Decisions, decisions...

Part One;
Rated PG-13
Sequel to Surprise, Surprise

Loki sat in his room, lying down but not sleeping. Thinking of his brother, thinking of Tony...

" I can't believe what's happened.."  It was cold in his room, and dark, but he liked it that way, it matched how he felt.. Now that he was back on Earth, without trying to attack it and not locked up in Tony's tower, he found it was much like Asgard, surrounded by people but still utterly alone...

When he had been young whenever he'd had a nightmare, he'd never gone to his parents room. Instead, when he had been afraid, he fled to Thor's room.
To Thor's always awaiting arms... " Why must the world clutter, why must love wither? If only things could ...- beautiful things, could last forever..."

Outside his door, he heard footsteps, and a sliver of light widened through the room. Loki sat up in his bed.
" Brother? Do you still sleep?"

" Come in..." he choked out, finally glad to have some company.
Thor strode in, his appearance slightly different. He no longer wore his Asgardian armor, just a dark blue business suit, underlined by a white blazer and his hair slicked back into a pony tail. Today, they gather to discuss establishing communications with Asgard,they would be meeting with a communications branch of SHIELD and all of the Avengers would be in attendance, Tony included.... After today, if all went well, the humans, and Earth as a planet, would finally have interstellar contact with another world, as well as an ally from any other malevolent planetary species like the Chetauri...

Thor eyed Loki's pale lithe frame as he leaned forward through the dark sheets. " Come brother, make haste we must depart..." Loki only nodded"He still calls me brother"...
-. He drew the covers away from his lower body, hanging his legs on the side of the bed. " Who do you intend to be today?" Thor asked, resent hidden within the Thunder God's words.

He was still bitter from his last conversation with Loki.
Loki had been right in figuring his brother jealous, but he had never meant to betray him. Thor had wanted to keep Loki to himself..- to be Loki's only intimate partner... but at the Avenger's Reunion party, Loki had come in guise as a woman and seduced Tony Stark. Thor had found out after, and had since kept as far away from Loki as possible both physically and socially.

Loki at first reveled in his solitary room. Finally having time to himself, to be alone with his thoughts and books, but he realized later, that he was still Thor's prisoner to his heart and his mind.
He had no friends, no others to confide in, aside from Thor himself.
After a few days, Loki found himself as lonely on Earth as he had been on Asgard, a cruel irony and terrible fate.

" When are we leaving?" Loki asked as he stood.
"Shortly. Who will you be today?" Thor repeated, meaning  for Loki to change form into someone else. The Earth still viewed Loki as an attacker, which he had been, and the Midigardians had every reason to be on guard. Now, as recompense, he was to assist by becoming an ambassador of Asgard to Earth,  his true identity hidden of course.

Loki was put off, at the party he had been Jade... the female version of himself. Loki hadn't really meant to make himself so attractive, he just didn't want to be alone anymore, he wanted attention, but apparently it came naturally for some reason. He hadn't really given it thought  to his new "persona" since but he had thought continuously about Tony, but that had only been when Thor went back to neglecting him. " Or so I tell myself"

" I suppose it would be easiest if I went as someone I've already been." With a sigh, a shimmer of black, gold, and green claimed Loki's body and the disgraced prince was no more. Before Thor now stood Jade in a similar business outfit, dark green and outlined in a burnished gold , enhancing the darkness of her hair which was her tied up into a bun. Brilliant emerald eyes gleaming prominently against her dark eye shadow and palor skin.
Thor looked up and down her frame. Jade blushed under his gaze. " Is this better?" she asked, her voice deep and accented.

