Oh, hell! There probably were easier ways to quit a job than this, but when had she ever settled for easy, Emma thought with a roguish grin and stepped out from the factory with careless steps, leaving behind the noisy, industry-scale wood workshop and highly sexist atmosphere. She knew she could do so much better than be teased by some old geezers and harassed by a sleazebag boss under the minimum wage.

Ignoring the fading pain in her right hand, she cut through the lumberyard, dodging a moving forklift on her way to the employee parking. She heard hasty steps following her before she reached to that old, brown station wagon that was ugly as sin.

"Ems, are you all right? What the hell happened?"

Logan's concerned voice stopped her and she turned towards her father, shrugging annoyed. "I'm fine, Logan. It's nothing serious," she reassured, hiding her right hand behind her back.

Logan moved closer with a mighty frown, throwing his leather jacket on. "Nothing serious?" he echoed doubting. "They came to tell me you had an accident. What's wrong with your hand?" he asked nodding and walked the rest of the way to her, smelling blood with his animal senses. He had left his work in haste after hearing something happened to her and he still had some sawdust on him.

Emma shifted weight from one foot to another and clenched her jaw, irritated. "You know that guy J.J.?"

Logan crossed his arms, staring down at her. "That dick boss's son?"

"Yeah. He asked me out. Well, actually he asked me to spend the whole weekend with him. And not with these exact kind words," Emma murmured disgusted by the whole idea. "I told him I would rather thrust a nail through my palm than even consider that as an option. He thought it was maybe, so…" She lifted her right hand for him to see with a 4 inch nail pierced through her palm and gave a gleeful smirk. "I said that if he comes near me again I'll thrust the next nail through his balls and staple him on a crate."

Logan grimaced. "Oh Christ!" He glanced behind him, checking that no one else was coming after them. "Let me see that!" he grunted and grabbed from her wrist. He pulled the nail off like it would have been only a small splinter and she grimaced slightly with a hiss. "What's the matter with you? We really need this job."

She stared at her palm, turning her wrist to see it from both sides, watching as the small hole in her hand healed completely in a second. "Yeah, about that, I quitted. It looked like I was going to get fired anyway."

Logan looked as sour as he'd been arrested. It wasn't easy to get a new job without papers now days. "Why?"

Emma stared at him angrily. "Hey, lumbersexual! Maybe this is your dream job, but it's not your ass that gets squeezed every ten minutes! I swear if I'll have to stay there a day longer, I will shove my claws out and…"

"Okay!" Logan's hand rose on her shoulder to calm her down, his other hand's fingers playing with the bloody nail. Shaking his head, he watched her, the furrows of his forehead straightening. "Why didn't you tell me that dickhead was harassing you in the first place?" he asked then more compassionately with a paternal concern. "I would have had a talk with him."

She tried not to smile. "Because when you have a talk with people, dad, they may not survive out of it."

Logan smiled too. "Yeah, that's what they get if they're messing with my little girl," he agreed and propelled her towards their brown wagon. "Get in the car. I'm supposed to take you to ER to get that checked up."

"You know I don't need ER," Emma said as they sat in the car and she showed him her healed hand.

Logan started the engine. "Yeah, but they don't know that and we're better to keep it that way. I asked the guys to cover for me. Let's go to town and get burgers or something. We haven't eaten out in ages."

"Great! Anything beats your cooking."

Logan scowled at her as they were driving away from the parking. "Lumbersexual, huh? That's not even a word. You made it up."

She glanced at him and his lumberjackish outfit with the sideburns he hadn't let her touch with scissors. "No, it's a real thing, trust me," she reassured and put on her shades from the dashboard.

"Lumbersexual…" Logan snorted and concentrated with driving also shading his eyes.

They were beginning to look more alike since she had made some drastic chances into her appearance by roughly cutting her long, blond, naturally curly hair that now reached only to the halfway of her neck and were dyed to chestnut brown. Actually Logan did half of the cutting part accidentally with his claws when he was teaching her to fight and later she cut off the rest. It came out quite nicely for a homemade hair cutting.

The sunglasses weren't a fashion statement. Those and caps had become their number one accessories whenever they were in public because they had to do everything to hide their real identity incase SHIELD was still looking for them. She had become paranoidly careful. Those innocent looking traffic cameras everywhere weren't just keeping an eye on the traffic!

… …

Disguised like some identities hiding celebrities, Logan and Emma kept checking their surrounding as they made their way to a roadside restaurant on the outskirt of a small town on they way home. Only a few people were passing by and they didn't pay too much attention to any of them until Emma saw a reflection in the restaurant's window of a tall woman standing behind. The woman's soft voice called her name.

