You've Been Served With Loki!

by PadawanLilia

Thor/Avengers One-shot. An innocent, sheltered teenage girl finds Asgard to be more real than she thought it was... and finds her own world to be as caught up in the action as she never before dared to believe. Loki/OC. (The OC is basically me.) Mostly first person view, omniscient view sometimes. Includes all six Avengers from the first movie.

Thor/Avengers One-shot. An innocent teenage girl finds Asgard to be more real than she thought it was... and finds her own world to be as caught up in the action as she never before dared to believe.

Loki/OC. (Family, Friendship, Action, Adventure, Angst, possible Romance) Mostly first person view, omniscient view sometimes.

I walked outside to get the mail.

I was sick of life in general. Eighteen and still living by the parents' rules. Living under the same roof with a guitar-playing, songwriting sister who got away with not doing her share of the chores. Starting college, a skinny, brown eyed, brown haired white girl, about 5'3". I felt pathetic.

That's when I got the idea.

It was a farfetched idea, granted, since I didn't believe they actually existed.

But it was worth a shot. If it worked, voila. If it didn't, I didn't lose anything.

So I gave it a shot.

As soon as I reached the mailbox, I looked up at the sky and said, "Heimdall, open the Bifrost."

Nothing happened. I even waited a minute to see if the clouds would gather and start swirling above my head.

The little fluffy wisps in the sky went on by without a care in the world.

I frowned and sighed.

Maybe I'm not important enough to listen to. Well, can't blame the guy. He guards Asgard, after all. Can't let just anybody come to Asgard.

Oh well. Guess I'll try tomorrow.

I went inside, leaving the mail on Daddy's desk, went up to my room and pulled my unfinished 12th grade Algebra II book in front of me. I sighed in frustration and plopped down on my bed, face down into my pillow.

I hate life as a Midgardian, I thought playfully. Come on, it's not like I'm even a threat to Asgard. A skinny, relatively short, untrained Midgardian is no threat to the Realm.

But I knew what I knew about Asgard.

And it seemed a whole lot more fun than my life here.

"I'll just try tomorrow." I said out loud. I had been pranking my nine year old sister Abbie the night before, because I thought it would be something Loki might do to Thor.

"Amanda, come down and do the smoothie." Janie called. She was the seventeen year old guitar playing songwriter I mentioned. She was playing Pandora Radio from the kitchen. I could hear Hope Is What We Crave all the way from my room.

I sighed, pulled my pillow in front of my face, and rolled over onto my back.

The intercom phone started ringing.

I groaned, threw the pillow aside, and picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"Amanda, are you coming down or what?" Janie's voice.

"Fine." I said. "Okay, bye."

"Bye," said Janie cheerfully.

I hung up. And trudged down the stairs.

She was making the toast and eggs. Mommy had taken Abbie to attend some birthday party and wasn't there.

Janie brought up that she was stressed about life in general.

You think too much, I thought. But I said, "You could always go outside under the pretense of getting the mail, look up at the sky and say 'Heimdall, open the Bifrost.'" I grinned.

"Yeah, I used to do weird stuff like that too." She held up an imaginary walkie-talkie to her mouth, made a static noise, and said, "Luke, get me out of here." she made another static noise and added, "Over." More static.

She dropped her hand back to her side, grinning.

I sighed and turned to the blender. Frozen banana first.

"Do you want some coffee?" Janie asked.

"Probably," I said, boredly.

"Do you want some coffee or not?"

"Maybe," I said, trying to make it sound like I DID want it.

"Amanda, can't you just give me a straight answer?"

"Ugh! Fine, I guess I do sort of want coffee." I said, boredly.

Janie gave me an exasperated sigh and started making the coffee.

I rolled my eyes and opened the freezer. I pulled out the frozen banana and then pulled out the bag of greens.

That was another problem. I made the smoothie every morning but Sunday, so the family would have something nutritious to drink. I couldn't just leave them, not even on Sunday.

And that was another problem. I had the job of the projector slides at church every Sunday morning. Couldn't just let other people mess up my job, filling in for me.

And THAT was ANOTHER problem. I was a Christian. Some people actually believed that the Asgardians were gods. I believed in one God, and nothing anyone said was going to make me think otherwise. Plus, the parents might not be very happy about my idea for a perfect vacation from life. I knew I shouldn't feel like anything was missing. But I had that feeling.

I just had it.

Another problem. I was terrible at communicating. I would assume what someone meant, instead of actually taking their words at face value. And Daddy got impatient about that, THIS morning.

Urgh. Life.

I was sick of life. Janie had the same feeling, almost, but she didn't wish an imaginary realm was real, like I did. I felt like I was the weirdest Christian on the planet. Well, if Captain America was real, I'd at least have someone to talk to. But I didn't have super powers. And SHIELD probably didn't exist. So that was out of the question.

I also couldn't just leave because I was starting college. And that would be bad, leaving at the beginning of the semester.

I had two classes. Chinese, and Math (ugh). The Chinese would be a breeze, but the Math...

That was one reason to escape the realm, actually. To avoid my work.

But it would still be there. Procrastinating won't help me avoid my stuff.

Some people try to avoid their reality with drugs. Well, at least I was sensible enough to avoid THAT.

Running away from home also had little appeal. I probably couldn't even survive a day out in the open. And Daddy had my Palm Pre 2 phone battery hidden away somewhere, so I didn't even have Internet connection.

And my friends at church, also. They'd know right away something was up if I didn't show up at church with the rest of the family.

Might as well give up the whole scheme.

But I still wanted it. Not even meeting my favorite band, for King & Country, would deter me from my crazy notions.

Haha. I smiled at the thought of my favorite band. The two brothers were Australian, and I had listened to the two albums I owned through and through, until I knew every word they said. They were Australian, just like that Chris Hemsworth dude who played Thor in the movies Thor and Avengers. I hadn't seen Thor: The Dark World yet, and I probably never would. But I'm sure he was Thor in that one too.

I probably would never see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or Avengers: Age of Ultron. Not likely. The parents wouldn't let us watch any more 'secular' movies. Humph. Not even to see what happens? That's mean!

I knew enough about Asgard to want to go. I knew enough about Midgard to want to escape. But there seemed to be no way to get out of my imagined predicament.

"Trying tomorrow won't hurt anything," I thought aloud. I was back upstairs after breakfast and Mommy and Abbie still weren't home.

Hmph. Nobody appreciates grammar anymore, I thought randomly. I was a grammar geek, to the point that I read my sister's pre-Thor story that she wrote for my sixteenth birthday over and over again, and laughed at the hanging modifier, and little inconsistencies in our other stories. All comes with being a Thor fan before you're educated in grammar and spelling and general consistency. LOL.

Trouble was, I was a Thor fan still. And I wanted Asgard to exist SO BAD. But I knew it wasn't gonna happen. I was just sick of life and wanted something entertaining to do. Like read or watch fantasy. I would write stories, but I have nothing to write about at the moment, and my prose is lame. I would write poetry, but I have nothing to write about, and I'm only an amateur poet. I didn't have a quality camera, and knew next to nothing about making videos. So entertaining myself was out of the question.

And my dad had my older phone, so watching my old videos was out.

My devices were confiscated, except for my no-Internet-access computer and my junky little FM radio device. And my computer didn't have a program to read .3gp videos. My Palm device, specifically my Treo 680, was therefore the only place I could watch the videos I'd taken with the thing. Because my confiscated TungstenE2 can't read videos, and my confiscated battery Pre 2... I'm not even familiar enough with it to see if the videos will work on it. Too bad it's confiscated.

Urgh. Life. Sick of the whole shabeal.

Added to that is my 12th grade algebra that I never finished.

Mommy and Abbie were back and had me put away the groceries.

No, sorry, can't check your math right now. Maybe Janie?

No. Janie's doing stuff for Mommy AND Daddy right now. Maybe Daddy?

No, he's busy setting up for a study on Resisting Gossip. That's why he even has Janie helping him. Can't help.

So much stuff to do in so little time. I was starting to feel hopeless again.

Mommy finally checked my work. I got everything correct.

Well, that's good, I thought. At least I know how to graph an equation. Now I just have to figure out how to graph inequalities...sigh.

Okay. Graphed the inequalities and did the quiz for it, Mommy checking my graphs before I took the quiz. Pretty sure I did good. Studied for and took the quiz after that, without Mommy checking me. Pretty sure I got that one perfect. Now she just has to grade them.

Started thinking about Asgard, again.

Why do I want to go there, again? Oh, right. Escape life. Sigh.

Life is a bore. I'm up to my elbows in math-related stuff. Can't figure out a better way to get away from it all. Guess I'll have to get the mail tomorrow.

Wait. Can't. Tomorrow's Sunday. Sigh. I hope I get my devices back TONIGHT, since I did all of my chores. Probably not though. But I'm addicted to gaming on my Pre2. Better not touch it till tomorrow, then, if I do get it back. Better wait till the end of Sunday to try the Heimdall thing again.

Wait.

I could only do it, realistically, if Asgard was like a Narnia thing where you could hang out there for years and come back in the same second you left. Otherwise, escaping to Asgard isn't really plausible.

Too bad. Urgh. Life.

Sick of all of it.

Next week I got my Treo 680 back. Whew. At LEAST the device I use every day is now in my possession.

I had been wearing black sweatpants and a hot pink shirt, topped with a forest green sweatshirt. The color coordination had been a total accident. What's the significance of green and black? I bet you know.

I walked up to my room to go to bed that Sunday night and stopped dead in my tracks when I reached the doorway.

I didn't even give him the satisfaction of asking Who Are You?

"What are you doing in my room? Get out of my bed." I said, my voice rising. "You're not even real."

"Oh come on, what have I done wrong now?" he said, his voice smooth and innocent.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you." I paused, "You're not even a god. You're an alien from another realm and I don't have time to deal with this!"

"You're smart for someone your age."

"And what exactly, are you implying? That I'm a KID? I'm eighteen for crying out loud! That's counted as an adult on Midgard!"

"Such big words. I don't suppose you taking college classes has anything to do with that?"

"Well, THANK you for calling me a kid," I paused. "Everyone treats me too much like an adult these days. 'You should know better. You should be able to handle more chores' and junk like that."

"You have a long day tomorrow. Might as well get to bed."

"Then GET OUT. If you don't, I'll just have to stay up, all night."

"You have college tomorrow."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not getting into my bed with YOU in it." I turned and walked into the room toward my laptop.

"Why not?" he said, smirking.

I gave him a dangerous glower, one that told him he wasn't supposed to be messing around, and an obvious Are You Insane look. "I'm not losing my purity, least of all to a spoiled, sadistic alien prince."

"You've never been with a guy?"

"No." I responded evenly, not turning to face him.

"You've never even KISSED a guy?"

"No." I said, with a little more frustration, still with my eyes on the computer.

"You're going to faint in class tomorrow if you don't get any sleep." he said, pretending to sound concerned. But I could see right through THAT.

"Well, as you so conveniently pointed out, I'm a college student." I turned to him. "And I don't really care if Daddy confiscates my phone. I'd let him conficate ALL OF IT if you would just GET OUT!" I hissed.

I stood up and walked over to the bed. "Give me my pillows. I'm sleeping on the floor."

"There's only two pillows, and one of them is smaller."

"Did you think I didn't see that, genius? YES. There's only two. And they're MINE. GIVE THEM to me."

Loki resignedly leaned upward a little bit, and gave the pillows a yank toward me.

I snatched them. And threw them decisively to the floor. Then I got into a more or less comfortable reclining position on the floor.

