Avengers 1. Prologue

How ya doin' my lovely readers? I hope you're enjoying the summer :D

As promised, I'm starting to upload this story now although I can't promise a steady stream of uploads. For those of you who haven't done it yet, check my profile for more information on this story. It's gonna be a HUGE thing so it's gonna take me some time to get through it. But for now just enjoy~

And do toss me a review, if you would... I feed on them and they're a GREAT boost for my imagination and my desire to keep putting effort into a story :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Prologue**

_System online..._

**Access S.H.I.E.L.D. archives: Agent files**

_Requesting password..._

**callmeishmael**

_Password accepted..._

_Welcome, Director..._

**Access file № 354193**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_File found..._

**Explore file**

_Access denied..._

_Warning..._

_File is registered as _private_..._

**Overwrite access... Fury, Nicholas Joseph**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Access granted..._

_Opening file..._

_Playing audio recording..._

_**Hi there... my name is Kara Taylor. Yes, it's not a common name; if I recall right, he said it's of Viking origin. Oh, what it means? The untamed one... pretty cool, right? Come to think of it, maybe that's why he liked it so much from the beginning. Who's **_he_**? Well I'll tell you; let's take it from the top, when he first showed up...**_

_Audio recording stopped..._

_Closing file..._

_Closing archives..._

_Have a good day, Director..._

OoOoO

_System online..._

**Access S.H.I.E.L.D. archives: Agent files**

_Requesting password..._

**callmeishmael**

_Password accepted..._

_Welcome, Director..._

**Access file № 354193**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_File found..._

**Explore file**

_Access denied..._

_Warning..._

_File is registered as _private_..._

**Overwrite access... Fury, Nicholas Joseph**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Access granted..._

_Opening file..._

_Playing audio recording..._

_**Hi there... my name is Kara Taylor. Yes, it's not a common name; if I recall right, he said it's of Viking origin. Oh, what it means? The untamed one... pretty cool, right? Come to think of it...**_

_Audio recording stopped..._

_Closing file..._

_Closing archives..._

_Have a good day, Director..._

OoOoO

_System online..._

**Access S.H.I.E.L.D. archives: Agent files**

_Requesting password..._

**callmeishmael**

_Password accepted..._

_Welcome, Director..._

**Access file № 354193**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_File found..._

**Explore file**

_Access denied..._

_Warning..._

_File is registered as _private_..._

**Overwrite access... Fury, Nicholas Joseph**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Access granted..._

_Opening file..._

_Playing audio recording..._

_**Hi there... my name is Kara Taylor. Yes, it's not a common name; if I recall right, he said it's of Viking origin. Oh, what it means? The untamed...**_

_Audio recording stopped..._

_Closing file..._

_Closing archives..._

_Have a good day, Director..._

OoOoO

_System online..._

**Access S.H.I.E.L.D. archives: Agent files**

_Requesting password..._

**callmeishmael**

_Password accepted..._

_Welcome, Director..._

**Access file № 354193**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_File found..._

**Explore file**

_Access denied..._

_Warning..._

_File is registered as _private_..._

**Overwrite access... Fury, Nicholas Joseph**

_Pending..._

_Pending..._

_Access granted..._

_Opening file..._

_Playing audio recording..._

_**Hi there... my name is Kara Taylor...**_

_Audio recording stopped..._

_Closing file..._

_Closing archives..._

_Have a good day, Director..._

OoOoO

For what was probably the thousandth time in those few days, Fury found himself unable to carry on listening to the cheerful female voice recorded in that file. Each and every single time he tried, his throat twisted in a painful knot, and the one eye he still had stung in a way he didn't feel too often, warning him of oncoming tears; his jaw clenched and his heart contorted painfully within his chest.

Raising his gaze from the touch screen set onto his desk, he glanced to a small picture framed in oak wood. Steely blue eyes returned his glance, set upon the smiling expression of a girl, apparently no older than her twenties; the very girl in the recording; the girl whose face and voice still haunted him. Never... never had the death of an agent affected him to such an extent as hers had. Granted, no other agent had been as a child to him either.

Leaning back into his chair, he closed his eye with a heavy sigh. And as it happened each time he allowed that darkness to fall upon him, his mind began replaying the events of that fateful day; people running in disarray like scared sheep... the screams... the blood... even the smell of smoke and death intertwined in the air. And in the midst of all that the Avengers... no... _his_ Avengers, scattered about in a desperate attempt to once again save the world they all shared.

It hadn't been until the end of the battle... although he easily could have called it _war_... that agent Romanoff had contacted him with the news that she was dead. No... not just dead... she hadn't just been killed in battle; she had _sacrificed herself_ for that... _guy_...

Now, Fury considered himself an open-minded person... he wasn't one to judge people by appearances. Heck, he was probably one of the most tolerant people in S.H.I.E.L.D. when it came to things like cultural customs or religion. But he would be damned if he had ever understood just what Kara had seen in that... that _what_? They had called him many things over time; Rogers called him a murderer... Stark and Romanoff called him a monster... Barton called him a manipulative bastard... Banner called him an insane wreck... and Thor... well, Thor still called him _brother_ even after all the things he had seen done at the hands of that...

But _what_ was he really? A man? A god? A demon? Fury still had no answer of his own to that question...

He had asked Kara, actually, to tell him what that... being... was; or what she believed he was. Even now he could so perfectly picture in his mind her warm smile and that gaze he never knew how to read; he could still hear the particular shade of softness in her tone, the one she apparently reserved for that male alone. And her answer had left him quite baffled...

_"Loki... he's just Loki."_


	2. Entry 1

Oh my God, you guys... you are **AMAZING!** The sheer amount of views and favorites and followers this story got for just a prologue is... astonishing and mind blowing. I am SO baffled and humbled by the love you're already showing for this story, because it's the first time that ANY of my stories has been this well received from the very first moments. Really, you guys are the best, you're the ones who make it worth all the hours of work I put into my fanfics.

I checked the traffic stats just a few hours earlier and I was SO blown away by the numbers, that I decided to put in a bit of extra effort and finish reviewing the first chapter so I could post it today for you all to enjoy (initially I was going to finish reviewing it tomorrow and post it on Tuesday). So a HUGE HUGE thank you, you guys rock! :D

Whew, now that I got that outta my system let's get on with the story, shall we? One mention, if Loki seems a bit too soft/loving/kind/etc. in the first few chapters, please keep in mind that this is the Loki BEFORE _Thor_ happened. So at this time Loki still doesn't know he's adopted and everything, so it's only normal that - while he's still somewhat dark (duh, he's the God of Mischief xD) - he's not quite as dark as he was in the first movie, after Odin confirmed to him that he was indeed a Jotun. So do keep that in mind guys, okay? That's the reason for his apparent OOCness, if anyone perceives it as such.

But enough ranting, enjoy my lovelies~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #1**

_**Location: **__Darien, Connecticut, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__April 25 / 26, 1997_

"Good evening, Miss Taylor."

With a smile, Michaela glanced to her greeter.

"I'm sorry I came back so late, Hannah; work was murder today. I hope Kara wasn't any trouble..."

"Oh no, she's been wonderful." the teenager replied. "She finished her homework early so I ordered some sushi for her as a reward. I hope you don't mind, she told me she really likes it. She's asleep right now."

"No, it's alright. Thank you for looking after her again; I know you're busy with your own studies..."

"Oh, I studied all I needed to. Kara didn't disturb me; she's a really sweet girl. But I should be heading home. Let me know if you need me to stay with her again."

Handing the girl some money, the woman nodded.

"I will. Thank you again, Hannah."

"Good night, Miss Taylor."

Once the girl had departed, the young woman locked the door and went upstairs to her bedroom. After a quick shower and a change of clothes she tiptoed to the door at the end of the corridor, which had been left ajar. Opening it a bit more, she peeked inside where her ten year old daughter was asleep hugging the stuffed bear she had gotten from her father just a few days before he had left.

"Mom...?"

The girl's sleepy voice stopped Michaela who had been just about to leave. Smiling, the young woman now stepped into the room and seated herself on the bed.

"Hi, baby..." she said tenderly, leaning down to kiss the girl's forehead. "I'm sorry I came back so late again."

Rubbing her eyes, Kara turned on the bedside lamp and rolled onto her back.

"It's okay... I know you have a lot to do at work."

"Hannah told me you finished your homework early today."

"It was easy..." the girl shrugged.

Falling silent Michaela spent the next few moments simply stroking the girl's chocolate hair. Sometimes she couldn't get over how mature Kara could be at times; she had wondered quite often if it was even normal.

"Mom..." Kara said, snapping the young woman out of her contemplation. "When is daddy coming home?"

It was at those words that the young woman's heart sank; she dreaded this daily routine, because she only had one answer to give. And it was always an answer which brought such sorrow to her daughter's eyes, that it left Michaela heartbroken. Two years had passed since her husband had left, and she could still remember that day as if it had happened just moments before.

At least he'd had the decency to wait until Kara was at school; she dreaded the idea of her daughter witnessing the terrible scandal triggered when her husband had said that he was leaving on an assignment. In truth, it hadn't been the news itself which had caused the tempestuous departure; after all, Michaela had known what she was getting into when she'd agreed to marry a CIA agent. No, what had angered her had been the fact that he'd informed her before leaving of the fact that he had deleted his email address and had changed his phone number, claiming that it was best for her and Kara to not be in touch with him – and that he didn't know if he was ever coming back. When Michaela had demanded to know what sort of assignment was so important that he would break all ties with his own child, they had ended up arguing.

The last memory she had of her husband – other than the framed pictures scattered throughout the house or stored in photo albums – was his angry and hurt expression as he left the house. True, she hadn't been the perfect wife as he hadn't been the perfect husband; but with all said and done she still loved him. Even now she still hoped he would one day show up on their doorstep and that they would be a family again. Once she had mentally prepared herself for Kara's usual reaction, she drew a deep breath and lightly shook her head.

"I don't know baby..." she replied softly, albeit somewhat mechanically. "But I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can."

Silently watching the stuffed bear she was hugging, the girl then sighed.

"He's not coming back, is he?"

The question actually left Michaela speechless, as it was the first time Kara had reacted like that. Usually she would only nod and agree with her while wearing a dejected expression. Hearing her say that, as though she had given up on hoping, was so frightening that Michaela found herself grasping the girl's shoulders before she'd even fully realized it.

"He's coming back, Kara. Okay?" she smiled. "We just have to keep hoping..."

Having set her silvery gaze upon her, the girl now again lowered her eyes and nodded. How could she answer otherwise when her mother had that pleading shade in her tone?

"Now get some sleep." Michaela smiled, once more kissing her daughter's forehead.

Once the girl was tucked in, the young woman left the room; it was only after she was out of sight of Kara that she finally broke down into tears, and rushed to her bedroom to prevent the child from hearing her cry.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__New York City / Darien, Connecticut, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__May 03, 1997_

It was one of the first truly warm days of that spring and people were scurrying about, each to their own destination, most of them apparently not even noticing or wanting to take the time to enjoy the beauty of that sunny afternoon. Actually, one of them did... not that he could be really called _one of them_; in fact they couldn't even see him, which pleased the trickster to quite an extent. His magical abilities were growing at a satisfying pace it seemed. Yes, the one walking unseen among them was none other than Loki of Asgard, also known as the God of Mischief; a title he was very proud of, truth be told.

Yes, he had snuck out of his home realm... again; this time, however, he had chosen to visit Midgard, curious to see how people lived in that world. His conclusions after a week of wandering amidst them? They were more technologically advanced than the Vanir or the Light Elves – even if they still had a long way to go before they would catch up to Asgard's level of development; also, their physical abilities were a far cry from those of any other race he knew. Still, he found their world to be intriguing to some extent; Midgardians seemed to live in a constant struggle, although he couldn't yet tell exactly what they were struggling for.

That day, however, his footsteps carried him away from the bustling city and to one of the many suburban areas, as he had learned they were called. He quite enjoyed walking along the streets there as they were quieter than the actual city. Occasionally he would see someone on the sidewalk, or a car speeding along the street. The people in that area lived in homes more similar to those found in Asgard; most likely a remnant of their once predominant way of life, as Loki recalled from his studies of their history. As he had foreseen, the area was devoid of life almost to the point where he found it slightly boring and had begun wishing that something... anything... would happen to break that monotonous silence.

And then, as if to grant his wish, fate had him set his eyes upon a child; a young girl heading his way from across the street. Fancying the idea of playing a harmless trick on her, just for the sake of entertainment, the male now scoured his mind for an idea; so many opportunities, one more entertaining than the other... but which one? Still, his musings were short lived as he caught sight of a car speeding along the same street. Having already been in that realm for a week, he had learned that those transportation devices that Midgardians used would usually come to a halt when one of them was crossing the street; this one, however, did not seem to be doing so.

If someone had asked him, he could not have told what it was that made him move. All he could have said would've been that he hadn't even realized when he had rushed across the street, picking up the girl in the process, the car passing so close to him that the gust of air made his leathery coat sway violently against his legs. He had even been standing there afterwards, glancing in the direction where the contraption had disappeared off to, pondering on whether or not he should find that Midgardian and teach him a lesson; it was then that his mind was so abruptly pulled out from its contemplating process that he nearly dropped the girl he was still cradling. The reason?

"Thank you..."

When he'd lowered his gaze, he had realized that the child was looking straight at him despite the fact that he knew his spell had not worn off, for he could still feel the magic aura surrounding him.

"You can... see me?" he finally asked, his hesitation much too obvious.

When she nodded, Loki knew that he would not be returning to Asgard anytime soon; the excitement of having found such an interesting Midgardian – namely one that seemed immune to his concealing spells – almost had him grin, although he thought better of it.

"Are you my guardian angel? I would've thought you'd be more... I don't know... white?" she said, while he set her back onto her feet.

"I am no angel, I'm afraid..." he replied humorously. "But you are welcome... next time, be more careful when you cross the street."

Somewhat narrowing his eyes as he examined her, the young prince then slightly tilted his head in thought. He definitely needed to somehow find out how it was that she could see him.

"So what are you then? A ghost? An alien?"

By now Kara had narrowed her eyes in thought, much similar to Loki; a thing which had the Æsir chuckling.

"I am neither..."

Staring at him and examining his odd attire, the girl pursed her lips.

"You're not human... are you?"

"You sound disappointed..." he teased.

"Well being saved by an angel or even an alien sounds better than being saved by a human..." she pouted.

Again chuckling, he finally reached out to trail a hand through her hair.

"Then you'll be happy to learn that I am not human."

"But... you said you're not..."

"It might be a bit difficult for you to understand..."

Grasping his wrist, the girl now tugged on his arm.

"Then come home with me and explain it..." she demanded.

Her bossy tone actually made him arch a brow, though he found himself quite pleasantly impressed by the lack of fear she displayed. Almost beyond his will he allowed her to guide him along the street.

"I'm Kara Taylor... what's your name?" she suddenly asked, apparently remembering that she hadn't introduced herself.

"Kara..." he trailed off in contemplation.

Why did it sound familiar? Upon sighting her quizzical glance, however, he once again reverted to his usual soft smile.

"I am Loki..." he replied.

For a split second he could have sworn that he saw a weird twinkle in her gaze, though it was gone before he could make out what it was. Then again, it wasn't an impossible prospect that she might have heard his name; after all, Midgardians had once worshipped him and his family as gods... granted, many of the writings depicting them were far from the truth.

Again, he was drawn out of that musing circle by the realization that Kara had indeed led him to what appeared to be her home. Perhaps now was a good time to tell her that no one else could see or hear him. Before he could speak, however, the girl opened the front door and stepped inside while tugging on his arm to get him to follow. When the elder girl showed up, however, his mischievous streak kicked in, convincing him to first see how things went, before speaking.

"Hannah, I hope you don't mind, I brought home a friend."

Staring at the empty space that Kara was pointing at, the elder girl hesitantly spoke.

"Kara... are you okay, honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." she smiled. "I nearly got hit by a car on the way home, but he saved me."

Upon hearing that, Hannah suddenly paled and rushed to the child, checking her over.

"What? Are you okay? Are you injured? Should I take you to the hospital?"

Her concerned tirade of questions was only halted by Kara grasping her shoulders.

"I'm okay... like I said, he saved me."

Once again glancing to the empty hallway, Hannah then offered the child a look that finally made Kara realize something wasn't quite right.

"Honey... there's no one there... are you sure you're okay? Did you hit your head?"

She'd heard of children having imaginary friends... but Kara was already ten; surely that wasn't natural at her age. Shooting Loki a reproachful glance, the girl then nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay... I was rehearsing for a play at school. Sorry if I scared you..."

"O-oh... I see..." Hannah replied with a relieved smile. "Well... you got me. You'd make a great actress, I'll give you that. I'll go get lunch ready, okay?"

Once the elder female was gone, Kara now turned to Loki with a frown that actually nearly had him take a step back; such was the intensity of the glare she was giving him.

"Thanks for making me look like I'm crazy." she pouted, keeping a low tone to make sure Hannah didn't overhear her. "You could have said that no one else can see you."

"I am sorry..." he chuckled.

As much as she wanted to stay upset with him, Kara found herself unable to do that; there was just something in his playful smile and in the smoothness of his voice that took away her anger. Still, in a last attempt to stay on top of the situation, she crossed her arms and gave him as much of a frown as she could still muster, what with the corners of her lips twitching and trying to form a smile on her face.

"Then go wait in my room upstairs... you'll know which one it is. It's full of toys."

Deciding to play along for now, the dark haired prince smiled and offered her a courteous bow.

"As you wish, my lady..." he replied.

Finally his humorous tone drew a smile from the girl, although she still battled to keep the frown on her expression.

OoOoO

Two hours had passed since Loki had arrived in the girl's house and finally Kara entered her bedroom to find him standing at the window, his hands clasped at the back of his waist. It was now that she at long last took the time to properly examine him.

The first thing that struck her, now that she was actually looking at him intently, was how incredibly tall he was... at least compared to her. She remembered her father being a tall man as well, but Loki was definitely even taller than that. His hair was black but somehow its particular shine made it look similar to silk; he wore it trimmed short and carefully slicked back, and she made a mental note to ask him what kind of hair gel he used.

Stepping closer so she could see his profile, the girl now went further with her examination. Upon taking a good look at his face, the first thing she noticed was his tall forehead – she recalled her teacher saying that it was a common trait of intelligent people – and it had her wonder just how smart he was. Noticing her, the male turned to face the child, only to somewhat arch a brow at how carefully she was studying him. Regardless, he made no attempt to disturb her, actually finding himself curious to see how she reacted once she'd had her fill of watching him.

Though she slightly shied away at first, the fact that Loki made no attempt to deter her only pushed Kara forward to examine the rest of him, thus she now took to studying his face. Thin, ebony brows loomed over a pair of shiny emeralds which even now twinkled with the promise of mischief. Still, beyond that shade, his gaze was somehow so... kind and warm. Deciding to not let herself get distracted from her goal, the girl instead continued her inspection. His nose was sharply defined and it overshadowed a pair of slender lips, the corners of which were now faintly curled upwards as he watched her in amusement.

Finally, her bluish gray eyes moved to his attire which actually started with the tall collar surrounding his neck almost completely, only a thin strand of skin visible beneath his chin. His torso was clothed in what she could only guess was a moss green shirt, hidden beneath something that looked like a breastplate made of hardened black leather; upon it, a golden collar – somewhat similar to a necklace that adorned his chest – had been carved. Over that he wore a black leather coat that reached down to the mid section of his calves, the sleeves of it held tightly around his upper arms by what she assumed were strips of ebony colored leather. The part of the sleeves which covered his forearms – from the elbow down to the wrist – was hidden beneath equally black protectors that reminded her of the kind she'd seen in pictures depicting medieval knights. His pants were of the same material as the rest of his attire; he seemed to have an odd fascination for black leather, she thought. Black boots covering his feet and legs to just beneath his knees completed his attire, although she soon caught a spark when he shifted his weight that made her realize his coat had a second layer to it, which seemed to be made of steel, similar to a chainmail shirt.

"Are you a prince?" she suddenly asked.

Again arching a brow, Loki found himself intrigued; just how in the world had she come to that conclusion?

"Why do you say that?" he asked tentatively.

"You just... you have this sort of... Prince Charming aura..." she mused.

When he cocked his head to the side, she walked over to the bookshelf to retrieve a fairytale volume.

"Here, I'll show you..."

Setting the book on her bed, she opened the cover to retrieve her own drawing before sifting through the pages until she found a picture of a prince; of course, she'd never quite liked the goofy looking clothes and hats the authors had those princes wear, so she'd taken to drawing them the way she imagined they actually looked like.

"See? This is how people say that princes look..." she pointed out, showing him the book.

"I see..." he replied still trying to piece together what she was trying to say. "But...?"

"How did you know there was gonna be a _but_?" she blinked.

Chuckling, the God of Mischief finally sat onto the bed whilst closing the book.

"There always is..."

"Yeah, well... I don't really think they look like that. I mean, if I were a prince I'd rather kill myself than go outside dressed like that."

Somewhat hesitant, she revealed the drawing she'd been hiding at her back, handing it to him shyly.

"This is... what I think they actually look like..."

Accepting the paper, the Æsir glanced over it; his first thought was how unnervingly similar that drawing was to him, despite the Midgardian outfit.

"Did you draw this from your own mind?" he finally asked.

When she nodded, he extended his hand to return her drawing along with a smile.

"It looks very good."

This was definitely a much too intriguing situation; he knew for certain that he had never used his ability to slither into others' minds on her, yet she had somehow imagined a man which looked strikingly like him.

OoOoO

The rest of that day passed with Kara refusing to leave her room – except to eat dinner and even then only because Loki had promised that he would still be there when she returned. She had asked so many questions that the Æsir had briefly wondered where she could store that much information in her head.

But he had answered; he had told her everything she wanted to know, despite the fact that he normally would not have revealed this much knowledge. When he had found an illustrated book depicting Norse mythology on one of the shelves in her room, it had been even easier for him to explain where he came from and how the other worlds existed among the branches of Yggdrasil. He had spoken to her of Thor and Odin, of Frigga and Sif and even of the Warriors Three. He had told her of Heimdall and the Bifrost, of the war against Jötuns and then of the battle against the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim during the time of his grandfather.

And she had listened... she had listened so intently whilst watching him with such focus, that a few times even he felt compelled to admit her piercing gaze could be unnerving. Late after darkness had veiled the sky, he was seated on the bed watching the girl as she squeezed her stuffed bear.

"Do you have to go back?" she asked, a pout somewhat tugging at her lips.

Loki's chest quivered in a silent chuckle at that, but he reached out to slide his pale fingers through her silky locks.

"I am afraid so... I do not belong here."

She almost startled him when her hand shot up, grasping his wrist while she pinned him with a stern gaze.

"Yes you do... whoever says differently is gonna have to deal with me."

"Well... it sounds like I found myself a guardian. And a vicious one, at that..." he replied, gingerly flicking her nose.

His gesture had the effect he'd hoped for, when the girl's frown melted away and a giggle left her lips. Her humor was short lived, however, her expression soon turning serious as she now played with his slender hand.

"You were telling the truth today..."

Tilting his head somewhat, the dark haired prince narrowed his eyes in thought.

"I do believe you were not saying that as a question." he contemplated.

"I wasn't..." Kara replied, fixing his emerald gaze with her own.

At his puzzled expression, she once more lowered her eyes.

"I... if I look at someone really close, I can... hear what they say... in their head."

The knowledge was enough to leave Loki briefly speechless as he stared at the child before him.

"When did you get this ability?" he finally asked.

"No idea..." she shrugged lightly. "I can do it ever since I can remember... mom doesn't know; I don't want her to worry. She... she's more like Hannah. They're not really fond of... imagination..."

Before he could speak, however, the Æsir felt her grasp on his hand suddenly tightening; next thing he knew she was looking at him with wide eyes, filled with such a striking shade of need – almost desperation – that he felt unsettled to his very core.

"You... you believe me... right?" she asked, though her question sounded more like a plea than anything else.

Seeing her practically crumble before him, and at such a tender age, ultimately compelled Loki to wrap his arms around her, pulling her to a seated position and into a warm embrace.

"Of course I believe you..." he smiled whilst stroking her hair. "And I am glad that you trusted me with this."

Even as he spoke he could practically feel her melting into a relieved breath, and before he knew it she was holding tightly onto him, curled against the hard breastplate he was wearing.

"It will be our secret..." he now whispered in her ear.

His tone delivered an unshakable promise that he would not reveal what she had told him to anyone, no matter what. What he had not anticipated was her reaction to said promise; and it took him aback when she leaned up and pressed her lips to his smooth cheek, whilst her small arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Nevertheless, it brought a smile to his lips... somehow it felt like such an innocent gesture, but at the same time, such a knowing one. It wasn't like he knew much about women raised in other cultures but his own, so as to gauge her actual intentions. For now, however, he would simply take her gesture as it was. Returning it, but to her forehead instead, he then set her back beneath the covers and took to stroking her hair until at long last she fell into a restful slumber.

Even if he returned to Asgard – which he definitely had to do soon enough, lest Thor or someone else came to take him back by force – he would undoubtedly keep a connection with her; he already knew the easiest means of doing that... he would communicate with her in her dreams. He couldn't even remember how many centuries had passed since his interest had been piqued to that extent. But he would figure out all the odd things surrounding her, if it was the last thing he ever did.


	3. Entry 2

Soooo I was gonna wait till I hit 300 views on the story before posting this chapter, but I guess 291 is a good number too so props to you, my lovely viewers :D

However, despite the huge number of views this story got since its inception, which still blows my mind because no other of my stories got this many views in just a few days, I am a bit... I can't say disappointed, that sounds too harsh. I'm sad that it only got one... **ONE (1)** review so far. How can I write what you guys like or in the style that you like, if you don't tell me what you like/dislike about this story?

I know it might seem like I'm overreacting and being too "clingy" or desperate for reviews. But really, reviews are the only thing that help me improve as a writer and the sooner I get them, the sooner I can improve the story in the points where you guys think it's lacking (I said this for those who think that a prologue + one chapter isn't enough for me to be asking insistently for reviews). I don't ask for them just for the sake of seeing that my story gets 100+ reviews or something, because I'm not competing with any other writer to see how many reviews I can attach to a story. I ask for them because I literally have no other way to gauge people's interest and relatability (is that a word? Yes, that is now a word... don't think, just accept it xD) to my stories and writing style.

And I know it might seem tedious and boring to write a review that's longer than just _"Please update soon, I love this!"_ But guys, I know you are more awesome than one-liners. **I KNOW THAT** because I have received some wonderful and exceptional reviews over the years for some of my other stories. If you feel too shy to leave a review in which you tell me what you like/dislike in this story where everyone can see it, or if you think people might judge you for just being honest and saying my story sucks (if that's what you think) by all means just PM me, I'm always open to conversation and I always appreciate honesty and constructive criticism because that's what helps me improve.

With that being said, I would like to offer a heartfelt THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to **KhAeL** who has reviewed some of my other stories over time and who is in fact the very first to review this story. You are pure awesomeness, my dear, and I sincerely hope you will enjoy this story just as much as you enjoyed the others.

But on to the story...

So in this chapter we get the very first of the time skips you will encounter along the story line. Because having Loki interact TOO MUCH with a ten year old is just... wrong. We all know how we view Loki, and how we imagine he was even before he found out about his true heritage and his mind started breaking down. That is... he comes across as a ladies' man in a lot of aspects. Some of you will probably hate me for saying this, but just take a moment to REALLY examine his personality at the beginning of _Thor_ and you'll see that spark somewhere in there amidst all the mischief. Or maybe that's just me being a weird person and seeing him in that light, I dunno xD

I strongly suggest watching the deleted scenes on Youtube as well, since they are MAJORLY important and actually add a lot more depth and layers to Loki's personality than the actual theatrical release, at least in my opinion. I have no idea what sort of demon possessed Ken Branagh to make him delete those scenes which in the end amount to only a few more minutes that would've been added to the movie length, but which fill in such GROSSLY HUGE plot holes that you likely have noticed in the theatrical release - especially the scene with Loki and Frigga; won't spoil it for you, those who watched that scene on Youtube know what I'm talking about. If you haven't watched it, look for it, watch it! You'll get a WHOLLY different view on Loki, you'll understand how his character was built and you'll understand the whole plot of the movie a lot better just from that one deleted scene, trust me.

But yes, I didn't want him to interact too much with the 10-year-old Kara, specifically because I don't want him to come across as a big brother figure to her, since that is NOT what he's supposed to be in this story. So in this chapter, it's been six years since they last saw each other physically, like face-2-face. I know some people might feel a sort of "pedophile vibe" from him, given that she's only sixteen, but I promise nothing sexual happens in this chapter except a lot of sexual tension (what can I say? She's sixteen, we all know how hormones work at that age xD). But I'm saving the good parts for when she's an adult ;)

So forgive me for another long rant at the beginning of a chapter, lovelies, but I just had to get it all off my chest. I'll just let you enjoy the next installment of this story for now :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #2**

_He couldn't even remember how many centuries had passed since his interest had been piqued to that extent. But he would figure out all the odd things surrounding her, if it was the last thing he ever did._

OoO

_**Location: **__Darien, Connecticut, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__June 20, 2003_

"See you later, guys!"

"Later, Kara..."

Once she had bid goodbye to her classmates, the girl now turned to head home. After a quiet walk along the empty streets, she finally approached her home only to suddenly find herself rooted to the spot. Her breath hitched and her heart suddenly began pounding, making her unable to hear anything aside from the blood rushing through her veins. The reason...? It was staring at her from across the street, veiled in moss green, black and gold just like before.

"Loki..." she managed to whisper.

Although he normally should not have heard that, his lips curled into a smile which soon stretched into a full grin, revealing his milky white teeth. Before she noticed, she too was grinning and not only that. She was stepping toward him, bent on running across the street and into his arms. The next thing she knew, a car horn blew in her ear nearly making her jump out of her dress. As she looked to the car speeding toward her time seemed to slow down; all she got the chance to see was the metal monster rushing at her as if it was trying to devour her... then a flash of gold covered her eyes and she felt her feet leaving the ground, her shoulder hitting something hard. By the time she had regained her full senses, she was back on the sidewalk from where she'd started crossing the street. Not only that, Loki was cradling her just as he had six years before.

"We really should stop meeting like this."

His jesting remark made her raise her gaze to him; and the only reaction she could give him was a mixture of laughter and tears. Once her feet touched the ground again, she flung her arms around his waist and latched onto him while almost crushing her nose against his armor.

"You really need to stop wearing this..." she muttered, in a rather failed attempt at sounding upset.

His soft laughter washed over her like the freshness of the air after a summer rain, and she felt unable to hold back another smile. And then his arms enveloped her with the same warmth and the same promise of safety that she remembered from that night so long ago.

"I missed you, dearest..."

Looking up at him once more, the girl pouted.

"You visit me almost every night in my dreams... how could you possibly miss me?"

"Reality is sometimes better than dreams." he replied with a soft chuckle, before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Well I didn't miss you..." she retorted, trying – as usual – to appear independent.

"Oh, but your actions say differently, dearest." he teased. "You're holding me so tightly, that I fear you might break me in half."

Another chuckle left him when Kara stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance, and he finally released her.

"Are you invisible again?" she finally asked.

Before he could answer, however, a few girls from her class passing by came to a halt, gaping at Loki as though they had just seen a rare piece of cake.

"Not this time..." he chuckled, motioning toward the females.

Upon turning around and sighting the group, Kara felt her stomach dropping to her feet. When the girls recognized her and made a straight way toward them, she gulped, suddenly much too aware of his presence just behind her.

"So what the hell am I supposed to tell them about you?" she asked.

She would have probably shot him a nasty glance when he chuckled again, if she didn't feel his slender hands creeping along her neck; the way he was moving them, with his fingers just barely tickling her skin, sent a pleasant shiver along her spine. She was instantly painfully aware of her appearance; the sleazy dress which stuck to her frame, the generously low cut of the dress which complimented her already well developed chest, just how short it was – reaching only halfway down her thighs... in short she was much too aware of both herself and Loki, to feel comfortable.

"You can tell them what you wish, dearest..."

Only when she heard his whisper in her ear did she realize he had settled his hands onto her bare shoulders. For a moment she noticed that his skin felt quite chilly against hers, but the giggles of her friends drew her focus away from that.

"Weren't you guys going home?" she asked once they were within earshot.

"Well we saw you almost getting hit by that car..." one of the girls replied.

While normally she would have dismissed that and given a reassuring reply, Kara found that Loki's presence seemed to have cleared her mind on one side, despite having muddled it on the other what with the arousal he had triggered in her body even while barely touching her.

"Were you following me home?" she asked, trying to sound humorous.

"Okay, okay..." another one sighed. "We decided to go into town and we were gonna stop by to see if you wanted to come with us."

"We didn't know you were meeting with your boyfriend..." the third one grinned.

Opening her mouth to deny that, Kara found that she fancied the idea too much to reject it; especially after she had talked to her friends about him and had actually never denied it when they'd reached the conclusion that he was her secret boyfriend. But what if Loki felt offended if she played along with that now? Then again, he had told her to say whatever she wished...

"Why does life have to be so complicated?" she whispered under her breath.

Shooting a quick glance to the Æsir, she gritted her teeth at his bemused expression as he watched her; it was almost as if he enjoyed seeing her struggle to come up with an answer. Or was it perhaps the fact that she was likely as red as a tomato, judging by the burning sensation in her cheeks?

"This is... uhm..." she stuttered. "This is..."

The more she looked at him, however, the less conviction she could muster to deny that idea. It felt almost as if he was encouraging her to admit it, just with his eyes... or maybe he was daring her to admit it. For the past year or so, she'd tried her best to hide her growing feelings for him but something told her that she had utterly failed. Or was he like that with all women? Trying to push away that cluster of thoughts and save them for later, she heaved a sigh of defeat.

"This is my boyfriend, Loki..." she finally stated. "Loki, these are my friends... Clara, Maria and Alice."

"We can kinda see that..." Clara grinned.

"Nice to meet you, Prince Charming..." Alice giggled.

"You know, Kara talked a lot about you this year." Maria nodded. "We just couldn't convince her to tell us your name or to let us meet you."

"The pleasure to meet you is all mine, I assure you." Loki finally replied with a warm smile.

It actually amused him how all three of them nearly literally melted at the sound of his velvety, half-whispered tone.

"You're a cruel girl, you know?" Alice now pouted at Kara. "Keeping such a hot guy a secret for so long... and then revealing that he's your boyfriend, and we'll never have a chance to woo him?"

"Yep, that's definitely cruel..." Clara agreed.

Rolling her eyes at their antics, Kara merely rubbed her arm shyly.

"Yea, well... he's not from around here. We don't get to see each other that often..."

With Maria being the most sensible one of the group, she cast one quick look at Loki who was by now watching Kara again with a bemused shade on his face.

"Then we'll let you two have some time to yourselves..." she finally said.

Ignoring the dismayed protests of her two friends, she ushered the girls away while Kara offered her a grateful glance. Winking at her, Maria then dragged the other two along the street leaving Kara to once again become painfully aware of Loki's presence next to her and the utterly amused smile playing on his lips. She actually _wanted_ to find his amusement annoying, but as usual there was just something in him that made such a feat impossible to attain... or perhaps it was simply her disobedient streak responding to the mischief he embodied, merely because his very existence was like a promise of complete freedom from the bounds of the world she lived in; and likely a promise she would never receive, as she was quite sure that he did not share her feelings.

OoOoO

The walk back to her house was somewhat of a blur... her mind had simply been much too overridden with thoughts and the pang of arousal that simply refused to die while he was near.

"Should I conceal myself, dearest?"

His question was actually what snapped her out of her reverie, making her realize that they were standing before her door. When she looked up at him, his eyes finally made her realize that along the way he had kept quiet intentionally... had he noticed just how troubled she was, and decided to let her settle her thoughts?

"I'm sixteen... I don't need a nanny anymore. And mom's going to be at work until tomorrow morning, they have a huge contract to discuss and some other things she didn't explain to me." she finally replied, offering him a smile.

Returning her smile with that charming yet mischievous one of his own – the kind that most times in the past year had caused her stomach to tighten and her groin to explode in a torturous flame – Loki merely nodded awaiting for her to lead him inside. Only when she stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him did she finally realize the words she had said to him. Suddenly she found her heart thumping in her chest and her body faintly trembling. No, it wasn't fear that had triggered such reactions, but the mere realization that no one would be interrupting her time with Loki until the following day... that is, if he agreed to stay there overnight.

As she was standing there, apparently contemplating the doorknob she was still grasping, she was nearly startled out of her skin when Loki leaned down and kissed the side of her head.

"Do not fret, dearest... I have no intention of leaving you until morning."

His whisper slithered into her ear along with that oh so torturously sweet tone he sometimes used when speaking to her; if she had to describe the sensation it gave her, she would have said it felt like someone was dripping chocolate into her ear. The only thing to get her mind working again was when her brain finally processed the actual words he had spoken.

"You... how did you... I didn't say that out loud, did I?" she stuttered in embarrassment.

"You did not think you're the only one who can guess other people's thoughts, did you? There is magic out there that you could never even dream of."

Her reactions of late entertained him terribly, as displayed by his utterly amused smile. She was unexpectedly intelligent and witty... she had a most appealing mischievous streak... she was stronger – emotionally – than he had ever anticipated... but she was also frail and delicate, as if ready to break at the slightest strain. And he found those contradictions of her existence to be deliciously intriguing. Oh, if only she would have known how many times he had wanted to test her... to push her further and further, and see how much she could endure before she actually broke down, either physically or emotionally – or both. What held him back, however, had been the realization that over the years he had actually grown fond of her; too fond to ruin her as he had ruined all his other _toys_.

He knew he should have never shown himself to her, that he had broken the laws of his father which said they were not to come into contact with mortals unless in a time of great need. But she was like a beacon, lighting across the vastness of space and across the branches of Yggdrasil itself, to blind him with her glow, to stir his curiosity until he felt it clawing at his mind like a caged beast. No, as much as he might have wanted to stay away, he had come to accept that he would always be drawn back to her and that his will – which could usually be stronger than the mountains – would always crumble to dust in regards to her; in short, he couldn't help himself. It was an appalling feeling... both elating and terrifying... as he saw himself falling more and more into that odd, twisted sort of spell she seemed to be casting on him, with little chance of being able to rid himself of it.

OoOoO

It was nearly dusk and the dark haired Æsir was now sitting in an armchair in Kara's living room, a stack of papers on his lap; it seemed he had left quite a mark on the girl's life since their first physical meeting, for she had taken to creating so many likenesses of his face. Although her skill could still be further polished, nonetheless it pleased him greatly to know he had so deeply imprinted himself into her being.

"May I keep this one, dearest?"

His question was followed by his hand raising one of the drawings; it was by far her best work to date, actually reminding him of the skill displayed by the royal artists in his father's palace. Looking up from where she was sitting on the floor to work on her homework, Kara briefly examined the paper he was holding before she felt her cheeks warming.

"Why... why that one?" she muttered.

When he had found the drawings in her room, she'd tried to deter him from looking at them, but to no avail; in fact, he seemed to have taken great pleasure from watching her failed attempt at defying him.

She had realized over the years that he was probably the very definition of a ruler... and, oddly enough, she found that to be one of his most appealing traits. Most other males she had met so far always seemed to have this glaring hesitation whenever they were supposed to make a decision, but not Loki. No, he was the kind of man who simply _took_ whatever he desired: without second guesses... without asking questions... without any intention of ever giving it up again. He was a man who knew he was above everyone in her realm, and who relished in that knowledge, even though – every so often – she could have sworn that he too had a frailty he was well versed in concealing.

"Because I like this one the most..."

His reply pulled her out of that contemplative circle her mind was slipping into, making her aware again of the drawing he was holding. The reason she had been flustered by his choice? It was a drawing – the only one actually – where she had depicted both of them in what appeared to be a lush garden. That probably would not have been so bad in itself had she not drawn them sharing such an intimate embrace, her head against his shoulder, his nose and lips buried in her chocolate hair.

"I don't see why you'd want to keep a child's drawing..." she finally replied, lowering her gaze back to the homework she had been struggling like hell to finish for the past hour.

The amused huff she heard from him informed her that he had acknowledged her defeat and was utterly pleased by it. Throughout the following half hour he remained silent, until Kara could swear that it felt as if he wasn't even there anymore. Just as she was thinking that, however, she was startled by the sensation of his magic slithering into her mind.

_'Did I not promise that I would be here until morning, dearest?'_

His voice resounding in her head had her eyes dart up, to meet his mischievous smile.

"I know you have not been working for the past few minutes..." he said tauntingly. "Are you truly that flustered because of a mere drawing?"

"It's... not the drawing itself... I'm actually quite proud of it. It's more... what the drawing _shows_ that has me feeling uncomfortable."

Even after all these years it still was a mystery to her as to how he could so easily make her speak out her thoughts and render her utterly unable to lie. When he narrowed his eyes in amusement and lowered his gaze back to the paper he had set apart from the others onto the table nearby, she instinctively gulped as she awaited his reaction.

"And why is that, dearest? You know I take no offense when you ask me to hold you... or is it that you wish for something more than just an innocent embrace?"

She was making this game much too easy for him; it wasn't the first time such had happened with women around him, and yet he found that she still intrigued him, unlike the others whom he had cast aside without a second glance the very moment he had perceived that they might become boring. After all, he had never been one for easy games... he enjoyed challenges and relished in surpassing odds which no one believed him capable of overcoming.

With the silence lingering, he finally averted his emerald gaze to the girl only to find himself unable to hold back a satisfied smile at the sight of her skin having turned such a delicious shade of red. Yes, now was as good a time as any to test some of her limits.

"Your gaze betrays your thoughts in every way possible, darling..." he teased. "I do not even require my magic to know what you are thinking right now as you watch me with those large doe eyes, while your mind holds the image that you placed upon this paper."

Leaning back into the armchair, he fixed her with a pointed gaze when she opened her mouth to try and retort.

"Oh, yes... do not attempt to lie, dearest; after all, I am the God of Lies and you will find it quite a challenge before you can deceive me."

Even as he spoke he could see the bouquet of emotions that crossed her gaze; from shyness to shame to desire, all the while adorned with that ever present spark of hope. But hope for what? Oh, he would find out without any doubt.

"If you truly wish for more, simply say so... name what it is you desire and do not try to hide what you long for."

Truly, he had no need of his magic to know what she was screaming inside her mind right now... her expression and her body were already shouting it in his face. It was then, however, that the image of him sitting there flickered for but a moment. At the very same time, his arms locked around the girl from behind, his chest pressed against her back, his lips tickling her ear as he spoke, whilst his illusion faded to nothingness revealing the empty piece of furniture.

"So there is a spell you are not immune to..." he whispered. "It pleases me greatly to know that, dearest."

Feeling the faint shiver in her body, he exhaled an amused huff.

"Or is it that you were so distracted by your own thoughts, that you did not even notice when I switched places with my double? Come, dearest... do not treat me with silence; I may very well start believing that you do not enjoy my company anymore."

His last words had the desired effect of triggering her reflexes so as to let him gauge her true intentions, when she involuntarily reached out with both hands to grasp the arm he was holding across her chest. Bringing his other hand to her face he gently grasped her chin to make her look him in the eye.

"You trusted me with your deepest secret... why do you not trust me with your desires?"

It was his gaze that finally got Kara's throat working again and she found herself again speaking her thoughts despite not having intended on saying them out loud.

"Because I'm a child... and you are a man, not a boy."

His chest quivered against her back as he chuckled at her words, before he leaned down until she could feel his breath on her lips.

"My dear, on Asgard your parents would have married you off already... and you would have possibly been carrying a child as well."

For a few moments all Kara could do was stare at him, the notion of what he had just told her having even chased away her shyness briefly. Her first impulse had been to say that such a thing was insane, but the words refused to come out of her mouth. The reason? Her own mother had been only 17 when she had married her father while already pregnant.

"But you're a god... and I'm nothing more than a mortal..." she finally said, in a pathetically weak attempt at dissuading him.

"Yet you desire me..."

The widening of her eyes as he said that left him without a doubt as to the nature of her yearning. Narrowing his own eyes slightly, he once more slithered into her now shaken mind... and what he found there pleased him to quite an extent.

"Is that not why you told your friends that you slept with me?"

At those words Kara felt utterly mortified; so much so that she thought she would faint right there in his arms. At the same time, however, anger rose inside her at the fact that he had read her memories without her approval and it was that pang of fury that led her to tear herself away from his arms.

"Who allowed you to poke around in my memories?" she snapped at him.

By now tears had welled up in her eyes, though they did not stem from irritation as she had initially thought, but from the shame of having been caught lying about him without first having sought out his permission to spread such rumors.

Silence reigned between them until she finally gave in to her curiosity and raised her gaze to him only to find that he had not moved an inch. He was still on one knee before her, one of his arms resting upon the leg he kept against his chest, and he was watching her with that expression that she never knew how to interpret. There was no humor lighting his features now, and despite that his face still conveyed such a mixture of feelings... warmth, kindness, curiosity, but also the unspoken promise that he was not some weak human and that he was not to be toyed with. What was clear for the moment, however, was that he had not been happy with her reaction despite having not forced her to remain in his embrace.

"I'm sorry..." she finally muttered, once more lowering her eyes.

Briefly she contemplated leaving it only at that, but then decided that her reaction needed no apology, as she was not the one in the wrong there. Wiping away her tears, she took a deep breath before finally speaking.

"I... I'd already told my friends that you and I were lovers. And in the past couple of months they all started talking about how they slept with their own boyfriends and kept asking me if I'd already done that with you. I guess... I just didn't want to... seem like the odd one out."

When she looked at him and Loki merely cocked his head to the side whilst pinning her with that same pointed look, she sighed.

"I should have asked you first if you were okay with me saying that, and I'm sorry I didn't. Thinking back on it, it was really stupid to lie just for the sake of being as cool as my friends."

The following moments she found to be the most agonizing of all her life, as she waited for him to speak; had she just destroyed their friendship with that idiotic lie? The prospect of that – she found – terrified her in such a way that she had no idea how she would cope with it.

"This silence is killing me..." she finally said whilst forcing herself to muster the courage needed to sustain that burning gaze of his. "Please say something... anything at all..."

"You really are a foolish girl, are you not?"

The sound of his voice, carrying a slightly amused tone, was so unexpected that she felt her body jolting in surprise. She would have even believed it to have only been her imagination, had Loki not covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. At the sight of her bewildered expression, he finally settled on both knees and reached out taking her wrist.

"Come here..." he said gently.

Unable to resist him Kara soon found herself back in his arms, this time holding onto him as he was holding onto her whilst he trailed his slender fingers through her hair.

"Whoever made you create this deformed image of yourself, that you would attempt to deny me by claiming you are not right for one such as me, when I can so clearly see how much you yearn for me? Have I not stressed it enough over the years that you are perfect just the way you are?"

Again grasping her chin, he raised her face to his.

"The Kara I see and have always seen in you, would never deem herself unworthy of any man's attentions – peasant or king, mortal or god – for any reason."

"So... you're not upset... with me?"

The sight of his prankster smile nearly had her melting in his embrace, and barely allowed her to even register his answer.

"Why would I be upset that my dearest fantasizes about me in such a way? Oh, I am not upset... the knowledge that it is indeed I whom you desire, only spurs me on. Had you told me of your longing, I would have tended to it whenever you would have wanted me to."

Once again he leaned down until their lips almost touched... a thing that Kara found to be a sweet kind of torture.

"You need only name what it is that you want, and I shall give it to you. But I tell you now... say that you desire me, and I will never let you go. Say that it is I whom you long and ache for and you will be mine forever; I am a devoted lover, but a jealous god as well. Say you are mine and I will suffer no man to touch you the way I do... any male who believes he can take what is rightfully mine, will rue the day that he was born. That is the oath I take for you... that I will hold you as my equal in public, and treat you as my goddess in private, only so long as you are mine and mine alone. Deceive me and shatter my heart, and I will have you pay the consequences along with any other involved with you... I will show you what it truly means to anger the God of Chaos."

By now he had again leaned back so the girl could see his stern gaze as he spoke. It was a look Kara knew too well; he was not joking in those words, nor would he allow her to believe that he was jesting in any way. In truth, he could not yet tell if what he felt for her was merely his desire to possess her, or if it was indeed more than just carnal instinct drawing him to her. He assumed that something within him was leaning toward the latter; otherwise he knew he would not have warned her beforehand, but would have simply taken her for his own.

"Do you still yearn for me, now that you know what you would commit yourself to?"

"I don't..." she whispered, unable to speak louder due to how dry her throat had become.

At her words Loki finally loosened his hold on her, though his pride was entirely unhappy that she had found the strength to refuse him.

"Perhaps you have chosen the wiser path and..."

His eyes widened, however, when the girl suddenly pressed her hand to his mouth muffling his voice before she spoke again.

"I wasn't done talking."

His annoyed gaze drew a smile from her, but she did remove her hand and lowered it to the base of his neck, hooking her fingers beneath his armor.

"I don't see why you would think that you can scare me away... or do you believe me to be like other women of my world? That I would be afraid or unwilling to belong to just one man for my whole life? If I give myself to you, it would be out of love... and I would need no other man to complete my existence."

"That's a nice way to say that you refuse to give me an answer now..." he grinned.

"By the laws of my realm, I'm still a child... ask me again in about two years and I'll have an answer for you."

"I will hold you to that, dearest."

"Good..."

With that reply she finally made use of his armor as leverage, so as to lean up and place a kiss to his cheek. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd done such a thing, but it amazed her each time to see just how smooth his skin could be, that it felt as if she was kissing silk. What startled her out of that contemplation was the sensation of his hand settling on the back of her head and gently guiding her to rest her forehead against the black material covering his neck. His arms again coiled around her and Kara found that she couldn't hold back a smile...

Yes, there was no other place she'd rather be than in his embrace that made her feel so safe and wanted.


	4. Entry 3

So here we are, lovelies, at the next installment of my little endeavor. Hope you all like the story so far and that what I have planned for future chapters will be just as interesting for you ;)

One mention before we get started... actually three xD

First, there is no Loki in this chapter, this one is all about Kara. I know some of you might be disappointed by the fact that he won't show up for the moment, but Kara herself needs some development and y'all already know everything about Loki xD But don't worry, lovelies, he'll be back next chapter ;)

Second, I'll be posting replies to reviews at the **end** of each chapter (well at the end of the chapters where I get them) so those of you, my lovely readers, who review my story, keep an eye open after you're done reading and you just might see a direct reply from me to your review ;)

And third, for anyone who wants to chat with me or just see the face behind my pen name (although you might get nightmares... you have been warned xD) you can reach me on Twitter - my Twitter name is on my profile page- so don't hesitate to come talk to me, lovelies~ :D

But for now, on with the story! :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #3**

_Yes, there was no other place she'd rather be than in his embrace that made her feel so safe and wanted._

OoO

_**Location: **__Darien, Connecticut, U.S.A. / S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__October 31 / November 01, 2003_

The night was young and Kara was entirely looking forward to the Halloween party that Maria was going to have at her house. After all, she needed something to distract her from the fact that Loki's visits had become rarer than ever during those past months. If she allowed her mind to dwell on that for too long, she would always start stringing all sorts of thoughts – some far worse than others – and that left her feeling as if her sanity was steadily slipping away, like water dripping from a cracked glass.

"Mom, have you seen my bracelet?" she called out from her room.

It was also one of the rare nights when her mother had arrived early from work. Within moments the female stepped into the room holding the piece of jewelry.

"Here, honey... you left it in the living room." she smiled.

Exhaling a relieved breath, the girl retrieved it and set it around her wrist again.

"Thanks, mom, I thought I'd lost it..."

"I don't see why you're _this_ fond of it, it's just a bracelet."

"I told you I got it from someone very special to me..." she smiled.

Lowering her gaze she now trailed her fingers along the delicate string; indeed it was simplistic in its nature – a strand of silver and one of gold braided together until they converged around a small emerald – but to her it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"I wish you'd tell me who this boy is." Michaela replied.

"Who said it was a boy?"

"Come on, honey... girls don't give jewelry like this to other girls." she winked.

Feeling a bit of blush rising in her cheeks, the girl again lowered her eyes.

"I won't pressure you into it, but I would like to meet the guy who caught my daughter's eye."

"He's... not really from around here..."

"Is he a foreigner? Where did you meet him? At school?"

"Uhm... no, we met... on the street... uh..."

Fortunately her stuttering was interrupted by the cell phone ringing on her desk, informing her that Maria was losing her patience.

"Mom, I gotta go, Maria's here. We'll talk later, okay?"

Rolling her eyes at the girl's elusiveness, the woman now smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Take care, honey... don't party too hard."

"Promise... love you, mom." she smiled, kissing the woman's cheek in return.

"Love you too... now get outta here."

Grinning the girl grabbed her cell phone and rushed downstairs to join her friend, leaving Michaela to watch them from her bedroom window.

OoOoO

It was near midnight when Alice alerted Kara that her mother was calling on her cell phone.

"Thanks, I'll go outside for a minute and see if she's okay."

Stepping out in front of the house to have some silence from the loud music inside, the girl now flicked the phone out of her pocket just when it had started ringing again.

"Yeah mom, what's wrong?" she asked with a smile.

Surely the woman was just being overly cautious and had decided to check up on her. The deep, coarse voice that replied, however, definitely did not belong to her mother.

_"Can little Kara come out to play?"_

Before she could reply, the male started laughing as though he was amused by his own joke; a mocking, high pitched, weird sort of cackle that brought the image of an insane clown in her mind, while her heart suddenly began fluttering in her chest like a caged bird.

"Who is this?" she frowned.

Her first thought was that something had happened to her mother, given that whoever she was talking to had used the woman's own cell phone to call her.

_"How about you come here and we'll have a little... family reunion? Mommy's dying to see you... just don't bring the police or I can't guarantee you'll have her back in just one piece."_

"If you lay a finger on her, you'll regret the day you were born." she growled.

Hanging up with the guy's maniacal cackle still ringing in her ears, she stuffed the phone back into her pocket and rushed along the street toward her house. Lately she'd been training the telekinetic powers she had discovered in herself; she was pretty sure of her control over them, though definitely not enough to be certain that she could stop a bullet if that scumbag was armed.

Ten minutes later she was almost at the house when her running pace was brought to a sudden halt by a hand covering her mouth and an arm wrapping around her waist, dragging her into the shadows.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you..."

The strained male voice resounding in her ear as she struggled to break loose, made her turn her head to look over her shoulder although she could barely see anything in the dark.

"I'll let you go, but please don't scream and allow me to explain myself."

Settling down the girl finally nodded; after all, any hope of someone helping her was better than rushing into that house alone, no matter how much her instinct urged her to just go there and save her mother. Taking a deep breath once her mouth was free again, she now turned to the male who stepped somewhat into the light so that she could see his face.

"My name is Phil Coulson... I'm an agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"And... that's supposed to mean what to me?" she replied utterly puzzled.

"We've already got your house surrounded, your mother's not hurt but we need a way to get her out."

For a moment Kara was so relieved at the news that her mother was alright, that she felt as if she would melt into the ground beneath her.

"Oh, thank God..." she whispered.

Now with that cloud of concern off her mind she was finally able to think clearly again, as displayed by her reply to the man before her.

"I'll go inside and see who he is and what he wants... and I'll see if I can convince him to come out. You just keep your men ready."

"Are you sure you want to go in there? We still don't know what his purpose is... but we have identified him as Glenn Taylor."

The mere sound of that name hit Kara like a rock in the head.

"Who?" she finally breathed out.

"I don't know if your parents ever told you, but your father has a younger brother. He ran away from home as a teenager and got involved with all the wrong people. A few years before he left, your father put him in prison. We received a report yesterday that he had escaped, so we set out a watch on your house, but it looks like we were too late."

"My father works with you? Do you know where he is?"

Shaking his head, Coulson sighed lightly.

"No, your father is not part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he's not the reason we were tracking your family. In fact, you are... but we'll talk after we finish here. I'll explain everything, because after this we'll need to take you into protective custody."

"You'd better have a damn good explanation for all this madness..." she retorted.

Smiling lightly, the male now handed her a tiny earpiece before finally letting her move into the house.

"Mom...?" she called out lightly, upon entering the dark hallway.

Even the knowledge that her house was surrounded by what she assumed were trained agents wasn't too comforting. Really, there was nothing more she wished at that moment than to have Loki there with her; but he was worlds away and she couldn't exactly ask that bastard to wait until she took a nap so as to try and contact the Æsir.

"My, my... look at you... such a beautiful niece and my brother never once mentioned you to me."

The male voice she recognized by now alerted her that the man was likely standing in the doorway leading to the living room.

"Where's my mother?"

"Oh, don't worry... Michaela's okay, for now. She's just a bit... tied up at the moment."

As she cautiously approached the living room, the light was suddenly turned on, blinding her for a moment. Blinking to let her gaze adjust she then found herself staring in shock at the ransacked room before her, and her mother tied to a chair in the middle of all that chaos, a piece of fabric tied over her mouth.

"Mom..."

Rushing to her side, she quickly checked for any injuries, only startled from that task by the male voice now resounding behind her.

"Hm... you look better than I'd thought, now that I see you up close."

Her gaze darted back to the man who was now standing in the doorway; in one sweep she took in his disheveled hair, the dirty rags hanging loosely onto his skinny body, his emaciated face. He also looked sickly and for a moment Kara had the wild thought that in a direct physical confrontation even she could have taken him down, but the gun he was holding made her second guess her initial intention... or perhaps it was the feral spark in his black eyes that otherwise resembled two pools of void, which even made her gulp lightly; it truly felt as if she was watching a predator ready to pounce at any moment. Still, she moved in between him and her mother, using her own body as a shield.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to visit my brother... Michaela didn't want to tell me where he is, but maybe you'll be more cooperative." he smiled, in a way that sent a cold shiver down Kara's spine.

"I don't know where father is... he left when I was little, without telling us where he was going." she spat out.

When his smile faded and she caught a twinkle of sheer insanity in his gaze, the girl clenched her jaw in an attempt to keep her cool; if she lost her head, he would kill them both, likely not in a quick manner judging by the thoughts she could decipher out of the twisting mass in his mind.

"Why would you lie to your beloved uncle?" he asked whilst taking a tentative step toward her. "Didn't your father ever teach you that telling the truth is better?"

Before she could reply, she was nearly startled out of her shoes by the sound of a window shattering upstairs. Cursing under his breath, the male now swiftly moved to her; the last thing Kara saw was his raised arm before a splitting pain erupted in the side of her head, where he had hit her with the butt of his pistol, making her knees give way and her body collapse to the floor. For a second she thought she would black out, and fortunately the male seemed to think she had done just that.

"Don't go anywhere..." he smiled to Michaela before carefully walking out of the room to go check the upper floor.

Once he was out of her sight the girl sat up holding her head that now hurt as if someone had sliced it open.

"Kara..."

The echoing voice made her turn her painful gaze to the window, where she spotted Coulson climbing into the room. She felt as if she was seeing everything in slow motion as the agent grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet, before producing a pocket knife and starting to cut the ropes around her mother. Shaking her head to clear it, Kara moved toward the doorway in an attempt to retrieve a knife from the kitchen, only to be frozen in her steps by the sound of a gunshot at the upper floor followed by Glenn's enraged voice.

"You little bitch! I told you not to bring the police!"

"I'm done, let's go..." Coulson suddenly said, grabbing the girl's arm again.

Whirling her around he now dragged her toward the window where Michaela was desperately reaching out for her.

"Come on, honey..."

Even as Coulson dragged her across the room, Kara felt as if there was someone else walking in her body and she realized the shock of that night was finally settling in. Briefly she caught a glimpse of several armed agents closing in on the window, guns at the ready, whilst Coulson was speaking into his earpiece, although her mind was too stunned to understand what he was saying.

"What the hell is this?"

The insane shout behind her had her turn around almost involuntarily, to see Glenn pointing the pistol at her. She heard the gunshot and saw the bullet leaving the firearm, and her body froze whilst her mind filled with only one thought... she was going to die. Like in a dream she heard someone shouting her name before a dark figure crossed her sight and she felt a pair of arms hugging her tightly. Her first thought was that Loki had saved her again somehow, through some miracle. But then she realized that the one embracing her wasn't a male.

"M... mom...?" she exhaled shakily.

"It's okay, honey..." she whispered soothingly, stroking the girl's hair. "It's okay... everything's okay..."

Another gunshot, followed by the sound of a body falling to the floor, startled her and instinctively had her wrap her arms around her mother; when her hands settled onto the woman's back, however, she frowned in confusion at the wet sensation there and raised a hand only to stare in shock at the blood dripping along her palm.

