Author's Notes: Loki finally gets some love. X3


"We're getting close." the pilot said.

Loki turned to Janna.

He knew she didn't want to hurt people, and he considered leaving her here on the plane.

Hearing they were nearing SHIELD, Janna made them and the jet they were in invisible.

"We're above the ship." The pilot announced.

Loki stood, and made his way to where he thought the door was.

He couldn't see it, but felt the scepter in his hand.

He wasn't sure where Janna was either, but he assumed since she was all reclusive, she'd stay on the plane.

Janna heard Loki move, and since she was keeping them invisible, she had a pretty good idea where he was. She reached out to hopefully catch his hand.

Her plan consisted of them remaining invisible, and in order to do that she had to stay near him and know where he is.

She waited for the door to open. They would know when it was open easily by the wind.

The door to the plane opened, and Loki made a move to jump onto the top of the ship.

Janna frowned when she missed his hand and was a bit surprised. Her confusion caused Loki to become visible again, since she didn't know exactly where he was, and the plane itself almost became visible to, but she managed to catch it.

He had turned visible when he leapt from the plane. She ran after him. He was not going in alone and able to be seen...it would only end in carnage.

She leapt after him and caught his cape as she fell onto the ship with a loud bang. As soon as she touched the fabric he was invisible again, but when she hit the plane their visibility flickered for a moment.

Loki felt something pull him back as he landed on the plane, the awkward weight made him fall to the ground.

He felt something underneath him, and for a moment, saw Janna's face flicker inches away from his.

He wasn't sure what surprised him more; the fact that she actually did that, or the fact that he was laying on her.

Janna was sooooo glad she was invisible. She used one of her force field pulses to push Loki off her as quickly as she could, but she never let go of the cape.

Loki was pushed off of Janna, and stood up.

He felt something on his cape, and assumed it was Janna.

He ignored the feeling in his chest, and aimed the scepter at the roof of the ship.

He figured the only way to get in, was to blast a hole in the roof; Plan A.

Janna stood up as Loki did and kept one hand on his cape so she knew where he was. He wasn't moving anywhere...

"Don't! Stealth is much more likely to succeed."

"And how do you suggest we get in then?"

Loki stared at the metal; ready to bust in when Janna gave up.

Janna thought for a moment. "The same way Barton did!"

She looked around. She could vaguely see the ship with the reflection panels. In the near distance she could see fog rising from what was probably a vent.

Loki sighed and maneuvered towards the vent.

He wasn't happy, but he would more than likely be in 'trouble' if he didn't follow Janna's order.

He saw the vent, and used the scepter to remove the grate over it.

Janna relaxed a bit when he did as she asked. She wonder how long that would last...

She looked down into the vent and her fist tightened its grip on Loki's cape. Maybe they should choose a different vent. It was the room where Loki/ Banner's cell had been. She voiced her discomfort.

"Let's go find another vent..." It wasn't a command, just a weak suggestion that she figured he would ignore.

Loki ignored her and went inside the vent.

It was times like these, he was glad he was taller and leaner than Thor, as he maneuvered through the vents.

He briefly imagined his brother trying to get to the cell room through the vents, and he chuckled to himself quietly.

When he finally got there, still feelings Janna holding on to his cape, he looked through another grate to see his old prison all the same; other than the lack of a cell and the strong smell of ammonia where the room had been cleaned thoroughly.

Janna was not in a good mood anymore...She reached her hand around to the grate and blasted it down into the empty room.

"Well move on! We're in!" She whispered.

Loki frowned; he did not like Janna telling him what to do.

He moved his feet to the opening, and gracefully jumped down.

Landing on his feet like a cat, the god held his scepter with one hand, and smoothed imaginary wrinkles on his jacket with another.

He looked at the empty spot where the cell had been, and smiled at the memory of he and Fury's talk.

Still looking at the space, and not seeing if Janna was on the ground yet, he spoke.

"So where is my tesseract?"

Janna landed on the floor beside him. They were both visible now. She didn't expect anyone to be looking at any cameras in this room.

"It's not technically 'your' Tesseract. It belongs to Odin and Asgard..."

She looked around the room with a frown.

"But it's this way." Janna turned to face Loki and held out her hand.

She wasn't exactly keen on the idea...but in order for them both to be invisible she needed to be touching him when they left the room.

"Odin placed the tesseract in Midgard, and I am to rule Midgard, so therefore it's mine."

Loki glanced at Janna with smoldering green eyes and leaned close to her.

"Forget not to whom you serve."

He grabbed her hand quickly, before she could pull it away, and held onto it with his supernatural strength.

"Now lead the way."

Janna glared back at him and turned invisible before he could see her cheeks dust slightly red.

