Chapter 25: In the Eye of the Beholder

Jane startled awake from her slump against the window of the train compartment. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. Apparently, Thor had gone for a wander through the rest of the train. Jane blew out a sigh and watched the scenery passing by outside the window. The sky was charcoal grey overhead with little invading tendrils of blue and yellow reaching through the thick smog. An occasional flash of light turned the heavy clouds blue and white, a mocking parody of the sky America had known before the war began. It made Jane feel nostalgic. By now the train had reached rural land and, as useful as those endless flats of grassy yellow were, they did little to engage her interest.

"Wheat..." she pondered boredly. Something about the image stuck in her psyche, a nagging impression...as if glimpsed in profile.

"You'd think that it would be more evocative. That is in your national anthem, after all, 'amber waves of grain'."

Jane jumped in surprise, whipping her head around to face the impossible newcomer. She was exhausted, certainly, but not nearly enough to have completely overlooked the stranger's presence.

"The door to this compartment squeaks," Jane blurted out after a few seconds of blank staring.

"I suppose it's good that I won't be using it then," he replied, as though this were a completely normal and commonplace occurrence. His gaze was as sharp as steel and ever focused on her face. Jane couldn't help but feel that she must've seen this man before... but she would have remembered such a striking presence. His accent was foreign, European-sounding but she couldn't match it with any particular nationality. It wasn't the same as the strange, sometimes Nordic, sometimes British-sounding traces carried in Loki's words. It sounded too human. Still... "You're wondering what I am," the stranger observed. He grinned, instantly reminding her of a shark.

"You haven't told me who you are, either," Jane pointed out.

"Charles contacted you before."

"You aren't Charles."

"You could call me his other half," the mystery man stated smoothly. "I'm here because you have a problem."

"I've noticed."

"I'm not referring to the tower. This is more important and unfortunately, due to current events, Charles can't be here himself."

"Current events, are the others in trouble? Is Tony-"

"We're all in trouble, Dr. Foster. In the interest of transparency, I should clarify: I am only here for Charles' sake. I need you to aid him, and that is the only reason that I would concern myself with your wellbeing." The dismissive way he said that last bit reminded Jane of Loki's declarations of human inferiority, except that this man meant it.

"You have something to tell me; just say it." Jane's eyes flickered over the window to note Thor's aproach from the upper level, then returned to the stranger's face.

"Your friend the Trickster has fallen victim to an inhuman force," the man paused in response to Jane's obvious concern, seeming to appreciate her loyalty. "He's surviving for now, but if you don't stop him, he will walk straight into the creature's trap and drag Charles down with him."

"Why are you telling me this? We all split up. I don't even know where Loki is."

"You've been contacted by Charles in the recent past, that gave me access," the stranger replied smoothly, taking in the cozy compartment around them with a patronizing sort of amusement. "I can't reach Hawkeye's mind, so it seems you'll just have to leave this little dream vacation for another time."

"Great. Okay..." Jane looked out the window at the passing fields of wheat, processing the possibly-reliable news. "Let's say I believe you. How are we suposed to fi-" She stared uncertainly at the empty seat where the passenger had sat a split second ago while Thor opened the door with a loud creak. The stranger had been right there. She had seen his reflection in the windowpane.

"Is something the matter?" Thor inquired, setting the tray of food that he was carrying down on the empty seat.

"I uh... no. It's nothing," Jane assured him with an awkward smile. "I guess I'm still pretty tired."

Thor studied her face, uncertain, eying the empty space she'd been fixating on, then turning back to her.

"You bought sandwiches?" Jane prompted.

"Indeed..." he finally decided not to read into her behavior and started instead to expound on the wonders of his latest culinary discovery: Oreos. Jane decided that he was probably the most comforting Avenger she could have been paired with. It was like traveling with a big kid.

