Hello again guys! Sorry for the lateness. I had so many deadlines last December that wouldn't give me time to work on this. Not to mention the sudden plot changes that occurred while I wrote.

Thanks to those who faved and reviewed! Here's my very late holiday present: Chapter 12!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC, Mandy. Loki and any other Marvel characters I add later on belong to Marvel or wherever they truly belong to.

Loki P.O.V.

"Why have you done this?"

"To prove to father that I am a worthy son."

Thunder began to rumble

"I've changed."

"So have I. Now fight me!"

"I will not fight you, brother!"

The rolling sound of thunder continued to make itself heard.

"I'm not your brother. I never was."

"Loki, this is madness!"

Bright light flashed almost in unison with a loud clash of thunder, waking me suddenly from my sleep. I literally jumped up at the sound and braced myself. I half-expected to find Thor, my not-brother, who always gave off thunderclaps like that when he was angry.

I had learned to be wary, if not fear whenever I heard them. When bad things happened, I was always the first and main suspect. Thor would come for me before anyone else. Now, he had every reason to hate me.

When my mind had finally registered the surroundings, I remembered that I was nowhere near Asgard. I was in a small house in Midgard. There was no Thor ready to strike me down, just a terrible rainstorm outside.

Just as I began to settle down from the rather undesired awakening, I heard a feminine voice grunting and complaining. Since Mandy was the only other person who could be in the house, I went to look for her.

I found Mandy in her room. At first, I could not identify what she was doing. She seemed to be pushing something against the wall. Upon closer inspection, I learned that she was trying to place a board in front of the broken window in order to stop the rain from pouring in.

I immediately, came to her aid since she looked like she was having a difficult time.

"Loki?" I heard her say when she felt the wooden board move with more ease than when I was not around.

I did not reply immediately. My focus was on my work since I began to realize why she found it hard to block the downpour. Along with the rain, there was also a strong wind blowing against us.

I held it place better than she had done but it could not stay there for long. The board would fall down or get blown off as soon as it was released. Mandy seemed to understand the problem too.

"Can you hold this up on your own? I'm gonna get the hammer and nails." She asked.

I nodded in reply. Strangely, Mandy did not do anything. I then mentally kicked myself when I realized my mistake. I forgot that she was blind.

I vocally answered her, "Yes, I can. Do what you must."

She took off the moment she heard me. While she was gone, I found myself distracted by wondering how I managed to overlook her blindness.

I guessed that I had become accustomed to her capability to do things normally that her inability to see became like a trait that could be ignored.

"I'm back." Mandy said as she entered the room with a basket full of metallic items.

She set them down before us and pulled out a hammer. It was shaped differently from Mjolnir and was much smaller. Obviously, this was the kind used for building rather than a weapon.

Mandy also brought out a nail, but she only held the two objects in her hand. Perhaps she was pondering how she would use them.

After a few moments, she tapped me and said, "I think it's better if you do it. I might end up making things worse."

It was quite ironic how I had just mentally complimented her about her skills as a blind person only to have her ask for help right after.

As much as I wanted to take the items from her, I found it difficult since it meant releasing the board. "Take the board for me and I'll do the rest." I suggested.

Immediately, she came to my side and assisted me. We took a while to get the job done since it looked like neither one of us knew what we were doing.

Eventually, we finished boarding up the window. We both sighed in relief as we slumped down to the floor.

"That was more difficult than I thought." I admitted absentmindedly.

Just as I was about to take it back, Mandy chuckled and said, "I know. This storm is a really tough enemy. It's like fighting a giant or something."

I smirked at her comment. The terrible weather could not come in comparison to battling giants. I would know.

It was nice to see though, that Mandy was in a better disposition than she was the day before. She was even invoking humor at her last statement.

"Thanks for helping out." she said while placing her hand on top mine.

I was caught off-guard by the gesture that I pulled my hand away. Mandy faced me in surprise, probably questioning my sudden reaction to her touch.

I stumbled out a reason though she did not even ask. "You are soaked."

It was not a lie. She looked like she had been out in the rain with her hair still dripping and her clothes sticking to her skin.

Upon realizing it, she got up and said. "I guess I better change and dry off then."

I too stood up and headed for the door to give her privacy. I then thought about passing by the kitchen in order to find something to eat.

I did not expect to find anything prepared since Mandy appeared to have been working on the window for a while. She would have been too busy.

I was proved wrong once again since there was indeed food on the table. It was no longer warm, but it seemed to have been cooked just that day. She must have done it before the storm began.

Seeing that her plate was already in the sink, I deduced that she had eaten ahead of me. Since she was still occupied with other things, I ate my share too.

When I came out, I found Mandy sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. She was molding again. As I approached, I saw her shivering slightly, despite being dressed in long-sleeves and pants.

To me, the weather was barely cold. Mandy however, was not an ice monster as I was.

I took out my Asgardian clothing, which had been untouched since my first day in the house, and separated the outer vest. I then brought it to Mandy, placing it on her shoulders.

She looked up once she felt it being put on her, but she did not reject it.

