He drops to one knee at her feet.

Skulls leer at him from the walls and bones click as minions shift in anticipation, murmuring to themselves at the daring of this fallen god. The blood stained cobblestones beneath his foot reflect the watery light of the underground rivers that swim through this domain. He can see the moth-eaten rags that flow from the bottom of her dress to cover her thin, bony body. He dares not look up, not until she addresses him.

Finally, after an eternity of kneeling, head bowed before her throne, the goddess gives a laugh that sounds like husks of desiccated paper scuttling through a graveyard. "You really must be desperate to beg from me," she cackles, her laugh rasping from a too dry throat. He dares not look up, knowing that everything he does will affect what happens next.

"Are you willing to seal the deal in blood?" she asks, and he can feel her lean forward above him, intrigued.

"Yes," he says with as strong of a voice as he can muster.

She laughs again, throaty and low. "I have not been so amused by the folly of gods and men for a long time. So it shall be." She rises from her throne and a bone hand cups his chin, pulling him up so that he has to meet the cruel eyes in the dark face. Her fingers of her other hand curl around his wrist with a surprising amount of strength for one so thin. She whips out a bone-handled knife and cuts a line into his forearm, letting his blood well and drip onto the floor.

"So it is done," whispers Hel with a wicked gleam in her eye.

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She opens her eyes.

Stars. Space. Infinity.

As the cosmos unfurls around her, she sees a shape take form in front of her. The body of a woman hovers in the empty space between them, see-through, the stars adorning the hazy outlines of a dress, sprinkled into the vague waves of tumbling hair like pearls. Beautiful starlit eyes look at her, regarding her with inquisitiveness and caring.

Fingers form in front of her face and the woman gently places a hand on her forehead. She registers the touch as something phantasmal, a sensation that should be physical contact but is something much more without the actual physical presence. The outline of the woman strengthens and then she realizes who she is looking at.

Sigyn of Vanaheim bows her head in recognition and smiles at Jay.

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It's...it's been three days.

Give it more time. We have to be sure.

Don't do that. Don't place hope where there is none. She's not coming back to us by some magical Asgardian byway. Face the facts, Jaycee Strong is dead.

Silence.

Wait...did you see that?

See what?

There, on the heart monitor...

No, it can't be..., that's impossible.

Since when in our recent history has "possible" ever had a consistent definition?

Slivers of light filter through her eyelashes and she hears murmuring. She knows those voices, has heard them berating and encouraging her over the past days and weeks. Her eyes feel gummy and leaden and a slow awareness of her body begins to filter into her mind.

Is it..? Jay, honey, if you're in there somehow, give us a sign, please.

That's a strong signal! Her heart is beating!

Groggily, Jaycee Strong opens her eyes.

The faces of six astonished Avengers gaze back at her. "Did I miss something?" she asks.

There are shocked exclamations of joy and Tony and Natasha try to hug her at the same time which ends up with Romanov's elbow in Stark's face. Completely overwhelmed, she lets the questions come flying at her as the Avengers crowd her in the bed she's laying in. She glances around between the arms and bodies of the team and realizes she must be in the Avenger's Tower, in the room that she woke up in after Steve rescued her from Warren Biochemical. Jay can feel bandages wrapped around her torso and lower leg and shoulders, covering the injuries she is just now remembering that she sustained. She can feel the IV in her arm and see the heart rate monitor beeping in the corner of her vision and for some reason that is what triggers the memories.

"I should be dead," she mumbles. The room goes quiet and the six super-humans draw back from her. "What happened?" she asks. The faces are now quiet and closed off, the joy of the past moments muted. Rogers is the first to speak.

"The tie between you and Tyr was severed at the Circlets of Sigyn and his armies scattered. We don't know what became of Tyr, but we do have Jared Bradlich in custody and Warren Biochemical has been shut down. Fury has taken over the cleanup of that particular tumor." Even confused and groggy, Jay gives him a raised eyebrow. And low and behold, Steve blushes, knowing that he didn't really answer the more important question underneath. But he is a soldier at heart. The more emotional stuff isn't quite as easy for him.

