Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun approached the throne to see Loki seated upon it, so engrossed in the book he held in one hand, Gungnir, the spear of the king in the other, that he at first failed to register their presence. Though they had witnessed Loki's impromptu coronation, had heard him take the oath, and knew well that they were now the subjects of a new king, they were unaccustomed to the sight of Loki seated in that exalted position. Had it been Thor, the sight would not have been so jarring as they had for quite some time expected him to be the one to succeed his father.

The Warriors Three glanced at each other questioningly as Loki appeared to ignore them before lowering themselves to one knee, each in deference to their new king placing an arm across their chest as they did so and bowing their heads.

"As I suspected…" Loki said out loud, referencing the story, as he closed the book, the three men before him unsure whether he was speaking to them or himself.

"My king..." said Fandral as the tome vanished from Loki's hand before he peered down at the three from the throne.

"As much as I may enjoy the sight of the three of you groveling before me, and I most certainly do…" Loki said with a satisfied grin, his mind recalling to him the many times during their shared childhoods that he had been teased and chided by the three now paying homage to him, "we have important matters to discuss. Join me." Loki said as he rose and stepped down from the throne, The Warriors Three rising to their feet as Loki walked past them carrying Gungnir, they turning to dutifully follow their new king.

*****************************

"Will she be alright? The Queen. She looked so tired." Verda asked Sif as the two women exited Odin's chambers, entering the corridor.

"It is you who are now Asgard's queen. It is far from the first time Frigga has sat vigil during his rest."

"But this is not like the other times. So much has happened."

"She is strong. She will endure." Sif assured Verda.

"There is so much I have to learn. She is to instruct me yet we've barely had more than a few moments to speak. I have no idea what I am expected to do." Verda confessed.

"The most important duty of the Queen is to support her King."

"That's what I'm trying to do...but he doesn't seem to want me to. He wishes me to remain here when he returns to Midgard." Verda lamented.

"He may be right. As Odin has no other children and Loki and yourself have not yet had the opportunity to produce an heir, if he were to fall, you would ascend the throne."

"I never wanted to be queen let alone the queen. It wouldn't matter anyway. I would not long sit upon it. If he were to fall, they would surely wrest it from me." Verda said. She looked down at Sif's clothes that she wore. "I suppose I should change. I'd like to visit the gardens, unless Loki has forbidden it."

"He charged me to remain by your side. He said nothing of restricting your movements."

"You don't mind, do you?" Verda asked.

"It is my duty to accompany you wherever you wish to go, my Queen." Sif said. Verda glanced over at Sif with an expression of discomfort, "You are now the Queen of Asgard. You must accustom yourself to it."

"I know you're right." Verda acquiesced with a sigh, a moment of silence passing between the two before Verda continued, "Loki has told me of your feelings for Thor...if he had in time come to return them...if he had ascended the throne as was Odin's wish...would you have been pleased to become queen?"

"I'm not sure 'pleased' would be the correct word. I would have willingly performed the duties that Asgard and my King expected of me, just as I have always done."

"But would you not have had to sacrifice your life as a warrior?"

"I suppose so...eventually, for a time, at least. That does not mean I would have ceased to be a warrior. It would not have changed who I am. The king as well must make sacrifices."

"And what would those be?" Verda asked. It did not appear to her as if Loki had been forced to give up or fundamentally change anything about himself since taking the oath, at least not to the extent Sif would have been expected to were she to have become Asgard's queen. It hardly seemed fair in Verda's view, especially for someone in Sif's position, who had worked so hard to earn her place.

"How much of your time did you spend before all of this considering the welfare of Asgard, that of the realms? Did you much worry over any of it?" Sif asked. Verda considered Sif's question, appearing thoughtful.

"Not especially," Verda said. "I suppose I assumed all would be well and would continue to be, that Odin had everything in hand or at least it soon would be. I was concerned with my own affairs."

"For a king, Asgard and the realms are his affairs, his only affairs. Everything he does, every decision he makes he must have their wellbeing as his primary consideration, even in what would for anyone else be considered private matters. Loki swore to cast aside all selfish ambition, to pledge himself only to the good of the realms. Odin had taken that same oath long ago. That is why others that call Asgard and the realms home have the freedom to concern themselves with other things, to pursue their own pleasures and ambitions, freedoms that Loki will never again enjoy. It will be quite an adjustment for a man such as himself." Sif explained.

"You do not believe he is up to the task?"

"I did not say that...only that it may be more difficult for him than for others."

"You mean Thor."

"You are now my queen and as such I must ask your permission to say what it is I next wish to say." Sif informed Verda.

"You need never ask my permission to be honest with me whether it is in regards to myself or Loki. I want to be told the truth, always, for others to tell me what they think and feel and believe. I insist on it. It will serve neither myself nor Asgard to coddle me."

