"Get up."

"Why should I?"

"Because Loki says so."

I rolled my eyes. "Clint, I could care less if Loki said so or not. He's left me alone for five days. Why does he want me all of a sudden?"

Clint shrugged. "Hell if I know. He just said to come get you."

I sighed, closing the notebook I had been writing in. Loki had brought it to me my second day with a pen, saying he remembered how much I liked to write. I'd taken it, thanking him, but not entirely sure what his motives were. Even so, I'd been writing in it since. "Fine Barton. I'm coming."

Clint nodded, stepping out of the room as I stood up, and I followed behind as he started to walk away. I didn't say anything to him; this wasn't my Clint after all, just some weird zombie. Instead, I scanned the hallways for the umpteenth time, making sure there wasn't anything weird following me around. As always, there was nothing visible, though I knew he had other means of following me around.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I turned, seeing Loki in the corner of the room. "I was just going to hang out with Thor." When I turned back to Thor, he gave me a weird look. "What is it?"

"Who are you talking to?" He asked.

"What do you mean, I was talking to Loki." I went to look at him, only to find he was no longer there. "I could've sworn…"

A hand on my shoulder and I was looking into Thor's warm smile. "Take your time. I will be in the stables when you are ready." I nodded, and Thor walked out of the room. I sat down, and once again saw Loki standing in the corner.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

He chuckled. "It's just an illusion." He went to grab the back of the chair, and his hand passed through it. "I can make it visible or invisible to whoever I want."

I hadn't told him, but it didn't seem to work on me. Even when he thought I couldn't see him, I'd notice him out of the corner of my eye. So it was nerve-wracking for me to continuously believe he was watching me, but have no proof.

It wasn't long before I was back in the main room, and Barton was leading me over to Loki, who was standing next to Selvig. Frustrated, I spoke. "What is it you want with me?"

Loki didn't even turn to me. Instead, he just responded. "We have something we need to do."

"We?" I questioned. "What part do I have to do with this?"

Loki announced. "We are hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. files."

My eyes went wide. "You want ME to help YOU hack S.H.I.E.L.D. files?"

"That's not what I-"

"I'm not helping you hack them! First of all, it's a stupid move on your part. Second,

S.H.I.E.L.D. would be able to track any kind of hacking attempts unless you had-"

"That's not why I had Barton bring you out here."

I stuttered. "I though you were asking for me to help you."

"Please." Loki sighed. "I know well enough not to ask for your assistance in any matter related to my plans."

"Then why?" I asked, confused.

"Am I forbidden from spending time with you?" Loki countered. "It may not be the most ideal situations, but it has been a year since we last saw one another."

"…What did you have in mind?"

Loki murmured something to Selvig, who nodded, before he walked over to where I was standing. He offered his arm, which I locked with mine, and we both started walking down a hallway. For a few minutes, both of us were silent. It was…nice in a way, because I could almost forget the situation we were in. Almost.

"I grow tired of the underground." Loki said.

I huffed. "Should've thought of that before you decided to take over the planet."

Loki ignored my previous comment, continuing as if I hadn't spoken. "I was curious if you would like to accompany me into the nearby town. I assume you've grown tired of this place as well?"

I rolled my eyes. "You assumed correctly."

"So, will you?" I pretended to really think about it for a moment. Loki rolled his eyes at me, noticing my overkill. "I'll take that as a yes."

"How about a hell yes?" I replied. "I can't stand it in here for much longer without some view of the outside. I'm going to go crazy."

Loki smiled. Genuinely smiled. I couldn't help but smile back. True, it wasn't the most ideal situation. He was still trying to take over the planet, and I was still going to have to try and stop him. But any time I could have with him that was just us, I was going to take.

"So," I started. "What exactly were you suggesting we do?"

"Just a stroll." Loki said. "Nothing abnormal."

"I consider it abnormal, considering you're trying to take over the planet." I shook my head. "You shouldn't be going out in public, S.H.I.E.L.D. probably has every camera searching for you."

Loki chuckled. "Please, their devices will not be able to track us." I rolled my eyes. He was being incredibly arrogant, and it was going to cost him. "I have worked on my magic in my absence."

As if to prove that statement, the wind began to swirl around us. I closed my eyes, clenching at the nauseating sense of speed in my stomach. When I opened my eyes, I was amazed to find us outside in snow, and our clothes had changed to suit the weather.

"Are you going to tell me where we are? Or am I going to have to guess?" I asked.

"Germany." Loki told me. "I find the temperature quite pleasing."

"Of course. Freezing cold is always best." I continued. "Teleportation? That's a new one."

"I have learned many things in my…exile, from Asgard." Loki replied. "That is merely a small portion."

Loki started leading me towards what looked like a little coffee shop, and we strode inside as if we were just average customers. I was worried that Fury had his agents watching us at that exact moment, but Loki seemed unconcerned. Surprisingly, he ordered us both a coffee, handing over some cash before picking up the two cups. When we sat down at a table I smiled.

