A/N: Hello everybody! Yeah, it's me and I bring a new chapter. I hope you are all well and had a lovely Christmas. I'm really sorry that I couldn't update sooner, but I wasn't really feeling well and had a whole load of stuff for school to do (I still do, by the way, so be prepared for late updates in the future) and my drama group is staging a play in January so we're in a hurry with our rehearsals, so...I just couldn't bring myself to update, although I had already written this chapter beforehand. It's just...I didn't really like how it went at first, but now I finally had time to alter a few things and I think it's quite decent now.

Okay, so one last information before I shut up and let you read the chapter: Although I'm really far from being a Marvel expert I know that Jane in the spend some time in Tonsberg, Norway, but that's not the case in this story. Just pretend you never heard of Tonsberg and Jane in relation.

Yeah, that's all from me. I wish you all a great new year and see ya in 2014. Peace!

They decided to grab some lunch at the canteen when the first stomach rumbles made their round amongst the group. Thor had been the first and although he had tried to hide the sound beneath a yawn they had all noticed it and laughed. Only Banner and Tony stayed behind. They'd barely had time to eat something that morning and they had spent the last hour discussing Jane's work on wormholes.

Watching Midgardians explain the processes of space through strict science alone seemed so odd when to her they were more the result of Yggdrasil's magic. Before her banishment she had never thought one could even separate one from another.

"What is this strange looking dish?"

Fara noticed Thor leaning slightly towards her, brows furrowed at the plate in front of her, and had to fight the laughter building up in her throat or she would have probably suffocated on her noodles. Luckily Darcy took over the task of answering him…more or less.

"You don't have spaghetti in Asgard?" The dark haired girl stared at him wide-eyed. "Oh man, and I thought the fact you didn't know chocolate had blown my mind. What do you guys eat back there?"

Jane rolled her eyes, but still smiled at her friend. "It's strings made of flour and water, then cooked and served with a sauce. You can try from mine if you want." She held out her own plate of pasta to him and after a moment's hesitation he picked up some of the strings with his fork and took a careful bite.

"Delicious!"

"Do you want another?" Darcy and Jane burst out laughing, but only they and Thor seemed to get the joke. The rest just exchanged confused looks. Fara could guess what this was about – she was after all no stranger to Asgardian table manners.

"It's not the first time you're eating pasta though, is it?" Steve's tone was light and he eyed the way Fara's hand skillfully rolled up the noodles with her fork with appreciation.

The Vanir had no time to answer him. Natasha did not look up from her plate as she spoke next. "Of course it isn't, who do you think taught her to eat them without making a mess?" Her voice was dead-serious, but then her gaze rose with a mischievous sparkle and as a grin manifested itself on her features.

"Three years are a long time, but enough to pick up on some of your customs."

"Why are you actually here?" Jane said. "I mean, not if it's a too personal question to ask."

"Yeah, didn't Thor say you were a…" Darcy paused, having forgotten the name.

Fara's face grew harder, although she tried to hide it from them. "A Vanir. Yes, my lady Freyja thought it wise to send me here."

"Mistress? You're not a princess then?" Darcy asked. Fara tried to ignore the faint touch of disappointment her words carried. This was not the time for self-pity.

Another smile. "No, I'm not."

"And do you like Earth so far?" Clint asked, speaking for the first time. He didn't trust her yet and she could not blame him.

"I do. And I appreciate your scientific advances. You have come far in just a few millennia."

"Ah, yeah science – Don't mention that for a bit." Jane's hand flew to rub the back of her head.

"I'm still wondering about London." Steve said. "How can a truck be lifted by just a touch of your hand or objects disappear in mid-air? You think it was something like a miniature wormhole?"

"No." Jane bit her lip in thought. "Not with these dimensions, not unless there's high energy levels and I mean much, much higher than anything recorded on Earth. It had similar characteristics, but not similar enough. And that still wouldn't explain the truck."

Her shoulders slumped as she let out a frustrated sigh. Thor put his arm around her form and rubbed her upper arm with his thumb.

"What about a magnetic field?" Natasha said.

"No, not strong enough. The waves we could measure were in no way sufficiently strong and as far as we know the building wasn't exactly a disguised super magnet."

"But how could it go undetected for so long?" Clint asked.

"Question is whether this has anything to do with the Dark Elves or not." Steve said. "I mean, why did it happen now? There has to be a relation to the Elves."

Natasha's brows furrowed. "But Norway and England aren't exactly that close geographically."

"As we said, Norway could've been a random choice." The blond soldier leaned slightly forward. "Or there were strategic reasons or they did make a mistake in the coordinates. Norway and England may not be that close, but if you consider they've come all the way from a different world a few hundred miles don't really matter."

"So perhaps they really were searching for something on Midgard. And whatever it is it still is in this London." Thor's gaze flew over the group, questions visible in his ocean blue eyes.

"So what? Should we go back?" Darcy asked.

