Norse Proverb: The eyes of a maid, tell true, to whom her love she has given.

Chapter Thirteen

If possible, Lisa felt even more nervous about being on Asgard the second time, than when she was bonded with Loki. She had a feeling that her life was about to change in a very big way, and she didn't like that idea one bit.

'Try to relax,' Loki told her as they approached the palace on horseback.

'Good advice, considering that you don't want to be here any more than I do.'

It was true, he had a sense of foreboding over his own fate, but he had faith that Thor would do everything he could to keep Lisa safe.

They dismounted and the warriors led them not to the throne room as expected, but to Frigga's rooms.

"What is the meaning of this?" Thor asked his friends.

"Your father told us to bring you here," Volstagg said, and the warriors took positions guarding the door, two either side.

Thor and Loki shared a look, then entered their mother's rooms, Lisa practically being dragged in by Loki.

Odin, while still grand and powerful, looked more human as they entered. His back was to them as he perused the book shelves and his staff was missing.

"Come in," he told them.

"Father, what are we doing here?" Thor asked.

Odin turned to them where they stood by the doors; he looked rather more haggard than Lisa remembered but then, she hadn't been this close to him before.

"Sit." Odin gestured to a cluster of chairs, where a jug and goblets had been laid out on the middle table. "We have much to discuss," he said as he took a seat and filled four goblets with drink.

All three sat on the sofa opposite Odin and picked up the goblets that Odin handed them, although only Thor took a sip. Lisa was so nervous that she wasn't sure she could keep anything down at the moment, while Loki was wary of poisons or drugs. Lisa tried to read Odin's mind but she was unable to; he was as blank as a marble statue to her.

"As you know," Odin began, "the universe is not eternal; there was a beginning and there will be an end."

They listened closely, though they had no idea of his point.

"When I traded my eye for wisdom, I saw that not only is there an end, but that the universe repeats itself, on an endless cycle. The same events inevitably leading to the end of the universe time and again."

"Father-"

Odin held a hand up to stop Thor. "All in good time, my son." He sipped his drink. "Those Who Sit Above In Shadow showed me a giantess living in Iron Wood, Angrboða, who would give birth to three children, and those children would be pivotal in bringing about Ragnarok, the end of the universe. I searched for her, day and night, for centuries, but could find no trace of her. Then word reached me of a pregnancy in Jotunheim, with the child to be named Angrboða, and I sought to kill the mother, before the offspring could be born."

Lisa recognised the name Angrboða, from when her mind was rebuilding itself.

"Frigga convinced me not to, for the child was surely innocent and undeserving of a death sentence. She convinced me to send the family to Midgard to live among mortals, reasoning that humanity's influence might make Angrboða less predictable to Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, who manipulate events in each cycle to ensure that the Ragnarok occurs. I also hoped that it might teach her some humanity and that she in turn would pass that onto her children and possibly, their father."

"I don't understand," Thor implored.

"No, I suppose you don't," Odin refilled his goblet and took another long drink. "Angrboða's parents did not take to life on Earth and eventually, it drove them mad. The father sought to kill his wife, Angrboða and her younger sister, Iárnvidia, then himself. He was only partly successful; Angrboða lived."

Odin looked into Lisa's eyes, and she knew, even without her telepathy, that she was Angrboða.

"I kept a close eye on the child and saw that she was taken into a loving home and grew into a warm and caring person."

"But I don't have any children," she said, which was rather a foolish thing to say. It wasn't like she was infertile, after all.

"Not yet."

She felt a spike of jealousy from Loki but if her suspicions were correct, he had nothing to worry about.

"Did you mean for me to change back?" she asked.

"It was not planned but I knew that being around Loki, your true origins would eventually be revealed. At that point, I planned to remove the curse you had inherited from your parents, but Loki took away the need for that. I realise it is a shock and I had hoped that I might find a way to break it to you gently. Alas, it was not to be."

"Why did you pick me to bond with Loki?" she asked. She thought she knew but she needed to hear him say it.

"That too was Frigga's idea. Exile to earth had taught Thor humility and Frigga believed that loving a human might do the same for Loki."

"Except I'm not human, am I?"

"No," Odin agreed. "But you do possess human values about truth, justice and fairness. Before she…"

His words were choked off and Odin had never looked more human that he did in that moment.

"Before she died, she tried to convince me to give fate a helping hand."

Lisa felt Loki's grip on her hand tighten, as he realised that he was the father of her apocalyptic children. He gave no other reaction though.

"She tried to tell me that you would be good for my son, but I… I refused to listen to her. I think on some level, she knew what was coming, she..." He swallowed down his grief. "I wouldn't give into her pleas to bond you and Loki, but she did manage to extract from me a promise, that no matter what happened, I would not give up on my youngest son."

