Chapter Nine

Jane was wearing a dress. A spaghetti-strapped black dress that went down to the tips of her toes – she wore no shoes at all. Her hair was pulled back into some kind of bun and she wore no jewelry. She looked positively breathtaking and Loki's hands itched to run his hand over her exposed skin. He held out a bottle of wine and attempted casualness instead. "Am I too late?"

"Not at all," she said with a shake of her head. She began to wave him in, "Come in, come in!"

Her words were slightly slurred and Loki looked down at her curiously. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm buzzed," she replied.

He noticed then her rosy cheeks and smiled. "What can I do to help you?"

"Nothing, Loki, you're a guest."

"I want to help you, Jane."

She reached up and patted his cheek with her hand. "You're sweet."

Loki's breath caught at the touch and he placed his hand over hers. "Can I talk to you later?"

She pulled her hand away and shifted on her feet, her gaze skittering away. "Sure."

"I had a visitor tonight."

Jane's gaze darted up to him. "Another female visitor?"

"No. A man this time. Jonathan Crane?"

She shrugged. "That's not ringing any bells."

"Jane, are there anymore scallops?"

Loki looked up at the woman coming up behind Jane and he sighed. That's right. Party. He couldn't have Jane to himself just yet.

Jane bit her lip and looked up at him. "Loki—"

"No, it's okay," he said. He held out his hand to the woman and she took it with a grin. "I'm Loki. You are?"

"Natalie."

"Hi, Natalie. Do you mind introducing me to the other guests while Jane sees to the scallops?"

Natalie's smile was flirtatious. "Of course. Follow me, handsome."

Jane watched Natalie and Loki go with a frown. Wine. She needed more wine.

xxxxxxx

Loki kept an eye on Jane all night as she flitted from guest to guest with the greatest of ease. He learned that some of these people were in the wedding party, and the rest were neighbors in the building that Jane and Thor had made friends with. Even the annoying Darcy Lewis was there.

It was Natalie that gave him the most attention and though she was a beautiful woman, educated, funny, and kind, Loki felt nothing for her. Nothing romantic anyway. And when Natalie would lean in closer to him, or boldly touch her hand to his arm, he found his gaze wandering to Jane.

"I'm thinking of going," Natalie said at one point after dessert. "Would you like to get out of here?"

Loki might have amnesia, but he knew exactly what Natalie was asking him. "No, actually I am going to stay behind and help Jane clean up."

Natalie's disappointment was palpable and she left shortly thereafter. And Loki just waited. And waited. Finally, the last guest was out of the apartment and Loki stood in the hallway and watch Jane bid them farewell. When the door was closed, she turned and sagged against it. "I'm exhausted."

"I bet," Loki said.

"I have so much to clean up," she whined.

"I'll help," he told her. "The last hour I cleaned up the stray dishes no one was using. All we need to do is clear out the dishwasher from dinner and refill it."

Jane just looked at him, dazed, and then followed him to the kitchen. They began to work in silence, well, semi-silence. Jane had to tell Loki where the dishes were. Finally, when they began loading the dishwasher Jane asked him about his visit from Jonathan Crane.

After Loki got to the part about where they were holding their "show", the wine glass in Jane's hand slipped from her hand and into the sink with a crash. She swore and reached in for a shard and Loki's hand flung out to stop her. Hitting her at the wrong angle caused her to cut herself and she swore and yanked her hand out of the sink.

She reached for a dishtowel at the same time Loki grabbed hold of her hand to inspect her bloody finger. "Next time don't scare me," she growled.

"Band-aids?"

"Bathroom."

"Bueno."

Jane just rolled her eyes and breezed her way out of the kitchen, Loki at her heels.

"I'm capable of applying a band-aid, Loki," she told him as she reached into the medicine cabinet to grab the box.

Loki ignored her and took the box from her and opened it. He peeled open a band-aid and then looked at her. "You have galaxy band-aids?"

"I'm a nerd, shut up," she said and held out her finger. "Loki, tell me again slowly about what he said to you."

