OK, this is going to be a hard part of the story to read. I call this the beginning of the Kleenex chapters, because you are going to start needing a box on your desks/ tables/etc. ...go get one now.

You all set...OK, keep reading and remember to review!

Chapter Seventeen - Too many broken hearts

Switzerland in the worldly mountain chain of the Alps returned to its majestic glory as the home of the Ruling House of Midgard.

Jane Odinson was sitting out on the garden terrace, drinking her morning tea. Loki had pressing business of royal significance today and he had asked to be woken early in the morning.

But as always he left a kiss on her forehead before departing.

She was so proud of her husband. Though the explanation trial had been interrupted by the former super-villains, the royals of the nine realms believed in him. They clamored like children around a Christmas tree for their stake in the portal program. Loki vowed to deliver the portals himself so he needed to get a jump start on his day.

She read a newspaper that covered the gala. Joan Rivers was up to her usual gossip of discussing what everyone, including herself, had been wearing.

The sound of a baby crying interrupted her reading.

Sif came out to the garden. "Lady Jane, may I sit out here with you?" the warrior princess asked.

"But of course," Jane replied. "Enjoy some of this wonderful Midgardian sunshine."

"It is very lovely and warm considering how cold it gets here," the Asgardian said.

"Being up in the mountains has its advantages," she said. Her eyes were locked with the baby who stared at her. "She is very beautiful. You should be proud."

"I would be if only she would sleep through a night. Torunn has this thing against sleeping."

Jane chuckled. "She will grow out of it I am sure. Just give her some time."

"I sure hope so. So how about your majesties, are you planning on having a child or children soon, if I may be so bold in asking?"

"Oh no offense at all," she replied. "His majesty and I would like to start a family, but with the stress of being a new king, getting things stable, and now with these rebels constantly attacking, I think we will have to postpone for now, we will. If it happens, it happens."

"Yes. That is how I see my relationship with Thor. I wish that I was his wife, but I see that he lets other distractions get in the way."

So Sif and Thor were not married, yet they had a baby together. Rather interesting, Jane thought to herself. "That too will come in time. When Thor is finally ready, you will be the future Queen of Asgard."

"Excuse me ladies," a voice said from behind. Jane looked and saw that it was Agent Coulson, her personal bodyguard. "My queen, your transport awaits you."

"Thank you Coulson. I will be right down."

Jane stood up to stretch out. Her silverish, very loose cable neck sweater rose exposing her midsection as she did. The white denim jeans she wore were snug to her hips.

"Got to love seeing the physician," she bragged.

"Are you ill Lady Jane?" Sif asked.

"I sure hope not," she replied. "Loki insists that I go to make sure that I do not have a concussion or symptoms from it. I am only going so he will stop questioning me at very turn. Have a lovely morning Lady Sif."

"You as well Lady Jane."

Jane skipped up the step and headed to Coulson, who was prepared as always with her purse and sunglasses in hand.

"What would I do without you Coulson?" she said to her guard.

"Run away screaming from your duties as Queen," he joked with her in the best way he could. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," she replied and they walked away.

Sif had left the suite to walk with Torunn to see if that would calm her down from eating and hopefully get some sleep.

Thor was near the main entrance to the castle when he saw Jane slipping on a pair of boots. She was heading out while Son of Coul was standing there watching.

Where was she going?

Jane walked out and Coulson spoke into the device mounted on his ear. "Lady Hawk is on the move."

Finally, she would be out of the castle, away from eyes and ears that would hear them speaking. This was the best time to speak to her and ascertain if she was under a spell or not.

The gondola took her down to the ground level.

Thor took up Mjolnir and glided to the ground.

Jane was then taken by car through the mountains and into a large village of tall buildings that nearly touched the sky while he flew in.

The god leapt from building to building, watching her car as it snaked down the winding roads.

Finally, she came to a stop.

Jane climbed out and spoke to Coulson. "I'll be just a minute," she whispered to him, but he was still able to hear her.

Coulson looked around, inspecting everywhere around. Must be part of his job as part of the queen's security.

Jane got back in the car and it moved along more streets. Finally, the long silver transport found its way to King's Point Hospital.

She was going to a place for medical treatment. Could something be wrong with her?

He would not be able to follow her into the hospital; not in his current attire. Quickly he transformed into a camouflage of human attire. It would allow him to blend in and hopefully be able to follow her further.

Thor remained discreet walking very calmly so he appeared somewhat normal to the humans. With this area's people looking the same as he did with their blond hair, it would not be too difficult.

