"I still can not believe you did all that for me. I still can not believe you said yes."

"I still can't believe you asked."

Loki and I smiled at each other.

"Tomorrow around this time we'll be married," I said softly. I still couldn't quite believe it.

"Tomorrow will be a new beginning. A new dawn," Loki promised. " My past will define me no longer. Asgard will define me no longer. I'll have everything my heart could possibly desire here on Midgard."

He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing my fingers tenderly.

We had only just left London behind us. It was a clear night and the stars were shining above us. Love ballads were playing quietly as we drove to the B&B where I had booked us in for the night. I had pulled the hairpins out of my hair and shook it out so it could loosely tumble around my shoulders. Loki had taken off the black bowtie and had undone the top buttons of his shirt. I didn't think we could possibly be happier than we were at that moment.

Loki turned the music a bit louder and was humming along. It wasn't a far drive, we'd be there in no time.

Drops of rain began to appear on the windows, and Loki turned the windscreen wipers on. I frowned. That was odd. I had followed the weather reports religiously in the days leading up to that night because I had been worried our outdoor party would get ruined by rain, but all reports had said it would be clear for the next few days.

"It's a good thing it is only starting to rain now," I said.

Loki said nothing, just frowned as he looked ahead.

A moment later I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance, followed after a few seconds by a bolt of lightning ahead of us.

I could feel Loki tense up beside me.

"It's just a storm," I tried to reassure him. "It's not unusual this time of year."

"It's not the thunder I'm worried about," Loki said while looking at the sky apprehensively. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

The rain was coming down faster and faster.

"It's just rain," I said again.

There was another loud crack of thunder, and lightning struck again, in front of us and then behind.

"Buckle up," Loki said tersely, as he steered the car into a sideroad underneath the trees. I had already put my seatbelt on, I always wear it.

Lightning struck one of the trees beside the car and it crashed down behind us.

The downpour was torrential, the car skidding on the wet road.

"Are you still convinced this is natural?" Loki asked grimly, trying to keep control of the car.

No, I wasn't. There was nothing natural about the way the lightning was coming down around us. It reminded me of the time I had restored Thor's altar on the island. The day I had been deemed worthy of Mjolnir.

"I may have made a mistake," Loki admitted, sounding annoyed with himself.

"For centuries I have used magic to cloak myself from scrying magics and prying eyes. I've only dropped that cloak twice.

Once, when I revealed my true face to you on the island, when I wanted everyone to know who was truly responsible for their demise."

He swore as the car swerved, barely avoiding a tree that came down in front of us.

"The second time was tonight when you caught me by surprise. Maintaining that cloak is as natural to me as breathing by now, but when you handed me that little box…" Loki shook his head, "for a moment I forgot to do both. I realised after, but it is not unlikely that Heimdall witnessed my marriage proposal to the one Worthy of Mjolnir."

Loki barely avoided a thunderbolt that came down far too close. Thunder and lightning were all around us.

"As a matter of fact, I'm rather certain Asgard is aware!" He shouted over the thunder. "Have your magic ready, I did not bring the Friezegem with me tonight!"

A huge bolt of lightning came down in front of the car, blinding me with its light. Loki pumped the breaks, the car skidding and sliding on the flooded road.

I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my sight. The car had come to a halt sidewise on the road. Loki was already getting out of the car. I struggled to undo my seatbelt. Another thunderbolt lit the road ahead of us, and I gasped.

Kneeling on the road in front of us was a giant.

Not a frost giant, but the biggest, tallest man I had ever seen. Loki had once described himself as "short and scrawny" to me, and I always thought he had meant it as a joke. Now, as I watched the gigantic figure in front of me unfold himself, I could finally understand why.

He was dressed in black armour overlaid by metal disks, his bulging arms bare. I would say his arms were as big as my thighs, but that would not even begin to describe their girth. A winged metal helmet crowned his head, and a red cloak was draped down his back, trimmed with fur. His eyes glowed blue with lightning.

