Thank you once again for my reviews and alerts! :D

Slightly shorter one this time, enjoy!

Chapter Four:

An Agreement

Tony Stark is lying back on a chair with wires attached to his skin projecting his heart rate onto monitors behind him. Pepper stands over him, her hands covered in goo. They look at each other, relief flooding through them. Suddenly Tony laughs.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again," Pepper tells him.

"I- I don't have anyone but you," Tony admits, holding her gaze and suddenly feeling more vulnerable than he has ever felt before. The silence stretches on and he makes a face at her. Pepper doesn't know quite what to do with herself.

…

Thor looks down at his helmet, his eyes suddenly betraying the nerves he feels. Loki watches him carefully.

"Ooh, nice feathers," he teases. Thor laughs and looks up at him.

"You don't really want to start this again do you, cow?" he asks, nodding his head towards the towering horns atop Loki's own helmet.

"I was being sincere!" Loki protests.

"You are incapable of sincerity," Thor retorts.

"Am I?"

"Yes!"

The two smile slightly and look at each other for a long moment.

"I've looked forward to this day as long as you have," Loki tells him, his voice now sincere with emotion, "You're my brother and my friend, and sometimes I'm envious. But never doubt that I love you."

Thor smiles and claps his hand to Loki's neck.

"Thank you."

"Now give us a kiss," Loki teases.

"Stop it!" Thor admonishes with a laugh.

They both grin and turn towards the grand stair, readying themselves for the ceremony as brothers.

…

Clint lies strapped to a narrow cot, Natasha behind him pouring a drink. He looks up at her, eyes haunted and sweat beading on his forehead.

"You know what it's like to be unmade," he tells her, his voice rough. Their eyes meet and an understanding charged with emotion passes between them.

"You know that I do."

…

Loki and Efanna stand together above a valley filled with mist as the sun rises. Their eyes are locked together and for a long moment neither speaks.

…

Efanna slowly blinked open her eyes, the last remnants of her dreams falling away. It was rare for her to See whilst asleep, but often her subconscious brought back fragments of Visions she'd already had. She stretched out in her bed, looking over to her wall where the date and time were projected in slowly changing colours.

It's 6:37 on Saturday 22nd September 2012, she thought, beginning her daily mantra to try and keep her sense of 'when' as accurate as possible. I am currently lying in bed, at home. Yesterday was Friday 21st September 2012, the Autumn Equinox. Yesterday I…

Efanna suddenly shot up in bed, almost banging her head on the low, slanting ceiling.

Yesterday I drove to Cardiff and brought home Loki of Asgard.

Efanna replayed the events of the day before in her mind. Had that really happened? But there they were, her memories as clear and sharp as ever, in far more detail and immeasurably more chronological than her Visions ever were.

"Oh," she muttered to herself under her breath. Loki of Asgard is sleeping in my spare room.

She spent several minutes simply staring into space as her reeling mind tried desperately to make sense of her situation. What do you do when you've invited a homicidal alien who's hell bent on enslaving your planet to live with you? Efanna thought about this for a minute, absently twirling one of her lose copper curls around one of her fingers. Then she shrugged.

The same as I always do, she said to herself, If he doesn't like it, that's his problem.

She dragged herself out of bed and pulled on some of the clothes scattered about her bedroom floor, nudging Pip with her foot to wake him. As she walked out onto the landing and down the stairs she had to suppress an urge to check up on Loki. There was no sign of him in the lounge or the kitchen, so she assumed he must still be asleep.

She grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen before pulling on her wellies and setting out to sort out her normal morning farmyard jobs. As she stepped outside she inhaled that glorious fresh smell of a new morning after a storm. The sky seemed to have rained itself out and the new light of dawn was staining the sky a pale, steely blue before the arrival of the sun. She smiled as she went about her business, opening up the hen barn, doing a round of her fields and checking the sheep had everything they needed. She loved being up in the Welsh mountains and as she let her bare hands trail along the bushes, the trees, the rocks, she felt the sense of calm that only came from the Memories of the scenery here.

The sun had risen properly by the time she returned to the cottage, leaving Pip to wonder as he chose. It looked like it might even be a nice day. She went back upstairs to shower, once again having to stop herself from peering into her mother's old room to check up on her guest. Once she was clean and dressed again the temptation proved too great. If he had been in his true form she knew she would never be able to sneak up on him, but if she'd gotten her 'when's in the right order, Odin should have stripped him of his powers so that he was nothing more than a mortal like her. She was confident she'd be able to peek through his door without him waking up.

