Deirfiúr

(Alternative Universe to Nightingale)

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

During his exile Thor realizes something is terribly wrong with his brother, which prompts him to look up the one person he believes can help, someone no one but him and Loki himself know exists: his sister, his brother's wife... The two of them together just might be able to save the one they care for most.

Sister

Only one person knew about me, about us; so when he asked for help I couldn't say no.

"Today Father announced who will be taking over as King of Asgard while he goes into the Odinsleep." Loki informed me.

I kept my silence, knowing it was better to give him time to talk and just listen. Maybe that was all he truly needed, for someone to listen to him. And if not, when the moment came, I would try to do what was needed.

"It was Thor, obviously." Loki went on, his voice turning mocking briefly. "Thor Odinson, the man who can do no wrong…as if." He snorted, before talking normally once again. The Councilors, and other assorted high members of the Asgardian Court seemed to be of the belief that there was never any other option. Even the possibility of me ever ascending to the throne never so much as crossed their minds!"

"I thought you once told me you disliked the idea of being King…" I commented softly. "Something about considering it too boring…"

"Of course I do! All the pomp and circumstance…" He shook his head. "Not to my liking, I'm more the 'working behind the scene' kind of guy. Still, what angers me is that they never so much as considered the possibility that I might be as deserving of the throne as Thor. It's like… like I don't exist, maybe they think I shouldn't."

"Those who believe that are ignorant beings and you shouldn't bother with them Loki. If they cannot see your worth it's their loss. They're idiots."

"Wonder what they would think if a Midgardian ever told them that to their face." He snorted.

"I would if I could, not that I think it would mean much to them."

"No, it wouldn't. And that's yet another area where their ignorance shows. And in this case, not only the councilors', but also Thor's and Father's…"

We got off topic for a while, talking about the Asgardians' disregard for us Midgardians and our world, their apparent disapproval for any kind of connection between our worlds (which gave me an idea of just how hard a time we were gonna have when our connection was discovered; because I knew better than to think we could hide forever).

I tried to be patient, I really did, but eventually I had to push us both back to the original topic: Thor's upcoming coronation … and while I knew Loki never expected to get the throne, I still couldn't help but feel frustrated for him. He would be such an amazing King… I was sure of it. While he might not appear to be the 'nicest' person, he was kind, honorable, fair, he knew the political game like no one else I had ever known and had both the courage and the wits to do whatever it took to protect those he saw as deserving of his care and protection.

"So…if Thor being the heir isn't what's truly bothering you, what is it?" I tried to be kind even as I pushed for us to return to the main topic of conversation.

"First of all. I don't think Thor is ready. He's reckless, arrogant, temperamental, prone to acting before thinking. Who knows what kind of disasters he might bring upon Asgard if he becomes King as he is right now!"

"Have you shared your thoughts with your father, or Thor himself?"

"Ha!" Loki snorted. "Thor has little respect of my opinions whenever I'm not getting him and his friends out of mortal danger, even after I've just done so…" He shook his head. "And Father… if he trusted me in any way we wouldn't be in this situation, would we?"

I didn't say a word, waiting for him to go on, it seemed like we were finally reaching the crux of the matter, at last…

"I have no wish to be King, you know that. I always thought that one day Thor would ascend to the throne and I would be standing there to support him…maybe I could be his Head Advisor, or something like that."

"The position would fit you well." I agreed.

"Yeah well…seeing as he practically never listens to me, I'm not so sure…but that's not the point. When we were children, Father always said Thor and I were princes, both with equal right to the throne, both born to be Kings…why then does he disregard me so easily when the time comes for him to actually choose someone to take the throne? I don't wish to be King, I wish for my father to believe that I could do it if I had to!"

That, there it was, the core of everything: Loki wanted Odin to believe in him…

"Oh Loki…" I whispered, taking his hands in mine, trying to be as comforting as I could. "I'm no Asgardian, no one important who could possibly say anything to the Allfather to convince him to open his eyes and see what he's missing. He's blind if he doesn't realize the value you have. You might not be a warrior like Thor is, but your magic, and your cleverness, and your heart…you are a wonderful man Loki, and I truly believe your father will see it one day. Just give him time. A day will come when you will get the chance to prove yourself and your father will realize how amazing his second son is…"

Angels and Spirits above! If I had only know what would be happening in the following days, the way my words would be twisted and torn in the face of an impossible situation, a tragedy of immeasurable proportions…

xXx

I had finished my classes, handed in my last paper the night before Loki dropped in on my dorm room and we had the rather tense chat regarding Thor's future coronation. While I knew a few students chose to stay during the month before the proper graduation, either because it was easier for them or just so they could spend the time with friends and partying… truth was I had never made that many friends, that many attachments really. While I got a long fairly well with a few students and a handful of professors I had no illusion about keeping in touch with them on the long run. While I didn't actually have a plan on what might be in my future, I still didn't believe it included staying much longer in or around Norwich University.

So I took a plane back to Maine and I waited… I wasn't even sure what I was waiting for exactly. For Loki to return? Surely. For him to have succeeded in his self-imposed mission of stopping Thor from becoming King? I wasn't sure. I agreed completely with him that the Thunderer could not become King yet, he just wasn't ready. But I was afraid of the lengths my love might be willing to go to stop the coronation from happening. I knew him too well, and when he believed he was right, nothing could stop him. What if he took things too far and something happened to him? If something went wrong in his plans, impossible as it might seem with how great a strategist he was. Or worse even, what if Odin discovered what he was doing and turned against him? Despite the great praise some individuals like Thor might have to say about the Allfather, I have better knowledge than most about the kind of monster he could be, thanks in part to Loki, and in part to my own studies of Norse mythology.

In the end I just prayed Loki would return to me, no matter when, or how, just that he would somehow find his way back to me.

Things didn't actually work in any way I'd expected, or hoped for them to. I did get Loki back, eventually, though not in any way I could have even considered, it all began with a phone call, on the fifth day after Loki's last visit (the day before Thor's supposed-coronation). I'd been growing progressively tenser and more stressed out as the week passed, as I kept waiting for any sign of Loki and received none. And I could sense, every day and even more acutely every night, that something was wrong. I'd even begun to pick up on the rumors, mostly on certain forums online, that something was going on in the South, somewhere in New Mexico. Some kind of meteor or broken piece of a satellite, small but so strong no one could pick it up... and then my phone rang that morning...

"Hello...?" I answered, unsure.

While I always carried my mobile with me, I hardly ever used it. It's not like I had that many friends, and my aunt and I had a specific routine, if anything changed she usually knew it with enough time to let me know in person, or leave a post-it somewhere I would find it (and it's not like she could use her own cel inside the hospital). So my phone was mostly for emergencies, which is probably a good way to classify what happened with that call...

"Hello is this... oh lord this is totally crazy..." A female voice on the other side of the line began mumbling to herself.

I considered hanging up, but then changed my mind when thinking how few people actually had my number, and the possibilities each of them could have to be calling me, or having someone else do so... still, I never imagined what actually happened.

"Is this Deirfiúr?" She finally asked directly.

The word, even in the awfully-mispronounced and heavily-accented voice of the American woman who obviously knew nothing about Irish (language, or culture), was enough to raise all kinds of red flags inside my head. Only one person called me that...

"What is going on?" I asked in a dead-serious tone. "Who are you miss? Because there is only one person in the universe who calls me that and..."

And I did not know. What the hell was going on?!

"My name is Jane Foster, I'm in New Mexico." The woman on the other side of the line answered slowly. "I'm a Dr. in Astrophysics. And... I swear to you, that as insane as this sounds, I have a man here with me, he gave me your number, asked me to call you, said you would understand if I called you by that word, I..."

"What the hell is Thor doing in New Mexico?!" I blurted out before I was fully conscious of my own words.

Really, I was just too shocked to fully process things in that moment. But, it really had to be Thor. Because he was the only one who called me Deifiúr, the Irish word for sister...

"Oh, so he's not crazy then." Jane actually sounded relieved. "I was beginning to think I was making a fool of myself."

"You're not." I told her. "I am Deifiúr, though you may call me Silbhé if you wish, for that is my actual name, Silbhé Salani. Deirfiúr is just what Thor calls me." I made a pause before adding. "I still don't understand, what the hell is going on? Why is Thor there with you?"

