Thor felt numb as he listened to Loki's explanation about their brother. It was different than any of the other losses he'd experienced. Each time he believed Loki had died had been a devastating blow. Arriving too late to save Frigga from the Kursed had made him feel more powerless than a mortal. Finding Odin on Earth only to lose him moments later had left him disoriented and angry. Hela had just been another foe. He regretted the position she'd forced him into, but the loss of Asgard hit him far harder than the loss of the sister who'd killed so many of his people and his friends.

He didn't know what to feel about Baldur. Anger that he had never known about him? Shame that he had never sensed the absence? Grief for the life Baldur had never lived? Despair that he represented one more way their family would never be whole, no matter what Thor changed? He tried to reconcile this new knowledge with his memories of childhood. Had Frigga ever hidden a tear as she watched two boys playing instead of three? Had Odin? Had Thor ever noticed and asked about it, only to be told a comforting lie that he never questioned? He couldn't remember.

"I should go to Mother," he said after Loki fell silent. Whatever he felt, she had been grieving for over a thousand years, and he had never shared that with her. That, at least, he could fix. But he hesitated, looking at Loki.

"Go," said Loki with a wan smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'll still be here in the morning."

Thor gritted his teeth and pulled Loki into as fierce a hug as he'd ever given him. One thing he knew already: this was the brother he could save, and no power in the universe would stop him. It took a moment for Loki to return the hug, but it nearly matched Thor's for strength.

X

Frigga was in her weaving room. When Thor entered, she turned to smile at him from her loom, and he saw the telltale signs of recent weeping on her face. The sight was enough to burst a dam within him that he never knew he'd built. His throat constricted and his vision blurred. Neither of them said a word, but seconds later, they were in each other's arms, and he was sobbing unrestrainedly into her hair.

X

After Thor's departure, Loki went to his chambers in the royal apartments, but with his mind so full of everything he had learned, he didn't even try to sleep. Instead, he sat on his windowsill, idly tossing and catching a dagger as he looked out over Asgard, not really seeing it—though that would have been difficult through the heavy sheets of rain coming down. A pressure was building in the back of his thoughts like an itch, and he would have to scratch it soon, but it couldn't quite drive everything else aside yet. Hela. Baldur. Farbauti. Laufey.

He thought about them, and he thought about less tangible things. Everything he had ever assumed he was entitled to because of his birth was only his as the result of a heinous crime, a staggering coincidence, and a charitable impulse. It had already happened, so why did knowing about it make him feel as though he was dangling from the edge of the world? So many aspects of his life had been defined by being a son of Odin and Frigga. How much of him was real if that wasn't true? But then, how untrue was it if the lack of shared blood meant nothing to Odin, Frigga, and Thor? Did it mean nothing? What made the bonds of family if not blood? He could answer these questions no better than he could tell Tony Stark what made magic work.

Loki fought his curiosity as long as he could, but it was barely an hour before he was standing in front of his washroom mirror, attempting to brace himself for when the pale blue eyes looking back at him turned vivid red. This was the final lie to strip away.

Undoing the first bit of magic he ever performed should have been as simple as getting undressed, but the harder he tried, the more he felt a force pushing back. His shapeshifting abilities had never failed him, and he had never experienced anything like this. Something was blocking him from returning to his true form. He had a strong suspicion as to what it was, but the idea of confronting Odin about it was not inviting. So he thought of how he might get around the block without him.

The answer was obvious.

X

So much had happened that it was hard for Thor to believe that it hadn't even been twelve hours since Director Fury entrusted him and Loki with the Tesseract. He felt much calmer after visiting his mother, but he still doubted he would be able to sleep if he tried, and he didn't want to crowd Loki too much, so instead he went to see how his friends fared.

A servant informed him that Lady Sif and the Warriors Three had left the palace and Darcy had already retired to her rooms. Unsurprisingly, the scientists were all in the library. He passed Banner and Erik having an animated discussion at one of the tables, but Jane was standing beneath the miniature, slowly revolving Yggdrasil with her mouth slightly open, a stack of books clutched in her arms.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said. "This was always my favorite part of the library. When we were boys, Loki often teased me for staring at it and fantasizing about the adventures I would have on other worlds instead of studying the words of the books in front of me."

"It's incredible," said Jane. "This whole place is incredible. I must've pinched myself a hundred times, and I'm still not convinced it isn't a dream. I don't even know where to begin with my research here."

"You will have as much time as you like to decide," said Thor, smiling.

Her own smile faltered as she looked at him. "Hey, um. Is there a reason you always seem sad when you're around me?"

