She sat in the lab with Bruce reading a book to pass the time; there was nothing else for her to do. A part of her liked being with Bruce, every now and then she looked up from her book to watch him work; he knew she was doing this, but it didn't bother him too much as he knew she was just watching him and not waiting for the Hulk to appear.
"What are you reading?" He asked.
Lavender looked up, "It's called 'The Hobbit'. Do you know of it?"
"It sounds familiar but I've never read it."
"You should some time, if adventure stories are your thing of course. It slightly reminds me of home with the mention of elves and dwarves," she laughed, "only these dwarves seem a little friendlier."
"I might give it a read; it could be a nice change from science."
"You can borrow it after me, if you'd like, I'm nearly done."
Bruce smiled but before he could answer, Tony walked in, "I didn't think you'd be in here, Lavender."
She shrugged, "it's nice and quiet and there's nowhere else for me to be."
"Well, that could change."
"Trying to get rid of me already?" She smirked.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he grinned, placing an arm around her shoulders, "but, apparently there's a surprise waiting for you on the bridge."
"What do you mean 'a surprise'?" She asked, moving from his arm.
"Why don't you go and have a look?"
"I will," she said getting up. Before leaving she looked at Tony and warned him, "if you lose my page I'll snap your arm in half, clear?"
Tony laughed, "clear as mud!"
Lavender sighed, walking out onto the bridge, not really knowing what to look for. Her gaze suddenly caught someone out of place; his back was turned but she knew who it was. She ran down the steps towards him and stopped before reaching him; she lightly tapped his shoulder and watched as confusion turned into pure delight and relief.
They both looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say or do, until Thor pulled her towards him into a tight hug, "I can't believe it!"
"I thought I'd never see you again!"
"I'm so sorry for leaving you here. We were going to bring you back but-"
"I know, the Bifröst was destroyed, it's not your fault, you couldn't have known."
Thor let go and looked at her, "so, you've been working here?"
Lavender nodded, "it has its perks…"
"You already know about Loki then?"
"Yes…" she mumbled, "what happened to him, Thor?"
"He's changed, you wouldn't understand."
"Would he tell me?" She challenged.
"I don't think he would, even though he will constantly use it against me."
"Then tell me, you owe me that at least!"
"He's not my brother…"
"That would actually explain a lot," she muttered, "but what has taking Earth got to do with that?"
Thor shrugged, "it's difficult… he wants revenge on me by taking this world and, I suppose, to prove himself."
"There's something else, isn't there?"
Thor looked at her sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Lav, but I can't tell you."
"Why not?" she snapped.
"Because I know you care for him and I don't want your opinion of him to change any more."
"You don't want my opinion of him to change? He's trying to take over this world and he tried to kill me! You don't think my opinion of him has changed already?"
"Lavender I'm sorry bu-"
"No! You will tell me, Thor, I have a right to know, he's my best friend!"
Thor sighed, "I know, but I don't know how you'll react."
Lavender glared at him, basically repeating everything she'd just said.
"No, I mean, even if this wasn't happening, I don't know how you'd react; I don't want your opinion changing just because of this."
"How bad is it?"
"I suppose it's bad, depending on what way you look at it."
"Does it change him?"
Thor nodded, "its part of the reason why he's doing this I believe, and it's to do with the circumstances of how he was adopted."
Lavender tried to think back to what happened in Asgard before everything kicked off and then suddenly it hit her, "this all started with your banishment, when you came back from Jotunheim… I thought it was because of you but-"
"But what?"
"That's when he found out, wasn't it? He's… he's a…" she couldn't say it. She paused before starting again, "he's not Asgardian, is he?"
Thor shook his head, "Lavender, please don't change your opinion of him."
"No, what you mean is, 'please don't think him a monster.'"
"Lavender, I thought you would-"
Lavender cut him off, "you thought that I would think he was a monster? He's my friend! He's my best friend and I love him more than anything and you thought that I wouldn't love him because he's a frostgiant? Nothing's changed, he's still Loki. Nothing's changed at all, but everything makes sense now and I can't blame Loki for what he's done."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He's trying to prove himself; I can't blame him for that. He's spent his whole life trying to prove himself to someone who would never see it! It's always been you who's been credited time after time and it's always you who's considered the hero, is it any surprise that he's taking on the monster role? Because he thinks that's the only place for him."
"You're saying this is my fault?"
Lavender shook her head, "you didn't know; how could it be your fault? Who did know, though? Who gave you praise after praise and who dismissed Loki time after time?"
"So, you're saying this is my father's fault?" he challenged, raising his voice slightly.
"Yes, I'm saying this is your father's fault! All I've ever seen Loki do is try and try! He used to stay up for days studying and trying to perfect spells, he would stay up until the point where he physically couldn't stay awake anymore and even then he would still stay up and what did he get for that? I'll tell you what he got for that, nothing!"
Thor looked at her guiltily, finally realising that she was right, "I never thought before…"
"No, you never did, did you? You were too busy soaking up the glory for yourself, weren't you? Now look where it's got everyone."
"I'm sorry, Lavender, I really am."
"It's not me who needs to hear that."
"I know, I'd give anything to change what happened."
Lavender nodded, "I know you would… it's just…"
"What is it?"
"I thought he was dead, and I was trapped here with no-one else to talk to about it and I thought I'd never see you again," she took a deep breath, "I just want to go home and forget about all of this and be with Loki and go back to normal."
"You can, when this is all over, me, you and Loki can go home and forget about this."
"That's never going to happen, Thor and you know it. Do you think your father will forgive Loki for everything he's done and about to do?"
