Loki pulled the girl along. She still hadn't revealed her face; she remained with her head down, hood casting a shadow over her features. She kept silent, letting Loki lead her along as they walked through the hallways of the palace.

He paused by two guards, then motioned for them to follow him. He continued walking to her new chambers; he posted the guards outside the doors and went inside with the girl.

He sat on the soft bed in the bedchamber, wrinkling slightly the lilac sheets, and watched her as she sat beside him. She was a complete mystery; how Taneleer had found her, Loki didn't know. He needed to tell his guards to look harder next time they took prisoners from a place like Jotunheim; they couldn't be missing people like her, who might be important to their cause.

Loki wasn't used to being gentle with people, but he made an attempt now, as she sat still on the bed, head bent down.

"Do you mind telling me who you are?" he asked, and waited. She made no response.

"I won't hurt you. I saved you from Taneleer, didn't I?" The words felt strange in Loki's mouth. He never really treated people like this, like frightened animals that he needed to get to trust him. He understood the feeling, of course-he wasn't very easily trusting, either, but no one had treated him like this. They had either abused him, like Thanos, or put him in chains, like Odin-there wasn't really an inbetween.

Her head slowly raised, and she faced him, though the hood still kept her eyes in shadow and she had a handkerchief covering her mouth. Her hand raised up slowly and she lifted the hood back.

She looked at him with a sad expression in her eyes, as if she couldn't believe he would really be nice to her. You'd really not hurt me? her eyes seemed to say. Loki could see the innocence in her eyes, as well as the hurt-years of hurt and pain.

Loki's eyes darted down, then back up at her. He nodded. "No, I won't hurt you."

He paused, then decided to continue, in the same quiet, gentle voice he'd started in.

"What's your name?" he asked. She glanced down, then looked back up. Her hand hesitantly went up to the gray handkerchief covering her mouth and she pulled it down.

"Lya," she said.

Loki nodded. "These are your new chambers for now. I still don't know exactly who you are, or why Taneleer thought you were interesting, or why you were on Jotunheim, but I do know that Asgard is safe for you."

...

"Thor, Taneleer found a girl on Jotunheim where we did not. She is in one of the guest chambers; her name is Lya," Loki said as he strode into the throne room. Thor dismissed the guards he was talking with and focused on Loki.

"Then I shall go to interrogate her now," Thor said. He rose and walked down the raised platform of the throne before Loki quickly interrupted him.

"No, she is very shy. I think. . ." Loki remembered the pain he saw in her eyes. "I think she's been hurt so much by the people she's been with that she doesn't trust anyone, and she's very skittish. I don't think she'd take well to you if you barged in and started interrogating her. I could barely get her to say her name, or reveal her face," Loki said.

"Not to worry, brother. I don't just have to talk to her to get information," Thor replied quickly, still walking swiftly out of the throne room. Loki followed, but at this comment he stopped completely.

Thor stopped several paces ahead of him and turned around. "Loki, what's wrong?"

Loki looked at Thor in disbelief. "You'd seriously consider torturing her for information? She's committed no crimes against Asgard!"

Thor shrugged. "If I must. I feel as if you, as the god of mischief, should know that seeing is deceiving."

Loki started walking again. "Yes, in some cases, but not in hers. She's damaged, Thor. Life hasn't treated her well. Do you really want to make that worse?"

Thor turned a corner by following Loki. They were in the hallway her rooms were in.

"Well, if she's anything like you were, she'll fall into madness and attempt to take over a realm or two," Thor quipped, and pushed open the door.

Loki followed Thor in and the first thing he saw when they entered the bedchambers was Lya jump back against the pillows as Thor thundered in. He held Mjolnir in one hand, and he sat on the end of the bed, which sagged beneath his weight. Loki stood by the doorway, and Lya's eyes darted fearfully from Loki to Thor, Loki to Thor.

Loki felt a pang in his chest as her eyes paused at him with a question in them, as well as a bit of betrayal in their orange depths.

"I am Thor. You are Lya, correct?"

Lya's eyes darted back to Thor as he spoke, and she froze. She gave a small nod; she seemed to shrink into the pillows even more.

Thor caught this move. "Don't hide, come down on the bed!" his voice boomed through the chambers. Loki saw Lya visibly flinch at how loud it was. Why did his brother have to be so obnoxious and ignorant?

"Thor, I told you she was shy. This isn't helping. This is exactly what I said not to do," Loki snapped from the doorway.

Thor half-turned towards Loki. "I'm just talking to her, brother! It can't be that bad," he said. Loki groaned inwardly; never had his brother been so ignorant of people's feelings. He sighed and shook his head.

