"Surely you've heard the diner story?" Jane asked in jovial disbelief before taking another sip of wine.

She, Thor and Erin sat at a small granite table on an ivy-ridden balcony in the Asgardian palace sipping wine and laughing as the sun set. All three of them wore typical Asgardian dress with Jane in a navy blue gown of sorts. Erin wore the lilac version of Jane's dress and as always Thor wore his armour having only recently returned from battle. If it weren't for the silver recording device on the table it would have been impossible for an outsider to tell that at least one of the members around the table didn't truly belong there. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant scene to look at as to the uniformed observer the three occupants of the balcony seemed happy and carefree.

If had been a long time since the wedding. Since then Jane and Thor had taken two separate honeymoons (one to a planet or realm Erin didn't know the name of and another on Earth) and were now back to living in Thor's home. The guests of their wedding were long gone back to their native planets with the exception of Erin. She had refused Tony and instead requested to stay behind in order to being work on Thor's biography. At first Jane had tried to send her back with a promise that she could return after the honeymoons were over but once the future queen of Asgard had learned of Steve's break-up with Erin she immediately changed her mind and sided with Erin's decision. With a little convincing from Jane and the god himself, Erin became a guest of Thor's for as long as she needed to be.

While her friends were away celebrating their new marriage life was incredibly lonely for Erin. She spent a lot of time at first huddled up in a shawl and staring at the city below without really seeing it. Erin had hoped in vain that the beauty of this alien world would whisk away not only her breath but her thoughts with it. What a foolish idea. Solitude and internal reflection only made things worse for Erin so after nearly three weeks of self-torture she left her room and began to explore the world around her.

The palace was bigger than she'd realised meaning that it was very easy for her to get lost. Still, Erin took small amounts of pleasure in adventuring for a few days. She had never really been one to appreciate any kind of artwork but the architecture on the other hand was stunning. Servants often found her tucked away in the corners of odd rooms scribbling down descriptions that reached the very limit of her vocabulary. Despite all this the constant sense of isolation didn't fade. In fact, seeing others interact only made her crave company more.

If you consider the big picture, Jane and Thor's return to their new home could not have been more perfectly timed. Erin was on the brink of insanity which involved dangerous thoughts about returning to New York. It also included nightly visits to Loki. She made sure he was asleep each time she visited which was slightly creepy in many people's opinion. The thing was that Erin couldn't stand to be provoked by the bastard but she was too… curious to stay away in part. Looking at him calmed her as well though she had no clue as to why. Staring at the man who killed her father just seemed to void her of all emotion when everyone had expected it to do the opposite. Maybe it was because she had already lost her father more times than she could count that Erin felt this indifference towards the monster who had finally taken him away from her once and for all. It was probably just because she was a bad person.

Once the diner story was taped Erin brought the session to its conclusion. After this Thor excused himself so he could change out of his armour and bathe which was fine by both women. Erin was tired (as was usual for her in those times) and wanted a few hours sleep before her nightly visit to Loki.

"He keeps asking me about you you know." Jane said casually, giving Erin a meaningful look over her wine glass.

"I'm sorry." Erin apologised automatically. She kept it brief as her stomach began to shred itself again. The nausea she felt upon hearing news of Steve was almost too much to bear.

"It's not your fault." Jane took Erin's hand across the table and held it in hers. The comforting squeeze caused Erin's heart to ache but she didn't cry. She hadn't cried since the day it had happened so she wasn't about to start now. After all, Steve's behaviour had proved her to have been right all along. Why on Earth should she cry about that?

"I know but I'm the reason he's pestering you. I'll message Tony and ask him to intervene." Erin decided. Inter-realm communication was by no means easy but it was possible. The guilt she felt was strong enough that she would put the effort in to save Jane from being bothered by her relationship drama. Jane was happy and Erin didn't want to ruin that with her issues.

"That's not why I told you Erin." Jane sighed.

"I'm not talking to him. He got what he wanted." Erin repeated the same words she'd been telling to Jane since the day after it happened when Steve had first tried to apologise.

"But-"

"We were never good together. It was an unhealthy relationship and this is for the best." Erin cut across her quickly but her voice was dead. She wasn't even harsh about it.

"The men say he's a wreck." Jane murmured after a few moments intense silence. She had hoped to appeal to Erin's caring side but she failed.

"He'll survive." Erin replied dismissively.

Frowning, Jane changed tactics. "We all make mistakes."

"And Steve and I have both made out fair share regarding each other. It didn't work out. We didn't work out. It's time to move on." Erin's words were so final that Jane knew there was no point in carrying on into some kind of argument.

Instead they sat in a somewhat comfortable until the sky went dark. There was no particular reason for staying quiet although there was definitely a shared feeling that Erin shouldn't be left to her own devices just yet.

"Pull!" Tony barked.

Obediently Steve launched a fist-sized hunk of scrap into the air for Tony to shoot down with his newly redesigned thrusters for the Ironman suit. They'd been on top of the Stark Tower for an hour now while Tony fixed the calibration of the Mark 13. Talking to J.D. over in D.C. had made Tony a lot better however his desire for perfection was still a prominent distraction from his real issues. At least it wasn't all-consuming anymore and for Steve helping with it was starting to become as much of a crutch for him as it was for Tony.

"Stop thinking about her!" Tony ordered, a frown on his face as he adjusted something on the mental glove using a screwdriver which he had to place between his teeth after speaking.

"I can't help it! I miss her!" Steve replied defensively. He kicked the metal beneath his feet with the toe of his boot, hands deep in his pockets.

