The glow of the Bifrost faded, revealing the golden glow of Asgard.

Morgan again fainted. Lady Freyja caught her, brushing back her hair from her sweating forehead. Morgan groaned in pain. Freyja never looked at anything else but her friend.

Loki panicked. This couldn't have gone worse. Everything was falling apart in his hands. Even the thought of them had him wincing, remembering the lack of pain and the unwelcome cold in his arm.

Morgan's face just after...her screams of pain...Loki can't believe he asked a Midgardian for help. Or that they even managed to get to the Jotunheim. They were never supposed to be there. She was of Midgard, they were too weak to withstand Jotunheim. Her magic...

By the Norns, her magic...how had it managed to keep them alive?

Loki saw Morgan perform basic spells. They were never anything to that scale- he never thought a Midgardian could perform magic on that scale. Her shield kept back an army of Frost Giants.

(Yet her magic did not block out Loki

The worst Frost Giant of them all-

His skin was blue-)

Freyja brought her friend to help Loki. To solve his problem, to save Asgard. Freyja trusted Loki with her friend's safety. Now Morgan looked near dead in her arms. Loki had promised to repay her kindness towards him. Loki instead made her call on powers beyond her ability. She could die from that even still.

Fandral was near death as well. It didn't matter to Loki.

Thor apparently cared even less. He glared with the mightiest of rages directed at their- at Thor's- father. Loki realized he could not be a Frost Giant and a Son of Odin.

"Why did you bring us back?" Thor raged at Odin. The same way he always snapped at Loki, reminding him to take his place or quiet his silver tongue or quit playing his tricks.

"Do you realize what you've done? What you've started?" Odin yelled back.

"I was protecting my home." Thor shouted.

"You cannot protect your friends. How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin pulled the sword from it's place. The lightning died with it. Odin tossed the sword to Heimdall. Heimdall, who had not stopped this madness. "Get them to the healing room! Now!"

Freyja held Morgan closer, wrapping Morgan's around Freyja's shoulders. She walked as a third leg for Morgan. The Midgardian was even more sickly under the Asgardian sun. He saw her mumbling something, too low for Loki to hear it. Freyja glared at Loki, rolling her eyes at him. That only made Loki feel worse. The Warriors carried off Volstagg.

Loki watched them all go. A deep pit growing inside of him the further his friends were from him. The only two that supported him- the only two that went along with this plan on Loki's word and promised they would not actually visit Jotunheim.

The only person who saw him change...who knew now the curse of his skin. On it, or beneath it? He must be a Frost Giant but...but if he wasn't? Was it just his ability to shapeshifter that saved his life?

(Loki thought this, knowing full well what the magic of shapeshifting felt like.

His arm turning blue was the most natural thing in the world. Like taking off a coat after a long hot day.)

"There won't be a kingdom to protect, if you're afraid to act!" Thor ranted and raged on. Both father and son blind to Loki's internal plight. Could they not see his distress, not hear his inner screams, see that Loki was hiding his pain? No they didn't. They never could. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."

Thor was right. Loki did now fear Thor more than he ever had Odin.

Loki was a Frost Giant now.

(Always had been)

Words of Thor echoed in Loki's mind. Centuries of them, coming to Loki in a way that curdled in his stomach.

"I'll cut the monsters down!"

"Teach them a lesson, break their spirits-"

"The Jotuns must pay for what they've done!"

"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership!" Odin snapped. Loki looked up at his father- he was no son of Odin...nonono he can't- coming to a startling revelation. He must have known...why not tell Loki? Why let him go on, believing himself one of them? "Have you forgotten everything I've taught you? What of a warrior's patience?"

"While you wait and be patient, the Nine Realms laugh at us." Thor argued. "The old ways are done. You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls!" Thor

"You're a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin shouted.

"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor shouted back.

"Yes. I was a fool, to think you were ready." Odin

It was the one thing he wanted to hear. The words were soured by the blue skin hidden away.

"Father." Loki tried to intervene on this argument. Odin and Thor could get quite riled up in arguments. They needed to calm down, keep cooler-no no, not cooler- clear headed. If they weren't stopped, who knows what damage can come up?

"HEAURGH!" Odin yelled at him.

Loki jumped back, fear shooting down his spine and stilling his body. Loki thought if he made the wrong move, Odin would let Thor slaughter a Frost Giant.

They were only monsters, after all.

They all deserved to be cut down.

Odin glared down at his only born son. "Thor Odinson... You have betrayed the express command of your King. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you've opened these peaceful Realms, and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!"

Odin stuck Gunghir into the sword's slot. Lightning began connecting with it. Loki heard the observatory beginning to hum.

No

No Father don't-

Loki was too scared to speak in his brother's defense.

"You are...unworthy of these Realms! Unworthy of your title!" Odin ripped off parts of Thor's armor. His symbols of royalty, of his place among the Nine. He ripped off Thor's cloak. Loki watched in confused horror, Thor matching his expression. "You're unworthy... of the loved ones, you have betrayed."

Odin went back to Gunghir. Thor looked at himself, scared for what may be taken next.

"I now take from you, your power!" Odin called forth Mjolnir. She flew from Thor's hand into Odin's. "In the name of my father! And his father before!"

Thor's armor fell away. The chain mail crumbling off into nothing. Loki's heart was racing in his chest.

