Maggie stood in front of the cell, watching the criminal in question walk toward her with a guiltless swagger. He seemed not to care about the damage he had caused or the pain he inflicted. He only seemed—at best—to be sorry that he'd been caught. Maggie was tired. She was sore. She was hurting, in nearly every way. She didn't want to do this. Not today. Not now. She picked at the bandages on her wrists; the ones that were her own doing the day after the battle. Really, she shouldn't have been out of the hospital this soon, but Nick Fury had pulled a few strings, and here she was, staring the God of Mischief in the face, and she was more than ready to kill him for the havoc he'd wreaked in New York, and on her friend, Clint Barton.

"What brings the famous Ghost Hunter here to see me?" Loki asked, "You're improving, I presume?"

"Stop it." Maggie growled, letting herself inside the cell and shutting the door.

"I could kill you, you know." Loki said, grinning.

"Don't care."

"It doesn't look like you were ready to die just yet."

"Just shut up!" Maggie screamed, with just enough fury that Loki seemed to get the message.

"Then what are you here for, you weak little human?"Loki spat.

"I'm here to speak to you. About your brother." Maggie said.

"I don't have a brother." Loki grumbled.

"Yes, you do. You are Thor's brother."

"I am NOT Thor's brother! I do not share blood with that...Oaf!"

"You may not share his blood, but you were raised with him. Quite frankly, your galactic temper tantrum really pisses me off." Maggie replied. She was watching Loki, who was pacing in the cell like a lion. He was watching her; waiting for a sign of weakness. But she didn't give him that satisfaction. Where Natasha would play him like a fiddle, Maggie stayed stoic. She wouldn't even give him the benefit of playing with his head. Not today. No, today, she had a personal vendetta. Today, she was here for Thor. No one knew she was in Loki's personal cell; they'd be furious if they found out she'd been released from the hospital. Loki was going back to Asgard the next day, and she needed to have a conversation with the man who nearly destroyed her planet.

"You're not the only one." Loki laughed.

"Yeah, you destroyed New York City. You killed people. You hurt your parents. That's not why I'm pissed." Maggie replied.

Loki raised his eyebrows, a smile crossing his pale features. "Oh. Do go on."

"I'm pissed because your brother, the one you claim doesn't care about you, he talked with me last night. He cried for you. For what you've become. Are you really that selfish that you can't see who you've hurt?"

"I'm supposed to be king." Loki said, "It's my birthright."

"Did you ever think Odin didn't choose you because of this crap you're doing right now? Acting like a child who didn't get their way?" Maggie asked.

"He didn't choose me because I'm not his son." Loki spat.

"No!" Maggie screamed, slamming her fists on the table separating the two, "He didn't choose you because you've got your head shoved so far up your ass that you can't see which way the sun shines! He didn't choose you because you aren't ready, either!"

"What do you know about ruling a kingdom? You know nothing about these matters!" Loki yelled.

"I know more than you think I do, considering I spent a majority of the past three years in tribal societies, looking at royalty." Maggie said.

"You're just a human." Loki hissed.

"Yeah, and guess what? When the time comes, the person who is ready becomes ruler. Your father sent Thor to Earth to learn about humility. He knew about you. Maybe, if you'd actually cared that your brother was sent to Migard, and you actually cared about someone other than yourself, you might be king one day!" Maggie screamed, leaning into Loki's face, her eyes filled with rage.

"I care about more than just myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You care about your appearance, right?" Maggie asked, "Did you not think that all Thor wants is to help you? To talk to you?"

"He isn't intelligent enough to speak." Loki muttered.

"He was intelligent enough to stop the portal. He was intelligent enough to save my life." Maggie said.

"And then look," Loki gestured to her wrist, "You tried to end it as soon as he saved you."

"You don't understand at all." Maggie growled, "So shut up."

"Tell me, Margaret—Maggie—why did you try to end your life?"

"This isn't about me." Maggie hissed.

"Ah, yes, it's about my brother, as it always is..." Loki was aiming to get one more remark in, before a swift hand to his cheek stopped him. He reeled in surprise, before looking up at Maggie.

"Your brother wants to save you." Maggie said.

