When Sigyn had returned to that underground base, she had immediately proceeded to her room, shut the door, and fallen on her bed in a state of exhaustion.

When she woke, it was to her stomach gurgling, hungry after going so long without food. After the last few weeks of being fed regularly, her body had become accustomed to having those three meals a day. She wasn't complaining though, she always felt better after she ate, and had felt her energy levels begin to rise as well.

When she finally dragged herself off the bed and into the kitchen, she was surprised to find Loki there as well, a plate of food already half-eaten. He looked up as she entered the room, his lips giving a tight twitch as she got herself a plate of food and sat next to him.

He was the first to speak. "Finally out of bed?"

Sigyn looked at Loki with fake hurt, her slight smile giving her amusement away. "I wasn't asleep that long."

There were a few minutes of silence in which Loki finished his food, and Sigyn ate hers quickly. Between bites, Sigyn turned to Loki, a hopeful smile on her face. "Can you teach me today?"

Loki inclined his head. "I believe it would be best if we began, yes."

Sigyn's face was excited as she quickly ate the rest of her food, scraping the plate clean before adding it to the tower of dishes in the sink. Together Loki and Sigyn walked through the stone halls, entering the main room with rows of equipment and electronics.

"I must pause here for a moment," Loki said, stopping just outside the row. "I need to make sure that everything is going as planned."

"Should I wait here for you?"

"I may be some time, but if you wish to start practicing, find that power you are so afraid of and bring it to the surface of your mind. Once you have done that, come and find me."

He didn't say another word as he stocked off between the two rows, looking at each person that passed, and heading towards the brightly lit plastic room.

Sigyn turned the opposite way, going to lean against the wall, still watching as Loki stopped just outside the plastic room and began speaking to some of the men there. Sigyn closed her eyes, blocking out the emotions of the people around her, and buried herself in her mind.

Things were not as chaotic as they had been before. Past memories, good and bad, had been shoved in their rightful places. Kernels of emotions that Sigyn kept as examples for manipulating people in waited in its own box to be accessed at any time. Her own emotions thrown into a room so they would not bother her when she burrowed deep into her mind to find that power that was so dangerous, so powerful.

It took some time, Sigyn having to look into room after hidden room to make sure that power wasn't lurking anywhere. She was almost at her very core, the place her brightly burning soul sat, the place she could see a golden thread attached to a green soul, when she finally stumbled upon it. Her fear of it had hidden the power deep, in a place that couldn't be accidentally sought out and used.

When she had finally dragged it to the surface of her mind and opened her eyes, she saw that Loki was sitting in front of her, his legs slightly crossed, his scepter in his right hand, his back towards her. There was something about the way he sat that told Sigyn that something just wasn't right. Sigyn reached forward with her mind, using that strong connection, looking to see if any progress had been on fighting the invasion. She was surprised when the world around her started to fade as Loki's scepter began to glow more intently.

After only a moment, she found herself on a rocky planet, dimly lit by the distant stars around it. In front of Loki, half-hidden by an oddly shaped rock, stood a being, not unlike the ones Sigyn had watched take Loki away for torturing.

"The Chitauri grow restless," said the thing.

"Let them gird themselves," Loki said, a copy of him appearing and walking slowly in front of the thing. "I will lead them in the glorious battle."

"Battle?" the thing asked as Loki continued to take steps past it. "Against the meager might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy. If your fore is as formidable as you claim."

The thing leaned around the rock it was standing behind, aggressively speaking. "You question us? You question him, he who put the scepter in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"

"I was a king! The rightful king of Asgard, betrayed."

"Your ambition is little and born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to the greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."

"You don't have the Tesseract yet." At Loki's words, the thing Lunged forward, his arm ready to strike, and Sigyn felt her body tense up in fear for Loki. But Loki didn't react except raise his scepter and place it close to the thing's neck as he continued speaking. "I don't threaten. But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."

"You will have your war, Asgardian." The thing lowered his hands and stepped towards Loki, walking around him as he spoke. "If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you."

Behind her, Sigyn heard a giant animal pass through the space beyond the rock she was standing on, making terrible noises. She turned slightly, looking at the large creature as the thing continued to speak.

"You think you know pain?" Those words caused Sigyn to turn back to where Loki stood. "He will make you long for something sweet as pain." And then the thing raised his hand, touching Loki's head.

Suddenly, Sigyn found herself back in that underground room, Loki flinching violently away from where the thing had been touching him. Sigyn rushed forward towards him, stumbling slightly, and listened to Loki take a few heavy breaths.

