It was cold. Jane was waiting in the hospital for Erik; he had been contacted via email, and assured Darcy that he was in his way. They would be leaving soon enough, probably in the morning, since it was already so late in the day.

Jane was beside herself. She felt so helpless, Loki being so very far from her, and Jane powerless to help. She tried to find comfort in the fact that she didn't really know what was happening with him, that he was very likely fine, and that at the very least, Thor was going to be making his way to Helheim in a day or two. It was little comfort, but it was all she had, so she clung to it tightly. Tomorrow, she would be in New Mexico, and would be arming herself after speaking with Erik and Darcy about all of the possibilities, and then...then, she would call Heimdall.

She was not stubborn, but she was determined, and Jane knew that should she require it, she could fight. And fight she would...and it wouldn't be a sappy "Stand by Your Man" ridiculous thing, it'd be a fight for survival. Jane couldn't explain it, but she knew that if Loki had suffered pain of death, she'd know...for he was inexplicably her as she was him, and should she fight, she'd be fighting for her own life. It sounded completely mad, but there it was.

Jane played with the blanket, as was her habit, and fretted over her impossible situation.

She would need to be clever. She would need to bring weapons to fight Iðunn.

She thought about what Loki considered Iðunn's weaknesses…lightning, which is why Thor was told to come in case of trouble. Lightning. Maybe Jane could replicate it somehow…or maybe something like a taser would suffice…

She could easily obtain a taser…she could get some other weapons to slow whatever Iðunn used against her. She could hyper electrify a taser. That is easily accomplished…her mind raced. She could do the calculations in New Mexico tomorrow, call for Heimdall…it would all be over in another forty eight hours.

She told herself this, but she was filled with dread.

"Jane…are you sure about all of this? The doctors said you were very weak," Erik was walking with Jane in the airport.

"I'm sure, Erik…everything is gonna be fine," she paused. "Why aren't you and Darcy in New Mexico, anyway? I left you all of my stuff…"

They boarded the plane. "Well, I had some things to tend to here, and Darcy, well…she doesn't care for Puente Antiguo…she wanted the pulse of New York."

"She doesn't like the house?" Jane was a bit put out.

Erik sighed. "She doesn't like the dead town."

Jane nodded. She supposed she could see her point. "We need to get a taser…and a gun…and maybe a sword…"

"A sword."

"Yeah," Jane was looking out of the window as the plane took off. "And a taser."

"What the hell, Darcy?!" Jane exclaimed as she entered her lovely home. It was just as she remembered. Lovely, just as Loki had intended it to be. "Who's this?" and she pointed at some burly guy making out with Darcy on the sofa.

"He's…ah…"

"Mike," said the beefcake.

"Yeah. Mike," and Darcy got up. "This is my house, you know."

"Darcy, don't start," Jane glared at Mike. "Can you leave, please?"

Mike was shifting his weight, looking at Darcy for guidance. "Well…Darcy said I could chill here…"

"Get out! I've got work. Come back tomorrow," and Jane went to the laptop, and turned it on. "Jesus. Over 1200 emails. I feel like a goddamn celebrity."

Erik came over to Jane. "What do you need for me to do?"

"Go see if that REI store off of route 64 has a taser…maybe I can get a sword off of eBay or something…have it overnighted. Wal Mart has guns…Darcy. Get me a handgun." No response from Darcy. "Darcy!"

"What?!" and she suctioned her mouth from Mike.

"Go get me a handgun from Wal Mart. And some pop tarts. And some red wine. Oh…" and Jane blushed a bit. "A pack of Camels…"

"You quit years ago, Jane," Erik sounded disappointed.

"When you've been to Hel and back, Erik, I think a smoke is in order."

The Queen was concerned about her King. Sif saw how his brow furrowed, how his appetite waned. She went to their royal chambers to find her husband the King at his fire, staring in its heated depths.

"My husband…" and she touched his arm.

Thor returned her touch and turned toward her. He smiled. "I shall leave in three days…but it seems as though a lifetime could be lived in that time."

"You worry for your brother."

"He is weakened in that realm. He will need to check his magic, something he is never keen on doing."

Sif rubbed his arm delicately. "Loki has changed, Thor…and he will do what it takes to ensure Jane's safety."

"I do not doubt it…but what of his own? He does not always think in those terms…not when he has given his love to another," and the King sat in the obliging red chair.

"How often has he given his love?"

"To Frigga…to me…."

"But not to anyone in a romantic sense…and to a mortal of all things…" and Sif sat next to him.

Thor laughed. "We are all fools, Sif. I'm not certain that Loki was untouched all of these centuries…though he certainly never confided in me…" he paused. "I would do well to change that. He is a good little brother."

The Queen laughed heartily. "Is he? He causes much drama and consternation."

"He does indeed. A master of mischief. A silver tongue. A lie smith. But one thing he never is, is dull."

"Jane Foster does him well…she will make him a good wife. I cannot believe I am admitting to such a thing, but I see it. They are as well matched as any I've ever known."

Thor reached for her. "You speak the truth, wife. Almost as well as we are, wouldn't you say?"

Sif smiled. "Almost."

"A happy outcome, no?"

"The happiest, husband," and she leaned toward him, and kissed him soundly.

Iðunn's laughter could be heard in the depths beneath the palace…she was mad in her mirth. It echoed in the cavernous vertical extent.

"Oh, my King! You will not forget this lesson…one you had many centuries ago now…how fortunate for me to have acquired the Jormungand for your pleasure," and the goddess stood in front of Loki…his hands bound on either side of him, pinned against a wall…he remembered this…and his mouth went dry.

But he stared at the goddess, whose manner was seeping from the ancient pores of skin, her intent dripped and hung from her like the poison ripping through the sea serpent hidden in some alcove above him. She would not break him.

"What is it that you want, Iðunn?"

"A simple enough request. Freedom."

"Pardon?"

"I know quite well where I am, Loki. Odin's attempt to mask Heliheim with this garden was foolishness in the extreme. I desire a place back in Asgard," the seductress finished, and went to the King, placing her hands on his torso.

He curled a sneer. "I will not undo Odin's command."

She laughed. "Odin's command! Are you as foolish as that? You are King…you hold the power to do as you please!" and she walked away from him.

"I have no such thing. I came here, to Helheim, to obtain an apple. I might've come here, demanded what I wanted, and left you here to rot, if I were able to do as I please. A King has responsibilities, a fact I am not ignorant to, but one I think you may overlook."

She obliquely made her way toward him. "You are weak. Your powers drained. Thor will come for you, of that I am certain…and you will be my bargaining chip, King Loki."

"He wields the power of the storm. You, of all, would do well to remember that."

"Once he sees you thus, he will not dare to gainsay me."

Iðunn left him there with a shimmy of her hips and a smile plastered upon her face.

And the last thing heard before she closed the enormous wooden door behind her was the gasp of air escaping the mouth of the King in terror.