Hello again! I'm so sorry that I took so long to update! This week was just incredibly busy.

Theta-McBride: thank you so much!
madisongjohnson: thank you very much! and this chapter has a little bit of Lena and Loki for you ;)
kstar26: Lena and Steve will get a little time this chapter as well :)
paulsgirl123: that is so great for me to hear! here is the update!

I hope you guys like this chapter. I think it's the longest one so far! As always, please read and review :)


Chapter 7

It was safe to say that I had never been so full in my entire life.

Once Tony and I had settled our differences, we had walked back inside to find that we were alone in the throne room. The Avengers had most likely wondered off to their rooms for the next month, having grown tired of waiting for us throughout our long discussion. Lucky for my brother and I, one of the King's servants had entered and offered to show the two of us where we would be staying. Being the wonderful sibling he is, Tony had insisted that I be taken to the infirmary to be checked over. I had groaned in disagreement, but that didn't seem to effect the servant's decision to rush me in that direction right away.

After my thankfully short check up, I had been given a chance to change out of my tattered clothing and into one of the other outfits I had packed in my duffle bag. Unfortuantely I had been led to the dining hall before I had been able to take a shower. It was there where my stomach had been filled to full capacity with marvelous delicacies of Asgard. There had been at least ten types of fruit, a countless number of wines, multiple animals that I had never even heard of, and twelve different choices for dessert. That hadn't even been half of it.

From my place between Tony and Clint, I had mainly stayed quiet throughout the course of the meal. The majority of the talk had consisted of Asgardian weaponry-which Tony was very interested in-and any information that the All-Father had about Thanos that his son hadn't already informed us of. Not being a part of the team, I didn't feel the need to speak up about anything concerning the upcoming war with the Titan. Of course I wasn't opposed to answering any questions that had been directed my way. Most of them had been asked by Frigga, Thor and Loki's kindhearted mother. When I had entered the room, she had stood up and greeted me with a warm smile and motherly hug. It had been a while since I had felt that sort of caring nature towards me, my own mother having died when I was young.

During the magnificent dinner, I had found it hard to keep myself from stealing glances over at Loki. He had barely spoken at all, only observing with his striking emerald eyes that darted between each team member as they spoke. I had still not become accustomed to the idea that the God of Mischief was sitting in the presence of the very group of people he had tried to destroy just eight months earlier. The even stranger thing was that he hadn't even seemed to mind. He had caught my gaze once, his mouth turning up into a small, knowing smile. I had immediately looked away.

We had finished eating after about an hour and a half. A huge number of servants had strolled into the room as we stood up from our places at the gigantic table. That's what lead me to where I was currently, slowly walking towards the wide golden archway that opened up into the hallway alongside Tony.

"And once again, Tony Stark is right." My older sibling said with a nudge, referring to what he had guessed earlier about dinners on Asgard.

I laughed. "Of course, Anthony. You're always right."

"Look who's finally catching on."

As I was about to say my extremely sarcastic response, I saw Tony frown at something-or someone-approaching us.

"What do you want, Capsicle?" He asked through a sigh.

Attempting to cancel out my brother's coldness, I smiled at Steve. "Hi there, Cap."

The Avenger had obviously changed before coming to dinner. He donned a leather jacket over a blue button up that matched his eyes, along with khaki pants. His classic look from the time period when he grew up made me smile a little wider.

Ignoring Tony's less than enthusiastic reaction, he looked towards me. "Would you mind if I borrowed you for a moment?"

"Of course not," I replied, looking pointedly at the frowning figure standing next to me. "Tony was just going to talk to Bruce about scientific stuff anyways."

Tony rolled his eyes, but began to walk away towards Bruce who was conversing with Clint and Natasha near the entrance to the hallway. "Fine. See you later."

After Tony was out of earshot, Steve spoke. "So I guess our little talk in the gym didn't do much to sway your decision."

I blushed, tucking a piece of brown hair behind my ear. Steve's speech about why I should stay had been somewhat convincing, but not enough to make me stay at Stark Tower. I doubted that anything that anyone said would've been enough to keep me from sneakily traveling to Asgard. I told him that, and he shrugged.

"Probably not." His blue eyes darted down towards his feet and then back up to mine. "I'm glad you're okay."

My mouth opened to say something clever, but no words came out. The urge to jump forward and wrap my arms around his strong form almost overpowered me. It probably would've, if the All-Father's booming voice hadn't filled the room a moment later.

"We shall continue our earlier discussion in the Throne Room now." Odin instructed.