"I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!" Odin ordered. He flung Mjolnir.

Magic hit Thor in his chest. He went flying back into the path of the Bifrost.

Loki ran to it. He wanted to save Thor, to catch him, to help him. He had only wanted to help him. It wasn't meant to go like this. Thor was only supposed to get told off, not banished.

He was being banished.

(All of it, Loki's fault. As everything always was)

"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Odin then threw in Mjolnir. Only after did he pull out Gunghir.

Loki schooled his expression. He would not show any of the whirlwind emotions running through him. The last thing he needed was for Odin to punish Loki too. He would do a perfectly good job if that himself.

(Morgan was so much paler in Asgard...Freyja's look of rage as her friend stumbled...Loki's fault. Always Loki's fault...)

==L==

River never liked hospitals. The too polite doctors and nurses, the sickly looking patients, everyone in there was too easy a mark. River could never go to one, for fear of people realizing just how non-human she was.

Yes her dad was a nurse. What of it?

Nothing good ever happened to River because of a hospital. River was born and abducted in a hospital-like battlefield. River was left behind in a hospital after saving the Doctor's life, Morgan just left her there with nothing but a thick diary and instructions for a summoning spell.

Yes she still took that personally.

The one thing worse was seeing Morgan in a medical center. Her skin was so pale, River could see the reds and blues of the blood vessels. Color was coming back, slowly and none too soon.

The healers here were used to magic related illness. As some tended to the ailing Fandral, others brought potions for Morgan to drink. Morgan did so without question, eyes darting to the door and at River. If River dared to leave her side- for a chair, to summon a healer, anything- Morgan went still with panic.

Morgan hated hospitals too. River remembered horror stories from her childhood, of all the times Morgan narrowly avoided being experimented on in her different realities. River knew for certain that worse happened to Morgan since then. They never exactly had time to sync up the diaries.

Morgan just downed another potion. She let out a long breath after, gripping the bottle so tight River was surprised it didn't break.

"What the hell were you thinking?" River snapped at her.

"Oh...sweetheart...Hell had nothing to do with it." Morgan chuckled. She put the bottle down at her side. Her breathing was more pronounced, like a weight was lifted and she was finally able to take in air again.

"You almost died. If not from that magic, then hypothermia!" River scolded.

"I'm made of stronger stuff than you Asgardians think." Morgan reminded her.

"I'm not Asgardian!" River hissed. She was careful making sure none in the hall heard her. "I am as mortal as you."

"Says the regenerating assassin." Morgan sneered, snickering.

River wanted to show off those assassin skills. Would snapping Morgan's neck do the job?

Morgan glanced off at the door again. She bit at her lip, practically breaking the skin.

"Tell me this isn't part of your plan." River asked.

"This is not part of my plan." Morgan immediately answered. The monotone of her voice telling River it was a lie.

She huffed, a growl of annoyance coming from her throat.

"I don't actually make a point to end up in a hospital. Always my last idea." Morgan tapped idly on her leg. Her hands twitched a moment, so Morgan reached again for her Bag. She held it tight.

River sat closer to Morgan, trying to get the idiot girl to meet River's eyes. "Then how did this happen? Did the spell go wrong?"

"Any time I use that spell, I end up in here." Morgan answered. She looked around the healing hall. "Surprised I didn't die...must be getting better at it."

"What even was that magic?" River asked. "All the spells you used before this- they look rubbish now that I know you can do that."

Then Morgan smiled. This annoying smile, reminding River of sappy feel good movies and of the way the Doctor's smiled at River as he was dying from poison. A manifested confidence, an assurance that things were going to work out for the better. River hated when they smiled like that. It always turned out true. "A shield made of the strongest material at my disposal."

River hated it when Morgan was vague. "I still can't believe you use magic."

"I still can't believe you chose that hairstyle." Morgan shot back. "Like you knew it would be high maintenance. Still- a conscious choice. When I regenerate, I deliberately went for hair that I could easily maintain."

River hated when Morgan danced around a subject. Or insulted her hair- did she have to keep doing that? Did River deserve mocking now that she was blonde? Maybe she would make it go brown, just a bit over time like she could do with aging. "At least the madness is done."

Morgan's face went perfectly blank. She looked towards the door. River saw her fingers tighten on the Bag. River could feel the girl tensing, readying either for a fight or to run away.

"Morgan." River warned.

She was silent.

"Morgan tell me we're done." River instructed.

"Freyja we're done." Morgan obeyed, not looking away from the door.

"You're an awful liar."

"You told me to lie to you, you never said I had to do a good job."

==L==

AN: It's late. I actually tried to post it on Friday 13th but I got distracted watching the Unus Annus goodbye livestream. It's a whole thing you wouldn't get it-

Anyway! Here's just the tiniest bit of Loki-angst/whump. It's my specialty. I thought about adding the Vault scene to this chapter but nah. Loki gave off plenty to work with here.

Special thanks to worstloki on tumblr. They provide excellent Loki analysis that- honestly? I live for. Especially that 'heaurgh' bit. Like that's a super heartfelt moment for five seconds until Loki opens his mouth then MBLERGH ITS ME YOUR FATHER, NO ONE ASKED YOU LOKI! Like...why? Why do this, Odin?

Thanks to Lynnecaya for favoriting and following