Cautiously Emma looked at the woman over her shoulder and froze, slowly talking off her sunglasses. She knew the woman's friendly face but couldn't immediately put together her face with a name because there was something out of place about her. Maybe it was her outfit; her golden hair tied up on a bun, the light turquoise trouser suit with a long pearl white jacket and a silky scarf around her neck. This lady didn't belong into this small, stinky trucker stop.

"Hello, Emma. It is you," the lady greeted her with a warm smile and took a step closer, studying Emma's changed looks; shorter and darker hair that made her looking older. "You look different than I recall."

"So do you," Emma whispered finally recognizing the lady, her eyes widening in bewilderment. "Frigga," she stammered, her gaze nailed at the queen of Asgard who looked very regal even in mortals' clothes. Logan said something but she didn't really hear him. She felt like time would have stopped around them for a few seconds as her mind was trying to comprehend what reason Loki's mother had to visit her unless Loki was…

Her knees turned to jelly. "Is Loki…?" she gasped unable to form that terrible word. "Is he…?"

"Loki is alive, in full health. He is fine, I promise," Frigga reassured. Her hands came together in front of her in a placid way and Emma needed a moment to take in her calming words. "May we speak, Emma?"

Relieved but still puzzled, Emma nodded trying to get a grip of herself. "Um, sure…"

Logan leaned closer to his kid. "Trouble?" he murmured in a low voice, valuating the woman how seemed to know Emma.

"No, no. It's okay," she sighed and glanced quickly at Logan by her side. "She's Loki's mother…"

After an awkward and strange introduction (since projections of alien people didn't shake hands), Frigga and Emma stepped aside to have a chat while Logan remained keeping an eye on them from further away.

Someone else was also observing their conversation closely. Invisible to the mortal eyes like a ghost, Loki stood still in the middle of his bed chamber where Frigga's magic had brought Emma, she being only a hologramic illusion to him, not seeing him nor hearing him.

What had she done to her beautiful golden hair? She looked so different, harder and tougher than he recalled. That was his first remark as he slowly circled closer, his perceptive gaze studying her and longing to touch her. It must have been an illusion of her own to fool her hunters, he reasoned.

Her heart throbbing in uneasiness, Emma watched at Frigga, not daring to ask what was wrong. Because there had to be something wrong if a member of the royal Asgardian family would come to see her. "How is he? Is he here with you?" Emma asked hopefully, unable to even imagine that she was projected right next to him into another dimension.

Loki stepped even closer. That gleam of hope in her eyes as she spoke of him only showed that she still loved him.

"I am here," he whispered, yet knowing she couldn't hear him. Feeling like being invisible to others; there was nothing new about it to him, but being invisible to the one he loved felt utterly unfair. Still, he had to settle for what was granted to him.

"I am afraid not, dear." Frigga gave the girl a sad smile, seeing them both so close to one another and yet worlds apart from each other. "I trust you are aware of the crimes he committed in Asgard before he met you, before he set foot on Midgard," she begun formally and Emma nodded, a sudden worry reflecting from her face. "Loki is held in confinement as punishment for those actions he committed. He is treated fairly, I assure you, but he is not allowed to leave his quarters nor contact anyone outside the palace, thus he asked me to bring you a message."

Emma gulped a part of her expecting the worse. She took a step closer to the queen. "What message?" she mustered herself to ask the question, that same part of her not wanting to hear the answer.

"Please, tell her I am sorry I could not keep my promise," Loki whispered sorrowfully to his mother, his longing gaze not leaving Emma.

"Loki is truly sorry he could not keep his word to you," Frigga echoed his words, making his message audible for Emma.

Emma took a breath and held it. "He's not coming back?" she feared, her voice quivering. "Is he?"

Loki turned his face towards Frigga. "Tell her will return to her… as soon as I can."

Frigga shook her head and spoke for both of them as she said, "I am sorry."

Emma's gaze dropped down along with her spirits. "I… um…" She swallowed, fighting off that rising lump in the throat that always brought the tears.

He promised her. He promised! And now he was a prisoner in his own home like he had feared? Trapped in a golden cage. Alone. And abandoned again? Poor thing. Emma sniffed and chewed the inside of her cheek. Or maybe he didn't want to see her again because she doubted him with his intentions with the Tesseract and he started to hate her. No, no, no! But what if he had grown tired of her and sent his mother to lie to her on his behalf because he was too damn busy orgying with all the ladies in Asgard, partying like a freaking king of the Nine Realms. Dozens of women sharing his bed, pleasing him, touching him, pouring champagne on his bare chest and kissing his perfect lips...

Emma face-palmed herself and forced herself to cut that idiotic flow of thoughts inside her head, fearing that her face had changed color like a freaking chameleon with her emotions.