"Mom..."

"Be a good girl, okay? I love you..."

Michaela's whisper in the girl's ear was followed by her body finally going limp in Kara's embrace, the weight forcing Kara to her knees. Tearing her gaze away from her bloodied hand, the girl now stared in utter shock at her mother's body. All she knew was that she wanted to scream... just to scream as loud as she could, and release the pain in her chest which made her feel as if her heart had literally been shredded. But she couldn't...

She barely even felt Coulson embracing her; she barely even heard the stomping of several agents as they rushed into the house to retrieve Glenn's dead body from where he had fallen after Coulson had shot him in the head; in fact she barely even remembered how to breathe at that moment.

OoOoO

"How is she?"

"I'm not sure, Director... she was still in shock when we got here; one of our doctors gave her a mild sedative, she's asleep for now."

Exhaling a slight sigh, Fury averted his gaze from Coulson to the girl lying in bed before them.

"Well let me know how she is when she wakes up."

"Yes, sir."

About an hour after Fury had left the door to the girl's medical ward opened again, to reveal one of the other agents.

"Oh, it's you Barton..." Coulson said upon sighting the man.

"This the kid?" he asked, nodding to the girl.

"Yes, this is Kara Taylor, the girl we've been monitoring for the past few years."

"I heard what happened tonight... you think she'll get over it?"

"I can't say... her mother died in her arms; that's not really something you get over that easily."

"Heard Fury's planning to make her an agent... well _if_ she keeps her sanity after this. Read her file earlier... it says she has some... unusual abilities."

"That's precisely why we've been tracking her; Director Fury had a meeting with the Council a while back. They said that her specific gift is much too dangerous to be left alone. He refused to kill her... they told him it's either that or he makes her one of our agents so we can keep an eye on her. I'll be in charge of her while she's here."

Looking to his fellow agent, Barton now curved a corner of his lips into a somewhat jesting smirk.

"I feel sorry for her already..."

OoOoO

"How are you feeling?"

Shadowing her eyes from the bright lights, Kara shot a quizzical glance to the source of the male voice; it took her a moment to recognize Coulson who was standing next to the bed she had been laid in.

"Wh... where am I?"

And why did her voice sound so groggy, as if she'd been drugged?

"You're in the medical wing, on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. You were still in shock when we brought you here, so you probably don't remember that. A doctor examined you and gave you a mild sedative to let you rest for a bit. Fortunately you only got a lump to your head; he didn't hit you hard enough to cause any severe damage."

When she failed to reply, being too busy trying to fully awaken from the drugs, the agent offered her a somewhat concerned glance.

"What's your name?"

"I thought you already knew my name..."

"I know your name. I want to see if _you_ remember your name."

"Kara... Kara Taylor..."

"Good. The doctor will want to scan for any internal head injuries anyway, but it's a good sign that you still remember who you are."

Helping her when she attempted to sit up, he once more clasped his hands in front of himself, unable to change his concerned expression.

"Do you remember what happened earlier?"

His words almost instantly brought tears to her eyes, as her mind began replaying the events of that night.

"I wish I didn't..."

Taking a moment to glance around after finally shaking off that hazy veil from her mind, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"So how long am I staying here?"

"I can't say yet. But I'll be in charge of you while you're here." Coulson replied, making his best attempt at a reassuring smile.

Setting a hand onto her shoulder, he again smiled once she focused on him.

"I know it's hard to believe it right now, but everything's going to be alright. So long as you don't give up the fight, nothing can keep you down forever."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__December 20, 2003_

Seated upon a flight of metallic stairs, Kara was watching the first true blizzard of that winter. For a short while the erratic yet mesmerizing dance of snowflakes amidst the grey clouds managed to entrance her; but as always, her mind soon turned back to that last night in her home, soon triggering tears from her hollowed eyes.

She had met Fury and he had explained that they wanted to train her so that she could become a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and – while she had agreed due to not really having anywhere else to go – she still felt out of place. Coulson, Barton and Maria Hill – whom she had later found out was Fury's most trusted agent – and even Fury himself had done all in their power to help her get through her grief, but with only mild success.

By day she felt like an empty shell... at night she was plagued by nightmares as her mind relived the moment of her mother's death again and again, slowly driving her insane. She assumed that was the reason why she couldn't seem to get in touch with Loki anymore, despite the fact that she felt like she needed no one else more right now. While she was grateful that everyone had offered so much of their time to her, there was no one else's care that she craved more than Loki's.

But he wasn't there and she felt so alone that sometimes all she wanted was to scream out across the heavens until her throat became raw and started bleeding; perhaps then he would hear her... perhaps then he would see how she had knelt beneath the weight of her sorrow... perhaps then he would come to take her hand and get her back on her feet. Or perhaps he would consider her pathetic and weak, and would scold her for it; but even that was better than his utter absence which – in short – terrified her.

"Hey, you okay?"

Looking to the male who had spoken to her, Kara now smiled as much as she could at the sight of Clint approaching her.

"Yeah... I guess so..."

Sitting next to her on the stairs, the blue eyed archer watched her in silence for a short while.

"You know... I never was too good with words, but I think you should try to move on already. I doubt she would've wanted to see you moping around all depressed."

"She was my..."

While she had meant to say that her mother had been her whole world, Kara now found that the words refused to leave her throat; was it because her mother had no longer been her entire universe of late? Had she actually allowed Loki to occupy such a vast space of her heart over time?

"She was my mother..." she finally said. "I don't see how I could just _move on_..."

"Moving on doesn't mean you forget, though..." Barton replied. "But your mother died so that you could be here right now. I think you should at least try to live your life; she must've wanted that, otherwise she wouldn't have jumped in front of that bullet for you."

Even now he still had no idea how Coulson and Hill had convinced him to have this talk with the girl; he couldn't say that he knew too much about his own parents. But both of his colleagues had agreed that he was the best suited one for that task, for a reason that was beyond him.

With the silence stretching on, he briefly examined her expression and decided to press the matter a bit more, hoping that he wouldn't trigger a violent reaction from her. She had recently discovered that she could use her telekinesis to levitate her own body; and quite frankly, he didn't really fancy the idea of an irate flying opponent whom he wouldn't be able to hit in return and who could throw a table at him – or worse – just by thinking it.

"You have a unique set of gifts, Kara... and I think you can use them to live your life in a way that would make your mother very proud. Think about it... okay?"

Patting her shoulder after those words, he now finally stood and walked away leaving Kara with her own thoughts. Once he was gone, the girl averted her gaze back to the sky surrounding the Helicarrier. Was Barton right in what he had told her? She did wonder now if her mother would be proud of her, should she make use of her gifts in service of S.H.I.E.L.D. After all, Fury had said their job was to keep the peace throughout the world; but was that really the best choice for her?

"As if I have another..." she muttered to herself.

Still, she realized she had to do something with her life, because she couldn't let it go to waste after her mother had sacrificed herself to save her. Even as she thought that, she felt her will steeling again; yes, she would train to become an agent and she would make sure to survive... it was the least she could do to honor her mother's memory.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__March 03, 2005_

"Kara? Can I come in for a minute?"

Raising her eyes from the files she had been studying, the girl smiled lightly at the male voice coming from behind the door.

"Sure, Phil..."

With the door now sliding open, the agent stepped into the room with a slight smile.

"Director Fury would like to see you in his office."

Narrowing her eyes in thought at the man's expression, she finally widened them while her own lips now quivered in their attempt to curve upwards as she read his mind.

"Really?" she asked, almost breathless with emotion.

"He's been very impressed with how fast you and well you developed. I think you'll make a great agent..."

Steadying himself when the girl lunged into his arms, he then chuckled and embraced her.

"Oh, here..." he said after she released him, handing her what looked like a jewelry box. "Happy birthday..."

"Phil, you really didn't have to..."

"I know..." he smiled in jest. "But I wanted to."

Chuckling lightly, the girl now unwrapped her gift and widened her eyes at the diamond studded necklace inside.

"Oh my God... this wasn't just your idea, was it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes playfully at him.

"Well... Natasha might've had her own contribution to it..."

Shifting beneath her pointed gaze he raised his hands in defense.

"Okay, okay I surrender... everyone contributed to this."

"Really, you guys are incorrigible..." she smiled, shaking her head.

"Not the word I was looking for." the male chuckled.

Setting the box onto the table, she then rushed out past the agent, placing a kiss to his cheek in the process.

"Thank you!" she called out as she rushed down the hallway toward Fury's office.

Upon arriving there she pressed the scanner button next to the door, waiting for the AI to grant her access. With the door sliding open she now stepped into the office where Fury was standing before the large windows, watching the clear sky.

"You really should stop spoiling me..." she stated in jest, halting before the man's desk.

"Well, I guess we all kind of gave in to our parental instincts. And it's not every day that you turn eighteen and become an adult."

With those words, the male finally turned to face her.

"Agents Barton and Romanoff informed me of your latest development. And, after discussing it with the Council, we believe you're finally ready to become an official agent."

"Does that mean I won't be stuck in the belly of this metallic whale 24/7?" she chuckled.

"It does." Fury replied, seating himself. "Here's your first external assignment... happy birthday."

Grinning, the girl practically ripped the file from his hand only to feel her smile drop as she read the contents.

"Bodyguard for the Greek Prime Minister...? Are you kidding?"

"You'll be working with agent Romanoff on this; we have Intel that he's being targeted by a group of anarchists. He has to attend a meeting with the British Prime Minister and your job is to keep him alive."

"Yes sir..." she droned on.

"Kara, don't rush it... you'll get to the big assignments in due time. I can't send you out on a mission with high levels of danger before you grasp the feeling of being on the field, because I refuse to get you killed."

"I know..." the girl finally replied somewhat softer than before. "I guess I'm just sick of being on this ship all the time and doing boring assignments."

"Well good things come to those who wait..." Fury retorted with a slight smile.

Chuckling when the girl stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance, he then waved her off watching as she left his office while examining the file again. He could only hope that she was indeed ready for field missions and that he would not come to regret his decision.

* * *

So, as promised my lovelies... today's replies:

1\. **Emily **\- Thank you so much, darling. I'm happy that you liked the way I portrayed Loki, since I always am a bit hesitant whenever I start uploading a new fanfic. I can never be certain if I'll get the canon characters' personalities right, but I'm glad to hear I nailed it for Loki ;) Hope you'll enjoy the story from now on as well and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or if you find something that you don't feel I got right in the story line :D

2\. **Mrs Sorbo **\- I'm really glad you enjoy the story, hun. To be honest, I'm contemplating on whether or not I should tweak the ending in a way that would let Kara live, but we'll see... I don't wanna spoil anything ;) As I said to Emily, don't hesitate to PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or just anything you want say regarding the story.

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	5. Entry 4

So here's the next episode of my little story. The heartwarming reviews I received after I uploaded the previous chapter convinced me to put in a bit of extra effort and finish this one and upload it sooner than I'd originally planned. So props to you, lovelies~ :D

One mention before I let you get on with the story... actually two xD

1\. I'll summarize this chapter in just two words - naughty Loki ;D I'll understand if some of you might feel as if I rushed this, but keep in mind that in story line time they've already known each other for eight years and, of course, hormones do play a huge part in a teenager's life (yes, I consider Kara as a teenager even if she turned 18 already xD).

2\. Since I was utterly disappointed that the writers hinted at a love triangle (Jane-Thor-Sif) in _Thor: The Dark World _and then decided to just throw the idea in the garbage bin - even though, in my opinion, it would have brought some very interesting drama and character buildup to the movie - I've decided to try my hand at a triangle here.

As you probably already guessed by now, Loki will be the "object of desire" in this triangle. Who's the other woman? Well I have put information for both Kara and the other female OC on my profile, including links to the pictures I chose to represent each of them. And since I'm curious by nature, I also **put up a poll** so you guys can tell me which one you think would have better chances of winning Loki's heart in the end.

I'm still not entirely sure if I'll fully flesh out the love triangle in this story or in the sequel, mostly because I might feel as if there will be enough going on already without it. And **YES** there will be a sequel, I already have some scenes written down for it because they were floating around in my head :D But the idea of the love triangle will be a sort of "ghost companion" in this story if I decide to leave the bulk of it for the sequel - kind of like a shy kid looming in the background, just waiting to be noticed.

Soo go read about these two lovely ladies on my profile and then vote and let me know what you think. Depending on the results I might alter some of my ideas so we'll see, I'm open to changes ;)

But for now, enjoy the lemony goodness, lovelies~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #4**

"_Well good things come to those who wait..." Fury retorted with a slight smile. [...]_

oOo

_**Location: **__Hotel 41, Westminster, London, U.K._

_**Date: **__March 22, 2005_

"Man, I feel like someone beat me with a stick..."

Sighing deeply after those words, Kara now dropped onto her bed and set her gaze upon the ceiling. She had left Natasha at her own room just minutes earlier, after a full day of following the Greek Prime Minister around London. And he hadn't even met with his British counterpart yet, much to her chagrin; she'd hoped that they would be done with that mission quickly, but now she was seeing that hope starting to fade into nothingness. Not to mention that walking on high heels all day, wearing a tight skirt wasn't exactly her idea of fun. If anything, Natasha seemed much more at home on such a mission than Kara could imagine ever feeling.

Ultimately forcing herself to rise, she discarded her shoes and sighed in relief as her feet unwound enjoying the cool tiles of the floor. Unbuttoning and taking off her jacket, she dropped it onto the bed on her way to the nearby table.

"How about some music?" she muttered to herself whilst turning on the TV.

Settling onto a music channel she set down the remote and locked the door before proceeding to undress; she could hardly wait to get into the shower and relax. It was only some minutes later, while she was in the shower, that she remembered why she had dreaded the moment when she would be alone. As it happened more and more often recently, her thoughts again turned to Loki and she clenched her teeth at the emptiness she could feel swelling in her chest as she recalled that he hadn't contacted her at all for the past two years.

It wasn't until half an hour later that she finally realized why she had that subtle sense of discomfort... her intuition told her that she wasn't alone anymore. Cursing inwardly at the fact that she hadn't taken her pistol into the bathroom, she wrapped a towel around her given that she hadn't taken any clothes in there either, as she had counted on being alone. Hoping it wasn't some armed lunatic, she cautiously crept out of the bathroom only halting at the edge of the wall from where the rest of her room spread out. Taking a deep breath she glanced around the corner, only to be utterly shocked when she saw no one there.

"What the hell?" she muttered, stepping closer to the bed.

Was she finally starting to lose her mind? She wouldn't put it past herself, but her intuition had never failed her before.

"Did you miss me?"

The warm breath landing on her ear along with that velvety whisper nearly made her jump out of her skin. For a moment her mind was left in a sort of pleasant stupor as she recognized the voice she had so ached to hear again during those last two years. At long last whirling around, she found that she couldn't do anything but stare at the male before her.

"Oh God..." she breathed out.

"You can call me Loki, dearest..." he replied with a playful smile.

Whilst she was still much too shocked to reply, the dark haired prince now took a moment to look her over, his smile taking on a slightly lecherous shade.

"I'm impressed... I left you a child and now I find you a woman."

His words finally made Kara aware of the fact that she was practically naked before him, as the towel did little to cover her; particularly since she was slightly taller than when Loki had last seen her and her body had now developed fully. Instantly feeling her face taking fire, she turned her back to him and rushed to the dresser to retrieve some clothes.

"Where were you all this time?" she asked from behind the door. "Do you even know how much I missed you? How much I needed you to be there for me?"

At the subtle tremble in her voice his humor finally died out, leaving a curious but concerned expression on his pale features whilst he lightly cocked his head to the side.

"I am sorry for my long absence, it was not my intention. I had some things that needed taking care of..."

When she again fell silent, he slightly furrowed his brows.

"Kara... what happened?"

Finally stepping back into his field of vision, wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of sleazy pants which covered her legs down to her knees, the girl sighed and retrieved the remote to turn off the TV.

"My mother was killed..." she muttered, doing her best to avoid his gaze.

Her statement actually made the Æsir feel unsettled as he now gazed upon her, and for once in his life he was unable to find his words. When he failed to reply, Kara willed herself to look at him although his shocked expression was something she had not expected. Sighing again she walked past him and sat onto the bed.

"Apparently my father failed to mention that he had a younger brother... or that he put said brother in prison some years before he left me and mother. He escaped two years ago and took my mother hostage, trying to find out where father was; probably to take revenge on him or something. We'd almost gotten her out but she..."

Pausing when she felt her voice breaking down from the heaviness of that memory, she inhaled deeply before finishing her phrase while Loki finally seemed to have recovered enough to sit next to her.

"He tried to shoot me but she jumped in between us..."

Exhaling a sarcastic huff, she briefly clenched her jaw when she felt the warmth of her tears crawling downward along her cheeks.

"I never imagined my own mother would die in my arms..."

Still wordless, the green eyed god merely reached out and carefully wrapped his arms around her; it took only a moment for the girl to latch onto him while he now tilted his head until his lips pressed a gentle kiss against her temple.

"I give you my word that I did not stay away from you of my own will." he whispered. "It pains me to know that you needed me and I was not there... but I am here now. And I swear to you that never again will I let you be lonely, so long as I draw breath."

"What were you doing all this time, anyway?" she asked, her voice somewhat muffled by his attire.

Leaning back before he could reply, she fixed her cobalt gaze upon his.

"Or is it too much to ask you about that?"

"Of course not, dearest..." he smiled, kissing her forehead. "I accompanied my brother and our friends to Alfheim; father believed it was in our best interest to train with the Elves for a time. And while I admit that I have learned many new aspects of combat from them, I cannot even begin to tell how much I missed you."

The following few seconds passed in silence with Loki stroking the girl's still wet hair and Kara watching him wordlessly. For a split moment after seeing him that night she had wanted to hate him for not being there to help her through her darkest hour. But, as always, she found that she simply could not stay angry with him... much less _hate_ him.

"Yes..." she suddenly said, drawing his gaze from her chestnut hair back to her face.

Her lips twitched into a shade of smile at the sight of that particular way he narrowed his eyes whenever he was puzzled about something.

"The answer to your question." she added, hoping that she wouldn't blush too hard.

Biting back a relieved sigh when she caught the way his expression changed as he finally understood what she was talking about, she averted her gaze shyly only to be startled by the fact that he stopped stroking her hair; instead, his hands came to rest on her cheeks forcing her to look straight into those mesmerizing emeralds beneath his dark brows.

"Are you sure that's what you want? I do not wish to make vain promises of a perfect eternity together... it will not be an easy journey at my side."

Doing her best to keep her composure, Kara ultimately cursed at herself inwardly when she caught her gaze drifting to his lips as he spoke.

"Shut up and kiss me already..." she whispered, hooking her fingers into his armor and using that to pull herself closer.

The last image her mind had the time to register was a fleeting sight of his prankster smile, before her senses were engulfed by the silky warmth of his lips pressing against hers. The flurry of emotions which erupted in her was so overwhelming that all she could do was throw her arms around his neck. His hands moved away from her cheeks, but before she had the time to be disappointed she felt one of his arms around her waist while his other hand settled on the back of her head, his slender fingers entwining with the chocolate strands cascading along her back.

Almost involuntarily, her lips soon parted slightly; she didn't want her first kiss to be just a shallow act... she wanted to get a taste of him, to know what a passionate kiss felt like. As if he had read her mind, Kara soon felt him straightening his posture. At the same time she noticed his armor dissolving into thin air and finally got to experience the sensation of having her chest pressed against his, albeit through the fabric covering them. And then his lips curved into a smile against hers, right before his hand abandoned her hair in favor of grasping her chin and gingerly tugging on it so as to get her to open her mouth.

Many a time she had imagined that such a kiss would repulse her, yet the sensation of his tongue sliding in between her lips sent a pleasant shudder along her spine. It was... warm and moist, at the same time delighting her taste buds with the fresh, chilly aroma of mint. Unable to put up any bit of resistance when he pushed his way further into her mouth, she felt her muscles twitch when his tongue touched to hers. But somehow the way he was slowly pressing forward, allowing her to get used to the sensation, was enough to drown out most of her nervousness. It wasn't too long before she managed to gather her courage and finally reply to his kiss; she actually felt him smiling again when her tongue warily slid against his, before he suddenly shifted to a more passionate note in their lip lock.

In an abrupt rush of euphoria, Kara found herself tightening her hold on him and arching her back to press herself to his body until her breasts actually started hurting slightly. In a haze her mind finally grasped the reality of where her instincts were urging her. She'd always thought she would lose her virginity after getting married, but right now she didn't give a damn about that fantasy anymore. All she knew was that she wanted him so much it actually hurt and it took all she had to not whine in protest when he leaned back, leaving her hot lips at the mercy of the chilly air.

"If you wish to keep your purity a while longer, now is the time to stop..." he whispered, his hot breath heavy on her lips whilst his forehead pressed against her. "Otherwise I will not relent until I'm done giving you every last drop of seed that my body can muster."

Taking advantage of the fact that his eyes were closed, Kara lowered her gaze to see his attire; his coat and bracers had vanished along with his breastplate, leaving his torso covered only in the moss green tunic she recalled catching only glimpses of before. Briefly thinking it over, she decided to do her best at swallowing her nervousness. With that in mind, she trailed her fingertips downward along his neck, tracing the contour of his collarbone and ultimately arriving at the spot where the two sides of his shirt overlapped, the material held together by what she noticed to be a leather sash around his waist.

It wasn't often that anyone managed such a feat, but her reaction to his words actually startled the Æsir, making him open his eyes which almost instantly darted downward to follow her hand's motions. Before she could hook her fingers into his shirt, however, he grasped her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her fingers.

"Do not test my patience, dearest..." he said, fixing her gaze with his.

Retrieving her hand, Kara now smiled whilst reaching down and grasping his sash.

"It wasn't a test..."

With Loki now watching her silently, she moved her arms around his waist before finally removing the leather strip and tossing it to the floor. Trying her best to aid her instincts with what knowledge she had gained from her recent talks with Natasha, the girl then slipped free from his embrace only to spread her legs across his lap and settle there, her arms again wrapping around his neck.

"Now..." she stated, playfully narrowing her eyes at him. "I didn't imagine the God of Mischief to be this shy."

Even as she spoke she could see his mask of restraint crumbling, giving way to his usual prankster smirk. Along with that came the sensation of his smooth palms tracing her thighs, and though his skin was slightly colder than she had expected – as she could fully feel through the flimsy fabric – his touch only served to add more and more fuel to the flame which had sparked inside her during their kiss. It was when she felt his fingers sliding across her backside that she finally saw that spark in his eyes she had always so adored... the glint of dominance that always sent a pleasant shiver along her spine. Next thing she knew, his hands clenched onto her rump and then her back hit the bedding letting her feel the weight of his body on hers.

"Now you've done it, dearest... I hope you're happy, because I will not be stopping until the very end." he stated with a mischievous smile.

"I don't want you to stop..." she retorted smugly.

At those last words his fingers hooked into her shirt, although he actually blinked in surprise at how easily he could rip it off her.

"I am becoming quite fond of Midgardian clothes... they're so easy to remove..." he grinned whilst discarding the shredded fabric onto the floor.

Still staring at him in shock as her mind tried to grasp the fact that he had rendered her half naked in just one move, Kara only regained her focus when he leaned onto his hands so that his face hovered mere inches from hers.

"You will not leave this bed before you know what it means to belong to me. When I am done with you, the only things you will still remember will be how to breathe and my name. Come dawn, this entire building will know who it was that bedded you. That is my promise..."

His words, though spoken on a slightly hoarse tone due to the desire building up within him – which could be so easily seen now pooling in his emerald gaze – actually made the girl smile.

"I can't wait to see you make good on that promise..."

As she spoke she reached up to place her palms onto his chest, sliding them up and along his shoulders to render him shirtless. When he leaned away from her to remove the green tunic, the sight of his slender yet well defined torso hidden beneath smooth, pale skin aided the girl in finding a sudden bout of courage which led her to reach to his waist and undo his pants. Due to having kept her gaze on his, however, she was startled when her hand accidentally brushed against the bulge formed by his awakening member. When her reflex kicked in, making her withdraw her hand, Loki reached out to gently grasp her wrist.

"Don't be afraid, love... I know you're curious." he smiled.

Biting back the urge to stick her tongue out at him when she realized he had been poking around in her mind again – and inwardly admitting that he was right and she was indeed curious to explore his body – she relaxed her arm, allowing him to place her hand back onto the edge of his leather pants. When she narrowed her eyes questioningly at him and he nodded, Kara now lowered her gaze along his body until she could follow her hand's movements. Slowly, hesitantly, her fingers slipped downward and again traced the contour of his member through the dark fabric. It actually astounded her to realize that it felt so hard, and unthinkingly she placed her palm to his growing erection, giving it a curious squeeze.

Loki's reaction, however, astounded her even more as he suddenly smacked a hand onto the bedding next to her shoulder to keep himself from falling over, a mixture between a grunt and a content sigh escaping his lips. For a moment she thought she had hurt him, but then that soft chuckle of his that she so loved reached her ears.

"You are proving quite skilled in breaking my boundaries..." he smirked. "Were it not your first time, I would have already had you screaming my name until your throat became raw."

As he stated the last words, Kara could feel his hand creeping along her neck, his fingers barely grazing her skin. And though, for but a moment, her instinct did remind her that he wasn't an ordinary male, she found that she couldn't be afraid of him... even if she was aware that he could probably kill her with almost no effort. If anything, she was proud and beyond even that she was happy that such a beautiful, awe inspiring man had set his eyes upon her, out of all the women that her realm and the other worlds had to offer. Her thoughts then died a swift death when Loki leaned down again until she could feel his hot breath on her lips.

"I have seen many women throughout my life... but I daresay you are the most beautiful of them all." he whispered, his smile gaining a loving shade momentarily.

Pressing his fingers lightly against her cheeks he now claimed her lips for a kiss which spoke of the unbridled passion he was currently restraining.

"I was not lying when I compared you to a goddess..." he stated, once more pausing the kiss. "The more I taste you, the more I want... you are quite an addictive flower, dearest."

"I had a feeling it was the other way around..."

For a moment she couldn't even tell how she had remembered the words to speak, given that her mind was constantly being overwhelmed by the sensations he was stirring in her body.

"Then tell me that no other man has ever made you lust for him like this... tell me I am the only one you will ever offer yourself to... tell me that you belong to me and that you will never desire any other man."

Smiling lightly as he spoke, Kara now grasped his wrist and moved his hand away from her chin, down to her chest where she pressed his palm to her skin, whilst her other arm settled around his neck.

"Do you feel that? Do you feel my heart beating so strongly that I feel like it'll burst out of my chest? It only beats like that for you... and it always will beat only for you."

When he leaned down after her words, the girl braced herself for another kiss only to be surprised when his lips touched not to her mouth but to her jaw; creeping downward he moved his hand away from her chest only to kiss a trail along her skin – that insanely smooth skin he was quickly growing addicted to – until she felt him stop right above her cleavage. Her expression gained an affectionate shade when she felt him smiling against her chest, his lips resting above her still pounding heart. Allowing his smile to morph into a grin, the prince now leaned back just enough to look into her eyes.

"Know that tonight I am no god... I am only a man. And I am not even a man... I am merely a slave to my heart, and to its desire... a desire which even now delights my eyes."

Sensing her astonishment, he exhaled an amused huff and narrowed his eyes at her in jest.

"Oh, do not worry dearest... you will know what it feels like to be loved by a god. But tonight I will be gentle..."

Blushing at those words, Kara pouted at him.

"Is it really that obvious that it's my first time doing this?" she muttered.

"Your body speaks to me of your inexperience..."

"And... is that a bad thing?"

Lightly tilting his head at that question, the Æsir then smiled once more and placed a soft kiss to her collar bone.

"Why would you think that?" he asked, his lips now trailing along her skin again, on a path toward her left breast. "Love, you cannot imagine how it makes me burn with desire to know that no man has ever seen you come undone as I will see you tonight... to know that no man has ever heard his name coming from your lips as I will hear it tonight – sung on such a deliciously lewd note, dripping with ecstasy."

With his hand creeping up along the right side of her torso as he spoke, Kara found it impossible to utter a single word when his lips brushed over her nipple triggering a soft moan from her throat.

"Mm... you have a lovely voice, dearest. I shall make you sing for me all night."

Before she could even think of speaking, his hand grasped her right breast in a gentle but firm squeeze, while his mouth came crushing down around that bundle of nerves which he had been caressing with his breath until then; along with a taunting suckling motion, he grazed his teeth against the hardened peak of her breast, and his ears delighted in the sound of her mewls just as his body delighted in feeling her squirm beneath him as she grasped at his hair. Unwilling to cease his assault on her senses, his free hand soon crept downwards until he found the edge of her pants.

Given that his position forced her to keep her legs spread around him, it took no effort for him to slip his hand beneath the fabric, his fingers tentatively touching to her lower lips; and he was pleased to see that she was already so wet for him that he would have had no trouble whatsoever to slide his fingers inside. But he would not take her first time with his hand... he would use that part of his body which she had likely fantasized about in recent years. With that in mind he finally allowed her a moment of respite whilst he worked on removing his footwear as well as his pants.

Once more grasping the obstructing fabric covering her from the waist down, he ripped her pants off, along with the panties she had been wearing beneath them. Discarding them to the floor amidst his own clothing, he gave her a few seconds to simply watch him, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as she glanced over his body; he could practically feel her lust and desire growing as her eyes feasted upon the sight before her.

Ultimately reaching down he trailed his hand along her smooth stomach, taking a moment to appreciate the well toned muscles he could feel beneath her skin. She had clearly been training her body, which actually pleased him as it meant she would have more stamina than many of the women he had bedded in the past. With that serving to bring him to a state of full arousal, he settled onto his knees enjoying the sensation of her silky, warm thighs caressing his hips at the slightest movement. Grasping himself he placed the tip of his erection to her entrance, though his eyes moved to her face when he felt the shiver of her body.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

Smiling at her nod of approval, he motioned forward with his hips until she yielded and the head of his member slipped past her lower lips. Now setting his hands onto her thighs he carefully continued his motion, allowing her to feel every inch of him as he slid deeper into her. It was actually astounding and impressive to realize that she was so tight around him, that he felt his head spinning momentarily. It took only a couple of seconds before he felt that telltale frail resistance. Clenching his jaw to hold back the urge of simply slamming into her all the way to the hilt, he reached out and grasped her hands lacing their fingers together, before he ultimately pushed forward until he felt his member tearing its way through that obstructing barrier.

Allowing her to press her nails into the back of his hands, he now ceased all motion so that she could get used to the feeling of having him inside her whilst her body calmed down from the pain he could so easily see in her teary gaze. Truly he was utterly impressed that she hadn't cried out like every other virgin he had bedded before her, though the way she had bitten into her lower lip at that moment had been enough to tell him that it had indeed hurt her.

"It will never hurt like this again, dearest... you have my word." he now said, freeing one hand and wiping away her tears.

"I know..." she whispered in reply, grasping his wrist and pressing her cheek into his palm.

Right now she was really grateful that his body seemed to have retained a certain shade of cold, as it helped soothe the ache in her groin faster. Ultimately setting her gaze upon his painfully beautiful features, she managed a shy smile.

"You can move as you please, my king..." she stated whilst lightly tugging on his arm.

With a light chuckle Loki now arched his back as he kissed a trail along her skin from her chest to her neck and ultimately pressed his lips against hers, his body weighing down on her curves.

"I would have you say that all the time..."

When she opened her mouth to reply, he thrust his hips forward gaining a moan from the girl instead. His smug grin at her reaction made Kara frown at him just before she laced her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. Her victory was short lived when she felt him take control of the lip lock, pushing her head back against the soft bedding, while below his motions now became fuller and slightly picked up in speed. With the pain all but a fading memory by now, her body responded to his by reigniting that flame within her which threatened to quickly engulf and consume her entirely. Instinctively her inner walls twitched around his pulsing member, as though she was aiming to never let him pull out again.

Ultimately Loki felt his own arousal growing so much that he was unable to hold back a pleasure filled grunt, the sound slightly muffled by their kiss whilst his tongue danced passionately with hers. He was pleased that she seemed to be catching on quickly and didn't appear to be afraid of exploring her options, as he could feel by the way her hands now trailed down his back. He would have been quite disappointed, had she proven to be too shy in bed; after all, he liked a woman who didn't just lie down and take it without doing anything to please him in return. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, however, when he felt her hands going below his waist, her nails lightly tracing over his rump and sending a shiver along his spine... the sheer novelty of that sensation – given that no other woman before her had thought of doing that to him – was enough to tear a surprised moan from his chest. Parting their lips he leaned his forehead on hers and offered the girl a mischievous grin.

"I'm growing quite fond of your boldness, dearest..."

How long had it been since his voice had sounded so strained from the pleasure that was starting to choke him? He couldn't really remember, nor did he care to try too hard. Reaching down he now grasped her smooth thigh and raised her leg just above his hip, before that hand caressed her warm flesh and ultimately grasped her firm backside. Leaning back a bit so he could settle in a comfortable position, he pulled out at a torturously slow pace until only the head of his member was still inside her.

"Now... sing for me." he demanded.

At the very moment when the last word left his lips, he thrust forward with a precise motion, filling her all the way to the entrance of her womb. The way her eyes widened at that sudden surge of pleasure and the surprised but alluring moan that reached his ears were enough to paint a satisfied smile on his expression. He could see lust building up in her silvery eyes and her awareness starting to slip away leaving her prey to her instincts, and the knowledge that he was the only man who had ever seen such a gaze from her only served to further entice him. His own eyes had somewhat darkened with desire by now... he would not seek to deny that she had something which set her aside from any other woman he had ever taken to his bed; perhaps it was the courage she displayed despite knowing of his royal bloodline – whereas all others had been acting in such a humble manner that it had almost been a turn off for him – and that only worked in favor of making him want her even more.

When she tilted her head back at the pace he was now imposing on her body, Loki merely trapped her chin between his thumb and index finger, drawing her gaze back to his face.

"Look at me... I want to see the expression on your face when you come undone beneath me. I want you to see me when I fill you with my seed, so that you'll never forget who you belong to."

"Then... at least..."

Her almost breathless whisper had him lightly narrow his eyes at her before he smiled whilst he briefly halted his thrusts, allowing her to feel the way his member pulsed with desire. When he spoke, his voice had now gained a shade of coarseness that strongly reminded Kara of a growl although his mocking tone was something she had definitely not expected to hear during their intercourse.

"What? Do you want me to tell you that I love you? Do you want me to say that you are everything to me and that I hold no other dearer to my heart? Do you wish to hear me moaning your name as I have you pinned beneath me? Do you want me to shout out for everyone to hear that I will never want another woman for as long as I live? That you drive me crazy and make me crave for you in ways that I never longed for any other woman before?"

Momentarily watching her stunned expression, he inwardly chuckled as he realized that she probably believed he had only wanted her body. Leaning back until he had settled onto his knees, he allowed humor to fade from his features whilst his hands reached for hers lacing their fingers together again, so that she would not slip away from him once he resumed his pace. With his first thrust now came his voice again, his emerald gaze fixed upon her face.

"Do you believe I would bed just any ordinary woman? I would not allow just any pathetic wench to enjoy my body, no matter how beautiful she might be. Dearest, I believed you already knew all of that... it seems I have done a poor job of convincing you that you deserve to have me. So let me show you just how wonderful you are, my delicate goddess."

The only reaction Kara had time for was to tighten her hold on his slender hands before he suddenly shifted to a rough, almost needy pace that soon had her moaning so loud she was sure that the people in the nearby rooms could clearly hear her. Her back gradually arched at the growing pleasure, allowing Loki to enjoy the view of her body jolting at each of his sturdy motions.

"Oh... God..." she breathed out as her mind steadily emptied of all thought.

"I am the only god you need to know, love..." he grinned. "Now say my name..."

"Loki..." she whispered as she struggled to draw breath.

"Louder..." he ordered, with that velvety tone that always made her shudder in pleasure.

Keeping her gaze fixed on his the girl now felt her eyes filling with tears as her arousal took a turn toward climax; she barely even had any awareness left to admire the way his pale skin glistened from the thin layer of sweat covering it, almost appearing to surround him in an otherworldly glow.

"Loki!" she repeated a bit louder than before.

His mischievous smile now preceded his amused but somewhat strained voice as he finally felt that her tightness and moist warmth had brought him on the verge of release.

"Not loud enough, dearest..."

Before she could even wonder what he was up to she felt him thrusting into her violently, his groin pressed to her lower lips whilst the head of his member speared right into the back of her womb. Her orgasm took her by surprise, tearing an ecstatic, pleasure dripping scream from her chest, his name echoing off the walls and the tall ceiling. Along with her own climax, she felt his seed exploding inside her and all she could do was stare into his eyes, her mouth open in a now silent scream as she was much too choked by pleasure to be able to even draw breath, whilst her body shuddered beneath his.

Though he clenched his jaw, Loki was ultimately unable to hold back a groan of pleasure as he felt her inner muscles clenching around him and forcing his body to give her every last drop of seed that it could muster. Once he had started to descend from that peak of satisfaction, his muscles gained some slack which had him slam his hands onto the bedding next to her shoulders to keep himself from falling over her. Momentarily he was actually baffled by the fact that she had gotten him to such a climax that he felt the need to catch his breath, as displayed by the slight panting while his chest heaved just as hers.

Blinking several times to clear her teary eyes, Kara now finally regained enough awareness to grasp the reality of what had just happened. She was still too breathless to speak, but that didn't mean she couldn't smile whilst she basked in the afterglow of their unbelievable intercourse. His reaction was to settle his weight onto his forearms and lean his forehead on hers after he had moved away the strands of hair which had stuck to her face. Grinning at the feeling of her shaky hands on his skin as she wrapped her arms around his torso, the dark haired Æsir finally pecked her lips.

"Rest, dearest..." he said while sliding the back of his fingers along her cheek. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I have... to be awake early... tomorrow..."

Though her breathing had settled to some extent, her mind was slow in disengaging from that pleasant stupor it had slipped into, thus she still struggled to remember the proper words to speak.

"Then you should not have spurred me on." he retorted in jest.

Keeping silent for a minute until she was certain that she'd regained her full ability of coherent speech, Kara now frowned at him as much as she could, given that her arousal refused to die what with Loki having chosen to rest while still inside her.

"Well show me at least an ounce of consideration, as any lover is expected to do."

The way he narrowed his eyes at her as he leaned back somewhat to see her entire face, had her lightly gulp despite seeing his amused smile.

"Are you defying me?" he asked on a tone which mixed his amusement with an incredulous note.

"When last I checked, being your lover doesn't mean I'm your slave. You said you would hold me as your equal, did you not?"

The following silence again made her gulp as she tried to decipher his gaze; ultimately when he leaned back without a word and she felt him slipping out of her, she involuntarily tightened her hold on him while a sudden bout of fear erupted in her chest. Had she angered him? Offended him? Would he just retrieve his clothes and leave? Her mind only settled down from that whirlwind of questions when his chuckle reached her ears.

"Dearest, I do wish you would make up your mind." he retorted. "Do you want to rest or not?"

"And I wish you'd stop being so mysterious all the time."

Her pout was now meant to hide just how relieved she was to realize her fear had been pointless.

"Where would be the fun in that?"

His whisper in her ear was followed by the sensation of his slender arms wrapping around her. With Kara settling in his embrace, the dark haired prince now lovingly kissed her forehead.

"I'm actually impressed that you defied me..." he said while his long fingers now tangled in her hair.

"What kind of women did you have in your bed until now?" the girl retorted.

"Dearest, on Asgard I am a prince... no sane woman would defy me; some for fear that my father would chastise them, others probably for fear that I would send them to the dungeons if they refused me."

"I... suppose that makes sense..."

"Does it?" he asked on an utterly amused tone. "Your social system is utterly different, yet you say that ours makes sense?"

"There are some places on Earth like that as well... this country we're in right now, for example. They have a queen even if she probably doesn't have quite the same kind of ruling power that I'm thinking your father does. The bottom line is that I think this kind of social system is better than saying everyone is free to do whatever they want. A lot of people abuse that freedom and do all sorts of things that would probably get them killed in a place like Asgard."

"Dearest..."

Looking up into his eyes when he interrupted her speech, Kara sighted his amused smile.

"Sorry, I hadn't ranted to anyone in a while." she replied.

Chuckling softly, Loki now leaned to claim the girl's lips for a loving kiss prior to whispering.

"Sleep..."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Hotel 41, Westminster, London, U.K._

_**Date: **__March 23, 2005_

Four hours had passed since Kara had fallen asleep and Loki himself had barely slipped into a state of rest, having watched the girl until then. His respite was short-lived, however, as it was no more than half an hour later that he was awakened by a bloodcurdling scream. He had been so utterly startled by it that it took him a moment to become conscious of the fact that Kara was no longer lying at his side, but sitting next to him, covering her face with her hands. Realizing she had likely had a nightmare, the Æsir sat up as well and wrapped his arms around her trembling body.

With the last remnants of the nightmare still lingering in her mind, Kara jolted in surprise at that sensation; her brain, likely still trapped in that terrifying vision to some extent, now triggered her reflex to move away and she only really noticed that she had spoken when the sound of her own frightened voice reached her ears.

"Get away from me!"

Her already weak struggle was rendered useless when Loki tensed his arms to hold her in place.

"Hush, hush... it is I, dearest." he said softly, now stroking her hair to calm her down.

Her reaction was to stare at him for a moment, apparently shocked to see him there, before she lunged forward and latched onto him. Kissing the side of her head, the dark haired prince once more spoke.

"It was nothing more than a dream..."

"It just... felt so real..." she muttered on a shaky tone as she struggled to hold back her tears. "I keep seeing that insane grin on his face... and it scares the hell out of me."

Gently nudging her to lie down with him, Loki now took to wiping away the tears from her cheeks.

"As long as I am here, nothing can touch you." he promised. "Sleep, my love, and I will hold you through the night; I will be there in your dream world... no nightly terror shall dare attempt to frighten you again."

Minutes of silence followed his words, and just when he had started believing that Kara had finally fallen asleep again, the Æsir was startled to hear her voice whilst he felt her fingertips trailing along his left pectoral as he held her against his chest.

"You're still here..."

Arching a brow he averted his emerald gaze to her face, thinking she was saying it in jest, only to be met with the sincerity of her astonished expression.

"Of course I am still here..." he replied. "Did you believe I would slip away while you slept? Do not think of me as some pathetic Midgardian boy."

His offended tone had the effect of making the girl jolt in his arms in surprise, her eyes widening somewhat.

"That's... that's not what I meant..." she retorted, hiding her face against his smooth skin.

The faint tremble in her voice and the way she tensed her arm around his waist brought a taste of regret to his mouth, for scolding her when he knew just how that nightmare had shaken her. How did he know? He had already slithered into her mind, waiting for her to fall asleep, just as he had so many times over the years.

"Then what did you mean, dearest?" he asked, allowing his tone to soften to that particular shade he knew that she loved so much.

"Nothing..."

"Come now, you know you can't lie to me."

When she refused to reply, the prince lightly narrowed his eyes and poked around in her mind until he found what he was searching for.

"You really are a foolish girl, are you not?"

His words finally made Kara lean back to look up at him and she was astounded by the feeling of déjà-vu brought on by the expression on his face and that serious yet amused mixture in his voice.

"Dearest, I could never be upset at you for having the courage to stand up to me. Or did you believe I would prefer a coward as my woman? If I wanted you to act like a slave, I would have made it obvious that you were my servant."

Seeing the relieved shade on her face he chuckled softly and pressed a short yet loving kiss to her lips.

"Now sleep... or should I use my tricks to force you into sleeping?"

Ultimately unable to hold back from sticking her tongue out at him, Kara did now settle down in his embrace, allowing him to lull her into slumber by stroking her hair.

Loki himself slept no more that night, merely watching her and allowing his own thoughts to settle in order. While he wouldn't deny that she was indeed beautiful, he still didn't know if what he felt for her was actual love or merely a temporary infatuation. Yes, he had spoken such sweet words to her, but he had done the same with all the other women before her.

"You are foolish indeed..." he whispered, sliding the back of his fingers along her cheek as she slept. "Offering yourself to someone like me... I will end up breaking your heart, dearest."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my lovely reviewers :D

1\. **Abby **\- I'm really humbled by this wonderful review, darling. Thank you so much! I am actually planning to try and focus a bit on Kara and her actual job at S.H.I.E.L.D. after I'll get to the end of the first movie (so when she'll basically think that Loki's dead). The one year span between _Thor _and _The Avengers_ should be enough for me to be able to focus more on S.H.I.E.L.D. for a change.

I also quite enjoy building up my OCs, and having them start off as children in a story just seems more appropriate to me, because the best character buildup you can do (in my opinion) is to just have them grow up; when they start out at an adult age, it's harder to flesh them out because they already should have a certain personality. Having them start out as kids also makes them more relatable to the readers, or so I hope, because they get to see how that character ended up being as he/she is in the main part of the story. So in that, I think that letting the readers journey through life along with the OC is much better than just having them abruptly thrown into the middle of an OC's lifestyle.

But again, thank you so much for this lovely review and I hope future chapters won't disappoint you ;)

2\. **LetSparksFly **\- Thank you for this heartwarming review, hun, and I'm so happy to hear that the story caught your interest. I won't dwell too much on my reasons for having Kara start out as a child in the story, you can read that in the reply above.

I'll just say that I hope the direction I have in mind for this story will still be interesting, even when I'll have chapters in which you'll get to see parts of or entire scenes from the movies in written form. That's probably the only setback I can think of, when you insert an OC into a movie, that you have to follow the movie's story line at least to some extent, even if you take the liberty to alter various scenes and deviate them from the original ones so as to accommodate your OC into them. So I hope those scenes that will be taken straight from the movies (which will be inevitable) won't bore you too much and that it won't detract from the story's appeal.

I could have probably gone in the direction that I've seen a lot of fics going recently, namely to have some regular girl getting sucked into the Marvel universe through the TV or something like that. But I think it's better this way, and to me it seems more natural to just have an OC that was born and bred in that universe, because I think it makes her more acceptable and possibly more relatable to the readers.

But yes, thank you again for this review and don't be afraid to share your opinions on the story with me any time you see fit - that goes for **Abby** as well ;D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	6. Entry 5

Sooo my darlings... another Loki-less chapter for your enjoyment, to celebrate the fact that this story has just reached **1.000 views** in just little over two weeks since I started uploading it \\(•ㅂ•)/

**I ℒℴѵℯ❤ YOU GUYS** you're the best! ( ˘ ³˘)❤

And don't worry, lovelies, you'll get plenty of Loki later on, I promise ;)

One mention before i let you guys get on with the story... actually... yeah, just one this time xD

I'm going to introduce some of the deleted scenes from the first _Thor_ movie into my story, so for those who haven't yet watched them go to Youtube and do eeeeetttttttt! You won't regret watching them, trust me :D

But yes, onwards my brave comrades, and enjoy~ (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #5**

"_You are foolish indeed..." he whispered, sliding the back of his fingers along her cheek as she slept. "Offering yourself to someone like me... I will end up breaking your heart, dearest."_

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__November 10, 2010_

"Kara, this is ridiculous. I am ordering you to tell me what happened on that mission!"

It wasn't often that Fury got pissed enough to mistreat his desk by slamming his fists onto it, but ever since Kara had returned from that London mission with Natasha, she had changed so much that he would've been blind to not notice it. To put it simply, he could see her steadily slipping back into that depressed state she had regarded them with throughout her first two years aboard the Helicarrier.

"Nothing happened, sir... I'm perfectly fine."

"You're not fine, and you're not a good liar either."

When she crossed her arms and stubbornly looked away, Fury could swear he would have a vein pop in his head. Ultimately heaving a sigh of defeat, he picked up the file on his desk and held it out to her.

"Fine... here's your next assignment."

Sifting through the file, Kara then offered it back to him.

"I can't accept this mission."

"You're getting off this boat for a while, if I have to throw you out myself!" he growled.

When she hesitated for a moment, he straightened his posture and crossed his arms.

"You're a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent... act like one and do your damn assignments."

"Yes, sir."

With that dry retort Kara now moved to her feet and left the Director's office. Once in her room she sighed and discarded the file onto the table. Glancing around she clenched her jaw at the desolation which seemed to gnaw at her from every corner.

Five years... five years and he hadn't come to see her once. He hadn't contacted her in her dreams... he hadn't even been there when she'd woken up the next morning after that night in London. She still had the note he'd left on the table in her room; he'd said that he had some urgent business to take care of at home. Nothing else... not even _I love you_. It probably wouldn't have taken such a toll on her, if he'd at least given her some aiming point in time – no matter how distant – as to when he would be back. When would he come back? Would he even come back at all? Uncertainty was the thing which was slowly killing her on the inside...

She couldn't tell how much time had passed with her just standing in the middle of the room, while the silence slowly tightened around as if trying to choke the very life out of her. But at some point a knock on the door startled her, followed by Coulson's voice.

"Kara? Can I come in for a minute?"

His worried tone made her throat tighten; she didn't like it when she worried him... he had really been the closest thing to a father ever since she'd arrived there. Ultimately sighing, she walked to the door and pushed the command button to open it, trying her best to mentally prepare to be faced with that heart wrenching expression the male seemed to put on whenever he was concerned for her wellbeing... which wasn't by any means a rare happening.

"Can I come in?" he asked again, upon sighting the girl in front of him.

"Sure..." she replied softly, even trying a smile as she stepped aside to let him enter.

Once the door had slid to a close, she turned to face her fellow agent.

"I heard Director Fury shouting at you..."

"It was nothing, really. He keeps having this idea that something happened on that mission in London and..."

"Something did happen, Kara..." he interrupted her. "I know you don't want to talk about it and I don't want to force you to do that. But we all know something happened there; you changed after that mission."

Lowering her head in defeat, the girl then glanced to the file on her table, a painful shadow crossing her features.

"I'm fine..." she finally said. "I'll survive..."

"You don't seem to be fine." Coulson replied on a gentle tone, walking over to her and setting his hands onto her shoulders. "Kara, it's been five years since that mission and you just don't seem to get any better."

When she failed to reply, the man ultimately pulled her into an embrace, startling her as it was something he did so rarely that she could never foresee it.

"You can't hide from the world forever... eventually you'll have to go back out there again."

"No, I won't..." she retorted, trying to be stubborn.

Releasing her Coulson now lightly but reassuringly squeezed her shoulders.

"You're a good person, Kara... and good people can't stand aside while others need them. You have unique gifts; you can use them to help those who are weaker than you... to fight for those who can't fight for themselves. These gifts you have? They're not for free... you owe the world your gifts. I don't know what happened to make you fear the world, Kara, but you owe it to your mother and to yourself to not let that fear bring you to your knees."

With a warm smile, he took that moment to leave so as to let her mull over his words. Once he was gone, Kara again heaved a sigh, her gaze almost involuntarily drawn back to the file lying on her table. She still had mixed feelings about it... she didn't want to go out again; all she wanted was to lock herself in that room and just wallow in her own fear and sorrow... it would've been so much easier than to keep fighting. But at the same time she felt some tiny part of her rebelling and screaming at her to stop holing herself up on that ship; to just get over it and to just get over _him_.

Gritting her teeth, she ultimately grasped onto that budding desire to have a normal life again – at least, as normal as it could be with her job – and violently snatched the file from the table to properly examine it.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__NYU Department of Physics, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__November 20, 2010_

Trying her best to ignore the fact that all she wanted was to strangle Fury for that assignment, Kara rushed along a student filled hallway carrying a file full of papers and letters of recommendation which Coulson had gathered for her during the past ten days. Upon arriving at her destination – the physics laboratory – she waited until the students cleared the room before stepping inside.

"Good morning, are you Dr. Foster?" she smiled.

Looking up from the papers she was sifting through, the young woman returned the smile and nodded.

"Yes, may I help you?"

She didn't recall seeing the girl in any of her classes, but they'd had new students coming in after the start of the term before, so this wasn't really anything new. Grinning, Kara now stepped forward and held out her arm for a handshake.

"My name is Kara Taylor... it's an honor to meet you. I'm here for the internship..."

"Oh..." Jane replied, finally recalling why the name sounded vaguely familiar. "Oh, uhm... pull up a chair and have a seat. It's great to meet you... I was so impressed with your grades."

Doing as she had been told, Kara seated herself near the desk and handed Jane her file. She couldn't say that she was an expert in astrophysics, but at least Fury had given her a bit of time to study the subject so she wouldn't make a fool of herself. Of course, her grades and college degree had been falsified, as had been the papers and essays she had supposedly written on gravitational anomalies; the only real piece of paper in that entire file was a letter of recommendation from Erik Selvig, whom Kara had learned was Jane's close friend and mentor.

"Wow... this is... is this from Erik?" Jane suddenly perked up upon finding the letter.

"Oh, I sent Dr. Selvig my degree paper and asked him to recommend me a good internship. He was kind enough to read it and he said I should come see you."

Falling silent for a few minutes while she read through the letter, Jane then smiled with a baffled expression.

"Wow... I just... wow! I've read some letters of recommendation from Erik before, but this is just..."

Setting the letter down to calm herself, she then offered Kara a huge grin.

"I think we'll get along really well... it's going to be a pleasure working with you."

Feigning an astounded expression, Kara reached out to grasp the woman's hand and shake it again.

"You... you mean it, Dr. Foster? That's... thank you!"

"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'll show you my progress so far and get you up to date with my equipment. And I'll have enough time to review your work until then, okay?"

"Alright, have a good day Doctor."

Upon leaving the room while Jane's next class had started entering, Kara now sighed lightly and retrieved her cell phone from her jeans. Seeing as the hallways were deserted for the moment, she made her way toward the exit while switching the phone on to call Coulson.

_"Have you met with Dr. Foster?"_

"Yeah, she was... more than excited to have me on board."

_"That's great to hear."_

"Now do you mind telling me exactly _why_ I'm here, posing as an intern in a domain I barely have any knowledge on?"

_"Director Fury got an order from the Council to keep an eye on Dr. Foster. Her research could prove immensely important in the future. They want nothing to leak out to the public, if it's too... sensitive. And you're the only agent who currently looks about the same age as a college student."_

"She studies wormholes, Phil... unless you believe in aliens I don't see what all the fuss is..."

Her voice died out at those words, as she finally realized just what she was saying. Hadn't Loki told her that he came from another realm? And that there were other inhabited places in the universe? At those thoughts her throat tightened and her heart started racing so suddenly that she felt dizzy for a split second.

_"It's not about aliens, Kara..."_ Coulson replied, startling her so badly that she nearly dropped the phone. _"It's about space travel. Can you imagine if we'd be able to visit other planets?"_

"Uh... yeah, sure... sounds great..." she mumbled, her mind now trying to split itself between paying attention to Phil and her own thoughts.

Maybe she could use Jane's research to find Loki... suddenly she felt a rush of euphoria swelling up inside her chest. Now that she had a goal she no longer felt like swimming in the ocean to nowhere... she finally had land in sight.

Realizing Phil was still talking to her, she exhaled a breath unable to hold back a grin from steadily spreading onto her lips.

"Don't worry, Phil... I got this covered."

_"That's... that's great."_ Coulson replied somewhat taken aback by the sudden joy in her tone.

As he removed the phone from his ear, he felt a smile tugging at his lips. Maybe Fury had been right to force her into working again... she sounded better already.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__June 13, 2011_

"Did you get the phase-meter?"

Sighing lightly when the young girl glanced sideways, evidently wondering what the hell that was, Kara shook her head and moved toward the back of the room.

"Never mind... I'll get it."

How in the world had Jane ever accepted Darcy as her second intern, was beyond her. Granted, the girl had been the only other applicant, but still... Darcy's relationship with astrophysics was about as close as the edges of the Grand Canyon. Upon reaching her destination and retrieving the medium-sized item, she turned around only to see that Darcy had followed her.

"Soo... is this it? This toaster-looking thing?"

"Yeah, this is the phase-meter." Kara retorted with a slight smile.

She admitted that, despite not really having a clue about what they were doing there, Darcy was funny and friendly and upbeat. And she tried to help, even if sometimes she ended up causing more of a mess than before she'd offered her assistance. At least Kara herself got along with both Jane and Darcy, whereas the younger girl and the female scientist seemed to find themselves at odds quite often.

"Come on, Jane's waiting for us."

With that Kara moved back towards the staircase leading to the rooftop of their current laboratory, setting the phase-meter on a small table so full of equipment that Kara was actually astounded it could still withstand the weight.

"Thanks..."

Merely smiling at the scientist's distracted reply as Jane continued to scribble in her notepad, Kara then raised her eyes to the starry sky. A mere few moments later, the silver-speckled darkness began to light up in a fantastic dance of pale green and light blue shades. While it wasn't the first time she had seen such an event since working with Jane, Kara still found it to be astonishing on each occasion.

"Jane... it's happening again..."

Grinning, the young woman moved to her feet and rushed over to the laptop set on the table, hooking the phase-meter to it and watching as it recorded the data on the event.

"Right on time. Look... see this accentuated curve? It's the same as the last five recordings."

Ultimately willing herself to tear her gaze away from the beauty of the sky above, Kara glanced over to the monitor while Darcy tried to make it seem as though she understood the images on the laptop.

"The intensity seems to be the same as well..." she replied, pointing to one of the many numbers on screen.

"That's it, I'm calling Erik... he needs to get down here and see this."

Despite it being well past midnight, Jane fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her mentor's number.

"Hi, Erik... sorry I'm calling so late. You really need to come see this stuff; we've had six phenomena until now, all of them identical. I really, really want your opinion on this. So call me tomorrow and let me know when you can get here. Bye."

Hanging up once her voice message had been delivered, she returned to examining the images with the kind of excited grin a child would display at an amusement park. Her enthusiasm and unshakable belief that there was _something else_ out there were the traits Kara had found most endearing about her.

"The duration keeps varying, though..." Jane suddenly said while her smile diminished to some extent.

"Well if your theory's right and these events really are... means of transportation for someone, or something... maybe that's the whole explanation of it."

Smiling at the woman's slightly puzzled expression Kara once more glanced to the sky while the lights began to fade.

"Think about it, Jane. If these... beings... or whatever they are... if they all originate from the same planet, and they're traveling to other worlds... who's to say all the worlds are equally distant from their own? Naturally, some journeys would take longer than others, wouldn't they?"

"You really believe we can find other intelligent beings out there?"

Glancing to the scientist in some surprise at the sudden softness in her tone, Kara again smiled.

"Yeah..."

She hadn't told Jane about Loki or about anything he had revealed to her over the years; just as she hadn't spoken to anyone else about him. But she found nothing wrong with encouraging Jane to continue her research, because it suited her own goal to finally be able to contact the dark haired god who had made her life so wonderful and so horrible at the same time.

"You're pretty sure about that..."

Having almost forgotten that Darcy was even there, Kara barely held back from jolting in surprise at the sound of the girl's voice.

"Well, everyone needs something to believe in... it's what keeps people going." she chuckled.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Abby **\- First things first... NAILED IT :D (sorry, bad pun xD) I'm so glad you needed a shower after that chapter. It's been quite a while since I wrote any lemons and it's great to hear I still got it in me to write scenes like that, that are actually enjoyable for readers.

Second, I'm so happy you're excited about the idea of the love triangle. It's actually my first time trying something like this, so I can't promise it'll come out perfectly. I can promise, however, that I'll do my best to get over my own bias and give both girls equal shots at winning Loki over to their side. Oh and here's a bit of a teaser for you and all the other lovelies... at some point I might get one more character dragged into this whole Kara-Loki-Vanya affair, but I'm still contemplating that, since it would take some work to make it seem plausible ;)

Thirdly, have you ever considered being a beta reader? I wouldn't mind having a beta's help for this story and I get the feeling you'd do a good job of it. Normally I would've asked you in PM, but since your reviews are written from a guest account, I can't PM you here. Also, no worries about the late reply, I'm quite a night bird myself. In fact, most of what I uploaded for this story so far was written at night xD

But yes, thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter too, darling; it really means the world to me when my readers actually take the time to let me know if they liked/disliked what I uploaded. Sooo give it a thought regarding my suggestion and let me know (either here or on my Twitter) if you'd like to be my _partner in crime_ ;D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	7. Entry 6

You wanted more Loki? You got it, lovelies~ ;)

This chapter will also be the intro for my other OC, namely the Elf princess Vanya. Hope you guys will like her about as much as Loki does :D

Just one short mention. Since the Noanheim (or however it's spelled) they keep mentioning in the movies doesn't actually exist as a realm in the list I found in mythology, I have replaced it wherever it's mentioned with other realms that are actually in that list of nine worlds.