"I..." She sounded unsure. "Mind if I put you on speaker?"

"Go ahead." I said right away.

Maybe it would make things easier. At least I would be able to talk to Thor then. The whole call was stressing the hell out of me!

"Deifiúr!" I heard the blonde's boisterous voice through the phone. "Are you there?"

"I am here Thor." I told him, holding the phone a certain distance from my ear so as not to go deaf with his loud tone. "What is going on? Are you alright?"

"I am well." He answered, though somehow much more quietly than before.

"Thor, what is going on?" I insisted. "Who is this woman you asked to call me? Why did you even do that? You know my existence is supposed to be a secret. Maverick explained all this to you when you found us out. You promised to protect our secrets!"

"It is true I made that promise, and it was one I never intend to break, you must believe that." He said in a very serious tone. "But things have happened. You gave me that number to memorize in case of an emergency... said I could use it to find you if I ever truly needed your help."

"And you do so now." I finished for him. "Is this connected to you being here on Midgard, which you still haven't explained... especially what exactly you're doing in New Mexico of all places!"

"I need your help, that is true." Thor agreed readily. "But even more so I strongly believe my brother needs the help of us both." He made a pause before adding in his most somber tone yet: "Something is terribly wrong with my brother, Nightingale, Deirfiúr..."

I didn't need him to say anything else. That was enough.

"I'll take the first plane I can catch." I addressed Jane next. "Dr. Foster, where are you exactly?"

"Puente Antiguo, New Mexico." The woman told me through the phone. "I really don't think there are any commercial planes that can bring you here, Miss Salani."

"Then I'll get a plane to the closest location possible, and then a cab or a bus, or whatever else I need to." I abruptly remembered my aunt. "I'll just need to settle some personal matters first, just so no one goes looking for me while I'm away. I will be there tomorrow at the latest."

"Deifiúr..." I heard Thor call in a low voice.

"I know you don't like it Thor, and I still have no idea what exactly is wrong with my match." I reminded him. "But I suppose that's not the kind of thing we should be talking about on an open line... Like I said, I'll be there tomorrow." I made a pause before doing my best to reassure him, and myself. "Thor, whatever is wrong, we will make it right, you'll see... deartháir..."

"I trust you deirfiúr..." He agreed.

I snapped my phone close then, on the move before I was fully conscious of it. I needed to pack a bag, buy plane tickets, maybe bus tickets, and arrange for a taxi or whatever else I needed to get into Puente Antiguo proper... I also needed to get in touch with Aunt Kathryn so she wouldn't arrive to the house and just find me gone...

It was an absolute mess, my stress not gone at all, some would say it only got worse after the call. And yet, the fact that I was actually doing something about it rather than just sitting, waiting for things to just happen, it helped.

xXx

Things couldn't be done as fast as I would have liked, though a part of me had already expected that and planned ahead, it's why I'd told them I would arrive until the next day. In the end the best I found was a nine hour flight with two hour-long layovers, first in Chicago and then in Denver. I

arrived in Santa Fe late that night.

I had booked a room in a small bed and breakfast close to the airport, though I hardly slept a wink, worried as I was for my match and whatever had made Thor end up in Puente Antiguo of all places (that town was so small it didn't even appear in most maps!). I also worried for the things I kept sensing through my bond with Loki, it made everything harder. I wanted to be able to help, I wanted to at least know what the hell was wrong! But like I'd told Thor, those weren't the kind of things we could talk about on the phone. Not with all the paranoid people in high levels of certain secret agencies that liked eavesdropping on everyone's business and called it something they 'needed to do for national security'.

The next morning I was up way too-early (part of hardly being able to sleep). I took a long bath in an attempt to force myself to relax (though it didn't work very well), then, after having some of the breakfast the place offered, I took my unpacked bag and hailed a cab. I didn't even bother trying to negotiate the fare to Puente Antiguo, just gave the driver what he wanted (which I was quite sure was way too high even for the distance) and waited.

After a few hours we finally made it to Puente Antiguo. Thankfully the town was small enough that the first person I asked for Dr. Foster's whereabouts (a young waitress in what looked like the only cafe in town) knew where I needed to go; it wasn't even that far away. I could make it there walking, a small (relatively) satchel slung over my shoulder; I had enough clothes for a week or so. On my other shoulder I had a much smaller bag with my most precious possessions.

In no time at all I was standing in front of what, judging by all the glass walls, I imagined it must have been a store at some point.

"Hello?" I called approaching the closed doors. "Anybody here?"

"Who are you?" A voice called suddenly from a side.

I turned to see a tall curvy brunette in simple washed-jeans and a loose top, walking towards me from a side of the building.

"I ask again." She repeated, noticing my stare. "Who are you? What are you doing here? You're not with those government thieves, are you?"

"Government thieves?" I was confused by that. "No, I'm with no government. My name is Silbhé Salani..." When that didn't seem to get a response I chose to use the other name. "Deirfiúr..."

"So that's how it's pronounced!" She cried out brightly. "I had a feeling Jane had been butchering that word..." She shook her head. "What language is it in anyway?"

"Irish..." I answered, not fully paying attention to the question. "Can you lead me to Dr. Foster? I need to talk to her and... a friend."

"Yes, they told me you were Thor's friend." The brunette nodded, waving at me.

I followed, going around the closed building, only to find a trailer behind it, apparently where they were living in that moment. As the brunette babbled on about this and that (I wasn't fully paying attention), the one thing I noticed was the repeated mention of two people: Jane and Thor, I couldn't help but wonder how much she knew. And if she knew anything at all, why? I knew very well, better than probably anyone else in the world, the consequences of mortals knowing the truth about those from Asgard... there was a reason why my existence had been kept a secret by my Maverick, why we'd emphasized so much on the need for that secrecy when Thor found us out when I was seventeen... and yet something had happened. Something serious enough he had gotten someone to call my number, and he'd asked me to be there...

"Deirfiúr!" Thor's loud call brought me out of my thoughts immediately.

I dropped my satchel automatically, just in time because the next thing I knew I was being spun around in a wide arc, held up by Thor's strong arms.

"Put me down Thor!" I demanded, unable to fully keep myself from giggling at his antics.

Really, I wasn't that surprised, it wasn't like his reception was anything new. He'd done the exact same thing every time we met; from the second time at least, when he actually knew who I was. The first had been another matter entirely.

"Thor?" I heard a voice call hesitantly from behind, immediately connecting it to the woman who'd phoned me the day before: Dr. Foster.

Jane Foster was a woman who looked to be in her late-twenties, with chocolate eyes and slightly-wavy light-brown hair that reached her shoulder-blades. Dressed in simple, comfortable clothes for the New Mexico dessert. It didn't take a genius to recognize the glint of jealousy in her eyes when she noticed the effusiveness in Thor's greeting.

"Who are you?" An older man asked as he stepped beside Dr. Foster.

I was sure I wasn't imagining his defensive tone. I wondered if it was because of the young doctor by his side, his stance did show a certain protectiveness over her; or was it that he simply considered me an outsider and was taking precautions. Considering the conditions they were living in, the abandoned-look of the building we'd gone around, and the agents I was quite sure I hadn't hallucinated were going around the town... maybe he wasn't exactly wrong... still I could not help but feel offended at his tone.

"I thought the polite thing to do was to introduce yourself before going around demanding other people's names." I couldn't help my words, or the biting tone.

"My friends! It's alright, she's to be trusted." Thor assured them before turning to me. "This are my new friends: Eric Selvig, Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster." He turned to them yet again. "My friends! This is my sister, Nightingale!"

"Sister/Nightingale?" All three of them asked at the same time.

"Is that what D...De... that word, means?" Darcy asked suddenly, connecting the dots.

"Deirfiúr." I pronounced it carefully so she noticed the right way. "And yes, like I told you before, it's Irish, and it means sister."

"Why Irish?" Jane asked, her curiosity overriding the jealousy. "I thought... well, that they were connected with the Norse and all that..."

"They are, the Irish is because of me." I clarified. "My mother was Irish. She died when I was three and I chose to learn the language from a young age as a way to honor her memory." I remembered something right then and added. "By the way, he might call me Nightingale. But I'm actually human, my name is Silbhé Salani."

"The genius girl from Norwich!" Darcy cried out unexpectedly.