"THANKS," I said, laying my head on the smaller one and hugging the normal-sized one to myself, my voice profuse with sarcasm. "Now I'm not gonna get ANY sleep. Ugh." I rolled onto my back, both pillows now under me.

"You're also very polite for someone your age," he mused.

"What? I don't SWEAR." I stopped and sat up. "Do you really think everyone is like everyone else down here? I'm not THAT vulgar, in fact I'd wince if I heard someone say ANYTHING like..."

"I didn't say everyone is like everyone else. I just expect it to be that way."

"Right. Of course." suddenly I stood. "Loki get out of my bed."

He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do it!" I said, tearing up, "Or I'm going to cry! I haven't had proper sleep in a WEEK!"

"Are you THAT weak?"

"Of course I am," I said adamantly. "But everyone is. Midgardians apparently can't survive three days of no sleep straight."

Loki didn't expect that answer, but quickly covered up his surprise by changing tactics. "Your father isn't aware of your playing on your phone after bedtime, is he?"

"He can take it away if he wants. I don't need it to survive. In fact I think it's having the opposite effect on me." I snapped. "I could care less. I don't even care what he thinks. I'm a little FRUSTRATED by a certain person right now."

Loki smirked.

"What do you want, Loki?" I sighed.

"What do I WANT?" he asked, surprised.

"You obviously want Something. That's why you're here. You're not just here to see what reactions you can get out of a Midgardian whose nerves are on edge from lack of sleep." I paused. "Are you?"

"You are very perceptive."

"What is it, then? What DO you want?" I said, boredly.

"Just a bit of fun." he lied.

I actually smirked. "That's a really stupid lie, you know. Are you just TRYING to irritate me, making your lies REALLY OBVIOUS?" I swallowed. And started pacing, to have something to do.

"You are VERY smart for your age." he said.

"There are a gazillion people on the planet who are smarter than me." I said, stopping my pace.

"Maybe, but none as sincere." he said, his face conveying nothing but innocence.

"You think I'm sincere? The way I've just poured on the sarcasm?"

"But it's obvious sarcasm. You really do display how you feel."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Loki smiled, an honest, sincere smile that assured me there were no strings attached to the compliment.

My heart fluttered in my chest. Praise? Praise that I was smart, honest, sincere? Then I noticed something. "Wait a second." I said, looking closely at his eyes.

"Hm?"

"Your eyes seem to change color, just like my dad's," I sighed.

"Is that a compliment?" he grinned.

I grinned back. "Of course it is, silly. My dad's eyes can be forest green one minute, sea blue-green the next, deep blue after that, and back to unpredictable. I love his eyes. I used to always think they were blue, but I couldn't really judge the color, because my eyes are plain brown."

"I wouldn't call them plain," he said simply.

I just looked at him. He narrowed his eyes at me, grinning, and I laughed.

"How about my wavy brown hair? Is it plain?" I smirked.

"Oh very plain. But if you showered more often you could keep it nice."

"Is someone complaining about my hygiene?" I said rolling my eyes.

Loki smirked. "Comb it, at least. It's a frizzy mess." he grinned.

"Fine." I said, rolling my eyes playfully. "I'll be right back." I walked to the bathroom, grabbed a plastic blue comb, and walked back into my bedroom combing my hair.

Loki smiled distantly as I came into the room. He enjoyed having the company of this Midgardian. We could banter back and forth, as my wit almost equaled his own.

"Loki," I asked quietly, "is everything in the movies true? Is Iron Man real? And the Hulk? And Natasha? and Hawkeye? And..."

"Spare yourself the words," he replied. "They were just movies, nothing more."

"So there was no attack on Manhattan?" I asked curiously.

Loki snorted. "I should think not."

I seemed relieved. "So Asgard and Thor and Heimdall are real, right?" Then a pained look crossed my face.

Loki looked at me, wondering what had caused the flash of change in my expression, that had vanished just as instantly.

"I'm sorry I called you sadistic, then." I said, concluding.

"But am I still spoiled?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, that's why you're even still lounging in my bed. Get out."

Loki smirked and got up. He stood and stooped to pick up my pillows, which were on the floor, and returned them to their spot on the bed, the smaller one under the normal-sized one like before.

"Go to sleep," he commanded gently. "Keep your purity."

I smiled tiredly. "Thanks."

"For now," he grinned mischievously.

I narrowed my eyes at him before hesitantly scooting under the covers. Loki left the room quietly.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I'm going mad, am I NOT?" I asked the ceiling.

"Ooh, proper grammar," said Loki, peeking into the room. "Nice," he said, clapping childishly.

"Nice to be appreciated for something other than battle prowess," I smirked. "It seems that's the one thing the Asgardians value most."

"Well, to put it in Midgardian terms, you hit the nail on the head there." he smirked back.

"Go away, Magic & Mischief."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"A nickname I'm giving you, Prankster Prince." I said, playfully.

"I'm going to like you," he nodded, grinning.

"Get outta here, Silver Stealth. Before you're caught."

"I'm never caught," he smirked. He silently left the doorway.

"Yeah, make a grand exit. As if you weren't just trying my patience." I rolled my eyes at the door.

The next morning went by usually. That is to say, no Loki showed up and I very much appreciated it, hoping I'd just been dreaming the whole thing.

But the power did go out for a few minutes, nothing to worry about since it was morning.

And my dad was suspiciously asking questions about how late I stayed up and what I did.

Don't even ask, I thought.

After the power came back on and I'd finished my homework, I quickly readied myself for my second day of college.

In math, my eyes kept scooting shiftily to the side. I knew someone was watching me. Was it because I had nearly laughed outright at something the teacher said? Surely it couldn't be that. I wasn't the type to turn around, but still focusing on the teacher's words, I turned.

And there sat Loki in disguise.

How could I tell it was him, you ask?

I saw his eyes.

I nearly gaped at him, but giving my sister Janie a funny look, I returned my gaze to the teacher.

The teacher said "Right?" at the end of nearly every sentence.

It was odd, and funny.

At least the math was easy.

That night, I was lying on my bed, facing the ceiling with my phone not far away.

"So," I spoke, "You were keeping an eye on me, huh?"

Loki un-invisibled himself. He was standing in the middle of the room, facing my bed. "Just wanted to see your reaction."

"Not funny."

"Gaping WAS a funny reaction."

I sighed. "Did you even learn anything?"

Loki smirked.

"I mean, it's COLLEGE. You go there to learn. Not spy on people."

Loki's smirk turned to a grin. He turned the chair at my desk around to face me and sat in it.

"So, if you're real," I began, "And I'm not starting to go insane, that means Asgard is real too, and all of the main people there that I saw in the movie?"

Loki decided to humor my curiosity. "Yes. Odin, Frigga, Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three, and Heimdall, to be exact."

"Does that mean you're actually a Frost Giant?!" I blurted, eyes wide.

I was grinning, and Loki couldn't understand why bringing up the subject of THAT RACE was any joy to me. Oh well.

"No, it doesn't mean that; it means some Midgardians got creative and added a twist to the plot of their movie."

"Oh," I looked disappointed.

Loki didn't understand why I was so disappointed.

"You can't believe everything you see in movies, you know." he said.

"I know, sorry," I said, the look of pain fleeting by my face again.

"It's just—it would be so cool, figuratively and literally. I honestly have no idea why the movie Loki was so ashamed of his heritage. If I had powers like that, I'd—"

"Misuse them?" he said, without pause.

"Oh yeah, I probably would," I paused and grinned. "Bad idea. Nevermind."

Then I looked excited again.

"So is Thor your brother?"

"Yes, I'm afraid the movie producers were right about that one." he said calmly.

I looked so excited he thought I would burst, and I finally did, in laughter.

"Oh my," I said, catching my breath, "That's the grandest news I've heard in a year." I giggled.

"I don't see how that is so horribly amusing," he retorted.

I burst into more laughter, then stopped short as a revelation seemed to have hit me, and I accordingly gasped.

"Wait! That means you're like a thousand years old!" I looked like I would burst into laughing again.

"Actually older." he remarked.

"Right," I paused, still looking like I would burst into laughter any second. "Asgard, oh boy I've always wanted to see it," I said rapturously. Then I paused.

"Loki, what on Earth are you doing away from Asgard? And why choose Midgard as the realm of R&R?"

"R and R?" he looked confused.

"Rest and relaxation." I said without missing a beat.

"Well..." he knew he couldn't lie. He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously with one hand. As much as he liked humoring the witty Midgardian (as I like to call myself), he was not about to give away his plans.

"I have plans." he said simply.

"Are they world domination plans?" I asked innocently.

"No."

"Good. Then what are they? If it's not world domination it can't be much worse. Are you just tired of Asgard?"

"No."

"Then WHY are you HERE?"

"Nothing that concerns you, puny Midgardian." Then he stopped himself. I had been nothing but kind to him. He studied my surprised expression. I didn't seem hurt, or angry, and my face was strangely devoid of any emotion by which he would be able to tell my mood.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No, it's okay!" I grinned. "I had it coming. I was waiting for a line like that, honestly. I'm okay with it."

It was Loki's turn to look surprised.

"Yeh, yeh, heard it before, been there, done that," I said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "So can you do magic? ACTUAL magic? Seidr?"

Loki nodded.

My grin grew. "Show me, then. Something unusual. Not snakes, though. Mommy'd kill me if she thought I brought snakes into the house—"

"Fine," Loki smirked. "I won't do snakes."

"Then what?" I said, still excited.

"Well, turning invisible IS part of the magic—"

I sighed and leaned back on my pillow, my face expressionless as I looked up at the ceiling.

"Something wrong?" asked Loki.

"Well, I don't think that I'd get along well with Sif or the Warriors Three, if I ever got a chance to see Asgard."

"Why do you think that?"

"I've got no fighting skills. Remember? That's what Asgardians think is most important."

"And what about Thor?"

"Oh, well, he HAS to be amiable. He's a prince of Asgard. If he wasn't amiable he wouldn't be everybody else's favorite prince."

"What do you mean, 'everybody else's'?"

"You're MY favorite, of the two of you princes. I'm sure there's a lot of Midgardians, actually, who like you better than Thor."

"I'm flattered. What's with the outfit?" He motioned to my black sweatpants and forest green sweatshirt.

I looked down and realized what I was wearing. "Oh, THAT!" I realized, blushing a little. "That was a total accident! Janie doesn't do the laundry very often, and these were the only two warm things I had left. I know, the sweatshirt's a little short, but anyway, I don't look good in green..."

"I think you do. Anyway, what were you saying about me being liked more than Thor...?"

"Oh, right! Some of them may only like you because you're a villain in the movie, and that's what they like. I like you for other reasons."

"And those reasons are?" he said, his curiosity roused.

"Well, in the movie Thor, you're the underdog. The second prince. The overlooked one. Thor was getting the throne the whole time. And you knew it." I paused. "Also I'm not interested in anyone sporting a beard, of ANY size. They're just not interesting to look at. Yeah, Thor may be played by a supposedly super hot Australian dude, but that kind of 'good looking' doesn't mean ANYTHING in my book. I—"

Loki was laughing, at this point. My description of his brother was apparently just too funny NOT to laugh at.

"Haha. Funny. Yes. Now let me continue. I also like dark hair."

Loki stopped laughing and smirked.

"And mischief. Thor's too simple for my taste. He resorts to fighting. LAME. He could at least try to outwit a rock."

Loki began laughing again.

"Also, I like the eloquence. Sure, maybe ALL Asgard is well-spoken, but you're probably the most eloquent, even more so than the Allfather."

