A/N: I adore Loki. He's my favorite Avengers character. He's obviously more than a bit crazy, and has some serious issues, but he's also rather tragic and somewhat vulnerable. On that point, I have to say that I love Tom Hiddleston for doing such a fantastic job bringing Loki to life (and I just love him in general).

Disclaimer: The Avengers is not mine.

I Believe

"Where did you come from?"

I turned, feeling a bit disoriented and not entirely seeing my surroundings. And why not? I had just jumped into a universe that was supposed to be fictional. At that thought I felt a surge of triumph. I'd done it! I'd made it into the Avengers universe!

"Well?"

Oh, right, I'd almost forgotten why I had come here.

"It's a… bit complicated." I answered; meeting the eyes that belonged to the reason I was here. Those haunting dark green eyes.

Loki. Odinson? Laufeyson? It didn't really matter to me. He was only Loki to me. I only wished he could see that was all he needed to be.

He studied me. "Well, whoever you are, however you got in here, I can see you're just another mortal."

"You're right. That's exactly what I am."

Loki's eyes narrowed. Clearly he hadn't expected me to say that.

I looked around the small shockingly white room we were in. It had a thick plastic pane running through it, behind which Loki stood, leaving him a mere fourth of the room. He was chained to the wall and clearly wounded and tired, like a beaten animal. So this was where The Avengers had stashed him while they went out to recover after the battle, somewhere in Stark Tower most likely. I took a single step closer to the plastic, my hands clasped in front of me.

"Who are you? Did the man of iron send you to keep an eye on me?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"My name is Rebecca." I replied, feeling there was no harm in telling him my name. "And Mr. Stark doesn't even know I exist."

"Then what are you doing here? Don't you know who I am?"

"You're Loki, the God of Mischief." I said, answering the second question.

A smile flashed across his thin lips. "So you know who I am, and you're not afraid of me?"

"I am afraid of you." I admitted. That was most certainly the truth, actually standing near him. He was so tall, so dangerous and harsh looking in the flesh.

"You didn't answer my other question." Loki observed.

"There are some things I want to say to you, things I want to know."

"Well, I'm locked up in here with nothing to do. I suppose I may as well listen." Loki sighed, sounding completely disinterested. He probably was, but boredom was a powerful thing.

I paused, not sure where I wanted to start. "Were you lying to Thor?" I asked, finally deciding that was what I wanted to know most. "Before his coronation. When you told him never to doubt that you love him. Were you lying?"

Loki himself took a step closer to the clear wall between us, anger in his eyes. "How could you possibly know-"

"Let's just say I see a lot of things." I interrupted. "So? Were you lying or not?"

"Yes." Loki stated smoothly. "Of course I was lying."

I watched his face closely, but finally sighed and rubbed my eyes. It'd been stupid of me to think I'd be able to tell if he was lying or not when actually face to face with him. The only one who'd ever managed to manipulate him, the master manipulator, was Black Widow. I really wanted him to not have been lying on the account of what he had said to Thor, that was part of the mystery to him, I supposed. "That is my only question."

"Are you going to leave me in peace now, then?"

I put my hands at my sides, trying to keep my stance non-confrontational, the corners of my mouth turning downwards slightly. "I said there are things I want to tell you."

Loki folded his arms, glaring at me impatiently. "Well, get on with it."

"I was on your side."

At this he raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised. "What?"

"When you were trying to destroy the Jotunheim, the Frost Giants, I was on your side. After the things they did, what they did to you-" I stopped when I saw the poisonous look he was giving me. "And what Odin said to you on the Bifrost, before you let go, I hate him for that."

"Siding with a monster? Interesting."

"You are not a monster Loki. You're only acting like one. And I believe you can stop it."

"But it's ever so much fun. What would you have me do? Go back to Asgard and become Odin's pawn again?"

"No. Make your own path. You don't think of yourself as a son of Odin anymore. Are you consumed with the idea of being Laufey's son? You don't have to be that either. You can be- you are- Loki. You can be who you want to be, Loki!"

"And what if this is what I want to be, hmm?" He asked, a smirk on his face.

"That's your choice to make." I admitted sadly. "I suppose if you want to keep doing this to yourself, you can."

Loki laughed, shaking his head. "This free will that you humans are so convinced you have, quite the concept really."

I looked down at the floor, biting my lip. Had I really expected Loki to listen to me? Some human girl who came out of nowhere and started preaching to him, a God? "Thor loves you, you know."

Loki froze, a sneer twisting his face. "Thor is a simple minded fool."

