Grace woke to find Loki sitting at his writing desk reading a very large, very ancient book. She stumbled out of bed and walked over to him, leaning on his shoulders as she asked what it was he was reading.

"Good morning, Miss Grace. It is a spell book. Father sent it along with a note that I could begin my research. I do not know what I will find in here- it is most ancient magic, and one of the books that was always strictly guarded and I have never been permitted to read. It is, so far, quite fascinating, but I have not found anything in it particularly useful to your situation."

"You mean making my life longer?"

"Yes."

"So he's actually letting you do it. Cool."

"He is letting me read- I do not know what he will do when I ask to actually perform the spell. I hope I will be permitted, but I do not take that for granted."

Grace kissed his cheek before heading to the shower, "Just don't beat yourself up if you can't find anything. So long as you can hold my hand when I go, I'll be OK. I'm not going to go out of this life with regrets, whether that's in a couple of decades or a couple of millenia."

The majority of Grace's visit was spent in the company of books, though Thor did convince them a few times to go explore the countryside beyond the palace, often simply readying horses and a picnic and taking them there himself, leaving them alone to spend time in the sun. Once, he had to go retrieve them as well at dusk, finding them in the same place he had left them, asleep against on another under the large shade tree, a very large tome open across their laps.

When Grace returned to Midgard at the end of the week, she promised Loki she would do her best to keep from self destructing as she resumed her life alone. He was worried and it showed on his face even as he kissed her goodbye, instructing Heimdall to alert him at once if he noticed she was in danger from herself. When she opened her luggage back in her apartment in Detroit, she found a note tied around the neck of the little stuffed penguin with a green ribbon.

"My dearest Miss Grace,

"Please snuggle this little penguin close when you need a reminder that someone in Asgard has lost a piece of his heart to you."

She climbed into bed that evening with the penguin held close to her chest. She returned the plush to him the next year.

Grace's visits were once again regular- Thor would retrieve her from New York and bring her to Asgard, she would spend the week with their time divided between the library and explorations of the palace and excursions to picnic in the outer lands, and she would return to Detroit at the end of the week. She celebrated her 50th birthday twice- once in Stark Tower and again in Odin's palace. She did the same for her 60th birthday. Loki dreaded these landmark birthdays, but did his best never to show her his apprehension. Each decade marked was one step closer to her death when he had found nothing in the library.

It was during Grace's 65th year that things finally changed. Grace arrived in Asgard to find Loki in the depths of the library, absorbed in little known fairy tales from the realm, seeking any indication that anyone had been brought from Midgard to live the lifespan of one of the Aesir. It was then that Grace suggested he was looking in the wrong place- perhaps it was not in the lore of Asgard that he would find answers, but in the lore of Jotunheim. Loki initially balked at the suggestion, but late that night, long after Grace was sleeping soundly, he slipped from beside her and went to speak to Odin.

"You wished to speak to me, my son?"

"Yes. Miss Grace had an idea that I had not considered- that I look to Jotunheim for a story that might indicate I have a chance of success in my quest."

"Jotunheim?"

"Yes. Her reasoning is that as I have had no luck searching the lore and magic of this realm, that it would not hurt to seek out the stories of others. Do these things exist in the library? If so, I have not seen them, and I thought I was well versed in the contents of the collection."

"They are there, yes, but they are quite heavily restricted. Bor thought it best that no one but the king have access to the foundation stories of other realms so ambitious individuals could not use them to manipulate those races to their will. That knowledge can be dangerous, Loki."

"So will you not permit me to read them?"

"I will allow you access to the lore and magic of Jotunheim only, as that is the realm you were born to. You ought to know the stories of your ancestors. But if I feel you are going to use them to destroy, I will take action against you."

Loki bowed his head, "I understand. It seems trust, once broken, cannot be easily repaired."

"No, it cannot be. You have done well to redeem yourself thusfar, but you have shown that something dangerous lurks within you. As your father, I wish to think only the best of your intentions. As your king, I must exercise more caution." Loki sighed as Odin placed a hand on his shoulder, his voice softening, "I will do the best I can to aid you in your quest. I know the time you have is short. I will see if I can find any references in the stories of the other realms so that you will not be completely devoid of any hope if you cannot find what you seek in Jotunheim's wisdom."

