The doorbell rung. I broke my gaze from the broken man on the sofa. It was time. I walked the few steps to the edge of the living room. Why did that sound like a death sentence? I looked back at Loki; he gripped the bridge of his nose. His eyes flickered to the window every so often, an unreadable emotion appearing in them. I stepped into the hallway, gripping my clutch.

"Is this my punishment, Allfather?" Loki whispered, his voice raw. "Am I to rot on this earth unloved and alone for eternity? The bastard son you wish to forget. Father, I am sorry for all of my actions but please do not let this be my retribution."

I turned to go back to him then, to right what I'd done. I shouldn't have let him down like that. He wasn't a monster he was a broken man who'd only ever wanted to be equal to his brother, he'd never wanted the throne. He'd wanted his father's approval. But the way people had treated him had warped him into the monster people wanted to see. Mischief had turned into mayhem.

A knock sounded again. I opened the door. I knew as it opened I'd chosen wrong. Johnson or Loki? It wasn't Johnson, but it wasn't quite Loki.

"Hey-" Johnson smiled, stopping as his blue eyes scanned my body. "Wow, I hardly recognised you, Freya, you look gorgeous." He winked. He wore another suit, grey this time with polished brogues. Did this man live in anything else other than suits? Did he sleep in them?

"Johnson." I smiled before stepping out of the house and shutting the door behind me. The light in the living room flickered off and the house settled into silence as if no one was there. I bit my lip, picking up my pace. I guess you could say I was trying to escape what I'd done. Hurting people isn't my thing, not purposely anyway, unless I'm provoked.

"You live alone in that big old house?" Johnson asked, opening his car door - a shiny A-class Mercedes-Benz.

I nodded, readjusting my hair and climbing into the car. The leather was cold against my skin and the smell too clean. It was too awkward and sterile.

Johnson climbed in and started the car, reversing off of the drive and onto the road. Where else, right?

"What's wrong?" Johnson stopped at the traffic lights. His cologne was too strong and it was making me feel sicker than I already felt.

I shrugged even though Johnson wasn't looking at me. "I just forgot how much it hurts to reject someone."

Johnson laughed, hands loosening on the steering wheel. "You obviously like them if it hurt." He spoke like he knew everything, like he'd experienced the feeling himself. And that's what made me trust his words.

"I don't know, we're too similar and different at the same time." I ran a hand through my hair. "Besides I don't even know if he's just using me right now." He's well known for deception and he's the God of Mischief and Lies... Yet I would never tell anyone that. Not now, maybe when I first met Loki I'd have told Johnson but now... Now I knew for certain I would never say where Loki was.

"Do they act differently around you?" Johnson accelerated forward, a small frown on his face.

"Yes."

"Rejecting someone only hurts if you like them back, what's his name?" Johnson glanced at me before looking back at the road.

"Damon." Again it was so easy to say the lie, to change the truth.

"So do I stand a chance against this Damon?" Johnson smirked. It was nothing like Loki's - it didn't hold the mischief, the arrogance, the vanity and the charisma his smirks held.

"I have no clue," I sighed.

Johnson looked at me and nodded. "Freya, your arms."

I looked down to see snowflakes decorating my skin but they weren't blue. They were red. Not good, they only changed colour when I had no control. What was Loki doing to me?

"You know I don't see why you agreed to go on this date, I know you don't like me." Johnson laughed, pulling into the restaurant car park. "So why did you agree?"

"Wanda would have killed me if she found out I said no," I laughed. "Surprisingly I didn't want to die so I agreed."

Johnson chuckled, turning the key. The engine fell silent.

I sat, gripping my clutch. "Johnson-"

"Matt, my name is Matt, we aren't at work right now," Johnson smiled.

"Right, Matt, ummm... I'm trying to get Phil and Wanda off of my back as well," I whispered.

"Why?"

