It took Loki approximately fifty-three steps to traverse the perimeter of his cell, ticking them off in his head as he walked. Sometimes a few more, occasionally a few less, depending on how many books he left lying around on the floor, but always roughly the same. It helped to calm his mind in the interminable monotony of his captivity.

It had been eight days since he'd last seen Sigyn, though he knew she had not yet left for Midgard. He feigned disinterest when the guards talked, expert as he was at affecting a look of pure apathy, but he never failed to listen intently as he paced. From their discussions he was able to glean that she and Thor – along with a small party of additional, more senior delegates – would be departing two days hence.

He had no intention of sending for her before she left, fearing it would only make things worse between them. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he called for her, only to have their final interaction be even more unpleasant than the last had been; he also knew there was nothing he could say to her to change her mind about leaving anyway. He would worry until she returned, safe and unharmed, but for once he would need to put his trust in his brother to protect her.

He had just come round to the back of his cell once more when he looked up to find a visitor – one he hadn't seen once since his return.

"Well, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Edmund stood proudly on the other side of the glass, the clenched fists at his side the only hint of the emotions he was trying desperately to keep in check. "I wouldn't be here unless I felt it absolutely necessary."

Loki was well aware that he'd never been Edmund's favorite person – beginning with embarrassing him in the palace gardens the night of the queen's birthday, a transgression he was sure Edmund would never fully forgive – but his status as prince had always served to keep the young guard respectful. This open hostility was something new. He couldn't say that he blamed him, really, but it was still an affront to his pride. "Has something happened to Sigyn?"

"Not yet. I had hoped my sister would learn some sense and stay away from you. But her sense of duty to your progeny is clouding her judgment."

Sigyn had mentioned Edmund's reluctance to embrace Ari into the family, but it still surprised Loki to see the extent of his antagonism. "My 'progeny' has a name you know. Ari. Your nephew by blood, whether you accept him or not."

"That's funny – I believe you and I shared a similar opinion on him when you first met him. That his natural state is one to keep hidden. It seems only one of us has changed his mind in that regard."

Loki stalked to the front of his cell, transforming into his jotun form and back again in warning before Edmund could say another word. It pleased him to see Edmund take a step back in fright, even with the glass between them. "Choose your next words carefully, Arason. I am not completely powerless, even locked up."

"You hold my sister under your spell, as a master would a thrall."

"Sigyn is no one's thrall. She has always maintained her autonomy with me – which is more than I can say for her time spent with you or your mother."

"I cannot speak for my mother, but I have only ever wanted what's best for her. You only think of yourself."

"She makes her own choices. If she chooses to remain with me – whatever her reasons – then that is for you to accept and not disparage."

Loki could see the muscles in Edmund's jaw tighten as he ground his teeth in anger. "She had an offer of marriage, you know. In your absence." At Loki's shocked look, the younger man actually had the audacity to smile. "Oh, did she not tell you?"

Loki clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms, but remained silent.

"Your brother would know all about it – as it was him who made it."

Rage flared up in the pit of Loki's stomach; only the confines of his cell kept Edmund safe from his wrath. "How dare you –"

"It's true – ask him about it yourself. It was Thor who was by her side during her pregnancy, not you. Thor who offered to care for her and your child. Thor – who would make her a queen. What can you offer her now, but even more grief?"

With considerable effort, Loki closed his eyes and swallowed down his anger; there was no need to prove the insufferable dolt right. "Why are you telling me this?"

"They are to leave for Midgard in two days. You know her ties to you put her in danger; free her permanently, and perhaps she'll be safer. Maybe, given time, she will even allow the Allfather to alter Ari's appearance for good. Make him a true Aesir."

My son will never be a true Aesir, not as long as I draw breath. "And what does Sigyn want?"

"She thinks she knows, but you are a distraction. Release her, and she will come to the right decision."

Why not just ask me to tear my heart from my body instead? "You make it sound so simple."

"If you love her as much as you claim to, then it will be the simplest choice you've ever made."

With nothing more to say, Edmund turned on his heels and left, still carrying his head high. If Loki had had the power to conjure something to trip him up and wipe the smug smile off his face, he would have; instead, he was forced to watch helplessly as he left, all the fight in him gone.

