A/N: Hello everybody and welcome to my newest followers and those who've recently favourited Libras. And I've gotten two new reviews for the last chapter, thanks so much to the two people! Haven't received any criticism up to now so apparently what I'm writing is not all to bad? Okay I'll stop talking and leave you to read the new chapter.

Have a nice day!

She had left with the agent silently, without protest or excuses she had stepped out of the room again, her eyes full of regret – regret that she had come in the first place, that she had honestly dared to hope he would change his mind.

She had left and he was once again left behind to rot. Oh, he could get out of this pathetic excuse of confinement easily. His magic flowed strongly beneath his skin, thanks to her influence, that fleeting proximity. A bit of metal and glass once again no longer posed a challenge. He could get away before they'd even realize. He could be miles away by the time they noticed his absence, easily and discretely.

And yet he couldn't.

Where would he go afterwards? Where could he go where people wouldn't recognize him? None of the nine realms could hide him anymore. And never again would he lay foot into the space between the worlds. Never again would he let himself fall into the icy abyss that had almost destroyed him not so long ago.

The space between the branches of the tree Yggdrasill was a place bereft of light or warmth, of safety and rest. Darkness ruled, there were no stars or moons or suns, no sky or grass – just plain stone that grinded the skin off one's bones with every movement. To breathe was painful, to sleep impossible.

Nothing was there that could provide shelter. Heavy storms raged often, yet there was no water that could fall as rain onto the ground and soothe his burning thirst. But no matter how weak or exhausted Loki had felt he would not die.

For the space was also a place without time. You did not live, you simply existed. But it was a feigned existence. A lie, just like so much else in his life.

And he had wanted to die.

At first when he had let go and fallen from the Bifrost only to find himself surrounded by black nothingness, he could have sworn he was dead. This had to be death, for what place could be so far separated from the world of the living and not be hell?

Soon enough he had understood the truth. But his screams had gone unanswered, his cries unheard and his strength left his body until he felt like a prisoner in his own skin, incapable to move. Whispers had followed him all the time, whispers he had first taken to be people, somebody who could help him. No one had been there. But the whispers remained, growing neither louder nor quieter. They had haunted him when awake and followed him in his sleep, until he had stood on the brink of madness.

How much he had wanted to die.

And then another voice had joined the whispering, a deep commanding one. It had soothed him, calmed him, pulled him back to sanity – Thanos. Not able to fight, and to be honest not even wishing to either, he had listened to him. How he understood his pain of shattered identity. Loki Laufeyson, betrayed by the people he had believed to be his family, shunned by everyone, loved by no one.

He didn't need to suffer. He could – would have his revenge on those who had caused his downfall. With Thanos' help he would rise once again, more glorious and powerful than anyone could ever dream of.

And he had listened, had taken in those words and promises one by one. They had enwrapped his soul, his mind and healed his wounds. He accepted them and soon began to welcome them as well.

He'd craved those semi-lies, craved power and recognition, the things he had never received as Thor's shadow. But this would change under Thanos.

Loki had not been the only recruited by him. Dark Elves and Jotunns struck an alliance with the Titan lead by their hunger for power and revenge. The world would be theirs.

So weak. The dark laces of poisonous words echoed inside his head, creating walls of pain that took his breath away. No sound was produced by his tied vocal chords as he gasped silently, his groans going unheard. Defeated by a group of lousy mortals.

He heard it still, nine months after New York it continued to hunt him day and night, tormenting him now for his failure. He could break out of this cage and run, but he would never be able to flee that voice.

As Fara and Agent Hill joined the Avengers and Thor the young Vanir noticed traces of disappointment in the latter's eyes. She had failed her friend.

Tony was with Banner, Fury and Steve, his hands moving very fast as he tried to explain something. She caught the random technological term and guessed they were discussing weaponry. Without Loki they would have to rely on fast gunfire as well as physical strength.

"I'm sorry." She told Thor when they stood a little away from everyone else. "I thought I could bring him back."

"Don't feel bad, Lady Fara. You have tried, that's what counts. Your bravery is admirable."

"When did he become so cold and bitter?" She knew the answer already, but it proved difficult to accept the transformation in him.

Thor lowered his eyes, a heavy sigh on his lips. "Loki has always seen himself as unloved. He yearned for our father's acceptance and pride, but felt he would never receive it. From his point of view he was unwanted and I only learned about his feelings when it was already too late. I never knew how badly he was hurting until he told me. My brother blames me for his fall."