Loki was feeling a huge tangle of emotions, from love to rage and the whole gamut in between.

"I can see now that although my intentions were good, the secrets I have kept and the lies I have told, mean that Loki no longer considers me a father but-" He finally looked into Loki's eyes. "Do not blame Thor or Frigga for my failings. Thor knew nothing of my deception, and Frigga loved you with all her heart, you were every bit as much her son as Thor and in many ways, you and she had more in common."

Lisa could feel a sharp retort on the tip of Loki's tongue.

'Don't,' she pleaded. 'He's trying to apologise and while you might not be ready to forgive, this could be the first step towards healing.'

'Don't shrink me!'

'Don't act like a pedantic child, and I won't.'

'How can you sit there and listen to how he has played god with your life, and not hate him?'

Lisa turned to look at Loki and after a moment, he tore his gaze from Odin and looked at her. He was glaring but his expression softened, and the look Thor and Odin shared said that they had noticed.

'Yeah, I'm angry, but if he hadn't meddled, I wouldn't have my dad and Sarah and you.' she explained. 'It sucks to be a pawn in someone else's game but I choose to see what I have, rather than what he took. You've already lost your Mum-'

His eyes flashed red for a second and for a moment, his anger literally overpowered her.

'But you still have a shot with Thor.' She finished her thought. 'And don't try to tell me he means nothing to you, I have your memories, remember. Yeah, you hate him, but you love him in equal measure too. That's what siblings do, you fight and you argue and you compete and call each other names, but woe betide someone else who tries to hurt your sibling. Please don't let your anger for Odin ruin that.'

Her words brought up a flood of memories, both of he and Thor, as well as Lisa and her sister, Sarah. Other than the levels of violence involved, there wasn't much difference between the relationships.

Lisa gave him a reassuring smile.

'Please, try and keep things with your father Civil.'

'That's a very tall order.'

'I know, but you have another five thousand years to live, give or take, and Odin isn't going to be round for that much longer, relatively speaking.'

'Easier said than done.'

'We have a saying on earth, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Anything you do to hurt Odin will also hurt you, and I can't bear to feel you in pain.'

She could tell the moment he decided to take her advice, as his anger levels dropped, not completely, but they just cooled from rage to seething.

Loki looked to Odin and after a moment that felt more like an eternity, he nodded.

"I know you did not do that for me, Loki, but I thank you anyway." Odin topped up the goblets, although his was the only one with a discernable drop in the level.

"Heimdall has been keeping a watch on you, and I am sufficiently impressed with your behaviour that I will be removing the curse to limit your magic."

Loki blinked.

'Say thank you.' Lisa scolded.

'I will not.'

"Midgard has been attracting the interest of many realms and many foes of late, but it is not sufficiently advanced to truly defend itself from adversaries such as Tivan. It is my hope that you will return to Midgard with Thor and help him protect that realm, while also schooling Angrboða-"

"Her name is Lisa." They were the first words Loki had spoken to his father and despite the cutting tone, Odin simply nodded.

"While also schooling Lisa on what to means to be a member of the Aesir. Whether she wishes to become a warrior is up to her but regardless, she can learn much from you."

"It would be fun to have another fighter in the family," Thor smiled at her.

She managed a grimacing smile in return; she was just barely managing to keep up with these revelations.

"And what of our children, if we have any?" Lisa felt compelled to ask. Even with a human time frame, she had not felt her biological clock ticking, far from it in fact, she wanted to finish her PhD and start her own practice before starting a family. Now, knowing that she had thousands of years to live, children weren't even on her radar. Still, if her children were prophesised to be the cause of the apocalypse, she needed to know that they weren't going to be ripped from her, as her parents had been ripped from their people.

"I cannot say. We will be watching, we cannot ignore the danger but so long as they pose no threat, you and your kin will be left alone."

"I wish I could read your mind as you say that," she answered honestly.

Odin gave a mirthless laugh. "Yes, I dare say that you do. I am not consciously hiding my thoughts from you, child, but the Odinforce protects me from some higher forms magic."

"Is that why I could read your mind before but not now, because I've changed?"

"Yes, your telepathy evolved as your body did. The next king will inherit my Odinforce, also making him immune to many forms of telepathy."

'In that case,' she told Loki, 'I kind of hope you don't become king; you're an annoying git sometimes, but I'd miss having you in my head.'

'You say the sweetest things, Dear Heart.' Loki's lips twitched as he did his best to hide his smile.

'You know, I didn't used to be this sassy, I think your snark is rubbing off on me.'