Loki stopped laughing again and looked at me curiously. "How many more Asgardian terms do you know?"

"A bunch," I said confidently. "Yggdrasil, for instance, but that was in the movie so it doesn't really count as special knowledge. Valhalla, too, was mentioned; so was Alfheim and Nornheim."

"True. What else do you know?"

"Mjollnir, Thor's hammer; Gungnir, the Allfather's scepter; and the Casket of Winters or whatever it's called, which you haven't tried messing with yet—"

"I'd get in trouble of I messed with it."

"You could at least try. Are you more comfortable in cold weather than hot weather? Do your fingers start turning blue if you touch the Casket? That would be a telltale sign that you're not actually Aesir. What if you really ARE a Frost Giant, huh? You could TRY to figure out if the movie producers were right about that one too."

"I highly doubt their accuracy on that point."

"Oh yeah? What's your proof of that?"

"I don't have any proof! It's just farfetched."

"Oh really?" I paused. "My favorite color is blue, by the way."

Loki grinned. "Are you saying that you wouldn't mind it if I WAS a Frost Giant?"

"I wouldn't mind at all. In fact, I kind of WANT the movie to be more accurate than I think it is. If you were a Frost Giant, then—"

"Then what? I could get upset and storm an army onto Earth and attempt to destroy a famous city?"

"No way! I wouldn't want you destroying anything! Just... I want you to be smarter than the movie Loki. Think of it as an advantage, not a curse. That I like you for who you are, not caring what you are. I'd want you to know, you're not a monster or a villain or anything like that..."

Loki smiled. "You care, don't you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I responded sleepily. "If you were, it would be so neat!" I looked at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

"Goodnight, Amanda."

"Goodnight, Loki."

The next morning, after breakfast...

"Can I take a walk?" I asked.

"Fine, but don't forget you have Algebra today." came Daddy's reply.

"Okay." I walked to my room and changed my phone battery.

"Loki, wait outside for me, okay?"

"Okay," said the invisible. I heard him sweep past me and out the door of my bedroom.

I changed into a dark blue shirt, put my forest green sweatshirt back on, and put on a long dark gray winter jacket with deep pockets on top of my sweatshirt, not zipping it all the way. I topped the Loki-ish outfit with a jeweled black hat that was a cross between a floppy thing and a ballcap. Then I went outside, phone in my jacket pocket.

"Don't turn visible until we're out of sight of the house, okay?"

"Okay," said the invisible once more.

I walked to the pond.

"You can turn visible if you want, now," I said. Turning around, I almost burst out laughing at seeing a basically teenage version of Loki, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"What?" he said, with an amused grin.

"You're hilarious," I said, shaking my head and grinning.

"So did you want to talk?"

"Yes. About Asgard and such."

"Hm," he said as we sat on a stone bench by the sidewalk and overlooking the pond.

"Loki. I had this crazy dream last night. So crazy I don't even trust myself to speak. But I have to tell it to SOMEONE or else I'll just go mad with all these conflicting feelings going on inside." I paused, and Loki raised an eyebrow, the equivalent of a 'Continue, please,' from him. "And you were in it. You and Thor. As teenagers but still in Asgardian clothing."

"What were we doing in the dream?"

"My sister Janie and I were with you. We were trying to figure out some kind of cryptic rune pattern on a scrap of paper." I paused to let this information sink in. "Well, it was usually Janie or Thor who had the scrap of paper. I had to deal with this quaint hermit guy who would give me one of the dictionaries of runes and then take it back a few seconds later, saying something like, 'That's the one!' or some idiot nonsense that meant he would give me a different book a few seconds later. I also figured out that I could harden flowing lava in the dream, before it melted through the floor and hindered our progress with the paper. I figured it was some kind of map to an unknown place, but Janie kept insisting it was a riddle type of sentence that was written there."

"Continue." Loki said.

I actually winced. "This is the weird part," I said, hoping he's too nice to let me continue.

But his interest was peaked. "What is it? Tell me."

"Apparently, I, well, you—"

"What?" he said, wide-eyed.

"—I let you kiss me. And I let you do more than that." I said, turning from him.

"So you're embarrassed because of your dream, because of your purity." he said as a statement.

I, who was totally blushing at this point, didn't expect that answer, and through my clenched teeth said, "W-what?"

"Do you not expect me to respect that? I know it was just a dream."

I gave him a shocked but relieved look. "Thanks, sorry; just wasn't expecting that response."

"You're welcome," he said kindly, allowing poor overwhelmed me to lean on his shoulder slightly. "Now, continue with the dream."

I launched right into the next bit with no hesitation. "I could fly, apparently; I flew outside and pinned a robber to the ground who was stealing one of the rune books, and since I could do nothing to him but pin him down, you came outside and took away the rune book and we went back inside. Then this weird ghost lady came to take away the robber, but she was also going to take away my little brother. My ONLY brother. So I offered to come with her in his place."

"You sacrificed youself for your brother?"

"Yes, I gave up finding out what the runes meant and all, but I knew my little Nathaniel would be safe..." I sighed. "So the ghost lady teleported me right through the walls and over this dark ocean, and we landed in a dark blue rocky land where I went inside a bright warm-lighted castle. It was a bit déja vu for me, since I saw an Asgardian using a computer, and I KNOW I've dreamed THAT part before today."

"Is that the end?"

"Yeah."

"What was the kiss like?"

"Oh I KNEW you'd bring that up again—" I said bitterly. "Well, all I can tell you without embarrassing myself further is I had the decency to keep my civil tongue in my head." I still looked a little pink.

"And the dream me—DIDN'T?"

"No," I said, blushing redder.

"Well," he said, standing from the bench, "I appreciate your confiding in me. It makes me feel like there's someone smart in this world that I can trust."

"You—trust...me?" I said, eyes wide, motioning at myself.

"Yes."

It was then that a dimensionally distorted beam of light appeared to be shooting down in the sky near Loki. I was too shocked in staring at it to be scared.

Thor was put down upside-up by the beam, hammer in hand, before it closed back up behind him.

"Brother!" Thor said, exclaiming. "What are you doing in a disguise? Everyone is missing you! And Heimdall said you went to Earth without the Bifrost!" Then he noticed me.

I was staring at him, eyes wide. "You—you're Thor..." I gasped.

"Yes, mortal, that is my name." Thor responded, eloquently.

"You look like you've been dazzled," Loki said to me, rolling his eyes.

I rolled my eyes, finally. "Loki, does your big brother TRY to act like a god? You know I don't believe either of you are actually gods, right?"

"Loki, do you know this girl? she seems to be conversing with you in a very familiar manner." Thor observed.

"Yes, I know her. She's my friend and one of the few smart people in this realm." Loki retorted.

"You know, Loki, you'd make an excellent Frost Giant," I grinned.

Thor immediately went on the defensive. "My brother is NOT a Frost Giant—!" he yelled.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him before intervening. "It's all right, Thor, we've had the 'I'm not actually a Frost Giant' conversation a couple of times already. She knows I'm not. She is just teasing me about the motion pictures."

I grinned. "Nice to see you defending him, though."

"Well, all right," he said, looking at me funny.

"So—" I said eagerly, "Thor, do I get to see Asgard or what? I'm Loki's friend and I won't be missed much over here."

"Well, I doubt Heimdall would allow..." he began.

"Of course she's coming with me, you dolt," Loki said with an amused yet adamant smile. "I won't go back without her."

"Now, now, Loki, no name calling," I said with a mischievous grin, "Even if you've correctly described your older brother, who prefers fighting to wit, let's be POLITE."

Loki grinned. "All right, Miss Amanda Brettsdottir, whatever you say is best."

"That's my prince," I said teasingly as he dropped the disguise, turning back into himself.

Thor was watching us curiously throughout our little banter.

I stood.

"Heimdall?" Thor requested as we all stood close together, ready for the beam to receive us.

The white beam of light shone big enough to fit all of us, and drew us past the clouds in a blur. I suddenly had the sensation of flying headfirst through space. It'd be a wonder if we'd even land on our feet, I thought rebelliously. Then I saw Asgard coming into view. And we landed right inside the Bifrost, on our feet.

"Greetings, Amanda Rachael Vermillion, Brett's daughter," said Heimdall, "Welcome to Asgard."

"Thank you, Heimdall," I said politely, bowing slightly in his direction.

Heimdall... nodded slightly in respect? I wondered if I had just imagined it.

Then I turned to Thor. "What if your friends don't like me? I mean, I don't have ANY fighting skills. At ALL."

"They will," said Thor, smiling cutely (if you could call it that), "I'll make sure they don't DISLIKE you, at least."

"Oh, good."

Suddenly Sif and the Warriors Three came into the Bifrost.

Fandral addressed Thor first. "So, you brought Loki back," then he stopped when he saw me.

"And he brought a friend from Midgard," Thor explained, smiling kindly at me. "Amanda Brettsdottir." I grinned back.

Sif was the first to recover. "Nice to meet you, Amanda." she held out her hand to me. I reached out and shook it firmly. I nodded politely at the Warriors Three. Volstagg was ready to burst from admiration at my polite conduct. Hogun just nodded slightly in return, much like Heimdall had done, but more noticeable.

Fandral was overly eager to shake my hand, I thought. I did shake his hand though. To be polite.

"Delighted to meet you, Lady Amanda of Midgard," he said smoothly.

I nodded, smiling. "Nice to meet you too." I turned to look at all the warriors.

"So, you're Lady Sif, and you're Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun, the Warriors Three," I said, turning to each as I said their names.

"Wow, how does she know our names?" asked Fandral.

"And our title?" added Hogun.

"She knows a lot more about Asgard than you give her credit for," spoke up Heimdall. Everyone turned, surprised that he spoke. Including me.

Heimdall nodded slowly to me, to confirm what he just said. "She even knows how to address the Allfather." he stopped and sighed as if he'd said too much.

"Wait, how?" asked Sif.

"Practice on Thor," suggested Volstagg, "He won't mind. But use HIS name when you do it."

"Okay," I said, smiling a little. I turned to Thor.

Thor looked suspicious.

I dropped to my right knee and placed my right fist over my chest. "Prince Thor," I addressed smoothly, bowing my head slightly. Thor had a strained look on his face, as if that wasn't supposed to be done to him.

Loki started laughing out loud. "That's how you do it!" he cried jovially between laughs, gasping for breaths.

I got up. The Warriors Three and Lady Sif were staring at me with something approaching awe. I hadn't expected this!

"Whoa wait a minute!" I said, stepping back. "I'm no expert, or anything. I just watched this movie called Thor, and—"

"Come, now," said Sif, "We must introduce you to the Allfather!" she said, businesslike, but smiling.

I was ushered by the group onto the rainbow bridge that led to the palace. I admired every inch, and loved the way the beautiful glass would light up at the spots my feet touched. I was smiling absently down at the bridge, and most of them were watching me. I knew it.

Loki had a protective arm around my shoulders. Well, can't blame the guy.

I was ushered into the palace, into the throne room, and before Odin. The escorting process had taken several minutes, with me admiring every inch. This was Asgard.

The warriors all stopped in front of the throne.

I began to drop to my right knee again, placing my right fist over my heart.

"You do not owe loyalty to this kingdom, Amanda Racquel Vermillion, Brett's daughter," the Allfather said gently.

I was relieved that he had pronounced my middle name correctly, like Heimdall had done previously. But only Heimdall knew how to spell it. "But, shouldn't I abide by the rules while I'm here?" I said, looking a little worried and dropping my fist to my side. "I should be loyal, shouldn't I? After all, I'm a guest in your kingdom!"

