Disclaimer: All of the characters used are the property of Marvel.

Thor had known grief. Allies, often friends, had fallen in combat before now. Nothing could have prepared him for the death of his brother, however.

It was like being stood completely alone in a vast field. Sometimes, there was nothing to capture his focus and he remained unaware of the rest of the world passing by day after day. He could look up and see the stars. They were an anarchic scramble, a plotless map of lights, but even something chaotic could hold beauty. They were memories. Each was bright, significant and warm. Yearning to be visited. Thousands of light years out of reach. Still he was stood, alone, unable to do anything but watch the stars as they drifted in and out of sight.

Loki had been a star in himself. He had possessed a way of emitting radiant energy when he smiled. When a great clockwork of schemes was forged, Loki was at the centre of it all. Light gives life. From a distance, stars are beautiful and appear harmless. Up close, stars are deadly and incomprehensible. They devour at themselves until there is nothing left to burn. Upon a sudden and catastrophic eruption, they will bring death and reduce themselves to a blackened husk, void of light or warmth. They can illuminate an abyss and destroy it just as quickly. They are the beginning and the end. Bringers and breakers of light.

After the day's training, Thor finally found Loki. His brother had vanished after being defeated time and time again by the other youth, rather conventiently before Odin had arrived with the intention of watching his two young sons spar.

"Loki?" Thor said loudly, striding into the classroom where young Asgardians were taught magic. His brother went there to practice. Granted, he was one of the few who did, so it was a relatively peaceful place, albeit a bit dark and full of strange smells. Thor much preferred the yelling and clashes that sounded almost continuously from the training grounds.

"Yes, Thor?" came the reply. Loki was sat cross-legged on a large table, a small potted plant hovering above his outstretched hands. Behind him, various flasks and cauldrons bubbled menacingly, sending heavy steam to drift about the ceiling.

"Father missed you training. Why did you come here?"

A shadow crossed Loki's face. "I am training. He could watch if he wanted to." The plant lowered until it met with his hands. Thor looked at the blood trickling from his brother's left nostril for a moment before adorning a wide smile.

"Nonsense, brother! You must come back so we can give him a fight to remember!"

A pause. Loki placed the plant beside his leg and began fiddling with his long, pale fingers. "I will lose," he muttered indistinctly. "I always lose. I hate being defeated in front of father."

"Trying and losing is always better than running away!"

"Maybe, but I'm not running away. Look!" The boy's face scrunched up as he gathered the plant up again, staring at it as if it had done him a great injustice. After several moments, the lush green of its leaves withered to a dull, dead brown, and the stems drooped miserably. After it had almost withered out of existence, Loki scrunched up his pointed little face again, and the plant suddenly began to glow a bright, luminous green. The stems and leaves lifted and swelled until the plant was back to its former glory. It was as if he had not killed it in the first place. He looked up, weary but exited. "See? None of our friends can do that!"

Thor grinned, impressed. "Very clever, Loki. But magic is not the same as wielding a weapon."

Loki also grinned boyishly and slid gracefully from the table. "No?" He held out a single hand. A small, green fire began flickering merrily on his palm. "You can be strong without muscle, brother." The flame rounded into a shiny orb. "You can be a hero without a sword!" Just as he made to clench his fist and extinguish the burning ball of magic, it jerked suddenly from his hand. To Thor's alarm, the thing began bouncing joyfully around the classroom, leaving small scorch marks on the walls, floor and ceiling. The young sorcerer began laughing, although he stopped to yelp when the flame skimmed over his head, leaving a faint smell of burning hair behind it. It was then he panicked and shot out a hand. The orb fizzled out of existence, but not before colliding with a substantial number of glass flasks. Some exploded and covered the boys in hot, multicoloured liquids, whilst others merely drenched the now severely burnt table.

Loki slowly turned to face his brother, aghast. Thor wiped a purple, gooey substance out of his eyes and glanced about the ruined classroom.

