Hello again! Here's day 9 for you ^^ Enjoy!

I don't own the Avengers, only Emma and the alterations made to the original story.

Understanding the Monster

Ninth day

Today I made lasagna, honestly just because that's what I'm feeling like today. I'm hoping that we can continue to eat together. The others seemed to think it would be an okay thing to do yesterday. So I'm thinking of just inviting them to come again today, and then we can talk about it. Maybe they won't want to and that's fine. Then I will just cook for my father and I, and Loki of course.

"Hey, Loki!" I greet him, before walking into his cage with the lasagna.

"Hello." Well, at least he answered me. He actually looks thankful when I give him the food, even though his expression quickly turns disgusted.

"What?" I ask hesitantly. I hope I haven't offended him or something.

"What is this?" he almost sneers at me.

I frown. "Um, lasagna. You've never had it before?"

He just looks at me like I'm stupid.

"Well, um, it's really delicious. But I guess they didn't really have it in Scandinavia in the Viking Age. It's Italian; pasta, meat and cheese. Not bad at all. It's one of my favorites actually."

"This is one of your favorites?" His voice is disbelieving.

I'm beginning to get a bit angry with him. I love lasagna, and I have made it myself. It tastes delicious, so he really shouldn't be disgusted by it. "Yes, it is. If you would just taste it, I promise you, it will be good." I'm really trying to sound like I'm not angry at all.

"You seriously want me to eat this?! I can't even see the meat you're talking about and this," he says pointing at one of the lasagna sheets, "looks very mushy."

I giggle. There's just something really funny about Loki saying "mushy", I don't know what. "It's not, okay? Just trust me. What if I eat some first and then you can eat it after?"

"Fine! If you want me to eat it that badly."

I sit down next to him before taking the fork from him and eating a piece of the lasagna. It's good, like I told him it would be. I then give the fork back to him. "Here, now you try. There's nothing wrong with it."

I smile inwards at seeing how hesitant he is about this. It's kind of funny, actually. But I know he's watching me, and he probably hates it when people laugh at him. Even though I wouldn't mean anything bad with it. But I hold it back; I won't risk him not telling me anything.

He's carefully chewing the bite, and tasting it all. I get it; if I had never gotten pasta before, I would be careful too.

"So… Do you like it?" I ask him hopefully. I'm looking expectantly at him.

He slowly nods. "It's… not bad," he finally says and takes another bite. Well, from him I would say that's pretty good.

After a while it gets kind of uncomfortable to just watch him eat, so I ask him, "Can I ask more questions? Or do you want me to go?"

He looks up at me. "I was unaware that you needed my permission. I thought it was part of the deal." He smirks, before he continues eating.

For a couple of minutes I don't say anything, not really sure how to take that. Does he mean that he doesn't mind me asking? Or is he actually annoyed? But then he looks expectantly at me, and I make a decision.

"Do you mind if I ask you about your kids?" He shakes his head almost unnoticeable, so I continue, "Is it true that you… umm… was a mare when you gave birth to Sleipnir?" I'm almost expecting that he will laugh at my face and tell me that that's a lie, and that Sleipnir isn't actually a horse, but he doesn't.

"Yes, that's true." Wow, okay. I guess some of the stories are really true.

"So you're actually his mother? And he's a horse?"

"I wouldn't say I am his mother, no. He calls me father, and I am male. But I did give birth to him, yes. If that makes me his mother, then yes. And yes, he's a horse. Why would I transform into a horse, if my son wasn't?" He shakes his head disbelieving.

"I guess if he doesn't think of you as a mother, then you're not." I laugh nervously. "I guess there's no reason for you to do that… It's just kind of hard to believe. Sorry."

"I've heard that before, yes." I want to ask what he means, but I don't think he will answer me, so I don't.

"What about the others? Is Fenrir really a giant wolf? Is Jörmungandr the world serpent? And is Hel half human half skeleton?"

He stops eating and looks calculating at me. "Yes, they are. Why is that important?"

"I'm just curious, I guess. It seems kind of unreal to me to have animals and skeletons as kids. But I guess it doesn't to you," I then hurriedly continue, "and that's completely okay. There's nothing wrong with it."