I couldn't keep an annoyed sigh from escaping my lips. Steve frowned and glanced towards the other Avengers, who were beginning to walk towards the All-Father. My giddiness had been replaced with disappointment. There was no way that Tony would let me in that room to have anything to do with the battle against Thanos. Not that I wanted to listen to everyone drone on about plans of attack, but I would rather do that than explore the palace all by myself. It suddenly dawned on me that most of my trip to Asgard would most likely consist of me doing just that.

"I should go," Steve said, shaking me from my thoughts. "Try not to do anything else reckless, alright?"

I raised an eyebrow. "We'll have to see."

With one last pearly white smile, the Captain turned and walked off towards the Avengers and Odin. They exited through a door at the opposite end of the room and I was left standing alone. My eyes quickly scanned the room to see if Loki or Frigga happened to be anywhere near. I assumed they had slipped away earlier, when I had been talking to Steve or Tony. Exhaling slowly, I started towards the hallway to try and somehow find my room.

"Lady Stark?"

A small Asgardian with white blonde hair and bright eyes had called out my name from the archway. I recognized her as the servant who had shown me to the infirmary earlier. Maybe she would know where I needed to be going.

"Would you mind showing me to my room?" I asked once I reached her.

"Of course." The girl replied curtly. "Right this way."

She walked out of the grand room, me following in suit, and into the vast hallway that would hopefully lead me to my home for the next month.


I didn't stay in my room.

Sure, it was a beautiful space, with large windows, lavish pillows, and a luxurious marble bathroom. The problem was, there was nothing to do. That simple fact is the reason why I found myself wondering through the palace about ten minutes after being introduced to my chambers. There were at least twelve different rooms with similar doors to mine in the hallway, which I assumed to be other bedrooms. I walked through a small garden and outside space with an elegant fountain before coming across a set of doors that caught my eye.

Towering and a dark golden color, they were slightly ajar. Upon closer inspection, I could see shelves through the small opening. An endless number of shelves, all filled with an incredible number of books. There was no doubt in my mind that I had come across the palace's library. An excited grin crept onto my face as I stepped forward and pushed the doors open.

Reading had always been my one true love. While Tony liked reading lab reports and scientific journals filled with numbers and experiments, I loved getting lost in the pages of works of fiction, both old and new. I had read To Kill A Mockingbird about ten times, never tiring of the classic American novel. There was a very slim chance that an Asgardian library would carry any of my favorites, but I at least had to find out.

I had been sitting in a plush leather chair for about half an hour, thumbing through a book on mythology when I heard the silk smooth voice.

"I see you have discovered the library."

The sight of Loki leaning against one of the shelves in front of me nearly gave me a heart attack. With a jump, the book tumbled out of my hands and onto the floor. The God was smirking, outfitted in black and green as usal. Shaking my head, I got up to collect the book that was splayed out on the wood floor.

"How long have you been here?" I wondered, setting the book on a table beside me.

Loki stepped forward, interlocking his fingers behind him. "Do you like to read?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You didn't answer my question."

"As you did not answer mine earlier," He defended smoothly, his smirk looking even more mischievous.

"I love to read." I snapped, starting to grow tired of his sneaky ways of speech.

"I have been here since before you walked in. I figured I should not disturb you while you were so preoccupied with that book."

He had been here the entire time? I was beginning to become more convinced that Loki was as sly and sneaky as his title let on.

"Well, you definitely disturbed me when you scared me half to death a few minutes ago." I shot back.

Loki nodded, his mouth now in a thin line. "I was just leaving, actually."

A wave of something hit me. Relief? Disappointment that our conversation was ending? I wasn't sure. The Asgardian was staring at me, as if waiting for my response. When I said nothing, he spoke again.

"Good night, Lena."

"Good night to you too, Loki." I said as he began to walk towards the doors that would lead him out of the library.

At the last minute, he turned back towards me. "By the way, wonderful choice in selecting that book."

My gaze immediately shot to the book that I had placed on the table. It took me a moment to realize that the title had changed from Myths of Asgard. The maroon cover now read Gods of Asgard: Loki. I looked up quickly, ready to glare at the God of Mischief. But he was already gone.


Woo hoo! I hoped you guys liked the interactions with Loki. I promise Lena will get some more time with Steve soon. Again, I'm really sorry that this took way longer than planned.

On a different note, I saw Skyfall last night. It was a really great movie, and I definitely recommend it!

PLEASE REVIEW!

xo, liz