A few weeks after Grace left, Fandral found Loki reading a very thick, very ancient book while sitting on a window sill in a less travelled hallway near the library. Loki glared at him, very clearly indicating that he was not welcome and he ought to pass by without speaking.

Fandral flashed a charming smile, "Well, here we are! The bookish prince once again, the psychopathic realm destroyer no more."

"I do not wish to speak to you, Fandral. I still wish to remove your tongue and stuff it down your throat."

"You are still angry from weeks ago? Come now, the joke is over. Besides, I somehow doubt that it was merely my actions that caused her to flee." Loki chose not to respond, "You do not think that I did not hear about the guard, do you? Everyone knows. She fought well, for a Midgardian."

"She fought well for anyone, even better than many of our own. You know this as well as I."

"She ought not to have needed to fight, though. Someone ought to have been protecting her, or at least her protection guaranteed by fear."

"She ought to not have had anything to need protection from- the guard ought to have had more respect fort a guest in these halls. Now will you please get to the point and leave me alone? I have work to do."

"Your reputation, Loki, is not as fearsome as it used to be. You are simply a puppet, a pet, to Odin, locked up even as you wander the realm. No one thinks you could stand up for her if you tried. Without your magic, you are nothing. Perhaps it is time you take steps to be feared again, to make yourself known as someone not to trifle with. You are, after all, the son of Jotunheim's former king. Maybe you ought to stake a claim for the throne- it would not be treason, simply a homecoming, and those who do not take you seriously here would certainly do so if you were king of that realm, allied to this one. I can even get you men if you wish to take forces in to establish your claim."

Loki stared at him, "That is madness. You propose for me to do that which resulted in Thor's banishment- make war on Jotunheim. You ought to hold your tongue lest I still decide you ought to lose it."

"Think on it, Loki. For her sake." With that, Fandral left. Loki returned to his book, but could not concentrate on the myths. He closed the book and wondered if possibly returning to Jotunheim would allow him access to their stories and mages. He did not think they had a library in what was left of the temple, but decided that someone had to yet be alive who knew the old tales. Returning could be beneficial to his more literary quest as well. He stopped, shook his head to clear the idea from it, and tried to return to reading.

Fandral's words, however, stuck. Loki cursed himself for not being able to simply dismiss them. He wanted to, but the thought that he was not able to protect Grace, in addition to his curiosity about Jotunr lore and magic, kept festering at the back of his mind until he approached Fandral and asked, entirely hyphothetically, he assured, just how such a band of men could be procured that would be effective against the forces of Jotunheim and upon what sort of timeline could a plan be drawn up and a party seriptitiously moved out. Fandral laid everything bare for him. Loki did not trust Fandral, but the plan seemed solid enough, as did the battle strategy to use on arrival. He began polishing his armor and oiling his long-neglected knives.

Halfway through the year, Loki disappeared from Asgard and nearly every military unit noticed a few members had vanished. Heimdall looked for them and found them in an encampment in Jotunheim. He alerted Odin and Thor. Odin readied men to send with Thor into battle, if needed, but otherwise to retrieve Loki and return. Thor, on the other hand, went to Midgard and knocked on Grace's door.

When she opened it and found him on the other side, her first thought was that something terrible had happened, "What's going on?"

"Loki has invated Jotunheim with a small army. I do not know what his intentions are nor his reasoning, but before we engage him in war, I would like to see if you can speak to him."

"Fucking hell, what is he thinking?"

"I do not know. You will not be staying the night, do not bother with a bag. Father will retrieve you from the battle field before the fighting begins and you will take supper in Asgard before returning here."

"Be honest with me, Thor- does this have a snowball's chance in hell of working?"

"Only if the cause has something to do with you. I do not know how he could possibly come to such a conclusion, but this is Loki of whom we speak- his mind works quite differently from mine."

Grace turned off the lights, grabbed her keys, and followed Thor to the roof, "Then I guess away we go..."

Heimdall met them on the bridge and handed Thor a note, "Before you leave- this was discovered in his room."

Thor read it quickly and then read it a second time, glancing at Grace as he did, "He says he does this to guarantee your safety. There is little else here. Has the fighting started?"