The Allfather smiled. "Rise, Lady Amanda of Midgard."

I rose slowly to my feet.

"Heimdall informed me of your arrival." the Allfather explained. "Make yourself welcome, Lady Brettsdottir."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," I said graciously. I bowed.

"You may go," he said, dismissing our group, smiling.

I felt lighthearted. Happy. This is Asgard. I was skipping along, almost like I was a kid again.

Loki was my friend.

Thor was amused at me.

Sif was very polite.

And the Warriors Three still didn't know what to make of me.

"I know!" I said, jumping up as an idea hit me.

Everyone looked at me, surprised. Including some guards in the hall.

"You guys have got to help me get the ingredients. I'm going to make Thor a Midgard hamburger!"

Sif started to chuckle.

"You're going to make ME a snack? A snack from Earth?" came Thor's surprised reply.

"Yeah, why not?" Then I whispered to everyone but Thor, "It's an experiment. On Thor." I laughed.

Loki snickered.

After gathering all the ingredients, which took about an hour, I successfully slapped it together. Then I handed it to Thor.

Thor took a huge bite. He looks cute whenever he's eating or drinking anything. So I grinned at him. "Do you like it?" I asked.

"I LOVE IT!" he said in a booming voice. He swept me up in a big bear hug then released me. "Where did you learn to make such an appetizing snack?!"

Sif smirked at Thor, but tried to hide it by pretending to yawn.

"Earth," I said simply. "Midgard, to put it in Agsard terms. I can make smoothies, too; but I doubt you guys have anything like outlets or cords or blenders here."

"I LIKE THIS MIDGARDIAN!" Thor said in his booming voice. "She's smarter than my math instructor!"

"I guarantee to you, Thor, I'm not even as smart as my Midgardian math instructor."

"You have an instructor?" Thor asked. "Are you rich?"

"No, not rich. Not a private tutor. It's just college."

"Oh," Thor said, sufficiently subdued for the moment. He is usually very loud.

I snickered. "Well then, how about you guys give me a tour of the palace?" I turned quickly to Thor. "And you can bring along your 'hamburger' too."

Thor was delighted.

Loki smirked. Then he took my arm as Sif and the Warriors three led the way.

Sif glanced at me, then turned and whispered to the Warriors Three. I saw Volstagg whisper back. I like Volstagg. Kindness shone in his eyes.

The three glanced at me, and I raised my eyebrows at them. They turned quickly to Sif, and Fandral whispered to her this time, seeming suddenly suspicious. She whispered something back and I finally turned away, disinterested in whatever they could be whispering about.

Thor looked curious, and Loki looked distrustful. I was too distracted admiring every inch of the palace to be curious for long.

But then I realized I was still wearing the black sweatpants and forest green sweatshirt, the dark gray overcoat, jeweled black hat...

Oh boy.

Did they think it was BECAUSE of Loki that I was dressed like that?

Probably. I should've changed to something else before I went to the pond. Oops.

Then I thought of something. Something funny to distract them from my outfit. "Guys."

"Hm?" said Volstagg as the four of them turned around to look at me as we were walking.

"Would you rather be charged at by an angry Bilgesnipe—"

"Oh, that's frightening!" interrupted Fandral.

"—or charged at by a VERY angry Sif?" I finished. I watched in satisfaction as all three of the Warriors Three shuddered and Sif laughed.

"That puts things in perspective," said Fandral weakly.

I laughed. Thor was thinking over the scenario seriously, and Loki was just smirking.

We had apparently arrived at wherever we were going. We walked outside.

"This is the arena, where we spar and practice fighting," said Sif. The Warriors Three were strangely silent.

"Wow, cool! It's just like the story, almost," I said, then shrugged when they looked at me curiously. "Nevermind. I see where you store the practice weapons and armor," I said, nodding at a small building reminiscent of a shed, but much larger.

Volstagg nodded. "There are different spaces for practicing different forms of combat. Throwing darts, spears, and knives will be this area over here," he added.

Fandral refused to be outdone.

"Archery is this area over here," he said, motioning over to a space, "sword fighting is here, and hand-to-hand duels with or without weapons will be this area right here, the big red square."

"Neat!" I said. We looked around a little more, Sif pointing out the main things. I looked up to notice the roof balcony of the palace that I had remembered from the story. Then we went back inside.

I was smiling to myself, thinking of the story. The story my sister had written for my sixteenth birthday. Turned out she was right about some of the places on Asgard.

Loki was watching me curiously, as if he was wondering what I was smiling about.

I just shrugged at him, grinning.

Next, Sif showed me inside my room. Rooms, rather. They were all connected by smaller doors after going through one big golden door. I liked it. It was Asgardian style, elegant and ornate, but cozy enough to suit a Midgardian. I could barely contain my excitement at having my own room. Sif had me change into an Asgardian dress, to be presentable at dinner. I left my Earth clothes in the laundry basket. Then we went out of my chambers and Thor pointed out the door to his chambers and the door to Loki's chambers, in case I needed anything and the maids weren't able to understand my Midgardian style of speech. I nodded and made a mental note of Loki's door.

Then we went to the dining hall. The maids and servants were setting it up for supper and no one was really there yet. Except Frigga, who was watching them prepare.

In my new dress, I curtsied to her and said, "Your Majesty."

Thor gave a short explanation that I was Midgardian and Loki's friend. Frigga smiled and talked with me a little before I noticed that the servants had finished setting up and dinner was ready. People started filing in and taking their places. Frigga made sure I was seated between Thor and Loki, for my own comfort's sake, I guess. When everyone was seated, and several different conversations started in the room, making constant noise, I started looking at all the food.

It was delectable. Carved boar, some kind of big roasted bird, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, pancakes, fruit bread, muffins, rolls, buttery croissants, fish, venison, beef, rice, cheese, fried food, soups, stews, bakes, soufflés, sourdough bread for dipping, pies, tarts, sherbet, chocolate... even the Asgardian equivalent of ice cream.

I could barely decide what to get first. I was staring at all the food with huge eyes when Loki started dishing me food.

"Come on, no time to gawk," he prodded. "Get what you want."

I shook myself out of it and finished dishing the food for myself. Then I prayed silently and started to eat.

My wineglass was empty. I asked some maid for ice water.

"Ice water?" she repeated dumbly, as if that was some kind of odd request.

"Yeah, you know, water with ice cubes in it..."

"Ice cubes?"

I sighed exasperatedly and rolled my eyes. "Can I just get juice, then?" I asked.

The maid nodded. "Of course, my lady." and she walked to the part of the table where the drinks were centered, grabbed a pitcher, and brought it over to my wineglass. She poured some for me, and I immediately picked it up. What kind of juice...

It wasn't juice. It was tea. Oh well. At least it was sweet enough to count as juice.

I ate some more food. Loki was eating and watching me amusedly. He had seen my interaction with the maid. And my first reaction to the taste of the tea.

"What?" I asked him, stuffing another bite of whatever meat that was into my mouth, and then taking a bite of a roll.

"You're funny." he said, snickering. He took a bite, continuing to watch me with mirth in his eyes.

Odin was also keeping an eye on me, while at the same time eating AND conversing with some important official.

I wonder if anything will happen to make him slam his fist on the table, I thought with a smirk.

After dinner, a maid led me to my chambers and pulled out a silky blue nightgown from a dresser.

"Now, I'm going to help you put this on, okay?" she said.

"That's not really necessary," I replied. "I'm from Midgard. I know how to take care of myself."

"All right then," she smiled. She laid the nightgown down on my bed and left the room. I took the nightgown to the bathroom and changed into it, neatly folding the dress and putting it on top of the dresser back in the bedroom. Then I got in my Asgardian bed and went to sleep.

My eyes flew open as I jerked awake and gasped, breathing hard.

"Nightmares?" asked a voice.

Someone was sitting in a chair beside my bed.

I turned slightly, and squinted into the darkness, seeing Fandral sitting there in the dark.

"You're not supposed to be in here," I said, a sudden panic rising in my chest.

"I know. But I couldn't resist," he said, leaning forward.

"You need to go," I said, sitting up.

"Why?" he said, leaning forward more. "You can't deny my feelings for you."

"Fandral, you CAN'T!" I said in a panicked tone to the oh-so-noble show-off leaning towards me.

"Why not?" he said, taken aback by my tone. Then he frowned slightly. "This is because of Loki, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," I said firmly.

"Please, explain." he said.

"It—it's because, I'm pure."

Fandral staggered back as if he'd been pierced by his own lance.

"Please, GO!" I said firmly, hating myself for being so harsh with him but hanging to the last shreds of my confidence.

Fandral fled the room.

And I was alone in the darkness once again.

Not wanting to be alone with the fresh memories of my nightmares, I got up, checked myself in the mirror, and left the room, still in my nightgown. I had the feeling I was being watched as soon as I stepped into the hallway. I turned and walked down the hall to where I knew Loki's room was. I reached the closed door, and saw light coming from under it.

"Good, he's awake," I thought out loud. I knocked quietly.

"Amanda?" said a voice behind me.

I jumped and turned around. "Loki!" I said, in surprise.

He motioned for me to move to the side, which I did, and he stepped forward and unlocked his door. Then he and I went into his room.

"What was Fandral doing in your room?" he asked, as soon as he shut the door.

"Watching me. I made him leave."

"How'd you manage to do that?" he asked curiously. "He's usually very persistent."

I nodded, then smirked. "Daggerpoint," I joked.

Loki laughed.

"It was almost that, anyway," I shrugged. "He reacted as if he'd been shot."

"What did you do?" Loki asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I just told him I'm pure. He was pretty shocked. I have no idea why." I walked into his reading room and over to a plush recliner chair, and sank into it, exhausted. Loki followed me into the room.

"That's my favorite chair," Loki said, pretending to frown. "Any chance I could get you to move?"

"Hm... no," I said, smirking. "I like it too much. You might be able to get me to move if you had something you knew I liked and I jumped up to look at it, though. I'm that gullible. Not while I'm thinking about it, though."

Loki raised his eyebrows again. "Do you like to read?"

"I LOVE to read!" I grinned. That was the truth.

Loki smiled. Someone with his opinion about books. "Then I suggest you take a look at this."

I shook my head, still grinning. "You can't fool me that easily."

Loki turned to pick up a book. "What if it's from Midgard?" he asked, watching me from the corner of his eye. He picked up the book and read off the front cover. "Star Wars, Episodes Four through Six."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, jumping up and running over, snatching the book from him. I started exclaiming something when I realized something, slowed, stopped, and turned. Loki was sitting in the chair I had just vacated.

"Tricked you," Loki said, smirking.

"Aw, come on!" I said, walking over, still holding the book. "Any chance I could get you to share the space?"

"No," he said stubbornly.

I walked over behind the chair, got up on it, and sat on the back, pushing my knees into Loki's upper back. "Move," I commanded.

Loki didn't budge.

"You asked for it then," I said, putting more pressure on his back.

"Aah! Hey!" Loki exclaimed. He jumped up and rubbed his back, watching my satisfied grin as I slid down into the chair, with my legs under me.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Any chance I could get you to share the space?" he asked.

"...Maybe," I smirked.

"What if I do this?" he said, picking me up.

"Aah! Hey!" I said as Loki turned around and sat in the chair, with me still in his arms. He set me sitting on the arm of the chair, my legs across his lap. Somehow in all that, Loki had gotten ahold of the book.

"You sneakster," I said, grinning and shaking my head. Then I leaned sideways, closer to him, resting against the back of the chair. "Will you read it to me?"