"Yes..." I murmured, turning to look at her, wondering how she knew that.

"Every university knows about you." Darcy told me. "They say no one has finished their studies as fast as you did, at least not in your specialties."

I shrugged. I didn't care much about such comments, to be honest. There were others I thought deserved the title of genius far more than I did, like Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, to name but a few.

"University...?" Dr. Selvig repeated, confused. "But you're just a child."

"I am small, but you must know doctor, that appearances can be deceiving." I commented. "Take Thor here as an example, he's over a thousand years old, yet hardly looks a day over thirty. And about me, before you ask, I'm actually nineteen."

"So young..." He muttered yet again.

He said it so low it was obvious I wasn't actually meant to hear him, so I pretended not to.

"Now that we're done with the pleasantries..." I murmured as I turned to Thor, who still stood beside me. "What is wrong with my husband?"

That just seemed to light them all up again.

"Husband?!" It was Darcy who shrieked the loudest at the revelation.

"But you're just nineteen..." Selvig muttered, just as shocked.

"And I've been married for all of one week..." I answered with a tired sigh. "I haven't even been on my honeymoon yet!" Yet again I focused on Thor. "I should be on that right now. So tell me, why are you here on Midgard, with a diminished aura, while my husband is up there doing... whatever the hell it is he's doing instead of being here with me, like a match ought to be. I know something happened Thor, something bad, I can feel it inside me..." I pressed a fist against my chest. "So tell me what it is!"

It was true, every single word I'd just said. Loki and I had gone through the Ancient Bonding ceremony with Thor as our sole witness the day before the coronation was to take place. The blonde had promised that when he had the throne he would sanction our marriage and make sure the council gave me the chance to go through the trials and become a goddess myself. Loki and I didn't believe it would be that simple, but were thankful to Thor for his intentions all the same. A part of me, though, did hope such a thing could be true.

Our wedding night was the last night I spent in the apartment I'd been renting since moving out of the in-campus dorms (when I was sixteen). Loki had woken me before dawn in the morning and after some cuddling left; he'd wanted to let me sleep longer, but the last thing I wanted was to wake up the morning after my wedding alone. Even if it wasn't exactly legal in either of our realms just yet, we were bonded, we could feel it...

Thor's involvement in the whole thing (beyond his good intentions) was harder to explain. He'd known about me since I was seventeen. Apparently Sif had noticed Loki acting suspiciously and informed the Thunderer about it, he'd told her to leave his brother alone, only to then follow the sorcerer himself. It was a day Loki had opted to travel the Hidden Roads rather than the Shadow Paths; he did it ever-so-often both so he wouldn't forget them, to keep practicing that method of travel, and especially when he wanted to save some energy.

Thankfully Thor had chosen to confront his brother and I rather than tell his father on us. We'd somehow managed to impress upon him the importance of no one else on Asgard knowing about me, the kind of consequences that would fall upon me if it was ever known... and in the end, Thor had chosen to trust his brother, he said nothing. Still, he apparently liked feeling that his brother trusted him, and insisted on Loki having someone to talk to about me, and since they couldn't say my real name in public, they would call me Nightingale, the name my love had chosen for me when I was just nine-years-old and so absolutely fascinated with the birds that sung and flew around the rose-bushes in my garden.

The visits continued; most times only Loki visited me, but there were times when Thor insisted on tagging along, he saw me as a close friend as well and it just grew when Loki and I became serious about each other (Thor had something to do with that, pushing us to confessing, using a wit neither of us believed he possessed!). It was near the end of one such visit that I'd gotten Thor to memorize my cell-phone number in case of an emergency. I knew the chances of it ever being necessary were so small as to be nearly-irrelevant; yet I wanted to be prepared, I also saw it as a way of showing Thor I would be there if he ever needed me, that I wanted to be his friend, part of his family too, and not just Loki's.

As it turned out, it was a really good idea to give Thor that number... even if I still did not know why it had taken him four days to call me!

The evening of our ceremony Thor had insisted that he be allowed to call me something else, something to show our connection, to show that I was family... it was my match's idea to use the very word he wanted: sister, but in a language it was unlikely anyone in Asgard would know. Thor seemed to like it specially, said it made him feel close to us... It was also why I called him deartháir, brother, in the very same language.

"You're married to his brother..." Jane murmured in sudden understanding, the jealousy finally disappearing completely from her eyes.

"Yes, I am married to his brother, Loki." I told her absent-minded, my full focus still on my brother. "Tell me what happened!"

The look in his eyes, the way he kept opening his mouth and then closing it again told me one thing: he did not know how to explain; so after we stared at each other for a while, he suddenly lowered his head, just enough to press our foreheads together.

I was just beginning to learn magic, and Thor knew nothing of the art, but we were connected n a certain way, through Loki, and that, compounded by his desire to share his own memories and mine to know what had happened, seemed to be all that was needed. The exchange wasn't clean or easy, nothing like when Loki did it; it was harsh, the memories full of sharp edges, harsh impacts of emotion and at times entangled mixes of what-is/could-have-been/should-have-been. Still, I managed to get a clear enough picture of what had happened that day, after my match had left me to attend his brother's coronation... as well as dozens of hints of what had happened in the almost-week since.

"I have just one question, Thor..." I told him in a whisper, holding his head against mine. "Do you know why Loki did what he did?"

"I... I do... I jus..." He let out a breath, defeated, before finally admitting. "He thinks... no, he knows I'm not ready to be King." He closed his eyes in shame. "He knew it, even when I refused to admit it, when Father refused to see it... he knew."

"Yes, he did." I nodded.

"And you did as well." He guessed easily enough.

"I did." I answered with no hesitation.

"Yet you kept silent on the matter..." He only half-reproached me.

"It wasn't my place." I told him quietly yet purposefully. "Whatever my thoughts might have been on the matter, my opinion held no weight. And even Loki's... the Allfather refused to listen to him." I shook my head. "You must understand Thor, that Loki knows you're meant to be King, you are the heir..."

"I shouldn't be." Thor interrupted me. "My brother is as much a prince of Asgard as I am, and far more deserving of the throne than I'll ever be..."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, brother..." I told him with a small smile. "We didn't think you to be ready now, but that doesn't mean you'll never be... No, you'll be King, I'm sure one day you'll be a good King. But right now you're just not ready, because you aren't truly interested in being King, not really, not yet."

He didn't even try to deny what I was saying.

"The question now is... where do we go from here?" I voiced what I knew was in both of our minds. "How do we save Loki?"

"I don't know." He admitted quietly, burying his face in my neck. "It's why I asked Lady Jane to call you. I want to save my brother, I do... but I don't know how..."

"We'll find a way Thor, I promise you." I told him immediately.

I meant it. Neither of us had any idea how, but we would do it, if it was the last thing we did, we would save Loki...

xXx

We spent most of the day coming up with all kind of plans, only to scrap them up sooner or later. Thor had been rendered powerless, mortal, and thus had no way of returning on Asgard on his own; and while he might accept me as his sister and Loki's match, to the rest of the Aesir I would simply be a mortal girl who knew far more than she should.

"I just don't understand, why all the secrecy?" Darcy asked at one point.

I had explained my history, my bond with Loki and later on with Thor. I had just given them the cliff-notes version, of course, some things were simply too personal or complicated to explain properly. Though I did share how Loki had saved my life when I was fourteen and dying from leukemia... I also informed them (vaguely) that as a consequence of that very act if one of us died, so would the other. Neither of them understood why, but they didn't question it either, probably thought that the magic involved made anything possible.

"There is a law in Asgard." I explained quietly. "While they consider our world to be under their protection, they also think we should stay separated from the other realms, and their inhabitants. This..." I signaled all around us. "Connecting with one of them, knowing the truth about them, goes against those rules."

"What does that mean, for us?" Jane asked, facing Thor.

"I don't know..." Thor murmured evasively.

I couldn't help it, I snorted.

"Is he lying?" Jane asked, turning to me next.

