A/N: Happy Groundhog Day everyone!

Holy crap, I actually managed to get a chapter out on the day this year, and boy, what a chapter it is.

As I mentioned last time, we're heading into the final stretch of the story now. Seven more chapters after this, and while that might not seem like much, trust me when I say we are not done yet. Not even close.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and here's hoping for an early spring! (We're counting on you, Phil...)

It's Day 150.

150 is a good number. It divides easily into twos, threes, fives, tens. Humans celebrate 150th anniversaries with all the fervor of the 100th or 200th, even though it lacks the fullness of a century.

For one hundred and fifty days, Jane Foster has awoken to the same song. The same room. The same knocks on her door. The same voices coaxing her out of bed.

For one hundred and fifty days, Loki Laufeyson has awoken to the same brainwashed slave. The same passive blue eyes waiting for his command. The same forbidden power simmering just within reach. Waiting…

Waiting like Mali waits.

They've chosen a beach today, she doesn't know which. This planet is little more than water with a few spots of land. She's surprised there aren't even more beaches. The ones they've visited so far are always crowded. Mali weaves through a sea of bodies, sliding into crevices too small for her human body. Nobody notices her, their mortal eyes ill adept for a world beyond their preconceptions.

Loki and Jane are in the sand, walking hand in hand and chatting. Mali watches their lips move. She can make out the words if she tries, but it feels like stripping them bare. They are sans shoes, even Loki. He's donned a simple white button-up and shorts of all things. Jane will have informed him of proper beach attire and against all odds, he listened.

Mali's human form today is a slender brunette with tan skin and a sloping nose. Her face is made plain and her swimsuit solid black, allowing her to blend in with the masses. A child in a stroller stares at her, and Mali would be concerned if she didn't then gaze upon a dog licking itself with the same amount of wonder. That's something Mali likes about humans: the younger ones have no fear, no doubts, just boundless curiosity about the world they've been born into. It's hard to find the same passion in children from her world. Consciousness doesn't reach them until their second year of life when they form their cocoons and spend the rest of the month maturing into their permanent adult forms. It's a beautiful process, or so her mother always said. Not just beautiful, but quick and relatively painless. A benefit of evolution most other races can't enjoy.

But there's something magical in the child's smile. Human growth is an arduous process. She will need twenty years to reach the age Mali is now. Some might say it's not worth the trouble, but Mali disagrees. In a way, she envies that child. Her world may be small, but it's filled with joy and unconditional love. One day, she'll discover the kind of love Mali's people can't comprehend. The kind Master Chronos and the Mistress feel for each other.

"Corn dogs right here!" The fellow manning the kiosk waves at the beachgoers. Several stop to buy food from him, but most walk by without a glance. "Half price corn dogs today only! How about you, Miss, you want a corn dog?"

He's looking in Mali's direction. She turns her head and there's no one behind her so… he's asking her? "Er- thank you, but I just ate. Have a nice day."

"You too," he says with only a hint of disappointment. "How 'bout it folks? Corn dogs!"

Two boys approach his stand, their stomachs audibly growling. Now would be the time for Mali to slip her hand into the seller's head and pluck her visage from his memory. Standard practice for any Time Maker. Across the universe, their existence is a little known fact of life, and it should stay that way, human disguise or no.

But what is the point, Mali thinks. What will erasing herself do to improve his life? How has knowing she exists hurt him? Their interaction was so brief, so ignorable, that by tomorrow it will be gone, never to occur again. Like sand in an hourglass, humans trickle through the flow of time, barely a blink of the cosmic eye.

Reaching the edge of the boardwalk, she spots Jane in her green one piece without trouble. The color makes her smile; it wouldn't be Jane's first choice but it would be Loki's. Nex would have loved to see it, or else she'd forget how to breathe and return home to run laps until she regained her composure. It's been some time since their argument, and they continue to work together, never again breaching the subject. It festers like a virus between them, and though Mali longs to clear away the poison, Nex is stubborn. Not good with apologies. Mali knows because she's the same way.

She closes her eyes, her spirit returning to the observatory where Nex and the rest of their associates await Jane's return. While they're waiting, they find ways to distract themselves. They laugh about the oddities of Earth culture, complain about the food, and get far too invested in something called 'football'. A human entering the lounge would find it empty, but for Mali, the voices and bodies are suffocating. She finds Nex in the corner sharpening a blade, ignoring the men arguing over Denmark vs. Sweden.

Nex barely lifts her head. "Aren't you supposed to be on the beach?"

Mali winces. "I am. Just checking in."

"Everything's fine over here," Nex says, leaning her chair back. It extends farther than it reasonably should, the front wheels a full inch off the ground. "Just keep an eye on her."

"On them, you mean."

Nex glares. "Isn't that what I said?"

There's no good answer to that question, and so Mali nods and returns to the beach. Loki and Jane haven't moved since she's been gone. Her human body rests on the wooden railing. No one has noticed that she didn't move for well over a minute. A small family has crowded around the coin-operated binoculars. The father spots a seagull and insists on following its path through the sky. His wife badgers him to get her turn. The children roughhouse and chatter unnoticed by their parents. None of them look Mali's way, and that's just fine.

'Stop getting distracted,' she tells herself. 'You're going to lose track of them at this rate.'

But they seem to have found a comfortable spot near the shore. A pair of women pass in front of them. When they're gone, Loki lays out a towel. It's green. Jane rolls her eyes and Mali smiles.

Pressure builds behind her eyes and ears. It isn't the wind or the oppressive presence of so many humans gathered together in one spot, though for a moment, she pretends that it is. Her body is a mask, a cloak of otherworldly energy. It shouldn't ache or sting or provide any sensation whatsoever. Mistress is a cruel one for sure. She never realized before now just how cruel.

The pressure builds, turning to pain as she rubs her eyes. Filling her non-existent lungs with air she doesn't need, Mali swallows the need to scream and moves to an empty spot at the far edge of the pier.

"My lady," she says.

In an instant, the pounding ceases. "Mali. Have you found them?"

Her voice comes from everywhere, injected straight into Mali's mind.

"I have," she says. "They are at the beach. It's a place of sand and water where-"

"I know what a beach is, Mali. Thank you."

There's a razor-sharp edge to her gentle tone which Mali knows not to question. "Of course, my lady. They appear settled. I don't imagine they'll be leaving for a few hours."

"And what is her demeanor?"

Jane flips her hair over her shoulder, sunkissed skin gleaming. They haven't been in the water yet, and might not plan to. She looks out at the waves as she and Loki converse. Mali could listen in whenever she wants but… it doesn't feel right.

"She is happy, my lady," Mali says.

The Mistress is silent, taking it in. "And Loki?"

Mali rubs her neck, which doesn't hurt. It's a human gesture and she's supposed to be human right now. She throws in a roll of her shoulders for good measure. Perfectly average. Just like Loki and Jane with their toes in the sand. He throws his head back, hair flowing free. It's always the same length, but Mali would swear it's gotten longer. Jane likes to run her fingers through it when she kisses him. She pecks him on the lips when he isn't expecting it. If only the other beachgoers knew how rare it was to see the trickster so ease with being surprised.

