Chapter Fourteen: Starstruck

Natasha lended her full attention to the doorstep as Graham walked out onto it.

"He's looking right at us" Barton noted, resulting in a quick shush from her. He watched as the man in question grabbed the mail and strolled back inside.

"He only looked over here for a moment," she contributed once he was out of sight.

"She must really like him." Natasha merely glanced at him, urging him to continue. "Well, he's still here. You said they just started up this love affair or whatever, right?"

"Yes, that could have been a lie to spare Agent Barrows' feelings. He's quite enamored with this Eve girl. She's pretty, I guess they grew up together. See, there are things that make sense and then things that don't add up. I can't speak to her personality, I can only speak to what I would do."

"What would you do?"

"At what stage in this mess?"

"Someone's, you know, enamored," he borrowed her word, "with you, but you're into someone else."

"I wouldn't lie, that much is true."

"But you're so good at lying," he teased

She smiled at him. "I only use those skills on bad guys now."

Elsewhere

Eve tucked her knees underneath herself and pulled her bra strap back up almost instantaneously. "Watched?" She inquired, conveying a vague, unconvincing nervousness. This news made her feel safe. It brought her back into the reality of her predicament. Danger, Will Robinson.

"SHIELD agents. How did you get in contact with them? What have you done?" Loki's face grew more agitated by the moment.

"What? I didn't...I couldn't have!"

"That's why you were being so friendly. Trying to give them an opportunity to come set up surveillance, recording devices and the like."

"All I did was open my book…" she repeated weakly. And practically begged you to take my clothes off, her mind added.

"You know what we're going to do now?" He asked, but it didn't sound like a question. It sounded like a threat. She opted out of answering, her only guesses involved violence. "We're going to go out. Give them a nice, comfortable window to come install their technology. Then when we come back, we'll put on a convincing show for them. They'll be satisfied that we're just another mortal couple."

Eve tried to hide her utter disdain for this idea. She doubted her own ability to watch her every word, play a part in some scheme. She was the exact type of person to say just the wrong thing-resulting in her death in this case. This tightened the rope around her neck. It didn't help that he was already suspicious of her. In a way, she was flattered that he considered her even remotely able to pull off something so sneaky.

"Well?" He barked. "Let's go."

"Uh, yeah, okay," she managed to say. She got up and travelled to the kitchen to grab her car keys off of the hook. "I mean, where would you want to go?"

"We don't have to actually go anywhere, we can just leave the house for a bit." He followed her to her car and hesitated as she opened the driver's side door. "I should operate the vehicle," he held his hand out for her keys.

She turned to him, flustered. "Have you ever driven a car before?"

"I have handled crafts far more complicated than this contraption."

"Just let me drive. No funny business, I swear. Funny business hasn't done me any favors."

"Maybe you're just bad at it," he scoffed before retreating.

"At what? Funny business?" She chuckled and got in the car. "I majored in Funny Business when I went to college."

As he settled in, he looked honestly puzzled. "Your universities offer courses in-"

"Nope," she interjected, "nope, nope, nope."

"They why would you say-"

"Are there no comedians on Asgard? People who tell jokes?" She started the car and began to back up.

"There are. The thing is, they're actually funny."

Her foot hit the brakes and she stared at him in disbelief, then considered driving herself to the nearest burn center. Burned by the God of Mischief-each day this week came with a new low.

"Go that way," he instructed, pointing in the direction away from where the agents were parked. She obliged and cruised down the road, trying to think of scenic routes they could take. Nothing came to mind. She rolled down her window just slightly. The air felt amazing after days in her house.

"How long are we going to be driving aimlessly for?"

"A while. I'll tell you when to turn around."

"Do you want to listen to music?"

He didn't even bother to answer her. He looked at the passing houses and occasional trees with a stoic lack of interest. Surely nothing here could compare to whatever wonders were on Asgard, it showed on his face.

"Say," she started up again, she could feel his eyes rolling even though she wasn't looking his way anymore, "that redhead that came with Sam earlier. Was that the same woman who fought with the Avengers? I mean, is she an Avenger?"

"Yes."

"Wow!" She exclaimed. She felt like she could spread out, be more open. For some reason, she felt like he wouldn't kill her while she was in control of the sedan. Her heartbeat sped up a bit at red lights, though. "I feel a little starstruck."

"Starstruck?"

"You know, when you-well, okay, maybe you don't know, since you're a prince or whatever-but when you see someone famous or noteworthy. You get kind of, I guess, fluttery and dizzy."

"It sounds like an iron deficiency," he sounded incredibly bored.

"Okay, so you can't relate. Doesn't matter, still feels cool."

"Do I make you feel starstruck?"

She looked at him and he was staring out the front window. He didn't seem at all invested in the question he'd presented. To Eve, this was a good thing. He wasn't trying to trick her or catch her off guard, he had nothing to gain or lose. He was simply making conversation. "In a very different way," she answered. She took a step back from everything. The threats, the way her house had now become a prison, and all the physical contact she'd shared with this man. If she could make it out alive, this would all make for a pretty kick ass story. Only thing was, no one would believe her. Except for Sam. Sam always believed her. Maybe that's how he knew something was wrong without a shadow of a doubt.