'I hate him.' She told herself.

Loki became invisible when she did and she led the way out of the room. The door seemingly opening on its own.

Loki smirked when she became invisible, but she probably didn't see it due to him being invisible too.

He followed her, and hoped he was as successful as he was the last time he was on this ship.

Janna finally reached the door she had found the scepter in the first time. She was right, there were twice as many guards there now.

They had probably changed the pass code too...

Loki frowned.

This was exactly what he should have expected.

He hadn't used his frost powers in a while, and didn't get to make his monster like he had planned to, so he decided to see how rusty those powers were.

He moved so that he had close range to almost all of the guards.

As he passed them, he waved his hands and the air became colder.

If it worked all the guards would be frozen.

Janna was a bit relieved when she saw Loki using non-lethal force... The guards froze and turned a bit blue...but after a little time they should hopefully be okay. Maybe a little frostbite on their noses...

Janna attempted the pass code she had used before. It failed.

"Okay. Now you can blow up the door."

"With pleasure."

Loki aimed the scepter at the door, and blew it off from the hinges.

He walked inside with grace and panache.

Janna walked into the room after Loki and looked around. She saw the suitcase and reached for it herself.

"Is that is?"

Loki motioned at the suitcase.

He seemed curious to how quick she was to steal it, and his suspicions of her working for Thanos returned.

"Yeah." Janna unlatched the suitcase and opened it for a second. "Well? Let's get out of here before they send someone."

They were both visible again, she became visible and let go of Loki to open the suitcase.

"Come on." She held her hand out to him again, the suitcase in the other.

She wanted out of here before someone showed up and got themselves hurt.

Loki took Janna's hand, and let his wariness go for now.

He wanted to get back to Latveria and see what the tesseract could do.

Janna quickly turned a corner with Loki in one hand and the Tesseract in the other. She almost ran into Natasha who was bracing herself against the wall.

Janna skidded to a stop before hitting her, but Natasha could sense someone was there, even in her condition.

Natasha looked around cautiously and held up her gun, trying to figure out where they were...

Janna needed to find another route...or find a way around her...She didn't even need to be out of bed after what the Goblin did to her!

Loki recognized Natasha, and saw that she sensed him.

He wondered if he was going to need to freeze her as well, but being the cautious person he is, he waited to see what Janna would do.

He'd probably freeze or kill Romanoff either way.

"Surrender and lay down the Tesseract." Natasha said weakly and continued to look for them. As she looked around she came up with an idea.

Janna tried to duck away from her gun and maneuver her and Loki around Romanoff.

Suddenly Natasha aimed her gun at the ceiling. She pulled the trigger and water started to rain down, and it caused pools to form where the invisible people's feet were...

Loki was impressed that Natasha had come up with the trick to find them; she was smarter than he gave her credit for, even after she tricked him about Banner.

He was not in the mood, however, to deal with this.

He used magic to freeze the sprinklers, and was going to freeze Natasha when the agents showed up.

"Agent Romanoff! The tesseract is gone!"

"They're here." Natasha watched the floor. They still dripped a few drops of water, so Natasha fired a bullet where she assumed Loki's chest was.

She assumed the other agents would catch her gaze.

"Release the weapon and show yourselves." She tried again.

The other agents got the hint, but didn't see the droplets of water that fell from the clothes of Loki and Janna.

They began to fire aimlessly.

Loki assumed Janna would make a force field to deal with the gunfire from the agents, but he needed to deal with Romanoff; she was too smart for her own good.

He created an illusion of himself behind her, and made it speak.

"You're very brilliant, but not as quick in speed as you are in mind. I'm afraid you are too late; the tesseract is mine."

The clone smiled at Natasha, while the real Loki began to move towards her.

Janna did as Loki thought she would and created a force field that sealed off the other agents from them and stopped the bullets.

She noticed Loki's illusion and thought he was merely going to distract Natasha to let them escape. She was probably being naive, considering Loki's pull on her hand was going towards her...

Natasha couldn't just turn her head to see the illusion, she had to turn her entire body to face it.

'This isn't right...where's the girl? Illusion?'

She turned around again to try and see what could not be seen.

"Loki, there is no way you are escaping SHIELD again. Put down the Tesseract and surrender, and Director Fury might just give you a window in your cell. Girl? The same goes for you." Natasha had never exactly caught the girl's name...and she felt no need to remember one of a traitor.

Loki smiled, figuring that Natasha couldn't see it, but it was hard not to laugh at her.

She was weak, no matter how clever she was, and he would break her like the others.

He hadn't forgotten the promise he made to her the last time they were on the ship together.

He froze the agents that were firing at them, and gripped the invisible scepter in his hand.