"Thor can't hate you, won't hate you. Thor believes in you. Even on the slight chance Odin didn't, Thor always has. He can help you. Can't you just let him? You don't have to love him Loki, but-"

"That is enough!" Loki hissed, lunging forward so that he was mere inches away from the plastic. "What you believe doesn't matter. Who are you to judge how I feel or how anyone else feels? How do you even know any of us?"

I had jumped back when Loki had lunged against the wall between us, and I swallowed, realizing I had to answer that question. "Where I come from, the stories of Asgard, of the Avengers, are fiction. They're very popular; lots of people love them, and the characters- the people in them. I found out that your world is not simply fiction and I found a way to get in, because I wanted to talk to you Loki. I wanted to try to help you. Obviously not one of my better ideas."

Loki was frowning deeply, one hand against the glass, as if trying to reach out and strangle me. "Obviously not." His lips then moved upwards, showing his teeth in a wide and cruel smile. "Even in alternate worlds, it seems you humans are extremely foolish."

"Oh, humans are exceedingly foolish, especially in matters of belief. I'm no exception. I believe that you can turn around and walk off the path you've chosen. I'm not the only one either; there are others who think the same thing. Lots of others." I replied. Slowly, cautiously, I pressed my own hand against the plastic, matching it up with his. "And none of us are ever going to give up on that belief."

Loki withdrew his hand, his smile gone. "Are you done now?"

"Yes." I said, not letting my gaze leave his. "Maybe you won't take what I said to heart, but I suppose as an idiot mortal, I had to try."

Loki snorted and turned away, retreating into a corner of his cage.

I moved away, towards the back of the room, paused, and turned back around. "One more thing Loki." I smiled slightly, remembering when I had at first thought his name sounded silly. Now I loved saying it, loved the way it sounded.

He turned, clearly annoyed.

"You have a beautiful smile."

The anger that instantly spread over his face still couldn't change his handsome features. "Just go already!"

And I did, finding myself back in my bedroom in an instant. I sighed deeply and curled up on my bed, staring over at my computer, which had a wallpaper of the Avengers glowing brightly on the screen, but among the Avengers, there was also Loki, and even when it was just a picture of him, his gaze felt so piercing.

I felt tears well up in my eyes, as sometimes happened when I thought of what might happen to him, as they had at the end of Thor when Loki had let himself fall, as they did sometimes when I thought of all the people he had hurt, especially how much he had hurt Thor, who still cared about him.

I turned my head to look out my bedroom window. Loki would forget me; forget what I'd said. Those were the rules to my entrance into their world. It would interfere with the story if he remembered. I wanted Loki to live, to eventually find peace with himself, be it on Asgard or maybe even Earth. I was rather fond of the idea of him becoming an Avenger someday.

I ran a hand over my face with a groan. Why did I have to become so attached to fictional characters?

Loki suddenly felt confused. He could've sworn there had been somebody on the other side of his cage, some who had spoken to him, but he couldn't remember anything more than that. It was more of a feeling than anything, and he wanted to dismiss it, but it nagged at him.

As he closed his eyes, concentrated, tried to focus, a very blurry picture floated before him. Blonde hair, which made him think of Thor, but the hair was too short, and the person was too short as well. And the vague outline of the figure was one of a female. But the eyes, the face, were obscured.

"You are not a monster, Loki. You're just acting like one."

He couldn't remember what the voice that had spoken those words sounded like, but the tone was there. The desperation. The insistence. The caring.

"I was on your side." "You can be- you are-Loki. You can be who you want to be, Loki!" "Thor loves you, you know." "I believe- you can turn around- others who believe the same thing- none of us are ever going to give up-"

The words were becoming faint, slipping away from him, and they were irritating him, but he still reached out for them, he'd hate forgetting.

"You have a beautiful smile."

At that, Loki's eyes flew open and he snarled, turning away from the plastic barrier. After remembering that statement, and the smile that he could see that had come with it, he decided to give up trying to remember this person, whoever she was.

And he did forget, although even years later, he could faintly remember someone with short blonde hair and a smile, as well as two broken sentences, that often came to him in his dreams.

"You can be- you are- Loki." "I believe- never going to give up."

End

A/N: I was trying not to interfere with anything canon. Hopefully I didn't. Or at least not too much. Hopefully I kept Loki in character too.

Maybe after Thor 2 comes out I'll write another one and talk to Loki some more, but nice long wait there, apparently until November 8th next year. So maybe one sooner based on what I'd like Loki's fate to be. Or a realistic version of what I think his fate will be.