Seeing that she must have been devastated, Loki hovered near her, wanting to take her hands and tell her that everything was going to be all right. "Let her know I will find a way to come back to her," Loki demanded but then his tone turned more begging. "Please! Tell her. She must know."

Emma brushed her hair behind her ears and smiled a bit but it was a painful smile as she faced Frigga again, summing up everything she'd told her; Loki was fine but imprisoned and not allowed to talk to anyone outside Asgard. "So… is this punishment of his going to last for years or decades? Or… for ever?"

"I am afraid I do not know. That is entirely up to him and his father Odin."

"Can I see him? Please, Frigga. Even for only a small moment."

"I cannot allow it even if Loki wishes it. Even he would want me to tell you he will try to find a way back to you, that I cannot say," Frigga said in a sorry tone. "It is clear, you care for him and he cares for you dearly, but I cannot let you see him no matter how cruel you may find my decision. On this very moment he is circumventing the strict terms that Allfather had set for him to obey, just for you. That small moment you are asking could destroy his whole future. And I will not doom my son into a lifetime in the dungeon, not even for you. You must understand."

"Oh? I didn't mean… Sorry…"

Emma stared at the queen so dumbstruck and on the verge of tears that Frigga took a motherly pity on her. "Is there something you want to say to him?"

"Yes. Can you please tell him that I…"

"You can speak to him now, Emma," Frigga said quietly to the mortal girl and glanced at her son.

"How?" Emma asked in a tiny voice.

"He will hear you. And see you," Frigga whispered and lifted her hand towards Loki, letting the girl know where he stood.

Emma looked at the direction Frigga had pointed as if trying to figure where he was, willing herself to see him. "Loki?" she whispered gently, relaying on her imagination and picturing him there in his royal Asgardian outfit, tall and handsome as she remembered. And in the other world Loki placed himself right in front of her, whispering to her again 'I am here'.

There had been a million things she had wanted to tell him and shared with him but now it seems so hard to find even a word. So, she started with the simplest thing, her gaze rising on the level of his face uncertain where to focus with this invisible man, the red brick wall of the restaurant blurring in her eyes.

"I've missed you so much. I hope you're okay." She ran her fingers through her hair as if making herself more presentable. "If I'd known you are coming to see me today I would have put on something nicer. There was this gorgeous green dress I saw one day in window shopping and thought about you. It was exactly your color, knee length with a glittering top. I bet you would have liked it… on me." She paused and smiled a bit, knowing she couldn't even afford the dress.

Loki smiled to her lovely chattering. He had missed it. "I am sure it would have been lovely on you."

"I've been fine. I'm living with Logan now. He's all right. We are trying to get along which is sometimes a bit hard. You know how he's like. We're annoying each other out. He is teaching me to fight. You should see me, I'm becoming pretty good with these," she said and lifted her fist, meaning her hidden claws. "When you left, Logan was worried about you too. I think he actually cried for you. Can you believe it?" she grinned and Loki smiled too, knowing he hadn't been Logan's favorite person.

He leaned closer and his long fingers ventured into her hair, to his disappointment feeling nothing, only disturbing slightly the smooth surface of the illusion. "I have been worried about you, my love. It is good to see that you are doing well."

She bid her lips to stop them from trembling and Loki's stare slid down on her lips, wishing her could have tasted them, wishing he could have brushed that small loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh god… I could give anything to hear you voice and to see you. This is so unfair. You gave up everything to return the Tesseract to Asgard. Doesn't that mean anything to Odin? Why is he punishing you when you should be treated like a hero?" she spoke breathlessly, her gaze (unbeknownst to her) truly meeting his. "You will always be my hero."

Loki's eyes were filling as he held her gaze. "You still believe in me. I swear to you, Emma, I will not disappoint you."

Frigga watched at them two lingering close to each other, seeing affection, caring and respect in Loki's gaze and in Emma's voice and it pained her to be the one who had to end that sweet moment soon. It truly felt wrong to keep them apart because that mortal girl was giving Loki exactly what he needed right now, unconditionally acceptance. "Forgive me but we cannot risk for much longer. Please, consider this as goodbye," the queen mother informed.

Emma glanced at Frigga unhappily. She hadn't gotten even started. "I'm not going to say goodbye because there's always hope, right?"

"I am counting on it," Loki sighed.

Emma smiled sadly. "Maybe one day I can see you again and we can be together. I really, really want that. But more than that," she swallowed, "I want you to be happy, Loki… wherever you are. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved and respected and..."

Tears trailed down on her cheek and Loki followed them with his finger and to her it felt like he would have touched her. It was like a small moment of magic and she closed her eyes, feeling his touch and sensing his presence, warmth filling her heart and she mouthed the words 'I love you'. "I'll wait you in a sunset… in every sunset."