"Did he send you here?" Loki asked, a neutral, icy tone to his voice. Maggie reached into her wallet, and pulled out a picture of her and her own brother; her twin, Joshua, who had died almost a year prior.

"No." Maggie said, "Thor didn't send me. But I know how he feels. Because this guy? I failed to save him."

"Who is this?" Loki asked.

"My twin brother." Maggie said. Something in Loki's posture changed; he was now actively listening.

"We were six minutes apart. He was a soldier, in the Air Force. He did three tours in Iraq. His last, he watched one of his partners die; just bleed out on the field I guess. He saw things, awful things. And he came back broken. He was my best friend. I told him everything. He was the greatest brother I could ask for. But he came home, and he was dark and angry. He started drinking, and he stayed drunk. He started taking drugs; and he was nearly unrecognizable. I tried to save him. I wanted to. But I couldn't. Thor wants to save you. He wants you to love him. Because he loves you. Whether you believe it or not, you're his brother. That's all you are to him. Not a Jotun. Not adopted. And you have the gall to say the things you do? If I could, I'd kill you myself." Maggie growled, sitting back down. Loki stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, his eyes alternating between her and the picture. Finally, he leaned up, and opened his mouth to speak.

"I can't work it out now." He said softly, "I can't fix it."

"When will you, then?" Maggie asked, "When you're sitting at his funeral pyre? When you're lighting the ship that will carry him to Valhalla? I've got news for you, buddy, just because you live longer doesn't mean Thor can't die. One day he will."

"You humans think of death so often." Loki said.

"Just because we die quicker doesn't mean we don't understand life, Loki. Thor is going to die. Odin will, Frigga will. You'll never be ready. You have the chance, right now, to fix this between you and your brother. Between you and Odin. I wish every day that I had one more day with Joshua." Maggie admitted. She got up, and walked over to one side of the cell, refusing to cry in front of Loki, who sat quietly in the chair in the middle of the room. She wouldn't let him see her cry. She missed her brother, every day. It was an ache in her chest that burned when she breathed; knowing that the world kept spinning while Joshua was gone made life a little harder to bear.

"Do you really think Thor will forgive me?" Loki asked. Maggie turned around to see the man's face; he didn't look angry or sarcastic. He looked genuinely concerned.

"I do." Maggie said.

"How are you so sure?"

"He sat with me, last night. I told him how I wake up every day wishing I could be where Joshua was." Maggie said, absentmindedly rubbing the gauze around her wrist.

"You saved the world from me." Loki said, "You should be happy."

"I'm not." Maggie said, "I miss my brother. My family blames me for his death. I just want to go home."

"You can't go home?" He asked.

"No. I couldn't even bury him." Maggie replied. Suddenly, Loki was beside her, and he pulled her in to his chest, and she began to sob.

"You can make things right with him!" Maggie screamed, "I would give anything to have my brother back, and you're wasting it!"

This time, Loki finally cracked. He sobbed—though not as loudly as Maggie—and buried his face in her short blonde hair.

"I want to go home." He admitted, "That's all I want. I was so angry—and at whom I do not know now."

"You can come back from this." Maggie said, "You have to make the choice. You have to decide if you want the throne more than you want your family."

"Thor will be king one day." Loki said.

"He doesn't want it. He wants to stay here. With Jane." Maggie said.

Loki released her, and stood up straight. "The throne was all he wanted since childhood, and now he won't take it."

"Some things are more important to him. He wants to marry Jane. He wants to live the rest of his days with her."

"One day she will die, and he won't be ready then."

"He knows that." Maggie said, "He knows she'll die. But his love for her trumps his fear of her death."

He sat down on the bed, and Maggie sat next to him. This was the first time in two days that she hadn't been in hospital scrubs. She could smell the hospital on her skin still, even though she'd showered. She was sure Loki could smell it, too.

"I heard Fury discussing what happened to you." Loki whispered.

"Yeah?"

"He blamed me. Do you?"

Maggie sighed, "Partially. It's just, a lot to take in. I get this call, Selvig and Barton are compromised. Natasha shows up at my apartment, and tells me I need to come with her to India, that Fury was talking to Cap. But seeing the actual invasion, and everything that went along with it, it was insane. I think, just the tipping point was the silence. After it all settled down, I wasn't prepared for the quiet."

