"It's over, Lorelei. Surrender."

"Why would I do that? I've bested you before." Lorelei replied to Sif.

"You will not do so again. Unlike you I don't repeat the same mistakes."

"No, you make new ones." Lorelei sneered as Sif lunged at Lorelei with her sword.

Each woman skillfully deflected the blows of the other's sword with her own as they battled over the forested ground.

"Would you like to hear the last words of your dear Haldor before I ran him through? Even in his last moments he was completely devoted to me." Lorelei taunted Sif as they battled. "Poor Sif, never to have what your heart most desires, while I can have any man I choose."

"They are but slaves."

"Is that not what 'love' is? Slavery? You either become a slave to them or to the idea of them, as you yourself have been for so long." Lorelei said scornfully. "You and my sister have much in common."

"I take that as a compliment." Sif said, landing a kick to Lorelei's midsection, sending her hurtling against a tree, Lorelei recovering just as Sif rushed at her, dodging her.

"It is a compliment to be compared to my pitiful, pathetic sister who spent her life pining for one so insignificant and worthless? At least you have better taste. I never understood how the same loins who brought forth one such as Thor could also create such a sorry excuse for a prince. It was no surprise to me to learn of his true heritage. When I take the throne, at least Asgard will again be ruled by an Asgardian."

"What are you talking about?" Sif asked, as the two women circled each other.

"He has not told you? You do not yet know before who...or what...you now bend your knee, whose orders, like a dog, you follow?"

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

The battle commenced among the trees as those Fury had brought together along with the troops he had sent in that had arrived to back them were joined by Asgard's warriors, Thor in disbelief as he witnessed Loki at the head of Asgard's army, rushing to his side to join him amid the fighting.

"Brother! What are you doing here?" Thor asked as the battle raged, both Thor and Loki downing foes rushing upon them, Loki with his daggers, Thor with Stormbreaker.

"Did you think I would let you once again have all the glory? Verda has been returned to Asgard. Father has awakened from his slumber." Loki answered as he felled another attacker.

"If you were to fall..."

"I believe my queen brought you here to ensure that doesn't happen." Loki said as he and Thor each dispatched another masked soldier in white, both brothers observing the frenzy of the oncoming soldiers.

"They fight like Berserkers!" exclaimed Thor as he swung Stormbreaker, taking down more attackers.

"They are." Loki said, recalling that along with the Tesseract, Lorelei had also gained possession of the Berserker Staff from Randolph. Deciding that he needed a more formidable weapon than his daggers, Loki stowed them away, producing Mjolnir in his hand, quickly sending it flying into the oncoming throng, catching it as it returned to him.

"Not bad...lower your grip...give it a bit more of a twist on the release…." advised Thor. "Here...I'll show you." Thor said, holding Stormbreaker out to Loki and reaching for Mjolnir. Loki took Stormbreaker, eyeing Thor as he handed Mjolnir over. "Like this..." said Thor as he hurled Mjolnir into the ranks of the oncoming army, the hammer cutting a swath through them. "It's all in the wrist." Loki reached out, intercepting Mjolnir upon its return, as he handed Stormbreaker back to Thor.

"All you had to do was ask." Loki said knowing full well Thor's motivation was far more nostalgia for Mjolnir, the chance to wield it once again than giving Loki instruction.

As the battle continued to rage, Loki and Thor repeatedly sent their respective weapons at their opponents, more filling the gaps that were left by those slain. Loki, taking stock of the situation, saw the bodies of fallen Asgardians and S.H.I.E.L.D. troops littering the field, the members of the team of which he was a part continuing to battle among the living and the dead. Banner's beast roared as Lorelei's soldiers assailed him, hanging from his massive arms as he flung them off and away from him, Stark using every weapon in his suit's arsenal. Barton, who had long since used his last arrow had taken up a rifle from a slain soldier.

Suddenly, a blue bolt of energy shot from the front line of the oncoming enemy, followed by another farther down the line, striking an Asgardian and a S.H.I.E.L.D fighter, both instantly disintegrating, leaving nothing behind. Loki and Thor, horrified, witnessed another blast of blue that had the same effect on a line of Asgardian warriors not far from their position.