"Brother, I do not wish to fight you tonight," Loki, his hair plastered to his face, his shirt soaked to the skin, held his hands up as if to placate the figure in front of him. "Leave us be, we are no threat to Asgard, this is of no concern to you."

"Stay your vile tongue, you fiendish serpent!" came the answer, from a voice that boomed so loudly that the windows of the car rattled. I struggled with my seatbelt. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all!

Thor, because this had to be Thor, this could only be the god of Thunder himself, raised his arm and lifted the hammer I knew only too well.

I finally had my seatbelt off, threw the car door open, and practically rolled out onto the flooded road. My dress had immediately gotten soaked through, the green tule plastered to my legs.

"Thor, stop!" I yelled, but it was too late. Mjolnir hit Loki squarely in the chest and I watched in horror as he came flying right past me, crashing into the trees behind me.

"Stay out of this mortal," Thor warned. "This is not your battle."

"This is my battle!" I yelled back, "Leave him alone!"

" You are under his geas! You know not what you speak of!" Thor's voice boomed back, as he threw Mjolnir once again.

I winced as I remembered once having done exactly the same. At least I knew from experience Loki could survive a few hits from Mjolnir, I could heal him up later.

I readied my own magic. It was my guess that lightning wasn't going to be any use against Thor, and I didn't think setting my future bother-in-law on fire was going to be a good start to our relationship.

The air around me began to cool as shards of ice began to swirl around my hands. I held them out in front of me and blew gently.

An icy fog flew from my hands, creeping up along the road, up Thor's tree trunks of legs, past his huge torso, over his blond beard, until he was covered from top to toe in a thick layer of ice.

I smiled grimly and was about to turn around to see if Loki was okay when Thor flexed his huge muscles and the ice began to crack and shatter.

Well. Shit.

With his arms free, he shattered the ice around his feet with Mjolnir and shook the icy shards out of his long blond hair and his beard.

"You are beginning to vex me," he rumbled in annoyance.

"I am not under his spell! His magic doesn't work on me! Loki has changed!"

"Do you truly believe I have not heard that line before? That I haven't uttered it myself? Loki does not change! Stay back, and let me complete my quest!"

Thor got ready to throw Mjolnir once again. There was no sign of Loki and I daren't look behind me. Never take your eyes off your enemy on the battlefield, or so Loki had taught me.

"Oh no mister, don't you dare!" I muttered grimly to myself, as I held my hand up high.

"Mjolnir, to me!" I yelled, just as the hammer left Thor's hand. Mjolnir hung between us in the air. Thor frowned.

"Mjolnir, to me!" he bellowed.

"Mjolnir, come to mommy!"

Mjolnir wobbled in the air, like a puppy that couldn't choose which parent to go to.

"Do you truly believe yourself still worthy if you would kill Loki, Thor? Your own brother?"

"He's adopted!" Thor roared. Bolts of lightning began to form around his fists.

"He's your brother! He's changed! I truly love him! I swear to you, I swear by my worthiness to wield Mjolnir!" I yelled desperately. Mjolnir was Thor's, I could not win this unless I got Thor to doubt himself.

"Would you still be worthy if you killed your own brother?" I asked again.

Thor's brown furrowed, his huge handsome face contorted in confused thought.

"Mjolnir, to me!" I called again. Mjolnir wobbled for a second, then flew into my hand. It felt different this time, more solid somehow.

The huge hammer stayed in my hand. I sighed in relief.

Thor and I stared at each other, both of us panting.

"You swear?"

"I swear on Mjolnir," I said while holding the hammer in my hand.

Thor took his helmet off, shaking out his long blond hair.

"I believe you truly believe he has changed," Thor said finally. "That does not mean he has. But I will stay my hand for now."

I slowly walked toward him, the dress clinging to my legs making it awkward to move.

"Is there any way you can turn that off?" I asked Thor, vaguely waving my hand at the sky. Thor grinned and winked, and like a tap turning off the torrential downpour suddenly stopped.

"You promise to stay your hand?"

"I swear. No harm will befall Loki unless he threatens either of us first. I promise no harm will befall you either, you now stand under my protection."

