These Things We've Gained: Eternal Love, Building Hope, Just Honesty

by Tales of Suspense

In the aftermath of "These Things We've Lost" people strugggle to create a new normal. (Slice of Life)

5. Chapter 5

- Chapter 5 -

15April2012 – Late Night

Underground Rooms

The grey metal door banged open noisily, its rusty hinges screaming in protest. The metal screeching's echo crashed around the bare room. For all the noise that the door made, the man who opened it entered silently. Loki, Prince of Asgard, looked around the empty room of his makeshift base with Thanos' scepter in hand. His gold and green accented black leather clothing hid him to an extent in the darkness of the room while his black leather boots made no noise. The warm coat that went with his clothing was hiding him even further. It hid how slender and sickly he was. Loki hoped that his actions would hide how pale he'd become like they hid the dark circles under his eyes and the shivering tremor in his hands from the unceasing pain in his bones and the chilling damage to his seidr core. The Void Sickness was progressing along unimpeded. It moved faster through him since his seidr core was so damaged.

The shorter man who followed the Prince silently had hawkish features, short brown hair, and solid black clothing. It was Agent Clinton Barton's eyes that were the most telling. The soft, light blue glow in them matched the light in the scepter that Loki carried. That glow was a mark of his enslavement, of his forced loyalty to the man ahead of him and the apparent cause he followed.

Closing the door after Barton, Loki stopped internally cringing and was glad when it finally stopped making so much noise. Everyone in the base had to have heard the racket. Flipping the light switch didn't provide as much light as he wanted. There was enough light to do what he needed to. It was good enough. Taking a deep breath, he hoped that what he was about to do would succeed. He wasn't sure that he would be able to complete his plans without assistance. What was needed was true aid not the forced and fake assistance that he had now. So he turned to Barton who was already facing him.

"What do you need me to do?" there was no life to be found in Barton's monotone voice.

"Stand still," the Prince's voice was equally monotone, already dead. You sound as dead as I should be. A little of the death the Asgardian Prince longed for crept as a flatness across his face. Loki touched Barton with the sharpened tip of the scepter, mentally commanding the gem within it to remove its thrall from the man it was touching. The light blue glow in the shorter man's eyes wavered, turned black and faded.

An aching pain began in Clint's head and traveled downward throughout his body for a few seconds. It left him dizzy and confused before it stopped abruptly. Realizing that his eyes were already open let him also realize that he was face to face with Loki again. The Asgardian still had the scepter, but Clint had no gun this time. Pulling his knife out of its belt sheath and falling back into a fighting stance, he backed away, not wanting to be caught again.

"You won't need that." The tiredness sweeping through Loki at the single use of the scepter had him wanting to lay down for a little while before he got back to his necessary villainy. A little shiver went through him as his temperature fluctuated.

From Loki to the one door to the room, Clint's gaze darted back and forth. With so many looks at the Asgardian Clint couldn't help but notice how pale and tired the man looked. He noted it so that he could inform SHIELD when he got back to them. When Loki raised the scepter he backed further away. "What the hell are you doing?!" The knife gleamed in the dim light of the dingy room as he held it up in front of him, crouching back.

"You have heart. I need that. I removed the scepter's influence from you. In a moment I'm going to seal the room and remove it from myself. If you have enough heart you might be able to ask the scepter to explain itself. It can answer your questions." What meager seidr Loki had uncurled so that he could compose a Bjargagudr's Extra Lock Ward. The ward was applied to the door in a pale emerald flash. Gazing down to the scepter Loki felt a sudden and serious reluctance to remove the scepter's poisoned strength from himself. It'd been so long since he was free of pain. He wasn't free of pain now, but he was so close to it with the scepter's poisoned strength. What he was about to do was going to drive pain into him.

It was weird for Clint to realize that Loki genuinely seemed hesitant to proceed. That was when he noticed it. Loki's hands were shaking. His gaze darted to the door again, it was glowing in a pale green. Whether or not he could get through it was doubtful now. Before he could react Loki touched his own chest with the tip of the scepter. A pale blue light flashed in Loki's eyes, turned black then faded away. The scepter went clattering across the floor towards the agent as the Asgardian collapsed down onto the concrete screaming and curling in on himself. Clint snapped up the scepter and looked to his former jailor, who was still on the floor. Putting his knife away quickly, he held the scepter like a club. Adrenaline surged through him. This was his moment to escape, he just had to get through Loki first.

Taking a few steps back, Clint ran towards Loki, pulling his leg back to kick Loki directly in the face. When it came down to it, however, he pulled his leg back and hopped a few steps to the side to break his own momentum. None of this seemed right. "What the hell is going on?!" The agent's voice grew louder while Loki wasn't stopping shaking and crying. "What the hell are you doing?!" He looked to the scepter and yelled. "What the hell are you?!" The gem in the scepter lit up in a pale bright blue and attached itself to his left hand. "Aww, hell …"

Absolute darkness fell over the small room that Clint was in. It left him floating in the black but still able to see in the inky gloom. Out of the murk two points of light appeared, a silverish-blue-white one and a multicolored pink one. They zipped about leaving ribbons of light behind them. The way they acted made it seem like they were sentient and more than that were friends who wanted to stay together, with the pink one doing laps around the white one wherever it went.

It began with two, a hushed voice whispered to him, all around him, through the darkness and as the darkness. Clint looked around swiftly. There was no one that he could see. The scene in front of him changed when an explosion came from the two points of lights. The brightness of the explosion was too intense to look at and too encompassing to escape. A new universe was born of that explosion, of those two points of lights.

It continued with the Celestials, the hushed voice. The immense machinery that was suddenly in front of Clint, yet at a distance, disturbed the SHIELD agent. Ships that were larger than the Earth were firing Bifrost beams towards an empty metal ring in space. Small moons could fit through the ring. Clint hadn't known that the beams were capable of assembling worlds or disassembling them, like the planet that was being assembled around the ring; or that they could fire from one end of the galaxy and hit the other side. The Bifrost wasn't a simple means of transportation. It was so much more dangerous than that. His gaze moved back to the builders. Inside of the massive ships he could see giants that were hundreds of meters tall, in colorful suits of neon armor. The armor looked more like containment to Clint than defense. The builders were working hard to create something in the ring.

The crusade for the repentance of the Celestial's began with the gates, their Great Journey, once again the hushed voice whispered to him. Clint didn't startle when the scene changed again. Now there were rings across the universe, thousands of them at one per galaxy. There was nowhere that the Celestials didn't seem to want to visit. They even went to a little, out of the way, spiral galaxy that Clint recognized. Other smaller ships were crossing the gulfs between galaxies carrying the seeds of those rings with them. When they got to a new galaxy the smaller ships would split in half. The top sphere of the ship was where the engineers lived. The flat bottom of the ship became the key to the giant rings, with a Bifrost that transmitted the authorization of that key to the giant ring. The smaller ships built the key while the massive ships opened the portals using that key. Besides the Bifrost, the bottom half of the ship had the blood of Celestials that was formed into lands and waters overtop of the flat bottom. The authorization for the key to the giant rings was kept sealed in that Celestial blood, meant only to be unsealed by another Celestial.

The Eternals were experimental gate guardians, there was a pitying tone to the hushed voice as the scene changed. In a solar system that Clint also recognized, out on a moon of Saturn, these colorful giants sowed more seeds of life. What sentient life that grew from those seeds was superior in almost every way, except for the small deviation in some of their lifecodes. The Eternals were built to be a superior civilization for superior beings. They weren't superior enough to hide the darkness in their people, in their civilization though. A single gene in the lifecode, the deviants' gene, couldn't be hidden. The Celestials shaped who would be welcome in the Eternals' society. The flaw of the deviants' gene in their lifecodes shaped who wouldn't be welcome. Clint didn't like the thought of destiny or of people being discriminated against because of how they were born, but he did acknowledge that those born with the gene seemed destined to turn out as terrible people; they were power hungry, psychopathic, and vicious. The SHIELD agent wondered why such an obviously advanced people as the Celestials would allow such evil in their creations when they could have fixed it.

Thanos harbors evil, the Celestial's evil, the deviants' gene, there was no pity in the hushed voice as the scene changed once more. The rise of the Mad Titan Thanos from the Eternals played out before Clint's eyes. From Sui-San's attempt on Thanos' life when she found out he had the deviants' gene just after she gave birth to him, to the blatant pain his own people inflicted on him; his bitter life played out. Through it all Clint could see how the deviants' gene influenced Thanos' cruel and excessive responses to the Eternals. In the uncertainty of his life, all Thanos wanted was order and love. Thanos never received enough of either from the Eternals.

Thanos' 'love' is torment and death, there was anger in the hushed voice now as the scene changed again. Thanos' young adulthood was shown, as he was constantly at odds with his father. Clint wasn't surprised when A'Lars, Thanos' father, banished his own son from Titan since Thanos was beyond saving. A'Lars wanted to rule a peaceful Kingdom. However, Thanos wanted to murder it. Clint was horrified when Thanos returned with nuclear weapons. They rained down from orbit so that Thanos could be sure. The Eternals weren't the only ones who felt the Mad Titan's wrath. The Elder Realms and their trillions of innocent citizens found themselves in the war path next. Tens of millions of dead later Thanos was banished from the Nine Realms as well.

Asgard is the key that Thanos needs, warning tones entered the hushed voce. The scene changed again, back to when the Celestials used their blood to create lands and water on the bottom half of one of their smaller seed ships, the one with the Bifrost. The bottom half of a Celestial ship that was linked to eight other realms, Earth included. They were all part of Yggdrasil. Lands and waters grew over that bottom half of the ship. People were created and grew on the land and as did a family line that carried the Celestial blood in their veins; the blood that sealed away the key to the giant portal rings. The people there grew towards being Asgardians, towards the founding of the kingdom. Clint was impressed that the founding of Asgard came with the Inquiry to Enlightenment, a way to hold the King accountable for poor behavior. He was horrified to see the betrayal, rape, torture, and murder that came with an actual Inquiry happening. It was heartbreaking to watch the children of the Royal Line be slaughtered. There was nothing he could do to stop their deaths. Despite the deaths there was no way to get rid of the Inquiries. That disgust tainted the agent's view of Asgard as time passed and another Inquiry to Enlightenment darkened Asgard. Each new generation of the special Celestial bloodline seemed like good people, but he couldn't be certain now. Borr, the Mad King, made him especially uncertain about the stability of the line. Then it came back to the Mad Titan and how the King of Asgard, Lord Borr, led his forces against Thanos and the Mad Titan's strikes in the Nine Realms. The edict that came from Lord Borr after he helped to push Thanos from the Nine Realms seemed to ensure that no one would cooperate with the Mad Titan again. The SHIELD agent was wary of that too. The Inquiry to Enlightenment seemed like a good idea but was wholly not. Was this edict a bad idea as well?

