Two days after Loki and Myrkr left on their vacation, Thor and a couple of his friends went to Heimdal to see if he could tell them how the couple was faring on their little getaway.

"I'm not really sure we should be prying like this," Fandral hesitantly criticized as they walked down the rainbow bridge.

"We're not prying," Thor dismissed. "I just want to make sure they are safe and doing well. If it bothers you so much, you don't have to come along. We can catch up with you later," he taunted.

Fandral and Volstagg exchanged meaningful looks.

With a nervous laugh, Volstagg said, "Actually, I think we'll take you up on that."

Thor looked to Sif and Hogun, who seemed not to understand the underlying meaning behind what was happening. He shrugged, "So be it," and continued along his way.

"Good Heimdal," Thor greeted while his two remaining friends bowed respectfully to the gatekeeper.

"My Prince, where would you and your friends like to go today?" he offered with his usual flat disinterest.

"Actually, we're not going anywhere today. I was just wondering if you could tell me how my brother and sister-in-law are faring so far? Are they well? Have they had any troubles?" he asked, barely able to hide his concern.

Heimdal looked away from the expanse of space before him for a moment to eye the blond prince. "They have had some difficulties, but are otherwise fine," the gatekeeper vaguely replied.

"What sort of difficulties?" Sif suddenly interjected.

"There are some humans who are...suspicious of them," he answered.

"Suspicious how?" Thor pressed.

"They have drawn the attention to two sets of humans. The smaller set is simply curious of them and have been of some minor assistance. The larger set have taken Lady Myrkr and are holding her, asking her questions, but have not harmed her," Heimdal replied as he continued to watch the expanse of space. "Prince Loki is in the process of looking for her at the moment."

"What?" Thor demanded. "Why didn't you say anything? If their safety is in question, you should have informed someone!"

"It is my determination that either they are not in any danger or that the danger is sufficient cause to refuse to open the Bifrost to Midgard," he neutrally replied.

Thor's anger flared. "I suppose then, we are going somewhere today," he said bitterly.

"Are you sure that's best? Shouldn't we consult the King first?" Sif carefully questioned.

Thor appeared pensive. "Heimdal, would you let us go to Midgard to make sure Loki and Myrkr are safe?"

"Whatever the dangers that opening the Bifrost to Midgard might present pale in comparison to the dangers that Asgard would face should the Casket Bearer of Jotunheim go missing after being taken to another world by her Asgardian husband," Sif diplomatically reasoned.

Heimdal continued to stare out into the star dotted space.

"Answer me!" Thor demanded.

"It seems that Loki and Myrkr have been reunited," Heimdal informed.

"Are they safe?" the blond prince insistently pressed.

"That has yet to be determined. As of yet, they are not unsafe, but in order to reunite with Myrkr, your brother had to join her on the humans' floating fortress," he said.

Thor growled. "You will send me to Midgard so that I can ensure their safety," he insisted.

"You should consult with the King," Heimdal advised.

Thor turned to Sif and Hogun. "Go to my father and inform him of what has happened. I intend to waste no further time," he told them.

"I'm going with you," Sif insisted before turning to Hogun. "Please, tell the King what we heard and that we have gone to make sure that everything is okay."

Heimdal considered this exchange. "I will allow you passage, but remember that I will not open the Bifrost again if it seems unsafe for Asgard unless otherwise ordered by the King," he warned.

Sif and Thor nodded. Hogun reluctantly nodded as well. He was not happy about having to be the one who told the King what was going on, but apparently he wasn't going to be given a choice.

Hogun found Fandral and Volstagg waiting at the entryway to the Bifrost, reclined against one of the many large pillars that lined the way between there and the castle.

"Where did Thor and Sif get off to?" Fandral asked as Hogun approached with an irritated and determined look on his face.

"To Midgard to rescue Loki and Myrkr," the soft-spoken warrior replied as he continued toward the throne room.

"Rescue them? From what?" the blond pressed anxiously as he scrambled to his feet.

"From the humans who are holding them against their will," the dark-haired man answered, not missing a step.

Again Fandral and Volstagg exchanged a meaningful look.

"There is likely some kind of misunderstanding," Volstagg insisted. "Has either of them been injured?"

"Not yet," Hogun replied.

"The Prince and his Princess are more than capable of taking care of themselves," Fandral insisted.