He laughed and grimaced. "I'm sorry to have troubled you." He teetered briefly on the verge of telling her everything, but pulled back. It was his problem, not hers, and she was so happy here. "It isn't you. It's been a rather complicated week for my family. Not long ago, I learned about my father's daughter from a previous marriage whom he imprisoned because she wants to conquer the universe, Loki's adopted and didn't know about it until tonight, and we just found out we had another brother who died the day he was born."

"God, I'm sorry," said Jane. They started walking in the direction of Banner and Erik's table. "I found out when I was in eighth grade when we did Punnett squares and blood types in science class that my dad's not my biological father, and my mom doesn't even know the name of the guy who got her pregnant. That was definitely a complicated week, but yours sounds worse."

"I think it will be alright. All the secrets are out now, so we're on even footing." Unlike himself and Jane.

"That's good," said Jane. "You know, in such a big universe, it's a statistical impossibility that Earth is the only planet with living organisms, which is why I've always believed aliens existed. But I never really thought it through far enough to imagine aliens with family drama. Is it mean to say that's reassuring?"

Thor laughed again, this time without the grimace. "I don't think so. We have more in common than we think, no matter what worlds we come from. It's something I wish I had realized earlier."

X

Loki had been moving about the palace undetected (and many places far more distant) for centuries, so making his way to the lowest level was quite simple. Barely a quarter of an hour after leaving his chambers, he was slipping through the golden doors of the Vault. He eased them shut and dropped his cloaking spell.

"You have come sooner than I expected."

It took him every ounce of self-control not to jump out of his skin. He was such a fool. He should have realized the absence of guards at the door had been no accident. He turned reluctantly to face Odin, who was standing beside the plinth that held the Casket of Ancient Winters. "You knew I would come." He was tense, ready to flee back through the doors, but Odin seemed relaxed, if in a heavy, burdened sort of way.

"It must have frustrated you when you could not transform, and only two solutions would have presented themselves. I can see why the Casket would hold greater appeal than speaking with me after tonight."

Loki did not at all like being predictable, but it was better than being suspected of having some nefarious motive. He was a Frost Giant sneaking into the Allfather's Vault, after all. He would not have been surprised if the Destroyer had attacked the second he set foot inside. He walked slowly down the stairs and past the other relics until he was nearly level with Odin.

"You blocked me from changing back."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"One night during your first winter on Asgard, Frigga found that you had reverted to your true form in your sleep. A reaction to the cold, I suppose. Remarkable, how instinctive you have always been with your seidr. You turned Aesir again when she picked you up. We couldn't risk it happening around anyone we didn't trust, so I cast a spell to block that particular transformation." He looked over at Loki for the first time. "Now that you know the truth, it has outlived its purpose. I will lift it, if you ask it of me."

Loki wanted to ask it, and yet he didn't. He had wanted to get the whole thing over with in secret, and while he wasn't happy to have his powers restricted by a spell, he also wasn't sure he liked the idea that he might revert to Jotun form inadvertently without that spell in place. "You wouldn't think me disloyal?" he said.

"Is it disloyal to be curious about your origins, your natural appearance, how it feels?" said Odin.

Loki closed his eyes. "Perhaps not."

Odin moved a step closer, the creases on his brow deepening. "Why do you brace as if for a blow every time I speak? What is it you expect to hear?"

The rebuke "No, Loki." from Thor's memories echoed across Loki's mind, and he saw his own hand releasing Gungnir. "I don't know," he said. It was true. He didn't know any of the details surrounding that moment, and it had already been thwarted. Here he stood two full days past when that ought to have happened, still on firm ground. And yet it needled at him. How could he be sure he would not earn that rebuke again? What if that was the one thing that Thor couldn't change?

"I do want you to lift the spell." He said it more to break the silence than anything.

Odin nodded and clasped the back of his neck as Thor often did, then laid his right hand over Loki's heart. Loki felt something hot beneath his skin. Odin pulled his palm back, drawing his fingers close together. The hot sensation gathered to a point before a string of golden runes emerged from the front of his surcoat where Odin had touched him. They floated out a few inches, shattered into sparks, and disappeared.

"It is done," said Odin, releasing Loki and stepping back.

Loki waited to feel different, for his flesh to crawl as it recognized its own wrongness. Nothing happened, so he probed inside himself with his seidr. After a moment or two, he found something like a knot of magic. He had never noticed that before. It must be his spell. He gave it a tug, just to test it, but it unraveled. At once, the cool air became sweltering against his skin. He hadn't meant to do it right here in front of Odin, and his eyes flew open in panic. He immediately had to squint against what had previously been dim light. He looked down at his hands. They were blue, with dark nails and lines that decorated the flesh and disappeared beneath his cuffs. His breaths came faster and his heart pounded. "Father?" The word escaped him without his permission, and he hated how much he sounded like a frightened child.