Deciding to take a chance, whilst Natasha couldn't see them, he swung the scepter towards her shoulder, hopefully stabbing it.

The agent held the gun in front of him, and was going to fire, when ice glued him to the ground, and covered his arms.

'What's going on?' he thought.

Natasha almost knew the attack was coming, but she couldn't see it, and she moved too slowly to avoid it. She pulled the trigger on her gun as the scepter stabbed her.

She fell down to her knee with her face twisted in pain and tried to move backwards, with one arm still holding up her gun.

She was weak, and Natasha hated herself for it.

Janna had turned to look at the agents who had been shooting at them when the fire had stopped.

Then she saw Natasha and knew it had been Loki. "No! Stop!"

Loki's unnatural skin density did not allow the bullet to penetrate his skin, and it merely bounced off of him like a rubber ball.

He winced at the stinging feelings, and the scepter sliced into Natasha.

Loki watched as she fell to her knees, and smiled despite himself.

As she moved backwards, he moved forwards, keeping the scepter in place.

"Now, don't you feel more comfortable, in your natural place?"

He twisted the scepter slightly when Janna yelled at him.

"Why? She was going to kill both of us. Or did you forget you're considered a traitor among your old comrades?" he spat.

Janna let them be seen again, she was worried about Natasha and didn't want to waste any energy or focus on it while she tried to stop Loki.

She pulled hard on his hand to pull him away and the scepter from Natasha's shoulder. "You have the Tesseract! There's no need to kill her!"

Natasha tried to jerk her shoulder away to free herself.

Loki wasn't expecting Janna to really touch him, and she successfully pulled him back, which removed the scepter from Natasha.

Loki instantly recovered from his shock, and growled in anger.

He turned swiftly, and his hand moved to grab Janna by her chin.

"How dare you? Has your tender heart made you stupid? Has your weakness made you an audacious fool? How many times do you mean to defy me; a god?" he hissed.

"As many times as it takes!" Janna growled back and moved her arm to swat his hand away.

It was obvious he was upset, and probably needed a hug.

Loki didn't know why he suddenly felt betrayed, and he attempted to ignore the pain in his chest as he looked down upon Janna.

"You will be punished."

He looked behind her and noticed the frozen agents.

Janna was actually a bit frightened and very angry.

Natasha managed to stand back on her feet while leaning against the wall. The blood loss, added to the fact she was already weak, was already making her lightheaded and feel like she was about to pass out.

She was the only agent in the area still able to move, and keeping the Tesseract away from Loki was the greatest priority. She aimed the gun as best she could at Loki back and fired again, even though it had been useless before. Usually she used her words and intellect to stop someone, but there was no stopping this madman that way.

"We have what you came for. Let's just go!" Janna tried.

Loki felt the bullet bounce off his armor, and it only added to his anger.

He motioned at Natasha.

"I won't kill her; not yet. I have promised her a certain death, and killing her now would break my word."

"But them..."

He motioned at the frozen agents, and then the Loki standing near Janna and Natasha disappeared.

He appeared behind the one that stood in front of the rest; he wanted to make an example of the 'leader' to the other agents.

The real Loki stabbed the agent with the scepter.

The agent couldn't cry out as Loki stabbed him; the ice covered his face and throat.

He was able to look down, and saw the blue ice turn pink.

Natasha could only watch as her vision grew hazy. She slowly slid to the floor. She couldn't pass out. Not now. She tried to raise her gun one last time, but she couldn't pull the trigger before her eyes closed and she collapsed; the blood loss being too much for her.

"Don't!" Janna cried in vain and watched with anger at Loki's actions. There was no changing that fool!

Janna gave him an angry and disappointed look before turning invisible with the suitcase with the Tesseract in hand. She wasn't going to let him have it now.

Loki removed his scepter and frowned.

He hoped she got on the plane at least.

The god started walking, remotely remembering where the nearest exit to the plane was, and began heading in that direction.

Janna ran over to the unconscious Natasha and grabbed her headset.

"Two agents down! Get someone over here now!"

She dropped the headset and stood straight up again. Loki was right, she was still a traitor. She couldn't stay there.

She left the suitcase with Natasha and chased after Loki. She stayed quiet. She wasn't going to let him know she was there. Janna figured Loki would kill her if he found out she was nearby WITHOUT the Tesseract.

Loki finally made it back to the plane and saw it empty.

He didn't see the tesseract, so he assumed Janna was lagging behind; probably to attempt and help the wounded.

He sat down and waited.

Janna slipped inside the plane after Loki and sat in the floor away from him. She didn't want to sit in a seat because of the possibility of him seeing the indent of where she sat.

"We need to leave."

The pilot was anxious.

Loki silently agreed.

"Are you in here?"

