A/N: You don't have to read this you can continue to the story, this is a just a quick word for your sponsor ;)

I think of Loki as a complex character who has lived with some painful issues for a very long time. I want to see him recover from those issues in any way possible. One of the possible roads to recovery for him is for him to meet and fall in love with a girl who can heal him. However, I think the falling in love part would take a really long time for him because you can't love someone without trusting them and Loki doesn't trust anyone-period. I wish I had formatted this story a little better because we're already at chapter twenty, but I think we have another twenty chapters ahead of us. I want Loki to take his time falling in love with whoever that may be- remember guys It may not be Dea, but her character was an important part of the story and an important part of Loki's steps towards recovery. Hopefully, she'll be in the future chapters- you just never know!

…Okay so now that I can feel the collective angry stares of the internet I'll be getting on my way.

Please read and review I like to think of my Chapters as collaborations between my readers and I. Also, please know, I love writing this story!

Special Thanks to my reviewers: Pint-sized She-Bear, Kneels4Loki, Poodle warriors, Malin-Peersen, WarriorDragonElf54, Wolfstar04, amakitkat, nobodytweeted, Guest 1, LadyLor, Grey Vipointe, Guest 2, Candy Flaps, Guest 3, Marana1, Guest 4, Warpaintwarcry.

Malin-Pedersen- Tease is one word for it ;) Cliffhangers should stop soon, they're not my usual style it's just that every chapter is full of juicy goodness and I want to keep the chapters on the shorter side.

WarriorDragonElf54- I had to look up ftw! I feel so old! For the win? Hey, I'm rooting for them too, I just can't make any promises….Loki won't let me

Wolfstar04- Your wish= my command!

LadyLor- If that's how you feel about cliffhangers then I highly suggest you rest up before reading this chapter : )

Grey Vipointe- Thank you! You always shower me with praise! I always look forward to your reviews, now here's a big cookie!

::throws chocolate chip cookie::

Guest 4- Feisty she may be but Loki is so stubborn! He never lets me write what I want!

WarPaintWarCry- I loved this response! So creative! I didn't know whether you were threatening or praising me, one moment I was happy the next I was scared…it's okay that last line scored big points!

In one fluid movement Thor placed his free hand on Amedea's hip and used it to pull her body swiftly into his own.

Gasping in surprise, she let out a little shriek of shock.

When the hell did his hand get down there?

As she openly gasped, Thor's tongue snuck out of his mouth and crept into her own and although Dea was distracted she was almost positive she heard Thor moan.

And just for a moment it felt kind of nice. Thor's mouth was warm and inviting and he held her up against his chest almost protectively. She could tell just from this singular kiss that a night spent in Thor's bed would be filled with sensual touches and intimate interludes.

As Thor moaned once more into her now open mouth, Dea felt herself responding him, despite her best efforts. Very slowly she moved her mouth against Thor's and for a mere moment she actually allowed her eyelids to flutter close.

This was exactly why Dea never saw Loki as he entered the room.

For a moment Loki merely stared at the pair, drinking in the sight before him.

Of Course

Should it surprise him? Even as a child Thor never let Loki enjoy any of his toys, he either broke or hogged every treasure they discovered in their boyhood. Why would things be different now?

Loki's heart was racing, but he knew not why.

Moments ago upon awakening he had sensed another presence in the house other than that vile maiden's in front of him. He knew not who was there but it did not matter, she was there and someone was threatening her. She had sent for him and he had come, running to her to protect her.

He snorted in his mind.

It would seem she needs no protection now

Thor's actions came as no surprise to Loki. It was simply Thor's way to take that which he coveted with no mind or mercy for anyone else.

It was Amedea whose actions stirred something deep within the God of Mischief. His innards churned as he watched them.

Thor had already laid siege to all things that Loki held dear. The love of their parents, the glory of battle, the throne; the very people of Asgard sang Thor's praises and cast Loki into shadow. Now he too must have her.