'Good, it suits you.'

"There just remains one thing more for me to give you," Odin said to Loki. Teaching forward, he pulled a cloth wrapped parcel off the low table and onto his lap, pealing the fabric off with reverence. Inside was a book, about twelve inches high by eight wide and four deep. "This is Frigga's journal."

He looked at it with reverence for a long moment, until he seemed to remember that he had company. He passed the book to Loki, who opened it up to a blank page. A quick search revealed all the pages to be blank.

"She enchanted it," Odin informed him. "She always said that a wife needed a place to keep her private thoughts so I never tried to read it, not until her death. I have been unable to break the enchantment but if anyone can, it is you."

"You want me to decrypt mother's private thoughts for you?" he said with scorn.

"No, no, it seems obvious that the words in there are not meant for me. If you can break her spell, then clearly they were meant for you."

Lisa swore she saw tears in Loki's eyes but he quickly blinked them back.

"Well then, I believe that concludes our business." Before her eyes, Odin was donning the persona of a king once more. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"I need to get back," Lisa admitted. "My family… well, I have a lot of explaining to do."

"As you wish. Thor?"

"I should very much like to stay, Father. I can return tomorrow."

Lisa could see that it was a sign of trust on Thor's part, his way of saying that he was no longer Loki's guardian.

"Then that is settled." Odin got to his feet, his sceptre appearing in his hand as he stood. He looked from Loki to Lisa.

"Can I ask a question?" Lisa wanted to know.

"Of course."

"The bonding ritual, can it be undone? Like it was supposed to be after five years?"

She felt, Loki's pain as she asked that but she would explain when they were alone.

"It can be ended, but not undone. The emotions you have formed during the bond and the memories that were shared, will remain a part of you forever."

"Thank you… Allfather." She inclined her head.

"Then for now, this is goodbye. Be safe, my children."

Lisa wondered if she had been left out of the farewell, or he thought of her as one of his children now but before she could decide, Odin strode towards the door, Thor following after.

"Oh, and Loki?" Odin turned back and Loki looked over to him. "I did not alter the enchantments on Mjolnir, it came to you because you were worthy of it."

He turned and walked out.

Loki and Lisa stayed sitting, and she could sense his anger.

"You want to end our bond?" Loki wasn't speaking to her telepathically and he wouldn't even look at her.

"No, I don't, I-"

"If you did not want to end it, you would not have asked."

"Oh, Loki, that's not it at all. The truth is… well, I love you."

"You have a very odd way of showing it."

"We have a saying on Earth, 'If you love someone, set them free; if they come back, they're yours. If they don't, they never were.' If we stay together, I need it to be because you want to stay with me, not because some magic is keeping us together. Knowing that we can end this at any time, reassures me that we're together for the right reasons, because we both want it that way. So this is me setting you free, Loki; if you want to be rid of me, I won't argue."

Loki's frown slowly, almost grudgingly, turned in to a smile. "You know, for someone so young, you are surprisingly wise sometimes."

"Thanks… I think."

"My pleasure."

"Can we get back to telepathy now? Speaking aloud to you is a bit freaky."

'Of course, Dear One.'

'Thank you. And I know you don't like Earth and aren't looking forward to returning but please, I'd like to stay with my family and considering our lifespan, is a hundred years or so really too much to ask?'

'I suppose not, as long as we can travel sometimes; I don't believe I would survive an unbroken century on Midgard.'

'Sounds okay to me,' she smiled. 'Apparently I have nine new universes to explore.'

'Well, they're not universes, so much as worlds within the universe. Realms, we call them.'

'See,' she leaned over and stole a kiss. 'You're teaching me already'

Loki smirked. 'You had better be a good student, I'm not known for my patience as a teacher.'

'Is it wrong that that kind of turns me on? I think I might still have a catholic schoolgirl outfit from last Halloween'

Loki frowned and Lisa grinned.

Oh, Loki, you are in for a treat, my friend.'

'Friend?' He raised a quizzical eyebrow.

'Are we more than friends? Boyfriend doesn't seem to cut it, nor significant other or partner. And I mean, we only had sex once so what, lovers? Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits? Oh god, my life has become some cheesy rom-com, only with an Alien!'

'Technically, we're the same species now.'

'Well that clears everything up.'

Loki laughed, causing Lisa to elbow him.

'Hush, dear one,' he tried to sooth her.

'Oh, so we're 'dear ones' now, thanks, that explains everything.'

'If a definition means that much to you, the bonding ritual we went through is an ancient marriage rite.'

'Wait, what? We're married?' Her jaw might have gaped a little. 'I thought the people who said we were married were joking?'