He wasn't sure if Janna would answer him, but he was sure she wouldn't want the pilot to get caught and/or injured.

Janna stopped even her slow breaths when Loki spoke. Did he really know she was there?

She remained still and silent in her spot.

Loki looked around the inside of the plane slowly.

He made the air in the plane cooler, hoping to be able to see her breath, but saw nothing.

He kept the air that way a bit longer; if she was in the plane, she could only hold her breath so long.

Janna shivered when the temperature suddenly dropped and took a quick breath in. She didn't realize immediately that it was Loki that dropped the temperature, or that he was using it to try and spot her.

After a few moments she began to breathe slowly and silently again. Then she noticed she could actually see her breath.

Loki smirked and the door closed.

The plane slowly pulled away from the ship when he realized that Janna didn't have the tesseract.

"Where is it?"

Janna cursed herself for not figuring out what Loki was up to before she was caught.

She turned visible and looked at him, her anger still aflame in her eyes.

"I don't have it."

Loki closed his eyes, and then stood from his seat.

He took slow steps until he was standing in front of Janna, and he knelt in front of her.

"What?"

"I don't. Have it." Janna spoke slowly and deliberately so he could understand exactly what she said.

Loki stared at her eyes, and tried to keep his breathing calm.

He drew his hand back, and smacked Janna across the cheek.

He was so angry, and wanted to hurt someone.

Loki moved his hand into her hair, and he planned to pull her hair and force Janna to look at him.

Janna cried out and reached for his hand that now had her by the hair. A single tear found its way to her cheek and her face stung.

She repeated herself again. "I don't have it. And even I did I wouldn't give it to you."

Hearing Janna's words only filled Loki with more rage.

He gripped her hair tightly, and pulled her close to him.

"As long as you defy me, more blood will be on your hands."

Loki's eyes were filled with anger, but his voice was eerily calm.

He noticed the tear fall down Janna's cheek, and he frowned.

He released her hair, and moved away from her.

His thoughts told him to kill her, but Loki knew he still needed Janna.

He would break her eventually, and her punishment would continue when they returned to Doom's castle.

Janna felt her cheek then lowered her hand again. It would likely bruise.

"So, what? If I had handed the Tesseract over to you, you wouldn't hurt anyone else? Yeah right! More people would die." She snapped at him.

She turned away from him to go sit down, and with one arm she 'casually' threw one of her compression bombs at him.

She wasn't so worried about him killing her anymore...she was angry and she completely forgot her fears.

Loki ground his teeth together, but said nothing.

He looked at the clouds through the window; his thoughts rushing at him.

The look Janna had given him on the ship was the same look Odin had given him when he was hanging from the bifrost.

Loki crossed his arms when something stung him.

He looked down to see that Janna's compression bomb had hit his hand, and left a small mark.

Janna sat down in the seat and looked out the window as well so she didn't have to look at him.

She hoped that the Natasha and the other agent Loki had stabbed were alright, but the wound he gave the one agent was the same as the one he gave Coulson...and it wasn't likely he or she..? survived it.

Janna wiped her eyes before crossing her arms. Her anger started to leave her and she was left with frustration.

Loki wondered about Asgard, as he did when he was completely alone.

Why was he always so unsuccessful?

Why did Odin care more for his precious Thor if they were both truly his sons?

Why did Janna care so much for the SHIELD agents when she was with him?

The god felt his hands squeeze his arms as he pushed those thoughts away again.

His emotional ties were becoming stronger and more eminent within him, and Loki wasn't sure he liked it.

Loki closed his eyes.

He supposed today wasn't a total loss.

His mind briefly considered how Victor and Osborn were doing, but since they were two capable villains, he brushed the thought of them away.

Sighing, Loki re-opened his eyes.

He felt tired but not sleepy.

He wanted to say something, but he knew Janna would probably ignore him, and he was still angry at her for her actions on the ship.

He leaned against the seat, and tried to not think about anything in particular.

Loki wasn't sure if he liked the silence or not.

It was bothering him slightly.

He glanced up at the scepter, and watched the way it flowed with energy.

"We're almost back to Castle Doom." The pilot announced.

Loki hummed.

He wondered what Janna was thinking; she was very quiet and that disturbed him.

When Janna saw the castle out the window she stood up onto her feet.

Getting away from this hopeless man she still somehow cared about was her top priority.

Loki watched Janna, and stayed in his seat until the plane landed.

She seemed eager to get away from him.

That didn't please him at all.

When the plane landed, the pilot opened the door.

Loki watched Janna practically jog off the plane.

He stood and walked from the plane.

As curious as he was to know how Osborn and Doom did, he wouldn't go looking for them yet.

When Loki entered the castle, he went for his room.

