Chapter 28: "If I told you what I was, Would you turn your back on me? And if I seem dangerous, Would you be scared?" Monster by Imagine Dragons.

"Brother!" Thor's voice was thankfully drowned out by the clapping and with a quick glance, Loki saw that Alex was occupied speaking to Pepper near the stage. "Thor, not now." Loki said, knowing that he hadn't made his illusion work on his brother, only Alex and those people in the crowd. Tony could see him, only because Thor had taken him to Stark tower first and asked Tony to help cover Loki's presence on Midgard. Tony had reluctantly agreed after a stiff drink or two. "Brother, you must properly introduce me to your lady friend." Thor said, waving to Tony who was making his way over to them. "I did not tell her, she believes I am a man named Logan. She sees an illusion." Loki admitted, trying to get rid of Thor before Alex saw them.

"Thor, buddy! Glad you could make it. So, Loki. What's this about an illusion?" Tony asked and Loki explained the situation to them, hoping Tony would help him get rid of Thor. "Wow, that sucks man." Tony said and then grabbed a champagne glass from a waiter. "Here, might help." Loki took the offered drink with a glare. "I did not mean to cause you trouble." Thor said, with his hurt puppy dog eyes. "It is fine." Loki sighed with defeat. His plan for winning Alex and bringing her to Asgard had failed, and now his last night with her seemed to be following the same downward spiral. "Hi, Logan. I guess you met Tony Stark." Tony smirked and offered his champagne glass. "Drink?" Alex shook her head and noticed Thor. "Hey, Thor. What are you doing here?" Thor seemed to tense as he replied. "I came to visit Jane. Tony invited me here for the festivities." Alex smiled, but also seemed a little tense herself. "Is your brother here?" She glanced at Logan, so she missed Thor's panicked look. The man was not very good at lying. "Alex, would you like to dance?" Loki interrupted. Alex looked a little startled but agreed. The cover song of Akon's Right Now, filtered through the room. A bit inappropriate for a classy event but Alex suspected Tony had picked all the music with Pepper's advisement.

They danced a simple waltz in silence for a few moments before Alex spoke. "If you're free after this, I know a great place for waffles. If you don't have to leave right away." Alex tried to correct herself, trying not to seem too desperate. Loki smiled at her, "I am free, but may I ask what waffles are?" Alex laughed but sobered once she saw that he was serious. "Sorry, I thought you were joking." Loki leaned closer to her so their lips almost brushed. "I am very curious as to what these waffles are." Alex blushed as she fumbled for an explanation. "They're just fancy pancakes." She tried, not very good at explaining a food which she had never put much thought into. "Those, I have heard of." Loki replied, over her shoulder he saw Thor and Tony watching with amused looks. Thor seemed genuinely happy, where as Tony looked like he was watching a particularly interesting train wreck.

"I want to travel one more time." Alex commented, attracting Loki's attention. "Where to?" He asked, genuinely curious. "A beach on an island in the middle of the ocean. Some place deserted with white sands and dolphins." Alex said, smiling at a place only she could see. "That sounds beautiful." Loki replied, loving the hope in her eyes as she described the place. "Would it be too forceful if I asked you to come with me?" Alex asked, a blush painting her checks as she looked down at her feet. "Alexandra, I am sorry. But this is not a good idea. You need to find someone else, someone worthy of you." Loki said, beginning to pull away. "What if I said that I want you?" Alex asked, half hopeful, but terrified of his answer. "I'm sorry, but I must leave." Loki said, turning before she could see the pain in his eyes. She needed to move on, he had hurt her enough already.

Loki disapeared into the crowd and Alex tried to search for him, but no one had remembered even seeing him. When she found Tony, she explained what had happened. "Which way did he go?" Tony asked, concerned that Loki would take his frustrations out on New York. "I don't know. One second he's there and the next he's gone." Alex sighed, hurt and angry but also sad at the fact that Logan just disappeared without a second thought. "Loki is gone?" Alex spun around to see Thor walking up to them. "Loki's here?" Alex demanded, wanting an explanation. "Uhm, yeah. Sort of. Meant to tell you ,but it looked like you were having so much fun with him that I didn't want to ruin it." The pieces clicked into place and Alex went from confused to pissed.

"When I find him, I'm going to kill all three of you. What kind of sick joke was this. See if I really did miss him? Did you have bets on this?" Alex asked, uncomfortably close to Tony and he saw his life flash before his eyes. "No and yes, I did bet that Loki would fail. You're clearly too good for him." Tony spoke quickly, hoping that Alex hadn't been paying too close attention to his boxing lessons. Alex bit her lip, a tear fell down her check and she walked away. The hurt on her face was worse than her threats or if she had actually hit him. "Damn it, we have to find her." Tony said, sighing as he took one last swig. Thor nodded, uncomfortable with the whole situation. He was never good with women or emotions.

Tony found Alex walking down the street and convinced her to go to Stark tower with him and Thor. She agreed once she was promised a pizza in the morning and that Loki would probably be at her apartment, not at the tower. Alex wanted to be alone and Tony had more than enough rooms. As long as she could avoid Loki and her emotions for one night. She would deal with everything in the morning, or maybe in a week. If Loki was gone, maybe she could avoid her emotions forever.