A/N: Another six year time jump. Last one, I swear.

I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.


Key carefully crawled back through the vines that covered the room and gave the blanket over to Sander. He was sitting down and Chandra was rubbing his lower back. They both knew she was doing it to keep her attention away from what was at the other side of the room, the vines numerous enough to keep even Key's small figure away. Tomas was held up by the same vines that Sander had seen him in 11 years ago. He didn't look any different, like he hadn't aged a day.

It felt like they had been there for a week already, and it was very possible. Sander could feel magic surrounding them everywhere since they had arrived. If where they were really was someplace nestled between realms and realities, then time could move very differently. Luckily they hadn't felt any regular bodily needs, including hunger of thirst.

"I wonder how long until Dad comes," Key said quietly. "He's going to be furious when he hears about it." It was the first time she had spoken since they had been taken to the new room, leaving Tony. She had crawled as close as she could to Tomas, without getting hurt by the thorns, to look at the brother she couldn't remember. She had stayed there for almost as long as Sander and Chandra had watched him.

"He'll get Uncle Balder right away," Sander continued from the thought. "And with Nana to help it shouldn't take nearly as long."

"How long do you thinks it's been back home?" Key looked at her brother. She may not have nearly as many powers, but she could still recognize a magical signature changing things around them.

"I don't think it's been long," Sander guessed. "I think that time moves faster here, than it does back home. We may be waiting a while longer for someone to come." Key nodded a little and moved back over to sit by the two adults. Chandra stopped her hands pulled off the wrap of her sari and wrapped it around Key's shoulders.

"Won't you get cold?" Key asked, looking over at her. Chandra gave her a soft smile and shook her head.

"I often find myself in one extreme of temperature or the other all the time, so I'm used to be extremely hot, or extremely cold." She went back to rubbing Sander's back, but stopped when Sander had started to turn to face her. She knew that she had talked almost as little as Key since arriving. "In the summer I find myself in India with my family, and in the winter I find myself in some of the northern states."

"You look very pretty," Key told her as she pulled the wrap tightly around her shoulder, burying her hands into the fabric. She had been wearing a tank top and some shorts, and the room definitely had a chill to it. "Are you really a Princess?"

Chandra nodded, her hand ringing around some of the bracelets she wore. "My Uncle is the Maharajah of Jaipur, and my father is the current Crown Prince. My Uncle doesn't have any sons, yet, but his wife is currently pregnant, so that could change." She smiled softly. "We were there because he was going to be born any day."

"Your parents must be worried," Sander spoke up this time. "By the way you're dressed it looks like you were taken from something important."

"There was a dinner that had just ended. I was going back to my rooms when she showed up," Chandra told them. "If time moves as slowly as you think then they probably won't notice too quickly. I've been known to disappear from the palace during the day, going into the city."

"Can we visit your palace when we leave here?" Key asked, not seeing the way Sandra looked over. Chandra saw, and saw that he was probably going to tell her that it was rude to ask that.

"Of course you can," Chandra said, stopping Sander's words. "After this, when we go back, you'll all have to come to Jaipur. There will be plenty of room for all you to stay." Key gave a soft smile, and Chandra was happy to know that she could at least distract the younger girl from their situation for a little bit. "You'll be friends of the royal family, and you'll be welcomed happily. The city is amazing, and I'll take you on a personal tour. We'll even get you your own personal sari."

They sat in silence for a little while longer, Key adjusting the wrap around her to use as a blanket as she laid down, her head in Chandra's lap, eventually falling asleep. "When is Fay due?" Chandra asked quietly.

Sander blinked and looked at her, finding that his eyes had started to drift off to sleep a little bit. "About five weeks," he said, looking down to find his hand on his own stomach.

"There's a little bit of a difference in your due date, isn't there?" Sander snorted with a smile and nodded.

"We didn't know she was pregnant at the time. And when we found out about her, we soon learned that we had been distracted enough on our anniversary, and," he drifted off as he gestured to his stomach. "Not long after that we went to see Emma and Dani in Jotunheim, spending at least four months there." Chandra raised an eyebrow. "They've seen my Dad when he was carrying both Melli and Key, so I thought they would have more information for me. It certainly helped to calm my panicked mind."