Now enjoy, darlings~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #6**

_"Well, everyone needs something to believe in... it's what keeps people going."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__July 03 / 04, 2011_

Six years... six long, torturously lengthy years... sometimes even he couldn't believe it had already been that long since his last visit to Midgard. He could have blamed his father for sending him along with Thor each time there was even the tiniest skirmish in one of the other realms; he could have blamed Thor for dragging him along on his numerous secret escapades – although, had he not been there, the blond god along with their friends would have surely died on several occasions. But ultimately, he knew that he too had wanted to go on all those missions... his mischievous streak would not have given him any peace of mind, had he stayed at home.

Gritting his teeth at those unwelcome thoughts, the dark haired Æsir stepped away from the terrace of his chambers, intending to retrieve his helmet which would complete his official attire. The reason for him to be all dressed up? It was the big day Asgard had been expecting for some years... the day when Thor would finally be crowned king.

In all honesty, he had no desire to partake in what promised to be another long, utterly boring celebration; he had fancied the idea of sneaking back to Midgard... maybe to bring Kara back with him. The only thing to deter him from that decision, however, was the knowledge of how his father would react at seeing the girl.

It was quite hypocritical, actually... for the Allfather to claim that they were just like humans – in the sense that they were not immortal – but at the same time to consider humans as such lowly creatures that he would issue a law to forbid any mortal from setting foot in Asgard. Granted, he himself was being quite hypocritical as well, given that the only human he truly cared for was Kara; he really could not care less if all the other humans burned to death and filled the halls of Hel to the brim, so long as the one he was interested in would survive.

That circle of contemplation he had slipped into, whilst trailing his fingers along the smoothly polished top of his helmet, was only broken when he heard the door opening and looked up to see Frigga.

"You look worried, mother." he smiled lightly. "Is everything alright?"

"Have you seen Thor anywhere?"

"He's probably at the training grounds... he goes there whenever he's nervous. I will send a guard to retrieve him."

Curving her lips into a warm smile, the queen offered a nod.

"Very well... he'd better not be late for his own coronation. And you should not be late either; the guests have all arrived."

Chuckling softly at her mock-scolding tone, he finally retrieved his helmet and moved to follow her out of the room.

"I'll go speak to one of the guards." he replied, kissing her cheek before he started along the hallway whilst placing the helmet onto his head.

Yes, he was faced with what would be a long, tedious day, but fortunately he had prepared a bit of fun to spice things up... oh, he was _truly_looking forward to that.

OoOoO

"Nervous, brother?"

Glancing to the bulky male standing next to him, Loki lightly smiled at Thor's somewhat forced laughter.

"Have you ever known me to be nervous?" he asked, looking to the younger prince.

"Well there was that time in Muspelheim..." Loki retorted humorously.

"That was not nerves, brother; that was the rage of battle."

"Oh, I see..."

"How else could I have fought my way through a hundred warriors and pulled us out alive?"

Faking a puzzled frown, the God of Mischief now spoke again.

"Uh... as I recall, I was the one who veiled us in smoke to ease our escape."

"Yes, some do battle, others just intrigues." Thor laughed again.

Before Loki could smile at that jesting jab and retort with one of his own, the servant who had approached them to bring Thor another goblet of wine failed to contain his chuckle, drawing the green eyed god's attention to him. With a wave of his hand, he smiled as he watched the servant drop the goblet in fright when the wine turned into snakes which now slithered on the floor.

"Loki... that was just a waste of good wine." Thor stated in some disappointment.

"That was just a bit of fun." the younger sibling replied innocently.

Waving his hand again he dispersed the snakes into smoke, grinning again as the frightened servant rushed to pick up the goblet and retreat hastily, even Thor soon failing to contain his amusement anymore. With one of the guards approaching to offer Thor his winged helmet, Loki again sighted the nervousness settling in on his brother's features.

"Mm... nice feathers..." he said, in an attempt to once more ease Thor's mood.

"You don't really want to start this again, do you... cow?" Thor chuckled, again turning to face his brother.

"I was being sincere..."

"You are incapable of sincerity."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

For a moment they simply stared at each other, after that exchange of playful jabs, until Loki's grin settled into a warm smile.

"I've looked forward to this day as long as you have. You're my brother and my friend. Sometimes I'm envious, but never doubt that I love you."

His words had the effect he was hoping for, when Thor's own features softened away from humor and he felt the Thunder God's large hand settling against the side of his neck over the armored collar.

"Thank you."

"Now give us a kiss."

"Stop it..." the blond Æsir chuckled again.

Once more turning to face the stairs before them that led to the doorway through which they were supposed to enter the throne room, Thor again started fiddling with his helmet.

"Really, how do I look?" he asked.

Glancing to him, Loki briefly contemplated whether to offer a jesting reply but ultimately settled for a more serious one, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly entirely sincere.

"Like a king..."

It was a well kept secret that Loki considered Thor to be about as ready to be king, as a child was ready to wield a sword. Even Fandral would have made a better king than Thor, and that was saying something regarding the young prince's opinion on his elder brother. Inwardly shaking his head to discard those thoughts, Loki took a deep breath whilst silence again lingered between them.

"It's time."

"You go ahead..."

Offering a surprised look to his brother at that reply, the dark haired prince watched as Thor motioned him toward the stairs with his hammer.

"I'll be along, go on."

OoOoO

"Speaking of challenges... has anyone seen Loki?"

Fandral's sudden question had his three friends perk up, as they stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the throne, waiting for the reception to end so that the coronation ceremony could begin.

"He'd better not be up to any of his pranks today..." Volstagg muttered. "I'm too hungry to put up with his antics."

"There he is." Hogun stated moments later, pointing to the young prince who had just entered the hall.

"And there _she_ is..." Sif retorted in amusement at the sight of a female approaching him.

"Oh, for goodness' sake... that woman is unbearable." Fandral stated much to his friends' surprise. "Even Loki doesn't deserve that."

When Fandral actually complained about a woman being unbearable, it was definitely something to take note of, given the young swordsman's... affection... toward young maidens. Near the entrance Loki himself had just greeted one of the nobles gathered there, when his eyes widened at the sensation of a pair of arms latching onto his left one.

"Oh, when will you run away with me?"

Gritting his teeth at the female voice, he plastered a charming smile onto his lips before turning to glance at the redheaded Elf now hanging from his arm.

"My dear that would be a most unwise decision... your parents would never forgive me."

Again his jaw clenched when he caught the sound of several female nobles whispering among themselves at the rather improper sight.

"How many times must I tell you that I don't care what my parents say?" she retorted with a frown, tightening her hold on his arm.

Biting back an exasperated sigh, the dark haired Æsir instead allowed his expression to drift away from humor somewhat.

"Vanya, so long as your parents do not agree, I will have nothing to do with being your lover. I will not risk the good relations between Alfheim and Asgard turning bad, simply to sate my own needs." he replied on a low but stern tone.

Sure, he wasn't entirely sincere... he couldn't really care any less about the good relations between the two realms. But at this point he was willing to invoke any reason whatsoever to refuse her, in the hopes of making her release him.

Really, how the heck had he gotten himself into this situation, where he had to count on her parents' continued refusal to let her do as she pleased? Granted, she was a skilled seductress... he assumed that was how she had conned him into her bed in the first place. He would not deny that she was beautiful and attractive, and that her own mischievous streak was highly appealing.

But then she had shown her true colors during his recent visit with Thor and their friends to her home realm... and he had decided – upon understanding that she was trying to manipulate him – to accept her challenge and prove that he wasn't someone to be taken lightly; that he couldn't be controlled in the way she wanted to control him.

And when he had seen that she could so easily make him succumb to her, he had given it a second thought; somehow it felt as if he was getting in over his head and if there was a trait he was most proud of, that was his habit of always being cautious and not biting off more than he could chew. By the time he had tried to reconsider, however, it was already too late... she had become so infatuated with him that he hadn't been able to get rid of her, no matter what he had tried. He had even gone so far as to ask for Fandral's help in the matter, but not even the womanizing swordsman had been able to get her off his back.

And he had understood then, much to his irritation, that he had indeed forsaken caution that time around... he had indeed gotten in over his head. Now, he could only hope that he would manage to think a way out, hopefully without any repercussions for himself.

"And since when do you care about politics?"

Her retort startled him as he had been slipping into that contemplative circle, almost attempting to just block her out in the hopes that she would go away. Before he could reply, however, she pressed herself to his arm and her frown melted into a tempting smile that caught him off guard.

"How about you show me around the gardens instead? Or you could show me around your chambers. I'm bored out of my mind here..." she whispered on the same sweet tone she had first used to seduce him.

As he stared at her utterly speechless, Loki suddenly became painfully aware of her whole being, from her fair features and rosy lips, to the breasts she was currently pressing against his arm. And, much to his chagrin, he found his mind fancying more and more the idea of just slipping away with her and indulging his lust. It was precisely this ability of hers to so easily ensnare him – even if he did sometimes manage to rid himself of her strings before she could fully tie him down – that intrigued him and attracted him to her.

"Loki..."

His body jolted in surprise at the female voice calling out to him and he tore his gaze from Vanya's to see Frigga standing a few steps away from them, a rather consternated expression on her face. Instantly he felt the princess releasing him and had to bite back a sigh of relief, inwardly thanking his mother for the unexpected rescue. When the queen extended an arm as a sign for him to follow her, he nodded to Vanya whilst forcing a light smile onto his lips, and eagerly stepped after Frigga.

"What in the world were you doing, Loki?" she scolded him once they had reached a more secluded part of the hall.

"Forgive me, mother..." he replied humbly, in an attempt to appease her. "Vanya was simply telling me how much she misses having Thor and me around."

His dark brow arched in surprise when the queen shook her head.

"That's not what I meant."

When he narrowed his eyes quizzically and cocked his head to the side, Frigga briefly glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot of them before grasping his arm and pulling him even closer to the wall.

"She was attempting to seduce you."

"Mother..." he began with a slight smile.

Frigga's finger pointed at his face, however, rendered him silent mid-sentence.

"Do not lie for her sake, Loki... that was highly improper; to do such a thing in front of everyone. I should go speak to her father about this."

Grasping the woman's hand and kissing it, he once more smiled.

"You're right, mother... I should have been more cautious. Please forgive me and don't trouble king Freyr over such small matters, so soon after his father's death."

Ultimately he had to bite back a relieved sigh when the queen nodded, in spite of her still displeased expression.

"You should go speak to Thor, he was quite nervous when I left him." he suggested, hoping with all his being that she would be distracted from the current subject.

"Alright..." she finally smiled.

Watching her as she departed, the dark haired Æsir allowed his own smile to fade; he would definitely need to have a serious talk with Vanya about proper behavior in public. Sighting the young woman watching him from across the hall, he instead walked toward the throne where Sif and the Warriors Three were standing.

"When are you going to marry her?" Fandral asked in jest, as the younger prince approached.

Arching a brow at that inquiry, Loki then smiled somewhat sarcastically.

"When I see fit to do so." he retorted.

"Don't play with women's hearts, Loki..." Sif warned him. "You might live to regret it."

"Dearest Sif, I am truly honored that you care so deeply for me."

Although she rolled her eyes at his jesting reply, even Sif couldn't fully hide a smile at his charming tone.

"I should cut out that silver tongue of yours." she retorted in jest.

Stepping past the woman, Loki then halted and leaned to her.

"I am sure I can oblige in other ways, if you want me to use my tongue on you." he whispered in her ear.

The sight of Sif clenching her jaw while she struggled to control the blush rising in her cheeks had him chuckle, in spite of the murderous glare she threw his way.

OoOoO

Wrong... that whole day had gone so incredibly... terribly... _horribly_ wrong that Loki still hoped it was all just a bad dream.

During the coronation ceremony, his prank had finally begun when Odin interrupted his speech as he sensed a few Jötuns in the weapons' vault. With the Destroyer doing its job and eliminating them, Loki had believed it would all remain as a bit of fun for him and a good scare for everyone else. But then the inevitable had happened... and everything had gone rolling downhill in a horrendous avalanche, concluding in a way he could not have foreseen even in his darkest dreams.

What had happened?

Thor had been outraged at the idea of Jötuns breaking into Asgard unseen by Heimdall, and of course Loki had not been stupid enough to reveal that he knew a secret path in and out of the realm. Afterwards he had attempted to talk to Thor and calm him down, only to have the Thunder God decide to drag him and their friends to Jötunheim, in order to demand answers from Laufey.

The result?

They would have all died, had Odin not come to their rescue; Jötunheim now considered the peace treaty void and had declared open war on Asgard and all the other realms; and Odin had been so enraged by that, that he had banished Thor to Midgard, stripped of his powers. Normally Loki would have been elated that – despite being the actual cause of all this madness – he had not been the one blamed for it, but at the same time he had not lied in saying that he loved his brother.

And on top of all that, his head was brimming with questions and ideas, some far worse than the others, as he stared at his left hand whilst standing in one of the healing rooms where Fandral and Volstagg were recovering from their wounds. Normally, he too should have been recovering from frostbites like Volstagg; but when that Jötun had grabbed his arm and shattered his armor, his flesh had not frozen, instead turning a deep blue just like the giant's own skin. At times he truly hated his analytic mind which now didn't give him any peace, but kept conceiving all sorts of scenarios.

"We should never have let him go..." Volstagg suddenly said, drawing Loki out of his thoughts.

"There was no stopping him." Sif retorted with a sigh.

"At least he's only banished, not dead..." Fandral replied. "Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we were."

"How did the guard even know?" Volstagg asked.

"I told him..." Loki finally stated.

"What?"

"I told him to go to Odin after we'd left. He should be flogged for taking so long... we should never have reached Jötunheim."

"You told the guard?"

Despite the traces of tears still lingering in his eyes, Loki's reply came on an offended tone at the ingratitude they were displaying.

"I saved our lives... and Thor's. I had no idea father would banish him for what he did." he snapped back.

"Loki... you must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind." Sif pleaded.

"And if I do, then what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. He's arrogant, he's reckless, he's dangerous... you saw how he was today! Is that what Asgard needs from its king?"

Leaving the hall without waiting for a reply, he went directly to his chambers. Upon entering, however, he was almost startled out of his skin as he moved into the bedroom to find Vanya lying on the silky black covers.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, still annoyed by his recent conversation.

Narrowing her eyes in amusement at his irritation, she crossed her legs allowing the skirt to slide aside, revealing part of her thigh.

"Your mother asked my parents to spend the night here..."

"Then you should be in your own chambers."

Briefly tightening her lips in annoyance that he seemed to be playing hard to get that time around, she now moved to her feet and walked over to him.

"I like yours better..." she whispered seductively, her lips brushing against his jaw.

"I'm not in the mood for you." he warned, frowning dangerously at the she-Elf.

"But I'm in the mood for you, my love..."

Momentarily his eyes widened when she shoved her hand in between his legs, grabbing at his crotch. Gritting his teeth at the spark of arousal she instilled in him, the dark haired Æsir now grasped her arm and pulled her off him, throwing her back onto the bed only to find that she refused to let go of him, the inertia dragging him along and forcing him to bend over.

"Don't play with me!" he ordered, now looking down at her.

"What has you in such a bad mood?" she asked melodiously, still trying to con him into doing as she wanted.

When her hand started creeping along his armored torso, trying to find its way back to his waist, he grabbed it and pinned it onto the bedding.

"My beloved brother almost got me killed today." he growled again, baring his teeth at her.

The next thing he knew, her hand settled onto the back of his neck while she forcefully pulled him into a kiss, and her legs wrapped around his waist, the weight overwhelming what was left of his balance until he lost his footing and fell over her onto the bed.

"Then let out all that anger with me..." she whispered, panting alluringly in his ear.

A grin stretched onto her lips at the sound of his defeated sigh and the sensation of his armor fading to nothingness. Finally... that night promised to be much less boring than the day before it.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **CaptainBrieOnToast** \- Darling I cannot tell you how happy and humbled I am that you took the time to leave a little review for each chapter so far. I'll try to address all of them in this reply ;)

First, I am so happy to hear that you're a responsible young lady and didn't read the smutty parts because you're too young for that. I've always been a bit bothered by the fact that the website doesn't provide a way for the authors to censor that sort of chapters in their stories and make them available only to adults. Or maybe I'm just more of an "old timer" in mind and consider that excessive sexuality isn't meant for kids. But anyway...

Secondly I am really delighted to hear that you like the story so much already. And this is just the beginning, there are plenty more neat things to come in future chapters ;D

Thirdly, the previous chapter is actually still set pre-Thor, that all happens before Jane actually found Thor in the desert. I do hope the following chapters won't feel boring, I promise I'll try to keep the conversion of movie scenes into writing to a minimum and only take from them what's necessary for the story. Also, Kara may or may not die at the end of the story, I'm still debating on that even if I already have a sequel in mind. So it's not yet certain that she will actually die, we'll just have to wait and see how the story flows ;)

Anyway, you have nothing to apologize about. Seeing my readers getting excited and rambling about my story gets me excited as well and provides me with a good supply of energy and desire to keep working on the story and give back the love I get from all my wonderful readers. So thank you for all your lovely reviews, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one, it'll be coming as soon as possible :)

2\. **Abby **\- Darling you have no idea how happy you made me by agreeing to be my accomplice in driving Loki crazy ;) Really, it means so much to me that you're willing to dedicate some of your time to help me with this story. I'll never be able to repay you as you deserve, although I'm hoping the story itself (and the fact that you'll get to read each chapter before anyone else sees it) will be a decent form of payment.

As for how we should go about this, it's a bit complicated. I wouldn't want you to share you email in a review where everyone can see it. There are a lot of creeps on the internet, I've had dealings with plenty of them even here. I think the simplest way would be if you would register an account here on so we could talk in private messages and share emails there. Another option would be for you to contact me on Twitter where I could give you my email in a private message.

So thank you for the review and for agreeing to help me in my little endeavor. I'm really looking forward to working (and brainstorming) with you, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	8. Entry 7

Darlings, I do hope you won't find this chapter too boring; we've arrived at the line where the original parts of my story will start mixing with scenes from the film, so you might recognize a lot of dialogue and setups from the movie. I really hope it won't make the story too boring for you to enjoy, but I have been warning you guys that it will get to this point, soooo proceed at your own risk xD

But enough ranting, enjoy lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #7**

_Finally... that night promised to be much less boring than the day before it._

oOo

_**Location: **__Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__July 04, 2011_

"Can I turn on the radio?"

Darcy's utterly bored voice actually had Kara agreeing with her, albeit internally – she wouldn't say it out loud, since she didn't want Jane chewing her head off.

"No." Jane retorted in annoyance.

She and Erik were standing in the van, watching the sky, while Kara was seated on the roof of the vehicle as they waited for the next occurrence which she and Jane had predicted would take place that night.

"Wait for it..." Jane muttered when Erik shot her a distrustful glance.

"Jane, you can't keep doing this."

"The last seventeen occurrences have been predicted down to the second." she retorted, sitting back down and scouring through her notes.

"Jane... you're an astrophysicist, not some storm chaser."

"I'm telling you, there's a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and my research."

When the male looked up to Kara, seeking back up in his attempt to dissuade the young Doctor, the girl shook her head.

"We're not crazy, Erik... everything happened by a set pattern until now."

At those last words she raised her worried gaze to the starry sky inwardly praying that something... _anything_... would happen to prove that she and Jane weren't making it all up.

"Erik I wouldn't have asked you to fly out here, if I wasn't absolutely sure." Jane insisted.

"Jane..." Kara suddenly said, knocking on the van rooftop. "Come look at this..."

Alerted by the urgency in her tone, the scientist and her mentor both averted their eyes back to the sky which was now lit in wavy shades of green.

"I thought you said it was a subtle aurora..." Erik retorted, when they realized that the lights were taking shape and converging toward the ground not far from their current location.

"It was..." Kara replied, staring in shock at the unusual occurrence. "Up till now..."

In a sudden bout of frenzy, Jane practically threw herself into the seat next to Darcy who was their unofficial driver, while Kara leapt inside the van just when the young girl started the engine.

"Go!" Jane shouted, retrieving her camera to film the storm. "Get closer..."

"Right, good one." Darcy retorted ironically.

"Go!"

Upon approaching, however, the vortex hit the ground causing a massive sandstorm much like a tornado.

"Jane...? I think this is close enough..." Kara said, hoping the young woman hadn't actually lost her mind.

What's more, she didn't fancy revealing her abilities to them, although if it came to the need to save their lives, she would have to.

"I am not dying for six college credits!" Darcy shouted, trying to steer the van clear of the whirlwind.

"What are you doing?" Jane retorted, grabbing the wheel and fighting with Darcy over it, trying to drive the van straight into the storm.

"Jane, let go of the wheel!" Kara finally shouted out. "You'll get us all killed!"

Their quarrel came to an abrupt end, however, when they drove into the storm and suddenly ran a guy over. The first to recover from the shock was Kara who jumped out of the van, now that the storm was dying out, rushing over to the man lying on the sand.

"Do me a favor and don't be dead..." Jane muttered, following her.

"I think that was legally your fault!" Darcy complained.

"Get the first aid kit!"

While the young physicist was quarreling with her intern, Kara now took a moment to examine the young man they had hit with the van. At least he seemed to be alright, albeit only dizzy likely from the impact which had cracked one of the van's windows. Her attempt to latch onto his mind and try to find out who he was were rendered useless when he stood and started walking around them, startling her out of her concentration.

"Where did he come from?" Jane asked, apparently having finally grasped the situation.

Her focus was soon drawn to the pattern left in the sand by the storm, however, and she hurried to her knees taking out a pen and her notebook.

"Oh my God, Erik, look at this... we have to move quickly before this all changes." she said, trying to copy the pattern onto paper.

"Jane, we have to take him to the hospital..." Erik protested.

"Father!" Thor shouted, looking up to the night sky.

"He's fine, look at him."

"Heimdall! I know you can hear me, open the Bifrost!"

His words ultimately compelled Jane to look back at him.

"Hospital... you go... I'll stay."

When he whirled around to face Kara who had been staring in shock at him, upon realizing he came from Asgard, she jolted and nearly fell on her back when he pointed to her.

"You there, what realm is this? Alfheim? Vanaheim?"

"New Mexico?" Darcy retorted, pointing the taser at him.

"You dare threaten me, Thor, with so puny a weapon?"

The moment he took a step forward, however, Darcy fired the taser and the shock rendered him unconscious.

"What?" she asked when the other three stared at her in shock. "He was freaking me out!"

"Hel... help me put him in the van..." Erik muttered, moving to his feet.

For the following ten minutes he and Darcy struggled to drag Thor to the vehicle and get him in.

"Next time you decide to taser someone, make sure he's already in the car, okay?" he scolded.

OoOoO

"You don't think this was just a magnetic storm, do you?"

Looking from the window to Erik who had spent the whole afternoon discussing the occurrence with Jane – after they had all managed to drag themselves out of bed following a sleepless night – Kara sighed lightly and made a mental note to never sleep just two hours again. Her mind was moving in slow motion to such an extent that even the others' words were registered in her brain with some delay. Her body felt heavy, as though she was carrying a sack of rocks on her back and her eyes were protesting at the bright light of day, making her feel as if she was hung-over or drugged.

"Look..." Jane retorted. "The lensing around these edges... it's characteristic of an Einstein-Rosen bridge."

"A what?" Darcy asked.

"I thought you were a science major..." Erik retorted.

"Political science."

"She was the only other applicant..." Jane explained.

When Erik began explaining the whole theory on the bridge, Kara sighed again with an amused huff.

"It's a wormhole..." she said, interrupting Erik's speech.

Seizing the moment, Jane approached the male with a picture taken of the night sky from within the vortex.

"Look... what do you see?"

"Stars..." he replied.

"Yeah, but not our stars. See, this is the star alignment for our quadrant this time of year." she said, picking up another picture. "And unless Ursa Minor decided to take a day off, these are someone else's constellations."

Meanwhile Kara and Darcy were now examining the board where they had lined up all the pictures Kara had managed to snap with her camera.

"Hey, check this out..." Darcy suddenly said, pointing to a specific picture.

Approaching them, Jane and Erik stared in shock at the human shaped shadow inside the storm.

"No, it can't be..." Erik muttered, utterly stunned.

"I think I left something at the hospital." Jane retorted.

"You guys go ahead... I wanna cross some data reference." Kara said, heading to the table.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on. I'll be right here when you get back."

Once they had left, she again approached the photo board to examine that picture. There was no doubt that whoever or whatever was in that picture had the same body build as the guy they had found in the desert; it seemed to be the same height and even the hair seemed to be of the same length.

"Who the hell are you?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes with a heavy sigh.

Having heard him talk about himself as _Thor_ had definitely gotten her mind reeling; was it truly possible that this guy was the brother Loki had told her about? She also knew she was way overdue with her latest report, but she couldn't just tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about that male before she got to talk to him properly and find out if he was insane or...

Her throat dried up at that thought; what if he was the _real_ Thor? He had called out to Heimdall to open the Bifrost, but no answer had come. Had something happened, for him to end up on Earth? Not to mention he looked nothing like what she had imagined the God of Thunder to be.

Seating herself when her head started spinning again from that incoherent mass of ideas mixed with her general fatigue from lack of sleep, she once again sighed and looked to the picture. She could only try to settle her mind down and wait until Jane and the others returned with their mysterious visitor, so that she could hopefully get some time alone with him and seek some answers.

OoOoO

"What is this?"

The frown on Kara's face soon faded off when amidst the males invading the laboratory she spotted Coulson.

"Phil... what's going on?"

"We need all the research Dr. Foster gathered... we have a situation out in the desert."

His reply jolted her out of that hazy, semi-drunk state and instantly kicked her brain in full awareness. Had they seen last night's occurrence? It was possible that the Helicarrier would have been floating somewhere nearby; its stealth mode made it undetectable, after all.

"What... what do you mean?" she asked, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"Well, we found something that doesn't really look like it comes from anywhere on Earth. We need her research to try and find out what it is... is this all of it?"

"Uh... yeah, but... what about Jane? This is her life's work... you can't just steal it all."

"We're borrowing it; we'll give it back to her as soon as we figure out what that thing is."

Smiling lightly when she relaxed and nodded, the agent then proceeded to dish out orders to his men, urging them to take the utmost caution and not damage any of the equipment while moving it. They were almost done when Jane and the others arrived back at the laboratory.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Ms. Foster, I'm agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D." Phil replied.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me? You can't do this!"

When she tried to rush over and stop one of the agents, however, Erik ran after her and wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place.

"Jane! Jane, this is a lot more serious than you realize... let it go." he whispered.

"Let it go? This is my life! I... Kara, say something!"

Looking from Jane's pleading expression to Phil's resigned smile, she then approached the young scientist.

"Erik's right, Jane... this isn't something you can handle. Don't get into trouble with these guys, you have no idea what could happen."

Momentarily she spotted a suspicious spark in Jane's eyes, likely triggered by her warning tone.

"We're investigating a security threat." Coulson said, trying to draw Jane's attention before she could start questioning Kara's cover. "We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data."

"By _appropriate_ do you mean steal?" she snapped back at him.

Reaching into his coat he withdrew a check and handed it to her.

"Here... this should more than compensate you for your trouble."

"I can't just buy replacements, I made most of this equipment myself!"

"Then I'm sure you can do it again."

"And I'm sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!"

Looking between them as neither relented, Kara actually found herself slightly amused by the exchange of jabs, despite feeling sincerely sorry for Jane going through this.

"I'm sorry Ms. Foster, but we're the good guys." Coulson said in the end.

"I'm on the verge of understanding something extraordinary! And everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book and you can't just take that away."

At her words one of the agents snatched the notepad from her grasp and threw it into the last van filled with equipment. Again, Erik had to intervene and stop Jane from attacking the agent before she got herself in real trouble.

"Thank you for your cooperation..." Coulson stated on a somewhat awkward tone.

Mere moments after they had left the laboratory, Kara felt her cell phone buzzing in the pocket of her jeans. Fishing it out she sighted a text from Phil, telling her to meet him at the edge of town the following evening without raising suspicion.

"Easy for you to say..." she muttered to herself while Erik led Jane back into the now empty lab to calm her down.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__July 05, 2011_

"I asked him to be honest with you from the beginning... there should be no secrets in family."

Raising his gaze from the bed where Odin was lying, Loki set his emerald eyes upon Frigga who was sitting on the other side. So much had happened just that morning, and he still had trouble grasping the reality of it all.

By the time he had woken up – fortunately with a much clearer mind than the previous night – and basically chased Vanya out of his chambers, he had figured out a way to test his suspicions. Therefore, he had visited the weapons' vault and particularly the casket Odin had taken from Jötunheim so many centuries before. And then everything had fallen apart... all the beautifully weaved walls of lies that the Allfather had surrounded him with.

When Odin had found him there, Loki had insisted until the king had finally told him the truth... not only was he not their real son, he was in fact a Jötun himself – Laufey's child, whom Odin had taken as a baby from Jötunheim, along with the casket. The only thing to settle his rage had been the shock of seeing Odin falling into the Odinsleep right in front of him.

And now here he was, watching at the bedside of the very man he had called _father_ for so long... the very man who had lied to him all his life.

"So why did he lie?" he finally asked, in reply to his mother's words.

"He kept the truth from you so that you would never feel different. You are our son, Loki... and we, your family. You must know that..."

When the dark haired prince lowered his gaze back to Odin, the queen's expression took on a sorrowful shade. She had known the day would come when Loki would find out the truth; she had thought she would be prepared for it, but to see such pain in his eyes was heart wrenching.

"You can speak to him..." she said encouragingly. "He can hear us even now."

"How long will it last?"

"I don't know... this time it's different. We were unprepared..."

"I'll never get used to seeing him like this... the most powerful being in all nine realms, lying helpless until his body is restored."

"He's put it off for so long, now, that I fear..."

When Loki fell silent, the queen again looked to him.

"You're a good son. We mustn't lose hope that your father will return to us... and your brother."

"What hope is there for Thor?"

"There's always a purpose to everything your father does. Thor may yet find a way home..."

Once more choosing silence, Loki now stood to leave the chamber only to halt when the doors opened and he sighted a row of guards kneeling to him. His first thought had been that someone had somehow figured out that he had brought the Jötuns into Asgard, but what followed was Odin's closest servant bearing Gungnir, the king's spear. When the male knelt and offered the spear to him, Loki stared at him in shock before turning to his mother with a bewildered expression.

"Thor is banished..." she said. "The line of succession falls to you. Until Odin awakens, Asgard is yours."

Again turning to face the servant, he reached out to grasp the weapon and slowly his expression morphed into a smile.

"Make your father proud... my king..." Frigga said softly.

OoOoO

"Allfather, we must speak with you urgently."

Sighting Sif and the Warriors Three approaching, Loki now leaned back on the throne and waited for them to raise their gazes. He had seen off Vanya and her parents just minutes before, and was hoping that the Elf king would not succumb to his daughter's pleas of letting her marry Loki now that he was king of Asgard. The last thing he needed was a wife... what he did need, however, was a way to ensure that his reign would not be temporary. _Until Odin awakens_, Frigga had said... well, he would simply have to make sure Odin did not wake up anymore.

Barely biting back a laugh at the sight of the shocked expressions on his friends' faces, he now chose to speak, albeit on a slightly sarcastic tone.

"My friends..."

"Where's Odin?" Fandral asked as the four rushed to approach the throne.

"Father has fallen into the Odinsleep... mother fears he may never awaken again."

"We would speak with her." Sif replied.

"She has refused to leave my father's bedside. You can bring your urgent matter to me."

Standing as he said that, he allowed the spear to hit the floor lightly, the sound echoing into the immense hall's arched ceiling, making it sound much more powerful and imposing than it should have – a sound fit for the greatness of the weapon which had caused it.

"Your king." he finished the statement on a stern tone.

If there was one thing he would definitely not accept, it was to have those four ungrateful bastards question his right to rule. Glancing to one another, the group was finally compelled to kneel before him despite their suspicion that Loki had usurped the throne taking advantage of Odin's absence.

"My king..." Sif now said, on a slightly mocking tone. "We would ask that you end Thor's banishment."

Exhaling an amused huff, the green eyed god descended the steps beneath the throne until he was standing right above them.

"My first command cannot be the undo the Allfather's last. We're on the brink of war with Jötunheim. Our people need a sense of continuity, in order to feel safe in these difficult times. All of us must stand together... for the good of Asgard."

When Sif attempted to stand and lunge at him, Fandral and Hogun grabbed her arms; after all, there was no point in having Loki send her to the dungeons or outright kill her for attacking him.

"Yes, of course..." Fandral replied with a light smile.

"Good. Then you will wait for my word."

"If I may beg the indulgence of Your Majesty, to perhaps reconsider..." Volstagg attempted.

"We're done!"

While the Warriors Three withdrew almost immediately, Sif continued to stare him down, only following her friends when Loki narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. He knew they wouldn't obey him as their king, but he would be damned if he would accept being mocked by them.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **CaptainBrieOnToast** \- I'll start by saying that I'm really, really happy to hear you love this story so much already. It's always great to hear that my readers are enjoying my work. I am really grateful that you're taking the time to leave reviews and I really hope you won't find the following chapters too boring because of all the movie scenes I'll have to include in them.

As for answering reviews, that's just something I decided to do because it's a way for me to give back some of the love I receive from you guys. So it's my pleasure to reply, even if up to now I mostly did that via PM because - believe it or not - I am a rather shy person, regardless of how I may seem xD

But yes, thank you for another lovely review and I hope the story won't disappoint you from here on, darling :D

2\. **WinterHeartSummerSoul (Abby) **\- Haha signing up for anything is easier than you'd think; the real challenge is to keep to what you signed up for ;) I'll start by thanking you again for agreeing to be my beta and for all the excitement and ideas you brought in our conversations. I really am lucky and blessed to get to work with you, darling.

Secondly, I am so excited that you like Vanya, I was actually nervous because I had no idea if I'd made her too impulsive or too submissive. I'm trying to keep a balance between that, so hopefully - now that I have your help as well - we'll manage to make her into a great character. And between you and me, I want Kara to win too ;)

But thank you again for your willingness to dedicate some of your free time to my story and for your lovely review. You have no idea how happy it makes me when my readers get excited and emotionally involved in my stories :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	9. Entry 8

Sooo no long rant for today, lovelies, other than my request for you to toss me a review and let me know how I'm doing so far. I'm looking forward to hearing opinions from each one of you, whether they're positive or not; I accept any kind of feedback so long as it's delivered in a respectful manner :)

So put aside your shyness and tell me everything that crosses your mind, just anything that you feel like ranting about regarding the story ;)

Now enjoy, darlings~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #8**

_He knew they wouldn't obey him as their king, but he would be damned if he would accept being mocked by them._

oOo

_**Location: **__Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__July 05 / 06, 2011_

"Got anything new?"

"Not yet, Miss Taylor..."

"Yes, you do... move over."

Wrinkling her nose as if in disgust and ushering the young man out of his seat after checking the screen, Kara took his place and started typing away at the computer, to register the new readings it had recorded; really, where the heck had Coulson found all those idiots?

With thunder rumbling in the sky, the image on the screen momentarily flickered and Kara glanced from the computer to the nearby open space currently housing what she had recognized to be Mjölnir, Thor's hammer. Had Loki not pointed it out to her in a picture all those years ago, telling her of its power and origin, she likely would have believed it to be just some weird item coming from outer space. Of course, she hadn't mentioned that to Coulson or any of the other agents... she still wanted to get a chance of talking to that guy first and confirming her suspicions; and maybe get some answers as to how she could contact Loki, if that male actually proved to be Thor.

Some minutes later she was nearly startled out of her skin when Coulson grabbed her arm.

"You have to get moving, now." he said urgently.

"Wh-what happened?"

"We got a perimeter breach... some lunatic on steroids. He's tearing through security. I got Barton up high, tagging him; we should have him locked up soon enough."

While Phil was trying to drag her along one of the improvised hallways and get her to a safer part of the compound, Kara was listening to the shouts of men all around. Was it possible that it was the same guy?

"Then I'm going there to handle him." she suddenly said.

Pulling herself free from his grasp she turned around and rushed along the corridor toward the place where she could now locate the source of several voices.

"No... Kara, don't!"

"I'll be fine!"

By the time she had arrived there, however, Thor was already approaching the hammer whilst Coulson was talking to Barton on the radio.

"Well that was fast... why aren't you arresting him?" she asked in jest.

"I wanna see this..."

Looking downwards as well, Kara inwardly contemplated whether or not she should tell Coulson who she suspected the guy was... by now she was pretty sure it was indeed Thor, and if he managed to take a hold of that hammer, they would never catch him again.

_'Huh... maybe he's not...'_ she mused, staring in shock when he failed to retrieve the hammer from the stone it had impaled itself into.

The utterly heart wrenching shout that left his chest when he finally realized he couldn't lift the weapon, gave her the shivers and at the same time made her feel sincerely sorry for him. She definitely needed to talk to him now... what in the world had happened to him?

"Alright, show's over... ground units, move in." Coulson ordered into his radio.

Two hours later she was standing with Coulson in a brightly lit room, watching as the agent tried to put enough psychological pressure on Thor to get him to talk and tell them who he was. When his pager beeped, however, and he left the room she said she would stay behind to keep an eye on their prisoner. Finally...

"Thor..." she said, once Coulson had departed.

When he failed to look at her, apparently attempting to pretend that he was someone else, she couldn't help but smile lightly whilst she poked around to just the edges of his mind until she learned his identity... yes, her suspicions had apparently been correct after all.

"I know you're Thor... I know you're Loki's brother... he told me of you."

Her words ultimately compelled him to stare back at her and she saw his composure failing to some extent and giving way to a hopeful shade on his expression.

"You... you're the one he spoke about? You're Kara?"

"Did he talk about me?" she asked softly. "That's nice to hear..."

"You have to help me get out of here... please..."

"I'm afraid my hands are bound... I work for them."

"What are they?"

"We're... we're a group that strives to keep the peace in our world. It might be difficult for you after you got yourself into this mess, but trust me when I say we're not your enemies." she said hesitantly, wondering how to word it so that he would understand.

Her expression after those words now took on a shade of sorrow.

"How is Loki? He hasn't come to see me or even talked to me for six years now."

"I am afraid I'm partly to blame for that... I insisted on having him along every time I went out to help keep the peace in the nine realms, or simply whenever I wanted to go on adventures in secret. But he is well..."

His heart twisted in his chest at those words, as he recalled that it had been his own arrogance and stupid actions which had nearly gotten Loki and their friends killed. Watching him wordlessly for a minute, Kara then sighed lightly.

"What happened, Thor? Why couldn't you lift the hammer? Why are you here, looking like a human?"

Silence followed her questions, while the blond Æsir merely stared absentmindedly at the floor. And just when she was getting ready to ask again, maybe even demand an answer, he decided to speak.

"I was banished because I was too proud and selfish... out of my desire for personal glory, I almost got my brother and our friends killed."

Staring at him in shock at first, the young woman found that she had mixed feelings about his confession; she wanted to hate him for what he had just told her, but at the same time she just couldn't stop feeling sorry for him. It surely was no easy thing to be thrown out of your home, away from your family, into a foreign world.

"I suggest you don't tell them who you really are... or where you come from. I'm not sure my world is quite ready to accept that knowledge." she finally said once she had settled down her emotions.

"Why not?"

Sighing lightly she motioned him to wait a moment and left the room to retrieve a chair which she placed in front of his to sit down.

"I know the people of my realm used to worship you and your family as gods. But times have changed, Thor... people today no longer believe in gods, or in beings that are not from this planet. They wouldn't understand, if you told them the truth... and people fear what they don't understand."

"I always believed the people of Midgard were more intelligent than that."

"A person is intelligent... people are violent, panicky herds of animals that will trample everything in their path, when they perceive a threat. Please... I know I'm asking for much, but trust me. Don't tell them who you are..."

Silence veiled them for a few moments before Thor finally managed a shade of smile.

"I can see why my brother set his eyes on you."

Before she could reply, however, she felt her body jolting in surprise at the sensation of a pair of hands settling onto her shoulders.

"I told you she's different, brother..."

The sound of Loki's faintly amused voice coming from behind her twisted a knot in her throat that warned her of oncoming tears, despite the fact that her lips were now struggling to curve into a grin at the sudden surge of joy coursing her body.

"Loki... what are you doing here?" Thor asked, a hopeful shade in his tone.

"I had to see you." he replied, tightening his hold on Kara's shoulders as if trying to calm her, his tone losing all traces of humor at the same time.

"What's happened? Tell me, is it Jötunheim? Let me explain to father..."

"Father is dead."

Even Kara felt her eyes widening as she turned her head to stare in shock at Loki after his reply.

"What?"

Glancing to Thor at the sound of his shocked and utterly crushed voice, the woman simply couldn't hold back from pitying him as she sighted tears slowly overflowing from his eyes.

"Your banishment, the threat of a new war... it was too much for him to bear." Loki continued. "You mustn't blame yourself. I know that you loved him; I tried to tell him so, but he wouldn't listen. It was so cruel to put the hammer within your reach, knowing that you could never lift it. The burden of the throne has fallen to me now."

"Can I come home?"

"The truce with Jötunheim is conditional upon your exile."

"Yes, but couldn't we find a way..."

"Mother has forbidden your return. This is goodbye, brother... I'm so sorry."

"No..." Thor replied in resignation. "I am sorry. Thank you for coming here."

Again Kara jolted in surprise when the blond Æsir reached to grasp her hand with a slight smile, and for a moment she truly felt as if he was acting like a brother to her.

"You should go talk to him, while he's here." he said softly.

Deciding to blame that fleeting sensation on the fact that she had been poking around in his mind, she once more looked to Loki who nodded silently and motioned her to what she realized was the back area of the compound. When she stood and opened the door she ran straight into Coulson who had been about to enter.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some fresh air... this guy's gonna drive me crazy. He won't say a damn word." she retorted, shooting a fake annoyed glance to Thor.

"Alright, leave him to me."

Stepping aside to let her pass he moved into the room while Kara herself now rushed outside and around the compound. Sighting Loki stepping out of the shadows, she offered him a stern gaze.

"Dearest, I..."

His sentence was cut short, however, when her palm collided with his left cheek turning his head to the side; it had been such an unexpected reaction that he found himself completely caught off guard.

"Six years... _six years_!" she snapped at him through clenched teeth, her voice shaky as she was gradually succumbing to her urge to cry.

"Kara..."

His velvety voice again came to an abrupt halt at the second slap which made his cheek sting; while normally he would have been enraged had a woman done that to him not once, but twice, he found that – upon seeing her – he did indeed realize just how much he had missed her and the more he watched her fair complexion, the more Vanya faded from his memory. Why had he considered the she-Elf beautiful, anyway? All that immortal splendor paled to utter nothingness in comparison to Kara's delightfully fleeting beauty.

Deciding not to try and talk anymore, he settled for offering her a remorseful gaze, waiting for her to calm down.

"Alright... you can talk now." she stated after a few moments of deep breaths.

Rather than heeding her permission, the dark haired male instead just reached out to wipe away her tears while leaning down and claiming her lips for a kiss. She tasted just as sweet as he remembered and briefly he even contemplated stealing her away that very moment and taking her with him to Asgard. Surely Odin would be forced to accept the situation, if Loki presented her as his wife when the elder king awakened – granted, _if _he ever awakened.

Suddenly realizing that he was contradicting himself, he leaned away from her alluring lips. Had he not, just a few hours before, decided that he didn't need a wife? Sometimes he really couldn't even understand himself anymore.

"I'm still not sure if I want to forgive you..."

Her retort snapped him out of his contemplation and brought an amused smile to his lips.

"What if I begged, dearest?" he asked in jest.

"Don't try to use your charm on me... you weren't even there when I woke up. What in the universe was so urgent that you couldn't wait until morning, to say it to my face?"

"During my previous visit, father found out I was gone from Asgard without using the Bifrost. I couldn't be away for too long and risk him sending Thor or other soldiers to retrieve me."

While it wasn't entirely true, he preferred that half-lie rather than telling her that even after all those years he was still trying to sort out his feelings regarding her. And he definitely did not want to even mention Vanya to her... that would have been a sure way to lose her, possibly forever; and for now he was still too intrigued and infatuated with Kara, to let her go.

"As for what I did all this time..."

"Thor told me what happened." she replied on a somewhat softer tone.

When he offered her that puzzled gaze she remembered so well, Kara merely wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace.

"I wanted to punch him when he first said he almost got you killed..." she muttered, having taken advantage of his Midgardian attire to hide her face in his scarf.

Ultimately returning her gesture, Loki now smiled and huffed amusedly in her ear.

"It would have probably been good for him if you had..."

"Well I can't anymore; not now when you just told him your father's dead. I'm sorry to hear that..."

His humor faded away at the sound of her sorrowful tone and for a split second he fancied the idea of telling her the truth. But no... that couldn't happen; she was much too sincere and just to accept something like that and he had no plans of Thor ever finding out the truth. It actually gave him a sensation of discomfort to lie to her, but he had no other choice.

"Thank you, dearest... I cannot tell you how it eases my heart to know that even after all this time you still care so deeply for me." he finally whispered, burying his lips in her silky hair and kissing the side of her head.

Shifting in his embrace, Kara now leaned back until she could look up into those wonderful emerald eyes she had come to love so much.

"I'm never going to see you again, am I?"

Her words caught him off guard and all he could do was stare at her in silence for a few moments, until he finally found his voice again.

"Why would you think that, love?"

"You said you're the king of Asgard now... you won't have time to run away to Earth on vacation and play with me." she retorted, trying her best to smile. "And it would be rather improper for a king to abandon his kingdom just for the sake of playing with a little mortal."

To her credit her tone sounded so genuinely relaxed that Loki himself would have believed her; but he was renowned for not accepting something as fact unless he was certain of it... then again, he didn't really need to even slither into her mind to know that she was faking it. And even if she wasn't – and was actually trying to cut ties with him – he would be damned if he would let her do that.

Upon that thought he once more leaned to her, claiming her lips for a kiss; unlike the previous, this one was so unbridled and so needy and – in a word – so hungry for her, that for a second even Loki himself was taken by surprise at how loosely he had displayed his feelings for a change. Allowing her to part their lips when she indicated such, he instead almost literally tore off the hairpin which held the silky strands together at the back of her head, and tangled his slender hand into the chocolate locks.

It was that action, as well as the odd look in his eyes – one she had never seen before – that ultimately rendered Kara unable to go through with her attempt to free herself from his arms. When he again closed in, she thought he would kiss her again; she was startled, however, when Loki tightened his hand into a fist full of her hair and tugged on it lightly until she was compelled to tilt her head back... it was then that his lips settled not on her mouth, but onto her neck; and then he kissed her skin, and she thought the bolt of pleasure firing through her would make her heart stop... and then he sighed, his breath hot against her neck, and she thought she would melt in his arms.

"Loki..."

Her pathetically weak attempt at reasoning with him was cut short when the God of Mischief tightened his hold on her, making her painfully aware of the well defined torso hidden beneath his snowy shirt; and then he spoke and she felt the vibrations of his deep voice rumbling throughout her entire body, instantly reminding her that he was more than just some ordinary man.

"Hush, you foolish girl..." he retorted somewhat warningly. "You belong to me and I will not allow anyone to deny me what is rightfully mine... not even you, dearest."

Again pressing his lips to her neck, he finally leaned back watching that very spot.

"And everyone will see who you belong to." he stated, moving his gaze to hers.

Offering him an inquisitive glance in return, the girl reached to her neck; the skin felt no different beneath her fingers and yet she could tell by his eyes alone that he had done something. Had he...?

"Did you... mark me?" she asked, a smile somewhat tugging at her lips.

Really, it was such a childish and primitive idea as far as she could tell that she never would have deemed it worthy of his intellect. Rather than replying directly, the Æsir merely reached to trail his fingertips along that spot after he gently pushed her hand away.

"And why would I not mark what belongs to me?"

His hand then swiftly moved to the back of her neck whilst he spoke again, leaning in until she could feel his breath tickling her lips, as if urging her to just forget where they were and tear his clothes off to have him.

"Did I not warn you that you would be mine forever? You can try as hard as you wish to sever your ties with me... but I will _never_ let you go!"

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **CaptainBrieOnToast** \- Honey, there's nothing you need to apologize for; your last review didn't seem weird in any way, no worries :D

I'm so glad to hear that you didn't find that chapter boring, I hope this one wasn't boring either. As for how I do it, well that's rather easy. While I write the story, I have the DVD with the movie in the player, and I keep pausing after certain scenes which I then weave into the story. That's how I can so accurately transcript movie lines from other characters (given that I memorized most of Loki's lines without even trying xD) and all the details from the scenes I depict in the story. I don't know if that takes a "great writer" to pull it off, although I am sincerely humbled by that compliment. I think it just takes a passionate fan who happens to have a teaspoon of talent for writing.

I'll admit, it does feel slightly tedious at times because this method takes a movie that normally lasts two hours, and makes it last 5-6, but when I'm truly passionate about something I tend to not really feel like it weighs me down. Whenever you do something you really like, it just can't feel like a burden. Also, I'm very meticulous and precise by nature, so having to be precise in relaying character lines from the movies and whatnot doesn't really bother me.

But yes, thank you so much for taking the time to review the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one as well and look forward to the next one ;)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	10. Entry 9

OMG guys, the story got to more than 2,000 views! I can't... I'm just... wow... just WOW! You guys are wonderful, really I am so baffled that it got so many views in less than a month. So thank you, thank you, **THANK YOU** everyone for loving this story so much and making me so happy :D

Just one little mention, before I let you get on with the story. For those who want to see the mark that Loki left on Kara's neck, there's a link in my profile just down at the end. I tried to describe it accurately, but a picture's worth a thousand words, so go check it out ;)

Now enjoy, lovelies~ (≚ᄌ≚)❤

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #9**

_"Did I not warn you that you would be mine forever? You can try as hard as you wish to sever your ties with me... but I will _never_ let you go!"_

oOo

_**Location: **__Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__July 06, 2011_

"Kara, we need to go."

Startled by Coulson's voice mixed with knocks on the door to her bathroom, the young woman rushed to retrieve her shirt.

"Coming... I'm coming!"

Reaching for a hairpin she settled in front of the mirror again to tie her hair, although her gaze was once more drawn to the left side of her neck. She had spent the last few minutes examining... actually, more like _admiring_... the mark Loki had left behind during the night.

It was really quite beautiful; three black crescent moons growing out of one another in a tight embrace, each of them adorned with a different representation of what she assumed was Jörmungandr, the so-called Midgard Serpent, which Loki had mentioned so many years ago, despite denying that it was his child as the human legends told. The only specks of color in that mark were the golden edges of each moon, as well as the bodies of the serpents – two green and one blue as ice - and their ruby eyes.

Phil would probably be quite intrigued when she would tell him that she got a tattoo... because otherwise she had no way of explaining how she had suddenly ended up with that mark. But at the same time she knew what he would tell her; that she had to make sure to conceal it, because it provided an easy way for her enemies to recognize her. In that regard, she was actually pissed at Loki for doing that to her, but then again she had never discussed her job with him.

"You silly man..." she muttered to herself, trailing her fingers along the intricate design. "As if people nowadays even remember what your symbols are."

Another knock on the door again startled her and she rushed over to open it before Coulson even had the chance to call her a second time.

"I'm ready. What happened?"

"We got readings of massive energy in the desert just now." the male replied, motioning her to follow.

The trip to where they had picked up the energy surge was a short one, although the moment she stepped out of the car Kara felt her jaw clench at the sight of the marks left on the sand which had hardened like rock from the intense heat of whatever energy had hit it.

"Get someone from Linguistics down here..." Coulson said, upon examining the design.

Sighting Kara's intense expression, the agent then moved to stand and approached her.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked on a low tone.

"Why... why would I know what it is?" she retorted, startled out of her contemplation.

Yet even as she lied, she inwardly slapped herself for not telling Phil everything she knew. Thor was there and he had none of his powers... Loki had gone back to Asgard and she didn't expect him back so soon; so then who else had arrived on Earth? Were they friends or foes? What if they were hostile and – by refusing to share her knowledge – she was denying S.H.I.E.L.D. what was possibly their one chance of being prepared?

"Phil... we need to talk about some... things..." she finally stated, taking a deep breath.

He would definitely believe she was crazy, but maybe she could get Thor to back up her story; between keeping Asgard a secret and ensuring the safety of her own world, her choice was clear. Before she could continue, however, the sky above them grew dark with what appeared to be storm clouds which soon gave birth to a whirlwind Kara recognized almost instantly from the night of Thor's arrival.

"I think we should leave..." she warned, grasping Coulson's arm.

"Everyone move back; take cover behind the cars!" he called out, ushering the other agents away from where he estimated that the vortex would hit the ground.

Within moments the energy surge collapsed onto the sands before them, dispersing almost as soon as it had appeared and leaving behind what looked to be a humanoid shaped robot, which Kara estimated was at least eight feet tall.

"Is that one of Stark's?" one of the nearby agents asked.

"I don't know..." Coulson retorted with some annoyance in his tone. "The guy never tells me anything."

Retrieving a megaphone from his colleague, the male now stepped out into the open despite Kara's attempt to stop him.

"Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology." he said whilst the robot slowly approached them. "Identify yourself."

When the machine stopped and its face suddenly opened up while its body was lit up from the inside, Kara finally moved out as well and grabbed Coulson's arm.

"We have to leave... now!"

"Incoming!" Coulson shouted to the others upon realizing that the robot was about to blast them all.

In a desperate attempt to avoid a direct blast Kara found that she had no other choice but to take to the air with Coulson still in her grasp.

"I'll never get used to this..." he said, gulping as he watched the ground below.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." she retorted amusedly.

Setting him down, she inhaled deeply before turning her gaze to the male agent and removing his sunglasses so that she could look into his eyes.

"Get everyone away from here..."

His eyes widened moments later when he understood the meaning behind her words. Before he could speak to try and dissuade her, however, the young woman wrapped an arm around his neck and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Just go." she whispered.

Handing him the glasses she put her hands together to crack her knuckles whilst heading out to meet the machine. In all honesty she had no idea how much time she could buy for the others, but any second in which they could put distance between themselves and that monster was worth it. Once Coulson and the agents who were still alive drove off in the cars that had remained intact, the young woman could now start analyzing the situation without having to worry for them.

"Could've used your help about now, Thor..." she muttered in annoyance.

With the robot once more coming to a halt before her, she began mentally planning her moves; it seemed that after it fired that blast ray, it needed a few seconds to recharge the energy, and she planned to make full use of that time frame to find a weak spot provided she could avoid the direct blast. When the machine raised its hand instead of firing the energy beam, she was caught off guard and barely had any time to put her hands up, one of the wrecked car's doors tearing away from its hinges when she summoned it to use it as a makeshift shield.

The next thing she knew she was lying on the ground, her back feeling as if her spine had been shattered after the blow had thrown her several feet away. Her whole body hurt from the impact which had shattered the car door and she was sure that only her quick reaction had saved her life. Her attempt to sit up almost had her screaming in pain, making her realize she had at least a cracked rib, if not a broken one. Gritting her teeth, she managed to roll onto her side and try to get up, her attempt only halted when the ominous shadow of the hostile robot covered her. Looking up to see the machine charging its energy, apparently attempting to blast her at point blank range, she swallowed hard in an attempt to moisten her dry throat.

At least it seemed the rumors were true about life flashing before your eyes when faced with certain death, as her mind replayed images of all the people she knew and cared about, in a way similar to a picture slideshow; her parents, Hannah, her classmates... then Phil and Nick and Maria... Clint and Natasha... Jane and Erik and even Darcy... Thor... and finally her thoughts turned to Loki. And in that moment she almost involuntarily closed her eyes tightly, wishing to hold the image of his tender smile until her last moment.

Then a second passed... and another... and then another... and as several moments ticked by, Kara didn't even know anymore if she was still alive or not; maybe she'd just been lucky enough to have a painless death. With curiosity taking over her she opened her eyes only to see that – although the robot was still bent over, looming dangerously over her – there was no more light coming from the huge open sockets on its face.

_'What are you doing, you foolish woman?'_

The sound of Loki's angry voice growling in her head startled her so much, that her body jolted in surprise making her grit her teeth in pain. Was _he_ the one controlling that machine?

"Loki...?" she finally asked tentatively.

Silence followed her inquiry as the robot straightened its posture and moved to walk past her, while back in Asgard Loki himself had just collapsed onto the throne with a relieved breath. That stupid, utterly _stupid_ girl... how lucky could she be that he had chosen that exact moment to check on the Destroyer, only to find it about to blast her into oblivion? It was only now that he realized she would likely piece together some things, what with him revealing that he was in control of the metallic monster, but at this point there was no turning back anymore. He would figure out a way to explain it to her and she would have no choice but to accept it.

What he could not have foreseen was that – upon seeing the robot heading toward the nearby town – Kara now realized there were innocent lives at stake. It was that thought alone and the knowledge that she was the only one who could at least try to save them, that ultimately got her back onto her feet. Rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes to clear away the painful tears, she took a deep breath to allow her mind to settle down and get used to the pain so that she could make use of her levitation ability to hopefully get to the town early and at least warn the people to evacuate.

OoOoO

"Jane...? I think I found Kara..."

Alerted by Darcy's words the young scientist, as well as everyone else, turned to look at her only to have their eyes drawn to the sky where the girl was pointing.

"That's impossible..." Jane muttered, staring in disbelief.

"Humans never cease to surprise me." Fandral exclaimed with a surprised huff.

"She doesn't look too well..." Sif stated, narrowing her eyes.

When she suddenly stopped heading toward them and instead simply fell out of the sky, Thor was the first to realize that something was indeed wrong with her. His attempt to catch her came too late, the girl crashing at his feet onto the dirt road. Kneeling next to her he instead picked her up and lowered his ear to her mouth to listen for breath.

"Kara... Kara! Are you well?" he asked, lightly shaking her in the hopes that she wasn't dead.

"Stop... stop shaking me... you big ape!" she retorted painfully, coughing from all the dust she had swallowed in the crash.

Holding her side while Thor helped her to her feet with a relieved smile, she was nearly rendered onto the ground again when Jane ran up to her and threw her arms around the girl's neck.

"Oh God, I thought you were dead!"

"I'm... I'm fine, Jane... although my ribs are not."

Releasing her, the young scientist fervently glanced around.

"We have to get you to a hospital... to a doctor..."

Setting a hand onto the woman's shoulder, Kara tensed her muscles in order to get her to settle down.

"Jane... Jane! Listen to me. We have to get everyone out of town... right now."

"We already sent everyone away." Thor replied. "I know what's coming..."

Staring at him for a moment, Kara almost literally melted on the spot, the only thing to keep her standing being the male's bulky arms.

"Oh, thank God..." she whispered.

OoOoO

"We need to fall back... come on!"

Hogun's urgent tone was what snapped Kara out of the shocked state she had slipped into as they watched the Destroyer blasting everything in its path as it made its way along the main street.

"Wait... what's he doing?"

Jane's puzzled inquiry now drew the young woman's attention to Thor who – despite having told them to retreat – was now standing alone on the road, facing the robot. For the sake of his friends she wouldn't answer that question out loud, but his decision was as clear to her as daylight; he was going to let Loki kill him, in an attempt to save their lives.

Just as she had predicted, the defenseless Thor soon took a direct hit from the metallic creature, making even Kara cringe; if she had ended up with a broken rib from an indirect hit, Thor definitely didn't stand a chance without anything to absorb at least some of the impact. With Jane rushing to his side and the robot turning to leave, the young woman was left to breathe freely whilst making a mental note to demand a serious explanation from Loki for all this madness.

And it was then that it happened... she sighted Mjölnir shooting to the sky and making a large arch as it rushed toward the very spot where Thor was lying.

"Erik..." she muttered urgently.

"I see it... Jane!"

Running over he tore the young woman away from Thor just moments before the hammer reached him; before their very eyes clouds gathered in the sky above the town and lightning struck the hammer which had now lodged itself in the young warrior's hand, coursing through the Æsir's body and healing his wounds as well as returning his powers which he displayed by deflecting a blast from the Destroyer with Mjölnir.

"Now you look like Thor..." Kara muttered to herself, an amused smile playing on her lips as she took a moment to examine his armor and the red cape billowing behind him.

With the clouds expanding and taking on an almost black shade, she ushered the others inside the nearest building while Thor himself glanced to her and beckoned her over.

"What is it?" she shouted over the howling winds.

"Can you control matter?"

"Uhm... yeah, I think that's... how you could describe it..."

