Hey Y'all, sorry I'm a day late, but I got lost in Tumblr... anyway I finally got it here. :D Yet, I'm a week early... trade off. The inspiration for this chapter was the Loki skits on Comedy Central - for those who haven't seen them, you should XD
Koryandrs: I'm glad you liked Helblindi. I wanted to tie him in somehow, and I finally figured it out. :)
ZabuzasGirl: Fast enough?
kittysayzmeow: Haha, I'm glad you like it. :) I thought that recently too... unfortunately, I don't have any Loki's on hand to use as my personal ice-packs. :( Oh well. Let me know what you think of this one.
Also, huge shoutout to those who have followed and favorited. :) I would like to hear from you all.
And onward we go...
Over the next few days, Lizzie was absent from the Avengers' daily life. They still planned what to do with Thanos, although for the most part they had chosen to relax. There was only so much they could do with what little information they had, and SHIELD was getting antsy. Thor had been able to contact Asgard, and had been informed that Jotunheim was currently considered an ally of Asgard – well, Helblindi that was. The crown-prince of the Jotuns had made an agreement with the Golden Realm, that they would remain peaceful as long as Loki was in custody.
When Loki had found out, he laughed, wondering if his brother in Jotunheim knew that he was currently wandering Midgard... well, maybe not wandering. He was only allowed in the tower, and had been given strict orders to keep out of the kitchen – although Tony had made it clear that it was only when Kato was playing cook. Loki wondered, however, if Tony had planned to keep Lizzie away for long? And if there was a way to get her back to the tower?
There was only one thing he was truly content about: the fact that the Fantastic Four had decided that Johnny would be absent from the meetings. Why? Because they figured out that Loki was determined to make the man's life a living hell – that, and they kept finding certain little booby traps for the fire-starter. Everyone blamed Loki, but he knew that Elizabeth had something to do with the pranks, even though no one else figured it out.
All in all, Loki thought that it had been quiet. Perhaps too quiet. Where was Thanos? Surely it didn't take all this time to gather forces and attack Midgard once more? Why was he so silent? He was not even bothering Loki in his sleep anymore, and for the past few nights he had had a good night's rest. The words on the page that Loki was reading seemed to hold no meaning as Loki's mind wandered, wondering what was going on outside the atmosphere of the small world. He knew that Thanos would strike soon... the problem was the constant waiting.
The sound of a child running into the room made Loki roll his eyes. The Captain's woman's son was unwatched too much as of late, allowed to simply run wild around the apartment, causing havoc wherever he went. Darcy had managed to keep him occupied for the first two days, but then she and Jane were called away to SHIELD with the express purpose of helping Erik Selvig to create some kind of energy shield to protect Avengers' Tower as well as other locations. They had used whatever they had scavenged from the Chitauri vehicles in an attempt to understand how to do their best to protect their warriors from another invasion; and with the threat looming with an untold date, they worked harder than ever.
"Hi Loki!" the little boy shouted loudly. "What'cha doing?"
Loki looked behind the boy, searching for any female who was watching him. "Reading." he answered simply.
"What are you reading?" Andrew asked.
"Does it matter?" Loki asked irately.
Andrew rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Loki, can't you be nice?"
"No."
The boy ignored the god's remark, opting to lean up against the armrest to look at the book. "What kind of book is that?" he asked, causing Loki to sigh in exasperation.
"Isn't there someone else you can go bother?" he asked in return. "Justine, or Rogers, or someone other than myself?"
Andrew shrugged. "Mommy isn't here, and neither is Steve. Tina is with Buce, and Darcy is with Jane, but they're with Mommy too, so..." he trailed off, looking at the book once more. "S—siiir..." he began reading. "Wat – Wal – Walt – er. Sc – So – Scoooott." he sounded out, trying it once more.
"Sir Walter Scott." Loki snapped. "Yes, what of it?"
The little boy, ignored him. "I don't know the first word... th—there a m—man..." his little brows furrowed. "With... what's that word?"
Loki rolled his own eyes, not particularly interested in helping the child. "Soul." he answered. "Why don't you find a book you can understand?" he said, a certain edge to his voice. He just wanted the child to leave him alone. "A picture book or something, I'm sure that with Stark's immaturity he has to have some around here somewhere."
"But I want to read with you." Andrew insisted. "What's the matter? Don't you like me?"
"No." Loki answered, although he was somewhat impressed that the child wished to read with him. From what he knew of children, such things did not interest them.
