A/N: This was supposed to be a SHIELD chapter, but I'm a little undecided as to what order I'm going to tell all this in to avoid giving stuff away, but at the same time making sure people can follow it. Consequently, there is a slight time skip from the last chapter for the purposes of omitting spoilery information, but the next chapter is going to join Coulson's SHIELD team when that information comes into play.

Chapter Two – Contract

His hand had been played. The cards were on the table and his deal proposed. Now he waited for a response; watching her yellow eyes narrow at him as she considered, calculating and mistrusting. It took her a long time to reply, but he was happy to wait. The pause was at least informative, if not exciting. She may have been acting on orders to kill him, but perhaps she was not so simple as a mere drone who blindly followed instructions. If that was the case, then he certainly thought he could find a way to make it work for him.

After a few moments, she fixed him with a curious stare. "You are quite the enigma to me, Loki Laufeyson," she remarked coolly, not commenting on the offer he'd just laid before her. "On the one hand, you're an agent of chaos. You thrive upon disorder and mischief, yet you want the throne of Asgard. You wish to be ruler of the Nine Realms, but rule requires order and law: things contrary to all that a God of Mischief values. So it seems something of a paradox to me that someone of your nature would desire such a position."

It was an interesting observation, and it pleased him that she'd made it. A small smile played on his lips as he considered that a sharp tool would be more useful to him than a blunt instrument, even if it meant keeping it on a tighter leash.

"Power and order are not synonymous. Having the power to rule and the power to wreak havoc are both equally appealing to me, although perhaps the nuances of such privileges are lost on someone more accustomed to taking orders than giving them."

Having not missed the insult, she glared at him. "I may have received orders to kill you, but I accepted them on my own terms. I obey or disobey by my own choice."

"Evidently, or we would not be having this conversation."

Her expression hardened even further at his comment. "No, you'd be screaming and begging for mercy as I tortured you on my ship," she growled menacingly, "Half way across the cosmos and far beyond the help of any of your guards. I needed no orders to know I wanted to kill you slowly."

"Yet here you are discussing this with me," he remarked, unfazed. "It does cast doubt on your convictions."

She drew her lips back slightly in retaliation at the second insult, baring a row of sharp upper teeth just as pointed as those extending up from her lower jaw. It was an obvious sign of aggression, but he deliberately looked unimpressed. "If you offer a way to rectify your failures, I will listen. But fail again, and my wrath will be even more severe."

The threat didn't hold much weight when it seemed like a weak attempt to defend herself from his accusations, and he didn't have the patience for it. "Spare me the melodrama. You've heard my proposal. So tell me, is that enough to persuade you?"

There was another pause in which she continued to stare at him, clearly still thinking it over. "Perhaps," she eventually replied, her tone measured as she waited for more information to consider. "I am still curious: why is it that you want the throne? Is it really all about power? Or is there something else?"

He bristled at the question, and he suddenly met her glare with an equally fierce one of his own. He was the King of Asgard and he was going to make sure that people knew he – Loki – was the King of Asgard, as was his right. That wasn't something he had to justify to her or to anyone. "It's about taking what is rightfully mine," he snarled at her, sounding angrier than he'd been at any earlier point in the conversation.

"Yes, of course: taking what is rightfully yours by means of deception," she remarked sarcastically. "It can't possibly be satisfying for you: that you finally sit upon the throne of Asgard, yet only because all believe you are Odin."

"Satisfying? No. But for now, satisfactory."

She raised an eyebrow at his response, almost mocking him. "And how were you planning to rectify the situation?"

"Wait around a little longer, and you'll find out."

"Suppose I don't want to wait," she replied, her tone again taking on the implications of a threat as she demanded to be told. The exact details of how he proposed to get Odin out of the picture had been thus far omitted from their conversation, and she thought she'd like to know.

He gazed at her coolly, refusing to be intimidated. "Well then, with your co-operation, we could make it happen sooner."

Yet again, there was a pause. She seemed hesitant to agree to help him, but she was clearly lending it careful consideration. Did she help him secure his position on Asgard's throne under his own name, if it meant he did something to help her? What he was offering would mean making good on his deal of over a year ago, but that didn't mean she was in a position to readily accept it. She wondered what the Other would tell her, if she could take this proposal back to the creature who'd sent her here and ask what she should do. She knew the answer. He'd say to show no mercy. To punish Loki as she'd been ordered, and give no second chances. But fortunately she wasn't a Chitauri with no choice but to obey, and she had her own agenda to serve. "Very well," she said bluntly, having made up her mind. "I accept your terms."

Loki repressed the smirk that was itching to display on his face. Even he didn't accept his terms, and if she truly thought he'd abide by them she was a fool, but this was shaping up to be the most useful turn of events for him since the Convergence. It surprised him almost, how easy it had been to convince her, but then he supposed that assassins like her would work for whoever offered them the best deal.

"Good. Then shall we begin?"