Then let her be nothing

Let them both turn to dust beneath his grinding fist. Rage overcame Loki and it swelled up from a secret place that he rarely acknowledged, a dark side, a hidden side… his Jötunn self.

He didn't notice the way the temperature in the room suddenly dropped or the way his skin began to peak through in slivers of violent blue. He noticed only them, only that pair, Thor's lips on hers and as he felt the tidal wave of fury sweep over him, he did nothing to stop it.

Blue hands came up and grasped Thor easily tossing him aside.

Even through the layers of Thor's armor he would still have freezer burn from Loki's touch.

Loki stood before Amedea fully transformed, seething red eyes replaced sparkling green and his pale pallor was nothing but endless blue.

She gasped in surprise as Thor was ripped away from her, starring at the creature before her. Fear welled up inside of her, Thor might have come in peace but she had a feeling the big blue life sized smurf in front of her had not.

She looked him over, he staring at her and she staring at him. He didn't make a move to attack her and Dea was struck by how sad he looked. He was looking down at her with a face caught somewhere between a sneer and some sort of sad wry smile.

Maybe it's all part of being blue?

Looking at the creature before her, something suddenly occurred to her. He was dressed in Aesir armor; more specifically, Loki's armor.

Loki?!

"Loki-?"

Anything she might have said or might have tried to say was cut off as, with a resounding roar of rage, Thor regained his footing and came running towards Loki.

He tackled smurf Loki and together they wrestled around on the ground.

"Loki!"

Thor placed his hands carefully on Loki's head, using his own hair he picked up Loki's skull and smashed it harshly against the wooden floorboards of Dea's bedroom.

The force of the smash was so great that Dea could hear the wood of the floorboards cracking under the weight of Loki's head. She gasped to see such a sight, but Loki seemed unaffected.

"Show me your true face!"

"This is my truth face," seethed Loki beneath him.

Loki's hands went for Thor's neck, icy fingers already giving off the promise of a frozen jugular. As Thor instinctively shot back out of Loki's reach, Loki drew up one leg (rather gracefully Dea noted) and kicked Thor hard in the abdomen, sending him flying backwards.

Thor landed hard against Dea's bedroom wall and as he crashed through it Dea wondered how much of her house would be left when this was over.

Thor was up again in not time, bits of plaster and sheet rock crumbling off of him as he stalked towards Loki.

Dea turned her eyes back to Loki who was once again on his feet.

She understood now, she had read about this. Loki was part Jötunn. That must have been why there was confusion among the various Norse myths, Thor was Odin's real son and Loki was his adopted Jötunn baby.

And Thor can't touch him when he's in his Jötunn form

Dea heard a strange noise and realized it was Thor calling for Mjölnir. The shiny hammer whizzed into his hands at his beckoning and he stared menacingly at Loki.

"You should not have come here," Loki hissed.

"I had no choice. Please Brother, I do not wish to do this."

"Oh poor Thor," He whispered sarcastically.

Loki turned his head to the side, almost mockingly.

He punctuated his statement by forming an ice shard in his open palm and throwing it expertly at Thor, wielding the ice as easily as he would a blade.

Thor swung his hammer through the air and shattered the ice with relative ease, but Thor swung too hard. The sheer velocity of his swing sent shards of ice flying through the air, like tiny glass bullets.

"FUCK!"

Both brothers turned to the forgotten girl who stood cowering against her bedroom wall. Beside her expletive all that could be heard were light whimpers as she sunk slowly to the floor, leaving a glistening trail of blood behind her.

Adrenaline coursed through Dea as she became aware of what had happened. An extremely large and extremely jagged piece of ice had flown through the air and right into her shoulder. It was on her right side and if she had to venture a guess, somewhere near her rotator cuff, nestled between the fleshy parts where her breast met her arm.

"Imbecile! Look what you've done!"

"Who was it that invaded her home to begin with?!"

"Uh, fucking excuse me, a little help here!"

Are you kidding me right now?!

