(Author's Note: Chapter 13! I have to say, this one was the most fun to write. Enjoy!)

Chapter 13

Emmeline and Jane Foster sat in Jane's kitchen to talk about Thor and Loki. Mainly Loki, because Thor had already told Emmeline all about he and Jane.

"So, you love Thor's brother because he kidnapped you?" asked Jane. Emmeline laughed.

"He did kidnap me, but he wasn't…he was sweet to me. He wasn't as bad as everyone said. I mean he was, but not without reason. I just saw his heart I guess. You know?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. Even though Thor isn't a villain, he is rather strange sometimes."

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you want to join S.H.I.E.L.D.?" asked Emmeline.

"I just want to do my research the way I want to do it. I don't want all of them butting in and messing with my methods. I've come too far."

"I can understand that." Emmeline liked Jane. She was practical, as Emmeline was. Just then, Dr. Erik Selvig came into the room.

"Emmeline, there's somebody here to see you. He looks like a S.H.I.E.L.D. guy." Emmeline stood up and walked into the living room, where Clint Barton stood, shaking hands with Darcy.

"Clint, how did you know I was here?" asked Emmeline. He turned to her and smiled.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. always has you on radar."

"That's nosy," Emmeline said, not entirely pleased with the invasion of space. Clint shrugged. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get you and Ms. Foster."

"Oh, yeah, about that…" said Emmeline. "She's not coming."

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't want to join. She's made her decision." Clint looked at the floor and back at Emmeline. He winced.
"How do we tell Fury?"

"Just lay it on the table. All he can do is accept it."

"Alright then. Let's go." Clint and Emmeline said goodbye to everyone and Emmeline got in the passenger seat of Clint's Jeep.

When Emmeline and Clint arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, they ran into Agent Romanoff.

"Where's Fury?" asked Clint.

"In his office," Natasha replied. "Careful, he's in a mood." Clint winced at Emmeline. She shrugged and they continued on their way to Nick Fury's office. They stopped outside the door and Clint knocked.

"What?" said Fury from inside.

"It's about Ms. Foster sir," said Clint. Fury opened the door.

"Did you talk to her?" he asked.

"Yes sir," said Emmeline, "but she was pretty adamant in her decision to stay independent." Nick looked at her unpleasantly.

"Well isn't that just great," he said. "Keep working on it. Now go, the council is giving me bullshit on the Initiative." Clint and Emmeline nodded and Fury closed the door on them. Emmeline looked at Clint.

"What do we do now?"

"I guess we call it a day since Fury is held up. I'll take you home."


Loki had taken a few days to think over how he would tell Emmeline how he felt and try to get her back. He couldn't just go to Midgard and talk to her; it would be out of line. He wanted to know if she still thought of him. If she was as broken as he was. If she was, Loki could fix it. If she wasn't…well, Loki hadn't figured out what he would do then. That was why he planned to go there in the form of an illusion.

Loki had been practicing his magic, and had recently mastered the art of invisible illusions. Therefore he could send an illusion to Emmeline's location and watch her, while she couldn't see him or know he was there. It was the perfect way to find out if it was okay to see her for real. Loki had revealed his plan to Heimdall, and Heimdall agreed to keep the observatory in solitude while Loki was projecting his illusion. Loki almost had a newfound trust in Heimdall, for helping him sort out his feelings. There was an unspoken sign of respect between them.

Loki sat in the observatory, in front of Heimdall's golden pedestal. He looked back at Heimdall.

"Is she at the house?" asked Loki. Heimdall nodded. Loki faced forward and closed his eyes, locating his Moscow house and projecting an illusion into the bedroom. In a few seconds, Loki had successfully created an invisible illusion in the bedroom of the house. He listened for Emmeline, and heard her voice in the living room. Was she talking to someone? It better be a woman.

He entered the living room and saw Emmeline sitting on the couch with Agent Barton from S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki recalled Heimdall saying that she had rejoined them. A twinge of jealousy hit him as he hoped they were only speaking of business matters. Loki studied Emmeline. She looked just as beautiful as she did when he last saw her. Her eyes sparkling and her gorgeous auburn curls falling perfectly on her shoulders and bouncing when she moved. He missed her more than ever. He walked around the couch and sat next to Emmeline, wishing he could touch her and let her know he was here and still loved her. But it wouldn't be right; at least not at the moment. Loki decided to listen to their conversation.

"Thanks for taking me home Clint," said Emmeline.

"No problem," said Barton. Loki studied him. He didn't like the fact that Barton was sitting so close to Emmeline. "I want to make sure you're safe." Barton put his hand on Emmeline's leg and Loki's eyes flared with anger. Emmeline smiled at him.

Keeping her safe is my job! How dare he touch her!

