Loki and Darcy had returned and seated themselves at the small table inside Selvig and Jane's base of operations with their sandwiches. After perusing what lay between the bread and seemingly satisfied that it was edible, Loki took a bite just as Selvig's phone rang, Loki turning his head in the direction of the sound coming from the other side of the room where Selvig sat in front of a computer monitor. The scientist picked up the phone from the desk where he had placed it beside the computer's keyboard, answering the call.

"Hank! Hello...I know. It's been too long. I didn't expect you to return my call so soon. I thought you'd be busy...No, no, everything's fine…" Selvig said as he glanced at Loki before exiting the building to continue the conversation.

Selvig knew that his old friend and colleague, Hank Pym, the founder and CEO of Pym Technologies, a man whose genius...and wealth...made him one of the few to rival Tony Stark in those departments, had once been a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D, though he wasn't sure of the exact nature of the work he'd done for them. He knew only that Pym had warned him about them in the past and seemed to hold quite a grudge. As succinctly as he could Selvig explained the situation.

"You told him the same thing I'd tell him," Pym told Selvig as he stood in his office, his phone to his ear, gazing out of the window, "Go back for a second...you said he stopped a two ton vehicle...?"

"He didn't actually stop it, just a fluke of timing."

"You're sure about that?" Pym asked, "You've heard of Steve Rogers...Captain America during the second world war?"

"Of course I've heard of Steve Rogers."

"S.H.I.E.L.D and others have been trying for decades to replicate the process used on Rogers. Maybe they finally succeeded."

"You think he's one of their experiments? That they sent him here to spy on us? We're studying atmospheric anomalies, nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. would be interested in."

"There's not a whole lot S.H.I.E.L.D isn't interested in," Pym replied, "They could very well be the cause of them. Some new weapons technology they're testing. If that's the case…."

"They wouldn't want a couple scientists poking their noses around," Selvig finished, "The reason we were out there...we picked up some strange readings, an energy signature. Never seen anything like it, not outside the theoretical. Whatever it was it was over and done before we made it there. I haven't had a chance to really dig into the data yet."

"It may have been a set up so you would meet up with him. Whatever data you have make sure you back it up then back up the back ups off site. If they come after it it'll be like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, they'll take everything. You'll be lucky if they leave you any toilet paper to wipe your ass," Pym warned.

"I'm planning on taking him out for a drink later hoping he'll open up, give me more information," Selvig informed Pym.

"Check in with me, let me know what's going on. We still don't know what happened to Banner. I don't want you ending up as the next hide and seek champion."

"I mentioned Banner when I was trying to discourage him, not by name but it wouldn't be hard to figure out who I was referring to. I'll give you a call in the morning," Selvig said, sounding uneasy.

"You do that. Give my number to Jane as well. Don't get yourself too twisted up in knots. He may be who he says he is. There's good people in S.H.I.E.L.D. but I've suspected for awhile that they've been compromised. Keep your eyes open. Take care of yourself, Erik."

"I will."

Selvig ended the call, slipping his phone into his pocket as Jane exited the building, approaching him.

"Was that Hank Pym?" Jane asked.

"Yeah...let's take a walk," Selvig said, walking away from the building, Jane following with a curious expression, noticing how troubled Selvig appeared to be.

Selvig related his conversation with Pym to Jane who grew increasingly discomforted by what she was hearing, her unease now matching Selvig's own. They had not traversed far from their base, Jane glancing back at it.

"He thinks he could be some kind of super soldier?" Jane asked.

"You saw what he did. I thought the same as you, a fluke of timing and physics. I could show you the formula to explain how it's possible, of course I'd have to estimate a couple of the variables, but now I'm not so sure."

"Are you still planning to take him out for a drink later? Maybe I should go with you."

"I'll be fine," Selvig said looking at Jane and her petite frame, "If he wanted to do me harm there's not much you could do to stop him even if he hasn't been juiced up with some kind of super soldier serum," Selvig finished as he noticed Loki exiting the building, "We should get back."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Loki walked the streets of the town of Puente Antiguo. He had informed Selvig and Jane as they returned that he was going on an "excursion." Selvig had jokingly directed him to stick to the sidewalk before inviting Loki to join him at the local tavern upon his return, telling him that after what he had experienced recently he deserved a drink. Though the carjacking story was a fiction, Loki had to agree with that assessment.

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Loki reflected on all that had brought him there, to a small, nondescript, dusty town surrounded by desert on Midgard. It was certainly not a situation he would have predicted only a few days previously. As he came upon a clothing store, a mannequin in the window caught his attention, the human representation's fair skin tone and the copper colored wig atop its head recalling Verda to his mind. He wished nothing more at the moment than to be back in his own bed, her arms wrapped around him, his about her, enjoying the feeling of her soft, warm skin against his own and the smell of her perfume, the scent of her hair.

She wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever known or taken to his bed, though no one could say she was homely. At worst one might consider her unremarkable, not one who would stand out in a crowd. It was her sister locked away in Asgard's dungeon who had hit that jackpot in life's lottery. It wasn't her physical features that most attracted Loki, though he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was, pondering the question as he continued to stand before the display window.

