It had been almost a week since I had last seen Loki. I had booked a few days off to spend some time with Jessie, and then it simply had been quiet at work.

I would not have admitted it to anyone, but I was missing Loki. I had grown to like him, grown to care for him a little bit more than I was comfortable with. When we had started working together, I thought I firmly knew who Loki was, and what he was. But he hadn't been what I expected at all.

Loki could arrogant and condescending at times, but I couldn't help but feel that there was more than that to him. He was always so guarded and often lied, but every now and again something real came shining through, in a glance, a smile, or a moment of sadness.

It was becoming harder and harder to see the villain I had fought in the past in the man who was now working beside me.

So when Richard rang, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a simple and easy job, way below my pay grade. Richard was almost apologetic. But I couldn't wait to go.

I spent far too long in front of my wardrobe, only to settle for my usual jeans, sweater and leather boots combination. Should I wear my hair loose or in a ponytail? Annoyed with myself, I put it up in a bun instead and ran out of the door.

I had butterflies in my stomach when I walked through the doors of Temple Hall. Butterflies! I hadn't had butterflies in my stomach in more than a decade!

I nervously bit on a fingernail as I waited for Loki to be brought up from his cell.

He was always brought in by two guards, chains around his ankles, his hands manacled in front of him. Loki'd give me a wry smile and a little wave the moment he spotted me, patiently waiting to be unchained and handed over into my custody.

It took longer than usual I thought. Maybe that was just my nerves.

The doors finally opened, and Loki walked in the door between his guards. There was no smile, no wave. His face looked thunderous as he yanked his hands out of the manacles before they had fully opened.

"Took you long enough," he growled at me.

I put on the bracelet the guard handed me. Was he angry that I had taken a few days off? It couldn't have been fun for him to be locked up for so long I supposed.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, "I took a few days off."

"Selfish cow," Loki muttered it under his breath, but I had heard it anyway.

Angrily I walked ahead. I had no patience with him behaving that way toward me, but I also did not want to make a scene in front of the other Templars.

I stomped ahead at a firm pace. I usually struggle to keep up with Loki. I'm not exactly short and I have long legs, but his legs are far longer and sometimes it felt like I had to take two steps for each of his. Now he was lagging behind. Was he being stroppy?

I looked behind me. He was walking slowly and awkwardly. His face was grey. My irritation turned into concern. Was he unwell? Was he in pain?

I did not want to ask as long as there were Templars around, suspecting Loki would be too proud to answer anyway.

Instead of going straight to Agartha, I ducked into an alleyway. Loki soon followed.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, my voice filled with worry.

"I am fine. Why would you care anyway? Let's just go." Loki growled, his brow furrowed.

I gathered my anima and channelled it through the grimoire I had clipped to my jeans. A globe of blood, my blood, began to form in my hand.

"Will you put that away, I'm fine. Let's go."

He wasn't fine. He wasn't fine at all. But I let the blood flow back into my own body. There was something going on here and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

I started walking to Agartha, at a slower pace this time. Meanwhile, I texted Richard: "forgot something at home. Taking Loki with me to pick it up. Will be on the mission soon."

Loki was following me without a word, not even asking what the mission was. What had happened to him?

Soon enough we walked down the path leading to the cottage where Jessie and I lived. It was one in a small row of cottages. I walked to the front door and got my keys out.

"Where are we?"

Loki had never been here before, and I realised he must have been confused because he was still assuming we were going to the job.

"My home," I answered, "come in."

Loki walked into the hallway, looking around. The walls inside were painted white, the furniture light wood. There was a blue rug on the floor, covered with cat toys.

"Don't worry about the cats, they don't like strangers so they'll be hiding somewhere."

I turned around. Both cats were purring around Loki's legs who grimaced wryly.

"Cats like me," he shrugged apologetically, "very small children too for some reason." Loki gently pushed the cats away with his leg.

"Come," I said, motioning for him to follow me up the stairs and into my bedroom. It was tidy, I'm not the sort of person who leaves dirty laundry on the floor. But it still felt strangely embarrassing to bring Loki in here. The double bed had a floral cover, the wardrobe, chest of drawers and bedside units were mismatched wood, and there was a large bookcase filled with books that had my old teddy bears on top.

On a peg on the wall was my nightdress with bunnies on it and my big fluffy dressing robe. It wasn't exactly… alluring.

Loki looked around, his eyebrows raised, but he said nothing.

"Take your shirt off," I said, sounding brisker than I meant it.

"Yes, well, as tempting as that proposition sounds, I think I shall politely decline," he said dryly.

Shit. He thought I brought him up here to… well you know to...

I mean, it was not that I had not imagined having him in my bedroom and doing… things. I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone even under duress at the time, but well, there had been dreams. Quite a few of them.

"It's not like that," I said softly, my face red as a beetroot.

"Loki, I know you are hurt. I could sense it when I was holding my blood magic. Take your shirt off please, I need to see how bad it is."

Loki's eyes didn't meet mine. He didn't take his clothes off either.

I stepped closer to him and began to slide the suit jacket off his shoulders. He winced but said nothing.

I undid his tie and put it on the bed together with the jacket. He was just standing there, his arms dangling by his side, his hands balled into fists. He finally looked at me, and pain and humiliation were clearly written in his eyes.

I closed mine, I did not want him to see the pity I felt for him.

When I opened them again, he had begun to unbutton his white shirt. The silver collar with the magic runes carved in it fit snug around his neck, and I suddenly hated the horrid thing.

Loki looked up at me. "Don't make me do this."