He ran into a sobbing maid however, and confronted her on his 'gentle' manner.

"They took him..." she cried.

"Who took him?" he asked rather coldly.

He knew part of the Avengers would be here, but he wasn't going to tell the maid that.

"A group of men...led by a man with a bow. They took him away."

Loki frowned.

He didn't expect Doom to be captured.

Loki found his way to the throne room, and examined the chaos.

The maid must have been right; Victor had been captured.

Loki sighed and decided he would need to go back; for both Doom and the tesseract.

Somehow, he knew Fury would take Victor to the ship; that was where he felt most safe, and would also house his greatest fear.

"He learned nothing from our first encounter." he mused to himself.

First, he would wait for Osborn to return.

Loki went to Osborn's hospital room, and saw he hadn't returned yet.

That really frustrated him.

He hated that he was frustrated, and the fact that Osborn's absence really had nothing to do with all of his pent up anger.

He thought about Janna and the visit to Fury's ship; he thought of that look she gave him when he stabbed that worthless agent.

He thought of Odin.

Loki closed his eyes and growled.

He punched the nearby wall, leaving cracks in it, and frightened a maid that walked by.

"Is something-"

"Everything is fine."

When the maid didn't move from her spot, Loki unleashed a bit of anger out on her.

"Leave!"

She ran away.

He sighed and moved his hand from the wall.

He didn't care about the maid or her feelings, but Janna kept plaguing his thoughts.

Why did she do this to him?

He shouldn't care is she was mad at him over someone the probable death of someone they didn't even know.

Loki felt his jaw clench in anger.

This was all Janna's fault.

She was the reason he was growing weak.

He turned from Osborn's room to look for Janna.


Janna's pace quickened as she walked. She felt that if she moved faster she could get away from the thoughts in her head.

Finally she turned the corner and found the room where she had left all her newly bought clothes. She opened the door to the bathroom where she had left her bag and was breathing heavily when she turned towards the mirror to pick the bag up.

She saw the bruise that had finally formed on her cheek and raised her hand to her face.

All those thoughts she had been trying to run from hit her all at once, and she moved back away from the mirror and fell against the wall.

Janna grabbed her head and screamed one of those muffled frustrated screams with your teeth clenched shut and your eyes closed. She sank to the floor as the tears flooded her eyes and she pulled her legs up close to her as she sobbed.

She didn't have anything. She couldn't just go home and pretend nothing happened. She was a war criminal and traitor of the United States' Government. Add that to the fact that she had made enemies with some of the strongest people on earth, including her best friend. If she went home to the friends and family she did have left, it wouldn't be long before they found out what she had done and hated her too.

All this for one man. A man who wouldn't even listen to her and who had left the mark on her face. All she had wanted to do was help him, and have a little fun with the chaos that ensued. She hadn't thought about the consequences of her actions.

Janna sat there crying for a while until the tears finally stopped coming.

She looked over at the bags sitting next to her and stood up. Why had she wanted to keep them? They would only remind her of all that had happened.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes as she looked up at the mirror again. Her face was red and blotchy, and her eyes were oddly blue as they always were after she cried. Maybe her eyes hadn't really changed, but the contrast of her red skin made it seem so.

Loki walked to the room he thought Janna was staying in, and looked at the door.

He heard sniffling on the other side and frowned.

Was she crying? Why? Was it his fault?

He felt even more frustrated, and opened the door.

Janna turned to leave the bathroom, but left the bags on the floor. She stepped out into the bedroom and saw Loki standing at the door. She quickly looked down and away from him as she walked towards the door. A few tears still found their way to her cheeks even though she was finished crying.

She was still looking at the floor when she reached the door. She was quiet and was waiting for him to get the hint and get out of her way.

Loki saw the tears flow down Janna's cheeks, and all of that pent up frustration exploded.

He was furious at her, Odin, Thor, himself, Doom, Osborn, the Avengers, etc.

He wanted to make Janna suffer like he did, and to break her at the same time.

He didn't move from the door like Janna wanted, instead he moved his hands to place them on her shoulders.

Janna tried to swipe his hands off her.

"Get out of my way." She cried.

Her voice was hoarse and she hated it. Just another sign to make it obvious she had been crying. As if her face wasn't enough.

Loki had shut the door when he walked in, and he wasn't going to let Janna leave.

"No."

His tone made it clear he wasn't in the mood to fight with her.

He took a step towards her.

"I said move!" Janna tried again and more tears made their way to her eyes.

A pulse of energy flowed from Janna's body at Loki as she continued to refuse to look at him.

Loki was pushed back to the door by Janna's pulse of energy.

That shocked him; he'd never seen her like this before.