Thor nodded, grabbing a green scarf from Loki's closet and holding it to Jade.
Jade bowed her head over to take the scarf as Thor's face neared. When he was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
" Thor, I am sorry... what I said back there. I didn't mean it... I do love you." Thor said nothing, merely staring back at her, his eyes devoid of emotion. " Loki, take time to find your hearts true desire, then return to me." he said softly.
Jade choked back tears and nodded, slowly drawing her arms from around his neck. As Thor turned away from her, she reached up and placed his face between her palms, laying a soft but desperate kiss on his lips. Grabbing the edges of her scarf, she wrapped it around her neck once more, dabbing her eyes of tears to stubborn to not be shed and headed outside the studio they shared to the awaiting limousine.
–
The meeting went off without incident much to Loki/Jade's surprise, but she wasn't impressed. She didn't have to be telepathic to know what the men in front  of her were really thinking about. Half the humans seated before her were doing nothing but imaging all the god awful things they wished they could do to her body, if they weren't already imagining what she looked like naked. She could feel the emotions swirling about the room like a tornado, blended but strong and forceful. The other half of the humans that could keep their hormones in line were anxious and nervous about establishing interstellar contact with Asgard. But after the incident with the Chetauri, and the bitter victory, they figured that having at least one ally would be better than having none,  no longer only having the Avengers and SHIELD to rely on.
Realistically, they could only hope to depend on the Avengers so much, there was after all only 5 of them and since other threats on world had been surfacing daily, they wanted nothing more for Jade to conclude her small speech so they could ask their questions.

Now the project to establish contact would be up to Thor, Jade, and SHIELD, who would would work with Stark Industries, and Tony and Bruce, to make the satellite that would allow communication and teleportation between the realms.
–
Tony stood from his seat as the "secondary members" of the council dispersed. The meeting over, conversations mumbled along, and emotions fretted on all frequencies.
Tony eyed the room, his head already swirling with a million thoughts of the project, of the tasks he would give to Pepper, what he would do himself. There were formulas he needed to go over, he needed to come up with a source of power, a way to manipulate the arc reactor into a satellite that could function in the heliosphere, find additional funding...
He looked up from his transparent hand-held and caught sight of Thor rising and walking away from a brief interview.  

" Thor? Can I talk to you for a sec?" he called. Thor stern faced as ever approached Tony, Jade in reluctant tow.
" Tony, I believe you already met Jade." Jade only nodded casting him a half glance, turning her attention to the floor.
Tony flashed a smile which quickly faded as he got down to business. " Alright so  I need you to come to Stark Tower as soon as possible to talk about some things. I already had Jarvis contact Jane Porter and I'm going to have her flown in a few hours, she'll assist in creating the satellite and figuring out where it needs to go exactly on our awesome planet."
Thor nodded. " Good, I will be by as soon as time permits, I must first council my father." Thor turned to leave.
Tony quickly trailed him. " Thor, I don't think you know how monumental this is for Earth and since you're the Asgardian hero, you have to, and let me stress, have to be there. So I'm going to have to schedule another press conference and you're gonna need to fly there."
Thor was at a loss for words. " Another? I don't think I know what to say, the questions these "paparazzi" and "press" ask...they are like those pesky insects that buzz incessantly in your ears" Jade spoke up, "I know what to say and how to say it."
Tony glanced at Jade and Thor glowered. " Perfect!" Tony exclaimed smiling.
Thor grimaced and grabbed Tony by the shoulder. " Keep your distance from Jade my friend." he whispered.
Tony chuckled. " Is that a threat? Or advice? " Thor was silent, his eyes intense. " She's dangerous to your well being."
Moving Thor's hand from his shoulder, " Now, now, I thought you were with that Jane Porter gal. You can't have both, and isn't that a little "hmm-hmm" ?" He smirked feigning ignorance.
" But Stark, that is LOKI, not this farce character Jade..." But Tony turned from him pretending not to hear,  thumbs twiddling on the miniaturized screen in front of him, announcing that another press conference would be held the following morning after Thor contacted and returned to Asgard.
Thor's eyes burned holes into the back of Tony's head then turned to Jade, who stood by gaze strong, aura proud. " You mind yourself sister..."
–
The next morning
–
Jade stood at the podium in front of the gaggle of reporters and journalists with their various microphones, digital recorders, and other forms of mini media while she drew the conference to a close.
"... The people of Asgard realize that a new age is looming, and with that new age will come new threats. We find that we are a vastly similar people with Earth, so let us combine our strengths and build a union that will withstand any malign forces that may seek to break us. As a nation and as a world, we should follow the esteemed Avengers example and unite our domains! Together we stand as one, divided we will fall, let us vanquish our enemies to come with the combined might of the two most powerful galaxies in the cosmos."
No sooner than she had finished speaking, a slew of reporters bombarded her with numerous questions.
"What about the satellite?" " Are we sure the Asgardians can be trusted?" " How does this unification affect Asgardians?" " Will people of Earth be able to travel from Earth to Asgard?" " Isn't Asgard supposed to be a mythical place? How will this affect the various Earth religious communities?"