"You're a good friend," Emmeline replied. For a minute, the two of them sat there in silence, until Clint began leaning toward Emmeline. It took all the self-control Loki had to keep from murdering him at that very moment. He tightened his fists in anger. Clint leaned closer to Emmeline and closed his eyes. Emmeline backed away.

"Uh, Clint," she said uncomfortably. "…W-What are you doing?" Clint opened his eyes and sat up straight.

"Oh…" he said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I know you just broke up with…I'm sorry." He stood up and walked toward the door. "I should go, I'll see you." He exited the house awkwardly and left Emmeline sitting there with an uncomfortable expression on her face. When she stood up, Loki followed her into the bedroom and sat on the bed when she crawled in. She looked sad.

That makes two of us, Loki thought. He watched Emmeline sleep for a while. She was so peaceful and beautiful while she slept. She looked like an angel. Loki stood up and gave her one last look.

"Don't worry darling," he whispered, knowing she couldn't hear him. "Barton won't be bothering you any longer."

Loki's illusion faded, and he stood up in the observatory and whipped back to look at Heimdall.

"Send me down," he said.

"Your majesty, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing of importance to you. Just send me down now." Heimdall looked at him questionably.

"Heimdall, I am your king!" Heimdall sighed and pushed the golden sword into the pedestal, sending Loki down to Midgard as he wished.

Loki landed on he and Emmeline's porch in just enough time to see Clint Barton walking off in the distance. Loki followed him closely until they reached an apartment complex. Barton lived on the bottom floor and as soon as he unlocked and opened the door, Loki put his arm against Barton's neck and slammed him against the back wall. Barton's eyes widened when he saw who was pinning him and Loki growled through gritted teeth.

"DON'T TOUCH HER! You are a fool, an insignificant, pathetic excuse for a living being, and now I am going to make you PAY!" Barton struggled to get out of Loki's grip, but Loki pulled a knife out from his armor and stabbed him in the right of his chest. Barton fell to the ground and Loki stood over him.

"See you in Hell," he said, walking out of the apartment, leaving Barton to die.


Tony Stark stood in Barton's hospital room next to Emmeline. Nick Fury told them of his accident, so they came to see him. From Tony's knowledge, he had been stabbed and was now unconscious and in the hospital. But he would live, the doctor said.

"Who stabbed him?" asked Emmeline.

"We don't know," Tony replied. "When he didn't answer his headset call, Fury sent Agents over there and they found him on the floor. His apartment door was wide open, so maybe someone broke in."

"I feel bad," said Emmeline. "He was with me at my house before he went home; I wish I would've…I don't know."

"It's not your fault," Tony said, trying to console her. "The doctor said he would be fine anyway, so don't worry about it."

After a few minutes, the two of them exited the hospital and Tony flew them back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Fury's calling a meeting at one," said Tony. "We better go now or we'll be late." Emmeline followed him on the way to the meeting room, and when they passed the video surveillance room, Emmeline stopped. Tony turned around.

"Tony," said Emmeline, walking into the surveillance room. "What is this?" she gestured toward the surveillance of Loki's—and now her—Moscow house. Tony knew that when he told her the truth, she would be very angry, and he also knew the depth of her power.

"That's not really relevant at the moment; let's talk about this later." He started to leave, but Emmeline grabbed his arm.

"Tony, what is this?!" she said sternly. "You put cameras in my house?"

"No, Fury ordered Romanoff to put cameras in your house. I just sat here and watched."

"You watched me?! What the Hell did you do that for? You have cameras in every room! This is an invasion of my privacy!"

"He did it because Loki was down here and he didn't want you to get hurt—"

"—Save it!" Emmeline snapped. "He did it to find out Loki's plans, didn't he? Well Loki is done with Earth anyway! You can't put cameras in someone's home, and then just watch them! I can't believe this. I can't believe this." Emmeline's hands started to spark and a few Agents left the room. "Where is he?!"

"Fury? He's in the meeting room. Emmeline, don't do anything you'll regret." She glared at him and ran out of the surveillance room with rage.

"FURY!" she screamed. Tony followed her into the meeting room and Emmeline had already set a few things on fire.

"Emmeline, sit down! What is the meaning of this?" said Fury.

"You put cameras IN MY HOUSE!" Emmeline roared. "What did you expect to see? What did you see? You can't do that!"

"We needed to watch Loki and make sure he wasn't a threat."

"He is a threat! He's always been a threat! But that doesn't matter; you don't have the right to invade someone's privacy like that!" Emmeline's whole body was practically on fire. Fury put his hands up.

"Emmeline, just calm down okay? I will explain myself to you—"

"—No! You don't have to explain anything. Now I know why you offered for me to join the Avengers with no punishments for anything; it's because you had this hanging over your shoulder, wasn't it! Well I'm done with you people; I quit!" Tony watched as Emmeline stormed out of the room, and out of S.H.I.E.L.D. A silence swept over the Avengers and Fury. Tony looked at him.

