It was rather safe to say that the plan to sneak down to Midgard unbeknownst to Loki was not pulled off with the seamless panache that Reagan had originally envisioned.

She'd waited for the storm to calm, waited until Loki had a day full of important tasks that would require great diligence on his part, confident that he'd be distracted enough for her quick trip down to Earth to go completely unnoticed. In and out, with no trouble, and Loki would remain none the wiser.

He did not.

Reagan had been on Earth for exactly six minutes before she was engulfed in a prism of blinding rainbow light and sent hurtling back across the universe and into the dome of the Bifrost. The shock of it was disorienting, to say the least.

The moment she stumbled back inside the golden cavern she was met with quite a dire look from a rather pale-faced Skurge. She was just about to open her mouth to question her premature return to the golden city, only to find it didn't take a great deal of deduction to figure out what had happened. Just beyond him stood a murderous-looking Loki, clearly having just ordered her immediate retrieval.

And he was absolutely glowering at her.

Her eyes met his.

Reagan wasted no time delving into the bond, wading through an unbridled fury with some difficulty to watch as he felt it not even ten minutes earlier - the sudden distance, the absence of her. She watched as he took to the Bifrost, using all manner of reckless magic to get there with alarming haste. He stormed into the golden dome, unchained power pulsating off of him as he descended upon Asgard's new Gatekeeper.

'Bring her back. Now.' he'd commanded, his voice deathly calm.

Skurge hadn't needed to be told a second time.

Loki hadn't uttered another word, he'd just stared into the mouth of the Bifrost until at last Reagan had emerged, having the audacity to look surprised by his presence.

That did little to quell the rage in him.

Reagan retreated back into her own mind, loosing a steadying breath as she took a step towards him.

"Okay, look..." Reagan began, as she lowered her latest - depressingly small - haul to the ground.

Loki, it seemed, had no patience left for her excuses. His shields crashed down with a violent force.

Surprised, Reagan flinched. Her eyes shot to his, her lips parting in shock.

The pair stared at one another as agonising silence hung between them. Reagan's brow crinkled, unsure of what to do. She waited. Waited for him to make the first move. Waited for him to speak. But instead, he chose to turn from her.

Without a single word, Loki cast one final withering gaze down the length of her then swept from the Bifrost and stormed back towards the city.

It seemed to break the trance she'd found herself under.

"Loki, wait-"

Reagan moved to follow after him but Skurge quickly caught her arm. She looked back at him, surprised, and found his wary gaze fixed upon Loki's retreating form.

"Are you sure it's safe to-"

"Of course it's safe, Skurge," she insisted calmly.

She turned back towards the Rainbow Bridge to go after him, but her stomach sank at the sight of the now totally abandoned stretch of coloured crystal; Loki nowhere to be seen.

Reagan sighed heavily.

Shit.

Okay. So the plan for a quick trip down to earth on Christmas Eve was a clusterfuck. She didn't get to collect any of the decorations she'd planned to add to the rather pathetic effort she'd made so far at the castle. She didn't have any paper to wrap Loki's gift in. Not that it mattered, because it appeared they weren't to be on speaking terms that night anyway. Which also meant there'd be no convincing him of just how lovely an oversized pine tree would look in the main foyer, or perhaps by one of the finer fireplaces. It would appear her plans to bring Christmas to Asgard had been ruined. By her. And worse still, she was rapidly realising, was that Skurge was sure to face the brunt of Loki's displeasure for her actions.

Reagan turned back to face Skurge, regret suddenly twisting in her gut as it hit her exactly what position she'd put him in.

"Skurge, I'm sorry," Reagan said. "I shouldn't have asked you to do that. I just- I really didn't think it would go that way. But I swear to you I'll sort it out, okay? I'll make sure he knows it wasn't your fault."

Skurge eyed her. "You better."

"I will. I mean it."

"You'll tell him I fought you on it way harder than I actually did, yeah?"

"You did fight me on it."

"Nah, not really. In truth I sort of wanted you to go back so you'd get more of them Cheez-It things. I shouldn'ta let ya go. Sorry, love. I don't envy you at all right now."

"Yeah," Reagan sighed. "Me neither. I should go. I should try to find him and at least make an attempt at damage control."

