Loki slumped in exhaustion outside the door to Payton's room, and dragged a hand over his weary eyes. Nightmares. Why did it have to be nightmares? He had always had them, even as a very young child, and before, he would always run to Thor, even after he'd come of age.

Now, Thor wasn't here, so he huddled towards the next best thing. The sweet, caring woman was just on the opposite side of the door, but Loki wasn't sure he had the courage to open it. She was already awake, and he could hear her singing to herself on the other side of the door. She had been right; her voice was lovely. He couldn't quite make out the words, but the clarity in her voice was absolutely stunning.

Just the sound of her voice soothed him somewhat, and he leaned his head against her door with a tiny smile, listening to the notes she wove with her voice.

That, of course, was when she opened the door, and almost dropped him on top of her.

"What in the world are you doing?" She gasped, once he'd managed to steady himself with a slightly guilty expression. "Are you spying on me?"

"Me?" Loki's eyes widened in what he hoped was an innocent expression. "No! No, of course not! I was just…"

Quick, think of an excuse!

Loki was suddenly aware of the way the early morning sunshine struck her golden hair, and was rending promptly speechless.

"Oh my God, you're terrified." Payton crooned, and Loki shook himself, and snapped back to attention. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…" He whispered, his vice sounding not nearly as tough as he had hoped it would seem. "I just… I had a nightmare." Well, that sounded downright childish. Nice going, Loki. She must be simply falling over herself to get to the pathetic social blunder that was him.

Not like he wanted her to fall for him. Or be attracted to him. It wasn't as if he wanted to feel her soft lips on his, or simply stare into her beautiful blue eyes forever. He was simply noticing that she was attractive. And amazing. And the only person who had been kind to him in as long as he could remember. And, as far as he could tell, completely flawless.

Who was he kidding? A flush of embarrassment crept up his neck as he realized exactly how big of a crush he'd allowed himself to develop on her.

"Hello?" She was waving a hand before his eyes. "Are you in there?"

"Oh. Yes. I'm sorry." He blinked quickly. "I was just thinking."

"You want to talk about it?" Payton offered, gesturing towards her bed. "The nightmare?"

Mutely, he nodded, and allowed her to gently lead him to the bed, and sat down on the edge of it. "It was… New York." He muttered. "I can't stop… reliving it in my head."

Payton sighed, and gently patted his hand in comfort. "I know how that is." She whispered.

"You do?" Loki's eyes widened in confusion.

"To have thousands of lives on your hands, at least." The sadness in her eyes was almost more than he could bear.

"Oh, come, Payton." He comforted her. "I'm sure you can't have done anything that bad."

"Oh, but I have." She chuckled, a terrible sound with no joy in it. He knew that noise. It was the same noise he had made after he'd realized what a mistake killing his own father had been. "You know… If it makes you feel better…" She brushed her bangs from her eyes distractedly. "I was a SHIELD agent, too, once." She sighed, avoiding his gaze. "Me and Andy and Phil, all of us together. We were inseparable, unstoppable, and unparalleled in our field."

"But you were the good guys." Loki protested. "All the lives SHIELD takes, they take in order to keep thousands more from falling. You were…"

"Let me finish." Payton ordered. "Not all the lives SHIELD takes are taken for a good reason. I, of all people, would know. Fury said I was rash, I was volatile, and dangerous. And he was right. He wanted to kick me off, because when I was in the moment, there was no pulling me back. I would kill hundreds, during the missions, because I would work myself up to this fit of rage, and take it out on the people. Phil and Andy gave me a lot of talks, trying to get it into my head that they're people, too. I just… I didn't get it. Deep down, I knew I was wrong. My kill count was in the thousands. I just never saw fit to do anything about it.

"That is, until one day, I was on a mission, and I had one of the henchmen of the man we were after in a corner. He… he begged me not to kill him. Said he had a family, and he only was in this job to put food on the table. I blew his brains out, and ever since, I can't help but wonder… if his family starved. After that day, I couldn't live with myself. I had enough. So I quit SHIELD. I was really low for a really long time, and I didn't see that there was an out for me.

"But you know what?" She looked up at Loki, her eyes brimming with tears. "Just as much as those people I killed deserved a second chance that I never gave them, so do I. And it took me a while to realize that. But no one is too far gone for redemption. And… despite all I'd done, Andy… Andy and Phil still loved me. They didn't see me as lesser, because of all the blood on my hands, they simply recognized that I'd made a mistake, and they carried me through it. So, I don't hold it over my head, anymore. I don't beat myself up over something I can no longer change. It's in the past, and I don't let it define me."

Loki fell silent, staring at the woman before him. He wasn't even sure what he was thinking, anymore, to be completely honest.

"So, you know." She heaved a sigh, and turned back to him. "Don't beat yourself up about something you can't change. You made a mistake, a big one. Nothing justifies it. But wallowing won't help anything, either. You have to make the next right choice, regardless of your past, right?"

Loki could only mutely nod. The power, the raw drive inside Payton, the force to continue doing the right thing, it astounded him. She was, by far, the strongest person he knew. To be able to admit her faults, yet still be able to move on from them? He'd never heard of such a thing, yet he knew first hand how difficult it would be.

"Thank you." He whispered. "For telling me."

Payton nodded graciously. "Did it help at all?"

Loki gave a silent nod, his eyes fixed upon his hands.

"Okay, let's go get some breakfast ready for the twins." She smiled sadly, and got up. Loki hesitated for a second, as she left the room, then dropped his head into his hands in confusion.

He, of course, was no exception to Payton's rule of kindness. In fact, he ought to be even more worthy of redemption than Payton, as the invasion technically wasn't his doing. Of course, there was the whole Jotunheim Incident, and he was fully in control of himself, at that point. But… Payton was a good person, despite what she'd done. No one could deny that. She'd changed, she'd repented, and now she was on the road towards redemption, not just in her own eyes, but in everyone's.

When she had been low in her life, she had had Andrea, and he had her.

TheOnlyHuman.