Nick Fury let the Avengers continue to bicker as he conferred with Agent Hill over the readiness status of the remainder of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the more traditional military units they were authorized to mobilize. He kept half of his attention on the juvenile antics of Tony Stark and the efforts of Dr. Banner to keep him in line as he reviewed reports. The only surprising part of the circus was that Hawkeye was not jumping on the 'Loki is too dangerous to deal with' bandwagon. Interesting. He returned his full attention to the screen when he heard his name mentioned.

"Fury, the doc has been wondering what code name you've assigned her," Stark said with a decided smirk. "I thought that news should be yours to share."

Nick sighed. "How very…gracious of you." Stark's grin faded as he looked off to the side of the room. Following the billionaire's gaze he saw Rogers and Dr. Gunnarssen enter flanking a very haggard-looking God of Mischief. He'd read the reports but hadn't quite believed the seriousness of Loki's condition. Thor's brother looked like he'd been cranked through a wringer and hung out to dry, and this was after nearly five days of intense medical and metaphysical treatment and recovery. Apparently the reports of how close Loki had come to death weren't exaggerated. He waited until the three had taken seats. "Are you sure he's up to this?" he asked Kara Gunnarssen.

"He," Loki said with his usual superior smirk, "can answer for himself."

"Oh, I'm sure he can, but I wanted the healer's opinion."

The man managed a careless shrug as Kara turned to look at him. "I think he has to be, Nick. It's likely his problem as much as it is ours. Maybe more so since he's got a lot more to lose."

Loki snorted almost too softly for the audio connection to pick up. "Don't think it could be your problem, Loki?"

"I think that Kara does not understand that I have little left to lose," Loki responded. He sighed when the doctor turned to stare at him. "Please don't go into therapy mode, doctor. We don't have time for it."

Nick sat back feeling a bit more comfortable about the dynamic between Kara and Loki. Stark was overreacting if even the patient knew her attention was intended as therapy. "Have you been briefed at all?"

… …

"Yes, Captain Rogers explained about the phenomena and the timing on our way up. I need to see the map if you would."

"Jane, flip back to that…thank you," Fury said as the second screen changed from an aerial view of an area that looked to be in the southwestern part of this continent to a world map.

Loki studied the map and its highlighted sites. "I need a scale, in kilometers if possible, that is easier for me to convert to Asgardian measurements." A scale popped up on the map. "Hmm, most of the areas are either too far from each other, or are separated by a large enough body of water to become a problem. However, those two," he said, indicating the two on their continent, are worrisome."

"Why?" Fury asked.

"To open a wormhole without the full power of a tesseract in the hands of the one opening it, you need three points. One at your end, and two where you wish to emerge. The only tesseract that is currently known is in the hands of the All-Father…damn." He took a deep breath as he thought about how to phrase his question. "I realize that you will not, cannot tell me where the scepter is, and I fully accept that. What I must know, however is whether or not you have the scepter at least a thousand kilometers from any of the other locations."

Fury tapped on a screen to his left and waited before answering. "Yes, well over that distance."

"Good. That would have been…problematic."

"It could serve as one of those points you spoke of, I take it?"

"Yes. The gate it would open would be far smaller than the gate possible using two of the sites here and the power source on the other side, but it would still be a viable if unstable gate. The instability of any wormhole opened without the tesseract or a powerful construct like the Bifröst is in our favor."

"But no wormhole or gate as you call it opened. Does that mean they failed and we can stand down?"

"Unfortunately not. The energy that was sent out was a test, trying to locate a possible egress for their gate, much like a bat emits sounds to navigate as it flies."

"Like a sonar ping, sending out waves of energy to see what bounces back?"