"I like you, though. And even though you don't like me now, I think, I think that we'll be good friends." Andrew answered, turning back to the book. Loki just stared at him. "Soul... so... d-"
"Dead." Loki supplied.
"Can you read it with your finger under the words?" Andrew suddenly asked. "That's how Lizzie does it. She puts her finger under the word, and then she – and then she reads for me, helping me so that I can read with her."
Loki paused. "Now why would I want to do that?" he asked.
"Because you're not that bad." Andrew answered. "You just like to pretend to be bad."
He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Yes." Andrew huffed, placing his hands on his hips like he'd seen all the women around the building do. "Now are you going to help me or not?"
Loki thought for a moment, not particularly wanting to help the little boy, but deciding that he would not get the boy to leave him alone unless he did – or unless he scared him away. However, that was not an option as he knew that it would have certain repercussions which he didn't need to deal with.
"Fine." he eventually said, motioning to the stool which stood a bit off to the side. "Get that and bring it over here." The boy looked over, dragging the stool to be beside Loki. Unfortunately, Andrew was not tall enough to see over the edge of the chair if he sat on the stool. Had Loki had his magic, he would have simply raised the stool to the proper height... but as it was, he could not do it. After a few more minutes of thought, he decided to help the boy perch on his knee, as far away from him as possible. "Alright, now I will read it first, and then you shall."
"Can't you just read?" Andrew asked, trying to get comfortable on the god's knee.
Loki narrowed his eyes. "Do you want me to read at all?" he asked.
"Yes." Andrew replied, his eyes downcast.
"Then you will read it the second time, no arguments." he replied. "And no interruptions unless you don't understand a word, is that clear?"
Andrew nodded vigorously, his eyes having a hungry look in them which gave Loki a little hope for the next generation. With his finger beneath the words, he began reading the poem.
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said: this is my home, my native land..."
"Uh, Loki?" Andrew interrupted.
"Yes?"
"What is native?"
The god of mischief sighed.
When Lizzie finally arrived at the apartment, she began to worry. She had been called by Emma two hours before, telling her that there was an impromptu meeting with SHIELD which she had been called in for. Unfortunately, Lizzie had been visiting Michael and Patrick, and was therefore half-an-hour out of New York... and seeing as traffic was horrendous, it was an extra hour before she finally made it to Stark Tower. After swiping her badge, she had rushed to the elevator, and waited until she had made it to the apartments – now she couldn't find Andrew.
"Jarvis, where is Andrew?" she asked the AI.
"He is in the library, Miss Elizabeth... with Loki." the AI replied.
Her heart leapt up into her throat. "Please tell me that bastard hasn't done anything." she pleaded with fate aloud.
"Quite frankly, I think you'll be surprised at what you're going to find when you get to the library, Miss Elizabeth." the AI said. "Its something which you don't see every day around here. Might I recommend being quiet when you first go in?"
She went down one floor, moving faster than normal until she heard a voice – Andrew's to be specific.
"You're so silly! Ducks can't be friends with kangaroos!" the boy exclaimed laughingly.
Elizabeth froze, he couldn't be talking to Loki... could he? She crept toward the door, walking in and following the next voice.
"Whyever not?" Loki replied.
"Because ducks are from a – a different part of the world. They would have to go, like, a trillion miles to be with a kangaroo. A billion, trillion miles." Andrew replied.
"Firstly, Midgard is not a 'billlion, trillion miles' big." Loki argued. "Secondly, I think you made that up. Do you even know what a billion, or a trillion, is?"
Andrew nodded. "Of course I know what a billion is. Its a number."
"Can you even count to a billion?" Loki asked.
"Of course you can count to a billion. One... two... three..."
"That's enough, I get the picture." Loki interrupted. Lizzie snickered behind her hand. This was amusing for some odd reason. Andrew started giggling. "What are you giggling at, boy?"
"You." Andrew replied. "You look so funny right now."
"No, you look funny." Loki replied. "You look like you're having convulsions."
Andrew just giggled harder. "Anyways, ducks and kangaroos can't be friends because they are not from the same part of the planet."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because I've seen ducks here, and I know that Kangaroos are from Austra – Austrai –" he struggled. "Down under."
Lizzie lost it internally.
"Its a story, Andrew, it's not supposed to make sense." Loki said just as Lizzie's head tilted to see around the corner. "You honestly think that these people want it to make sense? If they did, they'd make it with creatures that can talk in the first place – and not so nonsensical." Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she took in the sight.