After exchanging solemn waves goodbye and several more promises of immunity upon Skurge's insistent request, Reagan turned towards the Rainbow Bridge, deflating as she took in the enormity of the massive golden city. She was already pretty certain that searching for Loki would prove fruitless. Even an ordinary man could hide himself away without much trouble in Asgard. But a man like Loki... Well, if he didn't want to be found - even by her - then he wouldn't be.

Still, a small, optimistic [or perhaps naive] part of her hoped that Loki might choose a familiar place to hide - somewhere so stupidly obvious that she wouldn't even bother to check.

She quickly learned that luck was not on her side in this particular instance.

But she supposed she deserved that.

Hours later, when the sun was beginning to set, Reagan finally abandoned her search and was strolling along the shoreline. If Loki had no desire to be found then it was going to take more than wandering aimlessly through the city to coax him out of hiding. Instead, she'd resigned herself to the fact that she needed to wait for him to calm down. He'd come to her when he was ready. What that would look like, she wasn't quite sure. She wondered if he'd yell, perhaps say hurtful things. Loki had never really yelled at her before, but then, he'd never really had reason to.

And she supposed that it wasn't unwarranted that he might want to unleash his anger on her. After all, she'd lied. She had. There was no denying it.

The problem was, that Reagan wasn't good at being yelled at. She hadn't the patience or the humility for it. This meant that she was three parts worried that their next conversation would quickly devolve into a horrid screaming match, and one part worried that she'd quickly be reduced to tears. Either way, she was fairly confident she'd do something to make matters all the worse.

As Reagan strolled idly along the water, trying to envision the different scenarios that might play out the next time she faced Loki, she heard an approaching jangle of bulky metal. For the third time that afternoon, Reagan looked up to find an armour-clad Halvor jogging towards her, gasping heavily for breath.

She stepped aside, and the soldier passed, slowly. He didn't recognise her, glamoured as she was, and so Reagan was able to watch him trotting by with an openly perplexed look upon her features. She watched as he once again retreated into the distance, thoroughly confused by the behaviour.

He truly was a peculiar individual. Loki had told her once that magic had morphed the man's mind. She could only assume that whatever he was doing was fueled by the magic that had addled him.

Reagan wasn't left with much time to ponder the strange behaviour because, at that moment, she felt Loki begin to search for her. He didn't lower his shields, nor did he call for her. But his presence was there, honing in on her.

Resigned to the confrontation to come, Reagan drew slowly to a stop, figuring she might as well wait for him. There was no point putting off what was to come. Better to let him get it out of his system if that's what he wished to do rather than to let it fester. She was far too aware that Loki made a rather unhealthy habit of that - allowing things to fester. And so, had he not broached this coming confrontation himself, Reagan would have forced him into it - however unpleasant it was to be on her part.

Before long, the silhouette of a sleek Skiff appeared out on the water, glinting under the waning sun. She watched its approach, knowing it was for her as it grew closer before she could even see him piloting the craft.

Loki did not meet her eye as he approached. Instead, his gaze remained resolutely fixed upon the shore.

Nor did he look her way when he pulled the craft to a halt in front of her.

When Loki stood and moved towards the edge of the Skiff, and extended his hand out to her, still, he pointedly avoided her eye.

"Get in," he ordered icily.

Oh. So, he was angry angry.

Slowly, Reagan took his hand and allowed him to help her aboard. She half expected his grip on her hand to be tight - perhaps even verging on painful - laced with his fury, but instead it was steady. Gentle. Just as it always was when he reached for her. It was a vast contrast to what she knew he was feeling behind those shields of his.

The moment Reagan took a seat, Loki released her hand and moved towards the control lever, wasting no time before steering the Skiff in the direction of his castle. Reagan took this as a clear indication that the approaching conversation would indeed be a rather loud one. He was livid. Livid. She could see it in the harsh she of his jaw, the strain corded up his neck, the rigidity in his shoulders. The way he wouldn't even look at her. She could practically see dark energy ebbing from him; a result of his barely suppressed temper.

Reagan didn't say anything, determining that it was probably best to allow Loki to kick things off. His frosty demeanour suggested that was a sensible decision.

Which made her angry.

Rather a lot faster than she'd expected, too.

