A/N: Okay, so this is a new fandom for me, and after a reaaaally long hiatus from the fanfic world, no less, but I hope you enjoy what I have planned. Just an FYI; these are little chapters, though they may get longer as I get back into the swing of writing. Who knows? This'll be as much about practice as it is fun for me.

Reviews are encouragement, even the constructive kind, and are definitely appreciated. However, I don't expect or demand them. If you have the time, or feel so inclined, I would love to hear what you think. Thank you in advance.

Disclaimer: I've never, nor will I ever, made any money off these characters. They are not mine. I've just been bewitched by Loki. How can you not be?

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It shouldn't have been as much of a surprise to her as it was. When Thor came to her with his request – demand, really (Because when you're The God of Thunder, do you ever honestly make a request?) – she was left speechless.

For all of three seconds. "You want me to what?"

"Please, Jane."

Did saying please make it a request? Jane didn't think so and was already shaking her head. "Aren't there more," she waved her hands around, "qualified people to handle that?" Turning her back on him, she grabbed her, now-cold, cup of coffee. "People, perhaps, trained to deal with mischievous Gods hell bent on conquering...whatever the heck it is they like to conquer?"

She was a scientist, for crying out loud. Strength of mind did not equal to strength of muscle. And sociopathic Asgardians-slash-Jotuns would require at least some form of physical restraint or force at some time or another, logic told her.

It was a mistake to look at him, Jane knew, but she did it anyway.

"They mustn't know," he implored, stepping towards her. And there they were: puppy-dog eyes, blue as the sky they ruled, and sad as a desert-day is long. "S.H.I.E.L.D believes him –"

"Dead," she finished, her will caving. "I know." She set her mug down again, lost cause that it was. That she was. "But why me?"

"I trust you, Lady Jane, like no other," Thor replied, crushing her resolve with words weighing on her as heavily as Mjölnir. "And, despite all he has done in the past, he is ever my brother."

Which was exactly why she'd agreed in the end. She owed Thor. He'd saved her life, more than once. Though perhaps she had saved his too, in more ways than one, which should have balanced the scales.

But Loki? Well, he'd saved her life too. And Thor's. So she supposed, in some round-about way, in a world where you forgot he'd once tried to destroy human-kind – herself included – she did kind of owe him for nearly dying to save the both of them.

Right?

Maybe.

She wasn't so sure, but she'd promised, and it was too late to go back now. As she sat waiting for the inevitable storm of their arrival, now that the bridge between worlds had been repaired, she pondered Odin's reasoning.

Why here, of all places?

What was it about earth – Midgard, she corrected with a mental snort – and his supposed forms of punishment for misbehaving gods of Asgard? First Thor, and now Loki. Was it because humans – Midgardians, whatever – were deemed lesser beings, and therefore became the equivalent of being in the metaphorical doghouse to the precious All-Father, Odin?

She'd met the man himself, so she knew from experience just how little he'd thought of her. Even with the Aether a dark, living thing in her blood, he'd looked at her as though she were mud on his royal boot. So, yes, she could logically see that being his reason for banishing them to earth.

She should have been offended, but for whatever reason she wasn't.

It did make her wonder though.

At any given time, how many naughty aliens were left bereft of their home planet (Realm?) and sent to earth to reevaluate their behavior? More than she knew of, most likely, given Odin's track record in only the past few years. Jane laughed out loud, the imposing image of Volstagg flashing in her mind. He'd stick out like a sore thumb, and he was at least human-like.

How many other races were out there in the universe? How did they manage to blend in human society when they were bad, little boys and girls? Or was that truly where stories of little green men had come from? It made her question books of fiction and fabled tales she'd read throughout her life. Were fairies real? Trolls? Elves most certainly were, she acknowledged with a shudder.

Jane shook her head. As much knowledge as she'd gathered in her short life, there was so much more she didn't know. The world was a far vaster place than even she could fathom theories for, and it left her feeling as small and miniscule as the stars above her.

There were beings out there, Jane thought as the sky lit up with lightening, that lived for thousands upon thousands of years. Thousands of years worth of knowledge, just waiting to be gleaned by anyone brave enough to ask questions. And Jane was nothing if not the curiosity that killed the cat.

She smiled as she stood, squaring her shoulders and looking off into the storm brewing in the distance.

Lightening brought thunder.

And thunder meant Thor.

So what if Loki was a veritable mad man? With a dark sort of humor, Jane realized, she had enough questions to drive a mad man sane, and Loki could possibly answer them. If he was left in her charge, for only Odin knew how long, she'd be damned if she didn't get something out of it. Perhaps babysitting the God of Mischief wouldn't be so terrible after all.

To Be Continued...