"He's through." Loki and I severed our stream of power immediately and staggered back. He yanked out his sceptre and the portal snapped shut for good. Loki leaned on his staff and I leaned on him. Not even in the battle against the frost giants had I used up this much of my power. We walked to the edge together and saw Tony laying on the ground with his friends around him. As we watched he sat up and regained his strength. They walked inside and Loki and I turned to meet them inside. We made our way slowly, both of us leaning on the other for support. We met the others on the next floor down. We rounded the corner and I saw a man with an arrow pointed at us. Despite my minimal energy, I stood up tall and swiftly nocked an arrow of my own. I saw in his eyes that he knew my arrow would hit first if we fired.

"Lower your bows," Loki said wearily. "No one else needs to be hurt." He nodded at Tony. "I'll take you up on that drink now, Stark." I looked at him then back at the man. We nodded and we both returned our arrows to our quivers.

"Why the sudden change?" Tony asked.

"Lorainne helped me she reason." He put his arm around my waist and I smiled up at him. "She showed me that I still have a home. And that Earth would be too hard to rule. It is very different from Asgard."

"Ay, that it is brother." Thor walked toward us.

"I'm still not your brother, Thor."

"I don't care who your father is." He put his hand on Loki's shoulder. "You and I grew up together and that makes us brothers." He turned to me. "Thank you for helping him see that he still has a home." I nodded. "Now Stark, I think it is time for drinks."

We sat together and drank while recounting individual victories of the weekend. I learned more of what had been going on and who everyone was. We laughed and it was as if we were all friends. When we finished a few rounds Tony suggested going out for shawarma.

"You all go ahead," Loki said with a smile. "Lorainne and I have things to discuss. Do you have a more private room for us to use?" Tony nodded.

"Ask Pepper to lead you to the red library. You can speak privately there."

"Thank you." He stood and I stood with him.

"Thank you for the drinks," I said and then followed Loki. We walked to the elevator and went down to level 17. It still amazed me that in the future buildings could be built with this many floors. Without needing to consult Pepper, Loki led us directly to the red library. As I looked around I could see why it was denoted the RED library. The walls were a rich red, the floors were cherry wood, and the chairs had scarlet cushions. It hurt your eyes to look at. Loki, with his green and gold, stood out like a sore thumb. I knew Tony sent us to this room for a reason. What I couldn't understand was why it was a library. I could not see a single book. The tables had thin things sticking up and another flat thing with letters on it. There were also some clear, glass-like sheets suspended from the ceiling. I sat in one of the chairs, but the room was too weird for me to get comfortable. Loki pulled a chair up in front of me and sat.

"Is it too red for you too?" he asked.

"That and there are no books. How can this be a library if there aren't any books?" I asked him.

"The objects on the tables are called computers. You can access books using the computer. It's almost like magic really. But maybe this will be more comfortable." He swept his hand around the room and it transformed before my eyes. It now looked like the library in my father's house. Brick walls, big bound books, and dimly lit.

"Much better." I relaxed back into the now sky blue chair that I was sitting in. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Us." I think I knew which way this was going to go. I would have to be very careful.

"What about us?"

"Before you told me you wouldn't marry me. You said I deserved someone better. Now you said you fell into deep depression when you thought I had died. You said you needed me. Is that the truth? Or was that a speech you prepared to bring me back?" I drew a deep breath.

"I haven't had much time to think it over myself, but both are true. You do deserve someone better, an immortal like yourself. Yet I have learned that I cannot live without you in my life. I don't want to leave you."

"So what do you propose?" he asked.

"I'd propose staying as your apprentice and if I ever learn all that you have to teach you, then I'll stay with you as a friend." He was silent and I could not tell by his face what he was thinking. His light blue eyes were unfocused do I could tell he was mulling it over. It was an uncomfortable silence and I was very aware that only a few hours ago he had been trying his hardest to destroy this world. It was a quick turnaround.

"I think," he began hesitantly. "I think I can live with that." That didn't completely reassure me. "I have years worth of tricks to teach you; you won't be able to leave for quite a while. And maybe in that time you will come to your senses and become my wife." He grinned his sly grin and I giggled in relief.

"You'll never give up, will you?" I joked. His widening smile gave me all the answer I needed.