I'm so sorry that this took so long! This chapter probably won't please most of you guys since its a little boring, but whatever. Next chapter will be more fun, I promise!

Chapter 11

"Can we get this started already? I've got places to be, you know."

I rolled my eyes at Tony's fourth whiny comment. Slamming into a marble column didn't seem to have affected his snarky personality. He didn't seem to catch my degrading gesture from his place next to me at the large round table, luckily. Bruce, on the other hand, did see, and shot me an amused smile. It was nice to see the good, serious doctor enjoy himself every once in a while.

Natasha practically snorted. "I highly doubt that, Stark. This is the only place that you're supposed to be."

My brother sighed, interlocking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back as far as he could in the high-backed golden chair. It was obvious that he wasn't pleased with the current situation. We had all been called into a space that resembled a huge council room directly after a particularly early breakfast. The attendees included the usual suspects: the Avengers, Loki, Odin, and lastly, little old me. I had been taken a little off guard when my presence had been requested as well. It couldn't be that much longer before Tony refused to let me be involved in any of the Thanos dilemma. I felt like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Though it was the All-Father who had called the impromptu meeting, he hadn't actually showed up yet. That left our diverse group sitting around the circular table, waiting for the final piece of the puzzle to make his entrance. Tony had gotten restless, as he usually did whenever he had to wait for something. On my left, Clint and Steve had been quietly conversing, attempting to pass the time. Everyone seemed to be doing or saying something except for me. Even Loki was (surprisingly) talking to Thor.

I had just considered carrying on a conversation with Tony when Odin walked through the doors. Well, he didn't walk as much as he made an extremely loud and noticeable entrance. Asgardians seemed to be fond of doing things like that.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting," Odin began to say as he took a spot beside Thor. "There were other manners to attend to."

It was Steve who spoke up on behalf of the group. "It's no problem, sir. We are ready to begin whenever you are."

Odin nodded, briefly glancing at each person seated around the table. "Yes," he started. "We must discuss last night's troubling intrusion. There was a lack of time to sort anything out due to the chaos and confusion."

"I'm fine, by the way." Tony blurted out, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"The first thing I wish to know," the All-Father began, completely (and hilariously) ignoring Tony's comment. "Is how my own son knows that foul creature."

All eyes flashed to Loki. The god didn't look surprised at all, sitting calm and upright in his respective chair. His cool green gaze almost lazily met Odin's one eyed questioning stare without hesitation.

"He is a minion of Thanos," Loki explained in that silk smooth voice. "The Other is the one who took me in whilst I was drifting through the galaxies."

"Wait a second," Bruce interjected. "You were working with Thanos during the Chitauri invasion?"

The God of Mischief began to shake his head, but stopped. "Technically. The two of us never met face to face. You could say that the Other acted as a sort of middle man. He relayed all of the Titan's messages and commands to me."

Clint leaned forward in his seat, propping his elbows up on the surface of the table. "So what do you know about Thanos then? You have to know something if you worked for the guy."

A small, strange smile appeared on Loki's face. "Ah, Agent Barton, I know only as much as the rest of you."

The archer frowned. "How the hell is that even possible?"

I nervously glanced between the SHIELD Agent and Asgardian. It was plain to see that there was still a palpable amount of tension between them. Out of all the Avengers, I guess it was easy to understand why Clint would hold the biggest grudge against the God of Mischief. I doubted that the two would ever form any sort of friendship, considering Loki had gained control of Clint's mind for so long.

"Thanos was not exactly the most open employer," Loki said sharply. "As I previously stated, he did not even dare to converse with me in person, only through his pathetic henchman."

Clint scoffed, sinking back into his chair. "Then you're basically no help to us."

"Easy, Barton." Thor warned his fellow teammate. "My brother shall be a valuable resource concerning the Tesseract."

Odin placed a hand on his son's shoulder and looked towards him. "Your Midgardian friend arises a point that I must discuss," The elderly Asgardian began. "I am sure that you all are not trustworthy of my younger son, due to his past actions. In the best interest of Asgard, I have concluded that he shall have no part in our preparations against Thanos. I have discussed this with Loki prior to our meeting."