'Technically, no, it isn't official; the marriage process has become a lot more complex since the days of magic rituals. Now the bonding is a quaint addition that only a few couples choose to go through. Morally however, yes, we're man and wife.'

Lisa frowned. 'Okay, no offence, you're hardly the most 'moral' of people.'

Loki laughed. 'So we use the terms husband and wife for now. In a hundred years, if you can still stand the sight of me, we can make it official.'

'Wow… I guess you really like long engagements.'

'On Asgard it sometimes takes years just to finalise the marriage contracts.'

'That sounds, uh, really cold.'

'True, but when you agree to spend a few years with someone, you need to be sure.'

'Okay, I have officially had enough surprises for one day. No more reveals, secrets, hidden agendas or anything else until at least next week.'

'Deal. Now, since we may not get a chance to return to Asgard for another few years, how about we adjourn to my former rooms and consummate our union, Wife?'

He stood up and offered her his hand.

'Good idea, but don't call me that,'

'As you wish.'

Loki swept Lisa into his arms, making her squeal a little in surprise, and carried her through the hallways, using magic to open and close the door to his chambers.

His rooms were sumptuous but Lisa was too busy kissing Loki to notice. He laid her down on his bed then crawled up the length of her body, leaving a trail of kisses on her skin as he magicked each item of clothing away.

'Okay,' she said with a breathy sigh. 'You can call me 'wife' sometimes.'

Lisa was full of trepidation as she watched the plane land from the observation deck. She turned to look at Loki who was standing beside her, holding her hand.

'They won't blame you,' he assured her.

'It feels like my fault. They made Sarah sick because of me, and they kidnapped her because I found her a cure. Plus, I've been lying to them. If I was Sarah, I think I might hate me.'

'Thankfully, I have your memories of them and if I am any judge of character, and I like to think that I am, she will simply be pleased to see you. Sentiment has its uses… sometimes.'

Loki was in his black suit, looking classy and understated. She was in jeans, a t-shirt top and a sports jacket. They made an incongruous couple but she thought it was better than them looking like rejects from Men in Black.

Stark had offered them the use of a car and access to a villa in the Catskills that he would rarely used. It was secure and had Jarvis to keep watch on them, should they need help or assistance.

Lisa had no idea what her family had been through but she knew they would need time alone to process everything, and she was grateful to Stark for his offer.

They watched as the small plane taxied to the terminal and when it got close, they headed outside to wait on the tarmac. Two uniformed SHIELD agents accompanied her father and sister off the plane, and both their faces lit up when they saw her, although her father looked more guarded.

Lisa dropped his hand and ran to them, while Loki followed at a more sedate pace.

Her sister and father both looked tired and frightened, but they enveloped Lisa in a tight, three-way hug.

"We missed you," Sarah said, starting to cry.

"I missed you too." Her own tears fell.

Loki almost regretted interrupting them but here, on a military base, was not the place for the discussions to come.

"We should go," he said, stepping closer. "There will be time for this once we arrive."

Lisa pulled away from the hug and swiped the tears from her eyes. "He's right. You're so close to freedom, we shouldn't fall at the final hurdle. Come on."

She led them to Stark's BMW and although she could tell they had hundreds of questions, they simply got in to the backseat. They didn't seem to have any luggage.

In her haste to get away, Lisa wheel spun the car and barely gave the guards time to raise the gate, then she turned onto the highway and broke every speed law known to man.

"Am I going the right way, Jarvis?" In her haste to get away, she had totally forgotten the directions to the cabin. Luckily for her, Tony liked to have Jarvis on hand everywhere.

Her family looked to Loki, thinking he must be Jarvis, so they were surprised when the car answered her in an electronic voice.

"Yes, you need to turn off this road in approximately five miles. I estimate that you are one hour and fifty two minutes from your destination."

"Thank you."

"Also, there is a police vehicle around the next bend, so I would recommend reducing your speed."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Lisa eased up in the accelerator, and not a moment too soon to avoid being caught in the speed trap.

She could hear her family wondering who Jarvis was, and who the severe looking man in the passenger seat was.

"Sorry guys, this is Loki, my-" she hardly knew what he was to her, she hadn't stopped to consider what to call him to her family. She went with what felt most accurate. "My husband. Kind of."

She could feel her family's shock and Loki turned to face them in the back. "Very pleased to meet you."

"Uh, yeah, you too," Sarah said, thoroughly nonplussed by events.

"Husband?" Tim asked.

"It's a long story," Lisa said. "Tony Stark has loaned us a villa; once we're there and settled, I'll explain everything, I promise."

The rest of the journey was made in silence, except for a few telepathic conversations with Loki.