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Loki awoke to the cold, tingly feeling of melting flurries gathering on his face, as they floated in though the ruined storefront. Somehow, Mara had passed over him. Now he was alone and crippled in a foreign realm with the monster from his nightmares wandering round in search of him, as well as an army of corrupt SHIELD operatives, in the middle of a world war. Loki tried not to dwell on it while he sat up, wiping the precipitation off of his face and chest.

Relax, Loki. You're not alone.

"Ascomforting as that thought may seem to you," Loki grunted with effort as he levered himself up onto rubbery legs. "It will be of little value to our survival." He held his arms limply away from his sides, looking down at his soaked, partially-frozen clothing. The back door was thrown open by an unseen arrival. I meant that statement literally. You aren't alone, Charles corrected, prompting Loki to draw his-

"Where is my knife?" Loki patted himself down. Both of his concealed weapons were now missing.

"Oh good. You're up," Clint said, strolling into view with a crinkled paper bag in his hands.

"What did you do with my knives?"

"You had knives? Knives, plural, and you didn't bother to tell me," Clint reflected. "You know, I'm not even mad. That's just what you're like."

"If you didn't take them, then where are they?"

"Don't know. Listen, I found us a good enough spot while you were out. It's not far from here. I also stole us some food. Catch," Clint retrieved a foil-wrapped parcel from the bag and hurled it at Loki's face. Loki easily caught it before it could cause any semblence of trouble, to the archer's mild disappointment. Loki sniffed the burrito.

"It smells of-"

"No," Clint held up a finger. "You will eat it it, and you will thank me or so help me, Loki, I will shoot you in the ass. I am doing everything here!"

"I just gave birth," Loki countered, just to bother the irritable Avenger.

Clint narrowed his eyes at him for a beat, then smacked the cold burrito into Loki's face. He let out a surprised laugh, not having expected to succeed. "Come on, let's get out of here before they come back."

"They?" Loki prompted, wiping the smear off his cheek as he followed after Clint. He was pretty sure that the assassin was going easy on him due to the whole recently-gave-birth-to-a-horrific-monster thing. Not that Loki was willing to admit, even to himself, that he was traumatized.

"Oh. Yeah, some big guy in a fancy cloak came in through the back while you were out of it. He's probably the one who took your knives."

"Did you see his face?" Loki inquired and took another, larger bite of his chipotlé burrito. To his surprise it wasn't terrible.

"I was thinking that he might be one of your guys, actually. An old man with a gold eyepatch. He-" Clint spun around to see Loki choking. The Trickster had accidentally inhaled his mouthful in shock. "Uh... Are you okay?"

Loki shook his head, blindly handing his food back to the perplexed archer while he finished clearing his trachea. "He has found me," he wheezed out, once he could breathe without coughing.

"Who is he?"

"Odin. That man you saw was the Allfather." Loki leaned against the outer wall of the building, feeling that Clint must be able to see him shaking. He hated it. He wasn't a fearful person. Growing up, Loki had always been a shameless prankster, a risk-taker. If his younger self could see what he had grown into he would be disgusted.

Stop it. You aren't so bad. It has been a trying... Charles hesitated for a moment with an awkward sense of uncertainty. Well, I was about to say week, but then I realized it's more like trying years. After this is all sorted, you really should consider taking a holiday.

Clint handed Loki's burrito back to him while the Trickster was distracted.

"I have been exiled to Midgard for the forseeable future," Loki responded aloud, despite current company.

"Really? When? And why here?" Clint inquired, tugging Loki forward by a less-sodden handful of his coat.

"When Thor and Wanda came to fetch me from Jötunheim. I was banished for past crimes." Loki looked up to see Clint's questioning expression. "I blew up the palace."

Clint nodded. "That'll do it."

"I am trapped here because this is where Thor wants me to be." Loki stopped walking in the middle of the icy slick road. "Why didn't he kill me?"

"Because you're his kid brother, and he's not a psycho?" Clint theorized.

