"I was surprised to get called in for a job, I thought it was agreed that for now I'd focus on Beaumont and the Asgardian army camping in my front yard," I said innocently, knowing very well that that wasn't the reason I was called into Richard's office.
"True, which is why that isn't the reason I called you in today," Richard folded his fingers in the shape of a tent and looked at me expectantly.
"Is there something you wish to confess, Sorcha?"
"I really like ham and pineapple pizza?" I offered.
Richard raised an eyebrow.
"That… is disgusting. But not what I meant. Perhaps something about your activity last night?"
I looked at the carpet and blushed. "I'd really prefer to keep my sex life private and I don't see how that is any of your business anyway. I am a married woman," I murmured.
"Agent Laufeyson! May I remind you that you are still in our employ and under my command?"
Richard stood up and began pacing. I kept my eyes firmly on the red plush carpet below my feet.
"Very well, perhaps this will jog your memory: Last night, a certain priceless object of great historical value was vandalised. None of the people that were present at the venue, and there were quite a few of them, remember anything about the night in question. Leading us to believe some sort of mind-control magic was in place. "
I said nothing.
"The similarities with the heists committed by your husband while under Halja's sway have not escaped my notice."
"Perhaps it was Beaumont or one of the clones?" I suggested.
"That thought had crossed my mind. Except for the fact that the technology used to hack the security system is remarkably similar to our own, or so I have been told by our experts. Uncannily so, actually."
I shuffled my feet but didn't say a thing.
"Out of curiosity, I pulled up the data on your phone's whereabouts but strangely enough the tracker was disabled during the time of the heist. Do you have an explanation for that?"
"I don't. I just use the phone, I have no idea how the technology works. I have no idea how to disable the tracker." I said honestly. Disabling the tracker had been Loki's handiwork.
Richard glared at me.
"Let me try once again: Where were you and your husband last night?"
"At home," I lied, not looking Richard in the eye. "We were playing Scrabble."
Richard blinked. "Then why answer that your sex life is none of my business, earlier?"
"Strip Scrabble," I blustered, mentally kicking myself for saying it the moment it came out of my mouth.
"Strip Scrabble?" The corner of Richard's mouth began to twitch. "That's a thing?"
"It is with Loki," I had no choice but to stick with it now. I blushed even deeper.
"He says poker isn't fun because he can read my face too well. Not that it matters, he always wins at Scrabble as well, he has an unfairly large vocabulary."
Richard buried his face in his hands.
"Sorcha, I can't help you if you aren't going to be honest with me. If I wanted a pack of lies, I would have invited Loki in your stead."
I looked up.
"Right now, you have asked and I have answered your question. If anyone else looked closer into it, you can claim plausible deniability.
Pry further, and you might learn things you do not really wish to be complicit in."
"Plausible deniability?" Richard scoffed. "That is Loki talking. Did he tell you to say that?"
I nodded silently.
"Sorcha…" Richard shook his head and rubbed his brow.
"Plausible deniability…" he murmured.
I nodded again at him, hoping he'd know me well enough to be able to read the warning on my face. Richard eyed me for a moment, and then slowly nodded back.
"Very well, you were at home, playing Scrabble, and your phone malfunctioned," Richard admitted defeat.
"Exactly," I smiled gratefully.
"Thank you for your answer, I will put it in the file. You are dismissed, agent."
I sighed in relief and turned around to leave.
"Sorcha?"
I turned back again.
"This better have been worth it," Richard warned me.
"It was," I promised him. "I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the greater good.
Play Strip Scrabble, that is. Which is what I did last night.
For the greater good." I blabbered.
Richard laughed despite himself and shook his head again.
"Did Loki tell you to say that too?"
"No," I admitted morosely, "That was all me!"

It hadn't been a complete lie. Well, the Strip Scrabble was, although I probably should suggest that to Loki at some point, he'd enjoy that.
But the sex wasn't. The danger, adventure and success of the heist had an interesting effect on my husband, or so I found out afterwards.
However, once he had finally been fully satisfied, and I had fallen asleep, Loki snuck out of the bedroom and started working on the staff.
By the time I woke up, he and Carter were debating the best way to carefully smelt a piece of silvery Jotunn metal to create a new setting on the staff for the replacement gem.
I had left them to it, realising I wouldn't be much use but that both of them would appreciate some breakfast. By the time I had finished cooking the staff was cooling down, the new gem carefully placed in the fangs of the metal serpent.
Before Loki could test if the staff truly worked, I was called into Temple Hall.