Andrew was sitting, quite happily, on Loki's lap; a book of childs poems in Loki's limp hand, his other hand supporting Andrew's back so that the boy wouldn't fall off his knee. "Yeah, but still, ducks can't be friends with kangaroos."
"Yes, you're very smart – do shut up." Loki replied, lifting the book back up so he could read, Andrew settling against Loki's chest so that the man could use his other hand to point at the words. "Please give me a ride on your back! Said the duck to the kangaroo..."
Lizzie just stood there like an idiot as he continued reading, her mind trying to process what was going on as she listened. If she were honest with herself, she thought he was a marvelous reader, his voice quite soothing to the ear; and enough that – were she not who she was – she would swoon over him. After all, not many men can be brave enough to read a foolish child's poem aloud to a child who isn't even theirs. She decided she must have been dreaming, and she pinched herself, the pain hitting her nerves just right that she let out an undignified squeak. Loki suddenly stopped reading and she felt like hitting herself.
"What was that?" Andrew whispered – or rather, faux whispered, as he thought he was being quiet.
"An intruder." Loki replied simply, and Lizzie could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
Andrew gasped. "What are we going to do? Do you think they know we're here?"
"Oh, there's no doubt they know we're here." Loki answered."Elizabeth, you can stop hiding."
Lizzie rolled her brown eyes, stepping out from behind the bookshelf. "I don't even want to know how you knew it was me."
"Lizzie!" Andrew shouted, jumping out of Loki's arms and running to Elizabeth.
Loki huffed, trying not to be annoyed that the boy had left him so quickly to run to Elizabeth – was he not good enough that the boy still clung to her instead? He had been the one reading to him the whole bloody afternoon. "Good, because I have no intention of telling you." he replied to her earlier statement.
"Though, please, don't let me interrupt." she said in return. "You seem to be enjoying yourselves."
"Loki's been reading to me, Lizzie." Andrew exclaimed. "He read to me all about the man who has no home. And then, he read to me about the spider and the fly – which was really dumb, why did the fly think that the spider wasn't going to eat her? And then the duck and the kangaroo."
Lizzie smiled. "I'm glad you had fun." she said happily.
"Its about time you showed up, Elizabeth." Loki finally said. "I'm no nurse."
"You seemed to be doing alright if you ask me." Lizzie replied. "I'm just sorry I interrupted it seemed rather cozy in here." Loki looked up at her, remembering his goal to gain her trust. From the look on her face, she seemed to approve of what he had done with Andrew – perhaps it had been a good thing after all, despite the fact that it was completely despicable.
"I'm hungry Lizzie." Andrew suddenly blurted. "Loki's great and all, but I don't think he thought about food."
"You're the one that insisted on reading another story." Loki retorted to the boy. "That's not my fault."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "You could have thought of it though, you are the grown up." he said.
"If you were hungry you should have made it known. I cannot read your mind – well, not at the moment at any rate." Loki mused sadly. Had he had his seidr he would have been able to read the child's mind.
"Still, you should have looked at the clock." Andrew replied. "We eat lunch at the same time every day."
"You should have looked at the clock, and consequently taken yourself up to the kitchen to get a meal." Loki stated, looking down at the book in his hand. What in the Nine Realms was wrong with him? He was arguing with a child about nonsense...
"Well you should have-"
"Boys!" Elizabeth snapped, earning a glare from Loki, and a apologetic look from Andrew. "Although this is a lovely conversation." Lizzie continued. "I'm hungry as well, so why don't I head up to the kitchen to see what Kato has made and you can finish your story?"
Loki raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. Did he really want to finish the story about the idiotic duck being friends with a kangaroo?
"Yay!" Andrew cheered, running back to Loki and surprising him by climbing up into his lap. Lizzie shook her head with a large smile on her face as she walked out of the library. Who knew? Tony was going to have a blast with this recording, she knew it.
"Oh, so now I'm interesting again am I?" Loki asked. "Now that Elizabeth is walking out of the room, you suddenly come back to me. I'm nothing more than second best."
"Just keep reading, Loki." Andrew replied boredly.
"No, I don't think I will continue if I am so haphazardly cast aside when she comes into the picture." Loki retorted.
Andrew rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day. "I like you Loki... but I'm going to marry Lizzie."
Loki smirked. The boy really thought that did he? "Are you indeed?" he asked.
"Yeah, I love her." the child declared.
Loki just rolled his own eyes, wondering at the child's complete ignorance of what love did to an individual. It made people weak. He just wondered how long it would be before he learned the hard way.