"Hmm? No. I meant his father. Odin tried to erase my mind when he last had me in his posession, yet he has spared my life today. It makes little sense."

Clint considered the mystery himself while he led Loki into an older building. It was the abandoned police station. Some of the desks and lockers were still full of personal items as if the people who'd worked there might return at any moment. "Ever heard the saying: never look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"You are far smarter than the last man who said that to me, and yet, I am less surprised."

"You cannot be saying that you don't like horses."

"I used to have nightmares about them as a child. Needless to say I am wary of them," Loki admitted. "As you and your team should be wary of Odin's intentions. He is not behaving rationally."

"And that is our problem because?"

"You do not understand the term 'Allfather'," Loki observed. "The title implies authority over all of the Nine Realms." He saw the blank look on Clint's face and elaborated, "Midgard is one of the Nine Realms."

Clint glared at him. "I got that part. I'm not a total dumbass! I was just wondering when exactly you and Thor were planning to let us know about that?"

"It didn't seem relevant."

Clint took in a few preemptory deep breaths. "Anything else?"

"Unless our orders involve making contact with certain allies-"

"No. How is this related?"

"I have no interest in following your Captain's plan," Loki informed him, feeling Charles' intense dismay before he was even halfway through the sentence.

"I'm not going to approve of this, am I?" Clint predicted, already preparing for another argument.

"Do you approve of anything that I do?"

"I'll rephrase that. How much am I going to hate your plan?"

"I am honestly uncertain. You have proven unexpectedly loyal to me over the past day," Loki explained, taking a seat on one of the abandoned desks. He began to toy with a mechanical pencil out of the metal mesh cup on his left while he considered the question.

"So are you going to tell me about your new evil scheme?" Clint probed, walking over to stand in front of him.

"It is... personal," Loki denied, ignoring the insinuation.

"You're going to kill somebody."

"Perhaps, if I must, but that is not my intention."

Loki, listen. You can't do this. Stay away, Charles urged him. Everyone dies eventually, there is nothing that you can do to save me. Don't throw away what safety you still have over this.

"That's really vague, Loki. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Clint seemed to be unknowingly siding with the consciousness. Not that that was entirely unforseen.

"I cannot remain here. This is something that I must do," Loki answered both of their arguments at once.

"We have orders to find a new source of supplies and weaponry, and start a stockpile. That means we need to remain under the radar. You can't go picking fights with SHIELD," Clint reminded his obstinate alien partner.

"I will 'do my best'."

Clint paced over to the window, staring out at the city while he thought the issue through.

Loki, please. You don't have to do this, Charles insisted. Stop and think. The only reason that you even have a destination in mind is because the Void creature put it in your head. He wants you to be there!

You cannot expect me to stand by and simply allow it to happen! Loki thought back angrily. It was clear to him now that Charles had in fact known about the threat to his own life, and he'd hidden it from Loki.

Sometimes old sages die.

Loki pushed off of his perch in a huff and walked away to check the supplies that Clint had scavenged while he was unconscious.

I will still be with you for as long as we're connected.

My decision is made, Loki snapped, pulling a hunting knife out of its sheath and checking its sharpness.

"I thought you'd like that," Clint remarked without turning to look at him. "All that stuff is to share, Loki, so don't get any ideas."

"We'll need more rations," Loki replied.

"No shit."

Loki grabbed a frayed, mildly mildew-scented blanket out of the pile of supplies and spread it out over the floor in the corner of the office space, then rolled up his sodden trenchcoat to use as a pillow and placed it on the end just under the wall of windows. Clint watched him in silence, still half-turned towards the windows. Loki grabbed the back of a rolling chair and scooted it over to sit at the foot, then looked around in search of something more.

"Making a fort?" Clint remarked.

"I plan to take a nap," Loki responded, unabashed by the childish comparison. He grabbed the other blanket.

"That one's mine," Clint warned without making any move to stop him.

