Author's Note:I'm not gonna lie. This was a really fun chapter to write. I wanted to play around with the idea of Loki coming to Earth before The Avengers, and of course I wanted to get some interactions between him and Aspen. They've got some chemistry going there - the explosive kind. Hope you're enjoying!


10 – A Very Asgardian Christmas – December 25, 2011

For a few blissful moments, Aspen forgot that she had a guest in the next room over. She awoke Christmas morning, stretching her arms above her head and smiling at the sight of snow gathered along the windowsill. Then she heard someone shifting outside her room. She stiffened, her hand impulsively moving toward her dart gun. Then she remembered Loki. She sighed, getting out of bed and pulling on her fuzzy robe. She unlocked her door and opened it.

Loki was sitting on the loveseat, an atlas splayed out in front of him. "Your world is far vaster than I would have imagined," he said without looking up.

"And a very merry Christmas to you too," Aspen said grumpily, shuffling past him and into the kitchen.

"What realm are you at war with?" he asked, following her into the kitchen, the atlas in his hands.

Aspen sighed, pointing to the Middle East before filling the coffee maker with water and adding in an extra scoop of hazelnut grounds to the filter.

"Fascinating. What kinds of weapons do you humans use?" Loki asked. Aspen looked over at him. He was actually chipper. He was talking about weapons on Christmas morning and he was chipper.

"The kind that kill people," she told him irately, going to the refrigerator and pulling out the ingredients for pancakes.

"For someone who was eager to have a good day, you're awfully glum," he said, picking up on her mood. He shut the atlas and set it down on the counter. "What does one do to celebrate Christmas?"

"Well," Aspen pulled out a mixing bowl, "people like to decorate and put up pine trees in their living rooms. Then they put presents under the tree and open them on Christmas morning."

"I didn't see any tree in your living room," Loki commented with a frown. "And I see no presents."

"I'm not exactly rich in friends and family," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Is there a point to this holiday other than putting live trees in your living quarters?" he asked, watching her stir together the milk, eggs, and batter.

"There is definitely a point to it, but I doubt you'd get it."

"You don't seem to have much optimism for my intelligence," he said.

"It's a religious holiday, but since you're a Norse god, that kind of complicates things. It's not really the kind of holiday you Asgardians would celebrate."

"Perhaps not. People don't worship us as gods here anymore. That's a thing of the past." There was a lingering regret in Loki's eyes, but it disappeared after a moment.

"You're more of a myth now."

"How charming. I'm so glad I can be forgotten both here and in Asgard," Loki said bitterly. Then he turned to look at her, eyes shining a little. "But you'd heard of me. Or did your little device tell you who I was?"

"I'd heard of you, I just couldn't remember quite who you were. I'm familiar with Norse mythology to an extent." She poured the batter out onto the skillet and then looked over to see if her coffee was done. It was. She poured herself a big mug of it. "Do you drink coffee?" she asked.

"Mostly wine. What's coffee?" He eyed the brown liquid suspiciously.

"It's good stuff." She poured him a mug. "Here."

He sniffed it before taking a small sip. He made a face. "It's bitter."

"Amateur." She took a gulp and then flipped the pancakes.

"What are these infernal things that you're making?" Loki asked. He seemed a lot more interested in his surroundings than he had the night before.

Aspen cast him a look. "Pancakes," she told him. "They're really good. I always add a touch of cinnamon to the batter."

Loki's face still looked pensive when she served him a steaming plate. He fingered the fork.

"You can put syrup or butter on them," Aspen said, indicating the bottle of maple syrup and the container of butter. She sat down across from him and coated both pancakes in butter before pouring a glob of syrup on top. He watched her and then reached for the syrup, squeezing the smallest bit of it onto the top of his pancakes. Aspen watched as he took his first bite, chewing slowly.

"Well?" she asked. She realized she was anxiously awaiting a Norse demigod's opinion of her cooking and mentally kicked herself.

"It has merit," he said. "It's actually quite good." Aspen beamed. "I don't understand why you're showing me such kindness," Loki said a moment later. He was watching her, eyes dark.

"I don't see what treating you like a prisoner is going to get me."

"So it's still about getting something from me?" She caught the dangerous underlying tone and tensed. "Well, I can assure you, I'm not one for sentiment," he just said, taking another bite.