"Father is going to kill you, Loki," he snickered.

Loki swallowed, but then smiled nervously. "He'll have to catch me, first."

You can be strong without muscle, he had said. You can be a hero without a sword. Even as a youth, Loki had been wise beyond his years. Why had Thor not listened? Why had he playfully scoffed whenever his brother tried to justify his talents?

Thor bit his lip as he awoke, running his forearm along his eyes wearily. Loki's voice had been replaced by the low, whirring hum of the Helicarrier. The dreams faded into the confines of his mind as he remembered where he was and why. S.H.I.E.L.D's main headquarters, a huge vessel that floated in the skies of Midgard. The small room he had been allotted was brightening slowly as sunlight seeped through the single, rounded window over his too-small bed.

Thor lay for a moment, resting his head on his arms, and stared blankly at the grey ceiling. He knew that every morning would be like this. He would think about Loki every single day for the rest of his life. He would wonder whether his brother would laugh at a joke he had just heard, whether he would like the people he met, or whether he would be proud of what Thor was doing. Every day those green eyes would slowly fall into the darkness, his own voice filling his ears with an agonised scream.

Thor clenched his eyes shut, trying to push the memory from his thoughts. It didn't work.

As he made to roll sluggishly out of bed, there was a gentle knocking at the great metal door that was the entrance to his minute quarters.

"Thor? You awake in there, big guy?"

Agent Coulson. Thor sighed and immediately rolled over again to face the wall.

"I've got coffee. Can I come in?"

"It's open," Thor grunted, not bothering to move. He heard a loud creaking and then the scuff of shiny black shoes on the floor. The smell of coffee attempted to stimulate his groggy mind.

"Morning," Phil said awkwardly to the great lump curled beneath the sheets. "Listen, I'm sorry about dragging you away from Jane so soon, but, uh … like you said, we're allies, right? I wasn't kidding when I said that we need your help. We, uh, could really use it. This is unlike anything we have ever -"

"Coffee."

"I … uh, right. Here."

Thor held up an arm and blindly grabbed at the air until he felt warm, smooth polystyrene slip into his fingers. He heaved himself upright and relished the heat of the cup before taking a small sip, eyeing the agent with disdain. About a day after returning to Midgard and sweeping Jane up into his arms out of sheer joy had the man turned up and demanded his help on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jane had said he should go, a meaningful look in her eyes. Something was wrong. Midgard was threatened, and it was his duty to help now that he and the strange human organisation were allied in the cause of Earth's protection. The next thing he knew, he was being driven to a secretive air base in the middle of nowhere (explaining to Agent Coulson where he was from and that Earth was one of nine worlds, much to Phil's befuddlement), and then squashed into one of their flight machines and sent to a humungous metal leviathan that hung amongst the clouds. He had been given a room and left for the night.

"We rebuilt Bifrost so that we could ensure the safety of Midgard," Thor muttered, taking a more bold swig of coffee. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can return to Jane."

"Oh, don't worry. She's partnered with us, now, so she'll be here on occasion," Phil replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at his own coffee cup in thought. He silenced. Thor could see that he had many things on his mind.

"What ails you, Phil Coulson?"

"Oh, uh," the agent coughed lightly. "I originally brought you here because of that display with that, uh, big robot thing. You remember? It was impressive and we could use a guy like you. Really. But when you started talking about, uh, Asgard and realms and magic … I think your help could advance beyond your hammer, Thor. Like I said, this is unlike anything we have ever seen."

Alarm bells began sounding in Thor's mind. Something alien to Earth was attacking, which meant one or more of the Nine Worlds bore malicious intent.

"What has happened?" he urged, leaning forwards. "Jane seemed to know."

"I think everyone on Earth knows," Phil sighed, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "Well, most of it. First, some weird stuff began happening at S.H.I.E.L.D's bases, even our most secret ones. Things would go missing and then turn up somewhere else. We were being toyed with, but even the Psi-Division couldn't work out what was going on. But then something terrible happened, Thor. The most dangerous object we were guarding went missing from right under our eyes."