"The quiet?" Loki asked.

"It made me think. I thought about my brother. About the battle. About my family. About how alone I really was, and I guess I didn't want to do it anymore." Maggie admitted.

"What about now?" He asked, scooting closer.

"I don't know if I want to live. Or if I should. Or if I even can. I don't know if I can go through it again." She said, leaning forward.

"You can." Loki said. Maggie looked toward him.

"You can go through it." Loki repeated, "Something bigger will come some day, I know not what, but I'm sure something will call you to battle, be it from your own planet or elsewhere. And when that day comes, you'll be ready."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Loki." Maggie said.

"How did you get caught up with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, anyhow?" Loki asked.

"I saved Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton in Budapest once. They kind of started a civil war, and I ended it. Then, when Cap came out of the ice, I helped him acclimate to the century." Maggie explained.

"You're braver than you seem, Maggie."

"I'm only brave because I have to be." Maggie replied. The truth was, she didn't feel brave. She felt constantly terrified. She felt afraid. But she wouldn't tell him that.

"Odin will never forgive me, for what I've done. He's going to kill me. Or, I'll spend the rest of my life in chains." Loki said.

"He probably won't, but you have to own up to your actions." Maggie said.

"If I am to die, I need to make peace with my mother, and with Thor. Odin, I am still angry with. Perhaps, I always will be." Loki told her.

"Look, he shouldn't have lied to you. If I were Odin, I would have told you when you were a child exactly what you were."

"Why?" Loki asked.

"You deserved to know. If you were my child, if I'd adopted you, I'd let you know that even though you weren't mine by birth, you were mine by choice. Thor sees it that way. You're his brother. That's all there is to that. Sometimes, we only need one person." Maggie explained.

"Could you send Thor to me, please? I need to discuss with him these things. There's so much I need to tell him." Loki said.

"Alright." Maggie said, standing up. "I'll tell him you need to speak with him. But just so you know, I may have forgiven you, but I still don't trust you yet. You mess with Thor or anyone else, and I'll skin you alive."

Loki looked at her with wide eyes, before saying, "Understood."

Maggie walked out, calling Thor and telling him that his brother needed to speak with him. She wasn't sure what was said that night; all she knew is that before Thor and Loki left the next day, Thor hugged her tightly, careful to avoid her wrists.

"Thank you, for getting my brother back." He whispered in her ear.

She honestly wasn't sure if Loki had told the truth. She thought he was just telling her what she wanted to hear, but as it turned out, he had made a shaky peace with Thor, and with Frigga, too. Odin was a bit harder to get through to, but he commuted his sentence of life in the dungeons to doing all of Asgard's dirty work; becoming a goodwill ambassador. Odin temporarily stripped him of his power, which was a bit dangerous at first, but as Loki told Maggie later, it taught him a lot about humility. Then, two years later, Maggie was surprised as anyone to see Loki in attendance for Thor and Jane's nuptials, standing beside his brother as the best man. Loki had told her he didn't quite understand the custom, but he was happy for Thor and Jane nonetheless. A year later, when Thor and Jane had their first daughter, Molly, he was there for that, too.

What was really surprising, however, was when Loki and his betrothed, Sif (of all the women in Asgard), personally extended to Maggie a wedding invitation. Maggie, to Loki's surprise, went, with Thor, Jane, and little Molly, and was one of the first to congratulate Loki.

Maggie never would tell Thor, or anyone else what she said to Loki, or that she threatened to kill him if he ever hurt anyone else. Loki wasn't perfect; he sometimes had a quick temper and that led to fights with Odin, but he and Thor worked through their differences a lot better than what Maggie had ever imagined they would.

And knowing that the brothers had each other, in a strange way, helped her to heal. She no longer looked at pictures of Joshua and felt anguish. She could say his name without crying. She realized, that though she couldn't save him, she could still save herself; and by saving herself, she could remember all the good things about her beloved brother.

And when she made things right with her own family, Loki and Thor were among the first to give her their well wishes.