"Spoken like a true queen." Sif said to Verda, appearing somewhat surprised by Verda's words and the confidence in which she had spoken them considering what Sif had witnessed and taken as Verda's seeming complete devotion to Loki. She had feared Verda would not wish to hear anything that might be taken as criticism of him. "Though Thor was far from stupid, if it had come down only to intellect, Loki would have been the clear choice to succeed Odin. Yet despite his intelligence, he has always had many blind spots. He is very good at spotting flaws and weaknesses in others, but not in himself. That is another of your duties as queen, to make him aware of them, to right him when he may err. It may be the duty that takes up the greatest amount of your time." Sif said, the two reaching what was now the King and Queen's chambers, the einherjar standing sentry at the door, opening them for the two women who then entered.

"On the contrary, he has always been very aware of them, painfully so." Verda said. "We both had someone telling us we were unworthy. The day we first met, as children, it was him that I heard crying in the forest...he would go there to release his pain, his anguish, as he wished no one, especially his father, to think him weak. He could not be Thor, he could only be himself, and he was so different from the picture others had in their heads of what a Prince of Asgard, what a King of Asgard, should be. He saw no value in himself as no one else seemed to. For all his talk of taking the throne, all he really wanted was to be seen as Thor's equal, to feel he was equally valued." Verda explained. Sif stood silent for a moment, processing what Verda had revealed to her.

"I admit I was often unkind to him. I suppose I had the same picture you speak of in my head as well." Sif replied, not having expected such a revelation and never having considered it, shame coloring her tone.

"You must forget that picture, all you thought you knew. If given a fair chance to prove himself, he will do so. Will you give him that chance? Will you speak to the others, convince them to give him that chance as well?"

"Yes...of course." Sif agreed, "You may not have wished to be queen, but I would say you are doing quite well."

"I don't say what I do because I am queen, I would rather Loki had never taken the throne. If I had one wish it would be that Thor had lived. I say it because of my love for him, because I know the man he truly is, that he has always been behind the mask he has long worn." Verda was silent for a moment as if pondering a question, "The danger we face, Asgard, Midgard and the other realms, perhaps the rest of the universe, is great. We can use all the help we can get. There is something I must do, that I must try. I'm not certain it will work. I would not usually ask you to keep a secret from your king, but I must do so now."

*****************************

"You would betray your own queen?" Fandral asked, aghast, Volstagg and Hogun appearing equally confounded.

"I will do what I must." Loki said as he stood behind what had been Odin's desk in what had been Odin's study, now his own as king.

"She would never forgive you." Volstagg said as he nervously played with his beard, discomforted by the scheme Loki had just outlined after enlightening them to all that he had learned on Midgard and the danger they faced.

"Trust me, she has forgiven far worse." Loki stated.

"But if she is willing, why not allow her to fight?" Hogun asked.

"Because of what I know I would become if she were to fall...which is far more likely to happen if I am correct." Loki turned his back to the three, crossing his arms and bowing his head. "When all others yearned for my brother's attention and affections, she longed for mine, she was willing to offer up her own life for my own or to die with me, she loved me...she loves me...unless you are aware of another of which the same can be said, I believe that makes her quite extraordinary, even more so than any relic my father has stored away in the vault."

"And like them you would lock her away?" asked Volstagg.

"I will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe."

*****************************

"Randolph is dead." Yerrick said to the woman in the sky blue gown, her long copper hair flowing down her back who stood before what appeared to be a small bar, pouring herself a drink. The windowless room shared the same cold, gray metallic walls as all the others in the compound, yet the decor, the tapestries and the canopied bed gave it a palatial air.

"Good." she said, pouring a second drink. "They will soon come and just as quickly they will fall, Asgard, Jotunheim and the rest after. We will rule them together." Lorelei turned with a drink in each hand, holding one out to Yerrick who approached her. "You may remove that, there is no one else here, nor will there be for some time. I have ordered that we not be disturbed. You have done well. You should be rewarded."

Yerrick took the drink Lorelei offered, using his other hand to remove the mask, revealing his face, Loki lifting the glass to his lips and emptying it. Setting it down along with the mask onto the bar, he took Lorelei's glass from her hand and placed it on the bar as well before taking her in his arms, holding her tightly against him, the two sharing a deep and passionate kiss.

*****************************

"Time travel?" Pym asked, surprised by Fury's query.

"That's what I said." Fury replied.

"Theoretically it's possible, but it wouldn't be like in the movies."

"So no Back to the Future, no Terminator?"

"No, and no you couldn't go back and throw Hitler in front of a bus...well, you could, but it wouldn't change anything here. Any changes to the past would create a new timeline from that point, branching off from this one, the original."

