Sigyn gently tapped on the door to the study. Loki knew it was Sigyn, she was the only one who could be bothered to care about him. He didn't answer. He deserved to be alone.

"Loki?" She called through the door. "I know you're in there. Please let me talk to you?"

Loki debated for a few seconds, then flicked his fingers, unlocking the door with a soft click. Sigyn quietly walked into the room, and sat down in front of him, gently taking one of his hands.

"Your feet are bleeding." She noticed.

Loki didn't answer. He didn't care.

"Thor's here." Sigyn mentioned, stroking a pattern on his palm.

"Tell him…" Loki whispered. "To go shove a flaming porcupine up his…"

"Loki…" Sigyn cut him off.

"Sorry." He glanced at the floor. "I'm not in the mood."

"I know." Sigyn nodded. "I get it. But the nine realms need you, and… as much as I hate to have to put them over your grief, you need to make the right choice."

"Right choice." Loki scoffed, closing his eyes, and resting his head against the remains of the overturned bookshelf he was leaning against. "And when have I ever done that, before?"

Sigyn opened her mouth to reply, but Loki swiftly cut her off. "Let me count the times I thought I was doing the right thing, when in truth… All I ever do is cause more pain. Wherever I go, there is war, and misery… and death."

"Do you want to change that?" Sigyn asked softly.

Loki glanced at her out of his tear-stained eyes. "You're not disagreeing?"

"If I were to disagree, we would start a whole argument over whether it's actually true or not." Sigyn predicted. "And as much as I love a lively debate, that's not why I'm here."

"Then, why are you here?"

Sigyn glanced down at their hands. "To raise you up. To give you the push you need to make things right. You're an Avenger, Thalionen. If you can't protect the people you love, you Avenge them."

Loki continued frowning at the floor, as Sleipnir toddled into the room. "Faver?" She piped.

"Hi, Sleepy." Loki muttered.

"You sick, Faver?" She asked, crawling into his lap.

"No." Loki answered. "I'm sad."

"Why?"

Sigyn picked her up, cradling her in her arms. "He misses his Mother, Sleepy." The small child looked around at the destruction in the room. "Uh-oh! Mess!" She proclaimed. She wiggled out of Sigyn's arms, pointing at Loki's feet. "You got ow!"

"Indeed." Loki mumbled. Sigyn took Sleipnir's small hand, and glanced down at him in understanding. "Melleth, I told Sleepy I'd take her to the park. Please, at least talk to Thor, alright?"

Loki didn't respond, but after he heard her pull out of the driveway, he wearily climbed to his feet, and limped into the kitchen where Thor was waiting. Silently, he took Sigyn's stash of jelly beans from the top shelf of the cupboard, and leaned against the refrigerator, sliding down until he was on the floor. "Did she suffer?"

Thor blinked stupidly at Loki. Well, everything Thor did was stupid, but the way he was looking at Loki made the Trickster think that Thor had never even heard of the word "brain". He quietly stuffed a small handful of the candies into his mouth.

"You can't just eat jelly beans, Brother." Thor scolded.

"My house, I eat what I want." Loki countered. "When will the funeral be held?"

"Last night."

Last night? Loki had… he'd missed it? He wasn't even there to pay his last respects? His eyes widened, and he stared up at Thor in utter shock.

"I'm not here to share our grief, Loki." Thor continued.

"I see." Loki leaned his head back against the refrigerator. Thor didn't care. Thor never cared. (Or, maybe, Thor felt like a piece of his heart had been brutally ripped from his chest, as well, and was taking out his pain on Loki.)

"The Aether found a host in Jane." Thor explained. "Malekith was after it when he killed Mother. It's not good for Jane, to have the Aether in her blood."

"Shouldn't be, it's an infinity stone." Loki mumbled. Thor went on, paying him no heed.

"I need your help, to take down Malekith. We'll be going to Svartalfheim, to stop him before he can use the Convergence to get to Midgard."

"Why would I help you?" Loki asked dully.

"You want revenge. So do I. We can do this together, Loki. Like when we were younger."

Loki almost rolled his eyes. They'd never been a team. It was always Loki doing all the hard planning, and risking his neck, sometimes literally, for his brother, while he inevitably got all the glory for everything.

Thor crouched down next to Loki. "Would that not satisfy you, to drive a knife through the heart of that beast?"

Loki snorted. "First of all, you'll inevitably beat me to it. Second, satisfaction is not in my nature."

"Surrender is not in mine." Thor insisted. "We can't give up before the battle even begins."

Loki glanced at his brother. So big, and grandiose, and defiant, and stubborn. "The son of Odin." He summed it up.

"No, not just of Odin." Thor insisted. "You think you alone were loved by Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."

"Trust?" Loki scoffed. "Is that what she called it, when you let her die?" Alright, that was a bit of a low blow, even he admitted that much.

Thor reared back indignantly, pain flashing in his eyes. "A fat lot of help you were, sitting here on Midgard."

"Who put me here?" Loki demanded, sitting up part way. "Who put me here?"

Thor shook his head in anger, looming over the smaller man threateningly. "You know damn well! You know damn well whose fault this was!"