Were they really arguing at a time like this? Dea had the flat of her palm pressed against her open wound. She was thankful it wasn't gushing blood, but holy mother of God did it hurt! She heard rather than saw Thor and Loki approach her, one kneeling on either side of her. Under different circumstances she might have actually enjoyed that setup. Yet, as a fresh surge of warm wetness gushed up into her waiting palm, she ignored her baser instincts.

Loki sat on the side of her that was injured and Thor came and knelt next to her on the other side. Dea couldn't help the glare she sent his hammer as it dropped next to him with a dull thud.

He couldn't have just moved? No, he had to play baseball with the big chunk of fucking ice

As she turned her head towards Loki, Dea noted that he was transformed into his normal self. She was sweating now, large beads of sweat pooled on her forehead, the pain was intense and she tried to stay calm.

"Remove your hand."

"What are you going to do?"

Her mouth was so dry.

"I need only to assess the injury, I will not harm you."

Loki was cool, calm and collected as Dea removed her bloodied hand.

She didn't want to look and turned her head drastically away, fearing the onslaught of pain that was sure to come. However, Loki was gentle; he tenderly moved the flimsy strap of her shirt aside and surveyed the wound, grateful she was not wearing sleeves. While she looked away she was surprised to see Thor begin to move towards her. She was facing his direction, but doing her best to not look directly at him. Thor picked up her free hand, covered in her sweat and blood and held it in both of his.

"Be at ease. Loki is truly a skilled healer and has a gentle touch."

How would you know?

Thor wasn't on her list of favorite people right now; if he hadn't of stormed into her bedroom and kissed her then Loki wouldn't have gone all suicidal smurf on them and she wouldn't be bleeding out in her bedroom.

For his part Loki heard the reassurances that Thor uttered to the girl and wondered if his compliment was sincere or just a way to make Amedea feel at ease. His eyes dropped momentarily to their hands and he felt some sort of sharp pain in his chest. Doing his best to ignore it Loki bent his concentration back to the task at hand.

The junction between Amedea's bare shoulder and her breast was covered in warm sticky blood. The shard of ice which had impaled her shoulder was large. It was at least three fingers wide and two fingers long. Loki could see the shards embedded in her flesh. Upon impact many of the smaller pieces of the ice ball had broken off and shattered, wiggling their way into the meat of her bones.

"We have to take out the shards."

It was simple statement, non-emotional and factual.

Panic coursed heavily through Dea.

"Can't we just wait for them to melt?"

It sounded like a good idea to her. A strange sensation overtook her and she looked down to see Thor's thumb stroking the top of her hand tenderly.

Your fault, bad Thor!

She looked back at Loki, fear clearly written on her face.

"I will do it as quickly as possible and it will only take a moment. Were you to go to a mortal hospital they would surely perform surgery."

A fresh wave of nausea uncurled in her belly.

Yea, surgery for which I would be drugged and unconscious.

"Don't you have some…I don't know Asgardian band aids or something?"

"Do you trust me Amedea?"

Her breathing was frantic, but she calmed some as she looked at him. She stared into his eyes and saw no malice or hatred there.

Biting her lip, she didn't hesitate.

"Yes Loki, I trust you."

Loki smiled almost tenderly at her and used his now normal hand to tenderly stroke her hair off of her forehead.

"Look away sweet one and I shall fix this."

Dea trembled under his touch from either pain or pleasure she couldn't decide.

Thor watched the whole scene in muted fascination.

Amedea took a deep breath and turned her head.

Thor's eyes were waiting for her. He stared openly at her, open blue eyes searching her face, studying her, trying to find her secrets, who was she? His obvious scrutiny of her momentarily distracted her…. until….