Loki tacked one end to the wall and draped the other over the back of the chair anyway. "I will retreive more supplies once I am rested," the Trickster announced, ducking into his improvised burrow and out of sight. Loki curled up in a cozy ball, and closed his eyes.

ASTRAL PLANE

He opened them in the sanctuary. Loki was now curled up on the Persian rug at the center of Charles' study. The fluffy grey kitten was sitting in front of him, staring fixedly into his face while it purred. Erik was nowhere to be seen. However, the supposed 'lamp' did seem inordinately pleased to see him. Loki brushed his fingers over its head as he sat up, then looked down at his clothes. The sage green sweater and charcoal black pants that he had gotten from Stark's guestroom had been replaced by a mint-colored button down and a tailored black buisness suit. Loki picked up the matching black hat and stood to look out the window.

Instead of a landscape outside, Loki was looking out into Asgard's throne room watching an unfamiliar, older version of himself hugging a fretting infant to his chest while he argued with his brother- No. Odin turned away from the other Loki, revealing his youthful, unmarred face. This was Odin before the battle of Midgard, before he lost his brother, or his eye.

"But that would mean..." Loki stared at his agitated double. Thor's uncle might as well have been Loki's Aesir reflection. It didn't make sense at all. The glass between them muffled their voices while he watched. That didn't stop the curious godling from observing what he could. Whatever they were arguing about it was of dire importance. The circle of Einherjar standing at the ready around the edge of the room didn't bode well either. The kitten wound lovingly around Loki's ankles, almost as if to comfort him.

Odin drew himself up, not willing to face his brother as he stated his cold ultimatum. His expression was familiar enough. It was the one he used most often when handling his wayward childe, but not quite as cold. There was regret in his eyes. Uncle Loki surged forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him partway back around to face him. Tears were threatening to fall from his saucer-wide eyes as he pleaded.

"You cannot do this," Loki recited in perfect synchrony with his not-quite-uncle. "Please, Brother, I know that despite everything that has happened, you would not forsake me. I beg of you, don't let him send my children away. They are a part of me... of our family."

Odin responded, his voice still muted, but Loki could hear the words echoing through his memory. "It is no longer safe here. I am doing what l must to protect you."

"Then protect us. Send me with them if you must! Just not this..." Lord Loki dropped to his knees in front of his brother, hanging onto Odin's wrist like a lifeline.

"Oh, Loki..." Odin said, reaching up to brush a stray tear off of the desperate mother's cheek with his free hand. "You know that I would never wish this pain upon you. It is you whom the Jötuns are after; I cannot in good conscience let you stray from my sight. Once this wretched war is over we will all be together again. I promise you." Odin's sympathetic expression hardened, returning to the commanding mask that Loki was more familiar with. "My decision is final. They leave at dawn."

The Einherjar closed in on them and pulled the crying baby out of his mother's arms.

"No. No! NO!" Lord Loki screamed and fought against the soldiers gripping his arms, trying to fight his way towards Fenris. "Let me go! NO! My babies! You can't have them! Let me go!"

Odin wrapped his arms around his brother's middle and anchored him in place. Odin held him there even after the soldiers had gone, waiting until Lord Loki's trembling form had gone slack in his arms. "No harm will come to them. I swear it. You must understand, Brother, it would be far too easy for your children to sway your judgement, should they fall into the wrong hands."

"I understand," both Loki's responded in unison, each voice holding the same bitter tone. Loki could feel the pain as though it was not Lord Loki's children the soldiers had so callously taken, but rather his own limbs had been torn away. He was left feeling wounded, and raw from a loss that could never be replaced. At some point his hand had migrated to rest over his abdomen, and he stared down at it.

"It isn't a coincidence, is it?" Erik asked from the doorway behind him, startling Loki out of his reverie. "You two are connected somehow."