"He is happy, too," she says.

"Happy," says the Mistress.

"Yes." Mali grips the metal rails. She watches a child build a sandcastle in case Loki senses someone watching him. Assuming he can turn even a fraction of his attention away from Jane at least. "He is very happy with her, my lady."

The pressure lessens, and Mali would like to relax, but there remains the lightest brush of the Mistress's laugh against her skull. While her human face is impassive as she dully observes the waning tide, inside she's doubled down on the mental blocks which hide her true feelings and all the things she wishes she could say.

"He's happy," the Mistress sneers, as though she's been told something obscene. "Do you believe he understands what happiness is?"

"I wouldn't know, my lady," says Mali. "I've never met him."

"But you've watched him." The Mistress's serene, almost bored intonation is right in her ear. "You've had many days and nights to observe his behavior. You know he is a gluttonous creature. He craves power, reverence, pleasures of the most depraved varieties. Whatever he can get his hands on, he will take. He knows nothing of sacrifice, loyalty… and so how can he ever know true happiness?"

It's a trick question and she shouldn't answer. Mali knows this, but those blocks which should be ironclad feel more and more like plywood. She's seconds away from screaming out loud. Three centuries of meditation is all that saves her. "Perhaps he has come to love her."

The Mistress laughs outright. "Love. You think he's capable of love."

"It is merely a suggestion," Mali says evenly. "When we began he sought her company for lack of another option. Now he seems to enjoy it. You'll forgive my impertinence, but was that not the reason for bringing Jane into the loop?"

"There is a reason for everything I do," the Mistress replies, and for a moment, Mali thinks she feels the ground rumble, "but you need not concern yourself. Your job is to watch over Jane and see that she is unharmed."

"And I have performed my task every cycle without fail." All 150 of them.

"You have, and I commend your diligence, though I have to wonder if you haven't become a bit too attached to Jane."

"I don't know why you would think that," Mali says. No emotions, no change in her voice, no reason not to trust her every word.

"Hmm… yes, I suppose you're right. Your kind is not adept at such feelings anyway."

"Yes, my lady." Peace and serenity. Peace and serenity…

"Keep vigil until they return to the observatory. I trust Nex has maintained order in your absence."

"As always, my lady."

"Very good. Thank you, Mali."

She's gone before Mali can answer, not that she wants to. Without the weight on her mind, endorphins spill into her false body, spreading euphoria more intense than even her true form could handle. Mali lets go of the railing before she breaks it. What energy she doesn't waste laughing in relief goes to holding her disguise together. A child looking at her sees a woman on the verge of a seizure. His mother on her cell phone ignores his calls for her to look at the funny lady. They move on and Mali stays still. She covers her face, hiding a painful grin. Tears are not possible in this form, but if they were, they'd be spilling.

"I'm okay," she tells herself. "I'm okay. I'm alone. I'm whole."

Mali falls back on a bench, sighing like she's about to doze off. Her third eye lazily follows Loki and Jane as they leave their spot to keep walking. Jane's arms swing and Loki reaches for her hand. She takes it. Their fingers interlace. A simple gesture, but a nice one. It's something Mali almost understands.

The beach goes on for miles. Fifty-three and a quarter to be exact, Small for a beach, but big enough that Loki and Jane will soon be out of sight, and Mali will have to pull her spirit from this body or else get up and walk. Both sound like a lot of effort. Bliss has yet to run its course through her system and she'd rather revel in the moment a while longer.

There's so much to do, though. She has a day trip to supervise, a report to write up once they go back to their hotel for the night, fellow agents to coordinate with Nex, a letter to send the Avengers before the next changeover, and a whole new cycle to spend pretending she loves catering to the Mistress's whims.

This must be what the Midgardians call 'burn out.'

Jane Foster

"I'm just saying," Jane says, kicking a shell out of the sand. "Claiming you don't like something when you've not only never tried it but are completely obsessed with something just like it doesn't make any sense."

"I understand your point," he says, not understanding at all, "but I beg your pardon, those strings of compacted sugar do not in any way, shape, or form resemble a Reese's."

"It's still candy."

"The difference is one is edible." To prove his point, Loki conjures a single peanut butter cup and devours it in one bite. He does not, of course, give Jane any licorice. Because he loves being a jerkface.

"Fine don't try it," she says, raising their entwined hands. "But we're still watching The Dark Crystal tonight."

He grimaces. "Are you referring to those puppet monstrosities? I respectfully decline."

"You respectfully have no choice," Jane says, stopping to throw her arms around his neck. "I'm putting it on no matter what you say."

"As always," he mumbles.

"Come on, Loki. If you'd give it a chance, I know you'll enjoy it. Just like Labyrinth."

He half-watched Labyrinth at most and spent the rest of the time trying to reach his hand up her blouse. Every now and then, his eyes would wander to the action on the screen. By the time they got to the Escher Room scene he'd worn Jane down enough to start making out shirtless, but she still counted that as a win.

"Why do we always have to watch movies?" Loki sidesteps an abandoned sandcastle, careful to only knock the top part off. "We can't have run out of things to do already."

"We've only watched a few movies," Jane says. "Or did you already forget about the conference in Madrid?"

Loki smiles. "Ah yes, of course. That was quite entertaining, though I found the keynote speaker and his presentation to be wholly unimpressive."

"Is that why you volunteered me to challenge him?" Jane raises an eyebrow.

"Who better than the world's foremost astrophysicist to show him how infantile and shortsighted his theories are?"

"He was a marine biologist."

"And what of it?" Loki pecks the top of her head. "You cannot tell me you didn't have fun."

Jane rolls her eyes. "It wasn't boring."

"Is that all?"

"I was mildly amused by the situation."

"Jane, dear-"

"Dear? I'm dear now?" Jane grins as Loki tries not to appear flustered. "Well, Sweetie-pie, if you really want to know, talking circles around him about the rainbow gravity theory was the highlight of my evening. Especially after he called me a 'hobbyist.' I mean, really?"

"He couldn't have known," Loki says airily. "Fools are often oblivious to their own failings."

And Norse gods are often smug assholes. Jane would say that, but she has enough times already. It just makes Loki smile, which in turn makes her smile. Such an interesting partnership they've developed. Some would call it strange or even unhealthy. The Jane before all this would have agreed, but the Jane she's become isn't so sure. What is healthy when you can't even get through a single day?

The waves are picking up, water tickling her toes. A piece of seaweed gets tangled around her foot. Jane shakes it off as she slips her hand into Loki's once more. "How about some theatre tonight? I've always wanted to see the Sydney Opera House."

Loki hums. "Front row seats?"

"I'm thinking balcony," Jane smiles, "we can pretend we're visiting dignitaries taking in the culture."

"Hmm… Prince Loki of Asgard and his consort, the Lady Jane. I like it."

