Of course he'd gone back to the warehouse.

Of course he'd wanted to check up on his people.

Of course he knew that Sigyn would be there.

But he didn't count on H.O.P.E. to have gotten to his ex wife first.

Loki had stepped through the doors of the warehouse and removed his snowflake covered black coat, taking in the fact that his jotun form might never return.

He'd found Sigyn and Åsmund's room, hoping that he could say hello to his son.

Sigyn wasn't there.

He checked the main room where Asgardians mulled around, depressed and tired, waiting for a chance to be free from the confines of the warehouse.

Sigyn wasn't there.

So finally, he checked his bedroom, where he found the sorceress curled up in a ball on his bed, clutching his sheets close to her face and soaking them with her tears.

"Sigyn?" He whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The sudden physical interaction caused her to sit bolt upright, her eyes red from crying.

"Loki!" She exclaimed, jumping into his arms.

He gently tried to push her off of him, his fingers gripping her silk robes in an attempt to drag her away.

She had a strange glint in her eye. Whether it be mischief or lust, it didn't matter, for soon she was on top of him.

"I missed you so much, my love. You'll never escape me again, I promise."

He tried in vain to shove her off of him, but the crazed grin on her face led him to believe that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Sigyn, please get off of me." He yelled.

She laughed and used her magic to bind his hands together above his head.

"My gods, woman! What has come over you?!"

She didn't respond, but instead proceeded to remove her robes.

He struggled for a moment before realizing that he wasn't completely helpless.

"What is it that you want?" He asked slowly, feeling energy pulse through his veins as he bought time.

"You." She whispered seductively before placing a finger over his lips.

Despite his situation, he let out a chuckle.

"Well, my dear, you're going to have to try harder than that."

She didn't even have a chance to register what was happening before he exploded, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to contain the energy to just one room.

Sigyn was thrown backwards, her head hitting the wall.

Loki studied the phone that he'd gotten from Stark earlier. He pressed in a few buttons skeptically before placing a call to the billionaire.

"This is Loki. We have a bit of a situation at the warehouse, and I need you to come down here for a moment. Oh, and be prepared. The psychopath has magic."
***
Åsmund clutched Loki's forest green cape in his small hands while tears flowed down his face.

"I wanna see mommy!" He cried, looking up at his father.

Loki gave him a small, sad smile and knelt down beside the little boy.

"Mommy can't talk right now, but I promise you that you'll see her again."

Åsmund wiped his tears away and buried his face in Loki's cape again. In response, the asgardian picked up his son and carried him through the Avengers facility.

Natasha ran into him along the way to his room, and she offered to watch over Åsmund while he met Tony and Thor in the detention block. He quickly thanked her and took the elevator down to the underground portion of the facility.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Save-The-Day." Tony teased as Loki walked into the room.

The asgardian facepalmed and went to go stand next to Thor near the circular glass cell in the center of the room.

"I honestly don't know what happened. One minute she was curled up in a ball sobbing and the next she was full out attacking me."

He eyed the woman in the cage with concern. She looked downright demonic as she pounded on the glass and let out blood curdling screams, cursing her captors and attempting to use her magic. When it seemed that she had come dangerously close to escaping, Loki put a temporary block on her powers by using his own magic, which made him tired very easily. By the time he'd figured out how to block her magic without taking up his own energy, night had fallen and no one yet had a clue as to what was wrong with her.

Loki left the detention block after Thor insisted that he got some rest. He didn't have the strength to take the stairs, so he took the elevator again.

"Loki!" Natasha called softly from down the hall.

She motioned for him to follow her and he found himself in a smaller bedroom decorated light blue.

"Tony made this bedroom for his son, but Pepper isn't due for another 6 months, and I doubt that Åsmund will be here for that long. How's it coming with your ex?"

Loki shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the doorway sleepily, his eyelids dropping heavily as he watched his son sleep.

"No real progress has been made, but I'm sure we will find out what's wrong soon enough."

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Natasha put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go get some sleep. Brunnhilde is waiting for you. You've had a long day."

He nodded, barely aware of his legs carrying him to his room. When he got there, he saw Brunnhilde sitting on he edge of their bed, her eyes fixated on an empty liquor bottle. She heard him come in and barley acknowledged his presence.

"How is he?" She asked, her voice void of emotion.

"Åsmund is a strong young boy. He will be fine. How are you doing, love? You look troubled."

The Valkyrie was silent for a moment.

"You know, I was getting better. I was limiting the amount of alcohol I consumed each day. I was making real progress. Then your son came along. He changed everything. Why would you wait to tell me about him? And don't you dare tell me that you told me right away. I know that when Sigyn pulled you away from me the first day you saw her, she told you about him. Why did you wait to tell me, Loki?"

Now it was Loki's turn to fall silent. He scooted closer to her on the bed and attempted to put an arm around her, but she shrugged it off.

"Just tell me the truth for once, lie smith."

The god of mischief sighed, knowing that sleep would have to wait.

"I don't know, it was just so new to me. I had just found out that I had a son, and I was in shock. I guess I just wanted to hold off on telling you. I wanted to spare you from the horrible truth that Sigyn told her child that I'd left him."

Brunnhilde traced her finger along the cold rim of her empty glass bottle, never meeting his eyes.

"That's a pathetic excuse."

Loki turned to face her and grabbed her hand, placing something in it.

"Maybe so, but I did it because I love you to Valhalla and back. I didn't want you to abandon me like she did. Please, Brun. Please just forgive me. I am truly sorry."

She pulled her hand away and smiled sadly.

"If you really loved me, Loki, you would have told me the truth."

Loki watched her get up and walk out of the room.

He saw her throw the necklace he'd given her over her shoulder.

He watched as that beautiful gift crashed to the floor and shattered into a million tiny pieces in unison with his heart.