Chapter 7.

"Why did you leave the Palace unprotected?" Loki yelled.

No one said a word. Volstagg sat in silence, eyes downcast; Sif had finished bandaging her head to cover a gash on her brow and sat leaning her elbows on a table, while Hogun lay on a makeshift bed, conscious but unable to move, as Fandral and Darcy tended to his wounded chest.

"What about the King and the Queen?" Loki asked, even when he was afraid of the answer.

"We don't know," said Sif, staring into the void. "The Queen had a vision of the attack just as Thor crossed the Bifrost, but didn't want to interfere on his mission, so she called for her Vanir kin for help. She also ordered all those unable to fight to take refuge inside the Palace. Heimdall tried to activate the shield from the Observatory as soon as everyone was inside, but his outpost was the first place they attacked. Then the Queen and her kin casted a protective spell to substitute the original one, although we don't know how much longer it will last, or for how long our troops will resist, even though Commander Tyr was at the front. The army…"

She choked with the emotion. Thor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but her hands clenched in silent fury. They were had gathered inside Jane's laboratory at Loki's request: it would do no good having so many outsiders in a small town at the same time, especially when many townspeople were excitedly discussing that strange phenomenon they had witnessed in the distance.

"Heimdall called for us," said Volstagg. "We thought it was because he needed help, but he was alone at the Observatory. They had damaged it but it could stand for a last travel, and he tasked us with finding Thor. He threw us through the portal as the Frost Giants gathered at the doors, spawned from who knows where, and he alone stood to fight them."

He hid his face behind his hand in weariness. Dying in battle was an honor for an Asgardian, while leaving a comrade to face a certain death was deemed as a sign of cowardice.

According to Thor and his friends, not too long after Laufey had declared war on Asgard, Odin had given orders to Heimdall not to let anyone use the Bifrost; Thor had confronted the King about Loki's fate and demanded to bring him back. Thor didn't give many details, but Loki knew that it hadn't been gentle. As a result of the strain and him having postponed his rest for too long, Odin fell into the Odinsleep, leaving Thor as temporary regent.

Thor tried carrying out diplomatic conversations in an attempt to keep war at bay, but Laufey's people had murdered each messenger they sent, the last one returning home barely alive, with just enough breath to tell Thor that Laufey would crush every Asgardian and that he would take what was his.

After that, the sighting of Frost Giants inside Asgard was more and more frequent. They appeared seemingly from nowhere and attacked people on their very homes, butchering most of the household and their animals, to then vanish without a trace. Worry began to spread among the people, who felt defenseless before an enemy who attacked them so cowardly.

That was why Thor wanted Loki to be back at their home; the Queen had a deep knowledge about magic but it was Loki the one who experimented the most with arcane powers, and Thor thought that he could be the one to help protecting Asgard.

But a day after Thor had left his home there had been a massive attack: An unknown force had appeared on the sky and started bombarding the city while the Frost Giants, with Laufey at the head, had entered into the city to raze it.

Loki listened to the story with a somber expression. Asgard wasn't his home anymore and he was sure that, if they knew that they had a Frost Giant among them, they wouldn't doubt about killing him on the spot. But still, listening to what had happened put a weight on his chest very difficult to bear.

Ragnarok was a reality that every Asgardian lived with. Some day everything would return to chaos to start the Universe anew, but Loki never agreed with the philosophy of staying idle while everything came down crashing around you.

Jane was busy analyzing the data she had gathered that last time, which she said had been exactly what she needed for her investigation. She was so absorbed that she didn't notice Loki standing behind her until he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Could we build an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" he whispered to her.

"Ah, well," she stammered, startled by him. "In theory, yes, but we need a gigantic power source to open a portal. I don't know where we could find such a thing."

Loki pondered his options. He had planned to instigate Midgardians to "discover" a viable source of energy for an artificial wormhole, developing Stark's arc reactors' technology even further; said process would have taken some years, which wouldn't have supposed a direct interference with their development. Now things had changed: If Asgard fell, the Nine Realms would go down with it. Though Stark's technology would still be useful, they needed a more potent source, and Loki remembered having read about such a thing.

But first he needed to secure the technology.

"If I could get your power source and the instruments," he said aloud. "Could you construct a portal?"

Thor and the others looked at him suddenly.

"Um…" Jane's cheeks reddened at the unexpected attention. "I suppose I could, but I would need help, not to talk about what SHIELD would say about it."

"Don't worry about them for now," he waved his hand dismissively.

"Easy for you to say," she replied. "It was you who put me under their command."

"It was this or losing your investigation for good," Loki said as he went for his coat. "And don't think they didn't try to put a leash on me too."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning I have a reunion with Stark's CEO. It's in California, so I'd better be going."

"I can take you there," said Thor. "It will be faster than any transportation. Tell me how many miles and which direction."

"No one should see you," Loki argued. "In fact, no one should see ANY of you, or panic would spread and you might put these two lovely ladies in danger."

"No one will see me," Thor insisted. "Time is on the essence, brother!"

"You listened to me before," Loki said calmly. "Now listen to me again. Mother is strong and she has her kin with her. You are all battered and weary, and resting will do you good now that we don't have any healing stone."

But as he went to the car, Thor's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Brother, what have you planned?"

"Why? Do you suspect me?"

"No, I…" Thor seemed at a loss for words. "You not always confided in me with your strategies, but-"

"I did, Thor. Every single time before entering battle. But you hardly ever paid any attention."

"I know," he shook his head. "Now I wish to know what you will do."

"Not this time," Loki said, turning away.

But Thor grabbed him again by the shoulders and forced Loki to look at him in the eye.

"You said you wanted to rule Midgard," he said. "You were always prone to mischief, but not this. This is not you, brother."

"My current concern," Loki said curtly, removing Thor's hands from his coat's lapels. "Is getting all of you off to any allied Realm. Beyond that I have no further interest on what happens with you or with Asgard, and you would do well not meddling in Midgardian affairs."

Thor's glance hardened at those words. Loki could see how he clenched his jaw and his fists, but neither man said anything more.

He drove without a single glance to the rearview until Puente Antiguo was a dot on the horizon.