A.N: Hello lovely people. As of this chapter onwards I am re-posting the edited version of Vice, and the old version containing Danielle no longer exists. To all my readers called Dani - sorry about ditching your name! I do like the name Dani, I just associate it with high-school style work-place bullying now. Bad times in Taswegia. So... hope you enjoy the new shiny Vice! I also kept this document rather than The Rewritten Edition document because I wanted to keep all of my reviews. I liked them! :P

Chapter Sixteen

The Beautiful and the Damned

Jane Foster's final week in Asgard was stained with melancholy. Darcy was her usual chipper self, but even Alex could see this was an act to lighten everyone's spirits. Thor spent every second he could with his love, but his lips never seemed to curl into a smile, and the sadness in his eyes was bordering on tragic.

News of what beheld Jane in the Dark Woods soon started to spread throughout the citadel. Jane had told her experiences to Thor only, but as Alex knew, the walls of Asgard had ears. Apparently the Unknown had come to Jane in the form of Loki. This Loki had tortured everyone Jane loved before her eyes before she cracked. It really was no wonder that the woman broke down every time they stepped within the confines of the courtyard.

As much as Alex was appalled by what Jane had undergone, she could not help but feel pity for Loki. She knew he would hate that. Pity was not something that Loki coveted, but in this case he deserved it. Had the Chitauri really burned him alive, or was that just a fabrication created by the Unknown? Furthermore, did he really deserve to be the accumulation of all that Jane Foster feared?

During this final week, Alex spent a fair amount of her evenings talking to Loki. She told him of the day to day activities, the rumours and most importantly, the accounts she had heard of Jane's punishment. His features had been completely unreadable at this point. The mention of the fire torture brought hollowness to his eyes, one which he desperately tried to blink back.

What had the Chitauri done to him?

Alex sat up from her desk, saving her completed report on a S.H.I.E.L.D encoded USB stick. Momentarily she pondered what Fury would make of the report. In the past, her correspondences had been vague recollections of life in Asgard, occasionally littered with observations of Odin's rule. This was much longer. It spoke of Jane, Odin, Asgard, Jotunheim and the latent racism she perceived. Her conclusion: Midgard would always be under the protection of Asgard, but its people would never be considered equal.

Alex slipped the USB stick into one of the concealed pockets of her uniform, grabbing her jacket just as Darcy bounded in. The younger woman sported a hiking pack, bursting at the seams with everything she had accumulated during her stay. In so many ways, Alex wished that Darcy could remain. Fandral would love it, and it had been so many years since she had had a close friend...

"Hurry the fuck up, Australia."

Darcy's fake Australian accent was truly appalling, causing Alex to spill in a cascade of giggles. They made their way through the labyrinthine halls, arms linked, chatting at a rapid pace so as to make the most of every second they had remaining.

"You'd better come and visit me, hoe," Darcy pouted as they trotted down the rainbow bridge. "My apartment is a piece of shit, but I have vodka. The good stuff."

"The good stuff?"

"The good stuff. You, me, Benedict Cumberbatch and vodka. It's a date. Don't stand me up, you bitch."

Alex smirked, allowing Fandral to drag Darcy off for what looked like a rather impassioned goodbye. This momentary second of standing alone allowed Frigga to take slide in by her side. Alex tensed. She liked Frigga a great deal, but still felt particularly awkward about the knowledge the queen possessed.

"I will fight for them," the older woman stated quietly. Alex followed Frigga's gaze, to where Jane and Thor were standing. "My husband is a great king, but at times he can also be a foolish one."

Alex was silent now, not really sure how to respond.

"He forgets that Asgard has become a stagnant race. I know you have noticed this Alexandra. We need fresh blood, others to consume the apples of Iðunn, but we are disinclined toward letting others live within our realm."

The queen paused momentarily. "I only want what is best for my son," her eyes now bore into Alex's. "For both of my sons. If this means allowing women of Midgard to feast upon the orchard. So be it."

Women of Midgard. Alex gulped, but before she could assure the queen that she had no marital intentions toward Loki, Frigga had disappeared.

oOoOoOo

It was lonely without Darcy.

She missed the brunettes ranting, the lascivious conversation about Fandral's sexual prowess, the random pop culture references that no one else understood. Frowning, Alex opened the bottom drawer of her desk, revealing her precious cache of Whittaker chocolate. It was a New Zealand brand, imported into Australia: rich, creamy and purely delicious. Chocolate had never been conducive to her attempts to stay fit and healthy, but right now she needed it: lots of it.

Unwrapping one of the bars, she took a huge bite, letting the chocolate roll over her tongue. Heaven. Heaving herself toward the bed, she snatched up her well-loved copy of Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned and started to read. That was when the knocking started.

"Fuck me," she groaned, placing the chocolate and book on her bed. It was a familiar knock, one that made her blood run cold. Of course. The Midgardians had gone. Loki would be freed, complete with three weeks of pent up sexual frustration. Despite much trepidation, Alex opened the door to be confronted with a sight she simply was not prepared for.

He was an absolute mess. Within the context of the courtyard she had been able to look past the smell, the blood, the dirt, the other things, but now it was here in the entrance to her chambers. The most disturbing aspect however was his expression, sheer desperation: for cleanliness, for water, for food, for her.

Loki did not ask, nor beg, but she could feel this desperation as she took his arm. He was shaking, barely able to stand on his own two feet. She rushed for the bathroom, thrusting him into the large shower cubicle before turning the faucets on full. As the water slammed upon him, Loki simply looked lost, eyes shadowed.