"What object is this?"

"The Cosmic Cube. It is a weapon of the gods, truly. Not you of course, I mean, like, metaphorical gods … anyway, whoever stole it has been experimenting with its power all over the world. And when we get a track on him - poof! He's gone. He's trying to lure us out. Hits us where we're weak. He knows us and that's partly what makes him the most dangerous person we've ever been up against."

"What makes you think I will be of such great use to you?" Thor asked, his coffee cup now sat forgotten on the small bedside table. Phil coughed again.

"You, er … You haven't got, like, uh, wizards on Asgard, have you?"

Thor raised his eyebrows. "Wizards?"

"Yeah," Phil said, loosing a nervous laugh. "Y'know, guys with staffs that shoot magic beams and they kind of stand around laughing … the evil ones, anyway. What am I saying?"

Magic. That was something Midgard did not possess, but Thor could not think of an Asgardian magic-user who would dare perform such bold, malicious acts against the humans. The fiend could have been an Elf or a Jotun. If that was the case, Odin would have to be informed immediately.

"The thing is," Phil continued, turning to meet Thor's eyes, "the Cube can be used to magnify powers that one might already possess. Nick believes that's what this guy is doing. That's why I ask if you've got, uh, wizards up there. He covered half a city in Mexico in ice. I just can't believe -"

"What?" Thor suddenly bellowed, causing Phil to drop his coffee onto the floor in surprise. The god all but threw himself out of the bed and dived onto his armour, which had been piled neatly on the floor. Not caring that Phil was still in the room, he yanked off the shirt and strange, stretchy trousers that an agent had given him to sleep in, and hastily began re-attaching his armour to his body.

"Whoa!" Phil gasped, covering his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"If this being has the power to cover cities in ice," Thor muttered, shaking spilled coffee from his foot, "then he also has a dangerous artefact that was lost to us, too. I do not understand how he could have acquired it, but only denizens of Jotunheim can use this object. You are being attacked by a Frost Giant." He turned to Phil, who looked bewildered. "We must find him and kill him before more lives are taken. I will alert my father to this, he can -"

"Wait," the human interrupted, standing. "The guy isn't a giant. There are video clips on the Internet people took with their mobile phones. Sure, the quality is bad and it's kinda hard to hold a phone steady when cars are flying around the street, but he isn't a giant," he paused to gauge Thor's reaction. "Jeez, never thought I'd heard myself say that."

"But …"

It wasn't possible.

Thor finished dressing himself and looked at the human, his eyes wide and fearful. "Coulson," he swallowed, slowly attaching Mjolnir to his hip. "My brother fell into the arms of Yggdrasil and with him went the artefact. We could not find his body. If I find that … he was experimented on … his powers harvested -"

Phil held up his hands. "We don't do crap like that, Thor. If S.H.I.E.L.D had found an Asgardian lying around, I'd know about it. And, uh, what powers? Just out of curiosity."

"We must find Fury," Thor said, ignoring him. He pulled open the door. "We must tell him what we are up against. We will need to find and kill this Frost Giant as soon as possible."

"Uh, right, well, let's go to the briefing room. You can meet him and the rest of the team."

Thor followed Agent Coulson through the labyrinth of long, metal corridors that were slowly being warmed by the Sun's rays. The human was barking several demands into a black device that usually remained hidden in his jacket, but Thor was too troubled to listen. How had this being managed to get his hands on the Casket? Had his brother dropped it whilst … whilst what? Had he fallen or was he still floating amongst the stars? And Thor did not care for the videos that Coulson spoke of. Only a Frost Giant could use the Casket.