Loki began again as he wrapped her finger with the band-aid and then, impulsively, he lifted her finger to his mouth and kissed it with a little grin. Her brows furrowed momentarily and then he finished his story.

"It sounds like a gambling ring. An illegal gambling ring," she muttered. "Is there a fee at the door?"

"I don't know."

"Loki, what the fuck have you gotten yourself into?"

He rubbed his forehead and exclaimed, "I don't know!"

"Are you going to go?"

"I have to. I have to see what it's all about, what I was doing—"

"I'm going with you."

"Absolutely not!"

"Loki, do you know how worried I'll be all night thinking something could happen to you? You're going into this blind with no memory of what you've set up and all you have is what sounds like some Nervous Nellie probably hopped up on drugs to have your back. No. I am going." She pushed past him out of the bathroom, probably thinking that was the end of that.

Not by a long shot.

He grabbed her arm in the hall and forced her to look at him. "And do you have any idea how worried I'll be with you there?" He shook his head. "No. It's not happening. I am not putting you in danger like that."

"You can't stop me," she said defiantly. "I know the place and the password now."

"Jane Foster, I am not arguing with you about this. I said no."

She arched a brow. "You're not the boss of me. I know how to take care of myself, Loki. Trust me on that."

"This is not a shooting range, Jane. This is not a controlled environment—"

"Trust me when I tell you that out of the two of us, I have more of a shot protecting you than you have protecting me."

That was a blow to his masculinity if there ever was one. "What do you think you'll do, Jane? Talk about the stars? About Einstein-Rosen bridges? I don't think—"

The next thing Loki knew he was on his back on the floor, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him. Jane was on top of him, straddling him, one hand gripping his neck. "You were saying?" she said, her head cocked to the side.

"Bloody hell, Jane!" Loki exclaimed and gripped her hips. He attempted to roll her over, but her thighs squeezed him hard and she sat back, pinning him in place. Her grip on his neck tightened.

"Will you stop arguing with me?" she asked challengingly.

"Yes." No.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes," he insisted. Definitely not.

She didn't look as though she believed him, but she loosened her hold on him and as soon as she did, Loki managed to flip her onto her back. He straddled her, but kept his hands on either side of her head, bracing himself up on his arms. She glared up at him and he just smiled down at her.

"I'm still going," she told him.

Loki sighed. "Jane, please, no." With one hand he curled an errant strand of her silky hair around his finger. "I couldn't bear it if anything were to happen to you."

She pushed at him and though Loki didn't want to move, he did. He sat back on the floor as she sat up as well. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Loki. We can have each other's back, okay?"

"Think about Thor at least," he pleaded.

"I'm done with this conversation," she said and got to her feet. "You're my friend, Loki, finally, after so long of us hating one another. You and Thor have a real chance at being brothers again, and we all have a chance at being a family. Rumor has it Thor is going to ask you to be his best man so you can stand up for him at our wedding in a few months. I'm not going to let your dumbass mistakes from the past ruin our future." She held out her hand.

Loki took her proffered hand and climbed to his feet. Then pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. He cradled the back of her head with his hand and buried his nose in her hair. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Ditto," she whispered.

He pulled back to look at her and there was so much he wanted to say. How he cared for her. How she was the only one he could talk to. How Old Loki's feelings had been passed on to who he was now. He found himself staring at her lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss her and until then he hadn't realized just how much he'd wanted to do that for days now. It felt like forever, actually. He wondered if some part of his old self was permeating his new self and the affection he held for this petite woman that planned to protect him like some Warrior Goddess.

He felt himself leaning in and then Jane put her hands on his chest to stop him. "We should probably finish cleaning up and then see if we can find out anything about Jonathan Crane."

He nodded and let her go.

"I'm just going to change," she murmured and Loki watched her go. When she was out of sight he sighed heavily and placed his hand on the wall beside him to steady himself. Get yourself together, he told himself. She's engaged to your brother, you can't have her.

But oh, how he wanted her…