With Loki's protective shield, the only sounds in the realm were the Avengers and the Æsir. Mutterings echoed along the black ground, and the slightest rustle of clothing drew the attention of everyone present.

It was taking a while to adjust.

There was no accounting for the beauty of the World Tree. Lynn could hardly stand the intricate root system, and she spent several minutes tracing the weaving branches up and up into the distance.

She heard footsteps behind her, and gripped the green cloak tightly against her shoulders. A hand gripped her shoulder, and her muscles squeezed with tension.

"Did JARVIS lose power?"

The tension faded.

"No," she said, turning to Tony. "But he was close. I miss him."

"I know the feeling," Tony replied, and rubbed a hand against his chest.

"He really helped me. He's...kind of sweet."

"Don't get a crush on my A.I.," the inventor said with a smirk. "I'm not building you a sexbot."

Lynn laughed and shuddered. "Grow up."

He glanced at her, a brief look full of painful remembrance, and she took her turn to grip his shoulder. She bit her bottom lip, trying to think of something kind to say, and found herself at a loss.

"We'll get'er back," he said. She nodded. "Anyone you thinking about?"

"Is that a come-on?" she joked, lightly. He grinned.

"Sorry kid, I'm taken."

"There's a family I'm close to," she said, and tried to keep her memories of Mr. Turner limited to the real man. "They were always nice to me."

"The Turners? You stayed with them two years, right?" At her look, he added, "I read your file."

"Everyone read my file," she grumbled. He laughed.

"Most of us are orphans," he said. "Thundercloud's the only one with a family, and you see how well that's going for him."

She looked back at Thor, who stood next to Loki and spoke in low tones that rumbled across the air. "Seems to be going alright."

"Yeah?" Tony wiggled his fingers. "Guy's too slippery."

"Thor's too nice," she said darkly. Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Brrr."

"Sorry," Lynn said, "I might be bitter."

"Hey, he threw me out a window." Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "No argument here."

She started to ask, and decided against it. "Thanks for coming for me."

"Whatever. Where's JARVIS?"

Lynn shuffled her elbow, pointing forward toward Loki.

"Ugh," Tony said. She laughed and shook her head, reaching for a pendant that wasn't around her neck. When her fingers closed on air, she sighed.

"The charm looked like something from Asgard."

Tony blinked at her in surprise. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"They thought Loki gave it to me." She didn't tell him that she'd been specifically told it looked like an Asgardian trinket. Anything that made her look smarter than she was helped her feel more confident in the presence of a literal genius.

"They thought…" Tony sounded angry. "Why did that even come up?"

"They thought it made me a target," she said as she watched part of the group break away and begin approaching. "To him," she added as Steve, Sif and Clint stepped into the conversation.

"Miss Creed," Steve said as he looked her over, "how are you doing?" Lynn stared at him until the tips of his ears started to turn red. "Sorry - it's just -"

"Didn't want to assume," Clint said. Lynn nodded and tried to mimic his no-nonsense style.

"Everything hurts, but I'll be ok."

"Your throat?" Barton wasn't trying for subtlety. He stared straight at her neck, and she swallowed a thick lump. Tony pressed a reassuring hand to her back. She blinked rapidly.

"I'm fine," she said, and both men grunted in shared exasperation. Steve looked like he was planning a new strategy. Sif turned and called over her shoulder, "Natasha! To me!"

"More Indigo Girls?" Tony asked, and winked at Lynn. She found his face open and friendly, and wondered how much of that was an act. She looked at Clint, who raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly. Natasha stepped into the group, and the men drew away.

"We'll leave you ladies to it," Tony said, and Clint led him toward Steve and Fandral. Sif sighed while Lynn took the opportunity to really inspect her face - and Natasha's.

"You don't look like I thought you did," she said. Natasha raised her eyebrows while Sif smiled.

"I hope the reality is not so disappointing," the Æsir said. Lynn lowered her eyes and felt shame begin to burn in her cheeks.

"I tried to fight. I did." She curled her toes inward, scraping her toenails against the bottom of Loki's boots. She thought of Naglfar and wondered if Sif knew the story. Had Loki made it up? Why?