Loki was born a Frost Giant, Thor. The son of Laufey. We kept it hidden so that he would not feel shame or feel different to you and the others. He was abandoned for his small size, and would have died had I not taken him …

The god felt a surge of both hope and dread. His heart beginning to thump painfully.

The two eventually arrived in a large, well lit room with a rounded table and a screen that took up most of one metal wall. Several agents were milling about and staring at Thor with interest, whispering to each other as he swept past them. People were already sat around the table, most of them ignoring each other, apart from a man with dark hair who was chatting animatedly to a small, redheaded woman who couldn't seem to care less about what he was saying.

"Guys," Phil said, holding up his hands in greeting to the group. "This is Thor. You've all heard of him, right? He'll be joining the team."

"I will?" Thor asked.

"Well, uh, yeah. If you don't mind. Take a seat; Nick will be here soon."

Thor sat himself next to the woman. He cast a gaze at the group, finding that they were all staring at him in either amusement or surprise.

"Thor, was it?" the dark haired man said, holding out a hand. "The Thor? Norse god of thunder?"

"Yes. Thor Odinson."

"Oh. Well. Uh, pleasure. I'm Tony Stark." He quickly shook Thor's hand and gestured to the other team members in turn. "This is Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Bruce Banner. Good to have you in the team."

Thor took a moment to size up the small group. The man who had addressed him was scruffy and slightly eccentric in his manner of communication, and gave no indication as to his prowess. Steve Rogers was well built but gave off a general aura of bewilderment, as if he couldn't believe he was sat where he was. Natasha was small and looked fairly hostile, but like Tony Stark, it was difficult to tell what her skills were just by looking. Clint Barton was sat with his arms folded, looking bored as he eyed up Thor with a slightly cynical glare, and Bruce Banner nervously sipped from a mug of coffee, avoiding eye contact with the team.

"This team has been forged to fight this threat to Earth, yes?" Thor said. "Then I will gladly join you until the humans are safe and the artefacts are safely hidden."

"Artefacts, huh?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrows. "He's got more than one?"

"It appears so," a new voice boomed.

The agents silenced and stood to attention at the sound. Thor turned to see a large man stood at the doorway, staring at the team. One of his eyes was covered with a patch, though the other burned with intelligence.

"Very nice," Nicky Fury muttered, striding into the room to stand at the head of the table. "Good, strong group. Well done, Coulson. Now, I'd love to sit and discuss potential team names and crack open a nice bottle of wine with you all, but the fact is, we've got a problem, ladies and gentlemen." He spoke slowly, the words rolling from his tongue like a soldier would address his troops. "Our guy, codename Green Wing, has just been spotted fucking up god knows what in Germany. I'm expecting a call at any moment to give us the details. I hope you're all ready, 'cause we need to get our hands on this guy before he vanishes again and turns another city into some damn ice kingdom."

"I can defeat him with ease," Thor announced. "Only a Frost Giant can wield the Casket, and I can kill a Frost Giant in seconds."

"I don't know what the hell a Frost Giant is, but I know of that Casket," Fury said, clasping his hands behind his back. "The Casket of Ancient Winters. He has threatened us with it via message many times. One might think he was trying to scare somebody who knows what it is." With this, he glanced at Thor and squinted slightly.

"How is this guy messaging you?" Tony asked, holding out his hands in disbelief. "Do you send rude little emails back and forth to each other? Or text messages? 'Hey Nick, BRB while I freeze over Durango, LOL, smiley face.'"

"Psi-Division. Our guy communicates telepathically, usually before attacking somewhere. Sometimes the messages make sense. They usually don't. If that bastard wants some attention then he's damn well got it."

"Has this Green Wing ever given his name?" Thor murmured, staring at the table.

"No, but he has mentioned you, Thor."

Everybody shifted in their seats to look at him. He didn't meet their gaze. He could not mentally acknowledge their attentions to him.

Green Wing.

Frost Giant. Magic.

Casket of Ancient Winters. Telepathy.

Brother, what have you done?

