Chapter Ten: Where New Love Arrives

"Come to see a broken man, again, my love?" Loki sat by the barrier a book in his hands. Memories of his sitting in my bed, on my couch flooded my mind. He set it down as I came into view.

"I did. And I brought Jacqueline with me." I said. His head turned to see his daughter, a smile on his lips. I knelt beside Jackie and pushed back her wild hair. She played with her new toy, a small square puzzle Frigga had given her to help train her. "Jackie, do you remember what I told you? About Thor?"

She nodded. "Yes, mommy."

"Alright, then. Go show your father what Auntie Frigga gave you." I gave her a little nod when she looked up, a huge smile on her face. Jackie turned and ran to Loki, holding her toy in front of her. Loki stared at me, confused, but greeted Jackie with a smile.

"Hello there, Jacqueline." He smiled and touched the glass. "What have you got there?"

Jackie struggled to explain the box to him. Loki only chuckled. "I used to have almost the same toy you did when I was your age. Have you solved it yet?"

She shook her head. "No, daddy."

"Why don't you show me how fast you can solve it?" Loki looked down on his little girl. I struggled to remember the last time I saw him that happy. Jackie sat down on the step and concentrated on her puzzle.

I stepped forward and sat down beside her, looking pass Loki into his cell. "It seems Frigga has worked her magic."

"As much as she could." Loki could hardly take his eyes off Jackie. "Why did you tell her Thor wasn't her father?"

"Because she deserved to know the truth. She's taken it quite well. She's smart for her age." I leaned my head against the barrier. "She is nearly three."

"She grows quickly." Loki observed. "As beautiful as her mother."

I smiled. "I am sorry for yelling at you."

"Do not be. I've realized in my time here, I have every reason to be punished." Loki did not look at me. "But, that does not change who I have become."

"No… It doesn't." I watched Jackie, but she was too involved with her puzzle that she wasn't listening to anything they said.

"I miss you." I whispered.

Loki sighed and closed his eyes. "Don't do this, Imogen."

"I miss being with you. I miss being able to touch you." I pressed my hand against the barrier.

Loki looked over, studying my hand and then my face. "Do not think that things could ever be what they once were."

"Do not think there is no future where you, Jackie, and I are together." I let my hand fall back to my side.

Loki laughed. "While I am in this cell, there is no possible future for us at all."

I turned my eyes to Jacqueline. "I will not let her grow up without her father, not like I did. You of all people should understand the importance of a father."

Loki watched his daughter play with her magic cube, her face scrunched up up with frustration. "Why are you being so kind to me? I abandoned you, tried to take over Earth. You should hate me the most."

I smiled. "I've tried to live by not judging other's pasts. We all do things we regret… You saved me, Loki, from that car crash, you gave me a daughter. I can't go on hating you forever. Your mother still loves you and you tried to have her son killed, why can't I love you, to? Everyone deserves a second chance."

Jackie help up her cube, the designs of horses, on the sides. "See, daddy, I finished it!"

"That's fantastic, darling." Loki smiled at her. He reached out to pet her hair, but was stopped by the barrier.

"If you can't do it for me, do it for her, Loki." I said, taking Jackie's hand. "Come, Frigga will be waiting for you. We must let Daddy get back to his book."

"Imogen," He said. I looked up into his eyes, "I mean what I say when I tell you I am sorry. I have not forgotten what we had."

"What we still could have." After all these years, I still found myself believing in him. "You are a good man, Loki. You would be a great father."

"Like Thor was?" He hissed.

"Thor is a good man. He helped me when there was no one else to help me. Frigga, Volstagg, Fandral, Sif, even Hogun, they were there. Despite Jacqueline's heritage, despite the man I loved, they welcomed me. They took me in when I had no where else to go." I could feel the rage in my heart boiling up. I struggled to keep my voice even.

Loki stood, anger in his eyes, his voice drowning with his wrath. "You blame me? You whom I gave everything to, to whom I gave magic and adventure and a daughter? Take a look at your new friends, they do nothing for you out of kindness. All they do for you is out of honor."

"Magic? Adventure? You gave me none of these. I have no magic, I have no immortality, no ability to conjure things or change my appearance. And adventure? Adventure? I have been trapped in the place for over two years. I cannot go home and if I could Jackie would never be able to be who she is. My life on Earth, on Midgard, is destroyed. I was given no other choice but to stay here and raise a daughter who is half Jotun, half human. And even here, her true skin must be hidden so that she can walk through the streets." My voice rose. "Do not tell me of what you gave me because you have only given me one thing and take all the rest. I owe nothing to you. What you did was out of selfishness for yourself. What you did should be considered unforgivable, but yet I try to forgive you. I owe you NOTHING."

"What I did, I did for you!" Loki yelled, baring his teeth. Jackie clung to my leg, burying her face in my leg as she cried. Loki looked down at her, and his face softened. "It is true. I've always envied my brother. I have always wanted the crown. You once told me that I would be a wise king. I knew from that moment that I would make you my queen."

My shoulders relaxed, and I let my hands fall. "Do you know me at all?"

Loki's lips parted, but he, for once, was at a loss for words.

"Because if you did, you would know that I never wanted to queen." I bent over and picked up Jackie. "All I ever wanted was someone who loved me and believed in me."

"And you found that in Thor?"

"No." I shook my head. "I found that in you."