When I woke up that morning, my head was laid on fully plumped pillows; my body was tucked in at my feet and at the side of my back; there was a small light turned on in the corner of the room but the rest of it was dark black, I had no windows in my room. This was the way that my mum used to tuck me in when I was small, she'd carry me into my room, lay me down and tell me a story about the two princes.

"…The two princes went everywhere together; they did everything together; they were so inseparable that not even fear could pull them apart. They vanquished beast and battled monsters… and they saved fair maidens from their own stupidity." She laughed, stroking my hair as I giggled into her hand.

I sat up and looked around the room, but Loki was gone. And for a second I felt the disappointment catch my heart before I pushed it away and swung my legs over the edge of the bed; shaking of the thoughts of Loki, of my mother and of the two princes.

I switched off the little light at the corner of my desk and clicked my fingers, screeching and falling down as the lights came on and burnt my retinas. I hid myself behind my hand and ducked into the bathroom, my hand moving up and rubbing my eyes as the sleep began to work their way back in, my head begging me to go back to sleep but I couldn't listen to it. I walked over to the shower, pulling off my clothes, and throwing myself inside. As I got out, I realised that I washed off Loki's smell, the same smell that had drifted me off to sleep. I frowned as I felt regret at that; it was then I realised that I was going slowly insane.

I wrapped a towel around me and sat down on the side; thinking. Which is a bad idea in anyone's book, I mean; look at Socrates.

But I really couldn't help it; Loki kept pushing himself into my brain and he wouldn't budge. Sometimes it was the fear that he caused me to feel; with the smirk, the coldness, oh, and the blatant evil deeds. He was the worst man I'd ever met but he also had the potential to be the kindest and the most sincere man. But it was short lived and a side I'd only seen flicker here and there and heard about in stories from Thor and my… No. No, that wasn't…

There was a knock at the door, the front door, and I rushed to get it, clicking my thumb on the inside lock and watching the door slide open, revealing the tall man on the other side.

Loki looked down at me, his eyes widening and his mouth opening a fraction of the way to let out a small sigh; I frowned and glanced down, jumping as I realised that I was still in a towel or, rather, ONLY in a towel. I let out a groan and turned away from him, grabbing a dressing gown I'd never used off the rail and throwing it around me. Loki had moved into the room but stayed in the corner until I turned to face him.

He blinked; his green eyes still trained on my chest, and shook his head slightly, clearing his mind. He coughed and began talking, slow and carefully; his voice shaking slightly. "Um… it is… We…" He coughed, again, clearing his throat and starting again. "I want you to wear the green dress in your wardrobe; you need to look your best today."

"Why? What's happening?" I asked pulling my hair out of the trap it was caught in between my robe and my skin. Loki looked up at me with a raised eyebrow but he just shook his head with a laugh and said.

"We're going down to Earth today."

"You do know that we're still on Earth, right?" I asked sarcastically, titling my head once to mock him. He just sighed and rolled his eyes at me, turning around to face the door and leaving me alone, again.

I let out a breath as he left and felt my forehead crease downwards as I watched the door; questions forming in my head as I walked across to the wardrobe, opening the door to find the evergreen dress floating inside. Why were we leaving today? Was he trying to stall my work with Bruce? Was he trying to find the Avengers? Was he announcing something? What was he doing?

I let the dress fall down over my head, the silk falling over my skin like ripples in water. It sat on me well, going over my shoulder to slink down my arm with an extravagant sleeve that was connected to the side of the dress but floated out spaciously. No doubt that it was a beautiful dress with all the elegance of an Asgardian princess. But I just kept wondering where the fuck all these dresses kept coming from.

The woman walked in a few minutes later, accompanied by another woman that was less fragile than the first two, they made me over, adding extravagant details and features to me. Toning down the light freckles on my skin, pushing out the colour of my eyes and twirling a gold detail down my cheek to cover the bruise with a gold and black flower.

They put my hair into a bun and wrinkled down to strands that sat in front of my ears; I couldn't doubt that the woman I saw in the mirror was beautiful, stunning, radiant even. But she wasn't me. She was Queen of the Earth, closed off to the people and cold to the touch. She wasn't me. Because as beautiful as she was, she was a layer of makeup on a layer of skin. This is what Loki saw in me; his false Queen.