"Not exactly." I let out a breath. "I don't know if Thor really doesn't know, doesn't want to admit it, or if he thinks that the circumstances might change things..." I shook my head. "I have been Loki's friend for eight years now and the only person who's ever found out about our friendship is Thor. And we didn't plan on that. Loki got careless, Sif noticed something odd and told Thor, who decided to follow Loki. We were incredibly fortunate that Thor chose to confront us rather than accuse us with the Allfather, or the council... more so that he agreed to keep the secret of my existence." I took a deep breath before elaborating. "There is a spell on me, Loki placed it the third time we met. It occludes me, hides me from prying eyes, like those of Heimdall and the King of Asgard. No matter how much they look for me, they won't find me, and they don't have a reason to even do that, as they don't know about me!"

"What would happen if they learnt about you?" Jane insisted. "If they'd found out about you at any point during the last eight years?"

"Best-case scenario? I would lose all memory I have related to Loki." I deadpanned.

"But that's insane!" Darcy blurted out. "All those years of memories..."

The two women turned sharply to look at Thor, their eyes demanding he deny what I'd just said, but he didn't, he couldn't, and he knew it.

"What you need to understand is that as wonderful as some Asgardians might be, like Thor and Loki, to most of them we humans are... nothing." I shrugged almost carelessly. "They see us as lesser beings. Because we don't live as long as they do, because we don't have the technology, magic, science, power, they do..." I shook my head. "To them, going into our heads and ripping a few years worth of memories would be next to nothing..."

"That's why you sounded so hesitant when I called..." Jane understood abruptly. "No one was supposed to know about you, and suddenly there I am, calling your number, babbling about nothing and everything, and calling you by a name that's only used by a man who wasn't even supposed to be in this world. You must have been shocked... scared."

"I was terrified." I admitted freely. "Not exactly because of your call, but because I knew that Thor would only do something like that if the need was dire. I gave him my number precisely in case of an emergency." I sighed. "I was terrified, still am; because something is happening to my beloved and neither of us is there to help him..."

That marked the end to our tangential talk; we went back to offering and scrapping plans, which we continued doing for the rest of the day. Selvig left at some point, apparently he was there for the science, not the magic; also, the risk of ending up as collateral damage if something happened didn't exactly push him into wanting to stay.

He tried to convince Jane and Darcy to leave with him, but they refused, declaring themselves to be too invested already. Jane especially. I knew it then, she loved Thor, truly, I wondered how that would turn out. While Loki and I were the proof that it was possible for people of different realms to love one another, the technically-illegal status of our union also showed that it wasn't easy, and no amount of love was guarantee that others wouldn't try (and succeed) to interfere, to ruin things for us.

When night came I fell asleep in the sofa, the gals offered me the bed, as a guest, but I was small enough to fit in the sofa. Jane and Darcy shared the bed, while Thor slept on the floor. None of us saw Selvig again that night.

xXx

The next morning was perhaps the oddest I'd ever been through in my life. I got dressed in some of the most comfortable clothes I had with me: light-blue jeans, a white thin-strapped top, a short-sleeved translucent blouse with blue flowers printed and white flats.

Since I didn't like eggs, or coffee, but I didn't want to impose on my hostess, I decided the easiest way of handling things was to offer help. I ended up making some french toast and chocolate-milk (I had a small jar of powdered cocoa in my bag, one thing I carried whenever I traveled, as most B&Bs did not offer chocolate as a breakfast-drink, and it was my favorite).

At some point during breakfast I felt something like a rush of energy running beneath my skin; like a sort of warning of power, and magic. Thor, in his mortal condition, couldn't sense it, and he didn't notice when I stiffened briefly; since I had no idea what the feeling meant exactly, I chose not to say a word about it.

I knew we still needed to make plans, especially since even after talking practically all day the previous day we'd been unable to reach any kind of actual plan; but I was tired. The whole situation was stressing me out greatly, so I decided to step out, go for a walk. I informed Darcy quietly of my intentions and then left, only half hearing Selvig (who had met us for breakfast that morning) trying to explain to Jane that the scientific community was unlikely to ever accept her discoveries about other realms.

I walked for a while, eventually finding myself in what I guessed must be outskirts of town, for there was no one nearby. I sat on an old-looking fence, pulled my black-jade flute out of the cloth bag that was, as always, on my shoulder, and began playing a random tune. It was something I did when I was nervous, I either played something on my flute, or sang; but since singing tended to draw more attention to myself than just playing an instrument, I chose the flute.

I didn't know how much time I spent like that when, abruptly, I felt once again the rush of power beneath my skin; somewhat harsher than the first time. I reacted instinctively, turning in the direction I could sense the echo of power coming from. I saw the sky darkening, a flash of light hitting the sandy ground, creating a pillar of dust and wind.

For a few seconds nothing else happened. I could see the impact site clearing up, but was too far away and at a wrong angle to properly see what may be going on... until the explosion happened. There was no way I couldn't have seen that. It sent me running. Even if I didn't actually know what was going on, I knew it was bad, and that was enough.

As I began seeing people once again it occurred to me that I needed to get them away, if whatever had caused that explosion was moving towards us (and I didn't think it was a coincidence, it had to be connected to Thor somehow...) then the civilians were at risk.

At first no one took me seriously. Probably thought I was too young to be giving anyone orders, especially when I was telling them to drop whatever they were doing and leave... then the first explosion shook the town and a scream was heard... everyone started running then. A few people actually tried to get me to run with them, but I refused, instead moving in the opposite direction, towards the center of the town, to where I knew Thor, Jane and the others to be.

I was running down an empty street when I first caught site of what was causing the terrible destruction. A huge robot-like creature I could identify from the stories Loki had told me of his youth, the final guardian of Odin's Weapon's Vault: the Destroyer. What the hell was a being such as that doing on Earth?! Only the King was supposed to be able to command it, and according to what Thor had shown me, Loki was King so... what had happened?! I was not an idiot, or a fool, I could connect the dots. The logical answer to my question was that Loki had sent the Destroyer, but why? Loki wasn't the kind who murdered his own brother? As annoying as Thor might be at times, and as upset as my love might get with him sometimes, I knew how much my match truly loved the thunderer... so what had happened?!

I was so lost in my pondering it took several seconds for me to notice the two people running in my direction, a woman and a child, probably mother and son. They were trying to outrun the destruction and mayhem. An instant later I noticed the Destroyer shooting some kind of beem from its helm, it was enough to completely obliterate a building on a corner, the debris falling haphazardly all around; and one piece was about to fall over the mother and child...

I didn't think, I just reacted, running the few feet separating me from the two, with great effort (and probably a rush of adrenaline) I managed to half-pick-up, half-drag the boy, while at the same time push the mother before dropping with them behind a car.

For a second I could hear nothing but their screams. A second passed, then two, three... it took almost fifteen seconds for my brain to process that we were alright. The huge pieces of debris had hit the vehicle hard enough to half-destroy it, and other pieces had fallen all around us but, somehow, all three of us were unharmed...

"Thank you..." The mother said quietly, hugging the son against her chest.

I just nodded, still trying to process how lucky we had been, or maybe not... I couldn't help but rub the magical tattoo of the claddagh at the base of my left hand's ring finger.

After a few more seconds to recover our breathing the mother got on her feet, taking a second more to make sure we wouldn't be shot at, then she was running away, the boy in her arms. She didn't even try to ask me to go with her, I think a part of her knew I would refuse. Or maybe her priorities were just stronger. It didn't matter in the end.

I rounded the corner in time to see what had stalled the explosions for a little while: apparently the Destroyer had been distracted, by four people in what could only be Asgardian clothing. I did not need much time to guess who they were: Lady Sif and the Warriors Three... if the Destroyer explained the second rush of power I had felt, those four explained the first.

Still, they just weren't enough, as was proven the moment they were all thrown harshly around by the magical sentinel.

I walked down the main street, with little care for my personal safety though I didn't actually put myself in the way of danger. Something told me I would be safe, I had Loki's magic on my side, after all (even if I knew not how).

In the aftermath of the biggest explosion yet I approached the two closest to me. The raven-haired warrior-lady I imagined had to be Sif sounded almost delirious as she spoke to Thor.

"I will die a warrior's death." She stated in a tone that sounded way too-close to the conditioning I had seen in some war-movies. "Stories will be told of this day."

"There is no honor in a warrior throwing their life away." The words were out of my mouth before I was fully conscious of it.

Both Asgardians started, they obviously hadn't heard me approaching.

"Deifiúr!" Thor cried out in a mix of panic and relief. "You're here..."

