Hi everyone! Sorry this update took so long, I had to rewrite it like 5 times because it just wasn't behaving. I don't like just regurgitating what happened in the movies so this chap has ended up looking more like "deleted scenes" surrounding on screen events during Dark World. But on the plus side, it's really long soooo.Anyway, I hope it works and I hope you like it!

Happy reading 3

"What's the matter with you today? You're not yourself," Frigga asked, observing her son as concern brewed in her heart.

There was an anger to him, one she'd not witnessed formonthsnow. There was poison in his words. Malice in his scowl. A darkness in his very soul. Something that she'd been so glad to note had all but dissipated of late.

He'd been lighter, more centred, there was life in his eyes again.

She had suspected she had the mortal to thank for that.

Today, however, every word out of her mouth was wrong - something he wanted to pick at, to be cruel about - as though he were looking for a fight. He wanted to hurt her. No. That wasn't it. It was as though... not that he just wanted to hurt her, but he wantedherto hurthim.

Why did want pain? The thought of it broke her heart.

Loki laughed bitterly at her question.

"How long can a creature be caged before it loses its own true nature - what it once was out in the wild?"

Frigga didn't respond.

This wasn't about his cell, not really. She knew him well enough to know that he never spoke so plainly. If it were truly his imprisonment that had him so on edge, he'd never just tell her outright. Rather, he'd have some jab to make about unjust laws, perhaps how short Thor's banishment had been.

So not the cell, then. Not his sentence. But perhaps, what it was truly keeping him from.

Frigga was no fool, she saw plainly just how much he'd come to care about the girl.

She was all too aware that something had been shifting in him of late, that he and his mortal had been growing closer. It was a sweet, funny thing to watch unfold, how stubbornly they both fought it. How oblivious they each seemed to be about just how similar they were.

Frigga longed to ask him about her.

But she knew better than to mention her name.

Loki did speak of her from time to time now, but it had to be on his terms. He'd mention her nonchalantly, here and there. As if as an afterthought - as if in passing. Casual. Entirely too casual. And there was nothing casual about Loki. Every word he chose with care. So the fact that he spoke of her at all...

It was always something frivolous. Something foolish she'd mentioned to him the last time they spoke, or a strange observation about Asgard. The mortal, he'd called her, always the mortal. It was only recently that he'd started to refer to her by her name.

He'd flinched the first time he'd let it slip. As if that had been enough. And in truth, it was, that one simple little slip of the tongue was all Frigga needed to understand where her son's heart lay.

She hadn't reacted. She'd pretended not to even have noticed. Even though she sorely longed to beg for more - anything more.

Please,Frigga had wanted to ask.Please speak to me of her. Tell me of your mortal. Tell me until you've run out of things to say. And then tell me more, still. Tell me how she's waking you up again, bringing you back. Tell me all your thoughts and secrets, just like you used to do. Show me my son again.

But she did no such thing because if she had, Loki would only push her away.

And that was exactly why now she made no mention of the mortal. She didn't ask if perhaps the pair had gotten into a disagreement. If maybe, that was the reason for his foul temper.

He was trying so hard to keep himself composed, to have that cool, calm manner about him. But today the mask was slipping, today the cracks were all too obvious.

And soon, she noticed something more. Something she had not seen in him for an age. It was his desire to tell her something. Something he could not quite bring himself to say. She knew what that meant too. It was something that made him feel vulnerable. A truth from deep within his heart.

What is it, sweet boy?She longed to ask him.

But Loki was Loki. No... more than that, Loki wasthisLoki. This cold, jaded, angry, bitter version of himself. And so he was not going to let her in. Not on this day.

And so instead, he stared out into the dungeons, watching more of the marauders being ushered into their new dwellings from the battles of the other realms and he sneered at the sight.

"Odin continues to bring me new friends... How thoughtful."

Ah. So that was it. Odin.

What had he done to inspire this fresh loathing in their son?

Their conversation quickly devolved from there, as Frigga knew it would. With Loki lashing out at her in anger. And with Frigga helping in the only way she knew how, by granting him the pain she knew he wanted in the kindest way she could. And as she faded from the cell, still staring up at one of the faces she adored most in all the world, her eyes filled with tears.

So, perhaps today she couldn't reach him. But she would try again tomorrow. She wouldalwaystry again tomorrow.

As the sun rose over a secret, hidden-away valley and dazzling lights danced overhead and the songbirds woke all throughout the gorge, Reagan only felt emptiness.