Elizabeth, after kicking Kato out of the kitchen for making food which would be wholly unappetizing to a five year old child, decided that she would have to do things herself, and for the first time, she wished she was not working for Tony Stark.
"Hey you." A voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Clint standing in the doorway. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you for a few days."
"Good, good." she replied. "Though even when I am here you tend to ignore me."
Clint scowled. "Sorry, Lizzie. This whole situation has Tasha and me really stressed out."
"'Tasha and I', Clint. You speak the language, then speak it correctly." Lizzie replied, her voice having a slight edge.
The archer just chuckled. "Who pissed you off today?"
She sighed. "Kato. He decided to make fish this afternoon – which is fine... except the fact that he left the head on." she shivered in disgust. "I am so glad that I checked before Andrew came up here."
"Where is the little brat? I haven't seen him all day." Clint asked.
Lizzie paused. She wasn't sure how Clint would react knowing that the five year old was with Loki, after all, in her two weeks of hanging around the Avengers she had witnessed Clint losing his rather mild temper three times at the trickster. "He's in the library." she answered vaguely.
"You left him in a room alone?" Clint asked. "I'm shocked. Something about you being overprotective of any child you come in contact with..."
"He's not alone." she replied. "I left him with, uh..."
Clint just waited, her unspoken word suddenly clicking into place. "Loki." he finished for her. "Please tell me you aren't that stupid."
"He was reading to Andrew before I showed up. I was shocked, but Andrew wanted to keep reading with him – it was the weirdest thing, Clint. He hated Andrew the first day I came here... and now he's reading the Duck and the Kangaroo to him as if he were some – I don't know – relative." she answered.
"He's gotten to you." Clint stated. "Lizzie, you can't let him in, he's a liar."
"I know." she replied, pausing again. She liked Clint, she really did. Ever since he pulled her out of her concrete grave she had had a certain amount of respect for him – and she not seen there to be something between him and Natasha, she was sure she would have let that respect grow into something more intimate. But she was no thief, and she wouldn't leave Natasha hanging like that. "He apologized to me the other day..."
"Apologized." Clint repeated. "A man who has been coined the 'god of lies' apologized to you? So what does that mean in your mind? That he is repentant?"
"I don't know." she replied. "But its a start isn't it?"
Clint scoffed. "Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie... this is Loki we're talking about. Not Steve, not Tony, not Thor, not Logan. Not even Johnny – Loki. He could look you in the eyes and lie to you so convincingly that you would fall for it." he said. "And apparently you have fallen hard for it."
She sighed. "I just think that some people should be given a second chance." she said. "What if he really meant it?"
"He didn't." Clint answered. "Trust me, Liz, he didn't. The man is a pathological liar, there is no truth in him in any way, shape, or form."
"Well neither was there any in you, or Natasha. Yet, you gave her a second chance." she replied.
"Are you saying that Loki is to you what Natasha is to me?" Clint asked. "Is that what you're saying?"
"No..." Lizzie replied. "I just think that some of us should try to show him something else."
Clint narrowed his blue eyes at her, scrutinizing her physically as if he were trying to understand her mental status. "He is the reason you almost died, Lizzie. How can you forget that?"
"He did try to kill me personally, Clint -"
"Fine!" Clint interrupted. "He took over my mind! He was going to make me kill Natasha! He's not a good man, Lizzie. He doesn't feel remorse!"
Lizzie sighed. "Neither did you, Clint, when you killed those who you killed."
Clint's jaw clenched. "Do... not compare me to him." he ground out. "We are not the same."
"I'm not saying you are." she replied. "But some people deserve a second chance, and who are we to say that they don't get it."
"Why are you saying this?" Clint asked. "How deep has he ingrained himself in your mind that you're defending him?!" his voice rose an octave, his temper beginning to flair. Lizzie could tell, however, that his anger was not directed at her... it was directed at Loki.
"I'm not defending him." Lizzie said. "I'm just trying to be civil."
"Civil doesn't say: 'Hey, you tried to destroy my planet, and nearly succeeded.'" Clint shot back. "Civil doesn't say: 'If you had succeeded, I would be dead,as would the rest of my family. My friend would have killed my other friend at your bidding, and the world as a whole would be completely and utterly destroyed. But that's okay, because you apologized' – that's not 'civil' Elizabeth, that's insane."
She let out a shaky breath. Her power was beginning to try and overtake her, to make Clint stop talking. She wouldn't hurt him, she wouldn't. She cared about him too much to harm him.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Clint shouted.
