Hello everyone! I'm so so so so so sorry for the (incredibly) long hiatus. When I left you guys, I was pregnant with my 3rd child. Unfortunately I got very sick soon after I updated the last chapter of this story. I actually nearly died along with my baby. I had to be hospitalized before my pregnancy was over, and my baby had to be taken out early. We were both incredibly lucky. If she had been left in my womb any longer, the doctors said she would have definitely died. She was literally skin and bones when she was born. And I was still very close to dying.

It's been nearly 3 years since then. After her birth I fell into a horrible depression and I couldn't bring myself to write. Or do pretty much anything. However I finally was able to get the depression under control and I'm excited to continue! I thought about this story often during my hiatus. And I feel guilty for leaving so long. I hope you guys forgive me!

Chapter 15

Loki and Deidra rode on in their kayaks until they found a suitable place to pull off and stop for their lunch. They pulled the kayaks onto the shore and sat up on a rock and opened the cooler.

They sat and ate and chatted for a while. After eating they sat lazily on the shore of the river, watching the water and wildlife go by. They saw ducks, fish, turtles, and herons.

Suddenly a man's voice behind them spoke up, causing them both to jump.

"Well hello again, you bastard," the voice said.

Loki and Deidra spun around to face the voice. Deidra gasped as she realized who it was. It was the Avenger called Hawkeye. She believed his true name was Barton. Something Barton. She had always thought he was incredibly attractive on the news stories. She subconsciously gave a goofy little smile and found herself speechless for once.

Loki, however, was not impressed. "You," he said, rising to his feet.

"Yes, me," Barton said crossing his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Loki glared suspiciously.

Barton gave a bemused chuckle. "I could ask you the same damn question. What are you doing here?"

"Surely my brother told you-"

"He did, but S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't trust you."

"For good reason," Loki retorted under his breath. Deidra glared at him. His sarcasm wasn't helping.

Barton raised an eyebrow. "Obviously. We know you must have something up your sleeve. Just know that we're watching you; waiting for you to screw up." He then smiled. "And when you do, trust me. I'll be there to make sure you get what you deserve."

Deidra found her voice then. "He's not planning anything, though," she said, more meekly than she had intended.

Barton looked at her for the first time. "Then he has you fooled. He isn't as innocent as he looks. Plus he's batshit crazy."

Deidra couldn't help but think back on all the things Loki had done in the past. It was truly terrible stuff. But he was different now… Wasn't he?

She looked at him. Loki was glaring at Barton, his jaw set and clenched tightly together. Was it her imagination, or was there a twinge of hurt in his eyes?

'Yes,' she decided. 'He has changed. He isn't the same person that he was when he did those things. She knew him. He was different now.'

"You're wrong," Deidra said to the archer.

Suddenly Loki turned his glare to her. "I don't need your help," he snapped, then turned back to Barton. "Trust me," he said to him dangerously. "If I do have something in store for Midgard, you will be the first on my list to be dealt with."

"Looking forward to it," the archer responded icily. "Don't forget that we're watching your every move." He looked at Deidra then. "Don't let yourself get pulled under by this guy," he warned. "You don't want to be around when we come for him."

At that, he turned and walked back the way he came and disappeared into the brush.

Deidra let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Well," she said to Loki with a small smile. "That was interesting."

Loki didn't respond. Instead he pushed his kayak back into the river and began to row away.

"Wait!" she cried out, scrambling to tie their cooler into her kayak. She hopped into her boat and paddled after him.

It took an effort, but she finally caught up with him. "Wait!" she said again. "What are you doing?"

He didn't respond. His piercing black eyes stared straight ahead of him. He rowed ahead of her again. And again she caught up to him.

She hooked his boat with her paddle so he couldn't get away again. "Loki!" she yelled in frustration. "What is wrong with you? Where are you going?"

He gave a humorless laugh and shook his head. "A smart Midgardian like you should know when someone is attempting to leave." He shoved her paddle back into the water.

"Is this about Hawkeye?" she asked. "Don't worry about him! He can't hurt you!"

Loki bristled at her words. "Do not presume that I'm afraid of that half-wit archer," he said warningly.

Deidra stammered, taken back by his comment. "I-I didn't mean-"

He started to row away again, but she reached out across their boats and grabbed his arm. He looked from her hand to her face. "Get your hand off me," he said.

She shook her head.

He then picked up his leg and used it to push her over into the water.

She surfaced, gasping for air, and clutched her overturned kayak. Loki rowed away without so much as a backwards glance.

"Loki!" she screamed after him in frustration.

She couldn't find a foothold in the river to let her get herself back in the boat, so she floated a long way down river. She was a mixture of emotions. Confused. Hurt. Angry.

'What the hell is wrong with him?' She thought to herself as she drifted. He was completely out of sight by now.

His sudden change of mood made her wonder. 'It had to have been because of Hawkeye', she thought. What else could it have been? He was fine before he showed up. …Happy even.

Deidra never was able to catch up with Loki for the rest of the trip. She finally got back to the river lodge and returned her kayak and gathered her belongings. She expected to find him waiting on her somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

She approached the desk clerk and asked if the woman had seen him.

"Yeah," she replied. "He asked me to call a cab for him."

Deidra blinked in confusion. "A cab?"

"Yeah. He left just a few minutes before you got here."

She thanked the clerk and walked away and out the door. She went to her car and got in. She was stunned. She couldn't believe he left without her. She thought that maybe he had went back home, so she drove off quickly to get back there.

When she finally got home, she found an empty, dark house. Loki was not there. From the looks of things he hadn't been there at all that day.

Worry rose into her chest. 'Where is he?' she thought.

She sat on her couch and tried to think of anywhere he would have went, but she couldn't' think of anything. She texted Bill to see if he had come by the lab. He had not.

She stood up and decided to try to keep herself busy until Loki returned. 'Surely he won't be gone long,' she thought to herself as she started washing dishes. 'Surely…'

The evening turned into late night and still no sign of him. Deidra opened the front door and peered out, hoping to see him. He wasn't there.

The more she thought about it, the more she understood that Hawkeye's words earlier that day had affected him more than she knew.

'Please come home, Loki,' she thought, staring out into the night.

Finally she sighed and sadly shut and locked the door. She turned and quietly went to bed.