Loki sniffed, hastily schooling his expression while he tracked the magnekinetic's reflection in the windowpane. "It would seem so. You were gone when I arrived here. Where were you?"

Erik gave him an appraising look. "That wasn't the only memory that's sprung to life around here."

Loki peered past his shoulder at the snowy village just outside the door. Erik closed it before he could identify the two blond, juvenile Aesir practicing archery on the other side. "Why did you come here?" Erik asked, pouring himself a glass of scotch without bothering to offer his guest a drink.

"Charles is in danger."

Erik stilled for a fraction of a second, before asking, "My Charles?"

Loki glared. "What should it matter which timeline he originates from?"

Erik turned to face him, taking a sip of his drink rather than answer immediately. "There are certain rules that Charles and I must live by. What has he told you about it?"

"Are you so very selfish-" Loki began to accuse.

"He told you not to interfere," Erik determined. "Did you think I was going to take sides against him?"

"How can you be so heartless? Regardless of his age. Charles Xavier will die if we do nothing, and you do not even care!"

"I care," Erik replied a tad sharply. A spark of something fierce and deadly flashed through his silver eyes. "There is nothing that I can do. I can't change my own history."

"You've both changed mine," Loki shot back. The helpless emptiness left behind by the recent memory fragment had put him in a feral state. He wanted to hurt something the way he'd been hurt. "No. I forget; that was all his doing. Tell me, what use are you to him? We could have died mere hours ago and you would have sat here impotent-"

Erik's hand wrapped around his throat before he could react. The murderous-looking mutant slammed him back against the wall hard enough to audibly crack it. Loki somehow doubted that the man could boast such physical strength in the waking world, as his air supply was cut off. "I do not need to explain myself to you! You are nothing! You are a vessel! Don't you even dare think for an instant that you know anything about what goes on between me and Charles!"

Loki grinned down at him. It was a wild, lightless expression. Their eyes met and there was a flash of recognition over Erik's features. He shoved himself away from the Trickster, looking disgusted.

"Giving up already? For moment I thought that you had some fight in you. How disappointing," Loki mocked.

"You've been beaten enough already," Erik replied, picking his spilled tumbler up off of the carpet and setting it aside on the desk.

The grin vanished from Loki's face. "Do not flatter yourself, Mortal. I have faced down enemies that would cast what little power you wield into insignificance!"

"I'm sure," Erik acknowledged dismissively, without sparing him a glance. "Stop wasting our time."

Loki turned away intending to wake, then paused. There was a moving pressure over the top of his foot wrapping around his other ankle. He looked down.

"Oh," was all Loki could say. A massive silvery snake was coiled around him, moving in a haphazard spiral. Its irridescent scales radiated all the colors of the ocean, ever-changing, giving the illusion that the creature itself was constantly shifting color.

"Watch your head," a strangely familiar voice advised in the split second before the floor disappeared from under Loki's feet.

Erik glanced back at the yelping alien as he fell out of sight, then shrugged and poured himself another glass of Scotch. It wasn't as though Loki was in danger from his own subconscious.

Jane took a bite of her sandwich, and watched Thor ritually parting his Oreos as she'd shown him. She should have realized that anecdote from her childhood would have such a lasting effect, but whatever. It was adorable to watch him do it, so no regrets. The clouds outside continued to flicker and flash, casting strange shadows over his face. It made him actually look alien.

"Does something about this train seem... off, to you?" Jane inquired, wadding up the wrapper from her ham sandwich and tucking it into the corner of the cardboard tray.

"I am uncertain. I have not travelled in this manner before," Thor admitted, twisting another Oreo apart with great care. "Is something about it troubling you?"

"We're not eating rations for one. Not that I'm complaining, but real produce is very expensive, Thor, let alone real meat."

"I see. I shall take more care with our spending in the future. Midgardian currency is new to me."