She'd ruined everything. Everything.

She'd been stupid. Let her emotions get the better of her. And now she was going home... and it was strangely the last thing in the world that she wanted.

Be careful what you wish for, she remindedherself bitterly.

And the worst of it was that Loki had been kind about it. He hadn't lashed out or called her an idiot, or anything of the sort. He'd been calm. Resigned. He'd offered her comfort. He was gentle with her.

He was always so gentle with her lately. Ever since that day that he'd shown her how to control her flames, he'd been that way. Protective. No, she thought, it had been before that - long before it - it was only then that she'd seen it for what it was.

Too late. All of it was all too late.

She'd almost wanted him to yell at her. To spit in her face that she was getting exactly what she wanted. To tell her he'd never wanted her there anyway, that he didn't need her.

It almost would have been easier. Easier thanthere's no future for us, Reagan. You know it as well as I do.

She winced at the very thought of it.

The guards hadn't come for her yet. Reagan figured they'd be sent to her chambers, but she didn't think it was a big deal if they couldn't find her there. It's not like she was hiding - well, not really... maybe some small part of herhopedthey wouldn't find her. But she knew Heimdall was all-seeing. She knew that if Odin wanted her gone, then all he had to do was send his guards to Heimdall for her whereabouts. She wouldn't be able to outrun them for long even if she'd wanted to.

Unbeknownst to her, the Allfather had become distracted by the presence of another mortal in Asgard in the form of Jane Foster. And she carried with her a far more pressing danger to the people of Asgard than a soul mark with a traitor and a shitty attitude towards their king.

And, as it would turn out, Reagan would learn of all this far too soon.

An explosion sounded suddenly in the distance and Reagan's brow furrowed. Was it an explosion? She'd never heard anything like that in Asgard before. Slowly, she stood, listening, looking in the direction of the city, though it was concealed from her view by the thick of the woods she'd journeyed through to get to the clearing.

Soon, there came anotherboom.Deafening. It shook the ground beneath her feet. Closer.So muchcloser, as if from somewhere in the heart of the city.

Reagan's heart began to thunder in her chest as a chill swept over her.

Loki, did you hear that? What is it?She called to him, a sickening sort of dread beginning to bloom in her.What's happening?

The moment he heard her voice - felt her panic - he was there, and even this tiny presence of him did something to ease her fear.

It's some sort of invasion,he told her, something strange in his voice.

"I thought that wasn't possible in Asgard." Her stomach clenched suddenly. "You don't think... is it the Atraxis? Are they here for us?"

No,he assured her calmly.No, some of the creatures brought into the dungeons this morning made an escape. Creatures from Svartálfheim.

"Where?"

It's known as the Dark World. It's a wasteland. The only source of light there comes from a black hole. I thought- we thought their people to be all but decimated in their last battle against King Bor.

"What are they doing here?"

I don't know... I don't know...

Even where she was she could hear panicked cries. Screams of pain. Asgardians were a warrior race but that didn't mean they all knew how to fight. There were still children. Parents who needed help. The elderly. Those were not the screams of trained warriors that reached her. They were common folk. Reagan began to make her way towards the path back through the trees but Loki's voice made her still.

Don't.

There was so much pained desperation in that single word. She felt it. So potent it was almost like a physical wall came up in front of her to block her way. She shook her head, biting back against the lump that swelled in her throat.

Don't go.

"Why not?" Reagan whispered.

Stay where you are,Loki pleaded.You'll be safe there. Just stay away from the city.

"But I can hear screaming," her voice wavered with emotion.

She didn't want to deny him, not when she felt his raw panic - panic for her - she didn't want to make him sit there in it, but she could hear children crying. She could hear screams of horror. She'd heard those sounds before. She'd caused them. But this time... this time she could help. She was in control.

Don't worry about that now. Just stay out of sight. Please. Reagan, just--please.

"People might need help. I can't just hide... You know why I can't do that."

Reagan--

"I have to go."

Reagan, I can't-- I can't endure being trapped down here knowing that you're- I'm begging you to stay where it's safe.

But even as she heard the desperation in his voice, she heard people screaming in the distance.

"Loki, I'm sorry... I have to help."

Reagan pulled her shields up, she couldn't stand to hear him beg as she ran headfirst into danger. And she needed to focus.

