A/N: Hello, my lovely readers, have you all seen The Dark World? Because if you haven't then I really recommend it to you. Honestly, so many lokifeels. I say this also because this story will adopt some things from it, so if you don't like spoilers you should perhaps wait before continuing with this. It's not much, but I thought I'd better mention that.

Okay so back to business. Confrontation lies in the air...and a change of scenery.

Thanks to the new followers and I hope you all enjoy this...may I dare ask for a review or two?

"Please follow me." Agent Hill said in a professional voice. She was a tall woman with dark hair, taller than Fara, and she appeared toughened up by the years she'd spent in her job. Her fluent movements were like a cloak, similar to the one Natasha wore at times.

Tony had been called by S.H.I.E.L.D. last night and they had sent an army plane to pick them up in the morning. The Vanir had never seen such a thing even after three years on Earth and she eyed the sturdy construction suspiciously – commercial air planes looked quite different.

The men in black suits had come with the first rays of sun behind the horizon. Fara had found herself tensing up at their stern forms, but she had been of no interest to them.

The Avengers and Thor had spent a lot of energy in persuading them not to kill Loki right then and there. Guns had been raised at him as soon as they had caught his sight and for a while it had seemed they would fire on him. Fara had only been able to watch, limbs refusing any order of movement. Loki had just lifted his hands in a defeated manner. He was still too weak to fight.

She hadn't missed him pressing his lips together tightly and closing his eyes, trying to fight against the humiliation. He had been freed from one prison to be brought to another, chained once again and watched by men who wouldn't trust him to make one step alone without trying to kill someone. They had reasons to mistrust him, she tried to tell herself. He was in no way innocent.

In the end they had agreed to just handcuff him...with three pairs of shackles.

Pepper would stay in Canada. Tony had walked up to her bravely smiling form and kissed her passionately before whispering something into her ear. The couple's intimacy caused a lump in Fara's throat and she tried long to swallow it down, to no avail.

As soon as they had landed they'd climbed out of the plane one by one, Loki flanked by two heavy muscled men with pairs of dark sun-glasses. Agent Hill had already been awaiting them.

Fara honestly could not tell where they were. None of the men escorting them had been willing to confide in them their destination. Not with a highly dangerous criminal in their midst.

Small buildings were scattered over the bare ground, security posts with cautiously armed men and women forming a circle.

She noticed there was hardly any snow as they descended through an underground passage into the main base. Apparently they had flown further south. The spare corridors and halls they passed were brightly lit by white light and the walls were held gray.

"I never was fan of their taste in interior decoration." Tony winked at Fara.

The group was lead to a huge room full of desks and computers. In the centre stood a platform and on it a table. A dark skinned man was standing there facing the door, his hands clasped tightly at his back. One of his eyes was covered by a leather patch and Fara wondered how he had come to lose it.

"Nick." Tony said as they walked closer. "Ever considered using flowers inside your facilities?"

The man, Fury, ignored the comment and stared at them with a cold eye. "Can anyone explain to me why Loki is back on Earth after we sent him off with Thor nine months ago?"

"Better ask Thor." Stark said.

"Indeed, It is I who brought him with me." Thor looked at Fury. "We heard of the Dark Elves' appearance to your world and came to investigate and to offer help if needed."

"Loki is here to help us? This is not a very good joke."

Only then did Fara notice the chained man's absence. "Where is he?" She directed her eyes to Fury.

"The prisoner is where he belongs – inside a high security cell." He shot her a questioning look. "You are?"

"I am-"

"She's a friend of mine - Fara." Nat stepped closer, cutting Fara off. The assassin smiled reassuringly.

"And you think it wise to bring your friend here when there're such important matters being discussed?"

"Absolutely."

And with that the subject was dropped to Fara's surprise.

"Let my brother free! He won't harm anyone now, I swear to you." Thor's tone rose a bit. His features were set in stone, Mjolnir held tightly in his grasp.

"I can't gamble with the security with any of the people here let alone the whole world. He will stay where he is.

"Then let me see him."

"He's currently knocked out. He won't know you're there."

"Knocked out?" Steve asked.

"Our staff took care of him." Fury's lips curled upwards. "Now, we've contacted Banner and he should be arriving anytime soon. We don't have anything new on those aliens...you called them 'Dark Elves'?" He sent a questioning look towards Thor, who frowned at his request being ignored.

"They are the ruling race of Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Realms. It was their ships that could be seen by your people."

"Are they allied with the Chitauri?"

"We don't know." Thor's frown deepened. "But they have grown stronger since the last time we fought against them. I believe they seek revenge over Asgard for the damage caused by the war between us."

"But this quarrel has nothing to do with Earth." Fury said.

"Yes, but your planet has become important to me. To threaten it means to provoke my anger and their leader, Malekith, probably knows that."