Chandra just nodded a little. "We'll get back before either of your children are born," she said confidently. Sander caught her eyes glancing to the side, back towards Tomas.

"It makes sense," he said and Chandra looked back at him. "When she was talking about a Princess. Tomas is a Prince of Jotunheim and Asgard both, so Jida would require a Princess to wake him up."

"Being an actual Princess doesn't help get me past those vines," Chandra said, one gesturing to the vines that were around them now. "I'm just a human, I can't heal quickly after getting hurt, I can't break them apart with my hands. I can't get to him, and I'm the one that's supposed to be able to help him."

"That just means that we wait for more help to come," Sander said matter of factly. "We'll figure something out."


Balder opened the corresponding portal and he, Eir, and Loki stepped through, looking around at the colorless expanse around them. "You're positive this is it?"

"This is where the trail ends," Eir told them, looking around.

"I can feel him," Loki murmured. "This is where Tony is, I'm positive." Loki started walking away, following whatever he could feel, Eir and Balder following him.

They hadn't walked for to long when Loki stopped and frowned, turning his head to the side. "She's separated them," he said softly. "Sander is that way, but I can sense Tony in the opposite direction.

"I'll go," Eir volunteered immediately. "If he or the babe are in need of help, I'll be able to help. Tony might need you more right now." Loki nodded after a pause. "Don't worry, I'll get to him and we'll meet back up. We'll get everyone out of here." Eir squeezed his arm and took off walking in the direction that Loki had pointed before.

Balder put a hand on Loki's arm and the continued walking as well. Loki's body was tense and stiff, it had been for nearly two weeks. They had worked tirelessly to find the connection, chasing different portals, even finding others who were going to attempt to collect others. Those ones, Loki had killed when they refused to give any useful information. He felt a barely concealed rage tingling under his skin, wanting to fuel his powers as they searched, wanting to make anyone connected to the woman and the power pay, violently, and painfully.

Loki had lost track of how long they had walked but his attention was brought back when they saw a seated figure in the distance. He could see whoever the person was had one wing and was hunched over something. Loki wondered just how many people had been collected and what it was all supposed to mean.

As the two brothers got closer they could hear the person was quietly, and quickly, talking, his arm moving as he wrote something. Loki frowned when he saw the reason the man only had one wing, one golden wing that reminded him of Eir. The back of the shirt was dark with dried blood, a small stump where a second wing used to be looked like it had healed over without any care.

"Someone tore the wing off," Balder said quietly, a soft horror tinging his voice.

Loki slowly moved over to the front of the man, leaning down. He recognized the soft voice talking, a voice that shouldn't sound so ragged and rushed, he knew the hands that quickly scribbled away at pages in the thick book. Loki reached out and tilted the man's held up gently. He didn't recognize the glowing white eyes of Tony, his husband caught in a loop of visions.

"How long has he been sitting here?" Loki asked, trying to hide the slight shake in his voice as he watching Tony. Balder looked at the book that Tony was writing in, noticing that as he wrote the words would shrink moving to other pages on their own. He looked back at the missing wing, trying to judge how long it would have taken to heal in such an ugly way.

"It's hard to judge exactly, but it's obvious that time moves more quickly here." He glanced down at Loki, his attention focused solely on Tony. "It's been at least two months."

"He's been caught in a loop for two months." Loki's hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles white from the pressure. "Is it safe to move him?"

"Honestly?" Balder let out a breath. "I wouldn't do it until we found the others. We risk losing him to the visions entirely if we disrupt him too much. He can be brought out of these visions, but I don't dare take too many risks."

Loki swallowed and nodded. After a moment he stood back up and Tony naturally looked back down at the book, his hand had never stopped writing. He placed a gentle kiss on Tony's forehead before turning back to Balder. "We should find Eir and my children. I have memorized the path here, and I will reap my revenge once they are all safely back home."