It was so difficult not to miss Erin. The months leading up to their breakup had been the best of his life. Having someone to go home to after missions had made returning from them in one piece all the more worthwhile Sharing the experience of learning about the present had been encouraging, especially as Erin had always been such a patient listener. She'd always known the right questions to ask too which had validated his experiences in a way as she actually interested in what he wanted to share with her. Her presence made his apartment feel full and her need for Steve when she was upset had given him purpose. Now she was gone and he felt hollow, useless and alone. But then again, when you've devoted so much of your life to a person only to have them leave there is no other way to feel.

"I know you do buddy but it's for the best," Tony tried to be sympathetic. "But this is why you guys broke up. You need to let go."

"I know. I know." Steve repeated the words more to himself than to Tony.

Unsure of what he really ought to do, Tony fiddled with his glove and the screwdriver for a few seconds more whilst Steve pulled himself together. Once he was sure his friend was going to be more or less okay Tony barked "Pull!" once more. Obediently Steve launched another cluster of junk into the sky. Tony's thruster blast it dead on this time causing the thing to explode and rain shrapnel a few feet from where they stood.

"But what if we're wrong? What if I just need to relax my grip?" Steve replied slowly. He had been thinking about this for a long time now. He'd had plans before Jane and Thor's wedding. Why should he give up because they hit a bump in the road? "I'm going to ask her back." He decided.

"Steve, no! You haven't worked on yourself yet. Chances are she's no better either." Tony tried to reason with him.

"It doesn't matter. We're a team, we ought to work on these problems together." Steve replied, getting nearly excited by the ideas swarming through his head.

"She won't forgive you. She's too damaged for that." Tony warned him.

"I won't know for sure until I try." Steve announced dramatically.

Abandoning his post, the super soldier marched away, leaving Tony to stand there in bewilderment.

"Where are you going? We aren't done here!" Tony called after him. "Steve, she's not even on this planet! Steve? Steve!"

Loki was not asleep when Erin arrived to watch him that night. The truth of the matter was that he was hardly ever asleep when his terrestrial visitor came to see him. The god of mischief just set an illusion in place for her so she thought he was sleeping. As odd as it seemed he liked watching Erin back. He liked to watch her eyes study his sleeping form. They were nothing like those of the bothersome human who had been her father. Now that time had passed they had changed. No longer were they icy cold but instead real emotion flooded out of them without restraint. Phil Coulson had kept a carefully composed mask until his last breath. She was different though, interesting. Definitely not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, just something else.

The silence in the room was maddening. They were so far down in the dungeons that the noise from the castle was too far away to hear. There was no breeze down in his special cell and no one ever spoke. The guards had been forbidden to converse with Loki and Erin never uttered a word because she believed him to be asleep. It was always so tempting to open his mouth and destroy the illusion. It would be so much fun to bait Erin into an argument. Frustrating her would be almost too easy. He'd love to see the little sprite of a girl try to break into the cage to punch him in the jaw once more. He remembered how savage she had been on their first encounter. The thought of inducing such fire in her again made him feel practically giddy.

But… but if he did that she would never return and Loki wasn't completely sure that was what he wanted. If she left then his only visitor would be Thor. Even his mother had stopped venturing down to see him. Both of his adopted parents seemed to have written him off as a lost cause.

"Your brother taught me how to recognise if you were projecting an illusion or not you know." Erin's neutral tone shattered the silence that consumed Loki. Her voice seemed to take them both by surprise as she looked as startled as he felt.

Unsure of how to respond, Loki remained perfectly still even though she could not see him. He was curious to know what more the mortal had to say, if she had anything else to say at all that was.

She did.

"He thought you might use it to trick me into letting you out or to anger me or whatever. Apparently you only use your powers to make me believe you're asleep," Erin continued, suddenly feeling bold. "That's kinda weird."

"Who are you to call me weird, little girl? You are the one watching me sleep." Loki sneered in retort.

The moment the god's mouth opened the illusion shattered causing Erin to jump back slightly. She hadn't expected him to be sat cross-legged right in front of her. Her reaction made Loki sniggere so she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not little." She growled.

"Yes you are. You're little and small, much like an imp." Loki pointed out.

If looks could kill Loki would have been stone cold dead in a second. Sadly Erin wasn't gifted with such powers so her glare was as useless as the act of grinding her teeth.

"If you don't want to be angered then you shouldn't have opened your abnormally large mouth." Loki pointed out. He wasn't wrong.

"Yeah, well I thought you might want someone to talk to for a change. Clearly I was wrong." Erin grumbled as she got to her feet.

"Don't go," Loki crooned to make it seem insincere when in fact he meant every single word. "Stay. I hear you're quite the storyteller."

"I don't want to tell you a story." Erin snarled.

"Tell me a story and I'll tell you one too." Loki tried to compromise.

"No," Erin replied forcefully. Then she paused and Loki thought that he had perhaps captured her interest after all as he had hoped to do. "Tell me why you killed my father."

Erin's hands had balled up into fists, a detail Loki hadn't failed to notice. He raised an infuriating eyebrow and mulled over his answer for a moment. Truth or lie? Aggravating or simple? What would get him what he wanted?

"He got in my way." He finally answered.

Erin turned pale and her stomach flipped inside out. That wave of nausea she kept feeling returned to guide her out of the room in spite of Loki's protests.

"I never promised you anything." Erin reminded him before vanishing through the doors.

She wasn't wrong either.