Was it the kinship he had initially felt due to their struggles related to their respective siblings? Was it her innate talent in magic...though generally something of that sort would arouse a sense of rivalry in Loki. Could it be her sense of humor, something that in Loki's view far too many in Asgard lacked? Rarely had she taken a prank or a joke badly, though Loki conceded he had never, unlike with others, devised any meant to irritate or offend her, but then that begged the additional question, why was that? Was it that she displayed genuine interest in what pleased and interested him? Was it that she had never asked him for any 'special favors' that his status could grant to her? She had not asked to be given a position in the palace, it had been his idea. She had not asked him to take on the mantle of a teacher, he had taken it upon himself to do so. If she had asked, he likely would have said no to both requests. Loki had a natural abhorrence to doing what others asked or demanded of him which was a contributing factor to the friction between himself and his father. It had to be his idea (or at least he had to believe it had been.) Loki decided it was all those things along with what she had said to him with such sincerity and conviction…that she would give her life for his own or die at his side, a sentiment no other had ever expressed.

Realization struck him as he recalled Verda sitting on the chaise, the clear crystal stones held in the palm of her hand. They had completely slipped his mind due to his exhaustion at the time, both mental and physical, and what had taken place after. He held out his hand as he stood in front of the shop window, summoning the stones to appear within it once again. Loki had been honest with Verda when he told her that he was not fully aware of the extent of their capabilities. In order to explore one of those capabilities that he did have knowledge of, however, he would have need of something he was unlikely to find in the middle of a desert. Stowing them away again, he glanced once more at the mannequin before continuing on his way.

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Selvig entered the tavern, Loki trailing behind him. Evening had fallen and with it the temperature, at least enough to be more comfortable, and Loki had 'changed' into his original black ensemble, Selvig assuming he had kept extra clothing in the pack he had been wearing on his back. The typical sounds of the interior of a bar greeted them. Music played, an upbeat 70s era rock and roll tune, as people conversed more loudly than usual in order to be heard, billiard balls making their distinctive clicking sound as they collided. The song ended, followed by another from the same decade.

"Rita must be tending the bar tonight," Selvig said to Loki.

In the time Selvig had been there, he had visited the establishment enough times to know the blond female bartender, Rita, approaching middle age though doing her best to hide that fact, was an avid fan of the music of that particular era. As Selvig took a seat at the bar, Loki sat beside him.

Rita, her hair done in a style that was popular more than a decade previously and wearing layers of heavy makeup approached the two men on the other side of the bar with a friendly smile, Loki examining her curiously.

"Hi fellas! What's your poison?" she asked.

"The usual," Selvig said to Rita.

"And what about you, tall, dark and handsome?" she asked Loki flirtatiously.

"The same," Loki answered.

Loki watched as Rita filled two large glass mugs from the tap and two shot glasses from a bottle, setting one of each in front of them.

"Thanks, Rita," said Selvig.

"Thank you," said Loki as Rita moved farther down the bar as another man approached and sat down.

Selvig dumped the contents of the shot glass into the mug, Loki following suit. Loki raised the mug to his lips, to Selvig's amazement downing half of it in one drink.

"Your brother, tell me about him...unless you'd rather not talk about it," Selvig said as Loki lowered his mug.

"He was a good man...a far better one than myself. I didn't appreciate him as I should have," Loki said, looking down into his glass.

"That's usually how it goes...what happened?"

"We were hunting in the forest when we were taken by surprise. He was run through with a sword," Loki explained.

"A sword? That's a rather unique murder weapon these days. You believe this Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D was involved?"

"There were four assailants. I was subdued by one, unable to come to his aid. Thor felled two but the others escaped. One of the fallen had this on his person," Loki said, removing a card from his pocket and handing it off to Selvig, Selvig examining it before returning it to Loki.

"Your brother's name was Thor? Like the God of Thunder? I was told the stories as a child. Odin...Thor...Loki..." Selvig said, beginning to chuckle, taking another drink from his mug before continuing, "When I would get into trouble as a boy I'd tell my mother Loki made me do it...the god of mischief. My mother would probably say I gave him a run for his money."

"I rather doubt that," Loki responded, finishing the last of his drink.

"Why didn't they kill you? You're a witness," Selvig asked, suspicious of Loki's story.

"I hope to learn the answer to that question. They were wearing masks. I couldn't see their faces," Loki replied looking across the bar at two men at the pool table finishing their match, replacing the cues.

"How about we play a round?" Selvig asked.

"All right," Loki agreed.

Loki was beginning to relax somewhat. A new song began to play, this one a disco tune with a catchy beat from Rita's preferred era, Loki listening to the lyrics, finding that they spoke to him...something about an inferno, burning things down. Selvig finished his drink before summoning Rita once again, ordering two more boilermakers, both men leaving the bar, drinks in hand, making their way to the pool table. Selvig racked the balls before grabbing a cue and handing it to Loki, taking another for himself.

"You break. I'm stripes, you're solids," he told Loki.

Selvig stood back, picking up his drink from the small table nearby as Loki positioned himself, sending the cue ball into the others. Selvig watched as the balls separated, spreading out. Selvig came close to spitting out the drink he had just taken from his mug, almost choking to avoid doing so as he watched all the solid balls find their way into the various pockets, leaving only the striped still on the table.

"How the hell did you do that?"