Isadora had next to her a water bottle, full of some pinkish liquid that was apparently some aid to her health because every other minute or so, she would grab for it and take a generous swig. The gulps would last longer if no one were looking.

"Did you not get a lot of sleep last night, Kelley?" Said Ian with a sneer in his voice. They had been working together for so long that they no longer addressed each other by their surnames, so this time, Isadora needed no other indication that he was facetiously trying to undermine her, as if giving a formal command of some sort.

"You could say that, Walker," she sneered back him. Unfortunately, her voice sounded ragged and only at about half of the volume Isadora would normally throw her passive-aggressive insults at.

"Look, you're obviously had a little too much fun the night before. You ought to get some rest, you're in no shape to be on surveillance tonight," Ian's tone became rather serious, and even though she knew he was going to do the nice thing and offer to cover her shift, it still touched a nerve. How did he know that Isadora had gone out tonight, anyway? What if she had had insomnia or developed sleep apnea? Why must everyone always assume that she had been out drinking, never mind the fact that it was actually true?

"Thanks for the offer, Ian, but you don't need to worry about me," she affirmed before Ian could even formally make an offer. "Even if I did go out last night," she threw him a dirty look while saying this, "I need to prove to Coulson and Fury that they can trust me. That they can depend on me. I don't want to be trading shifts off to whoever's asking. Does that make sense?"

Ian just stared for a few seconds. "Yeah, no. Of course, yeah." Ian still looked rather put out. What? Isadora thought. It's not like he was asking me out on a date or anything. Sheesh.

Slowly, Ian began to collect his things, and waited until as late as he possibly could before clocking out and bidding adieu to Isadora for the night. Isadora just kept her gaze at the monitors, taking diligent notes and records, giving barely a glance and wave to Ian as he moved like molasses out of the bay doors and into the hallway.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well, that boy does seem quite taken with you, if I may be so bold."

Isadora should have braced herself—no wonder she had been so tense the past evening, she had been waiting for this idiot to come and bother her some more—but she had been caught off guard, her mind had not stopped wandering—about work, about Ian, about Coulson… And Loki had to come in and fuck everything up, right that second.

"Dammit! Can you just, not sneak up on me like that anymore? I'm beginning to think you really are from some alien country. There's this thing here in America, lots of other continents too, actually, not sure if you're ever heard of them—doorbells? Or this revolutionary thing called knocking?"

Loki just sat there patiently, head cocked slightly to one side. "Are we quite finished?"

"I don't know," Isadora huffed a little too loudly. "Are you quite finished with randomly barging in on my life, expecting me to be at your every beck and call?" At the end of that, she found that, to her surprise, she was nearly shouting.

"We still have a deal, don't we?" Loki phrased it as a question, but it was obvious that there was only one answer to that.

"I still don't understand," Isadora said. "You seem to be able to—" Her voice faltered because, frankly, she didn't quite know how to put it. "You can basically magic your way through walls and security gates no problem. Why not just do that for Dr. Blake's cell?"

"Doctor Blake!" Loki exclaimed, half to himself. His expression was something of utter amusement as he looked up at the ceiling, black hair dipping back to touch his thin collar, and thin lips curling up into a simpering sneer.

Isadora rolled her eyes. "Okay, Thor, sorry," she amended after his chuckling died off. God, this guy is getting on my nerves.

"Ah, yes, the answer to your question," Loki's tone grew more earnest this time. His broad shoulders heaved as he gave a rather gusty sigh. "It is rather a long story, my dear Isadora," he half-whispered as he drew back his cloak to sit down on the seat next to his lone companion in the surveillance room. At the utterance of her name, Isadora's skin began to crawl, but she could not say why. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought Loki left her name on his tongue longer than any other word he'd cared to utter thus far. Whether it was to woo her, to intimidate her… whatever he was trying to do, she could feel the affects on her. But as a SHIELD agent-in-training, she knew to deflect any remote semblance of emotional bonding. At least, she tried.

"Go ahead, Loki." Instead, she chose to use his tricks right back at him, allowing her tongue to spend just a while longer resting on the roof of her mouth, as she began his name's first syllable. "I have all night."

Whether her attempt at reciprocating his silver-tongued advances worked, Isadora could not tell. Loki just sat still for a moment, chin resting in the palm of his hand. As long, deft fingers played across his mouth, Isadora could tell that he was thinking hard.

"Well, I suppose it's best if I were to just—start from the beginning," Loki sighed with a note of resign in his tone. Isadora just sat silently as she leaned forward ever so slightly toward his long, lean figure as he began his tale.

"Our father had ordered us to stay away from—this place, a place called Jotunheim. It's very far away, you likely haven't heard of. Let's just say this…place was very dangerous. The citizens there do not take kindly to outsiders, which is exactly why Father didn't want us going, you see.