He tried to take in a calming breath, but it sounded shaky and forced.

Janna ignored her tears and tried to pretend they weren't even there.

She used an arm to try and push Loki out of the way of the door and reached for the doorknob with her other hand.

Loki caught the arm that was trying to push him out of the way.

He pushed forward, and tried to push Janna forward with him.

"Leave me be! I want to go!"

Janna fought to be free of Loki's grip so she could get to the door. What was his problem?!

"Go where? Back to Victor?"

Loki held his grip on her arm, but was struggling to keep her.

He was surprised at her strength.

Janna finally looked up at him and caught his eyes for a moment before quickly looking away again.

"No. I'm quitting this circus and going home!"

She pulled hard on her arm to slip from his grip. She wasn't lying but she wasn't being truthful either. She wasn't going to find Victor, but she wasn't exactly going home either. That would be one of the first places the government would look for her when they came looking.

Loki caught Janna's eye; he knew what she was thinking.

Or at least he thought he did.

He pulled on her arm the same moment that she did.

Janna looked up at him again when her arm didn't come free. She hated crying in front of others, or even looking like she had been crying, and now she was about to have done both in front of him.

"Just let me go."

No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop the tears from falling again.

"Just let me go..." She repeated herself softly and had pretty much given up on freeing herself. Her pulls were pathetic.

Loki felt like he had completed step one; he had broken Janna, or at least felt like he had.

He tugged on her arm to pull her close to him.

"No." he said again.

"Why? What do you want from me?!" Janna cried.

She leaned away from him with all her weight. She wouldn't look at him and even closed her eyes to also try and stop her crying.

He watched Janna cry, and the image of her disappointed look from the ship filled his mind's eye.

He kept his hold on her arm, and moved his other hand to force her to look at him.

Loki tried to give her a reason for keeping her in the room with him, but the only things prominent in his mind was his frustration, his anger, and a strong urge to kiss her.

"Stop it and just let me go!" Janna tried to put force behind her words.

No matter how tightly she closed her eyes, the tears still found a way out, and she refused to open them to look at him.

Loki wanted to scoff at her attempted to command him, but instead he watched her cry.

He wasn't sure if it was the sadistic Frost Giant part of him, but he loved the control he had over her.

Slowly, he leaned closer to Janna.

Janna hated this man. He had not given her even the smallest of reasons of why he wouldn't let her go. Why, all of a sudden, was he keeping her with him and saying almost nothing?

She pulled on her arm again. She was obviously distressed. Maybe that was the reason he wouldn't let her go. He enjoyed tormenting others.

"Do you care so much for them, and yet so little for me?"

Loki gently grazed the shell of Janna's ear with his lips.

He wasn't sure why he had a sudden and strong desire to take her, but since she was acting repulsed by him, he would at least have fun with it.

It didn't make him happy to have her act as if touching him would make her skin rot, it actually stung his pride, but Loki decided he would make Janna want him.

His words pissed her off again, but her crying didn't stop, instead it became worse.

"You're a fool!" Janna screamed and pulled away from his touch.

"I did care for you!" Janna used the past tense because she couldn't quite admit it to herself that she still cared for him, even after everything he's done.

Loki frowned at being insulted, but he pulled her close again, and licked a tear from her cheek.

"Did you?"

"Get off me!" Janna cried and another wave of energy pulsed towards Loki to push him away. She was so hurt.

Loki was pushed back a bit, but not by much.

He looked at her once more, and then released her arm.

He frowned, and moved for the door. No one could want him, the 'monster'.

Janna was relieved when he finally released her.

"You wanted to know why I left that one time in the throne room?" She yelled angrily.

"Because I was afraid! You won't change. No matter what I say or what I do you insist on hurting others and refuse to admit Odin and Thor's love for you. And your love for them!"

Loki stopped right before he touched the door knob.

"Love for me?"

He turned slowly to face Janna.

"You're right. I did love them. I loved my father like any other son, and all I ever wanted was to make him proud. I wanted to show him that I could be just as useful as Thor, and that I could make an even better king. But guess which 'son' my father chose. My loving brother Thor. The idiotic, arrogant, fool who almost started a war. That is who my father favored most."

As Loki forcefully pointed all of this out, he was taking unconscious steps toward Janna.

Janna watched him speechless and the tears ran down her face. She suddenly moved towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

Loki was about to continue ranting when Janna hugged him.

He was speechless, and very much surprised.

Not knowing what to do, he slowly put his arms around her.

Loki had once thought women in Asgard were strange and difficult to read, but Janna was the strangest woman he had ever met.

He wasn't sure if she was still angry with him, so he just stood there holding her.

Janna tightened her grip around him and cried.