Loki frowned as he thought about the reference. "Ah, yes. That's an excellent analogy, director." He gestured back at the map. "The enemy would have received a reference much like that map. They may waste time trying to open their gate in areas that are separated by bodies of water as they will get the strength of and distances between the sites, but not the topography, so we may have a week or more yet. Each time they 'ping' as you say, it will cost them a great deal of energy and it will take them several of your days to rebuild the levels to the point where they can make an attempt at this distance. It took them over a month to build up enough energy to connect to the tesseract when you brought that out into the open air, and even at that, because they were using a one to one point connection, they were only able to send one person."

Fury closed his sole eye and exhaled heavily. "You."

"Yes."

"So do you believe it is the Chitauri who are attempting to reach Earth?"

"Their masters, yes. The Chitauri themselves are not a particularly intelligent race. They are more a destructive force that needs to be guided to be effective. The ones behind them are another issue altogether."

"So, sending the scepter back here protected Asgard, then?"

"Of course, with the Bifröst in ruins there are only two…oh, bloody hell."

… …

Steve Rogers frowned as Loki lurched to his feet and headed for the balcony. "Uh, Dr. G?"

"I don't know, Steve, but something just terrified him, I can feel it." She got up to follow her patient. "Loki, what's wrong?"

He followed them, noting that Stark was moving to intercept Loki at the door. "Stark, stand down, let's see how this plays out."

"The hell you say. What if he's just been acting weak and he uses that mojo of his to pop on out of here?"

"I'm ordering you to stand down, Avenger."

Stark stopped to stare at him in shock. "You're ordering me?" His laugh was derisive. "Oh, that's good. Who the hell made you the boss of me in my own damn tower?"

"I did, Stark," Fury said from the screen. "His instincts are good, listen to him."

Hawkeye had stepped into the doorway, blocking Loki's exit. "Explain or forget it," he told the taller man.

"There's another artifact in Odin's treasure room, I'd forgotten. And if the enemy has sent these 'pings' there, they will be preparing to open a gate right where the weapon they seek is stored. Asgard must be warned."

Barton opened the door and watched Loki exit. "Thanks, Clint," Steve said as he caught up.

"No problem, Cap. Unlike some people, I don't argue with orders, I just make sure they make sense."

Following Loki out onto the balcony, Steve moved to the side as Dr. G pushed past him. "Loki, Tony already tried to get their attention," she said.

"Perhaps they were too busy to send anyone. Regardless, he did not know what warning to give." Loki stepped to the middle of the area and spoke loudly…surprisingly in English. "Heimdall! Tell Odin that the Casket of Ancient Winters must also be moved. The enemy can use it and either the Cube or the Gauntlet to open a gate. They must not reach the Gauntlet!"

… …

Loki took a step forward and staggered. Kara grabbed him and tried to hold him upright and almost went down herself under the weight she didn't really expect. Steve reached them and was able to prevent them both from hitting the floor of the balcony. "Crap, I forgot how heavy you are," she said as Loki looked down at her.

"You okay now?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Loki told him. He stared down at her as Steve nodded and returned inside. "Kara, should I start to go down again, let me fall. It will hurt me a great deal less than my landing on you will hurt you."

Kara harrumphed and pulled away. "You're welcome," she muttered.

He had the nerve to chuckle. "I do appreciate the thought, Kara, but I can't heal you if you are injured."

"Whereas, I can likely heal you. I get it, it's just…annoying."

"Yes, well, most find me so," he said quietly.

Her eyes flew to his. "That is not what I meant," she hissed. "You know that."

"Careful, my dear. Your friends will think you have an interest in more than my rehabilitation, can't have that, can we?" His tone was almost…snide.

"I really don't care what they think," she said.

He stopped moving and frowned down at her. "You should, Kara. I will be gone, eventually, and you will have to deal with what they think of you. I'm not worth their bad opinion or distrust of you."