I turned away from Johnson. "Ever since my parents died I shut out my emotions and I haven't really made contact with them in a while, until now. And when I feel, I'm dangerous - deadly - and I can't put someone in a situation where they could die so I push them away. And well... Phil and Wanda think I'm going to be alone forever, which I probably will be- I'm babbling now," I sighed, leaning forward onto my hands. My palms dug into my eye sockets.

"I get the feeling you're giving me the explanation for the guy you said no to." A hand made small circles on my back. "Freya, you have to let someone in before it gets better. Let them know the risks before and if you hurt them... Well, they knew the risks and it wasn't your fault."

I sat up, giving Johnson a weak smile. "Thank you, John- Matt, that helped."

Johnson nodded. "Well, we should get some food. I don't know about you but I'm starved."

I nodded, getting out of the car and taking Johnson's arm as he lead me to the entrance. The restaurant was a small white bricked building with an authentic feel to it. A small Italian flag hung in one of the Windows whilst the others were crowded by flowers. It was a quaint but homely setting, garlic and tomatoes potent in the air. Our table was perched in the corner away from everyone else. The candles flickered in the dim light.

I hid behind the menu, scanning the meals.

"Do you think we'll catch him?" Johnson peered over my menu.

"Catch who?" I asked, setting the menu down slightly.

"Loki."

I shrugged. "I don't know. He'll turn up eventually I guess."

"We need to find him soon, a monster like him can't walk the streets," Johnson spat. "No one who tried to kill their own brother should walk the streets, they don't deserve freedom."

I let the menu drop to the table but Johnson wasn't finished, his eyes flared with anger and his fist lightly hit the table.

"Who would kill their own brother?" He caught my gaze.

"Jeeze, I don't know." I blew my hair out of my eyes.

"I don't even know anyone who could do such a thing, be such a monster." Johnson's jaw was tense and his eyes hostile.

His words had struck home for me. I was a monster. "I did. I killed my brother," I whispered. I let the anger consume me, the emotions rushed forward past the floodgates.

"They're not-"

I brought my hands down on the table, hard, the glasses scattering to the floor. "They are the same and don't you dare tell me any different. Loki tried to kill his brother. I did kill my brother and that makes me worse than him."

Johnson stood up. "Freya, I didn't-"

"No, just no." I picked up my clutch, storming off.

"Freya wait, I didn't-"

"You did mean it, you meant every word," I seethed. "I am a monster-" Ice rose from the floor in shards, trapping Johnson "- and you can't tell me any differently."

Johnson stepped forward. "I'm so-"

A wall of ice, pushed him to the wall. "Don't even think about it."

I spun on my heel, out of the door and into the night. Sleet hammered against the path, the light from the street lamps disfigured by the sudden weather change.

People ran past me, heading for shelter, heads bent against the weather. I didn't bend my head. I wasn't rushing for shelter. I let the sleet lash at my face, trail down my dress and drench my skin. I didn't care anymore. I walked across the road. A car honked. I lifted my hand. A sheet of ice made the car disappear.

I kept walking.

Ice smashed. Headlights blinded me. I jumped out of the way. The road tore at my hands and knees as I fell. I looked up: no one was there to help me. No one cared. My leg throbbed from the impact of the car. I screamed then, loudly and angrily. The wind picked up even more and snow fell in a blizzard. I was a monster now - why shouldn't I be what people thought I was? I would hate to disappoint.

I wiped my bloodied hands on my dress, scrambling out of the road and onto the kerb. My hand was pale against the concrete as I let the snowflakes on my arms turn black. Ice rose from the ground, weaving together to make four legs. A torso. A neck. A tail. And finally a head. A horse looked down at me. It stood, breathing, it's breathes clouds of ice. I reached up and clung to it's mane. Pain rushed through my hands as I clambered up onto the horse. It felt so alive underneath me - a life I'd created. The snowflakes on my arms grew darker as I kicked the horse's flanks, urging it forward. It whinnied before surging forward.