For a second I let myself wonder whether Steve would see me as he checked the news tonight and would either see through all the makeup or look at the creation waving next to Loki. I hoped that he wouldn't, I hoped that he would remember me.

I didn't have much more time to focus on the super soldier though, because Larson strode into the room and took me underneath the elbow, picking me up and forcing me from the room. His eyes taking me in with a raised eyebrow as I struggled against him in the hallways. He pushed me in front of him as we made it into the throne room, his hand leaving my arm and him walking away to talk to someone else.

"Victoria," Loki called, beckoning him over to me with a single hand, his head down as he looked at a table of glittering gold objects.

I picked up the hem of the dress and made my way over to him, careful not to trip on the train with my heels; he looked up as I reached him. Then he stopped; his hand falling down on the table and his mouth falling open.

He just stared at me with this lost expression, his eyes soaking in me as he kept looking, unable to get enough of me; a gentle look passing over his face as he got drunk in the sight of me.

He moved his hand out and brought me closer to him, a smile on his pale face as he whispered. "You are beautiful."

I stared up at him, marvelling at the sincerity in his voice.

He stared at me for a few more seconds before turning away, his hand going over the gold jewellery and feeling them each in turn. I felt my heart drop as I saw the blue gems that they all donned.

"I'm sorry about this, my dear, but you have to wear one of these." He said, looking at the necklaces and picking up a locket that was attached to a long chain. "It's for my own peace of mind."

"Please… Loki…" I protested, pulling away from him and putting up my hand but he clung me to him and put the necklace around my neck; I felt it drop onto my skin and sting as it curled around before settling. I watched as the rest of the gold evaporated into wisps in the air.

I stood there, expecting the waves of fog to take over and for me to lose my head, watching Loki with a hate filled expression. But nothing happened. My head was clear and clean. I wiggled my fingers to check that I still had control over my body; they moved. I stepped back and forth, rolling on my heels. Loki laughed, hiding it behind his fingers.

"I… don't understand." I whispered.

Loki let go of me, leading me towards the door out of the room. "You don't honestly think that I'd completely take you over after last time, do you? I appreciate that you have certain properties in your head that are advanced beyond what I thought previously," What's that supposed to mean? "So, I am giving you the capability to expand your acting talents."

The look that passed on Loki's face as we moved past Bruce was undeniably covered in subliminal messages of anger and hurt. Or in plain English, he looked at like I'd sat on his birthday cake.

"So, why do I have to wear this thing?" I asked, flicking it up into the air.

"It makes sure that you don't try and run from me because when you do it'll send a current of pain throughout both your body and Doctor Banner's. You may be able to continue running but when you reach a mile Dr Banner will fall from the pain, when you reach two Dr Banner will be crippled from the pain and when you reach three he'll be blinded from the pain. Four; and he'll lose the ability to speak. Five; he dies." Loki had reached the door and turned to face me, his eyes dark and cold, again; reminding me that he wasn't the fluffy bunny that I had imagined in that spin of naivety. "Do you understand?"

"You're speaking English and I understand that." I spat back, shoving his hand off of the handle and pushing open the door. The wind hit me like a bitch, whacking me in the face as he grabbed my arm. Pulling me across to the aircraft that was waiting for us; his grip was hard and sharp; nails digging in as a warning.

He threw me away from him as we entered the craft, letting me be dragged to the side by the two women and my hair fondled until it was perfect again. Loki watched me as I sat there, trying not to look at the God.

I couldn't believe I'd been so foolish to let myself believe that Loki could be anything but cruel and calculated and cold. Not just on the outside but inside; his heart was frozen, the veins that pumped blood to his heart had broken off and it now dripped down his body. The arteries were now unsalvageable, left to hand their like leaves in autumn. The heart itself had shrunk and crippled to a contorted and crumpled muscle before being taken over by the cold. This man had no heart in him and what he had was reserved for him.

The day wore on like a Charlie Chaplin film; we moved quickly and flitted from place to place without taking anything in, without really talking about anything with substance, smiling without real joy or happiness, acting as though we cared. But only I cared as I listened to the stories about how people's lives had been ruined; Loki just sat there playing the perfect role when on the inside he was bored.

We were sat there eating lunch with the former Prime Minister for the United Kingdom, telling me that I couldn't even attempt to get back to the Avengers, when there was a loud crash from the next room. Loki head shot up like one of Clint's arrows, his shoulders tensing, hand going to the sceptre and eyes narrowing. But not even the God had the opportunity to get his head around it.