Thor moaned and put his face into his hands. He had put aside such petty concerns, initially believing them to the wishful thinking. His brother had fallen, Loki had died, and yet here he was, on Midgard, causing absolute chaos. Murdering. Thor shuddered as the grief encasing his aching heart swelled into disbelief, anger and something that may have been joy. This should not have been happening. Loki should have been safe on Asgard with the people who had loved him. Why hadn't he come back? Why had he let Thor believe that he was dead for so long?

His body trembled with emotion. It had hurt so much to think he was dead, but it hurt equally as much to know he was doing such terrible things. It was all his fault.

His eyes had moistened, but he did not care. He could see the stars again, and now Loki was reaching out and extinguishing them all with his fingertips and a cold smile.

"I know who it is," he croaked, forcing his mouth to speak. The voice sounded alien. It was shaking with rage and sadness. "My brother. Loki." As he said the words, the implications ground into his soul. He stood and turned away from the rest of the team. "I thought he was dead. I don't know why he is doing this. It's my fault. I let him go. I made him angry, and now his rage consumes him."

"Your brother?" Fury said in wonder. His eye softened for a moment. "I'm sorry. Will you still help us?"

A world without Loki had been a world of eternal night without his starlight smile. Now that he knew he had been alive all along, the Sun still bore no intent of rising over the horizon.

The battle was not over. It would never be over.

"Yes. I will help you."

Fury nodded. A sudden ringing interrupted the silence. Nick pulled a phone out of the pocket of his coat and flipped it open.

"Yeah? Deutsche what?" The man gestured to the agents stood around in the room. "Someone put Deutsche Welle on the screen, now! They've got a crew in Stuttgart! I'll need agents over there in case their military brings him down. Get to it!"

Various agents all but dived onto a large control panel at the back of the room. Within a few minutes, the screen was flickering into life, and the image of a blonde lady running through a city street met the team. She was shouting in a language Thor could not understand, occasionally turning to face the camera. Utmost fear contorted her features. When the camera jerked to face the sky, it was clear what had terrified her so. Thor's heart sank even further.

A multitude of cars were floating against the sky. They slowly revolved, hanging, as if in wait. Some of them had people inside, hitting at the windows and screaming soundlessly for help. They were beyond help, now. The camera jerked again to face the city street. Amidst grey smoke and blazing fires, a figure was walking slowly, dismally, through the chaos. The fires swirled around him, coiling about his body and clawing into the sky and the inky smoke, and cast him in a hellish red light. He was more demon than man. Screams echoed. One by one, the cars he had been holding in the sky began falling, crashing around the figure and breaking into thousands of pieces. All of them erupted in a toxic green flame.

The blonde woman screamed, threw down her microphone and began to run for her life, but after a flash and a bolt of magic, she crumpled lifelessly to the ground. As if in shock, the camera stopped moving. The screams of a man could be heard, now, agonised and full of absolute fear. When he silenced, the camera toppled and slammed to the floor.

Nick Fury began yelling more orders to the agents. The moved uncertainly, staring at the screen with wide eyes, the light of the fire reflected within them. The camera was rising again, and although cracked, it was not difficult to see the gaunt face that was now occupying it. The broken glass distorted its features.

"Night is coming," it said in a low, serpentine growl. "When the Sun goes down, Midgard will fall into chaos. Nothing you can do will stop it."

This was not happening. He had died.

Thor stared at the screen in horror. It was as if Loki had risen from the dead a maddened ghoul, so terrifying was the look on his face. Shadows obliterated the ghastly, pale skin around his eyes. His face had slimmed, leaving a sharp chin and cheekbones that cut the air. The once soft and shiny ebony hair was now slick with sweat and neglect. As with his now tattered cloak, it was being blown about his shoulders by the wind. Loki's face was more pointed and jagged than Thor remembered.

This couldn't have been him. Something had taken over his body. Loki wouldn't do something like this.

