Loki and Christie were sitting around the small circular table in his room, sipping wine and attempting to keep their conversations as short and sweet as humanely possible.

Well, they were hardly very sweet - but it was the sentiment that mattered, right?

"I know you're lying to me, Annerledes," Loki suddenly piped up, cutting through their uncomfortable silence. Christie simply rolled her eyes and took another sip of the wine, rather unsurprised at his words. Sometimes she wondered how she ever made it as a successful spy, but then again - Loki wasn't her everyday target.

"Well. That didn't last long," she muttered, fluttering her eyes up to him before letting them fall to the table again. She placed the chalice back down and clenched her jaw before speaking again. "Do your worst to me, Loki. In fact, do whatever you feel like doing, I honestly don't care - just don't touch the girls. I mean it. This isn't their fight."

"Do my worst to you? I don't want to do anything to you," Loki mumbled softly, almost looking…confused. Christie glanced up to meet Loki's eyes again and, for the first time in a long time, saw that they were that beautiful green - just as they were when they first met. Not that dull bottle green, and not the weird version with the blue shimmer.

"Wait, you...what?" she whispered hoarsely. "You don't? I'm so confused-"

"No, why would I want to hurt you? I… love you," Loki stated as if it were obvious. He actually looked hurt, as if the suggestion of him ever doing such a thing was so far from the truth that it was offensive. Christie felt her heart flutter for the first time in a long time and stood up from her seat, bending down so that she was practically kneeling in front of him instead.

"Loki, if you love me then please stop whatever it is you're doing," she pleaded desperately, taking his large hands in her delicate ones. Her mind was racing a thousand thoughts per second and all those emotions were threatening their return. "Do it for me." Loki nibbled on his bottom lip for a second before shaking his head in despair.

"I can't, Annerledes," he whispered helplessly. Christie bit her lip too and laid her head down in his lap, more torn and confused than ever before. Loki tentatively stroked her hair in comfort, just as he used to do back when everything made sense. He closed his eyes and he let out a long, exhausted sigh - almost feeling at peace for a few seconds.

But he couldn't go on as if everything was fine, because truthfully, it was far from it.

"Annerledes…you must leave Asgard."

Christie snapped her head back up and stared at him in disbelief.

"You want me to leave? Whilst you're this unpredictable? Not a chance!" she scoffed.

"Just listen to me for once! Take your three friends and flee this place, and do it fast," Loki insisted, now cupping her face in his hands. But Christie wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"Leave to go where?"

"Anywhere but Asgard. It's not safe anymore, you're a sharp woman - surely you must've gathered that by now?"

"Well yeah but ironically, that's because of y-"

"Please," Loki suddenly pleaded with her, his green eyes full to the brim with worry. She had never seen him so scared before, and it was sending chills down her spine. "Before they come-"

"Before who comes? Who's 'they'?" Christie interrupted quickly, snapping the emotions back and latching onto the information instead. Loki dropped his gaze ashamedly as he answered her.

"The Frost Giants."

"Frost Giants? Again?! Are you sh*tting me, Loki?!" Christie yelped, suddenly feeling very uneasy. She ripped his hands from her face and shook her head once she realised what was happening. "No…what the hell have you done?" Loki released another deep sigh before opening his mouth again. It was as if he had been preparing himself for this moment.

"I've done nothing…yet. Listen, Annerledes, you must promise me something," he began softly, his hands cupping her cheeks so she was forced to look directly into his eyes.

"Well, that depends on what it is Loki - right now you don't seem like the type of person I'm willing to promise anything to-"

"You need to help me fight this," he whispered out in desperation, cutting her off.

"Fight what?" Christie frowned in confusion.

Then she realised - and it all tumbled out.

"Oh…oh my god! I KNEW this wasn't you! Something's possessing you, right? And when it takes over, your eyes are blue or really dull green and when you're back to yourself, your eyes are brighter…the girls were right! That wasn't you sending me to the dungeons, it was whatever was in you…ohhhh no, Loki this is way too much for me to handle, I can't deal with all this mystical sh*t, how are we gonna get it ou-" But at that point, Loki cut Christie off with a kiss; deep, loving, and full of passion whilst his hands supported her from behind her head. She melted into the kiss for the first time in a long time, allowing him to take full control as she draped her slender arms over his tense and hunched shoulders. She didn't want to stop or for him to ever let go of her - but eventually, they had to reluctantly break apart.

