Jane Foster wasn't quite sure what to expect from Loki. He was a prisoner of Asgard now, she knew that, but even as Thor had brought her up to his kingdom, she had the bad feeling that something was going to go wrong. She still hadn't expected to meet Thor's little brother in person.

Loki stood over a head taller than her, similar to height to Thor. She had always imagined him shorter, slighter than Thor and he was, but not by much. His hair was greasy and fell just past his shoulders, and his green eyes glinted like reflective jewels, jewels that would look pretty while they burrowed into your flesh and killed you. He even had a menacing aura surrounding him.

He was in chains, shackles binding his wrist and his ankles, and connected to a band around his neck. The cuffs were glowing a soft green, and due to the pin-drop silence, Jane could hear the humming from whatever it was. She knew somehow, that despite the chains binding him, he could still kill her if he wanted, he could get out of the chains if he wanted.

He smiled at her, polite and charming, and even despite that Jane could see the danger that lurked under. She wasn't sure what possessed her, but she lifted her hand and slapped his face.

"That was for New York," she said, stunned by what she had attempted.

She glanced at Thor hoping he would stand by her if anything went wrong, but Thor looked amused. She turned back to Loki, who was scrutinizing her carefully. Jane shifted, looking anywhere but the second prince who she had just slapped.

"I like her," Loki said, finally much to Jane's shock. He looked at Thor and smiled, polite as could be. "I see your taste remains the same as always."

Thor scowled. "That's none of your business brother, you are a prisoner once again."

Loki looked down at his shackled wrists and ankles, and then back up at Thor with a mournful expression. Jane almost felt sorry for him, the utter despair on his face tugging at her heartstrings. "I suppose I am."

"Make sure you don't get out of them," Thor said, careless as could be about Loki's predicament. "Not that it would be such a loss."

"Is that a challenge I hear, thunderer?" Loki asked, eyes gleaming and mouth split open with a grin.

Jane stepped back at the sudden change in his mood and expression. Thor didn't seem all that surprised, merely fondly exasperated. Thor hadn't even looked at her once during their argument, it was like she wasn't even there.

"You would hope so, silvertongue." Thor rumbled, voice deep and loud. Jane heard the crash of thunder outside, though when she looked there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. She could feel Thor's presence around her, as if he was protecting her from some unknown power or unseen person.

Loki stood up straighter, eyes sharp and cruel and lips curled in smugness. Jane could feel the heat in the room increase drastically. She could see the heat radiating from Loki in waves. It kept increasing and Thor did nothing to stop it, even though it was hurting her. Her fingers started to hurt first, from the high temperature, and for a moment she wondered if her blood vessels would just burst from the pressure.

It was as if time stopped in that moment, and then restarted.

The temperature dropped suddenly; Jane's ears popped. She felt like something significant had occurred.

Loki was standing there, pleased as could be, but still in chains. Thor had a gleam in his eyes that Jane hadn't seen yet. She didn't know what was going on, or what had happened, only that something had transpired and somehow, she was going to be caught in the crossfire.

The horrible feeling that she shouldn't have come to Asgard intensified, but Jane ignored it.

She was safe here. She was safe with Thor, right?

Jane woke up from her impromptu nap to Loki and Thor arguing. She was curious about it, considering they didn't sound like they hated each other, so she stayed still with her eyes closed.

"-mother think?" Thor asked, and she heard Loki snarl.

"Don't you dare bring her into this," Loki said, voice low and dangerous. "This is not a game Thor, and I'm only obliging with your request because I know father would object to me being out of that poor excuse for a prison."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the flying boat thing they were on shook. "You would insult our prisons?"

"Oh please, Thor, get your priorities straight. Mother's death wasn't accounted for in this little game of ours. No one we love has died before, and if you can't accept that you really are delusional and stupid like everyone says." Loki said, carelessly.

The rumbling subsided. "Very well. What is the plan?"

"I can remove the Aether from your mortal now, if you would like." Loki said. "Or you can chat with her, since she's been eavesdropping on our conversation for a while."

Jane didn't have a second to wonder how Loki knew that, since Thor was immediately on her. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, despite the nagging at the back of her mind. He hadn't cared for the fact that his mother was dead, and he had mourned her for all of ten minutes. How little did he care for her?

"Don't keep thinking so much," Loki said, rubbing his forehead. "Your thoughts are grating."

Jane winced at that, wondering what all thoughts Loki had read from her mind.

Thor looked in between them and then groaned. "Loki, stop reading her mind."

"I would rather throw myself from this skiff, you buffoon." Loki snapped. "I can't help how loud her thoughts are. And if you removed my shackles, I could control my powers."

"What do you mean?" Jane asked, focusing on the fact that there was a way he couldn't read her mind.

She was sure that he could get out of the shackles himself, but even if he couldn't, he was still dangerous. What difference would it make if they removed his shackles? Especially if he would stop reading her mind.

"I mean that I can control my magic better if you unshackle me." Loki explained, looking like he would rather be somewhere else. "Then I wouldn't have to listen to your annoying thoughts."