"I'm here." I nodded. "Sorry if I worried you but I was on the other side of town..."

"You should have run..." He began.

"Says the one who's sitting here while a mammoth-sized magical sentinel is shooting death-rays all over the place..." I retorted sarcastically.

"Don't talk like that to the Prince of Asgard!" Sif chastised me, or at least try.

I couldn't help it, I rolled my eyes.

It looked like Sif was about to say something, until she suddenly closed her mouth with an almost audible snap, I could see the shift in her eyes the moment she recognized me.

"You...!" She cried out in shock.

"Me..." I drawled in return.

"You but..." She was beyond shocked by that point. "But this isn't possible...!"

Her rant was interrupted when Thor took hold of both of us, pushing us into a nearby alley to protect us from the next attack from the Destroyer, which blew up the car we'd been standing beside as we talked.

"Thank you..." I told him with a quiet nod.

Sif, rather than focus on that, returned her attention to me, and then to Thor.

"You said she was nothing!" She practically hissed at him.

"I never..." Thor obviously wasn't expecting the accusation.

"I think his exact words were 'nothing to worry about'." I clarified, remembering one of the many memories my love had shared with me. "And I'm not, really."

"You know things you shouldn't." Sif accused.

"At this point that should be the least of your worries." I deadpanned.

"Loki needs to be stopped." Sif growled.

I rolled my eyes again, and suddenly an idea jumped to the forefront of my mind. Thor must have noticed something either in my expression or my stance, for he questioned me immediately.

"You have a plan... or something?" He inquired.

"Or something." I half-grimaced, knowing he wouldn't like it one bit. "This will either work beautifully... or I'm absolutely insane."

I didn't give him a chance to try and stop me. I ran out of the alley and straight into the path of the metallic monster.

"STOP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, trying to push every hint of power I could feel inside me into my voice.

And, to everyone's absolute shock, the Destroyer actually stopped.

"That's enough Loki..." I said, loud but softening my voice from my earlier scream. "I... I don't know what is going on, but it's enough already. Enough people have been hurt. Please..."

For a few seconds nothing happened and Thor rushed to my side.

"You... you are..." He seemed to be too shocked to even string a sentence together.

"Hey! It worked." I pointed out with a smirk probably reminiscent of my match. "Beautifully... like I told you it would."

"It was also absolutely insane." He turned my words against me.

"Maybe that too." I shrugged.

Something unexpected happened then. It was as if the Destroyer were vibrating, then violently shaking, the helm turned firey yet again to our shock.

"What the he...?!" I refused to believe that Loki was about to attack us, truly!

Sif, who had followed Thor, began pulling him away, but I didn't move from my spot, I was just too shocked... I also refused to believe that my beloved was truly capable of attacking me straight on... he loved me, I knew he did!

"Deirfiúr!" Thor cried out the moment he noticed I hadn't followed.

The Destroyed shot his death-ray once more then, breaking and blackening the sandy ground inches from my feet, yet I remained completely unhurt.

An instant later Thor was back by my side.

"I'm fine..." I mumbled half-absent-minded to him.

"You're beyond insane, sister!" Thor hissed at me.

I didn't pay attention to his recrimination, all my attention focused on the out-of-control Destroyer... I understood it then.

"He's lost control." I whispered, barely loud enough to be heard.

"What...?" Thor either didn't hear, or refused to register my words.

"Loki has lost control of the Destroyer." I clarified.

"Is that even possible?" He asked.

"Only the King can control it... and if he doesn't fully believe himself to be the rightful King..." I didn't finish the sentence, I didn't need to.

And really, my beloved's full understanding and acceptance of Thor as the true heir to the throne of Asgard was going to ruin everything?!

"Loki is trying to kill us all!" The blonde Warrior I guessed had to be Fandral cried out as he approached us with the others.

"He's not in control anymore." Thor shook his head.

"What makes you so sure?" Hogun inquired, curious.

"He would never hurt us." Thor answered confidently.

"Thor, I know you always want to believe the best of your brother, but everything Loki has done in the last week..." Volstagg, injured as he was, began hesitantly.

"My brother loves me, I'm sure of that." He insisted. "Despite the misguided actions his unorthodox approach and good intentions might have driven him to in the last few days... also, he would never hurt her!"

"Her?!" It was then that all three men noticed me.

"A child?!" Fandral and Volstagg cried at once.

"I am no child..." I hissed back at them, standing to my full (if limited) height. "I am Nightingale, Loki's match and consort!"

The shock was such they didn't dare say a word.

"If we could focus back on what we must..." Sif muttered coldly.

She didn't like me, that much was obvious. I knew it was connected to her dislike for Loki. I also knew she had feelings for Thor and couldn't help but wonder how she would react to Jane and the obvious connection she and Thor shared... Still, she was right on one thing, we needed to focus on stopping the Destroyer before any lives were lost.

"Thor, you are the only one who has any hope at stopping it." I pointed out the obvious.

"That's impossible sister, I have no power." Thor reminded me unnecessarily. "I am but a mortal man right now..."

"Right now." I emphasized. "Doesn't mean that's what you are going to be for the rest of your existence." I took a breath and tried to explain as fast as I could. "Thor, you are an Odinson, the heir to the throne of Asgard. If Loki doesn't believe in himself enough to control the Destroyer, then it's up to you. It's true you have no power right now, but it doesn't have to stay like this. You can recover that power."

"Loki refused to do it." Fandral offered from a side.

"Because it's not up to him." I rolled my eyes, returning my attention to my brother. "I've seen what the Allfather did, how he took your power from you, that kind of magic... only you can undo it Thor. Only you can claim back what is rightfully yours."

"What do I do?" He was willing to believe me, either that or he just didn't have a better plan.

"Believe." I told him simply. "Believe that the power is yours and above all, that you deserve it. That's the bottom line. Believe... have faith..."

There had been more explosions during our conversation, I knew that. Thor's friends had also noticed that, as out of control as the Destroyer seemed to be, it also seemed to somehow be incapable of firing at me, something they took advantage of, staying close to where I stood. It was the only reason we'd been able to talk as long as we did. Still, it wasn't like we could just leave the thing to destroy the whole town! Spirits knew what it would do after Puente Antiguo was no more! And what about the people who had ran into the desert to protect themselves? We couldn't just stand back and allowed them to lose it all.

"It's up to you Thor." I insisted. "Believe..."

At first nothing happened. It seemed that Thor's acceptance that he wasn't yet ready to be King was somehow blocking him from reclaiming his birthright, or that's why I imagined. I could sense the struggle of power around him, and in him, as if he were calling on it with one hand, while with the other he kept pushing it away. It was somewhat annoying.

And then, the unexpected: a female cry pierced the sky: it was Jane.

"Jane!" Darcy and Selvig cried out at the same time.

We all turned right in time to see Jane on the ground, she was unable to move due to the ruins of a building, a blown up car and pieces of debris, which were pretty much blocking her on three sides, while on the other the Destroyer was approaching her.

Things then happened so fast I felt them more than actually saw them; and when it was all over I could barely keep myself from rolling my eyes: my love would say that in the end, as always, it came down to a woman...

For the instant it registered into Thor's mind that Jane was in danger, he stopped hesitating and second-guessing himself; he simply jumped straight into the situation. A handful of seconds later, when what looked like a tornado of sand and wind settled once again we could all see Thor standing in the epicenter of the 'storm' (figuratively and literally), with one arm he was holding Jane protectively against his body, while his opposite hand was held high, Mjolnir sparkling with remnants of thunder on it. The God of Thunder was back.

The Destroyer didn't last long after that.

It was extremely funny (to me) to watch Thor's flabbergasted expression the moment Jane, after assuring herself the battle was over, grabbed hold of my brother's armor to pull him to her, crashing their lips together rather forcefully. He recovered in a relatively short time, answering to the kiss with passion enough to sweep any woman off her feet (except for me, as I was already taken... and Sif, who could only wish she was in Jane's place).

I could see the tension in the raven-haired's tension and decided it just might be a good idea to try and stop a potentially bad situation before it festered.

"I wouldn't interfere if I were you..." I whispered, placing a hand on the warrior's arm.

She shook my hand away, directing the coldest glare she could muster to me.

"Don't talk to me..." She hissed.