Loki smiled and nodded. Then he opened the book, resting his hands with the book in them on my legs. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

It was very late when I returned to my room.

I got into my bed, and felt Loki pulling the covers up to my shoulders.

"Goodnight, Amanda."

"Goodnight, Loki."

In the morning, I woke up refreshed and very much awake. I don't really like to wear dresses, I thought. Let's see if I can find anything in the dresser.

I began digging.

Bingo! Brown cotton breeches with a leather belt and belt pouch. I dug some more and found a longsleeve sky blue tunic, made of some soft material, and a lightweight leather vest lined with felt, with pockets. This is the real deal, I thought to myself. No imitation leather here.

I went to my bathroom and changed from my nightgown into the outfit I'd compiled. Then I opened my golden door and walked into the hallway, closing it behind me.

Thor was just exiting his room too, apparently, and noticed my outfit.

"What! No dress today, Amanda?" he asked good-naturedly, looking me over.

"Dresses aren't really my style," I said.

"Well, allow me to escort you to breakfast, my lady," he grinned.

I laughed and took his arm. We walked together to the dining hall, where breakfast was ready and waiting.

I failed to notice a jealous-of-Thor Loki was right behind us, following us; we reached the dining hall and sat down.

I prayed silently, ate a few things, still full from last night, and finished quickly. I tore a small piece off of a sweet roll and ate it while waiting for my friends to finish.

Everyone at the breakfast table was strangely silent. It was so quiet, it was awkward.

Fandral piped up to interrupt the awkwardness of the moment. "Well, it's been a most excellent breakfast, a good day for a duel, eh Hogun?"

Hogun sniffed. "We'll see."

"You're not going to lose like last time, are you Sif?" asked Volstagg.

Sif frowned irritably at Volstagg.

Thor laughed at Sif's expression. "Just challenge him to another duel. I bet you'll win this time." he then turned to me beside him. "You can watch, too. Bet on who's going to win."

"That sounds like fun!" I said, grinning and thinking about the story again, and how eerily similar part of their conversation was to it.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Sif. "Let's go!"

I finished my roll quickly as Sif and the Warriors Three and Thor and Loki got up. I stood.

"Please excuse us," said Fandral to the Allfather. Odin nodded, smiling.

We all laughed and chatted on the way to the arena. I had to squint when I first walked outside, it was so bright and sunny.

Sif and Volstagg took to the arena first, and Sif was determined to win.

I sat on a bench by myself to watch them duel. Off at another bench, Thor and Loki and Hogun were watching the duel and commenting to eachother.

That left one person.

"I believe I owe you an apology for last night," said Fandral, sitting on the other end of the bench.

I turned to him and raised my eyebrows in a question.

"I overstepped my bounds and assumed too much," he said, watching the duel for a moment, then returning his gaze to me. "For that, I am truly sorry."

"Well then," I smiled, "You are forgiven."

Fandral smiled. We sat in companionable silence as we watched the duel, Sif starting to gain the upper hand.

Sif won, obviously.

Then she walked out to the edge of the square where Thor, Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral all crowded around and congratulated her. I hung back. Fighting isn't really my thing.

Loki walked up to me. "Rather read a book, eh?" he asked, grinning.

"Yeah," I grinned and nodded.

"Then let's go inside," he tilted his head in the direction of the palace before straightening and taking my hand. We walked back inside together, heading toward his room.

Sif watched us go. "Those two," she said once we were out of earshot. She shook her head. The Warriors Three and Thor turned to see us disappear through the doors to the palace.

Loki and I were back in his room. He was sitting in his plush recliner chair with the Star Wars book on the desk beside him, and I was looking around on his bookshelves for more things to read.

While I was distracted, with my back turned, and totally unaware, he got up and walked over to me.

I turned slightly, still with my eyes on the shelves, and said, "Hm?"

"There's a lot of books, hm?"

"Yeah," I said, distractedly focusing on the shelves again.

Loki brushed back my hair and began to rub my back. He was pleased to observe that it was totally distracting me so that I could barely even look at the shelves.

I looked around some more, trying to concentrate on not acting nervous to Loki's attentions.

"I don't really see anything else as interesting as Star Wars," I said, keeping my voice as nonchalant as I possibly could.

She controls her speech and actions well, he thought. Might as well keep her guessing whether her façade worked or not. "You'd be surprised," Loki said as he turned and went to sit back in his chair. I walked over and perched myself on the same armrest as before.

He picked up the Star Wars book. I leaned sideways against the headrest again.

"The books aren't exactly like the movies," I commented. "I'm not sure, honestly, if I like the movies or books better. Maybe the movies, since it's something to visualize. And I can imagine the characters in the books as I see them in the movies. The movie characters have less of a detailed description though. In books you can actually read more into the past of a character. So I kinda need both to really know a character."

"I see," said Loki.

"Let's pick up where we left off," I said. "Luke saving the world. With 'The FORCE'," I laughed, putting air quotes around the force part.

"Isn't he 'saving the world' through all three episodes though?" asked Loki amusedly.

I grinned. "I know, I'm just generalizing it."

I realized for the first time that the plush recliner chair was a rich dark green.

"Janie's favorite color is green..." I said absentmindedly.

"Yes, but she has many personality flaws."

"Personality flaws?" I asked incredulously. "I have some too, don't I?"

"Yes, but you have a much more interesting personality, so I can overlook your flaws."

I just laughed at that. "Hey, have you actually seen the Marvel movies Thor or Avengers?"

"No," he admitted. "But I've heard a lot about them. I read about Thor."

"Hm," I said as I pulled out my phone to check the time. "What— that can't be right..."

"The time on your phone is wrong because it's still running on Earth time. If you want I can get it to work on Asgard time."

"No, it's okay," I said, "I can just ask you, if I can't gauge the time just by looking at the light outside."

Loki nodded, and opened the Star Wars book.

"Hey, have you seen Lord Of The Rings? It's sort of a trilogy. Three volumes, or three movies if that be the case, like Star Wars has three books and three movies."

"Yes, I've seen them. The movie producers were actually pretty accurate about what Elves look like."

"And you happen to know what Elves actually look like?"

"Well, who do you think lives on Alfheim? More humans?"

"Oh, Alfheim! Right. Sorry," I laughed.

"You know..." he said suddenly. "Your father told you that you could take a walk. I wonder how long you've been gone according to Earth time?"

I glanced at my phone's time again. "If the date and time is still right, it's only been a few minutes on Earth. Time must run faster here, but it feels like the length of Earth time. It's like a Narnia thing."

"Narnia? What's that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Narnia is a fictional world where these kids from Earth walk into it through a wardrobe, and grow up living there for several years as Kings and Queens, essentially becoming adults, and they find the place they came in at and come back through the wardrobe as kids again, and it was like less than a second since they'd left, on Earth."

"That's neat. But time is more realistic than that, I think. If you returned now, a few minutes after you left, I'm sure he wouldn't be too suspicious." He nodded at my phone. "Your phone is useful. It can tell us the time on Earth you're missing."

"I know. I never go anywhere without it. Unless it's in the house and I'm in the house too, then I can actually leave it for a few seconds."

We both laughed.

"Shall we go to Heimdall now?" he asked.

"But... I've only been here the rest of one day and the morning of another!"

"Come on, Amanda, you've got to go home sometime. Finish the walk you said you'd take, go home, do some Algebra II, and maybe you can come back in a few days."

"Aww..." I said, disappointed.

Loki grinned. "You know you can't stay here forever. You can't lead two lives. And your life on Earth is more important. You can visit Asgard anytime, but you LIVE on Earth. Friends can't replace family."

"Yeah, I know," I sighed. "All right, should we tell Odin I'm going back now?"

"Right. Let's go," he said, getting up and walking to the main room, me jumping up and following him.

He opened the doors and we walked out together.

"I've gotta change back into my Earth clothes. I'll be right back," I said, running down the hall to my room.

I went inside. My Earth clothes were folded nicely on the top of the dresser. They were washed for me. Awesome. I changed into them, putting my totally-my-style but still Asgardian outfit folded on the top of the dresser, and came back out. Loki had been waiting for me right outside.

"NOW let's go," I said.

We walked along in companionable silence until we reached the throne room.

The guards on each side of the doors didn't even budge. We pushed the doors open and went inside.

Odin didn't even budge as we walked up to him. He stared down at us for a second, kind of like a statue.

"Father," Loki addressed politely, "I'm sending Amanda home now."

"That is fine," Odin said with a wave of the hand. "But be sure to tell me when she returns, if Heimdall doesn't notify me first."

"Yes, Father," Loki bowed slightly and led me out.

We reached the rainbow bridge by horse, Loki's horse, anyway, and Loki gave it a pat and told it to wait for him there. It seemed to understand every word he said.

We walked up to Heimdall.

"You are here to send Amanda back," he stated. "Amanda, please stand where the bridge will open."

I did as I was told. Loki seemed like he wanted to come with me through the Bifrost.

"I will keep an eye on Amanda for you," Heimdall said, reading Loki's worried expression. "She will be fine."

Loki sighed in relief.

Heimdall slid the sword into the thing behind me, and The Bifrost started up. Then he pushed it all the way in and I felt like I was getting sucked forward into space.

I landed near the stone bench that had a nice view of the pond. The same spot I'd left at. Funny.

I walked back home, and came in the door.

"You look like you had a fun walk," said Daddy. "Make the smoothie; Janie just made the eggs and toast and everybody's hungry."

"All right," I nodded. I ran upstairs, changed back into indoor clothes, and came back down to do my morning fruit-and-greens smoothie making.

Heimdall watched me from his position holding the sword and looking out from the Bifrost. Loki was standing somewhat behind him.

"She is back home and into her regular routine. She'll be fine."

Loki nodded and left the Bifrost, heading to the place he'd left his horse.

The next week...

It was in the middle of the day when the phone rang, not an uncommon occurrence anyways. I continued working out my Algebra II problems to prepare for a quiz.

"Amanda, the phone's for you," my dad said seriously.

I took the phone numbly, walking to my room. "Hello?"

"Miss Vermillion, you failed to turn in your homework the day of, correct?" a male voice asked.

I groaned. "Yes sir. But I finished it the day after."

"And you still haven't turned it in," the voice said seriously.

I groaned again. "I forgot."

"This isn't about your homework, Miss Vermillion."

"What?" I said.

"That was a cover up to temporarily keep your dad out of this. This is Director Fury of SHIELD. It's reported you disappeared off the face of the planet."

"How did you get this number?!"

"We have our ways."

I groaned again. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to have a very normal life after this?"

"Normal?" Fury scoffed. "You call disappearing off the face of the planet NORMAL?"

"Er—no, I was just saying, you're going to ask me to work for the under cover company SHIELD which I didn't believe existed?"

"Precisely. See you tomorrow."

"WHAT?" I yelled into the phone.

"No need to raise your voice, Miss Vermillion. I'll talk with your dad tomorrow. You'll be well paid and able to support your family, under cover and well protected. He can't refuse."

"Oh."

"Have a good day." Dial tone.

I walked back downstairs. "Here's the phone back," I said lamely.

"What was that about?" Daddy asked.

"He offered me a well-paying job. He says he'll talk to you about it tomorrow."

"All right. Take a shower. I'll want you looking presentable."

"Kay."

A day later, at the base...

Director Fury led me to a room in the base where I saw some VERY familiar people. I approached the woman with short red hair and form-fitting black combat suit first.

"Agent Romanov, I assume?" I asked politely, holding out my hand.

"You assume correctly," she said, shaking my hand. "You're Amanda Vermillion, the new recruit?"