"I'm not either. I've had very few people show me any in my lifetime. I'm not about to go soft."

"Ah, but that is the weakness of the human race: sentiment. It blinds them."

"Now we're back to insulting humans? Sentiment doesn't make people weak, but it can blind them, you're right. That's why I don't get sentimental on the job." Well, perhaps not sentimental, but there were plenty of other emotions she felt that Loki would call weak.

"What do you do exactly? Are you a guard of some sort? A warrior?" he asked.

"Something like that." She sighed. "I used to be a smuggler. I collected items for a dealer. Things went south though, and I barely escaped his employment with my life. Things have improved since then."

"And who do you work for now?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" she accused.

"Just trying to make conversation." He tried another sip of his coffee and winced.

"Then tell me why you were cast out of Asgard."

"I already told you."

"Not really. You and your father had a disagreement over something and he didn't approve after you tried to kill all the…Frost Giants, did you call them? How did you get here though? And why does your father think Thor is a better choice for the throne when you say he's arrogant?"

"You said you know of Norse 'mythology,' don't you know my life story already?" he asked spitefully.

"Historians recorded that information. I'm sitting across from the real Loki right now. Who do you think is more credible?"

Loki gave her a hard stare which she met defiantly, green eyes blazing while his ice blue eyes were chilling. "Fine," he said, tone silky. "Where shall we start? How about the battle with the Frost Giants where my father," he spat out the word, "took me after slaying my real father."

"Odin isn't really your father?" Aspen asked.

"I am Loki Lauyfeyson. He was king of the Frost Giants." His eyes blazed as he spoke and for a moment his skin looked ice pale as if touched by frost. She thought she saw a glint of red in his eyes before it vanished. He turned away from her, looking out the window. "My father spared me, raised me as his own alongside Thor. We were told that we were both born to be kings but that only one of us would ascend to the throne. I just didn't realize at the time that the throne I was born to ascend to had been destroyed by my adoptive father." The bitterness was clear in his tone, and Aspen felt a stab of sympathy.

"When did you find out that you were adopted?" she asked.

"Not long ago. I'm not sure how much time has passed. The universe runs on its own time."

"Well if you were involved with what happened on Earth when Thor was here, then it's been six months. How did you find out?"

"I had always known I was different, but then when I was battling the Frost Giants with my brother, one of them touched my arm. It gave another of the warriors a terrible frostbite, but my skin changed at the touch. I couldn't feel the freeze like the others. Then back home I tried touched the Casket of Ancient Winters. No man can withstand its touch, but I transformed into what I really was when I touched it. A monster." His words hung in the air. "My father found me and told me the truth. He had found me, abandoned, and had taken me in and raised me as his own. All that time I'd thought I was one of them when I was really the very thing he had fought against." His hands clenched, and Aspen could see how much this still upset him. "He told me that he had not just taken me out of compassion. He had taken me because he thought that it would guarantee peace between his people and the Frost Giants. I never had any chance to ascend to the Asgard throne. It was all a lie."

"He lied to protect you."

"You know nothing of why he lied to me," Loki said, slamming his fist on the table and spilling coffee.

"You say that sentiment is a weakness of humans, but I see it in you as well, Loki. Somehow I think it's the only thing that is keeping you Asgardian and not a monster." She grabbed the dirty dishes and began rinsing them in the sink, leaving Loki to contemplate her words. After she had loaded all the dishes into the dishwasher and started it, she took a wet rag and cleaned up the spilled coffee. Loki didn't look at her, but when she went to move away, he grabbed her wrist – not tightly like before, but with a gentleness that surprised her.

"I'm sorry for my temper with you," he said. "You don't deserve my anger."

Aspen studied his eyes, but she could see no lies in them. He slowly released his grip on her wrist, hand sliding down hers until it rested on the table. The silver cuff gleamed.

"You think because you're not sitting on a throne that you aren't where you belong. Have you ever considered that there are other ways to be great?" Aspen asked. "You said you think things through and that would make you a better leader than your brother and yet here you sit bristling with anger at the very mention of him. If there is one thing I've learned in this life, it's that you can't sit around waiting for what you want. You have to go find it and sometimes it's not what you thought it would be."