"Good, I need your help then."

Offering him a puzzled glance, the young woman nearly jumped out of her skin when he again threw the hammer at the Destroyer to hold it at bay.

"With... wi-with what?"

"Can you contain a whirlwind?"

At his inquiry her eyes went wide whilst she glanced upwards at what seemed to be a tornado forming right above them.

"Have you lost your mind?" she asked.

"If you do not contain it, it will cause even more destruction. I can hold it in one place, but I cannot stop it from sweeping everything off the ground."

"You know I've never done this before, right?"

"I have faith in you." he retorted with a smile.

"Well faith or not, I can't make any promises... but I'll try."

"I ask no more than that."

With those words he took to whirling the hammer overhead until his feet left the ground and he shot upwards straight into the heart of the vortex. Moving away so that she could see the entire tornado, Kara now took a deep breath and clenched her teeth to hold the pain at bay.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

She had actually been looking for a good way to test out her ability to encase items or people in the invisible shields she could put up, but this was not how she had imagined her first practice to go down. Waiting until she saw the Destroyer being swept up by the raging winds, she then closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind and allow it to function at full capacity. The secret she had discovered to be able to do what she did, was that she needed her mind empty of any thought save her current goal. Yes, concentration was her best ally and by now she was actively learning to focus even in the midst of combat.

Upon opening her eyes to again sight the writhing whirlwind before her, she extended her arms and began a horizontal sweeping motion with her right hand whilst the left one remained still, acting as a stopping point for her movements. Slowly but steadily the air before her became blurred whilst the shield gradually coiled around the tornado from the ground upwards. The otherwise steady process faltered only momentarily when her mind was distracted by the pain in her chest; the only downside to using her abilities in combat was that the mind – as powerful as it was – took a great toll on her body as well.

"Hurry up... hurry up..." she muttered when she felt her muscles yelling at the strain.

As if hearing her, Thor just then dived straight at the Destroyer, a powerful blast shaking the shield and making Kara feel as though she had just been hit in the chest by a train. Her lungs emptied of air and her knees ultimately failed to sustain her anymore; fortunately by the time the shield dispersed the blond Æsir had settled the whirlwind whilst the robot fell to the ground, apparently without any hint that it would ever move again.

"Are you well?" he asked, rushing to the girl's side.

"I'm fine..." she retorted amidst heaves for breath.

"You're bleeding."

"What...?"

With her mind gradually kicking back into gear and becoming aware of her surroundings, she now felt the warmth on her lips and trailed a finger over them to find that she had a nosebleed.

"It's nothing... just too much effort. I'll be... what the hell?"

Her eyes widened when the blond god scooped her up in his arms, effortlessly carrying her back to where the others were gathered as if she weighed nothing. Her attempt to protest was met with his stern gaze, which made her pout.

"Thank you..." she muttered in annoyance.

"You're very welcome." he now smiled, setting her back onto her feet.

"So is this how you normally look?" Jane asked.

"More or less."

"It's a good look..."

"We must go to the Bifrost site." he said, now looking to his friends. "I would have words with my brother."

"Excuse me!"

Looking up at the familiar voice, Kara ultimately couldn't contain a smile at the sight of an unharmed Coulson walking up to them from a nearby car.

"Donald..." he said somewhat in jest. "I don't think you've been completely honest with me."

"Know this, son of Coul..." Thor replied. "You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forth you can count me as your ally... if you return the items you have taken from Jane."

"Stolen." Jane retorted.

"Borrowed." Phil stated. "Of course you can have your equipment back. You'll need it to continue your research."

"And Kara needs a doctor, she was injured." the blond Æsir continued, pointing to the young woman.

"I'm fine, Phil... really, it's nothing." she said, shooting a reproachful glance to Thor at the sight of Coulson's worried expression. "Though I think I kinda blew my cover..."

Smiling nervously as she glanced to her trio of colleagues, she then sighed as much as the burning pain in her chest allowed her to.

"It had to happen sometime..." Coulson replied on a resigned tone. "Kara is one of our agents... she was sent here to keep you safe and help with your research."

"Well that's... not such a bad explanation..." Jane muttered with a pout.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like for her to stay here and keep being your intern."

Looking from Kara to Darcy, the young scientist then grinned. There was no way in Hell she would send Kara away; at least she was actually helpful around the lab, unlike Darcy.

"Sure... that will be fine." she replied, earning herself weird glances from mostly everyone around.

"Would you like to see the bridge we spoke of?" Thor now asked, interrupting the awkward moment.

"Uh... sure..."

Setting an arm around her waist, the Thunder God then took to the air ignoring Coulson who had attempted to talk to him again.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **CaptainBrieOnToast** \- Haha, well they say love is blind and that's about as true for Kara as it is for anyone else ;)

But I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter and really, you're too generous with compliments. I really don't think I have some terrific talent at writing, so it always humbles me and it makes me feel grateful when people say that.

I'm happy you liked how she interacted with Thor; I've tried to not make it overly predictable and not have her act as if she knew him for years, since in all reality they barely met even if Loki told her a lot of stuff about Thor. But the whole brother-sister thing was something I was actually hoping for my readers to sort of get a vibe from, because that was my goal - to make it feel as if Thor would be willing to consider her his sister, at first simply because he knows she's Loki's lover, but afterwards it will just become a self-sustaining feeling due to her personality.

But thank you for the wonderful review, honey, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. The next one marks the end of the _Thor_ movie, after which we'll see how the story flows ;)

2\. **AkatsukiShizu3 **\- Darling thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I wholeheartedly agree with your opinion on Loki, but then again that's how we all like him, don't we? ;)

As for Kara, I'm still not sure if I'll kill her off for good, or not; that's currently still up for debate so we'll see how the story goes until that moment. I might just make the final decision on the spot, when I write the last chapters. So until then I really couldn't give a definitive answer as to whether she'll die or not.

So thank you again for this lovely review and for being addicted to the story; I hope I'll be able to keep you addicted from now on as well ;)

3\. **Kate Elizabeth Black **\- Oh, don't worry, honey she will find out at some point. After all, Vanya needs to have her moment as well and I always enjoyed plausible and well made drama, so hopefully I'll manage to make it just that.

But thank you so much for reviewing and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your opinions, just as I always look forward to hearing from all my readers :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	11. Entry 10

Soooo my lovelies, this marks the end of _Thor_, but not the end of the story. Stay tuned for more adventures... the next few chapters will be sort of "filler chapters" because I want to fill in at least some bits and pieces of the one year span until _The Avengers_ begins.

And I'll drop a piece of candy too, just for you... the filler chapters will focus not just on Kara but on one more character. I'm hoping it's going to be a pleasant surprise ;)

Now enjoy, darlings~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #10**

_"Would you like to see the bridge we spoke of?"_

_"Uh... sure..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace / the Bifrost observatory, Asgard_

_**Date: **__July 06 / 07, 2011_

"Welcome to Asgard."

At Loki's greeting, Laufey's lips curled into a trace of smile; so it seemed the boy was indeed intending to keep his word and let them kill Odin now, while he was in his most vulnerable state. A traitor... but Laufey was willing to trust the Trickster, for the chance to not only be rid of his enemy, but to also regain the casket which Loki had promised to return afterwards.

Motioning one of the other Jötuns to follow him, he left the Bifrost building with Loki whilst the other two giants posted themselves as guards at the entrance, at both sides of Heimdall, whom the young prince had frozen solid earlier. By the time they had reached Odin's chambers, Loki had left them; for his plan to work he couldn't be seen anywhere near them inside the palace.

"It is said that you can still see and hear what transpires around you." Laufey now said, perched onto the bed above Odin, once he had discarded Frigga to the floor after she had killed his companion. "I hope it's true so that you may know... your death came at the hand of Laufey."

Raising his hand in which he had conjured an icy dagger, he suddenly shouted in pain when a blast of energy hit him straight in the back, throwing him across the room. Looking up to see his attacker, the Jötun finally realized his mistake when he sighted Loki pointing Gungnir at him.

By then Thor and the others had just arrived back to Asgard, with Heimdall having managed to break free of his icy prison and kill the two Jötuns on the bridge.

"Get him to the healing room! Leave my brother to me..."

Taking off into the air, he launched at full speed toward the palace; he had no idea what he would find upon arriving there, nor how he would be able to fix things if Loki insisted on fighting. The promise he had made to Kara before leaving – that he would not kill Loki – was still present in his mind, as was the painful and concerned expression on her face. Oh, his brother was such a fool, to have the love and care of a wonderful woman and to so easily discard that... and for what? For a throne?

Meanwhile in Odin's chamber Frigga now watched with concern as Loki stepped into the room, in between her and the fallen Jötun.

"And your death came by the son of Odin." he said.

Before Laufey could utter a word, the young prince again fired the weapon, disintegrating the Jötun king.

"Loki... you saved him." Frigga said with a relieved smile, running into his arms.

"I swear to you, mother that they will pay for what they have done today."

It was in that moment that Thor finally arrived at his father's bedchamber, stopping in the doorway.

"Loki!" he called out.

Watching him in surprise, Frigga then rushed to embrace him.

"Thor! I knew you'd return to us." she smiled.

Her humor faded away, however, when she sighted the stern look on his face as he watched his younger brother.

"Why don't you tell her? How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends... to kill me?"

"What?"

"Why, it must have been enforcing father's last command." Loki replied as they now stood at either side of the bed.

"You're a talented liar, brother, always have been."

"It's good to have you back. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jötunheim."

With that retort the younger prince again fired Gungnir, blasting Thor through the wall. Rushing past Frigga with no intention of stopping to explain anything, he practically ran to the stables from where he retrieved a stallion to ride out to the Bifrost. His only concern at the moment was that his idiotic brother would somehow arrive there before he could get a chance to fully play out his plan.

To his great relief Thor was nowhere in sight by the time he had arrived at the keep; entering, he set the spear into the slot which Heimdall used to activate the Bifrost. With the new energy the entire building soon turned into a massive weapon, now directed at Jötunheim, whilst inside Loki encased the energy tendrils in ice after retrieving Gungnir. He knew Thor would arrive sooner or later, but he would not have that buffoon stop the destruction of that realm.

Indeed, moments later the blond Æsir finally arrived at the Bifrost keep, for a moment unable to do anything but stare at the sight before him.

"You can't stop it." Loki retorted. "The Bifrost will build until it rips Jötunheim apart."

"Why have you done this?"

"To prove to father that I am the worthy son. When he wakes, I will have saved his life... I will have destroyed that race of monsters... and I will be true heir to the throne."

"You can't kill an entire race!"

"Why not?" he scoffed. "What is this newfound love for the Frost Giants? You... you would have killed them all with your bare hands."

"I've changed." Thor retorted.

His reply was followed by Loki approaching him and hitting him over the cheek with the tip of the spear.

"So have I... now fight me."

When Thor failed to react, the dark haired prince again swung the spear, knocking his brother onto the floor.

"I never wanted the throne! I only ever wanted to be your equal." he scowled.

"I will not fight you, brother!" Thor retorted while moving to his feet.

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

"Loki, this is madness."

"Is it madness? Is it? Is it?! Come on, what happened to you on Earth that turned you so soft? Don't tell me it was that woman!"

With Thor failing to answer, Loki narrowed his eyes in what could have been seen as a look of disgust.

"Oh... it was..." he growled. "Well maybe, when we're finished here, I'll pay her a visit myself!"

Biting back his anger at his brother's threat, the blond Æsir finally chose to speak.

"And do you think Kara would approve of what you're doing, brother?" he snapped back, his fist clenching around Mjölnir's handle until his wrist turned white.

"Leave her out of this!" Loki growled, baring his teeth.

"I will not! Do you even know how fortunate you are to have such a woman's heart in the palm of your hand? Why would you cast aside her love by doing such things?"

With Loki now the one who failed to answer, Thor ultimately decided to risk pushing him further in the hopes that he could still convince him to stop before Jötunheim was obliterated.

"You want to know why I won't fight you? Because of her... because I don't know if I can hold back once I start... because she loves you so much, that she made me swear I wouldn't kill you."

Silence followed his words until Loki suddenly burst out into laughter.

"Only you would have a will weak enough to succumb to your feelings for a woman. That's why you would make a poor king and that's actually why you won't fight me. Because unlike you, _brother_, I have a will of steel."

Momentarily allowing his sorrow to show on his face, Thor finally brandished Mjölnir and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Kara..." he muttered.

He knew now that he had no other choice; clearly he could not reason with Loki, so his only option was to take him down in battle, hopefully without having to kill him. Gritting his teeth he now lunged forward aiming to meet his brother head-on.

"That's the Thor I know." Loki now smirked before mimicking the move.

The following minutes were spent in combat; yet whereas Thor was doing his best to hold back out of the desire to not harm his brother, Loki had no such qualms and seemed to genuinely enjoy the battle. Ultimately the blond Æsir rushed at him again, his strength aided by Mjölnir blasting both of them through the wall of the Bifrost and onto the narrow bridge leading to the palace and the city around it.

Thor's attempt to keep Loki from falling off the edge into the raging sea below, however, proved to be useless when the Trickster revealed it to have been only an illusion, instead attacking him again and stabbing him with the spear. Lying on his back with his newly gained wound, the blond Æsir finally gritted his teeth in annoyance when Loki surrounded him with cackling illusions of himself.

"Enough!" he ordered, summoning a bolt of lightning with his hammer.

Fortunately the surge of electricity was enough to disperse Loki's fake images, at the same time casting the younger prince a few feet back onto the bridge and forcing him to drop the spear. Scrambling to his feet, Thor now approached his brother; his first thought had indeed been to kill him, but ultimately he couldn't find it in himself to do such a thing. Instead placing Mjölnir onto Loki's chest to get him to sit still, the elder brother turned to face the Bifrost in which the energy from Gungnir was still building.

Heaving for breath from his struggle with Loki, the Thunder God now desperately tried to think up some way to stop that whole madness before it was too late.

"Look at you..." Loki retorted mockingly while trying to remove the hammer so that he could stand. "The mighty Thor! With all your strength... what good does it do you now, huh? Do you hear me, brother? There's nothing you can do!"

Trying his best to ignore Loki's remarks, Thor finally arrived at the only conclusion he could draw... he would have to destroy the Bifrost, to stop it. Clenching his jaw he extended a hand toward Loki to summon the hammer which he now smashed into the bridge.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked, staring in shock at his brother's actions. "If you destroy the bridge you'll never see her again!"

When his words failed to deter the elder prince from his task, Loki made one last attempt at attacking him only to fail when the bridge blew up beneath them, casting them both into the air. With the Bifrost collapsing and falling into the black hole created by the blast, both princes would have fallen with it had Odin not arrived at that very moment to grasp Thor by the ankle; at the same time Thor himself was struggling to not let his muscles fail as he held onto Gungnir, Loki hanging over the edge, holding onto the other end of the spear.

"I could have done it, father!" he called out, looking up at Odin. "I could have done it... for you! For all of us!"

"No, Loki..."

Ultimately understanding that his Asgardian life was beyond repair, Loki now narrowed his eyes whilst his gaze moved from the elder king to his brother.

"Loki, no..." Thor pleaded when the weird gaze in his brother's eyes made his heart cringe.

Though he had tried to deny his own premonition, the blond Æsir watched in horror as Loki released the spear and allowed himself to fall into the void beneath them. And as the stars before his eyes became blurred from tears, his first thought went to the young woman back on Midgard... how in the universe would he ever be able to tell Kara that Loki was dead?

OoOoO

"My queen, I am so sorry for your loss."

Tearing her gaze away from her son who was now heading to one of the outer terraces of the palace, where his father had withdrawn for a moment of peace, Frigga smiled kindly at the sight of Sif's sorrowful expression, whilst behind them the great hall resounded with laughter and cheerful songs; yes, the realm had been celebrating throughout the night and the entire day, rejoicing in Odin's awakening and Thor's return from banishment. And though they had all been smiling on the outside, the queen knew that her son and even Odin himself mourned the loss of the younger prince.

"How is he?" she finally asked, once more looking to Sif.

"He mourns for his brother. And... he misses her... the mortal."

Whilst the two females were speaking, the young Æsir himself had been talking to his father.

"I have much to learn... I know that now." he said sorrowfully. "Perhaps, one day, I shall make you proud."

"You've already made me proud." Odin replied with a trace of smile on his lips.

With silence lingering between them for a few moments, Thor now took a deep breath.

"Father... is it true? What Loki said... that he wasn't my brother..."

"Yes..." the elder king replied reluctantly. "I kept it from you both, because I wished for you to grow up loving one another as true brothers. Now I am not so sure I did the right thing."

"I believe you did... I know there is always a purpose to everything you do."

Again silence veiled them before the prince spoke once more.

"Father, I know I did not tell you before... but..."

Heaving a sigh whilst wondering how to best word it, he ultimately decided that just stating it plainly was probably the best choice.

"What is it?" Odin asked, once more turning to face his son.

"There is a girl in Midgard... Loki first told me of her some years ago. I met her while I was there and she was of great help to me in stopping the Destroyer. I promised to her, before I returned, that I would not kill Loki; and yet I failed to save him. She has loved him for so many years, father... and... despite what he said before our fight, I want to believe that he too loved her sincerely. She deserves to know what happened."

"And how would you get a message across to her, without the Bifrost?"

"I know your ravens have no need of the Bifrost to fly to other realms. Let me send one of them to her... please."

Rather astounded by his son's pleas, the elder king ultimately gave in to his own feelings and nodded. Turning his back to Thor he held out his left arm and soon, with a loud caw echoing against the palace walls, Huginn – the elder of the two ravens – came landing onto his master's steel bracer.

"Go now with my son, Huginn." the elder king said, turning to Thor while the large bird now perched upon the prince's shoulder. "He has need of you."

"Your will be done, Allfather." the raven finally replied.

"Thank you, father."

With those words Thor left the king and made his way to his chambers.

"What do you request of me, my prince?"

Now standing before the small table set in his chambers, the prince took to writing on a piece of parchment while Huginn settled onto the table as well, to watch.

"I have need of you to fly to Midgard... and deliver this message to a young woman there. Her name is Kara Taylor..."

"I needn't know more, my prince. I shall find her and deliver your message."

With the message done, the blond Æsir strapped it to the raven's leg watching as the ebony bird took to the air and soon vanished into the starry sky stretching from the edge of the sea. He did not even wish to imagine Kara's reaction upon reading that message, but she had to know; it would have been cruel to let her hope for who knew how long, only to utterly crush her later on.

And still... why did he feel like a monster, for being the one to tell her of Loki's death? Was it the guilt which was now gnawing at his mind, because he believed he could have done more to save his brother? Was it because he hadn't told her the whole truth in that letter? Then again... how could he tell her that Loki had basically killed himself? No, if he could help it, then the least he could do was to let Kara keep a beautiful image of his brother in her memory.

OoOoO

_**Location: **__Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__July 10, 2011_

"It's so quiet..."

Jane's soft tone was what drew Kara out of her silent contemplation of the night sky, while they waited for the computer to register the new particle data.

"It's beautiful..." she agreed, watching the twinkling specks of silver.

What followed was the sensation of the young scientist's arm settling around her shoulders.

"We'll find them." she said with a reassuring smile.

Over the past three days she had finally coaxed Kara into telling them everything; about Loki, about his visits to her since her childhood, about how her admiration for him had grown into love, even about the mark he had left on her neck. If anything, all that knowledge had only made Jane feel more tightly connected with the young agent, because their reason to search for Thor and his brother was ultimately the same.

"What's that?" Darcy suddenly perked up, interrupting Jane's thoughts.

"What?"

Looking up to where the young girl was pointing, both she and Kara narrowed their eyes in an attempt at discerning just what that odd shadow was.

"It's probably just a bird." Erik retorted.

"Are you sure?"

With the raven landing on the edge of the laboratory's roof where the group had settled, the elder male offered Darcy a pointed glance.

"Okay, okay... it was just a bird..." she admitted.

"Do you think it's hungry?" Kara asked, watching as the raven ruffled his feathers.

"I need no food... some water would be welcome, however."

Throughout the following few moments silence reigned supreme among the group, only interrupted by Erik dropping the stack of papers he had been holding.

"It talked... the friggin' bird just _talked_!" Darcy suddenly blurted out in shock.

Clacking his beak in annoyance, Huginn now looked from her to Jane and then to Kara.

"There is one among you named Kara Taylor... I have a message for her from my prince."

"I... I'm Kara Taylor..." she replied still trying to fully recover from the surprise of it all.

Approaching her, the raven extended his leg waiting for her to retrieve the parchment. Once she had done so, he ruffled his feathers again while the young woman finally managed to get her mind working properly once more.

"Darcy... could you please bring a bowl of water?"

Nodding, the girl left the roof still looking as if she was hypnotized, while Kara now found that she had to fight back her pounding heart. Was the message from Loki? Had he and Thor managed to somehow work out that crazy situation? In a sudden rush of euphoria she unrolled the parchment, only to have her smile die a swift and merciless death as her eyes scanned the few lines scribbled hastily upon it.

_Kara, I am sorry._

_I do not know how else to begin but by saying how sorry I am. I am sorry that I betrayed your trust... I am sorry that I failed to keep my promise... I am sorry that I have to be the one who would let you know what happened._

_You have my word that I tried everything possible to reason with Loki. But what he did was almost beyond repair; my only choice, in order to save an entire race from being annihilated, was to destroy the Bifrost. In the explosion, the energy in the Bifrost opened up a void and... Loki fell from the bridge._

_I am sorry that I could not hold to my word; I would have given even my own life to be able to save him. I know not what to say, that would offer you any comfort and I do not believe there are any words good enough to soothe such pain... but know that if I could, I would do anything to bring him back._

_I hope that you may one day find it in your heart to forgive me for not being strong enough to save him, as I had promised._

_Thor_

By the time she had reached the end of the letter Kara could barely even see from the tears blurring her gaze and overflowing along her cheeks; her chest had tightened as if a huge hand was constricting it in an attempt to crush her and she felt that she could barely draw any air into her lungs.

"No..." she finally murmured, wrinkling the letter when her fists clenched involuntarily.

Lowering her head into her hands, the young woman was ultimately unable to fully contain a sorrowful sob when the pain tore through her heart like the murderous blade of a dagger, shooting straight into the back of her head and making her feel like she wanted nothing more than to just tear her hair out.

"For heaven's sake, please... don't say that to me..." she pleaded in a desperate whisper. "Please... please... please..."

Her begging voice now became almost like a chant, as though she was hoping that her pleas would be enough to undo the earlier events.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Jane perked up worriedly at that unexpected reaction.

Scrambling to her feet, Kara dropped the letter in Jane's lap and left the roof; the only thought her mind could focus on right now was to get to her room and be alone for a while. While Jane took to reading the letter, Erik and Darcy – who had returned with the water in the mean time – looked to each other with concern on their faces.

Upon entering her room and locking the door, Kara found herself rooted to the spot and stunned by her own grief; for a moment she felt so alone that her heart started fluttering in terror, like a caged bird. What...? What would she do without him? As deathly silence veiled her, the only sound she could hear for the following minutes was her shaky, broken breath as she struggled to keep her lungs working through the shock her mind was trying to cope with.

Something... she needed to do something... to let all that pain out somehow, otherwise she would surely lose her sanity. And as fate would have it, her gaze fell upon one of her most recent drawings; she had somehow managed to make it look so lifelike that even she had been surprised. The sight of Loki's charming smile as he stared back at her with those vivid emerald eyes ultimately rendered her to the floor, forcing her to kneel under the weight of her sorrow.

And finally she buried her face in her hands and did the one thing she could still do – she screamed...

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **CaptainBrieOnToast (via PM)** \- Aww thank you so much for those kind words. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the chapter so much.

Now about Kara noticing that Loki's _evil_, well I'm not sure how much she'll be able to focus on that even if she did notice it, because you know... she just found out in this chapter that he died. And hearing that the guy you love died, tends to sort of put everything else in the background. But don't worry, that whole _evil_ thing will have to be addressed sooner or later, after Loki returns in _The Avengers_.

As for Coulson... well she will have to let S.H.I.E.L.D. know at some point, but we'll see when that happens. Anyway, I am so thrilled that you enjoyed the latest chapter so much and I hope you enjoyed this one the same.

Thank you for this heartwarming review and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

2\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak **\- Darling you are much too kind with your words. I am so happy that you love the story and I hope I'll keep meeting your expectations in future chapters as well. Now I'd like to address the Vanya issue, since I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who thinks along those lines xD

Well first of all... if Loki came to you and said "I love you" could you really be 100% sure he was telling the truth? I mean, he is the God of Lies ;) Now Kara does in fact believe him, but the thing is... he wasn't entirely sincere when he said it. I probably didn't manage to get the point across clearly enough, but the fact is that Loki isn't yet sure if what he feels for Kara is actual love, or just infatuation and sexual attraction. And the reason that actually keeps him in that questioning state IS in fact, his realization that he is also attracted to Vanya to some extent. That can confuse a guy, you know xD

Also Vanya is a seductress, as you well pointed out, and her natural skills are also aided by magic. So in a way she's similar to the mythological Calypso who seduced and enslaved men through magic. I have yet to actually delve properly into the whole love triangle but it will come to pass at some point, especially after Kara will get to meet Vanya later on. And I have a huge part for Vanya to play in the sequel as well, so don't worry, she's very relevant to the plot; I had a good reason to make her who she is and to sort of make her one of the antagonists.

So to conclude, thank you so much for the wonderful review, darling. I'm really happy you liked this story as well and I hope the whole Vanya affair won't drag it down too much for you. Looking forward to hearing from you again, honey :D

3\. **moonsword17**\- Really, you humble me with that compliment. I'm really glad you enjoyed the story so far and I hope the following chapters will make you love it even more, if that's possible. Thank you so much for the lovely review and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	12. Entry 11

So, my lovely readers, this is the first of the filler chapters I promised you. And I have a couple of mentions to make before I let you get on with the story.

1\. If the ending scene in this chapter gives off the feeling of being rushed or just being "WTF?", don't worry, it's explained to some extent in the next chapter. Mostly I just didn't want Kara moping around too much, because I don't want to risk her coming across as emo/depressive. So that's probably the main reason why the ending scene in this chapter is as it is, plus I'm a very optimistic person by nature so I don't really feel comfortable having my characters succumb to grief for too long... in the end, with everything that happens, life must go on.

I also hope the character whom I decided to drag into this whole madness with Kara and Loki is a nice surprise for all of you. So toss me a review and let me know what you think ;)

2\. **I would like to ask everyone to actually read the replies I posted at the end of this chapter for reviews.**

It's very important, darlings, because in one of those replies I have explained some things that I should have explained at the beginning of the third chapter. I didn't explain it back then, and for that I apologize, but I have explained them now. So please do read it, because I've tried to explain why I wrote the third chapter as I did and how my personal life experience and views have influenced the way chapter three is written.

But for now enjoy, my lovelies~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #11**

_And finally she buried her face in her hands and did the one thing she could still do... she screamed..._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Malibu, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__September 18, 2011_

"You called, sir?"

Looking up from the file spread onto his desk, Fury eyed the young male entering his office.

"I have." he replied, leaning back in his seat. "Got a mission for you... one that won't require you being 100% up to date with the latest lifestyle. Now, I have an agent that I'm very fond of and..."

When the young male failed to completely withhold his chuckle, the Director arched his brow and offered him a look which many often interpreted as bored.

"Forgive me, sir... you just don't really seem like the kind of man who knows the meaning of that word." he replied.

"Very funny, Rogers... now, the first part of your mission is to meet her. She'll be going along with you."

Pressing one of the buttons on his desk, he now spoke up again.

"Hill, where's Kara? She's..."

"Here... not late." the girl retorted, just then entering the office.

"Never mind, Hill."

Lacing his fingers together Fury again leaned back in his chair.

"Captain Steve Rogers, meet Kara Taylor... one of our youngest and most prominent agents."

Again looking to the young woman, Steve offered a nod and a slight smile.

"Ma'am."

"_Ma'am_... wow that makes me feel like I'm eighty."

His baffled expression now had her chuckle lightly before she crossed her arms and looked him over from head to toe.

"Sorry, I'm just messing with you. So... you're Captain America?"

"That's what they call me." Steve replied, fighting back the urge to shift nervously on his feet beneath her scrutinizing gaze.

"Alright, don't scare him off..." Fury retorted. "He'll be your partner for the Stark mission, after all."

His words ultimately compelled Kara to look back at him.

"The _what_ mission?"

"Tony Stark has recently discovered that a certain branch of his company keeps supplying Stark technology to a phantom-dealer somewhere in Iraq. He asked us to help him put a stop to it, so I'm sending two of my best people with him."

"He asked you? Or did you shove it down his throat?"

At her reply, even Steve failed to completely hold back his amusement, especially since he had been thinking along those same lines.

"Call it what you will... here's the file. You're going to meet him at the address provided there; you're leaving tonight."

"So... just us?" Steve asked, retrieving the file. "Are you certain we can handle anything we might find there? If these people have been collecting Stark technology, they might have quite some firepower."

"This is a scouting mission, actually. You're going there to assess the situation and report back, so we can devise a plan of attack to neutralize that group."

Sighting the utterly unconvinced expression on Kara's face he braced himself for what he already guessed she would say; and she didn't disappoint him.

"You really think Tony's the kind of man to go on a scouting mission? You know how he is, Nick... he'll charge those bastards the moment he lays eyes on them."

"That's precisely why I'm sending you... I don't know how you do it, but he actually listens to you; at least more than he ever listened to me or anyone else."

Arching a brow, the young woman finally sighed and placed her hands onto her hips.

"I have a feeling you're not telling me something, Nick. There's more to this mission, isn't there?"

When the male refused to reply, she lightly clenched her jaw.

"Fine... I'm not in the mood to poke around in your brain right now, so okay. I'll take it on faith..."

"Romanoff will be waiting for you in the hangar; you'll be taking the Quinjet and she'll drop you off at your rendezvous point. Dismissed."

Upon leaving the man's office, Kara again sighed.

"I'll go grab some stuff from my room and meet you at the hangar, Steve." she said with a slight smile.

OoOoO

_'I hope you're watching over me from somewhere...'_

As she mused on that, the young woman reached to gingerly trail her fingertips along the drawing in her hand; the pale skin, the tall cheekbones, the slender lips curved into that charming yet slightly ironic smile. The man who had saved her, who had offered her confidence in herself and her own powers... the man who had then literally taken her life and shattered it into a million pieces.

And, as it happened each time she watched him, the vivid memories of those first few days came back to her mind; the first four days after Thor's message had arrived. She had been utterly destroyed... no one had been able to reason with her; not Erik, not Jane, not even Coulson. She still hadn't told him or anyone else at S.H.I.E.L.D. what exactly had happened, but to her credit she had somehow managed to pull herself out of that swamp of despair, where her grief had chained her.

It hurt... oh, yes, it still hurt so much that even now she believed her heart would just tear in half at any moment; but this time she refused to succumb to her pain. Even if she had basically run away from Jane and the mission involving her – because just the sight of the young scientist was enough to remind her of everything – she refused to go down without a fight. Yes, she had literally begged Coulson to talk to Fury and have him relieve her of her mission to help Jane; yes, not a day went by when she didn't shed at least a few tears for Loki; yes, she had terrible nightmares each night... but she owed it to too many people to fight through her grief and at least try to live.

And, to her credit, she had managed to keep an appearance that she was alright, even if she wasn't; even if she wanted nothing more than to just lie down and die... then maybe she would get to see him again.

Sighing as her mind once more turned to that thought – which occurred too often for her liking – she folded the drawing back up and hid it over the left side of her chest, beneath the black suit which she then zipped up to the base of her neck. Ultimately retrieving her pistol which she placed into the leather pouch strapped to her thigh, the woman finally left the room.

"Ready to go?"

Looking up to see Natasha's encouraging smile as she stepped inside the Quinjet, Kara nodded and walked over to the redhead in the pilot's seat.

"Yeah... so where are we meeting him?" she asked, after they had lightly bumped fists – their usual form of greeting one another.

"There's a rundown, unused airport near his Malibu house. That's where he has a small jet waiting for you."

"Nice... we even fly first class to Iraq. If it's too flashy, I'll punch him though..."

"Oh, I'd love to see that." Natasha chuckled.

OoOoO

_"Greetings, Miss Taylor."_

Raising her gaze from the file at the sound of the vaguely familiar robotic voice, Kara sighted one of Tony's suits walking up to meet her and Steve after Natasha had dropped them off in the middle of the forest.

"Hi, Jarvis." she smiled lightly. "Good to see you."

_"Always a pleasure seeing you as well, Miss Taylor. Welcome, Captain Rogers."_

Nodding, Steve moved to strap the shield to his back while Jarvis motioned them to follow him.

"So where's the boss?"

_"He is expecting you at the runway, Miss Taylor. Everything's ready for your departure tonight."_

"You coming along, J?"

_"I have unrestricted access to Mister Stark's suit, so yes... you can say I will be coming along."_

"Good, at least I'll have someone to help me keep him in check."

It was right as Kara stated that, that the trio arrived to what appeared to be a huge clearing housing a decrepit looking shack right next to what was definitely a runway for small airplanes. On it a small jet was parked, the owner himself standing on the steps leading inside.

"Glad to see you could make it." he greeted them, reaching out for Kara's hand and kissing it. "You're looking lovely, as always."

His gesture actually had the young woman arch her brows in surprise, right before she narrowed her eyes at him with a suspicious gaze.

"Are you high?"

"Hmm that's an interesting concept..." he mused. "But no, I'm just my charming self."

"Right... so J said we're all set to go. Mind debriefing us on the way?"

"That sounds boring; I guess Fury's getting to you after all. Well don't just stand there, we don't have all night."

While he whirled around to lead the way into the plane, Kara and Steve glanced at each other before they both heaved a sigh and moved to follow Tony. This was going to be just great...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__The Highlands, Iraq_

_**Date: **__September 30, 2011_

"For the last time, Tony... this isn't why we're here!"

Much to Kara's chagrin, not even her most annoyed growl was enough to convince the young Stark to back down.

"And why not? He's a perfectly suitable choice; well mannered, athletic, a little behind on the latest fads but that's not a major setback... oh, and did I mention he's one hell of a patriot?"

Tilting her head back to look up at the ceiling of the small shack they had been sharing for almost two weeks, she placed her hands onto her hips and sighed.

"God, please restrain me before I strangle him." she asked.

The reason for her annoyance? Steve had accidentally walked in on her while she was changing clothes a while back, and had been unable to even look her in the eye for a few days; which had been more than enough for Tony to start hinting that the young soldier should date Kara. But while she did inwardly admit that Steve was a great guy, and good looking to top it, actually making an active attempt at moving on was something she didn't know if she would manage.

The feeling of Tony's hands weighing down on her shoulders snapped the young woman out of her thoughts and made her lower her gaze back to him.

"Look, I know I sometimes come across as a jerk, but..."

"You got that right." she retorted.

Pausing in his speech and huffing amusedly, the male then spoke again.

"But... you're a good girl, Kara. And you deserve a good guy. And I don't happen to know anyone who fits better into the _good guy_ tag, than Rogers."

"Is that your fatherly streak talking?"

Stepping away from her with a sly smile, he nodded.

"Maybe... I always wanted a daughter, anyway. Might as well practice till I get the real thing."

Arching a brow at that, Kara now turned to watch him whilst crossing her arms.

"Are you planning anything with Pepper that I should know about?" she smiled.

The sight of his mysterious smile had her roll her eyes at his antics; while she wouldn't say it out loud, for fear that it would go to his head, Kara did honestly believe that Tony would be a very good father. Deciding not to dwell too much on that thought, however, she instead moved over to the table nearby to again check one of the many maps spread out onto it.

_"Sir, it seems the targets are on the move again."_ Jarvis' voice suddenly came from the phone which Tony had discarded on the table, startling her. _"I am afraid we had to change position as well..."_

"Where's Rogers?" Tony perked up, approaching the table.

_"He is on his way back to you, sir. We were spotted earlier and Captain Rogers suffered a minor injury to his arm."_

Mere moments after the AI's reply, Steve barged into the shack holding his left arm although his hand did little to keep the blood from seeping in between his fingers.

"Here... I got this off one of them." he said, dropping what looked like a weirdly modified rifle on the table.

"Sit down." Kara retorted, rushing to one of the nearby cabinets to retrieve the first aid kit.

Doing as he was told, the young soldier focused on settling down his breathing while Tony took to examining the weapon. His focus was soon diverted, however, when Kara knelt before him and moved his hand away from the injury.

"How the hell is this a _minor wound_?" she frowned at the sight of the gushing slash across his upper arm.

"I told him it was a minor wound... someone had to stay there and keep an eye on the rest of them. If I'd told Jarvis it was this bad, he would've insisted to make sure I got here safely."

"Take your shirt off, I have no way to clean it through your suit."

Removing his azure helmet, the young man then proceeded to comply whilst Kara grabbed a water bottle which she emptied into a bowl before retrieving a sterile cloth from the medical kit.

"Let's hope it looks worse than it is..." she said, once more kneeling in front of him.

"You do know who these weapons belong to, don't you?" Tony suddenly asked.

Looking up at him, Steve nodded lightly.

"The way they fire seemed familiar... why?"

Turning to face them, the scientist held up the weapon and tapped the steel butt pointing to a symbol carved into it; a skull and six snakes growing from its bottom into what appeared to be a floral pattern. The sight of it was enough to get the young soldier's muscles tense, and he grabbed the edges of the crate he was sitting on until his wrists turned white.

"Hydra?" he stated in utter shock. "But..."

"I had my suspicions." Tony clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Doesn't that mean they somehow infiltrated your company?" Kara asked, despite still focusing on cleansing Steve's injury.

"Indeed." he retorted, gritting his teeth. "This is most definitely Stark technology..."

"We have to report this to S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve pondered. "Fury has to know; if Hydra's involved, this isn't something just the three of us can handle."

"We're not leaving until we're done here."

It was at those words that both Steve and Kara shot a weird glance to Tony; looking to each other briefly, the young woman then stood and placed her hands onto her hips.

"Okay, Tony... what's going on here? There's something more to this mission; Nick didn't want to tell me, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna spend another day going around blindly."

"There's nothing more..."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Stark!" she suddenly shouted in anger. "Isn't it enough that you got Steve injured? What's it gonna take for you to tell us the whole truth? Are you just gonna wait until one of us gets killed?"

Her spontaneous outburst was enough to render even Tony utterly silent. Sighing in an attempt to calm herself a bit, the young woman now spoke again.

"Tony... I could have found out all I wanted until now, and you know that. If I didn't go poking around in your mind it's because I have too much respect for humans, to invade their privacy like that. So I trusted you this far and believed that you and Nick had a good reason to get us out here. But you have to tell us what we got ourselves into... we won't be of any use to you dead; which is what we'll both be, if we don't know what to expect from this mission."

When he turned his back to them and set the weapon on the table, leaning onto it and lowering his head, Kara again looked to Steve, this time with a concerned shade on her features.

"Stark, what is it that you're actually looking for?" the soldier finally asked. "You didn't seem all that surprised to find out Hydra was behind all this. So I think you knew already and you dragged us out here for another reason..."

Deciding to let Steve give it a try at handling the situation, the young woman silently moved back onto her knees to finish cleaning his wound and bandage it. Deathly silence reigned supreme for the next few minutes, until Tony finally whirled around to face them.

"I came here to find someone..." he said at long last.

"Alright." Steve nodded. "Who?"

"He was my friend in college; after we graduated, he decided that he wanted something else from his life, than being a scientist. So he got another job but we always kept in touch. Many years ago I started suspecting that Hydra was either trying, or had succeeded in infiltrating my company, to smuggle Stark weapons technology out of the country. I asked for his help and he came to work for me so he could look into it firsthand. He was kidnapped just two years after I hired him... I have no doubt it was Hydra, and I've been trying to find him ever since. A few times I was close, but they always somehow slipped away. So I had no more options; I had to talk to Fury and ask him to help me. I owe this man my life and I won't be able to live with myself if I don't save him."

A few seconds passed away without any other words, while Steve and Kara watched the Stark male in some surprise; clearly neither of them had expected to hear that from him, knowing his general personality.

"Does this guy have a name?" Kara finally asked.

"I'd rather not say it... I promised I would keep his identity a secret, to protect his family."

For a brief moment, his eyes gave away an odd spark that made Kara frown in confusion; discarding it as a fleeting sensation, she nodded.

"Alright... but I don't see why all the secrecy. You and Nick could've told us from the beginning; we still would have come to help you."

"Well... now you know. I'm... I'm gonna go check on Jarvis."

OoOoO

"Maybe I should go look for him..."

Raising his gaze from one of the maps, Steve briefly settled for watching the young woman as she paced around the small shack worriedly. Checking the phone on the table, he now realized it had been more than four hours since their companion had left; the place where Jarvis was on the lookout was no more than an hour's distance from their shack.

"He'll be alright." he finally said in an attempt to calm her down.

"What if they saw him? Like... like they saw you earlier. They're sure to have doubled their security after that incident. What if they captured him? What if they killed him?"

Standing whilst she spoke in that terrified voice which was deeply unnerving, considering her usual composure, Steve now stepped over to her and trapped her in his arms to keep her from pacing around anymore; it actually caught him off guard when she latched onto him in return and he realized she was trembling.

"I know you care a lot about him, Kara..." he said gently, rubbing her back to try and settle her down. "But he can take care of himself and he had his suit with him; he's not one to go down that easily."

Sighting her pleading gaze when she leaned back to look into his eyes, the young soldier ultimately smiled lightly. Stepping away from her he now moved to retrieve his shield from where he had left it against the wall.

"Of course, if it'll make you feel better... we can go for a walk." he stated, strapping the shield to his back and putting on his helmet.

When he walked past her, on his way to the door, he was genuinely startled when Kara reached out and grasped his hand; turning to look at her he was met with a warm smile that she had never before offered him, despite the tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Thank you..." she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

Her gesture, as well as the softness in her tone, was enough to make him gently squeeze her hand and smile back... and it was then that he caught the feeling of a new emotion blooming in his chest. And before he had even fully realized what he was doing, he leaned down – reeled in by those wonderful, mesmerizing eyes – until his lips found and embraced hers.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Coriofabulous** \- So I've decided to reply to your review first, because I want to take this time to explain some things which I should have probably explained in more detail at the beginning of chapter three. But first things first, thank you for taking the time to review and I'm sorry to hear that chapter left such a bad impression on you.

Now, I can't tell from your review if you actually read the entire chapter, or if you just read my warning from the beginning (which you quoted in the review) and drew your conclusion solely based on that warning. If you did, then I'm afraid your conclusion was drawn in the absence of a pretty important piece of information, namely the chapter itself. Because - if you read the chapter - you'll notice that Loki doesn't actually do anything with her, other than a hug which I frankly do not consider to be improper even between an adult and an underage teenager. Sure, he does certain things that hint towards a sexual nature, but I'll try to explain why I had him do that.

First off, at sixteen I too had a boyfriend who was about three years older than me and we kissed and hugged and all that, even if we didn't have sex. And while legally age still matters in relation to sex, in the collective mentality nowadays it doesn't really matter anymore. And yes, that has led to some bad things in our society, like first graders getting pregnant and so on, and I don't agree with that. But at the same time, so long as actual sex isn't involved, I don't really see what's disgusting about an adult man teasing a teenager, especially when that man looks like he's in his twenties, as Loki does. I would have considered it disgusting if it was an old man taunting a teenager, because yes the age gap there is visually too big to pass it off as a playful joke.

Which brings me back to Loki who is probably the very definition of a tease... do keep in mind that he is the God of Mischief and mischief doesn't only mean nasty pranks; mischief also entails a sexual aspect, which is teasing. Also, what Loki told Kara in that chapter - namely that on Asgard she would've been married at 16 and probably pregnant as well - is something I took from my own country's history. Because no further than 200 years ago, most girls at that age in my country were married already. That has to do with the fact that women can't conceive any more children past a certain age, unlike men, so having girls marry at 16-17 was something natural because the point was for the woman to be able to have as many children as she could/wanted.

I've also tried to illustrate the fact that I didn't want it to go too far while Kara was at that age, by pointing out that her mother was 17 when she married, while being pregnant. So in that aspect Kara is actually better than her mom, because her first time having sex happens at 18 (so when she's an adult legally) and she made sure to not lose her head and end up pregnant with a guy who basically comes and goes as he pleases. These are things you would have noticed if you had actually read the following chapter as well.

But, as I said, I'm sorry to hear the third chapter left such a bad impression on you, even if I do appreciate the compliments about the first two chapters. However, I lean toward believing that you didn't actually read the third chapter after my warning at the beginning, because then you would have noticed that Loki basically did nothing sexual to her. He didn't touch her in any inappropriate places, he didn't even kiss her. Sure, he teased her, but keep in mind that this is a guy whose greatest asset is his "silver tongue" as it's called - namely the ability to use words to cause whatever reaction he desires in others. That's also highly aided by magic and by his appearance which so many women find very appealing; so he doesn't really need to touch a woman in order to tease her and increase her sexual frustration. Most of the sexual tension that Kara had to withstand in that chapter actually came from her own attraction toward Loki and from her own hormones which - as a woman - I know too well to be highly annoying at that age.

Also, if you had read the chapter, you would have likely noticed that at some point Loki decided to "test some of her limits" which basically says in few words, almost everything I said in this reply - he was teasing her and testing her to see how far she could go without giving in to her own desires. That does not imply in any way that he was actually going to sleep with her, if she gave in and tried to steer him in that direction. If you have actually read the chapter, then you should have noticed all these things, because I put them there specifically to make it as obvious as I could that I had no intention of taking it any further than verbal taunts.

If I didn't manage to make it obvious enough, I apologize but now you and everyone else who reads this story know why I wrote that chapter as I did and what influenced me to write it as such. So again, thank you for reviewing and I'm sorry that chapter scared you off. Maybe, after reading my explanation you'll get another view on the chapter and hopefully decide to give the story a chance, after all.

2\. **Chocoworlds own female god **\- Darling you utterly humble me with your kind words. Far from me to consider that my story is the best out there, but hopefully it's among the better ones on the website. I'm so glad to hear that you liked how I portrayed each character, given that I'm always somewhat nervous about canon characters, because they're much harder to keep in character than an OC.

But I'm glad to hear I managed to capture different sides of the same character, because that was my intention; to show that they have more than one layer to them - especially Loki, who in the first _Thor_ movie was forcefully made to be a villain, when he has so many more layers to his complex personality.

So thank you so much for this heartwarming review and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

3\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak **\- Aww honey, I'm so sorry for breaking your heart. I swear it wasn't my intention... Loki made me do it xD

But joke aside, I'm so happy to hear the chapter met your expectations. I hope this one will meet them as well and that the ending was a nice surprise. Thank you so much for this lovely review, darling. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	13. Entry 12

Soooo, so, so, so, so... it seems that the whole Steve/Kara thing is evolving into its own arc. I'd first thought I'd be done with it in one chapter, maybe two... now I'm already working on the fifth filler chapter and I'm not yet sure I'll be able to finish this arc in that chapter. I'm just having so many ideas to add more layers to Kara and Steve's personalities, that I fear this arc will become quite a big thing in the story.

But I'm hoping you guys enjoy it - this is pure original story that you're reading, concerning this mission and the whole Steve/Kara affair. So I hope you like the break from canon universe, because you'll get more than enough of it soon... I still have two more movies to cover in this story ;)

Anyway, I'll let you enjoy this installment darlings... and do toss me a review, they're always much appreciated :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #12**

_And before he had even fully realized what he was doing, he leaned down – reeled in by those wonderful, mesmerizing eyes – until his lips found and embraced hers._

oOo

_**Location: **__Unknown_

_**Date: **__Unknown_

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_'Dearest...'_

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_'Dearest, open your eyes...'_

_Drip... drip... drip..._

Darkness... nothing but an empty void staring back at her...

_Drip... drip... drip..._

There it was again; that vaguely familiar sound... but what was it? And that voice... that soft, velvety voice... that warm and loving tone...

_'Dearest...'_

She couldn't see a thing, but somehow she was aware that she had turned around only to find nothing there but the same darkness... in front of her... behind her... above her... anywhere... everywhere... embracing her... choking her... crushing her...

_'Loki...?' _she finally whispered, not daring to believe her own ears.

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_'Look at me, dearest...'_

_'Loki!' _she called out, a resounding note of despair in her tone._ 'Where are you? I can't see a thing...'_

Her heart cringed in delight and in pain at the same time, when that so familiar sound of an amused huff reached her... as if he was right there... right behind her... his lips no further than an inch from her ear...

_'That's because you won't open your eyes, love...'_

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_'My eyes are open...' _she retorted, annoyed by that repetitive sound she couldn't place.

_'No... not yet... open your eyes, dearest...'_

When she blindly reached out trying to find something... anything... that would give her the slightest clue as to where she was she now caught the sound of that growled breath he used to give away whenever he was annoyed... she could practically picture him narrowing his eyes at her... pinning her down with that pointed gaze of his...

_'Stop searching for me!'_ he now demanded, and for a moment the imposing, almost regal shade in his voice made her freeze.

But then his voice melted just like snow under the sun, and she again recognized that loving and seductive tone he had so many times used on her.

_'Just open your eyes... I'm right here...'_

Lowering her arms, she tightly closed her eyes and opened them again, only to find herself in that same dark void.

_'Kara, open your eyes...'_ came Loki's annoyed tone, this time tainted with a sense of urgency that sent a cold shiver down her spine.

Suddenly her eyes protested when a bright light illuminated her in an odd way, like a huge lamp had just been lit behind her... while it made the outline of her body shine, the rays seemed unable to penetrate the darkness before her.

_'Don't turn around!'_ he ordered when she tried to look over her shoulder. _'Open your eyes... open them...'_

_'You're really here... aren't you?'_ she asked, making no more attempts at disobeying him.

And then she felt it... he wasn't touching her at all but she could feel him there... right behind her... a shaky breath left her... her lips now tried to move of their own accord and paint a smile on her expression... and she felt tears trailing along her cheeks...

_'Open your eyes...'_ he whispered.

This time she could feel his breath ghosting over her ear... and then the back of his slender finger sliding along her left cheek, wiping away her tears...

_Drip... drip... drip..._

There it was again... that blasted sound... what the hell was it?!

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_'Open your eyes, dearest...'_ he said again, and she could swear she heard a pleading tone in his voice, before that urgent and weird note returned to mix with his velvety voice. _'Do it... do it now!'_

_'Loki... what's happen...?'_

Out of reflex, she gave in to curiosity and again tried to turn around only to have her voice die out... the image she caught a fleeting glimpse of, was one that she was sure she would never forget: at first she thought she was looking straight into the sun, had it not been for the weird blue shade in that blinding glow... and then she spotted a dark figure emerging from the very core of that light...

And Loki indeed standing behind her... the same Loki that she remembered, the only difference she could notice being that his hair seemed longer than before. And he was looking over his shoulder at the approaching entity.

It was when he turned around and saw her looking at him, that Kara first sighted something she had never believed possible... the sheer terror in his gaze that suddenly made her whole body shake in fear.

_'No!'_ he cried out on such a heart wrenching tone, that she could have burst into tears right then and there.

The last thing she saw was a shade of sorrow coming to his eyes, before his jaw clenched whilst he raised his hand and forcefully smacked her.

OoOoO

"A very interesting Midgardian..."

Opening his eyes as he heaved for breath from the effort, the dark haired male glared at the one who had spoken.

"She belongs to me... you and your master have no business with her." he retorted.

An ironic smile was all he could see from beneath the hood of the... creature... that had approached him.

"And do you believe _he_ would be deterred by you, if he decided to seek her out? Foolish Asgardian... you might have sent her away before my master could speak to her, this time. But it will not happen again... should he choose to satisfy his curiosity."

Forcing himself to rise despite his muscles protesting at the strain, Loki now approached the other male, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"You stay away from her, Chthon!" he warned through clenched teeth.

A growl came in response to his words and when The Other raised his hand in an attempt to strike him, Loki conjured his scepter and placed the tip to his throat.

"Don't forget why your master chose me..." he retorted smugly. "I am the one who will deliver the Tesseract; you would do well to remember that."

With another growl, Chthon ultimately backed down; he could not understand what Thanos had ever seen in that pathetic boy, but it wasn't his place to question his master's decisions. Still, he was sure Loki would fail... oh, and he would take such delight in dealing out punishment, when that day came.

With Chthon taking his leave, the dark haired god was left to once again collapse under the weight of his own exhaustion, as he allowed himself to drop onto the nearest rock. Allowing the scepter to fade away, he lowered his head and closed his eyes while waiting for his breath to settle down completely. And it was in those moments that his mind began working again, filling his head with questions.

What in all nine realms had happened to her? How had her consciousness even gotten so close to that place? Had it been something she'd done on purpose, or a mere accident? But most importantly... would Thanos actually take an interest in her?

He had hoped that he could keep her a secret and so far he had managed just that; but then... _that_ had happened just earlier, and Thanos was certainly aware of her existence now. And yet, amidst all that anxiety and anger, he did become aware of another feeling which his mind promptly translated into words: he longed for her gentle touch... her warm smile... her loving whispers; he longed to hold her again... he longed to bury his hands into her silky hair... he longed to lie with her, listening to the hypnotically beautiful pace of her heart... he...

_'I miss you... dearest...'_

OoOoO

The first thing she could hear was her startled, choked gasp when her eyes snapped wide open... the first thing she saw was nothing but a blurred mix of earthy colors...

_Drip... drip... drip..._

That sound made her bolt upright and instantly she grabbed her head which now throbbed painfully, while a groan escaped her lips. Once her mind had recovered from the shock of the initial dizziness, the image slowly cleared before her eyes and she realized she was... in a cave?

_Drip... drip... drip..._

Glancing around, she finally sighted the source of that sound... a thin string of water trickling along the wall and dripping onto the hard stone floor. Letting her eyes scan her surroundings, she took a few moments to let them get used to the dim light coming from what she guessed was an opening very high up on the wall. There seemed to be nothing else in that... cell, she assumed she could call it.

Finally she spotted the door somewhere to her left; it looked heavy, solid and... highly technological; in fact, it somewhat reminded her of the doors that S.H.I.E.L.D. used for their storage chambers.

Her attempt to stand was met with her body's fervent protest in the form of a sudden rush of dizziness that rendered her back onto her knees, holding her head. And she finally noticed that her hair was still damp, just like her outfit... no wonder she was so cold.

"You shouldn't move around too much... let your body recover first."

The unknown male voice nearly had her scream in fright; again she scanned the room and only when the other figure inside moved out of the shadowy corner it had been sitting in, did she finally notice she wasn't alone.

At first guess, she would have said the male was at least seventy years old, but his voice gave him away to be much younger than that, as did his wrinkleless forehead – or what she could see of it beneath the soiled strands of black hair. Judging by its length and the unkempt aspect of his large, bushy beard, she estimated that her companion had been locked up for at least a year, if not more. It was only when he stood and approached her, holding out a rusty cup which he had filled with water from the makeshift spring in their cell, that she realized her previous assumption had been wrong. He looked so emaciated that she could hazard a guess he had been a prisoner for many years.

"Thank you..." she ultimately replied, accepting the water.

"They brought you here three days ago... I didn't even think you were alive."

Moving back and seating himself against the wall, he fell silent for a while whilst Kara now tried to recall how she had ended up in that situation. Slowly her brain began replaying images of her latest memories, like a movie.

_**oO Flashback Oo**_

_"Thank you..."_

_She definitely hadn't seen that coming; she had expected his smile, but not... not that kiss... heck, she hadn't even expected her own reaction, and she was utterly baffled when she realized that she hadn't made the slightest attempt at stopping him. In fact she had basically become unaware of everything else until she heard him clearing his throat nervously._

_"We... we should go look for Stark..."_

_By the time her gaze had zeroed in on him again, Steve was already outside waiting for her to follow and doing everything in his power to not make eye contact with her. And it was in that very moment when she actually thought that Tony might have been right._

_"Didn't think Captain America was this bashful..." she retorted in jest, walking past him._

_"Yeah, I guess I'm too much of a fossil to know what women nowadays like in a guy."_

_Smiling at his humorous reply, she took a moment to simply watch him as he now walked at her side._

_"A real woman is going to like you just the way you are..." she finally said on a warm tone. "If you have to change in order to please her then she's not worth your time."_

_Her words had the effect she'd been hoping for, when Steve's gaze met hers and he finally offered her a grateful smile._

_"What about you? You got anyone holding some special place in your heart?"_

_His question had actually taken her by surprise, especially after he'd already kissed her. But while she wanted to smile at it, her heart cringed painfully whilst she found that she didn't know if she should answer _yes_ or _no_._

_"I... I had someone... he died."_

_Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth as she stated the last two words; she had so much tried to deny it, but ultimately she knew she was just deceiving herself and running away from her own pain._

_"I'm sorry to hear that..."_

_The sheer empathy in Steve's tone had her looking back to him and rendered her unable to hold back a slight smile; she certainly hadn't expected to feel as if he completely understood her with just a phrase, but she'd be damned if she didn't feel exactly like that. Maybe it really wasn't such a bad idea to actually try and move on; especially with someone like Steve._

_"I don't think you know what a great guy you are, Steve..." she replied, reaching up to briefly stroke his cheek._

_"Now you're just buttering up to me."_

_His unexpected retort had her laugh before she'd even fully realized he was jesting._

_"Well then I might as well go for broke, Cap..." she retorted._

_"Really? And how do you plan to do that?"_

_"Hmm... have you been to a movie theater yet?"_

_"Not since... too long ago."_

_"Then should we say... after the mission?"_

_It was at those words that she could see his humor slightly fading away and she could tell he was wondering just how much of what she said was a joke._

_"Are you hitting on an officer?" he finally asked, his lips almost involuntarily curving into that slightly lopsided smile that she actually considered really cute._

_Leaning back a bit, as if she was checking out his rump, she ultimately winked at him._

_"When he's wearing a skintight outfit and looks like... this?" she retorted, gesturing to his body. "What woman in her right mind wouldn't?"_

_Almost instantly she sighted a faint shade of red briefly coloring his cheeks while he shook his head at her._

_"Is this really how women ask guys out nowadays?"_

_"More or less..."_

_Their conversation was soon interrupted, however, when they arrived at the lookout point only to find that both Tony and his suit were gone._

_"Crap... now what?" she sighed._

_"I recognize these tracks..." Steve replied, having crouched down a few feet away to examine the soil. "These are from Stark's suit... and these... are from some very heavy combat boots."_

_Following his finger as he pointed out the footprints on the ground, she clenched her jaw._

_"They went that way..." he said, now pointing out along a tight trail leading up into the mountains. "I can't tell if they captured him or not, though... his suit's tracks end too abruptly. I'm thinking maybe he flew off."_

_"So then why didn't he come back to the cabin?"_

_Standing, Steve now reached to his back and retrieved his shield._

_"Maybe we should give Fury a call before we get in too deep." he suggested._

_"After we find Tony... if they did get him, he might not have enough time for Nick to mount a rescue mission."_

_"Kara..."_

_"Let's just go."_

_She heard his sigh and could swear that she was able to picture that disapproving look he offered whoever made stupid decisions, but ultimately she heard his footsteps as he moved to follow her._

_And then everything had gone so horribly wrong..._

_They had been following the trail for about two hours and had ended up high in the mountains only to find themselves ambushed by a dozen Hydra soldiers. The fight had been grueling, especially after one of their attackers had discharged his pistol at a nearby tree only to have it disintegrate into utter nothingness._

_"Don't let them hit you with those..." Steve warned her. "Otherwise Fury won't even have a body left to bury."_

_"Do you know who you're talking to?" she retorted in amusement. "This whole mountain's my playground..."_

_When she had stopped and raised her gaze to the rocks looming ominously above them, Steve had stepped in closer, to shield her while she made her move._

_"You sure about this?" he asked when the large stones groaned in protest, as the young woman attempted to dislodge them._

_"You just get... ready to run... now!"_

_Finally with a furious rumble the mountain spilled chunks of itself downhill, making the ground shake as the huge boulders rushed at them, tearing down every tree and smaller rock in their path. Steve had immediately taken her hand and dragged her along the trail, seeking to move out of the avalanche's way. And they were almost in the clear when one of their attackers grabbed her ankle and wrenched her out of Steve's grasp._

_When she rolled onto her back with the intention to kick him in the face and free herself, one of the boulders crashed on top of her assailant, the weight tearing a chunk of the small trail as well. The last thing she remembered was seeing herself falling into the abyss below... then she'd looked up to see Steve leaping after her with no hesitation – as if he was diving into a lake not into certain death – while her terrified scream echoed over the narrow valley amidst the unbridled growls of the mountain._

_She had been lucky enough to eventually hit the surface of the lake at the bottom; and even luckier that all of the boulders which had fallen with her had somehow missed her. She remembered somehow managing to drag herself out of the freezing water, onto the cold ground... she could remember sighting a huge pile of stones nearby... and she could remember that her first thoughts had been a prayer to all the gods she'd ever heard of, that Steve wasn't buried underneath._

_And then her body had finally given in to the cold and everything had turned to darkness..._

_**oO End of flashback Oo**_

"How did you get here?" the male finally asked, startling her out of her thoughts. "You're too young to be working for them..."

