Now this was cool. Well, it was freaking hot in the middle of the desert in New Mexico, but the situation was totally radically cool. Electronic equipment was everywhere, his arc reactor technology generators powering it. The portable buildings had been moved back in, and there were more of them this time. Their resident Frost Giant had been 'graciously allowed', according to him, to have his magic back so that he could turn the water in the tank that fed the cooling system to slush. According to his wife, it went more like: 'take your damn magic back and ward that tank to keep it cold before I melt'.

Either way, Tony was cool with that. Heh, literally when he was inside. But no, he was sitting out beside what Loki and Thor called 'the Gallisteo Egress' while Jane, Erik and Bruce ran around adjusting equipment. Equipment…oh yeah. Great stuff. But after a week of this it was getting a little boring. Even running around playing attack the evil guy (Loki with his full magic versus Tony, Natasha, Clint and Cap with an occasional assist from Kara using only her projections) was getting old. Tony hopped off the table he'd been lounging on as Bruce began glaring at the device that was giving him problems. "Yo, Shrek, calm down. Talk to me, what's happening?"

Bruce sighed. "It keeps losing power. I've checked and rechecked it; there's no interruption from the power supply; I just can't figure out where the power is going."

"Huh. Let me take a look at it." He stepped in and fiddled with the circuit boards and connections. Everything seemed to be going great, but if the power wasn't… "Ow! Shit." He pulled his hand back and shook off the tingly burning feeling. "That sucker is live, all the way to the output…oh." Stepping back he grabbed a portable power monitor and aimed it at the output. Yep, power was coming out but nothing was visibly happening. Tony grunted as a thought occurred and he carefully moved, inch by inch, following the output of power. "Son of a bitch," he mumbled as he stared up into the sky.

"What's happening?"

"Hang on." Tony looked around for Loki. No sign of him. He hit the communicator in his ear. "Loki, get your ass in some pants and get out here. I think we're connecting but we can't see it."

Several moments later the god's irritated voice responded. "Your timing is every bit as execrable as Thor's."

"Not my fault you're trying to bugger that woman twenty-four/seven. Come on, this is important."

"Can you possibly be any more crude?" Loki asked from behind him.

"Yeah, actually. But in the interests of retaining all my body parts I'm keeping a lid on it. Good move on getting the mojo released, you'll need it."

"So it seemed from what you'd said." Loki walked unerringly to the point where the power flow had headed straight up. Or out, depending on how you looked at it.

"Can you see it or are you just feeling the power?" Tony asked.

"Feeling it. We're just a smidge off on the frequency, I think. It's reaching the Bifröst, but not opening the path." He strode over to the banks of modulators and stared at them with narrowed eyes. "Jane?" he called out. "Explain these two, if you would."

She hurried over. "Um, not mine. Erik?"

Oh boy. Erik Selvig was still really unhappy about working with Loki. It wasn't that he still thought Loki was evil incarnate, but he hadn't managed to let go of the primal fear of having his mind enslaved again. Tony figured that was understandable. The man was all about the mind, and being basically mind fucked by someone, even if it wasn't their fault, was enough to leave lasting scars. And the old dude had point blank refused counseling even before Kara hooked up with Loki. "These are the subharmonics that regulate the signal, keeping it stable," he said briefly.

Loki looked uncomfortable as all hell. He'd gotten used to the rest of them hanging out, teasing him and accepting him. Selvig's cold formality had to be a grim reminder of where he'd been, what he'd done. Oh well, he'd just have to suck it up. "I see. Will it have a negative impact on your intent if we increase the oscillations by an overall order of one-eighth?"

The physicist frowned. "You're speaking of creating a Chaos model to incorporate a continuous conduction mode."

"I am."

Selvig's pale eyes crinkled in genuine humor. "Appropriate, isn't it?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "Seeing as how you are the god of Chaos."

Loki's mouth twitched. "Touché, doctor. Will it work?"

"I believe so, yes. I'll get right on it."

… …

"I'm headed back indoors," he told Stark. "Even with my magic this heat is draining."

"You'd never know it from how you kicked our asses again this morning. You know, Lokes, we've got to find a way for Kara to practice with us. She doesn't have enough combat experience and if the MT does come here, she's gonna need it."

Loki glared at his erstwhile brother-in-law. "When he does come here, I plan on sending her to Jötunheim and have Helblindi hide her away."