"Home," I mumbled. "Take me home." I let my head fall onto it's mane. The sky was pitch black and the moon now gone. Snow clung to every surface, more of it still falling. Each time a tear fell it froze on my cheek, a captured moment of sadness, before the wind whisked it away into the oblivion of night. This was exactly what had happened the night Karl had been killed. The night I'd broken.

I clung to the horse as it ran, hooves creating sharp snaps against the floor. It's mane and tail, didn't move in the wind, instead they stayed still, frozen. The horse's eyes never blinked. The only sign of life was the frantic breathes it took before it halted.

I sat up. My house loomed in the darkness. The house Karl had lived in...

The wind whipped snow off of the building, swirling around me - a tornado around me.

"Freya!" My house door flew open. Loki's black locks flew around his face as he ran towards me.

I fell from the horse, blood dripping from it's mane. "Stay away from me." I held up one of my damaged palms towards Loki.

"No." Loki reached for my wrist and pulled me out of the snowflakes.

"I'm a monster, get away from me!" I screamed, pulling my hand out of his grasp.

"No, you are not." Loki grabbed my waist this time, tighter before he hoisted me over his shoulder.

I hit his back. "Put. Me. Down. Now."

Loki slammed the door with his foot, setting me down in front of him. Even though we were inside the wind still tore through our hair and snow still lashed at us.

"Calm down." Loki reached for my hand.

I snatched it away. "No, I won't calm down. I'm doing what I should have done years ago." I could feel the cold taking over me, ice through my veins, rushing towards my heart. I shuddered, my knees colliding with the carpet. Ice covered the floor and the walls - intricate patterns of destruction.

Loki knelt in front of me . "Do not shut it all out again, Midgardian this is not the way to control the cold, the darkness. Do not make the mistake I-"

My arms turned black, the ice in the room becoming darker. "I have no control, the cold controls me I can't control it. I'm a freak, a monster, leave me alone."

"Frey-"

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, flicking my wrist. Ice flew everywhere in shards. They flew at Loki, hovering in front of him. "Get out of my house and don't ever come back. I don't need you and I don't want you."

Loki stepped forward, chest pressing against the shards. "No, Freya listen to me."

I drove the ice further forward. It pierced his shirt.

"This is not you, Freya," Loki whispered. "This is the darkness, the mayhem taking over you."

I glared at him. "Leave."

"Never." Loki moved quicker than an average human as the ice flew forward at a deadly speed, stabbing the wall.

I crossed my arms, hugging myself against the cold. "I could have killed you."

Loki knelt in front of me, blue eyes searching my face. "You cannot kill me that easily, I was a God."

"Get away from me," I sobbed. "Please." The tears fell too easily down my face, hot streaks.

"No." Loki reached forward and took my hands.

"Yes," I mumbled, watching as his hands began to turn blue.

"Tell me what is wrong," Loki spoke softly, his face now blue and his eyes red: his Jotun form.

"No," I shook my head.

Loki let go of one of my hands and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "Please?"

"I killed, I killed him." My body shook violently. My vision blurred. My bloodied hands stained the carpet as I pushed myself away from Loki. "I murdered him."

Loki sat watching me, blue eyes reflecting an emotion I'd never seen on him before: concern. "Who?"

"Karl, my brother." I picked at the rip on my dress. "It happened like it did today, he took me out for dinner on my birthday and he... He tried to make me feel, help me." The tears fell faster now. "I ran out of the restaurant and into the street. Karl ran after me and tried to calm me down. And-" I swallowed, looking to the floor "- and he hugged me telling me everyone I go near I hurt or I kill, that I'm deadly and I'll always be alone if I don't let someone in. He said I was a beautiful kind of dangerous and that I was destroying myself. I got angry at him and told him I hated him -" The snow fell harder in the living room "- and I-" I broke down in tears. "I put my hand to his chest to get him away from me... And..."

Loki moved towards me, pulling me against his chest.

"And I froze his heart," I mumbled against Loki's chest, tears making my cheeks sticky and cold. "I. Killed. My. Own. Brother," I stuttered between sobs. "I'm a monster..."