As I sat next to her, I explained. "It's heavier than your own clothes, but I believe it is much warmer."

She smiled and pulled the vest tighter around herself as she said, "Thank you, Loki."

Afterwards, Mandy pulled her clay apart and gave me a piece. I took it, but I did not begin molding as soon as I received it.

My eyes wandered on her, trying to see if there was any trace of the negative vibe she had been giving off yesterday. There was little to none of it. She seemed to be back to her normal self.

"Have you eaten already?" she asked out of the blue.

I replied honestly as I started to mold. "Just now actually."

She smiled and said. "Good. I hope you know that was actually your brunch."

I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "What is this 'brunch' you speak of?"

Mandy snorted as she continued sculpting before she explained. "It means a combination of breakfast and lunch. It's already noon, you know."

That cleared up many things in my mind, but not all. There was still one big question that had not been answered since yesterday. To get the answer however, I had to wait for the right moment.

We spent some time simply toying with the clay while tossing up a few words here and there. There was no topic that lasted long since our minds seemed to be in different places.

There was that awkwardness again. It was as if the days we spent trying to understand the other made no progress. Both of us felt it.

Soon enough, Mandy herself tried to get me to talk. "If you have something on your mind, just say it. I'm willing to listen." She offered.

She had given me the privilege to start a new subject. Grabbing the opportunity, I decided to tell her exactly what was on my mind. "I want to understand what had happened the other night."

She was obviously unhappy with what I brought up.

"That was just a nightmare. It's nothing to be concerned about." Mandy said unconvincingly. That was just what she told me yesterday and I still did not believe it.

"You continue to say that even though we both know it is not true. You may not remember it, but I had to put up with your fighting and screaming all night. I believe I have a right to know." I stated, hoping to ensure myself the upper hand of the conversation.

She would not give in but also could not give a good retort. "Can't you just trust me on this? It's not your problem."

"You expect me to simply believe that?" I asked rhetorically.

"I never asked you for your secrets and yet I trusted you." She was using me to counter my own statements and I did not like it at all.

I almost shouted at her. "Why are you bringing me into this? It is not I who is in question here."

"But you're asking me to do something that I never even forced you! It's not fair!" Her gray eyes were filling up with unshed tears as she spoke.

I did not fall prey to pity for her. I firmly explained. "I am at risk here more than you. I am in your territory."

"I'm the one with a disability. You have every chance to abuse that." She sounded like she was accusing me of that.

"I have never done a thing against you!" I yelled back. How dare she make me look like the villain?

Mandy stood her ground and said. "Neither have I and yet you still can't trust me!"

She was not getting the point and I was determined to make her catch it.

"How can I when you continue to hide things from me? Secrets only bring doubt. Truth dispels it."

After I said that, she mellowed down. She took a few moments of silence and so did I. When she decided to speak again, her voice was small and sounded ashamed.

"You're right. I guess I was stupid enough to think things would just work out without letting you in."

I felt triumphant once she had admitted that she was wrong. Just as I was enjoying my victory, she asked me something that caught me off-guard.

"But tell me something. Do you want to trust me?"

I could only reply, "What kind of a question is that?"

"I've always wanted to trust you and I thought you already had trusted me." She said. Mandy took a deep sigh before continuing. "I thought that by letting you stay here and giving you freedom over the place, you would feel safe; you would just believe that I just wanted to help you. I guess not."

It looked as if she was trying to make me feel guilty, and somehow, it was working.

She never asked me to help her out with anything. She never pried into my past or my mind and yet here I was, pushing her to do all of that and I had barely a thing to offer in exchange.

However, I had already won. It should have been pointless to feel ashamed but I still did.

Mandy must have noticed my sudden silence because she asked. "Loki, do we both want to trust the other or am I just assuming you think like I do?"

I took a moment before I answered, "I want to understand you so I can deduce for myself your true intentions."

She seemed satisfied with that since she nodded and said, "Then it's settled. We're gonna have to work on it though."

"What are you suggesting?" I asked warily.

Mandy began to fidget before she spoke, "This is probably the only time I'll ask you for something and I hope you'll comply."

"We'll see." I told her, not giving certainty yet.

"The only way we can do this is if we lower our walls." She said shyly.

I knew too well what she meant, but I was unsure if I was ready for it.

She moved closer to me and innocently placed her hand on my thigh as she assured me. "I know it's not gonna be easy but I'm willing to do it if you will too."

Mandy was prepared to share the burden and with me. I wanted release from the weight of secrets and lies. It seemed like it was a fair offer.

"Alright, but I must warn you, my secrets are more difficult to believe than yours." I informed her.

Mandy chuckled before telling me, "As long as you say they're true, I'll believe them."

End of Chapter 12.

OMG! I finally finished this! This thing took on a life of its own. The original plot for this chapter was sooooo different from the finished product. Oh well, I think this version will get the story moving better.

What did you think? Did you like it? Hate it? Got a suggestion? Tell me. I'm all ears!

Special thanks to Ellize Avalon for correcting some grammatical errors I forgot to fix.

Belated happy holidays!