She knew it was cruel of her, to block him out when he was so desperately trying to protect her the only way he possibly could. But she couldn't just stand idly by - shecouldn't -and she knew that if Loki truly knew her then he would understand that. She needed to help - to do whatever she could to help the people who were screaming.

As she reentered the city, it was chaos all around her. People screamed and ran in all directions. There was fire and ruin. Stone structures were destroyed down to rubble, dust filling the air.

Overhead, strange long ships sped towards the palace and Asgard's defences fired at them with everything they had. Reagan gazed up, hopeful as a brilliant, golden dome began to form over the city - sizzling with power - it looked like the cell walls in the dungeons, only a thousand times brighter, more powerful.

"Please," Reagan whispered as they slowly ascended all around them. Slowly. Painfully slowly.

As the barriers rose up, relief washed over her as she watched one of those strange foreign ships go speeding directly into the building shield. It exploded into a brilliant ball of flames, utterly destroyed. Her heart clenched. They were going to be alright. So long as the barrier forged, they were going to be alright. There didn't need to be a fight.

And just like that, as if she'd jinxed it, the barriers slipped away, disintegrating into nothingness.

The city was exposed.

And the ships descended upon Asgard.

The screeching clash of metal on metal filled the air around Fandral and his men as they fought back the creatures invading the palace. They had thought the battle was won, having fought back the escape efforts in the dungeons but that had all been a ploy - a distraction - so that they hadn't been looking when the true threat had arrived.

An invasion upon Asgardian soil had not occurred for millennia. It was all but unheard of, and yet here they were. The forces of Svartálfheim.

They came with technology his soldiers hadn't been unprepared for. Strange grenades, so simple a thing. So easily tossed by even the weakest among the invading ranks, to deliver such devastating destruction.

Black holes.

Fandral had watched as black holes had opened up around his men, sucking them inside, twisting them, morphing the shapes of their spines, making them scream for mercy before they had disappeared.

Beside him, another of his men fell with a strangled cry. Fandral retreated a few steps as he swung his weapon expertly at the creatures descending upon him. But then he made a mistake - a fatal one. He'd forgotten about the soldier who had been slain behind him and so he tripped, losing his footing entirely.

The air rushed from his lungs as his back collided with the stone floor.

Fandral stared up at the masked creature in horror as it raised its weapon. So this was to be the last sight he saw in this realm. This cold, expressionless mask worn by the stranger who would slay him.

So be it then. If he was to die, he would do it gazing up at the one who would strike him down. He would not close his eyes. He would not look away. For Asgard.

It was then that an intense wall of heat exploded in front of him. Scorchingly hot. Brilliantly bright. The air filled with shrieks of pain as the blast sent his attackers flying through the air. The entire atmosphere ignited with unbearable heat. The force of the flames sent the creatures hurling into the wall, knocking them all unconscious. And then just as quickly as it had come it dissipated.

"Holy shit."

Fandral glanced towards the voice to find the mortal girl standing there, completely engulfed in flames.

Reagan whipped around, taking in her surroundings, her chest heaving as she caught her breath, her fire crackling with each movement, scanning for any more threats. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she doused her flames before hurrying over to where Fandral lay on his back, watching her. She reached and took hold of his hand without hesitation helping to haul him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, shakily.

Fandral nodded, slightly shell-shocked by her display of power. He clutched her forearm and she helped haul him up and felt the tremor in her fingers.

"That was totally crazy. What the hell was that thing?" she asked slightly breathlessly. "That was a bad guy, right? It looked like a bad guy. And I assumed if it was attacking you then-"

"They're called the Dark Elves," he told her, rolling his shoulder and wincing at the pain it caused. "There's been an invasion."

"Yeah, no shit. What do they want?"

"Thor brought a mortal woman here last night," Fandral explained, still trying to catch his breath. "The one he speaks of; Jane. She's come into possession of an element known as the Aether. Its power is unfathomable. The Elves have waged war for it in the past before it was lost to them. They must have sensed its presence here. Must have come for it."

"Okay," Reagan said, nodding as she tried to process this information. She sucked in a low, steadying breath. "Okay... and... and is everyone else dead?"

Fandral winced.

"Of the band I was leading, yes. They have strange weapons. We couldn't defend ourselves. I managed to hold them off a little longer but if you hadn't come- Thank you, Reagan," Fandral said sincerely. "I believe I may owe you my life."