"Thank you, Father." His eyes were sad, "And goodnight. As you have said, the time is short, and my time beside her even shorter. I ought not spend more of it away from her than I absolutely must." Odin nodded, said his goodnights, and watched Loki leave his chambers.

Later in the week, Grace found herself with time alone- Loki was meeting with Odin to access the restricted reading materials and they were to meet for lunch in a common room that Thor frequently invited them to for games and relaxation. In all her visits to the palace, it was the first time she had walked the halls alone. She was nervous, but tried to remember exactly where she was going without getting lost.

Not far from her destination, she was cornered by one of the guards, "Well, well, if it isn't the bastard prince's old whore. What did you have to promise him to keep his eye as you've withered? It is a shame, you know. You were almost comely once. Now you are just a wrinkled hag."

She did not want to make a scene or get into an argument, "Look, I don't know what you've heard, but I've promised him nothing. He's just my friend, and I'm supposed to be meeting him, so if you'll excuse me, I have a place to be."

"You cannot hide, hag. Asgard is not safe for you. But then again, you could earn your protection. You could do something for me in exchange." He backed her against a wall, one arm up to block her from moving forward, his leg keeping her from retreating. "Come on, give us a kiss." He pressed himself forward and she struggled to writhe away from him, his lips pushing against hers. She gathered her wits and slammed her heel down onto his instep, jostling him just enough to gain her the space to jam her knee into his crotch as hard as she could. He coughed and sputtered as she shoved him away, the heel of her palm meeting his throat.

She ran down the hallway, stopping only when she found the door to the common room propped open, stopping before entering as she heard Fandral's voice asking, "But really, Loki, what in the realms do you see in her? She is an old woman, though I suppose they do say that the older women have more experience. I wouldn't know, my conquests tend to be younger. Volstagg, can you tell us how your woman is in bed? She is older, is she not? Did she not age like a fine wine?"

Volstagg answered, "Fandral, my boy, I would not speak of another man's wife as though he has something to compare her to. Not that there is anything to be ashamed of in taking a lover, but we must remember that women have ears in all places!"

Fandral continued to pry, "Loki still has not answered us- could it be he sees nothing in her but she has spread her legs for him when other women will not?"

Loki, reclining on a couch, looked up from his book, exasperated, "She is my friend and you ought not say such vulgar things."

"Oh come on, how can you be friends with a Midgardian hag? Her life is nearly over, there's no use in it. She's as wrinkled as Odin!" Loki said nothing. "Your silence does not answer well for you. She cannot be attractive unclothed- do you undress her only in darkness?"

Loki closed his book, "And would you dare say such things were you standing in her presence? Or are you such a coward that you can speak to her kindly when we pass in the halls and yet speak vilely of her when you believe she will not know?"

"Oh, lighten up, boy- I joke and you know it. Are you not the jester of the family?" Loki rolled his eyes and returned to his book. "Besides, even a man of my high standards will take a second look at a wrinkled prune of a woman if the company is good enough."

Volstagg laughed, "Standards? We've seen the company you keep, Fandral, you would bed a wild best if it showed interest!"

Grace stepped into the room, "So is this how you think of me? All of you? For fuck's sake, is everyone in this god-forsaken realm just trying to get in someone else's knickers? And great comebacks, Loki. Really awesome way to defend the fact your...friends? -Thor's friends, are calling me an old whore. Just...just...forget about lunch, OK? And all of you, go fuck yourselves. I hope the women you screw find out how you talk about them and ditch you so it's your only option." She slammed the door behind her.

Thor passed Grace as she strode down the hallway, her anger very apparent; he entered the room where the others sat, Fandral and Volstagg looking uncomfortably sheepish, "What have you done to Grace?" When he spoke, the spell of her anger was broken and Loki vaulted off the couch, book in hand, and dashed out the door. Thor glared at Fandral, "Has your uncouth tongue brought injury to our guest?"