"What the hell was that?!" Barton exclaimed in awe of what he had just seen.

"They have harnessed the Teseract's power to make weapons." Loki explained.

"We can't fight that! We're barely holding our own against them now!" Barton replied.

"The time has come." Loki said aloud more to himself than to Thor or Barton. Loki moved forward just as the others on his side of the fray began to fall back.

"Loki! Are you mad?!" Thor cried.

Mjolnir disappeared from Loki's grip as he held out both hands, the Casket of Ancient Winters materializing in them. The hue of Loki's skin began to change to match its sapphire glow. A blast like the wind of a winter storm erupted from the Casket, the enemy combatants before Loki within its range finding themselves frozen in place like statues, encased in ice.

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

"You lie!" Sif exclaimed in response to Lorelei's revelation of Loki's origin, moving in on Lorelei for another attack.

"You've always known he was different. Will you allow a frost giant to sit on Asgard's throne? The time has come for us to rise up. Too long have men held power. How much harder did you have to fight to prove yourself? Before Frigga, before Thor, Odin had a daughter. He banished her to Hel, locked her away, erased her from our history, her only crime being that she dared have the ambition to claim her birthright and to rule! Had she been a son, do you believe he would have done the same? He would introduce the rejected son of Laufey, our enemy, into our midst, perpetrate a fraud, set him on the throne but not his own flesh and blood!" Sif stood shocked and bewildered upon hearing Lorelei's words. "Why do you believe Thor did not return your affection? Could it be because you refused to put down your sword, don a pretty gown and play the part, to be a mere ornament? You and the few other women like you are tolerated only because you do as you are told. I refused to submit, to be ruled by them. Instead I ruled them! It struck such fear into Odin that he locked me away as well."

"You are a murderer. You tried to conquer the realms." Sif responded.

"Just as Odin once did! He drowned entire civilizations in blood! He is the one that should have been locked away! I wished to unite the realms under one rule. Odin agreed to allow the people of Midgard to go their own way and what has become of it?" Lorelei paused, gauging Sif's reaction before she continued, "Haldor was a fool. He was no different from the others. He would not have made you happy. Throw off the shackles they have placed on you and free yourself. Join me...I will place you at the head of my army. We women must stick together..."

"Yes, we certainly must…." Frigga's voice said from behind Lorelei. "For my son!" Frigga ran Lorelei through with her sword before withdrawing it. Lorelei's mouth gaped, her eyes wide with shock as she stood frozen in place, her sword dropping from her hand to the forest floor. Frigga stepped back, her and Sif's eyes meeting, an unspoken message passing between them.

"For Haldor and Thor!" Sif cried as she closed the distance between herself and Lorelei, swinging her sword, detaching Lorelei's head from her body, sending it flying against a nearby tree. Lorelei's decapitated body slumped to the ground like a heavy sack.

Sif spat on Lorelei's corpse, staring down at it in silence for a few moments as she realized it was over. Lorelei, as she had fantasized about for centuries, lay dead at her feet. Sif looked up at Frigga, struggling to hold back her emotions and maintain her warrior stoicism, the endeavor taking every ounce of her strength, her body slightly quivering as if she were straining every muscle with the effort. It had taken her much time after her emotional display following Thor's death to overcome the shame she had felt at losing her usual tough as nails composure, especially in front of Loki, and she had vowed no matter what the circumstance to never allow such a thing to happen again. Even Haldor's death had not led her to such a public exhibition of her sorrow.

Frigga had no such compulsion, allowing her tears to flow freely.

"It is not a weakness. It's a strength." Frigga counseled Sif, her words breaking down Sif's defenses, she bursting into sobs as Frigga held her arms out, Sif dropping her sword and rushing into them.

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

Asgard's remaining warriors and S.H.I.E.L.D. troops surged ahead like a wave, attacking the frozen masked soldiers before them and the few that had been left unfrozen as Loki stood holding the Casket in his hands.