Loki stared quietly up into Thor's blue eyes, too tired to make any further argument. Thor seemed to feel a bit of regret, and sat back on his heels, regarding Loki with a softer expression. "She wouldn't want us to fight."

Loki shrugged one shoulder, staring off into the distance. "Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked."

Thor stood up, leaning against the counter with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I wish I could trust you."

Loki leaned forward, his emerald green eyes boring into Thor's. "Trust my rage."

Just then, Sigyn walked through the door, Sleipnir in tow. "Thank you, Beloved." She smiled at him, before noticing the now-halfway-empty container of jelly beans in his lap. She gave him a highly unamused look, but stepped over him, walking into the kitchen, and set Sleipnir on the counter. "Thoh!" Sleepy grinned at her uncle.

"Hello, Sleipnir." Thor smiled back.

Sigyn handed Sleepy cup full of sliced grapes. "So, did you boys reach a conclusion?"

Loki leaned forward, an old look promising imminent chaos and mischief leaping into his eyes. "When do we start?"

Sigyn had sent them off with her blessing, telling Loki to "Be sure to come back, because she'd have a surprise for him". In truth, though, she was extremely nervous. Extremely. She constantly checked her phone, waiting to see if he'd texted her, yet. She went through the entire day, worrying about her husband. After she put Sleepy to bed, that night, she stayed up, waiting for her husband to return.

At midnight, she sent him a text.

Hey, are you alright? It's been a while…

There was no response.

At dawn, she sent him another.

Melleth, you've been gone almost twenty-four hours. I'm starting to get worried, are you alright?

No answer.

At eight o'clock in the morning, she called him. Twice. Three times. He didn't pick up.

At ten, she received a text from Tony.

Ziggy, where's Rudolph? He hasn't shown up for work, and he's not answering my or Bruce's calls.

Then another.

Is he sick? Did his phone die? Was he abducted? Did he mysteriously vanish?

Sigyn didn't have the courage to tell him what was going on. He'd show up any minute now, like he always did, maybe a little banged up, but still safe. She could almost hear his confident stride on the gravel driveway, but when she looked out the window, there was nothing.

She paced restlessly until noon. By the time Sleepy was asking for lunch, Sigyn was seriously concerned. She called him twice more, and left a voicemail, practically demanding he at least explain what was going on. "I just need to know you're safe, okay?" She told him.

After lunch, she collapsed from exhaustion on the couch, and was out for about two hours, before she was shaken awake by a large, firm hand. She opened her eyes to see Thor, with a miserable expression on his face, and a rather nasty cut on his head. "Sigyn…" He choked.

"Yeah?" She sat up, looking around. "Where's Loki?"

"He… He…" Sigyn grabbed Thor's collar pulling him down to eye level with her. "Where. Is. My. Husband?!"

"He didn't make it." Thor admitted.

Sigyn let go of him, and stared numbly out the window. "Not to seem… rude… but are you sure? He didn't just disappear, or something, and you can't find his body? He's really dead?"

Thor nodded, his blue eyes filling with tears. "He died in my arms. Run through with an enormous sword."

Sigyn nodded dumbly. "Okay." Then she burst into tears. Thor sat down next to her, pulling her into a hug, until her tears eventually subsided. "Go tell Vali." She said in a small voice.

"No!" Vali shook his head, backing in horror away from his uncle. "No, it's not true!"

"It is, Vali." Thor insisted.

"Where is he, then?" The small boy demanded. "I won't believe it, until he's medically pronounced dead! By a professional!"

"Well…" Thor stammered. "His body's on Svartalfheim. But we can't send anyone there, the realm is collapsing. It couldn't take the strain of the convergence, and definitely couldn't take the Bifrost."

Vali set his jaw. "Hasn't collapsed, yet, though?"

"No…" The Thunderer admitted.

Vali raised his hands, and snapped his fingers, transporting himself to the desolate planet. For a split second, he had a glimpse of Thor's panicked face, trying to get him to absolutely not do what he had set his mind to doing, before he stood on the surface of Svartalfheim. Well, lay. Teleportation between realms always disoriented him, and it wasn't long before he fell on his face. Quickly scrambling to regain his footing, he searched across the barren surface for any sign of a battle, or anything at all. In the distance, there was the wreckage of a spaceship, and Vali quickly stumbled across the earth towards it.

It was empty, but he could sense his father's aura on it. He'd been here. In fact, his phone lay innocently under one of the seats. Vali flipped it over, and turned it on. Thirty-seven texts and ten missed calls from Tony Stark, and three missed calls from Bruce Banner. Two texts and five missed calls, as well as a voicemail from Sigyn. Vali slipped the device into the pocket of his tunic, and climbed up onto the tail fin of the ship, staring out across the landscape.

"FATHER!" He screamed, futilely, into the wind. His only response was the echo.

That was when he saw it. Down the hill from him, a blood-soaked body, so terrifyingly still, Vali's heart lurched in his chest. He ran at top speed down the decline, dropping to his knees in the dust next to his father's inert body. "Father…" He whimpered, wrapping his fingers around Loki's still-warm ones. A single tear tracked down Vali's cheek as he collapsed onto Loki's chest, sobbing his heart out. He lay there for what seemed like forever, before he heard the erratic, weak beat of Loki's heart through his hauberk.

TheOnlyHuman.