"That may be the case, but Thor has gone to Midgard to make sure of it, and Sif has gone with him, likely to prevent him from causing too much trouble. They asked me to inform the King, and that is what I will do," Hogun informed sternly.

The other two warriors fell silent but followed their third as he went and told the King of the situation. Odin was not especially happy. He was aware that his son and daughter-in-law had encountered some difficulties, not the least of which being the desert heat of their landing spot. He also had a fairly good idea that they were not in any real danger as long as neither of them did anything blatantly offensive to the people of Midgard, and he knew they were smarter than that. What really irritated him was his older son's rush to interfere in events that were nearly wrapping themselves up in such a way that was advantageous for everyone involved.

"Thank you, Hogun, you have always been a loyal subject of Asgard and good friend to my family," Odin told the younger man. He understood that although he was irritated with the situation, it was not Hogun's fault that this was his best course of action for someone in his position to take.

"What do you plan to do?" Frigga asked her husband.

"Nothing. These things will work themselves out," the King dismissively replied.

"So, they aren't in any danger?" Fandral managed to ask. Although he had taken the position to be involved as little as possible in the couple's affairs, he had begun to worry for them.

Odin nearly smiled. "If they are, it is their own fault for behaving too rashly, but you know my son and his wife. They are not prone to rashness, are they?"

"No, Your Highness," Fandral agreed with a bow.

Thor and Sif landed in the New Mexico desert in the late afternoon. As the dust cleared, they looked around to find that they were alone. Unbeknownst to them, Loki and Myrkr had already managed to strike a deal with SHIELD and were well on their way to Antarctica by that point. With a sigh, they started toward the nearest down.

"This heat is even worse than that of Asgard," Sif noted. "Myrkr would not last long in these conditions."

Thor frowned. "Loki has magic that can help her be less affected by the heat, but only for short periods." He pointed into the distance. "It is likely that they sought shelter in that village. Let us start our search there."

As they walked into town, they were met part way there by a large truck containing two humans, an older male and a younger female. They introduced themselves and immediately started asking questions.

"You were part of the bridge phenomenon that just occurred, weren't you?" Jane asked the armored pair.

"Where is my brother and his wife?" Thor demanded of the curious woman.

"You mean Loki and Myrkr?" Erik questioned.

Thor's expression darkened. "Where are they? What have you done with them?" he demanded.

Sif considered the situation for a moment. "This is probably the smaller group that Heimdal was talking about, the ones that were curious but helpful."

"They finally got their vacation getaway," Jane replied, obviously irritated.

Thor eyed them suspiciously and demanded that they explain themselves. Jane sighed as she had them pile into her truck. They got dinner on the way to her lab. Along the way, they answered whatever questions they could and were even allowed to ask a few of their own.

"So, they are alright?" Sif attempted to affirm as they all sat down to eat.

"As far as we know," Erik muttered.

"I'm so sorry you all got pulled into this. Is there anything we could do to help you in exchange for your efforts?" Sif proposed hopefully.

Thor sat back and looked at the warrior woman next to him. This was the second time that day she had used her skills of diplomacy to help him along on this quest. It made him smile an almost stupid little smile.

"Tell me everything you possibly can about that bridge," Jane immediately requested.

"We'll tell you what we can, but we're hardly experts on the matter," Sif replied.

"Did you to speak with my brother about it? Out of all of us, he probably understands it best," Thor confirmed what the scientists had suspected.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. He already told us about as much as he's going to." Regardless, Jane gathered what information she could. Sif provided some help with her sketches while Thor recounted what he could of the history of the Bifrost.

"Are you certain that you don't know of any way we could contact them," Thor pressed as it started to get dark.

"Based on previous observations, it should take less than twenty-four hours for SHIELD to find you two," Jane asserted bitterly.

"What about Darcy's cell phone?" Erik suddenly remembered. He had seen one of the agents hand it back to her as she got onto the helicopter.

Jane shrugged. It took three tries before Darcy answered.

"Jane, oh my gosh!" the younger girl nearly raved when she answered.

"Darcy, are you alright? Did they say anything about getting our stuff back?" she asked.

Darcy smiled because at least this time, Jane's first question was about her safety, even if it was quickly followed by concern for her research. "I'm fine. We're all fine, and these guys promised that you'll get your research back no problem," she assured.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"We're on our way back from Antarctica," Darcy irritably replied. "They said they'd drop me back there with you now that our alien friends can have their romantic getaway."

"It's not over yet," Jane muttered.

