Chapter 16

"A place for everything and everything in its place. I think they organized it better than we did," Selvig said, Pym standing on one side of him, Jane and Darcy on the other, as they examined a shelving unit of scientific equipment that had been returned on Coulson's orders by S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

"I tell my people if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing right," the four heard Nick Fury's voice say from behind them.

"I thought my part in all this was over," Selvig said as the four turned to face Fury.

"It is. All water under the bridge," Fury responded.

"Is there something else I can do for you?" Selvig asked, anxious for Fury and the other S.H.I.E.L.D agents to be on their way and for life to return to normal, or as normal as it ever would be now that he had been enlightened about the existence of Asgard and the fact confirmed that they weren't alone in the universe.

"You have quite the resume, Dr. Selvig. I'm impressed. I'm here to make you an offer," Fury explained.

"He's not interested," Pym said, his tone hostile.

"Hank Pym. I've heard a lot about you. I was with S.H.I.E.L.D. during your time with us but of course I was a bit farther down the ranks back then. I never got the chance to meet you. Nick Fury," Fury said, approaching Pym, his hand extended, Pym neglecting to take it, giving Fury a death stare as Fury lowered his arm back to his side, "I get it. I'd be pissed too, but a lot's changed since then."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Pym responded, Fury turning his attention back to Selvig.

"We're beginning a new project researching a possible source of clean energy. If we're successful we'll be saving the planet and everyone that calls it home. We know we can't go on the way we've been going or sooner or later, likely sooner, we'll go the way of the dinosaurs. I'd love to have you on board. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in…" Fury said, handing Selvig a card.

"I'll think about it," Selvig replied, looking at the card in his hand.

"Just be sure it's you doing the thinking," Fury said, looking at Pym, Pym glowering back in return, "I'll get out of your hair and let you get on with your work.

Fury turned, taking a few steps towards the exit before turning again to address Pym,"I heard what you did to Mitchell Carson. I can't say I wasn't tempted to do the same myself a few times...more than a few."

"Why didn't you?" Pym asked.

"As the saying goes, I like to keep my friends close and my enemies closer," Fury answered.

"Your enemies might be a lot closer than you think," Pym responded

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Coulson turned his head as the door to his left opened unexpectedly, Verda entering. Randolph's jaw dropping at the sight of the woman dressed in the attire of a female warrior of Asgard.

"This isn't about any murder. Odin sent you to bring me back. After all this time...what changed his mind?" Randolph asked as Coulson appeared confused, looking from Verda to Randolph.

"Nothing. Odin didn't send me...you're Asgardian?" Verda asked in surprise as Loki joined them.

"You're one of them?" Coulson asked, bewildered.

"Maybe you've read about me...I doubt it...everyone's into the Greeks...the Warrior Who Stayed."

"you've never met me? You weren't involved in Thor's murder?" Verda asked.

"I've never seen you in my life. I'm a pacifist. I'd had enough of killing. I never wanted to fight. Before I got tired of fighting, I got tired of breaking rocks. I was a mason. All I wanted was to travel."

"But you're the man she spoke with," Loki said.

"He is the man but not the man, as it was with my other self," Verda explained before speaking to Randolph, "The man that looked like you, he kept someone hidden somewhere underground, like a crypt. He said he had hidden something else there which had never been found," Verda said, the color appearing to drain from Randolph's face.

"The catacombs under El Divino Nino in Seville. They were built over ancient Roman ruins in the 8th century, the church was later built over them," Randolph answered.

"Could you take us there?" Coulson asked.

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"I had thought he was manipulating my sister but he was once a warrior with no skill in magic. He couldn't have accessed my sister's cell or removed the collar," Verda said as Loki once again perused the bookshelves of the library.

Loki removed a book after reading the title on the spine, 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.'

"After Hela's arrival on Asgard...what became of those in the dungeon?" Loki asked.

"I'm not sure. Heimdall rescued everyone he could and led them to the stronghold. Perhaps he released them."

As if speaking his name was a summons, the imposing figure who had visited Selvig now appeared beside Loki.

"Your mother summons you."

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Loki and Verda crossed the rainbow bridge, no words passing between them, after Heimdall had advised Loki of the situation that had prompted Frigga to recall him from his mission in Midgard. To his relief the situation was not as dire as he had feared, though the clock was still ticking. A darkness had descended over him as he had stepped out of the Bifrost into Himinbjorg, like a specter of Thor's shadow returning. He knew Verda had not wronged him but what he felt had yet to catch up with what he knew. He had believed he had possessed something that was his and his alone, that his brother had never had. It had been a feeling akin to what he would have felt if he had for the first time returned from the Kynsblot Eve hunt as the victor and Thor empty handed.

"You should have brought Mjolnir. We could have flown as your brother once did. It would have been less painful. Sif's feet are just a bit smaller than my own," Verda said offhandedly to break the uncomfortable silence, referring to the pair of Sif's boots that she wore.

"My brother's ways, in all things, were superior," Loki responded.

"I never said that," Verda paused for a moment, looking over at Loki, his eyes downcast, "I didn't come here for your brother!" she exclaimed as she marched past him.