She couldn't look at either of them. Natasha crossed her arms, and Sif rested her hands at her sides. They remained silent, together, and Lynn began to burn with guilt.

"I tried," she whispered. She felt tears welling and wiped at her eyes in desperation. "I'm sorry, I did try -"

"Stop." Sif sounded angry, and Lynn wilted under her displeasure. She sucked air through her clogged nose, fighting the sobs back, and waited for them to scold her for her failure.

Natasha moved her hand through Lynn's line of vision before clasping her shoulder in a tight grip. "We're not upset with you, Lynn."

"You are far from the first to fall victim to Loki's schemes."

Lynn flinched. "He got what he wanted, anyway."

Natasha squeezed her shoulder. "What was that?"

"My eyes," Lynn said, and waved a hand at herself. "He wanted to figure out how to undo the magic."

Sif creased her brow. "That was his purpose in keeping you?"

Lynn nodded. Natasha offered a roasted cutting, and she took the food to chew quietly. It tasted like yams in need of flavoring. Natasha looked at Sif.

"Why would he need Lynn for that?"

''I am not sure. Seiðr was ever Loki's strength, such that we warriors needed not concern ourselves with its workings, Loki's mastery was so complete.''

''So you never bothered to learn because you had an expert on the team,'' Natasha said. Her tone was not unkind.

''Yes, Lady Natasha,'' Sif said. ''Betrayal is a new trick for him.''

''Practice makes perfect,'' Lynn muttered. Both women pursed their lips in sympathy.

''Still,'' Sif added after a moment, ''he has granted you a generous boon.''

''What?'' Lynn asked. Natasha's hand tightened on her shoulder.

''He has returned your sight.'' Sif's stare was unwavering. ''You are in his debt.''

''You can't be serious.'' Lynn was shaking.

''Loki's not a good person,'' Natasha said, ''but he did you a favor.''

Lynn yanked her shoulder away. ''He wouldn't have needed to if he hadn't dragged me there,'' she said with a raised voice.

''He's right,'' Clint said from the side. Tony, Steve and Clint had all turned at Lynn's near-yell. ''You were a liability blind.''

Lynn's throat was thick and clogged; she felt chains around her wrists. She swallowed and rubbed her neck. They all stood watching her, waiting for the final spark.

''He was a god to your people once,'' Sif said quietly. ''A god he remains.''

''You're saying I'm in debt to him,'' Lynn whispered. Her arms ached in protest.

''Lest you forsake your honor,'' Sif said. Lynn stared at the lot of them, meeting each set of eyes as she looked for the trick. When she met Tony's, filled with sharp frustration, she finally understood.

Lynn threw the cloak to the black ground, abandoning its warmth. She turned and stalked toward Loki, who still stood conversing with Thor, and inserted herself into their dialogue with all the subtlety of a fox in a hen house.

''Loki,'' she yelled, ''take it back!''

Both trickster and thunderer turned to regard the small human, who barely met their elbows in height. Loki composed himself first, and a scowl was her reply.

''You forget your place, mortal.''

''Brother,'' Thor said, ''at ease. Lynn, what is the manner of your quarrel?''

Lynn ignored him, keeping her attention and anger focused exclusively on the trickster. ''Take it back,'' she repeated, ''whatever you did. I don't want it.''

Thor's confusion was plain upon his face, just as Loki's anger was on his. ''You are naught but a hindrance without your sight, woman, barely worth the root in your hand.''

''Loki,'' Thor began uneasily, but Lynn beat him to the scold by flinging the roasted tendril into the trickster's face.

''I'd rather be dead than owe you anything!'' Her voice would've been a shrill yell, save for the bruising. Her injury caused her tone to sputter and hiss, dampening her volume yet making her sound all the more furious. ''You understand? Dead! I'd rather die!''

''A fate easily arranged,'' the trickster rasped. ''I warned you once not to become a burden. The warning stands, Amma Lynn.''