"Are you okay?" Sigyn whispered.

"We are running out of time."

"Who are they?"

Loki stood, then walked down the hallway. Sigyn followed, determined to have him answer her questions, or to at least start teaching her how to control her raw power. She followed him into a room that had no furniture, nothing breakable. Loki and Sigyn walked to the center of the room.

Loki looked at Sigyn, watching her movements. "You know how to defend yourself, yes?"

Sigyn nodded, falling into a ready position, her feet apart, arms slightly raised.

"Good," Loki said, laying his spear on the ground before removing his jacket. "This is to be your default position. Every time someone means to attack you, you will defend yourself. Have you found your power as I have asked?"

"Yes."

"Now I want you to pull that power around you, create a shield that completely surrounds you."

Sigyn closed her eyes and looked into herself, to that power she had just pulled to the forefront of her mind. She grabbed ahold of it, and pulled the power, not from within, but from the room. She pulled it towards her, tighter until it surrounded her.

She opened her eyes to look through a faintly white shimmer of air. "Wow," she breathed, studying the way the bubble around her rippled and moved. "That was easier than I expected."

She looked to Loki, who smirked. Suddenly, without much warning, a flash of green light streaked towards her bubble from several different directions. Sigyn gasped as they shattered her shield, sending the power spiraling back around the room. She closed her eyes, expecting to be hit by the green streaks, but opened them after a moment when nothing happened.

Loki stood in the same spot as before, watching her. "That was a start. Now do it again."

And Sigyn did. Again and again, she drew that power close to herself creating a bubble, a shield, and Loki attacked it with magic. After four more times, Sigyn finally managed to stop his attack for a second before it penetrated her defense. She was sweating now, her skin sticky from it, but she knew this was important to learn. It could be the difference between life and death.

So, the practice continued. Sigyn lost count of how many times she threw up her shield but she could feel the strain on her mind. She was getting frustrated. She knew she was making progress, that last time she had almost completely blocked all the magic he sent towards her. But after hours of practice, it wasn't enough. She needed to learn this quickly, the battle wouldn't wait for her to learn this new power, to figure out how it works. They won't wait for her to defeat them.

The thought of them, the people who had taken her, captured her, and tortured her, caused anger to rise in her stomach, her eyes to widen in fury as her lips tightened. The next time Loki attacked her, she threw up her shield stronger and more quickly than before. Loki look startled for a moment when his own magic was absorbed by the shield, flickers of green light dispersing on the transparent white shield.

"What changed?" Loki's voice came slightly muffled through the shield as Sigyn continued to hold it.

"Anger," Sigyn answered, and with a slow exhale of breath let the shield drop.

The power didn't flow back into the room as it had before. Instead, it lay hovering, just outside of reach, waiting for Sigyn to call it again.

"Good," Loki said with a smile. "Let's do it again."

Immediately after those words, Loki's magic struck out at her, and she instinctively raised her shield once more. Her mind strained with the effort, but the shield absorbed the magic again, making it stronger.

Four more times Loki had Sigyn lower her shield before attacking her with no warning, and each time Sigyn met the power with her own, allowing it to protect her.

"That's enough for today," Loki finally said, and Sigyn dropped her shield one last time with a grateful sigh.

She felt her strained mind pulse with pain and closed her eyes as she tried to contain it. She grasped her head with her hands, trying to push the pain back. She felt larger hands cover hers, pressing gently as warm, soothing energy flowed into her head. After a moment, the pain turned to a dull ache and slight throb. Sigyn lifted her head, lowering her hands as Loki's still held hers.

"Thanks," she whispered. He nodded, letting go of one of her hands and led her out of the room. Before long she found herself standing in her room, Loki guiding her to the armchair before simply saying, "Wait here."

He left then, and Sigyn let out a deep breath. There was something about him, the man that was dark, unpredictable, that she was drawn to. She knew that he wasn't so cold and cruel as he seemed, she could see it in his eyes, had seen it in those few moments she could remember in that cell, when his soul dragged hers back to life. She just wished he would show it more, show her his troubles, his pains. She would meet them head-on, battling his demons, help him in a way he couldn't help himself.

But with that thing invading his mind, she knew it would be near impossible. It was then she decided to do something about it. She reached out broadly with her mind, searching for his, for the mind that she was so closely connected to. She found him and without any preamble, she plunged her entire soul into his mind. Her presence was not unwelcome, that much she was glad to feel, but Loki was surprised at her suddenly entering his mind.

