Taylor paced the living room floor impatiently, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. It had been hours since JARVIS or Tony ha checked in with her, but she knew something was wrong. The blonde had been reading the newspaper and computer articles to catch up on things she'd missed during her time away on Asgard; she found nothing interesting; save for the article detailing a press conference Tony had been at to defend his suit's honor; it had not gone well. Then there was the psychopath named Ivan who'd tried to kill her brother just a few days before her return; it was all maddening. But not as maddening as the fact that Tony had gone out HOURS ago to stop Justin Hammer. Taylor ran her hand through her flaxen curls with a frustrated sigh, ocean eyes flicking to the clock on the wall every five minutes. She had had the knowing feeling in her stomach for days now, and was growing quite tired of it. She wondered how Loki and his family were doing, if they missed her; if HE missed her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes again and hurriedly blinked them away.

"No… no more crying… get over it, Tay…" her heart dropped; Loki had called her Tay often. But before more waterworks had a chance to start, Taylor heard the door click.

She dove behind the couch and grabbed her sword. She'd put it there after Tony left, just in case. The blonde's grip on the sword tightened on the golden handle as footsteps grew near, and jumped out when they were close enough, sword pointed at whoever the footsteps belonged to.

"OH MY GOSH!" Pepper Potts all but screamed in Tony's arms as she beheld the blonde with her weapon at them, "What on earth?!"

"Hey, sis, you mind NOT killing my girlfriend? That is ok with you right? That I call you that?" Tony spoke first to Taylor, then to the ginger haired woman he held in his arms.

"S- sorry…" Taylor lowered the blade and moved to sit on the arm of the couch, staring at her reflection in the blade. "Girlfriend?" she flicked her eyes up to the two people in front of her.

Pepper giggled and nodded, biting her lower lip.

"Yep! Well, now I am anyways."

"That was…totally not unexpected." The blonde said quietly, fingers curing around her key necklace.

"Uh, Pep?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Why don't you uh, go on to the room… I'll be there soon."

Pepper smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the mechanic's lips before she hopped from his arms and silently padded down to his bedroom. Tony's eyes followed her movements until she was out of sight; he then turned them to his sister.

"…What is your problem?"

Taylor looked up, "me?"

"No, the ice cream man. Of course you!"

"I don't have a problem, Tony… I'm just tired…"

The man narrowed his eyes, moving closer to the petite blonde seated upon the arm of his couch. Having used them himself, Tony knew all too well the many excuses depressed people would use.

"Hey, you know you can talk to me…"

She sniffled, wiping at tears that had already started to fall.

"Go away, Tony… go be with Pepper… she deserves to know," her voice broke, "how much you," she choked back a sob, "love her." Before her brother could respond, Taylor ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her. She threw herself on her bed and started to sob again, though it was muffled by the pillow.

Pepper, who had been on her way back to find Tony, had witnessed the door slam, and froze in her spot, rain tinted optics on the man left standing in shock in the center of the room.

"Tony…?" she padded up beside him, her delicate hand landing on his upper arm. "Is everything ok?"

Tony turned to look at the concerned woman by his side, sighing.

"…She's… I don't know."

"…Go. I'll still be here; I'll always be here. She needs you, Tony. Go." Pepper offered her former boss a small smile and gave his arm a light squeeze.

The mechanic muttered curses under his breath as he walked away from Pepper and over to Taylor's room. He knocked once; twice; then had JARVIS open the door.

"I said to go away…" she mumbled between sobs; face still concealed in the pink pillow.

"I'm stubborn, remember?"

Taylor looked up from her pillow, tears streaming down her pale face. She was clearly very upset.

"…Stay… please don't leave me…"

Tony frowned at the desperation in his little sister's voice and moved to sit on the edge of her bed, a comforting hand on her shoulder. He wasn't exactly the comforting type, but he could be, if needed.

"What's wrong, Stark?"

It was then that Taylor poured her heart out to her brother; she told him about all the events prior to her trip to Asgard, the events during her trip, and how she had been violently pulled away before she was able to respond to his last words to her. She then waited, back against the wall (she'd moved from her bed to stand up) for her brother's response.

Tony just stared at the blonde leaning on the wall, hazel eyes wide. At first he thought she was joking, but when she told him about the armor Loki had given her, he started to believe her. He knew she was waiting for him to say something by the way she chewed her nails, but he had none to give at the moment. He was in shock.

"….."

"….Say something…"

"Tomorrow I'm taking you to the room with padded walls."

Taylor closed her eyes and shook her head, "I never should have told you…"

"Why not?"

"Because you don't believe me…"

"When did I say that?"

She looked at him with a blank expression for a moment, "but you just said—"

"You told me to say something, so I did. Whatt'ya want me to say? I'll build ya a rocket to get back to Asgard?"

"…Can you actually do that?"

"No. Ask NASA."

"….get out."

"But—"

"OUT!" she screeched, pointing towards the door as it swung open. "If you're not gonna take me seriously, then just leave. Please."

Tony stood from the bed and left the room without another word, heading for his own room where Pepper would be waiting.