As she arrived at the gates Jarvis opened them and after driving up an obscenely long driveway, they pulled up to the house, which was massive, probably at least six bedrooms.

"Welcome to Villa Maria," Jarvis said as the car stopped. "Would you care for some refreshments?"

"I'll take care of that, Jarvis." Lisa got out of the car, feeling as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. "Do you guys want to settle in first? Take a shower maybe? Or have a swim, there's a pool here apparently, and a sauna, or a drink? Tony has everything, I should know, I raided his bar at-"

Loki came around the car and grabbed her hand, looking into her eyes. Her family watched the silent communication, wondering what was happening.

"You're right," Lisa nodded to Loki, then turned to her family.

Tim and Sarah stood together, while Loki and Lisa faced them and although there was only four feet dividing them, it felt like a chasm to Lisa.

"Let's go inside," she said.

They were seated in the living area of the villa, with wonderful views out over the Catskill Mountains, which they all completely ignored.

After Lisa had fed and watered them, made tea and got a blanket for Sarah, she had finally run out of excuses and sat next to Loki, on the couch facing her family. He reached out and took her hand, giving her silent encouragement.

"I have no idea where to start," Lisa began. "I'm sorry I left you, I wasn't backpacking around the world, I wouldn't do that to you."

"Where were you?" Tim asked.

"To cut a long story short, I made a deal with some Asgardians, if I would do something for them, they would heal Sarah. Then SHIELD stuck their noses in and said that I couldn't tell you the truth, they said I had to keep it a secret from you, for you protection. It broke my heart to leave you both but if it cured Sarah, I thought it was worth your scorn. I thought SHIELD were the good guys, I didn't know they were going to-" her words were choked off by a sob. "This is all my fault, I'm so sorry."

Loki put an arm around Lisa and drew her to him as she cried.

"Where do you come into this?" Tim asked Loki.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am the reason Lisa was offered that deal, although it was brokered without my knowledge or permission."

"Why? What could you want with a human woman? And in the space of a few weeks, you're married? What is this, some mail-order bride deal?"

Loki could hear the dark undertones in her father's voice, and he couldn't blame him. Still, he had something more pressing on his mind at the moment.

"What is a mail-order bride, exactly?" he asked.

"I'll explain later," Lisa said, wiping her eyes but unwilling to leave Loki's arms.

'Shall I tell them?' Loki asked.

'If you don't mind.'

"There is a prophecy," he began. "It says that your daughter and I would marry. For various reasons, my father did not like this idea, and so he stripped Lisa's birth parents of their immortality and sent them to Midgard, to Earth, before she was born." He didn't think it was worth mentioning the children who might destroy the universe.

Tim and Sarah sat there for seemingly endless moments.

"Wait, does that mean you're an alien?" Sarah asked her sister.

Lisa's tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth so Loki answered for her.

"She is."

"Back up a second," Tim spoke up. "If your father wanted you two separated, why are you together now?"

"Following a transgression in Asgard-" he really wasn't going to go into the whole trying to conquer Midgard debacle either. "My mother thought that your daughter could be good for me, that having been raised with human values, she might teach me some humility, but my father wouldn't hear of it, not until my mother had died. Then he brokered the deal for me to come to earth and meet Lisa."

"What do you mean, brokered a deal?"

"We are aliens, so it is only polite to ask permission before coming to Midgard, especially with organisations such as SHIELD. My father learned that you were ill," Loki looked to Sarah, "and he used that as a bargaining chip to get Lisa to agree to the arrangement."

"You saved my life," Sarah said to Lisa, who wiped her eyes and sat up.

"Don't thank me yet," she said ominously. "What I haven't told you is that SHIELD knew I was an alien long before I did-"

"Because of your gift?" her father asked.

"No, because of my parents' autopsy, and because… I had apparently managed to heal myself a little after I was stabbed, which is why I lived." She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"But SHIELD didn't come around until you were twelve," he argued.

"That's what I thought too. I just thank god we weren't in the digital age then because if they had looked over my parents' autopsies any sooner, I think they would have taken me out of the care system then, but you adopted me before they could."

"But… I'm sorry, I just can't get my head around this." Tim was wondering if perhaps his daughter had suffered a psychotic break.

"I'm not crazy Dad. Tony Stark got me a copy of my file, so I can prove it all. SHIELD have been watching me since I was a child."

"Surely we would have known."

"Do you remember when Gran suddenly surfaced and wanted to nullify your adoption of me?" Lisa asked. "She was a SHIELD agent. So was my first boyfriend, Phil, and my some of my teachers, my dentist, my doctor; I've been surrounded by imposters."

