Agent Scott stepped out of the lift, steeling herself to confront Loki, to demand that he let her go, or something.

Loki was not there. She advanced into the room slowly, making sure he wasn't lurking behind anything. He definitely wasn't there.

She took advantage of his absence to look out of the windows. She still had no idea where his hideout was located. She supposed it could be somewhere in the Rockies, or maybe the Alps, but the mountains looked too snowy for that somehow. The sun was beginning to set and the low rays of light stained the snow and sky red as blood. It was beautiful, a picture of natural serenity. For a moment she forgot everything, only for a moment though.

"Anna!"

Agent Scott whipped round and then mentally cursed herself. Loki was striding across the room, looking just like the cat who got the cream, holding a sheaf of papers in his hand.

"That is you isn't it, Anna."

"Go to hell."

"Manners, Anna Scott, or should I say the honourable Anastasia Rosalie Blythe-Scott, daughter of the late Major General Sir Alexander Blythe-Scott and Lady Camilla Blythe-Scott, born Camilla Annesley. And yet…" he paused, watching for her reaction. "Not really their daughter, were you? In fact you were the bastard child of your mother's sister."

"Where did you get that?" she said in shock, gesturing to the file in his hands.

"Oh this? I had someone pull it off the S.H.E.I.L.D. database as you suggested. But enough about that, back to your life I think" He saw her wince as he leafed through the pages of her file.

"Raised in the lap of luxury, private tutors, boarding school, Head Girl, considered to have excellent leadership qualities, though of course much of that was assumed because of your so-called Father's profession."

"He was my father!"

Loki ignored her, carried on reading.

"University, languages degree, then…" he gave a look of mock horror "Sudden tragedy as your parents die in a motoring accident, dear me, what a pity."

She looked at him with loathing in his eyes. Good he thought I want her angry. Angry doesn't think properly, angry just does things.

"You disappear off the map for a year, then suddenly turn up as a S.H.E.I.L.D. Agent. What a surprise! I am sure that was not the career path anyone would have expected of you. You were much more likely to have become a society wife" he sneered.

It was at that point that Anna tried to hit him. Loki parried the blow easily but let her carry on. She was admittedly very good at hand to hand combat. If he hadn't been fighting people for almost 1,000 years he would have been concerned. As it was, he saw all her movements almost before they happened, in minute indicators of actions to come.

When she began to slow down he caught her by the shoulders and looked into her face.

"You see, Anna, we are so much alike. Both of us part of families we never really belonged to, both trained in the manners of the rulers of a nation, only to be denied it. You are like me. Your soul calls to me."

She looked into his eyes, and surprised, saw longing in their green depths.

"I am nothing like you," she answered.

He laughed.

"You are my dear, and soon you will come to realise it, and stop fighting me."

He stood behind her, and leant down to whisper into her ear

"You need me"

She shivered as his lips brushed against the side of her neck.

"I do not need you"

"You need me, and you will want me, and you will want me so badly that you scream and beg for me."

Anna turned to look steadily into his eyes

"I will never beg."

There was a brief pause, and then his whole demeanour changed.

"Your hands are bleeding. let me help you."

Slightly alarmed by the rapid change, she let him lead her over to a seat, and clean and bandage her grazed knuckles. She watched his long, deft fingers working. He should have been a doctor she thought.

"Now," he said, as he neatly tied the ends of the last bandage "Is that not better?"

She nodded silently.

"Are you hungry," he asked.

She nodded again and stood to move to the table. As before he stood behind her, pushing her seat in as she sat.

"Anna," he said. "You look very nice tonight."

"Thank you." she said stiffly.

They ate in silence. At the end of the evening, before she stepped back into the lift, he took her hand in his and kissed her bandaged knuckles.

Somewhere, way down deep inside her, she felt the tiniest hint of something stirring.

...

Author's note.

A name, finally, I hear you say!

Once again, so many thank yous for your reviews, followings and favourites. I can't tell you how exciting it is that people are actually reading this.

Lin