The image of his brother stood inside the entrance to Bifrost seeped into Thor's mind. The watering eyes. The face that trembled with rage as Jotunheim was decimated.

You can't kill an entire race!

Why not?

He reached out blindly, stumbling towards the screen. He held the gaze of the man upon it, wishing it was flesh, absorbing the sight of his living brother to try and sate his grief.

And what is this new found love for Frost Giants? You, who could have killed them all with your bare hands?

I've changed.

… So have I.

"Stop this," he whispered. His mind was in utter ruins. "Stop this, Loki. Stop it now. Destroying Midgard achieves nothing."

Loki's eyelids quivered for a moment as he lost focus. The cold hatred in his eyes then increased tenfold. He was naught but a shadow of the man he had been.

"Thor?" he said. Thor moaned with longing. The utterance of his name had been distant, almost childlike. Although Loki's face was so different, now, it was hard not to see the face of the grinning little boy, or the strong, clever prince who Thor knew was still residing inside the ashen husk somewhere. The voice quickly regained its burning wrath. "You are wrong. As usual. These insects are naught but slaves to a menial, repetitive existence. They can define freedom but know not what it is. These humans," he spat suddenly, "will serve me, and through me will know the art of chaos." The sorcerer cocked his head and smiled loosely, although this quickly turned into a sneer. His thin lips were trembling from an unknown emotion. "Will you try and stop me, Thor? The only way to end this is to kill me." The god bore his teeth and his eyes flashed. "As for the rest of you … This world belongs to me, now. If your armies, governments and monarchs submit to me, the destruction will stop."

"No!" Thor shouted, slamming his fists onto the screen. The very light of life was dimming. The world was being pulled from underneath his feet.

Loki's lips curled in a small smile.

"Brother, I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please, I …"

Soldiers were creeping up behind Loki whilst he was distracted. Thor's lips parted, preparing to warn him, for they were wielding Midgardian weaponry. He allowed himself to stare at the savage fires reflected within the burning green of his brother's eyes. Should he?

"Thor," somebody murmured quietly behind him. A firm hand gripped his shoulder. "Sometimes, you gotta make tough decisions. Doing what's best for the greater good can hurt, but you've gotta make the right choice. We have to pin down this asshole before the whole of Earth is in flames."

Thor remained still, watching his brother laugh.

"Sorry for what, Thor? For me becoming what I am now? Or the humans behind me waiting for the opportune moment to shoot?' His smile dripped away. "You cannot be that sorry if you would watch me die again."

As if in panic, the soldiers immediately began shooting. Bright white flashes from the guns illuminated the screen, and Loki quickly vanished in the cloud of dust kicked up by the bullets. Once again, the camera fell to the ground, displaying an awkward, upside-down view of the sky and buildings.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed in outrage, slamming his fists onto the screen again.

Fury pulled his hand from Thor's shoulder and answered his phone again. He pressed a finger to his free ear to drown out the sound of rapid bullet fire and shouting.

"Right, get to Stuttgart, I think they might've got him," he said urgently to an unknown colleague. "Yeah, take everything, we've gotta guard him like Coca Cola guard their secret recipe … I dunno, chain him up like King Kong for all I care, just make sure he doesn't -"

The gunfire stopped. There was a brief silence, but to Thor it felt like an eternity.

"Loki?" he said, eyes wide as he stared at the cracked image of a smoky sky. "Brother?"

More screams. Loki's figure swept into sight, a black shadow against the fires. One of his arms rose and from his eyes erupted green fire as the screams increased in intensity. He was the very epitome of chaos and devastation as the street fires were suddenly drawn to his body. The were bowing to him. The arm flew backwards in a violent arc, and burning bodies soared endlessly into view, vanishing as they slammed to the ground, now silent.

"I will speak with you who fight to oppose me," Loki's horrific silhouette hissed. "Come, and I will find you. If you are wise you will be here before nightfall."