"No." Fara looked at the young woman, then at the others. "We're guessing here and even if that should be the case we don't know what Malekith could be looking for. We can't just rush from one place to another simply because of an assumption." She remembered her last vision - Odin and Malekith sealing a peace treaty. Could this be? Could peace, despite their fears and the two realm's shared history, really lie in the future? But then she also remembered her foggy sight, the dizziness she had felt.

She had no idea what to believe, but the seeress sensed there was more to it that she knew yet.

Stark and Banner appeared in that moment. Fara did not miss the strange expression in Tony's eyes but then it was gone so fast she wondered if it had been there at all.

"What did Nick say?" Natasha asked as they moved their chairs closer to allow the two to join them at the table.

"Not much." Bruce said.

Tony snorted. "We basically came to the same conclusion as before – we're stuck until those elves do something."

"We looked at the tape of you and Loki." Bruce looked at Fara, one brow raised slightly. "Telepathy, eh? I didn't know one could actually have a whole conversation through it. How do you that?"

She explained to him her magic. "If two people are familiar with the spell they can create a mental bond."

"That's so cool. So you can read people's minds?" Darcy asked.

The seeress nodded and grinned at the shock in the mortal woman's eyes. "But only those touched by magic. I cannot enter every head. It takes a lot of skill to be able to do that and only the most powerful can."

"Like Loki." Thor said, his voice far away.

She nodded once. "Yes."

A pause.

"They're gonna close the London site to the public. Nick wants to know what those disturbances were caused by." Banner then spoke.

Jane buried her face in her hands then, frustration evident in her with exhaustion slowed movements. She had barely slept on the flight from England.

"Don't worry, we'll find out what's going on there." Tony said a little too cheerfully. He raised a hand and slapped her back.

Or at least he wanted to.

Before anyone could react they were on the ground, dishes and the remains of their lunch sprayed across the floor between them. A strong pulse, a wave of raw energy had knocked them down they realized as their surprised gazes wandered over the scene. Around them agents had stopped in their conversations and were staring at them with frozen features. Tables and chairs near them had turned over.

Thor was the first to react. "Jane, are you alright?"

"I-I-I'm okay, I…" The woman stumbled over her words as her eyes flew to Tony, then back to Thor. "I'm so sorry."

Stark got back to his feet, hair disheveled but apparently unharmed apart from a torn lower lip. He had been literally thrown several feet away by the force. "What was that?"

"What's happening with me?" The female astrophysicist lost her voice at the end and her gaze flew from one person to the next. Thor caught her when her knees suddenly gave way.

"Hey, you guys need help?" A group of S.H.I.E.L.D. staff gathered around them. A young agent motioned to Tony's lip "Perhaps a first aid kit?"

The dark haired man cut him off. "Yeah, leave the thinking to us. He looked first at Fara, then at the pale face of Jane in Thor's arms. "Could you check on her if she's alright?"

"I'm fine." The physicist shook her head, highlighting her words with a smile, but her features were ashen and her voice thin. "Really."

Fara placed her fingers to her forehead, cool skin meeting her touch. She was no experienced healer - she was not Sigyn – but her focus remained on the petite woman, her magic searching her body for any signs. She felt a barrier - a barricade - fighting her as an intruder. A shadow, black and red strings licked at her – a power that did not belong to the astrophysicist. This was something foreign, yet it fought for Jane as if she were part of it. She could not dig any deeper. The more of her strength she pushed into it the fiercer it fought her. Black liquid seared her mind until she had to give up. Every fiber in her body was screaming at her that this was not natural. Such a power could not be Midgardian. This was ancient magic, almost as old and powerful as the universe itself. It did not belong there, certainly not in a mortal's body.

"I think it'd be better if you lay down for a bit. Darcy, can you show us to her room?"

Darcy's eyes did not leave her friend. "Sure."

"I will accompany you." Thor still had his arm around Jane. The three of them left then and Fara turned to the others behind her. Wide eyes met hers, the questions in them reflecting her own.

Steve still had tomato sauce in his hair as he looked around with concern. "Well, what was that?"

"Maybe some form of shield, but invisible? Like, caused by her equipment?" Clint offered.

"No way, far too strong for that." Tony said, then looked at Fara. "Something by your people?"

"Thor was surprised too. I don't think he had anything to do with it." Natasha murmured, more to herself than to them.

"No, it is not Asgardian in origin, but neither is it Midgardian. It's magic, I'm certain of it, but its traces were not some I recognized."

"Elves?"

"It is a possibility, but I'm not familiar with their signature."

Silence succeeded her words as everyone tried to think through their possibilities. Moments passed and the Vanir caught herself more than once leading her thoughts to dangerous territory. Loki would perhaps be able to tell them more. Thor after all seemed convinced he had worked for or with the elves, even if he himself denied any acquaintance. Or did he? He'd asked her what made them believe he knew Malekith - neither confirmation nor denial. What if Thor was right?

