A/N: Again - I can never thank all of you faithful readers for the kind words and reviews you leave for me. I appreciate each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

"You know, Natasha," yelled Stark, trying to be heard over the whine of the plane's engines, "it would be great if you could get us there in one piece!"

As if in response, the plane jostled sharply to the left once more before straightening out and coming to a rough landing. The humans seated around Loki all appeared a little worse for the wear, at least one of them having retched into a paper bag during the descent. He would have found it amusing, if he could have been bothered to care about any of them.

Loki glanced out the window as the plane came to a stop. Snow and small patches of scrubby trees stretched across the horizon as far as he could see, broken only by the large group of buildings their group would be calling home for the next few days.

There were at least a dozen buildings, all of them low and flat and typical of the Midgardian style of "serviceable but forgettable" save for a few taller structures that looked like large curved wings; Loki figured these to be the Midgardian devices they would use to hail the Chitauri.

"You ever get this much snow on Asgard?" asked Stark, picking up a few bags of equipment as the hatch began to open.

"Only in the mountains," said Thor. "I haven't seen this much since…" He didn't finish, looking at Loki apologetically.

"Jotunheim," said Loki. "You can say it, Thor."

"Jotunheim?" asked Stark. "What's that? Yet another planet of potential mass-murderers?"

Loki followed Stark down the ramp. "Oh, yes – a realm of fearsome warriors, with blue skin and sharp teeth…utterly vile and heartless creatures with no redeeming value whatsoever. They use the cold and ice as a weapon." He took in the forbidding landscape. "I believe they would be right at home here."

"And these…Jotunheimers? Jotunheimians? Should we be worried about them right now?"

"Jotuns. And no, they do not concern you at this time," said Loki, shaking snow from his hair as they stepped into the main building. "They are called 'Frost Giants' in our realm, as they usually dwarf even the largest Asgardian. I can hardly imagine what one would look like to someone your size, Stark."

"Well, you know what they say. It's not the size of your sword that counts, but how you wield it."

"Only a man with a small sword would ever say that," said Loki. "In my estimation, a large sword, wielded well, is ideal. I'm certain if my wife were here, she would attest to that."

"If Sigyn were here," said Thor, "she would insist you hold your tongue, Loki."

"Hold it where, exactly?" said Loki.

"Behind your teeth, where it does the least amount of damage."

"And where it has the least amount of fun," said Loki. "But if you insist, I will strive to keep my comments to a minimum. It does grow tiresome, using wit against the witless."

From the outside, there was nothing to indicate anything in the site was of any importance; the inside of the largest building, however, told an entirely different story.

It was filled with what appeared to be the latest in Midgardian technology: flashing screens and beeping equipment, all of it manned by unremarkable men and women shuffling back and forth like rats in a cage. Only a few of them bothered to look up from their work and at him as they passed, recognition flashing in their eyes for the merest breath before they put their heads back down and returned to their tasks.

Loki wondered if any of them had any idea of the gravity of their situation, or if they only did what they were told until they were told to do otherwise. He figured it was almost definitely the latter; it was what would have made them so easy to conquer and rule. If only they had all been so easily broken, he would be sitting upon a throne instead of being forced to cooperate in a scheme to prevent their annihilation.

That his blessed, beloved wife would not only befriend these creatures, but actively pursue their mutual benefit was infuriating. It was a testament to her good nature, her unwavering kindness and generosity. It shouldn't have surprised him, as he was the biggest beneficiary of her graciousness in the entire nine realms.

But therein lay the problem; he wanted her – not just her physical body, but all of that kindness and generosity and graciousness that came along with her – all for himself. He knew he couldn't have it both ways, but it didn't make it any easier to stomach the thought of sharing even the smallest part of her with beings he found so repulsive.

"Everyone drop your bags and get a bathroom break in while you can," said Natasha. "Conference room in five minutes. Stark may be the boss in his tower, but here, I call the shots."

The station's conference room was a near-perfect copy to the one in Stark Tower, from the bottomless pots of coffee to the uncomfortable chairs. Everyone shuffled in, sitting in the exact same pattern as they had in New York. Loki thought briefly of taking a different chair, just to throw off their irritating sense of order, but decided against it. A pervasive sense of dread had begun to settle in his bones, dampening his mood just enough to leave them in peace.

Natasha marched to the front of the room as soon as the door shut behind her.