Looking to him the young woman now scoured her memory; with her mind gradually kicking back into gear she ultimately managed to piece back together the latest events.

"I don't work for them." she replied. "I actually work for another organization... we're called S.H.I.E.L.D. and... I was here with two of my colleagues; a soldier... and a young scientist from Stark Industries."

"Tony..."

His statement of that name, as well as the shocked tone in his voice had Kara's eyes dart back to her cell mate.

"Are you... are you the one he's looking for?" she asked tentatively.

"I told him not to come, if they took me... I told him to stay away..."

The sound of his voice cracking left her baffled; she had expected the man to be happy to hear that they were going to save him... but to hear him break down into tears was definitely a reaction she had not foreseen.

"He's been looking for you for years..." she said softly. "Everyone should have friends like that."

"He can't come... he has to stay away..."

"You don't... want to get out of here?"

"I can't face him... not after I betrayed him..."

Crawling closer – as she was still too weary to stand and walk properly – Kara now settled just a few steps away from her cellmate.

"What happened?"

"He trusted me with some of his most secret formulas... and I didn't want to tell them anything... I didn't, I swear..."

Ultimately she felt compelled to reach out and grasp the male's hand in an attempt at calming him down.

"It's okay... just tell me what happened. Tell me who you are..." she said softly.

Falling silent for the following minutes while the male recomposed himself, she then released his hand to let him speak.

"I met Tony in college..." he said, his gaze now fixed onto his bony hands which he had gathered in his lap. "He was the playboy... I was the shy bookworm. But he always said we completed each other and that I motivated him to become better than he was and to aspire to greater things. After graduation he asked me to work with him and continue his father's technological empire... but I wanted something else. I felt like I couldn't help people as much as I wanted to, as a scientist. So I went back to school and became a cop; some years later I was recruited into the CIA and I soon became one of the top agents. Turns out that being a bookworm is good for more than just being a scientist..."

His last humorous statement was followed by a few moments in which nothing could be heard around them aside from the dripping water.

"One day I was assigned a mission to rescue some hostages from a bank heist." he said now, leaning his head back and averting his gaze to the dimly lit ceiling. "I'll always remember that day... it was the day that brought me so much sorrow... and so much happiness at the same time."

"What happened?" she asked when he fell silent again, apparently lost in his own memories.

"It turned out the one who was trying to rob the bank was my younger brother... my own brother..."

It was at those words that Kara felt her heart twitching for a reason she couldn't have pinpointed to save her life. What she could tell was that her intuition had perked up at something... but what?

"But that was also the day when I met the woman who would later become my wife... she was one of the hostages. We got married a year later..."

"Did... did you have any children?" she asked again, her throat gradually tightening as though someone was trying to choke her.

"A daughter... I swear she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

His reply left her staring in shock at him as realization hit her straight in the back of the head like a rock.

"What... what was her name?" she finally whispered, trying to keep at least some feeble grasp on her voice.

"Kara... my wife wanted her to have a unique name, because she was certain our child was destined for great things."

Instantly she had to bite into her tongue to hold back from bursting out into sobs, and she felt utterly grateful that the room was dark enough to hide the tears she felt streaming down her cheeks. Once more she took a moment to look him over and the sight only made her heart cringe in sorrow as she stared at the male before her.

A mere shadow of Richard Taylor... her father...

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. ****SuperNaturalxxFreak**** \- Honey I am so, so utterly humbled by the compliments you so generously offer me. Really, you are much too kind ❤

In regards to Steve, yeah I've tried to make him slightly more like a normal guy, because throughout his two movies (meaning not in _The Avengers_) I couldn't shake off the feeling that whenever he had a scene where his character had to interact with a woman, his behavior was forcibly shy. I really cannot imagine any man being THAT shy or THAT unable to woo a female.

So I took a gamble and made him seem a bit more normal, at the risk of not keeping him in character. I hope I kept his canon personality as much as possible, even with that minor change.

Also, I'm glad to hear I managed to keep Kara as a plausible character, even without focusing too much on her grief. As for writer's block, at the moment it doesn't seem like my brain has any trouble with that so I'm really happy for it. I've had to deal with a lot of writer's block over time for my other stories, so I know firsthand just how annoying it can be.

But thank you for this heartwarming review, darling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

2\. **CaptainBrieOnToast **\- Darling, really, there's nothing to apologize for. I am so happy that you loved both chapters so much even if one of them was indeed mostly comprised of movie scenes. And between you and me, I don't think Loki's evil either ;)

As for the mission, it's actually not the one from the beginning of _The Avengers_. It's a completely separate mission which takes place some good months before _The Avengers_ begins. It's basically its own arc in the story and it will include the Steve/Kara romance attempt (we all know it's gonna fail in the end, because Loki's still alive xD). Also Fury and Tony had a very good reason to keep the actual mission a secret, a reason which was revealed in the chapter you just read. I'm hoping it was a nice surprise.

But thank you so much for reviewing both chapters, honey. I hope you enjoyed this one as well; looking forward to hearing your opinion on it :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	14. Entry 13

Soooo darlings, props to each and every one of you... the story now has more than **4.000 views**... in just **ONE MONTH!** I'm sincerely baffled and utterly humbled by all the love you poured onto this story, my lovelies. And I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to each of you, because without you this story would be nothing. It would be just an idea in my head.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, my lovely readers. I truly hope the story will keep living up to your expectations with each new chapter and that you'll all keep loving it just as much as you have until now :D

But for now enjoy the next installment of the Steve/Kara arc and don't worry... Loki's coming soon~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #13**

_Once more she took a moment to look him over and the sight only made her heart cringe in sorrow as she stared at the male before her._

_A mere shadow of Richard Taylor... her father..._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__October 02, 2011_

"Am I dead?"

"You weren't that lucky..."

Averting his gaze from the blinding lights above, Steve finally realized he was in what appeared to be a hospital room; and that the voice who had replied to his question belonged to Fury, the man standing near his bed.

"Where am I?" he asked, moving to sit up.

His head was throbbing in pain and the whole room was slightly spinning; he imagined that was what it felt like to be drunk or drugged.

"You're on the Helicarrier, in the medical ward. Stark brought you here three days ago and you were unconscious until now."

Looking back up at the dark skinned male, Steve now widened his eyes in shock.

"Stark?"

"Yes..." Fury replied, somewhat puzzled at the soldier's unexpected reaction.

Forcing himself to stand, Steve snatched his shirt from the nearby chair.

"Where is he?"

"What happened out there, Rogers?" Fury replied, narrowing his eye in thought.

"Where is he?!" the soldier asked again through clenched teeth.

"I'm right here." Tony retorted, having just entered the room.

Before he or Fury could react, Steve grabbed the young scientist by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Where the hell were you?" he demanded.

"I was right there..."

"The hell you were! We came looking for you! I'm gonna ask just one more time... where were you?"

Tony's urge to offer a snarky retort was only dissuaded by the unusually furious spark in the soldier's gaze.

"They saw me..." he finally replied. "The same group you followed... I took off and went to circle the mountain chain after they followed me up. I was gonna ambush them and take a prisoner so we could get more information about the exact location of their hideout, how many troops they have stationed there... and I came back only to find you half-dead at the bottom of the pit."

Steve's sudden smile caught him off guard, the sight followed immediately by a sharp pain when the soldier's fist collided with his cheek, rendering him onto the floor.

"She died because of you..." he said in disgust. "Because you just had to withhold information from us. I hope this haunts you for the rest of your life, like it'll haunt me seeing her fall from that cliff."

Snatching his arm from Fury's grasp – given that the male had rushed to restrain him, probably fearing he would continue beyond just one punch – he left the room whilst Tony scrambled to his feet, leaning against the wall and holding his now bleeding lip.

"Stark, get to my office after you clean yourself up." Fury stated. "I wanna know every detail of what happened out there, after you cost me one of my agents."

OoOoO

"Can I trust you not to punch him again, Rogers?"

"Yes, sir..." the soldier replied reluctantly.

"Good. I wanna know what happened out there and I can't talk to him, if you break his teeth."

"With all due respect, sir... you weren't the one out there. You weren't the one who saw that terrified expression on her face as she fell... you're not the one who heard that desperate scream echo all around you... and you're not the one who's gonna have nightmares. And you're just as guilty as Stark is... if you'd told us from the beginning where we were going and what we were getting ourselves into, she might still be alive now."

"She is still alive."

Almost startled by Tony's voice as he entered the office, Steve now shot an angry glance Stark's way.

"She is, Rogers... don't get your pants in a knot. Jarvis stuck tracking bugs to both of you; how else do you think I found you under ten feet of rock?"

"Are you saying you know where she is?" Fury asked.

"Jarvis just finished analyzing the data and... although we had quite some interference... we found her. Here, give me this for a minute..."

Reaching to the male's desk Tony retrieved the end of a cable which he hooked into his phone.

"Alright, Jarvis... let's show our friends how good you are at mapping."

_"I have already uploaded the geographical data into your computer, Director Fury."_ came the AI's response.

Lowering his gaze to the touch screen on his desk, Fury pressed one of the buttons which projected the data onto the wall nearby.

"Alright, so this is the satellite view." Tony continued. "Jarvis... scan that mountain and give me a full 3D view of the inside, please."

_"Right away, sir."_

Watching as the image shifted to one similar to a blueprint, showing the inside of the hideout, Steve finally moved to stand next to Tony. The inside of that mountain was most definitely a Hydra lair; the layout still triggered a sense of familiarity in him as he watched the maze-like corridors and the various rooms scattered about.

_"There are four storage chambers where I have detected the particular wave pattern emitted by Stark technology."_ the AI pointed out, while the image marked each of those chambers with a red X.

"Alright, now add a thermo-scan layer and show me how many of them are inside." Tony stated.

With the image gradually filling the corridors and some of the rooms with red dots, the three males fell silent while examining the display, until Jarvis spoke again.

_"Sir, I have located the source of Miss Taylor's signal."_

"Show me." Tony replied.

His eyes moved upwards to what seemed to be the northernmost chamber in the facility where one of the dots had turned green.

_"It appears there is someone else with her; the satellite scan cannot identify whether they are hostile or not."_

"I'm counting about fifty in there, aside from her." Steve finally said.

"A walk in the park..." Tony retorted humorously while unplugging the phone from Fury's computer.

"You're not going out there until we devise a plan of action." Fury now said, lacing his fingers together. "This is no longer your mission, Stark; this is officially a S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue operation... starting now."

Before Tony could protest in any way, the dark skinned male pressed a button onto his desk.

"Coulson, I want you in my office... right now."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Hydra facility_

_**Date: **__October 03, 2011_

The sound of the door lock clanking startled Kara from her half-asleep state; she had no idea how much time she and her cellmate had spent in silence, each of them apparently deeply lost in their own thoughts. She hadn't told him that she was the daughter he had spoken of... if he didn't know yet what had happened in his absence, she didn't want to be the one to tell him that her mother was dead or that his daughter had ended up captured by Hydra, the same as him. She knew how much it meant to still have hope and she refused to be the one to take it away from her own father.

The sight of three soldiers entering the cell now drew her focus to the door, where a fourth male soon stepped inside... if she had to hazard a guess, she would have bet anything he was the leader there.

"So... you're still alive."

When she tried to avoid looking at him, the male approached her and snapped his fingers in front of her face to regain her attention.

"I'm talking to you, young lady. Who are you?"

Averting her eyes upwards, Kara briefly pondered on what to say.

_'Lie to him...'_

The sound of Loki's voice almost made her jolt in surprise and instinctively her eyes darted around the room; and then she sighted him standing in the doorway, his hands clasped at the back of his waist as he pinned her with that pointed gaze he offered her when he wanted to make it clear that he would not accept disobedience.

For a moment she felt like laughing out loud when a sudden surge of joy coursed through her, but... he couldn't really be there... could he? By now she'd concluded that her previous _meeting_ with him had been nothing more than a dream. Maybe she was finally starting to lose it, with everything that had happened of late. Maybe it was just her own mind wishing to preserve her life and urging her to lie by making use of his image.

"I'm... Alice... Winters..." she mumbled hesitantly.

When the male standing before her cocked his head to the side in thought, she found herself trying to swallow a sudden knot in her throat.

_'Lie better...'_

If this was her mind's attempt at keeping her alive, then it was damn torture having to hear Loki's voice; it made her heart cringe so painfully that she could barely breathe anymore.

"Miss Winters..." the male finally stated contemplatively. "And how did you end up in the lake?"

"I was hiking... I got lost and slipped off the trail."

"Do you usually hike so high in the mountains without any gear?"

_'Threaten him...'_

"Look, I have no idea who you people are... but you have no reason to keep me here. If I'm missing for too long my friends are gonna call the police." she bluffed, hoping it would be enough to deter her interrogator.

With a chuckle he now withdrew a cell phone from his pocket when it started beeping, before he glanced over his shoulder and barked what sounded like an order in a language she recognized as German, even if she had no idea what he'd just said. For all she knew, he could've just ordered his men to shoot her right there and it took all she had to not visually breathe in relief when the soldiers left the room.

"I'll be seeing you again soon... _Miss Winters_."

The odd shade in his tone had her gulp while he walked to the now empty doorway; if anything, it was clear as daylight that she hadn't lied well enough to make him buy that story.

"When they come for you, fight them..."

Her cellmate's statement actually startled her; with all the commotion, she'd almost forgotten he was in the same room.

"What?"

"Fight them... it's better if they kill you, than if they test God knows what substances on you."

Narrowing her eyes in thought, the young woman now recalled their previous conversation.

"Is that... does that have anything to do with those formulas you mentioned?"

"I didn't want to give them those formulas... but I had no choice. They found out who I was and said they'd release my brother from prison and make sure he found my family."

"What... what do you mean?" she asked, although by now she was already starting to piece together the whole picture.

"After the bank heist Glenn went to prison... and he just... lost it in there. He lost his mind... he wanted nothing more than to take revenge on me. The last time I visited him was shortly before I left my family; he swore he'd one day get out of there... and that he'd take everything away from me, just like I took everything away from him. I brushed it off as just crazy talk, knowing of his medical condition. Until Hydra said they had the means to release him and tell him where my family lived. I... I had no other way... I had to choose between Tony and my family..."

When his voice again broke into sobs, Kara finally moved and settled next to him.

"You made the right choice..." she said softly. "Tony's going to understand... he has someone he loves as well and I know he'd give up anything to ensure her safety. He'll understand..."

"It doesn't matter anymore... I gave them those formulas for nothing. A couple of days after I did, they told me Glenn _escaped_ from prison; they said they had nothing to do with it, but I knew it was them. I killed my own family... because I wanted to help out a friend, I killed my family..."

It was at those words that Kara ultimately gave in to her own feelings and wrapped her arms around him.

"What if I told you that you daughter's fine?" she whispered. "That she's alive and well? That she's living a happy life?"

Even in the semidarkness she could tell when he leaned away and stared at her utterly speechless.

"I met her... I heard about Glenn's attempt to kill them. Your wife didn't make it, but she did... she's fine and she's grown into a great woman."

Heaven knew how much she wanted to just tell him that she was the daughter he'd believed dead; but how could she reveal that she wasn't, in fact, fine at all? That she was in a life threatening situation along with him? Or that she was struggling desperately to not die on the inside...?

"She talked about you... she always said how much she misses you. And how much she wishes she could see you at least one more time. She said she still sleeps with the stuffed bear you gave her... said it was the last present she got from you before you left."

Her gaze was drawn from the floor back to him when Richard grasped her hand.

"Thank you... you can't possibly imagine what it means to me to hear that." he replied, his tone overflowing with gratitude. "I wish I could see her before I die... but I don't think I'll get that chance anymore. At least I can die knowing that she's well... and for that I'm truly grateful."

"They'll come for us." she stated, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "I know they will... Tony said he owes you his life, he won't give up. And neither will Steve..."

Her throat actually tightened at the mention of his name; God, she hoped with all her being that he wasn't dead.

"Tony's a smart man, but even he's no match for Hydra..."

"He's not alone. He has S.H.I.E.L.D. to help him... they'll come." she insisted, although by now she was starting to suspect that she was trying to convince herself more than him.

OoOoO

"Ready, back there?"

Nodding to Natasha's question, Steve retrieved his shield and strapped it to his back while Tony moved to the back of the Quinjet.

"Alright..." Coulson spoke into his radio. "As soon as we blast that entrance, I want the ground teams to move in; after the rocks collapse you'll have a ten second window before the dust settles, so make the most of it and secure the porch. I want you to draw them out and keep them distracted long enough for the extraction team to retrieve our target."

_"Yes, sir."_

"Ready when you are." he smiled lightly, looking back to the redhead in the pilot's seat.

With a sly smirk Natasha reached to the console, eyeing the mountain before them.

"Knock, knock... anybody home?" she said in jest.

With the push of a button two missiles left the Quinjet, hitting the rock head on and causing almost the entire mountain slope to burst open. Watching as the agents on the ground stormed the entrance, Coulson now looked back to Tony and Steve.

"Alright... you're up. Be careful in there, we don't know if they're all going to fall for it."

Without a word Tony merely closed up his suit's mask, opening the back of the Quinjet and taking off with Steve leaping out after him.

_"You go get our package, Rogers... I gotta get some toys back."_

Looking up as the scientist spoke into his earpiece, Steve sighed; why wasn't he surprised that Tony was off doing his own thing? Shaking his head he instead rushed inside the hideout, passing by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Hydra soldiers alike. Normally he would have stayed to fight, but right now he had other priorities...

OoOoO

She couldn't tell how much time she had spent sitting there, holding her father's hand, neither of them uttering a word anymore but neither of them making any attempt to let go either. All she knew was that at some point they'd heard the muffled sound of an explosion; soon afterwards the door to their cell had opened again, revealing the same male from before flanked by three soldiers.

"So, _Miss Winters_... I have spoken to my superiors and they have agreed that it was rude of us to keep you here like this." he said on a tone that sounded almost mocking. "If you would accompany me, I will lead you outside and one of my men will escort you to the nearest town. So it's time to say goodbye to your little friend..."

The kind smile on his face would have likely appeared genuine, but she knew better than to trust a Hydra agent; even if she was too distraught and couldn't focus properly to read his mind, her father had told her more than enough. When she failed to move, the agent ultimately allowed his humor to fade off, and Kara actually found it unnerving that he wasn't at all distraught by what was likely a breach in their security. Not that she would complain about it...

"Very well... I was hoping to do it the easy way."

With a snap of his fingers, the three soldiers moved in with the intention to grab her and drag her out of the cell. She had just released Richard's hand and moved into a crouched position in between him and the approaching soldiers, ready to make use of the combat moves Natasha had taught her, when she was startled by the sight of what looked like a huge Frisbee smashing into the back of one's head.

"I hope this wasn't a private party..."

When the soldier fell to the floor unconscious, Kara felt a shaky breath leaving her lips as she sighted Steve standing in the doorway, and her lips involuntarily twitched into a smile. Although the other two soldiers attacked him at the same time, the young male made short work of them before smashing the flat of his shield into the scientist's face. When none of them gave any sign of standing up again, he finally relaxed enough to settle onto one knee before Kara.

"Are you okay?" he asked, checking for any visible injuries.

The next thing he knew, she had basically thrown herself into his arms and he felt her trembling. At first he thought it was from the cold when he noticed her damp suit, but then he heard her shaky voice and realized she was crying.

"It's okay..." he said gently, returning her embrace and stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down. "It's okay, I'm here..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Darling, that awesometacular review was probably the best birthday present I could've gotten this year. Thank you SO much, honey ❤

Yes, awesometacular is a word... don't think about it, just accept it! xD

Jokes aside, I'm so glad you got so excited about Kara's dad still being alive. I was actually hoping that my readers would all be thinking _"I didn't see that coming"_. That's how you know you made a good moment, when your readers don't see it coming and when that moment just baffles them (in a good way). As for the scene at the beginning... well I'll let you decide for yourself what it was ;)

Oh, I'm so relieved to hear that I managed to keep Steve in character. Contrary to most opinions, I think he's actually the hardest character to keep in character (yes, crappy redundancy xD). Most people I've talked to believe that Thor or Tony or other characters like them are the hardest to pull off, but for me Steve is definitely THE ultimate torture when it comes to getting his canon personality right. So I guess you could say I'm a bit masochistic for choosing him xD

But I'm really happy to see that the chapter got you so excited. I'm hoping this one did a good job of it as well. So thank you for this heartwarming review (and for a great birthday present) and I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion on this chapter as well, darling :D

2\. **MomentsInSilence **\- I don't know if I should be happy or worried that my story got you stuttering like that xD

But either way, I'm glad you enjoy it. Thank you so much for giving me a bit of love through your review. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	15. Entry 14

Soooo I got no rant for you today, lovelies. Aren't you glad? :D

Just remember that **reviews = ℒℴѵℯ** so please toss me a bit of it. I promise I don't bite! That's Loki's job~ ;)

Please? Pretty please with sugar lumps and whip cream and strawberries on top? ❤(◕ω◕)❤

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #14**

_"It's okay, I'm here..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__Hydra facility / S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__October 03, 2011_

Despite his every urge and instinct, Steve didn't move for the following few minutes; as much as he wanted to just get Kara out of there, he knew how important it was to get her to calm down and have her focused.

"You stupid man..." she finally said, catching him off guard.

When she leaned back and he sighted her tearstained face in the semidarkness, he found that the only thing he could do was to place his gloved hands onto her cheeks, in an attempt to wipe off the salty drops. It actually surprised him when she pushed his hands away, instead feeling her own hands weighing against the back of his neck before her lips pressed against his.

"You stupid, idiotic... and insanely courageous fool..." she muttered amidst tears, despite being unable to fully withhold a smile. "How could you jump after me like that? I thought you were dead..."

Finally understanding her reaction Steve ultimately couldn't hold back a smile of his own, while his arms somehow again found their way around her.

"I'd do it again any day of the week..." he replied, only to have his statement cut short when she again leaned up to kiss him.

If she were to be honest, she had no idea just what in the world had driven her to do that; she'd really done it before even full realizing just what she was doing. But if she'd ever had any doubts about the idea of trying to move on with Steve, right now they were completely gone. Yes, if she was going to keep her sanity she had to move on and accept the fact that Loki was now part of her past... and she couldn't think of a better man to help her rebuild her life, than the one she was kissing right now.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this..." he said humorously, despite how reluctant he was to lean away from her lips. "But how about we get outta here first? You promised me a date... and I sure as hell am not gonna miss this one."

"I did, didn't I?" she smiled, wiping away her tears. "We'll do it... but you have to promise you're not gonna jump after me like that anymore."

Huffing amusedly, he now stood and grasped her hand to help her to her feet.

"I'll think about it..."

It was when he cast a last glance around the room that he finally noticed Richard.

"This is Richard..." Kara said. "He's the one Tony came here to save..."

Nodding lightly, Steve approached him and offered a hand.

"Can you stand?"

"There's no point in taking me along." he replied. "Just get her out of here..."

"What are you talking about? We're not leaving anyone behind..."

Shaking his head with a slight smile, Richard heaved a sigh.

"I'm already dead... and I'll only slow you down."

At those words Kara now knelt before him with a sorrowful frown.

"You said you wanted to see your daughter again, before you die. I'm not leaving you here... I'll take you to see her."

"Come on." Steve stated, again holding out his hand.

Once he'd gotten over his awe, the male nodded and grasped the soldier's hand to get up, ultimately giving in to his desire to see his child again.

"You know, I never actually believed you're real..." he said now taking a moment to take in Steve's appearance. "Not even when Tony told me about his father's work with Erskine."

"Well, here I am..." Steve replied with a slight smile.

Moving to the doorway he carefully glanced both ways along the corridor before motioning the two to follow him. Their peaceful trek was short lived, however, when they turned a corner only to run into a group of six Hydra soldiers.

"Stay here..." Kara said, taking Richard behind a nearby crate.

Rushing back down the hallway where Steve was already in the midst of fighting their attackers she knelt next to one of them, who was by now lying on the ground with a broken neck, retrieving the male's pistol.

"Here..."

Startled by Steve's voice she raised her gaze to see him standing before her, holding out what looked like a small dagger. Glancing behind him she spotted the other five soldiers lying flat on the ground.

"Thanks..." she replied, accepting the weapon and hiding it in her boot.

"Let's keep moving." he now stated, rushing back to the crate to retrieve Richard. "I don't know how much longer Coulson and Natasha can keep them busy."

At his words the young woman stared up at him, even as she followed them along the hallways.

"Phil... Phil's here?"

"He's the one who devised the entire rescue operation, at Fury's request."

Sighting her worried expression, he smiled lightly.

"Don't worry he's not on the ground... Natasha's overseeing the operation along with him, from the Quinjet."

Nodding with a relieved smile, the young woman soon raised her gaze when they arrived in what seemed to be a huge cavern where she could see dozens of large crates stacked.

"Is this... a storage room?"

Soon enough she sighted a familiar figure above them and a relieved breath left her when she recognized Tony in his suit, the male soon landing before them.

"You look like you could use a meal... or two..." he said, popping open his mask and reaching forward to shake Richard's hand.

"Not like it'll do me much good..." the male replied. "I'm already dying..."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Tony... I had to give them the formulas, to save my family..."

"Yeah, that's not a problem... those formulas turned out to be failures anyway..."

"They tested the formulas on me."

It was at those words that Tony looked back to his friend, and for once Kara sighted a shade of utter sorrow in his eyes.

"If my calculations are correct... I'll be dead by tonight."

Sighting the painful shade that now crossed Kara's expression, Steve lightly frowned in thought although he decided to leave the questions for later; right now they had to get out of there.

_"Stark... Stark do you copy? Did you get her yet?"_ Coulson's voice suddenly rang out from the radio built into Tony's helmet.

"Yeah, we got her..." the scientist replied, snapping out of his shocked state.

_"Then get outta there; we're going to blast that whole mountain... you have two minutes."_

"Time to go." Steve retorted.

Strapping the shield to his back, he now cradled Richard in his arms and made a dash toward the exit. Gulping at the sight of Kara's pointed gaze, Tony allowed his mask to close before he picked up the young woman and took to the air, following Steve.

"How much did he tell you?"

"Everything..." she retorted.

"Yeah, I..."

"I didn't tell him I'm his daughter."

Her reply had the man turn to look at her.

"Why?"

"How could I?"

OoOoO

Tony had barely set her back onto her feet inside the Quinjet when Kara found herself tightly embraced; it was such a sudden thing that it took her a moment to realize it was Coulson.

"I'm alright, Phil..." she said softly, latching her arms around him. "I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"It doesn't matter anymore..." he replied, leaning back with a relieved smile. "What matters is that you're safe."

With Steve entering the aircraft along with Richard, Natasha now steered the machine away from the mountain just moments before a missile fell from the sky, blasting the entire peak and burying the hideout under tons of rock.

The flight back to the Helicarrier took no more than a few minutes and just half an hour later Kara was standing in Fury's office along with Tony and Steve, after they had taken Richard to the medical wing.

"Great work down there." he said, looking to the other two males.

When he averted his gaze to Kara, however, his throat suddenly tightened in a knot at the expression on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

Looking between her and Fury, Steve lightly frowned in thought while Tony merely shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"Kara..."

"He's my father, Nick. I had the right to know when I went there!"

"He's alive... that's what matters." Tony chimed in.

Almost instantly he regretted uttering any sound, when she frowned at him.

"He said he's gonna die by tonight... I... _why_ didn't you tell me?"

Again she glanced to the Director, and her frown melted into a hurt expression.

"Is that how much you trust me? What... did you think I was gonna let my emotions cloud my judgment? I trusted you and took this mission blindly... I nearly died and so did Steve. Is this how much faith you reward me with?"

Looking between him and Tony when they both failed to reply, she ultimately turned her back to them.

"I'm gonna go sit with him..."

Minutes later she was entering the medical ward where one of the doctors had apparently just finished tending to her father.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He's asleep... we gave him a sedative and a shot of morphine."

Sighting her puzzled expression, the doctor briefly tightened his lips in hesitation.

"He's in terrible pain... he said he's been in constant pain for the last month. I understand there were some substances tested on him; the scan revealed that many of his organs are almost completely dead and his muscle mass is all but gone."

"But... h-how..."

"It's called cellular death... his body is rejecting whatever substances they injected him with and his cells are decomposing one by one. Even if we managed to make an antidote, it's already too late for his body to recover."

"How much time does he have?"

"At the rate his cells are decaying... I'd estimate about six to eight hours before his heart and lungs give in."

"I see..." she nodded.

The doctor's hand weighing down on her shoulder startled her out of that trance-like state she was now slipping into.

"Are you alright? They told me you were there with him... did they give you any shots or pills or..."

"No, I'm fine... they got us out before I had anything done to me. Can I... can I sit with him for a bit?"

"Sure..." the young man smiled lightly. "It might do him good to not be alone when he wakes."

With the doctor taking his leave, Kara approached the bed; one of the nurses, it seemed, had trimmed his hair and shaved his beard. And seeing him now, despite his emaciated face, he looked so much like the father she remembered. Her gaze blurred from tears so suddenly that it actually caught her off guard, and she had to cover her mouth so as to muffle the sobs she felt struggling to break free from her throat. Once she was sure she had a good grasp on her voice, she moved to the nearby chair and sat down, reaching out to gently grasp his hand.

"I'm sorry, daddy..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

Leaning forward she laid her forehead onto their joint hands, her body faintly jolting as she cried silently. Tired... she was so tired of living... so tired of having to endure hit after hit; her mother... then Loki... now her father... sometimes she believed she was cursed in some way; that someone had put a spell on her, to prevent her from ever being happy.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed before she finally heard Richard's voice.

"You're here..." he said softly.

Looking up at him she made her best attempt at a smile; by now her mind was made up... the least she could do was tell him who she was and make the most of those last hours they had together.

"Yeah..." she replied, lightly squeezing his hand.

"You were right... I'd given up on hoping to ever leave that place. But you were right... they did come for us."

Trying to swallow the knot in her throat, the young woman straightened her posture somewhat.

"I... I have something I need to tell you... about your daughter..."

When he squeezed her hand in return and smiled warmly at her, she was caught off guard, until his words hit her like a rock.

"I know it's you, honey..."

Almost instantly tears filled her face again as she stared at him in shock.

"How...?"

"I started suspecting when you held me in the cell... you always had a certain way of hugging me, even when you were little. It was unlike any other hug I'd ever experienced. And now that I saw your face clearly, I have no more doubts... you look so much like Michaela."

"I'm sorry, daddy..." she muttered shakily. "I should have come looking earlier... I should have..."

Shaking his head, the male now raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers.

"No, honey... I'm just glad you're alive and safe."

Helping him sit up against the pillow when he attempted to rise, she then settled on the edge of the bed, lacing her hands with his.

"You really have grown into a wonderful woman..." he said, reaching out with a shaky hand and stroking a lock of her hair.

"I'm not wonderful at all... I'm pathetic, daddy..."

Looking back to him when he pressed a finger beneath her chin, she bit into her lower lip when he fixed her with that scrutinizing gaze she remembered so well.

"I'm grateful that you tried to protect my feelings... but I can tell you're not living a happy life."

"I... after mom died, S.H.I.E.L.D. took me in. I met a man and..."

"You loved him?"

"Yes..." she whispered, with a shaky sigh. "God, I loved him so much... but then he went and died on me. And I'm so pathetic; I'm clinging to his memory so hard, so... desperately..."

"It doesn't look like it to me."

His words compelled her to look back into his eyes, and he again smiled lovingly.

"What I saw was you trying to move on... even if maybe you haven't yet noticed it."

Realizing he was talking about Steve, she again lowered her head when fresh tears filled her eyes.

"I don't know if I can..."

Silence veiled them for the following few moments, only broken by her shaky breath.

"His name is Steve, isn't it?" Richard suddenly asked.

"Yeah..." she whispered.

"He seems like a good man... and he seems like the kind of person who is able to genuinely help those around him. I'm sure he'll be able to help you too... if you give him a chance to do it."

It was then that she felt him lightly tugging on her hands and she involuntarily leaned forward until her cheek pressed to his chest.

"I'm so scared, daddy... I'm scared that I'll lose him too..." she muttered amidst tears.

"You'll regret it more if you don't try..." he replied softly while stroking her hair.

"If I do it and I lose him... I don't know how I could cope with it anymore... with all that grief..."

"No one said it's easy to live, honey... life's a constant struggle. But it's that struggle that makes the happy moments so beautiful; and it's those happy moments, as fleeting as they are, that make the struggle worth it."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Yes, with that scene revealing that Kara didn't want to tell Richard that she's the daughter he was talking about, I tried to imagine what I would have done in that exact same situation. And yeah, I think that's what anyone would do, if they were there... well at least that's what anyone who loves their parents would do xD

Oh, I'm so, so glad and relieved to hear that you didn't feel any OOC vibes from Steve. Yes, Thor is immensely easy to write, so is Tony. But characters like Steve are "out of time" as Loki so well put it. So I basically had to write a character born and bred in a time period when I wasn't alive.

Loki is actually a VERY complicated character as well and he's a grueling torture to write sometimes, simply because he's so complex, he has so many layers to him and he's just so... chaotic to some extent, that you can never be 100% sure of what goes on in his head. Even when I write his scenes I'm never fully sure that I manage to keep him in character, simply because he's the kind of guy who never really reveals his true self. So trying to make him reveal his true self at least towards Kara, is quite a challenge.

I actually had no plans to really post this story on the website, simply because of that fear that I wouldn't manage to make a credible Loki. But I've had some encouraging responses from a few friends so I decided to take that risk. And to this day, I'm not really sure how well I wrote Loki and all the other characters. I'm hoping I'll be getting more reviews so I can tell if I did a good job or if my readers feel that I should change anything.

But thank you for another lovely review, darling. And thank you for being so amazing and actually taking the time to review each chapter. That's the only real thing that writers can use to improve, knowing what people like and what they want from a story. So thank you again, love, and I'm so grateful for your help :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	16. Entry 15

Soooo lovelies, here we are, at the next installment of my little endeavor. Hope y'all are liking the story so far, though I'd love it if you tossed me a review to tell me :D

Also, for those of you darlings who are interested to learn the workings behind Kara, stick around after you're done reading and read my replies at the end of the chapter. I'm hoping it'll give you more insight into how I imagined and tried to build Kara's character and maybe you'll like her even more. Or maybe you'll hate her and want to throw her in the trash bin xD

Whatever you think about her or the story, I'd love to hear it in a review or a PM ( ˘ ³˘)❤

**One more quick mention:** I'll be uploading the next two chapters together, because most of both of them is pure movie-verse and I want to try keeping the boredom level to a minimum. So I'll be posting both of them at the same time because Kara has such a little part to play in those two chapters, as they're the setup for _The Avengers_, with the introduction of Loki's return and all the other LOAD of characters that we need to focus on.

And yes, lovelies, we've finally arrived at the middle section of my little story - _The Avengers_! Hope you all loved it up to this point and that it will keep meeting your expectations from here on :D

Now enjoy this last pre-_Avengers_ chapter, darlings~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #15**

_"No one said it's easy to live, honey. But [...] it's those happy moments, as fleeting as they are, that make the struggle worth it."_

oOo

_**Location: **__Memory Gardens Cemetery, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__October 05, 2011_

It was a cold, rainy day and the winds howled amidst the half-naked branches of the trees scattered throughout the cemetery. Everyone was gathered at the entrance to the chapel, to take refuge from the icy drops falling from the darkened sky. One lonely figure, however, was standing before a pair of graves; her clothes and hair were dripping and the tears of the heavens mixed with her own on her face.

All her father's colleagues from the police force and the CIA had come to the service; Tony and Pepper had come as well; Maria, Natasha and Clint had come along with Coulson; even Fury had shown up... and, of course, Steve had been there with her throughout the whole ordeal.

And as she stared at the twin tombstones before her – each holding a picture of her parents – her mind began roaming on its own, replaying the events of the previous days.

She recalled the moment when her father had finally drawn his last breath; she recalled how utterly destroyed she had felt, as though the entire world had crashed on top of her. For a second she'd believed she would suffocate when her lungs refused to work anymore. But then Steve had approached the bed, and his hand grasping her shoulder had felt like a lifeline that someone had tossed her as she struggled not to drown in a raging ocean.

She recalled looking up to see the sorrow on his face; she recalled lunging into his arms; and she recalled how he had held her so tightly and so protectively – as if he was trying to shield her from her own grief – while her sobs resounded in the empty room, only muffled by the fact that she had buried her face against his neck.

She recalled Tony's stunned expression when he'd entered sometime later, to find Richard dead; she recalled sighting the sincere grief in his eyes... something she'd never witnessed before; she recalled embracing him and feeling him break down into tears in her arms; she recalled how much that had surprised her and how much it had made her feel... attached to him... when she'd realized that Tony had genuinely cared about her father.

But why...? Why did she always have to be the strong one? Why was she always the one who had to put her grief behind and be strong for others? Why couldn't she just be weak for once?

She was so lost in those thoughts that it took her a moment to realize the rain was no longer pouring on her; and even if she'd expected it, it still startled her to see Steve standing next to her, holding an umbrella over her head.

"You don't have to hide your tears..." he said gently. "We already know that you're strong; and there's nothing wrong with crying when you lose someone you love. God knows how much I cried when I lost my parents... or when I lost friends on the battlefield. It's alright to cry..."

"I just... I've always set my own grief aside, because I thought I owed it to others to be strong and move on... to my mother... to Phil... to Nick..."

The feeling of his warm hand brushing against her frozen, wet cheek compelled her to look back up into his azure eyes.

"You also owe it to them to be honest with yourself. And grieving when you should isn't anything unnatural. If you bottle it up, it will just come back one day and destroy you."

When she lowered her eyes and he sighted the way her lips trembled, the young male wrapped an arm around her; almost instantly she latched onto him, breaking down into sobs while he kissed her soaked hair.

"I know you're strong... but you don't have to go through this alone. I'll help you shoulder that burden, if you'll let me."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Hudson River Park, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__January 20, 2012_

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Looking up to Steve when the young male posed that question, Kara offered him as much of a smile as she could before reaching out to grasp his hand.

"Yeah..." she replied softly.

She assumed that all the years when her father had been absent from her life, had played a huge role in helping her recover faster than before. Granted, she was still grieving... but at the same time she'd found that Steve was actually a pretty good substitute for Loki. If anything, she had much more in common with him than with the dark haired Æsir so she had decided to heed her father's words and make an active attempt at moving on.

And for the past month she'd started to feel... odd, if she were to be honest. While her chest felt lighter now that she was genuinely letting someone else carry a part of her burden, it also felt heavier for some reason. With all said and done... with everything she and Steve had in common... she couldn't deny it; she still loved Loki. The only thing she hoped for was that someday she would be able to let go of that feeling and actually give Steve the love he more than deserved.

The feeling of a gentle kiss to her forehead made her realize that Steve had released her hand in favor of setting his arm around her shoulders. And, as usual, she found it impossible to hold back a smile at his affectionate gesture... he simply radiated such warmth and such a protective aura that she couldn't help feeling relieved whenever she was with him.

"How about we go grab a cup of hot coffee?" she asked, placing her arm around his waist.

"Sure." he replied, lightly rubbing her shoulder.

Heading toward the park entrance they soon stepped out into the busy streets.

"Oh, Tony wants us to go to Stark Tower one of these days." she stated as they walked toward the nearest café. "He says Pepper wants to have a _girl talk_ with me."

"I can't imagine why." Steve retorted humorously.

Pouting at him, Kara slipped her hand beneath his jacket and pinched his side.

"I'll have you know, I'm quite feminine, Cap."

"Really?" he chuckled. "What if I asked you to wear a dress, for a change?"

"Depends on the dress... I think..."

Her voice trailed off when she averted her gaze over the crowd passing them by, while her mind suddenly perked up at a familiar sight. Was that...? Glancing around, she soon felt her body stiffening and her eyes widening. The reason was staring at her from amidst the crowd with a pair of shiny emeralds set upon pale features.

"Loki...?" she whispered while her lungs emptied of air in a pathetically weak gasp.

She didn't even realize she had stopped walking, until Steve's concerned voice reached her ears.

"Kara...? What's wrong?"

Looking up at him, she opened her mouth to reply while again averting her eyes to the crowd, only to find that Loki was gone.

"It's... it's nothing. I just thought I... saw someone..."

OoOoO

"Kara..."

The sensation of Steve grasping her hand startled the young woman who had spent the last hour in utter silence, staring intently at her cup of coffee.

"I'm okay..." she replied, even making an attempt to smile.

"You don't seem okay."

Lowering her gaze to their hands, Kara ultimately returned his gesture by lightly squeezing his hand.

"I guess I'm just a bit tired from the last mission."

She'd never been a good liar, but she hoped with all her being that Steve would believe her this time. Really, she had no idea how she would be able to explain that she had no clue if she was still sane or not. After all, seeing dead people certainly couldn't be a normal thing.

"You want to go back and rest?"

His question almost had her visibly breathe in relief; at least she didn't have to wrack her brain for a plausible explanation yet.

"Yeah..." she said softly. "I probably should take a couple of days off."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__May 13, 2012_

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Looking up from the files he had been studying, Coulson blinked in surprise at the sight of the young soldier standing in the doorway to his room.

"Of course..." he smiled lightly, setting down the folder and pointing Steve to a nearby chair.

Once the door had slid to a close behind him, Steve moved to sit.

"Look... you've known Kara for a long time now. You're the closest thing to a father for her."

"Oh, I don't think I did such a terrific job..." the agent replied humbly.

His smile faded off, however, and was replaced by a concerned shade on his features when he sighted Steve's serious expression.

"What happened?"

"I... I don't know..." the soldier sighed. "But I don't think she's well... I'm worried."

"What do you mean she's not well?"

"She keeps having these... I don't know what to call them... visions, maybe? She keeps seeing someone all around. At first I brushed it off as exhaustion or stress, but they're getting worse. She won't tell me what's wrong; she keeps saying it's nothing and that she's just tired."

"Well she certainly hasn't had an easy life..." Coulson sighed. "There's only so much grief that the mind can endure before it starts breaking down."

Standing, he offered Steve a reassuring smile.

"I'll try talking to her and see if I can get to the bottom of this."

When the soldier nodded, he left the room with a heavy sigh; he had somewhat expected her to break down at some point and it still astonished him that she had been able to bear everything for so long. If only he could get her to trust him enough and tell him what caused her such deep and constant pain... it certainly wasn't her parents' deaths; his instinct told him that there was definitely something more.

OoOoO

It hurt... her chest hurt so much; it was unbearable... excruciating... as if someone had clasped her heart in red hot iron.

"Why?" she whispered shakily.

She couldn't stop crying... she couldn't stop seeing him... couldn't stop hearing him... couldn't stop dreaming of him... couldn't stop longing for him...

At first she'd dismissed it as just her mind playing tricks on her; but over time she'd started seeing him everywhere... always with that gaze... that painful, longing gaze which made her feel like a monster for even thinking about moving on and leaving him in the past.

"Why...?" she whispered again, hugging her pillow tighter. "Why do you torture me like this? Why won't you leave me alone?"

Lately even the façade she'd used in front of others to not worry them was starting to crumble; she could barely keep up the appearance that she was alright anymore. Really, how could she when Loki insisted on tormenting her day and night? What had she done to deserve this? Was loving him really such a grave sin, that she would have to endure this punishment? Was this Loki's way of keeping his word – even in death – that he would never let her belong to any other man?

Somehow she moved to her feet at some point... and somehow she made it to the bathroom, intending to wash her face... someone... she needed someone; the more time she spent alone, the more she could feel her sanity slipping away like sand in between her fingers. Phil... Steve... Natasha... anybody...

_'Dearest...'_

The sound of his voice startled her; lately she'd started hearing him even when she was awake, not just at night when she was dreaming. Always with that pleading tone... it felt like he was begging and demanding at the same time. Raising her gaze to the mirror she felt her heart skipping a beat when she saw him staring at her from behind her reflection.

"Don't..." she whispered as fresh tears flooded her face. "Go away... please..."

But all he did was stare at her... with that heart wrenching expression... it was agonizing...

She didn't know what came over her, but it felt like a sudden rush of... anger? Fear, maybe? All she knew was that she had to somehow make him go away before her mind failed her completely; and the only thing she could do was smash her fist into the mirror which shattered upon impact, cutting through her skin, staining her hand and the sink in thick crimson.

For a moment she could do nothing but stare at the now bare wall, heaving for breath, until a knock on the door to her room startled her.

"Kara?" came Coulson's voice from the corridor. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She'd been about to go open the door, utterly relieved to hear his voice... and then she saw _him_... standing in the middle of her room... staring at her...

"Go away..." she pleaded in a whisper, backing away.

_'Dearest...'_

Covering her ears she closed her eyes tightly and finally felt her knees giving way, until she was nothing more than a sobbing mess on the cold floor.

"Go away..." she asked again.

_'Dearest, look at me...'_

"Go away!" she finally screamed.

The sound was enough to startle even Coulson and for a moment he didn't really know what to do; but then his hand found its way back to her door and he slammed the side of his fist against the unyielding steel.

"Kara? Are you alright?" he called out.

His voice sounded so distant, almost like in a dream; if only she could find the strength to get up... if only she could open the door...

In the silence that followed, she looked up again to see Loki still there and a rush of utter terror swelled inside her at the thought of Phil having actually left. She didn't want to be alone... not with _him_... that wasn't Loki... that was just a terrible specter haunting her...

And ultimately her fear found its way out of her chest in the only way her mind could still release it.

"Phil!"

That bloodcurdling scream actually sent a cold shiver down his spine; not even bothering to try and reset the access code from her door's lock, he instead retrieved his pistol and fired two bullets into the console, which in turn deactivated the lock and forced the door open. Rushing inside he found himself utterly stunned for a moment, as he saw her crying on the floor amidst the glass shards from the broken mirror, her clothes and face stained in blood.

When he practically threw himself onto his knees in front of her and grasped her wrists to move her hands away from her ears, she offered him such a terrified gaze that it shocked him to his very core. The next thing he knew, she was clinging onto him in spite of her trembling body. It actually took him a moment to regain his bearings and embrace her in return. And while she sobbed uncontrollably, all he could do was stroke her hair and pray to God that she hadn't actually lost her mind.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Honey, you have no idea how happy I am that you keep reviewing even if you already get to beta read the chapters before I post them.

I am so pleased that you enjoyed that tear jerking scene and that it made you tear up, because that was my intention, as heartless as it may sound. But you know you've written a good dark/depressing scene when the readers actually get tears in their eyes from it. I am really so grateful to both you and Abby, you've both given me so much love and so much confidence in my writing skills.

And I love you both so much; really, I'll never be able to thank you enough for all your kindness and support ❤

2\. **kallmered **\- Aww darling, thank you so, so much for this heartwarming review. I'm terribly glad and terribly relieved that you love Kara so much, because I did take the risk of making her a bit Mary Sue-ish although I had a good reason and I'll use your lovely review as an excuse to explain it for all my darling readers.

From her very inception, Kara was meant to be a very steady character... kind of like the "voice of reason" in Loki's head. But with Loki being as complex and unpredictable as he is, he wouldn't take to just anyone. And I wanted Kara to be that sort of... beacon that he could look to whenever he didn't know which way to go anymore. Now, for him to perceive her as such, she needed to be very constant and just very... good and honest and sociable and so on. And that probably made her come across as a Mary Sue to a lot of readers who were probably too shy to say it to my face xD

But at the same time, I tried to tone down that vibe by giving her internal conflicts which actually had one of their peaks in this very chapter that you just read. So fret not, she's not an actual Mary Sue (at least I didn't make her similar to one just because I had nothing better to do) I personally feel that Loki simply would not connect with someone who's just as broken as he is, because he needs someone who will help piece him back together.

And when someone is just as broken as you are, I don't find it plausible that that person could piece themselves back together AND piece you back together as well. That's just... no. Just impossible in my mind. And before anyone thinks _"yeah, but they'll piece EACH OTHER back together"_, allow me to disagree when we're talking about Loki. The guy would never, ever, EVER actually take the time to go through the grueling process of piecing some woman back together, simply because he himself is so utterly and completely broken, that I don't think he would be able to return someone's love until he himself is put back together at least to some extent. No matter how much he might want to or how much he would try, he would just not be able to return an actual true love to anyone, being as broken as he is.

And no, even if he stated that he loves Kara and even if he calls her _dearest_ or _love_, don't believe all that comes out of his naughty mouth, darlings. He is the God of Lies, after all, and everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt (unlike how Kara takes it, namely with 100% faith in him xD) So I tried to sort of break Kara, but not enough to drive Loki away from her. You could say I tried just putting a crack or two in her, without shattering her into a gazillion pieces, simply because Loki had to keep seeing the "illusion" that she's still whole and still strong enough to be there for him, through all the shit he's doing, even if that illusion isn't perfect, but has its own cracks and splinters here and there.

Because the bottom line is that she is the one who has to be there for him; she's the one who has to let him know at any given moment, that she's the one who will always love him for just who he is and that she will always have faith in him, no matter what he does or says. Given my perception of Loki's character, I think that's actually what he needs most from the woman who claims she loves him... I actually think he needs that certainty that she will always be there for him probably a bit more than he needs her actual love. Because that, in my mind, is the basic of the grueling and arduous process of piecing back together a broken soul.

So that's a very fine line to walk on and I hope I'm walking it rightly enough so far. But thank you so, so much for this lovely review, darling. I cannot express how happy it makes me when my readers tell me their opinions on the story or the characters. I am so utterly grateful to each and every one who has left me reviews and, of course, that includes you, honey.

So again, thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	17. Entry 16

_The Avengers_ are here in all their superhero-ish glory! Aren't you glad, darlings?

Soooo no rant for today, I'll just let you enjoy these two chapters. Don't forget to toss me a review and let me know what you think ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #16**

_And while she sobbed uncontrollably, all he could do was stroke her hair and pray to God that she hadn't actually lost her mind._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Unknown_

_**Date: **__May 15 / 16, 2012_

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Sighing lightly, Kara raised her gaze to the dark skinned male standing before her.

"Nick, it was just a nervous breakdown from stress... I'm fine now."

She'd spent an entire day and night in the medical wing after the doctor had given her a rather strong sedative to let her sleep. Fortunately she'd woken up with a much clearer mind, only to find Phil and Steve looking down at her with such concern on their faces that at first she'd thought someone had died.

But at least her mind felt much better... it was almost as if her brain had somehow rebooted, now that she had released all the pressure gathered in her head, although it left her confused; should she have hated Loki for torturing her until she broke down, or should she have been thankful to him for helping her clear her head?

And, by God, she still needed to talk to Steve; she'd managed to somehow avoid him for the past two days, but sooner or later she knew she would have to face him. By now she'd come to terms with the fact that she would never be able to move on... that Loki would never be _just in the past_. And she didn't want to cling to Steve; she already felt like she had only used him. The least she could do was explain everything to him and hope that she could salvage at least some small part of their friendship.

_"Sir... we need you at the facility. Dr. Selvig has some very worrisome news concerning the project."_

The sound of Phil's voice coming over the radio built into Fury's desk startled Kara out of her thoughts and made her offer the Director a pointed gaze when the male gave no sign that he was planning to reply.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." he finally said, fighting back the urge to sigh at her stubbornness.

When she stood, he crossed his arms but ultimately decided not to continue his attempt of getting the truth out of her.

"Go get some rest..." he finally said, on a much gentler tone than he usually displayed.

OoOoO

Tired... he was so damn tired... but even as he heaved for breath, he could barely contain a smile. Patience was not always a virtue of his, and Thanos had kept him waiting far longer than he would have liked. But he was finally here... Midgard...

The first thing he realized was that the Tesseract had transported him into what looked like an underground chamber. Well, he had expected something like that after encouraging that scientist to examine the Cube.

"Sir, please put down the spear."

With his gaze settling briefly onto the male who had addressed him, Loki narrowed his eyes in thought... that one seemed slightly familiar and he soon recalled catching a glimpse of his face somewhere in Kara's memories. Not that he would let that stop him, after he'd come so far... without warning he extended his arm and fired the energy which the scepter was drawing from the Tesseract, instantly killing two of the soldiers gathered there. To think he had once considered these pathetic creatures worthy of interest; it was such a laughable idea.

Within the span of a few moments most of his attackers were dead, although one in particular caught his eye when, after witnessing the more than obvious power gap between them, he still withdrew his weapon in an attempt to fight back.

"You have heart..." the dark haired god retorted.

And he needed some aid as well, at least until he fully recovered from the fact that the Tesseract had drained most of his power. With that in mind, he now placed the tip of the scepter to the young male's chest and – as he had foreseen – the Cube's energy instantly latched onto the soldier's mind.

Watching in utter shock as Barton returned his pistol to its sheath and made no other attempt to stop their assailant, Fury ultimately realized that this was beyond anything he could handle without some very serious help. While Loki was busy enslaving the only other agent still alive, the dark skinned male retrieved the Tesseract and got up to leave only to be stopped in his tracks by the Æsir's voice.

"Please don't... I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury retorted, turning to face him.

Briefly glancing to the ceiling where the energy from the portal had gathered after Loki's arrival, he decided to play a wild card and try to stall until the whole place blew apart; it was much too risky to wait until he could gather the list of people his mind had already put together in the face of such a colossal threat... maybe he could end it right then and there, before any other innocent people met the same fate as his agents.

"Of course it does." Loki replied. "I've come too far for anything else."

When Fury frowned in some confusion, the Æsir straightened his posture.

"I am Loki... of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

It was at those words that Erik's attention was drawn away from his dead colleagues, and he turned to stare in shock at the young male. This... this was the man Kara had spoken so fondly of?

"Loki?" he muttered. "Brother of Thor?"

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury stated, in an attempt at appeasing their attacker.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki retorted, almost humorously.

It was that statement that ultimately sent a cold shiver down Fury's spine as his mind conjured up the only word that could describe the intentions he perceived from Loki... war.

"Are you planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings... of a world made free."

"Free from what?"

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace."

With those words he whirled around to Selvig who had been standing behind him, enslaving his mind to the Tesseract in the same way he had done to the other two males.

"Here you say _peace_... I kinda think you mean the other thing."

Ultimately glancing to the ceiling and the energy gathered there – which had already begun crashing on itself in a chain effect – Barton approached Loki and the others.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This whole place is bound to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us..."

"Like the Pharaohs of old." Fury retorted sarcastically.

"He's right, the portal is collapsing in on itself..." Selvig agreed, after checking the readings on his computer. "We got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well then..." Loki replied expectantly, glancing to Barton.

Almost robotically, Clint withdrew his pistol and shot Fury square in the chest without a moment's hesitation. Retrieving the briefcase currently housing the Cube, he handed it over to Selvig whilst they moved to the underground parking lot to retrieve a vehicle. What was supposed to be a smooth exit, however, turned into a full blown, small scale war between them and Maria after Fury managed to warn her over the radio that Barton was no longer working for them. The only thing to stop the woman from chasing them all the way was the explosion from the portal which caused the entire facility to collapse into a newly opened crater.

Not even Fury's desperate attempt at shooting them down from the helicopter was met with success, when Loki easily took down the airborne vehicle with a shot from his scepter.

_"Director. Director Fury, do you copy?"_ came Coulson's voice over the radio, while the dark skinned male watched in shock as Barton drove away with Loki, Selvig and the Cube.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force." he finally replied. "I have men down. Hill?"

_"A lot of men still under..."_ the woman said, heaving for breath. _"Don't know how many survivors."_

"Sound the general call. I want every soul not working rescue, looking for that briefcase. Coulson, get back to base... this is a Level Seven. As of right now we are at war."

OoOoO

_"This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control."_

Biting back the urge to sigh in the face of the Council, Fury instead squared his shoulders.

"Have you ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?"

_"You're saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"_

"Not Asgard... Loki."

_"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother..."_

"Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile, but he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help us either. It's up to us..."

_"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2, it was designed for exactly..."_

"Phase 2 isn't ready; our enemy is! We need a response team."

_"The Avengers Initiative was shut down."_

"This isn't about the Avengers."

_"We've seen the list. You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks?"_

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone, we need a response team!" Fury insisted impatiently. "These people may be isolated, unbalanced even... but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

Upon leaving the room, he was so lost in his own thoughts that the sight of Kara standing in the hallway nearly startled him out of his boots.

"I thought I told you to go rest." he said.

When she failed to reply, instead only pinning him with that pointed gaze, he finally sighed.

"What is it?"

He already knew what was coming... either Coulson had mentioned the earlier events to her, or she'd simply invited herself into his mind to find out.

"You weren't planning to keep this a secret from me, were you?"

"What exactly are you referring to?" he asked tentatively.

"Phil told me the desert facility was attacked earlier... why didn't you tell me? I could have come along to help."

"Because you're still recovering, that's why."

When he tried to leave toward his office, he suddenly gulped as the young woman moved to follow him down the corridor, grasping his arm and forcing him to face her.

"Nick, I'm still an agent... and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you treat me like I'm some damsel in distress. Your best men trained me and all you're doing is trying to put me in a glass case. I did not sweat and suffer through that hell for nothing! Let me do my damn job!"

Again sighing, the male ultimately had to admit that she was right... all the assignments he had given to her had been of the lowest risk. But how could he let her in on a dangerous mission, after what had happened in Iraq? Well... maybe he could reach a compromise...

"Fine... then you go with Coulson. He's supposed to visit Stark tonight."

The sight of her puzzled gaze had him place his gloved hand over her mouth before she could start questioning him again. Normally he would have sent her to retrieve the soldier, but over the past two days they seemed to have quite some tension between them.

"Just do it... I'll go talk to Rogers."

With all said and done, some part of him likely believed that she was ready for this, no matter how much he tried to deny it; why else would he have added her name to the list for the Avengers Initiative?

OoOoO

"So what is this all about, Phil?"

Looking to her somewhat hesitantly as they headed toward Stark Tower, the agent now wondered if Fury had made the right call to get her involved in something like this.

"After the New Mexico incident, Director Fury came up with an idea... it was called the Avengers Initiative. In short, it's a group of people with unusual abilities, destined to be our protectors from enemies that we as simple humans could never fight."

Sighting her puzzled expression, he sighed while his eyes betrayed a shade of concern.

"You're on that list... so are Steve and Stark... Natasha and Barton... and Dr. Banner."

"You mean... Bruce Banner?"

"I know it might sound insane, but I promise you he's a very nice man. What happened to him was a terrible accident, but whenever he's not that thing it's quite nice to have him around."

"So... what are we supposed to fight?"

"What we were studying in the desert facility is an alien artifact called the Tesseract. Dr. Selvig was the one overseeing the project... we believe the Tesseract could be the answer to Earth's desperate need for sustainable energy."

"So I'm guessing whoever attacked you tonight took it?"

"Yes... that's why Director Fury has spoken to the Council earlier and forced them to reactivate the Avengers Initiative. He fears we might need each of you very soon. You'll probably be our only line of defense in what's to come."

Rendered silent by his words, the young woman now lowered her gaze to the file he had offered her, watching the picture of the Cube. Somehow it gave her such an odd feeling of déjà-vu; if only she could recall why that eerie bluish glow seemed so familiar...

OoOoO

_"Sir, agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line."_

"I'm not in... I'm actually out."

Walking toward his living room where Pepper was waiting, whilst robotic arms removed the steel suit from his body, Tony just couldn't stop smiling; his latest project of turning his tower into a self-sustaining building powered by renewable, non-polluting energy was a resounding success thus far.

_"Sir, I am afraid he's insisting."_

"Grow a spine, Jarvis. I got a date."

Stepping inside where Pepper was reading the screenings of the energy levels coming from the arc reactor, he approached the young woman with a smile.

"Energy levels are holding steady..." she said. "I think..."

"Of course they are; I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?"

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that, would I?" the female retorted humorously.

"What do you mean? All this came from you..."

"No, all this came from that." she said, pointing to the miniature arc reactor in his chest.

Their celebratory moment was cut short, however, when Jarvis' voice resounded in the room.