"No. Loki waits on the plain, the warriors of Jotunheim at a distance, watching. His encampment is small, his tent quite obvious. You should have no difficulty finding it." Heimdall handed Grace a bundle of fabric, "Wear this as you approach- it will identify you as under the protection of Asgard."

She unfolded it to find a fine red cloak trimmed in gold, "It's beautiful." She put it on, the fabric sweeping the ground, the sleeves coming just to her knuckles. Thor mounted a horse brought to him by a stable boy and gestured for her to ride behind him. She had to ask Heimdall for help. Thor's army joined them, banners flying. Within moments, the Bifrost carried them to Jotunheim and they were situated between Loki's men and the temple.

Thor helped Grace dismount and pointed to the single canvas tent in the middle of Loki's army, "He will be there, planning his attack. Do not spend too long speaking to him, for his men appear to be restless. I will be watching. Wear your hood over your face as you approach. You will appear to them as a priestess or emissary of the throne. They will not dare touch you. To do so would be an act of treason and a guarantee of death."

Grace did exactly as Thor said, took a deep breath, and walked to Loki's tent, her pace slow, but determined. An ambassador in a similar robe was sent out to the temple to explain just exactly what was going on to the king of Jotunheim.

When she reached the tent, she heard voices inside and waited for only a moment before clanging the bell that hung by the flap. The voices ceased and a man left, holding the flap for her when he saw her robe, announcing that Asgard sought a conference. Loki beckoned her to enter.

She stood in front of him and waited for the door flap to close before removing her hood, "I have no idea what you are thinking, but this is madness...and Thor's out ther waiting to drag you back to Asgard by any means necessary."

"Miss Grace. I did not expect a visit from you, especially not as an emisary of Asgard."

"Your brother showed up at my door and said you were about to do something incredibly stupid."

"I suppose that depends on your perspective."

"Care to tell me what yours is? Because you're staring down the barrel of the combined might of Asgard and Jotunheim and it looks like crazy from here."

"Asgard sees me as weak. I will not stand for this."

"Wait, so because other people treat you like crap, you're going to barge in here and kill people? That's shit logic."

"It is what I am willing to say."

"So you're admitting there's something you aren't telling me."

"No. But this conversation is over. I suggest you leave before you are injured in battle."

"You're one cold motherfucker right now, Loki. I don't know what you're doing. I don't get this. I think you're making a huge mistake and you're going to get yourself killed. I guess this is the real-deal goodbye, then, because I doubt Odin's going to let you have guests if you return to Asgard alive...and I'm pretty sure that's a slim possibility. I'm going to see you next on your own funeral barge. Oh, and know that I'm going to kick the shit out of whomever put you up to this."

"Because I could not have possibly come to this conclusion on my own."

"No, because I think you're better than this." She put up her hood and spoke softly, "I wish it wasn't the end, but please, if you ever loved me in any way, reconsider." She left the tent and returned to Thor's encampment. Loki dropped his head into his hands. He stepped out of his tent in time to see the Bifrost carry her away.

One of his men noticed him staring, "Is everything still alright, sir?"

"Yes. Prepare our attack."

"Asgard's army is still waiting for the return of their emisary to Jotunheim's king."

"Good, they are ill prepared. Ready the men. We attack on my command."

Thor noticed the increased activity in Loki's camp and quickly organised his army.

Once returned to Asgard, Grace retreated to the common room, pretending she did not exist by sitting in a window, partially hiding behind a curtain, listening in as Heimdall's messenger updated whomever was in the room on the battle's progress. Sif and Volstagg fought beside Thor, but Fandral had made an excuse not to go and, having entered the room believing it to be empty, sat with two girls on his lap in front of the fire, oblivious to Grace's presence.

"So you see, my girls, with this action we kill two birds with one stone. I have removed the dangerous maniac prince you felt so threatened by- he likely will not be returning to Asgard, and that also means the hag he brings here will no longer be present to remind you that your beauty will spoil in a few millenia. The king ought to offer me a reward- though for which I am not certain. Quite possibly both!" The girls giggled. "Of course, ladies, there is still the open question as to just why he won't return. Will he be brought to his knees on the battle field? Will he assume the throne of Jotunheim? Or will he come back, but be on his shield, persay, rather than carrying it? Head on a pike, perhaps?"