Jane rolls her eyes. "Consort, sure. Keep telling yourself that."

"I think I will…"

As they speak, they draw closer. Their faces are inches apart, aching to meet. Sunlight makes his eyes shine. She can never tell if they're green, blue or both. It seems to change by the day. She could stare at them forever, but there were far sweeter ways to spend her time…

Like getting sprayed in the face with sand by a dune buggy. It roared out of a rocky enclosure and careened down the beach like a rocket. Jane yelps at the sudden stinging pain in her eyes. Loki had snatched her out of the way but it wasn't enough to save her. She spits out a mouthful of sand and rubs furiously at her eyes as the two men in the buggy howl with laughter.

"Better luck next time, lovebirds!" one of them shouts as they drive off.

"Assholes!" They're too far away by now to hear or see her flipping them off, but it makes her feel better.

"The nerve of some people," Loki says, wiping himself off.

Jane groans. "Tell me about it."

Loki glances after the buggy, which is almost completely out of sight. It swerves out of nowhere, spins viciously in circles and falls on its side. The men climb out, cursing and screaming at each other. Jane snorts.

"Thanks," she says.

Loki smirks. "Anytime." He takes her hand and they continue on undisturbed. "Now, what did that gesture mean?"

"Hmm?" Jane mutters.

"That hand gesture," he says, "I've seen you do it before."

Jane's skin, already warm and prickly with sand, heats all the way up. "Oh, right. It's just a way to tell someone 'fuck you' without actually saying it."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, not very polite."

Loki nods. "Well, I'll have to remember that… though if I recall, you have used it against me several times."

"Only when you deserved it," Jane shrugs.

She meets his glare with a playful smile, then walks ahead of him, faking a yawn. They're moving into higher tides, their feet submerged up to the ankles. Jane spins and kicks water in Loki's face. Droplets land all over his face and shirt. She'd like to think she caught him off guard, but his slight smile and that quirk of his eyebrow say different.

"Do you realize what you've done?" he asks.

"You mean this?" She splashes him again.

She takes off running, making it barely five steps before he appears in front of her. "You really thought that would work."

"Loki!" Jane squeals as he scoops her up and carries her into the ocean. "Don't even think about it."

"You mean this?" He throws her in. She flails to the surface with a war cry. She grabs Loki by his collar, dragging him off his feet.

They roll around, dunk each other under, laugh and gasp for air and at some point, they continue what they started before the dune buggy came.

Hours later, they find a secluded spot to set up a blanket and watch the sunset. Most of the afternoon beachgoers went home long before temperatures started to drop. Jane closes her eyes and listens to the tide. She smells the salt in the air and tastes it on her tongue. The sun kisses her shoulders like it does Loki's face. He's less pale than usual, though nowhere close to tanned. She wonders if it's possible for him. Being a Jotunn underneath his beige pallor, he might have a significantly lower body temperature than a human. If so, he hides it well. She rests her cheek on his arm, gazing at his long, fluttering lashes, his soft hair, the years removed from his face when he smiles. Like he's fully content and doesn't know it yet.

"I was wondering," Jane says, rubbing his hand, "if we get out of this, would you ever want to see me again?"

Loki Laufeyson

Loki glances down at her. "If. Not when?"

Jane clicks her tongue. "I know I haven't talked about it in a while. It's not that I'm giving up, I just… ever since I started my research, I never really took any time for myself, and that was back in college. Years went by and I kept telling myself I needed to make a breakthrough, and then I could rest. Of course, when I finally got there, it just kicked me even more into overdrive."

She laughs a little. Loki tries to join her, but it sticks in his throat. "You speak as though you're glad of this repetition."

"Oh no, no, not at all," she says, making a face. "More like… God, I don't even know how to describe it."

He watches her struggle, enjoying her knitted brow and the strip of tongue clamped between her teeth. Not because her confusion amuses him, she's just so… endearing this way. "You've been given an opportunity you never could've imagined. Every day of your life has been noise and motion. You never stopped to look around and see which way you were going. Now instead of moving forward, you're going in circles, and as you fight to break free of the monotony, you finally notice the color of the sky, the smell of the water, the coarseness of the sand slipping through your fingers. You finally realize that you're alive."

Jane stares at him, mouth ajar. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Loki checks his nails. "Merely a guess. Was I incorrect?"

She giggles as she leans into his embrace. They cuddle close, watching the waves and the sun and the gulls against the darkening sky. Loki's stomach rumbles, reminding him that they haven't eaten since those salty monstrosities she called 'corn dogs'. He should still have some Reese's in his pocket, but he's too comfortable to move just yet. It can wait.

He plays with Jane's hair as she strokes his thigh through the khakis. Her touch is featherlight but more powerful than any magic."It's been amazing, seeing the world like this. It's so much bigger than we think. Everywhere you look, there's something new. Another country to visit, people to meet, food to try, places to go… I spent so much time looking up that I never really saw what was right in front of me."

"Hmm," Loki says like her words haven't brought up a hundred insignificant attractions this tiny planet has to offer that they have yet to visit.

"And if that's the only good thing that came out of this," she squeezes his thigh, "or one of the only good things, then I'm okay with that… but that's the thing about vacations. Eventually, they end, and you have to get back to work."

Her wistful tone has hardened into the purest determination she can muster. It's strong enough to bend steel or bend Loki. "The night is still young. Our peace need not end yet."

"I don't want it to," she says into his neck. "I wish I could wake up tomorrow with you next to me. No time loop, no cosmic monsters after us, just you and me."

"Hmm…" he should come up with a better response, but he's miles away in another world. Green silk sheets hang around his waist, a crackling fire easing the chill of a bitter Asgardian winter. Jane's flushed body is draped over him and she smiles as she dreams of the night behind them and the pleasurable morning to come. It does sound wonderful...

"But the only way that can happen is if we break the loop." She rubs his knuckles. "We need to get out of here, and we need to stop Thanos."

Loki stares at her. "You realize you're aiming higher than you can reach."

"Story of my life," she snorts.

"Not quite." He doesn't want to disentangle himself. It actually takes effort. "You wish to go up against forces greater than even I have ever known. Forces our plane of existence bows to, you think you can tame."

"I don't know about taming it," she says. "Maybe I'll just give it a stern talking to."

Loki hides his laugh deep inside. "Only you would have the sheer, unmitigated gall, my Jane. If Thanos could be beaten with words alone, I would have no doubt whatsoever in your strength."

"I'm not saying I'd do it alone." She sits up to look him in the eye. "I have you."

"I was defeated effortlessly when we first met."

"But you have Thor." They stand and keep walking. "Thor has the Avengers, they have the rest of the world, and you can't tell me there aren't others out there who have a bone to pick with this guy."

"Plenty," Loki closes his eyes, remembering the horrors he witnessed in those fleeting moments when he had access to Thanos's mind. The destruction, the bloodshed, the minions who died for failing him once, the women he called his daughters who endured unspeakable torment at the hands of their so-called 'father.' He moved from planet to planet, calling himself a savior as he razed entire civilizations to the ground. "Those who have met him would sooner end their own lives than face him a second time."

