Thor was right, you were too bouncy, excited, and happy to go to sleep right away. Loki just laughed at your mood. "I love seeing you so happy, darling," he told you as you danced around the sittingroom together in your pajamas.

/It was an excellent surprise/ you replied. /It felt like home. I can't believe that they all wanted to learn the musical just to sing along/ you added. You were touched that everyone there had been singing along.

"I have a feeling they will all be learning ASL soon too," he chuckled. You laughed at that. You wouldn't doubt it either. "It will be the new fashion of the court, as the lovelock has already started to become. Apparently almost every magic user in the court has bothered the poor librarians for that spell," Loki explained with a laugh. He grew more sober when he looked at you. "However, it is quite late and we should get some rest," he reminded you. You sighed. "If you cannot sleep in a couple hours, we will go find an adventure," he promised, reading your expression and mood. You nodded and agreed to at least attempt to get some sleep.

You managed to sleep for a couple of hours. Loki had neglected to use the sleep spell. you don't know if he had forgotten or was keeping his promise to go adventuring with you when you both couldn't sleep. At some point you found yourself face to face with Balder and realized that this was a nightmare.

"You lied to me, pet," Balder snarled at you. You were standing in the bedroom of the mansion you had burned down only a couple of days ago. At least it looked like the bedroom, though surely it was a burned pit by then.

"I'm not going to join you, Balder," you hissed at him, reaching automatically for a dagger from the enchanted sheath, and summoning a fireball in the other hand. You had your powers back and you weren't afraid to use them on this creep.

"Loki will abandon you, pet. You will join me, one way or the other-" his voice was a snarl with such conviction in his words and tone.

You were ripped from the nightmare by ice and a hand over your mouth. "Wake up, Kat!" Loki ordered urgently. You struggled under his hands and weight for a minute until you woke properly. He was a lot stronger than you were, all of the Asgardians were. While you'd gained Loki's powers with the soulbond, you hadn't gained his strength as well. You hadn't appreciated his strength until now, since he never used it against you. "Are you awake now?" he asked when you had calmed. You nodded. He slowly got off of you and removed his hand from your mouth. You jumped up into a sitting position and wrapped your arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry. I should have used the spell," he said softly. You pushed back enough from him to get a good look at him, scared that he had been hurt. His ears were bleeding.

You reached up a glowing blue hand and healed them quickly. /I'm sorry!/ you wailed telepathically.

"It's ok," he soothed, pulling you back into his arms, letting you cry on him, out of fear for his safety and fear of the nightmare about Balder. "I'm alright. Darling, I'm just fine," he whispered and reminded you.

/How are you still conscious?/ you asked him when you had calmed again.

"Luck, mostly," he admitted. "I was only dozing and woke when you moved and whimpered. I managed to get to you before you had screamed for more than moment. I am so sorry, darling," he squeezed you tighter, like he was scared that he had let you down.

/It's not your fault/ you replied. /I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to hurt you/ you whimpered at him, hugging him tightly again.

"I'm alright." he soothed again. "It is not your fault that my brother hurt you. That is never your fault," he paused again before he added. "We should go find some tea." That's what you always did after nightmares. You nodded and the two of you clambered out of bed to go find the tea. You were too scared to go back to sleep anyway.

Thor found you having a subdued tea party in the kitchen an hour later. You were huddled in the corner of the kitchen, looking rather pathetic. You had a blanket wrapped around both of your shoulders and sipped on your tea in silence. You barely looked up when Thor came in the room. "What happened?" Thor asked you gently. You knew the look you gave him was haunted. He knelt down in front of you, gentling his tone even more. "What happened?" he asked softly, so gently. He offered you a hand. He knew enough from dealing with Loki that physical contact made telekinesis easier.

You placed your hand timidly in his, lessening the power needed to answer him dramatically when you did. /Nightmare/ you managed to get the thought out. You couldn't focus your thoughts to do any better than that. Thor looked over at Loki and saw where his ears had been bleeding. He seemed to get the rest of the story from that. You looked back down at your cup of tea. You couldn't even sleep without people being in danger. Thor sat down on your other side, joining your huddle. You sat in silence for awhile, all sipping on tea.

"Did she break through your magic?" Thor finally asked Loki.

"No. I did not use the spell," Loki admitted, not looking up from his own cup of tea. "I should have," he added softly. He was haunted too. Thor nodded, taking the new piece of information in.