''Or you'll kill me?'' she asked, and Thor straightened his posture. ''Say it, if you're so sure. Say you'll kill me.''

''Desist!'' Thor bellowed, and Loki clenched his jaw to prevent his retort. It was lucky that Thor chose this moment to intervene. Loki had lost what little patience he had with these mortals and their unreasonable actions, and his next reply might have dissolved into violence before he finished the thought.

''I will not remove your sight,'' he said instead, ''nor should you desire me to. Your Doctor Banner stated that he will need the assistance of eyes, and he shall have them.''

''Stay the hell away from me,'' she said, and she pointed for emphasis. ''Stay away. If you come near me, I'll scream.'' And she turned her back on him and walked away, walked until she reached the end of the encampment and could scream her anger and frustration and fear into the black distance.

It was Tony who stepped up beside her, staring ahead and waiting until she glanced at him before speaking.

''Feel a little better for it?''

Lynn laughed bitterly. ''Was it Natasha or Clint who came up with the plan?''

''It was me,'' he said. ''More recent experience. I didn't feel better until I killed every last bastard who held me in that cave.'' He stared into the black distance, his eyes cloudy with rage. ''I didn't get all of them myself. I've always regretted that.''

''I can't kill him,'' she said in a flat, defeated tone. ''I don't think I could kill anyone.''

''We need people like you,'' Tony said, ''to remind us of what we're fighting for.''

''Naive and weak?'' She tried to make her tone joking and light. Her voice cracked too much to sell the lie.

''Normal,'' he said, and she looked at him with raised eyebrows. ''Normal, and good, and everything that's worth protecting.''

''I want to go home,'' Lynn whispered, and hugged herself against the chill.

''C'mon, kid,'' Tony said, and gently led her by the shoulders back toward the group. ''Let's get you home.''


Dealing with moral warriors of justice was exhausting. Talking with Steve, Thor or any of the Æsir reminded Barton of a time long ago, when the circus which raised him tried to discover his talents. They started him on juggling. A patient older man with kind eyes sat with him for a full month, trying to explain how to fling the various items in a way to control the movement and predict where they would land.

The miserable failure taught the archer one unalterable truth about himself: Clint Barton did not juggle. He couldn't juggle objects, and he certainly couldn't juggle people. He was too honest, too upfront, and not nearly concerned enough with how his message would be taken.

Clint's nerves were thrumming with tension and unspent energy. Loki's plan perturbed him. He didn't like knowing that he was, in essence, following the orders of the man he'd sworn never to follow again.

It helped that Cap gave the actual command, and that he knew that this plan might save the entire known universe, as Bruce put it.

It didn't help enough.

Clint was not a good person. Sometimes he wondered if Natasha was the only one who truly grasped that fact. If remaining free of any type of Loki's influence meant damning every world to eternal oblivion, they were all lucky that Clint wasn't the one to make the final call.

He was carrying a roasted root which Tony had barely taken a bite of before rejecting. The inventor wasn't one to trust, but the only hope of gaining back Earth - and Pepper with it - was to go along with the plan and make nice.

"But," he'd said to Barton as he made a face and offered the root back, "that doesn't mean I have to eat this shit."

Barton had already eaten, as had the rest of them. All except Loki, who had demanded that Thor leave him be while he brooded. Clint approached the trickster now with the root, and ignored the prickle in his spine.

Loki raised both eyebrows and watched his advance. When Clint was close enough, he extended his hand and held the root at arm's length. The trickster, after a moment, reached to take the offering.

"This grows tiresome," he said, and inspected the tendril for signs of foul play. "You have played your ace, as you mortals say, and your threat no longer concerns me. What business do you have, then, to approach me with this morsel?"

"Thought you could use a friend." The trickster jolted and narrowed his eyes at the archer, who was looking away at the Tree. Barton shrugged impassively, keeping his eyes averted.

"Or not," he said. "It's up to you."

"I had a brother, once," the trickster said, as though the phrase explained all without the need for further clarification. "I found that I did not need him, and I certainly do not need you. I am injured in neither body nor pride." When Clint looked back, the root was gone, vanished to the same place as the other meals. Loki wasn't telling them something. He knew it just as well as he knew his own name. But Loki was right: Clint had nothing to hold over him anymore. He couldn't force the trickster's hand.