I nodded. Then I turned slightly. "Where's Hawkeye?"

Suddenly a vent panel fell from the ceiling near me. I gave a short cry and jumped back as it clanged to the floor. A dark-haired and generally good-looking man in a purple and black suit with a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder and a modern bow in one hand was sliding down a grapple cable. He landed on the detached grate.

"Sorry about that," he said, shaking my hand. "Didn't mean to startle you. The name's Clint Barton."

I turned to Natasha. "Does Barton always hang out in ceiling vents and other high places?"

"Sometimes," she replied, glancing at him.

I grinned back at him.

"My reputation precedes me," he said, shrugging.

I laughed. Then I turned to a tall, muscular blond walking up. He was wearing blue, and red and white.

"Captain America," I said, shaking his hand. "I think we have a belief in common," I continued. "I'm Christian," I whispered.

Steve nodded, and had a small smile, a look of understanding passing between us. I knew that instant that we were going to be good friends.

"What's that all about?" asked a familiar black-haired billionaire smugly, walking into the room. "Fury calls us in to meet the new recruit and she's already buddies with Rogers?"

"Somebody please slap Tony Stark," I said, annoyed. "I don't care if he's Iron Man. And he better not swear in front of me, or I'll—"

"You'll do what?" asked Tony.

"Slap you myself," I said, irritated.

Captain America was grinning.

"Somebody's cocky today." Tony smirked and turned to talk to someone else. I rolled my eyes.

Then I walked up to Banner. "Dr. Banner?" I asked, shaking his hand. He gave me a shy nod. "That's me," he said.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled cutely.

He smiled kindly back. "Nice to meet you too, Amanda."

"You know, you're pretty nice for someone with a reputation for smashing things, no offense."

Banner laughed, albeit a little nervously. "Thanks. None taken."

"Okay, so where's the Asgardian dude? The one from the movie?" Tony asked.

"Oh, Thor?" I said.

"Yeah, him," said Clint. "You and the Asgardians seem to get along well."

"She gets along especially well with that mischief maker Loki," added Tony. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, so?" I said.

"Yeah, so, hopefully he doesn't cause us trouble now that you're working with us," Tony said, rolling his eyes to copy me.

I glared. "He would never—"

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Tony interrupted. "Don't be so cocky, Amanda."

I glared at him. "Somebody slap him PLEASE."

"Oh, we'd like to," said Natasha, smirking. "But unfortunately he's our ally, and a multi-billionaire. He could sue us if we slapped him around."

"Right," I said, sighing and glaring at him.

Clint gave a short laugh. "This is going to be a very interesting week to come to work."

I nodded at Clint. "And if nobody slaps Tony Stark by the end of the week, I WILL."

Director Fury stepped in. "Any particular branch you'd like to work in?"

"You didn't really plan this out did you?" I asked, turning to him. "Step one. Get me out of public so you can keep an eye on me and I don't go blabbing things. Step two?"

Director Fury stared at me with his one good eye. "I'll have someone drive you home. Don't tell your sister Janie or any other of your family anything you've heard or seen, understand?"

"Yes sir," I sighed. "You know, I wouldn't recognize you without that eye-patch."

"Very funny," he said without smiling or laughing. I was wondering if he was being sarcastic. Then he smiled faintly.

I guess he did think it was funny.

I went over and poked Tony Stark in the chest where I knew the mini arc reactor was. "You better behave," I commanded.

"Behave... badly?" he said, raising an eyebrow and faking innocence.

"You know what I mean," I said patiently.

"Behaving well isn't really my style," Tony holds out a small bag. "Blueberry?" he was offering it as a conciliatory gesture, a peace treaty. I could tell. I dug my hand in and popped a few in my mouth.

Coulson walked up, handing me a small package. "Here's your new uniform, Miss Vermillion. Might be a good idea to try it on."

"Thanks," I said, taking it and walking to the bathroom. I shut the door, washed my hands of the blueberry juice and opened the package. I unfolded and got into my combat suit. "This is so cool," I said out loud. I pulled out a SHIELD ID card from the package and clipped it onto my belt. I pulled out another thing, a snazzy black bluetooth earpiece. "Neat," I said, putting it on my ear. I looked into the package to see if I'd missed anything. "GPS wristwatch," I said, putting it on. "Alarm system synced up with the latest missions. Cool." I stuffed the now-empty package in my belt pouch and walked out to the room where the Avengers were still hanging out.

"How do I look?" I asked, walking into the room.

"It fits you," observed Natasha.

"You look cool," said Clint.

"Fit to kill," said Tony.

I rolled my eyes at Tony.

"You look nice," said Steve. Bruce quietly nodded in agreement.

"You look ready for work," said Fury, ending the comments. "Now, I'll set you up at one of the monitors until we figure out what you're good at, okay?"

"That sounds fine," I said.

"Sounds fine indeed!" said Tony. "You just got your dream job where you meet all your favorite movie characters in real life and you call it FINE?" he said, shaking his head.

"Fine," I said. "It's awesome!"

Clint gave me a slap on the back. "Welcome to the team," he said.

I grinned.

What they're really paying me to do is keep my mouth shut, which I'm already good at, and look cool at the base, which I'll have to work on a little bit, I thought.

I laughed quietly as Fury led me to a room full of computers, where a bunch of similarly-dressed people were already typing away.

"Here's where you'll sit, for now," said Fury, indicating a seat close to the door.

I sat and looked at the super cool spy computer in front of me. I booted it up.

"Hill, keep an eye on the new recruit, here. Answer any of her questions," then his voice dropped to a whisper and he added some other thing I couldn't hear.

"Understood, Director," she replied shortly.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Like, you can't give me any classified information," I said.

She turned to me, surprised, as Fury left the room. "How'd you know that?" she asked. Then she held her hand against her earpiece, as if she was trying to listen to someone over it. "Understood, Director," she said into it.

"I know enough to know I'm not high level enough to know some of the stuff you know." I said, grinning.

"You're smart," she said, giving me a small smile. "However, I'm still not allowed to give you classified info, or to affirm it if you figure it out."

"I understand, Maria. I won't bug you for classified stuff."

"Thanks," she said.

"Does the Tesseract exist?" I asked curiously.

Maria Hill sighed. "That's classified, Amanda."

"Okay okay, sorry, nevermind," I laughed and turned to my computer.

I opened a new document on the screen and began typing.

Clint walked into the room. "Hey, Amanda, do you like coffee?"

"Yes!" I nodded, swiveling the chair to face him. "Why?"

"Well, I just turned on the coffeepot so I was wondering how you like it prepared? Caffeinated or decaf?"

"Either is fine. I like it creamed till it's sort of a tan color, and with 1/4 ounce of sugar. I use organic sugar and creamer at home but if you don't have any, that's fine, you can just use the regular stuff."

Clint laughed. "Where do you even get 'organic sugar'?"

"Costco."

"Oh," he said, thinking this over. He scratched the back of his neck. "Well maybe you can have organic creamer and sugar next time. I don't have any on hand right now."

"That's fine, thanks!" I said, smiling.

Clint smiled back and left the room.

I laughed to myself as I continued to type a report on my first day at SHIELD.

One cup of coffee later, some agent drove me home in a snazzy black car that had no windows in the back, where I was sitting. Under cover companies have to keep their base's location a secret, I guess. I walked to the door and knocked as soon as the black car rolled off our street.

"Hey, you're home," said Mommy, having opened the door. "Had a good first day at work? I'm in haircutting mode right now. Do you want a haircut?"

"That's fine."

But she made me change into my indoor clothes, what's worse, in SHORTS in the middle of winter. Then she cut my hair, made me take a shower, and cut more off one side. Yowch. I had to get out fast. I ate breakfast, made the smoothie for everyone, drank mine, then walked into the back yard because they had the back door open for fresh air.

"Heimdall?" I asked at the sky. No response. I guess I have to wait till bedtime, then. I could stay for weeks if I pulled an all-nighter by leaving to Asgard at the beginning of the night. What an awesome idea. I went back inside to do some Algebra II, not hating it for once.

That night, after the bible reading and goodnights, and making sure everybody was asleep, except for Daddy who was still awake even though he was in bed, I went to my room and was doubly shocked to find Loki standing there.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I was in black sweatpants and a gray T-shirt with a subtle jeweled cross design.

I got on my long dark gray winter jacket, changed my phone battery, made sure the time matched up with the clocks in the house, and slipped it into my left pocket. I slipped an extra battery and my earbuds in their case into the right pocket, with the Palm Treo 680 size-connector dongalie. "I'm ready," I said. "No Bifrost this time?"

"Too obvious in the middle of the night," he replied. "Okay, hold onto me and I'll teleport us back to Asgard."

I wrapped my arms around him and he put an arm around my waist.

A flash.

Suddenly we were standing in front of his doors.

"That was fast," I said, letting go of him.

He let go of me and said, "Well, we couldn't exactly teleport you out by Bifrost could we? The entire world would have seen that."

"Or my neighborhood anyway," I laughed. He opened his doors and we went inside.

"You got a haircut," Loki observed, looking me over. I walked into the reading room, Loki following me. I went and sat in his dark green plush recliner chair, and he sat on the matching ottoman at my feet.

"Yes, my mom asked to cut my hair. I told her I DIDN'T want it to be Natasha Romanov short, and she went ahead and did just that, almost!" I looked at his quizzical expression. "Natasha Romanov is one of the characters in the Marvel movie Avengers. She has a little bit shorter than shoulder length red hair."

"I like your hair," he said.

I started complaining again. "But she like, cut too much off this side—"

Loki interrupted my complaint with a sincere, "You're beautiful!"

"So it takes my mom chopping off the bottom half of my hair, and having me shower and then chopping even more off one side, for my best friend to tell me I'm beautiful?"

"I thought that already," he said, shaking his head. Then he looked at me curiously and asked, "You think of me as your best friend?"

"Of course! Even Janie doesn't look out for me as much as you do."

"That's because you spend a lot of time with me."

"Well, she's been with me for the last seventeen years," I said. "I think that's more than whatever time we've spent together."

"It's a matter of perspective. Just because I've looked out for you recently doesn't mean she hasn't in the past."

"Are we even still on subject?" I asked, to avoid the subject we'd jumped to.

"What?" he asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Uh...what were we talking about?" I asked, shrugging.

Loki paused a moment to backtrack through our conversation up to that point. Then he gave me a small smile and said, "Oh, I remember."

He reached out and put his hand under my hair, then flipped it up once, bouncing my hair. "Your haircut."

"Oh, yeah..." I grinned, suddenly interested in the subject of my hair.

"Has anyone else ever told you that you were beautiful?" he asked suddenly.

"Only my parents. And my siblings call me 'pretty' and 'cute'. Why?"

"Well, that means I'm the first person who's ever told you that besides your family," he said, a funny look on his face.

"Well, don't you think of me as a best friend too?" I asked, smiling.

"You're more than that," he said quickly. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"What am I to you, then?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't know..." Loki looked away and swallowed. "I've only known you for four days at most, and you're already part of my life. You care. All those things you said back on Earth those first two days, you instantly earned my trust. I'd hate myself if something happened to you."

"Well it's nice to know YOU care," I grinned.

Loki just grinned back. "Shall we notify the Allfather and our friends that you've returned?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed. I jumped up off the dark green plush recliner chair I'd come to love. Loki bumped the dark green ottoman backwards as he stood. "Let's go, my lady," he said, offering his arm. I laughed and took it, and we walked to the throne room together.

Naturally, all the people of importance were all hanging out where we would be able to tell them all at once. Typical.