Loki was bound to Asgard by love, the greatest of its defenders, the hushed voice whispered to Clint as the scene changed rapidly. His eyes widened when he saw that Thor was the latest member of this special bloodline. It wasn't Thor who drew most of his attention though. It was the baby boy, Loki, who drew his gaze, from the moment of his birth and abandonment on. The adopted boy was so different, both male and female. It was obvious to see how he could feel unloved with parents who were so oblivious to him that they didn't even know Loki's feminine side existed. He could also see how Loki feared to tell his parents about his feminine side, for fear of disappointing them. Clint couldn't help but cheer for Loki, and feel bad for the Asgardian boy/girl, as he tried throughout his childhood and what were his teenage years to gain his father's open approval. Loki was the good son that any father would be proud of, any father except for Loki's own father. The SHIELD agent wasn't surprised each of the times when Loki acted out in pain, and then tried to take his own life in despair. They were just more upsetting because he couldn't be surprised. Similarly, he wasn't surprised when the Asgardian Prince eventually had enough of failing and ran away from home as a woman. Who she ran away to was shocking though.

The Norns are my allies, guardians, disciples, the hushed voice carried a loving and respectful tone as the scene changed yet again. Witch women who can control time, at least Loki chose a good home to go to, the thought crossed Clint's mind quickly. It was distressing then to watch as Thanos tried to re-enter the Nine Realms. More personally distressing than that was watching as Loki saw the Mad Titan and moved to do something about him. Loki left the good home she was in to become a man again and return to Asgard. His father can't ignore him this time, Clint was sure of it. He wanted to be sure of it. When Thor, Odin, and the corrupt Council of Lords all laughed at Loki he was no longer so sure. What the hell?! Are you serious?! Clint couldn't help but be angry for Loki. This was sickening and more than that. Loki's father had violated Lord Borr's edict. Does this mean that there was another Inquiry to Enlightenment?

Plans were laid, but mistakes were made, the neutral tone in the hushed voice was oddly noticeable as the scene changed swiftly. From the moment Loki was laughed at things went downhill for the young Asgardian. Clint watched as Loki planned to save his family and his home. Loki had it all plotted out. Preventing the Inquiry to Enlightenment, and the civil war it would bring was crucial. Any civil war would leave Asgard vulnerable to Thanos. If Asgard fell to Thanos then Thor and his Celestial blood might have been captured. If he was captured then Thanos would have access to the Celestial gate network. With the Celestial blood and the Bifrost, Thanos could begin a wholesale slaughter of galaxies. Loki wanted to save everyone. No one wanted to be saved. No one but the SHIELD agent wanted to save Loki. Thor's coronation was ruined as part of Loki's plan, and then Thor nearly ruined everything by going to Jotenheim. So that's how Thor got to Earth, Clint noted it to let the Director know. Director Fury needed to know all of this. Clint was distressed further to see Thor and Heimdall ruin Loki's plans repeatedly until the young Asgardian Prince was dangling over the void by a single hand from the broken ramp to the Bifrost, looking up at Odin. "No? That's all you have to say to him?" as a father himself Clint was disgusted by what Odin had done. It was too late then, Loki let go and was falling into the maelstrom below. The SHIELD agent had no words as the young man/woman he was cheering for tried to die again.

This wasn't the end, now the hushed voice seemed to be encouraging Clint himself. The view of the maelstrom went further down until he could see what it truly was, another portal. Loki fell into it and then was swept away in the blast of a small hidden Bifrost under the city of Asgard that carried him to the other half of the Celestial Ship which was a perfect Dyson's Sphere. It was buried in a dark and seething nebula, nearly lightless and abandoned. There were only a few Celestials left in that dark place, but the Asgardian Prince only saw one; the small burning sun at the heart of the Dyon's Sphere was an ignited Celestial. Clint watched intently as Loki studied his surroundings and tried to make herself a new friend in First Light, the first station master of the waystation. The agent was wary of this 'friend' since Loki couldn't see what it was and somehow he could. The SHIELD agent suspected that the hushed voice was showing him, as it was showing him so much else. "That's not a construct Loki, that's a broken Celestial. Get away from it!" Loki couldn't hear Clint though. There were times when Loki could only hear his/her own screaming as First Light activated the defense systems of the Dyson's sphere again, bringing Loki down in the process. For all of the regular pain, it was still reasonably calm for Loki. Somehow the veteran agent knew it couldn't last. When Loki began to increasingly sicken after each activation of the defense systems, he knew he was right. The calm was over. Void Sickness and its bone-eating terror had arrived. Clint wanted to tell Loki that it would be alright and then take him to SHIELD to have him treated.

The curiosity of Loki will save many, your family included, again Clint looked around again for the source of the hushed voice. His family was now involved, and he wanted to know what they were supposed to be saved from. There was no more time for him to look around since the scene had changed again showing him how Loki discovered something new. They looked like small, glowing, black obelisks shut away in closets, but the agent could see how Loki was learning new things from the archives. "SHIELD needs those," the agent muttered. Clint became distressed again when those archives led to the monitoring station in the area Loki was in. This looked like more trouble for the young Prince. The SHIELD agent was right in his assessment when Loki saw Thanos again through the monitoring station. The Mad Titan was trying to sneak back into the Nine Realms to take the Infinity Gems on Earth and strike at the Elder Realms, so once again Loki moved to intercept him, laying plans to take the fight to the Mad Titan this time. It wasn't odd at all when Clint wished he could have been there by Loki's side. The Prince needed a strike force that he would have volunteered to be a part of, since Loki chose Midgard as the sight of his theft of the Infinity Gem from Thanos. A little bit of pride crept into Clint's thoughts when Loki traveled to Niflheim to bargain for the souls of any of the people on Earth who died due to Loki's actions. It was a generous light in a sea of darkness. That pride turned to disbelief and horror as he watched Loki bargain away his sickly heartstring. The SHIELD agent struggled against whatever was holding him, reaching for the Prince who was down on the floor being prepared to have his heartstring ripped from his chest. "Loki! Loki!" Clint's struggles couldn't get him out of where he was, couldn't get Loki out of where he was. Then the scene changed again.

An array of desperation and madness, sorrow laid thick in the hushed voice. Clint stopped struggling so hard when he saw Loki laying on the floor in the room where the Bifrost of the Dyson's Sphere was. It was burned out and useless now. First Light was searing Loki's chest wound closed. The SHIELD agent's hands clenched into fists. This was wrong and it couldn't be undone now. Loki's plans wouldn't be undone either. And so, the damaged Prince worked on constructing an array to replace the Bifrost, one that would allow him to make a last voyage from the Celestial ship. Once it was built, Loki stepped into the stream of cosmic energy flowing through the array. Akin to the blast of a cannon it launched him directly towards Thanos' fleet. Like the broken Celestials that the hushed voiced showed him on the Dyson's Sphere, Clint could see Loki's mind, could see it break and burst under the crushing pressure of the Power Cosmic. "No." The veteran agent whispered to no one in particular. When the young Prince rocketed out of the other end of the stream he was catapulted through several car sized meteors and bounced off several larger than that. It didn't matter though. Thanos was waiting for him. A massive fleet stretched out behind the Mad Titan's flagship as time stretched out before him.

This was necessary, the hushed voice sounded unsure at this point as the scene switched to Thanos' ship. Clint wasn't sure who the voice was trying to convince, but it wasn't him. His view roamed over Thanos' ship, even going past a hole in the ground where someone was screaming wildly, and a silver liquid was sloshing out. He thought he recognized the Asgardian Prince's voice. By the time he saw Loki again he was dressed in the green and gold accented black leather clothing that he came through the gate in. The SHIELD agent had rescued men from enemy facilities who were tortured and looked better than the young Asgardian did. More importantly than that, Thanos was handing Loki the scepter, using it to cast a spell on Loki to heal him a little. It was Thanos who opened the portal to Earth and sent the battered Prince though.

You have heart, the hushed voice whispered one last time. Clint could see himself again as the scene changed, standing in the tesseract chamber. He was ashamed that he fired on Loki like everyone else. When the scene changed again it was just Loki curled up on the floor in pain, but the agent still couldn't get to him. Loki didn't need bullets, he needed help.

"Yes, he does," a voice spoke from all around him. The SHIELD agent was absolutely certain that it was the hushed voice whispering no more.

Looking around swiftly, Clint spoke calmly. "Who are you? What do you want?"

From the darkness beside Loki walked a man made of silver-edged golden flames. His eyes were a shimmering green. Just as Clint was wondering what this being was, the man covered the flames to change his appearance. He looked like a young Tony Stark to the SHIELD agent.

"Greetings, Agent Clinton Barton. It's a pleasure to meet you," Edward spoke cordially to the man who was going to save his mother. "My name is Edward Stark." Motioning to Loki, "You've met my mother. You'll meet my father soon enough."

"Tony Stark?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Thinking of all of the celebrity news reports of new girlfriends and nasty break-ups that were publicized about Tony Stark made Clint cringe.

"Is there a problem?"

"Stark's a well-known womanizer, and Loki deserves better." His comment was both blunt and honest.

A wide grin split Edward's lips. "Father is looking for something that only mother has. When he finds her he'll stop looking." It amused Edward that such an honorable man as Barton didn't believe his father was worthy of his mother.

Motioning to where the scene was before, Clint continued to speak calmly. "It's an interesting show, but I don't think you're showing it to me for no reason." He wasn't certain if this being was a threat to him, but he decided to be honest anyway. "And I don't think you're Stark's kid." It was hard to even say that since there was a such an aura of truthfulness about the being there with him. It felt as though the being not only wouldn't lie to him but couldn't lie to him.