After my talk with Richard, I returned to Jotunnhold, curious to see whether the staff was working.
The Agartha Portal was guarded by one of Odin's Einherjar and an Illuminati agent. I gave them the password. It changed on a daily basis, something that was much needed when your enemy is a shapeshifter and can wear any face he'd like. I was informed my presence was requested in the Great Hall, the AllFather had called a meeting and my presence was required.
I tried to slip into the Hall quietly on my tippytoes, an effect that was promptly ruined by one of the guards at the door who announced me with all of my titles. I sighed, glared at him and slipped onto the chair next to Loki. Laufey's staff was lying in front of him on the table, the gem firmly affixed.
"Everything went well at Temple Hall?" he whispered.
"I did exactly as you told me," I nodded. "Well, almost exactly."
"Sorcha! Please tell me you did not improvise!"
Odin cleared his throat warningly and glared at us.
"I'll tell you later," I whispered back.

"...can not guarantee that Hel will not stage her attack in an area inhabited by civilians, as a matter of fact, it is very like that will be her target." Matt was saying.
"I am not bound by your oath to maintain our existence a secret," Odin argued.
"I am less concerned about the secret right now and more about the loss of human life! There are far too many cities all over the world that would make a perfect target for Hel, and I have no way to protect them all!
Even with the Bifrost, we would not get enough men there in time to prevent significant casualties amongst civilians!"
It wasn't the first time they had this argument. It was hard to prepare when we didn't know what exactly we were preparing for, and none in the room were comfortable with the lack of control we had.
"Why are we still hiding the fact that the AllFather and his men are here?" Loki interrupted suddenly.
"Because it gives us the element of surprise," Matt said.
"That benefit is our enemy's by default, never ours." Loki pointed out. "We have no way of knowing where they will attack.
We will always be the ones to respond to them. We have no control over the where or the when, and that concerns me."
"I agree with Loki," Odin said to everyone's surprise, including Loki himself. There hadn't been a single 'boy' uttered during the meeting.
I wasn't sure Loki realised it, but I had. Odin was finally beginning to pay attention to him and finally started to listen to what Loki had to say.
Thor caught my eye and winked, smiling proudly at his bother. He had realised it too!
"The advantage that the element of surprise offers belongs to Hel, all we can do is react," Odin explained. " My army merely offers an increase in power and in numbers, and we don't know how big that advantage is without knowing the strength of Hel's army.
We need to find a way to control the battlefield, to pick the place, if not the time of the battle."
"I'd say us having the gods fight by our side will be a surprise to Hel," Matt argued unfazed.
"That is if you can keep our stay here a secret," Odin countered, "and in my experience, the more people know of a secret, the harder it becomes to keep. If too much time passes, the secret is sure to reveal itself somehow."
"That is exactly the point I was trying to make," Loki nodded in agreement with his father. "Right now, your stay here is a secret, but unless we utilise that it is not an advantage."

He stood up and started pacing. Odin eyed him curiously. "You have an idea?"
"Hel wishes to rule Midgard, Beaumont wishes to rule Asgard.
Halja obeys her mother but despises her all the same. She doesn't trust Beaumont but also knows he is the superior strategist. As long as he doesn't directly oppose her mother's wishes, Halja will follow his lead."
Loki began dry-washing his hands as he formulated his thoughts.
"Beaumont cares not what happens here on Midgard. Hel's invasion is merely a means to an end."
Loki stopped and looked at his father.
"We utilise not the secret, but the inevitable revelation! We offer Beaumont a target he will be unable to refuse!"
Odin stood up and eyed Loki angrily. "You dare to suggest offering me up as bait?"
"Yes, you, Father. He hates you, he despises you, and he wishes nought more than to make you suffer and watch the light fade in your eyes!
He wants you to die, knowing that you failed to break him and that he won, die knowing he will rule Asgard in your stead!"
Odin sat down, his face suddenly as pale as if Loki had slapped him in the face.
"Is that how you feel too?" Odin asked almost inaudibly. Loki did not hear him. His eyes shone as he turned to me.
"Darling, we reveal our bond to the world. Beaumont knows we are married by now, but we will make sure he knows exactly how much you trust me, how much I love you, and how close and committed to each other we are! He wants you, he wants your power, and he would do anything to take my place and have you and all the power you possess by his side!
We reveal I have Fárbauti's armour, the Friezegem, Laufey's Staff, which I have repaired, by the way, The Jotunnhold, the Bifrost. We reveal all to him. He will not be able to resist making us his main target.
We offer him a price beyond his wildest dreams!"

