Slowly, painfully, the pressure eased. Loki opened his eyes again to see the Allfather, Thor, Hela, and five Avengers staring down at him. Thor smiled broadly and hugged him. "Brother!" he yelled in his ear. Loki tried to shove him away but couldn't find purchase with his weak, stumpy arms and quickly gave up.

The Man of Iron looked across him towards Hela. "Well, he's not a zombie, so...you fixed him?" he asked.

She burst out laughing. "Hardly. He's still suffered a some rather awful injuries, you know. I just made it so he's not dying, at least not yet. It might not hold for long if he doesn't find the wherewithal to strengthen the patch. But that's entirely up to him." She stood up. "Now, I think my job here is done. Time to go, unless you'd like to get back to fighting. Or offer me the throne...? No, I didn't think so."

"Hela, wait!" Odin called, jumping up as well and following her towards the overlook.

"Catch me if you can, Allfather!" she laughed, before jumping off the cliff. She dissolved into darkness.

Odin cursed for about five minutes in Old Norse, staring at the space where she disappeared. Then he turned around and returned to the group, gathering Loki into another embrace. "Will you please not make me kill you, Loki?" he whispered.

"I suppose," Loki muttered. "For now."

The humans burst into applause.

Beaming, Thor pulled a tired Loki to his feet. "All of Asgard is waiting for you, Brother. Let's go home!"

"If we must."

"We must," Odin confirmed, supporting Loki on his other side. "But Thor and I will be right there with you, and so will your mother. All will be well. You'll see. Avengers of Earth, our thanks." One by one, Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye stepped forward to say goodbye. That done, the three Asgardians walked across the heath a little ways. Odin looked up into the sky and shouted for Heimdall. The iridescent stream that was the Bifrost slammed down around them, and they were gone back to their own world.


Tony leaned over to Natasha. "How much do you want to bet we'll be helping Thor fight his big sister by this time next year?"

"I'll bet we will. How much of your considerable fortune are you laying on the line against?"

"Haha. None. We're totally doomed."

"Tell me about it," Clint groaned. "Why did I let you talk me into flying you all out here?"

"Because Steve asked politely," Bruce said. "And no one told Fury."

"Oh yeah, why didn't we tell him?"

"It's his day off."

Clint shuddered.

"It won't be so bad as all that," the Captain said confidently.

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?"

He shrugged. "The same thing that made me sure this morning that today was the day to do something about Loki."

"Heaven help us! A true believer!" Tony said dramatically.

"But he was right," Bruce pointed out.

There wasn't anything to say to that.

Author's Note: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Speak up for your friends, and speak to your friends.