"Yeah, don't sweat it," Reagan responded uncomfortably, avoiding his direct gaze. "So what now? What do we do?"

"Protocol is that we should secure this area, and make an attempt to rendezvous with our own forces."

"Okay, well, lead the way. I've got your back."

A strange expression passed over Fandral's features as he studied her, but then he nodded at her slowly. As they fell into step beside each other, the tension between them was palpable. So much had been said, so much had been done.

Reagan glanced his way and couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Nice eyebrows by the way," she muttered under her breath as they made their way slowly through the palace.

Fandral scoffed. His facial hair had been grown back overnight with the help of some of Asgard's healers.

"Why, thank you," he quipped, albeit a little saltily. "I took a tonic."

They fell silent for a few moments, still moving slowly, their gazes fixed on their surroundings.

"I'm not going to apologise to you," she told him then.

She sounded stubborn. As if she expected him to challenge her on the matter.

Fandral smiled at that a little.

"No," he agreed. "I wouldn't expect that you would. Nor do I think you should... I may have overstepped last night."

Reagan's brow furrowed in slight confusion but she didn't respond. Did Fandral know that she was going to be

"Have you spoken to him?" Fandral asked gently. "About... about what I told you."

"That's actually none of your business," Reagan said shortly.

"Right... right. Of course not. Forgive me."

Reagan glanced his way for a moment, a little uncertain.

"Do you know if... I heard there was a fight in the dungeons. Is he..."

Her voice was laced with a tremor of concern, and Fandral's newly grown brows pinched together. She cared, he realised. She really, truly cared that the dark prince was alright.

"He's fine," Fandral told her, his voice softer than it had been. "They didn't breach his cell walls. He's still imprisoned but he is unharmed."

Reagan nodded, she loosed a shaky breath, seemingly relieved.

What a strange way to have worded it, Fandral thought to himself. Why had he done it so?

Because he could read it in her face, he realised the tension she held in her jawline. She wastrulyworried about him. While they roamed the halls of the palace, looking for the creatures who wanted to destroy them, her thoughts were withhim.His safety. This mortal girl, whether Loki was using her or not, she truly cared about the trickster. Fandral had been so blinded, so caught up in the possibility thatshewas a threat. And of course, he'd thought it so impossible that he could mean anything to her.

But maybe it was possible that she looked at Loki and saw something that no one else saw. Those marks they bore, maybe she was privy to something secret - somethingother - something which made him make sense. Maybe there was something more that made him more than just a monster to her.

For when did a monster cease to be a monster?

When you loved it.

And at that moment, watching the breath of relief she sighed at the knowledge of his safety even when all the danger was up here, where she now stood, Fandral was certain that's what this was. She loved him. The mortal girl loved Loki. She'd seen all the bad. The poison. The ugliness. And yet, she loved him.

Reagan sensed him studying her and grew uncomfortable under his gaze. She still had not brought herself to meet his eye, only glancing at him fleetingly before turning her attention back to their surroundings.

"Come on, we need to focus up," Reagan said, though this time her voice was a little kinder. "There's no way in hell I'm getting sucked into one of those freaky grenade things."

Fandral nodded, following her lead.

They swept through the palace, past bodies both Asgardian and Dark Elf alike. With every soldier they passed, Fandral's features grew all the more solemn. These soldiers. These fallen men and women. So many of them were people he knew, fought beside, celebrated with.

"I'm sorry," Reagan told him gently, evidently seeing the turmoil he was experiencing.

Fandral nodded in acceptance.

"It is the way of the warrior," he said simply.

"Sir!"

The pair whipped around to watch a dozen soldiers approaching them then.

Relief washed over her as she spotted one particular face in amongst them. Skurge approached her, a dark expression upon his features as he side-eyed Fandral who moved to speak to the other soldiers.

"You alright?" he asked, his voice low enough for only her to hear.

"Yeah," she assured him. "Yeah, we're good. I kind of saved his life so I think he's done tormenting me for now. Are you okay?"

Skurge nodded, though he looked rather shaken.

"You see those fuckin' weapons they're carryin' around?"

A chill swept down Reagan's spine, as she shook her head.

"No, but Fandral told me about them. But we're okay. We're going to be okay."

"Alright... Just stay by me, yeah dude?"

A smile pulled at her features.

"You got it, dude."