"I'm not making you. I'm asking you to."

His eyes studied mine as if to determine my intention. I nodded.

He unbuttoned the rest of the shirt and slid it off his shoulders, wincing in pain as he did so.

I closed my eyes again and swallowed down the bile rising up in my throat. His chest was covered from his collar to his waistband in black, purple and yellow bruises.

"Who did this?" my voice was low and shaking with anger.

"Does it matter?" Loki snapped at me.

"Yes, it matters," I snapped back.

We glared at each other for a second. My anger wasn't aimed at him though and he seemed to understand that.

"It's humiliating." he stared at his feet.

"I can't help you unless I know what happened," I said softly.

"You can't help me, not with this."

"Who did this? What happened, Loki?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and then rubbed his forehead.

"It was the guards. I riled them up," he admitted.

His voice grew indignant as he spoke rapidly: "They would not let me have my book. I am allowed one book a week. Can you imagine? One book?"

I thought I understood what he meant, he would have finished that in an evening.

"But they wouldn't even let me have that." he shook his head again. "So I insulted them a bit, got under their skin."

Loki's eyes didn't meet mine.

"And then they beat you like this?"

He shrugged and winced in pain.

"It might not have been the first time."

"That you riled them up, or that they beat you?"

I was fuming with rage. Yes, Loki could be more than a little bit annoying at times, but that didn't mean his guards had a right to beat him like this. Who knows how often this had happened? And I wouldn't even have known when picking him up. Not only did Loki heal fast, but they had been careful with how they had taken out their anger on him, making sure it could not be seen if he was fully dressed.

"Loki?"

His eyes were filled with shame and embarrassment.

"Both," he admitted finally.

I got out my phone and took pictures, then sent them to Richard.

"Wait! Did you just take pictures?" Loki sounded outraged. "Sorcha! You do not have my permission…"

I held up my hand as the phone already rang.

"Hello, is everything alright? You seem to be taking a while." Richard sounded concerned.

"I've sent you some pictures." I tried to keep my voice calm but failed.

"I'm opening them now… Is that Loki? What has happened? Was there an accident? Did he hurt you?"

"His guards is what's happened," I barked angrily. "I picked him up like that this morning. He is not coming back."

"What? Wait, no Sorcha, you can't just…" Richard was quiet for a second. "His guards did this? Are you certain it is not an illusion?"

"He has two broken ribs and a punctured lung," I snapped, "I have no idea how he's even still standing with that amount of pain. He is not going back. He's staying with me from now on, I have a spare room. I can keep an eye on him."

I hung up. My hands were shaking.

Tears were burning in my eyes, I sniffed and wiped my nose on my sleeve. I hated that I was so emotional. Loki was staring at me, his face carefully blank, I could not read him at all.

"Let me heal you," my voice shook. I gathered a globe of blood, and again I could sense the extent of his injuries. My eyes can be deceived, but my magic can't.

Loki shuddered as a spray of blood hit his body. I know he found it disgusting, it is disgusting, but it works. The blood was absorbed by his body, the magic knitting bones, mending flesh. I kept healing him until even the bruises had faded.

God, he was beautiful.

Loki breathed rapidly, looking down at his body as the last of his bruises faded. Blood magic takes from the caster, but it takes from the person being healed as well. He sank to his knees. I took a step towards him, but my phone rang.

"You have to bring him back in," Richard said. "We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. If Loki has been treated inhumanely by his guards, there will be consequences. But you can not keep him there. He is Templar property."

I inhaled sharply.

"Their words, not mine." Richard amended quickly. "You are not doing him or yourself any favours by refusing. Come back, and we'll sort this out."

I had walked out of the room with the phone and was standing with my back to the bedroom. I turned around. Loki was still sitting on the floor, with his legs pulled up and his arms wrapped around them, his forehead resting on his knees. My heart was breaking for him.

"He is not going back," I said stubbornly. "But I'll come in to work out a solution."

"You can't leave him in your home unsupervised."

"I won't," I said. "I'll call someone I can trust."

"One of our own?"

No, I didn't trust the Templars right now. One order from a superior and they'd march him right back. I thought for a moment.

"I'll call Cedric."

"Callahan?" Richard sounded thoughtful. " He's not one of ours… but he is reliable and well-liked. That might work. You'd be better off bringing Loki in though, I fear you are only making things harder."

Cedric Callahan was a friend. Everyone knew Cedric, and everyone liked him. Cedric was Illuminati, but no one held that against him. He was also a vampire, a daywalker to be exact. No one held that against him either. Cedric was one of the good ones, everybody agreed on that.

One phone call later, and Cedric was on his way.

"I can't go back." Loki looked up as I walked into the room.

"You won't go back, I promise." I had no idea how I was going to keep that promise, but I meant it. I could see tears shimmer in his eyes and my heart ached.

"You can't promise that."

"I can. You are not going back." I knelt in front of him.

"I'm an animal to them… no, less than an animal. A creature. A monster."

His voice cracked.

"You are not a monster," I reached out to him, to stroke a stray strand of hair out of his face. He grabbed my hand before I could and pulled me closer.

"Take the collar off me. Let me go." Loki pleaded, his blue eyes meeting mine.

"I can't."

"Please."

"I can't, I really can't. I don't know how to take it off. They didn't show me. I think it is in case you'd try and get in my head."

His eyes studied mine carefully. He was so close that I could feel his breath against my skin. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. Suddenly his arms were around me as he pulled me close, his lips on mine, his kisses rough and bruising.

And just like that, for one magical moment, my world stood still and my life changed forever.