"I told you it was a bad idea."


Loki had shut his illusion off and stood in the observatory with Heimdall. They hadn't spoken to each other, but Heimdall was the first one to break the silence.

"You can't go down there killing, your majesty," he said.

"You saw what happened! He tried to kiss her!"

"You should have just gone down to her like I said. Then he wouldn't have the chance." Loki looked at Heimdall angrily, but it faded and he sighed.

"I know," he said, walking out of the observatory.

The next day, Loki entered the observatory once more and addressed Heimdall.

"I want to see her now," he said. Heimdall nodded and Loki stood in front of the bifrost. "Tell her…everything?"

"Everything," confirmed Heimdall. Loki sighed in discomfort. Being the God of Mischief and Lies, complete honesty with Emmeline would not be easy for him.


Emmeline sat on her couch and hugged her legs, anger slowly draining out of her. How could they have done that, and not tell her? They must have known how she would react, and they did it anyway. After a while Emmeline couldn't be mad anymore. She sighed and stood up, deciding she would do the dishes. Emmeline started on her way to the kitchen, and then stopped in her tracks before she reached the counter. She suddenly felt a strange aura about the house. Fear rushed through her and her muscles tensed. She didn't turn around, because just then she heard someone let out a breath, behind her on the other side of the room. But she recognized the sound.

"Emmeline…I'm so sorry," said Loki. Emmeline relaxed her muscles, but she still didn't turn around.

"Loki," she said, breathing out quickly. Her hands sparked from her previous fear but she suppressed her fire.

"You're afraid of me," said Loki in a soft voice.

"No," said Emmeline, emotions flooding into her heart. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I've made a terrible mistake," said Loki. Emmeline heard him walking toward her and he stopped when he was directly behind her. If Emmeline had turned around now, she would have ran into him.

"Just spit it out Loki; what do you want?" said Emmeline without emotion.

"I…I want you to come back," Loki said. "I've been hurt many times before. I've been stabbed and thrown and smashed…but nothing has hurt me more than your absence." Emmeline tried not to cry.

"You are the one that told me to leave," said Emmeline, walking a little distance from him and turning around to face him.

"I know. And I was…I was wrong." Emmeline looked at him. She knew he meant it, because it was a lot for Loki to admit he was wrong.

"Why?" she said, forbidding her tears to fall.

"Because I love you. I love you more than anything, and I simply cannot be happy unless you are there. So…if you can find it in your heart to forgive me; if you have any love left for me, I promise I will never let you out of my sight again. You will never be unhappy; I swear it." Emmeline couldn't hold her tears back any longer and they spilled over her cheeks. She walked up to Loki and looked at him.

"I never stopped loving you Loki," she said, her voice shaking. Loki looked at her, tears forming in his eyes.

"Please don't cry," he said. "You know what it does to me." He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him; his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry…" Emmeline sniffled and buried her face in his neck. Loki held her there for a while and then let her go, looking into her eyes.

"Do you forgive me?" he said. "Will you come back?" The tears kept flowing over Emmeline's face as she nodded, taking Loki's face in her hands. She kissed him and Loki let out a sigh.

"You stabbed Clint, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes," Loki replied. "Is he dead?"

"No."

"Well then I suppose I don't need to apologize," he said, smiling. He wiped the tears off of Emmeline's face with his fingers.

"I will come back with you on one condition," she said.

"And what is that?" asked Loki, taking her hands in his.

"You un-banish Thor." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Honestly? You want me to allow that brute back into Asgard?"

"He's your brother," said Emmeline. "And I know you love him."

"From a distance," Loki said. Emmeline smiled and kissed him again, running her hands through his hair.

"I missed you so much," she whispered. Loki put his hands on her lower back and pulled her against him. Emmeline led him to the couch and sat in his lap as she kissed him.

"What happened while I was gone?" she asked.

"I am now the King of Asgard," said Loki. "Odin is in prison with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. The Chitauri run the palace. We are one step closer to having all nine realms in the palms of our hands." He smiled and put his hand in her hair.

"Our hands?"

"Yes. As much as I loathe sharing, for some reason I find myself longing to share my kingdom with you. I want you to be my queen."

"Your queen? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Loki smiled at her.

"Yes. Marry me." Emmeline's hands flew up to her mouth and Loki laughed. She smiled and threw her arms around his neck.

"Well don't keep me in my misery; tell me. Will you?"

"Yes!" Emmeline exclaimed. "Yes."


AAAAHHHH! OMG It's so exciting. I had so much fun writing this. Chapter 14 will be out soon!