Tony decides to break the silence in his own flamboyant way. "Well, I for one am glad you are back with us, Xena because with the only female personality in this team being Agent Barton," here the Hawk mimes taking an arrow and shooting Stark, "These rooms are yours while you recover, and I will charge you rent when I need to cash in on a favor eventually. Now, Barton, Romanov, Rogers, Banner, and I have some important things to discuss so we will leave you in Thor's capable, mighty hammer-wielding hands. Ta!"

And to Jay and Thor's astonishment, Tony steers the rest of the protesting Avengers out of the room. He sends a thought towards Jay as he leaves, winking at her as he does so. Point Break will tell you what you need to know. And you do always have a place with us, Psych. Know that. But what happens next is up to you.

As the door closes, Thor turns to look at her. His battle armor is gone, replaced by jeans and a plain t-shirt which Jay thinks looks a bit strange on him, but in a good way. He sits down at a chair next to her bed and they regard each other for a moment.

"Are you healed?" Jay asks after a moment. "I remember you taking a hit from Tyr and I'm sorry I couldn't help-," but Thor puts up a hand to stop her from apologizing and they sink back into an uneasy silence.

At last Thor speaks: "What did you ask of Loki?"

Jay had known this was coming, knew that if by some miracle she survived this whole galactic battle, that she would have to explain herself to Thor at the very least. But while she can remember almost everything that happened, she cannot remember how in the world she survived. She remembers losing the mental battle to Tyr, remembers the Dance of Sigyn with the clarity that tells her she could do it again if she had to and even remembers Loki standing above her at the very end. Which means that he kept his promise, that he did what she told him to.

Instead of answering Thor's question, she fires another back in his direction. "How did I survive, Thor? You know as well as I that Tony left us alone so you could explain it to me. They all know and for some reason, they thought you could explain it best."

Thor looks at her with that big sheepish grin on his face that she recognizes from the other times he's been outmaneuvered verbally by women. But then his face goes somber as he gathers his thoughts.

"When I reached you that day, Loki had... He had put his dagger through your heart." Thor looks up at Jay to gauge her reaction but where he had expected to see horror or shock, he only sees weary resignation. It confirms what he has begun to understand she asked of his brother. "Did you... Did you, ask him...?" He can't finish the sentence, it's too painful.

Jaycee looks at him with those intense, fiery, grey eyes and says in the calmest and clearest voice he's ever heard from her: "I asked him to promise to kill me if we failed."

"Why?" Thor chokes out and her face softens fractionally.

"If we failed and Tyr had captured me, then he would have used me to destroy Vanaheim. Thor, I could not in good conscience, let him do that. We all knew he would use the serums to control me and then I wouldn't be able to fight him. I knew that if Tyr managed to get his hands on me, that I... well, the connection would have to be broken and while maybe we could have defeated Tyr, I wasn't optimistic. So I needed someone to finish the job that I wasn't going to be able to do. I needed someone to kill me."

Thor is looking at her with grief and sorrow and horror all at once. How could she have come to that conclusion to make that decision? Jay wants to flinch under his scrutiny and unknowing judgment but something about surviving what she has lived through keeps her gaze level and steady. "Thor, not one of you could have done what that. Not one of you would be able to kill me in the end without my death ripping a hole in you. So I asked the one person who I knew would follow through."

She pauses. "Loki and I are similar, more similar than anyone wants to admit and there is a connection between us that is strange and powerful and full of mistrust. But I asked him late that night on my balcony, the night we made our plan, to promise me to kill me to save Vanaheim. I do not regret that decision, and I never will."

There is a moment of silence. Then Jay speaks and Thor hears the echoes of the Queen of Vanaheim in her voice, the authority and confidence that she has somehow gained through all of this.

"Tell me what he did. Tell me how I survived."

