Alexis sat, bent over yet another Norse mythology text that spouted page after page of the same information she had familiarised herself with years ago. Irritated by the perpetuation of the unchangeable versions of the myths surrounding Ragnarok, she threw the book in front of her halfway across the room. The sound of the book being caught startled her more than the sound of the door to the room closing, and Alexis turned around.

Loki stood several feet away, book in hand, a wicked smirk plastered across his face. "Now, now," Loki continued to smirk, "You shouldn't take it out on the books just because they don't give the answers you seek from their pages."

"I know…it's just… I thought that, maybe, there was something I missed." Alexis shook her head resentfully. "But…there's nothing. I can't find a single reference to what the head, as you so lovingly put it, said to me…"

"Odin All-Father seems to believe in you." Loki frowned and walked over to her, placing the book she had thrown on the table beside her. "You'll figure it out…you have to… nobody wants to die."

"No, indeed." Alexis' expression suddenly turned shocked as she turned to look at Loki properly. "Are we having a civilised conversation?"

"I do believe we are!" Loki grinned playfully.

"We mustn't make too big a habit of it though," Alexis smiled softly up at him from her perch by the desk. "Or we'll be in serious danger of becoming friends."

Loki smirked. "And we can't have that now, can we?"

Alexis laughed freely for the first time since she had been brought to Asgard, eyes sparkling with delight at this new mood between the two of them. But Loki's smile faded away and set in his usual vacant expression.

"If you were in the correct timeline, you would be dead by now for laughing at me." Loki stated harshly.

"Oh really?" Alexis' tone turned equally harsh.

"Yes."

"Well, toughen up princess." She spat and turned away from him.

"Do not mock me, you mewling quim!" Loki growled, smirking at her hurt gasp. Alexis turned; ready to throw an equally harsh insult back at him. But, instead, she composed her hurt expression and walked away from Loki, intending to leave the room. But Loki thought her silence meant his victory, and he sneered. "I thought you might have had a spiteful remark for me, but you really are the weakling, mortal girl I always knew you were."

Alexis turned; and when she spoke, her voice broke slightly. "Bite me!"

Loki stared, confused, as Alexis turned and ran from the room. Leaving him completely alone. He gazed after her and another wicked smirk crossed his features. "Oh," he whispered and ran his fingers through his ebony hair. "I will."

Alexis ran from the room, on the brink of tears, and most definitely not watching where she was going. As a result of not watching her surrounds, she collided with a wall of muscle…and metal. Stumbling back a few steps, Alexis looked up at the person she'd just run into. Thor.

"Steady there Alexis…are…you okay?" Thor rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes…" Alexis sniffed and looked up at Thor and saw he wasn't buying it and sighed. "No."

"Is there anything I can do to make whatever is ailing you better?" Thor's voice practically dripped with concern.

"Oh, I doubt it brother," an unwelcome voice said from behind her. "Seeing as I am what is ailing her."

Alexis rounded on him, her expression deathly cold. "Aren't you due back at the laboratory to get your bolts tightened?!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Ah, so there is some fight in you after all." Loki's smirk only infuriated her more.

"Get away from me!" Alexis screamed and Loki sobered, then vanished. "I'll kill your father for what he's done to me!"

"You'll do no such thing." Alexis rounded on Tony, but the mere look in his eyes was enough to calm her.

"You need to keep him away from me." Alexis said as calmly as she could.

"Why?" Thor demanded.

"Because it hurts to be around him!" she cried. "…but it hurts when he's gone too."

"That's because you heart feels-" Thor began.

Alexis cut Thor off. "I know what my heart feels. But his is cruel and made of ice. I want nothing more to do with the…the… the bastard!"

"Okay, you need to calm down." Tony said bluntly, his accent thick. "Go lay down and rest. We'll deal with this crisis later, okay?"

"Okay…" Alexis acquiesced. "But I want nothing more to do with that ice cube."

"Just remember, Alexis," Thor spoke gently. "Ice melts."

"No it doesn't." Alexis muttered quietly as he and Stark turned and walked away. "Not when it's an icy heart from Jotunheim."

Loki hadn't seen or heard of Alexis in days. And it pained him, Odin knows why, to be away from the girl. He had to figure this out, had to see her… Odin knows why! He got to the corner before her bed chambers and halted in his tracks. There were hushed whispers coming from the hallway he had been about to turn into. The God of Mischief peek cautiously round the corner. He saw his father and brother arguing outside her door.

Loki moved back to where he'd originally stopped to remain concealed and pondered his options. He could, one, stride round the corner and demand to see her; two, wait until they'd gone and then enter her chambers; or three, materialise inside her chambers and avoid any sort of scene that could transpire if he was caught in the hall. The third option was rather appealing, but if she screamed when he appeared he'd have to face his father and explain his actions. He listened more closely to the conversation being had in the hall.