_"Sir, the telephone; I am afraid my protocols are being overridden."_

_"Mr. Stark, we need to talk."_ Coulson's voice resounded from the cell phone.

Sighing as he picked up the phone, Tony now straightened his expression.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message." he said, trying his best to sound like an AI.

_"This is urgent."_

"Then leave it urgently..."

It was those words that Kara's voice now resounded in the room, making Pepper laugh.

_"Tony, stop being an idiot!"_

Before the male could retort, the elevator doors opened to reveal Coulson and a very annoyed Kara frowning at him, the sight being enough to make him gulp.

"Phil... Kara..." Pepper smiled. "Come in."

"Phil?" Tony muttered in awe.

Ignoring him, the young woman moved to her feet and walked over to the two agents.

"We can't stay..." Phil replied, while Pepper was embracing Kara, before handing Tony a file. "We just need you to take a look at this."

"I don't like to be handed things..."

"That's alright, because I love to be handed things." Pepper retorted. "So let's trade..."

Offering Coulson her champagne glass, she retrieved the file only to give it to Tony in exchange for his own glass. Shooting a nasty glance to the woman, the young scientist ultimately had no choice but to accept the item.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday." he retorted.

"This isn't a consultation." Phil replied with a light smile.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked. "Which... I know nothing about..."

With a huff, Tony now walked over to the table to examine the file.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped. And I thought I didn't even qualify."

"I didn't know that either..." Pepper retorted.

"Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

"Spot on..." Kara muttered humorously, making Tony shoot a pointed glance to her.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." Coulson replied.

Ultimately even Tony had to admit – albeit only inwardly – that seeing the agent so shaken up was giving him the chills. This definitely was something really serious...

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Aww I'm so glad that was your favorite chapter. I'm hoping everyone else enjoyed Kara's little descent into madness. And I hope that everyone's going to enjoy this part of the story, just as much as you did while beta-ing for it.

So thank you so much for all your help and all the support you gave me and you keep giving me. I really wouldn't have been able to get this far with the story, without you and Abby ❤

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	18. Entry 17

So as I promised, here's the second chapter I'm uploading today. I'm hoping this will keep you from getting too bored, lovelies. I just had no way to weave Kara in more than I already did, simply because I had to do the setup for _The Avengers_ and get all the characters together before I started altering movie scenes to introduce Kara in them.

But enjoy, darlings, and do leave me a little review. It's much appreciated, I guarantee :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #17**

_Ultimately even Tony had to admit – albeit only inwardly – that seeing the agent so shaken up was giving him the chills. This definitely was something really serious..._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Köningstrasse, Stuttgart, Germany_

_**Date: **__May 17 / 18, 2012_

_Knock-knock..._

Startled by the sound, the scientist looked up to sight the young woman standing in the doorway to the laboratory.

"Oh, hi..." he said. "You're... Kara, right?"

"Kara Taylor, Doctor." she replied, with a light smile.

Looking between her and the touch screen he was currently holding, he allowed a few moments of silence before speaking again.

"So can I help you with anything, Kara?"

"I was just curious to see you up close... I've heard quite some things about you."

"Really? And what did you hear?"

"That you're a good man..."

Her reply caught him off guard and drew his attention back to her.

"Did you expect me to say that I heard you're a monster?" she retorted humorously in the face of his awed expression.

"I... I don't get it..."

"I noticed how uneasy you seem... not everyone thinks you're a monster, Bruce. Some people can still see the human behind the monster. Nick is one of those people; otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to keep you out of trouble."

In truth, while she couldn't deny that she had wanted to help ease his mind, she was also using this as an excuse to not have to stay on the main bridge where Steve was currently overseeing the tracking operation along with Coulson. She knew she needed to talk to him and set things straight, but at the same time she was an utter coward and was willing to use anything to postpone that moment as much as possible.

"Thank you."

Banner's reply startled her out of that contemplative circle, gaining him her attention again.

"Everyone should be reminded now and then, that there are still people who don't judge them by appearances." she smiled lightly.

OoOoO

"Where did you find all these people?"

Unfazed by Selvig's cheerful voice, Barton continued to type away at the handheld computer he had been using. They had set up an improvised laboratory in a part of the abandoned catacombs Clint had led them to, after Selvig had told them what he needed to build a machine which could withstand the Tesseract's energy.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor." he replied before turning over the screen toward the man. "Is this the stuff you need?"

"Yeah, iridium... it's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons." the scientist nodded. "It's very hard to get a hold of."

"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it."

"Well, I didn't know until now..."

Sighting Loki as he approached, the male once again smiled.

"Hey! The Tesseract has shown me so much... it's more than knowledge; it's truth."

"I know..." the Æsir replied with a sly smile.

Truly... what a primitive race humans were; for all their claims of being intelligent, for all their technology, they were still just as simple minded and as easy to control as their ancestors.

"What did it show you, agent Barton?" he now asked, looking to the young male.

"My next target."

"Tell me what you need."

"I need a diversion... and an eyeball."

OoOoO

"Don't worry about it... she'll come talk to you, when she's ready."

Looking to the agent, Steve nodded lightly while holding back the urge to sigh.

"I just have no idea what made her avoid me like this."

"She's still recovering from that breakdown... she's probably still trying to get back into a mental comfort zone. Just give her a bit of time; I think she'll be fine."

"We got a hit... a 67% match. Wait... cross match... 79%." Sitwell suddenly called out.

Almost startled from his conversation with Steve, Coulson immediately moved over to Sitwell's side to check the screen.

"Location?" he asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany... 28 Köningstrasse. He's not exactly hiding..."

"Captain..." Fury called out. "You're up..."

"I'll go get Kara." Coulson stated.

"No!" Steve said. "Not until we get an idea of what this guy can do. I wanna see just how strong he is, first..."

Looking to Fury who nodded in agreement, the agent then smiled lightly to the soldier.

"I'll have Natasha ready the Quinjet then. Be careful out there..."

"I will. Don't tell her that we're going there, she's stubborn enough to follow us on her own."

With that he left the bridge to retrieve his uniform; somehow he had a bad feeling about all this. He felt uneasy, as if something was right there in front of him but he couldn't see it... something he was certain that he wouldn't like. Shaking his head to drive away those silly thoughts, he took to changing into the suit. Most likely it was just his mind being tense because – other than that scepter he was carrying – they had literally no idea just what Loki was capable of.

Upon arriving in Stuttgart an hour later, however, he was met with a familiar yet disturbing sight... it certainly wasn't the first time he'd seen an entire crowd kneeling before one man.

"Great..." he muttered in annoyance, retrieving his shield. "Another Schmidt..."

"Cap, you should get going..." Natasha warned, as she sighted Loki pointing the weapon at one of the citizens.

"Got it."

Leaping out of the back of the Quinjet, he now sighted the reason for that concerned shade in the woman's tone. Having landed on top of the statue set in the middle of the plaza, he pushed against the stone with his feet, leaping again and landing in front of the old man Loki had been threatening. In that same instant the Æsir fired the weapon only to have the energy bounce off Steve's shield and hit him straight in the stomach with such force that he felt his lungs emptying of air in a short gasp.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else... we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier..." Loki retorted ironically, while moving to stand. "The man out of time..."

Right now he was truly grateful that he had thought of asking Barton for information regarding the possible recruits S.H.I.E.L.D. might have tried to use against him.

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

At Steve's retort, Loki's gaze was drawn to the sky behind him, where Natasha had steered the Quinjet and readied the aircraft's weapons to fire upon him.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." she demanded.

Before she'd even finished speaking, she barely had enough time to steer the Quinjet to the side so as to avoid a direct hit from Loki's scepter.

"Guess I pissed someone off..." she muttered to herself.

Down on the ground Steve took advantage of that distraction to try and engage Loki in direct combat, only to realize almost instantly that even he was severely outmatched by the dark haired Æsir. When his punch failed to even move Loki, other than turning his head, Steve felt utterly grateful that he had told Coulson to not let Kara tag along. If the guy was this insanely strong, that even he with all of Erskine's serum could be thrown around like a rag doll, he truly feared to see the full extent of Loki's abilities.

Regardless, he wasn't going to go down without a fight, despite not really seeing any way to win. What he hadn't expected, was Tony's sudden appearance – preceded by rock music suddenly blasting out of the Quinjet's speakers – and the fact that his energy blasts seemed powerful enough to finally overcome Loki's strength.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games..."

Looking up at the iron-suited male who was now pointing about ten weapons at him, Loki ultimately allowed his armor to fade off and raised his hands in defeat; so far it seemed the plan was proceeding as he had foretold. And as he watched Tony and Steve falling into his carefully weaved web, it only strengthened his belief that humans were, for the most part, utter idiots.

"Good move."

OoOoO

"I don't like it..."

Looking to Steve as they now stood in the Quinjet, with Loki sitting peacefully at the back, Tony clicked his tongue.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop..."

"Still, you are pretty spry... for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?"

"You might have missed a few things... you know, doing time as a... Capsicle."

Clenching his jaw to hold back the urge to just punch Tony again, Steve instead offered him a trace of sarcastic smile.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Their jab contest was ended abruptly when the Quinjet suddenly found itself in the middle of what looked like a thunderstorm.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked, sighting the worried expression on Loki's face. "You scared of a little thunder?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." the Æsir replied, knowing exactly who he would have to deal with in a few moments.

Indeed, just after he had finished speaking, the entire Quinjet trembled down to its hinges. With Tony and Steve retrieving their masks and the scientist opening up the back of the Quinjet, Loki finally set eyes upon the one person he really had not wanted to see... the Thunder God himself. Before anyone could react properly, the blond Æsir slammed his hammer into Tony's chest throwing him back, before he reached out to grasp Loki by his coat and flew off with him.

"Now there's that guy..." Tony sighed in utter annoyance.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"That guy's a friendly?" Steve called out.

"Doesn't matter..." the scientist replied. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan... attack."

With that retort he now flew out of the Quinjet to track down their hostage. Sighing, Steve now rushed to retrieve a parachute and strap it to his back. Taking up his shield again, he leapt out hoping that he could find Tony in time to help him. Around the same time, Thor had just decided to stop on a cliff in the forest they had been flying over. Tossing Loki to the ground, he landed a couple of steps away, trying his best to keep a menacing expression despite his every urge to just laugh in joy and hug his brother.

"Where is the Tesseract?"

"Oh, I've missed you too..." Loki chuckled, still lying flat on his back.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

Finally moving to stand, Loki offered the blond Æsir a rather ironic smile.

"Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth..."

Dropping the hammer, Thor ultimately gave in to his own feelings and reached out to grab Loki's arm, his other hand settling onto the back of his sibling's neck. With all said and done, Loki was still his brother and seeing him alive – despite the madness he had started in Midgard – was enough to almost bring tears of joy to Thor's eyes.

"I thought you dead."

"Did you mourn?" Loki asked.

"We all did! Our father..."

"_Your_ father... he did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

Tearing himself away from his brother's grasp, the dark haired god turned his back on Thor and finally clenched his jaw in pain, from the violence of his earlier impact with the ground.

"I told Kara you were dead... where were you?"

It was at those words that Loki's eyes involuntarily widened right before he whirled around to face Thor, narrowing his eyes in disbelief.

"_What_?" he hissed.

He was utterly stunned at the sheer stupidity of the one he had called brother for so many centuries.

"I believed you were dead... what else could I have done? She had the right to know..."

For a moment even Thor himself felt unsettled beneath the slicing anger in his brother's eyes; but then it was entirely gone so fast that it caught him off guard.

"And you call yourself my brother..." he finally huffed.

His tone sounded so eerily calm that it gave Thor the chills, despite the sight of tears now twinkling in his brother's eyes.

"We were raised together... we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" he said, desperately hoping that Loki could still be swayed back toward the brother he remembered.

"I remember a shadow living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you taking everything away from me, as you did with her after I was gone. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights? No... the Earth is under my protection, Loki."

"And you're doing a marvelous job of that." Loki chuckled. "The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, as why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

That question actually managed to catch Loki off guard.

"Well yes..." he replied, wondering just how in the world Thor had failed to notice something so obvious.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Giving in to his anger, the dark haired Æsir smacked Thor over the chest whilst he walked by him.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, _Odin's son_, in my exile." he sneered. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it..."

"Who showed you this power?" Thor interrupted him. "Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!" Loki shouted.

"Not here!" he shouted back, once more grabbing the younger sibling's arms. "You give up the Tesseract; you give up this poisonous dream! You come home..."

His pleading tone as he said the last words was enough to briefly melt Loki's frown and leave behind an awed but longing gaze. There was still some tiny part of him rebelling against the Tesseract's desires. Oh yes, he had long since realized that the Tesseract energy Thanos had used on him was controlling his mind – and therefore his actions – but he could still feel that somewhere deep down there was a part of him which the Tesseract had been unable to subdue.

But no, he had come much too far to stop now...

"I don't have it..." he finally huffed, a defying smile curving his lips.

Unfazed when Thor released him and summoned his hammer in an attempt to frighten him into revealing where the Tesseract was, Loki merely shrugged.

"You need the Cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well, brother..."

Having mentally prepared himself for one of Thor's speeches, Loki arched a brow when Tony slammed into his brother's side, knocking him off the cliff.

"I'm listening..." he said with a heavily sarcastic tone in his voice.

Sighting Thor throwing his hammer into Tony's chest and sending him flying back, he now seated himself onto a rock; in order for his plan to work, he had to let them take him as their hostage anyway, so enjoying the fight seemed like a good way to not get bored until they decided to take him back. His fun was cut short when Steve caught up with them and ended the fight after Thor smashed his hammer against the soldier's shield, the vibranium reflecting the energy wave and amplifying it until all the trees in that entire area had been put to the ground.

Glancing at the destruction around them, Steve now inhaled deeply in an attempt to not give in to his anger.

"Are we done here?"


	19. Entry 18

Sooo lovelies here's the next episode of my little endeavor. Hope y'all enjoyed the setup for _The Avengers_, because now we're getting down to business... mischievous business, that is, with Loki finally taking the stage again ;)

So enjoy, darlings, and do toss me a penny/review to let me know what y'all think~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #18**

_"Are we done here?"_

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__May 18, 2012_

"Kara, we need you on the bridge." Coulson said, entering her room.

"What happened?" the young woman perked up.

Smiling lightly, the agent shook his head.

"Nothing yet... at least nothing bad. I just thought you might want to see Thor... he's here."

In spite of the painful cringe of her heart, she was still unable to fully withhold a smile at the mention of that name. Following Coulson, her humor died a swift death at the sight of the expression on the blond Æsir's face.

"Thor..."

Looking to her, the male's expression lit up in a smile although it was too easy for her to tell that he was uncomfortable. Recalling his words from the letter he had sent her, she forced herself to smile in return as much as she could, walking over to the bulky male and holding out her hand.

"I know you did all you could... he was your brother. There's nothing that I need to forgive."

Although he had grasped her hand with the intention of kissing it, the Æsir's gesture was cut short by her words when the realization hit him that she didn't know of Loki's return to Midgard.

"They haven't told you?"

If he'd had any doubts as to her knowledge on the matter, the utterly puzzled expression on her face blew them all away.

"Tell me what?" she asked, shooting a suspicious glance to Steve, Natasha and Bruce who had gathered around the table nearby.

And then it hit her... that voice, coming from the video panels built into the table; she had dismissed them as just the group researching information. For a moment she went completely pale, that Thor grasped her arm to prevent her from falling to the floor.

_"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me..."_

That soft, velvety chuckle... that defiant, sarcastic tone... even as she reached with a trembling hand and pushed the buttons on the table to bring up a fourth video panel for her, her mind was already screaming the obvious in her face.

"Loki..." she breathed at the sight of the young male standing in the glass case.

Down in the detention area, Fury was still staring down the dark haired god.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." he now said, looking straight into one of the cameras aimed at the cage. "The mindless beast... that makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you..."

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a power you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me _very desperate_... you might not be glad that you did."

"Wooh... it burns you to have come so close." Loki retorted utterly satisfied. "To have the Tesseract, to have power... _unlimited_ power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

A few tense moments followed his little speech, while Fury simply stared him down; with all said and done, Loki had hit him straight where it hurt the most. Because he couldn't deny that it did burn him to have the Cube snatched so easily from his grasp, even if only due to his own ego as a soldier. If anything, he had such an urge to just punch Loki in the face and it almost frightened him to see just how easily the dark haired Æsir could bring out those violent desires in him.

"Well let me know if _real power_ wants a magazine or something." he almost spat out, turning to leave.

He'd only taken a couple of steps away from the cage when Loki's words stopped him in his tracks.

"I do want something, actually..."

That tone actually made him cringe inwardly, and even though he turned to face Loki again, he utterly dreaded to hear what the menace could ask for. Back on the bridge everyone aside from Kara and Thor now glanced at one another in confusion, until Loki's voice rang out into the tall chamber.

_"You have something that belongs to me... I want to see her."_

"What... what in the world is he talking about?" Bruce asked. "What could Fury possibly have that would belong to Loki?"

"Maybe he means the scepter..." Steve suggested.

"No, he said he wants to see _her_." Natasha pointed out. "So he's talking about someone... why would he want to see the scepter?"

"Maybe it's just him talking crazy, trying to get Fury all worked up and..."

"He means Kara."

Thor's deep voice had everyone else turn to stare at him in utter shock, even Maria who had been following the video transmission onto one of Fury's panels. When the Thunder God's expression betrayed no shade of humor, all eyes in the room finally turned upon the young woman who was still silently staring at the screen before her.

"Sir, we need you on the bridge..." Maria said into her earpiece.

_"On my way."_

With that reply Fury now used that as an excuse to finally leave that menacing presence and get away from the sudden intensity that had flooded Loki's gaze. Moments later he stepped onto the bridge only to stare in utter confusion at the group gathered around the table.

"Who died?" he asked, as that was the most logical conclusion he could draw from their stunned expressions.

A quick visual sweep of the room told him that everyone was there, aside from Tony whom he knew was taking a bit of time to recover from his scuffle with Thor.

Looking up to see Thor watching her with some concern, Kara ultimately heaved a sigh and leaned against the table after the video panel had shut down.

"I'm the one he wants to see..." she said, doing her best to avoid looking Steve in the eye.

For a few seconds utter silence reigned between them, a thing which Kara was truly grateful for, because it gave her the time to steel her resolve... she had to tell them everything. She'd kept them in the dark far longer than she should have; and with Loki apparently bent on conquering Earth, there was simply no more way around it. She had to let them know...

"What?"

Fury's half-whispered question, sounding almost like a weak gasp, drew her azure gaze to the Director; and the shade of sincerity he saw in her eyes was enough to crush his last hope that maybe he'd heard wrong.

"Can you call Phil and Tony?" she asked, looking over to Maria. "This is something they need to hear as well..."

"Ye-yes..."

With one last worried glance, the woman left the room only to return some minutes later with the two males in tow.

"You'd find more cheer in a graveyard..." Tony remarked as soon as they set foot on the bridge.

When Maria pointed them to a pair of chairs around the table, Coulson now averted his eyes to Kara and suddenly a cold shiver rolled down his spine; that look on her face was something he had never seen before. It was a sort of resolve mixed with resignation, except it somehow gave him such a terrifying sensation.

"Sit down, Nick... please..." she said softly.

Recovering from his shocked state to some extent, the male ultimately complied, leaving only Kara and Thor still standing. For a moment, watching them gathered at that table staring at her, she felt as if she was back in school, standing before the class without having learned her lecture. It was such a childish and unexpected idea that for a split second she almost burst out laughing.

"So, what is this all about?" Coulson finally asked. "What happened?"

"Nick was talking to Loki just now... and Loki asked to see me."

"No, he didn't say any name." Fury protested when Coulson turned to stare at him in shock. "He only said..."

"Nick..."

Her soft tone literally blocked the words in his throat and the expression on her face angered him simply because it didn't allow him to deny it. Setting her hands onto the back of the nearest chair, she pressed her fingers into the black leather.

"I first met Loki many years ago, when I was ten." she began, her voice ever so faintly shaking as she already felt her throat twisting into a knot. "I should have died that day, getting run over by a car... it seems fate had another plan for me, because he saved my life. After that he kept visiting me at night, in my dreams. We shared a beautiful friendship for some years... until I grew up and that feeling changed into love."

A fleeting glance was all she could bear to see of Steve's shocked expression; this was torture, and she knew it wasn't just for her... she knew Steve had to feel the same way.

"You asked me what happened on my first mission... the one in London. _He_ happened... he came to see me after he'd been gone for two whole years. We spent the night together but he left before I'd even woken up... and I didn't hear from him for the following six years. Until Phil arrested Thor that night in the desert. He came back then, to visit Thor... we talked and then..."

Inhaling deeply, she clenched her jaw; how the hell could those memories _still_ hurt like this, even now when she'd seen Loki alive? Or was it that her mind had yet to actually grasp the reality of the situation?

"And then the whole madness with the Destroyer happened..." she finally continued, utterly unable to stop tears from filling her eyes. "Thor went back to Asgard to stop Loki... and all I got in return was his letter, saying that Loki had died. I just... I was destroyed. I'd lost my mother, I didn't even believe that my father was still alive... and now I'd lost the man I loved the most. I tried to concentrate on work, tried to somehow put it all behind me... I couldn't. Then when my father encouraged me to try and move on, I thought I could. Really, I believed I could do it... that I could leave Loki in the past and just live my life again. And all I managed to do was just amass so much... grief and guilt... that I nearly lost my sanity."

With silence stretching on, she now glanced over the others; from Coulson's worried expression, to Nick's stunned gaze, to Natasha's sorrowful look... and to Steve's utterly hurt and painful frown.

"I know how that must sound to you..." she said, finally mustering enough courage to sustain his gaze. "And I hope you can somehow believe me that I had no intention of using you... I really wanted to move on, I wanted it so badly. I wanted to just get over Loki and give you the love you deserve... I just failed to do that."

When the soldier merely stood from his seat and stormed out of the room, was when Kara ultimately felt her tears overflowing. Not even Coulson's reassuring grasp of her hand was enough to soothe her even if she did return his gesture.

"I'm so sorry..." she whispered, looking down to their joint hands which now appeared blurry in front of her eyes. "I should've told you from the start... you always were the closest thing I knew to a father ever since I arrived here. I just... I was so afraid to tell anyone... I thought you'd all believe I was crazy if I started talking about gods from another planet."

"I understand that it was hard for you... and I understand why you felt that you had to keep it a secret. But I'm glad you trusted us, even after so much time." he replied, offering her that warm, fatherly smile she had grown so fond of over the years.

The sound of Fury's heavy, long sigh as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms, now drew her attention to the dark skinned male.

"I'm wondering if things could possibly get any worse than this..." he stated contemplatively, looking up at the ceiling.

"This is a joke, right?"

For a moment even Tony was taken aback by how abruptly everyone turned to stare at him after his question.

"I mean... he's obviously manipulating her in some way." he continued. "I refuse to believe that a man who can threaten a hundred people at once is capable of loving someone other than himself."

"Loki is beyond reason..." Thor agreed. "But I know him better than any of you, he's my brother. And I believe he does sincerely love Kara. To him she is unlike any other woman he has ever met. At first he was intrigued with her and her unusual gifts... but now it's more than just intrigue or infatuation. He may not care about any other human in your world... but he cares about her."

"I think you should pull me off this mission, Nick..." the young woman now stated.

"Why?" he asked, finally lowering his gaze back to her. "It's basically the same thing as Iraq."

"No, Iraq was different... I didn't know that it was my father we were there to rescue. This... this is something else; I know now who it is that I'm supposed to fight. And you can't ask me to fight him..."

"Wait... wait so what are you saying? That you're going to join him?" Bruce suddenly perked up.

"Of course not; I would never help him do anything that would endanger my own people. But I can't fight him either... I'm not saying it simply because of my feelings for him. I literally _cannot_ fight him."

"Why not?" Natasha asked confusedly.

"You all believed my ability is something unique... but it's not. Loki can get into other people's heads much better and easier than I ever could. The only difference is that I was born with it... his comes from his knowledge of magic."

"What else can you tell us about him?" Coulson asked. "How he fights... how he thinks..."

"I haven't seen him in actual combat before, that's something Thor could tell you better than me."

"He is highly proficient with all kinds of weapons." Thor replied. "We have fought together countless times. And as a master of magic, he is very fond of illusions... he prefers tricking his enemies and having them fall into his traps, rather than confronting them directly. But when he does engage in direct combat, he is deadly..."

Now that he was actually saying it out loud, it gave him the chills to think that he would likely have to fight his brother again soon. As much as he hoped it would not come to that, he was almost certain that Loki would not stop, much less give up without a fight.

"So why you?" Fury asked, again looking to the young woman. "I can see why he'd be interested in what you can do, but even so..."

"That's not something I can answer, Nick... it was his choice to return my feelings and I never questioned it because I had no reason to do that."

"Maybe... this is a good thing after all..." Bruce pondered.

"What? That one of our own team is actually the villain's lover?" Tony retorted sarcastically.

"Well, yeah... think about it. What if she could persuade Loki to put an end to all this insanity? I mean, the guy's obviously not going to stop on his own. Maybe she could push him to do that... if he actually loves her, wouldn't that be a good enough leverage for her to get him to return the Tesseract?"

"He won't do it, even for me, if he doesn't gain something out of it as well." she replied. "Has he told you yet of what he wants?"

"He has an army, called the Chitauri..." Thor said. "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people and they will win him the Earth... in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"He wants to rule the human race..." Fury retorted, sighting the puzzled expression on her face.

"And you expect that I can reason with him, when he has such high demands?" she asked.

"Not reason..." Natasha said, having by now caught onto Bruce's idea. "Tug at his feelings for you; basically just submit him to emotional blackmail."

In the silence that followed, Kara glanced to each one of the group gathered before her, desperately hoping that at least one of them would realize how insane that idea was. Ultimately sighing in resignation, she lowered her head.

"This is a bad idea..." she muttered.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Honey, you really humble me each and every time with your kind words. I'm so glad that you take the same joy in reading the chapters on the website, as you do when you beta-read them. It really means so much to me to have your help and support, and to see you so excited for this story.

So thank you, love, for all your dedication and support; you're just pure awesomeness.

2\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Aww, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed this chapter (and the previous ones I assume). Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

3\. **Callie Cat** \- Darling, you are much too kind, thank you so much for the lovely reviews. I am utterly humbled that you would compare my writing attempt to an actual novel, really that's just an overwhelming compliment.

And I'm so glad I managed to properly depict Loki's inner workings, in a manner that would satisfy the other fans. I try my best to keep him in character, and it's such a tremendous and overwhelming honor to be able to add my own view to the already astounding and fantastic work that Tom has done with this character.

So thank you, love, for your utterly flattering and humbling reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again.

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	20. Entry 19

So, lovelies, here's the next chapter. And I'm sure a lot of you have been looking forward to seeing Loki in that cage again, so I won't hold you with a long rant ;)

Just remember to toss me a review, my brain feeds on them :D

Now enjoy, darlings~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #19**

_"This is a bad idea..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__May 18 / 19, 2012_

Boring... boring... it was so utterly, _painfully_ boring to just sit in that cage with nothing to distract him, while he waited for Barton to do his part of the plan and bring down the flying fortress. Though he now inhaled deeply with the intention to sigh as he stood in the middle of the cage, examining one of the barren walls surrounding his cell, his intuition suddenly perked up alerting him that he was no longer alone. Judging by the aura he could perceive it wasn't that simpleton who called himself the leader of that ship and it didn't seem to be the soldier either... not to mention that if it had been Thor, he would have heard him coming a mile away, without even needing his instincts to warn him.

When his mind suddenly latched onto a word... a name... and yelled it out in his head, he momentarily felt rooted to the spot. Her... it had to be her. For a brief moment his expression finally betrayed such a painful shade that Kara would have probably been shaken to her very core from seeing it. He had wanted to see her so much... but he had also dreaded this moment, fearing of just what he might see; especially after Thor had told him that she'd believed him dead for so long.

Ultimately recomposing himself he now turned to face her and the first sight of her eyes, despite the warm gaze she was offering him, actually made his heart quiver. Broken... she was so broken on the inside that he had to clench his jaw in order to not give in to his own feelings; after all, he wasn't about to start crying in that place where others could see him.

"You're getting better at sneaking up on me, dearest..." he finally said with a shade of smile.

It wasn't so much his words, as it was the overwhelming warmth in his tone that now had Fury and the others stare in shock at Loki as they watched the entire scene via the video panels. Was that truly the same Loki who had threatened to kill them all no more than a few hours earlier?

"What's she doing?" Bruce asked curiously, as they watched Kara silently approaching until she was standing no more than a few inches from the cage door.

When she raised a hand and snapped her fingers causing the console to activate on its own, Fury raised a hand to stop Maria from alerting the guards. He was actually curious to watch this unfold in its entirety. And while he didn't trust Loki, he trusted Kara enough to know that she wouldn't let him escape.

Loki himself had watched her in some confusion until the door slid open; when she stepped into the cage and allowed the glass panel to close behind her, he actually found that he had no idea how to react. Yes, he wanted so much to just hold her and kiss her until they were both out of breath, but at the same time he was afraid to touch her. Never before had she appeared so vulnerable in front of him, that he would feel as if she could crumble at the slightest pressure.

He was actually startled – and visibly so when his shoulders jolted – when she approached him and he sighted the way her hand trembled as she reached up until her fingertips ghosted over his cheek, while tears slowly overflowed from her eyes. Almost out of reflex he latched onto her mind when she opened her mouth to speak, only to have her throat tighten in a knot which blocked the words. And what he found in her most recent memories was so utterly terrifying that before he'd consciously thought of it, he grasped her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, only to be spared for a moment from the sight of her gaze which he could read as easily as a book.

"Forgive me..."

His words actually stunned her; she had expected to hear anything from him... except that. The sight of his teary gaze as he looked back to her, however, snapped her out of that state. Retrieving her hand from his grasp she instead wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him tightly as though she was afraid he would vanish if she released him.

"Don't cry... don't cry, my love..." she whispered pleadingly.

The sound of her voice ultimately allowed him to recover from the suddenness of that embrace, and he returned her gesture while burying his lips and nose in her hair. This... this was Paradise and for a moment he actually fancied just abandoning everything and going away with her. Away from this miserable world which had done nothing to keep her from falling apart in his absence; away from these idiotic humans and from his brother; away from everything else.

But he couldn't... he knew Chthon's words had not been in vain; Thanos would be able to find him no matter where he went and he dreaded the idea of that monster being anywhere near Kara.

"You really are a foolish girl, for coming back to me..." he muttered painfully, his slender fingers now trailing through her hair.

"I thought it was the other way around..."

At those words, Coulson and Fury exchanged a glance which spoke more than they could have said with words; it was the first time in months that they had actually heard that genuinely humorous tone in her voice. And still, in spite of the sheer insanity of the situation they were in, they were unable to fully withhold a smile. That was the extent to which they had come to care for her, that it made them happy to see her happy... no matter who or what gave her that happiness.

That amused huff she knew so well by now sent a pleasant shiver along her spine, and she sighed in relief whilst her mind relished in the fact that he was actually there with her... that he wasn't just some figment of her broken mind anymore. It was only her desire to see his face that ultimately compelled her to release him, although her smile was short lived.

"They're different..." she whispered as she stared up at him. "Your eyes..."

In an instant his expression went from that loving smile to a shade of such pure fear that she felt her heart cringe.

"Loki... where were you?"

No reply came from the dark haired Æsir, as he inwardly prayed that his silence would deter her from questioning him further. But when she narrowed her eyes at him and he realized she was trying to circumvent his plan by latching onto his mind, he felt a surge of terror swelling in his chest again.

"Don't..." he whispered, almost as if he was begging her, while his eyes shifted to such a sorrowful gaze that Kara felt about to burst into tears.

His warning came one moment too late, however... when her mind attempted to reach out and grasp onto his, her lungs emptied of air as if someone had punched her in the stomach; her eyes widened and her knees turned to jelly; she only had enough sense left to feel Loki's arms tightening around her to keep her from hitting the floor, before darkness took her.

OoOoO

The first thing she heard was her choked gasp... and the first thing she saw... well that was a bit complicated. While her eyes were blinded by bright white lights, her mind instantly recalled the eerily blue glow which had blinded her... brain, apparently. She really had no idea how else she could describe it.

"Vicious..." she whispered, the sound of her own voice startling her.

Yes, _vicious_ was a fitting word for the sensation she'd gotten. Just what in the world had that been? It was as if something or someone had punched her in the face for trying to enter Loki's mind... but she refused to believe it was him.

"Are you okay?"

The voice which posed that question had been so unexpected, that Kara instantly turned her head to the side, to see Steve sitting on a chair near the bed she'd been laid in.

"Yeah..." she replied softly.

It was when she tried raising her hand to use it as leverage and sit up, that she realized it was trapped beneath his. And somehow it made her feel so happy and so guilty at the same time, to see him still showing so much care for her.

"I'm sorry..." she finally said, squeezing his hand.

At her words the soldier heaved a sigh and trailed his other hand through his hair.

"I wasn't actually _that_ surprised... somehow, I think I always knew you loved someone else. That someone you told me about... it was him, wasn't it?"

Nodding lightly, Kara now closed her eyes with a deep breath.

"Thor told me he fell during their fight... he believed Loki was dead, and I had no way of questioning that."

Watching her silently as she spoke, the soldier took in her words with a somewhat clenched jaw. He had so wanted to hear that particular shade of warmth in her tone... and to hear it when she spoke about that... he frankly didn't even know what to call Loki. He definitely wasn't human, that much he could tell. But to call him a _god_ was a bit of a stretch... maybe he was a demon?

The first thing he'd wanted to do after leaving the bridge had been to go to the detention wing and just throw another punch at Loki; but ultimately even he realized it would have been nothing more than a childish reaction. It irked him to no end that he seemed to have stumbled into a badly written movie where the bad guy got to win, for a change. Even if they did manage to stop Loki's plans of taking over Earth, he knew the truth... Loki had already won in that personal battle, long before Fury had even found him in that glacier.

But damn it, he just couldn't bring himself to hate her; God knew how much he had wanted that when she'd told him that her heart had never belonged to him, but to Loki who hadn't even done anything to earn it. But he couldn't... no matter how desperately he tried, he couldn't erase that feeling which had begun to take root in his very core. Hell, he couldn't even hold back from smiling as he watched her.

"I'd still jump after you any day of the week." he stated, trying his best to sound amused.

For a second she looked at him with wide eyes, clearly having not expected to hear that from him, until her expression melted into that warm smile he had grown quite fond of.

"Then you're still a courageous fool..." she retorted.

Finally sitting up, she found her attention drawn to the door when Fury entered the medical ward.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine... don't blow this out of proportion, Nick."

For a moment he was utterly taken aback by her words that his voice died out even though he had opened his mouth to do just what she had asked him not to.

"What exactly did he do to you in there?" Steve asked, when the silence started becoming awkward. "They told me one moment you were just looking at him, then you fainted right there in his arms."

"I don't think it was him doing it..."

"Kara..."

Looking up at Fury when his stern tone reached her ears, she felt her brow furrowing.

"It wasn't him, Nick!" she insisted. "I know you don't trust him, but I do... he never did anything to hurt me... at least not physically."

Looking to Steve's confused expression she sighed and lowered her head into her hands; damn that migraine... it made her temples throb as if someone was playing the drums in her head.

"I tried to latch onto his mind... I wanted to know where he was and what he was doing for the past year. And I couldn't..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fury frowned.

Her gaze when she again looked up at him gave him a really bad feeling and he knew he was going to hear something that he wouldn't like.

"I think someone else is pushing him from behind..."

OoOoO

"For the last time, I will _not_ let you defend him! Is that clear?"

Still gathered around the table on the main bridge, the entire group looked up upon hearing Fury's angry tone, only to sight the male approaching them with Kara and Steve in tow.

"Will you quit being so narrow-minded?" she frowned, grasping his arm to force him to a halt. "Why can't you accept the fact that I know him better than you or anyone else here, aside from Thor?"

"He killed eighty people... _eighty_! In two days..." the Director retorted through his teeth. "I'm not going to let you defend a criminal."

"Well, this is an interesting play." Tony stated humorously. "Mind letting us in on the plot?"

With Fury merely huffing in exasperation and Steve seating himself with just a heavy sigh, Thor approached the young woman.

"Kara... what happened?"

Her pointed gaze almost had him take a step back, but that thought was deterred when she crossed her arms and spoke.

"Thor, did you notice anything different about Loki?"

"I do not understand what you're..."

"His eyes, Thor." she replied impatiently. "What color are they?"

"Green."

His lack of hesitation had her frown at him; really, how the hell could he not notice that obvious change in his own brother?

"Well they're not anymore... they're blue, just like... like the Tesseract."

Her voice was almost a whisper as she stated those last words, when her mind suddenly began putting together some pieces of that whole picture.

"Kara?"

Looking to Coulson's concerned expression, the young woman clenched her jaw; well, this was definitely going to be an unpleasant discussion, especially with Fury being as stubborn as he was.

"Thor... what exactly _is_ the Tesseract?" she asked tentatively, hoping he could provide her with some information to fill the gaps she still had in that puzzle.

"On Asgard we know it as one of the six Infinity Stones. I never learned much of its abilities, other than the fact that with the right amount of energy it can be used as a substitute for the Bifrost. It was supposed to have been locked in the Weapons' Vault, along with many other powerful artifacts. My father never spoke much of the items displayed there. I did not even know it was gone, until now."

"Well, that's helpful..." she muttered.

"Call it morbid curiosity, but what exactly are you getting at?" Fury finally asked.

"When I was captured in Iraq, I was unconscious for three days. During that time I met Loki... I dismissed it as just a dream, but something happened during that time. It's an image that was simply burned into my memory. It was... I don't know how to describe it... imagine if the Tesseract suddenly exploded into a glowing ball of light, pretty much like the sun."

"Is that all you saw?"

Ignoring the awed gazes thrown Thor's way after he had posed that question, Kara shook her head whilst narrowing her eyes as she tried to recall that vision accurately.

"There was someone else there... it wasn't just Loki. There was someone in the midst of that light... I only caught a fleeting glimpse of whatever or _whoever_ that was, because Loki forced me awake. He..."

Her throat dried up as she recalled that heartbreaking expression on his face.

"He was afraid... more than afraid, he was terrified..." she pondered.

"Because of you seeing that... being?" Bruce asked.

"I don't think that was it. At first when that... sun or whatever, started shining on me he told me not to turn around. He kept urging me to open my eyes. But I don't think it was the idea of me seeing it that frightened him. Somehow it felt like he was afraid of that thing seeing _me_..."

"So how does all that tie in with you going all K.I.A. earlier?" Steve retorted.

"I said that I tried to latch onto his mind, to find out where he was for the past year. And I couldn't... something just... kicked me out."

"Maybe he didn't want you finding out all his dirty little secrets." Tony stated, utterly unimpressed.

For a moment she watched the young scientist with an expression mixing surprise and disappointment that he seemed to be taking all that as a joke.

"I'm saying there was something else there..." she replied dryly.

"What like... someone's possessing him?"

"No, but there is certainly another presence there; and it's just so... brutal and vicious... I thought my brain was going to explode."

"Well he's brutal and vicious, we saw that first hand..."

His retort was interrupted when the young woman gave in to her anger and slammed her hands onto the table.

"Damn it, Tony! You're not even listening to me!"

Shooting her a pointed gaze, the scientist crossed his arms.

"Because you're not saying anything worth hearing... he's a criminal and no matter how much you love him that's not gonna change."

For a split second he actually regretted that remark when she narrowed her eyes at him in sheer anger, her gaze betraying a sort of sorrowful surprise at his lack of trust in her.

"You fucking asshole..." she hissed, turning on her heels and storming off.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Aww I'm so happy you loved this chapter and yes, I do agree. You just can't say "no" to a caged Loki. He's just... he does things to you, just seeing him caged like that xD

Thank you so much for all the love you poured onto this story, I'm really honored and happy to be working with you on it. Keep being awesome, love :D

2\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Haha I'm guessing you're a Steve fangirl, based on your reaction. But we all know he's too good a guy to stay upset for long ;)

Hope you liked this chapter as well. Looking forward to hearing from you again, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	21. Entry 20

Darlings... darlings, I am astounded! The story's up to **7.500 views**... **in less than two months**. Gawd I'm baffled. I love you guys! Really, without you this story would be nothing, and I love you all so much. Thank you, lovelies!

But I'll let y'all enjoy this next little installment. Don't forget to toss me a bone and let me know how I did... or was that a review?

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

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**Entry #20**

_"He's a criminal and no matter how much you love him that's not gonna change."_

_"You fucking asshole..." she hissed, turning on her heels and storming off._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__May 19, 2012_

"Dearest..."

The sound of that voice startled Kara out of her own thoughts, and when she raised her blurred gaze she finally realized that – despite not having consciously intended it – her feet had somehow led her back to the detention wing. Seeing Loki standing there, his slender brows twitching into a frown and his gaze gaining that angry shade she had seen before whenever he perceived that something or someone posed a threat to her, the young woman felt a shaky breath leaving her lungs. Fighting back every urge she had to just tear that door away and run into his arms, she approached the steel and glass case without a word. She knew there was no need for her to say anything... he always knew when she was upset anyway.

Briefly clenching his jaw in anger at the sight of her tear-stained face, the dark haired Æsir ultimately allowed his expression to melt into that loving shade he reserved just for her. Whoever had had the gall to make her cry would certainly regret the day they had been born.

"What has you so upset, love?" he asked, relishing in the fact that she still melted at the sound of his velvety tone.

When she failed to reply despite parting her lips and he sighted fresh tears overflowing from her eyes, his expression took on a vague sorrowful shade whilst he extended an arm toward her. No matter what he had been through, despite all of his own pain and sorrow – which would have likely destroyed any other man – it still hurt him to see her suffer, for whatever reason.

"Come here..." he said softly.

At his words and gesture she seemed to come back to life and for a moment he sighted the Kara he knew when she reached to the console nearby and opened the cage without the slightest hint of hesitation. The next thing he knew, she took a couple of steps toward him only to end up breaking into a run which caused her to slam into him at full speed, the door ultimately closing behind her; fortunately he was much too strong for her to actually move him, which only left him to lock her in a warm, soothing embrace while she silently cried in his arms.

"Hush, dearest... don't cry..." he pleaded in a soft whisper, kissing the side of her head.

Slithering into her mind even as he spoke, he was actually grateful that she had not been looking at him to sight the murderous spark in his eyes. Those fools... he was truly astounded as to how utterly stupid they were to discard her warnings, even if it suited his plans perfectly. No matter; their idiocy would be their downfall and he would take so much pleasure in showing them what it meant to anger the God of Chaos.

But she... she was getting too dangerously close to the truth and for a moment he fell prey to his own fear, which his expression betrayed entirely as did the way he involuntarily tightened his hold on her. And he knew then that he no longer had any other option... he _had_ to win. At least that way, even if she found out the whole truth, he could still keep her safe by fulfilling his part of the deal with Thanos and delivering the Tesseract.

"Don't ask any more questions..." he suddenly said.

When she tried to lean back and look into his eyes, he pressed a hand to the back of her head to hold her in place, instead whispering in her ear.

"Please, love... there is no other way. Trust me, as you once did..."

It was only when he felt her relaxing in his arms – a clear sign that she had given in to his pleas – that he leaned back to look at her; the sight of her parting her lips to speak simply in her attempt to be stubborn had him huff amusedly while a smile blossomed on his expression, before he placed his hands to her cheeks and pulled her into a loving but utterly needy kiss. He almost chuckled, actually, at the sound of her surprised mewl, before he felt her succumbing in the span of just a few moments.

In a sudden rush of euphoria she again wrapped her arms around his neck, arching her back to press herself to his body as much as his attire allowed her to; she was so happy – so happy, in far longer than she cared to remember – that she could have actually cried. And then she felt his hand tangling into her hair while his other arm settled around her waist.

_'Should I remove these bothersome clothes, dearest?'_

The sound of his seductive tone ringing in her head had her widen her eyes and part their lips, only to sight that mischievous spark in his gaze – which had by now somehow reverted to its original emerald shade – that she had so missed seeing.

"What..." she began only to have him press his lips to hers again to silence her.

"I have nothing to hide..." he retorted, trailing a finger along her neck and down toward the glimpse of cleavage that her uniform showed. "Although I suppose I should feel hurt that you considered another man's body attractive enough to try and forget me."

"Don't..." she said sternly, pointing a finger at his face. "Don't even go there... since you invited yourself into my memories, you know why I did it."

His utterly amused chuckle suddenly made her realize that he had been joking and for a moment she felt like smacking him, while her lips pursed into that pout she knew he simply adored.

"Jerk..." she muttered in annoyance.

It was at that word that she felt his finger hooking into her uniform's zipper, tugging it down until he'd exposed her chest almost entirely. When she grabbed his hand to try and deter him, she now felt his other hand creeping along the back of her head until he pushed her costume's collar away from her neck, his eyes moving to the mark he had left behind.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me, dearest?"

His unexpected question caught her off guard and all she could do was stare at him in confusion. When he leaned down to press a kiss to that tattoo, she arched her back in an attempt to use his body as cover for the fact that he had practically rendered her almost half naked in a place where anyone could see them. But despite being nervous about Fury or Coulson or Steve walking in on them, she couldn't hold back a shudder when pleasure coursed through her body like an electric jolt.

"I need you safe, Kara..." he said with a sudden mixture of sorrow and seriousness in his tone, his lips brushing against her neck as he spoke. "If I lose you, I don't know what I would be capable of doing... I need you safe, and for that I need you to trust me. I have no choice..."

Sighing lightly, the young woman ultimately wrapped her free arm around him, lovingly stroking his hair.

"I trust you..."

She was probably signing over the fate of the entire human race with those words; but how could she not trust him when she loved him so much that her heart felt about to burst from the intensity of her feelings? The moment of silence that followed gave her such an odd vibe from him... she could practically feel just how overwhelmingly relieved he was to hear that.

"I'll always trust you, no matter what happens..." she now said, before even fully realizing she'd wanted to speak.

When he leaned back and she sighted that loving expression on his face, she found it impossible to hold back a smile. It was almost as if she could see that storm of emotions in his chest settling down, and for a second he actually appeared more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him before. Leaning up to press her forehead against his, she briefly pecked his lips.

"I love you." she whispered with a soft sigh. "God, I love you so much..."

"I do appreciate your honesty, love... but really, you can call me Loki." he retorted on a somewhat humorous tone.

His words had the effect he was hoping for and his ears completely relished in the sound of her laughter; oh, it felt so good to finally hear that joyful shade in her tone again.

"You incorrigible jester..."

"You're the one who wanted the God of Mischief, dearest." he teased, hooking his finger in her suit again.

"Stop it." she said widening her eyes and tightening her hold on his hand, although she couldn't fully erase the smile on her lips.

"Mm... I missed that wonderful shade of red in your cheeks."

His devious smile grew when his taunt only made her blush even deeper. Finally, it seemed, she was starting to recover and once more become the Kara he had always known and loved. That last thought, however, made him blink in surprise. Love...? Had she _actually_ managed to instill that sentiment in him without him even noticing it?

"What's wrong?"

Her concerned tone and that worried expression on her face snapped him out of his contemplation, and he shook his head with a smile while retrieving his hand from hers and zipping her suit back up.

"Nothing, dearest..."

When she looked from his hand back to his face in confusion at his unexpected gesture, he exhaled an amused huff and brushed the back of his slender fingers over her cheek.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind if it happened here, love... but your body is for my eyes alone."

OoOoO

"Surprise!"

The sound of a male voice behind her chair, as well as the sight of a fiery red rose dangling upside down in front of her eyes, had Kara lean back and glance over her shoulder to sight Tony standing next to her. For a moment she merely frowned at him, but when he gave her that disarming, pleading gaze she sighed and closed the file she had been studying regarding Selvig's work with the Tesseract.

"What for?" she asked.

"Because I was a fucking asshole..." he replied, extending his arm to offer her the flower.

Despite accepting the rose, she offered him a pointed gaze even while trying to hold back a smile.

"You're still a jerk."

It was the humorous tone in her voice that ultimately made him smile while he grasped her hand and kissed the back of her fingers, winking at her.

"That's why women love me."

"I feel so sorry for Pepper, right now." she retorted sarcastically.

The way he wrinkled his nose at her finally made her crack a smile, although her humor was short lived when Tony now crossed his arms and leaned against the table.

"Look, I may have been an asshole about it, but I didn't say that _just_ to be an asshole."

"I know how this looks to all of you... that it's like I'm letting my feelings cloud my mind. And frankly... that's a high possibility. I don't expect any of you to understand, because you're not in the same situation. If it had been Pepper and you were in my shoes, then you would understand just how hard it is to keep a clear head."

"Kara..."

"The bottom line, Tony, is that I know him better than you or Nick or Steve or anyone else. I think it's pretty safe to say that I know him even a bit better than Thor does. No matter how much he desires to rule, he wouldn't do this without someone forcing him into it."

"Why not?"

"Because he knows Earth is _my_ home... yeah, he doesn't care at all about any other human alive, I know that. But he still wouldn't try to rule them, because of me... because he knows that would hurt me."

"And you're positive he would never do anything to hurt you." Tony retorted skeptically.

"You're something else, you know that?" she replied with a slightly astounded smile. "You're trying to find a scientific explanation for feelings... I just know. That's not something you can put into words. You should be familiar with the fact that when you love someone, you trust them no matter what. I expected Steve or Nick to not understand that... but you?"

The following moments passed in silence while the male merely watched her pointedly.

"So what are you going to do?" he finally asked.

"I don't know... he's a prisoner for now, so all I can do is wait and see what happens. One thing I can already tell you, though. He won't say where the Tesseract is... no matter what kind of mind games you try to play with him. In fact, he will likely use those games against you in a very brutal way."

"I'm curious... just what is he?"

"Well our ancestors called him a god... as they called Thor and the rest of his family. They believed he ruled over mischief, lies and chaos; he wasn't exactly the friendliest of those they worshiped. His worshipers were often merchants or what people later called _scholars_, because they valued his intelligence and cunning nature."

"And you're sure he's not just manipulating you?"

His unflinching skepticism ultimately drew a brief chuckle from the young woman.

"Yes... you see, that's what first caught his attention about me. That he can't hide anything because I'll just invade his mind and find out anyway."

Well, that wasn't entirely true given that Loki could easily overpower her in a telepathic battle, but she really just wanted to end that conversation before Tony got the idea to ask any really uncomfortable questions.

_'Mm... I like your renewed boldness, dearest.'_

Barely holding back from jolting in surprise when Loki's amused voice resounded in her mind, Kara instead clenched her jaw.

_'Who invited you in here?'_

His velvety chuckle was all she could hear before he went utterly silent, leaving her to wonder if he'd really gotten out of her head or not.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- You don't know how happy it makes me to know that you enjoy reading the chapters a second time as much as you did when you read them the first time. And I'm so glad to hear that the scenes are indeed making you go through the various moods they're meant for. If they didn't, I would consider that I failed my purpose in writing this whole thing.

As for helping me, not to worry, we have a lot of fun work ahead of us, not just for this story ;) I'm looking forward to working with you on other stories as well, darling :D

2\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Aww don't worry darling. As I said, Steve's too nice to stay upset with her for long. He'll probably get over it at some point ;)

But I'm glad to hear you're conflicted, because that means I did something well with the Kara/Loki pairing. I'm hoping you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

3\. **Callie Cat** \- I am so happy to hear that my story made you fond of Loki, that's actually one of the reasons I even started writing it, to hopefully convey his personality in a way that would make people dislike him less.

On a side note, I actually do cry whenever I write a tear jerking scene and I smile or grin constantly when I have to write a happy scene. If you as the writer don't go through the emotions you're trying to convey to your readers, then you're not doing something right and you need to redo that scene. So believe me when I say that all the scenes that made you tear up, or gave you that knot in your throat, that urge to cry, were written while I was tearing up and barely even able to see the screen before my eyes xD

And of course you can share it on tumblr, I'd actually be honored. I have a tumblr myself, but I haven't yet put up anything on it, it's mostly just so I can follow a few blogs that I love there. My main "base of operations" is here or on Twitter where I'm stalking Tom ;)

But yes, I am terribly honored that you would want to share a link to the story there, darling, so go right ahead. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too and I can't wait to hear from you again :)

4\. **MomentsInSilence** \- Haha my feelings exactly, darling. I hope I didn't make Tony come across as _too much_ of an asshole and that his fans don't hate my guts now. But such are the risks...

Thank you for the short but utterly expressive review, darling. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	22. Entry 21

Sooo darlings we're getting close to the battle of New York. Hope you're all looking forward to that because I have a huuuuge surprise waiting for you at the end ;)

But I won't keep you with any more ranting; just toss me a review and I'll rant with you as much as you want :D

Now enjoy, lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

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**Entry #21**

_His velvety chuckle was all she could hear before he went utterly silent, leaving her to wonder if he'd really gotten out of her head or not._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier_

_**Date: **__May 20, 2012_

"_Kara, level 3 research lab. Now."_

Startled by Fury's voice suddenly ringing out in her earpiece, the young woman blinked in some confusion as she rushed out of her room and towards the laboratory. Upon arriving there, she was taken aback by the sheer thickness of the tension in that room.

"Uh... what's going on here?"

Ignoring her, Fury continued to stare down the two scientists.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." Bruce replied. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you get your Cube back." Tony retorted. "No muss... no fuss... what is _Phase 2_?"

Before Fury could reply, Kara's gaze – just as everyone else's – was drawn to the source of an odd metallic sound which turned out to be Steve slamming a weapon onto one of the lab tables.

"_Phase 2_ is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons." he said dryly. "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."

Tightening his lips when Kara and Thor – who had just entered along with Natasha – stared in shock at him, Fury then sighed lightly.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean..."

"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony interrupted him, pointing to a panel on which a missile blueprint had been uploaded. "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, Director... the world hasn't changed a bit." Steve now said with an utterly disappointed tone in his voice.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked, looking over to Natasha.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?"

"Oh, I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

With silence lingering in between them, Fury suddenly extended his arm, pointing to Thor.

"Because of him."

"Me?" the Æsir asked, entirely caught off guard by that accusation.

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone... we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor stated.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat! The world's filling up with people who can't be matched... who can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve frowned.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it... and his allies." Thor replied. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"We had to come up with something..." Fury stated.

"A nuclear deterrent... because that always calms things right down." Tony retorted sarcastically.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark..."

Over the following few minutes Kara watched in utter shock as the very people who were supposed to protect their world regressed to the state of spoiled brats, bickering over a toy.

_'Look at them... pathetic...'_

Although she did not reply to Loki's disgusted retort, she couldn't help but agree; regardless, she had to somehow stop them before she gave in to her annoyance and started throwing things at them. Raising her hands she conjured a small round shield which she filled with air. Taking in a deep breath she now clapped her hands, causing the small bubble to burst with a sound similar to a dozen balloons being popped at the same time.

"Can we please grow up?" she said, when everyone turned to stare at her. "You're the best this world has to offer... act your damn age!"

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor now said, looking to Fury.

"That's his M.O. isn't it?" Bruce asked. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, no... we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos, we're... we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Fury replied, shooting a concerned glance to the scientist.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, casually setting his hand onto Steve's shoulder only to have the soldier smack it away.

"You know damn well why, back off!"

"I'm starting to want you to make me."

Smiling lightly, Steve now moved to circle him.

"Yeah... big man in a suit of armor." he retorted sarcastically. "Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist..." came Tony's jab.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage... the only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play; to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

When Steve again smiled, Fury clenched his jaw in anticipation; by now he fully expected the soldier to punch Stark again.

"Always a way out." Steve retorted. "You know, you may not be a threat but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Tony!"

Kara's shocked voice and expression made the scientist blink in confusion; what the hell was wrong with his mind? It felt all muddy and blurry as if he'd been drugged. When he again looked to her, the young woman averted her gaze, apparently still astounded by that thoroughly heartless reaction from him... in all honesty even he was somewhat awed that he'd gone _that_ far. His focus, however, was soon drawn back to the soldier who now offered him a smug smirk.

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

This time it was the sound of Thor's chuckle that ultimately snapped Steve out of that weird state as well.

"You people are so petty... and tiny..." the Æsir retorted amusedly.

"Agent Romanoff, would you please escort Doctor Banner back to his..." Fury said, looking to the young woman only to have Bruce cut him off.

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in..."

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried."

His words left everyone speechless while the young scientist crossed his arms.

"I got low... I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on; I focused on helping other people, I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk."

The tension, which rose a whole new level when Banner grabbed onto Loki's scepter while Kara could practically see the anger growing in his eyes, was suddenly pierced by the sound of a sharp beeping noise coming from the machine which had been searching for the Tesseract.

"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce said after setting down the scepter.

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"I could get there fastest." Tony replied.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard; no human is a match for it." the Æsir stated dryly.

Ignoring him Tony tried to leave the lab in order to retrieve his suit, only to have Steve grab onto his arm.

"You're not going alone."

"You're gonna stop me?" he asked, smacking away the soldier's hand.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit!" Steve now growled through clenched teeth.

It was when Kara attempted to cross the room and come in between them that the floor was practically evaporated by what looked like an explosion. Fortunately for her, Thor's reflexes were quick enough to let him drag her back and shield her with his body from the flames and debris.

"What the..." she muttered, trying to breathe under his weight.

Moving off her the Thunder God now grasped her arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine..."

Rushing to Fury's side whilst the male sat up trying to regain his bearings, she quickly checked him over for any injuries.

"Hill!" he called.

_"External detonation..."_ came the female's response into his earpiece while Tony and Steve rushed out of the room so that the scientist could retrieve his armor. _"Number 3 engine is down. Someone's got to get outside and patch that engine."_

"Stark, you copy that?"

_"I'm on it."_

"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section, then get to the armory."

"I'll take detention, Phil." Kara said into her own earpiece.

"No." Fury retorted, grabbing her arm after he had finally gotten to his feet.

When she merely shot him a pointed glance he opened his mouth to speak only to have the young woman smack his hand away and break into a run along the corridor.

"Kara!" he called out in her wake.

For a moment he was torn in two; he wanted to go after her because by now it was pretty clear that someone was trying to break Loki out, but at the same time he needed to go to the bridge and make sure the Helicarrier was steered over water, in case one of the other engines failed.

_"I'll be fine."_

Her voice ringing out into his earpiece had him grit his teeth in anger.

"Damn it!" he spat out, before rushing in the opposite direction, heading toward the bridge.

A few minutes later Kara was starting to lose her patience; with the detonation, the entire Helicarrier seemed to have gone into frenzy, and she could swear that she had never had any idea there were _that_ many people aboard.

_"We've got a perimeter breach!"_ she suddenly heard into her earpiece. _"Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear."_

Finally she made it to the detention section and for a moment she could only stare at Loki as he watched her from inside the cage, with an utterly satisfied smile on his face. It was then that her blood went cold and her eyes widened when she heard the Hulk's roar echoing in the rounded chamber.

_"We have the Hulk and Thor on Research Level 4. Levels 2 and 3 are dark."_

With those words resounding into her earpiece she felt her heart skipping a beat; the detention section was just below Level 4. Exhaling a shaky breath she rushed to the console to initiate the lockdown.

"What are you doing, dearest?"

Ignoring his amused tone, the young woman now activated the console.

"Trying to keep you alive; you do not want that thing anywhere near you, trust me."

Her attention was soon drawn to the spiraling staircase where she sighted two males ascending the steps. At first she thought they were guards, given their familiar attire, until one of them pointed a shotgun at her and fired, narrowly missing her. With her reflexes kicking into gear she set one knee onto the floor while retrieving her pistol. Aiming through the rails she fired, her bullet burrowing into her attacker's head and knocking him back down the stairs. When the second one tried to get a good aim on her, she angled her arm and fired again, hitting him in the chest.

"You are _not_ getting out of here." she said through clenched teeth, looking up at Loki.

"Mm... you're just as vicious as I remember, dearest." he retorted seductively.

Glaring at him when her cheeks reddened at that tone which sent a pleasant shiver along her spine, she moved to her feet and turned to the console again, only to find that the program wasn't responding.

"Nick, we have a little problem here."

_"Worse than our second engine going down?"_

"What?!"

_"We're gonna make it. What's the problem?"_

"Whatever happened to knock that second engine out, took out the lockdown program. I can't isolate the detention section."

When silence followed her words, the young woman briefly wondered if their communication system had also been taken out.

"Nick? Nick!"