"So we're bait, is that what you're saying?"

Thor nodded. His eyes were following Fury as the man walked down the few steps to their level and stopped inches in front of the much taller god. Everyone stood still, waiting for whatever would come next.

"We are ready for them. If they chose to battle this out on Earth they will be confronted by the best our defence has to offer. Every single man and woman here is willing to give their lives if it is for the good of the human race."

"But you won't be able to scare Malekith away only by sheer muscle force or diplomacy. The Dark Elves use magic on the field, they trick and play with their enemies until they go mad and slay themselves! You need magic to seriously harm them."

"And so you try to tell me that the only one able to help us is that psycho downstairs?"

"Thor," Tony stepped forward, his expression grave. "You can't really expect anyone to feel good at the idea. Not after what he's done. I don't think he himself wants to help us either."

"Maybe there's another way." Steve said.

Clint rubbed the corner of his jaw with two fingers. "Or maybe nothing's gonna happen. I mean, how do we know they'll come again? They left without causing any harm, maybe they left for good."

"No they came for something, and they won't stop until they have it. They'll come again." Thor shook his head. "When I and Loki were young our father used to teach us about the different races of the Nine Realms. The Dark Elves were once very powerful, the lords of darkness, feared by most and opposed only by few. But they almost fell into obscurity after my people fought them."

Fara saw the other's concern in their eyes, the uncertainty of what they should do. "They'll come. I know it. They will come again."

The whole room had grown still when she had spoken. All eyes were directed upon her as she let her gaze wander to each of them – Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, Thor and Nick Fury. She could see some of them nod, others exchange glances with their neighbour or directing their eyes to the ground. Then Fury spoke to Thor.

"Do you trust him?" He was talking of Loki.

A pause. "No." Silence again. The Vanir froze as she looked at the Mighty Prince. They had been brothers. She had expected their relationship to have suffered immensely, but it took a lot for Thor to completely lose faith in a person. Something pulled at her heart. She knew they all had reasons to despise Loki for what he had done. He deserved punishment and she did not question that.

But her vision had shown her the Dark Elves' strength, their new-found power and their immense thirst for revenge. Neither Earth, nor Asgard would stand for long against their wrath. They needed help; they needed Loki, his skills and experience.

Without the Mischiefmaker they would die.

Ignoring the voice in her head that was telling her to keep her mouth shut she took another step forward. "But I do."

Steve and Tony immediately opened their mouths in protest.

"Oh, come on. You can't be serious!"

"He'll probably side with them as soon as we let him free."

But it was Thor's quiet voice, full of disbelief, but also something she could not quite make out, that gave her the little bit of extra confidence she needed. "Lady Fara, he has changed and I'm not sure how much of the Loki we both knew is still left in him. You haven't seen him since years."

"But he's the only hope we've got. We need him." She pleaded at him with golden eyes. "Let me speak to him."

"You want to go and speak to him? Believe me that's a stupid idea." Clint looked at her if she had suddenly gone mad. Nat shook her head, agreeing with him that it would be madness to assume she or anyone else would be able to change Loki's mind.

"Do we have another option? Because if we do then why did you free him from his confinement in the first place, Thor?" Fara sighed. She didn't like the idea herself, but if she didn't do it then no one would. She looked back at Director Fury, whose features she could not read. He did neither speak, nor move while the others around them threw in protest after protest. His chest rose and fell slowly, collected as she waited for his answer.

"Okay, you have fifteen minutes. If that doesn't help then-"

He was cut off mid-sentence as the doors opened again and a middle-aged man with dark eyes and hair walked in, hand raised in a wave and a smile gracing his soft features.

"Hi there." Doctor Bruce Banner walked up to the group. The last of the Avengers had finally arrived. "What did I miss?"

Fara had been led away by Agent Hill while the others told the news to Banner. She had missed his reaction, but could well imagine it after seeing everyone's tense jaws and tight fists every time Loki's name was spoken.

As the two women stepped into the elevator she tried to persuade herself that she had made the right decision, but she could not get rid of the tiny voice inside her head calling her the greatest fool in all of the realms. How would she be able to reason with one of the most dangerous creatures alive?

In silence they passed a pair of thick sliding doors. The agent stared forward, never meeting her gaze. She couldn't blame the woman. Ever one must think her mad right now. After a couple more minutes they reached a heavy metal door. Agent Hill pressed a few buttons on a black box next to it and the door slid slowly open. She motioned her to step inside. "I'll be waiting for you here. You've got fifteen minutes from now. Good luck."

"Thank you." She murmured, unsure what else to say. She would need all the luck in the world.

The seeress heard the door closing gain behind her back as she carefully walked inside the room. In its centre was a circular cell made of glass. Tiny boxes hung from every corner of the ceiling and she guessed those were cameras. S.H.I.E.L.D. would be monitoring their whole conversation.