"Why?" I retorted quietly. "Because I'm a lowly mortal?" I snorted. "I'm just trying to stop you from making a fool of yourself. Or do you think Thor would really appreciate you interfering?"

"Like you're one to talk." Sif snapped, barely holding herself back. "You should have never been allowed to get so involved..."

"It wasn't up to you." I reminded her. "My connection to Loki is none of your business. Just like the connection between Thor and Jane isn't either."

"You cannot tell me you wouldn't do something if she were trying that with Loki instead." The Warrior-lady tried next.

"Of course." I snorted again. "But there is a monumental difference between those two situations. I don't know if you've missed this despite the fact that I've mentioned it several times now, but I am actually married to Loki now. In other words, I have a claim to him, you have no such claim on Thor... and you need to realize you never will." I knew it wasn't kind, but the point needed to be driven home before something happened we all would regret. "You need to accept that Thor has made his choice, Sif, and it isn't you."

"You don't know that..." She began, in absolute denial.

"Oh, but I do..." I admitted. "I can see it."

And I could, I could see the bonds forming between Thor and Jane. Granted, they were still thin, somewhat fragile, but so had been the ones I shared with Loki at the start. If allowed the time to grow and given the right motivation, Thor and Jane would one day become inseparable, I knew that as surely as I knew the strength of my own bond to my match.

Eventually, between the Warrior Three's catcalls and his own notion of the situation we were all in Thor forced himself to break the kiss with Jane.

"We must go to the Bifrost site." He announced to his friends seriously. "I would have words with my brother."

"I'm going with you." I announced, and it was a statement, not a question.

"Deirfiúr..." He began, unsure. "Your secret..."

"Is pretty much pointless at this point." I told him with a shrug. "Way more people know about me right now than Loki or I ever intended. And it's not like after what just happened I can go back home and pretend this never happened, your friends would never allow it, nor would I." I shook my head, steeling myself for what was to come. "When I took those vows last week, I meant them Thor. Loki is my match, and I shall stand by him, no matter what."

"You believe you can still save him..." Fandral seemed surprised by that.

"I will never stop believing that." I answered without a doubt. "Because the moment I stop believing in love, stop having hope in him, in us... my existence becomes pointless."

It probably sounded a tad too dramatic, but that didn't make it any less true...

And then, right as we were all preparing ourselves mentally, the government just had to drop in and complicate an already delicate matter further...

"Excuse me!" A brunette man in a navy suit called loudly as he approached. "Donald? I don't think you've been completely honest with me."

I couldn't help the snort of laughter at the name, I imagined someone in the group had gotten Thor a fake ID, but the name just didn't fit him... not like Luka's which, in my opinion, was quite poetic for everything it showed and didn't at the same time...

"Know this, Son of Coul." Thor told the man seriously. "You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally if you return the items you have taken from Jane."

That last detail caught my attention. Thor and Jane had told me what had happened in the four days Thor had been in Puente Antiguo before they'd phoned me. It rubbed me wrong that the government would stoop to stealing a young scientist's life-long work, simply because they didn't want her to be going down that road.

"Stolen." Jane pointed out almost snarkily.

"Borrowed." The Agent corrected passively. "Of course, you can have your equipment back. You're gonna need it to continue your research..."

Seeing as, like I'd mentioned myself, already a considerable number of people knew about me, I didn't see the point in trying to hide myself from the government... it's not like them knowing would change anything, like they would be able to stop me...

"And would she be truly continuing her research or just dancing around to your tune as you kept her work in secret because of your idea of the 'greater good'?" I called sarcastically.

Instantly the attention of every single person, including the half-dozen or so agents that were following the 'Son of Coul' turned in my direction. The Head Agent looked me up and down carefully, as if studying me... while his second steppe forward in a challenging matter.

"And who might you be, little girl?" He asked in the most condescending tone.

Thor grumbled lowly, obviously feeling affronted by the insult; however, Jane's hand on his arm calmed him, at least temporarily; a look in my direction was enough for them to confirm what at least Jane must have suspected already: I fought my own battles: verbal or physical.

"I have no idea who you are, but if your attitude is an example of how the people in your organization treat others then it's been extremely disappointing meeting you." I told him in a low but commanding tone (I'd learnt from the best... my aunt Kathryn). "I am not a little girl and I resent the condescension in your tone, as you have no right to address me in such a way." A sharp glare seemed to be enough to stop him from interrupting before I went on. "My name is Silbhé Arianna Kinross Salani-Hveðrungr..."

"The professor in European Mythology and Folklore, History and Literature..." The Son of Coul finished in sudden understanding.

My eyes narrowed in his direction.

"The first reports from linguistics concerning the odd markings on the sand a few miles from here came in just yesterday, runic, either Norse or Gaelic." The Agent elaborated. "Your name was as the top of the list of possible consultants in this matter."

"But she's just a child." His SIC blurted out in disbelief.

"And according to records, the best in every single specialty she studied." His boss pointed out. "She's also the only one to possess that particular mix of specialties, not to mention the languages... all in all, the ideal consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D." His eyes narrowed as he took in the individuals around me. "Though none of that explains your presence here, professor?"

"I'm sure with everything you seem to already know about me you must have a pretty decent guess." I offered with a mischievous smile."

"Possibly." He admitted with a small shrug. "Though I cannot see how you could possibly have been involved with anything before today."

"What happened in the last few days... it's not the first time an Asgardian drops in for a visit." I answered honestly. "Though, to be perfectly honest. Most of the visits are nothing like this..."

"She gave three surnames..." A female agent called suddenly from behind.

"What?" Everyone was confused.

"The young woman introduced herself as Silbhé Arianna Kinross Salani-Hveðrungr." The Agent clarified. "While she does appear in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records, her last surname does not, not in connection to her, at least."

"Who then?" Another inquired.

"Dr. Luka Hveðrungr..." She replied promptly.

"My husband." I clarified.

And that was enough to remind all of us of how delicate the situation was. Regardless of the fun we might get playing games of words with government agents, there was a person who needed us, and I would be damned if I didn't get to him in time.

"Deartháir!" I unconsciously reverted to Irish as I called for Thor.

"We must take our leave now." Thor announced, his mind catching up with mine without any need for further words.

"I understand." Jane nodded, smiling at him.

"Would you like to see the bridge we spoke of?" Thor offered unexpectedly.

"Sure." There was no hesitation in Jane as she answered.

They were gone before the government agents could even begin complaining.

"My lady?" Fandral called from my side.

He knew I was going with them, and we needed to be on our way as well. Asgard needed them, but most importantly, Loki needed us... needed me.

xXx

In the end Darcy drove the rest of us in the van. On the way there I decided to be of some help and handed the Warriors Three a crystal vial filled with powdered healing stone. It was just what Volstagg needed to be back in top shape. Of course, when they learnt who exactly had created the vials for me they were left speechless.

We finally arrived to the right spot to find Thor calling to Heimdall with no visible result. And an instinct inside told me Loki was responsible for that too...

While we waited I approached Darcy:

"Could I possibly ask a favor of you?" I inquired softly.

"What is it?" She asked, curious.

"If anything happens and I don't come back..." I began.

"You think you're going to die!" She half-yelled.

"No!" I only half-lied. "There are other reasons besides death that could complicate my return..."

"You know, the more you talk to Thor, the more you sound like him, with your elaborate phrases and old-style words." Darcy commented suddenly. "You didn't sound like this when your first arrived here..."

"It's instinctive." I shrugged. "I know that most people here on Earth wouldn't fully understand it if I spoke in such a manner all the time; however, I've grown used to listening to Loki and even Thor when they do, and they bring it out in me. Having majored in Literature and History helps as well with the vocabulary and old-style you have referred to."

Darcy shook her head with a slight smile.

"You mentioned a favor." She reminded me.

"Right, if for whatever the reason I am unable to return, or even if I take too long, it's likely my aunt will come looking for me." I informed her. "Her name is Kathryn Salani, she's my closest family. She knows I came here, and the basics of why..."

"She knows about... well, everything?" Darcy was shocked by that.