As soon as she spotted him, Reagan's stomach dropped. She moved slowly, past Skurge who followed her gaze to find Thor trudging slowly towards them, his gaze downcast, Mjolnir hanging limply by his side. She knew just from the look on his face, that dejected stare, that something terrible had happened. The colour was gone from his face, his eyes were rimmed red. Dread filled her. Part of her didn't want to ask - as if she already knew.

"Thor?" she said carefully as she reached him, touching his arm to get his attention. "Thor, what's wrong?"

Thor looked up, and though his eyes met his, it was as though he was staring through her.

"They killed her."

"Killed who?"

"My mother."

And her first thought - her very first thought - was that for the rest of her years, Reagan knew she would be grateful that Odin had medalled with her shields. That Loki had not been listening then to hear that.

Her stomach turned to ice and she watched as fresh tears brimmed in his eyes.

"Oh, Thor," Reagan whispered, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Thor, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

He wrapped his massive frame around her, his forehead falling to her shoulder. A silent sob shuddered through him. And Reagan was vaguely surprised that he reacted in such a way, she'd barely spoken to him in the past few months, but then she remembered a calm and kind moment the two had shared so many moons ago.

That mark... it bonds us too. It makes us family.

She squeezed him again just a little tighter.

"Does Loki know?" Reagan asked gently when she pulled away to look at him at last, her heart clenching.

Thor nodded vaguely, his eyes still cast to the ground. Still in shock. Still processing.

"Father sent a guard to inform him," Thor said.

Her breath rushed from her lungs as tears stung her eyes.

"...a guard?"

She sounded mortified.

Her voice was as fragile as broken glass, a whispered thing that barely escaped her throat. Heartbroken. Heartbreaking.

She backed away slowly, and both Fandral and Skurge turned her way.

"Reagan-"

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she whispered. "I have to go to him."

She turned on her heel and retreated towards her chambers as fast as her feet would carry her.

Behind her, Fandral moved to follow her, though he wasn't exactly sure as to why. A heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to find Skurge there, who only shook his head, sternly.

And as she reached for the bond, tearing away Odin's new reinforcements to get to him only to be met with Loki's own shields she felt it.

Agony.

Sheer agony.

It left her slightly breathless.

And her brisk walk quickly transformed into an all-out sprint as she made her way as fast as she possibly could, to her chambers.

It was stifling. All consuming.

The moment she projected into the cell, it was as if she were drowning in it.

Tidal waves.

Of grief.

Of anger.

Of pain.

"Loki..." Reagan managed to gasp his name, almost choking on the overwhelming force of emotion coursing from her.

He hadn't realised she was there. She saw it in the way he went rigid at the sound of her voice. And when he turned to face her, his face was twisted into an expression of unfiltered loathing.

"What do you think you're doing here?" His voice was venom.

"Loki, I'm so sorry," Reagan whispered as she stared up at him, tears welling in her eyes.

The pain.

It was suffocating.

"You think I want your pity?" he spat at her. "You honestlythink your pathetic presence is of some comfort to me right now?"

"It's okay," she promised him, ignoring his words.

He snarled at her.

"I am so sick of your incessant company. Your need for attention. Your senseless, aggravating questions. I have had it with all of it. With you. So why won't you just leave me alone, you worthless little-"

And even as he spat those hateful words at her, even as he snarled at her with that expression so full of loathing, Reagan saw it for what it was.

A mask.

She felt his pain. His need and his inability to ask for help.

And so she ignored the hatred radiating off of him, stepped beyond that searing rage. Accepted it for what it truly was.And she went to him, pulling him slowly and gently into her arms.

"I'm right here," she promised. "Loki, I'm so sorry."

Loki froze, she felt it, the way he went rigid against her. She could feel that he wanted to push her away - force her to leave - to be alone. But that was awanthe had trained into himself. An instinct. A defence mechanism. It was not aneed.And she felt that too. How desperately he needed her there. And so she held him. Drew herself closer to him, pressed her body to his, and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she knew he needed.

"I'm here," she whispered.

And slowly, as if against his own will, his arms soon encircled her in return. Gently at first but slowly his grip on her tightened until he was holding onto her - clinging onto her - just as tightly she held him. And even as he buried his face in her hair, and he squeezed her tight, she could feel him holding back. The way he held his breath. The rigidity in him.

"It's okay," she told him gently. "I've got you. You can let go."