She crossed the landing on tip toes and opened his door cautiously, begging it not to squeak. She had a feeling he might strangle her again if he caught her nosing in on him and she'd had quite enough of that yesterday. There he was, actually, definitely here, black hair splayed out on the pillows, bare limbs tangled in the duvet. Efanna was glad he was properly covered, there were some things she really wasn't prepared to see. After a couple of minutes taking in the strange sight that made it completely certain that she wasn't living alone any more, she slowly closed the door again and went back downstairs.

She wondered over to her mp3 player, hooked up to a pair of speakers by her TV. For a moment she wondered if she should try and be quiet so as not to wake Loki, but then she felt the bruises on her neck and decided to turn the volume up extra loud as payback. She set the device to shuffle and the Doctor Who theme tune blared out. Efanna had a very varied taste in music; on her mp3 player soundtrack albums sat next to indie rock, classical piano next to drum and bass, 80s pop beside 40s jazz. She smiled and began to dance about as she fired up her laptop and began to compile an online shopping list with the music rumbling though her feet. One of the benefits of living at least three miles from your nearest neighbour was that no one could complain if you played your music too loudly.

At least no one until now. Loki emerged down the stairs, looking slightly bleary eyed and bedraggled about halfway though one of her favourite songs, 'Stay Lucky' by The Gaslight Anthem. He looked as if he were about to speak but she held up her hand imperiously. No grumpy Asgardian was going to interrupt her mid-song.

o

Loki was roused from his sleep by a strange electronic melody that almost seemed to shake the whole house. After a minute or two the sound changed completely and Loki remembered where he was and realised Efanna must be playing what Midgardians considered music. Scowling at his rude awakening he heaved himself from the bed, dressing and trying to think of a way he could pay her back without losing his temper. He descended the stairs to a lively song with slightly throaty male vocals. He was about to request that Efanna turn it down but was pre-empted by her raising one hand, quite obviously demanding him to be silent. He angrily closed his mouth but his emotions soon changed to amusement as he watched her bounce about the room, limbs flailing wildly and head bopping from side to side. She sang along at the top of her voice, quite unconcerned when she wasn't quite in tune. Loki couldn't help but chuckle at such an enthusiastic performance.

Eventually the song drew to a close and she danced across the room to press a button on a small device. Silence suddenly fell.

"Am I allowed to talk now?" he asked, a smirk on his face and his voice fairly amused as he descended the final few steps. Efanna shrugged.

"Depends what you're gonna say," she replied, not looking embarrassed in the slightest that he had caught her behaving with such abandon.

"Did you feel it particularly necessary to wake me?" he asked.

"I'd been quiet up till then," she shrugged, "And seeing as you felt it so necessary to spend half of yesterday throttling me I thought I deserved some payback."

Loki was about to come back with a sharp retort when he noticed a faint pattern of bruises around her neck, at which point he conceded that she had some justification in what she did.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, walking forwards and reaching out his hand. If he was going to win her over he would have to at least pretend to apologise. Efanna, however skipped backwards, out of the way of his touch.

"I promise, I won't do it again," he said, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she told him, once again seeing through his lies. This one could prove a challenge.

She skipped into the kitchen and Loki followed to find her opening cupboards and peering at the contents.

"You want breakfast?" she asked.

"That would be much appreciated."

"Great," she smiled, "Cereal's in there, bowls are in the cupboard next to the sink, spoons in that draw." She pointed her directions, stooping down to look into the fridge. "Tell me how much I've got left will you? I'm doing the shopping."

"I thought on Midgard one normally had to leave one's home to do that?" Loki asked, deciding it would be simplest not to make a fuss and retrieving the items she described.

"That's the wonders of the internet for you!" she said cheerfully. He noticed that she made no reaction at all to the term 'Midgard'. "Never have to leave home again! We can order you some clothes after too. Once you've helped with the washing up," she added, a stern look in her eyes. Loki noticed the sink was still full of their dishes from the previous night. Part of her payback for his assaults, he guessed.