"I'm not mad at you. It's just unusual for food like this even to be available," Jane explained, picking up a soda and popping it open to drink. She didn't recognize the company name and the label was in Spanish. That much seemed more par for the course these days. "When did you get our tickets? I don't really remember getting on."

"You were knocked out during our escape. The conductor was not amused to see me carrying you aboard," Thor recalled.

Jane flashed a smile. That must have been a strange sight. "I'll bet. I'm impressed. That was quick thinking getting us on here."

"I was only doing what I imagined you would do in my place," Thor dismissed. Jane got up and gave him a quick kiss.

"Charmer." She headed out of the compartment. "I'm going to grab a couple more water bottles from upstairs. Then we should discuss that directive Steve assigned to you."

"Aye," Thor said, warily giving a stiff nod. Jane knew that he wasn't going to want to share the responsibility with her. He was naturally protective, but she wasn't willing to sit on the sidelines anymore after what they'd already gone through.

She was running through different iterations of their upcoming argument in her head as she headed for the food car. She had just walked into the beginning of the dining section when the obvious occurred to her. Where is everybody? Jane stopped in the center of the car and turned a slow 360 degrees.

There were traces of people's presence: the napkins and silverware on the table beside her were used; she had almost stepped in a puddle of spilled coffee on her way in; an empty cup lay abandoned on another table. As she thought back, however, Thor was the only other passenger she could recall seeing all day. She looked out the window. There had been no sign of life outside either. No animals, no people, no Sentinel's, not even a single hover drone. "Okay. It's okay. Thor was with you until you woke the first time. He met someone while you were asleep. This is new. We have time to figure this out."

Jane hurried into the next empty dining car. Just as before, there were remnants of human occupation. Leftover food containers sat on one table. Crumbs were spilled over the seat of another booth. A pea-green trenchcoat had been draped over the back of the farthest seat. Jane walked over and picked it up, considering the problem. The fabric was still warm.

Jane replaced the garment with care, as though she knew that its owner was about to return and claim it. With new determination she strode into the next car. This one boasted no hint of life. The stairway down to the galley was lit with a flickering, flourescent light. Jane stared down into the coldly lit white and silver box with dread.

"Finally getting suspicious, Dr. Foster?" an accented male voice remarked directly behind her. Jane jumped, then spun round to glare at the stranger.

"What's going on here? What are you doing to me?" Jane demanded.

"Please. The only intrest that you hold for me is your necessity should Charles persevere," the phantom sat back on the edge of the nearest table. The next flash of light from outside lit his cold silver eyes with a vibrant blue, giving the fleeting impression that they were glowing. "Aren't you a scientist? Start asking better questions."

"What better questions?" Jane snapped. If the strange trick of the light before hadn't been enough to put her off, the way that the silverware on the table was now gradually sliding toward her strange stalker was doing the job.

"What is a thunderstorm without sound?" he reflected, batting away a fork that had ventured too close to his bottom.

"What?" Jane asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Give it some thought. We don't have all day." He vanished. With a thoughtful frown, Jane turned to leave. As she opened the door, the dining car was lit by another brighter flash from the sky above. "Lightning, but no thunder... That isn't natural, but Thor-" the questions and observations began to flood her mind. The tickets, Thor's knowledge of the railway. Real food. Where was the money coming from? How did I get here? She hurried out of the dining car, making a run for their compartment. This was all wrong.

ASTRAL PLANE

Loki landed sprawled in the four-poster bed, only registering his next change of appearance after he noticed the softness of the silver silk sheets against his bare torso. There were bandages covering his left side from the tips of his fingers to his tender neck. Burns. He hadn't even decided what to think of the discovery before the great serpent landed on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. "Why!" he coughed, giving the serpent a scolding look as it began to shrink down to the size of a boa constricter.

"It wasss funny," the snake defended, sounding more childish the more it shrank. Loki let his head fall back onto the pillows. He was still too exhausted and sore to hold a grudge. He shut his eyes, trying to recollect his slipping focus. Two identical twin boys ran in through the open doorway on his left, wrestling with each other.