Towards Barton and then circling around him Edward walked. "Oh, I am Tony Stark's son, I just happen to be more than that. I'm grateful to him for giving me life, and grateful to Loki. It's why I wear his face and her eyes." He motioned to his face. "I like this form. It has meaning."

"So why are you showing me all of this? Are you asking for SHIELD's help? There are things we can do for Loki to help him through this."

Edward continued to circle Clint. "There is a bright future ahead of us, Clinton Barton." At Clint's back he glanced over to where he could see the echoes of his grandparents and uncle, making eye contact with Odin. "One that's for all of us" Winking at Frigga and Frey quickly, he walked back around to Clint's front. "But SHIELD isn't what Loki needs right now."

"If you aren't asking for our help," Clint glanced to Loki who was still on the floor, "then what do you want?"

Edward stopped in front of SHIELD's agent, "Oh, I am asking for aid," he leaned in closer, "for your aid, Clinton Barton."

"Me?"

"You. I've shown you the basics of what you need to know. What questions do you have?"

The SHIELD agent had to admit that he understood what Loki was doing. Trying to save everyone singlehandedly was insane though. This was the greatest threat to Earth that they'd ever faced. "SHIELD needs to be in the fight immediately. What can I do that SHIELD can't?" Clint could give whatever was needed of him while on a SHIELD strike force.

"Give of yourself."

"My time?"

"Your mind."

"My what?"

"Loki is a Defender of Yggdrasil, her mind has a special feature that," Edward looked meaningfully at Clinton Barton, "only another Defender of Yggdrasil has and can use."

"Hell," Clint muttered. I'm a special defender? He didn't deny to himself that one of the multitude of reasons he joined SHIELD was to help defend the planet and that he found his work satisfying. There was a chance before him to defend the Earth again, and to defend even more than that. "Ok, what do you need from me?"

"I will give you knowledge on how to link your mind to Loki's in a way that will stabilize his mind and bring back sanity. He'll use that sanity to enact a plan that you will detail for him." Edward glanced back to Odin and Frey as Clinton Barton looked down. "Ultimately, your mind will support mother's mind until the hands of elders can heal her."

"I have two questions."

"Ask what you will."

"You said that Loki's curiosity will save my family. Is this how? Will this keep my wife and children safe?"

"Yes, it is, and yes, it will."

Nodding, Clint spoke again. "Will this save Loki?" After everything he'd watched he was personally invested in Loki. Though they only had the barest and basest introduction, he still felt like Loki was a close friend of his. He cheered for Loki's highs and wanted to console her at her lows. Clint watched the tumultuous course of Loki's life and felt like he understood the Asgardian Prince. After everything that the young Prince had been through Clint wanted to save him too.

"Eventually, yes." Sorrow entered Edward's tone. There was still one final series of events that he had to direct his mother to. Once Thanos was dealt with, then the Void Sickness had to be dealt with. That was no small task. Anger tinged the young man's thoughts that the only bright future he could find was built on the sorrowful bones of the past. It was all he had to work with though.

"Eventually?! What do you mean 'eventually'?" Clint didn't like the sound of that.

Multicolored pink flames flared around Edward's hand as he reached over to touch Clinton Barton's arm. The flames carried Edward's memories of the future; of the suffering his mother would endure before she could be saved.

As the multicolored pink cleared from his eyes, Clint was finally able to backpedal from Edward. Images of Thanos tearing Loki apart, of something happening to Loki at Stark's hands. Lightning, long needles, and golden fire were all he could truly make out. Through it all he could hear Loki screaming in pain. "You can't ask me to send her into a meatgrinder! No!"

"This is the only path open to a bright future, Clinton Barton. Mother has to do this alone. Any other way, when you stand by her side, when SHIELD does their best, when the forces of the Elder Realms are brought to bear, any of it! All of it results in Thanos winning. There is no bright future otherwise." Edwards looked down to his mother. She still looked like the Prince of Asgard that most people thought of him as. Little tears misted over his yes to be superheated and steamed away instantly. He lamented it again. "This is the only way to a bright future." This shouldn't be the way, Choice, not for us.

Thinking about everything he knew again, brought Clint back to the conclusion that Loki needed his help. If this was how it had to happen, then he needed to be sanguine with it. So, he took a deep breath and looked back to Edward. "What do I need to do?"

Again, a multicolored pink fire surrounded Edward's hand. "I promise you, Clinton Barton, when everything is said and done, you won't be ashamed of what you've done here this day." It was going to take years for the SHIELD agent to feel better about certain things, but that would be tackled later. He reached out to the still agent and touched his arm again. More knowledge suffused Clinton Barton's mind. "This is the last of what you need to know." Edward's time in this place was done, his tasks accomplished, so he stepped back into the currents of time with one last wish.

"Good luck, Defender of Yggdrasil."

This time Clint didn't recoil, he centered himself as the knowledge was sinking in. As the multicolored pink dissipated from his eyes he found himself back in the cold concrete room. It was almost completely silent except for the small whimpering noises coming from Loki, who was still on the floor. He was free to act now. "For Earth, and Loki." His whisper was a prayer for safety for those he cared for. Looking at the scepter he mentally commanded it to create the Chain of Binding, then he carefully touched his forehead with the scepter's tip. The first anchoring formed at the center of his own forehead where the scepter touched. Suddenly there were little chains sinking into his mind that he could feel. They sank in and passed through to come back up to the surface of his skin and create a braided chain that formed on either side of the anchoring. The two braids went around his head to the back to form the second anchor at the base of his skull. The two braids plaited down into a single thick cord that crossed the space between Clint and Loki to form the third anchor at the base of Loki's skull. As soon as the braid touched the Asgardian the half around the SHIELD agent's head turned emerald green. The half touching the Prince's head turned white. The thick white cord split in two and wove its way through Loki's mind, locking every memory chain and fragment in place as it touched them, replacing the influence of the scepter to genuinely protect the pieces. With every broken piece locked they wove their way up to the surface of Loki's skin and then around to the front. The final anchor formed in the center of Loki's forehead which the two braids plaited themselves into. The chain locked into place and emerald flashed in Clint's eyes while white flashed in Loki's eyes before it started drawing sanity from Clint to transfer it to Loki. Little flashes of white seidr began drawing from the agent at the first anchor, were sent to the second anchor, then sent to the third anchor, then the fourth where that white seidr sanity was transferred to Loki's mind. Edward explained it as 'life support for a mind' when he infused him with the knowledge. That Clint's mind was now life support was fine by him. It was for his family, his world, and his friends, of which Loki was one.

There was only a limited window that he had to get a few things done before Loki was conscious and aware again. Calmly, so as to not spook Loki, Clint mentally commanded the scepter again to conjure several things around the room that Edward felt he would need. What he had to do at the end depended on Loki not being aware of a few things. Next he pointed the scepter at Loki and commanded it to use a Regenerative Weave on the Prince. Edward showed him what it could do for the broken Prince. Clint wished he could do more. Lastly, he commanded the scepter to use a Calm Heart Spell on Loki. Again, Clint wished he could do more. Now came the distasteful part.

While he didn't want to lie to Loki, since it was his opinion that the Prince had been lied to enough, he had to. Clint knelt down next to the broken Prince on the floor. The Asgardian was breathing heavily, eyes shut, teeth clenched tight like his hands. Setting the scepter down on the floor quickly, the agent reached out for Loki. A little frown touched his face when he grasped Loki's wrist. There were scars there that weren't there before he stepped into the array. Clint pulled Loki's arm up and around his shoulders, putting his other arm around the Asgardian's back. He stood slowly, taking the broken man with him. Moving was enough to snap the broken Prince back to consciousness, he struggled to get free of the SHIELD agent.

"Calm down, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." Clint spoke calmy with a soothing tone of voice. There was a sudden link in his mind that he could feel. The link itself felt like part of him. The emotions filling that link were weirdly separate from his own, but still able to be worked with. When a spike of terror shot into those emotions he realized that they were not his own like the link was. They were Loki's emotions. I can feel what he's feeling. This is what Edward described.

Raw terror danced at the edges of Loki's mind. For the first time in a long time, he felt like his mind was his own again. "You, you're, ...you're n-n-not?" The kind smile on the agent's face looked genuine to him, but he wondered if it was a lie, or if he was seeing things again. A wave of cold went through his body, shaking him like a dog. There was a wave of warmth chasing that cold away from him. The warmth seemed to be coming from the man beside him. The shuddering Prince slowly got his feet under him and tried to support his own weight. It was important to be able to do things for himself. When he looked ahead to where Clint was taking him he prepared to fight and run. Surprise tinged his thoughts when he saw a cot with a pillow and blanket on it. A little table sat next to the cot. There was a plate of four small buns, and a full pitcher with a glass of water. After who-knew-how-long of nothing but cold, slimy, wriggling worms thrown onto the dirt floor to eat accompanied by a rusty cup of thick grey liquid that smelled of urine and tasted of burnt chemicals, this looked amazing. The buns were cream colored and puckered at the top, with a slight sheen. Loki's mouth watered but he didn't know if he could have them. Rumbling growling came from his stomach then a low laugh came from Clint.

"It sounds like you're hungry. What'd you make?" Clint kept a calm but conversational voice. There were only four buns on the plate, he was hoping for more. It wasn't what he would qualify as 'enough', but it would have to do.

"Make? I didn't ...make?" Shaking his head slowly, Loki tried to remember conjuring anything. All he could remember was pain and fear.

"You held the scepter while we were talking, it glowed, and everything just appeared. So, what did you make?" Clint saw the confusion on the poor Prince's face. He wasn't surprised when Loki's head whipped around to find the scepter, which was still on the floor.

"I used it?" A little more fear crept into his voice. It was the Thanos' scepter and was linked to the master of the Chitauri. Loki wanted nothing to do with it, despite still him needing it. There was something terrible in the scepter that he needed to keep from the master, something shining and gold. For the life of him he couldn't remember what it was in that moment.

