Having retrieved my wheelchair, I wheeled myself to Loki's cage per Jarvis' directions. Loki was staring down at the floor and seemed not to notice my presence. Despite guessing this was not the case, I took comfort in the fact he was not staring me down or shouting at me.

I, on the other hand, openly stared at him as I tried to reconcile the VILLAIN who had just tried to take over the world with battle hungry aliens to the pity inducing backstory CHARACTER who had such a kind actor portraying him. It was hard for me to get the villain part to stick. I was very well aware he was a dangerous warrior, especially with his magic, but believing he was just plain evil was much harder. I desperately wanted to use my knowledge of his back story to prompt a change of heart, but I knew I couldn't let him know I knew ANYTHING about Asgard without disastrous results, especially for me.

I let my mind wander a little, thinking about all that had happened and all its ramifications. I was about to leave to talk to Banner, when a voice startled me out of my thoughts.

"What is so fascinating?" He said the last word in such a tone to mock me.

"You mean besides the fact that you magically appeared on our planet for the sole purpose of taking it over? Because I do find that fascinating." He actually cocked his head like I was mildly entertaining.

"Why did you call me Loki No-ones-son?" Yeah, I really should not have done that. Cover up time, Rachel. Cover up time.

"Well, no one knew who you were until you announced yourself. You had no mistakes of your parents, or even your own mistakes, hanging over you. You were a new man."

"You seem stuck on this idea." Once on the plane, last time I visited the cell, and now...

"Third time's the charm."

"You can perform magic?" Was he actually looking at me wearily, or was he messing with me?

"No, it is a saying meaning the third time you try to do something, it might finally work. I wouldn't recommend that with trying to take over the world though. First off because this attempt failed so badly. Secondly, the general public still doesn't know who you are, so you can still attempt a new start with them. They must simply think there was a random alien attack directed at Stark Tower or whatever story the reporters are feeding them. Reporters are so sly, twisting the facts to make the story they want. You'd think they didn't want heroes, the way they often try to make them out as the villain..."

Loki's girlfriend should be a reporter. They would be perfect for each other. Who's an annoying reporter... Rita Skeeter. They could even trade magical tricks! Well, until Loki figured out she transformed into a beetle and then, 'an ant has no quarrel with a boot' would could into play. Speaking of magic, Loki might like to know about how this world views it.

"There is a very, very popular story about a boy who goes to a special school to learn magic. Their magic requires a stick called a wand to focus it as well as spoken spells. People view that magical world as wonderful. I often wish I could use magic. It would make some things so much easier. If only some people had magic though, I think those who did not would fear those who did."

"Fear?"

"Its an emotion that usually sends you running away from some kind of danger. It could also spark a desire to fight or destroy whatever the danger is. People would fear magic because it has so few boundaries. Magic users without a strict moral code could easily take great advantage of those who cannot defend themselves. It's for the same reason some people fear heroes. It's great when they defeat an unbeatable enemy, but once the threat is gone, people wonder what is stopping the hero from taking and destroying everything else. Fear is the exact opposite of optimism." I grew quiet as I realized how long I had been talking for. If Loki thought I was too annoying, I was sure he would let me know, but it was kind of strange. "You've been letting me talk a lot."

"I do not think a thundering herd of bilgesnipes could stop your talking. Anyway, you have been pouring out unfiltered thought, so who am I to object?" I decided to take the bilgesnipes as a compliment, especially since I knew Loki could easily stop me. I couldn't help but laugh at the second comment though.

"Unfiltered? There is no way for the human mouth to keep up with a human mind unfiltered. Especially mine and especially right now because I hit my head and my leaps in topics are just a little harder to follow right now." He looked at me like a cat with a mouse. I wish I had filtered out the head injury part, but at least I hadn't let slip anything about Asgard. He probably could internally dismiss what I had told him though with the argument that my brain was addled.

"You're not scared of me?" I thought about the definition of scared for a moment.

"I am perfectly well aware that you are a warrior well skilled in metal weapons as well as magic. Despite that, my brain rejects the idea that you are..." This was the tricky part since I myself did not fully understand. "in the right mindset to simply kill me. If you started yelling at me with fury in your eyes or if that piece of glass was not in the way and you were a whole lot closer with that cat stalking the mouse look, then it might be a totally different story," I admitted. No need for him to feel the need to test the boundaries of the 'fearless' warrior who was really not that fearless. "I'm actually surprised you haven't at least yelled at me by now." I was really surprised when he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You have chosen a topic that you perceive would be interesting to me. Finding out why you think this is a simple puzzle that keeps me mildly entertained."