She tossed the dishrag in the sink, wiping her hands on the front of her robe. "I'm going to take a shower and get dressed. Just don't go anywhere." She left him sitting at the table, locking herself in her room and tossing clothes into the bathroom. The hot water pounding on her neck and shoulders relaxed her a bit, but she was feeling the beginnings of a tension headache in her temples. She stood in the shower for a long while until the water turned tepid and then shut it off, wrapping herself in a towel. She wiped away the steam from the mirror and stared at her reflection. What was she doing? She should have turned Loki into SHIELD the second he fell to Earth. Not unlike Thor's hammer, he was something that didn't belong on Earth, and SHIELD would want to know why he was here. Somehow she couldn't bring herself to do it though. SHIELD would interrogate him until they cracked him, and from what she knew of Loki in the day since she had met him was that he was not going to crack under tension. She had gotten somewhere with him that morning though. He had, perhaps unintentionally, bared his heart to her. He put on an act of anger and malice, but really he was hurting because his father had turned his back on him, had lied to him all his life. He was wounded. He might play the heartless villain, but he was much more human than he realized.

Aspen dried her hair and tossed it up in a bun before dressing. She left her room and found the apartment empty. She cursed. Then she heard someone approach her from behind. She whirled around to find Loki holding his hands up. "Easy," he said. "Get your coat."

"What?"

"I imagine you get cold outside." He indicated the window. It was snowing lightly.

"But why are we going outside?" she asked.

"Do you trust me?" His eyes glowed mischievously.

"No."

He cocked his head. "Probably wise. Just come with me." When she still hesitated, he held out his arm with the cuff. "What am I going to do?" he asked. "I'm unarmed, have no use of my powers, and I have a feeling you're much more dangerous than your tiny form appears."

"I'm not tiny," Aspen said gruffly, grabbing her winter coat along with a scarf, hat, and pair of gloves. She slid her feet into her warm winter boots. Loki was still wearing the strange armor with his green cloak.

"Aren't you going to get cold or do you not feel the cold?" she asked, grabbing her apartment keys.

"I don't tend to get cold," he said, following her out. They took the elevator downstairs and then he took the lead, heading toward the park.

"Wait," Aspen said, jogging to keep up with his long stride. "Where are we going?"

"You humans have no patience. Are all of you this suspicious?" he asked, walking into the front gates of the park.

"Only the ones chasing after an infuriatingly secretive trickster in a snowstorm," she retorted. They were a little distance into the park when Loki stopped abruptly. Aspen ran into his shoulder.

"Why are we here?" she asked. He looked down at her, lifting a brow.

"You told me this morning that humans had this…desire to fill their homes with live trees on Christmas. I didn't know how you were going to fit one in your home. I suspect that most humans must live in larger abodes. So I brought you to a tree. I can't imagine what you're going to do with it, but I thought we should observe at least one human tradition, no matter how trivial."

Aspen stared up at him. "That was…surprisingly thoughtful," she said.

His eyes narrowed. "If you imply that I'm being sentimental…"

"I wouldn't dream of it," she said with a smirk. She stepped toward the tree he had chosen. "You know, most people pick smaller trees. There are these places called Christmas tree lots where they have trees specially grown for this occasion. They're only seven feet tall or so. It's illegal to cut down trees like this." She turned back to him. "Thank you though," she said. "It's a nice tree."

Loki wasn't looking at her anymore. He had tensed and was looking at something just past her shoulder. She stiffened, senses going on alert. Now that they were not talking, she could hear something shifting behind her. It was probably just a wild animal, but her hand went down to her belt. That's when she realized she'd forgotten to put it on. She was unarmed. She had a knife in her boot, but that wouldn't do much good in an attack. She turned around slowly and peered into the woods. She couldn't see anything, but the shuffling was getting closer. She jumped as Loki came up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It is possible," he told her, "that I did not come to Earth alone."

"What do you mean?" she looked up at him sharply. This close to him, she could see the different shades of blue ringing his eyes.

"I mean, there are lots of things that get lost out in the universe. If a portal opens, it's possible that more than one thing escapes."

"What kind of things are we talking about? More tricksters?"

He ignored her jab. "Something much more dangerous," he replied. "This would be a ideal time to remove this infernal cuff."