And he wasn't here to ask, anyway.

"Natasha's going with you," the archer said, and he stared Loki square in the eye. "Don't hurt her."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Loki said, and he couldn't keep the amusement from his tone. I do as I please, Clint heard. And you are helpless to stop me.

"Don't hurt her," Clint repeated. He didn't add anything else; adding more words to a command just jumbled up the message.

"I will not lay a hand on her," Loki said after a while. "On this, you have my pledge."

"Is that worth anything?"

Loki smiled. "I suppose you are relegated to trusting me, Agent Barton."

Tell me what you need, he'd said. Barton told him, and Loki supplied. It couldn't be the other way around.

"Alright," Clint said, and that was the end of it. They stood in mutual peace, a temporary reprieve from adversity. Loki reached into the ether and pulled forth the tendril, which he offered back to Barton. The archer accepted the olive branch without comment. It was Loki who broke the silence first.

"Why do you persist, when even Thor's faith wanes?" Loki sounded merely curious, interested in the motivations of the specimen before him.

"I had a brother once," Clint said, and chewed on the root.


Thor had taken a place between Steve and Tony, looking down on Dr. Banner who sat on the floor to rest his legs. Tony and Steve were watching the women while Bruce picked at his nails. Fandral stood close enough to listen to the men while keeping an eye on Hogun's progress. Even with Volstagg in constant attendance, the Æsir's strength and consciousness wavered more with every passing hour.

"Now will he leave her alone?" Tony asked, and Fandral scoffed.

"Nay," Thor said, and Tony stared at him. Thor gave him a sad smile while Steve asked, "why?"

"The Queen's command is not to be ignored lightly." He raised a hand to halt their protests. "In death her bidding is strengthened."

"For how long?" Bruce asked.

"Until Loki feels the debt is repaid."

"What debt," Tony started, and Bruce made a strange, strangled noise in his throat. "What? What is it?"

"His debt to who?" Bruce asked. Thor looked grim.

"The Queen." He looked between the men. "The Queen requested that he care for her. In failing his duty, he caused the demise of the Nine."

Tony's ears were ringing. "She's not his project. She's not! He can find another charity case -"

"No," Bruce said gently. "He can't."

"Are you asking me to deal with it?"

"Taking care of her is the last request his mother made to him," Bruce said. "He won't let that go."

"You're asking me to dance."

"Stark," Steve snapped, and the inventor looked at him with wide eyes. "Think. Is there another way?"

Tony opened his mouth, then closed it and creased his brow. Steve pushed a little further.

"Any other way," he said, "anything at all. Some way to avoid counting on Loki."

"No." Tony's voice was strained with resentment.

"Keep thinking," Steve said. "If you and Bruce can find a way, I'd like to hear it."

"You don't trust him?" Bruce asked.

"Do you?" Steve directed this to Thor, who had crossed his arms over his chest.

"Loki believes this plan is the only way - I am not of the mind to argue. However, I could not say if this were truly the sole path open to us."

"We don't have long," Steve said to Tony. "If you're going to think up a plan, you need to do it quick."

"I'm not the only genius," Stark said. "Bruce! Any thoughts?"

"I want to get Betty back." Tony flinched as Bruce continued. "You've got Pepper, and Thor has Jane. Steve has…"

"Peggy," Steve said quietly.

"Peggy," Bruce finished. "We all have someone we're doing this for."

Volstagg stepped into the group, his face worried. "Hogun will not rouse. I fear he has lost consciousness."

"I'm sorry," Steve said. Volstagg nodded at him.

"Is there reason to dither?" the large Æsir asked of them, and the men looked to Tony, who shook his head. Thor nodded.

"Very well," the thunderer said, and pitched his voice. "Brother! It is time."


Loki stood with his dagger, clutching a small bough, and hacked at the joint. The limb came free after the fourth slice. The trickster stepped away from Yggdrasil and turned to the assembled.