He was sitting inside the cell on a chair, his hands and feet chained. His head hung down limply, dark hair creating a curtain before his face. He looked as if he was unconscious, but she knew him better than that. "I know you're awake."

Seconds passed without a stir from either of them. Then, slowly, his he lifted his head, pale eyes, although partially still covered by his hair, were fixing her like two icicles. She fought against the urge to hiss when her stare fell onto the muzzle that covered the lower part of his face.

This wouldn't do. With a quick wave of her hand the muzzle fell off, landing in his lap. For a moment his eyes left her form as he moved his jaw. He would never grow fond of those things.

Then his gaze returned to her. He did not stir at all as they held each other's looks.

"Did you really think you could fool me by posing as unconscious?"

A cold smile. Slowly he tilted his head, like a snake.

She continued. "They are afraid what might happen if they let you free."

He blinked once, his lids unwilling to open to see her still standing there. How badly he wanted to use words to send her off, far away so he wouldn't continue to see her mocking eyes. How annoying, he thought to himself.

"Why don't you defend yourself? Why don't you fight these gullible little mortals if you think yourself so far above them?" She guessed his feelings. They could not continue like this. Fara needed him to speak or she would never get an answer out of him, but how? She had to try and reach out to him, connect to him. It was her only chance; if this failed they'd be doomed. Her fingers, hands, arms were soon tingling with magic as it sought to spread out.

He hissed when he felt the wall of heat fall over him and his body fed on her magic like leeches on blood. He could feel his own magic grow stronger through hers and he gave up the fight against the waves that swept over him one by one, painful at first, then gradually transforming into a soft cloak around his mind. A gasp escaped his lips and he faintly registered her breath halting for a bit. Loki felt the familiar sensation of his mind melting with hers again and they both closed their eyes at the sensation of energy and light. When they opened them again she could see fire dancing in his.

She knew it had worked and it felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she heard his voice in her head echoing darkly.

I could so easily crush your skull.

" You're chained and kept behind glass like some pet bird. Tell me, my Lord, where is your magic? Has it left you?"

You pathetic slave, how dare you speak like this to a prince! His tone rose as did his anger.

"You are no longer a prince! Your title was taken from you because of your crimes!" She yelled back, her breath burning inside her throat.

For a moment no one moved, both their stares burning into each other as their heartbeats tried to slow down. She could sense the turmoil of questions that raged in him. When he spoke or rather thought again his voice was quiet, almost a whisper and so much more dangerous than his growls. How do you know?

How could I not know? She raised her palms to him, surprised and a little bit hurt that he had forgotten what she was capable of. She had grown too in the years of her exile. No longer was she the little quiet girl he used to know. There is much more I know, Loki Laufeyson.

His name – his true name – from her came as an utter surprise and for a moment he could feel the walls he had build around himself crumble. She knew. She knew what he was. Not Odin's son, not a prince of Asgard or Thor's brother, but Laufey's loathed offspring. Since when?

More questions were building up inside his head, desperate for answers, but he could not form coherent sentences in his thoughts and so he stayed silent, waiting for her next step.

Her voice came soft, almost pleading. "We need you. Malekith is planning something, I'm certain of it. If we don't-"

Oh, the seeress has had a vision again, didn't she? Well, did you see the world burn? Asgard fall into ashes? Because that is what will happen, I promise you. Loki interrupted her, tone hard as stone.

He wouldn't show weakness. Not before her. Never again before her. But still he felt something stirring slightly inside of him when he saw her features fall, her golden eyes sadden.

"What have they done to you?" Fara shook her head, unable to accept what she was hearing. This couldn't be him speaking. When did you become this unfeeling thing? He had changed so much she barely recognized him any longer. His body had grown so thin, his skin so translucent; it shone in the bright lamp light in a sickly grey. Nothing was left of the bright and elegant prince, the graceful regal figure she had known.

You want to know what they have done to me? Jade orbs bore into hers. They opened my eyes to the truth. I used to lead a life of lies, without glory or purpose. A life in shadow. They showed me what I could achieve, who I could become. His voice echoed loudly inside her head. I was born a monster. Why should I fight my true nature?

Silence. "Because we need you." She said eventually.

Loki hissed sharply when a second voice alerted him of its presence inside his mind, laughing, whispering incoherent words. Dark shadows crept through the golden haze Fara's magic had formed around his thoughts. To him the voice was no stranger anymore, omnipresent as it had been in his body for the last three years.

He met her eyes again, now two confused orbs of golden light. She had heard it too. A frown danced over the skin above her brow and she seemed to have the question already forming inside her head when suddenly the door suddenly swept open and Agent Hill stepped inside.

"Time's up."