"Uh huh. Have you discussed that with her?" Stark chuckled when he remained silent. "Come on, you know better than that, or I sure hope you do."

He sighed heavily. "Yes, I do. I'm deluding myself, I suppose. My greatest fear is that the Titan will find her, will know what she means to me, and will punish her for my betrayal. She could not survive it, not even now."

"Nah. My money's on Kara. Hey, maybe the bastard's highly flammable?"

"Doubtful, though I suppose one could hope."

"Then she needs to work on that molecule alteration so she can make him burn regardless. Hey, great idea, if I do say so myself. I'm going to hunt down Sitwell and have him order us some highly fire-resistant objects for her to practice on."

"Tony, we're surrounded by highly fire-resistant objects," he reminded the so-called genius, making a sweeping gesture to encompass the rocky terrain.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm talking about something closer to what the MT might be made of. I've got some ideas…trust me."

Loki watched Stark lope off toward the building. He was still managing to use at least some variation of his name…most of the time. There was a betting pool as to when the snarky bastard would revert to calling him inappropriate nicknames on a regular basis and most of them had already lost as the days they'd selected had passed with almost no public snark. Well, none involving his name; Stark was still consistently using nicknames for the others, but so long as they didn't complain, Loki had agreed not to retaliate on their behalf. How utterly boring. "What's got you so aggravated?" a soft voice asked as arms snaked around his waist.

He smiled and squeezed his lady's clasped hands gently before turning around in her embrace. "More disappointed than aggravated; I haven't had an excuse to prank Tony in a while, though I suppose I could blame it on the acronyms."

"Hmm. Well, you are the god of Mischief. So long at it isn't anything major, why do you need an excuse?"

"I thought it would make you angry?"

Kara groaned and leaned her forehead against the skin revealed by the open collar of his tunic. "No; not if you don't use magic and don't do anything hurtful. Loki, it's your nature to be mischievous. I don't want to change you; I just don't want either of us to get in trouble with Asgard."

He hugged her tightly. "Nor do I. Good, then you will not mind when Stark discovers that…"

"Loki, goddamn it all!" Loki grinned as Stark's outraged bellow echoed off of the rocks.

"Oh no, what did you do?"

… …

Kara watched in fascinated horror as Tony stalked toward them, waving the faceplate from his suit around wildly. "What the fuck is this?" he demanded. Taking a closer look at it once it stopped moving, she realized that the faceplate had been repainted with the 'Guy Fawkes mask' popularized by the protest group known as 'Anonymous'.

Loki shrugged. "They're famous for hacking; you're the second best hacker I know…"

"Best."

"Second best. I hacked both you and S.H.I.E.L.D. in less than one afternoon, or have you forgotten?"

Tony groaned. "Second best, goddamn it."

"And since you've expressed admiration of their efforts…"

"Hey, they turned the Hammer Industries home page into a three ring circus…literally. What's not to admire?"

"Exactly."

Tony looked at the faceplate again, but Kara could feel that his anger had drained away. "I'm going to have to sandblast this and then repaint it. You're a real pain in the ass, Loki."

She leaned in closer. "Uh, Tony?"

"What? You think he's not a pain in the ass? I don't see him repainting your armor."

A wave of amusement made her give Loki a sharp look. "What did you do to my armor?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

"Nothing dangerous."

Sighing, she turned back to Tony. "Try hot water and dishwashing detergent. It looks like several layers of tempera paint, it should wash off. I'd better go find out what happened to my armor."

"Guess he's not being kept busy enough."

"That's not my fault. I'm doing my part, several times a day lately."

"Geez, Kara. TMI, you know?"

"Definitely," Loki agreed. "Besides which, we're making up for lost opportunity."

"Uh huh." She left them both roasting in the sun as she headed back to the residential building. Returning the greetings of various agents and support workers, she opened the door to the workshop where the bulk of the Avengers' equipment was kept. Her suit hung up on one wall. As she moved closer she noticed that it too sported a new paint job. Unlike the funny but annoying change to Tony's faceplate, the paint added to her armor was actually…pretty. Loki had painstakingly painted flowers on a good third of the scales, not the same flower, oh no, that would be too simple. The overall effect was a bit much, but each individual tiny painting was beautiful. "How the hell did he get all of this done without anyone noticing?" she muttered.

"He had help?" Steve Rogers was standing in the doorway wearing sneakers and socks, shorts, a tee shirt and a wide grin. "Hey, Loki isn't the only one who gets bored, you know. Even I can't train or work out sixteen hours a day."