"Only the very basics." I let out a breath. "As it turns out, one cannot be dying of cancer one day and then perfectly healthy just a handful of days later without at least someone noticing that there is something going on... Aunt Kathryn didn't bring the matter up with me in all these years but she knew there was something... Then, when I told her I was taking a plane to New Mexico..." I shrugged. "She was aware of the same rumors of something odd happening around here. She told me once that if she'd learnt something in her years working for the government it was that there's more in the world and the universe as a whole, than any of us will ever know... She doesn't know anything for sure, but knows enough. I just hope that if she comes looking and I'm not here you might be able to tell her the rest."

"Is that a good idea?" She probably remembered what I mentioned were the consequences of knowing certain things.

"She will allow for nothing less." I pointed out. "Besides, with an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D., I believe the Allfather will be forced to compromise from his usually stoic stance..."

Or at least I hoped.

Before we could go more into that I began feeling the power beneath my skin; we all heard it a moment later, a path opening through the skies... it was time to go.

"I promise." Darcy announced right then.

"Thank you." I nodded, rushing to stand in the circle.

Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three gathered almost protectively around me. It was obvious that with me having never traveled through the Bifrost I would probably need some help. Still, nothing would have been able to make me stay behind.

It felt almost like falling, except we were going up instead of down, and it's quite probable that if it hadn't been for Thor's steadying arm around my back, as well as Fandral's and Sif's guarding presences at my sides I would have gone crazy not knowing where I was.

The trip felt like it lasted an eternity, and no time at all. It was dizzying, especially when suddenly there was something beneath our feet once again, I actually stumbled a number of steps, would have ended up sprawled on the shiny floor hadn't it been for the others around me.

"Heimdall!" Sif's worried voice brought me out of my musings.

I saw the dark-skinned man in the golden armor, laying by the side of the dais that held a sword, or a staff... the tool used to open the Bifrost, which Fandral and Hogun took out immediately. I realized then the man was Heimdall, the Gatekeeper. A corner of my mind reminded me also that, according to Norse mythology, he and Sif were supposed to be siblings... They looked nothing alike in my eyes, so either that was yet another thing mythology had gotten wrong, or something else... I didn't actually care enough to ask about it.

"Lady Nightingale..." Hogun called from the fallen man's side. "Can you help him, like you helped Volstagg before?"

"I can." I answered automatically.

I was reaching into the cloth bag on my waist even before getting close enough to actually see the man. A quick cursory look told me that there were no visible wounds, which Sif confirmed with her next words:

"Healing powder won't help him." She stated.

"Good thing I have more than that." I quipped, offering her a bigger vial, with clear liquid.

"What's this?" Sif inquired, even as she took the offered vial.

"Healing elixir." I answered. "In simple terms it's powdered healing stone, mixed with the purest water from Midgard. It's good for internal injuries and such..."

That was enough for Sif, who immediately got Heimdall to drink the elixir.

In seconds it was already taking effect.

"I can't see you..." Were the first words the Guardian directed at me. "Why can I not see you?"

"I am enveloped by an occluding spell, courtesy of Loki." I answered directly, willing the cuff-bracelet on my wrist to be seen.

Only Thor knew the true significance of the deamarkonian; even though we'd shared the basics of how Loki had saved me with Jane, Darcy and Selvig, I hadn't shown them the bracelet. With Heimdall it was the opposite, he did not know the real meaning of the object, but he could see Loki's rune engraved on it, and that would be enough to notice there was, in fact, a connection between the two of us.

"The traitor..." Heimdall murmured, watching me carefully.

I couldn't help it, I rolled my eyes.

"He tried to kill me." The Gatekeeper insisted.

"If Loki wanted you dead, you would be dead, period." I deadpanned.

"Deirfiúr!" Thor called right then. "We must get going!"

I didn't even reply, instead pushing myself back onto my feet and rushing to my brother's side. The moment I set foot out of the observatory my whole body trembled, I could sense the turmoil inside my beloved, the waves of his power, the anxiety, the insanity, washing over me, like waves crashing against a cliffside. There was enough power there to take me under, to make me drown, and yet, somehow, I felt anchored. The power rushed all around me, over me, even through me, yet I remained firmly in place. And after a handful of seconds I realized why that was: my bonds to Loki, the ones that had begun when he'd clasped the deamarkonian around our wrists and sealed when we pronounced our wedding vows the previous week. Loki was my anchor, the waves of his power would never hurt me, because they were a part of me as much as they were of him, we were but a part of each other...

"We must hurry..." I told Thor as I took the hand he was offering me.

"Are you alright?" He inquired, probably having noticed my trembling.

"For now, but we don't have much time left..." I admitted as I allowed him to pull me tight against him. "Loki is already standing on the edge of a knife..."

"We will save him, sister..." He assured me.

With a spin of Mjolnir, we were flying.

In many ways that method of travel was worse than the Bifrost, but I was so fixed upon Loki, reaching him, saving him, that I didn't allow the discomfort to stop me.

We made it to the palace in record time. Once there it was quite easy to know where to go, the trace of ice, damage walls and floors was rather telling. We'd just reached the remains of a shattered door, ice still covering the archway, when I became aware of voices on the inside. Thor was about to throw himself inside, ready for battle, but I managed to react just in time, pulling him with me to stand beside the bedroom entrance, just out-of-sight.

"What...?" He began to demand.

"Just shut up and listen." I whispered harshly to him.

He didn't like it, but did as he was told. In the last moment I had an idea and brought a hand-held mirror out of my bag. It wasn't very big, but enough to see a cobalt-skinned humanoid creature kneeling above the unconscious Allfather in a threatening manner. Thor didn't react immediately, shocked as he was by the sight. And then we heard what he was saying:

"It is said you can still hear and see what transpires around you." It/he hissed dangerously. "I hope that's true, so that you may know your death came by the hand of Laufey..."

I barely managed to react in time, taking hold on Thor's arm before he could move; and it was probably only thanks to his shock that that was enough to stop him, at least temporarily. To make things better, what happened next justified my hope, my faith...

A flash of golden energy hit the one who apparently was named Laufey, the King of the Jotun from what Loki had told me once, on a side, throwing him off the Allfather with enough force the Jotun hit the wall and crumbled on the floor, injured.

Thor and I were by then both equally shocked by the turn in events, until a voice clarified what exactly what just happened.

"And your death came by the son of Odin..." It was my match!

Laufey didn't have any chance to do more than gasp and stare at the other side of the sleeping chambers (probably at Loki, though I didn't have the right angle to see that); the next beam of golden energy was enough to vaporize him completely.

Next in the mirror we saw the Queen rise from the floor, looking worried but unhurt, she went to hug Loki effusively, right as he finally moved enough across the room that Thor and I could see the reflection in the mirror.

"Loki!" The Queen cried out brightly. "You saved him!"

Then, before I had the chance to try to stop him again, or say a single word, Thor walked past me to stand in the broken doorway.

"That you did, brother..." He said to announce his presence.

Loki tensed instantly, looking at the blonde cautiously.

"Thor!" Lady Frigg cried out happily, rushing to embrace her other son with the same emotion she'd shown the younger one. "I knew you'd return to us."

Thor embraced her back briefly before moving past her to face his brother.

"Have you returned to your senses now, brother?" He inquired directly.

My love obviously did not know how to reply to that, he just kept staring at Thor with obvious distrust and what seemed like a hint of fear. Did he believe Thor would turn against him?

"Answer me brother." Thor insisted as he approached Loki purposefully. "Have you returned to your senses, or are you still raging against me and my friends for whatever the reason?"

"Your friends are nothing but traitors!" Loki hissed defensively.

"Perhaps from a certain point of view." Thor admitted with apparent aloofness. "But that's neither here nor there."

"Why? Because I'm not as worthy of their obedience, their loyalty, as you are?" Loki demanded.

"It's not a matter of obedience, they're supposed to be your friends Loki!" Thor retorted.

"Yours!" Loki almost snarled back. "Your friends, Odinson, never mine."

"Why do you use father's name as if it were a curse, you're as much an Odinson as I am."

"Ah... but that's the thing... I'm not..."

The shock was such Thor didn't seem to know what to say, even I was frozen into place. Frigg's gasp almost immediately after that was enough confirmation that Loki had said the truth. In an instant my mind began working overtime, as I mentally brought up every memory of the myth surrounding Loki, all the things that he and I had once discarded, considering them mistakes the humans had made when creating their myths (they were so many of them, like Sigyn, Sleipnir's origins, all of Loki's supposed to kids except Hel...). Except in that moment it seemed that some of those supposed mistakes might have been closer to the truth than we ever expected...