And just like that it crashed over her like a tidal wave, and Reagan wasn't sure if the sob that escaped their tangle of limbs was hers or his. And as he finally crumbled, clinging to her, holding onto her as if she might disappear, Reagan opened the link as wide as she possibly could. She poured her heart into it, hoping he could feel exactly how much he'd come to mean to her. That she cared about him, that hewasimportant, that he mattered, that he had someone.

"It's okay," she promised. "You're not alone... I've got you. I'm here."

And finally - secretly - she sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess Kaha or whatever force in the universe it was that had led them to find each other. She thanked her for the marks, for forcing them to learn to understand each other, and that if nothing else... That Loki didn't have to endure this moment alone. She thanked the goddess that against all odds she was there with him.

Hours later, Reagan sat beside Loki in a decimated cell, leaning against the wall in a heavy, pained silence. Her hand was in his, her head upon his shoulder, her other arm wrapped comfortingly around his bicep. Loki didn't lean into her - he'd barely moved - but his grasp on her hand never loosened. And so she stayed.

The link between them was open and raw with the fresh pain of loss. So overwhelming that all Reagan wanted to do was to wince away from it, but it was Loki's and so she embraced it - helped him to hold it. Wrapped her very essence around it. She tried her best to soothe the pain in what little ways she could blanketing it in comfort, in support, in her presence.

I'm here... You're not alone... I'm here...

Loki hardly reacted. Hardly moved.

It was like he was numb.

It broke Reagan's heart.

But not even for one second did his grip loosen on her hand. It was as if she was an anchor for him. And so she stayed. She'd stay for as long as he needed.

"The last thing I ever said to her..." Loki murmured at last. "Was that she wasn't my mother."

A tear slipped down Reagan's face as she turned her head to press a kiss against his shoulder.

"She never would have believed you really thought that," she whispered. "I promise you that. She knows how much you love her, Loki. You know she does."

"Did," Loki corrected her bitterly.

"Does," Reagan insisted, squeezing his bicep just a little in a small gesture of comfort. "Does."

Loki didn't respond.

"I know it seems impossible right now," she went on, "but you find little ways to keep her with you. That's how you keep her alive."

"Is this how it felt?" Loki asked quietly. "When you lost her?"

Reagan knew who he meant. She closed her eyes, images of her own mother filtering into her mind. How largely she used to loom in Reagan's life, like a focal point. Watching how her brightness slowly faded when she got ill. And then the absence of her, how it somehow became a presence of its own. The missingness of her in the moments Reagan had wanted her.

"Yes," she murmured gently, fresh tightened her throat though she tried her best to hold it back. "It felt like this."

He held her hand just a little tighter as if even in his moment of suffering, he wanted to take her pain away. That gentle heart of his that he tried so hard to hide from her - from everyone.

How she adored him. How she wished she could eat his pain.

"I'm sorry... For the things I said to you earlier."

Reagan just shook her head.

"Don't be. You're hurting, I know that."

"I can't tell you what it means..." Loki's voice sounded so small. "That you're here."

She gave a small, sad smile.

"There's nowhere else in the world I'd be right now," she assured him.

Silence fell between them once more, Reagan's hand in Loki's, her head upon his shoulder.

"I told him where to go," Loki murmured.

Reagan's brow furrowed.

"Who?"

"The creature that escaped the dungeons," he hung his head, ashamed. "I was angry at Odin... for sending you away. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted him to suffer... What if I-"

"Don't do that," Reagan whispered lifting her head to look at him. "Please, Loki don't do that."

His eyes finally met hers and the pain there was unfathomable. It tore at her heart.

His pain, she could barely stomach it. She just wanted to undo it. To take it from him and swallow it up, so that she could feel it for him.

"Tell me what you need," Reagan begged softly, hardly able to bare his pain any longer. She just wanted it to stop. To ease. "Tell me what to do. And I'll do it."

"Just stay," Loki whispered, his hand in hers. "Just, please... stay with me."

"Alright..." and as she rested her head back upon his shoulder, she was calm. Resolute. "I will."

Reagan stood out on a lonely wharf on the edge of the water under the night sky. Back on the edge of the city, the people of Asgard had gathered for the funeral procession of the Queen and the soldiers who fell during the invasion. There were so many people there, so many that Loki would not want to see in this moment, so many who had hurt him. And so she had chosen this place, shrouded in darkness where he could bid goodbye to his mother alone.

The link was open, still singing with pain and sadness.

But at the very least it felt as though they were together.

"Can you see it?" she asked him gently.