Loki needed no time to decide how to handle this new information; Edmund was right – in the end, it was the simplest choice he'd ever made. He grabbed his parchment and scrawled out two short missives, banging on the door of his cell until a guard came to retrieve them.

Sigyn read the note in her hands three times before setting it aside, looking for some sort of hidden meaning in its message. In Loki's typical fashion, he wasted no words.

I must see you before you leave.

She had not been back to Loki's cell since informing him of her imminent departure – not out of spite, but because her days had been consumed with planning. Reading and studying up on Midgard had been foremost – but she had also needed to prepare Ari for her absence. She had never spent more than a few hours apart from him since his birth, and as ready as she believed she was, the thought of leaving him behind was much more difficult than she had expected the closer she came to their actual separation.

She had half a mind to refuse Loki's appeal for an audience with her, to let him stew until she returned, but – though she knew he would never have extended her the same courtesy – she couldn't bear to leave without seeing him once more.

When she arrived at in the dungeons, she was surprised to find Thor already there, having a heated discussion with Loki through the glass of his cell.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can come back later if I'm interrupting."

They turned to her as one. "It's no interruption," said Thor, exchanging an odd look with his brother before Loki spoke up.

"Come here Sigyn."

He had been nervously twisting what appeared to be a thin length of rope in his hands when she walked in – as she came nearer, he put it in his pocket and walked to his cell door.

Thor met him there, sliding a key into the lock and opening the door just enough for someone to slip through. Sigyn looked at him curiously.

He said nothing, merely nodding to indicate that she should enter the cell. She could see Loki standing on the other side, watching her anxiously to see if she would come in, or turn around and flee. She stepped forward.

Loki took her outstretched hand, pulling her into the cell with him, yet keeping her at arm's length.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"Sigyn, the day of Thor's coronation, you and I were to leave together that evening. Do you remember?"

"Yes, of course I remember." The beginning of the end. Before things went so terribly wrong.

"I never told you where we were going. What I had planned for us. And then, well…everything…" He trailed off, not needing to finish the thought for her to know what he was thinking.

"The truth is…" He looked down at their clasped hands, rubbing his thumbs back and forth over her fingers. "The truth is I had made arrangements with a magistrate for us to be married."

Sigyn looked up at him in astonishment. "Really?"

"The rings, that's why I had them; I intended to make you my wife, that very day. Had we been able to leave as planned, would you have consented?"

"You know I would have, and happily."

"And now? Would you be willing to marry me, in truth this time…right now?"

"Right now?" she asked, not entirely sure she heard him correctly. "Is this some sort of trick to keep me from leaving?"

She heard Thor mutter under his breath behind her – something that sounded an awful lot like I told you she would never agree to this – but before she could turn to him Loki was speaking again.

"It's no trick, Sigyn. I cannot force you to stay, but I cannot allow you to leave in good conscience without asking. If we made our vows right now, with Thor as our witness – would you be willing to do that?"

She squeezed his hand in response, trying to remind herself that he was still there, still real. "Well, it's not the romantic wedding I dreamed of as a young girl," she said, looking around the cell. A little notice and I would at least have worn my best dress. "But yes, Loki. As a sign of my loyalty and love for you, I will willingly do that."

He allowed himself a small smile and a deep breath, and she was stunned to realize that he'd actually been worried. "Did you think I'd say no?" she asked.

"Thor thought you would. And I admit, I feared it was a possibility," he said. "We didn't exactly part on amicable terms the last time you came to see me."

"Perhaps I should have made you wait for an answer as punishment."

His eyes widened. "That would have been too cruel."

"Yes," she said. "But I'm not you."

He managed to look simultaneously annoyed and chastised. "Give me this, and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Yes. Yes you will."

He touched the ring on her finger. "May I remove this? I would prefer to place it on your finger myself."

"Of course."