"What if this isn't the original, what if we're one of the branches?"

"That's not possible. The only way would be if...forget it. Nice try but I'm not telling you anything."

"What did you mean when you said my enemies might be closer than I think?"

"I have a feeling you're going to find out soon enough." Pym said.

"I'd rather find out long before that. If S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised, I need to know and I need to know who and how many. Think you could help a brother out?"

"You mean someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. is finally going to listen and take me seriously? You'd better be careful. I'm an old man now. I might have a stroke. Why do you want or need my help?" Pym asked skeptically.

"Heard you have some tech which might make flushing them out easier….and maybe I just want to see someone's face slammed into a tabletop...I missed it the first time around."

*****************************

Verda and Sif approached the pool in the gardens, the same by which Odin had previously sat. Verda stood by it, gazing down at her reflection. Holding out her hand, the bag containing the Norn Stones appeared within it.

"The gardens have been cleared. There's no one here but us." Sif said. "I'm not sure about this...after what happened to Loki…"

"I'm not asking them to show me anything. They either will or they won't, they can or they can't. Either way it should not take long."

"You realize if anything happens to you it will be me that will be for the axe." Sif said.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Verda said as she removed the stones, handing the empty bag to Sif.

Sif watched nervously as Verda, in her gown, waded into the water of the still and crystal clear pool a few steps before turning around and lowering herself to float on her back for a moment before going under.

*****************************

Verda walked the familiar path through New Asgard, sea water dripping from her hair and gown. Those she passed looked to her questioningly, both due to her state and the Asgardian gown she wore which, though Asgardian themselves they had not seen worn by another Asgardian for some time, before continuing on their way. Finally reaching the door of the familiar abode, Verda stood for a moment, wet and shivering, before taking a breath and preparing herself, extending her arm, her fist already closed around the stones, to knock on the door.

"Just a moment…" the familiar voice called out as she remembered having heard so many times before.

Verda braced herself as the knob turned and the door swung open. Thor stood before her, his hair that had once been cut short on Sakkar now growing out, reaching his shoulders, his body not yet obviously ravaged by drink. He looked at her with surprise and concern.

"Verda…? Why are you-" Thor began to ask. Before he could finish, Verda, tears in her eyes, finding herself rendered speechless, threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him, the sea water that soaked her gown now also soaking through Thor's clothing as she clung to him. "Has something happened? Come inside." Thor said, gently peeling her off of him and leading her through the door, closing it behind him. "Did you have an accident? You look as if you fell into the sea."

"I….I came from the sea…." Verda said, her teeth chattering, her body continuing to shake.

"You're freezing...wait there..." Thor said, quickly walking into another room and returning with a blanket, wrapping it around Verda like a cloak and rubbing her hair and then her arms in an attempt to dry and warm her. "I'm sorry, I have no clothing that will fit. I don't believe you've left any here." As her shivering subsided somewhat, he held her in his arms, as much to continue to warm her as to display affection, looking into her face as if he would find answers there, though she only stared silently back at him, her eyes wide in wonder, tears still pooling in them. "Did someone do this to you?" Thor asked.

"No…." Verda said, shaking her head slightly, the tears now escaping from her eyes. Thor took her head between his hands, moving his lips to hers. She relished the feel of them, returning the kiss before fully realizing what she was doing. "No...I can't…" Verda said, ending the kiss, turning her head away, her eyes now closed, stepping back from him.

"What is it? You must tell me what's happened." Thor stepped forward, gripping her shoulders, for the first time noticing the necklace, lifting the pendant in his hand. "Yggdrasil. I haven't seen you wear this before. Was it a gift?"

"Yes...from Loki."

"Loki?" Thor asked, now more confused than ever. "You told me that you had only met once as children."

"That's true...here...in this time…"

"In this…? Did you strike your head when you fell into the sea...or before that?"

"No...no...I'm fine...I-" Verda stopped, scanning the room. The table was devoid of the collection of empty bottles she recalled almost always being there. She then realized there had been no taste or scent of alcohol on his breath when he had kissed her. She was reminded why she had chosen this point in time. "You haven't been drinking?"

"No...it seems somewhat early yet…would you like one? Ale?" Thor turned towards the kitchen.

"Perhaps something stronger?" Verda said, aware that beer was not the only alcohol Thor had available, though she knew it was what he drank most often.

"Yes...of course...please, sit." Thor said, leaving the room and entering the kitchen as Verda took a seat on the couch, wrapped in the blanket. He returned after a few moments with a glass and a bottle of what appeared to be whisky or bourbon and sat beside her, placing the glass on the table and pouring a drink, setting the bottle down and picking up the glass, handing it to her. It was then Verda realized that her right hand still clutched tight the stones. She opened it, transferring them to her left and taking hold of the glass, Thor now eyeing her left hand, not only due to the mysterious stones he had caught a glimpse of, but the ring on her finger. Verda took a drink from the glass.