"It will enter through your heart," he said, and allotted a sidelong smile for Barton. "Your heart will serve as its nourishment."

"How long will it buy you?" Bruce asked.

"A mortal might withstand a day while sustaining Yggdrasil's cuttings," Loki said. "Your bodies are too fragile for more."

"How long do you need?" Steve asked.

Loki considered him for a moment before answering, "Half a day."

"Do better," the captain said, and Tony stepped forward.

"Sounds like a barrel of laughs," Tony said. He tapped the center of his chest. "Right here, Bristlebritches. Let's see if this stick does better than yours."

"Are you not concerned for pain?" the trickster asked. Tony shrugged.

"Can't be much worse than the arc."

"Tony," Steve began, and Tony scoffed.

"If he kills me, avenge me," the inventor said.

"Avert your eyes, beast," Loki said to Bruce, and pressed the dying branch against Tony's chest. Tony jolted and gurgled, falling to his knees immediately as the branch sprouted roots and plunged them deep inside of his flesh to access the beating heart within. He doubled over, clutching his chest around the rooted branch, and wheezed in pain.

"Hnurgh," Tony said, and twitched from the ground.

"It is not a pleasant experience," Loki agreed.

"Tony," Lynn said, and knelt next to him. "Tony! Can you hear me?"

"Nruaag."

Lynn looked up at Loki, who was cutting another branch free. "Loki, give me JARVIS."

The trickster paused and turned to regard her.

"Now," she added, and tilted her chin in a show of defiance. The trickster was inclined to laugh, save for the audience now watching the exchange.

"Very well," he said instead, and produced the charm and earpiece she'd worn. She snatched them away from him without asking for the rest, and knelt next to Tony again.

"Here, Tony," she whispered, and slid the earpiece into his ear. "It's a friend."

When the buzzing started in his right ear, the strain on the inventor's face lessened only a little, but Lynn felt relief all the same.

"Get back to it," she said, and they did. Loki continued cutting and setting the branches inside of a willing host. The Æsir did not collapse immediately, as Clint also did, although Sif glared daggers at Loki before the branch overwhelmed her senses. Steve was the last to join, and looked at Natasha once before nodding and allowing Loki to place a cutting against his chest. He, too, did not collapse - instead he looked confused a moment, before turning ghastly pale and staggering back a step. The branch, feeling the ever-renewing energy of this new source, sucked greedily of his life before he, too, fell to the ground.

In the end, they all laid prone and insensate, overcome with their respective saplings. Natasha knelt next to Clint, checking his vital signs for any changes, while Bruce looked over the rest.

"They seem OK," Bruce said hesitantly, as the sight of a tree growing straight out of a person's chest rarely meant imminent survival. "I'll monitor them for any signs of change."

"Hogun is here, with me," Lynn said, and pulled the man's head into her lap where she sat. "Maybe I can get him to wake up."

Bruce, Thor and Natasha exchanged a look and mutually decided, without words, to let the young woman believe.

"There is only Mjolnir left, and the illusion itself," Loki said. He sheathed his dagger rather than send it away, letting the weapon rest against his hip. "We will go to the Chitauri world one last time, to see this through."

"What about Mjolnir?" Natasha asked. Thor answered.

"He will link the power of the Tesseract directly into the hammer, that she might destroy Thanos in a single blow."

"She?" Lynn asked. "Mjolnir's a girl?"

"Makes sense," Bruce said, and winked at both women. The light-hearted moment passed.

"Good luck," Lynn said, trying hard to avoid meeting Loki's eyes.

"Thanks," Natasha replied, and hugged the younger woman around the shoulders.

"I will send you both, and then follow in turn. You will be shielded from sight and sound." Loki approached the Tesseract, which still lay where Thor abandoned it hours before. "This will sustain the gateway until we are through."

"Why do you come last, brother?" Thor asked. The trickster shook his head, a wary smile on his face as he took up the Tesseract. He pressed the pads of his fingers against either side, using himself to close the pathway and allow the raw power to funnel into his seiðr.