"Okay, now I'm impressed." Not only had Loki managed to sneak in mischief, but he'd gotten Captain America to unbend enough to participate.

Steve shrugged. "I considered it a team-building activity."

"Just the two of you and it becomes team-building?"

"Oh, I never said it was just the two of us," he told her with a grin as he pulled out of the doorway and escaped down the hall. Kara stared after him and had to remind herself to close her open mouth.

… …

"He wants what?" Fury asked as though he'd become hard of hearing.

Jasper Sitwell sighed. "Stark asked for two dozen seven-foot tall humanoid figures. They're to be made out of silica-based aerogel with an internal skeleton of tantalum coated lead to give them enough weight to not fall over in a heavy wind. Oh, and if possible they should be an ugly shade of purple and have faces sculpted to match the sketch I uploaded."

"What in hell for?"

"Because it matches Loki's description of the Mad Titan, I believe."

Fury was silent and Jasper's right eye began to twitch. "I meant that I want to know why Stark wants them, not why he wants them to be purple and have the face from this sketch," his director said in a display of uncharacteristic patience.

"Oh. Ah, I'll quote. 'With big and ugly headed this way eventually; we need Hellbringer to practice bringing hell to his purple ass' end of quote. Uh, sir?"

"Yes, Agent?"

"Silica-based aerogel is highly heat and flame resistant as is tantalum. If she learns to make that stuff burn, she can burn pretty much anything."

"Including, we hope, the ugly purple ass of a Mad Titan; understood. Tell Stark he'll get the bill. This is going to put a dent even in his bank account. Fury out."

… …

Selvig still hadn't succeeded in finding the exact frequency for the subharmonics after four days of trying. Banner and Stark were tossing out ideas so far-fetched that even Loki had given up on making sense of them. He decided he needed a walk. Several Quinjets flew overhead and touched down in the landing area that had been set aside near the compound. Loki frowned as two familiar figures stepped out of one of them. Lord Haakun must be fed up with their antics, he supposed as Sif and Nyvorlas walked towards him in mid-bicker. Loki sighed heavily. It would make thinks so much simpler if Sif would just bed the fool and be done with it. He'd no doubt that it would cure the Ljósálfar's lust for the warrior. "Gods, the two of you sound like an old married couple."

Nyvorlas grinned and Sif flushed. Interesting. "Are you and your lady to the constant argument stage already?" the prince asked him.

"Only when I provoke her by being an ass," he admitted. "What brings you out here?"

"We heard tell of the new training tool and thought we should work with it as well," Sif said.

"What new training tool?" The ill-matched pair looked back at the cargo-carriers in response. Large crates were being brought out on motorized sledges. One such crate was being driven over the rise into the natural bowl they'd used during their initial return from Asgard to test Kara's increased fire. Curious, Loki trotted up the rise; Nyvorlas and Sif close on his heels. The crate was maneuvered upright and then two workers began the task of removing the top and sides. His vision blurred as it opened and he dropped to his knees as horrific memories flooded his conscious mind for the first time in many months. Thanos.

"Loki?" A cool cloth was pressing gently on his face as he struggled back to consciousness. "I think he's coming out of it," he heard Kara say.

"What was that…obscenity?" he rasped.

"A target dummy," she told him, obviously knowing what he was referring to. "Tony should have warned you. I chewed him out about it already. PTSD of the magnitude you have doesn't allow room for surprises like that."

"I do not need to be coddled, Kara."

"Oh for pity's sake, Loki; you were tortured by that crazy bastard. No, you don't need to be coddled, but a little warning would have been appropriate, especially since you're on edge knowing that eventually the real deal is heading here."

"I hardly think the real deal, as you put it, would travel here in a shipping crate." Her face settled into the stubborn lines he knew so well. She was not about to allow him to berate himself for his weakness. "Kara, it is fine. I'm fine."

Her hand threaded soothingly though the hair that had been released from its now customary braid. "I know you're fine. But we had to haul you in from the hill. And by we I mean me, Sif and Steve. Nyvorlas was too busy laughing his butt off and no one else is really strong enough to help. I'm pretty pissed at Nyvorlas, too."

"He was laughing at me? Damned ass."

"Only partially at you. I did make him admit that he'd been horrified for a minute when he first saw the thing, and all he knew about the Titan was tales that he'd heard from bards, and he was expecting what was in the crate. So he was also laughing at himself."