"But it is not your fault!" She said, partially to him and to herself. Unloved. Unwanted. The words pushed heavily onto her. He had felt unloved. Oh, the irony! Had she been alone she would have laughed.

Nonetheless she saw the weight of his guilt in Thor's eyes, darkened with emotion and she could imagine the pain he was feeling.

"Either way I'm responsible for his grudge. All our lives I made fun of his magic. I used to nearly drag him away from his books and make him spend time with me on the training sand. I thought that was the right thing to do. Make him forget those silly texts and boring scriptures and engage him in combat sessions or hunting or similar things. I thought it was the right thing to do. Not ever did I think I took away his peace or made him feel bad, I…"

"You still regard him as your brother?"She asked.

A nod. "But I cannot trust him anymore. Not after all he's done. Who knew three years could be such a long time? Things can change from one moment to the other."

How right he was.

Jane Foster arrived only moments later from London, together with her intern Darcy Lewis and a handful of questions. Those questions however multiplied sevenfold when the young woman's eyes detected Thor amidst the S.H.I.E.L.D. employees and super heroes.

Fara instantly recognized the petite woman's face from her visions and knew how dear she had grown to Thor. Jane had taken him in when he had been sent off to Earth just like Natasha had with her.

The woman's reaction to suddenly seeing Thor in front of her came quite unexpected, even to Fara who together with others couldn't contain her grin at the not-quite-so-romantic reunion. Twice did the physicist's palm collide with the god's cheek, the first time to make sure he was real and the second was followed by the question why he had not returned for her like he had promised.

Thor explained to her how the Bifrost had been destroyed, how he had had to take care of matters back home first. His eyes pleaded with her to accept his apology and she gave in, evidently happy to finally see him again. They too had been separated for almost three years after all.

Fara lowered her eyes away from the pair, a lump forming deep down in her throat.

Soon their intimacy was broken again by Fury and the Avengers seeking answers to what had happened in London. Apparently S.H.I.E.L.D. had been informed about strange occurrences and Miss Foster had been a witness.

"We don't know really. Darcy showed me how the energy levels on one of our instruments started to go crazy all of a sudden. They hadn't done that since New Mexico so we thought that…" Her gaze turned sideways to Thor. "Well, anyway the data lead us to this old warehouse and we-"

"It was so crazy! There were these kids, you know, and they showed us how that old truck could be easily lifted and then objects you threw down the staircase and they disappeared and appeared again above you." Darcy's voice rushed in, the young woman not taking one breath while she gesticulated wildly with her hands. She stopped when she noticed Jane's annoyed stare at the interruption together with the others' rolling eyes. "Sorry."

"What do you mean by 'objects disappeared and appeared above you'?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

Jane turned again to him. "They seemed to enter a magnetic field of some sort, otherwise I can't explain it. You let them fall from that staircase and they either appeared again from a similar field above our heads and fell repeatedly, like in a cycle or they didn't reappear at all."

"But how can that be?" Banner asked.

"No idea. I followed the traces of the magnetic field and I-I can't remember what happened next."

"Oh yeah, she was gone for like five hours." Darcy spoke again. "I called the police because I was worried she might have been hurt or something."

Thor looked back at the small woman next to him. "Did something happen?" His worry was visible.

"No, I-I...it was nothing, I just passed out for a little bit." Jane met his gaze. He eyed her with raised eye brows, not fully convinced, but did not linger any longer on it, too happy was he to finally see her again.

Their voices were ripped out of her head when all of a sudden she was transported away to a different room - gold and copper pillars held the ceiling up and runes graced the walls in elegant and yet powerful designs. Instantly she recognized the style as Asgardian, having grown familiar with the designs and forms during her stay in the palace.

Two figures were standing before each other in the centre, a circle of at least a dozen others. Odin and the other man, who judging by his clothing and pointed ears could only be a Dark Elf, shook their hands and nodded in agreement.

Then the Allfather's words rang through the silence. "From this day onward Dark Elves and Aesir shall lay their quarrels aside and embrace peace." He laid one hand onto Malekith – for she was certain this was the Accursed – shoulders.

The men around them raised their fists as they cheered their leader's truce, their voices echoing loudly in Fara's head.

Something was not right. She felt strangely dizzy, her sight distorted in subtle fog. A soft whistle filled her head and caused the dizziness to grow worse.

Somewhere far away her name was being called, but she could not see by whom. Only slowly her blurry vision adjusted to her surroundings and with a bit of surprise she found herself back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, gray carpet beneath her feet instead of ashes and the only sound reaching her ears the gentle buzz of computers and people talking softly.