Yes, she'd done the wrong thing, but who was he to give her this icy - verging on hateful - silent treatment? Was he trying to scare her? Is that what this whole display was supposed to be? Was Reagan expected to tremble before the Great and Terrible Loki and all his power and rage? If that was what he was hoping for, he'd be all the more infuriated by the time they were done.

Reagan would not fear him. She would not bow to his rage and make feeble apologies.

Maybe she would have apologised to him, if he'd been adult enough to have an actual conversation with her. But scare tactics? Now it was Reagan's turn to seethe.

She fixed her gaze resolutely upon the horizon to avoid looking at the trickster and promptly began to glower herself.

As they jetted across the water, Reagan's anger only built. She sat with her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest, refusing to look at him either. Not even when - almost reluctantly - he would intermittently glance in her general direction, as if to check that she was still there. She had half a mind to throw herself overboard before his next check-in just so that he'd find the seat empty. She wasn't sure what that would achieve exactly, but regardless, it was doing a real number on her impulse control.

It wasn't long before the castle loomed over them and they remained in their stony silence as Loki steered the vessel right up to the entrance.

When Loki stood and offered Reagan his hand once again, she swept past him stubbornly, dismounting the craft with a distinct lack of grace and then strode up to the castle doors without so much as a glance in his general direction. Much to her chagrin, there was a flash of green and a sizzle of magic in the air and Reagan looked up to find Loki already standing at the threshold, hand rested on the lock.

Reagan wasn't quite sure if he was blocking her entrance or opening the door in a gentlemanly fashion.

Either way, she barely managed to stop herself from kicking him in the shin.

At last, Reagan fixed her glare upon him. Not that he saw it. Loki's gaze was fixed on the ground. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then seemed to think better of it, pressing his lips into a thin line instead. Loki still did not meet her eye as he pushed against the door, stepping aside and gesturing to allow her to enter after the heavy doors groaned open under his touch.

Reagan took exactly three steps past the threshold before she froze in her tracks.

The entire interior of the castle had transformed.

The haunting onyx interior was normally presented in an elegant and austere manner - perhaps even a little cold - that left the castle feeling dark and brooding. Just like Loki. But there was also always the scent of magic tinging the air, and a feeling like something mischievous was always hiding just around the corner. Also, just like Loki. It was part of why Reagan loved spending so much time there. That balance of dark and light. Danger and joy and power mystery and magic. It felt like him.

But tonight, the castle was bathed in a warm golden light. A roaring fire blazed enthusiastically in the hearth of the grandiose fireplace. The telltale glow of flickering light from distant doorways down stretching wings of the castle indicated that it wasn't the only fire in the castle to have been lit. Flickering candles floated overhead, slowly weaving paths through the air, almost as if they were dancing as their light cast shapes against the high ceilings. Warm, playful.

And Reagan couldn't help but wonder if he'd tried to make the castle feel like her tonight instead.

It wasn't just the light of the fire, transforming the castle. Garlands of green pine and holly spiralled up the bannisters of symmetrical curved staircases, garnished with lavish red and gold decorations.

Twinkling fairy lights hung from the ceiling, and decorated every banister, every pillar, every inch of moulding. And mountains of tinsel adorned the castle, garlands of it decorated every surface - golds and silvers and reds and greens - glimmering in the light of the glowing fires.

Above the mantle of the fireplace, a breathtaking arrangement of pinecones, crimson ribbons, and glistening baubles.

Fine tapestries that adorned the walls depicting Loki's favourite Asgardian tales had been enchanted to depict intricately detailed Christmas villages.

At the centre of the entryway towered a twenty-foot tall pine tree, meticulously decorated with lights and baubles and ornaments. An enormous crystal star sat atop it, glinting rainbow fractals over the scene from the light of the fireplace.

A dusting of snow fell from the ceiling, snowflakes so delicate that they evaporated just before they had the chance to touch the ground. They caught in Reagan's hair for only a moment before disappearing into nothingness.

She felt as if she could burst at the most sincere and grandest gesture of affection she'd ever been confronted with.

She'd expected a fight and instead, he'd brought Christmas to her.

Loki had brought Christmas to her.