Her emotional words fed Loki's bittersweet longing and his hand cradled her face, at least he wanted so badly to touch her and steal a piece of her with him. "And I will find you, my dear."

Frigga approached her slowly. "He heard you," she reassured, emotions softening her voice even more. "Farewell now, Emma. Like you said; there is always hope."

Emma sniffed and wiped her face looking like her tears were far from over. "Thank you, Frigga." She forced an appreciating smile when the corners of her mouth were twitching down. "Keep him out of trouble for me, will you?"

Frigga smiled for the thought that the girl apparently was familiar with Loki's mischievous side. "I will try my very best. Halls of Asgard have never felt as dull as they are now without his tricks."

The queen of Asgard slowly vanished and Emma held herself together but after Frigga was gone, she burst into a flood of tears, letting out a hopeless cry while hugging herself.

… …

Staring at the nothingness of the spot that moment ago held the projection of his love one, Loki dropped his hand to his side as if it no longer served a purpose. An audible sigh escaped from his mouth as his gaze dropped, and the silence that filled the chamber felt overwhelming.

Her eyes moist too Frigga looked as down-hearted as her son was. She knew how much Loki would have wanted to speak with the girl but she couldn't let it happen. Not now. Too much was at risk if Odin would find out.

"I am sorry, Loki. But this is for the best for now," she swore as she approached him, conjuring back her own Asgardian attire.

Loki nodded in understanding without facing her. "Thank you," he murmured under his breath, returning back to his reticent manners and to his books on the desk. He started to sort them in two different piles, checking the covers like he'd been searching a certain volume.

Frigga followed him. "Do you want to talk?"

Loki paused. "Perhaps later."

She glanced at a small table in the alcove with windows where they had set up their favorite board game that Loki had used to enjoy, especially in younger age. "How about a game of Hnefatafl*?"

"I need some time alone now if you do not mind."

"Of course. Do not hesitate to summon me if you need me."

Hunched over his books, Loki waited as long as his mother had granted him solitude. Only after then he straightened himself and wiped his woeful eyes as he turned around and returned close to the spot where the hollow projection of his Emma had been.

He clasped his hands together tentatively, the side of his index fingers touching his lips as he was preparing himself mentally for the challenge. His magic had been bound ever since he returned home but he had slowly been breaking free from Odin's spell and it was time put his neglected skills into a test.

Waving his hand, he conjured the illusion of her there. It manifested from a glowing mist of green and gold, forming her the way he had just seen her. A trace of a smile lighted his face. He was pleased of his achievement, wishing he could have created a real connection with her but he had to settle for the hologramic illusion for now. It was his magical equivalent to those flat pictures that Midgardians called photographs.

"We shall be together again, you'll see," he whispered in his darker tone of voice, fully dedicated to achieve that goal no matter what it takes.

She had called him a hero and he was going to live up to it. She had wanted him to be happy. How could he be happy or loved or respected without her?

The illusion girl smiled to him silently as he studied her, her innocently teasing gaze following him. He focused on her dark hair that didn't please him as much as her natural golden one had and a small disapproving murmur passed his lips. "We cannot have you hair like that, now can we, darling? Did you let your father do the cutting?" he amused himself, his fingers nearly touching the illusion's hair that immediately changed color into the golden hue, growing length at the same time and returning her original looks. "Hm, much better."

He wiped his disobedient tears from his cheeks and forced a smile to meet hers. Another subtle wave of hand and her boyish clothes changed into a long green gown with golden embroideries, traditional style of the Asgardian ladies. His lips parted by the stunning sight of her. Much better indeed, he admitted, longing to touch her, to hold her in his arms, to have her in his bed again.

She wanted him to be happy. He nibbled his bottom lip, following the slender curves of her body in green velvet. What if he would… just a little bit?

Just a small flick of fingers and her dress was gone, her sweet naked figures completely exposed to him. The illusion girl didn't seem to mind. His gaze dropped down on her breasts and while lingering there his heart sped up its pace, bringing life down in his pants.

Argh! How old was he? Sixteen years? Yes, he missed her terribly but stripping her illusion was plain childish. He let out a groan and returned her dress, folding his arms and stroking his lips. However, this desirable illusion he was going to save for later and conjured again to spice up his bleak, lonely nights.

Maybe even sooner than later. He had been living like a monk, and all it took was just one beautiful sight of her and his Jotun blood was surging hot and fiercely through his veins. This arousal wasn't going to go away on its own and it seemed he had to take matters into his own hands. She had wanted him to be happy.

… …

* A board game called Hnefatafl was actually played in the Viking times.

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