Jane looked at Thor with a pleading expression on her face. He looked conflicted about it for a moment, before he sighed. "Are you sure, Jane? My brother is a trickster and liar."

Jane chewed on her lip, knowing Thor was right. But she didn't want Loki in her head, even if that meant he was a little more dangerous. Surely, Thor could handle his annoying little brother, right? Jane had the feeling of time stopping once again, a power that skirted at the edge of her vision. She knew that normally she wouldn't be able to feel this, she shouldn't be able to feel this.

And then time restarted.

"It's your choice," Thor spoke, expression troubled. "I'll do whatever you want me to."

Jane sighed. She didn't want to inconvenience Thor, but she couldn't continue like this, allowing Loki access to her thoughts. It was terrifying.

"Please remove his shackles, Thor." She whispered, feeling as though she was making a big mistake that she couldn't do anything about.

Thor closed his eyes in pain. "As you wish."

He placed his hand on the shackles, and they snapped open. Loki laughed, bright and free. Jane felt like a veil had been lifted from her eyes. She didn't want Loki to be free!

"What did you do?" She asked, looking at Thor, aghast that he would let his crazy brother out. "How could you remove the bindings like that? Did he enthrall you as well?"

Jane reached towards Thor, but he leaned back, away from her. "We should get this done with." He said, not looking her in the eye.

Loki nodded in agreement striding across to sit beside her. Jane moved away from him, bumping into Thor. He didn't move, even as Loki shook his head and moved closer to her.

"Thor!" Jane said, voice rising as panic flooded her system. Why was he letting Loki get so close to her? What was going on? "Thor, what is happening? What are we doing?"

Her eyes fluttered closed, the drain on her energy obvious. She couldn't stay up much longer because of the Aether. It was killing her. But she also couldn't let Loki do whatever he wanted, especially since Thor wasn't helping her!

Loki placed his hands on either side of her face, tilting it roughly. Her body relaxed and he smiled. "That wasn't difficult, was it?"

He moved back a little bit, and placed one of his hands over her mouth, the other near her chest, uncomfortably close to her breasts. "Relax," he murmured. But Jane wasn't sure how she was supposed to do that. She squirmed, trying to get away from Loki, but Thor was like a boulder behind her.

Loki muttered something, and then hands trailing green, he slammed his hand into her chest. Jane gasped at the shock, wind rushing out of her lungs.

She forgot about everything as pain rushed through her body.

It was worse than anything she had felt before.

She was burning and she was freezing.

Her body was melting.

She choked, unable to breath as something trailed through her body.

It was like her blood was being pulled out of her mouth, every last drop of it.

Then, the pressure on her chest vanished.

She coughed, sucking in breath after desperate breath.

Her eyes were closed. She didn't realize she had closed them. Her limbs were moving again, and warmth was seeping into her bones. She opened her eyes slowly.

Loki was sitting opposite her on the edge of the boat, green magic twined around a red stone. With a jolt, Jane realized that was the Aether.

He seemed to be playing with it, allowing it to twine through his magic and trail into his body, but not allowing it to get too attached. Jane didn't understand how he did that, only that he had gotten the Aether out of her body.

Loki looked up, laughter on his face and in his eyes. "Thor, brother, I think I won this round."

Jane looked to Thor for an explanation. He grimaced.

"I suppose you did." Thor said, ignoring her again. "What do you plan now, Loki?"

"World dominion, obviously." Loki said, but there was a haunted and dangerous look in his eyes. Jane didn't know what made her speak up, but she did.

"You can't let him go, Thor." She said, knowing deep down that's what he was going to do. "He's dangerous."

She probably sounded dangerous, but Thor just sent her a sad look.

"I'm afraid he can't stop me, Ms. Foster." Loki said, gleefully. "I think I'll take my leave now brother. Your way back is via one of the cave portals."

With that, and a cheerful wave, Loki tipped backwards and disappeared off the side of the boat. Jane rushed over and leaned to see what had happened to him, but there were no signs of the god, splattered on the ground or otherwise.

"Ah, I suppose I'll have to find him later," Thor said, mournfully. He turned to her with a smile, the one she had come to love. "I'm sorry for how I acted, Jane."

She smiled weakly. "What happened there?"

Thor's expression clouded over. "I'm not entirely sure. I-" he cleared his throat, "I'm not myself around Loki. He's wily and I don't understand what games he plays. I can't control myself around him."

Jane ran through the memories in her mind, the events that had occurred through the past few hours. Thor hadn't been acting like himself. She didn't know what happened when she had asked Thor to remove Loki's shackles, but surely Loki had played with Thor the same way he had played with her? The doubts and the way Thor had been acting with her, and the thoughts that kept plaguing her, Jane was willing to bet all of it was Loki, subtly manipulating them. But Thor and her were away from Loki now, so she would take what victories she got.

She ran her fingers through Thor's hair, pulling him down for a kiss. "You can find him later, Thor. For now, maybe we should go home?"

He smiled at her again, and her stomach fluttered.

"Of course we shall."