Jane Porter took the stand. " I encourage everyone to take a breathe and hold your questions about the satellite and Asgard for later. Questions regarding the satellite cannot be answered until it is built, in orbit, and successfully functioning with its sister satellite which will be placed in Asgard. But as we will be working with one of the best inventors of our era, Tony Stark, I'm sure we'll have the answers sooner than we think."
This conclusion brought some consolation to the public intermediates but they attempted a continued barrage of questions.
" That will be all for now, thank you!" Tony blurted out rapidly, standing and ushering out Jade and Jane from the podium.
Thor stood behind the curtains, arms crossed caressing his beard in thought, content to contemplate and observe from a distance.

Tony looked up at him, his hands finding their way into his coat pockets. " Problem?"Tony asked, eyebrows raised.
" I worry what this union will bring." He stated.
Jade scoffed coming to stand in front of Thor.
" You worry too much."
Thor grunted. " And you worry too little! Are you not afraid that others will see this union as a threat?!"
" Others? Others who already wish death on Asgard and Earth for whatever conjured up conclusions?"
Thor paused, still bitter. " Jade's right you know." Jane blurted. " The portal is already open, how we act now will decide our futures."
Thor looked down considering, still upset about the whole endeavor .
They walked upstairs toward the roof where Tony's private chopper awaited to take them elsewhere.
" You're a warrior Thor, fighting is in your blood. Of course when things are calm, your heartbeat quickens." Jade jeered
" But this union, like the Avengers, will prepare us for whatever's coming our way. If we're gonna fight, it needs to be together." Tony finished.
Thor nodded, his companion was not wrong, but still anxiety filled his mind.
Tony pushed the door open and signaled the pilot to engage the engine.
Thor shouted over the whirling blades.
" This day, I will need to leave for Asgard to help coordinate information from Earth. Jane will assist Tony and Jade will help with...keeping these "press" satisfied!
A silent agreement swept the group and they all nodded.
"Thor! Jane called over the accelerating blades. "-.. I actually need to go with you, to Asgard... I need to record data about the Bifrost from its source. The receiving end of the bridge happens to quickly and erraticly for me to be able to substantiate any credible information from it. We'll be able to build the satellite quicker and in the right spot if I do."  
Thor motioned for him to come beside him "Than it will be so." Although Thor didn't want to leave Jade, he knew there was no other way, his obligation was to the Earth first. " Jane grabbed his hand. " Alright, you two will stay here and await our signal. Jane, are you ready to see Asgard?"
"Oh, more than anything." Jade tried to hide her disgust at Jane's mewling enthusiasm. Jane smiled, pulling her notepad to her chest like a child.
They walked a ways from the chopper, Thor clasping her hand and beeming as he always did.. "Let Stark have Loki, I have Jane... Heimdall! Bring us home!" A quick flash of lighting and a charging sound and they were gone.
As they departed, Thor only wished that his last thought was completely true.

Tony gestured with his hand toward the chopper. " After you " Lady Jade".
Jade cast him a glaring look.
" What, would you prefer " Shakespeare's daughter?!"
–