"Does that include you?"

She looks at him like the very idea hurts her, and Loki has to pause and consider that. The longer he hesitates, the wider her eyes get. It can't possibly be on purpose and that is strangely terrifying. "It was my intention and my hope to never see him again," he says, slowing his pace. "Midgard remains a footnote in his plans for now."

"For now," she repeats. "Then you know it won't last. Eventually, be it a year from now or a century, he's going to find us."

"Only if that day comes," he says. His belligerence is characteristic of him as anyone he's ever spent more than a minute with can attest, but even to him, this feels wrong. He's being deliberately obtuse, and if he were Jane, he'd smack himself.

"It has to," Jane blocks his path. "Loki, I know you feel it. You know we can't keep living like this. It isn't right. Not for us or for anyone else. We're like prisoners. This day is a cage and we need to get out."

There was that look again. Those eyes… "I tried to end the loop with an incantation, long before we met."

"I'm guessing it didn't work," she says.

"I was… a bit perturbed during the next cycle." Loki frowns at the less than flattering memory. "I may have lost myself temporarily to frustration."

Jane hums. "You know, there was a day I saw you on TV and it looked like you were laughing. I wonder if there's a connection."

"Quite," Loki turns away, which of course makes him look as guilty as he is. "Please understand that I am not trying to dissuade you out of a sense of superiority. It is only because there is nothing you can possibly do."

"No offense, but that did sound a tiny bit superior." She brushes her hair aside. Some of it hits his arm. If he could, he'd reach out and touch. "You keep underestimating humanity. Someday we might surprise you."

"I have no doubt you believe that," he says.

Jane's glare is her weakest yet. "The human race has survived for thousands of years. We've studied, we've created-"

"You've gone to war, you've killed your own, you've abused your planet-"

"And Asgard never did any of that?" Loki frowns, but this is not a victory for Jane just yet. "We may not be perfect, but one thing we do have going for us is our will to live. When war breaks out, we fight to end it. When diseases hit, we search for a cure. When natural disasters happen, we build stronger homes. We might not always succeed, but we still give it everything we have first. And now we know we really aren't alone, and some of the monsters out there make us look like ants. So should we lay down and let the bigger guys walk all over us, or should we do what we always do and overcome our obstacles?"

"Thanos is a monster the universe itself bows to," Loki says.

Jane shrugs. "Just another obstacle."

Loki shakes his head. By all rights, he should be laughing hysterically at her idiocy, but he can't bear the thought. "That much optimism might get you killed someday."

"I'm not afraid," Jane grins, cupping his cheek in her hand. "I have an amazing partner, and he's so much stronger than he thinks."

Her lips are as soft as he's come to expect. They move in tandem with his. She seems to know his every move before he makes it. He lifts her off her feet. It's like holding a feather. The sun's rays envelop them, seagulls crying overhead. The ocean has calmed, waves hitting the surf with tenderness instead of rage. There might have been a scene like this in one of Jane's romance films. Perhaps there is some merit to them after all.

Jane drops her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent as he devours hers. "We'll get out," she says, clutching his shirt. "We'll figure out who did this, we'll break the loop, and then we'll beat Thanos together. Whatever it takes."

Loki clenches a fist. Jane finds one and holds it like they're forming a pact in blood. Air is caught in his lungs. The explosive power lurking beneath Thanos's tranquil exterior has weighed on him since the day he landed on that miserable rock. It was there the first time he attacked New York, and the second time, and the third. It was there when he gave in to cowardice and almost lost Jane forever. It's here now, looming over him, warning him not to dare stand against the Mad Titan, lest he find himself crushed like the insignificant bug he is.

When he kisses Jane again, sealing their bond, it's with greater pleasure than he's ever known. Here now, holding her in his arms, trusting him, believing in him… he feels invincible. No monster in all the realms can touch him. "Whatever it takes."

He's still thinking about it the next day.

They've found a park in a city they haven't visited yet. It's called Boise, Idaho. Jane knows nothing about it, except that it might just be the only place in Idaho where human life exists. She'd mentioned it once before as a place she might like to visit. That was thirty cycles ago and Loki doesn't know how he remembered it.

But he did, and so, here they are. It's quiet today with few Midgardians to bother them. Those they do see are busy enjoying their own lives. Couples just like them (to an extent) revel in the peaceful spring day. They sit in the grass, by the lake, at the cafe across the street. Loki thinks they'll go there if Jane gets hungry. He might like it, too. While not a Reese's he's found blueberry scones to be a passable substitute.

The path they're on is surrounded by trees. Thick branches lush with leaves form a canopy over their heads. A single stray leaf lands on Jane's head and Loki brushes it aside. His fingers trail gently down her hair to her cheek. She sighs as he strokes her skin. "This is nice," she says, leaning into him. "I'm glad you convinced me to come out today."

"It is all that you deserve, my dear," he replies, "a sky that would be full of stars if it wasn't mid-morning."

"Oh okay," Jane side-eyes him, "you think you're funny."

"I have yet to be proven wrong."

"Well, just you wait. I'll get you." She giggles as he narrows his eyes in suspicion so that he can't keep the act up for long.

"If anyone could get me," he says, "it would be you."

At the end of the sidewalk is a garden. Secured behind a gate, the flowering buds of tulips, daffodils, and other flowers Loki doesn't know merge together into a messy rainbow. Jane stops to smell a drooping, purple flower that reminds him of Frigga's prized foxglove. The pain in his chest deepens when he thinks of her. Would she know by now the horrors he's committed? It's just one of the many demons clawing at his back. Something he refuses to dwell on as he navigates this new, unchanging reality.

But he was right about one thing. Jane took one look at him and got him. "What's wrong?"

He could smile and say all is well, but he would never dare insult her so. "I am… wrestling with our situation. As I know we both are."

Jane's face turns somber. "Yeah. It's a lot to think about."

"Moreso when it seems the fate of the universe is in our hands." He wraps his arms around her from behind, letting her body mold against his. "I know what you said yesterday was true, even if I can hardly bear to think it."

"Then don't." Jane turns to hide her face in his chest. "It doesn't have to weigh us down. This is our day. We're together, we're happy, we should enjoy the time we have."

"I want nothing more."

He leans in to kiss her- she tastes so sweet- when a noxious, gravely laugh interrupts them. "Well, isn't that cute."

It's coming from a man almost identical to the ones who tried to mug him so long ago. His face is unremarkable, blond and bearded with dull blue eyes and a flat nose. He's tall with a lumpy build like he eats as many Reese's as Loki does but lacks the metabolism to make up for it. There's no weapon on him that Loki can see. His blue hoodies is formless with deep pockets, hands stuffed all the way to the bottom. The most unsettling thing about him is his smile as he leers at them. At first glance, his eyes are on Loki, but then they turn ever so slightly to Jane.