She could remember that Phil had an unnatural interest in psychic phenomenon and was always talking about it, or asking her to try tests to see how psychic she was. Another fascination of his was faith healing; at the time she had used his interest in that as proof that he didn't know she was telepathic but looking back now, she could see that he had known about her healing herself as a child and was trying to either get her to admit it, or demonstrate her gifts.

She hadn't known about her healing then and even now, wasn't confident she could do it again. Luckily at that time, she had recently lost a friend over inadvertently reading her mind and accidentally answering unasked questions. It had made Lisa paranoid about making sure no one else ever found out.

"But with your mind reading, couldn't you tell who they were?" her father asked.

"Remember I once told you that some people's brains were too scrambled to read?"

Her father nodded.

"They were SHIELD agents, they had some kind of device that scrambled their brainwaves. That was actually one of the reason's I liked Phil, because I didn't have to hear all his inane thoughts, like with other boys." She paused, then swallowed down her fear as she prepared for the worse revelation.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, her voice trembling.

As Lisa looked up at her sister, her tears spilled over.

"SHIELD really wanted to study my healing ability. I read in my file that they staged a drowning at my swimming club, they were behind my school's yearly visits to the children's ward, and that car crash Phil and I were in was also staged, but nothing they had tried had worked so they hit closer to home, they… they gave you leukaemia. I'm so sorry."

The silence that fell over the group felt heavy and foreboding.

"That's not possible," her father eventually managed to say.

"Apparently, it is," she argued, her tears falling faster. She clung to Loki's hand as if he were a rock in a stormy sea. "They injected her with a retrovirus called…"

How could she forget what it was called?

'Ssh, relax, you're under pressure, that's all.' Loki stroked her back, trying to sooth her. "It was called human T-lymphotropic virus type I or HTLV-1. According to the records SHIELD kept, it causes T-cell leukaemia and lymphoma."

Lisa looked to her family, afraid of their reaction. "I'm sorry, Sarah, I'm so, so sorry."

Sarah, who was also crying by this point, launched herself at her sister in a rugby tackle type move. Loki tensed, expecting violence but instead Lisa found herself wrapped in a fierce hug.

"It's not your fault, Lis, you saved me! It's not your fault."

Both women were sobbing hard then and Loki shared a look with Tim, who seemed to have been struck dumb by these revelations.

"It seems I owe you my thanks for saving my daughter," he nodded towards Loki.

"The credit for that beings to Lisa, I had nothing to do with brokering the deal that saved Sarah."

Tim looked away.

When the sisters separated, they sat side by side, their arms still around each other. Lisa looked to her father, who kept his eyes averted.

"Dad?" Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at her father. Slowly, he turned to look at her, his expression pained. "Daddy?"

"Your mother," he choked out, then seemed to think that the term needed clarification. "My wife, did they…?"

"No, Dad, that was a car accident, SHIELD had nothing to do with Mum's death, I swear."

Sarah held her sister tighter, as if to compensate for their father's aloofness. His thoughts were too confused to predict his reaction.

"Dad!" Sarah yelled. "She's still Lisa, the girl you and Mum raised, the girl who I grew up with, the girl who hit Mandy Rice when she tried to bully me, and who helped me paint my nails and taught me to do my make-up, and who shaved her head the first two times I had chemo…" Her words trailed off as her tears threatened to overwhelm her, but a squeeze from Lisa helped her to stay on track. "Not only did she find a way to cure me, she got us both out of that awful place."

"Look," Tim sat forward, his elbows on his knees and looked to Lisa "I know that being an alien seems very exciting and it could explain your telepathy but, well, have you tried not being an alien?"

Lisa did the head tilt and have him 'the look', the one that asked if he was being serious.

"I mean it, Lisa, you were human for twenty eight years, you can be human again."

"Dad, I was never human, I just superficially looked human. My telepathy is alien, my lack of serious illness is down to being alien, my healing myself after I was stabbed is because I'm an alien. I am an alien, Dad, I always have been, I just didn't know it."

"God, that sounds like it comes straight from the Biggots Handbook." Sarah rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with her father's reaction. "Stop acting like a racist and give your daughter a hug."

Tim got to his feet and with some prodding from her sister, Lisa stood up and met him half way.

"You'll always be my daughter, Lis, and I'll always love you but, this is going to take some time to come to terms with." Hesitantly, he raised his arms and just as hesitantly, Lisa stepped into his embrace.

Sarah caught Loki's eye and grinned at him. Unfortunately, he didn't feel anywhere near as optimistic as she seemed to be.

As the embrace continued, both parties seemed to relax into it and Sarah grabbed Loki's hand, trying to drag him from the room. He gave her a suitably derisive look but she was unperturbed, simply pulling harder.