"That is enough!" a new voice boomed. Both Lizzie and Clint turned to see Logan standing in the doorway. "I don't give a damn that you saved her life, Barton, you do not speak to her that way." he said.
"Have you heard what she did the other day?" Clint replied. "Have you heard her sudden love for the bastard demigod in the library?"
Logan furrowed his brows. "qu'est-ce qu'il parle?" he asked her.
"Loki s'est excusé, l'autre jour. J'ai accepté ses excuses." she replied.
"Je sais toujours ce que vous dites, je parle français." Clint replied. "So cut it out."
"Cén fáth go raibh tú ag glacadh lena leithscéal a ghabháil?" Logan asked in turn, switching to Gaelic.
Clint huffed. "Fine, have your little conversation, see if I care." he said. "But when Loki turns on you, all I have to say is 'I told you so'."
"Clint," Lizzie began, stopping him from walking out. "I don't want us to fight. You're my friend, one of the very few. Please don't be angry with me."
He sighed. "I'm not angry with you, Lizzie." he replied, "Its not your fault you're a woman with a heart of gold." and with that he walked out, leaving Logan and Lizzie in the kitchen alone.
The sound of knives could be heard as Logan unsheathed his claws, using them to chop up the onion that Lizzie was sure to cry over. "So why did you accept his apology?" he repeated his earlier question in English.
She sighed. "Everyone deserves a second chance, James." she replied, going to heat up the pan on the stove. "Where would I be if I hadn't been given a second chance? Where would you be?"
"Loki is not you, Lizzie. The sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be." Logan replied.
"Is that the idea you had about me?" she asked. "Is that why you convinced Professor Xavier to help me?"
Logan chuckled, handing her the onions. "Not everything is so clean cut, Lizzie." he said. "There are shades of grey – and don't you dare mention that book!"
Lizzie laughed, "How did you know?" she asked. "But seriously, what's wrong with giving him a second chance?"
"Other than the fact that he'll probably knife you in the back as soon as he can?" Logan asked rhetorically. "I don't like how Barton talked to you, but he was right. You're too naive. Loki is out for himself alone – you won't change that, Elizabeth. He's as cold as ice – literally from what I hear – and he has no heart."
"Did I have a heart when you met me?" she asked him. "Did I have a conscience?"
Logan sighed. "I'm not comparing you in any respect." he replied. "You are a very special case, the fact that you made it out alive, and are able to continue your life as if nothing happened, is very rare."
"I had no heart, Logan." she finally said. "I had no conscience. I am no different than he is – in fact, those who knew me, didn't think there was any hope to win me to the other side. The fact that you succeeded goes to show that everyone deserves a second chance."
"And what if they blow that second chance?" Logan inquired. "What he does turn on you? You were willing to change, you were willing to right the wrongs you'd committed. What if when he decides that you are no longer of interest he kills you just to make a point?"
Lizzie sighed. "Then I brought it on myself." she answered. "And maybe in my death, he'll learn what I learned through Vera's."
Logan shook his head, washing his hands and drying them. "You're stubborn, Liz. You always have been, you get it from your mother." he said. "But I warn you now, if you let him in too deep, you're gonna get your heart more broken than when you found out Alex killed Vera to keep you in check."
"Don't worry, James." she said with a smile. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I've learned my lesson. If Loki betrays me, he'll be hanging himself."
"I hope so, kid." Logan replied. "Now, are you planning on adding salt to that, or are we going to learn what its like in poorer countries?"
Lizzie just snorted, adding the required amount of salt.
Unknown to the pair of them, Loki had been outside the kitchen, listening. He had come to the kitchen due to Andrew's whining about being hungry, but he had never expected seeing first Clint yell at Elizabeth for accepting his apology; and then Logan and her talking about her past.
He felt a swell of smugness within himself, he had always known that Logan and Elizabeth had known each other before, but now he had proof. He would even dare to say that Logan knew Elizabeth's mother in some capacity... however small. The entire conversation made him even more curious to find out about her. Who was Alex? Or Vera? What had Elizabeth done in her past that made her so willing to accept his apology due to a second chance which she believed everyone should have based on her own experiences.
Furthermore, at such a young age... how could she possibly have a complex past?
He walked back to the library, his curiosity was piqued more than before with this new information.
*What is he talking about?
*Loki apologized the other day. I accepted his apology.
*I can still understand what you're saying, I do speak French.
*Why did you accept his apology?
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