Songs: "Time" by Hans Zimmer, "The Arena" by Lindsey Stirling, Say (All I Need) by OneRepublic, "Electric Love" by BØRNS, "Everybody Knows" by Sigrid,

The sounds of machines beeping incessantly echoed in her ears as Jane's eyelids fluttered open, her vision blurry as she blinked the sleep away. She drew a hand up to rub at her eyelids, but she frowned when she felt something tugging slightly at her left hand. Turning the appendage around as her vision finally cleared, she found it to be an IV tube taped to her left hand. Confusion filled her thoughts as she struggled to understand why she was in the medical bay of the helicarrier at all.

"Jane..," a soft voice sounded off to her right as its owner moved into her line of vision, his blonde locks spilling down his shoulders. He began to speak, a solemn grimace marring his features. "You're awake." The tone of his voice spiked her heart rate with worry.

"Thor, what happened? Why am I here?"

Anguish drew his lips downward as he eyed the small astrophysicist. "Give it time, Jane. As much as I would rather you not remember, I am certain you will. In the meantime, we will be leaving as soon as you are ready. I've stood by far too long only to watch you be hurt over and over again. I was a fool to have you brought here and all I can think of keeping you safe from harm." Anger with Loki fueled his decision; his brother's hurtful words toward Jane replaying themselves.

"Where?" Jane murmured as she continued to struggle with piecing together what had sent her to a hospital bed in the first place.

"I was considering Vanaheim, but in your condition, I fear traveling with the Bi-Frost would be a strain for you. So, somewhere here where you can rest and heal. Stark's home is an option. Still, after everything that has happened to you, I am going to stay by your side. I promise." Thor responded while reaching for her right hand and softly cradling the appendage; his blue eyed gaze staring intently at the small scientist.

As she considered what to say in reply, the memory of why she was in the medical wing of the helicarrier came rushing back: the memory of Loki snapping at her; of her being overcome with sharp, piercing pain in her lower abdomen and feeling as if she was going to be sick in the hallway, it all came back. Her eyelids widened in horror as she recalled her fear and concern for the baby as the pain and cramps were all generating from where the baby resided. "Thor, did I lose the baby?"

Worry for his friend's well being propelled the God of Thunder to sit on the bed with Jane as he nodded; his arms carefully sliding underneath her upper back as he drew her to him. "I'm so sorry, Jane. I know how much you wanted this baby."

Feeling herself be drawn up, the familiar warmth of Thor's body played its part in keeping her from wanting to explode in agony and grief over miscarrying. Allowing herself a deep breath as her mind attempted to piece itself back together after the shock, Jane rested her forehead along Thor's chest as she watched her tears mark the blanket. She felt like a failure for being unable to keep the baby safe from harm. "I don't know what to say. I mean, a lot is going on in my mind right now, but I don't know where to start. Does Loki know?" The thought of having to explain to her husband what had happened seemed as painful as the idea of going to the dentist who did not believe in procaine or any other form of anesthesia.

"Aye, my brother knows." Recalling how Loki had reacted to the news, Thor knew he should have done his best to be considerate of the man, but having been caught up with witnessing Jane going through the experience of losing the baby, Thor lacked sympathy for his brother as he felt Loki was to blame for the miscarriage. While he knew there was something wrong with the dark haired God of Mischief, Thor still could not forgive Loki for choosing to say all that he had to Jane.

"How did he take it?"

"Jane, please do not trouble yourself over my brother. Focus on yourself, all right?" Thor replied softly as he drew Jane's head up; the sight of her tears breaking his heart in two. For so long, he had chosen to stand aside and allow his brother to love and care for Jane; the act alone had caused him to suffer several sleepless nights. While he knew he had needed to stand aside and allow Loki the chance to redeem himself with Jane, Thor also knew he needed to act before things between the two of them got worse. Drawing a thumb along her tear lined face, Thor let out a soft sigh as the decision to leave sooner than later popped up in his mind. "Jane, I need you to do something for me."

Blinking rapidly as she tried to cope with the overwhelming grief, Jane nodded slowly while sniffling. "What is it, Thor?"

"Once I speak with the healers, will you be willing to leave? I would just feel more comfortable knowing you were in a safe location given all that's happened."

"I..-" she paused in mid reply as she looked away from the concern filled eyes. The thought of leaving without having another chance to speak with her husband did not sit well with her, but she knew Thor was right to be concerned about her. If she was an outsider looking in, Jane knew she would be acting in the same way as the God of Thunder. So much had happened in such a short period of time that she also recognized the need to separate herself from the situation to allow her mind to process all that had happened. Drawing in a slow breath as she felt her tears subside, Jane nodded once more before replying. "If it's possible, yeah." What of Loki, though? She would feel terrible if she left him without any explanation. "I still need to be able to speak to Loki before we go, though."

At first the blonde's face had lit up at Jane's willingness to go along with his plan; his lips even going as far as curling up in relief. At the mention of his brother, however, Thor soon frowned and let out a gradual sigh. "Jane, he does not wish to see you. Before he left, he made me promise to keep you safe and I fully intend to keep that promise. Whatever is going on with my brother is something that I don't want you to have to deal with in your current condition. Please, listen to me with this," he added as his other hand came up to draw her face back to his. "With all of this madness going on, I would not be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

The God of Thunder's apparent worry over her safety caused Jane's heart to swell. She nodded with finality, giving in. The very fact alone that Thor was making any attempt at all to keep her safe was, in the very least, something she found she had to acknowledge. "All right, Thor. If the doctors agree, I'll go."

****

**

'I see you are still devastated at the loss of your child, Prince of Asgard. Well, what was I to do? You didn't follow the rules so, understandably, you lost the game. I chose you for a reason and you chose to disappoint me. You took something from me so I took something from you. Now, everything is as it should be. You still have the chance to become ruler of Midgard and to bring back the Tesseract. Do not disappoint me again, Loki.'

The Titan's voice rang out loudly in Loki's head; the menacing tone causing shivers to course throughout his body as he tried his best to keep himself under control. Had Thanos really ended the life of his child? "You ended my child's life?," Loki called out to him.

'You were being disobedient. What else I was to do? You should know by now how fond of I am of balance. When I see something that is unfair, it only makes sense for me to fix it before it gets any worse. You see, I am a very benevolent being. All my life, I have strived to create balance throughout the cosmos..'

As the Titan continued to speak, anger swelled up within Loki as he found himself needing to deal with the painful fact that an unborn child's life had to end over the Titan's need for balance. Jane, his Jane; the love of his life had suffered because of him; because of this monster's behavior. His ears began to ring as he felt his anger threaten to overflow; anguish over what his actions had cost him rearing its head as he finally caved. "Enough, enough, enough!," Loki cried out loudly as he gripped onto his head. He needed to be free of the Titan's hold!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Pipe down, sir."

The sound of someone else speaking caused Loki's head to raise as he glared in the direction of the voice. "Why are you here?" he deadpanned.

"I was told to keep an eye on you."

"I do not require that."

"Really? Did you not just wreak total havoc on a gala in Stuttgart? Are you ser- hold on," the sound of someone talking in his earpiece drew Agent Coulson away from the conversation. "Dr. Odinson and Thor are leaving, sir? I see; Stark Tower, of course." Pulling himself away from Dr. Fury's voice, Agent Coulson proceeded to gasp slightly as the sight of the dark haired God of Mischief standing close to the edge of the cell startled him. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"My wife and brother are leaving..?," Loki inquired.

"Don't touch the glass."