"When did you learn Midgardian currency?"

"It is simplistic." Loki murmured around his coffee cup. "It did not take long for me to understand."

We sat there sipping at our drinks for a while, just enjoying the warmth and each other's company. My thoughts wandered to what Fury was doing at the moment, trying to get everyone scrambled together to find Loki. He's never going to find him. Not unless Loki wants to be found. I took another sip of my coffee and tried to get my thoughts off of the bad things. I knew I wouldn't have much alone time with Loki, and while I didn't approve of what he was doing, I was going to enjoy as much of his time that I could get.

"What did you think?"

I blinked, looking up at Loki. "Think?"

"Thor never returned from Asgard." Loki frowned. "I was curious as to what you believed happened."

I looked back down at my coffee cup, swirling the liquid around. "I thought something happened to the BiFrost while you two were fighting. That's the only reason he would not come back for Jane." When Loki gave me a confused look I explained. "The Midgardian he fell in love with, her name is Jane."

Loki nodded, then lapsed back into silence. From the fact that he didn't correct me, I presumed I was correct. But I also had a feeling there was more to it than that. He was hiding something from me; that much was for sure. I knew Loki well enough, however, that it was a bad idea to bug him for information. If he wanted me to know he would tell me.

When both of us were done, we threw our coffee cups into the trash and continued walking down the snowy street. I didn't know what part of Germany we were in, not that I really cared. But it seemed to be some kind of historical district, given all the old buildings in the area.

It was nice, walking around like everything was normal, but it just didn't feel right. A question kept nagging at the back of my mind. The more I tried to ignore it, the larger the sensation got, until finally the question just spilled out of my mouth. "What do you think you're going to accomplish here?"

Loki stopped walking, and I fell in beside him. He turned to me. "What do you mean?"

"Trying to take over the planet." I elaborated. "What do you think you're going to gain here? There's nothing you could possibly want."

Loki went stiff, pulling his arm out from mine before replying. "I do not expect you to understand."

"Why do you think I'm asking the question?" I said angrily. "I WANT to understand. What I just can't fathom is that taking over Midgard was YOUR IDEA."

Loki sighed. "This is not something I would like to talk about in public."

"Then take us back." I pressed. "I want explanation as to why you want to do this."

"Drew," Loki whispered. "It is not something I can easily explain-"

"I'm not stupid." I crossed my arms. "You just don't want to talk about it, because you don't want me to reject you."

Loki growled, pulling me towards him. I closed my eyes, feeling the same sense of speed in my stomach. I opened them to find us back in the underground facility, and Loki glaring at me. "Taking over the planet was not my idea."

I smiled. "See, I knew it."

"But it is what I WANT to do."

My smiled faltered. "But-but why? What point is there?"

"No one respects me, Drew." Loki continued. "Thor and Odin both deem me UNWORTHY for the throne of Asgard because I am not like them. I was meant to rule, I should be the one on the throne." Loki hit the door beside him, and I cringed when I saw the dent he left behind. "My master understands this. He is giving me the CHANCE to be the ruler I deserve to be."

"Loki, this isn't right." I argued. "These people are meant to be free. Make their own choices. You can't just take over because you want to! This is not some game!"

"I have every right!" Loki shouted. "And no one is going to tell me otherwise! Not even you!"

I felt tears brim in my eyes. He'd lost himself again. I felt my heart go cold, and when I spoke again, the cold had spread to my voice. "What kind of monster are you?" Loki stared at me in shock. I'd gotten to him; I was the only one who could. "What kind of MONSTER decides the fate of billions of lives, Loki? What happened to the man who cared for people, who care for ME? Because that certainly isn't the same man standing here now."

I turned on my heels and walked away, leaving Loki behind me. I didn't even flinch when I heard the door being bashed off its hinges. Better for him to take out anger on it, than on someone else. There must be something I can do to get him to stop. There has to be…

"Director Fury," The middle councilman said. "This is supposed to be a last resort matter."

Fury argued. "If we move fast enough, have the tracking ready before we activate it, we can find her AND Loki, without killing her."

The woman on the right sighed. "Director Fury has a point. We don't have many options left."

"But if we kill her, we lose perfectly good information." The man on the left countered.

"And if we don't try something, then Loki will be able to work right under our noses." Fury said, ignoring the councilman's comment. "I don't like this either, but it's the only thing we have left besides waiting. The more we wait, the more Loki has the upper hand."

The three council members looked at one another, then the one in the middle spoke again. "Three days Fury. If in three days you haven't located the girl, Loki, OR the Tesseract, then you have full permission to use the failsafe. But if she dies, all responsibility falls on you."

Fury nodded. "I understand." The three screens went blank, and Fury was left alone in the room. Coulson walked in at that moment, watching Fury with careful eyes. "Sir, are you really planning on using it?"

"If we can't find her before then it's our only shot." Fury frowned, then walked out of the room. Coulson stood there a moment before following out behind him. Drew, Coulson thought. Get back here soon.