"Are they yelling already?"

"Nope. No thunder either."

"Hey guys I brought popcorn!" Clint paused. "Why is the audio off?"

"Ever heard of privacy?"

"He's an enemy of the state. He deserves no privacy."

"Hand me that popcorn and shut your trap."

The Avengers, minus Natasha, were watching the proceedings in the conference room on one of Tony's many TV screens. They were all anxiously waiting for the moment Loki would change Thor into a mouse, or Thor would punch his adoptive brother through a wall. So far no such luck: watching had been so boring that Tony had started to do a voiceover filled with improper proposals, much to Steve's horror.

In the living room, Natasha had found out a whole lot about Lori and her life and her family, but nothing about Loki. Every time she even tried to prod at the subject Lori had clapped shut like an oyster.

"Why do you want to know more about Loki so badly anyway?"

"Maybe I'm interested?"

"Only because you'll have something to hurt him with next time."

Natasha was losing her patience a bit. She didn't dislike Lori, and she realized there had to be more to Loki's story than she had first thought, but that didn't take away the fact that Loki had tried to conquer the planet and they needed every bit of information they could get to help build their defences.

"You are technically helping a wanted terrorist. Not just A wanted terrorist, but THE number one enemy of the state. I understand you may have gotten to like him, but you are endangering your own race and planet by not disclosing his secrets. "

"No I'm not."

Lori's answer was definite.

"He doesn't want to rule us humans any longer."

"Then what about Asgard, or any other world he might lay eyes on? It's not because he lost his taste for ruling earth that he's suddenly a changed man, Lori!"

"I keep my promises. I know I am just "suspect number uncountable" to you, just another one to interrogate, but I am a person too and so is Loki. If you value "The State", whatever that may be, over personal relationships, you could never understand."

That… hurt. Natasha's face didn't show it, her eyes didn't show it, and Loki would never know, but that really hurt. The years spent under custody of the Red Room, where she had been trained to love only the State and never make any ties of personal nature, had left their traces on her… In Lori's words had voiced the doubts that coursed through her mind at night. That she could not love or care. That her word wasn't worth anything. That no matter what she did she would always be in debt, a ledger dripping red…

Lori didn't know what her words had caused, but Natasha decided that perhaps Loki had chosen the girl's nickname for a reason. A little poison-tongue indeed…

"Fine. JARVIS will show you a room. We'll continue this conversation on a later time."

"Can I sleep in the same room as Loki?"

"He will be put in a cell. Unless you want to…

"Yes. I want to."

"I'll see what can be done."

Natasha left, trying to get her mind off the young girl that had unknowingly made her doubt herself... again. As if she would her share a cell with Loki... The spy shook her head to herself.

(Pagebreak)

Lori couldn't believe what she had done. She had actually spoken up to someone who wasn't Loki! Natasha Romanoff was a creepy woman, and her looks had given Lori the chills, but she had simply repeated Loki's words in her head. "You talk back at me, but let some mortal quim insult you…" She had tried her best not to quiver under Natasha's scrutiny. Her little outburst of bravery however was fleeting, and left on her own on the sofa after Natasha had left she started to doubt things. Had she said too much? Maybe they would start torturing her now… Lori wasn't sure she would be able to keep Loki's secrets if they would; she was incredibly squeamish when it came to pain.

She hoped Loki was okay. They might not torture her, but him… Her heart clenched at the thought. At the moment, thinking of Loki was her only solid ground. She didn't even dare to think of her father, and the absolute worry he was probably in, or what she was going to do next, because the uncertainty of it all made her want to cry. She couldn't cry now, that redheaded spy would probably make use of the weakness… Yet still silent tears dripped over her face. With her knees to her chest she whispered.

"I miss you Loki… Please be okay…"

(Pagebreak)

"How's it going here?"

"I think he made Thor cry."

"What? I don't believe you."

"See for yourself!"

Tony pointed at the screen and zoomed in on Thor. Indeed, there were tears glistering in his eyes.

"Wow. Loki clearly hasn't lost his edge… Why are we letting him do this again?"

"Thor trusts him."

"Thor is no reference for trust. He is like, the most gullible person I've ever met."

"Loki doesn't seem to look so happy with it all at the moment…"

Steve remarked. It was true, Loki looked sad as well. Not crying, or overly emotional, but something in his face looked incredibly sad…

(Pagebreak)

Later, Loki was back in his glass prison cell. Thor had insisted they give him a real room, but they wouldn't budge. He felt his thoughts go to Lori. Would her father be worried? If Thor was any reference –which strangely enough he was, Loki still wasn't used to that revelation- he would. And where was she now? If those Avengers dared to hurt her, physically or emotionally, he would curse them into the next day without a single hesitation. Respect for mortals or not, no one touched those dear to him. And yes, Lori was dear to him. He had gone too long without caring for or about someone, beside himself, and it felt strangely good to have someone he felt protective over. He was always the one Thor had to protect… Not that he did, but every time they went out together he heard Frigga say "Thor, take care for your little brother". As if it wasn't always the other way round. Loki scoffed at the memory.