"You're certain?" Her eyebrows lifted at his question. "Of course you're certain," he answered himself. "Sorry."

"It's okay." She walked around to the other side of their bed and slid in beside him.

Loki wrapped his arms around his lady and hugged her tightly. "All I could think was that you were in danger. I froze and panic overwhelmed me."

"That's pretty normal, actually."

"It's weak. They were right all along. I'm a disgrace to my family, either family."

Kara pushed away from his chest and sat up to glare at him. "No. You know what's weak? Do you know what the disgrace is? That every time you have a little setback, every time you have it proved to you that you're a real person with real problems that may never completely heal you hide behind your supposed inferiority. Damn it, Loki! Prove yourself wrong. You've already proven everyone else wrong; the only one you need to convince is you."

"She's right, you know. If I'd seen someone unloading something that looked like Obadiah in that ugly giant suit of his, I'd have had a coronary; but I wouldn't have beat myself up about it afterwards. Had a good stiff drink and then laugh my ass off for reacting like that, yeah. Think badly of myself, no." Tony came the rest of the way into the small room and sat down on the edge of the bed as though he belonged there. "Don't glare at me, Bambi. I know there's a difference between what we went through and a big one. I hadn't given up hope before I was captured and I didn't go through the same extent of torture I think you suffered. I always had hope and I always had a chance, a small one, but it was there."

"You know nothing, Tony," he said, but even he could hear that there was no conviction in his words.

"I know you'd given up on ever being accepted by Asgard and more importantly by your father…Odin. I know you thought maybe you deserved to be tortured, that you deserved to die. But you know what? In spite of all that, you rallied. You decided that the rest of the Nine Realms didn't deserve to die because of you. You fought that son of a bitch in ways he couldn't even imagine. And you won. You fucking won, Loki. And you're going to win again; we're going to win again. Don't you ever doubt it, you understand me?"

"You don't…" his voice broke and he stared at the man, horrified as unwelcome tears forced their way out.

"Yeah, Lokes, I do," Tony said and Loki felt warm muscled arms pull him close as the pain he'd held onto for too long broke free. "We've got you, Loki. I promise. We've got you and you've got us."

… …

If anybody had told him he'd end up comforting a sobbing god, not to mention a sobbing male god, and on top of that, said sobbing male god being the one that had thrown him out of his own goddamn window, he'd have had them committed. Yet here he was, arms full of Thor's brother, his Black Sabbath tee shirt rapidly becoming soaked with tears. But you know what? It was okay. Loki's face was pressed into his shoulder and Kara was rubbing Loki's back soothingly. Tony just held on as tightly as he could and hoped that Loki wouldn't accidently crush his ribs or something more important before he got some of that buried pain out of his system. "It's okay, bud," he crooned as tremors racked the god's body. "Just let it out, you'll feel a hell of a lot better, I promise."

"Did you?" Loki asked in a hoarse voice.

"I cried all over Pepper after the Ivan incident. She was pretty cool with it. You know, she went to counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because I was a stupid ass and refused to. God, I love that woman." His shirt didn't seem to be getting any wetter, but Loki was still shaking. He continued to hold him tight. "Yeah, I felt a lot better after that. Not totally, but I could deal with the day to day."

"Until I came here."

"And using just your wits, kicked Titan butt. It's all good."

Loki's sigh was deep, but the shaking had calmed down a hell of a lot. And yeah, the tears had stopped. "It's not all good, but…it will get better."

"Definitely. You're not alone in this Lokes. We're a team, and we stick with our teammates; even the ones that are total pains in the ass like the Boy Scout."

A bright green eye stared up at him, just a hint of humor easing into it. "Hmm, and here I thought you were the resident pain in the ass."

"Now is that any way to treat the guy whose shirt you've ruined and whose ribs you've damn near crushed?" he asked in a mock-wounded tone.

Loki huffed in amusement as he sat up. "It's not ruined, just wet. And Tony? Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime and I mean that, 'k?"

"Okay."

… …

Thor dismounted and dropped the reins of his stallion. Asgard's resident magic users were going in and out of the Observatory at measured intervals. The last time he'd stopped by, it had been explained that each would go in, cast their part of the magic, and then exit. The Grand Vizier was seated in a chair that had been brought for him. The other sorcerers and sorceresses were making themselves comfortable on the shimmering surface of the repaired portion of the Bifröst between rounds. "Are we any closer, sir?" he asked the elderly sorcerer with the respectful half bow one gave to a venerable.