"I am Laufeyson..." Loki hissed, voice full of venom.

Before any denial could be voiced, my beloved confirmed his revelation by allowing his own skin to shift, until its color matched that of the Jotun he'd just obliterated almost completely... Laufey. Loki had killed Laufey! My love had just killed his own birthfather! And he'd obviously known just who the Frost Giant was... just what the hell had been happening in the so-called Realm Eternal in the last six days?!

"What kind of lie is this?" Thor demanded, refusing to believe it. "What trick?!"

"You're one to talk about tricks, Thor..." Loki's voice kept throwing venom in his anger. "What about the cowardly trick you hid behind back in Midgard? To keep the Destroyer from killing you and those back-stabbing bastards you call your friends?!"

"That was no trick brother." Thor replied honestly.

"It was a trick." Loki insisted, insanity beginning to creep in. "It has to be! There's is no way, no possible way that... that she... she couldn't... she wouldn't..."

"What? Interfere? Want to help?" Thor guessed. "You know better than that brother. You know as well as I that she's both capable and quite willing to do both. All that was needed was a call to that number she gave me for emergencies..."

"There's no way..." My love was so deeply in denial it hurt almost physically.

"Are you sure?" Thor challenged. "Then let me prove it to you..."

Loki realized what was coming a second before Thor made the call, his eyes widened drastically and he froze in absolute shock, his lips mouthing the word 'no', though no sound came out...

"Lady Nightingale..." Thor finished his phrase right then.

I knew it was absolute insane, beyond that even. Thor's plan of calling me out could go horribly wrong, but I hurt so much just by seeing the state my love was in, there was no way I could have remained hiding much longer anyway.

So, with that in mind, I turned the corner, to stand in the center of the smashed doorway.

"Maverick..." I whispered softly.

His response was so quiet, so hesitant, so broken, I felt as if my heart shattered into pieces at the mere sound of it...

"N-Nightingale...?"

The Queen spun around instantly, staring at me in shock.

"You're the Lady Nightingale?" She asked, obviously not quite believing it.

"I am." I nodded confidently. "I am Nightingale... I am Loki's match and consort..."

The silence that followed that declaration was deafening.

Slowly, almost painfully slow, Loki crossed the bedchamber until he was standing right in front of me, he extended a hand as if to touch my face, stopping just half an inch away from my skin, I could feel the energy still. I reacted instinctively, using my own hand to press his palm against my face, turning then my cheek into the touch.

"It's you..." Loki whispered after what seemed like an eternity. "It really is you..."

"It is..." I whispered back, placing a kiss on his pulse-point. "I'm here... just like I was on Puente Antiguo earlier, when the Destroyer appeared..."

I could hear a gasp of shock and realized the Queen hadn't caught on about the Destroyer... at least Thor moved in time and stopped her from interrupting us; the last thing I needed was for Loki to do a 180... again. I had no idea if his heritage was the only reason he'd been dancing on the edge of sanity or if there was something else, but it was obvious we would need to be very careful until we knew for sure and could convince him that things would be alright.

Loki moaned, dropping abruptly to his knees. I was short enough that even with that move I managed to keep his hand against my cheek, anchoring him, and myself.

"You could have died..." He groaned in horror and self-loathing. "I could have killed you."

"No, you couldn't have." I declared confidently. "And don't try to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Your magic protected me from any stray attacks, and when I actually stood before that thing, it stopped, it wouldn't attack me, just like you wouldn't..."

"You have too much faith in me..." He declared with a tired sigh.

"No more than the one you have on me." I replied promptly.

"You are so pure, my Nightingale, the purest creature I've ever known, how could I not put all the faith I'm capable of on you?" He asked dramatically. "Me on the other side... I'm the worst kind of monster in the universe!"

I could hear both Thor's and Frigg's whispered denials, though I doubted Loki could, he had all his attention on me, as I were his lifeline, as if his very existence depended on me, on my actions and words... it was a heavy burden to bear, but I wasn't about to disappoint.

"But I am a monster!" Loki almost snarled, somehow still not pulling away from me, as if a part of him refused to break our bond. "Just look at me!"

"I am..." I told him softly, raising my other hand to touch his face.

It was until that point that he noticed his skin had shifted from the Jotun blue back to the Aesir alabaster... it had the moment I'd touched him, and he hadn't realized it. I had, in a corner of my mind, but since it made no difference to me it wasn't something I focused on.

"You are no monster." I insisted, shifting to hold his face lovingly with both of my hands. "You are Loki, Luka Hveðrungr, my Maverick, the man I love most in the universe, and who I shall love with all I am, in this life and the next, for as long as my soul may exist in this universe. You are my match, my consort, my husband, and nothing else matters..." My chin rested over his head, with his face nestled on my collarbone. "I am here my love, and I will always be here. I promise you. Come what may, I will never leave your side, I swear..."

I could feel the magic making my promise binding, it would extract a heavy price if I ever broke my word after that; but I did not care, in that moment I cared about nothing except the man kneeling before me.

"I have no idea what exactly happened here since we last saw each other that morning... but I know one thing for sure." I added, placing a kiss on his hair. "I love you... always have, always will. Well make that two. The second is that you're not a monster, regardless of the color or temperature of your skin, you could never be a monster, not to me..."

We stayed in that position for what seemed like forever and not time at all... until words from an unexpected source unexpectedly broke the moment:

"And what exactly would you be willing to do for that love, little lady?"

My reaction was instinctive, as I turned while still holding onto Loki, my back to the individual who had just spoken (and I had serious suspicions who that was). Then, after one more kiss to raven black hair I finally let go of my match, straightened up and spun around to face the possible threat to my love, to both of us. The fact that Loki did not protest or try to stop me was telling enough about his emotional and mental state.

One look was enough to confirm my suspicions, the one speaking was none other than Odin Allfather, newly awakened. A wave of his hand changed his sleep-wear into formal Asgardian attire; with one more Gungnir was in his hand, Loki's state making him unworthy of holding it and the throne in that moment.

"Answer me, little lady." He demanded.

"I would do anything for that love, and for Loki." I answered with dead honesty.

He stepped closer then, and there was such power surrounding him, forming an almost visible aura. At some point he got close, too close, my instincts screamed at me to protect my beloved, and so I did. Without even being fully conscious of it, I pulled the last object in my cloth-bag, a crystal dagger (it was my wedding present from Thor), holding it in a backhanded grip as I took a defensive position in front of my love.

"Do you realize who you are threatening, child?" The Allfather inquired condescendingly.

"I know exactly who you are, and you know what? I couldn't care less!" I snapped. "I am no child; and I'm not threatening anyone... but I won't let you hurt my match either."

"You truly believe you can stand up to me, the King of Asgard?" He insisted, trying to intimidate me with words and his mere presence.

"I truly believe I can stand up to anyone who may wish harm upon the one I love." I replied, refusing to give an inch. "God, or mortal, or whatever you might call yourself, I care not. Really, the only title that should matter to you right now is you being his father, but you've never cared much about that, have you?"

That seemed to be enough to make Odin finally snap. Several things happened in barely fractions of a second then: Odin swung Gungnir at me in anger; Frigg cried out in shock; Thor moved to protect me, Mjolnir in hand; but before any of them could reach me I was being held protectively against Loki's chest, one of his arms secured around me while the other was raised, holding everyone else in place.

"Do not even think about hurting my Nightingale..." He hissed straight at Odin. "I will take on whatever you may throw at me, but I will never allow you to hurt her, never!"

"Crimes have been committed." Odin declared angrily. "Crimes you shall both pay for."

The announcement was enough to let me know that whatever was coming couldn't be good and yet, I would never regret standing by my match, never.

Someone asked me for a story where Thor learnt about Nightingale and things actually went well... this is what came out.

Hope you'll like it. For now it was Nightingale's POV, but we'll switch around next chapter.

And talking about next chapter: Odin's choice of punishment, Thor's reaction, and the passage of time... Change is coming, but until then, some people might need to rethink what exactly it is that defines them.

As always, updates are every other week. And also as always, full-sized poster and set of wallpapers can be found in my DA account.

If you like Agents of SHIELD, and Skye-centric fics don't forget to read my Menel series please!