I can see it...His voice was soft, and though he tried to mask it, Reagan still felt the pain there.

Her heart clenched, matching his.

Loki hadn't wanted her to go when she'd first suggested it. He'd said he didn't want to see it.

Let me help you,Reagan had insisted softly.Loki, let me help you say goodbye to her.

And so he had relented. Trusting her that this was the right thing. And he watched through Reagan's eyes as she was ferried out to sea. The Queen of Asgard. Frigga. His mother.

She steeled herself. And so this was it.

"Do you want to say anything?" Reagan asked gently.

What point is there in that?

There was malice in his voice, she knew that he was angry. And that he knew the point exactly. But his bitterness - and his pride - would not allow him to indulge.

But that was okay. Because if he couldn't bring himself to do it, then she would do it for him. She'd help him.

"Do you... do you mind if I say something then?"

She felt him scowl just a little.

If you feel that you must.

Reagan gazed out over the water as a flaming arrow soared out above them, landing perfectly in the boat that ferried Frigga's body out off the edge of Asgard. She watched as the whole thing ignited. And soon the boats that followed

She brushed tenderly against the bond between them, and she was both standing on the edge of that body of water and inside that cell with him as she stared out over the water.

"There's something so impatient about the pain of losing someone you love. The way that it won't relent after it first rips you open," she murmured softly as she watched the boats of the fallen soldiers follow Frigga out onto the water. "It tells you 'I'm here, and I'm here to stay and there isnothingyou can do about it but... endure.' And I think the reason it feels that way is because part of you dies with them. Part of you that will always be tied to them goes too. And so there's this open wound where a part of you - both of you - is supposed to be. But I think that that's a good thing. Because it means that person who you love so very much didn't have to go alone. It means you're still with them. And it means they're still with you too. She's still with you, Loki... just like my mom is still with me. And even though death took her body, the minds of all the people who love her are alive with memories of her. She lives on in us. That's where we hold her and be with her and keep her. That's how we honour them. That's how we be with them."

At last Frigga's boat drifted out over the edge of Asgard, and instead of falling, a brilliant glow of glittering lights, as bright as stars, rose from the boat and ascended into the heavens above. And just like that, she was gone. All throughout the city, beautiful glowing orbs lifted into the air, filling the sky with prayers and mourning and wishes.

Reagan felt the want in him then, the desire to ask her to come back fully, and the way he couldn't bring himself to ask her for what he needed. So before he even spoke, she shifted her attention away fully from the

She manifested back into the cell fully, looking at him so softly as he leaned miserably against the wall where he had remained, unmoving, all day. He looked so wretched. So pale. So messy. So broken.

She wanted, desperately,to protect him from all the world.

Reagan moved towards him slowly, she knelt down before him and took his hands in hers. He laced his fingers through hers. Grateful.

"Thank you," he murmured simply, those words carrying so much more weight than he would ever let on.

Reagan nodded. And Loki's gaze remained on her, and while he was still so very pained, there was adoration in his eyes.

"I thought it was you," he told her.

She looked at him, her brow furrowed, unsure of what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"That new shield of yours, it's so strong," he murmured. "I can hardly feel you when you raise it. It's an ugly feeling. And today when you raised it, you took to the fight without hesitation. And there was nothing I could do. I was just stuck down here... useless. Fearful. And when that guard came to me for just a moment I thought-- I didn't even consider it might be..."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, moving to sit back down beside him again, resting her head back down upon his shoulder.

Where she'd remained for most of the day.

Where she felt most right.

Beside her soulmate.

Loki just shook his head.

"I could hardly bare it - the idea of losing you... And so now, when you go back home-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Reagan assured him, her voice quiet yet resolute as she stopped him from even voicing the idea.

Loki tilted his head a little to look at her face, his brow slightly furrowed. She lifted her head from its resting place against his shoulder to meet his eye. She was calm. Steady.

"You asked me to stay so I'm going to stay," she murmured gently. "Even if you hadn't, there's no way I'd just leave you like this. I don't give a shit what Odin has to say has to say about it. I'm not leaving. He's just going to have to deal with it. It would take a whole army to get me to leave you right now... Alright?"

Loki offered her the whisper of a smile.

"You know, he just so happens to have one of those."

Reagan just lay her head back down upon his shoulder.

"Good," she said simply. "He'll need it."

Loki squeezed her hand just a little tighter in response.