Bail

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary office was a hastily constructed makeshift base. Thor was sitting in the interrogation room.

Calling it an interrogation room was generous. It was really just a small compartment partitioned off by one-way glass. Fluorescent tubes were embedded in the ceiling, casting a harsh white light that seemed ready to strip a person's shadow from their body. On the other side of the glass, office staff came and went. Telephone rings, keyboard clatters, and hushed discussions of briefings all blended into a din, yet none of it penetrated that thin pane of one-way glass.

No, he was not even truly being detained there. It was more like he had chosen to sit there after being brought in, and then had never moved again. His hands rested on his knees, his shoulders slumped, and blond hair hung down over half his face. The old slogan-print T-shirt on his chest was wrinkled, with a faint ring of sweat around the collar. His eyes were open, but his pupils seemed unfocused, fixed motionlessly on some nonexistent point on the floor.

Coulson kept chattering at Thor like an old nanny, asking about his origins all by himself. Then he received a text message: "We'll get the information we want. We're very good at this."

He glanced at Thor, then turned and pushed the door open to leave. As it closed, the noise from the office area surged in for a brief instant before being cut off again.

The compartment fell silent, leaving only Thor's own breathing. He remained in that pose, like a statue forgotten in a storage room.

Then, a figure silently appeared.

A dark green cloak, a golden horned crown, a slender figure. Loki stood beneath the fluorescent lights, a sorrowful smile at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were slightly red, as though he had just cried—or had held back tears for a very long time.

Meanwhile, thirty meters outside the compartment, inside the cargo hold of a S.H.I.E.L.D. truck.

"Oh~ my favorite little Bambi."

Chen Xiao had been ready to head back. When he heard Thor roar earlier, he had gotten swept up in it and simply stayed out in the rain with him, getting the full 5D movie experience. But now, his soaked clothes clung uncomfortably to his body.

According to the plot, Thor would spend some time in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary holding site, then Selvig would bail him out, then the Destroyer would descend, and then Thor would regain his powers. There was nothing else worth watching, so Chen Xiao was preparing to head back for a nice hot bath and then curl up comfortably in bed.

Then he saw someone.

Jasper Sitwell. Bald, wearing glasses, following Coulson around like a tagalong with a folder in hand, his expression serious and attentive. He looked like nothing more than a diligent low-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Chen Xiao froze. He stared at the bald man's back and narrowed his eyes.

Sitwell. Hydra. He recognized the man. He remembered Sitwell because of that "Hail Hydra!" line in Captain America's elevator scene, but he had shown up this early?

Chen Xiao had come straight to the base and found an empty truck to hide in. It was not that he was worried about Thor. Even stripped of his divine powers, an Asgardian's physical constitution was still formidable. But Hydra agents appearing here meant that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal information network was already transparently exposed to Hydra in one direction.

If Hydra noticed Loki when he came to visit Thor, Loki might not fear Hydra, but what if they ended up cooperating?

"So it was Snake S.H.I.E.L.D. from the very beginning." While maintaining his scrying spell, he casually lifted the wallet of a passing agent, pulled out all the cash as if they were old friends, then stuffed the wallet into another agent's pocket.

"At least the viewing experience has been pretty good so far," he muttered while counting the money.

"Loki... why are you here?"

Thor's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping across sheet metal. He looked at the brother standing before him, his eyes filled with surprise. This was the first time he had spoken since his failure.

"I came to see you one last time."

Loki lowered his head and turned slightly aside. His hands hung at his sides, clenched into fists, his knuckles faintly whitening from the force.

Thor's gaze wavered. "What do you mean?"

Loki's Adam's apple bobbed. Then he lifted his eyes and looked directly at Thor, his gaze filled with tenderness and sorrow.

"Father is dead."

The fluorescent light buzzed.

Thor's expression froze. "What—?"

"After the battle at the Rainbow Bridge, you were exiled, and Father was enraged. But his body had been failing for a long time. The long sleep had taken too much out of him. On the third day after you left, he summoned the council and announced that I would act as regent. That night..." His voice broke. "That night, he fell into eternal sleep."

Thor's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"Heimdall has been imprisoned. He defied Father's orders and let you onto the Rainbow Bridge without authorization. Father signed the warrant for his trial from his sickbed." Loki paused, his voice growing softer. "Mother... Mother has shut herself in her chambers. She asked me to tell you."

"Don't come back."

Thor covered his eyes in agony.

"Permanently." Loki's voice softened further. "The condition of the armistice was your exile. Father's final decree. You can never return to Asgard. I'm sorry, brother. I tried to persuade him."

The light was deathly pale. Thor slowly lowered his hand, all color draining completely from his face.

"No, no, no." Thor's voice was panicked, as urgent as a drowning man clutching at a lifeline. "I'm the one who should be sorry. Loki, if I hadn't been so—"

"Farewell, brother."

Loki turned around, not letting Thor finish. As he turned, the hem of his cloak swept through an arc. The motion was clean and decisive, as silent as his arrival.

Outside the compartment, Chen Xiao leaned against the shadowed side of the truck, the curve of his lips never dropping. The scene was like a big golden retriever being led in circles by a kitten. Loki had run off so quickly—he was probably afraid he would not be able to hold back his laughter.

Absolutely brilliant. The greatest liar in the Nine Realms indeed. Loki had barely turned around before running next door to try Mjolnir.

"Then, as payment for the performance..." Chen Xiao closed his eyes, sensed the hammer, and released a faint electric current.

Elsewhere, Loki stared wide-eyed at the hammer he had managed to shift by the slightest bit. Muttering something about the qualifications of a king, he left in high spirits.

The noise of the office area flooded back into Thor's space.

"Someone's here to bail you out."

Thor did not react.

Coulson stepped aside. Dr. Selvig entered through the door, his gaze falling on Thor as his brow furrowed slightly. He patted Thor's shoulder, then grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled him up from the chair. Thor's body was heavy, yet compliant.

"Blake, we're going home. Don't make things difficult for people at work next time."

Supporting Thor, the doctor gave Coulson an ingratiating smile.

"Take him." Coulson shifted aside, clearing the doorway.

As they left the camp, Coulson stood at the entrance and watched their backs disappear through the gate.

An agent walked over from the side. "Sir?"

"Follow them," Coulson said. "Keep your distance."