'Go,' Lisa told him. 'She just wants to give us some time alone, and get to know you. Expect the third degree.'

Reluctantly, Loki allowed her to lead him, in a roundabout way, to the kitchen, whereupon she dropped his hand and began sorting through the cupboards. Once she had found the tea and set the kettle boiling, she jumped up on the kitchen side with a bag of crisps and crossed her legs.

"So, you're an alien?" she asked, offering him the bag of crisps, which he declined.

"Some would say I'm a god."

"Can you walk on water?"

"I suppose."

"Turn water into wine?"

"Why wouldn't you just conjure wine?"

"Good point. Can you 'conjure' enough food to feed five thousand?"

"I can't fathom a reason I would want to, but yes."

"Fair enough," Sarah laughed. "So you're like, married to Lisa or something?"

"According to the ancient traditions of Asgard, yes, but it's not legally binding, here or at home."

"So it's like a trial marriage?"

"I think of her as my wife."

"So why don't you want to marry her?"

"I didn't say that I don't. However I find the Midgardian need to label everything odd. Not everything is quantifiable, especially in terms of relationships."

"But you are sleeping together, right?"

Loki realised she was testing him, perhaps trying embarrass him. "Yes, she's a very adventurous partner in that respect."

Sarah was the one who blushed. "Wow, talk about TMI!"

Loki frowned.

"Too Much Information," Sarah explained.

Loki smirked. "Well, you opened that particular door, you can hardly blame me for walking through it."

"Fair enough. So what does being an alien mean? Can you do any cool stuff?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, you're the alien, you tell me."

Loki held his hand out, generating a green flame that hovered over his palm, until he snuffed it out.

"Wow, okay, that's a pretty cool party piece."

Despite her rather uncouth and immature attitude, there was something charming about the girl, and clearly she was far more open minded than her father. He decided to do something nice for her since not only was she import to Lisa, he needed to make at least an effort to get along with her family, and she seemed like the easier one to please.

'What does your sister like?' he asked Lisa.

'Um, I don't know, Zac Efron, the Twilight books, kittens, the usual stuff.'

'I was thinking more of a gift.'

'Bribing my family into liking you, good plan,' she laughed. 'She's always wanted a pair of Jimmy Choo boots.'

'Can you show me?'

Lisa looked into Sarah's head and showed Loki the memory of the boots she wanted.

She was still hugging her father in the living room, as if they were stuck in that moment, unwilling for reality to intrude, as it inevitably would when they separated.

They were shocked out of the embrace by Sarah's scream and while Lisa wasn't worried, her father clearly thought that the arrogant, alien, would-be son-in-law was harming his youngest, and dashed from the room. Lisa followed but at a more sedate pace.

Before she reached the kitchen, she could already feel Loki's distaste and as she stood the kitchen doorway, she couldn't help but smile at the scene before her.

Sarah was literally hanging from Loki like a barnacle, her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, one Jimmy Choo boot gripped in each fist as she kissed his face. She was still squealing "Thank you," and "I love you," in between kisses.

"Please lower your voice, you might shatter the glass," Loki said dryly.

To be honest, Lisa thought that she was lucky that Loki hadn't turned her into a toad.

'Don't tempt me.' He glared at Lisa.

"Get off him!" Tim cried. "For god's sake, Sarah, have some decorum."

"Leave her alone, Dad," Lisa chided. She knew his bad mood came from her revelations, but he wasn't the only one having a hard time dealing with the new state of affairs, and taking his anger out on Sarah was not acceptable.

His words had the desired effect however, and Sarah ceased clinging to Loki, only now she danced around the room.

"Why don't you go and pick out a bedroom while I make the tea," Lisa suggested. "We'll be here for a few days at least."

"Can I change into my boots?"

"Of course you can. And Tony said that he and Pepper keep some clothes kept here that you can use, at least until we can get some more."

Lisa ran from the room, leaving Tim alone with them.

"I'll just go… help her," he said, ducking out.

Lisa turned away and began spooning tea leaved into the pot Sarah had found

'Are you all right?' Loki asked, coming up behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders.

'I am,' she assured him, although she wasn't sure he believed her. 'He's not usually like that, he's very calm and mild mannered normally. He'll come around, he's just a bit stuck in his ways, that's all, he has trouble coming to terms with change.'

'He seems rather elderly, if you don't mind me saying. And your sister seems younger than her years.'

She turned around and put her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

'Right on both counts. By the time Mum and Dad gave up on having a family naturally, they were too old to adopt, there's a lot of competition for new born babies so they fostered older children instead, and ended up wanting to adopt us. As for Sarah, she's been ill, on and off, for almost five years, and my Dad tended to baby her. She also missed a lot of school, she took her GCSE's but she relapsed before she could start her A'levels.'