It was so small, but it was such a huge thing to her. She wasn't only crying for herself but crying for him too. He had been so lost and hurt. He only ever wanted someone to want and believe in him.

Loki felt her grip around him tighten, and he kept his hands on Janna's back.

He was thoroughly confused, and wasn't used to paying attention to a woman's emotions.

His earlier emotions were gone...all except one.

Taking Janna's tears as proof that he'd screwed up, Loki didn't want to make her any 'angrier' than she already was.

He placed his chin on the top of her head, and ignored the fact that his clothing was getting wet from her tears.

"Why?...Why did it take you so long?..." Janna said softly and otherwise didn't move.

Loki frowned.

"What?"

He moved his head so he could look down at Janna.

"Nothing." Janna closed her eyes and held him close.

She didn't want him to get angry and push everything away again.

Thinking he could possibly force Janna to tell him what she said, he decided now was not the time.

Loki was still frustrated, but felt a little more mellow now; well mellow enough for being a crazed psychopathic god.

Saving Doom and reattempting to get his tesseract was in the back of his mind, but Loki didn't want to move.

Instead of listening to the voice that screamed at him to go see if Osborn had gotten back already, he pulled Janna a smidgen closer, if it was possible.

Janna's tears slowly stopped and she was left just standing there against him.

Loki didn't know how much time had passed.

He then thought of Doom and frowned.

How could he have gotten himself capture in his-

Loki remembered being flung around the Hulk, and sighed.

'That's how." he thought.

He tried to not think of Victor whilst he was holding Janna; the memory of Doom taunting him when Janna left him on the throne randomly popped into his head.

He frowned to himself.

He rather liked holding Janna, but he wondered if Victor had held her like this too.

Janna removed one of her hands from around him to wipe her eyes and brush the tears away.

She didn't want to move away. She wanted to stand there with him forever, because if she did, he couldn't hurt anyone.

Loki felt her hug loosen, and she moved one of her arms from around him.

He broke from his thoughts of Victor, and looked down at Janna again.

He waited for her to say something.

She didn't move away from him and still rested her head against Loki.

Janna felt a bit braver and asked him the question she had not too long ago.

"Why? Why did it take you so long?"

Loki didn't realize that he had made some sort of breakthrough, so he was confused by the question.

He replayed the events in his mind, and came to a conclusion it was about what he said of his father and brother.

Still, he wasn't sure what part of that made her happy with him again.

Loki mulled over what to say in his head.

"Do you know so much about my past?"

Janna laid her hand against him near her head.

"A lot. But not nearly everything."

"A lot?"

Loki wondered how much was 'a lot'.

He moved one of his hands from her back to place it on her head.

"So you know everything."

It wasn't really a question.

Janna shook her head. "Not everything."

"I wish I knew more."

"You wish to know more of a childhood full of rents and slights. You are an odd girl."

Loki kept his hand on Janna's head and began to stroke her hair like a human would pet a cat.

"No..." Janna whispered and held onto Loki tightly again. "I want to know more about you."

That really confused Loki.

She wanted to know about him personally?

"If something troubles you, then tell me."

That was Loki's attempt to not command her to tell him why she was crying earlier.

Janna closed her eyes.

"I'm fine."

She was a bit of a hypocrite...she wanted Loki to admit his feelings and talk about them, but she wouldn't even do it herself.

Loki wasn't pleased by that answer.

"Tell me."

He released her, and sat down on the bed waiting.

Janna frowned and looked at him.

She couldn't. Not now. She didn't exactly like thinking about it anyway.

Janna sat down near the wall and stared at her feet.

Loki crossed his arms and waited for a moment.

When Janna stared at her feet and didn't answer, he got a bit impatient.

"Tell me..."

Janna slowly looked up at him.

"I gave up everything for you." She spoke quietly. "And for what? You to ignore me?"

"And leave me with this?" She raised a hand and passed it over her bruised cheek.

Loki stared at the bruise with a frown, and then moved from his spot on the bed.

He took small, but quick steps, and then knelt in front of Janna.

He gently grazed his fingertips over the bruise.

"You did as you've said, but I did not realize we had a bargain."

He gave her a small smile.

"I didn't ignore you on the throne that day." he whispered.

"And what made that day so different?" Janna looked up into his eyes.

Loki looked into Janna's eyes as he tried to find the right answer to her question.

What was the reason?

He remembered her sitting in his lap, so submissive, moving closer to his body...

The god swallowed a knot in his throat.

He hadn't paid attention to a woman physically in a long time, and though he had been fond of Janna for a while, it was that day he actually thought of her in a...more mature way.

Loki doubted she would like that answer.

"I have my reasons."

Janna crossed her arms.

"Of course you do."

She didn't want to make him angry, but she couldn't help herself.