"You did." Clint turned Loki and gently set him down on the cot. Unfortunately, he had to take all of Loki's weight when the Prince's feet went out from under him. For someone as sickly as he was, he weighed more than Clint thought that he should. In a weird twist, Clint thought that it was appropriate that the broken Prince was so skinny, given what he'd gone through. Once he got the man he was standing guard over down to the cot, Clint picked up the water and plate of food. He hoped that Loki would be willing to eat the little buns he conjured. They were filled with broccoli, chicken thigh meat, and cheese sauce. His wife, Laura, liked to make them for him when he was home from work. His kids loved them, so he hoped the Loki would too. In turning back around he saw Loki looking longingly at the buns and licking his lips while looking at the water. That was promising, especially since the water had a tasteless, colorless, odorless drug in it to sedate Loki. Kneeling down in front of Loki, Clint handed over the water. "You look pale. Have some water."

"Oh!" Grasping the glass Loki emptied it in one long draft then handed it back. He snatched a hot bun off of the plate and took a tentative bite of it. The bread was soft and light, but it was the unexpected filling that he loved the most. There was a crunchy vegetable, some sort of tender meat, and something that was like the ostsaus made on Nidavellir. This ostsaus wasn't watery with broth. This was thick and rich and filled the bun wonderfully. Loki tried not to lament that he'd probably never have such good food again. Rolling the food around on his tongue he resolved to enjoy what good food he had while he had it. When the first bun was eaten Loki savored the warmth that the hot food left in him. Tentatively, he reached for another.

"Here, have another one." Clint was pleased to see the skinny Prince eating, so he offered him more. While Loki was eating the agent refilled the glass of water. The second bun went down as quickly as the first and the Asgardian reached a slightly shaking hand out for the filled glass of water. It pleased Clint to see Loki chug the water and blink tiredly. A yawn followed the blinks. Putting his hand on Loki's shoulder he softly pushed the Prince down into the cot. "You should get some sleep."

Nervousness accompanied being pushed down onto the cot, but all Clint did was pull the blanket up and over him. It was a warm blanket and Loki was still so cold. The pillow beneath his head was soft and sweet smelling, like flowers. He was going to protest, to tell the agent that there were things that needed doing. A few blinks later he was sound asleep.

Gently Clint put a hand to Loki's throat. The pulse that he found wasn't strong and steady, but it was there and mostly constant. Next he put a hand under the Asgardian's nose. His breathing was steady at least. Loki wasn't dying right now; he was just sleeping. His emotions were even calm. Clint let out a breath and put a hand on the Asgardian Prince's shoulder. 'Have sweet dreams' almost came out of the SHIELD agent's mouth before he thought better of it. Instead of that he squeezed the sleeping man's shoulder and spoke. "Just don't have nightmares."

Then Clint set the plate and glass down on the table. He turned towards the folding table and folding chairs sitting more towards the center of the room but stopped. The scepter was still sitting on the floor, and there was still a drug in Loki's water. Both of those needed to be fixed immediately. The scepter was snatched up swiftly and commanded to remove the drug from the water. Light blue flashed in the water then faded away leaving clean water behind. For a moment Clint thought that maybe Loki saw what he was doing when the young Prince mumbled something. As the Asgardian rolled over on the cot and pulled the blanket tighter around himself the SHIELD agent knew that he was safe.

Being safe for that moment, Clint went over and sat down at the table, pulling the chair in, and setting the scepter down on the table. He didn't know why Edward instructed him to create a small bottle of silver spray paint with the scepter, but there it was sitting on the table. In order to give the scepter direct access to SHIELD he took his phone out, balanced it on top of the gem on the scepter and mentally commanded the scepter to access it. The pale blue light flashed from the cell phone's screen then it crept along the circuitry. A small frown was directed at his phone. He'd just completely compromised SHIELD to an alien device, but this too had to be done since he couldn't come up with this plan by himself. Time was a factor because Edward made it clear in his last message that he could only turn the Mad Titan's eyes away from the scepter for so long. He needed to hurry but lamented again that SHIELD couldn't be contacted. They knew how to hurry. SHIELD needed to be involved but couldn't be directly involved. "A bright future? I hope you're right." Clint picked up the pen and grabbed the notepad on the table so that he could set to planning out Loki's invasion, touching the scepter's gem from time to time when he needed to know something or what someone else knew. Ideas were come up with, reworked or dismissed; tactics and strategies were weighed; deceptions were considered, and deceivers consulted. Ultimately, the agent of SHIELD settled on a plan that was so absurd that no one at SHIELD would recognize it for the plan that it was. The only problem was how to accomplish it. Some parts were easy, others weren't. Am I really considering this?

Throughout Clint's planning the link between him and the Asgardian Prince grew stronger. The longer it went on the more disturbing it became to him. The link wasn't affecting him, but he could tell that he could easily affect Loki through it. It was upsetting to him to have such a profound effect on someone else's mind. It was another deep responsibility that he had to take care of. Keeping a calm mindset helped him feel better about the entire link, and about what was coming. Only giving the sleeping Prince measured calm to help keep his nightmares away made him feel even better. Three hours later, as Clint was truly beginning to get into the planning of the invasion Loki began to wake.

This was the best sleep that the Asgardian Prince had in years. He was loathe to leave its warm embrace but there was something prickling at his mind that he just couldn't ignore. Right away Loki couldn't remember what it was that was now bothering him. It wouldn't be ignored though. Slowly the Asgardian Prince came back to consciousness. Why am I sleeping, he wondered. Abrupt images of Agent Barton pushing him to lay down, of eating delicious food and having clean water, of pain and walking into the room with the agent flashed across his mind's eye jolting him awake rudely. Loki startled and sat up. He was facing the wall on the little cot that he laid down on. The blanket slid down to rest on his lap. That was when he realized that his thoughts were clearer than they'd been in a long while. He could take note of how warm the blanket was, appreciate the comfort of the pillow, remember eating the little buns without his mind spasming in pain. The Asgardian startled again when he heard someone behind him.

"You should have some more to eat and drink, then lay down again." Clint could feel what Loki was feeling without it being intrusive or overwhelming. It was even stranger for him when he actively focused on the link between them to affect Loki's emotions. It was draining, but not to the extent of being bothersome. In a way it was settling for Clint that he had to actively send emotion to the young Asgardian. Loki shouldn't be able to discern his lies unless he screwed up.

Trying to whip around quickly simply failed when Loki became tangled in the blanket, falling back into the cot. "No!" Panic tinged his mind at being unable to get free. Before he could give in to the panic a bright burst of calm suffused his mind. It soothed his frayed emotions instantly, leaving him staring at the pillow on the cot. Soft footsteps drew his attention back to his surroundings. Loki looked up in time to see Agent Barton kneeling down next to him again. There was fear that the agent might try to harm him, as revenge for what Loki had done, but it too was soothed away with an intense feeling that the agent meant him no harm. It gave him the peace of mind to calmly get himself untangled from the blanket and sit up facing Agent Barton. "What are you doing?"

"What you asked me to." The SHIELD agent reached over for the plate of food and glass of water again. Getting Loki as ready as he could was also his responsibility. A smile touched his face when Loki reached for another bun and began eating it placidly. The second bun found its way into Loki's mouth along with a glass of water. A bright emerald green flash from the plate brought four more buns into existence. "That's nice," Clint muttered, handing another bun to Loki. So this what the scepter thinks is 'enough'. It'll do.

The sudden flash startled the Asgardian Prince so that he took the next bun without thinking about it. Why did I enchant a plate?! There was no answer forthcoming from Loki's mind, so he asked. "When did I enchant the plate?"

"Maybe when you made everything?" Clint volunteered quickly, but not too quickly. Focusing on the link between himself and Loki, he sent a subtle vibration for the Asgardian Prince to go to sleep again. "Maybe you should lay down for another hour. I'm working on things. You don't need to worry."

Before Loki could protest an urge to sleep hit him again. It was lightweight but enough to overwhelm his battered frame. He reached for the glass of water, downed it quickly, handed it back to Agent Barton then sank back down onto the pillow. He reached weakly for the blanket. A little smile touched his lips when the SHIELD agent pulled the blanket up over him again. It felt like being spoiled to have a safe place to sleep.

Seeing the happy smile on Loki's face prompted a response in Clint that he didn't feel right stopping. Through the link in their minds, he sent an unsubtle command; Have sweet dreams. A soft sigh came from Loki then. The SHIELD agent hoped that the command was enough, that whatever halls in his mind Loki was wandering that they were pleasant ones. He felt that all he could give the beleaguered Prince was dreams, but he knew that wasn't true. There was still a plan to be worked out, absurd details and all, so he went back to the table and began working through the problems they faced. It was going to be an uphill battle, but Clint still thought it could be done. "This would be easier if I could do this with him," he muttered, irritated. Shaking his head slightly, the agent focused on the main problem he had, which was how to motivate SHIELD and the World Security Council to fight back without being involved. He thought that perhaps the scepter could be used to manipulate the World Security Council, SHIELD was another matter though. Clint puzzled over it for almost an hour when he noticed Loki was waking up again.

The Asgardian Prince was having a wonderful dream, but he couldn't remember what it was. It was warm, soft, safe, and kind. When he went to move he stretched languidly and yawned. His hands clenched in the blanket as his eyes opened and he saw the concrete ceiling. It was unfamiliar for a moment until Loki remembered what he was doing there. It shocked him that his mind didn't spasm in pain as he remembered. Amazingly, he felt more solid and stable in his thoughts than he had since he went through the array.

"Have some water." Clint liked how much better Loki looked, not so pale anymore.

The sleepy Prince's gaze darted over towards the center of the room where he saw Agent Barton sitting at a table writing something. He sat up slowly, pushing the blanket aside to swing his legs over the edge of the cot. Once he was finally up his thoughts cleared enough for him to notice the strange, braided crown sitting on the agent's head. It was the same color as his own seidr. There was a cord going from the crown on Agent Barton's head to himself. Loki felt at the cord but couldn't feel it with his fingers, so he decided to take a chance on using his seidr. His seidr core was still damaged from when it fractured though, even extending his seidr could cause pain. Frightful gratitude touched his thoughts again that Thanos decided to conduct the Rite of Purification on him, to make his seidr core whole again. He was also grateful that he didn't remember it happening. All he remembered was the box and the dirt cell that he was kept in. A strong urge to be calm because he was safe passed through Loki's thoughts. So, he took a deep breath and uncurled his seidr tentatively. There was no pain initially, so he extended it towards the cord. Upon touching it with his seidr he felt that it was made partly out of his seidr, and partly made out of the seidr from the scepter. He could feel that it was interacting with the white seidr in both him and Agent Barton. "Agent Barton, what is this?"

