The trip to headquarters was extremely stressful, somehow I made the trip in ten minutes, even though it usually took twenty. When I finally entered the elevator and punched the button I was breathing heavily and covered in a thin layer of sweat. If Loki killed him, let him die. There was no one in the elevator which was odd, even for a weekend. The past few months I have never seen an empty elevator at Shield. When I finally got to the floor where Loki was kept it was abandoned. Even the agent who usually kept vigil outside the wooden door was gone. Thankfully the door was still locked. I slid my keycard and burst through the door. The agent was lying on the ground a few feet from the entry. His arms were bent backwards and he was bleeding from a huge gash across his forehead. I ripped off a piece of cloth from the sleeve of my jacket, it was already really ratty so it came off easily. I used it to dab at the cut, but from the large lake of scarlet already on the ground, I didn't feel like it was making any difference. I pushed the cloth as tightly as I could to his head then I stood up.

"Loki! Look at this! Why did you do this?"

"You didn't come, I had to get you here."

"By killing a man? Loki this is the opposite of what we've been working for this whole time."

"The opposite of what we've been working for?" He screamed. "The opposite of who you are trying to make me become I will never be that person you are trying to mold out of me, the person who is weak and not able to hurt anyone."

He stepped out of the annex, his face was red and twisted, his hands covered in blood.

"I had no idea you were this insane. I made the mistake of trusting you and this is how you try to keep that trust?"

"No, no you don't understand. I did this for you, all for you…"

He surged forward and gripped each side of my head with his bloody hands. My arms snapped up automatically to try and keep him from crushing my skull.

"This man died so you could be near me." He gritted his teeth as he spoke. "It was all for us."

"Get off me!" I spat in his face.

He let go and stumbled backward, wiping the spit off of his cheek. He made an odd gesture with his hands and the blood evaporated into thin air.

"Interesting." He said, as he waved his hand and the body of the guard disappeared as well.

"What?" I questioned. "Why the hell did you do that? You made that up? Where's the agent?"

"He's in the annex, unconscious but unscathed. As for why I did it, well, a little experiment in human behavior."

"I thought you were over that, you were adjusting just fine until yesterday when you tried to kill me."

"When I tried to kill you? Darling that wasn't even an attempt, I intended no harm." He laughed and opened his arms wide.

"Well it seemed like you did from my point of view."

"My apologies, then. It was unintended."

"Was it unintended that you make me think he was dead?"

"No, not at all, but as I informed you it was an experiment."

I shook my head.

"Show me the agent." I sighed.

He nodded and stepped backward, then he turned into the annex. I followed him. The agent was lying in a similar way to the way he had been in the illusion except his arms were fine and there was no blood. I checked his body for any bruises or cuts, as Loki had told me he was fine.

"I'm glad you didn't hurt him, or you would be in a lot deeper than you are now."

"Am I really in at all?" He said from behind me.

"Yes, you are. How did you manage to get him in here, only someone completely insane would come in here willingly."

"You are insane then? Did not you volunteer for this assignment? You are insane, why try to deny that fact?"

"You're the insane one. I don't even understand where you get the idea that I am crazy. I come here because I know I can help you."

"I do not want your help. You humans have been forcing me into this. I don't want this, I've never wanted this. This- this mad game you play with minds and pretend it's psychology."

"Ha, speak for yourself, who was the one conducting experiments five minutes ago?"

As he opened his mouth to retaliate my phone rang. I pulled it out and turned away from him. I had my generic ringtone set to Fall Out Boy's Centuries. I sighed.

"Mind if I get this?" I asked.

"Go ahead." He replied. "You only have the rest of your life."

I slid the icon across the screen and put the phone to my ear.

"Agent Cressida Evans, how may I help you?" I said in my sugary sweet phone voice.

"Agent Evans, this is Doctor Banner, I was just wondering what time we're meeting for dinner?"

"Dinner with the Hulk? You're more insane than I realized." Loki whispered next to my ear.

I ignored him and answered Banner's question.

"Coulson put it into my calendar at 7pm. Is there anything else I can help you with Doctor?"

"No, thank you." He replied, "I'll see you this evening."

My phone beeped after he hung up. I lowered the phone from my face.

"Before you say anything, Coulson is having me meet with them. Apparently the Avengers were asking about me."

"The Avengers have taken interest in you? Do you have any idea why?"

"Not in the least. All I know is that Tony Stark broke into my apartment to talk to me and. Clint and Natasha think you have me under some kind of mind control."

"Well I suppose you need to move along home so you can make it to dinner in time."

I turned, my nose was almost touching his.

"Are you attracted to me Loki?" I asked bluntly.

For a moment I registered something, fear, I registered fear on his face before his mischievous serenity washed back over him.

"What do you think?" He retorted, trying to dodge the question.

"I think that I want to hear what you have to say, because you keep trying to misdirect me."

He sighed and broke the electric eye contact which had been surging between us.

"You are a person I certainly find intriguing." He said. "I find it curious that you do not fear me. The only people other than you who can force me to break eye contact are all of the Avengers. Together."

"Is that good?"

"It certainly is attractive. You're the first woman I've met who can actually keep themselves composed while speaking to me. Apart from Agent Romanov and Lady Sif."

"And all the other women fall to the ground, begging you to love them?"

"Or they tremble in fear, or awe." He looked at me smugly.

"Is that what you want me to be? Weak? Unnoticeable? The same as every girl you meet? Someone who grovels at your feet? I'm not one of those people, the way you killed my parents made sure of that. If you think I want to be one of those people than your powers of perception have certainly grown dull."

"To be honest I admire that the most about you. Your sharp mind. Your clever tongue. The way you refuse to conform to what people want of you. It adds to your beauty in a great way. I also see darkness in you. I have seen it from the moment I met you. You struggle to be good while most of your mind wants me to do the opposite. Your evil is subtle, it's there but you refuse to acknowledge it. There is more to you than they know. There is more to you than you know. That is what I find attractive about you. Your mysteries, they draw me in. I want to solve every single one of them."

I was stunned. Completely unsure of what to say, I turned away from him.

"You're confusing me. Is this another experiment?"

"No more." He stepped around me. "No more games."

He leaned in and I closed my eyes. Our lips met. He smelled like peppermint and sandalwood, his skin was warm.

Then reality hit me.

I couldn't do this.

I pulled away, leaving him there; looking hurt and upset. I looked down at the agent who was still unconscious. Then I looked back at Loki.

"I was never here." I told him. "If you tell anyone I swear to all the gods of Asgard that I will make you regret it."

He looked at me, the hurt in his eyes deepening as I spoke.

Then I left.

I realized I left like this a lot. A silent or spoken question hanging in the air.