The entirety of the table fell silent. My gaze flashed to the green eyed God of Mischief. As usual, his expression gave nothing away. His own gaze was averted downwards, before popping back up to glance towards Odin. Out of curiosity, I examined the expressions of the Avengers. Most of them looked fairly indifferent. Clint was the only one who seemed slightly pleased with the All-Father's decision.

Apparently, Thor and Loki's father wasn't finished talking. "Upon speaking with Thor and his Iron comrade, we have also decided that our additional Midgardian guest will have no part in this either."

Additional Midgardian guest?

Wait.

That was me, right? Perking up in my seat, I looked between Tony, Thor, and his father. Unfortunately, they all had their eyes trained on me.

Two different plans popped into my head. I could argue and try to get my way, or I could just deal with it and be pleased with the fact that I had been allowed to stay in Asgard in the first place. Though I seriously considered the former for a moment, I ultimately decided to go with the latter. I had argued enough in the past days to tide me over for a while.

I showed my agreement in the form of a slow nod. "Understandable. What should I spend my time doing?"

Thor decided to speak up on that question. "You may explore the palace and spend your days however you wish. I am sure that my brother would be pleased to show you wherever you desire to go."

My dark eyed gaze met Loki's cool one. There wasn't much I could tell from the brief eye contact. His reserved personality had been quite the puzzler. Though I would never admit it, my thoughts on the God of Mischief's behavior had kept me up at night. Did he like me at all? Did he despise my very presence? Did he even have an opinion? I found myself wanting to find out, for some reason.

"Alright," I stammered, realizing I hadn't responded to Thor's comment. "That sounds fine."

"In that case," Odin spoke again. "It would be best for the two of you to leave us now."

That probably shouldn't have taken me by as much surprise as it did. They would obviously be meeting about Thanos stuff, which I had just been told I was not going to be allowed to deal with. It was only fair for me to be booted from the meeting.

Tucking some hair behind my ear, I began to rise up from my chair. Tony's hand caught my arm, and I saw that he had looked at me.

"It's for the best, Lena," He told me quietly, giving me a sympathetic smile.

"I know, Tony." I assured him. "Just catch up with me later."

He winked. "Sure thing, sis."

With that, I stood up to exit the room. I briefly glanced around to see if Loki had gotten up to leave yet. It appeared that he had made his way over to the doors while Tony and I had been speaking. Pushing in my chair behind me, I hurried after the god and tried to catch up.

"Trying to evade me?"

The dark haired Asgardian didn't even give me the pleasure of turning around to acknowledge me. "I was not aware you were pursuing me." Loki explained, continuing his forward stride.

It was somewhat difficult to keep up with the exceptionally tall Asgardian and his long stride. After a brief struggle, I was able to fall into step beside him.

I looked up at him. "Thor did say that you would show me around."

Loki chuckled. "My brother should learn to speak for himself."

"And I am a guest in your home, you know. A good host should be willing to give a tour to their guest."

Loki suddenly halted in his stride. He turned to face me quite abruptly, causing me to slink back a little. I could tell he was somewhat annoyed, but the look in his emerald eyes let on that he wasn't actually angry.

"Very well, Stark." He spread his hands out, gesturing to both sides of the hallway. "Where do you wish to go?"

I was somewhat caught off guard by his question. Since it was his home, I had figured Loki would have an idea of which places to show me and which places to avoid. Besides, I had only seen a limited section of the palace. I had no idea what else was out there to explore and discover. My mouth stayed ajar for a few seconds before Loki caught on and spoke again.

"Exactly," he continued, lips forming a smirk. "No matter. I have a specific place in mind."

Interlocking his hands behind his back once again, the Asgardian began strolling down the hallway. Catching on, I quickly caught up to him.

"Where are we going?" I wondered, glancing up at him.

Though he never looked my way, I could see the smile on his face and the glint in his eyes. "You shall see."

Not really happy with this chapter. Since nothing really happened. Next chapter will be mainly all Lena and Loki, which I know some of you will enjoy! I will try really hard to get that one up earlier.

Please review!

xo, liz