With that, he seemed to merge with the fires and the black smoke for a moment as he vanished.

Thor backed away from the screen, his heart pounding painfully fast. This was more than he could bear. What Loki did to those people sickened him. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, spouses, children, friends - dead. Killed in front of the entire world. He could not shake the image of Loki's tattered, fiery form murdering them all without mercy.

His thighs hit the table. His brain was no more than cotton wool. The god fell to his knees and retched, and fortunately somebody was quick enough to place a waste bin before him. As his stomach purged itself, all he could see was burning bodies and hear the uncaring laughter of his own brother. The laughter that had, not so long ago, been heartwarming and pleasant. The face that had once been so bright. The man who had been his best friend.

Somebody began patting his back. He glanced reluctantly between strands of his hair and saw Tony kneeling beside him.

"Tough call, huh?" the man muttered, genuine concern in his dark eyes. "I know what it's like to have family go nuts and turn into somebody completely different. I mean, it isn't fair, but you've just gotta suck it up, y'know?"

"You're not helping, Stark," Nick said loudly. "We'll have time for that later. Looks like we're gonna be calling in for a nice chat with Mr. Loki. Brush up on your German, guys. No more innocent lives will be lost today. We're doing this ourselves, our first mission as a team. Thor, what are the chances of talking some sense into him without being turned into Kentucky Fried Chicken?"

Thor wiped his mouth and beard clean, trying to make sense of what people were saying. He was emotionally drained and didn't want to think anymore. "I don't know. He's different. We'll just have to do our best not to anger him."

"Stupid," Clint Barton said suddenly, unfolding his arms. "He wants to take over the world and we're gonna tell him he can't. Of course we're going to anger him. This is going to end up in one huge battle and you all know it. We shouldn't plan how to keep him happy, we should plan how to kill the asshole so we shouldn't have to worry about spontaneously combusting -"

"No!" Thor shouted, spinning to face the man, raging. "I thought he was dead until now. I will talk sense into him. If you try to take him from me, mortal, I will end you. That is a promise."

"Yeah?" Clint retorted, his face slowly turning red as his voice increased in volume. "How much sense can you talk into someone who's batshit insane, your royal fuckin' godliness? He doesn't give a shit what happens to this place, and he doesn't give a shit about you! Didn't you see him there? Weren't you paying attention when he went all creepy-psychic with you? He won't stop until he gets what he wants, and while I'm here and on this team, he won't be getting it!"

"He would crush you!" Thor seethed, gripping the handle of Mjolnir in a poor attempt to calm himself down.

"But he can't crush you, can he?" Clint continued. "If anyone can stop this guy, it's you, isn't it? You and that hammer, myerr-myerr or whatever it's called. Will you do what's right for this planet should he go all psycho on us again? You saw what he just did! Otherwise the blood of innocent people is on your hands as well as his!"

Thor's mouth moved but he had no words to say. His chest heaved with frustration.

"You, Banner," Tony piped up, pointing at the quiet, dark haired man who had not yet spoken. "You've got severely destructive anger issues, right?"

The man jerked a little upon being addressed, then lowered his eyebrows in exasperation. "Uh, I guess. Thanks for pointing that out."

"Well? How can we keep this guy sweet until we figure out what's so special about tonight?"

Bruce, suddenly looking nervous now that all the attention was on him, shifted in his seat and shook his head. "Look, I'm not him, alright? Just … maybe just act like you've already given in, and that you're in awe of his power. What we have to decide is whether to find out for ourselves what he has planned or stop him before anything else can happen."

"I have never seen anything like him," Steve Rogers said quietly, also looking nervous. "I don't know if we can stop him."

Nick Fury sighed and ran a gloved hand down his face. "Yeah, the chances of our success are slim, but it isn't impossible. Not with Thor on our side. We're in this together, now. We have to fight. Are all of you in? Are you all prepared face whatever danger comes our way? To fight for those who can't?"