"Dr. Foster and Dr. Banner are gathering the latest data so we can figure out exactly when to expect the Chitauri. While we wait for them, we need to devise a battle strategy."

"As much as I would like to hear whatever inferior suggestions the rest of the team might have," said Stark, "let me throw mine out there first. I say we use Professor Snape here as bait."

"Professor who?" asked Captain Rogers.

"I believe he's using another of your human colloquialisms to mean me," said Loki. "And I appreciate neither the unknown reference nor the suggestion. You asked only for information, which I provided; I never offered myself as a sacrifice for you."

"You would only be a lure, not a sacrifice," said Stark. "We send them a message, telling them we've got you and the Tesseract, and that they can pick you both up here like divorced parents exchanging their kids on a Sunday night."

"And when they show up, you throw me to them and hope they retreat peacefully?" asked Loki. "An idiotic plan, even by Midgardian standards. These creatures won't be placated by an offering of goodwill, not when they were so thoroughly routed the last time they were here. They will be spoiling for a fight; you'll have to forgive me if I politely decline to be a part of the carnage."

Natasha piped up. "You didn't have a problem being a part of the carnage when you were fighting with them."

"You know nothing about me, what I went through," hissed Loki. "It would have destroyed a lesser man. But I survived, and I intend to continue surviving long after each and every one of you is food for worms."

"And you can do that when this is over, far the fuck away from here," said Stark. "But unless you can think of a better way to get these assholes to come where we want them – one that doesn't involve throwing the rest of us under the proverbial bus, I might add – then I suggest you keep quiet."

"You're planning my possible demise, and you want me to keep quiet?" scoffed Loki. "How dare you –"

"You know, I'm beginning to wonder why your brother didn't bring your damn muzzle back with him when he brought you here –"

"Enough, both of you!" said Thor. He turned to Loki. "Perhaps we should hear the rest of his plan before we make a final decision, brother. There is more to this plan, is there not, Stark?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. We have S.H.I.E.L.D. troops to back us up when they arrive. We put Loki out there in chains, make them think our offer is genuine, and then swoop in for the kill once they're close enough."

"If you think I will allow myself to be chained up like a lamb to the slaughter, you are sorely mistaken."

"They have no chains that can truly hold you, Loki," said Thor. "It would merely be a ruse."

"I won't be left defenseless, Thor. If they get close enough, I will fight back, using whatever means necessary. Whether that's a part of your plan or not."

"I don't care if you kill every single one of them with your bare hands," said Natasha, "as long as you're fighting on our side this time. But turn against us, and I will personally make sure you suffer for it."

Loki remained silent, mulling it over.

"We may have help from Asgard as well," said Thor. "I asked Ambassador Bjornson to appeal to them upon his return, to perhaps send Einherjar troops. I'm sure he and Sigyn are doing what they can, even as we speak."

"If Odin hasn't thrown her in the dungeon to punish me for escaping," said Loki.

"Father is not that heartless, no matter what you think, Loki."

"Let us hope that for once you are right."

"Even more," said Stark, "let's hope they're successful. We can use all the help we can get."

The conference room door opened, Jane hurrying in with Banner following closely behind.

"I hope you've got a plan," she said. "Latest data indicates the Chitauri are within a day's reach of us. Have you got a message we can send to them?"

Stark looked to Loki, who just nodded back. "Looks like we do."

"Alright then," said Natasha. "Steve, I need you to brief the S.H.I.E.L.D. troops on the plan. As for you two," she continued, looking at Thor and Loki, "help the doctors and Stark craft the message to be as believable as possible, and we're good to go."

She turned to Barton. "Clint, we've only got a good eight hours of daylight up here this time of year. You and I need to make sure our exterior lights are working in case these bastards decide to show up late."

"It's freezing out there," he said, his characteristic scowl becoming even pronounced.

"This is nothing, Clint. It's practically springtime in Siberia."

"But I'm not Russian, Nat," he replied, even as he followed her out of the room.

As soon as everyone was gone, Loki turned to Stark. "There is one thing I request, before we get started."

"What's that?"

"One of these creatures, the leader of their faction…I only knew him as The Other. I have a score to settle with him. If he is amongst this group, I want him left for me to dispose of personally."

It was hours before they settled on a suitable missive for transmission, one that included a fabricated image of Loki in chains to help sell the lie.