Loki followed Grace at what he considered a safe distance, trying to catch up, but also realising that her anger would likely be explosive and his best chance to apologise would come when she had been given the opportunity to calm down a little.

He nearly caught up with her when she was fumbling with the key to his door, "Miss Grace, please-"

"No. I heard what he said. And the only thing you said was that he shouldn't talk that way- no 'she's not a whore, shut your face before I do it for you' or 'maybe your shit standards of beauty are unreasonable and you'll be old some day, too' or even just telling him that you see something in me worth more than just what's between my legs or what I look like as I get older? Anything that discredits him? You don't get to say anything right now." She opened the door and slammed it shut. He stood, staring at it, unmoving, wondering what he should do, unable to work through just what had happened. He wondered if he had destroyed all the years of friendship in a single moment of not wanting to push Fandral, knowing that any protest would only cause him to escalate his vulgarities.

He sat down beside the door and crossed his arms over his knees, his head tipped back against the wall, eyes closed, scared he had lost his best friend, "What am I going to do?"

Thor crouched down in front of him and placed his hand on Loki's knee, "You do not know the whole story, Loki. Grace's anger is not only directed at you. You simply will bear the brunt of it because you are closest to her."

"What else could have angered her so, Brother? Fandral's words were vile- were I not such a coward, I ought to have torn out his tongue and made him swallow it so he could eat his own words."

"Creative, but Fandral is still not the only thing that has her upset."

"Then tell me so I might fix this- I cannot lose her, Thor, and I must do anything I can to make this right."

"You cannot solve this problem. One of the guards assaulted her while she was on her way to you- he pinned her to the wall and kissed her. She did a bit of damage to him in return. He was bragging about it to another guard within my hearing and I confronted him about it on my way to you. He confessed quickly. I need to hear her side of the story as well, but I do believe that he will no longer be in the palace guard by the end of the day."

"Which guard? I will remove him from his post permanently."

"No, Loki. You will not. You do not have your knives or your magic with which to do the work quickly, nor will I permit you to do so."

"You believe me so weak that I cannot challenge one of the guards?"

"No. I believe that Grace needs you at the moment far more than she needs you to seek vengeance on her behalf. Do not worry, he is unlikely to come this direction. I have made it explicitly clear what I will do to him should he venture towards these chambers. Let me take care of this. You take care of her." Thor stood and offered Loki a hand.

"What should I do, Thor? You know I have never been able to undo my own words easily."

"Then say little and let her speak. You ears and your heart will serve you far better than your silver tongue."

Loki thanked Thor and watched him leave with a swish of his read cloak. Loki turned to face the closed door and paused before he opened it, his hand resting on the latch as he took a few deep breaths and prepared himself for a verbal onslaught. He gently pushed the door open.

When he stepped into the room, he found Grace curled up on his bed, silent. He wondered if she was sleeping, so he softly said her name and waited. She said nothing, but she did shift a little and he approached to find out if she was awake. He sat on the edge of the bed beside her, noticing her eyes were open.

"I'm sorry, Miss Grace. I know I ought to have been stronger in my stand against Fandral. It is no excuse, but the more forcefully and insistent one is against him, the more vile he often becomes. I did not think you were listening and hoped that by saying little, he would stop and I would not have to resort to playing his game, protesting louder as he spewed greater vulgarities after each retort."

Grace sat up, her back still to him, "Is this really how Asgard sees me? As a hag, old and decrepit, not worth more than a measure of beauty?"

"I do not know. Perhaps. Yours is not the only shallow culture."

She started crying, "I can't stay here Loki. The guard. How he caged me. How he pushed against me and kissed me against my will..." Her words were flying faster, her pace becoming frantic, "That's how it starts. I can't stay here. Oh god, Loki... It's like when I was a kid and she'd sell me. I'd try to push them off, good girls resist, but in the end, the guy was always stronger. So was he. And he said the same things. Just a whore. We can protect you if you put out. I've heard that before, on the streets. He said that. He said that if I gave him something in return, I'd be safe. I can't. I can't. This place..." She disolved in tears, Loki's arms around her. He felt his own hot tears rolling down his cheeks, angry that he had not been able to protect her. He held her and rubbed her back, every condolence or reassurance he could think of seeming far too tame or simply a nicely dressed lie. "Loki, I just want to go home." His heart sank.