"Ow! Vali, you wretch! Father! He keeps biting me! You said no biting!"

Vali growled and tackled his protesting twin, almost knocking the washbasin off its pedestal as they rolled around. They were mostly just batting and nipping at each other.

"Don't bite your brother, Vali," Loki intoned sleepily, hoping that he could get away with snoozing through this one. The serpent wrapped around his torso stretched closer to nudge his chin under Loki's collarbone. Loki smiled softly and allowed gentle whisps of magic to flow out of his core into the nursing infant.

"He won't let me-Ow! Stop it!- play with the singing ball. Ow. It's my turn!" Vali replied between Narfi's scratching and hair-pulling.

Narfi let out a suspiciously lupine growl.

"Ah! Ah! Remember, not in the house," Balder's voice corrected from out in the front chamber. "Sorry, Uncle," he added to Loki. It jarred the Trickster out of his sleepy haze. Balder was gone. His brother Balder.

"Must I get up?" his lips spoke the words without his conscious volition.

"We can manage. You should rest, Milord." That breathless response came from a young Fandral, younger than Loki had ever known him.

"You are forgiven," Loki recited from memory, following the script as it played out. He opened his eyes and looked over at the two blond boys. They weren't quite fighting age yet and were currently caught up in pulling the squirming twins apart.

"Jörmungand is doing it too," Narfi pointed out.

"Jörmungand is five years old..." Fandral said in a 'why do I need to tell you this' sort of way. He grabbed the boy around the waist, holding him under one arm while he retrieved the toy and held it out to Balder.

"No! I want it. Fine..." Narfi thrashed at first but by the end of his protest he was hanging limp as a rag in defeat. It was a bit like watching the stages of acceptance in fastforward. Loki smiled, feeling a swell of bittersweet affection in his heart. His little Narfi had been so changeable, he never got the chance to see him grow up. I don't have any children, Loki reminded himself. I chose the life of a Prince. I was never matched... Father wouldn't- Odin was never my father.

Jörmungand arched up to lean his shimmering head over his mother's his golden eyes regarding hir teary green ones with sympathy. "You're lost."

"I am sick of living another person's life," Loki breathed, no longer bothering to restrain his emotions. The memory froze, then Balder, Fandral and the twins were simply gone. "I will suffer the indignity no more! I will challenge the Norns themselves if I must. No one will take what is mine again. The God of Chaos does not bear a leash."

Jörgumand let out a speculative hiss, troubled by the Jötun God's train of thought and shifted into his humanoid form, aging into a young boy with silver hair and long, graceful limbs. "A fair response for certain, your Grace. Except... just a thought, this approach is rather reminiscent of your rebellion against the Allfather, although somewhat more dangerous. Do you remember how that went?"

"Thank you for your input," Loki slipped his hands under the boy's arms and set him down on the bed beside him, then got up and left.

TROUBLE

Jane ducked into their private car and leaned against the lugage rack with one arm, trying to catch her breath. Thor surged to his feet.

"Jane! What is the matter?"

"Tell me how we got here."

"I do not understand..." Thor began, looking concerned for her sanity. Well, good for him. Jane felt the same way.

"How did you get the tickets- No forget that. How did we get to the station? You said that I was knocked out during the escape. Fine. I think I can remember that part," Jane said impatiently. "Two of those drones flew in. You were fighting them off while I crouched behind that abandoned hummer. You smashed the first one easily, but the second one got a shot past you and the car exploded."

"Aye."

"Then what? Ohmygod! How am I not dead?"

"I... carried you to safety." Thor answered uncertainly.

"Tell me about it." Jane shook off his lack of response to her outburst, putting it down to his being accustomed to Asgardian durability.

"I am sorry, my Love, but there is little to tell," Thor replied and Jane felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Jane stood up a little straighter.