"Indeed. The power connects with greater ease. I have confidence that your mortals will soon be able to adjust their efforts to match what is needed."

He couldn't help the proud grin. His faith in Jane Foster, Erik Selvig and Loki would soon be borne out and all of the Nine Realms would see what cooperation with Midgard could accomplish. "Your plan was excellent," a throaty voice purred in his ear. He glanced down at Amora's blonde tresses as she took an unwelcome possessive hold on his arm. "You've made our work so much easier," she praised.

The sorceress, who preferred to call herself an enchantress for some foolish reason, was probably his least favorite woman in all of Asgard. She was much like a leech that could not be pried from the skin without the most serious of efforts. "Actually, my lady," he told her. "The plan was all Loki's." He hid a smirk at her sour expression. Amora hated being reminded that his brother had left her in the dust, magic-wise, centuries ago.

"But it is you that negotiated the cooperation of the guild," she told him in an attempt to recover from her mistake.

"I wish I could claim that credit, my lady. However, Lady Frigga is responsible for that effort. I was engaged in carrying diplomatic missives to Vanaheim at the time." Her eyes narrowed as he gently disentangled himself from her grip. "And now, if you'll all excuse me," he directed to the entire group. "I must return to the Valhöll."

He'd mounted Fastmundr, the many times great-grandson of the original stallion of that name, and was about to urge him forward when a many-voiced shout arose from near the Observatory. He turned in time to see a sorceress tumble out of the structure as the interior began to move. The tiny path that had been repaired with a cycle's worth of effort between the broken edge and the Observatory was widening and solidifying before his eyes. Mere moments passed as they all looked on in wonder and the Bifröst was restored to its former glory. "You have good news to take to the All-Father," Heimdall rumbled from the spot he held near the formerly shattered edge.

"I have more than that, old friend," Thor told him with a grin as Loki emerged from the Observatory. "It is good to see you, my brother!" he called out loudly.

"It's been but a fortnight, Thor. You cannot have missed me that much so soon," Loki grumbled, though he wore a slight smile.

He chuckled in appreciation of the easy teasing. "True. But mother has missed you terribly. Take a quick ride with me and say hello. You can deliver the good news."

"I'll do that. Midgard's representatives count this as work for them, so I do not violate the terms of my sentence to be here. We all felt that the testing of the path should be left to me since I could rescue myself easily enough should aught go amiss." Loki's smile faded and he stopped moving. "Oh. I was given my magic for the task and I'm not certain that it's proper for me to remain with it released."

"It was for a valid reason; I will vouch for it. Come, they will have felt the energies and are no doubt eagerly awaiting word." He held out a hand and waited as Loki shifted from his protective armor to an outfit appropriate for a ride to the Valhöll. "They've both missed you, brother."

Garbed more casually, Loki accepted his hand and used the stirrup he'd freed to mount behind him. "And I have missed both of them," Loki admitted as he twined his fingers through Thor's belt. "Let's go." Thor grinned widely and urged Fastmundr into a full gallop.

… …

The doors to their private sitting room swung open and Odin smiled, expecting Thor to stride in full of news about the power surge they'd felt from the Bifröst. His mouth opened in surprise when Loki entered instead. Recovering quickly he pushed up out of his seat and held his arms open for his younger son. Loki had hesitated for a moment when he'd seen his surprise, but smiled tentatively and crossed the room into his embrace. "Welcome home, son," Odin said warmly. "It is good to see you."

"Thank you father," Loki responded, sounding relieved. "I-We'd finished repairing the Bifröst and I was asked to test it, my powers had to be released to do so…"

"That's fine, Loki; perfectly acceptable. You and your Midgardian friends did an impressive job on the Bifröst; we'd feared it would take another full cycle to finish the repairs. Now, how goes your wedding plans? I hear the proposal was all that you'd hoped for." His son looked dazed; good. He did not want him dwelling on the reason the bridge had needed repair.

"We have left most of the details in the capable hands of Lady Pepper, Tony Stark's fiancée, and her assistants. Kara has chosen her dress and will be trying it on in a few days." He shrugged his lean shoulders. "Other than that, it goes along well, I suppose. You did receive the official invitation to the engagement ball?"

"Yes," Frigga said from her seat. Loki froze in his arms and then turned to her as she stood. "Do you not have a hug for your mother?"