About an hour later they had done washing up, eaten and ordered a him suitable wardrobe. After a brief instruction in the use of her laptop, Loki was quite proficient and Efanna had helpfully pointed out those of her favourite websites that she thought he might be interested in. He had been pleased to find that not all Midgardian fashion was quite so alien to that of Asgard and had found, in particular, a long leather coat that was similar to the garb he would normally chose. Efanna's generosity in the matter had surprised him. He was after all a perfect stranger and she had had no qualms about spending her money on him. Or at least he was supposed to be, he thought to himself. He had his doubts on that particular matter.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked, leaning back and turning to regard the white eyes that never left his.

"Well I need to work, especially now I've got an extra mouth to feed," she answered, "You can do what you want; read, watch TV, internet; up to you. What did you usually do on Asgard?"

Loki's eyes narrowed. He had decided to ignore her strange knowledge for the moment, but how was he supposed to answer a question like that? He had no alternative. In order to know how to respond to such a question he had to know how much knowledge she possessed.

"How do you know of Asgard?" he asked, leaning over the kitchen table towards her, "And what more do you know that you have not yet told me?"

"We're going to start this again then?" she questioned wearily.

"Do you get this information from S.H.E.I.L.D.?" he continued, ignoring her protests, "I can think of no other source for such knowledge."

"No," she answered, "I have obtained no information from S.H.E.I.L.D."

"And yet you threatened to call them? How am I know you're not lying?"

"Because you are the Master of Lies? Because I give you my word, which, by the way, has far greater meaning than yours?"

Loki's eyes bored into hers, unconvinced and aggravated by her further familiarity with him, but trying to keep his temper. His lip curled into a snarl slightly.

"Look, Loki, you're just going to have to trust me on this. I have no ties with S.H.E.I.L.D. and I never have," she said, "You're not the only one who wants to stay off their radar you know."

His eyebrow rose. This was interesting. What reason could she have for not wanting S.H.E.I.L.D. to know of her? Was it true then that she did possess some power?

"Even if I am to believe you, you still have not yet answered my question."

"Will you attack me again if I don't?" she asked coolly, one eyebrow raised.

"I believe I promised not to," he responded, but with the hint of a threat in his voice.

"No, you promised not to strangle me again," she stated, leaning back and keeping her eyes close on his, "And that's not a promise you were going to keep anyway."

Loki leant back too, mirroring her posture.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"You've not yet answered mine. My response depends on yours."

Efanna was sharp. She seemed to be able to see right through him and would not be so easy to mislead as he first thought. A slight change in tactics was in order.

"And if I did attack you? Would you then tell me what I wish to know?"

"No," she said with a small grin, "In fact it would probably only strengthen my resolve not to tell you. I'm stubborn like that."

Loki couldn't help but smirk a little at her response. He had met few women this feisty. The last one had been a redhead too; indeed he had heard some mortal saying about the fiery nature of the breed. He decided a little honesty was permissible given the current situation.

"Then it depends how much you irritate me."

"Perhaps."

Efanna was grinning openly now and Loki was surprised to find he was enjoying their banter. There were so few people who could even come close to playing him at his own game; he had to admit he was a little impressed. Until this point she had skilfully evaded giving an answer, but Loki was determined this would not last for long. He sat up, using his full height to his advantage and leant across the table, spreading his arms to either side of her, caging her in.

"Tell me," he demanded, his voice low, but soft.

"… No," she said, slowly, "I don't think I can. Not yet."

Loki stood with a growl and banged his fist against the table but Efanna didn't flinch.

"I will tell you, Loki," she said, placatingly, "But not yet."

"Then when?"

"When you trust me."

That was not the answer he had been expecting. The other way around perhaps, when she trusted him, but he had not anticipated her demanding his trust.

"And how can I trust you if you keep secrets from me?" he asked, still towering over her. She looked up at him.

"You already suspect, I think, that there is something unusual about me," she responded, "I will tell you now that you are right. For the moment that knowledge will have to be enough. You must simply accept that there are things that I know which I have no right to."

Efanna held his gaze steadily, her neck craned back so that her eyes were level with his.

"You will have my secret eventually, Loki, I doubt anyone can keep something from you indefinitely," she said, her voice somehow sad, "Until then I promise that whatever information I may have, I shall not use against you in any way."

Her voice and eyes were both solemn, sincere. He very presence radiated honesty and Loki was forced to admit that he knew she would keep this promise. Gradually he stood back from her, grudgingly conceding.

"You will tell me what I wish to know, Efanna," he told her.

"I know," she said with a smile, "But not now."

As ever, let me know what you think! I will love you forever if you do! :P