"Verda…" Loki called out, "Wait..."

Verda turned to face Loki as he quickened his pace to catch up to her.

"This is why you went mad! The only person it's necessary for you to be better than is the man you were yesterday! Not your brother, not your father! One cannot love another unless they first love themselves!"

"Many would say that is not an area in which I experience great difficulty," Loki responded.

"They would be wrong. You've betrayed yourself more than anyone else."

"Is this what I have to look forward to for millennia, such insolence and brazen honesty?" Loki asked, appearing and sounding irritated before his tone and expression changed as he grinned, "Good."

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"Father…" Loki said, approaching Odin whom he found sitting upon a stone bench within the palace's lush gardens, staring out over the crystal water of a pool reflecting like a liquid mirror the blue sky above, "Mother said I would find you here."

"My son...join me," Odin said, his voice calm and quiet, unlike what Loki was used to hearing emanate from the usually imposing figure of his adopted father.

"Mother is worried over you."

"My queen has spent far too much of her life worrying over me. When my time comes it will be a relief to me to know that she will no longer need to do so....It has been some time since I have come to this place. I have dedicated my life to safeguarding that which I have taken so little time to appreciate. I'm afraid it was the same with you and your brother. I failed you, both of you. I concerned myself with preparing you to be worthy of the throne. I did not appreciate you as my sons."

"It's true you have not been a perfect father. It is equally true I have not been a perfect son. I've caused you much grief. There's something we must discuss. It concerns the future of Asgard...the greater universe as well."

"You have used the stones," Odin said, "I was aware you possessed them. As you have come to know I am also aware things are not as they were to be."

"Then you know of whom I wish to speak."

"Hela, my firstborn," Odin said, staring out over the water, at the reflection of the clouds above drifting across it.

"If she is released all for which you have dedicated your will fall."

"I had planned to transfer the lock of her prison to Thor after he had taken the throne and I had prepared him. I now lack the strength until I have taken my rest."

"Life can be fleeting, one's demise unexpected. The security of the realms and the universe should not rest on the shoulders of one person alone. You may draw the strength necessary from mother and I. The stones hold great power, more than enough to keep her imprisoned for eternity."

"As lives can end so too can a relic can fall into the wrong hands," Odin stated.

"Not if it can't be reached," Loki replied.

"There is another matter that concerns you...she who you intend to take as your queen."

"That is of no import at the moment-" Loki began.

"On the contrary, the contentment of Asgard's king is of great importance. That is why it is imperative that a king chooses his queen wisely. A man can possess nothing better than a good wife nor anything worse than a bad one. I can attest to the truth of that statement. Hela's dark ambitions were only rivaled by those of her mother."

"She is not her sister. I could extoll her many virtues but it would be far simpler to say that it would be a great loss to Asgard if it were not to have such a woman as its queen."

"May she bring you the joy and comfort that your mother has brought me these many centuries," Odin replied.

"Mother wishes you to join her. I must return to Midgard."

"And I must take my rest. I can wait no longer. Before I do and before you depart once more…" Odin said, rising unsteadily, Loki assisting him, "If you are both prepared…"

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It was not the grand, glorious coronation Loki had for centuries envisioned but strangely he found that he didn't care. The people who had come to matter to him most were there...his mother, the expression of anxiety she had displayed upon meeting them as they entered the palace upon their return was now replaced with a proud smile as she stood beside the throne, Verda at her side, Sif and the Warriors Three also bearing witness as he kneeled before his father.

"Loki Odinson, my heir...I have defended Asgard and the lives of the innocent across the nine realms in the time of the Great Beginning. The day has come for a new king. Do you swear to guard the nine realms?"

"I swear."

"And do you swear to preserve the peace?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and to pledge yourself only to the good of the realms?" Odin continued.

It was perhaps the most difficult vow for Loki to make. He had for so long he now realized lived his life mired in selfish ambition. Now his only ambition was to return from Midgard with Thor's murderers in his custody and to bestow upon Sif the axe with which the justice due them would be meted out.

"I swear," Loki proclaimed.

"Then on this day, I proclaim you King."

The words echoed inside Loki's head. He was king, the burden of the throne now his to shoulder. It was a moment of satisfaction but also of doubt and fear as he hoped he would be proven equal to the task.

Frigga took Verda's arm, escorting her to Loki's side as he raised himself to his feet. Odin stood from the throne, making his way from it to stand before the two.

"This day Asgard gains not only a new king but a queen as well," Odin announced.

For the second time Loki found himself swearing a vow, one of a different sort, as he took Verda's hand in his own, slipping the gold band that had been procured for the occasion onto Verda's finger.

"I give you that which is mine to give. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care. I shall be your shield and shall honor you above all others," Loki recited the traditional Asgardian vows.

As Loki finished, Frigga stepped forward, placing a gold band into Verda's hand which she then slid onto Loki's finger as she repeated the same vows.

At the completion of their promises to one another, Odin produced a gold cord, wrapping it around their clasped hands from wrist to wrist.

"What I have joined is joined eternal." Odin pronounced.