An hour of small talk-very small talk-went by and all she had decided was to drive away from the city. At the very least, the conversation was pleasant. Loki's aura of boredom had lifted when the area grew more rural, it seemed to intrigue him rather than disgust him as her suburbs had appeared to. They drove past a farm that had a large sign advertising Collie puppies. She grinned and turned around almost instantly.

"What are you doing?" He asked more calmly than she'd expected.

"Trust me. No funny business." She pulled into the long driveway and scanned the land. She caught the sight of an older woman who began to walk over to the car as she pulled it off to the side on the dirt.

"What are we doing here? I don't trust you." Even so, he didn't sound overly worried.

Eve ignored him boldly and exited the car. "Hi there," she greeted as the woman approached. Loki could tell by the way she spoke that she didn't know this woman and it lessened his concerns slightly.

"Hello," she reached out to shake Eve's hand, but drew it back swiftly to remove her gardening glove. She laughed warmly. "Sorry about that," she said with a smile.

"No worries," Eve grinned back before slamming her door shut. She walked around to Loki's side and opened his door for him. "Coming?" she asked.

Loki stepped out, his mouth pressed into a hard line. Even though he looked like someone else, he still felt oddly vulnerable out in the elements. Eve's casual attitude wasn't helping. He still wasn't convinced that she had nothing to do with the SHIELD agents showing up. He couldn't think of a way she could have meddled, but that was exactly what worried him. He shook the woman's hand and said nothing.

"Right this way," she said before leading them behind the garage. "They're all fenced in, they're very well behaved. Hop on over and make some friends, I'll be along in a moment," she stepped away to take a phone call but kept them in her sight.

Eve was the first to launch herself over the low wooden fence and Loki noted her every motion, admiring her flexibility. He followed her and watched as she pulled one of the pups effortlessly into her arms, cooing and petting it as the creature licked her anywhere it could reach. There was something different about her out here. Maybe it was the fact that there was a witness just yards away, and she was unafraid. She set the puppy down and tended to another that was tugging at her pant leg. She chased it and let it chase her, laughing all the while. The fresh air was doing wonders for her, and there were no eggshells at her feet now.

As much as he loved keeping her in a cage, threatening her into submission and all that-there was a different emotion coming to a slow boil as he looked on. They'd shared an idle conversation on the way here, something he enjoyed despite the pointlessness of it. Up until now, he'd lumped all mortals together as the same, ignorant creature. The girl before him had proven to be the same as his preconceived notions in a lot of ways. She was easily frightened and manipulated, she was headstrong and foolish. Yet her foolishness at times was drawn from her desire to survive. Even though she had next to no one in her life, she wanted to go on. She had a mother in rehabilitation and a best friend she would always end up disappointing, no source of income anymore and a man from another realm holding her captive. Yet she wanted to go on.

Loki approached her, she had a different puppy in her arms now. The animal was certainly adorable and eager, tail wagging impossibly fast. He put a hand on the fur on top of its head and pet it delicately. When he saw Eve smiling as wide as he'd ever witnessed, he wanted nothing more than to keep the image fresh in his mind forever. He wanted her to be happy. His mind flooded with thoughts of Thor and Jane. He had always thought it strange that he would become smitten with such an ordinary being. He was beginning to understand. He silenced his past concerns, his fear of repercussions and kissed her softly on the cheek. He pressed his lips to her skin and held the back of her head to draw her in. When he pulled away, her mouth had fallen into a vacant, shocked expression. Her eyes were wide and hungry-he couldn't tell if for an explanation or for more. When that intoxicating smile spread back across her lips, he knew.

A/N:

It's kind of challenging to slowly alter the nature of their relationship, what with Loki being so stubborn and full of angst and all that. This chapter was especially hard, given that it was always planned to be a transition chapter. Then this lucky, silly idea of them coming across puppies came into my head out of nowhere. For some reason it seemed to work, and as I continued to press the idea it clicked together really neatly. Plus, who doesn't like puppies?

Random: I watched a movie yesterday called Only Lovers Left Alive, where Tom Hiddleston plays a vampire. What was really cool about it for me is that his wife's name is Eve, so the character is saying how much he loves her and such. Every time he said her name I got this irrationally happy feeling. If any of you guys have seen this movie, I'd looooove love love for you to message me so we can talk about it. I keep flip flopping about whether I liked it or not, whether I was in the right mental place to enjoy it, etc. At the very least, you get to see him naked. No one I know has seen it and I've got all this pent up energy and things I want to say about it. Do you guys get that way? Movies sometimes hit me way too hard and then stick under my skin for weeks. I feel too much. Writer's curse, I think.

Anyway! Thanks as always for reading, it means the world to me!