_"Crap..."_ he finally replied. _"You get out of there. That is an order!"_

"You know I'm terrible at following orders." she retorted, checking to see if she still had the extra bullets in her pouch.

_"Damn it, Kara! Get out of there!"_

Turning off her earpiece, she took a deep breath and once more turned to face Loki, while pressing her back against the wall to avoid any surprise attacks.

"So... just you and me for now." she smiled.

His reaction was to playfully narrow his eyes at her, while his lips twitched into a mischievous smile.

"Are you sure you would not rather be in here with me, than out there alone?"

"I'm pretty sure I want to stay away from those naughty hands of yours." she retorted in jest.

"Wooh... dearest, that hurts."

"Would you enjoy having your _rescue team_ arrive here to bust you out, only to find us... well... you know..." she now said with a taunting wink.

His amused huff was soon followed by the sight of his pearly white teeth as he grinned at her.

"I'll make you eat those words, I promise."

"Then I can't wait to see you make good on that promise."

For a moment she recalled that night in London and it actually astounded her to realize how much she had been through since then... it almost felt as if that night had happened centuries before. Her contemplation was cut short when she heard several footsteps approaching along the same corridor she had used to get there.

"Show time..." she smirked.

Extending her arm outwards she pointed the gun down the hallway and fired; a painful shout which soon turned to a gurgling noise informed her that she had not missed her target. What she had failed to foresee, however, was that Loki had already warned them that she was likely to be there with him; and while he had given specific orders that she was not to be killed, he had allowed them to disable her.

When her other targets failed to riposte with shots of their own, she cautiously leaned forward to glance along the hallway, thinking that maybe she'd managed to scare them off and wouldn't have to kill any more of them. In doing so, she failed to see the lone mercenary approaching from a side corridor. It was only when he was just a couple of steps behind her that she finally heard his boots against the floor; turning around she caught only a fleeting glimpse of his masked face before the male raised his hand and smashed the butt of his weapon against the side of her head, the outburst of pain actually making her black out.

With the soldier activating the console again and opening the cage, Loki finally moved out of his cell and approached the young woman, picking her up and setting her against the wall.

"I know you'll be angry with me, dearest..." he whispered, kissing her forehead.

For now, however, he had rather urgent matters to tend to; like his idiot brother who was bound to try and stop him from getting away. Indeed, no more than a few minutes later Thor finally arrived at the detention level, being greeted with the sight of the cage door opening and Loki stepping outside.

"No!"

With that bellow he lunged forward intending to capture the younger Æsir, only to fly right through Loki's body, landing in the middle of the cage while the door closed behind him. Standing, he now sighted Loki outside the cage, watching him with an utterly disappointed gaze.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?"

When the blond god sighted Kara and widened his eyes, Loki merely sighed lightly.

"She's fine... you don't actually believe I would harm her, do you?"

"That's just it... I don't know anymore."

"I was under the impression that you knew me better than that, brother. I would see all the realms burning before doing anything to hurt her."

When Thor suddenly raised his arm and smashed the hammer against the glass door, Loki briefly arched his brows watching as the large claws holding the case moved away from their sockets.

"The humans think us immortal..." he said with a devious grin, walking to the console. "Shall we test that?"

Before he could activate the panel, however, Coulson arrived from a side hallway, knocking out the mercenary while pointing what looked like an oversized rifle at Loki.

"Move away, please." he said, watching as the dark haired Æsir cautiously stepped away from the console. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. You want to find out?"

It was when he pressed the activation button and the weapon began charging, that the Loki before him flickered and faded to nothingness, at the same moment when the real one stepped behind Coulson and drove the sharp tip of the scepter through his back until the weapon protruded through his chest. With the agent falling to the floor, Loki again stepped over to the console, activating it and opening the floor beneath the cage; looking straight into Thor's eyes without any shred of remorse, he now pushed the button to release the steel case.

Once the floor had closed back up, he turned around with the intention of retrieving Kara and finally leaving that dying metal beast, when his stride was abruptly halted by Coulson's voice.

"You're going to lose."

"Am I?" he asked, turning to face the dying agent.

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered... your floating fortress falls from the sky... where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

When Loki went to retort, the weapon Coulson still had on his lap finally charged and fired, in a similar way to the Destroyer itself, lunging Loki backwards through the nearest wall.

"So that's what it does..."

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Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Shush darling, careful... you don't want to reveal anything of what happens in future chapters, do you? ;)

But I'm so happy you enjoyed reading it a second time and that it STILL made you go through all those emotions. And I'm really glad I managed to convey a spark of humor, because yes it was needed in all these tense and serious chapters. Especially with the battle of New York drawing near.

And yes, we'll definitely be working together on more stories. I'm so looking forward to that, love :D

2\. **Callie Cat** \- Haha well Tom is hard to not like or love, because unlike most other celebrities he seems to really put himself in the shoes of his fans and it seems to me that he treats them the way he would want to be treated if he was in their place. So it's basically impossible to not like the guy, he's really great.

Now for the background with Loki and Thanos... I was contemplating delving deeper into it than I already did, but I thought it would distract from the actual story. After all this is a story about Loki AND Kara, not just about Loki. Plus, I haven't read any of the comics so I'm not 100% versed in the Marvel lore surrounding Thanos and Chthon. And rather than messing it up and having fans hate me for it, I decided to just play it safe and leave it at that.

And I'm really happy and really flattered that my writing makes your day. I don't consider myself more than an amateur but it's still really nice to see that my readers enjoy my work. So thank you for another heartwarming review, darling, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :D

3\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Aww thank you darling, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed this one too; I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :)

4\. **MomentsInSilence** \- Haha well I can only hope the Tony fans won't hate me. Even if I know I can't please everyone I still end up trying to do that, mostly because I'm a perfectionist by nature. Which is what really makes writing for me seem like the greatest joy and the greatest torture at the same time. But I guess I'm just weird like that.

I'm so glad you liked the cage scene. That's one of my personal favorites out of the entire movie, so I just HAD to add it into my story somehow. And well... Loki might be under the Tesseract's influence and he might be a stubborn jerk, but he still is the God of Mischief. And you just KNOW there's mischief coming when you have him locked up in a cage with the woman he desires the most ;)

But thank you so much for this lovely review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

5\. **smkyle** \- Aww I'm so happy that you like the story so far, darling. I really hope it will keep meeting your expectations from here on as well. And I'm really glad you like Kara. I tried my best to not turn her into a Mary Sue, despite what she has to be, so I'm always a bit iffy about her. But I'm really happy to hear you like her so far.

Thank you so much for your lovely review and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	23. Entry 22

So, my lovelies, we've come to the big moment in _The Avengers_... sort of...

This chapter marks the start of the battle of New York and I do hope you'll enjoy it. So toss me a candy/review and let me know what you think :D

Now enjoy, darlings~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

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**Entry #22**

_"You lack conviction."_

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Manhattan, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__May 20, 2012_

"_Kara... Kara..._ Kara!"

With her eyes snapping wide open, the young woman was met with the sight of Fury's concerned gaze as he leaned over her. While she was still trying to regain her bearings, the male exhaled a relieved breath before sorrow took over his features.

"Agent Coulson is down." he finally said.

His words hit her like a cold shower and instantly kicked her mind into full gear despite the splitting migraine that made her feel as if she could lean forward and throw up at any moment.

_"A medical team is on its way to your location."_

"They're here... they called it."

Still too dizzy to stand, Kara now scrambled away from the Director, crawling across the floor until she got to Phil's side just as the medic was standing to take note of his time of death. Reaching out with a trembling hand whilst his face became blurred from her tears, she felt her body moving on its own until her face was pressed against his shirt, her muffled sobs echoing dimly in the detention chamber.

She couldn't tell how long she stayed like that, holding his breathless form, but she recalled that she was still crying when Fury finally grasped her arms in a gentle but firm hold and pulled her away so the medics could retrieve the fallen agent's body.

"I'm sorry..." the Director said sorrowfully, stroking her hair.

He couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been for her, and he didn't want to add any more weight on her shoulders; but ultimately he would have to tell her that Loki was the one who had killed Coulson.

OoOoO

Utter silence reigned on the main bridge three hours later; Fury had finally told Kara that Coulson's death had come at Loki's hands and, as he had expected it, the woman had been utterly shocked. But despite that she had refused to be relieved of the mission, for a reason that Fury still couldn't comprehend. How... just how in the world could she love someone like Loki? How could she see anything better in him than a monster? Even as he stood on the steel floor, he kept thinking along those lines.

With Natasha in Clint's room – after she had managed to somehow knock him out in the earlier madness – Tony, Steve and Kara were seated around the large table, each of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts while Fury stood nearby, fiddling with the bloodstained Captain America Trading Cards that Coulson had been collecting.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket..." he suddenly said. "I guess he never did get you to sign them."

Casting the small pile forward, he watched as the cards spread before Steve on the glass surface, the soldier sorrowfully picking one of them up to look at it.

"We're dead in the air up here." Fury continued. "Our communications, the location of the Cube... Banner... Thor... I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye."

Silence again reigned between them until the Director huffed in bitter sarcasm.

"You know, I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, thought, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea... and Stark knows this... called the_ Avengers Initiative_. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to... to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea... in heroes."

At his words Tony ultimately gave in to his anger and stood, storming out of the room.

"Well... it's an old fashioned notion..." Fury said in his wake.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Kara found him and Steve in the detention section.

"Was he married?" the soldier asked, only afterwards noticing the young woman nearby.

"No..." Tony replied. "There was a... cellist... I think."

Exchanging a concerned glance with Kara, he once more gazed upwards where the scientist was standing.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league... he should've waited! He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right, I've heard that before."

When he walked past Steve in an attempt to leave, he was met with Kara's pointed gaze that ultimately persuaded him to reconsider.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Steve asked.

"We are _not_ soldiers!" Tony spat out in anger, whirling around to face him. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I... he's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we have to put that behind us and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source... if we can put together a list..."

Contemplating for a moment, Tony suddenly perked up.

"He made it personal."

"That's not the point."

"That _is_ the point... that's Loki's point! He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart..."

"Yeah, divide and conquer is... great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants! He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it... he wants an audience."

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart..."

"Yeah, that was just previews, this is opening night. And Loki... he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades... he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered..."

His voice suddenly died out when realization hit him as to where Loki was going.

"Son of a bitch..." he spat out.

When he rushed out of the room, Kara and Steve followed suite.

"So where is he going?" she asked.

With Tony coming to a sudden halt and whirling to face her, she jolted in surprise when he pointed a finger at her.

"Suit up, Wonder Woman... we're going flying."

When she blinked in awe at him, he now clapped his hands.

"Come on, step to it! We don't have all day!"

With that he once more turned on his heels and rushed off to retrieve his armor which had been damaged during his attempt to save the Helicarrier from crashing; hopefully he could get it working again soon enough.

"I'll go get Natasha." Steve stated, rushing off along another corridor.

"Men..." she muttered with an annoyed huff, before breaking into a run, heading to her room to reload her pistol and retrieve a few more weapons.

OoOoO

_"Sir, I've turned off the arc-reactor. But the device is already self-sustaining."_

Jarvis' voice coming from Tony's radio now drew Kara's attention to Stark Tower, where she and Tony were currently heading. Erik was already on the roof and had just turned on the device to power up the Tesseract.

"Shut it down, Doctor Selvig." the scientist demanded.

"It's too late, she can't stop now. She wants to show us something! A new universe..."

His crazed smile actually gave Kara the chills.

"Okay..." Tony retorted before aiming his hands at the device and trying to blast it.

What followed was the sight of the Tesseract creating a barrier around itself, the energy deflecting Tony's shots back at him and narrowly missing Kara, while knocking Erik himself back against the edge.

_"The barrier is pure energy... it's unbreachable."_ Jarvis commented.

"Yeah, I got that." Tony replied, glancing down to the main terrace where Loki was watching them. "Plan B..."

_"Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready for deployment."_

"Then skip the spinning rims, we're on the clock."

Turning to Kara he now pointed to Selvig.

"See if you can get him to snap out of it..." he asked. "I'll have a little chat with tall, dark and handsome down there."

"Tony, don't..." she said with a concerned gaze that actually unsettled him.

"I'll be fine, we'll just talk." he insisted.

Ultimately their staring contest came to an end when Kara heaved a sigh.

"Just be careful... don't piss him off." she warned before moving to land on the roof.

Lowering himself onto the terrace to discard his battered suit, Tony once again glanced to the Æsir.

"Where would be the fun in that?" he muttered in reply to the young woman's words.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki smiled upon entering the living room.

"Uh actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

"You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah. It's seen a bit of mileage... and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

With an amused huff, Loki finally halted in his stride; oh, he would take such delight in dealing with that insignificant speck of dust. But for now, he would humor the male.

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no... threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitauri are coming and nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."

When Loki narrowed his eyes in confusion, Tony ultimately shrugged lightly; saying it like that, it did sound rather stupid as a team name.

"It's what we call ourselves... we're sort of like a team. _Earth's mightiest heroes_ kind of thing..."

"Oh yes... I've met them."

"Yeah." Tony smiled back. "It takes us a while to get any traction I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother, the demigod... a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend... a man with breathtaking anger management issues... a couple of master assassins... and, of course, Wonder Woman up on the roof who could probably blow up someone's brain just by wishing it. And you, big fella', you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki winked.

"Not a great plan. When they come... and they will... they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off." the Æsir retorted tauntingly.

What the scientist failed to notice was the predatory glint in Loki's eyes, as the dark haired god watched him approach like an unsuspecting lamb to the slaughter.

"Yeah, you're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

It was at those words that Loki's patience finally grew thin enough to make him approach Tony, the gleam in his eyes taking a murderous turn.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" he growled.

However, when he placed the tip of his scepter to Tony's chest, the arc-reactor nullified the Tesseract's energy, ultimately sparing Tony from sharing Erik's fate.

"This usually works..." Loki contemplated.

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon..."

The scientist's sarcastic retort was cut short when the Æsir grabbed him by the neck with his bare hand, lifting him from the floor.

"You will all fall before me!" he threatened, throwing Tony across the room.

"Jarvis, anytime now..." he muttered, trying to scramble to his feet.

His efforts were cut short when he felt Loki's hand grabbing onto his shirt and he sighted the utterly vicious expression on the god's face.

"Do not think I am in any way merciful... if I humored you until now, it was simply because I found your attempts to threaten me amusing."

Pulling Tony to his feet, he again grabbed the young male by his neck and finally he sighted a glint of raw fear in the scientist's eyes.

"I was hoping I could get my hands on you." the Æsir now smiled deviously. "Kara may have forgiven your stupidity because she is far too kind... but I am in no mood to do the same."

Tony was actually taken aback when Loki dispersed the scepter, releasing him before he suddenly punched him in the face, causing the Stark male to slide back onto the floor.

"I heard her warning you to not taunt me. You should have listened."

By the time Tony had registered those growled words, a sharp pain erupted in his stomach and his lungs emptied of air when Loki kicked him without mercy, fortunately landing him onto the couch which now fell backwards from his weight. Barely managing to scramble back onto his feet, he again felt the Æsir's hand latching onto his throat. It was when he felt that he could barely draw any breath that Tony realized why Kara had warned him to not try and taunt Loki. The guy was insanely powerful and for a moment the scientist actually believed he was going to die right then and there. But then he felt his feet leaving the floor again and realized what Loki was planning.

"Deploy..." he said breathlessly. "Deploy!"

His last word came right before Loki threw him through the window into a free fall toward the sidewalk below. Fortunately Jarvis managed to actually deploy his suit in time to save his life.

"Oh, there's one other person you pissed off." he retorted, flying back to level with the broken window. "His name was Phil."

With that sarcastic statement, he pointed both hands at the Æsir and blasted him straight in the chest.

"Tony!"

Hearing Kara calling out to him, the male now raised his gaze upwards just in time to see the Tesseract energy shooting to the sky and opening a portal through which dozens of aliens poured into the city.

"Right... army..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Yes, I know exactly how you feel, honey. Coulson was an extremely endearing character and I have a feeling many fans didn't really forgive Loki for killing him, despite how much we actually love Loki himself.

As for Kara, yes it definitely isn't easy on her, but at the moment she has more important things to focus on than her own grief... like making sure Loki doesn't get killed in battle. So she's going to have her hands full for now, because we all know how much of a handful Loki can be ;)

But for now I hope you enjoyed re-reading this chapter. I know you've been looking forward to it because of that scene with Loki and Tony. And I hope everyone else enjoyed that scene as much as you and I did. And thank you so much for your lovely, lovely reviews :D

2\. **Callie Cat** \- Well I don't know yet if I'll try to delve into the background story with Loki and Thanos, mostly because for now I have some plans already set which I want to follow through. I need to finish this story and then work on the sequel and I have another story I'm planning to work on afterwards and possibly get it ready for upload on the website.

And I don't mind if you want to share your email with me, I always enjoy talking to other Marvel/Loki fans, but please honey don't leave it in a review where everyone can see it. It's a good thing that the website didn't display it. Trust me there are a lot of creeps even on this website, it's never a good thing to share personal information publicly. If you really want to share your email with me, please register an account here (it's free! :D) and send me a PM.

But thank you so much for the heartwarming compliments. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, darling :)

3\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Thank you hun, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well; I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	24. Entry 23

So my lovelies, here's the first part of the battle for New York. There's a lot more good stuff to come, so enjoy and stay tuned for the next installment. And do toss me a little review to let me know how I'm doing ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #23**

_"Right... army..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__Manhattan, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__May 20, 2012_

While Tony rushed to attempt and kill as many of the aliens as he could before they actually reached the city below, Kara dragged the still unconscious Selvig to a more secluded part of the rooftop, hoping he wouldn't be killed. Reaching into her pouch she withdrew what looked like a pair of elbow-length gloves which she pulled on over her leather suit. Standing, she closed her fists to test the weapon, nodding in approval when the gloves each shot out a retractile pair of blades, similar to claws. Letting the steel weapons return to their sheaths she took to the air, aiming to go help Tony, only to have her attention deterred by the sight of Loki who had just emerged onto the terrace in full armor, and Thor who had apparently just arrived.

"Turn off the Tesseract, or I'll destroy it!" the blond Æsir shouted up at his brother.

"You can't." Loki retorted, pointing the spear at him. "There is no stopping it... there is only the war!"

"So be it..."

Even Kara was caught off guard when Loki made the first move, leaping down in an attempt to impale the spear right into Thor's head. Their little scuffle was interrupted when Natasha, Clint and Steve finally arrived in the Quinjet. However, their attempt at shooting Loki down was foiled when the dark haired Æsir smashed Thor's head against the glass railing of the terrace, discarding him to the floor before he shot a blast of energy straight into one of the aircraft's wings.

_"Kara... could use a little help here..."_ Natasha retorted, as she desperately tried to regain control of the falling Quinjet.

"I'm on it."

Shooting off after the falling aircraft, she caught sight of a deserted parking lot nearby and landed there to try and steer the machine away from any citizens.

"Okay... let's see how good you are at flying..." she muttered to herself, rubbing her hands together and taking a deep breath to clear her mind.

Extending both her arms toward the metallic monster now speeding toward her, she clenched her jaw and tensed her muscles which protested at the strain put on them by the jet's weight which she could fully feel as her mind translated its efforts into physical effects. Ultimately she managed to set the Quinjet down in one piece, leaning forward and placing her hands onto her knees as she heaved for breath.

"You okay?" Steve asked, having rushed over to her side after leaving the jet.

"Yeah... I just need a minute..."

"We have to get back up there." he said, looking to Natasha and Clint.

With Kara nodding that she was good to go, they all rushed back toward Stark Tower, only to be halted when a bloodcurdling roar echoed over the city. Her first thought was that Bruce had shown up, but then she felt Steve's hand grasping the back of her head and turning her gaze upwards to the portal from which an enormous creature now emerged, apparently a mixture between a robot and a living thing.

Utterly stunned the group watched as the Leviathan flew past them, Chitauri soldiers shooting off from both sides of its belly, assaulting several buildings at the same time. And for a moment they all felt completely overwhelmed by the situation... after all, how could a handful of people – no matter how extraordinary they were – stop an entire army?

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve finally asked.

_"See... still working on believing."_ came the scientist's reply. _"Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

"Banner?"

_"Just keep me posted."_

"I'm going ahead... see you there."

"Kara... wait!"

Ignoring Steve's call, the young woman took to the air and rushed toward the tower like a bullet, taking down as many bastards as tried to block her way. There had to be a way to put an end to this madness... and she was going to get it out of Loki, no matter what. Upon arriving at the terrace she sighted the two brothers still locked in combat, with Loki backed up against the wall and Thor seemingly having gone out of control as he repeatedly punched the younger Æsir.

"Thor!" she yelled, lunging forward and grabbing his arm. "You're killing him!"

Releasing him and stepping in between them, she frowned and pressed her back against Loki's chest while placing her hands against Thor's to keep them apart. When she heard Loki's amused huff behind her, she widened her eyes as the blond Æsir stepped forward, literally trapping her between them and grabbing Loki's shoulders.

"Look at this!" Thor bellowed. "Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

It was when she glanced over her shoulder that Kara now sighted the utterly shocked expression on Loki's face, his eyes once more reverting to their natural green shade and his chest heaving in a ragged breath, a tear trickling down his pale cheek.

"It's too late..." he replied. "It's too late to stop it..."

"No, we can." Thor smiled, hoping that his brother could still be swayed. "Together..."

For a moment Kara herself believed that Loki had swayed to their side, only to feel his body stiffening against her back; a metallic spark caught her eye and she glanced down to his hand only to see him driving a throwing knife into Thor's side. When the blond Æsir stepped back, she felt Loki's arm coiling around her waist and moving her out of the way.

"Sentiment..." he hissed sarcastically.

With Thor picking him up in anger and smashing him against the ground, Loki now rolled off the edge of the terrace, only to be picked up in midair by one of the alien hovercrafts. Sighing in annoyance, the young woman instead approached Thor as the Æsir withdrew the small blade from his body and discarded it onto the floor.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes..."

Picking up his hammer he took a moment to catch his breath, his attention again drawn to Kara when she heaved a sigh, her steely gaze set upon the portal.

"This might be too big for us." she muttered contemplatively. "There's no end to them..."

"No, Kara, you mustn't give up hope."

Reaching to her, he set a hand onto her shoulder and offered her a reassuring smile.

"We will be victorious."

Looking from him back to the portal, the young woman again sighed and nodded.

"Not like we have a choice..."

She was starting to wonder how many of them would be dead by the end of the day, and if she would be one of them. It wasn't really her idea of a _good death_, but dying in battle to protect the entire human race didn't exactly sound too bad.

Joining Thor and the others on the ground, she soon sighted Loki chasing Natasha who had taken over one of the hovercrafts, in her attempt to get to the roof and find a way to close the portal before they were all overwhelmed and killed. She had just taken to the air to try and gain Loki's attention and distract him from killing the female spy, when she sighted the Æsir catching an arrow shot from Clint's bow only to have it explode in his grasp and cast him back onto the terrace of Stark Tower.

When she attempted to follow him in order to try and keep him busy and away from the fight, hoping that the Chitauri would lose focus without a clear leader, she was stopped in midair by the sight of the Hulk lunging at Loki and disappearing along with him inside the living room. By the time she had leveled with the terrace, however, Banner was gone and she could see Loki lying on the broken floor beneath him.

She had just moved to go inside, when one of the hovercrafts spotted her and she heard that chilling trill as the Chitauri riding it aimed its rifle at her. She barely had the time to conjure a small shield in front of her, when the reptilian creature fired and she caught the blast head-on, the force throwing her into the living room through one of the glass panels. When the alien didn't follow her to finish the job she inwardly thanked all the gods she knew of, right before she blacked out.

OoOoO

She couldn't tell how much time had passed before she woke up; but she did recall the screams and that god awful alien trill, as well as the stench of smoke and blood in the air. Steve... Thor... Tony... why had no one come to get her? Was everyone dead? Were they still alive?

Her attempt at sitting up ended in a shocked, painful but short lived scream when a slicing pain erupted in her stomach. Turning her widened eyes downwards she sighted a chunk of glass sticking out of the left side of her belly and a small puddle of blood beneath her.

_"Kara where the heck are you?"_ Tony's voice suddenly rang into her ear piece. _"Could use a hand here..."_

"I'm a little... preoccupied at the moment..." she retorted, clenching her jaw.

_"You sound terrible. What happened?"_

"One piece of advice... _never_ build an entire wall out of glass."

_"You got a problem with glass? I thought you liked mirrors."_ he retorted humorously.

"Not when I have a chunk of it inside me."

A moment of silence followed, before Tony's serious voice rang in her ear.

_"Kara what the hell happened? Where are you?"_

"Just stay focused on the fight..." she groaned, rolling onto her side and somehow managing to get up on all fours.

_"Where. Are. You?"_ he growled.

"I'm fine... I've got help right here."

Turning off her earpiece, she took a deep breath to brace herself for the pain she knew would come when she moved.

_"Miss Taylor, there is a first aid kit behind the bar."_

Startled by Jarvis' voice, the young woman smiled lightly.

"Thanks, J... you're a lifesaver."

_"Shall I inform Mister Stark of your whereabouts?"_

"No, let him focus on helping the others. I'll get him to give me a hand."

Nodding toward Loki who seemed to still be in shock after his encounter with the Hulk, she finally moved to crawl across the room, until she reached his side.

"Loki..." she said, unable to fully withhold a concerned gaze. "Loki!"

When he failed to reply, she gave in to the annoying pain and raised a hand, smacking him as hard as she could.

"Snap out of it, damn you!" she yelled, although her loud tone was triggered more by the pain which had shot straight into the back of her head, nearly making her black out again.

When she heard him gasp, she turned her teary gaze to him, the sight of the fairly large piece of glass sticking out of her and blood seeping in between her fingers finally kicking Loki's mind back into gear.

"What happened?" he asked, shooting up and setting an arm around her shoulders when she collapsed against his chest.

"I did my damn job, that's what happened." she growled through clenched teeth. "Listen... I don't have time to go to a hospital. So congratulations, you're a doctor now. I need you to get this out of me, I can't do it myself."

For a moment she couldn't hear anything but the outside noises; and just when she was about to glare at him, she felt his arm coiling beneath her knees whilst with the other he cradled her back, and then the pain shot up into her head again as he moved to his feet pulling her up with him, making her clench her teeth while a short scream escaped her throat.

"God..." she muttered in anger, despite the tears trailing down her cheeks.

Trying not to groan when he laid her onto the couch after returning it to its original position with his foot, she now looked up to see the painful shade on his expression.

"Hey..." she said softly, grasping his hand. "It's not your fault... I refuse to believe that."

She caught a fleeting glimpse of his gaze reverting back to its original color before he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to the back of her hand. How? How could she still have that much faith in him when he felt himself succumbing more and more to the Tesseract's will? He had wanted to keep her safe and was now forced to face the fact that his own actions had landed her in this situation. What brought him out of that contemplation was Jarvis' robotic voice resounding in the room.

_"Miss Taylor, I have finished scanning you. That wound is too deep for a simple bandage. I suggest moving to the floor below you, where the medical section is; cauterization is highly recommended, to stop the bleeding."_

"After..." she breathed out painfully. "After he removes the glass... I couldn't survive being moved around again with that thing still in me."

Looking back to Loki when he released her hand and moved to unzip her suit, she clenched her jaw trying to mentally prepare herself for the pain she knew would come.

"Please say something..." she asked.

The sight of his mischievous smile caught her off guard, and she truly could not tell how in the world her cheeks still had enough blood to blush when he spoke, glancing to the strand of skin that her suit now revealed.

"You look ravishing, dearest."

"Thank you..." she retorted sarcastically.

Yet despite that she was truly grateful that he had chosen to say that, in order to lighten her mood.

"There's a first aid kit behind the bar... it should have some bandages inside." she now stated when she sighted the way his brows furrowed as he pulled back the leather to expose her bleeding wound and the shard which had sliced through the suit and her flesh.

Watching as he retrieved the small box and set it next to the couch, she took a deep breath and nodded when he glanced to her.

"This will hurt." he said, offering a hand to her.

"I'll survive... can't say the same about your hand." she retorted, latching her fingers around his.

Blinking in awe when he lowered their joint hands with a smile and she felt the side of his fist pressing lightly against her stomach, she briefly wondered what he was going to do; it was in that same instant that the Æsir grasped the glass shard and swiftly pulled it out, effortlessly holding her down to keep her body from jolting and possibly worsening her wound, whilst her painful scream echoed outside.

For a few moments she couldn't even breathe as she stared at the ceiling above her; her muscles were so tense that she thought they would tear away from her bones and her mind was utterly stunned by the excruciating pain it had just withstood. But finally her chest began to heave as her body battled for air, and the ache began to subside enough to let her mind regain its bearings. By the time she had fully gotten her awareness back, Loki had already released her hand and bandaged her wound.

"Hush, it's alright... I'm here." he whispered against her forehead, stroking her hair.

His other hand now settled onto her stomach, soothingly rubbing her tense muscles to get her body to relax. Ultimately, the warmth of his hand and the fatigue in her body overwhelmed the young woman and drove her into slumber despite her attempts to stay awake.

It was about two hours later that she was startled awake when an alien hovercraft exploded near the tower from one of Clint's arrows. Her gaze instantly moved from the ceiling to Loki who had settled onto one knee next to her; she could still feel his hand tangled in her hair and his thumb gingerly stroking her forehead, and despite the dull ache in her body she felt unable to hold back a smile.

This... this was the Loki she knew... the Loki she had always known.

Not the merciless murderer that everyone else saw him as... but the tender, loving man who had so filled her heart despite all the sorrow he had brought her along with that joy.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked softly.

Reaching up to brush her fingertips against his cheek, she nodded and sighed.

"Let's see how the others are doing, shall we?" she replied, turning on her earpiece.

_"...close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."_

Her lips curved into a relieved smile at the sound of Natasha's voice; they were alive, she had no more doubt about that.

_"Do it!"_ Steve replied.

_"No, wait."_ Tony retorted.

_"Stark, these things are still coming."_

The scientist's reply made her eyes snap wide open, while a pathetically weak gasp left her lips.

_"I got a nuke coming in; it's gonna blow in less than a minute."_

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Yes, that's the scene I was referring to when I said I hope Tony fans won't hate me. Frankly, he deserved every bit of pain he got, but I was still a bit iffy about how Stark fans were going to react. I'm hoping they didn't mind it... I'm pretty certain Loki fans didn't mind it at all xD

Haha well I'm hoping you enjoyed re-reading this chapter since you've been looking forward to it so much. It's always a delight working and fangirling with you. You have no idea how much that helps me organize my mind, so thank you. You're a great help and a great friend, darling :D

2\. **kmbrownie0103** \- Aww I'm so glad to hear you got hooked so fast on it. Don't worry, I'm not planning to stop working on this story until it's done, I promise ;)

Thank you so much for the compliments and for the heartwarming review, honey. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, even if you find something you dislike. I appreciate constructive criticism :)

3\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Thank you darling, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well; I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	25. Entry 24

Soooooo darlings, we've arrived at the climax of the battle for New York. I'm hoping you'll all enjoy the twist I added and that you won't hate me for switching the spotlight. You got no idea what I'm talking about? Well I won't spoil it so go read the chapter and then toss me a review to let me know how much you love it or hated it ;)

Enjoy lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #24**

_"I got a nuke coming in; it's gonna blow in less than a minute."_

oOo

_**Location: **__Manhattan, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__May 20, 2012_

In a sudden bout of anger at the utterly stupid decision Fury seemed to have made, Kara shot up onto the couch, gritting her teeth when pain again erupted in her body.

"Dearest, you can't go out there again."

Pushing his hands away when he tried to get her to lie back down, the young woman shot a thoroughly vicious gaze to the Æsir that actually had him lean back.

"Just watch me..." she growled painfully, baring her teeth at him.

Reaching to the zipper, she inhaled deeply before swiftly pulling it up and barely holding back a scream when the leather pressed tightly on her wound. While it would help to contain the bleeding, it seemed she would have to find a way to deal with the slicing pain that now wracked her whole body.

"Kara..."

Ignoring Loki's stern tone, she tried to move away only to fall onto the floor on her knees.

"Tony... where are you?"

_"About time you reported in, Wonder Woman."_ he retorted in an attempt to sound amused despite the concerned shade in his tone. _"I'm about to intercept the missile; I know just where to put it."_

_"Stark... you know that's a one-way trip, right?"_ Steve interrupted them.

_"Save the rest for the turn, J."_ Tony stated, apparently ignoring the soldier.

It was at those words that Kara again tried to get to her feet; when that failed she instead began crawling toward the terrace with a sort of wild spark in her eyes that not even Loki had seen before. She would be damned if she allowed Tony to kill himself and break Pepper's heart.

_"Miss Taylor, I strongly suggest allowing your body to recover."_ Jarvis' voice resounded in the room.

"If I don't help him... no one will..." she retorted.

The only other team member who could fly – namely the Thunder God – might have been a good man and he might have actually tried to help Tony, had he known; but he didn't know... he had no idea of the woman Tony would be leaving behind. She had been destroyed by the news of Loki's death... she wasn't going to see Pepper going through that hell... not if she had anything to say about it.

Her contemplation was abruptly halted when she felt Loki's hands clasping around her arms and pulling her to her feet while she groaned in pain.

"Look at me..."

When she failed to comply, he placed his hands to her cheeks and forced her to turn her face upwards.

"Look at me." he growled.

His words died in his throat for once, at the sight of the utterly determined shade in her eyes, despite the sorrow mixed in with it.

"I have to do this..."

"You don't _have_ to do anything." he frowned, his eyes finally betraying just how completely terrified he was at the thought of losing her.

When she went to reply, only to find that she couldn't speak because she had no idea what to say, her mind suddenly brought up a memory she had believed long since buried, and she heard Coulson's voice in her head as clear as day and saw that heartwarming smile he always offered her.

_"You're a good person, Kara... and good people can't stand aside while others need them.__"_

"I have to go..." she whispered.

"Why?"

Looking up into his eyes, the young woman ultimately leaned up to claim his lips for a kiss in which she now poured all the scorching love she felt for him. For once she actually hoped that he was reading her thoughts; she wanted him to know how grateful and happy she was for every moment they had spent together, regardless of what was happening around them. Her desire was soon confirmed when she felt his arms wrapping tightly around her.

"Because he needs my help..." she whispered shakily against his lips after he reluctantly allowed her to end the kiss.

Her attempt to lean back was briefly deterred when Loki tightened his hold on her and pressed his forehead to hers; and despite his closed eyes, his expression still betrayed such sorrow that Kara thought her heart would tear into pieces.

"Please... don't..." he said, catching her off guard with the genuinely begging tone in his voice.

With Coulson's words still ringing in her mind, the young woman clenched her jaw to hold back from breaking into a sobbing mess. Leaning up to kiss him again she then forcefully wrenched herself out of his embrace and – in a sudden bout of energy brought on by her sheer determination – broke out into a run, leaping off the edge of the terrace before Loki could stop her, leaving the Æsir to stare after her in shock. For a few moments she simply fell toward the ground whilst her mind battled to empty itself and focus away from the ache which threatened to overtake it.

It was right when Tony arrived at the tower, trying to steer the missile toward the portal, that she finally regained control over her mind – even as she stared death in the face – and took to following him.

"Let go!" she called out over the howling winds, placing her hands onto the nuke to gain control of it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony retorted, utterly shocked to see her there.

"Let! Go!" she ordered.

"You really think I'm letting you kill yours...?"

Baring her teeth at him, the young woman took a deep breath before extending her leg and kicking him in the mask, throwing him off the missile.

"What the hell? Kara!" he shouted, regaining his balance and moving to follow.

_"Don't... don't do this to Pepper, Tony..."_

Her words and the heart wrenchingly sorrowful tone in her voice actually had him stop in midair, staring in utter shock as she vanished through the portal along with the nuke.

_"Stark what the hell happened up there?"_

With Steve's voice snapping him back to reality, Tony exhaled a shaky breath as he felt his lips trembling just before his gaze grew blurry and tears overflowed along his cheeks.

"I... she just... she-she went... she..." he muttered, unable to put together a comprehensive phrase.

Before Steve could reply and demand an explanation, his gaze was again drawn to the sky along with Thor's; at first he believed the portal had somehow expanded on its own, revealing what seemed to be a massive alien ship from which hundreds of hovercrafts were still heading toward Earth, before he heard Kara's voice in his mind.

_'I wanted you all to see this... this is your victory.'_

"Ka-Kara...?" he muttered, his stomach suddenly dropping.

His fleeting hope that it was somehow just a dream or a side effect of the madness around them was thoroughly destroyed when he glanced to his right, to sight the stunned expression on Thor's face.

_"I know it's hard to believe right now... but everything's going to be alright."_

The sound of Phil's soothing voice in her head actually made her smile, even as she felt tears overflowing from her eyes. Her lungs were constricting from the lack of air to the point that her chest felt like she had a ton of lead pressing on it; her muscles were yelling in protest and she felt as if they were burning beneath her skin from the searing pain, as she struggled to maintain the missile on a direct course toward the ship. Focusing the last bits of her mental energy she again latched onto the other's minds.

_'I chose this.'_ she said softly, in an attempt to soothe them. _'I'm grateful that I met every one of you. Thank you...'_

Finally her consciousness wavered while her gaze darkened around the edges; when her muscles finally gave in and her arms fell limp, she only caught a fleeting glimpse of the nuke lunging forward and exploding right in the midst of the alien craft. And before she abandoned herself to the darkness, her last thought now rang out in Loki's mind.

_'I love you...'_

OoOoO

"Please... please..."

He was actually shaking inside that steel armor, his muscles tensed to their limits as he stared intently at the hole opened above him in the sky.

They had all seen the blinding light from the nuke's explosion and the aliens falling all around them as their neurological connection with the main ship was severed. But still none of them moved... none of them cheered... none of them dared to even breathe... and time itself seemed to have stopped, as they all stared at the portal hoping with every fiber of their being to see the young woman returning.

The first to realize that she wasn't coming back was Thor who now reached out and set a hand onto Steve's shoulder, drawing the soldier's gaze to him. His jaw clenched as he saw the young man's composure crumbling before his very eyes; watching as Steve lowered his head into his hands, he then averted his gaze to the tower where he could make out Loki's still form on the terrace, as the dark haired Æsir stared at the portal as well, thoroughly rooted to the spot.

"Close it..." Steve finally said, almost startling the Thunder God.

_"No!"_ Tony cut him off. _"She can still make it..."_

"She's not coming back, Stark..."

_"Says who...?"_

Inhaling deeply to try and regain at least some semblance of composure, Steve raised his teary eyes to the sky.

"This was her choice... we should respect it. Natasha, close the portal."

_"Al-alright..."_ came the woman's shaky reply, betraying her own tears.

_"Don't!"_

Tony's shout came too late, however, as did his attempt to fly over to the tower rooftop and just wrench that scepter out of the redhead's hands. Again stopping in midair he turned his stunned gaze to the sky, watching as the wavy edges of the portal closed in... and then he saw it; at the very last moment Kara fell through the small opening just before the portal was sealed.

"She made it..." Steve muttered in utter shock, watching as the young female plummeted toward the ground.

"She's not slowing down." Thor suddenly frowned.

Before he could get enough traction to take to the air, Tony flew in and caught her before landing a few steps away onto the destroyed street. Setting her on the ground he removed his helmet and literally threw it away before leaning over her.

"Kara... Kara, wake up. Wake up!" he pleaded desperately.

When she failed to respond, he picked her up and leaned her against his armor, stroking her disheveled hair whilst he lightly rocked back and forth, his cheek pressed to her forehead and his terrified gaze fixed onto the pavement before him.

"Please... please wake up..." he whispered. "Please... please..."

"Is she breathing?" Steve asked as he and Thor approached in a run.

The sight of Tony's crazed appearance had the soldier's heart skip a beat as the scientist's face filled with tears before his very eyes.

"Please... please wake up..." he kept on whispering, thoroughly unaware of anything else around him except the young woman in his arms.

_"Is she alright?"_ Natasha's voice suddenly rang out over Steve's radio.

Still staring at the sight before him, Steve finally felt a shaky gasp leaving his lungs.

"She... she's... oh God..." he muttered, feeling like he was going to throw up from the sheer shock his mind and body were forced to withstand.

Ultimately falling to his knees he covered his eyes with one hand and broke down into sobs. It wasn't more than a few moments later that he was startled to hear Tony's heart wrenching shout as he seemed to finally recover his voice.

"Why?!" he yelled out in a sudden bout of anger, his gaze having blurred entirely from the tears that simply would not stop overflowing while his armored hand still stroke her hair. "Goddamn it, why?!"

Why the hell had she interfered like that? Why had she known what to say in order to shock him exactly long enough for her to get beyond his reach? He was already half-dead with that shrapnel eating away at his chest, but she... she was supposed to die of old age, in a warm bed, surrounded by her family... not like this... not for him... not in a cold void, surrounded by hideous aliens... not amidst the destruction and dead bodies littering the streets.

He had promised... upon seeing Richard dead on the Helicarrier, he had vowed to look after her; to make sure she didn't get killed in some stupid fight. He had promised that she wouldn't die like this... she still had so much to live for... so much to do... so many people to help...

Ultimately his voice died out again – when no answer came to his demand, but the crushing silence which only the soldier's sorrowful cries pierced – and he pressed his lips to her forehead, whilst he tightly shut his eyes and broke out into silent sobs.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Aww I'm soooo happy that you still loved that chapter as much as you did when you first read it. This entry is one of _my_ personal favorites although I do hope Tony fans don't hate me for taking the spotlight away from their favorite character.

As you so eloquently put it while we talked over the chapter, this story is ultimately about Kara and Loki, not about Tony or Steve or Thor, despite the heavy amount of movie scenes incorporated in it. But I still hope RDJ's fans won't hate me; I love RDJ and I love _all_ his roles, he's a mind blowing actor and he can so well fuse with each of his characters that it doesn't even seem like he's acting, it's as if he's just being himself. But I guess I'll just have to wait for fans' reactions; hopefully they won't be too shy to leave a review and give me their honest opinions.

And yes, I tried to keep Loki at least somewhat focused on Kara despite the Tesseract's influence, because ultimately he knows Kara is pretty much everything he has left. He lost the identity he once believed he had, he lost the brother he believed he had, he basically lost his roots because he grew up not even knowing of his own true heritage. So he knows he really doesn't have much left to call his own, except Kara.

But thank you so much, love, for reviewing each chapter even if you already read them. You have no idea how much it means to me to see the amount of love you poured onto this story ❤

2\. **winter1990** \- Thank you so much, darling. I'm so happy to hear the story managed to capture your interest. I hope this chapter rose to your expectations as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	26. Entry 25

Sooooo my darlings, enjoy the aftermath of the battle and the final _Avengers_ chapter. Starting next chapter we're off to _The Dark World_ to see what sort of mischief Loki can cause there. Sounds good? Are you guys excited to go back to Asgard? I hope you are ;)

But do toss me a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Now enjoy, lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #25**

_Ultimately his voice died out again and he pressed his lips to her forehead, whilst he tightly shut his eyes and broke out into silent sobs._

oOo

_**Location: **__Manhattan, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__May 23, 2012_

Pain... excruciating, overwhelming pain... that was all she could feel at first. This definitely wasn't the way she had imagined death; if she'd gone to Hell, then God certainly wasn't being fair.

Then she finally realized that she could open her eyes and the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling, dimply lit by daylight coming through the curtains at the window. Allowing her vision a few moments to clear, she glanced around; this looked oddly similar to a bedroom, despite the medical machine she was connected to. Just where in the world was she? Was she still alive? How...?

_"How are you feeling, Miss Taylor?"_

The sound of Jarvis' voice startled her to the point where a short wannabe scream left her lips.

"J?"

_"Yes, Miss Taylor?"_

For a few moments all she could do was smile while her eyes filled with joyful tears. So she had made it... somehow, through some miracle, she'd made it out alive.

_"I know it's hard to believe right now... but everything's going to be alright."_

When Phil's warm voice came to her mind again, she laughed even while crying. She had never been a very religious person, nor had she put too much stock on tales of ghost sightings or other paranormal stories. But right now she couldn't help feeling that maybe Phil and her parents had indeed been watching over her from somewhere.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

_"Are you still in pain, Miss Taylor?"_ Jarvis asked after scanning her body and registering the fact that she was crying.

"I'm alright, J... are... are the others okay?"

_"Everyone is currently gathered here, at Stark Tower, to recover."_

"How... how long was I out?"

_"Three days, Miss Taylor. Shall I call someone, or would you like to rest?"_

"I've had enough rest for now, J." she smiled.

_"Then I shall inform Mister Stark that you are awake."_

OoOoO

_"Sir, Miss Taylor is awake."_

Raising his gaze from the manacles he had been working on for the past day, Tony stared in disbelief at the monitor from where Jarvis' voice had resounded. Standing in a sudden rush of euphoria, he dropped the tools he had been holding and literally ran out of the room, toward the upper floor where they had left Kara.

When he practically busted through the door to her room, for a second all he could do was stare at the young woman who had by now sat up against her pillows.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" he blurted out before he had consciously decided what to say, while his eyes grew hazy with tears.

"I missed you, too..." she retorted humorously.

Before she could react in any way Tony had moved to sit next to her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. At first she had no idea how to react, until his shoulders started shaking and she realized he was crying.

"It's okay..." she said softly. "Everything's alright now."

With silence lingering between them for a while, the young scientist ultimately leaned back and released her.

"I'll go tell the others; we were all worried sick." he said, wiping away the remnants of his tears.

When he tried to stand and she grasped his arm, he clenched his jaw at what he knew she wanted to ask. Indeed, looking back to her he sighted that concerned, pleading expression on her face.

"He's here..." he finally replied.

"I want to see him."

"I don't think..."

"Please, Tony. You have no idea what he went through..."

Heaving a sigh, the young male trailed a hand over his face.

"I think I can imagine..."

With that retort he left the room and – instead of heading to the main living room where he knew the others were currently gathered – took another path toward the room where they had imprisoned the dark haired menace.

"Come with me for a second." he said when his gaze met Loki's burning emeralds, overflowing with anger and hatred.

His statement, fortunately, caught the Æsir off guard and he narrowed his eyes in confusion as Tony moved to unlock the door.

"I got a surprise for you." came the scientist's snarky retort, to his questioning gaze.

"And why should I?" he sneered.

"Because this is something you want to see."

OoOoO

Stunned... he had been utterly and thoroughly rooted to the spot when the scientist had led him to what he had believed to be his new cell, only to be rewarded with the sight of Kara's loving smile once the door had opened. As expected, they hadn't told him that she was still alive... and those three days had been worse for him than even the darkest Hell that imagination could conjure. He hadn't even put up a fight when they had imprisoned him... he had seen no point to it. Without her, he just didn't know what to do or where to go anymore.

When he had finally regained his bearings enough to move toward her, her smile had faded and sorrow had taken over her features and she had raised her arms to reach for him, while her eyes had glazed over until warm tears flooded her fair cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered as he finally embraced her, her hand stroking his silky hair. "I'm so sorry I put you through that..."

With a relieved sigh, he was unable to hold back a smile at the sound of her voice and the warmth of her body.

"Hush, dearest..." he said soothingly.

He had been utterly broken when he had seen her falling back through the portal and found that he could no longer reach her consciousness. But now with each tear sprinkled kiss she repeatedly placed onto his cheek, with each motion of her hand as she combed her slender fingers through his hair, with each shaky breath she took that he could clearly hear... with each one of those otherwise unnoticeable gestures, she was gathering the shards of his soul and making him whole again.

At the same time Tony himself had arrived in the main living room where the others were gathered.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Clint stated upon sighting him.

He had spent the last hour standing with Thor just outside the room, on the terrace, from where they had been watching the people below as they worked to repair the damaged buildings and streets left in the wake of Loki's attack.

"Maybe... she's... she's awake."

Shooting up from her seat on the couch, Natasha tried to walk past him only to have the young scientist extend an arm in front of her.

"I... wouldn't go in there right now..."

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, closing the book he had been reading.

"I... he's... he's in there with her."

For a few moments everyone just stared at him in utter confusion, before Thor's deep voice finally rang out over the room.

"Loki?"

"Yeah. She wanted to see him... go figure."

"You left Loki with her _alone_?" Natasha asked in awe.

"Well I sure as hell wasn't going to stand there and watch them kiss or anything."

"If he runs away, it's on you." Clint retorted somewhat humorously.

Walking over to the half destroyed bar and pouring himself a brandy, Tony then again turned to face them after sipping the burning alcohol.

"I don't think he's going anywhere." he finally replied with obvious reluctance.

Damn it, he didn't want to admit that Kara had been right and that Loki actually loved her. He didn't want to believe it and it irked him that the green eyed devil was proving him wrong.

"He is more likely to stay willingly, now that he knows she is alive." Thor agreed.

He had seen it... that thoroughly shattered gaze in his brother's eyes; at first he had even feared that Loki would lose his sanity. And he felt so guilty for letting the others convince him that it was better to not tell him she was alive, after Jarvis had confirmed – much to everyone's joy – that she seemed to be merely in a state similar to a coma. They had feared that if Loki knew he would turn on them again and escape, possibly taking Kara with him. But for now, he hoped, it didn't matter anymore... she was alive and Loki knew that.

OoOoO

"Hey, look who came back from the dead."

Looking toward the door from where she had been resting in Loki's embrace, Kara smiled at the sight of Natasha who had finally convinced Tony to let her visit. While the redhead wasn't exactly thrilled to see Loki again – fully aware that he was probably still pissed at her for tricking him – she did inwardly find herself forced to admit that he and Kara did make a rather cute pair.

Watching him as he now leaned against the headboard of the bed, she was actually surprised to notice that his armor was gone, his torso only clad in a moss green shirt against which Kara was now resting, her head against his shoulder as one of his arms circled her, his other hand set onto her stomach where the young woman was playing with his slender fingers. And for a moment he appeared so peaceful and serene that Natasha even wondered if this was really the same guy who had tried to destroy an entire city three days past.

But at the same time she couldn't hold back a slight smile in the face of just how utterly happy Kara looked. Sure, Loki was a menace in everyone's eyes, but there had to be something more to him... something that would make Kara's expression light up like that whenever he was around. Grateful that he wasn't giving her that hate filled gaze, apparently too busy ignoring her in favor of watching Kara, the redhead approached the foot of the bed.

"I guess hanging out with the God of Mischief made me too naughty for Heaven." Kara finally replied, with a soft chuckle.

Loki's only reaction to that was an amused huff as he leaned down to kiss her silky hair, his free hand gently stroking along her upper arm.

"How are the others? Is everyone alright?"

Nodding with a smile, Natasha crossed her arms although that was mostly out of habit.

"Yeah, they're all fine. Tony still has some trouble eating after his little scuffle with Loki."

Looking between the redhead and the dark haired Æsir with a puzzled expression, Kara then sighted that familiar mischievous glimmer in his emerald eyes, despite the lack of humor on his expression. Oh yes, he definitely had no regrets about whatever had happened between him and the young scientist.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not, dearest..." he replied, actually startling Natasha who hadn't expected to hear such a genuinely loving tone from him.

"Well... looks like you're in good hands." the redhead smiled while heading to the door, her voice sounding a bit gentler than anything she'd planned to let Loki hear. "I'll let you rest. I'm really glad you're alright."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

**_Location: _**_Stark Tower / __Central Park, New York, U.S.A._

**_Date: _**_May 27, 2012_

"Really, Tony? He's not a dog... you can't put a muzzle on him."

Not even bothering to look up from the table where he had been working on the finishing touches of his latest little project, the scientist merely clicked his tongue at the utter annoyance in Kara's tone.

"I'm not taking any risks with that tongue of his. He made us turn on each other once... he'll do it again."

"Oh, for God's sake... I... Thor, say something!" she demanded, frowning to the Thunder God standing just a few steps away.

When the bulky male failed to reply, she shot him a shocked glance and crossed her arms.

"Oh, that's _very_ brotherly of you, Thor." she retorted, before leaving the lab.

Taking to one of the long corridors she soon arrived at the room where they had again locked up Loki after she had finally agreed to let go of him.

_"Miss Taylor, I am afraid Mister Stark has rewritten the lock yesterday morning."_ Jarvis informed her when the console failed to comply even after she had inserted the code.

"I hate him..." she muttered.

Looking up to the motion sensor's camera which was now fixed on her, she placed her hands onto her hips.

"Then please override it and open the door."

_"I am afraid I'm not allowed..."_

"Don't make me hack into you, J. I promise you won't enjoy the manner of violation I can bring upon you." she frowned.

Of course she wouldn't actually do anything to disable the AI; she would merely erase the new lockdown code, but Jarvis didn't need to know that. In a manner of moments the console beeped briefly before the door slid open to reveal Loki standing at the window, watching the clear morning sky. Stepping inside and letting the door slide to a close behind her, she took a moment to simply watch him as she had so many years ago when he'd first entered her life.

It was the memory of that first night that brought tears to her eyes, despite the warm, loving smile her lips twitched into. It wasn't fair... it wasn't fair at all that life would throw so many stones at them, and for what? Were they being punished for something... some crime they had committed without their knowledge? Was their love a crime? Were there some universal laws that they had broken by loving each other?

She had no answer to any of those questions, but she was so... so utterly tired of life not letting her be happy at least with the man she loved. Only when she felt Loki's arms around her as he silently embraced her, did she snap out of her contemplation and her body jolted in surprise.

"What has you so upset, love?" he asked, trailing the back of his fingers along her cheek.

Huffing in annoyance when his question reminded her of what Tony was working on, she set her arms around his slender waist and pouted.

"Tony and the others decided the safest way to let Thor take you back home is not only in shackles, but with a muzzle on too. They're afraid you're going to get into their heads if you talk and have them turn on each other again."

To her great surprise her words actually had Loki laugh in utter amusement; in truth she couldn't even recall the last time she had heard him laugh so sincerely.

"Well, they aren't wrong to believe that. I would do it, if only to have them amuse me with their childish bickering." he replied.

Still pouting, the young woman now crossed her arms against his chest.

"At least that stupid brother of yours could have said something."

His mischievous grin was all she could see before he leaned down to claim her lips.

"Then you might want to take advantage, while you still can..." he said tauntingly, prior to kissing her again.

In truth his heart quivered at the thought that he would have to face Odin's judgment on Asgard. While he was certain that his mother would not accept a death sentence for him, he knew the Allfather would likely send him to the dungeons, possibly forever. And the prospect of never seeing her again was actually worse than death.

His train of thought was suddenly derailed when he felt her body pressing against his, as she made use of her weight as leverage to push him back until he was forced to sit on the bed, only to have her crawl onto his lap. For a moment he was actually caught off guard by her sudden assertive demeanor, although he found himself utterly pleased to see that side of her that she so rarely showed to him.

"Dearest... are you sure you want to take advantage to _that_ extent?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"Hmm... let's see, we're in a place where anyone could walk in at any moment... and you're about to be sent back to Asgard to face trial for what you did a few days ago... and I have no guarantee as to how soon I'll be able to see you again..."

Looking to the ceiling momentarily in a fake display of contemplation, she then lowered her gaze to him.

"Yes."

With a short nod she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and molding her lips to his even as she heard him huff amusedly before his velvety tone resounded in her head with that tauntingly seductive shade she recalled so clearly.

_'Then should I remove these bothersome clothes, love?'_

_'Yes, goddamn it... yes!'_ she yelled at him in her mind, at the same time tugging on his coat to push it down his shoulders.

In her eagerness she lightly pressed her teeth against his lower lip to get him to open his mouth before her tongue rushed forward, seeking his. With one of her hands moving to the back of his head and her fingers buried in his hair, she finally felt him responding to her fervor; his own tongue now collided with hers in a passionate dance, while his hands moved beneath her shirt and to the edge of her jeans. When his thumb trailed the scar on her abdomen she actually shivered in pleasure, her skin clearly more sensitive in that spot than the rest of her body.

She actually wondered if she was even allowed to engage in such... leisurely activities. Tony had told her that they had taken her to the hospital and that the surgeon who had operated on her had used an innovative laser machine which was going to make the scar barely visible. But she had no idea if her body had recovered enough for such an extensive effort. It was precisely during those thoughts that she felt him leaning back and saw that knowing smile playing on his lips.

"I hate it when you tease me like that..." she pouted at him.

It was clear now that he had had no intention of going as far as sleeping with her; he probably knew better than anyone that her body had yet to recover fully. At her words the dark haired Æsir chuckled softly and briefly kissed her lips which were still slightly reddened from her earlier assault on him.

"I love you too, dearest." he replied playfully.

And damn it, he did love her; he could practically hear the sincerity in his tone, despite the jesting note. He didn't care anymore how she had managed to instill that sentiment in him, or when it had happened, or why he hadn't noticed it until recently... his chest felt too light and too warm for him to care.

"You're a ridiculous man." she laughed in spite of the joyful tears his words brought to her eyes.

Without waiting for some witty retort, she again leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, just when the door opened to reveal Tony. Staring in shock at the scene before him for a moment, the scientist then whirled around and cleared his throat.

_'Ignore him.'_ Loki stated in her head, utterly amused.

All too happy to comply, Kara merely pressed on in the lip lock. However, when Tony started hacking like an old man after three more attempts at gaining their attention by subtly clearing his throat, she was forced to break the kiss due to being unable to hold back her laughter anymore.

"No one is forcing you to stand there with the door open." Loki retorted, finally glancing to Tony with a satisfied smile on his lips.

"Yeah... well, I kind of have a huge mess to clean up after you wrecked my living room. And Thor kind of wants to go home."

"You're such an insensitive bastard." Kara retorted, still trying to hold back her laughter.

"That's precisely why he still has trouble eating." Loki stated, his smile and gaze taking on a mocking note.

"You'd make a great soccer player, I'll give you that one." the scientist retorted. "You got a mean kick."

Looking between them, Kara now arched a brow putting together what they were saying.

"You kicked him in the stomach?"

"I was aiming for his face, but I missed." Loki replied humorously.

Rolling her eyes at his antics, she pressed a short kiss to his lips.

"You are incorrigible..."

"And that's exactly why you love me." he winked, finishing her statement.

With those words, however, he grasped her thighs to keep her from falling to the floor when he stood, before setting her down onto her feet whilst his features drained of humor as he looked back to Tony.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?"

OoOoO

"Thank you, my friend."

Smiling as he stated that, the Thunder God briefly grasped Erik's shoulder after the scientist had placed the Tesseract in its container, which had been specifically designed to let Thor power it up and use it to transport Loki and himself back to Asgard. His humor, however, died a swift and merciless death when he turned to see Kara embracing his brother.

"I will speak to father... you have my word that no harm will come to him." he said when the young woman turned her steely gaze to him as he approached.

Ignoring his brother's glare, he offered Loki the other end of the device which the dark haired Æsir reluctantly grasped. With one last gaze to Erik and the others, the Thunder God's azure eyes once more settled onto Kara's pointed look and he nodded, in an unspoken attempt at reassuring her that he would keep his word.

Locking gazes with his brother then, he activated the device and powered up the Tesseract until the Cube's energy ultimately took them away from Midgard.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Kate Elizabeth Black** \- Darling there will be many more chapters, no worries. I still have one more movie to go through and I'm hoping you'll enjoy the story segment for _The Dark World_ as much as you enjoyed the story up to this point :D

2\. **JennyDAllred** \- Aww I'm sorry and happy at the same time that you're fighting back tears; that means I did a good job of writing that scene. I'm pretty much the same, the most that the actual movie scene got out of me was a knot in my throat, but I think that in movies like this somewhere in the back of your mind you KNOW that none of the main characters can die, so the scenes themselves kind of lose weight and meaning. Which is sad, actually, because I thoroughly enjoy movies that make me cry. For example I ALWAYS cry at _Lord of the Rings_, I just cannot help it despite having watched those movies like a zillion times.

But I'm so happy to hear you loved the story so far. I'm hoping the last segment will keep meeting your expectations with each chapter. Thank you so much for the review and I hope to hear from you again soon :D

3\. **EverlastingMuse** \- Haha I'm sorry to hear that, but fret not, that wasn't the ending. We still have one more movie to sift through so hold on to your butt because with the next chapter we're off to _The Dark World _;)

4\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Wow that's quite a feat, love. I really didn't expect you to go through such intense emotions, considering it was your second read of the chapter. But while I'm sorry you went through all those negative emotions, I'm also happy because that was pretty much the point. And I went through them all the same while writing the chapter, so I wholeheartedly empathize with my readers.

