A/N: Trust me, if I had an adequate excuse for why this chapter is so unforgivably late, I would use it. However, since I don't, I'm just going to apologize both for my laziness and the shortness of this chapter. All the same, I hope you enjoy it.

To fan-de-carlisle-cullen: I noticed you were confused about the last chapter. That chapter was just a flashback, showing what happened to Loki between Thor and the Avengers.

I also noticed that in the last chapter, when Loki says that he is "born of two kings," it kind of sounds like Odin and Laufey were gay lovers. I apologize for the wording. Let me assure you that in my story, Odin and Laufey are not gay lovers. As always, I will appreciate any comments you can thing of. Bye!

Stealing the craft would have been easy if I didn't want to keep my survival a secret. However, only the Norns knew what chaos would ensue if I were to reveal myself. One thing was certain – if I was discovered, I had no hope of getting to the Collector in time.

So therein lies the conflict. Stealing a ship is not easy, especially not from the Asgardian royal palace. I could not risk tapping into the Tesseract's energy again. Since my incident at the relics vault, I had begun to feel a constant chill picking at the back of my brain. It made me wonder how long I'd last with the Tesseract growing inside me. Jane Foster had started to deteriorate within hours of absorbing the Aether. I'd been harboring this energy for over a year.

I shook my head. This wasn't going help me escape Asgard. I needed to stay on task. I looked over my options. I could not go to Heimdall. The Collector's home was far beyond his sight. Even if the Bifrost could transport me there, I had little hope that the gatekeeper would be willing to help.

An idea came to me. Thor. He was the key.

Certainly, Sif and Volstagg had not escaped without being spotted. All the High Council knew was that the two warriors had, for whatever reason, broken into the relics vault and stolen an exceptionally powerful object before fleeing the castle. They'd have to seek instructions from Odin, at which point they'd discover him in the Odinsleep. There was a way I could use this to my advantage.

If I were to assume the guise of a known and trusted palace guard, Stian perhaps, I could say that Odin had sent me to find Thor. Nobody knew Sif and Volstagg like the thunder god, so Thor would be the best candidate to reason with them and retrieve the Tesseract. Odin would have realized this. It was a believable lie.

There was a fault in my plan, though. Finding the king in the Odinsleep would certainly raise suspicion. The Council would have to check to see if I'd been telling the truth. They would ask two people in particular – Heimdall and Fandral. I furrowed my brow as I turned and walked towards the infirmary. This complicated things a bit. How could I convince the both of them to lie for me?

I cursed under my breath. I didn't have time for this. The journey to the Collector's museum was at least a few days long, if everything went smoothly. Sif and Volstagg already had several hours on me, and it was imperative that I reached the museum before they did.

I decided to explain the situation to Heimdall psychically. I could only communicate telepathically with certain people, but Heimdall's senses would surely be able to perceive my message. That, at least, would save me the ride to the Bifrost gates.

Under my invisibility charm, I raced to the infirmary as quickly as I could, but it still seemed too slow.

Finally, I reached my destination. I had been here just earlier today, with Sif dragging me, half-conscious, onto a healing table. It was late into the night now, but one could not tell in the windowless hall. It had only been 3 days since my apparent death on Svartalfheim. How much time was that on Earth? A week? Two? I shook my head and walked along the corridor, searching for the right room.

Most of them were empty, though I eventually came upon a chunk of rooms where injured guards and soldiers rested in small cots or sat on top of the soul forges with healers working busily at the controls. I peeked through the small windows on each door until I came to one room.

Fandral was asleep in an empty room. I quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching, then silently emptied the chambers.

The layout was simple. The soul forge sat close to the front of the door, across from a shelf stocked with various potions and instruments. On the far side of the room was a bed, which stood just beneath small windows with drawn curtains. It was there that Fandral was resting.

The covers were pulled up to his chin, so I could not see the full extent of his injuries. I could see that he was pale, and his breath was shaky and uneven. Bruises and lacerations speckled his face.

I took a step closer, still invisible, when I noticed something. He was lying too still. His ears seemed to perk at the sound of my boot hitting the ground. He was awake.

My eyes flicked to one of the shelves that lined the walls, where assorted instruments and drugs were sitting. It should have been a complete set, but I noticed that one of the scalpels was missing. I smirked and hung back for a little bit, deciding to see how he would act.

After a few long, quiet moments, the injured warrior spoke. "Whoever you are, I'd suggest that you reveal yourself. Now," he said, slowly opening his eyes. At this, I rolled my eyes. Why did these hero-types always say, "Show yourself!" to the dark? Did they honestly think it would work? Of course, I had gone through all of this trouble to stay hidden, but oh, if you just ask me show myself, then I suppose I have no choice.

"This is your final warning," Fandral said. I saw his body clench up, like he was preparing to spring. He really did sound awful. He certainly didn't sound like he would stand much of a chance in a fight. Then again, none of the Warriors Three were renowned for their wits. Still, I figured it would be best to avoid a fight.

"Fandral, this is Loki. Do not attack. I am not here to harm you," I said slowly. Then, I dropped the spell, and was completely visible.