Only after Reagan managed to take in the simply overwhelming display did she notice the obscenely large pile of distinctly Midgardian items. She moved closer, surveying the pile curiously. It was a decidedly strange collection.

Soaps and shampoos and perfumes.

Midgardian liquors.

Board games.

Inflatable pool toys.

Balls of yarn in every colour imaginable.

A coffee maker.

A jump rope.

A camping tent.

A dirt bike.

An electric toothbrush.

Bowling pins.

An office desk chair.

Novelty socks.

A pinball machine.

A remote control car.

A peculiar little garden gnome wearing a heartbreakingly sad expression.

Amused, Reagan picked up the gnome, turning it over in her hands. She glanced over her shoulder to throw Loki a quizzical look.

Her heart almost stopped dead in her chest.

The look on Loki's face put the sad little gnome she was holding to shame.

Reagan turned to face him as a horrid apprehension clenched her stomach and she touched the bond, with feather-light care.

Reluctantly, Loki let her in.

The emotion coursing through him almost brought her to her knees. She'd known there was a storm, she'd anticipated it. But she'd thought it had been anger. She was so very wrong. That overwhelming storm he'd been keeping from her, it wasn't barely suppressed rage. It was distress. Anguish. Sheer dread. In its rawest form. It crashed through her, a force like nothing she could have imagined. And this was Loki still attempting to hold it back from her.

Oh. Oh, she was so fucking stupid.

Loki wasn't mad at her. He wasn't trying to make her afraid. Loki was the one who was afraid - he was petrified - agonized. And it was because of her. She'd only felt that rage from him in those first few moments after she'd returned to Asgard because until he'd known she was safe again he hadn't allowed room for anything else. It had to be fury when he'd once again felt the absence of her because if he'd allowed the fear in, it may just have crippled him.

Reagan's stomach plummeted horribly as she stared at him, taking in how pale he'd suddenly become.

And when he finally forced himself to look her in the eye, something akin to a whimper escaped her. The look on his face. The tears suddenly rimming his eyes. It left her mouth feeling dry, emotion gripping at her throat.

"Loki-" she managed to squeeze out.

"Please, stop going down there," Loki begged, the words tremoring off his tongue.

There was an awful, barely contained desperation in his voice - and Reagan hoped she'd never have to hear him sound like that again. She stared back at him, unable to form words as he forced himself to hold her gaze even through his unshed tears. He cleared his throat and attempted to compose himself.

"I'll give you anything," he promised her, gesturing around the room - the evidence that he meant it. "I swear it. Anything. And from here on out, you have my word that I'll send Skurge for whatever you desire from Midgard, no matter how frivolous. Even the smallest of whims, I'll see to it that you have it. I'll watch the gate myself in his absence. I'll drop everything else to see that it's done, I swear it. Just please, Reagan, don't go down there again. Not while those beasts are searching for you."

Reagan went to him, wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. Loki immediately curled into her touch.

"Shhh, it's alright," she whispered with a trembling voice as she pressed herself against him. "I'm sorry. Loki, I'm sorry."

She wrapped herself tight around him. Too tight. Held onto him for dear life.

"We don't know how they found us. The... things they wanted to do to you. I just can't endure it," Loki went on, as he wrapped his arms around her in return. Enveloping her. Holding onto her like she was something so precious. "It's keeping me awake at night. Nightmares. Imaginings... Possibilities. If they were to find you again, you have to realise that they'll take no chances, not after what you did last time. Reagan, I can't stomach the thought that at any moment in time, you could slip away and they could find you out there somewhere alone and-"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry. I'll stay right here. I swear," Reagan whispered, promising her words onto his skin. "I won't leave Asgard again. Loki, I promise, just please-"

-just please stop feeling this, she wanted to say, but she couldn't quite manage to get the words out as his distress cracked her heart in two. Loki nodded his head, his grip on her tightening as though any moment someone might snatch her from his clutches and he might never see her again.

Realisation dawned upon her then that Loki feared it so because he knew what that felt like. Months had passed since Loki had been freed from his cell, and strangely it felt like a lifetime ago that they'd been parted like that. Reagan had had the luxury of coming and going as she pleased. And Loki had been left with no other option than to watch her go, and to hope that she'd choose to return to him. Just once more. Always just once more. Even after they'd grown closer, admitted their fondness to one another. Along had come Fandral to ruin that, dangling the truth of what he was before her for his own amusement. Leaving Loki to have to wonder again when it would be the last time he got to see her before the something that had been building between them imploded. Trapped. Kept from her. Always left to wonder if she would come back.

