I can't help but love you,

Even though I try not to.

I can't help but want you,

I know that I'd die without you.

I can't help but be wrong in the dark,

'Cause I'm over come in this war of hearts.

I can't help but want Ocean's to part,

'Cause I'm over come in this war of hearts...

Alyssa

"We need to disguise ourselves." I remarked as we walked through the city.

"Easy enough." Loki muttered next to me, changing himself into the guise of a little old woman. It was far more impressive than mine. The ideal woman of whomever looked upon me. I might as well have walked around as my true self, since being the ideal woman of anyone would give me away just as much as my true self. But I allowed my powers to take hold. Since my form was subjective, and didn't work on me, I had no idea what I looked like and since they didn't work on Loki either, I just had to trust in my own abilities. "Can't you control it? So you can change just small parts of yourself?" Loki asked as we headed in the direction of my apartment.

"I've never tried." I confessed. Which was true, I'd never thought about being able to use it to control just one feature. All I knew how to do was control the strength of my power. "I can control how much of it I use but I've never tried focusing it like that."

"Maybe you should try. You might not stick out as much." Loki winked at me, which was odd in his old woman disguise. I chuckled a little as we rounded the corner to my apartment. I was surprised to see that it wasn't surrounded by SHIELD agents. Which also made me extremely nervous. If there were no agents surrounding my home it meant one of two things, either Barton or Natasha was in there, or it was a trap.

"Be on your guard." I told Loki. He nodded in understanding and removed his disguise. We walked towards the door of my building and gingerly opened it, stepping inside. This floor was clear so we made our way up to the third, where my apartment was. I had my powers tingling in my fingers, on the precipice, waiting to be unleashed. My gun in my hand, the first line of defence. We made it to my apartment door, I checked it over. No sign of forced entry. If there was someone in there, they knew what they were doing. "Loki, I need you to stay out here. You need to be able to get away if I get caught." I said to him, holding his gaze.

"Absolutely not. I'm coming in with you." His gaze hardened. There was no arguing with him, that gaze told me.

I pushed the door, locked. They were good. I unlocked my door without trouble and slowly, carefully, stepped into my home. No one was in front of me. Before I had chance to look around, something solid slammed into me from the side and I landed into my kitchen counter top. I knew it, my head yelled. I steadied myself quickly as I saw Loki rush the person. They had expected him, but he outmatched them. He was faster. Then I saw their face in the moonlight of my window. "Penny?" I asked as she swung for Loki. I'd distracted her and he managed to get his hand around her throat. He lifted her off her feet and slammed her into the wall. His hand tightening as she struggled. "Loki, stop!" I yelled but he didn't notice. So I threw the only thing I hand in my hand at him. My gun. It bounced off his cheek and he yelled, rounding on me. He gripped my hair and threw me down, he crouched next to me and raised his fist as if to hit me. I cowered from him as he brought his fist down. I heard a crunch but the pain I expected never arrived. I opened my eyes and saw he'd punched the floor. I sat up and backed away from him a little. He looked furious.

"Don't ever do that again." He spat and headed off into my bedroom, slamming the door behind him. I stared after him for a moment before getting to my feet and turning my attention to Penny. She lay in a heap on the floor. I scurried over to her and checked she was breathing. When I found her pulse, strong and steady, I relaxed a little. I decided I'd leave Loki to calm down before trying to talk to him, my scalp still stung a little from where he'd gripped it. So, I made some coffee and waited for my unwanted house guest to regain consciousness.

An hour later, I heard Agent Hillson wake up. "Welcome back to the world." I remarked, sipping my coffee from the couch as she sat up.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"My apartment." I retorted as recognition returned to her face.

"Why am I still alive?" She asked, genuinely surprised.

"Oh, sweets. This isn't war. It isn't kill or be killed. I'm a rogue Agent, not a murderer. I haven't killed anyone on my escape from the agency." I made the motion for quotation mark on escape as I said this.

"That's true, all the agents you took down are injured, but alive." She added as she got to her feet and joined me on the couch.

"Now, Lieutenant, why did you come here?" I asked, staring her down. I may have been rogue, but the girl still understood rank. I was her senior agent.

"Steve sent me." Was all she said.

"Ah, good ol' Cap." I remarked, "Why did Steve send you?" I knew the answer before she told me.

"He wants me to bring you back, he doesn't believe you've gone rogue for a war criminal." she confessed.

"The good Captain could never understand that good and bad are sometimes a matter perspective. There's the black and white of it, killing people is bad. Saving people is good. But there's the grey in the middle. Loki has done bad things, very bad things but he's changing. Trying to be good. Saving people isn't always about saving them from evil or something that wants to kill them. Sometimes it's saving them from themselves. Good is sometimes letting someone die to save them pain. Nothing is just black and white. Your Captain doesn't understand that, yet. But he will. Keep an eye on him Penny." I winked at her and she blushed. I may have only helped train her for a couple of weeks, but I could see the way she and Steve couldn't keep their eyes off of each other even if they didn't know it themselves yet. That's when my bedroom door opened and an angry Loki peered out.

"Why is she still here?" He almost growled.

"Because this is my home and she is welcome here." I retorted.

"She tried to hurt you!" He yelled at me.

"And so have you numerous times before now, she was just following her Captain's orders." I told him.

"Captain? Don't tell me she works for that patriotic, blond, soldier out of time?" He laughed, loudly.

"I think you need to go back into that bedroom and come out when she's left." He was laughing still as he closed the door behind him. I shook my head,

"Honestly, mischief Gods." I threw a scatter cushion at the door and I heard him laugh harder.

"They're going to kill him." Penny burst out.

"What?" I was dumbfounded.

"I heard Steve trying to talk them out of it. They want to kill him. They've given Thor five days to search the city and find him, or they'll release their secret weapon." Her head was down, she was ashamed. An Agent isn't supposed be ashamed of death, she had been spending too much time training Steve's way.

"We need to leave." I said quickly, "Lieutenant, I know you need to tell Steve everything, but please give us a head start. I don't think we could outrun them."

"Sure." She replied, as I stood she gave me a hug. I was startled by the unexpected physical contact but grateful for it. I hugged her back quickly and she left the apartment.

"Loki!" I yelled and he was out of the bedroom in a second. "How much did you hear?" I asked when he was in front of me.

"Everything." He looked at me knowingly.

"We can outrun them, but it will be close." I said, placing my coffee cup in the sink and rushing around grabbing items and shoving them into a bag. Loki took over, he was faster than me. Suddenly he stopped and strode towards me, he took my face in his. He stared meaningfully into my eyes and held my gaze.

"Alyssa, marry me."

This is a crooked path,

I think I was meant to be next to you.

and we can never come back,

I think I was meant to be next to you.

The brightest things fade the fastest...