Fandral's reaction was pretty much what I expected. He stiffened even more, and, perhaps without even realizing it, shimmied a little further away from me in his bed. His eyes grew wide, then narrowed in suspicion. "You…how did– but–" he said in disbelief.

I held up my hands. "Now before you do anything you might regret, just let me explain," I said quickly.

He didn't seem to be listening. "But – but Thor saw you! How could you have possibly–?"

"Now, Fandral, just listen."

Instead, he sat up abruptly. I saw him flinch slightly at the sudden movement, but he hid the weakness quickly. There was a flash of silver, and in a second, the warrior was on his feet, scalpel in hand. He was hunched over, one hand holding his bandaged side. "What are you doing here? Are you here to kill me?" He narrowed his eyes. "When Stian attacked me…was that you? Were you controlling him?" He pointed the scalpel at me with a shaking hand. "What have you done to Stian?" he growled.

I suddenly thought of the guard lying dead in my room. "Well, I…"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Fandral staggered towards me, swinging the scalpel around in a sloppy arc. I sidestepped and pushed him past me, easily avoiding the small blade. "Oh, for the Norns' sake, will you just listen? I'm trying to help!" I shouted at him. I became mindful of the clamor we were making. With a wave of my hand, I created a sound shield around the room.

"You? Helping? Oh, that is rich," Fandral said. He straightened his back. "Explain to me why I shouldn't cut you down here and now," he said.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of the notion. He could barely stand up! How could he hope to kill me? I relaxed my shoulders a bit. At least he was willing to let me speak. I started, "For one thing, listening to me might save–"

He lunged at me with the scalpel while I was in mid-sentence. If he was hoping to catch me off-guard, he failed miserably. I caught Fandral's wrist and twisted, forcing him to drop the instrument. I caught it before it hit the ground and used my other hand to shove him backwards.

He stumbled and fell. I took a step back, pointing the scalpel at him before realizing how stupid I looked. With a scoff, I tossed the small blade to the side and drew out one of the daggers I had concealed in my sleeves. I looked down at the blonde warrior. "I thought you would be at least a little more reasonable than Volstagg," I said.

Fandral stared back at me with confusion. "Volstagg? He knows?" he asked.

"Yes, he knows," I replied, exasperated. "Him and Sif."

The warrior was flustered. "Wha– Explain yourself!"

This time, I did roll my eyes. "If I do, will you try not to attack me?"

He still looked angry as he replied somewhat humorously, "Well, you just made me lose my scalpel."

I sighed. Withdrawing my knife, I held out my hand to help him up, but Fandral only raised an eyebrow at me and climbed to his feet, grimacing at the movement. I let my hand fall to my side with annoyance, and kept silent as Fandral staggered unsteadily towards his cot.

When he sat down with a painful grunt, I began to explain what had happened, being careful to leave out my fight with Volstagg and Stian's death. He listened, and did not interrupt. When I had finished, he was silent for a moment before saying, "So what do you want me to do? Vouch for you?"

I nodded. "Chances are, when I take the craft to go after Sif and Volstagg, Security will come and ask you about whether or not Stian can be trusted, or if he said anything to you about going out to get Thor. I need you to reassure them that all is well."

Fandral looked at me intently. "I could do that, but here's the problem: I have no way of knowing if you're telling me the truth or not."

"When Security comes to you, they will tell you that Sif and Volstagg stole a vehicle and escaped with the Aether," I said.

"That could have been one of your illusions," Fandral countered.

"Stian attacked you. What would drive him to do that?"

"You would. The Norns know what you're capable of," he said.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my patience. "So I would have Stian attack you, but not kill you, incapacitate Sif and Volstagg, trick the guards into thinking they stole the Aether, then come back here for your help? What purpose would that serve? Why wouldn't I just kill you and run away with the Aether myself?" I said reasonably. "One thing you should know about me, Fandral, is that my plans tend to make sense."

At this, the warrior smiled crookedly. "Ah, but you are a madman, Loki. I'm sure your plans would make perfect sense in your mind. I, however, have no way of telling what your ultimate goal would be," he said.

I felt anger flare up inside of me. A madman? I glared back at Fandral, half wanting to kill him, but I controlled my anger and sighed again. "If you get the opportunity, you can visit Heimdall. He will tell you that I am sincere," I said.

Fandral's eyes widened, and he grinned incredulously. "Heimdall knows, too? By the gods, you told half the kingdom about your survival, didn't you? Who else knows about you?"

My patience was wearing thin. "I'm not here to answer your questions," I snarled. "Will you help me or not?"

He appeared to mull over the decision for a moment. The long pause only served to fuel my annoyance. Finally, he said, "When the guards come, I will reassure them of Stian's loyalty."

I nodded curtly. "Thank you," I said. As I got up to leave, Fandral added pointedly, "If…"

I nearly groaned. "What now?" I cried.

There was a mischievous gleam in the warrior's eye as he said, "I don't appreciate how Stian treated me earlier. Be sure to tell him that I'll make him pay for it later."

I remembered Fandral asking Stian if he had gotten a new boyfriend in his absence, and how his face had reddened at the comment. It didn't take me long to piece things together. Though a slow dread began to creep through my insides, I was careful not to let it show. I scowled, agreed to give Stian the message, and left the room.

I felt hollow as I made my way to the shipping bay.