How mildly inconvenient.

"Excuse me, good sir," Loki says, "my lady and I are having a private conversation."

"Is that so?"

His insubordinate tone hits an odd note with Loki. Like there is something just below the surface he isn't seeing. "I would appreciate it if you would continue on your way and not disturb us."

"Loki," Jane is at his back, concern all over her face.

Loki takes her hand to reassure her as he stares the man down. "Sir, please don't make this difficult."

"Maybe I like difficult," the man steps forward. The bulge in his pocket is more apparent. "Maybe I'd rather have a talk with your pretty lady friend."

"Then what you're asking for is to spend the rest of the day as an ant," Loki nods at him, willing it to be so.

It isn't.

He blinks as the oafish man remains fully intact before him. That awful grin widens. "Problems?"

Loki casts another spell, one to turn him into a tree. It will keep him silent if nothing else. Seconds pass. The man is neither brown nor leafy. If anything, he's gotten bigger.

"What?" Loki says under his breath.

The man's mouth is wider than his face and full of teeth. Far more than any creature should have. The flab on his arms and chest have hardened into muscles. His hoodie becomes armor. In the distance, thunder rumbles. "Something wrong, Laufeyson?"

Loki tries to banish him. He calls for his magic, but it will not answer. There is nothing within him. He's been drained of all power. Even his body is weak. The man advances. Loki waves at his chest to destroy his heart. His own beats wildly in his ears as the monster of a man takes out his gun.

"Guess you really are useless."

He fires one shot into Jane's head. For a moment, all is still. Blood trickles from the hole in the center of her forehead. Her surprised expression fades to nothingness as the light leaves her eyes and she crumples.

Loki catches her mid-fall, but it's too late. She's already cold and pale. The fire and uncompromising intellect he loved is gone. All that's left is an empty husk. His arms shake with her weight. His muscles slacken; his bones turn brittle. When he looks up, the beastman is gone.

"Jane…" he whispers, touching his head to hers. "J-Jane…"

A hand grabs him by the throat. Jane's hand. She lifts herself sluggishly, her bloody, broken head lolling to one side as she chokes him. Her strength is greater than Thor's, and Loki's arms refuse to move. He gasps for air through his closing windpipe as Jane's milky white eyes creak open.

"Y...ou...ca...n't...s...ave...me."

As she rasps putrid breath in his face, her skin turns a sickly green. It curdles like old milk and peels off her bones in sheets. Her skeletal face forms a hellish grin as her bulging, sunken eyes fix on him.

"You… c-an't save… anyone."

Her tendons break. She slumps. Joints snap painfully out of place. Blood is everywhere. In her. On him. She won't let go.

"You're nothing…"

The park is melting. Trees bow to him as the dirt path turns to dust. It's getting dark, darker than night. Dark like the void.

"Nothing…"

Dark like Thanos's realm.

"NOTHING…"

She pushes her dead face into his, kissing him without lips. Loki gasps as her finger bones puncture his neck. Now his blood joins hers. It pools in the emptiness, surrounding him. Engulfing him. Drowning him.

"NOTHING!"

Loki screams. It comes with a burst of power. He doesn't think. He unleashes it, wiping away the darkness and the red and that filthy caricature of his Jane. With them goes the echo of her voice. It should be a relief, but the silence just makes his thoughts louder.

He falls on his back, feeling his throat and finding smooth, undamaged skin, dry of all but sweat. After catching his breath, Loki sits up. Where there once was black is now white. Everywhere he looks, there is nothing. His limbs work again and he staggers to his feet, walking with no direction in mind.

"I know you're there," he calls out. His words bounce off the air back to him. "You cannot hide forever."

The ground rumbles, like a hundred wild horses stampeding through a gorge. A tree forms which soon become two trees. Then four. Then eight. They multiply and surround him, branches swinging at his chest. Loki jumps, just barely escaping a killing blow. Though he has his power back, he can't help but feel outnumbered.

The trees take root and grow. Leaves thicker than rawhide form an enclosure. Loki summons a dagger, slicing the branches off as they extend. Each time, two more grow back. He dodges and cuts with expert precision. They keep coming back for more. There's a gap between two trees. It's small, but he can fit if he's quick. A double covers his tracks as he falls on his stomach and crawls through. His visage is sliced to ribbons, and the trees seem to realize they've been tricked. Roots scratch at his ankles. It's already too late. He works himself free and takes a fighting stance.

"You'll have to do better than that!" He throws his dagger, wet with mud and bits of leaf. It doesn't hit the unseen ground. Instead, it plummets into a bottomless pit. As he watches it fall, a shadow crawls up his back.

"You can't win, you know."

Loki closes his eyes. He could turn, but there's no point. In the back of his mind, he's always wondered who really had, if not the power, then the reason to do this to him. The list went on and on. He'd organize it depending on his mood. One name always stayed at the top, even when he scoffed at the idea that she of all people would have the will, the utter gall...

"I wasn't aware this was a game," he says.

Her shadow grows. "Isn't it always with you? You are a man of many pleasures. You play tricks, invoke chaos, disrupt order and peace. The only difference is now you're not making the rules."

"But what sort of game is it," he stares straight ahead as she enters his peripheral, "if there is no way to win?"

"There's always a way," she says, "but if you want to receive, first you must give."

"And what do you want that I can provide?"

"Very little." He can hear her smirk and it almost breaks him. "One thing in particular. The satisfaction of knowing that you finally see what you have wrought. I don't think you've ever in your life considered the consequences of your actions. You strut through the world, never thinking to look down at the people you crush underfoot. The lives of others are trivial matters as long as Loki gets what he wants."

"I am not incapable of love."

"Aren't you?"

"I loved you."

She stills, vanishing into the background. Loki drops his empty hands and reigns in his magic. He dares to flick his eyes right to left. Wherever she is, she's watching him. Waiting.

"I loved you," he says again, "truly I did… and I'm sor-"

Air is gone. Forced from his lungs. Wordless roaring bursts his eardrums. Suddenly, she is everywhere. Hundreds of her. Towering over him.

Loki lunges, but he hits a wall. Glass surrounds him on all sides. It looks like a simple dome until the first grains of sand drop on his head.

"You don't know pain, Laufeyson." Her words reverberate off the glass, perfectly clear despite the ringing in his ears. "You don't know what it is to suffer. All that you saw when you fell was your doing. You're not here for a game, my love, and you never were."

The sand falls so fast, it's already up to his knees. Loki slams his fist against the glass, bruising his knuckles and leaving no cracks. He conjures a knife and it dissolves in his hands.

"Keep struggling. Fight to your last breath." Her doubles speak in time with her. A few are laughing. "Every second counts, Laufeyson. Every cycle you endure. Every moment you live and die again and again!"

It's at his waist, pulling him away from the walls. Whatever has him won't let go as he swipes desperately for leverage. He howls, he curses, he feels like he's splitting apart at the seams… and the sand keeps climbing. To his chest. To his shoulders. To his neck.