"You can call me Clint. And you called this," the agent pointed to his head then to Loki's, "a Chain of Binding."

"I did?" Loki's gaze drifted to the floor. He didn't remember any of what he was being told, but he couldn't dispute it either. His mind was broken and no longer reliable, particularly his memories. "Why did I create it?"

This is the worst lying I've ever done, and he believes me. "You described it like life-support for the mind. My mind will hold yours in place, help you think clearly, reason better and remember things. You said that you needed it. After the scepter explained what's going on, I agreed." Looking back down at the table, Clint centered himself again to be rid of the distaste of lying to Loki. He worked for SHIELD and lies were a part of the job, but it just felt wrong this time.

Looking up hopefully, Loki spoke. "You were able to commune with the scepter?'

"Yes. I understand what you're doing, and I agree with it." Even though he agreed with what was driving Loki, he still couldn't agree with what had happened to the Asgardian Prince. He had seen too much now, knew too much. Clint was caught up in it. It was too late for anything else. Motioning to the notepad, he spoke. "I've been working on a plan for how the invasion can succeed. Have some water and then come and look at it. See what you think."

Regrettably, Loki stood up too swiftly which caused a light wave of dizziness to pass through him. His hand went to his temple before he could steady himself. Another burst of steadying calm came from within his mind, but the Prince didn't find it odd, only comforting. Before Loki could get a step towards Clint he heard again. "Have some water." Suddenly Loki did want some water. The water sounded wonderful. Two glasses of water later had the Prince feeling much better about things. Loki went over to the table and awkwardly pulled up the other chair out so that he could sit down across from Clint. Taking a deep breath, he wanted to start out his short time with Clint on the right foot. "I would like to take a moment to thank you for letting me sleep," his gaze drifted down as terrible memories danced at the edge of his mind of the other places he slept in recently. A light wave of cold rolled through him leaving goosebumps spread across his skin.

A soft smile touched Clint's lips. "You don't need to thank me. You needed some rest. It's that simple." Handing the notepad over, he explained. "This is as far as I've gotten."

The pad of paper had notes, small charts, arrows zigzagging between points and things circled here and there. Loki was still able to follow the general idea of it. It was a good outline, but there were still things that needed working out like who was going to get what part. He spent the next hour going back and forth with Clint. He used his knowledge of deception to refine the plan while struggling to understand it at the same time. It frustrated Loki that his mind was so broken when he still needed it. That irritation became seething anger. No matter how Clint tried to chat with him, to calm him, the anger wouldn't be sated.

Loki rubbed at his temple to alleviate his anger as he looked over the section of the plan that dealt with motivating SHIELD. With everything he was seeing in these notes, and what he observed of the agents he took from the SHIELD facility, he thought he knew how to motivate them. It wasn't an idea he liked, but desperation prompted him to propose it anyway. "A noble sacrifice would motivate your compatriots to give more than they ordinarily would."

It only took a moment of thought on everything that he now knew for Clint to volunteer. "You can have my life if you need it."

Loki couldn't bring himself to consider sacrificing Clint. This man had shown him more kindness than anyone else had in years. For that kindness, the Asgardian Prince had a special role already in mind for him. "No, that's not your part to play. You must inspire SHIELD with the knowledge that this invasion can be fought and overcome. You must go back to them bearing hope." Hope was wretched in Loki's eyes. There wasn't a time when it hadn't let him down or outright betrayed him. He wanted none of that delusion for himself, but the mortals needed it. Clint was going to bring it to them.

"If not me, then who?" Clint already knew where this was going, and he didn't like it.

"That's a question I need your aid to answer. Who is well known and liked within SHIELD, someone who holds authority so that others will do for them, who inspires others in their daily routine, and ultimately can be lost by SHIELD without destroying it entirely? Do you know who could fit those qualifications?"

It was a horrible consideration that Edward had already prepared him for. The last infusion of knowledge from Edward showed him so many things yet not enough. Things like what needed to happen and who he needed to pick. All Clint could hope for that was that the young Stark was right, that the person he was about to pick for death would survive it in the end. His gaze drifted down to the table. Sometimes you're the asset that has to be sacrificed, he could hear the agent saying to him. "Agent Phil Coulson fits the bill." He's a friend to a lot of people. He's my friend. He'd sacrifice himself for this if he knew.

"Then his will be the noble sacrifice. Let's work him into the plan, and go over it again, please."

The agent of SHIELD felt sick over what he was doing, but it still needed to be done. That it needed to be done became a poor reminder of the seriousness of what they were doing, so he turned his attention back to the plan, and to Loki. The points were simple once he reorganized them, but Clint watched Loki struggle to keep them organized in his mind. It was easy for the agent to see the sudden frustration in the young Prince. He could understand it. Loki was brilliant yet had been reduced to much less. It was heartbreaking, but there was very little Clint could do. He did what he could to manage that frustration through the Chain of Binding. Even that didn't turn out to be enough. Clint would calm the frustration then it would return. It was overwhelming, so more was needed. Rewriting the plan into something more accessible and ordered, then writing out instructions and even little pictures helped Loki to grasp the narrative flow of their plan easier. Loki's frustration still wouldn't abate. The SHIELD agent worried that Loki might do something reckless up until the moment that he tried to.

"I want to take this off. I don't need it." Loki knew that he did need the chain around his skull, but he still wanted it gone. He didn't feel like he should have a need of it and wanted to prove to himself that he didn't need something like this. It was humiliating to be treated like a cripple. Loki wasn't going to accept it.

Focusing on the link between them, Clint sent calm patience to Loki along with a thought that was nearly a command. Don't bother with the Chain of Binding. "It's not that important right now. Why don't we focus on the plan? Let's go over what you're going to do again. I'll tell you more about how he acts." The Chain of Binding isn't coming off, he thought to himself.

Loki didn't, couldn't, find it odd when his desire to be rid of the Chain of Binding was crushed suddenly. It simply seemed like wise advice from the man he'd asked for aid from. The anger at having to use it returned swiftly. "Yes, I suppose so." Turning his attention back to the paper that held the plan on it. "Yes, yes. The monster is called Skeletor? He preys upon children?"

Am I really going to propose this? Is this too stupid? Can he do this? "Yes." Clint kept a calm smile on his face, the one that his son Cooper liked when they watched TV together. "He's a narcissist, likes big drama and treats his henchmen poorly."

"And he's greedy?"

"Yes, very greedy. He wants the throne of the Kingdom of Eternia. He was supposed to be King, but his younger brother took the throne." Please be able to do this. SHIELD won't notice it if you can. Clint went back and forth over the character's attributes until Loki had a good grasp of them. Throughout it he managed Loki's desire to be rid of the Chain of Binding. As Loki gained more confidence in remembering the attributes he began to emulate them, to practice them and to gain critiques from Clint. It took more than an hour, but Loki was a fast learner once he was able to begin acting out his interpretation of Skeletor.

Towards the end the SHIELD agent looked at his watch. They didn't have much time left. There was one more thing he felt would help that he could do. As he went to find a way to do it Loki's stomach grumbled again. Clint picked up his phone to put it in his pocket then sent a thought to Loki. Have something to eat, and drink. The young Prince glanced over at the plate of buns a few times before he went to sit on the cot again. The Prince was eating so Clint looked over the plan again. It was as good as it could be. How to remind him of it? The agent folded up the paper and thought that Loki could just put it in a pocket. No, he might forget it there. I need something flashier. His gaze traveled around the room and came to rest on the silver spray paint. I could paint the paper. No, that would paint over the plan. An idea popped into Clint's mind then. Pulling his phone out, the SHIELD agent set it face down on the table. He picked up the spray paint and shook the can. A large silver 'X' was painted onto the back of the case. Discreetly, he looked over to Loki, who was looking down at the floor with his eyes closed. The Prince was chewing on a bun, not paying attention to him. Clint put a single finger on the scepter and mentally commanded it to dry and harden the paint so that it wouldn't smear or flake off. At the same time, he commanded it to fill and fortify the battery so that it could last much longer. A pale flash of blue light came from the back and front of the phone.

Snatching up the phone, Clint pressed the power button on his phone to bring it out of sleep. Loki looked up at him, and his lit phone. Another calm smiled touched his face. "Is something wrong?"

"…I thought I saw something. I suppose I didn't." Loki would have sworn that he saw a flash of light from the scepter, but it was just the small device that Clint was holding. "What are you doing?"

"I'm recording a message for you, to help you when I'm not there." The camera app on his phone opened with a few taps. An encouraging smile touched Clint's face as he started the recording and spoke directly into the camera. "Loki, I know you're having a hard time remembering things right now, so I'm recording this message for you." Holding up the folded up plan, Clint made sure it was in the recording. "I'm putting the plan in my cell phone case." The black flexible case was held up next. The silver 'X' was visible on it. "See the 'X'? Just look under it, and you'll find the plan. Everything is there. You don't have to remember the details. You just need to remember my voice. Listen to my voice and follow it to the plan, alright? I know you can do this. You've done great so far."

"I want to take it off." Loki spoke quietly, too quietly for the device to hear him. Somehow he knew that Clint heard him though.

The smile turned to a momentary frown when Clint looked away from the camera. It was an argument that the agent didn't mind losing since he knew he'd win in the end. He was expected to protest, so he did. "Are you sure we should take this thing off? You're better now than you were an hour ago."

"You shouldn't be arguing to give away your sanity. It isn't amusing to be without it." The Asgardian Prince's voice was a low mumble. Loki took the last bite of his bun, knowing in his heart that he wasn't going to get this kind of food again in this lifetime. Clint still had the chance to go back to his family and have good food like this. There was no chance for Loki in his own opinion.