"So what you're saying is that if you had taken over the world, you would make me court jester?"

"Court jester?"

"The person who tells jokes, pokes fun at people, and generally provides entertainment. They sometimes get to bend the social rules just a little." I belatedly realize I was describing what was the fan version of how Loki grew up on Asgard. Realizing I might have missed something else, I reviewed Loki's words. "What you were really saying though is that you are bored!" He gave me a dark look, but I smiled back. "What? Is real power too prideful to ask for a magazine?"

"What even is a magazine?" Alright, don't make fun of magical villains. His tone had been cold and biting, destroying the light atmosphere we previously had had.

"It's like a book. If they kept National Geographic around here, I think you would be genuinely interested in a least some of them." I ignored the skeptical look.

Earlier, while I had simply been thinking, I had decided that the World Wars was a good parallel to the Asgard and Jotunheim relationships. If Loki was bored right now, he might actually listen for the whole, long thing.

"If you want, I can give you a history lesson about this world." He gave a dismissive wave, but since he didn't speak against it, I started. "In Europe, there are a lot of countries that have borders with one another. To avoid being attacked and taken over, they made alliances with other countries to defend each other. The politics were very messy, but when a political figure was killed and the blame placed on another country, everyone was suddenly on either side of the conflict. War broke out, many, many lives were lost, and finally someone gained control of the situation and ended the fighting. With so much destruction and devastation though, the losing side couldn't pull themselves together very well. They were left destitute with broken homes and families. Then one man, who had very good oration skills, began telling the people that they were better than their situation, even better than the jerks who had left them in their poverty. He told them the only thing holding them back was a certain race of people as well as the disabled. He told them if they could cleanse themselves, they could rule the world. The people believed and drove those 'dirty' people into cages and killed them. Then they marched and tore and destroyed the rest of the world until they were stopped. This time though, the winners learned their lesson. They helped the losers rebuild and they have become as advanced and kind as the rest of the world. You were there, in Germany. Now the horrible irony in the people chosen to die, the 'dirty' people, is that the traits they had also described the great orator, named Hitler. He despised himself and so he convinced his people to destroy those like him." I paused in my slight ramblings to let him make the connections between these great wars and the wars between Asgard and Jotunheim. A war started over 'insignificant' Earth, a bitter, war-torn Jotunheim, Loki restarting the battles, Loki killing the ice giants, and maybe hope for the future. "You said that you would free the world from freedom."

"I did. Your race craves subjugation." I hummed for a moment so I could place the words correctly.

"We crave freedom. It is the deepest, darkest wish we have. Our fear of losing it always leads us to action. We fight and we fight and we fight to get, retain, and regain freedom. The human race never just lays down and lets it be taken away. Many dictators have tried taking over. They may have conquered a small corner of this planet, but not many ruled to their deaths. Freedom came much sooner than that. This is a huge planet with billions of people. How could you ever control all of us?" It was a puzzled look that Loki gave me. We sat in silence for several moments while he digested what I had told him, and I tried to come up with a new topic.

"The old man in Germany, he said he would not kneel to men like me." When he did not speak, I prompted him with his own response.

"And you said there are no men like you."

"And then he said there would always be men like me." I could tell he did not like admitting his own ignorance, so I took pity.

"He probably was one of the 'dirty' people who escaped. He was comparing you to Hitler."

It was a comparison I also was making. Loki's motivation was a little more complicated than Hitler's though. Hitler just wanted power over others and used what he hated to spur others on. Loki was trying to win his father's favor with specific actions, which included killing those he thought his father hated, even if it was his own kind. He still had tried to commit genocide twice, but he didn't really view it as genocide. At the very least he didn't view the attack on Earth this way. These actions were means to an end, and if the tigers and bunnies in the forest had to be destroyed to do that, then no big deal. And yes, I was comparing humans to bunnies because that was most likely how Loki viewed us. And the Jotun were tigers to him; predators who killed without mercy. Maybe I could change his mind though.

Coulson suddenly burst into the room looking worried, and I could tell Loki was not happy.