The boy flushed and hurried over to her. "My apologies, mother. I-I was not sure of my welcome and…"

"None necessary, Loki; I saw how it was." Frigga accepted a hug and kiss on her cheek, then held him at arms-length to look him over. "You seem tired, what's been happening?"

He frowned lightly. "We've been working at the Gallisteo egress; the heat is taxing as much of the work must be done outside." Odin's eyes narrowed. It was partially true, but… "And, well, I had a bit of a shock yesterday. The S.H.I.E.L.D. director provided some mock ups of highly non-flammable material for Kara to practice using her fire upon. I was not aware of what was being provided and when the crate opened, I, well." The boy was staring at the ground, his expression embarrassed. "They'd made it look like the Mad Titan. The shock jarred loose some rather unpleasant memories. I did not handle it appropriately."

His lady glared at him and Odin hastened to respond. "That would be an appalling experience. At the very least I would have made a hasty retreat, and I have never had the displeasure of being that madman's captive."

Loki's expression lightened only slightly. "Father…I'm sorry. I froze and was overwhelmed by the fear that he was going to take Kara and harm her for what I had done. I-I lost consciousness."

Odin tried not to sigh aloud. No doubt Loki was feeling inadequate. "I do not know what my reaction would have been in your place, my son. I cannot even imagine that horror. I can only tell you that you are not responsible for a physical response to an extreme shock. You did not turn and run away or cower in fear; your body was overwhelmed and shut down. That is not a source of shame; it is simply something you will need to train yourself to overcome." He smiled at the incredulous look Loki gave him. "No, not so simple, I'm aware. But considering your position, that it's your duty to stand and protect both your lady and the world of her birth, it is something you must do."

"I know. My-my friends have agreed to move the thing around the complex when I'm otherwise occupied, so that I will see it unexpectedly; that should inure me to the shock of it. We are also going to incorporate it into training sessions so that I can build an appropriate automatic response to seeing it."

"That sounds like a wise plan, indeed. Now come, sit down and let us talk about what we're proposing for the treaty talks with the Jötnar."

Loki's green eyes widened. "You truly aren't ashamed of my reaction."

"Of course not. You are taking reasonable steps to counteract what the shock did to you; that is all that needs be said." Odin frowned. "Would it help to speak more of it?"

"Ah, no," he said hastily. "What I actually would speak about is a request. Do you still wish Dr. Banner to be here for the negotiations?"

"Yes, his help will prove invaluable."

"Might his lady accompany him? She has an advanced education in political science and would be a good advisor for him to explain the strategies of negotiation and whatnot."

"And very much wishes to see the Realm Eternal?" Odin guessed with an indulgent smile.

"Ah, well…she is also the public relations social media specialist for the Avengers and it would behoove her to know more of…"

"Enough, son. Yes, she may accompany him. We do need to build strong relations with Midgard and our people must learn to welcome their visits. This will be a good opportunity for us as well."

"Are they strongly involved, Loki?" Frigga asked, trying to be tactful.

Loki smirked. "Yes, mother. You may house them in the same chambers. The plan is to send them here after the engagement ball, if that would suit?"

Odin nodded. "We are scheduling the negotiations around the event dates; that would be fine."

"I shall be attending the ball, son," Frigga told Loki. "Your father cannot be away for both the ball and the wedding, but agreed I should represent him. Do I need Midgardian dress?"

"Ah, no. Since we are using this as part of the public relations effort, anyone from another Realm should wear the formal garb of that realm. Speaking of which, I'd like to request a new formal gown for Kara, if I might."

Odin smiled at Frigga's mischievous expression. "I've already taken the liberty of ordering an Asgardian wardrobe for her," she said. "I know she will have little occasion to use it for some time, but wanted it to be available to her for visits. It will be a simple matter to move a formal gown to the top of the list. I'm so excited for her! Is she truly happy to be having all of the celebrations?"

"Her excitement comes and goes, I suppose. Once the less formal parties given and attended by her friends begin, she will be very happy, I think. I do know she is more than pleased with me for arranging it. Which reminds me; I need to gift Stark and Lady Pepper with something appropriate. This is their doing, but finding something worthy is difficult. The man is quite wealthy and generally buys anything that catches his eye or that of his lady."

"I'll think on, Loki," Frigga promised.

… …

Loki had returned with Hogun and Fandral in tow. Maria Hill was going to have a total hissy fit, but Loki was practically exuberant. "I take it you had a good visit?" she asked once the others had gone ahead.