He still wore that expression when the doors opened and Tony Stark entered.

"Hi there Reindeer Games."

Loki raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

"You know, they all think you're plotting something. Hell, I think you're plotting something. So… care to say what?"

"It is said that you are a genius among mortals. If that is the best ploy for information your brilliant mind can come up with, I feel very sorry for your species."

"It's not a ploy, it's a question. Not everything is a ploy Loki, don't be such a conspiracy theorist."

"Who started questioning my honesty first?"

"You're the God of Lies, I am completely entitled to question your honesty."

That made Loki sigh. He knew his nature made trusting him hard, but he preferred not having it thrown in the face like that.

"I have no plan whatsoever, except for getting out of here and never coming back. Not to this place, not to this planet, not to Asgard."

"Even I can tell that's a lie and according to Natasha I'm dense as a brick when it comes to lies."

Loki had to admit it was indeed a lie. He wanted to get away yes, but he would come back for Lori. If only to visit her a last time. He shrugged. The rawness of his emotions had dissipated a bit, but he supposed they still lay too close to the surface for successful lying.

"Perhaps it is. I have grown rather fond of the young female mortal. Perhaps I would make an exception to visit her."

"Yeah, about that." Tony made a face. "You know she's technically underage, right? I don't know what they say about that in Asgard, but err…"

Loki frowned and glared at Tony.

"I do not pursue dishonourable relationships with Lori. She is my friend, not my lover."

"And how can you tell she thinks the same way about you? She's a teenage girl, you know… and teenage girls… well, they tend to fall in love with everything even remotely male that treats them nicely. I can know, it happens to me all the time!"

Loki scoffed.

"They may fall in love with your money and your status, mortal… but I sincerely doubt you have to swap away the candidates because of your charming personality. Without your suit and your money you're nothing but a first-class bastard."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Girls tend to like that, you know! But it's besides the question. How do you know she's not head over heels for you?"

"I happen to have spent a couple of months in her mind. I think I would have noticed, thank you."

Tony sat down.

"You're a war criminal. She's an underage fatty. I mean, seriously? Those Norns must either be completely blind, or you are secretly a chubby teenage girl inside. I mean, you look nothing alike!"

"Leave it to you to insult both my friend and the most important seers of the Nine Realms in the same sentence…"

Loki was magically filing his nails. Inside he boiled because of the mindless comment on Lori's weight, but he managed not to show it too much. Tony looked annoyed that he didn't manage to annoy Loki. He cocked his head to the side and stared at Loki.

"What is it with you and that girl?"

"It would be too hard to explain to someone who has clearly never had a real friend. I bet all your so-called friends try to stab you in the back whenever they have the chance."

Loki knew he had hit home when Tony's smirk became a bit more forced and his eyes went cold and angry. He grinned and shrugged.

"Turns out I was right…"

"You don't know anything about me."

"Unfortunately I do. Your 'friend' Agent Barton divulged quite a bit about you to me…"

"No. You're lying."

"I'm not, but I'll admit that was an educated guess. Being an asshole never pays of, no matter where you come from."

"As if you have any right of speech there."

"As I said, it would be too complicated to explain to you. Please go bother someone else."

Loki turned his back on Tony, grinning because he knew the engineer was glaring daggers at him. When he heard the door close his grin disappeared. Stark was easy to see through, much easier than the redheaded spy. He couldn't help but wonder who had betrayed Stark, and how, and why. It were questions he usually never asked about his enemies… but for some reason it became harder and harder to look at them as nothing but that. In his mind they were becoming people. The thought made him frown.

"I was right. The human girl has made me weak…"

Loki didn't know what to think of it. He wished Lori were there to talk about it with her. For some reason he was convinced just talking to her would make him feel better.

(Author's Notes)

So, here I am again! Contrary to popular belief this story is NOT abandoned, I have just been through a bit of a rough period of little sleep, lots of trouble and an absolute writer's block. But I'm back now! I really hope you'll review as you have done so faithfully the previous chapters... I promise I won't let you down again, dear readers!

So, Lori has not gone through extreme character change, she just experienced a bit of bizarre bravery. Shock can do that to people! But don't worry, it's temporarily. By the way, DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE? *ehehehe*

Thanks to my dearest reviewers, homemade chocolate chip cookies for all of you, and a slice of pie to make up for the long wait!

no-MY name's Anonymous, Kurtgleelove, Lokitty, lilirox187, GabbyTheAngel, A Contradiction, AvengersGirl-LokisSpy, Lywick, Rubi Yuki and Tiryn, you are all AMAZING! *hands tasty munchies described above xD*