In the morning, everything seemed more manageable. Once she was awake, Elise readied herself to the best of her ability – there was no outlet for her flat iron – and marched out of her room to meet with Loki once again, bound and determined to finally hear his interpretation of the events that transpired. Today was going to be different. One day was already wasted, and her time in Asgard was limited.

Elise arrived at the door to Loki's room, placed her handbag on the floor beside her feet, and knocked with one hand as the keys weighed down the other. The guards ignored her.

"Elise?" Loki called. "Is it you?"

"Yeah," Elise replied. "Can I come in?"

"One moment."

Elise waited, trying hard not to make eye contact with the guards. After a few long seconds, she heard Loki's voice again.

"Enter," he said.

One by one, Elise turned the keys in the locks. She collected her bag and pushed open the doors, but looking around, it appeared that Loki had vanished.

"Loki?" she beckoned. "Where are you?"

No response.

"Come on, Loki," she urged. "Stop messing around."

Still nothing.

Had she made way for his escape? There was only one window, and it didn't seem to have been opened. But he was magical, wasn't he? Maybe he didn't even need an open window. Maybe she'd swung the door open too wide and he'd slipped out. The possibilities sped through Elise's mind, and she felt a panic coming on. Surely, she couldn't possibly have lost him, but if he disappeared, it was her fault. She had the keys. What kind of damage was he capable of?

As the heavy door fell shut behind her, Elise tried once more to coax him out, her voice cracking to reveal fear. "Loki, stop it," she pleaded. "This isn't funny. Whe-"

"Good morning!"

Gasping and jumping, startled, Elise wheeled around to find Loki standing at the space on the wall that the door had concealed while it was open.

"What the hell?" she shrieked. "What the hell was that for?"

Loki was clearly pleased with his trick. "You are fully awake now, are you not?" He took a few steps as though he intended to approach Elise, but he diverted his path at the last moment and instead walked to his bed, where he then sat.

Elise took in a deep breath in hopes of slowing her heart's rapid thumping. "You got me," she exhaled. "But Loki, we really have to talk about your defense today. This is serious."

"Of course," Loki smiled. He gestured to the desk chair, which was still situated adjacent to the foot of the bed. "Please, sit."

Elise crossed the floor quickly and took her seat. She began by pulling her notebook from her handbag, but by the time she located her pen, Loki was already derailing the conversation.

"You were missed at breakfast," he said. "That is, I missed you. Jane certainly seemed not to. There was something she said, something about your profession..."

"Everybody loves a good lawyer joke," Elise deflected as she found a blank page and readied her pen. "Let's get started."

"Get started with what?"

"With your case."

"So soon? But you've only just arrived."

Elise sighed and rubbed a remaining bit of sleep from her eyes. "Look," she said, "I can't help you if you're not gonna help me."

"What ever do you mean?" Loki asked, making a show of his staged ignorance to Elise's irritation.

Elise had predicted this. She was prepared to be firm.

"What I mean," she explained, "is that if you aren't even going to give me your side of the story, there's nothing I can do for you. My firm's probably the only one willing to represent you, and we're definitely the only one willing to do it for free. If you don't want to talk to me, you're going to lose. And that's fine, if that's what you want. It's your life. But I'd recommend that you take this seriously."

Her speech appeared to have affected Loki. He stared into his lap, either ashamed or hurt, and he seemed to consider each word before forming a response.

"Are you angry with me?" he mumbled faintly, averting his eyes.

Elise hadn't intended to berate him. She certainly hadn't expected him to react like this to her more assertive approach. Perhaps she'd been insensitive to her client's needs; a misstep on her part. "No," she replied in an attempt to correct herself. "That isn't it at all."

"Then what is it?" Loki asked, tilting his head upward to meet her line of sight.

"I just won't be here very long," Elise answered carefully, "and I want to make sure I have the information I need before I go."

Much to Elise's surprise, Loki placed a hand on her knee, gripping lightly, but not at all weakly. Elise tensed. His skin was frigid, though not clammy, and it prickled her skin.

"Please do not be angry," he pleaded. His intonation conveyed a peculiar and disquieting urgency. "I have no one else."

"Don't worry," Elise said, hoping that he would withdraw his touch. "I'm not mad. I just want to get down to business."

Loki backed off, and he seemed to regain his composure. "What do you need?" he asked.

"I just need your version of everything you did in the United States."

As if on cue, Loki began reciting his story from memory, starting with an explanation his agreement with the Chitauri. Elise listened attentively to his justifications and uncertainties, transcribing as much as she could, struggling to keep up with the pace at which he conveyed the time line to her. She did not want to distract him by asking him to slow down or repeat himself. The determination and focus with which Loki now spoke was a welcome change. Elise was satisfied with his cooperation, surprised at his candor and honesty, and, most of all, pleased with herself for gaining his trust.

"Anything else?" she asked when Loki finished speaking.

"I believe that is all," he replied breathlessly, as though merely remembering what had happened had exhausted him.

"A few things jump out at me right away," Elise started, flipping through her notes. "First, about the Chitauri. Would you say you felt threatened by them? Like you couldn't have changed your mind about what you were doing because of what they might do?"