A ragged and thin man, facial hair spread down to his neck, hair long and scraggily and dirt painted; he was out of breath, panting like a mad man, shoulders shaking with his sobs as he gripped the gun in his hand. His dark eyes scanned around the room, frustrated but then he found his target at the top of the table. His baggy and torn clothes trailed behind him as he flew to get closer to us. His knuckles whitened and his eyes widened with glee.

Loki muttered something under his breath and looked around sharply but he didn't have time; he should have ducked or teleported out of the way or something but instead he contradicted himself again.

His hand flew out and slammed into my shoulder, sending me sprawling into the ground, my hand reaching out for his as I fell. I felt his cold palm scrape mine and his nails leave a set of scratches on my, still, raw skin.

The ground whacked me like a bitch, winding me so that I spluttered up my breath with a spit and knocking against my head so that my thoughts were fuzzed up and my eye sight lost momentarily. I felt my heart stop as I blinked my eyes open; the feet were stomping around the place, screaming voices, gun shots…

Gun shots…

Gun-! "LOKI!"

I span around, trying to see the God but he was hidden by the chairs in front of me. I tried to stand up but my head acted against me, forcing me back into the ground as I flailed around the place, trying to push the chairs out of the way. But they only moved an inch and even then the God was lost behind them.

I let out another scream and kicked out at the chairs, pushing against the hands that tried to hold me down, scratching at the skin and pushing at the shoulders.

No, he was not… He couldn't be.

Then a set of ice cold hands landed on my bare shoulder, pulling me up into a sitting position, hauling me up and into a cold hug; strong arms holding onto me and a leather jacket wrapping around me.

I pulled back and looked into his face, seeing the pale skin and green eyes of Loki; I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back to me; forgetting everything that I thought about Loki, forgetting that he was evil and cruel and bitter, just remembering that I thought that he had been shot.

He held me, lifting me up from the ground as I cried, carrying me from the room and to the outside air, his head buried into my hair as we walked. For once I didn't feel sick as he held me, as he rocked me slowly as we ran.

But then we stopped running and a shadow engulfed us, Loki put me down locking me into a chair on the craft and moving away from me to sit next to me; his hand on mine, the other holding onto the corner of my jaw and clinging to me. I fell into him and let the shock wear off but the sleep only replaced me. The last thing I saw was the blue gem glowing brightly before I slipped forward.

Loki was sat next to me as I woke up, leaning back on a seat and staring out of the window with a heavy lidded gaze worry on his face and his fingers running over his lips to calm himself. I was laid down on a large and exceedingly comfortable bed that definitely didn't belong to me. My hand moved out and stroked the silk duvet cover; yeah, definitely not my room.

Loki jumped as he noticed that I was awake, leaping forward and looming over the bed to stroke my hair, his eyes full of relief as he looked at me gently.

"You scared me, Victoria." He whispered, putting his knees on the bed so that he was closer to me. I stared up at him and realised what had happened.

"Goes for both of us… how are you still here?" I whispered, pulling his hands off of me so that I could look up into his face.

"I am God of Mischief and Magic, I can perform many talents and tricks that are beyond lesser beings. I was able to trick the man into believing that I was in front of him, whilst in reality I was behind him. I was safe, I assure you."

I suppose he thought that that would calm me. But it didn't because I'm weird and wonderful and a woman; and we like to over think things.

"Beyond lesser beings? That's great. That's fantastic." I spat, pushing myself away from him and jumping out of the bed. Stumbling out, I realised that I was just in my underwear; the dress had been removed and put on a chair but I didn't much feel like wearing it. I grabbed a shirt from the side and threw it on over my head, yanking it down so that I was covered to the middle of my thigh.

Loki turned to look at me, sitting forward and putting his hands on his knees as he watched me fumble around. "You look even better in my attire."

"Fuck off, Loki. This isn't funny."

"I wasn't making a joke; I was making a truthful observation." He spat back. "Will you, please, stop pacing around the place and talk to me?"

"You won't like what comes out of my mouth."

"When do I ever?"

I grabbed the closest pillow and hurled it at him, hitting him in the face and letting him pull it down, raising an eyebrow at me. I just stood in front of him, arms folded across my chest.