"Miss Grace, I'm so sorry. I don't want you to leave, but if this is what you need..."

"Yes." A fresh round of tears silenced all but her sobs and Loki pulled her gently down to the bed, curling up with her, holding her close.

"Then home is where you will go. Rest with me, though, if this is to be our last day together. I will make arrangements when Thor returns."

"Do you see me as just an old woman?"

"No. You are my Miss Grace, you sing the song of my soul. I love you deeply in a way I have not loved before."

"Please fight for me, then, when I am not there to fight for myself."

Loki stroked her hair, "I will strive to to better."

"Thank you."

"Close your eyes, my darling. I will stay with you."

Thor knocked lightly on the door a few hours later, Grace soundly asleep, and Loki made arrangements for her to travel back to Midgard.

"Would she stay if she knew the guard was no longer in the palace?"

"No, I do not think she would. She hurts far too deeply for that alone to right this wrong. Her childhood was scarred by far more brutal abuse and this has made those memories surface. She needs to be where she knows she is safe, and if that is at home in Detroit, then that is where I shall make sure she can be."

"I suppose Fandral being here likely does not help matters, either. I have dealt with him for the moment, and though he may be more careful with his words around you or I, I cannot trust that he will not be vulgar around others. He can be rather thoughtless."

"Thor, Fandral has never been a thoughtful creature. It is as if thoughts flee from his empty mind as fast as they are created." Grace stirred and Loki nestled back beside her, "Now if you have no more to say, I would like to spend as much time with my friend as I can before I send her home."

"You will take her home, Loki, not send, and then you will return immediately. I have business to attend to with Father and she needs you. Prove that you are worthy of this trust and perhaps next year you can retrieve her yourself."

Loki kissed Grace's cheek, "Thank you." Thor left his chambers and he quickly fell asleep alongside Grace.

Upon returning to Midgard, neither Grace nor Loki spoke until they were in her apartment. She dropped her suitcase in the middle of the living room floor and went to the windows to look out over the city.

"Miss Grace...will you be visiting next year? Or will the scars still be too fresh?"

"I'll try, Loki. I can't guarantee anything, but please, come anyway. I'll need to see you, even if we only get a few minutes."

"I hope we have more time than mere minutes. Unfortunately, that is all we have right now- I must return quickly to prove my worth for this task."

She waved him to come over to the window and he joined her, "Just a moment, OK? I need you here for at least another couple of minutes."

"I suppose Father will understand a few minutes- even he, with one lone eye, cannot be so blind that he cannot see I would wish a few moments to say a proper goodbye to my dear Miss Grace."

"I don't want to get you in trouble, but..." She turned to face him, "I need to be reassured that I'm really something special to you- I mean, I know I've never been a pretty face and it's not exactly getting better as I get older, but this...this has really hit me hard."

"And how might I prove to you that you are so dear to me?"

She smiled softly, resting her hands on his chest, "I'm sure you can think of something." She brought her lips close to his and waited. He very gently kissed her, hoping he would not choose the wrong action and hurt her further. After the kiss, she sighed and rested her head against him, "Thank you."

"I did the right thing?"

"Yes. A kiss that was not a threat."

"But also not just a kiss."

"Of course."

"I really ought to be going before too long- I do not wish so, but I do want Odin to permit me to travel alone to bring you to Asgard next year and this is how I prove to him I can be trusted to do so. But I do want to ask you to do one thing after I am gone."

"Yes?"

"Listen to that song Mr Stark had sung for you at his memorial. We have danced to it twice- consider it an anthem for our friendship. But now I must be going. I do not want Father to take my delay as a threat."

"Goodbye, then, Loki. Until next year."

"Yes, until next year." She walked him up to the roof and watched the Bifrost carry him back to Asgard. Then she dug a pint of Ben and Jerry's out of the freezer and found the song on her phone- "Not Alone". She played it once, twice, and again and again, until she had finished her ice cream and was ready to watch some bad 80s movies for laughs.