She surrounded his mind in hers, pushing and squeezing the yellow sickness away, trying as hard as she could, throwing all her power at it. She was expecting it to move back, to give slowly. She was not, however, expecting it to suddenly retreat from her, backing away, not lashing out. Before Sigyn could comprehend what had caused that force to back away, the invasion in his mind had began to shrink, moving quickly away until more than half of Loki's mind was finally his own.

With one more great push of will, Sigyn pushed the impenetrable protection she had already put in place in his uninfected mind to cover the newly exposed parts. She added her energy to it, strengthened that protection where it had weakened by being stretched.

And then she was shoved out of his mind, warm liquid running from her nose. She raised her hand to her face and saw the blood that covered it when she pulled it back.

Loki rushed into the room, almost hitting the tray on the edge of the door as he looked at Sigyn's blood-covered face. He quickly set the tray of food on the bed, grabbed a towel that had been resting on the small dresser that now adorned the room, and rushed to her. He pressed the towel to her face, right under her nose.

"You ridiculous girl!" Loki's voice was soft but sharp as he looked into her eyes. "Your mind was already overworked, did the pain in your head not tell you enough?"

"I was thinking-," began Sigyn, only to be interrupted by Loki.

"No, you clearly weren't."

"After that vision today, I just couldn't let you live with them accessing your mind like that if there was something I could do about it." Her voice was muffled through the towel, but he clearly understood.

His whole body relaxed in defeat, his eyes dropping to the towel that was slowly filling with her blood.

"So you did see."

"Yes! I did!"

Loki took a deep breath, taking her hand and pulling it up to the towel to hold it in place. He slumped to the bed only three feet away and sat on it.

"Who are they?" Sigyn pulled the towel away from her face, checking to see if her nose had stopped bleeding. It had, so she sat the towel in her lap. The dried blood on her face was uncomfortable, but she would deal with it, especially since it looked like Loki was going to answer her question.

"They're called the Chitauri. I know not where they come from. They have an army ready to attack Earth."

"And you are to lead them?"

There was a long silence in which Sigyn watched Loki and in which he looked at the floor.

When he didn't answer, Sigyn repeated the words she had heard him say earlier that day. "' I will lead them in the glorious battle.' Lead them Loki. Not just help them! You are to be their leader!"

"I was to be. Now, however, I find myself in turmoil. The control they had over me was not as great as they thought. You were able to save me, to push that far enough from my mind for me to come back to myself. But if I do not complete my quest..." Loki stopped, letting the word hang in the air, unspoken promises clouding the space between them.

"If you don't complete your quest they will kill you."

"Yes. Along with my family and anyone else who would wish to stop them."

There was another moment in which neither spoke, but the wheels in Sigyn's brain were churning.

"Loki, you are the god of mischief, yes?"

"That is one of my many titles."

"Is the god of mischief going to let himself be outsmarted by one measly army?"

Loki finally looked up at Sigyn, his eyes bright, a smirk overtaking his face.

"And what is it that you have in mind?"

Sigyn smiled before telling him her plan.

The next few days fell into a routine. Sigyn got out of bed, ate breakfast, then met with Loki in the same room as before to begin exercising her power. She had become excellent at blocking Loki's magic, even going as far as using several small shields to block each individual strike. They also discovered her shield worked against physical attacks as well. Loki had tried to pierce her shield with his spear and had even gone as far to order Agent Burton and another man to shoot at her with arrows and bullets. Her shield absorbed the energy that hit it, causing her shield and power to grow stronger. The hardest part for Sigyn was that at times, the amount of power that she held in her control was too much for her to handle and she would need to release some of that energy to gain control.

Once Sigyn became a practiced hand at shields, Loki then sent her on a quest to create objects. She started with a physical shield, an obvious choice because that was what she was most familiar with. The shield she created was usually round, a simple shape for Sigyn to picture, and the same turquoise color of her mind. To further her practice when she became bored with it, she started creating patterns and textures on the shield, changing the colors and pushing herself to see how much she could actually do.

Then it turned to weapons. Daggers, in which Loki was happy to find she already knew how to use. Once Sigyn found out how easy it was for daggers to be concealed over 150 years ago, she had made it a point to practice throwing them and with her new ability, she had an unlimited supply. She had managed to create a sword that was much too large for Sigyn's small stature to wield properly. She even conjured a bow and arrows. Sigyn had approached Agent Barton after she could hold the weapon for longer than a few moments to start teaching her the correct way to use it. He had been absolutely thrilled. He didn't show it outwardly, but Sigyn could feel his emotions turn to amusement and excitement for sharing his skills.