The sentiment quirked one of Clint's eyebrows. None of this is fun. "If it'll protect my family and home then I'm willing to give up my sanity. Some things are worth the sacrifice. I don't agree with taking it off, you need it."

Looking up directly at Clint, Loki spoke softly. "This isn't your part to play."

I'm the only one who can play this part. Distress played across Clint's face as his gaze drifted down to the floor. While he addressed their plan like a battleplan, Loki had approached it like he was scripting a play. Everyone had their part, even Coulson. "Parts to play." His voice softened. It felt like one of the last things that he was going to say to Loki, so he wanted to be certain. His hand holding the phone up relaxed, and his arm went down to his side. "Just make sure that it's quick for Coulson. I don't want him to suffer."

Pity and guilt crept into Loki's thoughts without being mentally painful to him. Slowly, he stood and walked over to the table, next to Clint. "Your friend's blood will spark the frenzy of righteous vengeance. For this, I will give him a clean death. I promise you."

This too was a losing argument, since he already knew that he had a different part to play. Clint had to offer though, to make himself feel better. "Are you sure I can't convince you to use me instead?"

"There is powerful inspiration to be drawn from the rise of a fallen hero. That is your part to play, to inspire those within SHIELD and beyond, to show them that this can be fought and overcome." Loki answered with understanding and pity in his voice. "You will shine the light of hope for your people so that their will is not broken in the doing of this thing. As you rise, so will they."

Maybe I will, but I already know that I'm going to be your support so that you can help create a bright future. A touch of frustration spiked through the agent's thoughts. Being able to involve SHIELD would have been preferable, but they would win the battle and lose the war if they did that. He couldn't allow it. A heavy sigh gusted out of his lips. This was the hardest part he had ever played.

A cringe hit Loki when he heard the heavy sigh from Clint. He owed this man so much already and all he'd done was take from him. "I'm sorry."

"Sacrifices have to be made." Clint's voice was soft as he ended the recording on his phone. The plan was put in the back of the phone case then the phone was fit into the case over it. After that he set his alarm to go off silently for a minute early in the morning so that Loki would remember it was there. "When this buzzes you just need to press this button here to stop it. The plan is behind the phone under the silver 'X'." Clint repeated the instructions. "It's yours now." He had given everything that he could to Loki. Looking at his watch, he saw that they only had about twenty minutes left before they weren't safe with the scepter again. "I think that's all the planning we can do now."

"Yes, we should go back to the invasion." A hard lump formed in Loki's throat. Little tears formed in his eyes. "I can't repay you for what you've given me."

"You don't need to."

"No, you should have something for what you've given me." Tentatively, Loki picked up the scepter. He was hesitant to use it, but honor demanded that he at least try to repay his debt. "I don't have anything besides these to give. I'm apologize." Upon touching the scepter to mentally command it he felt like there might be someone else using it, but he couldn't feel their seidr. He didn't think that someone without seidr could use it. His seidr uncurled and extended into the scepter allowing him to compose a Greater Health Charm, a seamless Woven Light Barrier, and an Inner Shield Ward all at the same time. Using the scepter let him use his seidr core as little as possible. The first would see to Clint's health, the second would invisibly see to his protection while the third would repel any intruders into his mind. Loki set the last ward to activate once the scepter's influence was removed from Clint again. The next time he was free would be the last time he could be enslaved. Then he applied each of them carefully to the agent. "There, a Greater Health Charm, a seamless Woven Light Barrier, and an Inner Shield Ward are yours now. I wish I could give you more."

"There's no need for that. I'm glad I could help." Clint shifted around so that he was standing in front of Loki. He was ready now. "You're right, we should get back to it. You should influence the World Security Council quickly, while I'm here."

"Yes." He mentally commanded the scepter to reach out to the members of the World Security Council and to give them the idea to use a nuclear weapon when the invasion happened. Like the nuke, the idea was a bomb waiting to go off. The portal needed to be opened for it to detonate. Nodding jerkily, Loki spoke again. "I'm going to take the Chain of Binding off, then I'll put you back under the scepter's thrall. I'm sorry, but I must take the memory chain of what happened here."

Clint was prepared for this as well, to lose his memories of this time. It was fine, it wouldn't bother the Chain of Binding. "If you need it, then take it." Telling Loki not to be sorry seemed foolish to the SHIELD agent. He'd watched Loki since that day he/she was born, and only lamented that he didn't get to meet Loki's feminine side as well. The SHIELD agent understood very well that a sensitive soul like the Asgardian Prince was going to feel bad about this no matter what he said. All he could do was make sure this time wasn't a waste. "Follow the plan, Loki." The Prince nodded and went to tap him with the scepter. At the last moment Clint touched the scepter with one finger, his will surged into the scepter to overwhelm Loki's will while simultaneously his thoughts grasped the link between then to send the command to Loki to, Forget The Next Minute Of Time! Clint commanded the scepter to sink the Chain of Binding down into Loki to protect it, and to make it invisible on both of them. Both sides of the Chain of Binding flashed in a pale blue light then faded from sight. By the time the agent put his hand down the blank expression on Loki's face was fading. "Are you alright?"

Loki looked at Clint, the scepter, the room then Clint again. "I …yes. I'm alright. I just need to take the chain off of us."

"You just did." A kind smile touched Clint's lips again as he raised a hand to point to his head where he could still feel the chain working. It wasn't visible anymore, despite him feeling it there.

The Chain of Binding was gone, as was the cord between him and Clint. Loki didn't remember taking it off, yet it was gone nonetheless. "Of course."

"Remember the plan, Loki. Follow my voice to it." This was well and truly the last thing he was going to get to say to Loki. He took a breath, centered himself and waited for the thrall to hit him again. When it hit his eyes blackened then glowed a pale blue. Stars covered his eyes and his mind briefly expanded then contracted. Something asked him if it could make a copy of something to give to someone while things were packed down into his subconscious mind. Time lost its meaning while his mind moved. The Chain of Binding stayed in place. When the stars faded he observed Loki holding a piece of uncontained electricity in one hand, with the scepter in the other.

The short memory chain in Loki's hand had his few hours spent with Clint. It was evidence of what was happening and had to be destroyed. Loki commanded the scepter to obliterate the memory chain. The memory chain flashed brilliantly then faded away into nothing. After that he commanded the scepter to break down the things sitting in the room into nothing. The items in the room all flashed pale blue and disappeared. Only a bare concrete room was left behind. No evidence could be allowed to remain. Loki uncurled his seidr carefully and touched at the door to the room, breaking down the Bjargagudr's Extra Lock Ward then curled the seidr back into his core slowly and achingly. The door no longer glowed green. Just then Clint looked at his watch. "Is something the matter?"

"I don't know. I remember that the time is almost up on something, but I don't remember what. We have less than three minutes left." Clint put his hand back down.

"Go and find us people to carry out the invasion. I'm sure that's it."

"That won't be a problem, boss. SHIELD has no shortage of enemies." Clint walked brusquely past Loki to carry out his task and return.

Little tears that had gathered in Loki's eyes spilled over. What he'd just done was unforgiveable. He sniffled and then hesitantly commanded the scepter to place him back under the Thanos' thrall and touched his own chest with its sharpened tip. He gasped as the thrall fell over him. His eyes blackened, then glowed pale blue, then faded away to normal. He was open to Thanos again. Fear shot through his mind. Loki left the little room while placing the phone in his coat's interior breast pocket. There was an invasion to conduct, and he had to be the one to do it.

23May2023 – Early Morning

Vanaheim Royal Palace Sitting Room

The dimly lit concrete room faded away, leaving the sitting room that they were all standing in, but still outside of the bounds of time for the few moments it took Sean to move them back into time and extinguish his runework.

The overwhelming amount of information to process momentarily paused James before he decided to handle it like he handled all information dumps; with a cup of coffee and a nice historical documentary on in the background. His soul song of stillness didn't affect him like it did everyone else, so he had to find his own calm. More immediately than that was his affirmation that Loki needed counseling for the events he witnessed. He'd known for years that she needed to talk to someone and had been playing that role for her. He was going to have to find that counselor and persuade her into counseling because this was more than his unrested soul songs could handle. Looking around the room showed him other people who needed counseling and calm, a lot of calm. Yet again James' soul song of stillness wasn't strong enough on its own. Focusing it through himself strengthened the song to be as powerful as he could make it. It was only a little extra concentration, but it was worth it for the rise in strength and depth of the song. While maintaining discretion, James stepped over closer to Odin and Frigga. They didn't look like they were taking this well. Frey was taking this slightly better while Sean looked more worried for Frey than himself. Everyone needed more calm than they had.

It was a dull emotional swing that Odin found himself on. Overwhelming calm was pushing at his mind. In place of wildly swinging between shame, anger, love, and gratitude until he exploded, he went to one, stayed there for a few seconds and then went on to another, circling back around as he needed to. There was no denying how ashamed of himself he was. It wasn't just his decision to allow his Council of Lords to laugh at Loki that tormented him now. He watched Loki's life again, from his son's/daughter's perspective. Having lived through half of the interactions he knew what his intentions were, but he never stopped to think of what Loki took them as. He wasn't brutally abusive as Borr was to him, but he was still cold, oblivious, and thoughtless. It was no wonder that Loki believed himself unloved when Odin rarely if ever showed his son just how very much he was loved. It sparked a terrible anger in him that was only overshadowed by the rage he felt as he watched Lord Hela throw Loki to the floor and tear his shirt off. The Lord of Asgard knew what she was about to do. The look on his son's face was burned into his memories; part fear, part disbelief that it was really happening like that. Somehow, someway, he was going to have Lord Hela's beating heart in his hand with her innards in his other hand. Odin had always known that how he expressed his love could be violent, and his love for his son was no different. That love demanded that he bring that violence to Lord Hela, as soon as possible. Instead of focusing on the rage Odin tried to focus on the immense amount of knowledge that he just received on the Celestials, and Thanos. Though the mere thought of Thanos torturing Loki to heal him sparked his rage again, that didn't help him either. Finally, the Lord of Asgard focused on what he knew wouldn't anger him, Clint Barton. Only gratitude was left for the mortal. The Midgardian had undertaken a defense of his son that was beyond honorable. Loki had enslaved the man, but he still refused to retaliate. The care he showed to Loki was gentle and supportive. Seeing it as it happened helped to calm Odin somewhat. Clint Barton was a true Defender of Yggdrasil. His decision to put on and then leave on the Chain of Binding impressed Odin to no end. It was a chain that he had seen for himself, watching Clint Barton give his mind to Loki even as they were trapped outside of time in that SHIELD meeting room. Now that he knew more of it he wanted to know how it was formed. It would help immensely if he could understand exactly what it was doing, help him to heal Loki's mind. He had confirmation that it was possible now. Edward said as much. Tears gathered in his eyes. He wiped his left eye dry, then remembered to wipe his right eye. It was a difficult decision, but Odin decided that he wasn't going to go to his guest chambers to spend time weeping. It didn't serve him, fixed nothing, and only wasted his time. There was a bright future waiting for him. That was where he wanted to go, but the present needed to be dealt with, so he opened his arms to hold Frigga when she reached for him.