"Alright, you Asgardian wonder twins," said Stark. "We're done with you for now. Why don't you go settle in for a bit? We'll come find you if we need you."

Loki followed Thor to a smaller connected building, this one housing their sleeping accommodations. They had been assigned a room together, Stark citing "lack of space" as the reason, even though Loki was certain it was more to keep him under constant surveillance than a shortage of private rooms.

They were at least spared the indignity of having to share a bed, their room having four of the smallest Loki had ever seen. Thor set upon pushing them into two larger sets to better accommodate them as soon as he saw them.

"I hope your friend Dr. Foster's information is accurate," said Loki. "She is your friend, correct? Or are you wishing perhaps you'd been assigned sleeping quarters with her instead of me?"

"Speak plainly, Loki. We are alone for the time being, and I have no interest in a game of semantics."

"Alright then," said Loki. "Have you bedded her?"

Thor remained silent for so long Loki thought he might not answer. "No," he said finally. "I have not."

"Not yet?"

"That does not concern you, Loki."

"Normally, I would agree, and I wouldn't care if you bound yourself to Sif or if you chose to stick your cock in every available Midgardian willing to part her legs for you. But I must know, for my own reasons, your intentions for your relationship with Dr. Foster."

"I care a great deal for her, brother."

"And yet you know her frailty will take her from you much sooner than you would like. Her entire lifespan is but a blink of an eye to Asgard."

"I know this. But I fail to see how that matters to you."

Loki stared at the floor for a beat before raising his eyes to Thor. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, brother."

"Am I supposed to find this news surprising?" asked Thor with a laugh. "Only truthfulness from you ever shocks me."

"It's about Sigyn. I know you proposed to her while I was…gone."

Thor's smile faded, like the setting of the sun. "Who told you that?"

"Her brother, Edmund."

"We all thought you dead, Loki. I couldn't bear the thought of her raising your child on her own. Not when I could help. I did make an offer of marriage to her. An offer which was met with immediate refusal, I might add."

"That must have hurt, to be rejected so callously."

"Sigyn doesn't have a cruel bone in her body, brother. She was prepared to spend the rest of her life alone to honor your memory. Would you have done the same for her?"

"Such a vow would be unnecessary in my case. What little remained of my life would be spent finding the cause of her demise, destroying it completely, and following her into death."

"You may say that, brother, but you no longer have the luxury of being self-destructive. You have a son now, one who depends upon you."

"And what good would I be to him alone? No…better for him to lose me than his mother."

"Better for him to keep you both. And perhaps, if circumstances permit it…even gain a sibling one day."

"Perhaps," said Loki, absently picking at the skin on his thumb. He took a deep breath. "I must know…what was she like? In her pregnancy?"

The smile on Thor's face was wistful. "She was radiant, Loki. Even as she mourned your loss, she never once complained about her situation. She threw herself into her studies with as much vigor and enthusiasm as a child at play. Even you would have been impressed."

"Not once has she ever failed to impress me. Not since the moment we met."

"Well, that is a feat not easily accomplished." His expression turned serious. "You must know, had she consented to marriage, I would never have required her…physical affections –"

Loki stopped him with a wave of his hand. "I know. Though I suspect it would have been more to spare her crushing disappointment than honor on your part."

Thor laughed. "And there is the humor I love so well. I would see it more often, brother."

"Get me off this forsaken realm and back into the arms of my wife, and I will be nothing but good humor."

"You must trust that I – and my friends – will do everything we can to ensure that happens," said Thor, clapping Loki on the shoulder. "But I don't understand what any of this has to do with Jane."

"Only this. If something were to happen to me here –"

"It won't, Loki."

"If it were…I need to know that your offer to Sigyn still stands. That you would care for her and Ari in my absence."

"I vow to you, brother, they will be well cared for until my dying breath and beyond."

"Pledge that when you become king my son will become heir to the throne of Asgard, and I will die in peace, Thor. Even if you must lie, give me that small comfort."

"I have never had your skills of deception, Loki. I pledge to you, for whatever it is worth, that I will make that happen."

It was still full dark when the alarm sounded.

Loki was out of bed at once, dressed with a wave of his hand before Thor's feet had even touched the floor.

"If I envy you anything, it's that one trick, brother," said Thor, dressing as quickly as possible while Loki paced.

"Something is wrong, Thor. I can feel it."

