Ta-da! I managed to write another (short) chapter today, yippie! :D

Unbeta-ed.

It was only a couple of days after the meeting with SHIELD. Everyone was on high alert anticipating the Chitauris' arrival. Possibly everyone except Thor. No, Thor was happy. Not with the imminent threat, but because he had seen his brother practicing magic again. Yes, Thor had seen his brother when Loki thought he was alone in the underground chamber that was provided by Tony. Through the monitor that Tony had provided him with, Thor smiled as he watched his brother tried to harness the raw energy that he had within him.

'That meant he wanted to live. He's not giving up. My brother will learn to control the magic, and he will be well again,' Thor thought happily to himself.

Inside the room, Loki was also happy with his progress. He was able to direct the energy now and spell simple incantations. He had missed this; he had missed having control in his life and he rather enjoyed his peaceful training sessions. Had he known Thor was spying on him, he would be rather annoyed.

The young god did not know how long he would have to practice his magic before the Chitauris arrived so he made sure to train as often and as long as he could.

When he was not training, Loki made his way to the rooftop to take a reprieve from everyone else in the tower and for a breath of fresh air. He had liked the quiet and the scenery from the rooftop. That was where he stood when Hogun found him.

Hogun came and stood beside Loki as they both looked over the city. Neither acknowledge the other's presence. Until Loki broke the silence with a soft whisper, "We could have made it, you know. Against all odds, despite the circumstances of our union, I now believe that we could have made it work."

Hogun said nothing in reply as he kept his gaze on the horizon.

"Why did you volunteer to take me in? As bright as Odin is, he would not have had this idea to just gift his son to a warrior of his realm. I think he would have rather kept me in a dungeon, forgotten as time passed by," Loki continued softly.

It was as if he did not hear Loki, Hogun gave himself a small smile as he reminisced," The first time I saw you, you were still a youth. A reckless youth, if I remember correctly. How many times have the Allfather charge us with the task of bringing you home safely from whatever adventure you threw yourself into. And everytime, I thought to myself, I cannot let Prince Loki die. I cannot let him die because I want to propose to him when he is at his marrying age."

Loki turned towards Hogun in surprise and asked, "You harbored feelings for me since then? Why did you not tell me?"

Hogun kept his gaze at the city, and replied, "I was a mere warrior, you are a prince. Who was I to profess anything?"

Loki glared at the warrior in disbelief and growled, "So, what? I was captured for my crimes and you finally decided that I was no longer as worthy as I was before? And that you can just ask for ownership of my being?!"

Hogun shook his head fervently and turned to face the prince, "NO! Of course not! But your crimes were heavy and that was the only way I could think of to save you. You said it yourself, Odin would have imprisoned you for a very long time. That, or he could succumb to the wishes of his people and have you executed for treason. What would you have me do?!"

The prince stared at Hogun with unshed tears in his eyes. There were so many things that he wanted to say but he found himself speechless.

The seasoned warrior continued as he pulled his gaze away from the prince, "And so, I went to the Allfather and told him of my suggestion. That he could give you to me and I would care for you until the day he deemed you fit to return to the community. I was ecstatic when I found out he agreed with my plan. I thought I could show you just how much I love you with hopes that one day you would feel the same too."

And with that, Loki begun to laugh as he shook his head at the absurdity of the situation that he had found himself in. Hogun stared at him as if he had gone crazy. As his laughter dwindled to chuckles, Loki gave Hogun a sad smile and said, "I do not doubt that you love me, Hogun. Despite the situation, I found myself missing you and dreaming about you even though I had lost my memories then. I think I may have fallen in love with you too."

Loki reached out and softly caressed Hogun's cheek and the warrior felt a surge of happiness swelled in his heart. Only to be beaten down when Loki continued softly, "But love is not enough, is it, Hogun? How can it ever be, when you have killed our child with your bare hands just because you were jealous and had tried to kill me repeatedly for the same reason? How can it be enough when you refuse to believe me of my innocence when I begged you to? I begged you, Hogun and yet you were determined that somehow, I betrayed you. Where were you when your friends abused me? Where were you when they took me in turns and told me that I was just a whore? Tell me, husband, please. Tell me just how will love ever be enough?"

Hogun took in deep breaths to keep his composure. When he tried to take Loki's hand, the prince shrugged his hands away and took a few steps back.

"I'm sorry, Loki. Please, forgive me.. " Hogun tried to reach out to Loki but was interrupted by the prince.

"Everyone thought you were a great warrior. Hogun the Grim. But in truth, you are just a coward. You professed your love for me now, but you were so insecure about your position that you did not even think to court me. You said that you would care for me, but you were too scared about the possibility of me leaving you that you thought you could just beat me into submission. Just a few malicious whispers in your ear and you abandoned all logic and common sense and would rather punished me first than to give me a chance to explain. All the pain that you put me through, you did it to protect yourself. You are nothing but a coward, Hogun."

The warrior shook his head, "No, no, no. That was not how it was..."

"It was true that I was planning my escape. But did you know that I was thinking about staying too? No, how could you have known? You never gave me a chance to explain, did you?"

And there was nothing that Hogun could have said at that point to redeem himself or to save their relationship, if one could call it that.

"Thor wanted to claim holmgang from you. But my honor is already at the end of the abyss, beyond anyone's redemption. And I do not desire your defeat nor your death. I want you to live a long regretful life knowing that your cowardice killed your son and drove me away. And that same cowardice cost you your honor and your friendship with Thor and Sif. And I suppose that you now realized that your so-called good friends have betrayed you too. What do you have left, Hogun the Grim?"

Hogun tried to speak but Loki stopped him a wave of his hand.

"I will not grant Fandral and Volstagg the honor of dying in a holmgang either. And I will no longer speak to them so you can pass on word if you wish to. When they die, I will have my daughter retrieve their souls. She will then decide what she would do with them. They will never land a gaze at Valhalla. This, I can promise you, " Loki said vindictively.

And there was nothing that Hogun could do but beg, "Loki, please.."

Loki closed the distance between them and placed a chaste kiss on Hogun's cheek. Then, with his thumbs, the prince brushed away the tears on the older warrior's cheeks.

He whispered sofly, "I wished you had not told me this. Now I wonder... have you ever wondered how different our tales would be if you were just brave enough to tell me you love me all those years ago?"

Hogun sighed and nodded as he leaned his forehead onto Loki's. After a few moments, Loki turned away from Hogun and made his way to the elevator. He stopped midway and without turning back, Loki said, "I will never step one foot on Asgard again as long as I draw breath. Our union ends here. It ends now."

Even though he knew Loki could not see him, Hogun nodded and then whispered softly, "I'm sorry. I truly am."

Loki closed his eyes at the apology and then, with a deep breath and his head held high, he walked into the elevator and out of Hogun's life forever.

Whew! Am I glad that particular chapter of Loki's life is closed. (Is it, really?)

Many of you might asked, why didn't I just kill off Volstagg and Fandral? Well, I thought that death would be too easy for them, and denying them Valhalla seemed more appropriate for being the scums that they were in the story. Besides, we still need them to deal with the Chitauris.

Reviews are like cookies, I like 'em! :D