And now here he was, having to endure that feeling again because she'd been stupid and inconsiderate.

Reagan desperately wished she could undo it. She wanted to snatch those feelings away and never let them near him again.

"I swear to you, Reagan," he stirred her from her thoughts, as if he was unable to stop himself, "this isn't an attempt to shackle you. It's- it's not about power or control. I have no desire for that sort of hold over you-"

"I know that," she assured him. "It's okay. I understand."

"I don't want to trap you. Or to keep you from your home. And if you are trying to run away then- Reagan, I don't want to force you to be here if this isn't where you wish to be, but you must understand-"

"Hey... Loki..." she drew back to look at him. She cupped his face and carded her fingers through his hair. "You're here. You're here. Of course, this is where I want to be. You have to know that. I want you. I want to be with you."

She hated how easily that doubt he still carried was able to take hold of him. That belief that he was not enough. That everyone was just waiting for an opportunity to run from him. That his time with her was borrowed.

"You have my word that the instant we know that it's safe, you can-"

"Stop," she whispered. "Please, I can't stand it. I swear to you I'll stay on Asgard. I swear. I'm sorry, I didn't understand that you felt like this. I was never trying to run away, Loki. Of course, I wasn't. I just didn't see the harm. And I was always coming back. I had no idea you were this afraid, and I'm so sorry I made you feel that way. I thought you were just being- I don't know, over-cautious or jealous or-"

"I'm painfully jealous," Loki insisted stubbornly, as he leaned in to kiss her shoulder, not relinquishing the embrace he held her in. "I'm insufferably jealous. Any time you're any further from me than this, I'm burning with unslakable jealousy. I'm jealous of the air you breathe. I'm jealous of every moment you've existed where I wasn't present. I'm jealous of every song you've ever heard. I'm jealous of-"

"Skurge?" Reagan teased, attempting to ease the tension in him.

Loki growled against her skin, she felt his teeth graze against her shoulder.

"Everyone," Loki told her, instead of admitting she was right. "Everything."

Reagan gave a wet laugh, as a tear traced a path down her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered once more, kissing his lips tenderly as she cupped his face in gentle hands. "I was being selfish. I should have realised..."

"You were being impulsive and unruly and aggravating," Loki corrected, trailing his lips along her jawline as he spoke. "Traits that, under any other circumstances, I would obviously be overjoyed to encourage."

"Obviously," Reagan agreed, she laced her fingers up into his hair as Loki backed her slowly into the room, relishing the way he was returning to himself, his touches growing more certain and bold and possessive.

When her back pushed up against a cold onyx pillar, Loki pressed himself into her, pinning her under the weight of him. Reagan gasped and trailed her hands down his broad chest while Loki's hot mouth claimed property down her throat.

As her head fell back, her eyes were cast skyward and a small breath of a laugh escaped her.

"What is it?" Loki asked against her throat.

"Mistletoe," she murmured, gesturing to a small, simple garland hanging high above their heads.

Loki hummed against her skin, growing increasingly distracted by her willingness to help him bunch her skirts up at her waist, revealing the length of her smooth legs to him. He palmed needily at her thigh and she parted her legs eagerly under his touch.

"Do enlighten me, darling, what is this mortal obsession with mistletoe?" he murmured calmly as he ghosted his fingers over her panties. Her breathing hitched.

"It's traditional a Christmas time that if two people stand under a garland of mistletoe, they have to kiss."

"Only a kiss?" he whispered, brushing his lips over hers.

"Only a kiss," she repeated, attempting to chase him but his mouth was already latched onto her pulse point. His hand snaked into her hair, and somehow the care with which he cradled her head felt like the most sinful thing in the world. She pressed into him desperately.

"How disappointing, I'm not ashamed to admit I was hoping for something slightly more grandiose," Loki teased.

"Well, it is a small garland," Reagan managed a smirk, even as she drew him closer still.