He did not want to let on to Jane or Coulson for that matter that he was following her.

Jane entered the door to a building, but ordered Coulson to remain outside the door. The doctor was expecting her.

And Coulson did what he was supposed to do.

But then again, he abandoned his post and vanished from sight.

Thor wanted to see where he was going.

When he crossed the street, Thor went to the alley that surrounded the clinic where Jane had walked in.

But Coulson was not there.

"Stealth was one thing that you do not have over me," a voice said from behind him. Thor turned around and locked eyes with Coulson. "Now correct me if I am wrong Prince Thor, but you would not be tailing the Queen of Midgard, are you?"

"Tailing?" he inquired to the word.

"Following. Pursuing. Chasing," Son of Coul continued with his other words that probably meant the same thing as tailing. "Because as head of Lady Jane's private security, I would consider you a threat and notify his majesty of..."

"No," he told him. "I am just concerned about Jane and her health. She was not feeling well since the attack on her yesterday and I am just worried if she is OK."

"Quite the brother-in-law you are. Following her to see how she is doing. Why not just ask her?"

Thor was silent and knew that talking about this was going to get him nowhere.

Coulson crossed his arms like he already had them and spoke one last thing. "Let me give you a piece of advice. Take it or leave it, but I recommend you take it. Jane is no longer your concern. My king takes care of her now. If you really want to hurt her, you will continue this ridiculous pursuit. If you truly care for her, you will stay away. Capice?"

The security guard walked through the doors to no doubt join Jane in wherever she was.

He finally processed what Coulson said two nights ago as a threat. He had threatened him to stay away from Jane.

After her physical examination, Jane was elated. What she thought was a concussion was not. It was just a migraine due to stress and being overworked. The doctor gave her some vitamins, prescription painkillers that would not weaken her too much, and asked to see her in six weeks; for a follow-up scan.

It was going to be a grand day.

She rolled down the escalator, seeing Phil Coulson standing from and awaiting her arrival.

"Everything well my queen?" he asked.

"Not a concussion, but a few little surprises," she said. "Wants to follow up in six..." and her eyes looked outside to see one person she did not want to see. "What on Earth is he doing here?"

"He claims that he is just checking up on you, but I think he is up to something else," her guardian said to her. "I told him to go away and leave you alone, but apparently he has something that he needs to talk to you about."

She cautiously walked out of the clinic and headed toward her brother-in-law. "Stand your ground near the car," she told her bodyguard and slowly approached Thor. "May I inquire as to what you are doing here?" she asked.

"I am just making sure that you are OK," he said to her. "Does Loki know that you were visiting a hospital today?"

"No and I would like to keep it that way," she snapped. "My husband does not need to know everything that I am up to. This shall be one of them."

She walked passed him to go about her day.

"It is never a good thing when a married couple such as yourselves keep secrets from one another," he challenged her.

Jane whipped around and walked back to him. "We'll you know what? I am not going to touch that pile of hypocrisy with a ten foot pole," she snapped. "You think that you know everything that is going on between me and Loki, then lay it out. Tell me what is really bothering you?"

"Very well. I cannot believe that you married to my brother. What about our deal? I swore I would come for you."

"But you didn't," she interjected.

"I tried, but my brother forced me into destroying the BiFrost. I have searched night and day for a way back to you, but I couldn't."

"And so to cope, you decided to go to bed with your best friend and not only that, but conceive a child with her." There was a tearful and dreadful silence between them. "Yes Thor, I watched you and Sif. I got to watch you from my hiding space as you and Sif went at it. Where was my hero then? Where was he when I needed him to come and save me and my fellow humans from the tyranny that was about to come to the people of Earth. Oh, I forgot, he was moving on."

Jane started to walk away again from him, and Thor was thinking about the best thing to say to her. However, she turned around before he could say anything

"You want the truth Thor," she snapped at him, spinning around so their eyes would lock. "I did long for you to come back. I waited for you to come back. And you know what, initially your brother did come to kill me. However, like all you Asgardians appear to do, he fell in love with me and I with him. Loki has done everything to ensure my happiness. Unlike you, with your loyalty and askew mortal compass, who sleeps with your..."

Thor could see the hurt that filled her radiant eyes. She wanted to shed tears, but kept them at bay. He reached out for the back of Jane's head and brought their mouths together. He kissed her in the same way that he had kissed her when he left Midgard the first time.

From within the bushes across the way, a video camera was watching the exchange of saliva between the Queen of the Earth and the Prince of Asgard.