Thor looks at her critically, seeing for the first time, a woman who could one day reclaim the throne of Vanaheim. He sees his brother in her and he sees the determination and drive to set this right.

"Loki told me to keep your body for three days," Thor starts and her eyes bore into him, begging for the full story. "He told me what he was going to attempt and I didn't believe it was possible. Loki went to Niflheim to bargain with Hel, Queen of the Dead, to release your soul."

Jay sucks in a sharp breath. "What did he bargain?" She whispers.

"I do not know. No deal with Hel comes without a price though and none of us have seen any sign of Loki since that day at the Circlets. But you came back to use and that can only mean that he was successful. What has happened to him, and what he gave in return for your soul, is a mystery."

He can see the shock and awe and guilt on Jay's face and he can almost see her considering what to do next. He knows that she won't want to be in Loki's debt, knows that she will do everything she can to find out what happened to him and knows that won't sit well with Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D., but also knows for a fact that whatever she chooses next will redefine what happens in the Nine Realms.

They sit in their own private thoughts for a long time.

Finally, Jay looks at him. "What happens now?"

Thor meets her gaze and sees her determination. And instead of telling her not to do it, he nods and sends a thought her way. Just be careful.

Jay smiles at him, a genuine, one of a kind, Jay smile. "Let them back in. I need some friends right now," she says with a grin.

"That's my cue!" Stark yells from the door and the Avengers file back in, relieved to see Jay and Thor both smiling at them. They bustle about her, Banner keeping a close eye on her vital signs, Rogers surreptitiously holding onto her hand under the blankets, Natasha mothering her, Barton bragging about his exploits in the Goblin/Troll War of the Bifrost, and Stark pestering her with questions about costume designs. What a dysfunctional family they make. Jay loves it, every damn moment of it.

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Three weeks later, Barton finds Jay standing on the helipad of the Avengers Tower, overlooking the New York skyline. The sun is finishing setting and the calm of twilight is rolling in, city lights snapping on and lighting up the skyline. She doesn't notice him at first and he takes a moment to soak it all in.

Over the last weeks, Jay recovered quickly, her injuries disappearing. She bears new scars but these ones don't seem to cause her as much pain as the old ones do. Once in a while, one of the Avengers will catch her rubbing the scar on her left side, fingers worrying over the top of her heart where a mass of scar tissue has twisted into a pattern. Jay hasn't allowed anyone to see it but the wound seems to have closed in a twisting mandala of runic lines and sinuous curlicues. She started training with Natasha and Clint last week and she's already improved so much that she's now giving the master assassins a good fight consistently. Her mind is sharp and she's gaining a mastery over reading minds and manipulating objects telekinetically that is impressive to watch.

Contact between Asgard and Earth has opened up and Odin has an elite band of his own guard scouring the Nine Realms for any sign of Tyr. The Asgardian soldiers were able to round up the remnants of his army and drive them out of Asgard but Tyr himself has vanished into the stars. It sets the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. on edge to know that he is still out there, possibly plotting and scheming away but surprisingly it was Jay who had brought up the point that when Tyr played his hand, they would be ready and that was the best they could do for now. Fury hadn't liked that strategy but in the interest of keeping Jay Strong in his vicinity, he acquiesced. All the Avengers know that Fury and Jay don't trust each other but they are willing to work together, just not always on civil terms. Besides, he had his hands full with the Warren Biochemical situation; seems the company was delving deep into the coupling of magic and technology. The Avengers are keeping an eye on Fury since the temptation will be great.

Asgard received a delegation from Vanaheim, thanking them and the Avengers for saving their world. They have also joined in the hunt for Tyr and there is an uneasy peace between the two realms for the moment but an undercurrent of tension still exists. They'd asked if the rumors of a descendent of Sigyn were true but Jay had been conspicuously absent from that specific Avengers meeting. While the Avengers know that Jay would actually make a great leader in time, they all understand that right now, she has no desire to be a princess of a realm she hasn't even ever seen. There had been a silent agreement at that meeting to deny Jay's birthright and so far, no Vanir politicians had argued with the Avengers about it. But perhaps someday... well a princess can only deny her throne for so long before it catches up with her.