"I'm right here." Two crimson eyes met one blue. Concern creased Odin's brow. "So much fear. You don't need it. Whatever form you take, you will always be Loki Odinson."

The words were like a lifeline, and Loki clenched his jaw in an effort to keep his composure.

"I have learned far more about being a father by raising you than I ever did from Hela or Thor," said Odin. "However, it seems I was still an inattentive pupil. I would like to do better. That is the other reason I came here to head you off."

"What?" said Loki.

"The Casket," said Odin, gesturing to the relic beside him.

Loki looked at it, intending only a brief glance, but with his new eyes, he suddenly saw so much more than a glowing blue box. It was as if it held every winter storm that had ever blown inside it. The colors were vivid and distinct, and there was sound as well, ranging from the tinkling of ice crystals to the groans of massive glaciers. Everything he had ever heard about the Jotnar, their assault on Midgard, and the war had led him to expect that there could be nothing good or even neutral about their powers over ice. When Odin had brought him and Thor to the vault as boys, he had thought the swirling lights in the Casket seemed angry and trapped. But now he could feel that power washing over him. He felt it in the markings in his skin, like tingling lines of ice. It was not savage or violent, but invigorating and peaceful. It was like encountering some unfathomably vast creature and finding that, instead of seeking to crush him between two fingers, it only wanted to hold him in its palm and keep him safe from destructive heat.

"It's yours."

Loki tore his gaze from the Casket to gape at Odin. "Mine?"

"It has sat in this vault for a thousand years, harming no more of Laufey's would-be victims, but doing no good either. I think it is time that changed, particularly if there is to be a true alliance with Jotunheim."

He patted Loki's shoulder and began to walk back towards the exit. Loki remained rooted to the spot, completely overwhelmed.

"One more thing," said Odin from somewhere close to the door. "Your mother made an excellent suggestion after you left the study. In the morning, if you are agreeable, I would like to send a messenger to Lord Freyr and Lady Gerd on Vanaheim to invite them to Asgard."

Loki's brow furrowed in confusion, and he turned to stare at him. "Why?" He had met Lord Freyr before, of course. He was Frigga's second cousin and one of the more powerful Vanir nobles, but Lady Gerd, his Alfar bride (whose beauty he never ceased to speak of), had always been something of a mystery.

"Because Lady Gerd is not from Alfheim originally. Like you, she is Jotun. I'm sure you have many questions, or you will soon. The palace library is somewhat deficient in the subject of the Jotnar, and while your mother and I and Lady Eir have learned as much about them as we could for your sake, I fear we are poor substitutes for one with first-hand experience."

Loki was once again at a loss. When Odin had described the refugee skamrbarn living on Alfheim, he had pictured them as objects of pity, tolerated but not welcomed. But at least one of them had been raised to a high enough position on Alfheim to catch the eye of a Vanr lord.

It seemed he had much to learn. "Thank you," he said. "I would like to meet her."

This chapter was harder to write than the last few because it's tricky to figure out where to go next in such a loosely planned story after such huge emotional beats. I felt kind of deflated for a few days. But I really liked the idea of pairing off the family members who didn't get to interact as much. Thor and Frigga, Loki and Odin. And also to see how differently Thor, the extrovert, handles the aftermath than Loki, the introvert. Thor seeks out his friends, whereas Loki seeks solitude.

I was surprised again by the intensity of Thor's emotions. His scenes were the last ones I wrote, and initially I thought he'd go hug Frigga and cry a bit over what could have been with the brother he never knew. But just like his anger, he's been sitting on a whole boatload of grief, and the Baldur reveal tipped it all over the edge. Which made me cry a lot while I was sneakily writing this at work. Heh.

I was most excited about doing sort of a reverse Vault scene for Loki and Odin, and I'm mostly happy with how it turned out. It fought me a lot and I had to rearrange some pieces. It's so much harder to get Loki and Odin to emote than Thor and Frigga, and that makes it a lot harder for them to see how much they matter to each other. But Odin got a pretty clear idea from the last chapter that he'd screwed up, so now he's trying to fix it, and he's managed to close off a few more of the avenues Loki could take towards self-loathing and isolation.

We'll probably start getting back into the plotty stuff now. Will it be Hela, Dark Elves, or Jotunheim first?