"You forget, Thor - Thanos can sense my presence within the realms. Our timing is crucial."

"I'll watch Clint," Lynn said to Natasha, who nodded. The trickster met Lynn's eyes, briefly, and then focused on the task of opening the path once more.

"It is open," he said, and pointed straight ahead. "Through there, and quickly. Haste guides us now."

Thor and Natasha stepped into the nothing and vanished from sight, leaving Loki with Lynn, Bruce and the remaining unconscious group. Loki turned from the portal and scrutinized the group left behind, his eyes glossy as he did so. Lynn tilted her head slightly and began to rise, gently setting Hogun's head aside.

"What are you doing?" she asked, and fear made her voice crack.

"How fortunate," Loki said, "that there are nine of you."

It took Lynn too long to understand that remark, but Bruce shot to his feet in an instant and pushed her behind him, toward the group.

"You just stay the hell back," Bruce said, fists clenched. "Don't make me do -"

"Anything rash?" The trickster laughed and circled to the side, hands raised. "You presume much, mortal."

"I presume you're an asshole," Bruce snapped. Lynn jerked at the statement and looked between the two men.

"What is going on -"

"Tsk, Amma Lynn. You are normally so clever." Loki reached for a thick branch and broke it free of Yggdrasil with his bare hands, rejuvenated by the Tesseract's power and no longer in need of his dagger for the task.

"Loki," Bruce said, raising his hands in an attempt to calm the situation, "just hang on. Whatever you're going to do is not going to work out the way you think it will."

"There is no certainty in life," the trickster said, "and less with a trickster god. Is that not right, Amma Lynn?"

The Nine. Thor and the other Æsir always called the worlds the Nine. Lynn looked at her friends, all fallen and helpless, and suddenly understood.

"It won't work," she said, throwing herself behind Bruce's statement. "It can't. Just one of us to build a whole realm? It can't possibly work."

"Ah, but you set the terms yourself. Each of you, a world unto yourselves - full of the tiny creatures which birthed you." Loki grinned widely enough to show his teeth. "A brilliant plan for a desperate time."

"No!" Lynn screamed, seeing where Loki was headed with the branch, and started to run forward. Bruce grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

He had circled next to Hogun, who remained unconscious and still at his feet. Loki knelt and jabbed the ragged edge of the branch deep into the Æsir's chest; Hogun's eyes sprung open and he cried out in pain, his back arching with the sudden invasion.

His eyes roved the air as unconsciousness began to take hold once more, and he saw Loki smiling down at him tenderly.

"Farewell, the Grim. Remember my face." The Æsir shuddered and grasped at his waist where his weapons would rest to find nothing - in another moment, the darkness took him.

"Hogun!" Lynn tried to push past Bruce, who continued to hold her behind him. "Bruce, let me -"

"She will not be restrained, Doctor Banner," Loki said as he neared them. "Although you seem to be doing an admirable job of it."

"It's all in the approach," Bruce said, turning to keep himself between Loki and Lynn. "Stop, Loki - you know where this ends."

"Indeed," the trickster said, and lunged forward with dagger drawn.

Lynn dove to the side, knowing that Bruce was more than capable of defending himself. She did not stop moving once out of the way, nor did she run into the large black space - where could she escape to? Instead, she veered herself straight for the portal, running at the same spot where Natasha and Thor had vanished only moments ago.

She ran, and ran, and found herself still running long after the point where both Avengers disappeared. Behind her, she could hear Bruce's monstrous roar, and turned to see the Hulk swipe a massive fist at Loki's head.

The trickster shimmered, and was suddenly gone - and then he was back, behind Bruce and holding a sheared root of Yggdrasil itself, still attached to the tree, not a cutting - and as the Hulk turned to catch him, he plunged the root deep into the beast's chest. There was a roar, and a flare - a bright, shining light which lit the black darkness until every corner of the realm could be seen. The roar of fury morphed into a howl of agony as Bruce desperately tore at the roots shooting through him, around him, from his mouth and into his pounding heart.

Banner collapsed to his knees, convulsing in time with the Tree's own pulses of energy as it drew upon his endless strength.