"This must bring back memories." Stark teased Rogers. "Looks like things have cooled off around here. We have a mission to complete. Hold on to your tights, Cap." Stark said grabbing hold of Rogers and lifting off.

It had taken some time for Sif to traverse the forest. Warriors hacked and slashed at the frozen soldiers of what had once been Lorelei's army as she approached. Her pace slowed as her eyes fell on Loki, still holding the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hands. She recognized the relic but did not immediately realize who it was that wielded it.

"Loki?" Sif said aghast as she neared him. Loki turned his head to look at her with eyes as red as Lorelei's blood she had recently spilled, stopping her in her tracks. "It's true…"

"Yes…"Loki replied. "Verda once said I must accept myself for who I am. I hope that you will be able to as well." Loki looked back over the field as the battle reached its conclusion, the Casket vanishing from his hands, his form returning to the one with which Sif was familiar.

"Lorelei is dead." Sif informed Loki, not disclosing to him Frigga's part in the sorceress' demise, she having asked Sif not to do so, the second time she had been asked by a queen to keep a secret from her king. "It's over."

"Not yet…" Loki said peering past the warriors in the direction of the stronghold.

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

"Ready?" Stark asked, not waiting for an answer before throwing Rogers at the tall, gothic window, Rogers quickly moving his shield up in front of him. Rogers landed on his feet on the stone floor of the workshop/lab, quickly straightening, finding himself face to face with a roomful of masked men. He sent his shield flying, bouncing off each of them before returning to him. Stark landed beside Rogers, taking out the few left standing with blasts from the palms of his suit. Both men stepped forward, scanning the room for any sign of the Tesseract.

"I don't see it. They must have it hidden somewhere." Rogers said.

"You think?" Stark replied sarcastically. "While we're here…" he said to Rogers as he examined the computer monitors, setting a device down in front of them, "Jarvis...I want it all…while you're at it look for an energy signature identical to what was powering that shield."

"One level down. I can't find an access though on the wall to your left, I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current." Jarvis answered.

"Wish Jarvis would have been around when I was a kid. Would have made finding where mom hid my Christmas presents a lot easier. Guess there wasn't a point in trying to sneak a peek back in your day. You got a penny and a tin cup."

"I'm not that old." Rogers replied.

Stark neared the area of the wall Jarvis had indicated, Rogers trailing behind him, keeping watch behind them. Stark placed his hands flat on the stone wall.

"Open sesame...says me!" Stark said, the wall moving back, revealing the landing of a stairway, both men entering and beginning to descend it.

"Gentlemen…" Strucker greeted them, standing beside a table upon which the Tesseract sat on a pedestal, aiming a large barreled chrome plated rifle in their direction. Stark quickly lifted off from the stairway, Rogers hurling his shield as Strucker fired the weapon, Rogers diving from the stairway, narrowly avoiding its beam. As the blue streak of energy hit the stone steps where Rogers had stood, those struck by it disintegrated leaving a gap in the stairway. The shield knocked the weapon from Strucker's hands at the same time that Stark hit him with a blast from his palms. Strucker flying back from the table to sprawl on the floor where he lay motionless. Rogers swiftly climbed to his feet, collecting his shield and rushed to the table, retrieving the Tesseract.

"The cat's back in the bag." Rogers said, notifying the others through their earpieces. Stark landed near Strucker who lay on his back, Rogers walking up behind him, both looking down at the fallen man.

"Wolfgang Von Strucker. He's with S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought-" Stark began as Strucker opened his eyes and appeared to bite down on something in his mouth.

"Hail Hydra…." Strucker said before his body began to convulse.

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

Loki entered the vault beneath the palace on Asgard. Traversing past the various relics, he reached the empty pedestal. Holding his hands out, he materialized the Casket of Ancient Winters reverting to his Jotun form as he held it. Placing it back on the pedestal and removing his hands from it, he regained his Asgardian appearance. Turning from it he made his way past other relics to another empty pedestal. Holding out one hand, the Tesseract appeared within it.