"I would love to be able to control at least the location of the attack, but while the lack of civilians is great, the weather conditions here are less than ideal," Matt admitted.
"Asgard's weather mages can negate that up to a certain point," Odin offered, "but their powers would be better utilised in our defences. Not all your soldiers are humans, those and your so-called 'Bees' should be able to survive the cold weather. We'll need a force on standby, your common soldiers can provide that. It will take time for Hel to funnel her troops through her portal. The moment the location of her armies on Midgard is revealed, they can attack that site. Heimdall will aid with this by utilising the Bifrost."
"Is splitting up our troops wise? If Beaumont has an overwhelming force…"
"If Beaumont has an overwhelming force at his disposal, we have already lost, no matter where that battle takes place," Loki countered. "But I reckon he has not else he would have already attacked."
"And how do you know he will take the bait before he has created said overwhelming force?" Odin asked.
"Because he is greedy, impulsive, and prone to taking huge risks. He is me after all. We use my bad qualities against him," Loki defiantly eyed Odin as if to challenge him to say anything, but the AllFather simply nodded.
"How do you propose we make certain Beaumont learns of this honeypot you intend to offer him?"
"Beaumont has eyes and ears in the Secret World. We'll just need a believable reason as to why we'd suddenly developed loose lips."
Loki thought for a moment, then his eyes began to gleam.
"Thor, how would you feel about taking the Warriors Three on a pub crawl through London?
We'll take Matt and Cedric too.
It's been a while since I've been that drunk, but I inevitably let things slip when I do," he winked at his brother who grinned back.
"That sounds like a great idea, we'll make sure to visit every pub and bar in Ealdwic!"

"Are you sure it is a good idea for you to go on a pub crawl?" I held Loki back after the meeting was concluded. It didn't seem like a wise plan for a recovering alcoholic.
"Don't worry, I am not that foolish. I won't drink anything that can actually get me drunk." Loki winked. "I've been drunk often enough to know how to fake it.
A few feigned arguments with Thor in which I unintentionally reveal father's presence, a few drunken toasts celebrating my love for you and my recent successes, combined with the presence of multiple Asgardians who are well-known to Beaumont and he'll soon put the pieces together."
"Did you notice your father actually listened to your ideas?" I smiled at him. "And he didn't call you 'boy' even once."
"Huh." Loki thought for a moment, then a huge smile broke out on his face. "He called me by my name, did he? And he listened to me!"
He looked up at the sky.
"No, no flying pigs…" he grinned at me.
"Check hell perhaps, see what the temperature is like?" I grinned back.
"You'd probably need a hat and scarf there right now," Loki winked. "Maybe your yelling at him had an effect after all."
"I think you are crediting the wrong person here, love. I think it is you, your cleverness and your behaviour, that is impressing him."
He shrugged. "That would be a first."
"But well-deserved," I smiled.
Loki kissed me.
"Don't wait up darling, it's going to be a late night. I love you!"
I watched him run off after Thor and the others.
I sighed.
Behind me, I heard my sigh being echoed. I turned around to see the AllFather, watching his sons and their friends leave through the Agartha entrance.
"You doubt their plan?" I asked, not completely free of doubting the wisdom of it all myself.
"It is not a bad plan," Odin grudgingly admitted. "My only question is why my sons' plans so often seem to either start or end with them getting drunk."
I couldn't help but grin at him.
"It does feel like that sometimes, doesn't it?"
Odin smiled back. He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Come along, your Majesty. Your staff is still on my table and we both know it would be better if some unsuspecting servant doesn't pick it up by accident."
"It is fully repaired now?"
Odin nodded. "Loki demonstrated it before us by draining a magical trinket of its power. That boy has always had a knack for tinkering with things he shouldn't really meddle with."
"He did well this time though, didn't he?" I prompted not so subtly.
Odin slowly nodded.
"This time, Loki did," the AllFather admitted.