The look on her son's face as Lord Hela threw him to the floor was going to haunt Frigga for the rest of her life. She was so certain of it that she was of two minds on it; with one side wanting to go ahead and just see the rest of it while the other side wanted to see no more of the event so that it wouldn't haunt her further. An emotional mélange stewing in her mind wanted to be overwhelming. There was a sense of powerful calm that was flowing over her though that wouldn't let her give in to any of the bladed emotions that she felt. There were only two emotions that she decided that she was going to hold onto in that moment. The first was her strong desire to apologize to Loki and to try to make this right. The other was her desire to thank Clint Barton for his care of Loki, it was compassionate and honorable. More than that though, it was discreet. Barton imposed his will, and she suspected the will of Edward, without being overbearing about it. Loki needed that discretion to feel like he was making choices for himself. Loki also needed the food and rest that Clint Barton provided. Normally she would worry over what Loki was eating, but in this instance she didn't. Clint Barton was acting on Edward's guidance, and she didn't believe that her grandson would steer his own mother towards impurity. There was no need for that. Putting a hand up over her mouth, a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks before she turned to Odin and reached out for him. She just needed a few moments to calm herself with his arms around her. It wouldn't take long since the powerful calm was seeping into her.

There was so much information that was buzzing around in Frey's brain that he actually didn't know what to do with most of it. The parts he did know what to do with were in regards to what Lord Hela did to Loki. The expression of horror on Loki's face was going to live in his nightmares from that moment on. The rage in Odin's seidr over this event was surprisingly loud despite the tremendous calm pushing at him. The rage matched his own. That didn't bother Frey. He already knew that they were going to go to that battle together. This was just more incentive to hunt Lord Hela. He wanted to be able to post her head atop the gate into his palace so that everyone could see what came of tormenting his family. A light jealousy tinged his vengeful thoughts when Frigga went to hold Odin for comfort. He glanced at Sean and wanted to be able to do the same thing. They weren't officially courting yet, so he couldn't embrace him in public. That didn't stop Frey from unfurling his seidr and extending it to Sean to run over his skin. Some of the tension eased out of him as he felt Sean extend his own seidr to touch gently at Frey. There was so much that had to be dealt with, but Sean was with him, so he felt better about it.

Director Fury's phone was in his hand quickly despite it still being tainted by the coalesced machine solution, opening up his notepad app and starting a new note to try to detail everything he'd seen. There was just so much though that he knew he was going to have to undergo SHIELD's memory retrieval process to get it all out. He could at least make notes here.

When the Director started taking notes on his phone James decided to step in to extend some trust, it would make restitution easier. He stepped a little closer to the Director. His seidr unfolded to shoot down his arm to his hand and mount into four Conjuration Spells. The first spell released just above the palm of his hand to create a collection of enchanted mechanical parts and a variety of small pieces of inscribed crystal. Solid, black squares of metal encased them to create a memory cube that was two square inches on each side. The exterior of the cube had an obvious place on top where a holographic screen was projected from, a small button labeled 'sync', a small USB port, and a small, gun-metal grey square painted onto the front side instead of the top like the other three things were. The second Conjuration Spell released right next to the cube to create a cube that was one inch square on either side. It was the same dark grey as the square painted onto the front of the memory cube and adhered to that painted-on cube. Light grey painted across the surface of a small button on top of it. On the interior of the smaller cube tiny machinery formed. Next to that machinery formed two flexible lens with circuitry placed invisibly within them. James mounted a Restoration Rune, and a Rune of Shield then branded each item with them. The Restoration Rune was going to clean and care for the lens while the Rune of Shield protected the items from harm. The third and fourth Conjuration Spells released above the memory cube to create a three foot long USB adapter cable and an instruction booklet for Director Fury for what he'd just created. He didn't know of a spell to secure the cubes to the Director, so he created a white seidr anchor on each item and tacked them subtly to the Director's white seidr with a six foot long tether, so that they would go wherever the Director's white seidr was. The cubes floated down into his hand. The final spell that he mounted from his unfolded seidr was the Learning Spell. He drew his memories of what they were just shown into the spell then released the spell into the memory cube. The information copied over smoothly as the cord and booklet sank down into his palm with the cubes. He pressed the sync button and waited the few seconds it took for the lens to sync to the memory cube. The button flashed twice and then the lens were synced. James stopped focusing his soul song of stillness through him and instead began playing the soul song of blessings, aiming it at the Director of SHIELD. They each needed some luck on their side. Turning to the old spy, he spoke calmly. "Director Fury."

"Yes, Colonel Rhodes." He looked up from his notes to the good colonel.

"Please, call me James," he paused for a moment, "I trust that it's become clear to you that you don't want or need Anthony as an enemy?" All eyes were on him now.

A small 'hmph' later and the Director had to agree. "It has." He didn't need Stark as an enemy and felt lucky that Stark was stopped.

A kind smile touched James' face. "Good. Hopefully it's become clear that trying to control Anthony is a foolish endeavor?"

For everyone except you. I will find out why. "It has."

"Good," James' smile broadened some then, "I understand that neither of you trusts easily. I understand that there are valid and real reasons for why that is. I even understand that those reasons and attitudes have to be taken into consideration when dealing with either of you. However, I hope that you will come to understand that Anthony can be a friend to SHIELD. There's no reason for us to fight amongst ourselves when we have so many enemies abroad to deal with, which is why I believe that if we both extend a little trust," he extended his hand towards the Director, with the cubes, cord, and booklet out on offer, "then we can both find ourselves in a better position." One where Anthony can make restitution for what he's done and then move on.

Luck was a part of the business of subterfuge and spec ops, an integral part in fact. As such Director Fury had always considered himself to be a lucky individual within reason. This felt like too much good luck all at once, especially since he didn't want to fight with Stark. He wanted to recruit him, but that might be trying to control him, so a good working relationship was the best possibility to pursue. As he looked at the gift before him he thought it was probably a very good possibility. Director Fury took the cubes, cord, and booklet. The cord was a USB adapter cord that plugged into the bigger cube, the booklet had instructions in it, which he appreciated. It was another cube like McCorrmick had given him, but the small one seemed different. The smaller cube was still a mystery. "What are these for?"

"It's a memory cube and surveillance lens with a case. They'll always stay within six feet of you and are protected from any ordinary harm. They'll clean and repair themselves. The memory cube has a hybrid OS, part Windows, part Asgardian. It already has a recording of what we were just shown in its ten petabytes of storage. The software it comes with compresses, stores, and reads data more efficiently, so it'll have more than enough space for today. Jay and I will be giving a tour of the testing grounds, of the house, and drone armory today. It might be helpful for you to have a way to go back over what's in the tour." James questioned himself momentarily, wondering if he was doing the right thing. SHIELD had a bad reputation for not trusting their allies. It was a systemic attitude coming straight from the Director. It was also an attitude that James knew he could overcome. He had confidence in it, in himself, mostly because he didn't have any good options again. Anthony had to make restitution to Earth and to SHIELD before he could move back on to the righteous path. Only when he was back on the righteous path could his younger brother move forward to what Loki wanted; Anthony as the Lord and King of Earth.

Both of Director Fury's eyebrows raised. "You'll let me come along? Aren't you afraid of what I might see?"

The kind smile on James' face softened. "I trust that you can be discreet, and from an engineering perspective, Anthony is beyond that technology. He no longer needs to work on it. From a personal perspective, he's moving on to better things now. Things that support more peaceful endeavors."

A pleased smile crossed the Director's face in response to that. "I'm glad to hear that," he held up the cubes, "and thank you for these, but I need to know why you're doing this. This all seems a little too generous."

"I do have my reasons, and at the end of the day I will discuss them with you. Not right now though. Take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the cube and lens. We probably won't go for a little while." James turned and reached out with his unfolded seidr to touched at the garnet barrier around the settee with Jay on it. He broke down the barrier and stowed the seidr back in his seidr core. Turning quickly back to the Director, he mentioned one more thing. "The lens record sound, as well, so don't worry about that."

The fact that he was going to get an answer let Director Fury move on to what he was handed. The little instruction booklet had clear and simple instructions in it for him. They really do record sound! What brought a large smile to his face was the contact lens stored in the smaller cube and synced to the memory cube. He brought them out quickly and put on the right one, then he played with the settings in the memory cube until the recording was going and set to record everything that he looked at, with the sound around him. With that set he put the cubes, cord, and booklet in his pocket. He was ready to go, but not ready for what he saw when he looked up. "Edward?"

A little smile and a little wave were aimed at Director Fury. Jay flushed some as he spoke, uncomfortable in being stared at. "I'm still Jay."

"Ah! It's good to see you again." The Director of SHIELD took note of the boy's smaller size and wondered if the boy could shapeshift.

"You don't think I look different …or abnormal?" Jay was prepared to be gawked at and was thankful to not be. He fidgeted with his shirt again feeling as awkward as when his father had him locked down.

A wry look crossed Director Fury's face. "Kid, I'm the Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. You've been in our files," he gave the boy a chiding look, "you know what I deal with every day. Compared to all of that, you're pretty normal."

"You think I'm normal?" A pleasant smile touched Jay's lips.

The hopeful cast to Jay's face caught Director Fury's attention. It was a child's look. "Don't get too caught up on being normal or being different. Just be yourself, whoever that is."