"Use the soap," Alex murmured, shoving a white cake in his hand. "I'll run you a bath." Loki did not move, rather pointing to his throat.

"Fuck!" Alex swore, heading back to her chambers. "Worst fucking nurse ever." Grabbing a goblet from a tray by her door, she filled it with fresh water, before venturing back to the bathroom. Loki gulped the water, demanding another after mere seconds. She had read somewhere that drinking too rapidly while dehydrated was dangerous, but Loki had survived weeks without any water. He was a case she was entirely unfamiliar with.

When Loki had finished the entire jug, Alex began running the bath. The foul scent of his unwashed state was soon drowned by heavy perfume.

"Help me."

His voice was rusty with lack of use, the tones barely penetrating the loud crash of the running water. Alex slipped from her uniform, stepping into the cubicle beside him. The soap was becoming sludgy in his fingers. Alex swiftly took it, running the sudsy cake down his chest. Several cuts and bruises tainted the skin, fresh from yet another day's punishment. Perhaps even Selvig saying his final goodbyes?

Carefully, Alex undid the ties of his now ruined trousers, slipping the material down his legs. Hiding her disgust, she bunched the swath of filthy cotton into the corner of the cubicle. She would deal with that later.

Despite his weakened state, Alex could not help but notice his reaction to her ministrations. As the bar of soap slipped against his upper thigh, his cock twitched, becoming harder with every caress.

"Seriously Loki, you are incorrigible," she smirked, ignoring his erection as she continued to clean his lower body. His hair was the last part of his body to meet the soap, though she would use shampoo in the bath. Stretching to accommodate his height, she scrubbed the bar through the raven locks, fingernails digging into his sunburnt scalp. A hiss left his lips, pain, pleasure she was not sure which. His long fingers, once paralysed, now clutched her hips, drawing her closer. His cock jutted between her thighs, brushing against the sodden cotton of her knickers.

"Let me fuck you."

Alex dropped the soap, pushing Loki away, into the full stream of the shower. "No. You need food. You need rest."

"I need your cunt."

Alex scowled. "Well, aren't you lovely? Haven't been able to talk for weeks and the first thing you demand is my-"

"You sound like your little brunette friend," Loki croaked. "It does not become you."

"Perhaps they shouldn't have removed the stitches. You were much nicer when you couldn't talk."

Allowing Loki to remove the soapsuds from his hair, she stepped out of the cubicle again, checking the water level of the bath. It was full, brimming with slick bubbles dense with perfume.

The water in the shower stopped, and Loki emerged, shaking on his feet. His clean flesh revealed all: the clear shadow of his ribs, the gauntness of his cheeks. Without instruction, he submerged himself within the warm haven of the bath.

"Food."

"Demanding, aren't you?" Alex snapped, raising an eyebrow. "I'll find you some food in a moment. All I have now is chocolate."

"That will do."

"That will do? That stuff is precious!" Nevertheless, Alex grabbed several bars from her desk, opening one and handing it to Loki. His groans were almost orgasmic as he took his first bite.

"So this is chocolate."

"In all its glory."

Loki inhaled the first bar, reaching for a second. "It is possibly the best thing I have ever tasted. Perhaps even better than your cunt."

"You know, for an intelligent man, you are ridiculously crass."

Loki merely sent her a smirk, digging into his third bar. As this disappeared, Alex slipped into the bath beside him, taking a small basin into her hands. Gently, she let the hot water pour over his semi clean hair.

"Hand me the shampoo."

Loki reached for the plastic bottle of Midgardian magic, allowing her to squeeze the goo into his hair. Her scrubbing was less vigorous now, slow and languorous, causing him to close his eyes and lean into her. Soon she was massaging just for the sake of it, enjoying the feel of his soft locks between her fingers. It was like liquid obsidian, as beautiful as the man attached to it.

Long fingers quickly clutched her wrist as she went in for another bout of massaging. Emerald eyes glanced at her from beneath his crown of bubbles.

"Thank you."

Thank you? A blush flashed across her cheeks. "It... is nothing. I just didn't want you messing up my room."

Loki looked away now, grabbing the small basin and tipping more water over his clean hair. It was getting long, falling below his shoulders. She wondered if he would let her cut it. Letting the basin clutter to the floor beside the bath, Loki was upon her.

"I have eaten," he whispered. "I have rested."

"You are still weakened."

"I have strength enough for this." His lips gently caressed the hollow at the base of her throat, fingers dragging down the drenched straps of her bra. The clasp was no hindrance, the cups of cotton removed from her body in a second. Alex could not stifle her groan as his palm brushed against a sensitised nipple. He lingered only momentarily in this area, before slipping down to her hips. Now she could nothing but help, dragging her knickers awkwardly from her body, clutching his arse in an attempt to bring him closer.

"Whore."

She groaned as the head of his cock brushed against her sex. The water splashed, neither cared. "Wretch."

"Wretch, am I?" With a sharp jolt of his hips he was fully sheathed, eliciting a loud yelp from both of them. Water splattered the floor with the ferocity of his thrusts, his hands clutching her hips, trapping her beneath him. "I will not last long."

Alex could already feel the euphoria of her own release drawing near. Though her mind may have convinced itself that she did not miss Loki's touch, her body disagreed. He came with a sharp moan, thrusts rough, disjointed. Still deep within her, Loki moved his hand from her hip, running his thumb achingly over her clit until she too began to unravel.

It was only then that they noticed the knocking at the door.