"You're right. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them." That wasn't exactly what I said, but okay. "They have been taunted enough. They don't need you judging them, too!"

I unconsciously hold my hands up to protect myself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything with it. I'm just curious. I'm sorry if I hurt you or them. I would actually love to meet them; you speak so nicely about them."

He seems to consider what I said for a moment. "That won't be possible, I'm afraid. I haven't seen them for many years."

I gape at him. "What? You haven't seen your own kids for years?! Why not?"

He looks at me questioningly. "They are not feared in the myths?"

"Oh. Yes, that's why you haven't seen them?" That's really sad.

"Yes. Odin took them away. Fear towards them is what has made them like me; evil."

"Come on, Loki, you're not evil. Odin's an idiot for taking your kids. He should have known better than that, and he should have known better than to lie to you for all this time. Nothing can make that the right decision. And you're right; when you get treated as a monster, it's only then you become one." I sigh. "I'm sorry for you."

He looks surprised at me. He was probably not expecting me to understand it, or him. But I do. "Thank you, Emma. No one has ever said that to me before."

I grin cheekily at him. "You're welcome. Thanks for not hurting me." I smile, and it widens when he smiles back to me. I move to walk out of the cage, but then he stops me.

"I was wondering…"

"Yes?" I say turning around.

"Would it be possible for you to make me something special for tomorrow?" There's a slightly hesitant note to his voice that I haven't heard before.

"What do you mean? Like a particular kind of meal?" I ask a bit confused.

He smirks. "Yes, what else?" I can't help but blush a bit.

"Sure. Why not?" I smile encouraging.

"Can you make something with vegetables?"

"Vegetables? Umm, okay, but isn't there anything specific you want?"

"No, just vegetables."

"Okay then. I can do that. See you tomorrow, Loki." I walk out of the cage and the door closes after me.

"See you tomorrow, Emma." I turn around at the door to the room and wave at him. He's really not as bad as they say. Or maybe he's just pretending. I hope not.

(Loki's POV)

I must admit that the food, the lasagna, wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. But I am looking more forward to some vegetables. It's been a long time since I've gotten some real food, and I must say she is talented in that area. And it's certainly not just because she's female; I learned that a long time ago. Being female definitely doesn't mean that you can cook; just look at Sif. Not that I would ever say that to her face; I don't want a hoard of angry men after me again.

It's ironic really, because isn't that exactly what I'm doing here? Getting a lot of people angry with me. I guess it doesn't really matter. Human lives are fleeting and weak; they won't be able to harm me and killing them won't shorten their lives that much.

"You're not evil" she said. I smirk. She got that all wrong; I'm the bad guy here, and she is the victim. Just because I haven't hurt her yet, doesn't mean that I won't. I'll make sure to do it at the right moment.

But then she didn't seem to care that my children are… different. They're not evil, and she seemed to get that. Strange. She seemed to be almost curious about them. No one has ever bothered to be interested before…

The thought of my children brings sadness into me. It's been so many years, since I've seen them. And she's right; that's not my fault, it's Odin's. Another thing to be angry about. But right now I'm only feeling the sadness. I miss them, and I wish they weren't feared.

When I think about it I was actually pretty stupid not to realize why I was even able to "make" them like that. Now that I know, it's obvious that I'm Jotünn. How could I not see it? It also explains why my children were immediately taken away from me. Of course Odin would fear what I would make them into.

I growl angrily. I'm angry with Odin, I miss my children and I'm confused about Emma. Why doesn't she care? Why isn't she scared of me? I don't understand. It doesn't make sense. No one can understand me, and no one cares.

The confusion just makes me look forward with anticipation for when she returns tomorrow. Actually she isn't that bad. She doesn't judge, she doesn't criticize and she keeps me company. It's weird, but it's kind of refreshing that she's not afraid of me; it makes me feel less like a monster.

Maybe I'm looking forward for her arrival for other reasons, too. Just maybe.

(Emma's POV)

"Dad?" I ask my father excited. He's working on the suit, so he probably doesn't notice my excitement.

"Hmm?" I was right. He's only half listening.

