There was nothing Loki could do but wait. Most of his time was spent in the vast Valhallan library, trying to find something to focus on. When he wasn't rifling through four books at the same time, he was walking through the gardens, lost in thought, or strolling through the streets of the sprawling landscape below the palace. Passersby had stopped acknowledging him, realizing that he would snarl at anyone who dared to even say hello. They let him walk unbothered, wondering what exactly was on their prince's mind, and what personal tragedy he had to be going through.

Frigga and Odin had noticed, obviously. Odin had wisely decided to keep himself out of it, instead sending his wife to get as much information from Loki as she could. For her part, Frigga had tried to be compassionate, to listen, to get her son to open up. Loki hadn't told her much, but she gathered that there was a lot going on between him and Laurel, a lot unfolding that she hadn't been told before. She had found him staring into Midgard, longing to talk to Laurel there, but not being able to. As soon as he noticed her lurking, he would vanish the window, pretending like nothing had happened. But she knew better.

Loki had lost count of the days, the weeks that Laurel had been gone, but he never lost count of how many times he had looked in on her to see that she was with the rest of the Avengers, the rest of her family. She would be on missions with them, coming home to laugh off the stress of their work, the camaraderie between all of them so clearly evident. Or she would be in the Sanctum, teaching groups of students all of the magic she had learned, melding the Mystic Arts with Celtic and Norse traditions - nothing Asgardian, because of how dangerous it could be to the sorcerer themselves, but everything else she knew, she taught them. She would be sitting in Tony and Bruce's labs, briefing them on the latest intelligence threats, or training with Thor, Rhodes, and Nat in the nights with Steve, board game nights with the entire team, lunch with Wong planning new training regimes for their students and checking in with other Sanctums. It was her life, all of it without him.

The sun was going down, Loki walking through the gardens again when he heard footsteps running up behind him. Expecting it to be a servant coming to tell him that it was time to get ready for supper, he turned with a sigh, immediately taken aback at the woman he found staring at him. "I'm taking you home," she resolved, crossing her arms. "I don't care what you did. I don't care how you did it. I'm still mad at you, but I love you, and I'm going to bring you back. We're figuring out how to fight Thanos, and we need all the help we can get. The universe needs you. I need you."

"I'm sor-"

"Shut up," she shook her head, taking his hand and leading him back towards the palace. "I've already told your parents what's going on, what I've decided. Go say goodbye to them for now, and then find me. I've got to get everything ready for the ritual. You can always come back and visit with me, but you should probably tell them goodbye for a while."

All he could do was obey, heading off to find Odin and Frigga while Laurel departed for their quarters. When he returned, he found her standing in a glowing circle. Her eyes were closed as she muttered an incantation, the entire room seeming to glow a faint red. "How do you know what you're doing?" he asked, coming to a stop right outside of the circle.

"I just do. It's part of being the Goddess of Death. Grab our cat and then come in here," Laurel instructed. Loki located the cat, stepping over the line and into the glowing circle of light. Her eyes still closed, Laurel took Muffin, snapping her fingers and sending him back to the Avengers Facility. Good. At least it looked like an easy process. "He was nearly dead when I found him. I felt bad, so I brought him here, where he would be alright. He had been hit by a car," she added, "so I could bring him down here pretty easily, just like I can send him back and bring him back to life. You're going to be a bit more difficult, because you were alive when you got here. You're an anomaly, half dead and half alive. You can't really be in either realm unless you're one or the other."

"What does that mean?" Loki asked apprehensively, Laurel continuing to mouth a spell under her breath.

"It means that part of you has to die to come back to life. I know, it doesn't make much sense, but it has to happen. You're not going to like this." She opened her eyes, continuing, "It's going to hurt no matter what I do, but I'll try to make it as painless as possible."

Loki nodded, accepting it as part of his punishment for fooling her for so long. "That's fine. I'm just glad you're bringing me back."

"I need you to kneel."

"What?"

"Kneel," Laurel smirked as the god obeyed automatically. "You heard me." She put her hand to his forehead, taking a deep breath and admitting, "I hope this works."