"I suppose. Although-"

"Stop right there," Elise interrupted. "They did threaten you, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did," Loki admitted, "but I could have overpowered them."

Elise suppressed a smile. His cockiness seemed so misguided and naïve to her. "Don't be a tough guy," she said. "If you feared for your life, then you did what you did under duress. So if we can get your charges down to manslaughter, we can run with that."

"Manslaughter sounds far worse than murder," Loki pointed out.

"It's not," Elise explained. "It's a shorter sentence. Although we're aiming for acquittal."

"And what if you cannot negotiate that? What then?"

"Then we're probably dealing with multiple counts of murder – we've discussed that. Or – and this isn't very likely, since you're not a citizen – they could charge you with genocide. They might also try for conspiracy, just to make sure something sticks. Our best bet is probably going to be an affirmative defense."

Loki's brow furrowed and his posture slackened. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a frustrated sigh.

"Hey, relax," Elise said. "This is what I'm here for. We're gonna prepare for every possibility."

"Is it not sufficient that I was justified in my actions?" Loki said, his teeth clenched. "That I sought to bring order to your realm?"

Elise paused for a moment before asking, "Is that really what you thought you were doing at the time?"

"It is not what I thought I was doing," Loki insisted. "It is what I was doing."

Insanity, Elise thought. He didn't understand why what he did was wrong. "Would you mind meeting with a psychologist when we get back to the states?" she asked.

Loki sat up straight. "What are you implying?"

"I just think it might help," Elise responded, lowering her voice.

"A psychologist," Loki repeated. "You intend to hire someone to understand my thoughts?"

"Basically, yes."

"And to what end?"

Elise hesitated, but perhaps, she thought, it was best to be blunt. "I'm suggesting that – well, given your mental state at the time – that whatever indictment is decided upon, you might be successful if you plead 'not guilty by reason of insanity.' Now, I know-"

"Insanity?" Loki hissed. "You think me insane?"

"I think you should be evaluated."

Elise could think of nothing more to say. She began to fear a reaction from Loki as she monitored his physical reaction. Anger, very discernibly, had started bubbling up within him. He bit his lip, grasped the top sheet of the bed in his clenched fists, and shook, just ever so slightly, with fury. The more aggravated he appeared, the louder the voice in Elise's mind urging her to leave became. But just as she thought to cut the meeting short, Loki, with a shudder, stabilized.

"I assure you," he said, hostility vacating his face to make way for a more neutral expression, "that I am not insane. Far from it, in fact." He looked to the door, to the wardrobe, and back to Elise. "I must respectfully decline to be evaluated. I apologize."

Elise gave a quick nod. "That's fine. It's up to you. But if you change your mind, speak up, okay?"

"Of course."

His immediate reaction was still troubling Elise. She wasn't sure how to proceed now. Shifting a bit in her seat to alleviate the discomfort brought on by unexpended adrenaline, she asked, "Are you understanding everything so far? Do you have a decent idea of what your options are?"

"I do," Loki muttered, "but every outcome appears bleak."

"Well," Elise replied, as calmly as she could, "you're gonna be facing some serious charges. Charges that carry heavy sentences. But I promise, we'll do the best we can."

"And you will remain with me through it all, will you not?" The neediness in his eyes was compelling. "Will you promise me that as well?"

She wasn't in a position to make any promise more than an earnest effort, but Elise made one anyway. "Yes," she smiled. "I'll be here every step of the way."

Without warning, Loki seized Elise's hand, the one that had been supporting her pen, and clasped it in both of his. "Thank you," he breathed, maintaining eye contact for a protracted and uneasy few seconds. "Words fail to convey my gratitude."

Elise's palms sweated despite his icy touch. It was time to go. "It's no problem," she said, quickly sliding her hand out from between his. "I'm just gonna go back to my room and work through some of this information."

"So soon?" Loki's disappointment was not nearly as convincing as his desperation.

"Yeah, sorry," said Elise. She rose, but in her maneuvering to avoid accidental physical contact, she kicked and nearly tripped over her handbag, spilling its contents. Embarrassed, she watched as pens and coins rolled in various directions, kneeling to retrieve them.

"That was clumsy," she remarked apologetically. "I'll be out of your way in a sec. I'm sorry."

Loki smiled as he sank to the floor to assist her. "Worry not," he said as he searched beneath the bed for errant objects.

Once everything seemed to be back in its right place, Elise propped her bag up on her shoulder. "See you at lunch," she said, flustered, as she sped through the doors, past the guards, and out into the windowless corridor.

Back in her temporary dwelling, Elise busied herself with organizing the notes she'd taken into a more coherent chronology, scribbling her own interpretations into the margins. She was focused. Without her phone, whose battery power was drained, or her laptop, which she left at home, there were few distractions. However, she would have welcomed some background noise; the near-absolute silence was almost unbearable.