"The same way you had your reasons for hurting those people." She frowned.

Loki seemed outwardly calm.

"Do you want an explanation for the killings? Fine, here it is."

He leaned close to Janna, still looking into her eyes.

"I slaughtered them because I'm a bad man."

He smiled a bit.

"And I'm sure you're expecting an explanation for the throne room experience as well . Tell me, what do you want to hear? A profession of love perhaps? Or a few things of a physical manner instead?"

Janna frowned and turned her head away from him. "And you wonder why Victor gets all the fun."

Loki's smile turned into a frown.

"Fun?"

The suspicions from earlier came back.

Now Janna gained the smile.

"Yes fun."

Loki's frown deepened.

He didn't like where this was going.

"I see...so your Victor's lover now, then?"

"Well he certainly knows how to..." Janna let her voice trail off.

Loki didn't have dirty thoughts, instead he saw Victor's smug face smirking at him.

He moved his hands from Janna's person, and stood up.

Not liking the thoughts of them together, and the thought that again no one could love him, he wanted to leave the room now.

Janna stood up after Loki and reached her hand to frame his face. She had an amused smile, but it slowly left when she realized just how upset the thought of her and Doom made him.

She tried looking into those deep green eyes of his to read him. Sometimes she just didn't know.

Loki stopped moving and placed his hand on Janna's.

He was so confused by her sometimes, and now was one of those moments.

Maybe that was one of the reasons he was attracted to her...

Looking into her eyes, he could tell she was searching for something.

The god gave her a small smile.

Janna smiled back and kept her hand in place. She continued to search his eyes.

"You're a genius. And yet somehow...somehow you just don't get it." She tilted her head to the side and scanned his entire face.

Loki's brow furrowed.

"Then inform me so I might understand."

He wanted Janna to give into him, but it seemed it was working the other way around.

His hand kept hers on his face, and his green eyes steadily bore into Janna's.

Janna's eyes moved down to his lips as he finished speaking. Her gaze moved back up to Loki's eyes as she slowly moved closer to him. Loki watched her gaze, and he was shocked when Janna leaned close.

He was a proud and stubborn man, but not a fool.

He repeated her actions, and pressed his lips against hers.

Janna didn't mean to, and she didn't really even notice when she closed her eyes and faded invisible.

Every little thing about the kiss was perfect. She smiled widely when she pulled away.

She looked at him, her hand still on his face. Seeing that she was invisible, she forced herself to be seen.

Loki opened his eyes and didn't see Janna.

Was the kiss that bad?

He could still feel her hand on his face, and was a bit relieved when she reappeared again.

Loki wasn't sure if his pride should be wounded or if Janna was just nervous; he was too stubborn to ask which it was.

Janna relaxed the hand she had on his face, so if he wasn't still holding it it would fall back to her side.

She smiled at him. He had finally done something right.

Loki kept her hand on his face, and his eyes roamed her face.

He was fond of her smile.

Not wanting to scare her, he leaned close and kissed her cheek.

Janna blushed ever so slightly. She closed her eyes and leaned against him.

"There was never any choice." Janna whispered referring to a choice between Loki and Victor.

Sure she slept with Victor, and it was good sex...okay, great sex, but that's all it was. There was nothing else to it. Victor never had a real chance, because Loki had slowly been taking pieces of Janna's heart even before she met Doom. Pieces she couldn't get back sadly...

Loki hummed against her skin, acknowledging that he heard and understood Janna, and pulled her against him.

He wasn't sure exactly how mating worked on Midgard, but he knew if he screwed up now and rushed anything, Janna would probably never be this close to him again.

However, even though a god, he was still a male god, and he wanted to push Janna flush on a wall and take her now.

Janna was already worn out from the long day, but the amount of crying she did made her even more tired. Her eyes were closed, and she was so incredibly comfortable up against Loki.

She managed to fall asleep right then just standing there.

Noticing that she wasn't moving, Loki looked down to see Janna had fallen asleep.

He felt a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

The poor man didn't know if he should wake her up, or move her to the bed himself.

Loki wrapped an arm around Janna's back, and maneuvered so he could pick her up bridal style.

Loki moved slowly to the bed, and somehow managed to move the covers back.

He placed Janna onto the bed, and moved the covers up to her chest.

He sat on the end of the bed and sighed.

Such was his luck.

But, from what Janna said, Loki had her heart and not Doom.

That made him smile for a few good reasons.

Loki watched her sleep for a moment; she seemed so at peace.

He stood from the bed and went to sit in a chair next to a window.

He needed to free Doom and get his tesseract back.

Also, though he had been preoccupied, he hadn't noticed any sign that said Osborn had returned.

That was not a good sign either.