"I've tried to fight it for so long, but it's getting harder and harder to, my darling," he whispered, his lips still hovering against hers. Christie shook her head in stubborn defiance, finally allowing the hot tears that she'd been desperately holding back to spill out of her eyes. This was mentally too much to handle, and the fact that Loki was acting this way against his will made it even worse.

And that was when something within Loki broke too - because he had never seen her cry like this before before.

"Oh no, Annerledes-"

"No. Please don't try consoling me, Loki. What if this thing kills you? I can't bear to think how I'd cope…how your mother would cope-" Christie sobbed. It was the first time in a long time that she was actually allowing herself to cry like this, and Loki could tell. This was years of sadness spilling out on his behalf, and it broke his heart knowing that some of those tears were for him. "You said your mother is a witch, yes? Can't she…can't she…" Christie trailed off, unsure of what she was even trying to say. Loki just swiped her tears away with his thumbs repeatedly - although the more he did that, the quicker new ones fell.

"Shhh, please, please don't get yourself in a state. I cannot bear to see you like this," he hummed down to her softly, unsure of how to handle her outburst. He ran his fingers through her silky white hair for a few moments until she calmed down a little, her panicked sobs dissolving into quiet, sharp shudders instead. "Are you ready to talk?" Loki asked her gently once he heard the cries subside. Christie lifted her head up from his lap and gave a slow nod, her eyes now rimmed red and all colour drained from her face.

"Y-yeah."

"Ever since I arrived in Jotunheim, this thing has been slowly consuming me, eating me alive. Half the things I say I don't even realise I'm saying. It's as if…as if my brain doesn't want to say it and my mouth does. I'm changing, Annerledes, and I don't have complete control of myself anymore. My mother now refuses to even look my way, so she is of no help - and I know this thing won't stop until it's controlling me fully and the job is done - if then," Loki explained truthfully. Christie nodded and ripped her gaze from him. Loki assumed that it was in understanding - but really, it was in confirmation of the mission coming to an end. She knew this had no happy ending for at least one of them.

"So…so what is the job-" Christie began to ask - but before she could finish, the doors to Loki's quarters burst open and all three of the girls skidded in together. Then Loki suddenly disappeared in thin air, leaving the girls to gasp, both at his abrupt disappearance and at Christie's tear stained face.

"Oh, Annerledes! Don't cry, has he made you cry?" Renesme cooed sympathetically as she hastily made her way over.

"What a wicked man," Delilah shuddered, rushing over as well and hurriedly dabbing at Christie's eyes.

"I-I need to move you out of here," Christie hissed thickly through her tears.

"Yes, so you've said. Annerledes honestly, I hardly think that this master plan is worth it if he's managed to make you of all people cry," Jennie mumbled in concern, those large chocolatey doe eyes full of worry. Suddenly, Loki reappeared again, his own eyes filled with a similar panic.

"They're here, I just… I just let them in, I'm s-sorry - I genuinely can't control this," he blabbered, looking incredibly frustrated and taking short, harsh breaths between each sentence. The girls stared at him dumbfoundedly as Christie held his face still to refocus his attention, pressing her forehead against his.

"Come on, Loki, please. You can fight it," she muttered desperately under her breath. "You have no idea how much I need you to fight this. I don't want to have to-"

"Annerledes, I swear on everything I'm trying my best," Loki promised her, his voice beginning to crack helplessly.

Then, the atmosphere around them took an extremely sudden and sharp turn. It's like chaos completely ensued from down the hallway.

"Oh may the gods protect us…they really are here," Delilah whispered hollowly, as distant screams and booms from the intruder alarm drums began to cut through the air, panic filling the entire palace.

"Ohhh no Annerledes, what do we do now?!" Renesme cried, almost wetting herself in fear of the unknown. Delilah and Jennie grabbed each other without having to think about it and also looked directly at Christie for either some answers or further instruction.

They really were helpless without her, and Christie knew she was their only hope too - in fact, without Thor around and with Odin in a coma, she was practically Asgard and Earth's only hope.

She really should've let Natasha take this mission.