"Because now, finally, you're going to see it, Loki." She bends over, her face morphing from delicate white to square-jawed purple. Loki's mouth opens and fills with sand. "You're going to see… you're going to see… you're going to see… I am inevitable…"

"Noooooooo!"

His arms are free.

He punches the glass.

It shatters.

Everywhere.

And then he's underground.

Day 151

Loki Laufeyson

Mason Dobbs is there. Just like always.

He steps back as Loki wakes up screaming, thrashing around, and throwing daggers at anything that moves. Inside the tunnel, his men stop working. Some of them run. Others are talking, but their words don't reach him. Erik Selvig is as enthralled with the tesseract as ever, but even he stops and looks.

"Sir," Mason Dobbs says, "Sir, are you-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Loki throws him into the wall and leaves him to bleed.

He stumbles deeper into the catacombs, doubling over and retching. There's nothing in his stomach to regurgitate and his throat burns with the effort. He squeezes the moist, filth covered wall, relishing the feel of it disintegrating in his grip.

He goes to Jane. She's still in her bed. Her friend and her superior have been and gone and there's nothing for him to fear as he soundproofs the room.

"Hey-" she says as Loki pounces.

"What did we do yesterday?" he demands.

Jane stares at him, gobsmacked.

Loki shakes her. "What did we do yesterday?"

"The beach!" she cries out. "We went to the beach. We were just talking…"

Fear is building in her eyes, knocking Loki back to his senses like nothing else. Now he sees his fingers bruising Jane's skin, that shake of her head that spreads all the way to her toes. There's no blood on her. Her flesh is whole and healthy, and her forehead immaculate. When he hugs her, she shifts against him, either in protest or desire for further closeness. It doesn't matter. She's here. She's alive.

"It's all right," he says, frantically rubbing her hair. "It's all right. You're here… we're fine..."

"Loki," Jane's frail fists beat against his chest. "What is going on? What-"

He shushes her. He isn't ready to talk yet. At the moment, nothing is more important than knowing she's here and he has the power to protect her. He does. He does.

"We must escape," he says. His mouth touches her shoulder, but it's barely a kiss.

"I know," she says.

"No, we must," he holds her tighter. "And I know how."

Her hand on his back freezes. "What did you say?"

Loki tries to swallow. His airways aren't completely clear yet. "It is difficult to explain. There are a great many things about my life that I haven't yet told you. Perhaps it was naive of me to think I'd never have to, but the truth remains. We were never truly alone."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jane demands.

He wants to believe her impatience is a result of fatigue. The ire she feels is toward the loop, not him. Not yet. "I'm saying, you never should have been involved in this. Because it's me. From the very beginning, it's always been about me."

Loki is never going to get used to total honestly. He knows this, and yet he tells her the whole story anyway.

It takes him over an hour. There's so much to get through. It puts into perspective just how long he's been alive. Almost as long as her people have recorded their history. Every earth-shattering event that has ever taken place on Midgard was just another day for him. He sits with her on the bed and goes back to his childhood. To a forest, a horse, a dive into the forbidden arts, and a girl he never thought he'd see again. A girl who was now a woman out for blood.

"Fuck," Jane says when he's finished. Her head is bent forward like she's ready to vomit. "Just… fuck."

He nods. "It is not something I'm proud of, but I am not one to admit my mistakes easily."

"Yeah, they have to come smacking you in the face, don't they?" she snaps.

Not even when he told her about Thanos did her bitterness bite him so deeply. It appears on his face as a look of boredom, but once again, she sees through him. Her face softens.

"Look, we can't change the things we've done in the past," she says, patting his hand, "but we can always be better for the future. So come on, how do we stop her?"

There it is again, that unwavering optimism. He should hate it. He really should. At the very least, he should not love it.

"It's not as simple as merely stopping her." He stands and walks a circle around her room. "Thus far, she has only come to me in my dreams."

"You can't just… I don't know-" She makes a jerking motion with her hands.

Loki chuckles. "Pull her out? She will have protection ready to ensure a safe degree of distance between us."

"How do you know that?" she asks.

"I don't," Loki replies, "but it's what I would do."

Jane blows out air. "Okay, so you go to sleep, and then she shows up in your dream."

"Not quite. She only comes at specific times." Loki stops at Jane's dresser, rubbing a splinter out of the wood. "Right before the start of a new cycle."

"You think it means something?"

"I think she is a creature of habit." Loki touches his chin. "Restarting the loop every night will expend a great deal of energy. Not just from her and Chronos, but from the universe itself. When the veil is thin, she has the power to come to me."

"So if you fell asleep right now for an hour…" Jane looks at the clock.

"I would enjoy a peaceful, dreamless nap or else travel with you to Asgard for an evening in my bed."

Jane stares at him. "Is that was you usually dream about?"

"It's not uncommon." He smirks as she rolls her eyes. She can do that all she wants, her cheeks will still be red. "Regardless, we will have to wait until just before the end of this loop to enact our plan. I take it you've noted the schedule?"

"Er- yeah," she rolls her shoulders, putting her 'scientist' face on, "the reset happens every night at 6:00 a.m. Central European Time, and right now it's… 7:35 a.m."

Loki looks at the clock, ticking slowly but surely. Mostly slowly. "Indeed…"

"I guess we'll have to find a way to pass the time," she shrugs.

"Hmm…" Loki says. He sits on the bed with her.

"We could go out." Jane plays with her fingers. "Take a day trip somewhere."

"Not to Boise," he growls. Looking at her is harder than it should be. Every time he blinks, he fears that fetid odor will return as her body decays before his eyes. Her reanimated bones will engulf him. That horrible voice will sing in his ear.

'Nothing… you're nothing…'

'Silence,' he snaps back.

If she wants to ask, she doesn't. She brings her knees up to her chest. "We could stay in a while, too. It doesn't matter."

"Stay in and do what?"

Weeks ago, that would be the easiest question in the world to answer. Even days ago, he would've had her naked and beneath him before a single syllable passed from her mind to her mouth. They're sitting on her bed, already halfway there. He could expand it for the both of them as he does. Turn her sheets to gold and create a palace over their heads so she can sleep like a princess.

Jane takes his hand. It's not an invitation. He knows all her signs and this isn't one of them. The strangest part is how relieved it makes him. They lean against each other, fingers tangled, staring at the clock as it ticks their time away.

Hour by hour.

Minute by minute.

Second by second.

Midgardian food is not to Mali's taste. That's probably the nicest thing she can say about it.

Nex does not agree. She wolfs down her fish sandwich and French fries with gusto. Her second soda is already gone. All around them, men and women in their doctor coats enjoy their dinner to various degrees. Some love it more than Nex does, others toss their plates in the trash after only one bite. They have their roles to play in life, just as Nex and Mali do. No one is more unique than anyone else. If someone walks past their table, their eyes slide right by. It's as if no one is there, and maybe it's true.