"Thank you." Verda said before taking another drink. "I'm sorry...I know I haven't been making any sense."

"That's the first thing you have said that does make sense." Thor joked, allowing himself a grin and appearing relieved that she had managed to put a coherent sentence together. "What is it that you're holding?" Thor asked, also recalling the aborted kiss as he looked again at the ring, "Is there something you've been keeping from me?"

"No...yes...I mean, no, not when I was here before. I never kept anything from you." Verda said, finishing her drink and reaching for the bottle to pour herself another, Thor taking hold of her wrist.

"Tell me what has happened...everything." Verda turned her gaze from the bottle to look at Thor, at the concern in his expression mixed with the underlying pain she remembered had always been there since the day they had first met at the cairn.

"I'm sorry...I abandoned you...I should never have done so...though you never voiced it, I know I hurt you...that's why you did not come to me to say goodbye. I never stopped caring for you, perhaps I cared too much, it was killing me. I thought that if you truly cared for me too, when you realized...you'd stop." Verda said, tears returning to her eyes, her voice beginning to break.

"I don't understand. Once again you're not-"

"Not making any sense. Yes, I know. If you will release me...and allow me one more drink...I will tell you all."

*****************************

As the sun began to set, Loki paced the great room of his chambers, two einherjar standing inside on either side of the door. As the doors were opened by the einherjar stationed outside them, Sif and Verda entered. Loki turned towards them, quickly crossing the distance between them.

"Where have you been?" Loki said, sounding upset yet relieved at the same time.

"I decided to visit the gardens. Sif was with me. You said nothing about leaving the palace."

"You're right, I didn't. In the future, if you could send word of where I may find you…"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I wasn't thinking." Verda said apologetically, embracing him.

"Do you wish me to remain?" Sif asked.

"No. Thank you, Lady Sif. I'll summon you again when you are needed." Loki told her, Sif bowing her head before turning and exiting the chambers. "I thought we would have our evening meal and then perhaps retire early. We have both been neglecting our rest." Loki said to Verda. She realized how tired Loki appeared to be, dark circles beginning to form under his eyes, before sensing fatigue overtaking her as well. She looked to the two einherjar by the door and then the two others standing on either side of the doorway that led to the bedchamber.

"We're now husband and wife and I have yet to have any time alone with you. Perhaps we should follow the tradition of Midgardians that Coulson spoke of."

"Is there any particular location you would like to visit?" Loki asked.

"I'll have to think about it. I'm not sure. I know so little about the other realms, the universe. Before Hela, I had never left Asgard."

"That must be remedied. Perhaps once all of this is over, a tour of the realms would be in order..." Loki said, taking Verda in his arms. "...to introduce them to the most beautiful queen Asgard has ever known."

"You're laying it on thick. What is it you want? Or are you seeking forgiveness for some foul deed of which I'm not yet aware?" Verda said, amused. "I recall you telling me that I should take only half of what you say seriously. Your mother is far lovelier than I. I remember as a child thinking if only I could be as beautiful as she. If I were, perhaps I would not have been as afraid, fearing that you might find me hideous."

"If I had found you hideous, I would have left you in the pit." Loki said, grinning as Verda laughed.

"No, you wouldn't have." Verda said.

"Perhaps not...but I most certainly wouldn't have kissed you….where was it?" Loki asked.

"Here." Verda said, smiling, pointing to the same area of her forehead she had previously.

"Ah, yes...there." Loki said, placing his lips on the spot Verda had indicated.

"Did you really boast about my rescue for a week?" Verda asked.

"Who told you that?"

"Your brother."

"I believe it was nine days. Sif then threatened to beat me if I made it ten."

"Perhaps you should have married Sif. It sounds as if she kept you in line. Is that not a queen's duty?" Verda teased.

"A queen has many duties...one in particular comes to mind. Of course my assistance is required." Loki said as he smiled mischievously.

"I thought you were tired. You certainly waste no time. We have yet to have time to enjoy each other's presence and you talk of adding another's. Well, It's not happening tonight, not with these others present."

"They are sworn to secrecy as to anything they hear or witness within the royal chambers. What would they tell anyone? That a husband and wife, a king and queen, were fulfilling their duties?" Loki grinned.

"I would rather that not be referred to as a duty." Verda replied.

"I have another for you, though it will wait until morning." said Loki.

"What is it?" Verda asked curiously.

"Lorelei's possessions, what few were allowed her, are still in her cell. I would like you to go through them. I thought perhaps you may find something useful. Afterwards, anything that once belonged to her you are free to burn." said Loki.

"And I will gladly do so."