For what she estimated to be a few hours, Elise scratched away, until the sound of a bump from a room somewhere above her own made her suddenly aware of the time and her surroundings. There was no clock, but still, it seemed odd that a guard had not come to escort her to the dining hall yet. Surely it was meal time by now, she thought. Perhaps they'd forgotten her, or perhaps they'd expected her to go on her own. She assumed the latter, closed her notebook, and shut the door behind her before beginning her descent on the stairs.

As Elise neared the hall where she assumed everyone else was already eating, she became acutely aware, once again, of silence. Maybe time hadn't elapsed as quickly as she thought it had. Was she supposed to be wandering around during the day? She hoped no one would fault her for it, if anyone even noticed. But before returning upstairs, Elise reasoned, it would probably be best to check. She didn't want to miss a meal and be perceived as rude or hostile, and it was possible that the lack of conversation was the result of the awkwardness Loki's presence at the table presented.

Peering through the double-doors, once of which was slightly ajar, Elise noticed that the torches lining the walls were all lit. She looked to the end of the long table nearest her; food and wine were laid out, as they had been at dinner the evening before. But as her eyes scanned the full length of the setting, finally settling upon the table's head, a terrible scene presented itself. Thor, Jane, and Frigga were all in their right places, but not upright. They were each bent at the waist, slumped over their plates, thick red wine spilled from a toppled chalice pooling between their bowed heads.

Elise's chest tightened. Her eyes widened to their full size, and her pulse quickened to a dire tempo as a scream pushed forth from her diaphragm. She burst through the entrance, intending to approach and assist, but before she took two steps, a pair of hands reached out from the shadows behind her.

The person to whom they belonged was strong, able to pull Elise into a dimly-lit corner with only an arm around her waist and a palm over her mouth to muffle another mortal shriek. She kicked and thrashed, but her attacker didn't even falter.

"Shh, shh, be calm."

Even in the form of an agitated whisper, the voice was instantly recognizable. It was Loki. Knowing this did nothing to comfort Elise. She was going to die, she decided. He was guilty as sin and she was going to die. This was it. Game over.

"Stop moving. Stop," Loki urged firmly. "Be still and silent, and I will release you."

Elise complied, and she was freed. She took a step away and turned to face Loki. He wore not only armor, but a helmet, gold, with horns sprouting from it, supplementing his already daunting height. Sweat rolled off his face in big drops; he was breathing heavily, as if he'd been running; and rather than an appropriate simulacrum of emotion, rather than a caricature of human feeling, his expression conveyed madness, and nothing more. He'd finally snapped.

"What did you do?" Elise rasped, keeping her voice low despite her urge to shout at him and her body still despite wanting to run. "How?"

From a clandestine pocket located in the folds of his complex attire, Loki produced a familiar pill bottle. He shook it, and it made no sound. It was empty. "You left this behind."

Elise brought her palm over her mouth to partially cover her mortified expression. Her words were muffled as she repeated herself: "What did you do?"

The corners of Loki's mouth curled, and he showed his teeth. "I poured the contents into the water and wine."

The only response Elise could muster was a contortion of her face.

"This medicine is potent," Loki remarked. "How long do you think they will sleep?"

"Forever!" Elise screeched. "They're probably dead!"

"Quiet," Loki commanded, taking one aggressive step toward her. "Be quiet, or I will silence you."

A tremor found its way into Elise's hands and shook them violently. "You can't mix those with alcohol," she whispered, her voice wavering as tears threatened to leave her eyes. "They're going to die."

"Jane does not drink the wine. It is too strong for her," Loki commented. "I estimate that she has had four tablets in her water. Will that be sufficient to keep her asleep for a day?"

Elise just stared, verklempt.

"I am asking you," he snarled, "whether that will be sufficient. Answer me."

Elise nodded, though she did not know the answer.

"As for the others," Loki continued, hushed, "they will awaken. No mortal invention could bring them eternal rest."

"But why?" Elise whispered, perhaps foolishly. "Why?"

Loki responded by snapping up Elise's wrist in his hand and yanking to bring her toward him. "The Tesseract is in my possession," he said, his eyes open wide. "I am free." His smile was sinister. "Once again," he said, "I have you to thank."

Frightened and confused, Elise shook her head. "No," she breathed, "I didn't do anything. All I-"

"Do not be modest, girl," Loki taunted. "Without you, I could never have left my chambers. You unshackled me. You neglected to seal the doors. Do you think I could have subdued the guards were I still restrained?" He tugged sharply on Elise's wrist. "Do you?"

She'd forgotten to lock the door. This was all her fault.

"You made good on your promise to help me," Loki continued, his fingers pressing tighter into Elise's skin. "You wanted me to escape, did you not? Are you not pleased with yourself?"

Furious with herself and terrified of him, Elise had only a question: "You're not gonna hurt me, are you?" She could have choked on the lump in her throat.

"Do you intend to give me a reason to hurt you?" He delivered the threat slowly and gently, condescending.

This was a nightmare. It was the worst case scenario, and it was happening. For once, Elise didn't have a plan. She barely even had words. She was cornered.

Loki held the Tesseract in his open palm. "Think of home," he instructed as he guided Elise's fingertips to it.