Loki leaned slightly - for on his knees the Hulk was barely shorter than the god - and spoke into the creature's ear with a dark, victorious glee.

"Know you are small." he murmured to the green beast, swelling with the satisfaction of vengeance. "Know you are weak." He straightened, and tugged at his sleeves to straighten them.

Lynn ran into the darkness.


Thor stepped from the in-between into a cell he barely recalled, yet recognized all the same. There were no bars nor chains here, yet an iron cage rested against the wall, burning the inhabitant's skin away anywhere her skin was unprotected. A Vanir he recognized lay further away, bound directly to the floor.

Thor stepped to the side as Natasha followed him, and pulled her behind him to shield her from sight. Natasha peered across the way, saw the state of the others within sight, and raised her eyebrows at Thor.

"We are in the realm of the beast," Thor said, and pressed a finger to his lips. Though Loki had shielded them, the thunderer was unwilling to chance an encounter for taking too little care with their concealment. Natasha nodded and pointed ahead; Thor shook his head and pointed behind. It was better to wait for Loki, who had seen more of this place.

Seconds passed, and turned into minutes. The time stretched on, and both of them became uneasy. Thor reached into the wall to return and find his brother – and his hand met solid stone where the portal had stood. Natasha grunted and tried as well, then pounded a fist against the stone.

He's up to something, she mouthed, and Thor could only agree. What else could explain the delay?

With no options available save exploration in Thanos' lair, they waited for Loki's arrival in silence.


There was nowhere to go, of course, but the trickster was unconcerned with pursuit. His tether remained, and could be hoisted at a moment's notice.

Loki chuckled to himself, and reached for a limb, now vibrating with surging power. The slightest tug, and suddenly she was there ahead of him - another tug, and she was behind, and he laughed when she ran straight into his chest with a loud yell and fell to the ground.

She scrambled to her feet and raced in the opposite direction. He herded her with shorter and shorter jumps, until she was back among her friends and backed against the limbs of the Tree. She stood trembling and staring at him. As he came nearer she turned and tried to step away - found herself blocked by his presence, and looked the other way - and then he was there, bearing down on her, and she stared up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"Stop it," she whispered. He laughed at her.

"Even now," he rasped. "With no one left to your side - when you are alone, helpless before my birthright - even now, you dare command me."

Lynn tried to edge herself away from him, until he reached up an arm and grasped a root at her side. She was pinned on one side, and effectively pinned on the other as he reached up with his other hand to stroke her cheek.

"Such an ornery little thing," he said, a dry statement of fact fueled by little emotion. "My mother was wrong to commit you to me."

"What?" Lynn shook her head to avoid his finger, then clawed at his eyes with her nails. She could barely feel his flesh give - his skin was like stone - and then he slapped her, hard, and she collapsed with a hand over her cheek to ward off the stinging pain.

"Loki," she whispered, "please stop -"

"Is this not what you wanted, Amma Lynn?" He crouched near her and she leaned away. He reached forward and she tried to twist away from his touch - he covered her eyes and whispered, pushing the seiðr back in place with reckless precision. "I have given you what you so longed for - the blindness you earned through your own demands. Is this not what you craved?"

She twisted her face from his grasp and shielded herself with both hands.

"Thor and Natasha -"

"Are well." Loki stood, then reached down and hauled her to her feet next to him. "They serve nothing dead."

"What are you doing?" she asked. He could feel her shivering in his hand and smiled down at her, knowing she would not see it. Rather than respond, he lifted her hands above her head and tangled them within Yggdrasil itself, weaving the coils into thick knots.

"You who witnessed the death of the realms," he said, and looped her hands through the tendrils. "The in-between, too, deserves a witness to its end.

"But I am merciful - I am not Thanos. When death comes to all, you will not see it."

"You're a monster," she whispered, and neither of them acknowledged the tears streaking her dark face. She looked lovely to him then, bound and distressed, and he leaned down and kissed her. He tasted salt as he kissed her cheeks in turn.

"I am incarnate," he said.

And then he was gone.