The paparazzo was getting the story of the century, chuckling to himself the whole time.

Finally they released the kiss, but kept recording.

The kiss was everything to him. It was showing Jane that though they had been apart for so long, he was still in love with her.

Jane did not respond him however. It was not the same as back then. Their lips shared a passion, but only he was feeling anything from it.

They parted and their eyes searched one another.

That was seconds before Jane smacked him across the face. She was angry with him.

"How dare you..." she snapped at him. "Insulting and assaulting me, me, the Queen of Midgard for everyone to see."

"Jane, I," he tried to speak, finding the words difficult to come.

"You will speak not a word of this," she told him, "and I will do the same. Disaster is all we have to expect if this gets out. I love Loki and I will not leave him."

"I mean only to protect you," he said, smoothing a hand down her hair. "I care for you more than any mortal in this realm."

"I don't need you to take care of me," she snapped. "I can take care of myself. That is what I do as Queen of this realm. Now if you will excuse me, I have an anniversary that I need to arrange."

Thor watched as Jane walked away from him, throwing her bag over her shoulder. She snapped her fingers and Coulson followed behind her.

But Coulson gave him an icy stare before following her.

Jane was not under any spell. When their lips had met, there was no emotion, no feeling that came from her. The kiss was nothing to her.

But how could she love his brother? Loki, the God of Mischief and the King of Midgard. He had taken everything from him by taking Jane into his bed.

He had to face the fact. Jane was lost to him. His heart was shattered as a tear fell down his cheek.

Thor no longer wanted to stay on Midgard. There was nothing connecting him to this world anymore.

Using the power of Mjolnir, he returned to his normal attire and leapt into the air to fly away from where he had met Jane. He soon arrived to Loki's palace upon the balcony of his parents' suite.

Sif was in the room that had been arranged for two of them to share with their daughter. She was just setting Torunn down in her cradle.

"My lord what is the matter?"

He marched into the room and took her body into his arms, their mouths meeting forcefully.

From the response he received from the mother of his child, Sif was truly in love with him. She had loved him this whole time. Even between his ramblings, ravings, and obsession over Jane, Sif remained loyal to him.

They parted, warm breath meeting and smashing into one another as their foreheads touched.

"What is it my lord?" she asked.

"Let's go home," he told her. "I do not want to be here any longer."

"But..." she was going to question, but stopped in mid sentence. "Yes," she smiled. "Yes, lets go home." Sif smiled and released an enlightened chuckle.

They raced with Torunn and all their items they had traveled with to the portal room within Loki's palace.

The pair passed through the portal and were finally back home in Asgard.

Loki's throne room

It was not easy being the king of a realm, but Loki was handling all his concerns that were placed before him.

He had returned from Helheim as his last stop. His daughter did occupy that realm and he wanted the chance to visit without feeling rushed. Hela was not generally glad to see him, but was pleased that he had stopped by. Especially because she was getting a portal ring of her own.

Anything Loki could do to ensure her loyalty to him.

Upon his return to the place, he was immediately onslaught with work. People asking for money, requests for interviews and photos, and his personal favorite, the pardon request. The arctic prison colony agent had come requesting a pardon of a man after being accused of rebel activities under Red Skull's operations and switched sides.

"Though he may have decided to join my alliances," he said, "it does not appear genuine. Does he truly know what it means to be loyal to me?"

"The family has been trying to get him to repent his ways," the agent replied on behalf of the warden. "He does see that your rule is absolute."

"Then give him a chance to prove his worth," Loki said, entering the throne room while removing his gloves. "Send him to work in the metal mines. If he shows loyalty in the refinery, then I will consider his full-pardon. For now, let it be conditional."

"Yes my lord," the agent said and walked out with the document.

His day had only begun, but at least tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow signaled the one year anniversary of his coronation, but more importantly, it signified his marriage to Jane.

Jane had gone out to no doubt to arrange special details and was due back home soon. She had been gone for several hours, but he had been gone all day. It would be the perfect day for her to errands.

He would go to their room and see if she had returned yet. However his plan was diverted by his guard Torston.

"My king," he said.

"Ah Torston, has her majesty returned yet?" he asked her.

"Not yet my liege, but something has happened that you must see," his guard said.

Loki followed him to the surveillance room. It showed all the cameras and monitoring of everything that concerned the royal family.

On one monitor, Agent Hill his personal hacker and expert cued something for him to see.