Grace slipped from her hiding place and walked quietly behind him, tapped on his shoulder, and, when he turned towards her, solidly landed her fist below his eye, grazing his nose, "You son of a bitch." She left the room as Fandral's women shrieked and panicked about the blood trickling from his nose and went straight to the place she felt most safe- Loki's room. She knew Odin would call for her soon. He had sent word when she returned that he wished to take supper with her. She curled up under Loki's blankets, the little stuffed penguin tucked close to her chest. The pillow carried the scent of his hair. She knew it was likely the last time she would ever spend in his bed and she hated the thought. She let herself doze off, only waking when a knock came at the door, someone calling her to join Odin. She fixed the blankets, placed the little penguin on the pillow, and followed her escort to Odin's private chambers.

"Good evening, Grace. I hope you are well, despite the trials of this day," Odin said as she entered his small dining room.

"Yeah, so far. Maybe. I guess you've probably already heard what I did to Fandral."

"Yes, but I would like to ask you to step back from that story for a moment and simply enjoy the meal before we discuss such dark things."

"Respectfully, I'm not sure how I can do that. My best friend has decided that killing people is a good way to somehow protect me. I'm not sure I can step away from it at all."

Odin sighed and nodded, "Of course. I meant no disrespect for your feelings. But please, do try the wine. It is quite good."

She did as he asked, sipping slowly as she ate the meats and breads prepared for her, enjoying the flavours and the warmth of the food. It truly was a divine meal and she made sure to tell him so before he started the heavier conversation.

"Now. You spoke to my son on the battle field. Did he tell you anything that could explain his actions?"

"I told him he was doing something stupid and he said that was a matter of perspective. He also said it was because Asgard sees him as weak and he won't stand for that. "

"And what is it that caused you to then break Fandral's nose?"

"I asked Loki who put him up to this and he said he wouldn't talk about it. Then when I was sitting in the window in the common room, I heard Fandral bragging to his women that he'd killed two birds with one stone, getting rid of Loki and getting rid of me. Apparently he did it for his girlfriends- Loki scares them and I'm a reminder that we all get old and die. It was mean, but I could have dealt with it if he hadn't gone on so gleefully about Loki coming back dead on his shield or his head being on a pike. That's when I decked him. It was a pretty good shot, too, and will mess up that face of his for a little while."

Odin nodded, "I cannot say that your actions were unjustified. It makes sense that someone would have planted a seed in Loki's mind that this was a good idea. The question is, what was it that Fandral used to convince him to put his visits with you in jeopardy? They have been far to valuable to him in the past to convince him to take action against Asgard, no matter how angry he has been."

"You do know I was attacked by a guard the last time I was here, right? And that Fandral was being an asshole then, too?"

"Yes. Thor and Loki both told me of these incidences."

"I think you need to talk to Fandral. And scare the shit out of him until he tells you just what he told Loki. Whatever he said to convince Loki to risk our visits had to be pretty serious."

"I plan on sending for him after we are done here and you are safely back to Midgard."

"Will you send somebody to tell me what happens? I know Loki's a cosmic fuck-up, but I still want to know if he survives this. He's still my friend, even if I want to strangle him."

"Of course. I may have been untowardly harsh to you in the past, but you care deeply about my wayward son. The least I can do is to let you know the outcome of his foolishness."

"Thanks."

As a servant came to clear their plate, Odin rose and she did the same, "Now, I believe it is time you return to Midgard before it gets too late."

Grace said her goodbye and went directly to Heimdall, travelling the Bifrost alone for the first time. When she returned to Midgard, she only stopped long enough in her apartment to get her drivers license before going out for a long drive, the windows down, the chill of the fall air stinging her cheeks. She focussed on the road and headed out of the city, finding her way to the country roads that would allow her to drive for miles without a stop sign. She drove for over an hour in the silence and then made her way back towards Detroit.

In the grey light of late dusk, she did not see the deer step out in front of her car until it was too late to slam on the breaks. Not long after she hit the animal, the car rolled into the ditch and everything went black.