Just then, Agent Coulson came into the sitting room where Darcy was entertaining herself.

"There's more of them, isn't there?" Darcy assumed.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Jane asked.

"Because just as you said that, our Agent friend came to see me. For being a secret organization, they aren't very subtle," she wryly joked.

"How many?" Coulson asked Darcy.

"He wants to know how many more," she told Jane.

"Two, apparently one of them is Loki's brother," she replied.

Coulson muttered something into the intercom before requesting to speak with Jane on Darcy's phone. She only agreed after he consented to have SHIELD pay their long distance and roaming charges.

"What are their names?" Coulson asked.

"Thor and Sif," Jane answered.

"When did they arrive?" he continued.

"About three hours ago," she replied.

"What are their intentions?" Coulson questioned as casually as he could.

"They are here to make sure the other two are safe," Jane replied, but then Thor snatched the phone from her hand.

"I demand to speak to Loki!" the thunderer said in a commanding voice.

"Loki and Myrkr have just been dropped off, but if you like, I might be able to arrange a reliable communications link to them," Coulson informed. "Then, if you stay where you are and don't cause any trouble, we will come to you when we are done here and we can have a nice civil discussion about why aliens suddenly keep coming to Earth," he bargained.

"I am Thor Odinson, and you will put me into direct contact with my brother Loki right now," Thor curtly commanded.

Phil rolled his eyes. "In order to do that, I need to cut this connection and call you back," he informed.

"If they are really with you, put them on right now," Thor insisted. "I do not trust you to reinitiate contact."

"That is how it has to be," he said and hung up. He had intended to be more diplomatic about it, but he got the distinct impression that the situation called for a power play on his part to give the God of Thunder more realistic expectations of how contemporary humans would react to him. He gave Darcy back her phone, thanked her, and asked that she not answer it again while in flight.

"I know that thing they say about electronics on airplanes is bullshit. An outfit like this better not be able to be taken out by an incoming call," she protested.

"You're right, but I'm going to call them on our equipment so that the call doesn't drop and so we can monitor the call. You may come with me if you like," he offered.

She nodded and walked a few paces behind him. They weren't more than two steps out the door when Darcy's cell rang again. With a frown, she didn't answer, though she did take the liberty of sending Jane a text message that encouraged her to keep the line open. This earned her a nod of appreciation from the suited man as he continued on their way.

Agent Coulson went to one of the main computer terminals and called the couple's communicators. Myrkr was a little out of breath when she answered.

"What is it?" she panted.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said congenially as he had one of the lower ranking agents adjust some of the call settings in the hope of maintaining an optimal connection, "but it is rather important."

"We only took one of those seal creatures and preserved the leftovers for later," Myrkr breathily asserted.

Coulson motioned for another agent to work harder on getting a solid video feed of them as well. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Loki hissed irritably.

"Two more people have come to Earth. They are very concerned for your safety. For the sake of maintaining good relations, I promised that a brief communication with you," he informed.

"Who else is here?" Myrkr asked, suddenly more focused, which irritated Loki, who had been sensually teasing her since they'd finished eating.

"I've been told their names are Thor and Sif," he replied.

Loki cursed. "How much trouble is it going to be for you if we refuse?"

Coulson rolled his eyes. "Quite a bit. It seems your brother has quite a temper on him. I'd rather keep a lid on that if at all possible, and the easiest way of doing that is to patch this call through to him," he said as that was being done.

It was then that the satellite's video feed finally connected and an image of the blue couple appeared on one of the screens. The sight of them nude together and obviously in the process of fooling around made Darcy gasp.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Myrkr asked when she heard the gasp.

"We can see you," the young woman informed as though she was at least mildly amused by the sight of them.

"That is your fault for looking," Loki chiddingly replied.

"You concealed yourselves earlier. Why not now?" Coulson asked as he checked the connections.

"It is tiresome, and I had hoped you lot would've gotten bored with us by now," he said as one hand slid between his wife's thighs. He didn't appear to be moving it but the way Myrkr buried her face in his neck told their little audience that he was doing something.

"Hold on just a few seconds. We're calling your brother back," Coulson informed.

"Hello?" Jane suddenly answered.

"Yes, this is Agent Coulson. I have Loki and Myrkr on the line, if you would please inform your company," he greeted calmly.

There was the sound of the phone swiftly changing hands before Thor requested, "Loki, speak to me."

"Brother," he growled irritably.