"Yes. I spoke with my father. Well, I spoke with both mother and father, but…I told him what happened." He frowned for a moment and then gave her a relieved smile. "He truly seemed to understand and he actually took the time to reassure me that I was doing well, that I had not failed him in any way with my reaction."

"Good, then I don't have to kick his ass the next time I see him."

"Kara."

She smiled and pushed up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. "I'm kidding. If he'd been a jerk about it, we would have had words, but that's it. I'll let your mom do the physical ass-kicking where he's concerned; she wouldn't get in the kind of trouble I would."

"You are incorrigible."

"Yeah, but don't you love that about me?"

"Definitely. Why are you in armor?" he asked as they walked back toward the compound.

"I was just trying to turn that freaky target dummy into a pile of ash."

"Trying?"

She sighed. "I barely warmed it up. Tony got hold of some wireless monitors and stuck the sensors deep inside. The temperature's changing, but not anywhere near enough to ignite. I don't know if it's because I'm not angry enough or because I know it's just a dummy, or what."

He stopped and stared at the rise where blast shields had been erected. "You didn't have to be angry at that salvage. Come, let's try again."

"There was fuel in the salvage, that's why it blew," she reminded him as she broke into a slight jog to keep up with his longer strides.

"Yes, but Banner and Stark determined you'd changed the composition of the metal and that's why the metal weakened so much as to allow it to explode. It was also burning from the inside out…the metal itself, not the overall piece of equipment."

"I guess."

They stopped behind the blast shield and he frowned down at her. "Do not guess. Know. You must know that you can control it." His eyes narrowed. "Ah, healer," he continued with a slight smile. "Heal thyself. You are angry and you're afraid because of what he did to me. You're far too emotional and overthinking instead of simply doing."

"You always think carefully about your sorcery."

"Yes, because that is a science. What you have is an elemental force; you either leash it or unleash it. Don't think so hard about it."

"Oh, come on. That's totally the opposite of what you guys all told me before."

Loki sighed. "No. What we spoke of before is how fully you released the power or how little of it you released. You're trying to control how you affect the molecules of the target, not how much power you release."

Kara frowned as she thought about it. "Okay, but Tony thought I'd need to do a lot more change to the molecules of this because the components aren't readily flammable."

He folded his arms across his chest and stared out at the target. She could feel the churning of his emotions though his expression remained detached. "How did you feel when you found me in Central Park, my life bleeding out on the grass?"

"Horrified. The fact that anyone could do such a thing to another person, regardless of who they were horrified me and infuriated me."

"That is the thing responsible. Give it your fury."

Kara turned to stare at the target that bore the face of the Mad Titan. She remembered her first in-person sight of Loki, blood pouring out of his mouth, ribs shattered, one leg bent in an impossible position, expecting to die. She had been able to feel the horrific pain and the hopelessness that suffused him. The fury boiled over and she directed it at the target. Nothing happened. "Shit."

Loki wrapped his arms around her. "It's all right, love. We'll figure it out." Fighting back tears of frustration, she turned into his embrace and pressed her face into his tunic.

"Kara? Was that you?" She straightened as Tony's voice came over the communicator in her ear.

"Was what me, Tony?"

"The sensors I stuck in the MTD went crazy. I'm on my way out there."

… …

"What did he say about the monitors?" Loki asked. "It was too muffled."

His lady frowned at him. "The whole purpose behind an in the ear receiver is so that other people don't hear it."

"I'm not other people, I'm a god." He held a superior expression until she smacked him lightly on the chest and then chuckled. "Seriously, love. What did he say?"

"We didn't see any change, but the monitors Tony hooked up went off. Something happened."

"Something big," Tony told them as he jogged up the rise. "They didn't just go off, they went off the dial." The mortal's eyes narrowed as he looked out at the target. "Hey, it's listing to the side." As they turned to watch, the target slowly toppled over. "Brucie baby," Tony said after tapping his communicator. "The spikes still happening, or has it dropped back down?

Kara pulled her communicator out of her ear and set it to speaker. "It's still spiking," Bruce said.

"But I'm not sending anything to it anymore," Kara told them.

Tony frowned at her. "What do you think, Lokes? Chain reaction?"

"I don't know the composition of your target, so I hesitate to speculate."

"Guys?" Bruce said from over the link. "If you're not behind the blast shield you need…"

"Down!" Loki pushed Kara and Tony to the ground and manifested a shield around the three of them as the target exploded violently.