"Well, Thor had just had his—er, nameday. He was coming of age. He was feeling on top of the world; absolutely nothing could stop him. Until some men from Jotunheim—up to no good, naturally—decided to ruin his big day. They stole into the depths of our home and stole a precious relic, spurring Thor to go after them and avenge what they did at all cost. We knew there was no stopping him, so his friends—and, of course, myself—went with him to Jotunheim.

"As you can probably guess, we got into—er—a spot of trouble, nothing too terrible," Loki said rather hastily, prompting Isadora to raise an eyebrow doubtfully. "But, Father had to come and break up the fight. And… he punished Thor by—well, by banning him from our home, to say the very least." Loki paused, looking down at Isadora to read her countenance.

Isadora stared at Loki. Before she began to bore holes into his sparking green eyes, she spoke, her eyes growing narrower all the time. "So, let me get this straight—your brother took you and his friends into a bad part of town after some gang messed with him on his birthday, all to go beat them up—just for that?"

Loki looked—could it be?—nonplussed. His mouth hung ever so slightly open, about to form a sentence, but then leaned back away from Isadora, shaking his head in resolve.

"Worse?" Isadora urged him on.

"Yes, yes, much worse," Loki waved her off rather dismissively, making Isadora feel rather put out. "Thor is never to return to our home again. Our Father has made sure of that. Thor had had powers similar to mine, but now—"

Isadora's mouth dropped open a bit. "Wait, he took them away from Thor? But—how is that even possible?"

Loki's gaze dropped even lower, shaking his head slightly. Isadora furrowed her brow. She had never seen Loki display any other type of emotion besides arrogance and bittersweet charm. And now…

"Thor is my brother, and I love him dearly," he said finally. "I wish to speak with him, perhaps offer words of comfort at the very least, but I cannot without your help. Father has put him in exile—no member of the family can willingly contact him. I can't even walk through that door if it were unlocked. And that is where you come in, Isadora."

There. He used her name yet again, and like clockwork, her entire head began to spin. She took a sharp inhale before answering. "So I'm somehow a—buffer to get you to talk to Thor?"

"Exactly," Loki breathed. "I can't do it alone, I'm afraid." Loki gave her a deep stare, and this time, his deep-green eyes were boring into hers. Isadora tried to remain expressionless. He was trying to read her like a book, but she tried with all her might to keep her guard up. She stood up a little straighter, her lips thinned into a line, and her gaze turned neutral as she prepared to speak.

"You said you knew about the satellite we have quarantined. Does that happen to be something belonging to you our your family, by any chance?"

"I have the information, but I am not at liberty to give you everything I know," Loki spoke carefully. He was speaking like a businessman at a conference room, Isadora noticed. This was a real negotiation, she was sure of it. People who are lying like to throw words around like they're not worth half a penny each—and Loki was not doing this.

Isadora still wanted more. "At least tell me where it's from. Tell me what its purpose is."

"It was Thor's. It belonged to my father, as it were."

If Isadora tried to get him to talk any more, it would be more short, curt sentences that only gave her so much. She took a hand and used her forefinger and thumb to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her headache was beginning to rear its head all over again. The wheels in her head had been turning nonstop, and so—

"We had fun last night, I trust?" Loki's silvery words slid in and around her ears. Even with her eyes closed—no, especially with her eyes closed, his voice made Isadora want to shiver fiercely.

"I… wait, what? How did you know that?" Isadora wrenched her eyes back open, this time to throw Loki and icy glare.

Loki just stared off into the glow of a computer screen, shrugging rather passively. "It appeared you made a good friend, too. Not just on the dance floor?" He dared to steal a glance at Isadora, who, after Loki slid his gaze over to her, had turned a brilliant shade of red.

"How do you know about that?" This time, Isadora rose from her chair, managing her damnedest to tower over the black-haired man. But instead he just smirked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you not expect your personal life would ever run over into your work?" Loki asked, feigning innocence.

"Wait, are you SPYING on me? What the hell? Spit it out!" Isadora actually lunged at him this time, and although Loki had an initial look of surprise, his cat-like reflexes managed to hold her back by mere inches.

"Tell me you'll help me, and I'll tell you who you went home with," Loki said flatly. He gave her nothing more than a steely glare, which made Isadora even angrier because she knew he backed her into a corner.

"Alright! FINE!" She conceded, pushing him away and stalking to a corner. "Just tell me," she said. This time her voice was small. Isadora just wanted to get it over with. Shit, she thought. What if it was Coulson—?

"Oh, Isadora, what a night you gave me—I do hope we can do it again," His voice lilted playfully as he started sidling towards her side of the room.

"You're a wonderful lover, truly."