"Then this is an easy fix for tonight. Tomorrow we will look for more answers," Thor said reasonably. He pulled the blue vial from his pocket and handed it to you, uncorking it before he did. You hesitated, trying to push it back to him. You couldn't sleep. You couldn't risk hurting Loki again.

"Darling, you need sleep. Even with all of your powers and my powers, you are still human," Loki told you gently. You gave him a look. He barely slept either.

/I can't even sleep without you being in danger/ you reminded him, tears in your eyes.

"Kat, love, let us help you," Loki bid you softly. "You do not have to fight alone anymore. I know you spent too many years fighting alone and relying only on yourself and your own wits, and admittedly that idiot uncle of yours occasionally. But you no longer have to anymore. We are in this together. Forever," he held up his left arm with the soulbond marks glowing because of his emotions. "We will figure this out together. In the meantime, we can help you stay safe. Please, let us help." You realized that you had been so focused on being strong and not wallowing over missing Loki this last year, that you had gotten way too used to fighting on your own again. You had been so used to being alone the years you didn't have powers, that you had forgotten how to work cooperatively, how to trust people besides Tony. When Loki came, you had learned all of that, as well as regaining mischief and fun, but the second he was gone you had slipped back into that same stubbornness of doing everything on your own.

/Promise?/ you asked Loki, still terrified.

"I promise, darling,"

"We are all here for you," Thor added from your other side. He was so comforting and warm cuddled up to. You finally nodded, relenting. Thor handed you the vial again and you reluctantly took it. You downed the contents in one gulp. You sat together for a few minutes longer, both boys offering you the comfort of their presence until the potion took effect. Frigga's potions were always well crafted, though, and you were nearly asleep in minutes. Loki stood first, letting Thor support your weight when he did.

"Come, darling, time to go back to bed," Loki bid, reaching down for you. You looked up at him with sleep fogged eyes and managed to wrap your arms around his neck. He scooped you up effortlessly.

"Are you sure you would not like me to-?" Thor asked as he stood, gesturing to you. Loki vanished your blanket and the dishes you had used for the tea.

"I have her," Loki replied, cradling you more comfortably against his cool chest. You laid your head on his shoulder, succumbing to Frigga's potion. Thor gave you both an evaluating look. He was too used to dragging Loki back to bed at 3am. You had a feeling he wasn't used to Loki coming willingly. He was probably also sad that he wasn't carrying his brother draped over his shoulder. He had way too much fun with that. You let him see your scared expression and he relented, knowing you trusted Loki more than anyone.

"Very well. I will guard, then," Thor finally answered. He strode beside you as Loki carried you home. You dozed in Loki's arms while the boys chatted lightly about something. It was nice and comforting, until Thor noticed that you was still at least partially awake. He made the mistake of making a comment about it, directly to you.

"No!" Loki growled. In the same instant, he dropped the arm under your knees so he could clap that hand over your mouth instead. Your feet hit the ground hard enough to jar you. Your mouth was already open to reply to Thor's comment.

"What's wrong?" Thor asked, drawing his sword, looking around for the danger. You looked up at Loki with tears in your eyes, exhaustion and emotions running too high. He was holding you against him with his hand still clapped firmly over your mouth.

Loki sighed. "You would not know... Just do not try to talk to her when she is this exhausted. My darling soulbond has no filter when she is half-asleep or more. Which can be pleasant and entertaining. It is not good, however, when she is too tired to remember that she must speak telepathically. Mother's potion should have had her unconscious by now," he added. Thor put his sword away, accepting the explanation. Loki turned to you. "I'm sorry, darling. Are you alright?" he asked. You nodded, the movement made difficult by his hand over your mouth, and even more difficult when Frigga's potion was taking full effect. Stubbornness wasn't going to keep you awake much longer. You were getting dizzy and your eyes wouldn't stay open. You couldn't fall asleep while standing, though, which was probably the only thing keeping you awake. He swept you back up into his arms. "Sleep, love. You are safe," he reminded you softly once you was resettled. "Thor and I will not let anything happen." You believed him. He knew you too well. He had seen you at your best and worst, had spent more that a few nights lying next to you, and you had soothed each other through nightmares. He knew your best and worst habits, and you trusted without a doubt that he knew you well enough to truly protect all of you.

/Love you/ you managed to get the thought to him.

"I love you too," he replied softly and kissed the top of your head. "Now will you please close your eyes and sleep? It is quite useless to fight against Mother's potions. I would know,"

Thor roared in laughed. "That is rich, coming from you Brother!" you fell asleep a moment later, listening to their banter with a smile on your face, trusting that they would keep you all safe.