"Shhhh..." Loki's hand weaved through my hair, holding the back of my head. His other hand held my hip. Loki's chin settled in my hair. "My dear you were never a monster."

His heartbeat was loud in my ear. I gripped his shirt and pulled myself closer to him. I don't know how long we stayed like that - a tangle of limbs on the floor, tears trailing down my cheeks and Loki just holding me together as I cried.

"Is there any chance you could stop the snow?" Loki said into my hair.

I flicked my wrist. The wind around us stopped. I no longer felt the constant touch of the cold against my skin. My arms turned back to normal.

Loki untangled his hand from my hair, looking down at me. "I'll make you a promise?" The hints of a smirk ghosted his face as his skin became pink again.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "What?"

"When I get my magic back I will turn him into a toad," Loki grinned, standing up.

I looked up at him. The ice slowly disappeared around the room. "That would be perfect."

Loki held out his hand. "Let me assist you with your hands."

I looked down to the drying scabs on my palms. "They're fine-"

"Midgardian, do not take my kindness for granted." Loki reached down and held my wrists leading me to the sofa. He walked into the kitchen, reappearing with the first aid box.

The sofa squeaked as his sat facing me. "Now, let me see your hands."

I put them palm up on my knees. Red tears smudged the skin. Oops.

Loki took out an antiseptic wipe. "I would lie to you but I have changed my ways, this will hurt."

I looked through my hair to see Loki smirking. I rolled my eyes.

The wipe made contact with my skin. I hissed.

Loki quickly wiped the wounds and bandaged them. The entire time we stayed quiet. I didn't speak because I was too scared to but Loki, I had no clue why he wasn't speaking. His eyes never left my hands, a slight frown on his face as he finished the ties on the bandages.

"Magic..." He whispered.

I lifted my hands up and admired his handy work. It wasn't too bad for a destroyer of worlds.

"Sorry I must have missed that," Loki smirked, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"What?" I asked.

Loki wrapped an arm over my shoulders, discarding the medical box onto the floor. "Firstly you should have replied with pardon and secondly I have not heard a thank you, Midgardian." We were back to that now.

"Do you even know what that word is?" I laughed, wincing as I tried to move my hands.

"I do and I am expecting you to say it," Loki nodded, his bad man smirk lighting up his features.

"You do not control me, Midgardian," I giggled, attempting - and failing - at doing an evil smirk.

Loki wound his arm tighter around my shoulders. "Are you sure you do not want to take over the world? You did just create a horse to get home and you conjured an eternal winter."

I looked up at him, rolling my eyes.

"I assume by that look you are taking it into consideration." Loki smirked.

"I don't want to rule the world," I whispered. "It would require too much effort. And thrones, they look so uncomfortable."

Loki laughed. "Such a waste, Midgardian."

"Shhh," I mumbled, burying my face in his shirt. That smell... What was it?

"What are you doing?" Loki's voice vibrated in his chest.

"Sleeping, now shhh..." I whispered.

Loki fell silent.

It stayed that way for a few minutes until I broke the silence "Loki?"

"Yes, Midgardian?"

"One, you're too polite for a villain." I yawned. "And two, thank you if you hadn't of been here I don't-"

"Shhh, Midgardian." Loki put a finger to my lips.

I flicked his ribs. "Why?"

"I am trying to sleep and your constant yapping is disrupting my attempts at doing so." Loki looked down at me. "I do not look this good without a few tricks."

"I see what you did there," I whispered, letting my eyes close.

"What?" Loki whispered back.

"You couldn't stand someone thanking you so you cut me off, admit it."

Loki laughed before his fingers weaved through mine. "You are perceptive of everyone but yourself, Midgardian." Loki sighed, his chest rising. "My mother told me that before she died."

"She would be proud of you after tonight," I mumbled. "And so would your brother and father."

I could have sworn I heard a soft chuckle before I drifted off to sleep. Loki was a hero in his own eyes, every villian is - but tonight Loki became the hero and he saved me from destroying myself.