Perhaps the greatest surprise of all is that Thor and Jane Foster have worked out an agreement where Jay is going to go to New Mexico to work in Jane's lab as an intern. She's enrolled at a local university in their astrophysics and aerospace engineering program much to Tony's excitement. He can't wait to have another science nerd on the team. She even has a minor in psychology lined up as well. It's actually a great situation for all of them. Jay gets a normal, well semi-normal, new life with colleagues who appreciate her and a new friend in Darcy and Thor can keep an eye on her as well. Barton thinks she's made the right decisions.

There has been no sign of Loki and Jay hasn't said a word about it but Barton knows that she's secretly planning something but he doesn't know what. He finds that it doesn't really matter to him though because if anything has come out of this whole adventure, it's that Jaycee Strong can take care of herself and is a strong enough woman to know now what she wants in her life.

Jay turns to face him. "Ready, agent Barton?" she asks.

"You know these little missions of ours aren't sanctioned by S.H.I.E.L.D., right?" Barton asks her with a cocky grin. Jay has opted out of becoming an Avenger just yet. If a big world crisis comes up, she'll be on call but until then she's just another part-time agent. "Not that I want the other Avengers around, but if Fury catches wind of this he'll be, well, furious,"

She punches him playfully in the shoulder. "You know that's how I like it. These missions are too much fun to spoil with a Tony Stark presence. We're a good team on our own, Bird-brain." She grins and adjusts the straps on her wingsuit. "As cool as these are, I do still feel like a demented bat in this getup."

"You sure you're over that stupid fear you have of oh I don't know, heights?" Barton mocks.

"No time like the present to work on it," she challenges him. He loves the fact that she's developed this crazy desire to tackle her fears head-on. It makes his jobs with her all that much more fun. So far they haven't hit the truly crazy stunts but there was a quick stint where they'd windsurfed away from pursuers. He can't wait until they can get matching jets and fly around like X-wing pilots.

He secures his bow and arrows tightly to his body and steps up onto the edge of the landing pad, balancing precariously over the city. She tightens the straps on her leg holster and pulls a pair of high-tech goggles down over her eyes and then joins him on the edge.

"Ready?" he asks. She nods, a crazy grin spreading over her face. "Race you there!" Hawkeye yells and then launches himself off the edge of the building. His wing suit expands and he soars off into the night. Jay snorts a laugh to herself. "You look like a clumsy version of Batman." She tells Barton over their headsets.

She takes a moment to look at the city spread out before her. It's a precipice she's on, moments away from taking the plunge into a new life that she's created for herself. A sense of satisfaction fills her. She's ready for this next adventure. She doesn't know what's ahead but she has some pretty great plans that involve college, astrophysics, telekinetics, solving mysteries, and figuring out who she wants to be. Can she ask for more?

Jaycee Strong takes a deep breath in, still not quite liking heights but knowing that facing challenges is something she's good at. "Come on, Slowpoke!" Comes Barton's gleeful crow on her headset.

Jay grins, "You're on," and dives headfirst into the night.

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To everyone who stuck with me through this story, I cannot thank you enough. This was a story three years in the making and although I knew the plotline and ending for so long, I couldn't get the words out. So many Marvel movies have come out since I first started writing this after seeing the Avengers!  Thank you for your support; it has meant so much to know that people want to read what I dream up.

If you need more Jaycee Strong (or maybe some Loki) the sequel to Psych the Avengers Out, "Hel to Pay", is complete and the trilogy finishes with " Havoc and Retribution".  Click on the external link to jump to "Hel to Pay" to see where Jaycee's adventures head next!  

Also please consider checking out my original work, "Saa'be".  While I love writing fanfictions, I'm hoping to one day publish a full original work and I love all the comments and support from WattPaders like yourselves!