"Now, who are you? I know you're Lya, but who are you specifically? Why were you on Jotunheim? Why did Taneleer think you were interesting?" Thor fired off questions, and Lya seemed to shrink even further into the pillows, if that was even possible.

"Thor!" Loki snapped, and Lya flinched. "You aren't helping. This will not work if you do it like this," he said, and pointed out the door sternly. Thor got up and glared at Loki before he walked out of the room.

Loki waited until his footsteps had receded completely out of the chambers before he relaxed against the door frame and sighed. "I apologize for my brother. He's a bit. . . on the obnoxious side." He walked over to the bed and gently sat down on it; Lya visibly relaxed, and she slowly, cautiously made her way down the pillows to sit next to Loki.

"He's loud," she said softly. Loki's head snapped towards her at her voice, and she looked up at him. Loki felt the familiar unsettling feeling he got from looking at her orange eyes. They were just so much like Heimdall's. . .

He gave a short laugh. "Well, that's one way to put it. Thor is definitely loud."

He looked down at her again. "Where do you come from?"

"Nowhere. Everywhere," she replied in her whisper voice.

He nodded, still not quite understanding. He tried again. "Why were you in the Jotuns' dungeons?"

She hesitated, but eventually said, "Heimdall, right? He's an Omniscient. That's what I am."

"So you can see things? Like, what my brother is doing right now? What Heimdall himself is doing right now? What anyone across the Nine Realms is doing right now?" Loki asked. Lya nodded.

"Inside," she said. "Souls, thoughts, feelings."

She paused and hesitated, then continued. "Your soul is cracked. From a woman's death."

Loki was taken aback. How did she know that he was still mourning over Frigga, even though he himself hadn't noticed until now that it was a sensitive topic for him? He looked down at Lya again from his study of the wall; she glanced back up at him.

"Why were you in Jotunheim in the first place? How did you get there?" Loki asked. That was the final piece of information he needed to know.

"Slavery. From servant to Frost Giants' tool," she said in her quiet whisper of a voice. Loki nodded. They fell into comfortable silence.

"Would you mind meeting Thor again? I'll try to make him be less thundery, but I'm not quite sure it'll work."

Lya shook her head. "Makes my head hurt." She touched his arm, and images flashed through Loki's mind.

"Well, if she's anything like you were, she'll fall into madness and attempt to take over a realm or two," said a deep voice from outside. Lya heard the door click open, and two sets of footsteps walked through the sitting room into her bedroom. The door to her bedroom burst open and Lya, startled by the outburst, leapt back onto the pillows.

Loki and a muscly man with long blonde hair came in wielding a hammer. Lya felt the bed sag heavily as the blonde man sat on the end. She caught Loki's look of annoyance at the blonde man.

Loki usually radiated pain and hurt in soft, quiet waves. Now, the blonde man slammed Lya with confidence, and she could also detect a bit of doubt in there too. The blonde man's arrogance swept over her in a crushing wave, and Lya's ears started to ring. She felt her head begin to pound a couple seconds later; the blonde man was an assault of feelings and emotions. She could hear his thoughts, and they were so loud, they just added to the cacophony inside her head, which hurt even more. She remembered Loki's words saying that he wouldn't hurt her. This man didn't seem so friendly. She glanced from the blonde man to Loki in an attempt to take it all in.

"I am Thor. You are Lya, correct?" Even his voice was loud. Lya froze in fear, and resisted the urge to put her hands to her head, but her eyes went back to Thor and she gave a small nod. She tried to shrink back further into the pillows, to get away from the bombardment of feelings, thoughts, and emotions Thor was giving off. Plus, she was also afraid of him. He was too loud; loud people were dangerous. They did stupid things that got them hurt, or even killed.

"Don't hide; come down on the bed!" Thor's voice boomed; she flinched. Lya's ears rang; she felt another crushing wave of feelings and emotions slam into her.

"Thor, I told you she was shy. This isn't helping. This is exactly what I said not to do," Loki's quiet voice came from the doorway, though Lya could feel the irritation coming off of him. It calmed her slightly, and it seemed to placate Thor's assault, for a moment at least.

Loki returned to the present. Lya withdrew her light fingers from his arm and looked up at him. He nodded in understanding.

"He's like this with all strangers," Loki said. "You'll have to meet him eventually. He's the King of Asgard; he won't allow anyone to stay here that he hasn't met, even on my authority."

Lya nodded. Loki rose and walked halfway to the door before he turned around to face Lya. "If there's anything you need, there should be a servant coming here shortly."

Lya nodded, and Loki turned and walked out of the room.