And just as she anticipated, there was a petulant flash of emerald magic and the garland began to grow... unfurling, stretching, entwining. Leaves, lush and vibrant, burst to life. The plant weaved its way along the surface of the castle ceiling and - slowly - down the pillar Loki embraced her against.

Reagan laughed as she soon felt tendrils of mistletoe snaking their way reverently into her hair, down her arms, and then around her parted thighs, splaying her out before him. How he adored to play with her.

When Loki drew away just enough to admire his handiwork, amusement danced on his features as his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

"And now?"

"You're an idiot," she told him, adoringly.

She reached for him again, and the mistletoe moved with her, bending to her will as if it would follow her anywhere.

Loki wasted no time in capturing her lips in a searing kiss. They groped at each other, touches and caresses bursting with need.

"I still can't quite believe how much I enjoy it when you call me that," he breathed when their mouths parted.

Reagan laughed softly into his shoulder, her arms tangled around his neck.

"Remember when you hated me?" she quipped, nipping at his earlobe.

Loki made a sound that might have been a protest but sounded more like a warning that he was about to devour her. He had one hand snaked around her, palming at her ass possessively, the other mapped the length of her clavicle, traced the curve of her breast, trailed slowly down her torso, eliciting needy gasps from her.

"Not at all," he replied calmly as his gaze raked over her. "Not even a little. I only recall being consumed by you. I only recall obsession."

And finally, his hand trailed to where she most desired it, and she jerked her hips desperately as his fingers entered her. A stuttered gasp broke from her, he caught her mouth with his.

"Okay well, for the record it didn't go that way," she managed to gasp as she traced her fingers over a sinfully sharp cheekbone.

"It did," he murmured, pressing his face into her hair and breathing her in. "It did."

It was almost embarrassing how quickly Loki was able to work her to her climax. But his arm was so secure around her, and his face was buried against her neck, and his hand worked with expert ministrations and the bond was alive with need and so with a strangled sound and nails digging into the leathers over his broad shoulders, Reagan convulsed against him.

A low hum of approval rumbled in Loki's throat.

"Oh yes," Loki mused. "It would seem that I'm decidedly fond of mistletoe."

Reagan lifted her head from where she'd rested it against his chest, still catching her breath. She smiled at him. And Loki leaned in again to press a sweeter sort of kiss to her lips.

"Anything other Christmas traditions that you'd like for us to put into practice tonight?"

"I can't believe you did all this for me," she murmured, before adding. "I can't believe you had time to do all this for me."

"It's nothing."

"Loki, it's amazing," she murmured. "Look at this place. It's beautiful. All these decorations. The candles. All those gifts."

Loki scowled ever so slightly at that, casting a fleeting glance over his shoulder at the pile of Midgardian paraphernalia.

"You don't have to pretend they aren't ridiculous. I sent the oaf with a very specific list. But I also made the mistake of instructing him to bring back anything he suspected might be of interest to you. That was the result."

"You weren't mean to him, right? I promised him immunity."

"I was sorely tempted. But I assumed you'd likely made such promises so I refrained," a small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Though, I must say, you should have seen his face when I returned to the Bifrost. It was decadent."

Reagan smiled as she curled back into his chest.

"So what I'm hearing is...it's actually Skurge I have to thank for this display?"

"Woman, don't you dare."

She laughed against his neck and then nuzzled into him, breathing in his scent.

Safety.

Home.

"Loki, I love you."

In response, deft fingers curled beneath her chin, drawing her gaze up to his. She met his eyeline. Tender. Adoring. Reagan took hold of his lapel and drew him closer to her. Their lips met once more in a deep, languid kiss. And Reagan melted against him.

Loki snaked one strong arm around her waist, the other travelling eagerly back towards her core, seemingly determined to coax more desperate cries from her - his favourite sound in all the universe. But instead, Reagan pulled free of him, and for just a second, he looked fearful. Until she sank to her knees before him and splayed her hands over his thighs, urging him back to lean against the pillar he'd just had her pinned to, and as she freed him from his breeches, her breath ghosted over his hipbone before she engulfed him in the warmth of her mouth. As a strangled noise burst from his lips, Reagan caught a fleeting thought along the bond that made her smirk around his girth; that he was rather fond of this Christmas holiday after all.