After that practice though, Sigyn would eat lunch with Liz, return to her room for a brief nap, then spend some time with Loki. Some days she would help him fight the control on his mind, but most days they would read in silence, or talk endlessly about anything they could think about.

"You wear a lot of green," Sigyn said to him one day as she was curled up on a couch, a book open in her hands. "And black."

"I happen to like these colors."

"Yes, but you wear the same two colors every day. Don't you get tired of them?"

"No."

"You never just think 'I'm going to try to wear a different color.' What about red? I bet it would go great with the color of your hair."

"Red? No, I don't believe you will ever see me in such colors."

"Why not red?"

"Because that's the color my brother wears."

Sigyn just rolled her eyes.

It was a few days later when Sigyn started asking about his childhood.

"You said you had a brother. Did you get along?"

Loki didn't answer, and Sigyn had decided that it was a subject he didn't want to talk about so she left it alone. She didn't need to pull up any bad memories. She had just started to read the book in front of her when he spoke.

"We used to. We were complete opposites. He was big, strong. I was smaller, but more powerful. My mother started teaching me to control my magic at a young age, thinking that it would quell my attempts at mischief. As you could imagine, learning to control it only caused my mischievous tendencies to increase. My brother ended up being the one I played mischief on, or he was the one I convinced my mother and Odin to blame it on. That could last only so long, however.

"But Thor never blamed. He accepted the challenge. We kept each other's senses sharp even though we often fought. I thought he had betrayed me once, but since I met you, I think I see things from a different perspective."

He didn't say any more than that.

"Thank you for sharing."

"And your siblings?"

Sigyn smiled as memories came to the forefront of her mind. "We got along well. My sister, younger than me by a few years, was always tagging along when I would go to do something. Have tea with a few of my friends? She was right beside me. The first time a boy invited me for a stroll around the garden? She was there as well, hiding behind a rose bush.

"My brother and I were very different, yet we discovered we were the same in the end. He would read in the library for study, not because he wanted to. I would find myself there at the same time, reading for enjoyment, not for study. At that time, I was quiet and reserved, what was expected of a girl my age, and he was a boy, getting into small amounts of trouble and finding his way into medical school."

Sigyn let the memories wash over for a few moments before speaking again. "I did everything I could for them. But then I had to leave. I missed most of their children's lives. Once their grandchildren died, I couldn't stand to keep up with the family anymore. It was painful to watch them leave while I stayed ageless. I miss them very much."

That was the last they spoke to each other until dinner. But still, they were so caught up in thoughts of their family that they didn't say much at all.

They talked about other things too, things they were secretly afraid of. Loki didn't want to be forgotten. Sigyn never wanted to be stuck in a small room with locked doors again. They spent hours together, not always talking, but unintentionally building the bond they shared until nothing could break it.

But one afternoon Loki knew the next step concerning the Tesseract should be taken. After Sigyn had finished with her lunch, Loki had come to get her, telling her that the next part of the plan was ready. So Sigyn followed him, not exactly sure where they were going until they reached the hall that led to the room with all the computers and machines.

The main room was busy, people with cases running into the cleanroom, then out again to bring in more equipment. Sigyn could hear Doctor Selvig say "Put it over there," as she walked closer to the room, following Loki. She heard his voice again. "Where did you find all these people?"

It was agent Barton who answered, standing outside the cleanroom. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor." He then raised the tablet he was holding up to show Doctor Selvig. "Is this the stuff you need?"

Doctor Selvig, picking up a couple of pieces of metal, turned to see the tablet. "Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites. If forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of."

"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it," responded Agent Barton.

"Well," Doctor Selvig said, throwing his arms out. "I didn't even know. Hey!" Doctor Selvig exclaimed once he caught sight of Loki. Loki and Sigyn stopped in front of the flaps that served as the door to the cleanroom as Doctor Selvig walked to stand in front of them. "The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge. It's truth."

"I know," Loki answered, a smile on his face as he watched the doctor. He turned to the other man. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"

"My next target."

"Tell me what you need."

Agent Barton walked over to a stack of supplies, pulling out a folded bow and jerking it so it was fully formed. "I need a distraction. And an eyeball."

Loki grinned as Agent Barton walked off. He turned to Sigyn. "And what did it show you?"

Sigyn smiled at him gently, reaching forward to his mind to push some of the chaos she could feel churning there, and with her hand to rest it against his cheek. "It showed me you."