He slid it off gently. "Forgive me. I don't have a ring for me –"

"I actually have it," she said, reaching into a small pocket on the side of her dress and pulling out a small pouch. She poured the contents into her palm. "I always carry these things with me, reminders of those whom I love most in the world." She took inventory of the items as she put them away. "A small buckle from my father's armor, a hairpin of my mother's, a lock of Ari's hair, and your ring." This last she kept out. "I'm happy to give this to you instead."

"I guess sentimentality does occasionally have its place." He turned to Thor, signaling he was ready to begin.

Thor looked at Sigyn. "Sigyn, I must ask, as a matter of ritual – do you willingly consent to this marriage?"

"Yes…but wait," said Sigyn, turning back to her intended. "Loki, I do willingly consent, but I want no one to say I went into this unaware. Will you marry me as you really are? In your true form?"

He looked at her for a beat, his brow furrowed. "Are you certain?"

"More certain than I've ever been in my life. Please?"

He nodded, transforming himself before she could draw another breath.

"And you," she said, stroking her fingers down Loki's now-cold cheek. "Do you willingly consent to this marriage?"

"Completely and unconditionally. As I should have long ago." For a moment, his eyes held an unbearable amount of sorrow, but with a blink, it was gone.

He held her head softly in his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Sigyn, I pledge myself to you, to cherish and defend you – my wife, my partner, my one true love. This is my solemn vow." He took her ring and slid it back onto her finger.

She smiled up at him. "Loki, I pledge myself to you, to comfort and support you – my husband, my partner, my one true love. This is my solemn vow." She could feel the heat of a tear on her cheek as she slid his ring onto his finger, an action she once thought was forever beyond her reach.

"I hope this isn't a tear of regret," he said, his hand cool as he gently wiped it away.

"It's not. Don't let it become one."

"I don't have the traditional cloth for the hand binding," he said. "But I do have this."

He reached into his pocket to retrieve the rope he had been holding when she arrived – and Sigyn quickly recognized that it wasn't a rope at all, but a braided length of hair. Her hair – the hair she had given him just before he had left for Jotunheim the day of Thor's coronation.

"You kept it?"

"This was the only thing I had left of you. I kept it hidden, knowing no one could take it from me. And now," he said, wrapping the braid around their clasped hands, "no one can you take you from me."

"I believe this is where you seal your vows with a kiss," said Thor. Sigyn had completely forgotten he was still there.

Never taking his eyes from hers, Loki slid his free arm around Sigyn's waist and pulled her close, their bound hands clasped between their chests. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, the coldness of his jotun skin in marked contrast to the heat of the passion between them. She'd had no opportunity to kiss him properly since his return, and she could feel her knees weaken and her breath go shallow with a sudden rush of desire. Only the loud clearing of a throat behind her managed to break through the haze and remind her of where they were.

"If you don't mind," said Thor, "I would appreciate if you wouldn't consummate the marriage just yet. Not in a prison cell, and not with me as witness."

The look in Loki's eyes as he pulled back from her spoke clearly of his feelings – that neither a prison cell nor Thor would be much of a deterrent to him – but Sigyn spoke up before he could manage to get his hands in her dress. "He's right. When we are finally able to be together once more, it will be all the better for the anticipation."

"It will be all the briefer for the anticipation."

"But by then, you will be free, and we will have the rest of our lives to grow tired of one another."

"I will never tire of having you, Sigyn." With a smile, he kissed her forehead and then escorted her back to the cell door, slipping the braid from their hands and making it vanish once again with a roll of his fingers. "Thor, I am tasking you with the protection of my wife and mother of my children. Bring her back to me safely and in one piece so that we may eventually enjoy a proper wedding night, or I will end you, slowly and painfully. Even Valhalla itself will be no safe haven for you."

"She is my sister now, Loki. I vow to protect her with my life."

Sigyn started to step through the cell door before turning back to her husband. "Loki, you called me the 'mother of your children'. We only have one."

"I know what I said."

"You haven't…done something to me have you? Using your magic? Ari's still so small –"

He laughed, shaking his head, the blue of his skin fading back to his Aesir form. "Ah, no. When the time comes, any future children with whom the fates see fit to bless us will be conceived by old-fashioned means, with your full awareness and consent…and I promise you, we will enjoy every moment of the process."