Since we are both naturally quiet, and usually unnoticed, it took a moment for them to realize I was there. But when they did...

"YOU'RE BACK!" bellowed Thor.

Odin was smiling suddenly.

I ran up to Thor and he caught me up in a big bear hug. When he let go of me I high-fived Sif and shrugged grinning at the Warriors Three, who were just as excited to see me again. I made a cute half-Asgardian bow to the Allfather. "Allfather," I addressed respectfully.

"Nice to see you again, Amanda Brettsdottir," he smiled kindly.

I turned to the Warriors Three, my eyes sparkling.

"You guys have GOT to tell me of anything exciting that happened while I was away."

"You've only been gone a week!" said Sif.

"So?" I said. "Come on, let's go chat in the dining hall or someplace you guys like to hang out."

"Dining hall it is, then," said Volstagg.

"You're just thinking about the food there aren't you?" I teased.

Volstagg turned to the others. "She knows what I like!"

"Well, it's not all that hard to tell that you like food, Volstagg—" said Fandral, shaking his head and crossing his arms as the beefy warrior was already making his way toward the dining hall. He rolled his eyes at Volstagg and grinned at me, uncrossing his arms and shrugging. I grinned back as we all walked to the dining hall.

"There's always something to eat in the dining hall," said Volstagg conversationally. "Even not at mealtimes."

"Hey," I said, getting their attention. "I left Earth in the middle of the night, but it's like the middle of the day here."

"Time on Asgard is different," Thor said.

"I know, I just think it's funny."

Daddy was up and checking the bedrooms to see if people were asleep.

Janie was asleep, the kids were asleep. He opened Amanda's door.

The light was off and Amanda was snoring softly. He shut the door and went back downstairs.

What he didn't know what that the Amanda he thought he'd seen was actually an illusion Loki had created. He'd had enough foresight to make a fake Amanda asleep in the bed. Had your pulse racing didn't I?

We had chatted in the dining hall, snacking on apples and cheese cubes, and a box of Ritz somebody had stolen from Earth. Ritz is just too awesome for Midgardians to have it all to themselves.

They also had small slices of meat.

I think it was some kind of bird, hopefully something resembling a turkey. Mmm... yummy. Oh, and there were King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, too. Somebody stole those from Earth. It was just too awesome for the Midgardians to have it all to themselves.

Oh, and imitation crab, and pickles, and avocados, and pumpkin pie, and fruit punch, and other delectable snacks from Midgard.

Yum.

The servants brought out a fruit bowl of several different kinds of berries and pieces of fruit.

The warriors began sitting down.

"Ooh, cherries, yum," I said, grabbing one.

I bit into it and was looking for a place to sit when Loki pulled out a chair for me that was next to where he was seated. Thor was on Loki's other side, Sif was seated next to Volstagg who was across from Thor, Hogun was across from Loki, and Fandral was across from me.

Huh. Wondering about the obvious seating arrangements, are we?

I finished the fruit part of the cherry and was looking for a place to throw away the cherry pit and stem.

Thor slid over an empty dish for collecting seeds and stems and such. I dropped mine in there and reached for another cherry.

I was thinking about the clip, "What happened on the way to Thor's hammer" and distractedly eating fruit. Then I looked up and said, "So what's up?"

Sif took it upon herself to respond. "Nothing much, actually. We were hoping we could teach you how to fight."

"Really?" I asked. "That would be useful. That's like, the only thing Midgardians don't know how to do, and it's basic stuff on Asgard."

"Right," Sif replied. "Any particular weapons you'd like to try?"

"Bows and arrows," I said first, "I'm not sure how good I'd be with a sword. What if it's too heavy?"

"We could always just give you a smaller weapon. Drawing a bowstring taut takes strength too, you know," Sif explained. "And you have to gauge direction, wind, and how far back to pull the string, to aim."

"And you don't really have the strength to swing a club or battle axe," added Volstagg. I nodded.

Then I added, "I have a friend on Midgard who can teach me some karate. It's self defense moves like kicking, punching, tricks to stop them, and other stuff."

"That's useful," said Sif.

I nodded.

And reached for another piece of fruit.

"When do we start? ASAP?" I asked, popping a piece of cantaloupe into my mouth. I chewed, swallowed, and watched their confused expressions for a second before quickly explaining. "It's an abbreviation. It means 'as soon as possible'," I clarified.

"Oh," said Fandral.

"Yes, actually," said Sif. "The sooner the better."

"Neat," I replied. "After we're all done snacking then?"

"...Right." they all said.

I grabbed a strawberry, eating all but the stem, and tossed the stem into the glass dish, the one with pits, seeds, and stems in it.

Then I got up and went and washed my hands. I came back and sat down next to Loki, in my former seat.

Be prepared for a time jump.

I spent the next few months on Asgard, learning fighting and self-defense. Once I was good enough with the bow and arrow, they taught me how to use daggers, at close range and not. Loki taught me basic magic, like turning invisible, and shifting myself to a different place in a room in milliseconds. He found out I was already good at stealth. I walked so quietly, I even accidentally sneaked up on him a couple of times without knowing, with no intentions. Like a cat, maybe? I love cats.

Hogun taught me how to use even a good-sized stick to my advantage.

Volstagg taught me the balance and swing of a small, lightweight axe.

Fandral taught me how to use a small sword.

Sif taught me how to flip a two-sided blade to get in two hits at an enemy at a time.

And Thor showed me the loop on Mjollnir that enabled him to spin it and fly. He couldn't teach me to use it, of course, since only he and Odin can lift the thing.

Then I returned to Earth, only a few hours having passed there. The illusion of me faded and I got in my bed, falling asleep in moments.

The next morning was another workday, as in, someone from SHIELD picked me up and drove me to the base. I had changed into my combat suit before they had come to pick me up, so I didn't have to deal with any extra clothes.

Clint handed me a cup of coffee as I walked in the door.

"Thanks," I said, gratefully. "I didn't get very much sleep last night."

"New job pressure? Don't worry, we'll give you all the tips and tricks to being an average agent," Clint said reassuringly.

I sipped my coffee and followed him to the main room. "Just average?" I asked.

"If you were above average, other secretive agencies would be targetting you as a dangerous enemy. So yeah, average."

"I see," I said, nodding cheerfully in understanding. I turned to Natasha. "So can you teach me karate?"

"What did I just say about staying under the radar?!" Clint exclaimed exaggeratedly.

Natasha and I laughed.

"It's no problem, Clint. If she wants to learn karate, she's gotta stick with the grueling training. If she doesn't have what it takes, then she won't be able to learn. Besides," she turned to me and studied my determined expression. "I see the fight in her eyes."

Clint shrugged resignedly.

Natasha turned to me. "You're going to be a good trainee, I can tell. Let's get you started."

And so began my karate training.

Natasha quickly noticed that I picked up the moves easily, and that I was very agile. My reflexes were above average. I was able to knock down two moving robot dummies at once, and my record speed was increasing every day.

And she was wondering where on earth I got the ducking and flipping sideways, jumping up and flipping my hair back out of my face, in all of three seconds. Sif taught me that move, heehee. But I won't tell Natasha that.

I turned nineteen, although there was no leap day this year. February 29 is my birthday, yup. That means I'm four and three fourths birthdays old. Heheh.

My training was coming along well. And I couldn't wait to visit Loki again. To show him what I'd learned.

Then, my first SHIELD mission came up, days later.

"Miss Vermillion, we'd like to send you on your first mission," said Coulson, holding papers as if he was reading off of them.

"Really?!" I said excitedly as I sipped my coffee.

"Yes, and we'll have agents to back you up in case you run into trouble."

"Trouble?" I lost the excited look. "What kind of trouble, exactly?"

"Oh, it's just minor. Guns maybe."

"Guns? What, AR-15s?"

"No. Small handguns." Coulson stared. He seemed to think that I asked too many questions.

"We're sending you to the back alleys tomorrow," he continued. "You will find one of the members of the Gang of Othello and try to get information about the location of their base."

"Shakespeare?" I asked with a weird look. "Who'd wanna name their band of brigands after a Skakespeare play?"

Coulson shrugged. "Maybe you could ask them that."

"Okay, so when do I start?" I asked, shivering all over with anticipation.

Coulson stared.

My eyes got big. "OH! Tomorrow. Sorry. Like what time?"

"Nighttime."

"Creepy. Okay, I've got it."

I put down my empty coffee mug. It had the SHIELD eagle logo on it. I was very fond of that mug, even if there were more exactly like it.

That night I called Daddy up on the phone. "Hey, Daddy, I just wanna let you know I'm staying at base tonight because I've got to prepare for my first mission tomorrow!" I said excitedly into the phone.

"Neat," Daddy said. "Stay safe."

"Will do. Okay, G'night."

"Goodnight, sweetie."

I hung up the phone and surveyed my room at the base again. I looked around, smiling to myself.

I walked to the bathroom of my new room and shut the door behind me.

"I wonder if they have cameras in the bathrooms here," I thought aloud.

"That'd be bad, huh?" said Loki, appearing in a sitting position on the side of the tub.

I grinned at him. "I knew you'd show up sometime. I know some karate now," I said, motioning as if to punch an imaginary foe.

Loki laughed. He raised an eyebrow. "So, you're nineteen now?"

"Yes, even though there was no leap day this year."

"Your birthday is leap day?" Loki said, leaning back in surprise while holding onto the side of the tub. He leaned forward again. "There are so many things I still don't know about you. That would make you four and three fourths birthdays old."

I laughed. "Everyone says that."

I walked over and sat beside him. "My first mission is tomorrow night," I said, becoming a little more serious.

"I'll keep an eye on you. And intervene if necessary. I can make myself look like a SHIELD agent too." He immediately transformed into a slightly shorter man with a black combat suit and mask to conceal all of his face but his eyes. Then he turned back into himself.

I burst out laughing. "That was so realistic!" I giggled. "You can pass for anything really. Just make it look like something from Earth. Nothing extraterrestrial. And stay

invisible as much as you can unless you want the badguys to see you."

"What if I want to distract them from you?"

"Then, in that case, you can be visible. You know, use discretion. But I'm sure I can't get in too much trouble. It's only my first mission. They wouldn't give me something I couldn't handle."

"Would they?" he asked.

"I don't think so," I said. "Of course, I DO trust you more than I trust them, but seriously, who would?"

"All right. I'll trust them as long as they're taking care of you. Don't worry, I'll help tomorrow."

I smiled. "Don't let SHIELD catch you helping. They're already suspicious of you because of that not-so-realistic Hollywood movie Avengers."

"I'll try not to blow up anything," he laughed.

I grinned. "Okay. I better go to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Amanda," he said, watching me as I stood. I walked over to the door and put my hand on the handle. I turned around and smiled at Loki. He took the hint and turned invisible. I opened the door and came out, going to my bedside. I got in, still in my combat suit.

I closed my eyes, and just then I heard my room's door open. I opened my eyes and sat up.

"Hey," said Natasha. "You ready for tomorrow, Rachael?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said. Natasha sat on the side of my bed, the side closer to the bathroom. Oh my, I thought, I wonder if Loki's still in there.

"I think you'll do fine," Natasha nodded slightly. "You're a new recruit, he's sending you to apprehend a new recruit. All of those guys, new recruits or not, will know where their base is. Your job is just to question. We'll bring him back to base if he won't talk. If he doesn't know anything, we're up against a bigger enemy than we thought."

"Thanks," I said, truthfully. "It shouldn't be too much trouble. I mean, I do know how to fight."