"You can remember, right?" she asked keeping an intent watch on his expression.

"Why would I not?"

Jane shrugged. Her fingers were itching to grab the door handle, but she forced herself to play it cool, slipping her hand under the strap of her bag. "You know how it goes. For all I know, one of the those Sentinels could have kicked the crap out of you while I was out and fried your memory. You aren't giving me a lot of information to work with."

"No. My mind is not adled," Thor assured her, looking relieved rather than perplexed. "I was able to avoid incident once we were free of the tower," he stated, taking a step closer.

"I thought so," Jane swung her bag down to strike Thor in the side of the head, prompting a very un-Thor scream of pain. "The Alltongue can't translate idioms." Jane burst out of the compartment and bolted for the stairs "And I'm pretty sure that Thor can't scream that high pitched."

"Get back here you stupid bitch!" The off-puttingly girlish voice of not-Thor shouted, chasing after her. The imposter laughed maniacally and slapped the wall; suddenly gravity ceased to exist within the train. Then it shifted and the far end of the train became the new down.

Jane screamed, tumbling back and forth between seats in a terifying freefall. She fell through the separating doors which broke like balsawood on impact, and caught herself on the edge of a table halfway through the first dining car. Not-Thor was marching towards her with a murderous grin.

"No. No! This is not how I'm going to die. It's insane!" Jane calmed. "It's not real."

Not-Thor returned gravity to it's normal placement and dragged the disoriented astrophysicist up off of the floor.

"Oh, don't pass out yet," she cooed, still in Thor's guise. "I still have to pay you back."

Jane glanced through the dividers. There was another car at the end of the dining area with a combination lock. A vault. "I have to go..." she muttered. A combination of four letters. She could try to breach it.

The green coat that she'd found earlier was lying haphazardly over the table behind her. It had moved. Jane didn't think it was her captor's doing.

"You're not going anywhere, Jane Foster," her captor said, pulling her closer by the front of her sweater. Not-Thor had shifted into a palid blonde of a similar build to Jane's. Her eyes were dark blue gray and the corner of a barcode tattoo was just visible under her blue-flannel shirt. Another of the Children of the Vault. "You are gonna be mine for a long time."

"Nope," Jane replied, slipping a hand into the pocket of the familiar trenchcoat. "You're not good with details."

The blonde let out the coldest impersonation of a girlish giggle. "How do you figure?"

"I remember the escape now. Loki was wearing a green coat," Jane revealed, then stabbed the other woman in the side with one of the Trickster's throwing knives, running away as soon as the blonde bioweapon's grip had released.

"Ah!" The blonde shrieked, pulling the blade out and stalking after her prey. "I am going to kill you!"

Jane held the second blade she'd retrieved in a white-knuckled grip and threw herself at the door to the vault. "Four letters... four letters to reach Thor. What is it..." She typed in his name. No, she hadn't thought so. Odin, no. She looked back at her prison guard coming closer by the second. She had one more try. Jane looked down at the throwing knife in her hands and mentally kicked herself. "Loki." That password worked and Jane dove into the vault, slamming it shut behind her. Her eyes snapped open to the sound of beeping medical equipment. She was lying on a gurney in the back of an armored car. A spidery hand was resting on her forehead. Jane shoved it away and tore off the strap holding her torso, sitting up to look back at the sleeping bioweapon. No she wasn't sleeping. She was concentrating.

"Thor!" Jane struggled with the strap over her legs and moved to stand over Thor's unconscious form on the adjacent gurney. A shuffling sounded from up front. The transport lurched to a stop. Jane's heart leapt into her throat. The driver was coming around to the back. She stared, wide-eyed as someone began to open the doors.

A/N: Thanks for reading this, guys. I know this chapter has taken me a while to finish, but I think/hope it was worth it. Got a few themes paying off in it after all. My favorite remains the lampcat revelation. Anyway, I digress. Let me know what you thought?