Taylor waited for Tony's door to shut before she closed her own.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID! Why am I so stupid?! GODS!" She threw a pillow across the room in anger, then slumped back against the wall angrily. She got out her phone and pulled up the picture she had taken on the stables back on Asgard. Her lips tugged into a smile briefly, but sadness won over again, and the blonde slid down the wall in a sobbing fit.

Meanwhile on Asgard, Loki had just killed the Frost Giant king, Laufey, and blasted his brother through the castle wall over the still sleeping Odin. He didn't know or care how his brother had returned, but he knew he wanted him gone.

"Loki!" his mother called after him as he hurried from the Allfather's bedside and out into the hall. "Stop!"

But her calls had been in vain, as Loki was already out of earshot. He teleported himself to the stables and took one of the horses, traveling the rest of the way to the Bifrost chamber upon it. Once there, he took Heimdall's sword and placed it inside with no intentions of removing it. To leave the bridge open would destroy whatever Realm it was connected to, or so the Gatekeeper had claimed. But, unknown to Loki, his brother was on his way to the Bifrost chamber at that very moment, with every intention of stopping his brother.

The hammer wielding god landed in front of the Bifrost chamber, speechless as he started in shock at the ice that formed inside.

"You can't stop it," Loki hissed, "the Bifrost will build until it rips Jötunheimr apart!"

Thor charged forwards with his hammer held high, but was blasted back by Loki and his father's staff. When he finally pulled himself back up to his feet, he asked:

"Why have you done this?"

"To prove to Father that I am a worth son; when he awakes I will have saved his life, I will have destroyed that race of monsters, and I will be true heir to the throne!"

Back on earth, Taylor had gotten up to retrieve another glass of water for her dry throat, when she felt a pain in her chest again. It made her dizzy, and she gripped the marble counter top for support. Whatever was happening was bad; very, very bad, and she knew it had to do with Loki; he was the only one who could cause her this much pain.

Back on Asgard that fight Loki so desperately desired with Thor had begun and nearly ended within a matter of minutes; he'd lost, again, and was now flat on his back on the Rainbow Bridge. He waited for Thor to finish him off, as why should he not, but no. Instead Thor placed Mjölnir upon his brother's chest and walked back towards the rapidly spinning Bifrsot.

Loki struggled for breath beneath the hammer's weight as he desperately tried to remove it from his chest, but to no avail; he was trapped beneath it; but the trickster hadn't given up yet. If his strength wouldn't get the hammer off of him, perhaps his words would.

"Look at you," he hissed again, "the mighty Thor," this time he strained to left his head, "with all your strength.. and what good does it do you now, huh?" Unable to withstand the strain any longer, Loki flopped back to the Bridge, "do you hear me brother?! There's nothing you can do!"

Loki's taunts had done the trick, and Thor summoned Mjölnir. He needed to stop the Birfrost and he only knew of one way; destroy it. Without a second thought, Thor brought his hammer down upon the Rainbow Bridge.

Taylor had managed to crawl back to her room but she had collapsed in pain a few times on her way there. She now sat curled in a corner and gasping for breath, her hands tightly gripping the necklace. She just wanted the pain to stop; for Loki to be ok.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked as he watched in horror as his brother continued to beat the Bridge with his hammer. "If you destroy the bridge you'll never see her again!" Loki wanted two things: One, for Thor to stop destroying the Bifrost. And two: Thor dead. With him distracted it should be easier, he mused. He quietly picked up the staff and moved towards Thor.

"Forgive me, Jane." Thor said before bringing his hammer down with a loud yell. Loki had jumped just as Thor began to do so, but the Bridge gave way, and the blast knocked them both into the air. The explosion rippled through all of Asgard, and Loki and Thor flew through the air. Thor, in a desperate attempt to save his little brother, grabbed hold of the staff that Loki still held. If he couldn't save him, he would die with him. But just as Thor prepared to do so, someone grabbed his boot and stopped the two from falling. Odin had awaked when the Bifrost was being destroyed, and come to his sons' rescue. Loki struggled to hold on to his end of the staff, emerald eyes quickly taking in all the damage around them.

"I could've done it, Father!" He called up to Odin, "For you! For all of us." The god forced a smile as he and Thor still dangled in their father's hold.

"No, Loki."

That was the last string.

Loki had failed his Father again, and now nothing else mattered. He was a failure, a monster, and worst of all, a disappointment. His grip on the staff slowly began to loosen, and Thor noticed this immediately.

"Loki, no!"

But his call was too late, and Loki let go.

"NOO!" Thor screamed as he watched his brother slowly disappear into the abyss below, never to be seen again. The Realms had been saved, but Thor was now heartbroken. His brother was gone.

Taylor screamed in pain as another wave of pain rippled through her, stronger than the last. Tears poured from her eyes as she struggled to get her breath back. Then, suddenly, the pain vanished like it had never been there to start with.

"No…" she whispered, "no, no, no, no…Loki…" The pain's sudden disappearance could've only meant one thing: Loki was gone. The small blonde let out a strangled sob as she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Her mind briefly sent her back to her first day on Asgard, and she wondered if she had died from the pain, but she hadn't. The brief image of Asgard faded away slowly, leaving Taylor Stark in the pure darkness of heartbreak.