She bit down on her lower lip as she fell deep into thought. Could she really ask them to go to Loki. Could she expect Thor to lead the woman he cared for even close to his brother, the man no one trusted? But she hadn't been the only one considering the idea. And she was not the one to voice it to her, admittedly cowardly, relief.

Tony stood up from his chair, a grimace on his face at the sudden sharp ache pulling at his back muscles. "What about Loki? Would he know?"

Several heads turned as Thor stepped into the doorframe, face adorned with deep frowns. Fara was surprised he had left Jane's side, but that ebbed away to understanding. He would be a king one day, he could not remain on the side line, no matter how strong his concern. He was a leader.

They waited for him to say something as he had undoubtedly heard Stark. "My friend, there's a reason why I brought him." A tuck on his lips betrayed his intentions.

"Would you let him near Jane?" Fara asked even if she'd already guessed his answer.

"You will be with us."

"But I can't help much if he decides to turn against us. What if he chooses not to answer?" Even to her it sounded half-hearted. They needed to know what they were dealing with here and only he could tell them.

"Fine, I'll come."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Clint seemed aghast that anyone would consider going to the madman again.

"For the moment it is the best we have." Thor told him and with that it was final.

They waited for Jane to rest and the next day her skin had regained its normal colour and her movements were free of pain.

It hadn't surprised anyone when she hadn't shown enthusiasm for the idea of being brought to Loki, but she too wanted to know what was inside of her. Her eyes had widened for a moment as if she'd thought of something important, but she didn't mention it and no one safe Fara had taken notice of it.

They hadn't informed Nick of their plan, and the seeress did not believe for one instant the grim man would have allowed them to go even near Loki without the accompaniment of at least one officer if at all. They simply wanted to get the answers they needed.

The three of them walked the empty hallways cloaked underneath Fara's invisibility spells. Never before had she tried to hide three people with her magic and her breath came strained as she fought to keep the walls of seidr up. She remembered the turns Agent Hill had taken with her the first time they had descended and more than once she felt as if they were treading the path to the underworld.

A spell dissolved the locks on the heavy doors that lead to his confinement and Fara used a second to manipulate the cameras. S.H.I.E.L.D. would never know they'd been there.

Meanwhile Thor had stepped before the glass cell that housed Loki, Jane a few steps behind him. "Hello, brother."

Fara took her time with turning around to them and when she did she could have gasped when she felt the edges of his magic, pulsating as strongly as they used to. He was still chained and hand-cuffed, but a flicker in his eyes told them it was more pretense. He'd chosen to play with them for a while.

Ah, more visitors. How fortunate a man am I to have the mighty Thor finally seek me out again? What an honour. The muzzle she had freed him of had not been put back. His voice inside her resonated with laughter, amusement pulling his mouth into a grotesque grin, malevolent and potentially lethal. And he brought his plaything with him. He added with a look at Jane.

"Loki, away with the illusions." The Vanir spoke and she raised an eyebrow as a hint of displeasure narrowed his eyes – she had seen through his performance.

The scene melted before them and Loki stood in the cell's centre, chin held high as cold eyes took Thor's and his lover's surprise. And still they underestimated him, hadn't they learned the lesson by now?

Fara was the only one unimpressed by his stunt. Shackles were scattered across the floor, torn metal shards reflecting the lamps' bright lights. His form was covered now by a vest and light overcoat, black leather mocking with every movement. A flash beneath the emerald and black betrayed his daggers clasped unto his vest.

"Always the trickster."

A laugh. You would know.

Golden eyes grew cold at his words as she drew in a sharp breath, noticed only by him. She had to remain focused, this was not about her here. She could sense her companions' confusion at the semi-silent exchange.

Thor stepped beside her and her eyes met his for a moment as she gave him a short nod. "We have come because of-"

I know why you have come! Did you honestly believe this here was all it would take to keep me locked away from the world in pathetic isolation? I was the weak one in your eyes, but none of you ever grasped the truth of my greatness. His words grew quieter. The wise Allfather – so many things he never managed to comprehend. As if spells could destroy me. Why, how foolish to try to use my own weapon against me.

"You still don't have your voice back, do you? Perhaps it was not as foolish as you think of the Allfather to use magic against you after all." Fara crossed her arms before her chest, sensing how her defiance infuriated him and it gave her courage.

"The Allfather never wanted this, no one did." Thor answered, grasping the subject of their conversation by Fara's words and Loki's burning eyes – eyes he knew too well and could read like ink on parchment.

Liar.

"Call him or me whatever you like in your twisted view, but it doesn't change reality. Now, can you tell us what took possession of Jane?"

A pause. Loki was fuming as his chest rose and sank with deep beaths, but then he seemed to change his mind.

I do. The tiniest of chuckles letting his chest vibrate under the leather as he let out a sigh.

And with slow steps he walked through the glass and stood before them, the cell's walls behind him without the faintest crack.

And you will not like what I have to tell you.