Her eyes rose to see Thor still standing next to Jane, his features burdened with concern. "Fara, is everything all right? You seemed far away. What did you see?"

She looked around – Steve, Tony, Bruce, Clint and Natasha were looking at her as if she'd turned green…not that this would have been something too out of place, considering the fact that no one present could be identified as a 'normal human being'. Not specifically. Then she met Thor's gaze again, careful to let no panic drip into her voice.

"'It was nothing. All will be well." She saw the suspicion in his eyes he obviously held for her words and looked away. There was no need to tell him yet what she had seen. She needed time to make sense of it.

The physicist beside Thor smiled at her. "Hi, I don't think we've met before. I'm Jane." She reached out her hand, a gesture Fara knew as common under humans. She placed her hand in hers and gave her a shake, careful to place a smile onto her lips as she introduced herself.

"So are you a superhero too or what?" Darcy asked her.

"Not exactly, but I do own powers which could prove quite useful."

Thor grinned. "Lady Fara here is a Vanir. She sees the future."

"Wow, you're kidding, right?" Darcy's eyes widened as her mouth fell open, something which caused Fara to laugh.

"Oh, I remember reading that the Vanir were a species from one of the nine worlds, like the Aesir or we humans." Jane's glance flew from the young sorceress to Thor and back.

"That is correct." Fara said.

"As you've mentioned Dr. Selvig right now, why isn't he actually here with you?" Tony asked the scientist and her intern.

"Oh, uhm, long story." Jane bit on her lip.

"Hey guys, take a look at this!" Clint was staring at a computer screen with wide eyes.

They joined him and watched the British news reporter tell them that Dr. Erik Selvig, the brilliant astrophysicist who had been involved in the New York incident, had been found yesterday in Stonehenge, shouting nonsense at tourists while running around nude. The police had been called to the scene and arrested him.

"What was he doing in Stonehenge?" Clint asked as soon as the report had ended.

"Erik Selvig is a learned man, he would never act without purpose." Thor and Jane stood behind Fara and Natasha. Complete disbelief mixed with concern was visible in the god's features.

"So I guess he's not coming?" Steve spoke.

Tony rubbed his chin. "Nah, wouldn't count on it. But I don't think this was just an act of sudden turned-looney either. At least that's what I hope."

Fara was not listening to them anymore. Inside her head she could hear a voice, deep and rough, like two giant rocks grinding against one another. She recognized it as the same as the growling earlier, and it continued to whisper, so quiet she could barely hear it.

Asgard shall burn.

Then the voice broke into a roaring laugh, cold like icicles. She noticed her mind was still partially connected to Loki's without her knowledge. She had not expected the bond to be so strong after such a long time. His thoughts were almost too far away for her to grasp and she only caught glimpses. That other voice however was not his and she listened carefully for clues to who the person was that was communicating with him right now.

Her magic expanded and the unknown voice grew louder. Asgard shall burn, is that not what you always wanted? it asked threateningly.

Silence followed. Loki did not respond.

Again the voice spoke. Odin will awake to find his kingdom in ashes and his queen dead. And Thor will not be there to stop it, little prince.

No word came from Loki.

In that moment Fara felt something brush against the connection point, but it was no warm wall of energy like the one coming from Loki, but an icy breeze. It startled her and she withdrew herself from the bond, confused by the sensation. Moments later she still felt the coldness against the edges of her mind before it vanished slowly. Who was that person who took so much pleasure in talking about Asgard's downfall?

And Loki had not responded; the Silver Tongue silenced by the dark words that voice had spun into his head.

This vision from earlier - it had not felt right. The images had appeared real, but still Fara could not shake off the strange sensation she had felt during the scene. The translucent veil that had seemed to hang over her eyes was lifted now, but never before had she experienced such a thing. Always her sight would be clear, sharper than usual as it would eagerly grasp for details – as if this time her powers had been manipulated. She dismissed the thought as soon as it had formed with a quiet laugh, but then she thought she could hear an angry growl, barely audible on the periphery of her mind.

Fara paused, but then it was gone and she chewed on her lower lip as she tried to make sense of it. She would tell Thor, but not now. Later, when he had spent some time alone with the woman he loved and had missed for so long. She knew they both deserved a bit of peace right now.

Had she listened longer, had she kept up the connection for a few more moments she would have heard the sorcerer's response. Exhaustion laced in his tone carried the words away; seemingly bored, the tremble in his voice carefully hidden.

What do you want me to do?