Your magic spiked again and you clutched onto Loki, trying not to retch. "Shh, darling," he whispered, stroking your hair as he held you to him. "Mother, what is going on?" Loki asked Frigga panic in his frantic voice.

"How many of those powers did Balder put into you, Daughter?" Frigga asked gently when the wave of powers and nausea eased.

You curled yourself in Loki's arms, letting him hold you. You didn't want to lose contact with him. You had nearly lost him. He'd almost died. He'd also almost died and taken you with him, but that was a completely different problem. "I lost count, but at least fifty of those spheres, probably more," you finally answered, trying to remember what had happened. It was all lost in the haze of magic and pain.

"No wonder your powers are so far out of control," Frigga commented sadly.

"These powers aren't mine," you reminded her. You'd only been studying magic for two years, but Loki had been studying his entire life, and you had the knowledge he had gained thanks to the soulbond.

Frigga inclined her head in agreement. "That is the other problem. Your body is trying to adjust to all of these powers that are not yours, as well as the second souldbond. It is a lot of strain, especially all at once,"

"It's true, then? Balder really did manage to establish a second soulbond?" Loki demanded, holding you tighter. You were both horrified by the very thought of it.

Frigga nodded. "He did," she indicated the blood red line of power that ran up your arms.

"Why are the soulbond marks on both arms now?" Loki asked, displaying his own decorated arms.

"You broke the original soulbond, darling. Reforging it takes more. More of your soul, more magic, more effort, more sacrifice. You will not get a third chance. If it breaks again, the backlash of the break will kill you both,"

"How do we break Balder's soulbond?" you asked. "We can't let him keep it. He has access to all of the powers he put in me, plus my own and maybe Loki's too. We can't let him keep access to all of those powers," you reminded them both. Neither of them would look at you. "Tell me," you directed that comment to Loki. You couldn't order his Mother around, but he was fair game.

"The only reason I could break the bond was because I was dying. It split my mind to do it. You did the healing. You know exactly what happened to my mind," Loki reminded you. You'd had to go through his mind putting shards of him back together.

"I know. I put you back together." You turned to Frigga. "Thank you for teaching me to do that, by the way." She inclined her head. You turned back to Loki. "We can't let Balder keep this soulbond. We can't. I won't!" You insisted with tears in your eyes. You would not allow yourself to continue to be bound to him. It was a violation and felt wrong and slimy, his being leeched into yours.

"I know, darling, I know. We'll come up with a solution, I swear. We can't allow him to have continued access to all of our powers," Loki told you softly, holding you firmly and kissing the top of your head. He held you safe in his arms, but for the first time, you didn't feel safe there, not with Balder having complete access to everything you were.

"Did anyone tell Uncle Tony we're alive?" you asked them, remembering that small detail as well. There were too many plates you were spinning and too much going on.

Loki nodded and gave you a reassuring look. "I sent him a message. He has rudely demanded to come see for himself. I wanted to wait until you were awake before allowing that request. I would prefer for your uncle to not attempt to kill me. It is bad enough that my own brother is attempting such nonsense,"

"Is Thor home too?" you asked. He was left on Earth the last you had seen him.

"Yes, Heimdall brought him home after your battle with Balder. He should have burst through the door by now. Surely someone had told him you are awake..." Frigga pondered, but didn't have to worry much longer. A moment later, Thor and Sif appeared, bursting into the room to come hug both you and the very reluctant Loki. You laughed and welcomed their presence while Frigga looked on amused from the safety of the sidelines. She looked immensely pleased that four of her children were currently cuddled in a pile on the bed.

"What happened during the battle?" you asked them. You had been so busy healing Loki that you hadn't noticed what they were up to.

"We lost. Spectacularly." Thor replied with a sheepish smile. "Balder always was a good fighter, and he has only gotten better. He also had backup. I do not know why he let us survive, though..."

"I do," you told them softly, embarrassed. "Balder is an asshole," you glanced at the queen, horrified by cursing in front of her, especially about her son. "Apologies, your majesty," you told her formally.

"I seem to have gone temporarily deaf and have no idea what you said," she replied with a kind smile.

"Anyway," you continued quickly, your cheeks still red in embarrassment. "After you were defeated, Balder ripped me from the spells while I was healing Loki. He told me he'd make me a bargain, if I agreed to go with him, he'd let you live and let me keep Loki. It was the only way..." You'd hated that you'd had to agree to go with him, but you'd made the only choice that you could. Thankfully, they all agreed with your logic and that it had been the only way.

"He really sewed your mouth shut?" Frigga asked Loki, horrified, while you were all telling her everything you remembered from that night.

He stiffened at the memory, but nodded. "He wanted to silence the infamous liar," Loki finally said softly. "I am just glad he did not decide to remove my tongue, as that would have been much more difficult for my lady to heal." He kissed the top of your head again

"I nearly lost you as it was," you reminded him. "And don't you dare break the soulbond again." you grumbled at him, jabbing a finger into his chest. You weren't letting him forget that lesson anytime this century.

"I will not, darling. You heard Mother. We would not survive a second breaking of it."

"Children," Frigga said to draw our attention back to her. "We need to know if Balder has access to your abilities, Loki," she told you all gently, though her words were directed to Loki. You all looked equally confused at her.

"How are we supposed to know that?" Loki asked when she didn't clarify. "We don't know what powers he put into Kat,"

You thought over the experience. "What are his original powers?" you asked them.

"Water manipulation, like the water benders from that cartoon you made me watch," Loki replied automatically, obviously wondering where you were going with this.

You thought it over a moment longer. "The powers he was collecting were to add to his own, he wouldn't have given me water bending since he already has that one," you'd latched onto Loki's explanation. "So if I can do it now..." you directed that comment to Loki, questioningly. Logically, he would have access to the powers Balder had forced upon you, but Balder's original powers he would only have if he could access them through Balder's soulbond through you. If he could, then the opposite would work as well and the worlds were even more screwed until you took Balder down for good.

Loki looked impressed with your logic, but horrified by the implications. You saw him focus on the basin of water next to the bed. He gestured at it in a very water-bending way and you gasped as the water rose out of the bowl.

The emotion in the room was palpable as everyone's hearts sank at the realization of what that meant.

((Author's Note:  This is the last prepared chapter I have of this story.  I have been in the process of rewriting the series from the terrible first person POV first draft.  It will now be added properly to the update rotation and new chapters will come when I figure out what happens next))