A freelance photographer was claiming that he had caught the queen in a scandalous position of kissing her brother-in-law from Asgard.

He was going to air it tonight LIVE on a network broadcast.

Maria however got hold of the footage and showed it to him.

Indeed it just was as the human described. His wife Jane was seen in a lip lock with his brother Thor.

Loki felt his heart shatter, a glass memento that he carried shelved within his chest. Now it was nothing.

"My king?" Maria asked, awaiting instruction.

"Hack in and take the footage off his device," Loki ordered. "See to it that he cannot broadcast that footage. Torston, take your finest soldiers and subdue that man. If he resists, kill him."

"Understood my king," his guard dispatched to do as he was ordered.

His task was simple: await his wife to return home.

Evening

Jane slipped on a soft lavender dress that gave her a soft wavy appearance. She was going to save the dress for tomorrow for their one year anniversary, but tonight was going to be a special evening as well.

She only hope that she was able to maintain her excitement.

Before she left her bedchamber, she fluffed out her hair and skipped out of the room.

Loki was standing near the fireplace in the throne room. His arm was resting on the mantlepiece and his eyes glowed with amber light.

"Hello my darling," she came to greet him. "What a day I have had?"

He did not answer nor turn to face her.

"Want to know what I have been planning for tomorrow for our anniversary? I am having one of Midgard's greatest chefs come and prepare the greatest meal you have ever had."

Jane was near him, but yet he did not look or make any motion to the fact that she was in the room.

"Hey babe," she said as she approached him. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" She put a hand on his arm and massaged it softly.

"What was the one thing that I assured you I would do to you if you betrayed me?" Loki softly said to her. His eyes continued to stare into the flames.

"What? I don't understand."

Loki stood upright and stared at her. "What did I say I would do to you if I ever found out you betrayed me?" His voice was slightly filled with anger and he started to walk towards her.

"What is this line of questioning?"

She admitted that she was scared in this instance as she backed up from her husband and the stare that she was receiving.

His hand reached out and grabbed her around the neck, giving it a squeeze. "You know Jane, I think you have a pretty good life with me," he told her. "You are queen, you have your life, and could want for nothing. I do not understand why you want to leave me or lose this."

"What are you talking about?" She tried to swing at him, but he grabbed her wrist, wrenching it hard in his grasp.

She fell to her knees.

"My exact words to you were I would assure that you would beg for death if you betray me."

She was crying. "What have I done to you?"

He released his grip, flinging her to the ground.

"I do not understand how you can let any other man touch you let alone put his lips to you when you claim to love me as you do?" he shouted to her. "Tell me! Tell me why you would betray me!"

Then it finally occurred to her. Loki had seen when Thor had kissed her out in the plaza outside her appointment today. One of the stalkerazzi members must have seen it and reported it to him.

"Loki, please," she said, tears slipping down her face as she got back to her feet. "Thor was the one who kissed me. He seems to think that I am under a magic spell. That you are holding me captive as your wife. He kissed me in a vain attempt to break the spell.

"Loki, please, I love you. I am totally and completely in love with you and only you," she pleaded. She tried to come toward him.

But a stinging sensation arrived on her face as her husband's hand struck her cheek.

Jane recoiled, staring at him with tears in her eyes.

"I cannot stand the sight of you right now," he told her and turned his back on her.

Loki walked away from her, marching to do whatever it was he was going to do.

"Fine!" she shouted. "Why don't you go find some other girl who is never going to break your heart. Someone who is never going to hurt you."

He did not answer her.

Jane bolted from the chamber and ran towards her bedchamber, sealing it from the inside; not that it could stop him,

She threw herself upon the bed and cried until sleep took her over.

Loki stood there in the throne room still after Jane had left. He did regret his anger, but it slowly seeped back into the forefront of his mind when he thought about the visual that had been brought to him.

Thor must be confronted about this as well. He would deal with him.

"Torston!" he called for his personal guard.

The guard arrived and bowed to him. "Your majesty," he greeted him.

"Restrict the queen to quarters only," he ordered. "She is not allowed to leave the palace no matter what...and bring Prince Thor of Asgard to me."

"I cannot do that sire," his guard said.

Loki stared to him. "Why is that?"

"The Asgardians left earlier this afternoon," he reported. "They claimed to have pressing matters back in their realm."

"Cowards," he replied. "I will deal with them in time. Once I have dealt with the queen's betrayal, I will deal with Thor personally."

That back half of the scene had to be hard. It still gets me every time I reread it. Please continue to review because it gets really bad from here.