Loki held up his hand to her wound, open palm facing the shards. His hand morphed again, turning blue, but he did not touch her. Instead he brought his hand so close to her shredded skin that he could feel the heat emanating from the wound. Concentrating on his task, Loki summoned his power and focused on the girls wound. He willed himself to make a connection with each individual shard inside of her shoulder, forcing himself, extending his power, until he could sense that every single shard was accounted for. When he knew that they were all in his control, Loki readied himself. He knew this was going to cause her pain, but it had to be done. Summoning his strength, Loki stiffened his hand and in one fluid motion he whipped his hand back through the air; traveling in the opposite direction of Dea's shoulder. As if they were magnetized and Loki's hand was the master magnet, the shards flew out of her shoulder, little bursts of blood flying into the air after them.

Dea let out a silent scream which ended in a choked sob. She bowed her head, hair sticking to her soaking wet face. All the while Thor held her hand.

As Loki watched her suffering, her cheeks red, her face wet with perspiration, he did not understand himself. Normally Loki took great pleasure in bringing pain to those who had wronged him. Surely this girl, who had thrown herself so freely at Thor, had issued Loki the ultimate insult. Yet Loki did not find himself wishing for her demise; moreover he found that he could derive no true pleasure from her misery.

Strange

In his musings Loki relinquished his concentrative hold on the shard fragments and they clattered to the floor, scattering like broken glass. Loki came back to himself and stood, instantly distancing himself from the girl before him. Thor still held her hand and Loki did not like the way his guts twisted at such a sight. He turned away from them, cape flourishing behind him as he did so.

Amedea felt a wave of air hit her face, it felt good against her heated skin. For a moment she thought it was a trick, a cool breeze created by Loki's Jötunn side to comfort her. However as her eyes left Thor's face she was surprised to see Loki was standing already and even had his back to her.

To anyone else it may have seemed like nothing, but to Dea it was something more. He looked almost…

Indifferent

As she stared at Loki's back she felt Thor move away from her side.

"Brother."

Thor approached Loki and Dea inwardly prayed this time it would go better.

Loki did not turn to face Thor, but instead gave him a sidelong glance over his shoulder.

"You must come home, to Asgard."

"And if I refuse?"

Still Loki did not turn and face Thor.

"Then Brother I call you coward."

BAD THOR!

Dea saw Loki turn on Thor rapidly, piercing green eyes aiming daggers at the blonde God's head. Thor didn't give Loki the chance to speak.

"All of Asgard thinks you dead!"

Thor spit out the words angrily and Dea watched the tumult of emotions as they scattered over his face.

Loki chuckled darkly.

"Do they mourn?"

It was almost a sneer.

He has such hatred inside of him

"We all do!"

Dea remained on the floor, looking up at the two brothers. Hard faces and flashing eyes, they seemed totally absorbed in each others presence. Dea hated to interrupt…

This would be so interesting if I wasn't sitting against a wall, bleeding to death!

"Excuse me, if you guys don't mind. I'm kind of still bleeding over here."

Both Gods turned their gazes reluctantly towards the injured girl.

Thor was the first to approach her.

"Fair maiden, allow me to assist you."

Thor bent down next to her side and began to help her stand.

She stood slowly, testing the strength of her legs. She was wobbly but managed to stand strong. It wasn't until she looked down to where she had been sitting and saw the puddle of blood that she felt dizziness overcome her. Dea swooned, gripping on the wall for support. She felt faint. In one fail swoop Thor scooped her off of her feet and Dea wasn't sure if it was Thor or the blood loss that made her stomach flop.

He's attractive, there's no denying that… but it should be Loki carrying me like this….not Thor.

She wanted to turn and look at Loki but she couldn't see him from this angle while she was seated bridal style in Thor's arms. It took her a minute to realize that Thor was speaking to her.

"Tell me maiden, where is your healing room?"

Loki rolled his eyes at the absurdity of his so called brother.

"Midgard does not have healing rooms Thor."

You idiot

Loki's voice reflected how bored he was with Thor's stupidity.

Thor looked puzzled at that statement.

"Then where do they heal their injured?"

Imbecile

"It's okay, just take me downstairs to the kitchen, I just need to get this cleaned and bandaged."