Loki stared at the relic, knowing from his visions what was contained within it and all it was to have led to had the trajectory of the timeline he now inhabited not been altered. He recalled what Rogers had told him of his experiences with it before he went into the ice after he had handed it over to Loki, disobeying the order to return it to the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki knew it could not remain on Asgard just as Rogers had known it could not remain on Earth. Turning his back on it, he walked away.

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

It had been days since Verda had been placed in a bed in an unoccupied chamber near that of her and Loki's own. Odin, as he had assured Loki he would, continued to sit vigil as Loki had attended to his duties as Asgard's king, returning to her side whenever he had a free moment, which he found were few. There was one task however that superseded his responsibilities, at least in Loki's estimation, and he had only just returned from completing it.

Odin raised his head from the book in his hands as Loki entered the bedchamber, a small, flat box in his hand, hoping against hope that during his absence perhaps she had at last awakened, his heart heavy as he quickly concluded his wish had not been granted.

"There's been no change?" Loki asked, likely for the hundredth time over the previous days.

"No." Odin answered, looking from Verda to Loki and the despair evident in his expression as he came to stand by the bed. "Do not give up hope."

"You have never rested so long."

"She drained herself nearly to the point of death. As you know, to remove a curse one has not placed and of which one does not have exact knowledge of is a perilous undertaking. I would have done the same for your brother but I knew I had not the strength at the time. Though not as rich as I in years, nor does your mother any longer. It would have cost us our lives and changed nothing." Odin replied, guilt evident in the tone of his voice.

Loki now realized why Odin had been absent from Thor's side as he lay on his deathbed and why he had made no appearance in the throne room as his brother's body had lain in state. It was not a cold heart or sorrow that had kept him away. Loki was himself now drowning in the same emotion. Had he not allowed guilt, a sentiment he had never had a great deal of trouble shaking off in the past, to move him to release her from the cell, had he not allowed her out of his sight, had he realized her intentions earlier…

Loki sat himself on the edge of the bed, opening the box. Within lay Verda's necklace, the clasp and the damage from the dagger repaired, the gold polished and shining as it had when he had first laid eyes upon it. Removing it and setting the box aside, he leaned over Verda, placing it around her neck and straightening it before placing his lips on her forehead. Rising and retrieving the empty box he looked down upon her once more before leaving Odin to continue the vigil.

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

Loki's other lay on his bunk in his cell in the dungeon, tossing a silver cup into the air and catching it. As had been the case in Lorelei's cell, a table holding various books sat in the middle of the cell, a chair nearby. Hearing footsteps that he knew did not belong to an einherjar, Loki caught the cup once more then lowered his hand that held it as he sat up to see his double approach the cell.

"Has she awakened?" Loki's other asked hopefully.

"No, not yet."

"I had told her to leave me, to let me die. I'm afraid I was not in a position to do much to stop her."

"I have learned that when she is determined to do a thing, there is not much anyone, even myself, can do to dissuade her."

"She is not so different from us." Loki's other replied with a weak grin. "The enchantment...it was only so she would remember us, no more than that?"

"As I recall. It does appear its effect turned out to be somewhat stronger than we had intended."

"So what is to be done with me? Am I to be brought before you in chains to be sentenced to the axe or to spend the remainder of my life here?"

"I would spare you that indignity. I believe there may be a better solution."

"And what would that be? Would you have father render me mortal, exile me to Midgard?" Loki's other queried.

"Is that what you wish?' Loki asked.

"Heavens no. I would prefer the axe."

"Do you believe I would put to death one she was willing to give her life to preserve?"

"So it is to be exile then."

"Midgard is not such a bad place. Even without magical abilities mortals seem quite capable of fomenting more than enough mischief. They were doing so long before you came along."

"Mother...I would like to see her. I wish to speak with her."

"I will tell her of your request." Loki said, turning away.

"Tell me...what was to happen...what was to become of me had she not appeared to me...had my future not been altered?" Loki's other asked. Loki turned back to face him.

"You don't want to know. It doesn't matter. All will now be different for both of us."