"We've got your back, Clint and I."

"Oh yeah, Clint'll be on the tops of the buildings or something, looking around and making sure there aren't any gang members ganging up on me."

Natasha laughed. "Yeah, that's what he does. I'll sweet talk one of the higher level gang members, if they start closing in on you."

"I bet you could. You'd have to go plainclothes over your combat suit though. They'll instantly distrust you if they see you in a combat suit with guns strapped on your belt."

Natasha smiled. "Yup." She stood. "Well, Fury told me just to check on you and keep you from freaking out over your first mission, but you seem to have it together. That's noteworthy."

She checked her super spy watch. "I gotta go, I'm due for a meeting in five min. See you tomorrow, Ray."

"Goodnight," I called to her as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Loki sat on the side of my bed, still invisible. "So, that's Natasha. The last time you referred to her, you talked about her as a movie character."

"Well, she is played in a movie. And I wasn't sure if she'd like being talked about, being a super secret agent and all. So anyway, WAS my haircut like hers?"

"Very similar. Yours was a little longer though."

"Mmhm. You better skedaddle. I have to get some sleep."

"Of course," he said, then paused and added, "Rachael."

"Picked up on my middle name quickly, didn't you?" I grinned, closing my eyes and laying back down.

"Do you want me to pronounce it how your family does? Racquel?"

I kept my eyes closed. "I don't know. Whatever you like best."

"All right then, Xiao Jie."

I laughed. "What, do you want to learn Chinese too?" I said, opening my eyes and looking at him. He had made himself visible only to me.

"Just having fun, you know."

"Okay, try this: Ta mén, uh, what's the words for 'treat you like'? Um, ni bú shì rén."

"Is it 'They treat you like you're not a person'?"

I nodded. "That's right. I thought, you're always overlooked by the Asgardians, as if you're not worth paying attention to unless they want you to do something for them, and people on Earth treat you like, well... like a god."

"I see. You've perfected the tones and pronunciations. Good work," he smiled.

"Okay, here's an easy one. Wo shì jinnián shí jiu."

"You're nineteen this year."

"Okay, how about, wo you péngyou. Ta jiao Loki."

Loki smiled at that one. "You have a friend. His name is Loki."

"Hén hao!" I laughed.

"Very good," Loki translated with a grin. "You write the Chinese characters well too. I've seen your homework."

I nodded. "Thanks. The teacher thinks so too. She always gives me all four points, and sometimes writes 'Hén hao!' on the side."

"You're an artist. You get everything you draw practically perfect."

I blushed. "Whenever I'm copying something, such as a picture or Chinese character, anyway. I try to get it exact."

"And that goes with movie quotes too, right?"

"How did you know I like to get movie quotes exact?" I grinned.

"You do it all the time."

"Oh, well, I guess..."

He laughed. "Well, I shouldn't be keeping you up. You have a big day tomorrow. Good night, sweet dreams, and don't fret about your first mission."

"All right, goodnight to you too," I said, lying down again and closing my eyes.

The next morning, I got up and combed my hair. I walked out to the main room, where the alarm promptly went off as soon as I set foot in the doorway. I literally jumped two feet. I scrabbled for my ID card when some guards came running.

"Okay, who did that?" Natasha said angrily. "I said nobody freak her out!" She turned to me. "Sorry about that. The scanners must have freaked out on your ID, although it shouldn't have. You've been coming in and out here for months. Come in."

I came the rest of the way in and Clint handed me a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," I said, taking it from him. I blew on it and stirred it with a spoon. I looked up.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the people in the room.

"Your first mission is TODAY," said Steve. "And you have no prior experience in real-life situations."

"Now don't scare her," said Natasha.

"She needs some scaring," said Tony.

"Tony, you and I, after the briefing and mission," Natasha punched her fist into her palm with a steely expression similar to a snarl.

"Ooh, that was creepy!" said Clint. "Take it back, Stark. She's gonna make you sorry."

"Uh, I take it back!" said Tony.

"No, I'm cool with it," I said. "It'll be a piece of cake. Or easier. I know you guys're like, 'this is serious business, it's not exciting' yada yada yada. It's gonna be fine."

"It is serious, though," said Banner quietly. "It's not a video game. Last time I was on one of these missions I almost—"

"Hulked out?" I asked.

"Is that what they call it?" Banner winced, turning to Natasha.

"Some people do," she replied.

"Anyway, it's not all that easy," he finished.

"I'm sorry for you," I said in compassion.

Banner shook his head. "Don't be. I did it to myself, you know. I didn't know the consequences."

I nodded.

"I know why you have compassion for him," said Steve.

"Words of wisdom from a guy older than my grandpa," I teased.

Steve laughed.

"And you look, like, thirty, or whatever age the ice froze you at. It's kind of creepy, in a way."

Steve raised his eyebrows.

I laughed. "No, I'm not saying YOU are creepy. Just how you got stuck, and all."

"Nobody wants to be a monster," said Banner quietly.

"You're not a monster, Bruce," I said softly. "You're a superhero."

Bruce tried to brush it off. "I don't think, uh..."

"For God's sake, Doctor, would you just take a compliment?" said Steve.

Banner shrugged.

"Thanks," he said sincerely to me.

I nodded.

"I'm sure if Amanda was joking it would have been obvious," Steve continued.

"Cool it, Steve," I sighed, hiding a smile.

"For seventy years," said Clint without missing a beat.

Banner laughed.

"I think he missed the punchline," said Natasha, grinning at a clueless Steve.

"...OH!" he said, grinning as he finally got it.

"What other ice jokes do you know?" asked Tony.

"I don't know," I laughed. "But here's something funny. You guys have all seen Lord Of The Rings, right?"

"Yeah... where is this going?" asked Steve.

"Well," I said sneakily, "Liv Tyler plays Arwen, right?"

"Yeah," said Natasha.

"She also plays Elizabeth Ross in the movie Hulk," I grinned.

Banner snapped to attention.

"The guy who plays Elrond, Arwen's dad, also plays Red Skull in the movie Captain America."

Steve gaped, raising his eyebrows. He and Banner shared a glance.

"That IS interesting," said Banner.

"I thought it was so funny when I found that out," I said. "And, in Spiderman 3, Mary Jane and Gwen have red and blond hair, respectively, but in real life it's switched. Kirsten Dunst has blond hair, and Emma Stone has red hair."

"That's neat," said Natasha.

"Of course you're interested in hair," protested Tony. "You're a girl."

Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony.

"Wow, what these kids know that we don't pay attention to," said Tony, looking up at the ceiling a second to hide a grin.

I snickered. "I think that was for you, Steve."

"Did I miss it again?" he grinned.

"Again," I replied. "We could banter all day and you wouldn't understand a thing. Do you even know how to navigate on a computer?"

"Now don't even ask me that," said Steve. "You know I can't."

"Can you even drive a car?" I asked curiously.

"I can drive a motorcycle," he said.

"Old news, flag boy. What about a car?" I said.

"No I can't drive a car," he admitted.

"Finally," I shook my head. "And you missed another joke."

"How is 'Old news, flag boy' funny?" he asked.

Natasha snickered.

"No, really!" he said. "I don't get it. Can't you just tell me?"

"No, Cap, you gotta start figuring them out by yourself," said Tony.

"Okay, okay, no more jokes at the expense of seven-decade-frozen century-old flag-man," I said.

Steve grinned and shook his head. "I still don't get it."

"Oh, that wasn't a joke, I was being serious," I said.

Steve paused.

The rest of us burst out laughing.

"I thought you said it wasn't a joke," Steve grinned.

"It's too funny!" I said. "I say something that totally relates to you and you're like, deadpan stare."

"Sorry," he laughed.

I laughed and turned to Natasha. "So when do I get equipped for this big show deal first mission thing?"

"Later, unless you wanna walk around here with weapons strapped to you."

"Pepper spray won't hurt," I said.

"Here," she said, tossing a little pressurized canister of pepper spray to me.

I actually happened to catch it.

Wow.

"Thanks!" I said, putting it in my empty belt pouch. "Don't you need it, though?"

"I always carry extra," she explained.

"Neat," I said, fingering the flap of my belt pouch. "Handy when you'd rather not fight."

Natasha nodded.

"My mom even carries pepper spray." I said. "She's never had to use it though."

I walked over to peek through a door, wondering where Coulson or Fury were. Then I paced back to where I had previously been standing in the room.

"Seriously, though, shouldn't I get ready or something?"

"If you want to," said Natasha.

"Well, where do I equip? I know I'll get lost if I don't have directions."

"I'll take you," she said. She stood.

"All right," I said, following her out. I paused and called behind me. "Pray for me, guys!"

"I will!" said Steve, pointing at me.

The alarm went off when I went through the doorway again.

"Will someone fix that?!" exclaimed Natasha.

"I'll do it," said Stark.

"Not you," she glared.

"Hey, I won't make it blast my favorite music or anything," he said innocently.

"You better not," I said, annoyed. "I'd rather not hear something I dislike extremely every time I walk into the room."

"You better not mess up the alarm further," said Natasha.

With that she began to stalk off and I followed quickly.

We entered a room chock-full of dangerous weapons, from bows and arrows to throwing knives to very large guns.

"I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow," I said. "I practiced when I was younger."

That was the truth. I was younger when I practiced. Just not the kind of younger the phrase might imply.

"Those are Clint's," she said, "Extras in case he loses the one he has now."

"I see. I'm also pretty good with throwing knives. And my dad taught me how to shoot a 22 pistol, so..."

"So you want a knife with a sheath and a Ruger 22 in case of trouble?"

"That's fine, yeah. I wouldn't need a bow and arrows since I'm part of the close range team this time."

"All right," she said, picking out a sheathed dagger for me and helping me hook it to my belt. Then she looked over the guns and said, "Skip the gun this time. We don't want you accidentally putting a weapon into the enemy's hands."

"Oh, yeah, that'd be bad. Nevermind the gun then."

"All right. You're pretty much ready. Do you have civilian clothes to wear?"

"Yeah. So I try to stay out of a fight and just try to get the information out of whatever new recruit I come across?"

"That's pretty much it. We'll do the fighting, if it comes to fighting. All you have to do is be prepared for anything that might happen."

"All right. So I just have to be ready and able to use the pepper spray and, for drastic measures, the knife."

"Right. Don't even pull out the knife unless you have a firm grip and need to threaten them. If they're pointing a gun at you, pretend like you're going to surrender and let us do the rest."

"All right," I said as we walked back out to the conference room.

I walked in, tense, expecting the alarm to go off. It didn't. I relaxed and gave a sigh of relief, walking into the room with Natasha.

"Okay, she's equipped," said Natasha. She turned to me. "You'll be sitting in on this conference meeting. We'll be laying out the game plan for taking out the Gang of Othello, and I want you to take a look at it."

"Sure," I said amiably.

I sat down by Steve at the conference table.

Natasha sat on my other side.

Once everyone was seated, holograms of different files of information appeared floating above the surface of the table, at about eye level. I had to sit up a little bit to get a better look.

Fury walked into the room, Coulson not far behind.

"This," he said, motioning at the hologram, "Is all the information we have of the Gang of Othello. We need more information if we're going to take them down."

He turned to me. "You are an innocent college-age student and therefore the best candidate for getting information, without force, from those who would otherwise be reluctant to give it. Romanov and Barton, you will work together as her back up team and make sure if there's more than one in the area that they all don't back her into a corner. Understood?"

"Got it," said Natasha.

"Understood," said Clint.

"Good, now look over the files presented here and set up the most efficient way in for taking these annoying thugs down."