"Nothing is wrong, Loki. Things will go well, and you will be back with Sigyn before the Chitauri corpses have even finished smoldering."

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and their door flew open without warning. It was Stark, looking as flustered as Loki had ever seen him.

"Glad to see you're ready to go. There's been a little hitch in our plans."

"What is it?" asked Thor, pointedly ignoring Loki's look of I told you so.

"Well, they took the bait," said the smaller man as they followed him into the hall and toward the main building. "Their ship is in Earth's orbit, and there's a party of them heading to our coordinates as we speak."

"This is what we hoped for, is it not?" said Loki.

"Uh, yeah – except they first sent a separate group to New York. To Stark Tower to be precise."

"Why would they do that?" asked Thor.

"Looking for you there, I would imagine," said Stark, nodding at Loki. "Guess they didn't trust our information. I got a report that they blasted their way in, left a few casualties in their wake. Didn't find what they were looking for, so now that party is heading here to join the others."

They reached the conference room to find Jane there with Banner, neither of them looking as though they had slept much. Within minutes, the rest of the team had filed in.

"We haven't got much time," said Natasha. "Thor, get Loki in his chains and lead him out to the meeting point. Everyone else – you know your jobs. Now let's get to it."

Everyone scattered as quickly as they had gathered, leaving Thor and Loki behind with Jane.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't know what had happened until it was too late. We sent the message hours ago. I thought things were on track, and I laid my head down for just a second…"

"Jane, this is not your doing," said Thor. "We were as prepared as we could possibly be. Now you need to get somewhere safe –"

"And miss my chance to get more data for research? I don't think so –"

"Jane, please –"

"As much as I hate to interrupt this lover's quarrel," said Loki, "I really think you and I should be heading outside, Thor." It gave him no small amount of pleasure to see enormous, brash Thor so cowed by this tiny Midgardian woman. She reminded Loki of Sigyn in a way, with her obvious intelligence and determination. Funny that he and his brother would both be attracted to such similar women – a strange turn of events Loki would have to think on later, once everything had settled.

Ten minutes later they were standing outside the building, the icy wind whipping their hair and clothing. The cold metal of the chains they had placed on Loki's wrists and ankles bit into his skin; he considered for a moment whether to change into his jotun form to make the cold more bearable, but thought better of it. That was a secret he would hold from these Midgardians until it proved necessary to reveal it.

The outside lights had been trained on a spot in a field about a thousand paces from the buildings. Loki could see a few hundred Chitauri forces gathered on the edge of the darkness. At once, he was overcome with revulsion, their disgusting bodies and hideous insect-like sounds a terrible reminder of the time he had spent in their company.

As he and Thor approached, ten more Chitauri vehicles swooped in from the south, the one in the front manned by a being Loki recognized immediately: The Other.

His vehicle stopped just inside the circle of lights, just as Thor and Loki reached the other side. Thor pushed Loki to his knees roughly, prompting Loki to whisper to him under his breath.

"Was that entirely necessary?"

"They said to be convincing, brother."

"It seems our once mighty leader has indeed fallen," said the creature, stepping down into the snow. "I remember this one from your memories, the brother with the red cape; even he has no more use for you it seems. Are you prepared to pay the price for your failure?"

As they had agreed, Loki remained silent at the taunting, allowing Thor to speak instead.

"We have done as promised, creature, our captive in exchange for peace. Why did you attack our tower in New York?"

"We had word that perhaps your captive was being kept from our reach there, so we went to investigate. There were a few fatalities, of course. We wouldn't have bothered with any of them once we discovered our prize was not there, but one in particular was very familiar…and utterly reeking of his scent."

He motioned to one of his faceless minions to come forward. Draped across his shoulder was what appeared to be the body of a female, dressed in strangely familiar Midgardian clothing. He stopped right in front of The Other, throwing the body to the ground with a sickening thud.

Thor's voice was no more than a distant echo through the ringing in Loki's ears. "No…oh no no no..."

Her hair fanned out across the snow, just slightly lighter in color than the blood that had soaked into her shirt. Even at a distance, Loki knew from experience just how soft it would be between his fingers if he could touch it.

"I told you," said The Other. "If you failed us, she would suffer first. What a shame she couldn't have suffered longer."

He took a device from his belt and tossed it, and before Loki could get to his feet, before he could even draw a breath to scream, Sigyn's body erupted into flames.