"Who you are is more important than what you are, Jay" James liked the bluntness of Director Fury's remarks. It supported his own sentiments to an extent. Anthony only allowed the children to be themselves at James' house and had even disallowed the children from being what they were anywhere else but there. He was going to fix that. The children would never be locked down again without good cause.

"Exactly." The Director added quickly. He looked over to the monarchs he was sharing a room with. None of them looked happy. He didn't blame them for it. They got to watch Loki be abused without being able to do anything about it. It helped him to understand what Loki had been through. He couldn't help but think that Loki had to have some hellish PTSD. It was just another way that SHIELD could offer support to Loki since SHIELD had excellent counseling services.

Jay's comments brought Frigga's mind to Loki's desire to be normal. Her child struggled so hard to be normal, while being extraordinary. It was her fault. Dealing with the negative emotions from what Frigga watched happen to her child because of her wasn't going to happen outside of a private space. There were many tears that she still needed to shed. For the moment she pulled away from Odin to look up at him. Putting her hand on the side of his face, she looked up into his eyes. "You are molded by the Celestials, as Thanos was. We must keep the two of you apart. When you go to deal with him, I will act as formadr (captain) of your guard. He will not come near you."

"Wife, you'll be in danger if you come with us." Odin spoke calmly to mask his feelings. It wasn't much of a mask since he knew his emotions had to be loud in his seidr.

"I'll be in more danger if Thanos captures you or Thor. None of our children can be allowed near him, not ever again." Frigga was going to be distressed for a long time that she'd allowed Thanos near one of her children. Letting him near both couldn't be allowed to happen. Having Odin go after Thanos without her there also wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to accept an argument on this topic either. The less she accepted his unilateral decisions the better she felt. She wanted them to make decisions together, instead of apart. Frigga had never considered it a matter of respect, as she knew how much her husband respected her. Looking at the hesitation in his eyes made his desire to protect at any cost her seem somewhat overzealous and even suffocating. She was perfectly capable of protecting their children and him if it came to it. Frigga wanted the opportunity to remind him of that.

Having neither of his children near Thanos was optimal in Odin's mind. Having his wife near Thanos wasn't, but she made a fine point. Going after Thanos would be dangerous, but in this one instance it was probably better to have her by his side than not. It wasn't as if she was untalented in defending herself, physically or magically. After all she did break his teeth and throw him into the dirt when they dueled those many years ago; she did lead her own battalion of Valkyr and was extremely talented. She was his equal and he loved her for it. Odin wondered then if maybe he hadn't treated her as an equal in trying so fervently to protect her. He never thought of his efforts to protect her as wrong, she was his goddess; the first and best source of love and kindness in his life. But he'd just been shown how wrong his handling of his son/daughter was so he couldn't be certain of himself now. If she is so precious, then she should stay in Asgard, under guard, in seclusion as before, the beast within him grumbled. The fact that the beast chose to weigh in on the matter made up Odin's mind. He decided to take a chance and continue what he started that day, not doing what he normally would, what the beast Borr would have him do. In a strange twist, suddenly Odin could see himself fighting by Frigga's side and he liked the thought of it. With so magnificent a being on his side how could he fail? Taking her hand from the side of his face, he kissed her knuckles and looked down at her. "You'll be the finest guard I've ever had."

A wide smile touched Frigga's lips. "Yes, I will be."

Withdrawing his seidr to furl it back into his core, Frey smiled and chuckled. "I will be there as well, sister. We will keep him safe." He winked cheekily at Sean as the young man withdrew his seidr and was pleased to see a slight flush in the young man's face.

At first glance it was humiliating for Odin to need a guard to protect him on the field of battle. He'd always considered his Royal Guard to be perfunctory when he was traveling to other kingdoms. He'd always refused to have them in his own palace. It occasionally gave would-be assassins opportunities to try to stab him in the back, but he was too powerful a warrior to be concerned with them. Taking a second look at the situation, at what he now knew he was and what could be done with his blood, not having the best guard possible seemed profoundly foolish and prideful. I need you to give up your vain pride, he could hear Edward's message again. I am endangering my family by not having a guard in the palace, anywhere I go. If Thanos' agents were to catch me unawares… The many terrible scenarios of what could happen if he was captured started to impinge on his thoughts. Thor needs a guard as well. Until Thanos is destroyed we must both have one. "It would be best to rearrange the Royal Guard so that Thor and I both have one wherever we go."

That's a wise decision, brother, Frey flared his seidr out to his Elder Brother. He was honestly surprised at how open to change Odin was being, particularly in having a constant guard. The younger King knew just how galling and annoying it was to have to have a guard when he was so talented a warrior. Odin was the only warrior he'd never overcome personally. Even though he didn't like to acknowledge Odin's talent and skill when Vanaheim and Asgard were at war, he still respected it. Now Frey respected Odin's decision to relent and take a guard with him. His Elder Brother was right, until Thanos could be found and destroyed both he and Thor would need a stalwart guard. Looking over, he made his request. "James, could a small compliment of my Royal Guard be allowed into the house? Will Anthony allow that?"

"Anthony doesn't own the house anymore. I do. If a guard needs to accompany either of you then that's fine. I trust that a Royal Guard knows how to be discreet." James didn't mind having guards there, they wouldn't get in the way of what he was going to be doing, and he understood their necessity.

Why do you own the house now? How did you get that house? That's tens of millions of dollars. Where did you get that money on military pay? Director Fury had a whole host of questions just from those two sentences alone. It was just another reminder that there were still secrets between Stark and Rhodes that he needed to get to. The Director needed to know how Rhodes was exerting such extraordinary pressure on Stark without any pushback.

A serious expression crossed Frey's face. "Of course. My Royal Guard knows how to guard their tongues well. There will be no gossip about what they see."

"Wonderful," James motioned to Jay, "We're ready to go whenever everyone else is ready." When his uncle was done speaking Jay hopped off of the settee and went to stand next to his Uncle Rhodey.

"One thing we ought to do before we go." Frey went back to retrieve his terminal. It had used several of the small scrolls that it carried to create the orders that Anthony and James needed to begin working on their projects. He unfurled his seidr and gripped his terminal, dismissing it back to his interdimensional pocket. The three orders were scooped up from the table. Behind him, Odin moved around to the other side of the table to pick up and dismiss his terminal and take his orders. Each of them went back to James then. Handing the orders over, Frey explained. "These orders will allow Anthony to conduct his work without interruption on Vanaheim." When Frey was done Odin handed over his orders next. "These orders will let him work without interruption on Asgard."

It was with gratitude that James accepted the scrolls with the orders of two Kings in them. They were just what Anthony needed while he was working through his restitution, and his anger. "Thank you both. I appreciate these. I know Anthony will too."

"Does anyone have any questions regarding what was presented?" Sean didn't mind pulling everyone back outside of time to answer any questions that they had. I should have asked that first before I brought us back into time, that was careless. I need to do better.

"Would you mind if I put together a list of questions to discuss with you when you head back to Earth?" Director Fury did have questions, but not enough of them. There were things from the very beginning to the end of what was presented that he needed to know more about, but the material had to be reviewed again for those questions to be settled. This wasn't really the time or place for questions.

"Absolutely, I'll answer everything that I can, sir." 'Can' was the key word in that sentence and Sean knew it. There were still things that he wasn't allowed to share with the emmika yet.

"I appreciate that. I'll assign a team to work quickly on it as soon as I get back. Thank you, ...Sean." He was the second Sean McCorrmick that the Director had known in his lifetime. This one was calmer, but just as committed to doing the right thing. It was impressive and made him want to talk to the first Sean again, the second Sean's grandfather. To that very day he still missed his own band of brothers, the McCorrmick brothers. Kassidy, Finn, Brian, Simon, Sean; he's impressive. You would be proud.

A small nod went to the Director. "You're welcome," he turned to the three monarchs and James, "Do any of you have any questions?"

None of the monarchs had questions right then. When Frey looked over to Odin he found that his Elder Brother and his beloved sister agreed with the Black Hand Fury, as he did also. "None at the moment. We too need to review what we were shown before we'll have questions."

Again, Sean nodded and then looked to James. "And you?"

"Will I be able to ask questions later?" So long as James could have that then he would be fine.

"Absolutely. Of course, I'll answer any questions that I can when they're posed to me. There's no deadline on this." He clapped his hands together in front of him. "Since everyone is in agreement, I think it's time that we got to work on the house and related matters."

Before Sean could open a portal to the Malibu mansion James spoke up again. "We should go to the testing grounds first." His seidr unfolded, shot down his arm, mounted into a Janni's Portal Weave, and was released from his hand in a small blast directed by a snap towards an empty section of the room. Then it stowed back into his core. In only a second's time a stable portal opened to a painfully sunny and scorchingly hot land, a burnt land. Turning to Jay and kneeling down in front of him, he spoke. "I need your skills to make today go smoothly, but today will be the last day that I, or anyone else, will ask you to do these things. You shouldn't do certain things again until you're an adult and have been better trained, Other things you'll never do again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle Rhodey. I understand." While he didn't mind helping his uncle to accomplish his goals, Jay liked that his uncle was trying to distance him from Jarvis. It was very appreciated. He wondered if he'd ever be locked down again and hoped not. The muscles in his back moved uncomfortably as he shifted them in a search for comfort.

"Good," turning next to the monarchs, James' added, "Let's finish up here and get underway."

The three monarchs were caught in the surprise of what they just saw. None of them could open a portal so quickly, particularly not an interplanetary portal. Previously, James' honor had impressed them, now it was his abilities which drew their attention. None of them recognized the spell that he used and wanted to learn it immediately. Similarly, none of them wanted to come across like they were interrogating him, but each of them was intensely curious. It was Frigga who spoke first of the three of them when she asked her question. "What manner of portal spell is that?"

"It's a Janni's Portal Weave. Loki taught it to me. She says that it's the most stable of all the temporary portals, and I can't disagree." A smile touched James face. "Loki is a very good teacher."

"Yes, she is." Frigga couldn't disagree. Her child taught her many things yesterday and had many more things to impart. She couldn't wait to spend the time with Loki to learn those things.