"Well, I'm in," Tony said immediately, his arm shooting into the air. "This is the party of a lifetime, huh?"

"I'm in," Clint Barton followed, nodding at Fury. "You guys don't have a chance without me."

Steve Rogers, who had been staring at the screen with a distant look in his blue eyes, also nodded, albeit with less certainty than Clint. "I will fight."

"Yeah, uh, me too," Bruce said, taking another swig of coffee.

"So noble," the redheaded woman, Natasha, said. A small smile graced her face. "It would be an honour to fight alongside you all."

"Well, this is horrible clichéd, but you'll help us, right, Thor?" Tony asked.

The god took several deep breaths for air. He had to be strong, for himself, for Midgard, and for Loki.

He did not necessarily have to choose between Midgard and his brother, so long as the latter listened and gave up on his scheme.

Deep in his heart, however, Thor knew that Loki would not listen, and he would not give up.

The only way to end this is to kill me.

Loki had him trapped in his web. Being forced to make such decisions was turmoil for Thor, and Loki knew it.

"I said I would help," Thor said. "I will not give up on Earth, but I will not give up on Loki, either."

The days passed with agonising longevity. This was a void that could never be filled, an emptiness within his heart that would burn forever. Nothing bore meaning anymore. The Universe was as cold and barren as he felt.

The small memorial service could not do justice to Loki's memory. It had been a small affair, attended by family, friends and some of the palace guards, for none of the Asgardian subjects would mourn for the usurper prince. Thor had hated them. He had hated his role, his status. What if it had been him who had fallen? What would they have done then?

When it was over, Thor stood by the sword that had been erected in a beautiful golden stand in his brother's memory. The weapon was sleek and silvery, the handle engraved with fierce dragons, but the object itself was meaningless. Loki had not used the sword in centuries. Nevertheless, Thor reached out and gently stroked the grip, desperate to touch the same cold metal that Loki had touched, as if it would bring him closer to he who was lost. It only deepened the pained yearning in his chest.

The Warriors Three came to offer their condolences. Despite chewing ravenously on a hunk of meat from the table, Volstagg looked genuinely dispirited. He put a large, greasy hand on Thor's arm.

"He was a good friend. I will miss him. A small lad, but he had a strong heart, for sure …"

Hogun had bowed slightly. He was not one to display his emotions, but there was grief in his dark eyes. He said nothing. Neither did Fandral, but Thor could not tell whether he was constraining his grief or beyond caring.

How could the rest of the world not feel the pain he felt?

Sif was next to join him. Her face was unreadable. She too reached out and touched the sword's hilt for a moment, allowing a finger to trail down the neck of a roaring dragon.

"How are you, Thor?" she had asked quietly. The warrior then shook her head. "Silly question. I am sorry. I cannot imagine how you must be feeling."

No, there were no words to sufficiently describe his grief. It was hard to believe there would be a time where it would not hurt so much.

"Sometimes, there are people with great potential, but they can never see it within themselves. Sometimes, they will make the wrong choices. People who could be great will often never get the chance," Sif murmured. "Sometimes, their potential will venture darker roads."

Thor bowed his head, closing his eyes to stop the tears seeping over onto his cheeks. "If not for me, this would not have happened. It is my fault."

"No, Thor -" Sif began, reaching out to him. He skirted past her hand and began walking out of the room, past his parents who had been watching him with heartbroken gazes, leaving the awkward stillness of everybody else's grief behind him.

Frigga and Sif's eyes met for a moment. The former's then drifted to the sword. Her resolve finally broke, and she began keening into her husband's chest, clutching two small charms to her heart. One a silver, emerald eyed snake, and the other a golden bolt of lightning. One son was lost forever, but for now she had lost them both.

The time would come when Thor would have to face something more devastating than legions of the most savage Frost Giants.

Acceptance could make worlds end.

Guilt could extinguish stars entirely.