did not think it necessary for me to spell that out for him. I was mistaken."

"In all respect, All-Father, the idea to marry her to Loki while he yet loved Sigyn was cruel. While it did what you wanted for the kingdom, it played so many of us and none of us were made happy for it. It has brought some good, but it has also brought death and distrust."

"Understood. I have tried to warn Thor that he is far too much like me, but it has not worked. He learned too well."

"Given how unfair he once saw your actions, it has surprised me how much he has mimicked them. But I suppose it should not. Who else would he have learned from?"

"His mother."

"But she was not king, and the boy who would be king looks to his father, not his mother, for someone to emulate."

"And then there was Loki."

Sif smiles, "Yes. The wiser of the two, though also the more ruled by his emotions. And you are going to meet with him in a week's time."

"Oh? He has approved this? Asked for it?"

"Fandral is with him. He is trying to explain that there is a reason to expedite this without telling him what it is. I hope he is doing well."

In the few minutes Fandral has been in the cell, he has been barely tolerated, but it is better than he expected, "Loki, I am sorry to have to try to press you on this, but as I mentioned, there is something he needs to speak to you about- something which I have been forbidden to share with you. This is a complicated situation and I need you to trust that I am trying to do the best any of us can do. Sif, Darcy, Jane and I spent the better part of last night trying to come up with a plan. You have to trust your friends."

"Since when are you and Sif my friends?"

"Sif is why you had a final moment with Sigyn instead of Thor telling her you were married and leaving you both with no goodbye. She has tended to Jane steadily, assuring that there was time and distance between Jane and Thor. And she has regularly been my companion in this as we have both sorted through our feelings about you. She is no enemy, Loki."

"And you?"

"I would like you to think on your escape from the dungeons very carefully and tell me what you remember of our brief time together."

Loki rolls his eyes, but does as he is asked, "Hmmmm, let's see. First Thor threatened me. Then Sif threatened me. Then Volstagg threatened me. Such great friends we all were... And then Thor pushed me out of a moving spacecraft and there you were."

"Keep thinking."

"You said something rather sarcastic about my grace and falling...then you wished us luck?"

"Yes."

"You never threatened me."

"That is correct."

"You were a fool."

Fandral smiles, "Perhaps, but a perceptive fool, if so."

"Oh?" He is trying to maintain some sort of aloofness, but his curiosity is gnawing at him.

"You would not betray Frigga and that mission was as much for her as for anyone else."

"The mission was to destroy the Aether."

Fandral reaches for Loki and brushes his arm; Loki jerks back, "Then why did you stay and fight with him once it did not work? Why did you not disappear? You are a powerful enough sorcerer, you could have made copies of yourself, vanished from Thor's sight, and by the time he knew the difference, you would have been gone."

"Stop, Fandral. This line of questioning and supposition is ridiculous."

"Your rising anger makes me more certain I am right."

"Oh, do tell, what makes you so sure of yourself?"

"The brother you claimed to so despise was well on his way to being beaten to a pulp. Jane had no defences. And you went back to kill the creature that killed your mother."

"Of course I did- it is simple self preservation. If they were to defeat Malekith, both needed to survive."

Fandral sighed, "Loki, just stop. We all know how close you were to Frigga. And some of us saw the destruction in your cell- one of us," he points to his chest, "cleaned it up so that some small shred of dignity and privacy would be preserved for you when you were returned to it. Even Jane knows you faced death so readily because you had love to avenge."

Loki wants very much to do one of two things. Spit in Fandral's face and tell him to leave, or admit to everything and completely drop the charade. He sits on the edge of the bed thinking for a solid minute.

"I will speak to Odin. But both you and Jane will be present." His voice has lost its bitter edge.

Fandral bows, "It will be an honour, my prince."

"I am no more. The honour is wasted."

"No, only changed, as have we all. Rest, Loki. I must see what progress Sif has made today. If not until then, I will see you in a week." He leaves the cell. Loki does not move until he is well out of sight and then he falls back on his pillow and covers his face with both hands.

"What in the Nine is going on and why does it have to require Odin?" He can only think of one reason they would be sworn to secrecy and he dreads that he might be right.