With nothing else to do, Mali tries to put at least one bite of mashed potatoes in her mouth. She picks up her fork, but once again gets caught up in rubbing her fingers together. No matter how many human disguises she takes, she's never going to get used to flesh. It's just so inconvenient. It makes her hot, it makes her cold. If it's damaged, she can't just will the pain away. There's barely enough room to move. She's confined to a single spot with only her legs to carry her, and that's another thing. Legs are highly overrated.

"You gonna finish that?" Nex points at her barely touched plate.

"I'm still trying to decide." Mali sends her consciousness through the observatory. She does this every five minutes. It's been hours, but neither Jane nor Loki have left her room. "They don't usually do this."

Nex shrugs. "Maybe they're shaking things up."

"They're watching TV," Mali says, returning fully to herself.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Goddammit, Mali," Nex hisses. She's developed an affinity for Midgardian swearing. "You don't have to update me all the time. I'm not the Mistress."

"You should still know," Mali says.

"Why don't you tell me how our heroes are doing instead?" Nex throws down her napkin. "Or are they not as important?"

"They are perfectly fine, but thank you for asking." They'll be discussing their plans in Tony Stark's tower right now. That gives Mali plenty of time before the changeover to prepare her next letter. "We're still the ones assigned to watch over Jane, no matter how bitter you get." 'Plus, if I don't tell you, you'll just drop hints until I do.'

"Technically," we're on our break right now. So let me enjoy it." She rips another bite off her sandwich and chews hard, letting bread crumbs fall out of her mouth. When she's done, Mali gives her the potatoes.

Another half-hour goes by. Mali makes her periodic checks. Nex pretends she isn't watching her face for changes. Dinner ends and it's time to return to their stations and fulfill their evening duties. No matter what Jane and Loki do, they must follow the same schedule. If just one thing is out of place, the Mistress will have their heads. Or worse, Lord Chronos might fire them.

They don't acknowledge anyone in the halls. Not that they ever have. As they walk, Nex is oddly silent. Even for the warrior she is, this is the most stone-faced Mali has ever seen her. "I think we might be done soon. Lord Chronos seems confident."

"Right…"

Mali licks her teeth (teeth are weird, too). "All will be well. Jane will be all right."

"So I've heard." Nex walks faster. She's all but stomping now. Mali runs to keep up.

"The Mistress wouldn't hurt her," she says. "Not really."

"If she did, I'd kill her."

Mali stops. It was spoken so softly, she might've misheard. She wants to believe that. The walls are as alive as the people within them. Mali never knows how much to say or how loudly she can say it. The Mistress sees everything. She hears everything.

While she sweeps the hall for spies, Nex keeps going. They were supposed to be in the conference room ten minutes ago to observe the evening agenda. Jane hasn't attended this meeting once since the beginning.

Speaking of Jane, it's been eight minutes since Mali last checked.

She spirits away to Jane's room two floors up. Loki is on the bed, staring at the flatscreen he summoned. There's a bowl of popcorn next to him and some drinks. He seems to actually like what he's watching. Or at least he can tolerate for more than a minute.

Jane isn't there.

Mali checks every inch of the room including (for a fraction of a second) the restroom. There's no sign of her beyond the soft indent on the bed next to Loki. It looks like she just there a second ago.

'Great job, Mali,' she thinks, walking faster, 'all you had to do was watch her and you can't even get that-'

Jane hits her from the left. There's a split in the hall Mali forgot about leading to the elevators. She also forgot how light on her feet Jane could be; she hasn't even lost her footing. Meanwhile, Mali stumbles in her clumsy human body, on her stupid chubby legs with stupid yellow hair in her face. Hair has got to be the worst thing about human bodies. Why do people like it so much?

"God, I'm sorry," Jane says. "I need to look where I'm going."

"No, Jane, it's fine," Mali says, swallowing her unease. Ahead of her, Nex watches with barely concealed horror. If Jane looks her way she might suspect... "Uh… I thought you were sick."

Jane looks confused for a second before remembering her cover story. "Yes! I was… I'm feeling a little better and I wanted to stretch my legs. Get some soda out of the vending machine."

"Right," Mali nods. She laughs even though no jokes have been told. She understands humans do that when they're happy, but also when they're nervous. Jane frowns like she suspects the latter and Mali throws in a yawn. "Man, I am beat. I've been working too hard. Wouldn't a vacation be great right now?"

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Jane mutters. She shakes her head as if removing the thought. "Are you sure you're okay, Jacobine?"

Mali, in the plump human face she created the day Jane arrived and this whole mess began, forces a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. Just need my mid-evening coffee fix."

Now, finally, Jane is relaxed. There are no abnormalities here. All is right in the world that should still be right.

"You know, it's probably not a good idea to have coffee this late," she says.

"Please, I can handle it." Mali spins on her heel. It seems like something Jacobine should do. "Everything will be just fine…"

Jane shrugs. "If you say so. Night, Jacobine."

"Night, Jane," she replies.

Nex hasn't moved and goes completely rigid when Jane looks at her. "Goodnight, Hilda."

Her response is barely audible, but in Jane's eyes, she's just tired. That's normal.

They can't watch her go. Nex and Mali would do that, stricken by their individual conflicts as they are. Hilda and Jacobine are simple scientists going about their day. As they walk, they make small talk about nothing, until Jane is too far away to hear. Then they continue on in silence.

Five minutes later, Mali checks Jane's room. She's back.

The night goes on.

Jane Foster

"Jane?"

Something nudges her. It feels like a hand. She's upright but comfortable enough not to want to move yet. If only that hand would stop rubbing her arm she could fade back into oblivion in place. When she opens her eyes, the world returns to her as a plaster wall and a movie with the credits rolling. 'Let it Snow' plays them out. She hums along to it until she remembers where she is.

"What happened?" she springs away from Loki. "Did we miss it?"

Loki motions around the room. "Does it look like we did?"

The clock reads 5:45. Jane checks her phone to be sure. Fifteen minutes until the switchover happens and she gets to wake up in bed all over again. The last thing she remembers is Aladdin trying to escape the Cave of Wonders on the magic carpet. It's a shame she missed the rest. She really likes this one.

"I guess it's better I sleep now than when I wake up this morning," she snorts. "Did you enjoy the movie?"

"I loved it just as much as I did everything else we've watched," he says.

"Let me guess," Jane drops her head on his shoulder. "If it were you, you'd have gotten rid of Jafar, taken his place, and used your three wishes to become ruler of the universe without getting letting the power go to your head, right?"

He furrows his brow. "Are you implying I need wishes to do all that?"

"Right. Silly me." she giggles. "So what you're saying is you'd free the genie right away."

"I suppose once I'm out of the cave, his services would no longer be required."

"Aww, look at that," she kisses his cheek. "You really are a big softie at heart."

He grumbles, but Jane has no chance to argue her point as he captures her lips. Their gentle kiss ends with a few pecks as Loki pulls a remote out of nowhere. She has yet to ask where he got the TV from. Hopefully, no random suburban family is reporting a break-in right now, but it's hard to complain when they have Netflix and Hulu.