'How old is she?'

'Eighteen, but she acts more like fourteen, it's like she's stuck as the age she was diagnosed. I'm sure whatever SHIELD did to her won't have helped that.'

'That's not your fault,'

'I know.'

'You don't sound like you believe it though.'

Lisa gave a long sigh and Loki leaned back and put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up.

'Nothing that has happened thus far is your fault, it's all other people manipulating you and those around you for their own gain. I should know, I've manipulated enough situations to my advantage over the years.'

'Thank you.' She offered him a weak smile. 'You don't have to stay if you don't want to, we'll be fine here.'

'And where else would I go?' he asked.

'Stark has warmed up to you a lot, I'm sure you could stay at the Tower.'

'Perhaps I should have said, where else would I want to be.'

'Okay but if you're staying, no turning my family into amphibians.'

Loki rolled his eyes. 'Very well, if you insist.'

Dinner that evening was a tense affair, with everyone walking on eggshells for fear that the tension, simmering just below the surface, would erupt.

"So," her father said when he could stand the silence no longer. "What do you do, Loki?"

"Do?"

"Yes, your profession, or job title?"

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it in those terms but I suppose, God of Mischief and Prince of Asgard."

"Right… Well… What exactly does that entail?"

Loki decided not to go into his activities in recent years.

"Keeping the peace between the realms, popping down to Midgard every now and then to keep up my reputation here."

"And what does keeping the peace involve, exactly?"

"Mostly fighting, battles, training, more battles. Basically, just lots and lots of fighting."

"Right. And will Lisa be joining you in these battles?"

"I will begin training her, she needs to learn how to defend herself, but whether or not she chooses to become a warrior is up to her. For the time being however, we will reside on Midgard protecting this realm. It is unlikely I will be called upon to protect any other realms."

"Right." Tim sipped his wine and silence fell upon them once more.

"What are the other realms like?" Sarah asked.

"Well, there are nine in total," Loki began to explain. "Yours we call Midgard. Asgard is described as a shining city in the sky, which it is, I've also heard it described as a paradise, although your sister likened it to something called Trump Tower. Jotunheim is mostly an icy wasteland, home to the Frost Giants, while the Storm Giants live in the more temperate regions. Muspelheim is the realm of fire…"

Sarah hung on every word he said, taking everything in. Tim sat silently, almost sullenly.

Once Loki had finished, Lisa tried to inject some levity into proceedings.

"How do you feel like a shopping trip tomorrow? You have no clothes here and we can stay for as long as we want. Tony tells me that the local town has a lot of nice shops."

"We can't afford to be shelling out for a new wardrobe," Tim argued.

"What about the lottery win I left for you guys?" Lisa asked. Her payment from SHIELD had been disguised as a win on the National Lottery. It was also, supposedly, how she could afford to take a year off to go backpacking around the world.

"That's your money," he said darkly.

"I left that money to make life easier for you and Sarah."

"Money isn't everything. Besides, I need to get back to work."

"I'm sorry Dad, I should have said something, but SHIELD forged your resignation, I don't know if you'll still have a job to go back to."

A heavy silence descended once more.

"So, how do you know Tony Stark?" Sarah asked Lisa.

"Loki saved his life," Lisa beamed, proud to tell her family of Loki's heroism.

'Hardly heroism, and I didn't do it for Stark.'

'No, but you did protect him from Thor, and that was a heroic thing to do.'

Despite a few attempts to revive it, the conversation died after that and everyone chose to turn in early.

Lisa visited Sarah to begin helping her to deal with her experiences at the hands of SHIELD but thankfully, while their tests had been intrusive and they had been denied their freedom, they didn't seem to have been needlessly cruel to her. Lisa probably wasn't the best person to act as therapist to her sister, but she would find someone she trusted once they were settled, in whatever capacity that may take.

While Lisa visited with her sister, Loki sat with his mother's journal and tried to decipher the magic being used. His first, admittedly weak, attempt earned him a paragraph of text on the first page.

You're going to have to do a lot better than that to learn my secrets, Loki, but I trust that you are up to the challenge.

The pang of grief he felt upon reading her words surprised him with its intensity. Of course she knew that he would be the one to try and read her diary and not only didn't she mind, she welcomed it and challenged him to do better.

He missed her and more than anything, he wished that he could take his final words to her back.

'Are you okay?' Lisa appeared in the door to their room.

'No.' Loki favoured her with a bitter sweet smile. 'But one day soon, I think I might be.'