I held out Mjolnir to Thor, and he took the hammer back.

Thor's face suddenly beamed with a wide grin.

"Well met, my Chosen One, fellow Worthy of Mjolnir. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

I grinned back. I had been dying to meet Thor ever since I first had been found worthy. "It's great to finally meet you too."

"Oh, come here," Thor opened his arms wide, and before I knew it he held me close in a bearhug that I could have sworn made my ribs crack.

"Well, as heartwarming as this all is, I think I'd rather just leave now,"

Loki's voice came sarcastically from behind me as he came limping down the road. His tux was soaked through, he looked like a bedraggled wet cat.

"Forgot you left your betrothed lying wounded by the side of the road, darling? Don't worry, it happens to the best of us."

He winced as my blood magic healed him.

"I hadn't forgotten…" I began.

"You can use blood magic too?" Thor asked incredulously. "I only got lightning."

"Most proper magicians use more than one type of magic. She's smarter than you, brother. Not that that takes a lot." Loki was in a foul mood.

"Well, off you go then, back to Asgard. Drop by again in a few hundred years. It's not that I don't love our little reunions, it's just…. I don't love them."

Loki took my hand and started pulling me towards the car.

"I can't." Thor blurted out. "I can not return to Asgard unless it is either with you or your head, Loki. Father made that very clear."

"Isn't that a shame?" Loki shrugged callously. "I can't say I'm particularly keen to oblige either scenario, so you are on your own. Good luck with that."

I stopped walking. "Loki, we can't just leave him here," I said quietly.

"Why not? He got himself here, he can get himself home. May I remind you that we were on our way to a romantic getaway on the eve before our wedding, or has meeting with your little hammer pal caused you to forget about that as well?" Loki sniped at me. His eyes were cold and icy, his mouth set in a sneer.

"Hey! I understand this wasn't exactly how you had envisioned the rest of the evening to go, it wasn't what I had in mind either! But we can't just let him stand here!"

"Why not?" Loki yelled back. "Father will take pity on him soon enough, and send the Bifrost down to collect him!"

"Father can't send the Bifrost, it is still broken, remember?" Thor rumbled behind us.

"And who's fault was that?" Loki barked back.

Thor walked closer to us, his face an ugly red.

"You well know who's fault it was, Loki!"

"I wasn't the one wielding a bloody great hammer, now was I? Was I?"

The brothers stood toe to toe, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. Thor easily stood half a head taller than Loki and was almost twice as wide.

I could see no way this was going to end well. I raised my voice:

"Thor! Can't you persuade your father to let you come back for now, and to send you back if there is ever any sign of trouble from Loki again?"

Thor turned to face me.

"I can not. Or more truthfully, the Allfather can not. Without the Bifrost, he has to use his own life force to cast a portal to Midgard. It takes too much out of him to do so multiple times. It took a lot to send me here, he will not create a portal back unless I am ready to return with Loki."

Thor turned to Loki. "Father is getting old. He doesn't have much life left within him."

"Yes, very sad," Loki said, not sounding sad at all. He pointed down the road where we'd come from.

"Anyway, London is that way. If you keep a brisk pace you might make it before dawn."

"Loki!"I shook my head.

"What?"

"We can't just let a god walk around in London!"

"Why not, I do it all the time!"

"That's different! You're practically a native on Midgard by now. Just look at him!"

We both looked at Thor who gave us a goofy smile as soon as he noticed us both looking at him.

"He'd stand out like a sore thumb!"

"I could glamour him," Loki said, doubtfully.

"And that would make him less conspicuous?"

"Then what do you propose we should do?"

Loki and I looked at each other for a moment, we both knew what the answer was going to be. Loki sighed and his shoulders drooped.

"I was so close." he murmured, practically to himself, "I almost had it all. Everything finally lay within my grasp."

"We have to take him home with us," I reached out and stroked a strand of wet hair out of Loki's face, gently caressing his cheek. "I am so sorry, my love. But I see no other way."