Sorry this chapter took so long. Enjoy!

Halle

It didn't really surprise me that Coulson wouldn't let me accompany many of their combat missions; my job was to stay with Skye and teach and train her.

But that was before Coulson thought it was best for her to be completely removed from the world. He had wanted to send her to a safehouse in the middle of the woods, where no one could find her. I protested, saying she would only grow more afraid and that she needed to stay with people who she was comfortable with.

"That's why you are going with her," Coulson said. I was shocked, but I figured it was the best option. He promised me that once Skye got a better grip on her powers, we would be welcome back. I obliged, and Coulson took us to the cabin in the woods.

"It's going to be alright," I said once we began to unpack.

Skye plopped on a couch. It was one of those couches that had a polished log framework and was garnished with a blanket ripping of the Navajo design. It was one of those couches that looked comfortable, but was about as pleasureful as grade school desk.

"Rhodie," Skye said, "how do you do it?"

I looked up from my bag. "Do what?"

"Remain so composed!" she elaborated, gesturing to me.

I sat across from her. "I wouldn't consider myself completely composed."

Skye scoffed in disbelief. "Seriously? You're like my age and you're not only a distinguished S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but you also have a hell of a grip on your powers!"

"It wasn't easy, trust me."

"That's not really an answer."

I sighed. "Short answer? I was sent away to figure out my powers when I was really young. It was one of the best and worst things that ever happened to me."

Skye looked around the cabin. "So you've been through this before?"

I nodded.

There was a long silence as Skye seemed to be taking in the fact that she was in the middle of nowhere, without many of her friends. I saw it register on her face.

"Why don't you take a nap?" I asked. "When you wake up, we can find something to eat."

She nodded and she slowly got up and made her way to one of the two rooms. I picked up a magazine from the coffee table which was surprisingly up to date and began to casually flip through the pages.

"Halle," I heard a voice purr from next to me. I slowly put the magazine down.

"Back so soon?" I joked. "It's only been two weeks. You're coming off as clingy."

Loki smiled and reached out his neck to kiss me.

"I missed you," he admitted.

"You always miss me."

He laughed. "Well, now that I'm not in that god awful cell anymore, I have more time to spend with you."

"Is that a fact?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

He smiled and kissed me again. This was such an odd occurrence. I always nagged him about visiting, but he wasn't able to when he was in his cell in Asgard. He would visit me in my subconscious, but I craved for his actual presence.

"How's Asgard?" I asked, curling under his arm.

"All is well, for now," he said. "Peace seems to be temporarily restored to where it was before the Dark Elves."

"Awesome."

"How was your adventure?" he asked, turning his head to look at me. "You never told me about it when you got back."

My heart clenched. "Well...I was going to...before we were so rudely interrupted." I stopped. I really didn't want to explain to Loki the dangerous things I had done when I was with the X-men. And I definitely didn't want to tell him about my time with James. I hoped he wouldn't press further.

"So…?"

I swallowed. "It was...adventurous."

Loki looked at me, serious. "Halle." Damn.

"There was a lot of fighting and combat and it would be really boring just to rehash it." I began to nervous sweat, and I avoiding Loki's expectant stare.

He turned my chin to look at him. "Halle, nothing you do boreds me?"

I sighed. "I lead a mission to save the X-men."

He paused. "Did you?"

"Well of course!" Please don't ask how I did it.

"How did you do it?" Damn.

I sighed. "Now before you get all upset-"

"Upset about what?" He suddenly looked worried.

I cringed. "I crossed paths with James."

Loki's expression turned from shock, to disgust, to anger. "The man you were engaged to marry? The man who hurt you?" I nodded. "What did he do to you?"

Blood began to thump in my ears as I thought about was happened. I was suddenly hit with a wave of emotions that I was in no way prepared for. I had thought about what happened countless times, but nobody knew what had happened except for the X-Men. I hadn't had to tell anybody like this. The fact that I was telling Loki made it even worse; I knew he would feel more angry at himself than at James for letting it happen. If James wasn't already dead, there was no doubt that Loki would hunt him down and make him suffer, even if I pleaded him not to. I couldn't bring myself to say the words to Loki; I just looked up at him. My eyes began to water, even though I tried to hold it in, by the way Loki stood up suddenly, I knew he knew.

He paced angrily, holding his head in his hands. He muttered to himself about wanting to kill James.

I cleared my throat. "There's nothing we can do about it now," I said softly.