"What? I don't think so," she said, moving away so that his hand fell from her shoulder. "For all I know you bought this thing here. Whatever it is."

"I can assure you that I did not. With this thing on my arm, I'm nearly human. You don't appear to be armed, so our only chance is my power."

"We don't even know what it is. I'm not freeing you just because a squirrel decided to romp through the forest."

"A what?"

"Never mind." She drew the knife from her boot. "Just stay there. I'm going to go investigate." She had only walked a few steps when Loki matched her steps. "I said stay there," she told him irritably.

"And let you handle it with that pathetic knife?" he asked. "If you won't free me, then the least I can do is come with you. I should probably just leave you, but if you die then I'll never get this cuff off."

"I see. So it's extrinsic motivations all the way." She fell silent as they neared whatever was making the sound. They were in a deeper cluster of trees now, removed from the pathway. She held her knife out before her, pretending that it could inflict a lot more damage than it actually could. There was a grumbling sort of sound ahead. She stopped short and could feel Loki hovering behind her.

"You look positively fear-inspiring with that tiny blade," he told her, leaning close to her ear so that his breath tickled her neck.

"Shut up," she threw back at him. The grumbling turned into a growl.

"I think it heard you," Loki said.

The ground shuddered and Aspen nearly lost her balance. She felt Loki's hand on her waist steadying her and jerked away, throwing a glare back at him. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about this."

Aspen turned back to see something detaching itself from the shadows. It was huge. She took a step back. The beast was at least ten feet tall with a long face and sharp teeth that put Aspen's knife to shame. Its body was scaly like a reptile and it had a long tail and deadly looking claws. It looked down at Aspen with beady, hungry looking eyes.

"Oh, one of those…" Loki said. "It's not too late to take off this cuff." The beast gave a roar and started toward them. "Or perhaps it is."

Aspen stood her ground, wielding the small knife. She wasn't sure what exactly she was going to do, but she refused to run. She crouched, ready to slice up as the creature came at her. Then an arm grasped her around the waist and pulled her out of the monster's path before she could slash at it. She fell in a heap on top of Loki.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to untangle herself. He gripped her arm.

"Saving your life. You really think you're going to take that thing with that puny little knife?"

"It's all I have, so yes. We can't let that thing get loose in New York."

"Then we need a plan," he told her. "I think I have one."

"I'm not taking that cuff off of you," she hissed. His cold eyes sparkled, and she realized she was still lying across his chest, her arm firmly grasped in his hand.

"That's not what I was going to suggest, although your reconsidering might save our lives. No? Alright. You need to distract it while I kill it."

"How do I know you're not just going to let it eat me so you can escape?"

"Haven't I already told you? I need you because you can get this off of me." He waved the cuff in front of her nose.

"Fine. What do you need me to do?" She could hear the beast turning back to look for them.

"I need you to keep its attention on you. And I need your knife."

She lifted an eyebrow at him. "I thought you said it was puny."

"Well it's the only weapon we have right now, so it'll have to do." He finally let go of her arm and she got up, brushing herself off.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she said before handing him her knife and stepping out in front of the creature. "Hey!" she shouted.

The beast roared, looking down at her with fiery eyes. It clawed at the ground as if it was about to charge. Aspen realized it must be just as confused and lost as Loki. It'd just dropped out of the universe in a foreign place. She supposed she would be feeling a bit grumpy too. It had clearly decided to take it out on her, however, and started after her. She jumped into action, sprinting toward a tree and vaulting up the trunk. She grabbed one of the higher branches and pulled herself up out of the monster's reach. It hit the trunk headfirst with a sickening crunch. The entire tree shook, but held. It backed up a few paces, dizzily shaking its head. That's when Loki landed on its neck and drove the knife straight through its head. The beast gave a horrific howl that Aspen was sure carried across half the park and then collapsed. Loki pulled the knife out and hopped to the ground, wiping the blade clean in the snow before handing it back to Aspen.

"Alright, I'm impressed," she said, taking the knife back. "Have you fought one of these before?"

"As it happens, yes. Clearly you've had some training."

"I can take care of myself," Aspen said with a smirk.

"Clearly."

"Well, I can honestly say this has been a Christmas like no other and it's only ten o'clock," Aspen said. "I don't know about you, but I could use some hot chocolate."