Well, that doesn't stop me from talking to him. "You know how in the myths Loki has six kids? It turns out he actually only has four." I wait excited for a response, and when I get none I poke him in the side.

"What?" he exclaims surprised. I roll my eyes. "Sorry, darling, what were you saying? It was something about kids." His eyes widen, "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"No, Dad. Of course I'm not pregnant. Why would you even think that?" He only shrugs at that. "I was talking about Loki. Are you listening?"

I wait for him to nod, before I continue, "You remember I told you that Loki has six kids?" He nods again, after thinking it over. "Well, I asked him about it. And it turns out he only has four. Isn't that amazing?"

He smiles over my excitement. "I don't know if I would use "amazing" to describe it, weird maybe. So which ones does he have?"

I know he's only asking to calm me down, but that doesn't matter. What matter is that I get to tell him about it. "Sleipnir, Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr. You remember who's who, right?"

"Umm, Sleipnir is the horse, right? With eight legs?" I nod encouragingly. "Some of them are wolves, right? I don't remember which ones. Fenrir and Hel?"

"Fenrir is a wolf, yes. But Hel's not. There's only one of them who is a wolf."

"I could have sworn there was more…" he mutters to himself.

I smile; he actually listened. "In the myths the fifth and sixth kid get turned into wolves by the gods, so they can take the intestines of one of them. That way they don't have to kill them themselves. It's in the story of Ragnarök, remember? Luckily that's only in the myths."

"Oh okay." He frowns, "Then Hel is the snake?" I open my mouth to answer, but he stops me. "No wait, Jörmun… something is the snake."

I nod again and chuckle. "Jörmungandr is the world serpent, yes. Do you remember what Hel is then?"

"No, but I do remember she's the only girl." He seems very proud of himself to remember that much.

"That's true. She's half human and half skeleton. She is the Master of the Kingdom of the Dead, which is also called Hel." I smile. "Isn't that cool?"

He frowns. "It sounds kinda creepy to me, darling, but if you say so, sure." He shrugs.

I copy his expression. "It's not creepy! I think it's really cool, besides they're people, too. And you don't know what she's like! Maybe she's just like my friend Rachel."

He chuckles. "Good to know you're passionate about it. But just think about it, half skeleton and half human, don't you think it's just a tiny bit creepy?" He uses his fingers to measure. "And come on, I doubt the Master of Hel is anything like Rachel." He laughs. "I can't really picture Hel getting excited about a sale at the mall or laughing with you watching Dracula."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Okay, fine. Maybe Hel's not like Rachel. But she might be nice. I just think it's sad that Loki doesn't have the opportunity to visit them, maybe they wouldn't be "monsters" if he could visit them."

My father reaches over with one arm to hug me. "I think that's a good view to have on the world and the people in it, sweetie. Don't judge anyone or anything before you actually know them and their story." He smiles and I smile back happily.

"Anyway, Dad, I was thinking of making dinner for all of us again. What do you think?" I already have the parts I need for the lasagna, the only thing left to do is to put it together and heat it up.

"That sounds like a good idea, but maybe we shouldn't do it every day. I think people will be too busy for that, honey," he says apologetic.

I shrug. "Of course, that's okay. So are we eating the cafeteria food the other days, or can I make something just for us?"

"Hmm. I would hate to lose your wonderful food, so can you please make it for us?" He's practically begging me; it's kind of sweet actually.

I smile at him. "Of course, Dad. I don't really like the cafeteria food either."

He smiles relieved. "Good."

"I'll go ask the others then." He waves at me, when I leave to find the others.

It turns out the others would really like to eat my food, too. So we decide that we're having a "family dinner" every second day. So tonight I've made the lasagna for all six of us. And they seem to enjoy it, judging by the silence around the table caused by eating.

I smile to myself. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be eating dinner with five superheroes, I wouldn't have believed them. But now here I am; eating lasagna with five people characterized as superheroes.

My father smiles at me. "This is really good, Em'." The others nod in agreement to his statement.

"Thank you," I answer with a smile. These days are certainly getting better and better. And I definitely can't say that I'm bored.

I hope you liked the chapter! Thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows ^^ Now I have over 30 followers :O That's a lot! At least I think so ^^ Thank you. Next chapter on monday.