He slammed his hand on the counter and I jumped. He was going to wake up Skye if he kept this up.

"It shouldn't have even been an option in the first place," he growled, breathing heavily.

"It had to be done," I pushed.

Loki whipped his head towards me, eyes on fire. "I could have stopped it! It I only would have been able to!" He was yelling now and I shushed him.

"Loki, you're going to wake up Skye!" I whispered.

"The king of Asgard will be as angry as he pleases," he said forcefully. "Especially when it has to do with the welfare of his future queen."

I froze. Loki froze too. The air was silent and thick with emotion. He cursed to himself and collapsed into a wooden chair. My jaw was locked open and I slowly got up from the couch. I pulled a chair out from the table and took his hand.

"Loki," I said slowly. "You want me to be your queen?"

He looked at me softly. "I was planning on making a day of it, taking you to your favorite places in Asgard: the beach, the market. We were going to have dinner at the castle, and the servant was going to put the ring on top of dessert."

I breathed out and started to cry. "I don't need all that," I sputtered. "I just need you."

Our eyes met ever so delicately. He stood up and bent his legs into the traditional proposal position. I began to cry, but I tried to stifle it because Skye was still sleeping. My hands were shaking as they covered my mouth.

"Halle Amelia Rhodes," said Loki, "will you marry me?"

I nodded ferociously, tears streaming down my face as I kissed him more passionately than I ever had before. My heart was brimming as my pulse increased with excitement.

"We could have the wedding in Asgard, on one of the beaches," I said through tears. I began to remember all the little details that I had wanted the first time I was going to get married. "And we can-"

"I am sure you will figure out all the details," Loki smiled. "Anything you want, just let me know."

My smile started to vanish despite my best efforts to remain. "We can do this together."

"As you wish, but now I must return to Asgard."

The smile was completely gone and only the trail of tears remained. "You're leaving again?"

"You know how it is, Halle." He took my face in his gentle hands. I tried not to blush, I was mad at him. "I'll be back soon."

"Sure," I muttered, as he gave me a quick, lackluster peck on the cheek, and he disappeared. I plopped back on the couch and ran my fingers through my hair. What the hell had just happened? My emotions always seemed to be on high alert whenever Loki was around, and this time was no exception. We went from the extremes of anger, to remorse, to uncontainable joy, to solitude. I groaned and threw my head into my lap, thinking about how he didn't even give me a ring. It was amazing how conflicted I felt about Loki. I loved him, there was no doubt about that, but the lonely feelings mixed with the residue from the Battle of New York made me question my allegiance at times. I was still strong and independent, and I needed to get used to trusting someone who had my best interests in mind.

The door creaked open and I heard Skye's timid voice. "Rhodie?"

"Skye," I said, returning to my upright position. I straightened my pants and hair, trying to look casual. "I thought you were asleep?"

"Well it's pretty hard to sleep through yelling," Skye sat at the couch across from me, looking straight into my eyes. "If I'd have known we were having guests, I would've made brownies."

I dodged her stare. "Guests? There weren't any guests."

"Rhodie, I heard the whole conversation," Skye sat back, crossing her arms expectantly. "Who was he?"

There was no way I could tell Skye the truth without her freaking out on me. I wrung my hands. "Just a friend."

Skye scoffed. "Friends don't usually go around proposing to friends." I winced. "Yeah, I heard that too."

"Okay maybe he's more like a boyfriend."

Skye smiled and sat on the edge of the couch. "Alright, now we're getting somewhere. What's his name?"

I tried to shrug it off. "It's no one you would know."

"Is it that alien guy?"

I paused. So Skye knew something. Coulson must have given some slight background to the team before I had joined. But I wasn't sure how much he had told him.

I blushed. "Maybe."

Skye's eyes widened. "That's so cool! I'm so happy for you, Rhodie!"

She gave me a hug and I realized that she probably didn't know that it was actually Loki I was marrying. I was pretty sure not even Coulson knew that we had rekindled the flame. Part of me wanted to call all of my friends and family and let them know. But then I was hit with a sharp fact: many people still knew Loki for the brainwashed psychopath he was during the Battle of New York. If I told people that I was engaged to a mad man, I would probably never see him again. My S.H.E.I.L.D. agent friends would think I was a traitor and Coulson would never forgive me. I decided right then and there that no of them would ever find out.

Halle's going to be Ms. Laufeyson! But how will she go through with it without anyone else knowing?

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