"But not today," said Thor, tapping her on the shoulder.

She kissed Loki once more before stepping through the threshold of the doorway, holding onto his hand for as long as possible before the shutting door sealed them from one another.

"Sigyn, I love you," he said, putting his hand on the door. "And remember brother," he continued, looking at Thor with a raw intensity. "I'm counting on you to return her to me unharmed."

"She is in good hands, Loki." He looked down at Sigyn. "I'm sorry to cut your celebration short, but we must go."

She allowed him to usher her away, but not before she looked back once more to see Loki standing at the front of his cell, the most forlorn newlywed she had ever seen.

As difficult as it was, Sigyn chose to leave Ari at the palace with her mother and Dalla when they left. She feared that if they accompanied her to the Observatory, it would be too distressing to see him as she was leaving, and that she might change her mind in the last minute. Better to leave him in their rooms, as though she would only be gone for a few hours instead of a few days.

She knew he would be in good hands while she was gone, but it still pained her that Loki couldn't watch after him during her absence; perhaps this trip would be the first step in earning him a reprieve, so he could be free of his cell once and for all, and they could finally be a family.

They would arrive on Midgard in a remote location called Alaska, part of an area the Midgardians called The United States of America. After recent events, New Mexico and New York – also part of that area – were deemed too conspicuous to continue using discreetly, and so the new location had been selected.

While on Midgard, Thor would spend the majority of his time with his new comrades, gathering information on potential threats that might be beneficial for both of their realms. Sigyn, on the other hand, would attend numerous meetings with the two senior Asgardian ambassadors who would be traveling with them: her tutor, Radi Bjornson and his colleague, Sandarr Sperlason.

Though she had at first resisted, Thor had finally convinced her that they would need to keep her relationship to Loki a secret on Midgard, at least for the time being. "The Midgardians are a resilient people, Sigyn," he had said. "But Loki's offenses are still very recent in their minds. It's really the best way to keep you safe – and them. If something happens to you there at their hands, I fear those crimes would seem mere child's play to the destruction he is truly capable of."

Everything was in place at the Observatory when they arrived. "Here, hold onto me," said Thor, holding out his arms. "It may make the landing a bit easier."

She slid her arms around him just as she heard Heimdall's sword slide into place, activating the power of the Bifröst. The Observatory began to spin around them, and Sigyn could feel the pull in her center, like a rope attached to her spine, propelling her forward with a force unlike anything she had ever experienced. She opened her mouth to speak, to make sure Thor didn't let her go, but her words were forced back as the wind of the void swallowed them up.

It was the strangest sensation, not exactly falling and yet not exactly flying – just an overwhelming rush of movement. She buried her face into Thor's chest, his arm firmly around her waist, and before she even had a chance to ponder on the wonder and absurdity of it all, it was over.

They had landed in a small clearing amongst what appeared to be a copse of spruce trees. Thor bore the majority of the force of the impact, but it was still jarring enough that Sigyn had to step away from him on shaky legs, barely making it behind the nearest tree before promptly vomiting what little she had eaten that morning. She could feel Thor at her side as she pulled a cloth from her dress and dabbed at her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

He gave her a moment to recover before offering her a flask of water. "Don't worry about it, Sigyn. Everyone gets a bit overwhelmed the first time. If it makes you feel any better, I think you handled it better than Loki did after his first journey between realms."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Gingerly, she walked back to the others, who were busy gathering their belongings. "I thought someone was meeting us. Have we not arrived in the correct place?"

Thor looked around. "No, we're in the right place, I'm certain of it. Our escort must have been delayed."

No sooner had he said the words than they could hear movement in the surrounding trees. Thor called out. "Stark? Is that you? You're late!"

Sigyn turned to the trees just as three men stepped out from the shadows. They were dressed in strange clothing, a mixture of patterns meant to simulate the surrounding foliage and vests an orange color so bright it nearly hurt her eyes to look at it. They were all carrying what appeared to be weapons of some sort – rifles or shotguns if she remembered her studies correctly – and as she looked on in horror, the one closest to her raised his and pointed it directly at her.

"Who the hell is Stark? And who the hell are you?"