Kara stopped, shocked into immobility by his words as he went back to his seat in front of the conference screen. "That's the problem," she whispered. "You've lost your self-worth." She moved to the edge of the balcony furthest downwind from the door. "Heimdall, if you're listening, you can tell that idiot king of yours that he screwed up royally. This is all his damn fault and I am pissed. He'd better keep his ass in Asgard, because if he causes any trouble for Loki here, he's going down, and you can just ask Thor if I can do it." While she didn't believe for a minute that anyone in Asgard could have heard her, letting off the steam felt damn good.

… …

Heimdall blinked. A mortal woman had called the All-Father an idiot, and threatened him, no less. He shook his head and waited for the runner he had sent to return with someone from the palace where Odin was addressing the populace in the golden Valhöll. He turned at the sound of hoof beats on the remains of the bridge behind him.

Fandral approached at breakneck speed, for once without the rest of the Warriors Three. "Ho, Heimdall, The All-Father needs Thor here, but I have news to take to our allies on Midgard." He dropped off of the horse.

"I have more news for the All-Father," Heimdall responded. "Do not send the horse back, I will need it, this news cannot be trusted to a messenger."

"Will the repairs hold?" Fandral asked.

"Long enough to get you there safely. You will need to remain until the All-Father can pull you back himself or until Thor can use the Cube. Beware of a mortal woman named Kara. She has threatened the All-Father and may be serving Loki."

Fandral laughed. "Truly? Hmm, Thor did say there was a healer by that name who had a warrior's power, but he seemed to approve of her." He shrugged. "Ah, well , I will keep my eyes open, thanks for the warning."

"Safe travels," Heimdall said and sent him on his way.

… …

Thor frowned as Heimdall strode into the Valhöll. "Who guards the bridge, old friend?" he asked.

"The bridge is the least of our worries. Come, we must speak urgently to your father."

Turning, Thor beckoned to Hogun. "Go, guard the bridge in Heimdall's absence." Hogun nodded and ran from the hall. "What is so urgent, Heimdall?" he asked as they strode to the chamber where Odin was taking reports.

"I have no wish to tell it twice, Odinson." The grim man looked at him. "What do you know of this mortal named Kara? Is she a threat to Asgard?"

"What? Of course not, she's a gifted healer and saved my brother's life. She is due great honor."

"She has threatened your father's life, and called him an idiot," Heimdall grated. "Has she the power to do harm to a god?"

Thor frowned, considering. In addition to experiencing her empathic projection of terror, he'd watched a demonstration of her ability to create an amazingly intense fire. "Probably, but she would not. She is an honorable woman and prefers to heal rather than harm." He looked to where Odin stood by a window, speaking quietly with Frigga. "Father, Heimdall brings grave news, he tells me."

"What is so grave that you have abandoned your post, Heimdall?" Odin asked, keeping his voice low. Thor winced at his father's subtle reminder to curb his habit of speaking loudly enough to be overheard.

Heimdall bowed respectfully. "Loki passed on an additional warning. He feels the Casket could also be used to anchor a gate and should be moved far from the Gauntlet."

"He is recovered then?" Frigga asked hopefully.

"Recovering, my lady. He nearly fell and needed the support of the mortal known as Captain America to remain standing."

"But still he found the strength to give us the warning we needed," Thor said. "See, father? He has had a change of heart, I know it."

"My son, he must be punished for the deaths he caused, change of heart or no."

"He was. He nearly died at our enemy's hands to bring us warning of their impending attacks."

"Odin, my husband. Has he not suffered enough?"

Thor nodded in agreement with his foster-mother. "He did suffer greatly, father, and he truly thought he would not survive delivering his first warning."

"It is not enough to avoid punishment altogether. But perhaps it is enough to earn some mercy. We shall see what can be done with him." Odin paused and looked down at his queen. "And for him," he added. "Heimdall, return to the bridge. If the repairs are still holding, send Hogun to Midgard to assist Fandral. If we thwart the attempt of the Chitauri to open a gate here, they will force one open to Midgard, and then use Midgard's fate and my promise to protect it to draw us out."