As Thor turned to exit the room, Dea took in the sad state of her bedroom. Broken wall, cracked floor, crumbling sheet rock and rubble, and a dark red puddle of blood coating the floor.

My poor room!

Once they were in the kitchen, Thor set Dea down in one of the kitchen chairs. Much to her surprise Loki, who had certainly been keeping his distance sat down in the adjacent chair.

Thor hovered protectively behind Dea's chair and Dea glanced behind her wishing he'd back off a little. Loki shot an irritated look at his brother.

"If you don't terribly mind, I'd like a moment alone with the girl."

The sarcasm was thick in Loki's voice.

Thor met his brother's gaze briefly before trudging out of the kitchen.

Dea heard him walking down the hall and frowned. She should have offered him a drink or something and told him to go sit in the living room and make himself comfortable. Her grandmother would have admonished her for her bad manners.

Sorry grams, only so much I can handle in one week

She looked at Loki seeing his suddenly solemn face.

She met his eyes expectantly.

"In the time that I have been here you have served me well."

Instantly she noticed the difference in his voice. This was no sly voice, or seductive whisper. His tone was hard, all business.

"You allowed me to stay in your home, you fed me, clothed me and," he paused as he smiled, almost laughing as he spoke, "well I'd say you attended to all my needs quite adequately."

Dea's eyebrows furrowed, was he mocking her?

"Midgard may be abysmal but you've certainly made my stay here more pleasant, and you have enlightened me to all the marvelous attributes," he whispered suggestively, "that Midgardian woman have to offer."

Her lower lip quivered for only a moment, before she caught it and straightened it into a flat straight line. She hated the way her body responded to him, her skin shivering as he whispered seductively.

"You have been a very generous hostess, indeed."

She was a hostess? That's what title he would assign to her after the last few days? He made her sound like some cheap cocktail waitress.

"I have enjoyed my stay and I have most certainly enjoyed the bevy of activities provided."

Loki sent another dark smile her way. It didn't reach his eyes; it wasn't real laughter, just that sardonic smile.

Bastard

"Now to the matter of your repayment," He said leaning back in his chair, farther away from her.

All traces of false humor were gone from his face, he was closed up again. Nothing like he had been the last few days.

Pretended to have been

She instantly corrected herself; the whole time he had been pretending. She wasn't foolish enough to think there was something else there, was she? Something else, something more than just sex.

He was making it clear, he had used her.

He had used her to pass the time.

She waited for the anger, she wanted it to come. She had always had a temper, where was it when she needed it? For some reason she felt so incredibly sad; so incredibly small as she sat across from him.

Had they ever really been in bed together? Had he really held her and caressed her only hours earlier?

"In order to properly repay-

"I don't want anything from you."

Her voice was hard and full of hurt. It surprised both her and Loki when she had spoken, she hadn't meant to. If Loki noticed the tone in her voice he ignored it, picking up right where he left off.

"I shall heal your shoulder and we shall be at an accord."

She looked away from him because she felt tears start to swell in her eyes. She was worth that little? He was going to heel her shoulder and be on his way? How kind of him, she took a deep breath and met his gaze again.

His face softened but only for a moment.

"It will not hurt, I assure you."

He didn't know what he was talking about. It did hurt. It ached like crazy; the only problem was that the pain wasn't coming from her shoulder.

A/N: Hope you all like where I'm going with this! I know some of you expected Loki to be very angry/Protective over Amedea but I just don't think they're there yet- in that place. Loki, to me, is hurting, seriously hurting way before he meets Amedea and I just think it will take time to properly slither under his shell. Also, I sent out alert messages to all those on my alert list or those who added my story to their favorite list. I did this because this website often sends those alert e-mails to the spam box so I messaged you directly on your account pages-if you didn't get one but you're reading this and you're on my alert list/Favorite list Let me know I'll send you one too! ~ Opheliaxeternal

*I had to repost this chapter, thanks to Pint sized she Bear for point out the spacing/format error!