"You don't know?"

"When have I ever done this before?" Laurel asked him, Loki shrugging. She bent down to kiss him, promising, "I'll do everything I can, okay? If something starts to go wrong, I can stop it and keep you here. You won't die, per se. I'll try my best."

"I love you."

"I love you too." She closed her eyes, again beginning to mumble the words of a complicated spell. Within seconds, it felt like he was dying, his breath running short and every nerve lighting on fire. Gritting his teeth, he focused on the words she was saying, on trying to understand them to block out the pain. None of them made any sense to him, but they helped, at least a bit. It was her, she was doing this to help him.

"Laurel," he choked, straining to look up at her. "Laurel, please…" She paid no attention, continuing to work the spell that was putting him in agony. He could feel tears streaming down his cheeks, involuntarily spilling over as another wave of pain hit him. "Laurel…"

Dropping to her knees, she grabbed both of his hands, her eyes flying open as she met his gaze. "You're about to die. Listen very carefully." Her words came quickly, flowing out as the light around them grew brighter. "It's going to hurt. It's going to hurt like only a few things you've ever felt before. You've got to let the spell take you where it's going to take you. Don't fight it. There's a border between the two worlds, one that you've got to go through before you can get back to the world of the living. It's got to control you. If you try to control it, you're going to mess up. I'm the only one who can control it. You've got to trust me. I'll be there with you, I promise. Loki, I love you." Before he could respond, she squeezed his hands, everything mercifully going black.

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in pain any more. It felt more like floating than anything else. Blinking a few times, Loki registered where he was. It was dark, a dimly lit room that felt like it expanded forever. There were trees far in the distance. At least, they looked like trees. There was a light over by the forest, Loki being drawn to it without ever having to make the conscious decision to step forward. As he came closer, he could see that it was a human figure, one that looked like it was glowing.

"Hi." Loki had come to a stop in front of the figure, Laurel smiling from a form he had never seen before. "This is what lies between Valhalla and the rest of the realms. There's nothing here, but there's everything here."

"What is all of this?" he wondered, looking at the trees. "What lies beyond this?"

"Life. And death." She extended her hand, Loki reaching out for her. "Come with me. It's easy to get lost here, and if you get lost, you get trapped." Leading him into the forest, she continued to explain. "This is the small space between life and death, what Asgardian warriors see before they enter Valhalla, or before they're brought back from the brink of death. There's no pain here. No time either. Nothing is real, and everything is real. I've spent some time exploring it, and there's a lot here, but it's incredibly easy to get lost. Just trust me."

They walked for a while, through what seemed like an endless forest of trees, until they reached a clearing surrounded by massive white stones. Laurel brought him to the middle of the circle, letting go of his hand and stepping back. "Don't be afraid. I have to let you go for a minute, but when you wake up, I'll be there. I promise."

"Why do you sound like you're about to cry?"

Laurel took another step back, not meeting his eye. "Because this is the part where I could really mess up. If I do, I'm sorry."

"What happens if -" He was cut off as she held her hands up, sending a pulse of energy into the circle and hitting him squarely in his chest. He felt a blinding flash of pain, and then nothing.

This time, everything ached when he opened his eyes. At first, he didn't recognize where he was, but there was an aurora glowing in the corner of the room, so Laurel had to have been there. He closed his eyes again, relieved to know that he had made it. Where, he didn't know. But he had made it out of the barrier between the two worlds, and that was something. "Laurel?" he croaked, feeling someone sit down on the bed beside him. She took his hand, Loki smiling a bit.

"Brother, you're awake!" came Thor's voice from across the room, Loki wincing a bit at how loud he was. "Thank the gods! We had worried so much!'

Laurel shushed him, running her thumb over Loki's hand. "He's just come back from the dead, Thor. Give him some time."

"It feels like I've been run through a washing machine," Loki sighed, carefully opening his eyes to see Laurel smiling down at him. "How long have I been out?"

She leaned forward to give him a kiss before answering. "Three days. Welcome back to the world of the living."