"It's not funny, Loki. You treat your life as a joke, you treat me as a doll, and you treat everyone else around here like dirt and I know it's because you're so superior to the rest of us but I don't care anymore. Take this seriously; you're not in Asgard anymore, you don't have your full potential, you don't have your whole magic, you don't have the capability to heal, you're not immortal. Do you understand?"

"You're speaking English and I understand that." He repeated in a low voice, looking at me with veiled contempt. What am I saying; it wasn't veiled. "I do not, however, understand your anger. You have made it perfectly clear in the past that you hate me and everything that I stand for; you side with the angels, you're a good person. So, why now?"

I stared at him, my mouth falling open as I attempted to form a coherent sentence but all I could do was gasp out. "I- I don't-."

"Yes, you do." He said, standing up and moving closer to me. "I could see it in your head," He raised a bony hand to his temple and rubbed his pale skin. "You were terrified that I was dead because you want me to stay with you. Because you like the way I make you feel and, although you'd never admit it, you're beginning to feel something-."

"STOP IT!" I yelled, my hands flying up and landing in my hair, pushing it back as I breathed heavily. Looking away from Loki and over the top of his head; trying to make sense of all these thoughts running through my head, trying to push Loki out. "Stop it…"

He stepped back, looking crestfallen and ashamed but I didn't care all I could do was feel the anger that was bubbling up inside of me.

He had no right, no right, to do that. My head was confused enough without him coming along and adding his voice or inferring my thoughts to mean something else. He was pushing through ill-conceived thoughts and half formed thoughts that didn't need to be spoken. They… he couldn't be right. He wasn't. No, he was wrong… The only thing that I felt for Loki was hate and bitterness. But then there was that other Loki, the one that smiled as if he really was happy. I didn't want this.

"I have to go… It's been a long day." I whispered, going to the door and clicking the lock but I couldn't leave because Loki grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back into the room, twirling me around so that he was blocking the exit with his back; his hands on my arms.

"No, please, I'm sorry."

I stared at him for a few seconds, the sincerity in his voice scaring me. The weak look in his eyes was shocking; he was begging me to stay silently because he couldn't tell me that he needed me. That's when it hit me; he said 'please' and 'I'm sorry'. In the same sentence.

"Loki, you scared me. I thought that you were dead; you terrified me…"

"I'd have thought that if I did die, you wouldn't care." He whispered.

You have to do it. I thought, you have to make him believe, this is the only thing that you can do for the Avengers. You have to do it for Bruce; and Nat; and Pepper; and Clint; and Steve; and Tony. You have to make him believe that you love him. You have to get close to him.

"Of course, I'd care Loki… You were right. I do care; I've started to care for a while now."

Then his face lit up and I felt awful. I could barely contain the sick that bubbled up in my stomach as I watched his large smile painted on his face. Then he put his cold hands on my face and drew me closer to him.

His lips were on mine before I could blink. Cold and hard as ice but as soft as feathers, they pushed against me with a harsh force but they were gentle in motion and slow in movement. I knew that I should have done something more than stand there but I couldn't think of what to do. His touch had frozen me in place, locking all the muscles in my body like I was iron. But then he moved his tongue over my lower lip and my knees buckled, I fell into him and let him wrap his arm around the top of my thighs, knocking me into his chest.

I let him kiss me tightly before I pulled away, breathlessly. Staring up into his dark eyes with shock and a kind of lust, I guess. But then it evaporated as he yawned loudly, his arm leaving my waist to go to his mouth and cover up his tiredness.

"I apologize, Victoria, you're right; it has been a long day and this night." He mumbled, pulling away slightly and moving us towards the bed. He fell down and pulled off the jacket, giving it to me so that I could drop it onto the side. I sat next to his head as he laid down, peacefully closing his eyes. "Tell me a story…"

I couldn't help but laugh at his childish voice, moving the black curl away from his eyes and saying, "I think you know them all."

Because all the stories that my mother ever told me were about Loki and Thor; I had realised that this morning as I watched him looking over the people reminiscently, begging for adventure.

"Tell me them anyway."

This chapter was difficult because I had to bring across the idea of Loki and Victoria beginning to fall for each other but them both being confused and hating the idea of it. I had to keep bringing in Loki's viciousness as well; it was like threading a needle.

By the way, I can't remember who asked but I'm just saying that yes; I do think Tom Hiddleston is amazing.