They've watched so many movies that Jane has lost count. The last time she spent so long in front of a blinking screen, she was waiting for a ping on her radar to drive her to action. It was during one of the rare rainstorms in Puente Antiguo. To her naively hopeful past self, it was a sign of something big. And she was right. Her firepit got flooded and her favorite slippers that she accidentally left outside were ruined.

Jane sips a can of soda. She should've gotten another out of the machine, or just let Loki conjure some up for her. It's strange to think about what a basic fact of life his magic has become. Just like the man himself. The novelty of sleeping with (and dating? maybe?) a god has long since faded. Lazing around for hours watching movies now has the same power over her as his mouth between her legs.

It should've felt wrong, but it didn't.

"You know," she mumbles as Loki turns the TV off, "I still don't understand what I have to do with this."

"You don't," he says. "You mustn't blame yourself."

"I know that," she says. "I do, but if this really is all about you, why drag someone else into it? And why me? Giving Thor a place to stay wasn't that big of a deal."

"There are many who would disagree with you," he says. He looks like he wants to add something to the end of that sentence. Instead, he coughs. "I wish I could tell you I understand how her mind works, but it seems that's no longer the case. She runs on her own brand of logic. In any other circumstances, I'd find it quite impressive."

"Come on, Loki," she groans, "quit selling yourself short. You would've picked a much more inconvenient day to loop. And you would've involved people in less compatible timezones. One person in the US maybe, then one in Australia."

Loki blinks. "I may be a terrible influence on you."

She smirks. "I'm just getting started."

He drags her into his lap. Without the armor, she can feel every solid muscle through his tunic. Her favorite is his chest. It's perfect for resting her head on. His shoulders are a close second. She holds them to keep herself upright.

"No matter the reason," he says, "there is no one else I'd rather spend this day with. And I find I…" he pauses. Jane holds her breath. "I… I'm glad I've had the chance to know you."

She shouldn't be disappointed. She really shouldn't be. Not at what he's said and not when her alarm rings seconds later.

It's 5:55.

"Showtime," Jane says, her heart thudding in her chest.

Loki lets her get up so he can lay down. He's left the bed as is and must contend with her drooping feather sack of a pillow and the bumpy metal frame. The blanket is ignored, kicked into the corner where it's out of the way. He stares at the ceiling, hands cupped on his stomach. Jane doesn't want to think about how much he looks like a corpse in a coffin, but he's so terribly good at staying still.

"Once the clock strikes six, the next cycle will begin," he says, keeping his voice free of emotions. "With any luck, I will have acquired some helpful information by then."

"What if it doesn't work?" Jane asks.

"We keep trying until it does," he says like it really that simple, "and if we continue to fail, we'll look for another way. We'll keep going, keep searching for the holes in her defenses, and when we find them, we'll rip them apart and make her pay for what she's done." He holds a hand out to her. "Whatever it takes."

Jane takes it. She knows she's crying, but can't stop herself. He doesn't say a word about it.

It's 5:57. Wait no, 5:58.

Listening to the ticking is impossible. Jane would rather match her breaths with his and listen to the two of them. They wait, as two minutes becomes one. One minute becomes thirty seconds. Thirty becomes twenty. She hears the countdown in her head, much as she tries to ignore it.

"Loki," she says, "I need to tell you… I'm so glad I got to know you, too."

He smiles and nods. It makes her feel like less of a coward. Ten seconds.

"When it's over," he says, "Let's watch that mermaid movie you told me about.".

Five seconds. Jane smiles back. "Deal."

Loki Laufeyson

He's in the mist.

It surrounds him, blinds him. It does not drown him. He's learned from their last encounter, walking along the unseen path, letting smoke roll over him like air. That's all it ever would be in reality. Perhaps she should learn a few new tricks.

For miles around is emptiness. The mist obscures his view of anything farther than a foot, but he knows it's true. He could walk for days in one direction and go nowhere. Shadows bounce off the smoke. Some are shapeless, others take the form of trees and horses. In the distance, he hears whinnying. Clopping hooves run toward him and away from him. A gust of wind rustles the leaves on a single tree that has taken form before him. When he blinks, it disappears. He blinks again. It's back.

"How clever," he drawls, walking away from the illusive tree. "Is this your plan to scare me? I'm almost insulted. I thought you knew me better than that."

The not-floor shakes. Her voice echoes. "I know you better than anyone, Loki."

"You really believe that." He steps forward. He doesn't know what direction she's in. It sounds like she's coming from everywhere. "How unfortunate."

"It hasn't been long since I was the woman of your heart," she says.

"Long enough." He thinks he sees her shadow, but it's gone too fast to be sure.

"Not so long that I have forgotten how little heart you truly have."

"I did not come here to trade barbs, my dear," Loki says. "Don't forget this is my mind you are invading. I did not invite you, and I can't say I've enjoyed your company."

"And yet I have not been banished." She appears again on his left, and then his right. Her breath tickles the back of his neck. "Don't tell me you can't."

This is the part where he attacks her. She blocks or otherwise deflects it back at him. They war in the liminal space between reality and the dreamscape. It's a clear plan if he ever saw one. Painfully obvious, and perfect for her.

"Tell me why you're doing this," he demands.

She chuckles in his ear. When he looks, she's gone.

"Sigyn," he growls, turning left and catching sight of her eyes for a split second. "Talk to me. Now!"

The vibrations in the air, omnipresent since he awoke in the mist, disappear. It's not a gradual decrescendo into silence. The sounds and sensations are there and gone in an instant. Loki stands up straighter, magic simmering under his skin for now.

From the vacuum comes a whisper. "Do you remember our story?"

Chains spring forth, wrapping around his wrists and ankles. Loki gasps and pulls to no avail. The metal looks thin and cheap, but it holds like the strongest uru. The manacles tighten, cutting off the blood flow to his hands and feet. The chains wrap around his waist, dragging him through the mist, unaffected by his thrashing. Scenery forms around him. A tree here, a stable there, a creek he nearly falls into until the water parts at his head.

He slams into a rock face. The chains merge with the sediment and pull him taut. Loki groans as his muscles stretch out. His bones crack. He tastes metal. A low hiss draws his eyes up. Serpentine eyes stare back at him. Teeth longer than he is tall shine with saliva as a scraggly tongue laves his face.

Across the field, atop a small boulder, she sits. In her white dress with her white hair hanging over her white face. It was always her eyes that stood out most. That cerulean blue he used to dream about. In her hands is a shallow brown bowl, dry and empty.

"Well?" He spits.

Sigyn stands. The snake lowers its head, a bead of venom building at the tip of its fang. She tucks the bowl under her arm as she approaches. Her feet don't quite reach the ground. The first time he saw her so many centuries ago, he could've sworn she was a forest sprite, sent to give him a blessing.

"All right," she says, kneeling over him, her gaze almost perfectly level with his, "now we can talk."