Thor paled a bit. He recognized that tone, and it made him immediately regret ever coming to Earth. His brother's voice was dark and heavy. He was a little breathless and sounded irritated and even offended to be speaking with him. Loki had only dared to take that tone with his older brother a handful of times in his life and every time was because he had always been naked and usually in the company of someone who shared his state of undress.

"While we do appreciate your concern, there is absolutely no reason for you to have followed us," Loki asserted while continuing to move his hands over his wife's body. Her continued sensual responses made it easier for him to keep his calm.

The dismissal of his good intentions brought back some of Thor's ferver. "Myrkr had been taken captive and you took a hostage," he asserted.

"Minor technicalities. I assure you that we are just fine and quite content where we are," Loki insisted. He would have sounded more menacing if his breath hadn't caught at the end of his sentence in response to Myrkr sitting up enough to kiss and nip at his chest. To regain some of his authority, he pushed her back down to into the snow as he said, "If you cause any trouble for us while you are here, I will personally make sure that you regret it for a very long time."

Thor grumbled in preparation for telling his brother off but wasn't quite given the chance to do it.

Loki knew his brother well enough that he could sense even just from that sound that he had probably pushed his brother a bit too far with that last threat so, just to be on the safe side, gracefully backpedaled. This bit of retraction was made easier by the way Myrkr had grabbed his hips and pressed herself against him. "Take a vacation of your own. We will find you when we are ready to leave. I assure you that although getting where we are was a more involved process than either of us was expecting, it would take quite a lot to get us to leave before we are ready."

Thor considered that for a moment and decided it was a good idea. There were two reasons for this decision. The first was the way Sif looked at him with the faintest glint of hopeful expectation in her eyes, and the second was how incredibly displeased his father probably was at this point. He agreed and wished them well before giving the phone back to Jane.

"And Agent Coulson," she called. "You're bringing Darcy right back here, right?" she asked insistently.

"That was our intention," he replied. "Thank you all for your time and patience," he said curtly before cutting both connections. "Miss Lewis, if you'd return to your room, someone will be along with your dinner."

Darcy crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't tell if you're so freaked out by all these aliens that you're about to completely lose it or if you're actually really happy about everything that's happened," she mused.

Phil looked over his shoulder at the young woman who had taken a stance that clearly indicated her desire to assert at least some control over her situation. "What makes you say that?"

"I bet it's about equal parts both. You're too calm right now," she reasoned.

"I think you might be right," he gave her a look that told her she should get going, but she didn't move. "Is there a reason you're not leaving like I asked you to," he asked bluntly.

"The other day, when you took all our stuff," she began.

"I already promised to have everything returned. We just needed to borrow Doctor Foster's research for a while, since she was the only one who had any idea what was really going on," he told her evenly.

Darcy all but ignored that reasoning. There was something else she was after. "You said that you all were the good guys."

"We try to be," he sighed.

"But you kidnapped Miri," she pointed out. Although it seemed like the alien woman had been just fine in their custody, she had imagined how truly scary her situation might have seemed. Maybe Jane was right and that the dark things that came to mind when they discussed the abduction only happened in the movies, but it had been a feeling she couldn't shake.

"For her own good. There was a fairly good chance that Loki and Myrkr could have made to the South Pole without help, they would have likely attracted the attention of less savory company along the way, and we had intended to approach them together, but that's not how it worked out so we did what we could with what we had," he lectured.

"How did you get her to go with you by herself?" she pressed.

"They do have a sort of inseparability about them, don't they?" he mused, mostly to himself. He had been wondering as they watched the couple fool around a few minutes ago if it there was some kind of biological or psychic connection between them or if that was the depth of their relationship. "When I realized she was alone, I went in to talk to her. I had been hoping to keep her company until her husband returned, at which point we could all discuss the situation together, but she panicked. I tried to calm her down, but she feinted. We took her with us because there was no way I was going to stand over the body of an unconscious woman and wait for her husband to return, especially when I'm essentially flying blind."

Loki probably would have killed him and his men on the spot, no questions asked, if he had entered in on such a scene. Darcy could tell from the alien man's behavior when he questioned them about where his wife was. He had threatened to kill them, at least twice, and he obviously had the strength to do it without much effort, and that wasn't counting magic.

"You should go back to your room," Coulson finally said. "I need to work."

With a grumble, Darcy turned and wandered about the helicarrier until someone finally corralled her in her room for dinner.