"No, we can't tell her now. She's had a hard enough day as it is, Father. She finally found rest from it all, do not wake her now…"

"Very well, son. Very well. If we have no business here in these halls, we should ourselves retire to our chambers."

They were leaving. She was asleep. They were headed in his direction. Loki's mind was made up. His form dissipated seconds before Thor and Odin passed the spot he'd been hiding in. As Loki materialised in Alexis' room, he gazed about himself curiously. There were books and notes and sketches everywhere, but what really drew his eyes and kept them focussed was the deeply sleeping form of the girl he sought.

Slowly, Loki moved to stand over her sleeping form. The air surrounding him was still, but sweet, as Loki watched Alexis sleep. He himself should have been sound asleep in his own chambers, but had found himself drawn here instead. Odin knows why! Why did the fates toy with him so? Had he not already been punished? Loki shuddered at the terrible memory. The snake… and its burning poison.

A sudden, strangled cry from Alexis brought him hurtling out of his reverie. She was tossing and turning violently, yelling unintelligible words mostly, but the occasional fear soaked "NO!" or desperate, sobbing "Please…" would escape her lips.

Loki felt small twinge in his heart. A twinge he quickly recognised as pity. Yes, he pitied the small, sleeping, mortal girl that lay sleeping before him. The pity was fleeting, but most definitely there. Yes, he pitied her for, though he could be wicked, he too knew the terror and horrifying reality of nightmares. A sudden need to comfort the distressed girl made Loki reach out and take one of her hands in his.

Alexis woke with a start at the foreign touch, tears still steaming from her eyes from the nightmare. As always, when she'd looked up, she had been expecting Tony to be sitting there beside her with a sad look in his eyes. Instead, the eyes she looked up into were not Tony's. They were the brilliant emerald green eyes of Loki Laufeyson. But, for some unknown reason, the sight of him made her heart lighten a little as she continued to sob.

Loki, quite unexpectedly, pulled her up into a comforting embrace. "Shh," he whispered reassuringly. "It's alright. You're safe. The dream can't hurt you." Loki closed his eyes and held her tighter for a moment. "I won't let it hurt you…"

However, the sweet, genteel moment didn't last as long as they both would have liked as Tony and Thor burst through the door, having heard her anguished cries. Tony gaze was absolutely livid as he looked Loki up and down, eyeing cautiously the way in which he was holding Alexis.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Tony demanded, pointing an angry finger at Loki. "Get away from her! You have no right to touch her."

"Actually, I have every right in the world." Loki replied calmly. "I'm her betrothed."

"He speaks the truth, Stark…" Thor shrugged. "In this regard, he has you beaten."

Tony never took his eyes off Loki. "Get away from her… You can't have her."

"Oh, can't I?" Loki smirked.

"I won't let you." Tony replied firmly.

Loki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Fine." He snapped, shoving Alexis away violently. "It's not like I wanted her anyway."

Alexis watched as Loki stormed out of the room, visibly fuming as he went, closely followed by Thor. Another tear trickled down her cheek, not from the dream but from the loss of his presence, as Tony sat next to her and offered her tissues.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You didn't need to be that way with him, you know." Alexis stated but her voice still trembled with unshed tears. Then she looked at him, perplexed. "Where the bloody hell did you get tissues?!"

"You know that place where all the left socks of the world go and all the multitudes of coat-hangers come from..?" Tony asked rhetorically, his face deadpan. "That place."

"Ah." Alexis half smiled. "Gotcha."

"Why was he in here?" Tony asked, seemingly indifferently.

"I'm not certain." Alexis paused, thinking to herself. "All I know is that I awoke from a terrible dream to find him here with me, and… I was glad of it."

"I was glad of it."

Each syllable of the last few words rang in his head and made his heart skip a beat. She'd wanted him. She'd wanted him there…with her. His mind ran through that one wonderful moment they'd had together before Stark and his brother had come barging in and ruined it. His arms around her tenderly…the perfumed smell of her hair…her warmth…

Loki bent his head once more to the lock of the door and listened.

"There was this one moment when he was holding me…when his arms tightened around me…it was like he didn't want to let me go…as if he wouldn't let me go…as if he wanted to…to protect me…"

"Alexis." He heard Tony sigh. "He's the God of Mischief. He's doing nothing but playing with you."

"You weren't here, Tony…" Loki listened carefully as she replied, her voice resigned. "I do believe, in that one moment…that he actually cared for me."

'Yes,' Loki thought to himself. 'I actually did…' he paused for a moment. 'I still do…'

Having heard enough, Loki turned and strode away from Alexis' room once more. Yes, he cared about her. Cared about her enough to comfort her when she was frightened. Cared enough to not kill her 'brother' Tony Stark for interrupting a near perfect moment. Yes, he cared about Alexis…a lot…

'And tomorrow, my little mortal,' Loki thought as he pictured her sweet face and smiled. 'Tomorrow, I shall begin your pursuit.'