But I am really grateful for all the support you offered me and you keep offering me. It's just such a huge motivator to keep writing and it just makes writing so fun and relaxing for me, to have people to discuss my stories with - and writers themselves at that - because it just gives me that really nice feeling that I'm not alone, or weird or anything.

So thank you so much, love, for everything you've done and everything you're doing to help me with this story and with all my other ideas :D

5\. **pheobep3** \- Wow... just wow, I am so thoroughly astounded and humbled that you loved the story so much as to read all the chapters in one go. That's really such a feat, darling, and I applaud you for it. Even I can't read it all in one day when I go back to re-read it and get back in the proper mood to continue.**  
**

But I'm so glad that you loved it so far and I hope what I have in store next will keep you just as engaged. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, honey :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	27. Entry 26

As promised, my lovely readers, we're off to _The Dark World_ and the last part of our adventure together... well not exactly, because I have a few more surprises in store for you ;)

But for now enjoy this starter chapter for the third and final movie which my story encompasses. Maybe when they release the third _Thor_ movie in 2017 I'll add that one in as well and turn this into a trilogy. Who knows? We'll have to wait and see... for now this story and its sequel should be enough to keep you entertained until that movie comes out.

So do toss me a review and let me know everything that goes through your mind. I want to hear all of it, darlings~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #26**

_Locking gazes with his brother then, he activated the device and powered up the Tesseract until the Cube's energy ultimately took them away from Midgard._

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard / S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / London, U.K._

_**Date: **__September 15, 2013_

"Loki..."

The sound of Frigga's voice – ever so faintly shaking as the queen battled to hold her tears in at the sight of her son in chains – now drew Loki's gaze to her.

"Hello, mother. Have I made you proud?" he asked, his tone even now holding a jesting note.

"Please don't make this worse."

"Define _worse_."

"Enough!" Odin commanded from his throne. "I will speak to the prisoner alone."

Shooting her husband a reproachful glance, Frigga ultimately walked away and left the room while Loki stepped closer to the throne and momentarily took up the straight pose he had been taught to display when standing before his father. Ultimately unable to hold in his amusement anymore, he loosed a chuckle.

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Do you truly not feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go, there is war, ruin and death."

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you." Loki retorted.

"We are not gods. We are born, we live, we die... just as humans do."

"Give or take five thousand years."

"All this because Loki desires a throne..."

"It is my birthright!" the dark haired Æsir now stated, his tone revealing that he was done joking around with his father.

"Your birthright was to die!" Odin yelled at him. "As a child... cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me."

"If I am for the axe, then for mercy's sake... just swing it." he pleaded, taking one more step forward. "It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just... I don't love them."

"Frigga is the only reason you're still alive and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeons."

With the guards pulling on the chains extending from his waist, the green eyed prince now narrowed his eyes at his father, barely holding back the tears he felt gathering behind his eyelids.

"And what of Thor?" he asked. "You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the nine realms and then... yes... he will be king."

It was only when he was back in his cell and after the guards had left that Loki finally allowed his tears the freedom they desired. He didn't even know what he wanted anymore; death? Freedom? He had no idea what he wanted, but he definitely knew what he missed... and that was Kara.

OoOoO

Startled out of the book she had been reading, Kara averted her eyes to the cell phone which was now ringing madly next to her on the bed. Blinking in awe as she sighted the caller ID, she then placed the device to her ear.

"Darcy?"

_"Kara, I really need your help... Jane's gone... I don't know where she went. She was just here, a while ago... I can't find her anywhere..."_

"Darcy, calm down. What happened? Where are you?"

The sound of a sigh came over the phone before the young girl started speaking again, this time on a calmer tone.

_"We're in London; we were supposed to meet Erik here. He said he had something to show Jane but we haven't heard from him since we arrived. And today we found this really weird place where things vanish if you throw them into the air and concrete-mixers float in the air and..."_

"Darcy... get to the point. What happened to Jane?"

_"She went off by herself to check out some readings we found. They looked just like the ones in New Mexico, so she went off... and now I can't find her anymore and she's not answering her phone."_

Sighing lightly, the young woman set the book down and moved to her feet.

"Alright, call the police if she doesn't show up in another few minutes. I'll be there as soon as I can."

_"Right... police. Why didn't I think of that?"_

Withholding a sarcastic retort, Kara dropped the cell phone onto the bed and once more sighed. She hadn't seen or talked to Jane and Darcy ever since that last night in New Mexico. In truth she didn't really feel comfortable going there, but now that she knew something might have happened to the young scientist, she couldn't just stand aside.

And frankly she wanted to work... it was the only way she could stop thinking of Loki at least for a short while. Even knowing that he was alive and well, the burden of not seeing him and not knowing when she would see him again or _if_ she would ever see him again, wasn't any easier to bear. The only way she could keep herself from getting depressed once more, was to immerse herself in work... and that was exactly what she planned on doing.

Changing her clothes into one of the usual one-piece black leather suits she often donned for missions, the young agent retrieved her pistol and set it into its pouch which she then strapped to her thigh. Under a last minute impulse she also retrieved her bladed gloves; after all, she had no idea what she was going to find there.

"London, huh?" she muttered to herself while pulling the gloves onto her hands and forearms.

It was awkward to go back to that city when such bittersweet memories tied her to it. Well, not like she had a choice now. With that in mind she ultimately left her room and – rather than heading to Fury's office – took the path toward the outer deck of the massive ship.

The moment she set foot outside her lungs constricted and she had to take several deep breaths of the thin air, in order to satisfy her body's need for oxygen, at least temporarily. It took her longer than she'd thought to reach the edge of the runway from where she could glance down into the white blanket of clouds beneath the Helicarrier. Once more inhaling deeply she then leapt off the edge hoping they weren't flying over any mountains.

Fortunately it seemed they had been flying over France, as she instantly recognized the Eiffel Tower upon seeing it. Taking out her phone and activating the GPS system, she then shot off amidst the clouds, heading straight for London. A mere couple of hours later she was rewarded with the sight of the English capital and she thanked every known god for the thick cover of clouds that kept her hidden from the eyes of the masses on the streets below. Well, now that she was here, there was only one thing left to do...

_"Good day, Miss Taylor."_

Smiling at Jarvis' voice after she had dialed a specific number, Kara inwardly grinned at her ingenuity; after the whole madness with Loki had settled down, she had spoken to Tony and the scientist had linked her cell phone directly to Jarvis, allowing her to make use of the AI without any restrictions.

"J, can you locate the source of my last call please?"

A few moments of silence followed her question, before the robotic voice spoke again in her ear.

_"The source of the signal is located at precisely 500 yards to your right, at the edge of the city. Shall I inform Mister Stark of your whereabouts? Do you require assistance?"_

"Nah, I'm alright with this one... thank you, Jarvis."

_"Always a pleasure, Miss Taylor."_

Setting her phone back in its pouch she now turned in midair, heading toward that location. Upon arriving and sighting the police cars gathered amidst what looked like the buildings of an abandoned factory, she landed somewhere out of sight and walked the rest of the way; she didn't quite fancy showing off her ability if she didn't need to.

"Kara!"

Darcy's relieved shout brought her out of her thoughts as she approached, and she offered a slight smile to the young girl.

"Long time... did you find Jane?"

"No and I'm getting really worried. It's been five hours..."

Looking to the entrance of a building out back, Kara now sighted the young scientist running toward them.

"I don't think you need to worry anymore."

Whirling around, Darcy now rushed over to Jane with Kara in tow. Her "mission" might have been over before it had even begun, but she was curious to find out just where Jane had vanished off to and what Darcy had been blabbering about on the phone.

"Jane! Where the hell were you?" Darcy complained.

"Tell me you didn't call the police." the scientist retorted.

"What was I supposed to do?"

"_Not_ call the police?"

"I was freaking out..."

"You call the police, they call the Feds. Next thing you know, we have SHIELD crawling all over, _Area 51_-ing the place."

Sighting Kara, she frowned while the young agent arched her brows in surprise.

"See? See? They're already here... I can't believe you, Darcy!"

"Jane..."

"We had a stable gravitational anomaly. We had unimpeded access... our only competition was ten years old!"

"Jane!" Darcy finally yelled. "You were gone for five hours."

"What?"

When thunder rumbled in the sky above them, Kara glanced upwards only to finally realize that even though it was pouring, there was a certain area around the three of them, much like an invisible dome, where the rain didn't enter.

"That's weird..." Darcy muttered, speaking out Kara's exact thoughts.

While staring at one another, the three young women were rendered utterly speechless by that unnatural display, until Jane sighted Thor standing a few steps away and rushed over, the dome-like shield moving along with her and leaving Darcy and Kara in the cold rain.

"Typical..." Darcy muttered.

"You should learn to carry an umbrella." Kara chuckled.

Putting her hands together she then extended them upwards in a sweeping motion, the rain now bouncing off the small shield she had conjured above Darcy and herself. The sharp sound of a slap, however, startled her and drew her gaze back to Jane who had just smacked Thor a second time.

"Where were you?" she demanded.

"Where were _you_?" he asked in return. "Heimdall could not see you."

"I was right here where you left me. I was waiting and then I was crying and then I went out looking for you. You said you were coming back."

"I know, I know... but the Bifrost was destroyed. The nine realms erupted into chaos; wars were raging, marauders were pillaging. I had to put an end to the slaughter."

"As excuses go it's not terrible. But I saw you on TV... you were... you were in New York with... with Kara!"

"Jane I fought to protect you from the dangers of my world but I was wrong. I was a fool..."

When the two of them started mumbling as they were getting lost in each other's eyes, Darcy finally rolled her eyes and ran over to them.

"Hey! Is this you?" she asked, smiling to Thor and pointing to the downpour.

With the rain coming to a sudden halt, Jane now frowned at her.

"Uh, we're kinda in the middle of something."

"I'm pretty sure we are getting arrested." Darcy retorted.

While Jane was talking to the police, Kara had just retrieved her phone with the intention of letting Fury know of the current situation, only to have it ripped out of her hand when a sudden shockwave hit her in the stomach. Fortunately she had been standing close enough for Thor to grab her before she could hit the ground.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah... wh-what the hell was that?"

Looking around she spotted Jane lying on the ground.

"Jane? Jane!"

Rushing over to her along with Thor she watched as the Thunder God helped Jane to her feet while one of the policemen approached them.

"Put your hands on your head. Step back." he ordered.

"This woman is unwell." Thor replied.

"She's dangerous."

"So am I."

While the policeman requested backup, Thor wrapped Jane in his arms as thunder rumbled in the sky above. Seemingly thinking it over for a moment, he then glanced to Kara, almost startling her when he extended one arm and set it around her waist.

"Hold on to me... both of you."

"What are you doing?" she asked at the same time as Jane posed the same question.

With Thor merely raising his gaze to the sky whilst a multicolored beam of light suddenly crashed onto them, the two women were left to stare in awe as the world faded away until they could see the clouds surrounding them and then nothing but the vast emptiness of space; the sight of planets and meteorites passing them by at that dazzling speed had Kara tightening her hold onto Thor as much as she could, hoping they wouldn't hit one of them. The journey lasted no more than a couple of minutes and soon the two females were staring at the rounded building which Kara by now assumed was the Bifrost keep.

"We have to do that again." Jane said grinning like a little kid at an amusement park.

Upon sighting Heimdall looking at her, however, she settled her grin into a cautious smile.

"Uh... hi..."

"Welcome to Asgard." the guardian replied, his amber gaze trailing from Jane to Kara.

For a split second, the young woman could swear that she sighted a flicker of sorrow in his eyes, but it was gone before she could be certain, hidden behind the Gatekeeper's warm smile.

"Jane, come... I'll take you to the healers." Thor said gently.

"Wait..." Kara replied. "So why am _I_ here?"

Heimdall's low tone startled her when the male chuckled softly, his words leaving her speechless and unable to do anything but gawk at him.

"My prince believed you would be happy to see his brother."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. ****SuperNaturalxxFreak**** \- Haha well Loki definitely is the biggest tease to have ever walked any of the nine realms ;)

But joke aside, I'm so happy that this story has managed to keep you so engaged and so interested. And I really don't mind if every chapter is your favorite chapter, that just shows me how much love you put into this story. And for that I'll always keep thanking you, darling :D

2\. **JennyDAllred** \- Aww I'm sorry to hear that; no one should be forced to watch a movie, because then they miss the chance to enjoy it. But on a more joyful note, I'm so glad you're looking forward to the last part of the story. I'm hoping it'll keep meeting your expectations and that you'll enjoy it just as much as you enjoyed the adventure until now.

3\. **smkyle** \- No worries hun, the story's not over yet. We still have a long way to go before it'll be done so for now just enjoy the ride and the naughtiness Loki's going to bring in this last part ;)

4\. **JenJen018** \- Wow, darling I am baffled... I can never re-read it all in one day, so when I have readers telling me they read the whole thing in one day I'm just mindblown. You guys are awesome! :D

But really I'm so happy that you loved it this much. I hope you'll enjoy what's to come just as much as you enjoyed it up to this point.

5\. **pheobep3** \- Hehe well it's not like he'll be out of the action for too long, no worries. I have a lot of plans for him and Kara in this last segment of the story ;)

And I wholeheartedly empathize with that; I have the same thing whenever I read a good book. It's just so hard to leave it be even if I just have to go eat or drink some water. I've spent a lot of nights reading instead of sleeping, so I completely understand you.

I'm hoping you'll have an easy year in college, darling; I know from some of my friends just how hellish and grueling law school can be. But I'm sure you'll be awesome and kick ass :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	28. Entry 27

Sooooo lovelies... we're back on Asgard! Are you guys excited to see Loki again? Are you curious what adventures await Kara in this new realm? I sure hope so~

So toss me a review and let me know what goes through your mind, although I warn you... Kara's reunion with Loki might not go the way many of you likely expected it to ;)

Now enjoy, darlings~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #27**

_"My prince believed you would be happy to see his brother."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 15, 2013_

Upon entering the castle, with Jane gawking at everything around her and Kara trying to hold back her amusement at the scientist's child-like eagerness, they soon sighted what appeared to be a maid and Thor beckoned over the young woman.

"Take her to the queen's chambers." he said, motioning the maid toward Kara. "Tell mother she is here to see my brother and I will be along soon."

"Wha-what?" Jane asked, suddenly snapped out of her awe.

"Do not worry, she will be safe with my mother."

"I'm not here to babysit you, Jane..." Kara retorted in amusement. "Go see the healers."

With the young scientist blushing lightly when the agent winked at her, Kara was left to follow the maid until the woman led her into a set of luxurious chambers, decorated in shades of pale green and dark blue. Halting at the door when the maid motioned her to, Kara suddenly found herself nervous to meet Loki's mother. Sure, he had spoken of her, but she barely remembered much of what he had told her of his family.

"Your Highness..." came the maid's voice from what seemed to be one of the many rooms composing the queen's quarters. "Prince Thor has sent a young woman to you. He says she is here to see his brother."

A moment of silence followed, which had Kara lightly gulp in anticipation, before she heard a female voice which she was certain did not belong to the queen.

"Then I will be taking my leave, Your Highness."

Upon those words Kara was rewarded with the sight of a fiery head of long, wavy hair adorning a young female's heart-shaped face. Her attire somehow reminded her of a warrior and a princess at the same time, but what really caught Kara's attention – aside from the woman's unearthly beauty – were the pointy ears she could see peeking from amidst the red strands, as well as the young female's charcoal eyes; for a moment Kara felt as though she was looking into a pair of shiny black pearls... but then she sighted something in the female's gaze, that sent a cold shiver along her spine.

If she had to describe it, she would have said that the Elf's gaze had gone from a shade of smug satisfaction in the face of Kara's obvious awe, to a sort of murderous glare in the span of just one second. It had been such an intense sensation – like the she-Elf had literally reached out to grasp her neck and try to choke her – that Kara was compelled to lower her eyes. Never had she been subjected to such an overwhelming bloodlust; not even when looking Glenn in the eye.

"Welcome to Asgard." Vanya stated in a whisper as she passed by the human female, her voice betraying a particular brand of cold sarcasm.

That? That was the woman Frigga had told her about? That was the woman Loki had spoken of? That wasn't competition... but still, if that child proved to be a problem, she would see to it that the little Midgardian was taken care of.

Even after she left the chambers, Kara was still rooted to the spot by the sheer malice in that tone, which had frozen her very core. Not even Loki, in his darkest moment, had spoken with such venom in his voice. She felt her knees trembling lightly and her stomach tightening as though she was about to throw up. The only thing to snap her out of that sickly state was the sight of Frigga's warm smile, which now washed over her like the sun after a frozen rain; it actually reminded her of her own mother to some extent.

"I have been looking forward to meeting you, child." she said softly. "Come..."

Had it been Thor, who had spoken of many women over the years, she would not have been this happy to meet Kara; but she was the first woman Loki had ever spoken of, and the queen had to admit that she was thoroughly curious. When she moved to follow, Frigga turned to the maid and sent the young female to prepare one of the guest chambers, as well as Asgardian attire, given that Kara's Midgardian clothes stood out too much.

Once the maid had left, the queen beckoned Kara to follow her outside into her private gardens.

"Do you know what surprised me the most, after Loki returned from Midgard?" she said contemplatively, looking to the young girl at her side. "That he told me he misses someone. He regretted nothing of his actions in your world... other than hurting you. I tried to tell him that human lives are much too short and that he would only be left to suffer for thousands of years after your death."

Halting, the queen now smiled again, reaching out to set her hands onto Kara's shoulders.

"But seeing you now, I do understand why he would be willing to subject himself to that. Such a beautiful Midgardian I have yet to see."

"I doubt it was that which gained his attention." the young woman replied shyly.

"Oh yes, he told me of your gift. I must admit I was quite impressed... but I was more impressed that you managed to gain his heart. Loki was never someone you could easily cope with, but to hear him speak so fondly of you... it made me happy to know he trusts someone other than me, to such an extent."

Leaning over, the queen now placed a soft kiss to the girl's forehead.

"He told me that you lost your parents..." she said, reaching out and taking Kara's hands in hers. "But know that you have a mother in me from now on."

Her words brought tears to the young woman's eyes, even as she lightly squeezed Frigga's hands in return and offered a silent nod. Smiling again, the queen extended a hand and trailed her fingers along one of the girl's chocolate locks before beckoning one of her maids to approach.

"Now go bathe and change... I will speak to the guards."

OoOoO

Two hours later Kara was still just as nervous as she had been when the queen had sent her away. She hadn't been allowed to bathe by herself, two maids helping her with that, and she couldn't shake the feeling that they believed her to be some form of royalty, after Frigga had spoken so fondly to her. But while it did make her feel a bit awkward, she was grateful for their help given that her hands were so shaky that she wouldn't have been able to even undress by herself, much less bathe or comb her hair.

"Is it true, miss? That you come from Midgard?"

The sudden question coming from the young woman – probably not much older than herself – who had been brushing her hair, almost startled Kara who now glanced at her in the mirror and smiled lightly.

"Yes."

The sight of her expression lighting up actually astounded her.

"What's Midgard like, miss? Is it true that you have buildings that reach to the clouds?"

At that Kara was utterly unable to hold back a soft chuckle.

"They don't exactly reach the clouds... I'm pretty sure our tallest building is much smaller than this palace."

"And is it true that you have people who can fly? And others who are so strong that they can bring down a building with their bare hands?"

With Kara's smile fading and her expression settling in awe as she stared at the young maid, the other, elder servant stepped into the room with what appeared to be a dress draped over her arm.

"Tyra! Stop bothering the Lady with questions and finish your task."

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's alright..." Kara replied softly. "I don't mind the questions, but... where did you hear about that, Tyra?"

With the young girl blushing and shying away under her questioning gaze, Kara tilted her head lightly until Tyra finally replied.

"Prince Loki told me about that... Her Highness, the queen, often sends me to him with books. Before he returned from Midgard last year, I used to clean his chambers because I was the only one he didn't mind having around. Not that I had much to clean anyway... he always was very tidy. Unlike his brother..."

"Tyra!" the elder maid exclaimed, apparently shocked at such honesty from the young woman. "How can you speak so improperly of prince Thor?"

"It's quite alright..." Kara laughed lightly before winking at the girl in the mirror. "I won't tell anyone, even if I'm sure Thor himself would agree."

Despite knowing that she was in for a serious scolding later, Tyra still offered Kara a grateful smile.

"I'm finished, miss." she said a few minutes later.

Once she had moved to her feet, Tyra and the elder servant helped her put on the attire prepared for her; a long, flowing dress made of something Kara had first believed to be silk, only to find that it was much lighter and smoother than any silk she had ever touched. Her waist had been strapped in a narrow golden belt to compliment her slender figure, the warm honey color making a nice contrast to the dress' dark shades of green, almost bordering on black, and completing the almost identical golden shade of the petticoat which could only be glimpsed at beneath the slightly see-through dark emerald layer. With her feet being clad in light footwear which reminded her of ballet shoes, the last thing she donned was a dark grey cloak with a hood large enough to shadow her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to cover yourself like this, miss?" Tyra asked. "You look no different from one of our own women."

"It's better this way... you can never be too careful." she replied, smiling softly to the young girl.

Moments later a loud knock on her door had Tyra rush to open it, revealing a pair of guards in golden armor.

"Her Highness has sent us to escort Lady Kara to the dungeons." the male stated, apparently ignoring the maid and addressing Kara herself.

With a nod, the young woman moved to follow them, inhaling deeply in an attempt at settling down her pounding heart. She was actually nervous to see Loki, as she had no idea how he had changed during his time in prison.

"You will have unrestricted access to the prince's cell, as per the queen's orders." the male stated again as they walked, startling her out of her thoughts. "Her Highness has ordered that no guards be present whilst you are there. Should you require anything, there will be two guards at the other end of the corridor and they will offer any assistance that you request."

"I understand. Thank you."

For a moment she sighted what she assumed was surprise on the male's features, probably due to the lack of authority in her tone. Falling silent afterwards, however, she merely allowed the two soldiers to guide her along the labyrinth-like structure of the palace. At long last, after what seemed like an eternity of twists and turns, the two males pushed open a pair of heavy doors and Kara was rewarded with a sight that she would have never imagined when thinking of a dungeon.

This definitely wasn't a regular prison; no chains, no bars, no locks... the cells were painted in pure white, lit from above by what she could have taken for neon lamps. But the most interesting thing, by far, was the fact that the wall which would have normally contained the door to each cell had no bars and no door, in fact. It was nothing but a thin layer of what she guessed was some form of force field... after all, she didn't imagine that any one of the males in those cells were sitting there of their own accord.

Finally, glancing to the right side of the long corridor built of what seemed to be a form of black stone, she sighted Loki in the very first cell of that row, standing near one of the exterior walls and apparently talking to someone who had been visiting him before her arrival. She couldn't tell who the person was, given that they too seemed to have chosen a hooded cloak, but she could tell it was a woman. Vaguely she recalled Loki mentioning a female among his friends, namely Sif, the Goddess of War. Perhaps she had come to visit him...

With the guards closing the heavy doors behind her, the young woman was now left to descend the steps and approach the cell, trying her best to fight back a smile. He really hadn't changed at all... at least physically. With him wearing fewer clothes than usual she could tell he had the same slender but well defined build that she faintly recalled seeing in its entire splendor all those years before.

What snapped her out of that contemplation upon approaching within earshot, was the voice she instantly recalled as belonging to the she-Elf, and her breath caught in her throat. Why? Why was _she_ there?

"Agree to marry me and I'll persuade my father to demand your release... I'll give you the throne of Alfheim. The Allfather won't be able to refuse, unless he wants war with my people."

For a moment Kara felt utterly rooted to the spot, when she sighted that amused smirk on Loki's lips. He wasn't actually considering that offer... was he? That mere thought now caused such a mixture of emotions to swell in her chest – anger, fear, sorrow – that she stepped forward and spoke before even consciously deciding to make her presence known.

"Don't you dare..."

Instantly his expression emptied of humor; that voice... oh, heaven knew how much he had dreamed of hearing that voice again. With his emerald gaze moving from Vanya to the hooded figure standing a few steps behind, he could do nothing but stare in shock as Kara ultimately removed the hood and he sighted that gaze... that frighteningly pained gaze in her eyes which suddenly made his heart quiver. Only when she lowered her eyes from his and set them upon Vanya who had by now turned around to face her, did Loki release a breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding.

"And why would he not?" the she-Elf retorted, making Loki clench his jaw as a cold shiver rolled along his spine.

Why? Why did his heart shake like that in his chest? Why did he have such a bad feeling about seeing Kara there? Why did he suddenly feel like crying, despite being so utterly happy that she was there?

"What can you give him, better than what I just offered?" Vanya continued, narrowing her eyes when Kara failed to reply. "I can give him his freedom back... and the throne he always wanted and deserved. You would only give him words of comfort while standing outside his cell."

The sight of that slight frown vanishing from Kara's face, leaving behind an emotionless mask, actually had Loki stare at her in shock. Her look said it all... he was about to lose her. And when she again raised her eyes to him, he took a step forward barely even remembering the words to speak.

"No... Kara..." he pleaded.

"She's right." the young woman replied, offering him a smile devoid of any trace of warmth or love. "I hope you have a good life... be a good king."

Unable to do anything but watch her rush back up the stairs and through the heavy doors which the guards had opened to bring in a few new prisoners, he felt tears stinging his eyes before they overflowed onto his cheeks, and he heard his own pain filled voice echoing off the cold stone.

"KARA!"

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Forbidden Moons** \- Aww I'm so sorry you got upset, darling, hope the cookies helped. Well I'm still not certain if I'll kill Kara in the end, or find some plot twist to keep her alive, but I can tell you for certain that I do have a sequel planned out, so this won't be the last you see of her and Loki ;)

I hope that even with that uncertainty looming about you still enjoyed the story so far. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

2\. ****SuperNaturalxxFreak**** \- I personally preferred Darcy in the first movie; in _The Dark World_ she was just reduced to being useless, other than providing comic relief. Which is a shame, because she's a very cool character. As for Jane, I enjoy her when she's with Darcy or Erik or anyone else... with Thor... those two just have NO chemistry whatsoever, as far as I could see.

Anyway, there's still more goodies to come... I'm hoping you enjoy reading the last bits of the story, even if it'll be a while still before the uploaded version catches up with those chapters. As always, I'm so grateful for all the excitement and love you're pouring into this story. You really are such an amazing beta and I'm so happy that I got to meet you :D

3\. **smkyle** \- Haha well there you have it, even if it probably didn't go as most of my lovely readers were expecting. But the bumpier the road, the sweeter it is when you finally get to your goal.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, darling :D

4\. **iuwan** \- Aww you really shouldn't lose sleep over my story, even if I am terribly overwhelmed that you loved it so much and that it sucked you in so well that you couldn't even sleep. I am so happy that you're still interested even after so many chapters, I always have this fear that if I write a story with too many chapters, people will get bored of it. So I'm really happy when my readers tell me that they still love it just as much :D

As for your English, no worries, I didn't have any trouble understanding your review so it's all good ;)

I hope this chapter rose up to your expectations as well and that you'll enjoy the rest of the journey to the very end. Hope to hear from you again soon, honey :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	29. Entry 28

Soooo another chapter is ready for your enjoyment, lovelies. Hope you liked that little twist at the end of the previous chapter. So without any further ado, I'll let you get to reading. Oh, just one small mention... I hope you all like Frigga, because she's going to have a lot of "screen time" in the chapters for _The Dark World_ before she dies ;)

But don't be shy to toss me a review and let me know eeeeeeeverything that crosses your mind. I'm eager to talk to y'all wonderful people.

Now enjoy, darlings~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #28**

_Unable to do anything but watch her rush back up the stairs [...] he heard his own pain filled voice echoing off the cold stone._

"_KARA!"_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 15 / 16, 2013_

For a few moments all he could do was stare at the heavy doors behind which she had disappeared, his gaze blurry as he found that he simply could not hold back his tears. Never... never had he felt so truly alone and frightened, as he felt now. Never had anything appeared so scary to him, as that lack of emotion on her expression. Never had anything felt so cold, as that hollow smile which had frozen him to his very core.

"Come now... you're not really getting _this _worked up over a human, are you?"

The sound of Vanya's astounded tone had him turn his gaze to the she-Elf.

"Get out..."

"What?" she replied, narrowing her eyes in disbelief.

"Get out of my sight!" he growled, baring his teeth at her.

When she failed to comply, apparently too shocked by the overflowing hatred in his crazed gaze, he grabbed the nearby chair and flung it at her face; her only fortune was that the force field resisted the impact, the chair itself breaking into pieces whilst the lights flickered due to that sudden surge in energy.

"Get out!" he bellowed.

Finally she backed away whilst coming down from that rush of fear, and offered him a stern gaze.

"I'll come back when you're in a better mood."

It was only after she was gone that the dark haired Æsir finally gave in to the weight of his own emotions, dropping to his knees and placing a hand over his eyes whilst he ultimately broke down into silent sobs.

OoOoO

"Kara?"

The female voice had the young woman stop dead in her tracks, whilst the queen approached her, sighting her tearstained face.

"What happened?" Frigga asked, her tone still gentle despite her stern gaze.

"Nothing..." she whispered, still trying to hold back from breaking into a sobbing mess.

That utterly desperate, heart wrenching tone she'd heard echoing behind her had been enough to almost make her go back... but she didn't want to be there... not while that... that _woman_ was there. Like in a dream she felt Frigga's arm around her shoulders, urging her to follow the queen until they arrived in what she recognized as the woman's chambers. Locking the doors, the queen then set Kara to sit prior to seating herself next to her.

"Now... tell me what happened." she asked, her tone holding that same soothing note Kara recalled her own mother using whenever she was upset.

Unable to resist the woman's plea, she took a deep breath and finally told Frigga everything she had heard from the she-Elf and how she had sighted that murderous spark in the redhead's eyes upon their first meeting.

"For goodness' sake, that boy..." Frigga stated on an utterly displeased tone, once Kara had finished speaking. "I warned him to be mindful of that woman."

"You... you knew?"

"Vanya is a seductress... she has more than just her natural wiles. She uses magic to enhance that natural skill, and that is very easy for someone like me to notice; I suspected she set her eyes on Loki, for some time. I warned him to be careful, but he was always a man who enjoyed challenges and sought to prove that he could not be controlled, no matter how anyone tried."

Sighting the concerned expression on Kara's face, the queen instead smiled warmly and set an arm around the girl, soothingly rubbing her shoulder whilst she embraced her.

"He loves you..." she said softly. "He may not have said it out loud in front of me, but I know my own son well enough. He does love you... never doubt that."

She wasn't about to let Loki be a fool and lose Kara; her intuition told her that the young Midgardian was a wonderful woman, and she would not allow Loki to lose his happiness just because he was stubborn.

"I will forbid her from visiting him anymore." she promised, wiping away the young woman's tears. "But you should go speak to him, after you've had some time to settle down."

"I will go see him as soon as I can..."

She would probably regret making that promise, but with all said and done she wanted to see him again so badly.

"I will tell the guards to let you into his cell; there should be no walls between you."

Somehow Kara was unable to shake the feeling that Frigga's last words held a double meaning, but still she nodded and finally the queen allowed her to retire. The rest of that day she spent in her room without any interruptions, apart from a short visit from Thor and Jane. At least Jane seemed genuinely happy about being there. After Thor had agreed to send a messenger to Midgard and let Fury know where she was, before the man kicked off an international manhunt for her, she had politely refused his invitation of seeing the royal gardens with him and Jane, claiming that she was too tired.

In truth, while she wanted to be alone for a while, she also wanted to let Jane enjoy his presence without a third wheel tagging along. What she had not anticipated, was the fact that she would get bored by herself and ultimately she was to be found wandering the hallways which, sadly, proved to be just as boring as her chambers.

It was upon turning a corner – as she ultimately gave in to her boredom and began searching for the gardens – that she collided with something so hard that at first she believed she had walked into a wall. Next thing she knew she was trying to pick herself up from the floor, although her focus was drawn to the sound of a worried male voice.

"Oh, goodness... pardon me, miss. Are you alright?"

Looking up she sighted a young man leaning over her, his hand extended to help her to her feet. At the sight of her face his lips suddenly curved into a charming smile beneath the blond mustache.

"Good heavens... what is a lovely Lady like you doing, walking around all alone?" he asked, pulling her to stand with no effort once she had grasped his hand.

"I was... looking for the gardens." Kara replied, somewhat shying away in the face of his flirty demeanor.

Offering her his arm, the warrior again smiled and the young woman found that she had forgotten about everything else for a moment.

"It would be my pleasure to escort such a view of beauty there."

"Thank you." she said rather awkwardly, taking his arm and allowing him to guide her along the corridors.

OoOoO

Stunning... that was the first word which came to her mind at the sight of the royal gardens stretching before her; a symphony of colorful flowers spreading a delicate fragrance, tall trees, ancient statues, ivy arches, fountains and gazebos. She really would have regretted not seeing them at all, although she did wish it had been Loki there with her, instead of her yet unnamed companion.

"So where are you from, if I am allowed to ask?" the young warrior questioned, as they now walked amidst the twilight basked garden. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"I'm... I'm from Midgard." she replied.

Arching a brow, the male again smiled in that utterly charming way that made Kara's blood race, and by now she already suspected who he was.

"Are you now? It's been a long time since I last visited, but I swear I do not recall seeing such beautiful maidens there. And may I have your name, my lovely Lady?"

"You may, if I may have yours in return."

"Oh, but of course." he chuckled, taking her hand and kissing it. "I am Fandral, milady."

"I thought so..." she replied humorously. "But what's fair is fair... I am Kara."

With Fandral watching her with a puzzled gaze, their focus was soon drawn to a female voice, its source approaching them along with a mountain of a man which Kara suspected to be Volstagg, given Loki's description.

"That is a strong name... usually heard among the Valkyrie."

"The Lady Sif and my good friend, Volstagg." Fandral smiled, gesturing to the two.

"At your service." Volstagg replied cheerfully, offering her a slight bow.

"Shouldn't there have been a third?" she asked.

"Hogun is spending some time with his own people, on Vanaheim." Sif said. "Thor spoke of you after he returned from Midgard last year... he said you're one of Midgard's best warriors."

"I guess I am the equivalent of what you would call a warrior." Kara replied shyly.

She'd never considered herself a warrior, but apparently not everyone shared her opinion.

"Perhaps the Lady would care to join us for dinner." Fandral suggested. "I would love to hear her tale of how they battled Loki."

Although her breath caught in her throat at that, the young woman ultimately had to agree when both Sif and Volstagg asked her to comply and delight them with her tales of war.

OoOoO

"Loki..."

The sound of that warm tone had the dark haired Æsir raise his gaze from where he had been staring at the floor, to sight Frigga outside his cell. Almost instantly he could see the stern shade on her expression melting into concern as she set her eyes onto him and saw the tears staining his pale cheeks. Ultimately heaving a sigh, the young male trailed a hand over his face to wipe away the salty drops and stood, approaching the queen.

"If you're here to scold me about Vanya, then go ahead..." he said.

He deserved it; he'd been careless and it had cost him dearly. But when the queen smiled lightly, he had to admit he was completely caught off guard.

"I came to tell you that I talked to Kara. She is a wonderful girl and I am happy to see that you chose well."

"Does it matter anymore?" he retorted.

"I knew my son to be more perceptive than this." she replied tentatively.

The sight of his jaw clenching and his lips tightening as he fought back fresh tears, brought another shade of concern to the woman's expression. Before she could say anything to ease his mind, however, one of the guards approached and bowed to her.

"Your Highness... the Allfather requests your presence in the throne room."

"Just go." Loki stated, turning his back to her as he felt his composure failing him.

Offering him a sorrowful glance, the queen now rushed out of the dungeons and minutes later she was entering the large hall where Odin was seated on his throne.

"I heard Thor brought another girl with him from Midgard... aside from the one I already saw."

"Yes, he did." Frigga replied. "I have spoken to her earlier."

Sighting the way his brow furrowed, the queen offered him a stern gaze, taking advantage of the fact that there were no guards around to hear her.

"She is his friend, Odin. They battled side by side on Midgard; I see nothing wrong with him bringing her here. She is a worthy warrior, despite being mortal."

In the face of her unyielding tone, the Allfather ultimately sighed.

"Very well... the other one might stay without a fuss, if she has one of her own with her."

Frowning in confusion, the queen now approached the throne and ascended the steps until she was at her husband's side.

"What do you mean?"

"Thor brought that one... that Jane Foster... because he thought she was ill. The Aether flows in her veins and I fear if anyone should find out. I will have to keep her here."

For a moment his shoulders dropped and he felt old... much too old to handle such things anymore. If only he could convince Thor to take the throne; the boy was ready beyond doubt... if only he could settle his heart and actually agree to become king.

OoOoO

"So, I guess that's about it... we managed to destroy the Chitauri ship in the end and close the portal."

With silence reigning in the room after her last statement – interrupted only by the fire crackling in the middle – as Sif and the two males watched her intently, practically drinking in her words, Kara was utterly startled when Thor's deep voice resounded around them.

"She's much too modest..." he smiled. "She failed to tell you that she was willing to give her life to save Midgard."

Stepping closer from where he had been listening in the doorway, the blond Æsir settled onto one of the couches there, next to the young female who now felt her cheeks burning under the admiring gazes of the others.

"Where's Jane?" she asked, trying to divert the subject from what she saw as a natural act, not some heroic deed.

"I left her in her chambers; she was tired and wanted to rest. Mother said she was delighted to meet you... she was very pleasantly surprised."

"She's a great woman..." Kara smiled fondly. "Actually she reminds me a bit of my own mother."

With a light smile, Thor then allowed his features to drift from humor.

"Have you seen him?"

"I did..." Kara replied, her own humor dying a swift death at that question. "It... didn't exactly go as I imagined it would."

"What do you mean?" the blond Æsir frowned.

Had his brother truly changed like that? Had imprisonment damaged him so much that he would turn even on Kara?

"There was a woman there, when I went to see him... your mother called her... Vanya, I think."

"Good heavens, she's here?" Fandral perked up.

"She arrived two days ago." Thor replied. "But... why was she seeing Loki?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Kara lowered her gaze to the warm flames dancing amidst the wood gathered in the fireplace.

"She... said that if Loki agrees to marry her, she'll ask her father to demand his release, and give him the throne of Alfheim."

"You must tell the Allfather about this, Thor." Sif now perked up. "If she convinces Loki..."

"I refuse to believe my brother would accept that." the blond Æsir replied.

"Thor you know how he is... he would accept anything that would get him out of prison."

"I'm afraid she's right." Fandral agreed. "He was a traitor once, he'll do it again."

"The little rascal would do anything to get away from his punishment." Volstagg retorted.

For a moment all Kara could do was stare at the trio in shock; these... these were the friends Loki had spoken so fondly of? These were the ones who had earned his praises and his respect?

"How dare you...?" she muttered shakily, feeling tears stinging her eyes.

With the three glancing to her, Fandral and Volstagg seemed to finally realize that something was amiss there, unlike Sif.

"Kara, you have no idea what Loki's capable of. Did you not see what he did on Midgard?"

"Sif..." Thor began, only to have his statement cut short when Kara suddenly moved to her feet.

"You, his friends? You are no more worthy of being called his friends, than a worm is worthy of being called a prince."

"Kara, we know Loki... we've known him for centuries. He's..."

"Don't try to patronize me, Sif!" she yelled, rendering the female warrior utterly silent. "You don't know anything about him! You have no idea how fondly he spoke to me of you... all of you. And here you talk so vilely of him..."

Ignoring Thor when the Æsir tried to speak in an attempt at subduing her anger, she offered the trio before her an utterly disgusted glance, once she had latched onto their minds only to be met with some of their memories. She had hoped that their words were only something fleeting; that they were just angry with him for his recent actions. But to be hit by the realization that they had never truly cared about him, made anger swell inside her to the point that she felt like all she wanted was to offer them the slowest and most painful death she could conjure.

"He believed you were his friends... he risked his life for you so many times. And for what? Just so you could all think him to be weird, because he favored intelligence over brawn? Because he wasn't like Thor? You're alive now, because of him... because he was smart enough to save you each time you were supposed to die! Because he cared about you enough to not save only his brother. He _cared_ about you... and it wasn't your skills or your strength that saved you on those occasions. It was him... it was _his_ intelligence and _his_ affinity for magic that let you live to see another day! And you all shunned him for it, like he was some sort of freak."

With tears finally overflowing along her cheeks, she exhaled a shaky breath and pulled her hand away from Thor's attempt to grasp it.

"Did you know he fancied you once?" she asked, looking to Sif.

In the face of the woman's stunned expression, she felt her lips curving into a sarcastic smile that actually reminded Sif of Loki himself.

"Of course not... why would you know? You were much too busy fawning over Thor all the time, to ever notice it. Do you know I was jealous of you, when he told me of that? Even if he always assured me that it was only a fleeting thing and that he no longer cares for you in such a way. But I _was_ jealous, because you were a goddess and I was a mere mortal... but I see now that you're no goddess. None of you are worthy to be called gods... none of you were ever worthy of my people's worship. You're no better than the power-hungry lowlifes on Earth!"

Once she stormed out of the room, Thor now lowered his head covering his face with his hands.

"Wonderful..." he muttered with a heavy sigh.

He had feared that it might come to this, but it still had awed him to see that extent of anger in her, and that icy hatred in her gaze.

"Where in Hel's name did that come from?" Fandral suddenly blurted out in shock.

Looking to his friends' stunned expressions, the blond Æsir once more sighed.

"Kara has been Loki's lover for many years now. And before that she was his friend since her childhood. I should have warned you to take care how you speak of him in front of her..."

"Well, I don't like it... but she might... she might be right..." Volstagg muttered, shifting awkwardly on his seat.

Even Thor himself had to admit that he was caught off guard by that; sure, he had never paid much attention to his brother's interactions with their friends, but... was Kara actually right to throw all that in their faces? Had they really cared only for him all that time and never for Loki? When Sif merely lowered her gaze in the face of his questioning expression, and Fandral glanced away uneasily, the blond Æsir again covered his face and sighed deeply.

"Oh, heavens..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Aww I'm so happy to hear you hate Vanya. She was made to be evil and to evoke hatred and anger in the readers and I'm glad to hear I managed to do just that.

Also I'm afraid you'll have a bit longer to wait to re-read that certain scene. But in the mean time I'll try to keep you occupied with future chapters for this story and for my other stories ;)

And no worries, darling, I couldn't think of a better beta reader than you; we'll definitely work together and fangirl together for a very long time :D

2\. **iuwan** \- Darling you have no idea how happy you make me. No worries about the length of the review, I love reading long reviews where my readers tell me what they enjoyed or what they didn't like about a chapter/story because that's what helps me improve. Having my mistakes pointed out in a respectful manner, just helps me re-evaluate my writing and improve it by trying to not repeat those mistakes in future works. So really, you can write a review as long as you wish, I don't mind reading it in the least.

As for Frigga, she is one of my most favorite characters from the _Thor_ franchise. She's the perfect image of how I imagine a queen should be; she's tough and relentless when she needs to be, but she's also warm and loving when she needs to be. She just seems like such a dignified woman with a backbone that you rarely see nowadays; she's really a model worth looking up to.

But I'm so happy the story got you so engaged and so excited. I hope it'll keep you that way until the very end. And no need to thank me for replying, darling. I enjoy replying to reviews just as much as I enjoy getting and reading them. It's my way of giving back a bit of the love that my readers pour onto this story, which has surpassed even my wildest expectations.

3\. **MomentsInSilence **\- Wow that's quite a heartfelt reaction, darling. I'm sorry and at the same time I'm glad that my writing has managed to evoke such strong feelings in you. But no worries, things will have to get better in the end, won't they? ;)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I'll be hearing from you again soon :D

4\. **Becka3490 **\- Aww thank you so much, darling. It always humbles me immensely whenever one of my readers considers my story good enough to add it to their favorite/follow list, or to leave a review for it.

So thank you, darling, and I'm hoping to hear from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	30. Entry 29

Darlings I am so sorry I took so long to update. This week has been quite crappy (excuse the foul language). I've started classes for my last Master's year in college and already we're overrun with projects and essays. And on top of that I've had some trouble with a cavity that's been bothering me and I seem to have developed a slight infection under that molar, so that only added to my bad mood.

But at least re-watching _Thor_ 1 and 2 and _The Avengers_ yesterday in a marathon did help improve my mood and I'm back to writing, because currently it seems to be among the very few things that can distract me from the constant pain in my jaw. But enough ranting from me, just toss me a review and let me know what you think of this new chapter.

Enjoy lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #29**

_When Sif merely lowered her gaze in the face of his questioning expression, and Fandral glanced away uneasily, the blond Æsir again covered his face and sighed deeply._

"_Oh, heavens..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 16, 2013_

"Miss, are you alright?"

The sound of Tyra's concerned voice had the young woman raise her head from where she had buried it into the pillows of her bed to cry in peace. She hadn't even heard the maid enter the chambers, but she assumed it was only because she was so distraught.

"What's wrong, miss?" Tyra asked again, alarmed by the sight of tears on her face. "Why are you crying?"

Ultimately rising from the bed, Kara wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

"I'm alright... listen, I need your help. I have to go see Loki again... and I don't want him to realize I've been crying."

Smiling, Tyra offered her a slight bow before grasping the young woman's hands.

"Not to worry, miss... I'll help you bathe again, it will relax you."

Half an hour later, Kara had to admit that whatever scented oils Tyra had added to her bath had been a blessing in disguise. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time, despite the bud of anger still lingering in her chest.

"Are you feeling better, miss?" the young maid asked, walking into the bath chamber with a long piece of snowy linen to help her dry.

"Yes, thank you." she smiled.

"I've prepared a fresh dress for you. The other one was too dark and gloomy."

Once she had been dried of water, Kara followed the girl into the bedchamber, sighting a sleeveless crimson dress laid out on the white covers.

"It's beautiful, Tyra..." she muttered in awe, trailing her fingertips along the delicate golden pattern sewn into the silky material.

"I'll help you dress miss... then I'll brush your hair."

It was another half hour later that Kara was now standing from her seat, adjusting the crimson fingerless gloves which covered her forearms up to the elbows. Tyra had gathered her hair in a simple ponytail which hung loosely over her right shoulder, and her waist had been clasped in a simple silvery belt to outline her slender figure.

"I'm sure the prince will be delighted to see you again, miss."

Looking to the girl's innocent smile, Kara was unable to hold back a warm one of her own.

"Thank you." she said again, briefly grasping the maid's hand in hers.

"I'll go call a guard and have him take you to the dungeons."

Once she had left the chambers, Kara now took a deep breath and soon she was pacing around, unable to sit still. She was nervous again, about seeing him... while she knew that Frigga would forbid the she-Elf to visit him, there was no guarantee that the woman would actually heed that warning. She didn't really seem like someone who did a good job of following orders.

And Loki... she felt awful now – after seeing just what his _friends_ thought of him – because she felt as if she had acted just like them. It brought tears to her eyes and left such a bitter taste in her mouth to recall that heart shattering tone in his voice when he had called after her. She had to go see him... to let him know that no matter what she had said earlier, she still loved him and would still love him from then on.

OoOoO

Sighting the guard approaching his cell with a female figure he suspected to be Vanya, the dark haired Æsir furrowed his slender brows.

"I desire no visitors." he said, before the guard had even had time to speak.

"Oh, I believe you do."

The voice coming from the shadows beneath the grey hood stunned him, and though he parted his lips to speak he could find no words. His body actually jolted in surprise when the guard opened the cell to let the young woman step inside, before setting the force field back in its place and leaving them alone. The sight of her face when she pushed the hood off had his gaze briefly betray the mixture of feelings swirling inside him.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked, on a harsher tone than he'd intended.

"You know why..." Kara replied, apparently unimpressed by that note in his voice.

Momentarily he narrowed his eyes at her and clasped his hands at the back of his waist.

"Do I?"

Inwardly he cursed his stubbornness; why in Hel's name was he acting all offended, when all he wanted was to hold her and kiss her until they were both out of breath? When she narrowed her eyes at him in response to his question, he felt a cold shiver rolling along his spine, in fear of what she might say.

"You were actually considering her offer, weren't you?"

Tightening his lips, he clenched his jaw... damn, she hadn't disappointed; she had said exactly the very last thing he wanted to discuss. And it seemed she had interpreted his silence in the worst way possible, when he saw that particular shade of pained sorrow taking over her expression and heard her next question.

"Do you not love me?"

The words in themselves actually left his mind in shock; how? How could she ask that? Had he not made it so painfully obvious by now? Had he not said it? Or... did she believe he had been lying?

"Do you not love me?!" she asked again, her voice bordering on a scream, tears sparkling in her eyes at his prolonged silence.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked in reply once he had recovered his voice, slightly narrowing his eyes.

Though at first she blinked in surprise, thoroughly taken aback by his question, the young woman soon found herself taking a step backwards, when he stepped forward; that... that odd spark in his eyes was something she had never before seen. And in all honesty it frightened her to some extent, precisely because she had no idea how to react; because she had no idea what he was thinking... she was much too shaken up to properly concentrate in order to latch onto his mind, and for once she truly felt like a regular woman – a realization which scared her, in the face of that ominous vibe he was giving off as he took a step toward her... then another... and another... until she felt the wall of his cell against her back and for a moment understood how an animal must have felt when cornered by a predator.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked again, slamming his hands against the wall at either side of her head, making her jolt in surprise whilst a pathetically weak mewl left her lips.

He knew he was scaring her; it was much too easy to see, but he needed to _hear_ her answer even if he had already read it in her gaze when he'd first set that inquiry.

"Of course I do..." she finally replied, her voice slightly trembling along with the rest of her body, despite her attempt to control her expression and not show her fear.

"Then why would you ask that? Was it not enough to hear me say it? Did I not show it to you so many times before that?" he growled.

At the last words he finally saw her fear fading away, engulfed by the anger he could sight flooding her gaze as her brows furrowed.

"Still, you _were_ considering her offer..." she retorted. "I could see it on your face."

Her eyes widened right as she stated the final word, as she felt his hand latching onto her face, his fingers digging into her cheeks to the point where she could feel the sensitive flesh protesting with faint pangs of pain. Her heart again picked up the pace as her mind was forced to recall that he wasn't some ordinary guy she could toy with... no, he _could_ kill her without the slightest effort and she was privileged that he hadn't done so until that point.

"Yes, I was..." he spat out. "I was considering it for your sake, you foolish girl... I have no qualms with using her to get out of this cell."

Narrowing his eyes at the thoughts he could now tell had crossed her mind, he ultimately huffed in amusement despite the lack of a smile on his lips.

"Oh, I know... I know of her use for magic. Did you think I wasn't aware of it? Or that I believed for one second she actually loves me? No, what she loves is my body... not me."

"Then why...?"

"Because I had no other way to leave this place... to see you again…"

Only the sight of her tears seemed to subdue him to some extent; while his gaze kept that spark of anger, his hand did move away from her face and to the side of her neck where he trailed his fingers over the small multicolored mark he had left on her.

"Then do you love me... or no?"

Her question caught him off guard, and upon locking gazes with her again he now understood that she didn't doubt the truth of his words... no, what she actually wanted was to _hear_ him say it.

"No..." he retorted, simply out of a morbid curiosity to see her reaction.

Indeed, she did not disappoint; her brows furrowed and her eyes widened in a sort of shocked anger, and then she slapped his hand away and tried to walk past him, only to have him grasp her arm and push her back against the wall, trapping her between his arms once more.

"No words are worthy enough to describe how much I love you." he now said, his lips curving into that amused smile she knew too well.

The flurry of emotions that blossomed on her face almost had him chuckle; it was such an unexpectedly wide range of feelings... from relief to joy and ultimately to annoyance as she understood he had been jesting in his first reply. What caught him off guard, however, was her hand colliding with his cheek and turning his head.

"That's not funny, you jerk..." she stated, trying her best to sound angry but ultimately failing to completely hold back a smile.

She wanted to... heaven knew how much she wanted to actually be angry with him, but to hear him say that he loved her had rendered her unable to muster enough annoyance for such a feat. When he smiled in amusement and set his eyes upon her again, her humor died out and she believed that the smoldering desire she could make out in his gaze, hidden beneath that playful spark of mischief, would make her melt into an embarrassing puddle of mush.

"Such passion, dearest..." he retorted humorously.

In the very instant when she parted her lips to speak, her eyes again widened as she felt him swiftly untying her hair and grabbing a fistful of the silky locks before he tugged on them until she was forced to tilt her head back. She had been about to ask him what he was doing, but his lips came crashing upon hers with such unbridled and ardent desire that her mind instantly emptied of thought, left in a pleasant sort of drunken stupor.

Upon leaning back and sighting that dazed expression, the green eyed Æsir ultimately grinned. Oh, if only she knew how that particular look on her face ignited the flames of lust within him. But lust was a feeling best shown, not spoken... and show her he would.

"I wonder... if I still remember how to please you." he whispered tauntingly, trailing his lips along her ear.

"But..."

Her feeble attempt to protest was met with that amused huff of his that always sent a pleasant shiver rolling down her spine.

"What guards? Did you not enter my cell _knowing_ that there would be no guards around?"

Leaning back to look into her eyes again, the dark haired Æsir now smiled in that particularly devious way that Kara remembered sighting only once... in a hotel room, what seemed like an eternity ago.

"Such a foolish lamb, to walk into the lion's den of her own will..." he stated while trailing his thumb over her lips, his tone now taking on that half-whispered, velvety note which always made her melt before him.

Again sliding his hand along her neck, he brushed his fingertips over her collar bone after unclasping her cloak and letting it fall to the floor, feeling her body's fleeting shudder beneath his touch.

"I will take such pleasure in devouring you, dearest... and you will enjoy every moment of it."

Even as he spoke, she could feel him leaning forward until her body was thoroughly trapped between the hard wall behind her and his granite-like torso in front of her. It actually brought that familiar warmth to her cheeks when she felt her breasts lightly rubbing against his moss green tunic each time she breathed. And now that he was so close, she could bask in that faint fragrance he always seemed to give off; a refreshing, pleasant mixture of mint and lime.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he again grabbed a fistful of her silky hair and claimed her lips for an assertive kiss, his tongue invading her mouth and allowing him to relish in that sweet taste he had so missed since his return from Midgard. He heard her sharp intake of air at the suddenness of it all and he delighted in the feeling of her chest so tightly pressed against his that he could feel her heart pounding. At the same time his logical mind began to slip from his grasp for once, giving way to his body's desire, and he leaned back from her while abandoning her hair in favor of sliding his hands along her shoulders.

His lips curved into a sly smile whilst their tongues danced together, when he felt her hands blindly reaching to his waist in her frantic desire to remove the sash holding his tunic around his torso. In the very same moment when she was met with success, he pushed the straps of her dress down along her arms, the motion exposing her chest to him. What actually caught him off guard was the feeling of her arms latching around his waist and pulling him against her, letting him feel her breasts pressing against his now bare skin. Very well... if she wanted to feel the full weight of his restrained desire who was he to refuse her?

Her startled mewl – when he reached down with both hands to grasp her firm backside through the thin dress – actually sent a momentary rush of pleasure through him and ignited his need to hear her moaning his name again on that lustful tone, as she had such a long time ago. He did have to wonder... had she chosen that flimsy attire precisely to steer him in such a direction? If she had, then she was certainly full of surprises and he would take such pleasure in learning all of them. With that in mind he slid his hands down along the back of her thighs before abruptly lifting her off her feet and setting her legs around his waist... although that dress was bothersome; he would have to remove it soon enough.

Leaning back and breaking the kiss in surprise, Kara now found herself staring into those hypnotic emeralds set beneath his dark brows and her breath hitched when her mind again registered the feeling of his hands on her rump. For a moment she didn't even know how to react, although the sight of him inclining his head forward until his lips trailed in between her breasts set her face – and her groin – on fire.

"You smell delicious, dearest..." he retorted tauntingly before placing a kiss right beneath her collar bone.

"You're still a jerk..."

Unable to fully withhold a smile as she stated that, Kara now watched as he offered her that utterly amused smirk; she wouldn't deny it that all she wanted was to tear every piece of clothing on his body to shreds and have him sate her hunger for him.

"Is that so, dearest?" he asked, his sly smile telling her that he had caught on to those thoughts of hers. "Then should I remove these bothersome clothes?"

For a second he was actually taken aback by the thoroughly feral spark in her gaze, and the next thing he knew she clasped his face in her hands and crashed her lips against his. Allowing himself to delve into that kiss, he was unable to hold back another smile when her teeth lightly tightened onto his lower lip, right before her tongue tauntingly sought out his. It was only when he felt her legs locking around his waist that he seemingly returned from that blissful place he had been slipping into, his hands giving her rump a teasing squeeze... damn, he loved the feeling of those firm curves; her body was so unlike those of the women he had previously bedded.

"Let me down and take these off already..." she whispered against his lips, while he relished in the sound of her subtle panting.

Instead of complying, however, he merely shifted to support her weight with just one arm – aided in that by the wall he was currently pinning her against – freeing one hand with which he reached in between them and hooked his fingers into her dress. Her demanding tone actually amused him... not even Vanya had dared to order him around like that, but he definitely enjoyed that brave streak which Kara so rarely showed him. If she wanted to subdue him, he would definitely play along but that didn't mean he would make it easy on her. With that in mind he pulled his arm back along with the flimsy material which tore along her stomach at the forceful tug, while his lips again betrayed that taunting, mischievous smile.

"Shall we play a game, love?"

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Haha I'm glad to hear that you liked Vanya so much even if you hate her at the same time. That's really what I was aiming for with her, even if she is underused in this story... but she'll have her moment of glory in the sequel so everyone who liked her will likely be more satisfied when I finally start working on that second part.

And you don't have much left to wait to re-read that particular scene... just till next chapter ;)

Aww and I'm super happy we got to meet as well. I rarely get to connect with other writers on this website, but I'm really glad I decided to reply to that review you sent me for _Quadrille_ and that we started talking, darling :D

2\. **iuwan** \- Honey you have no idea how much I enjoy reading your reviews. I sincerely don't mind at all that they're long, because I enjoy knowing what my readers think of my work. You can make them as long or as short as you want, I'll still read them and I'll still love them :D

But on to your review. Wow that's actually a pretty interesting image you got there with Loki and Vanya. Kind of reminds me of _YuYu Hakusho_ and what Kurama did in the last episodes (because yes, I'm also an anime fan not just a Loki/Tom fan ;D)

Also you can sing odes about Frigga anytime you like. I love her as a character and Rene Russo was the perfect choice to portray her with her three "masks": queen, wife and mother. And her chemistry with Tom in the scenes they had together was just... perfect. There's no other way to describe it, they literally gave me the feeling that they were mother and son. Which is great, because not every pair of actors manages to instill that in me. And I'm so glad you liked the description I had her give of Loki... in truth I wasn't really thinking too deeply when I had Frigga say that. I just gathered from the movies and the deleted scenes that she would likely see him in that way.

Haha if Fandral actually made a move on her, that would have been interesting to see; especially since Loki can read her mind and she would have had quite a hard time explaining that to him. As for Kara's powers, well I have an idea that I might add later on. After I'm done writing the chapters for _The Dark World_ I still have a lot of extra chapters planned before the story actually ends. So I might do a little digging around in Kara's family tree (but her parents were both humans, sadly).

Aww I'm so glad to hear you liked Thor too. I'm not a huge fan of him but I do admit that he and Loki have perfect chemistry together... it's REALLY hard to believe that they're not actually brothers. But still I did try to make him more pleasant in the story, because he's a great character even if he is a "stupid oaf" compared to Loki. I was actually aiming for a brother-sister relationship between him and Kara but sadly they didn't get too many moments together. I might try to remedy that in future chapters.

But I really hope you enjoy this chapter as well and that you won't be too angry about the cliffhanger ending. I couldn't help myself... I just had to be like Loki and end things just when they were getting good. And really, darling, I don't mind long reviews at all so feel free to say everything you want to say, no matter how much space it takes... I promise I'll read and enjoy it :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	31. Entry 30

Holy crap, darlings I am SO SORRY for making you wait so long for this chapter. I've had so much stuff to do for college and it's been so hectic and I've had some trouble with my dad's health, that kept me so busy I was either too tired most of the time, or I completely forgot about uploading this... and it's been finished for ages. I just... I have no excuse, I'm so sorry lovelies!

But enough ranting, just enjoy and - if you don't hate my guts by now for making you wait so long - do toss me a review to let me know what you think ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #30**

_[...] he pulled his arm back along with the flimsy material which tore along her stomach at the forceful tug, while his lips again betrayed that taunting, mischievous smile._

"_Shall we play a game, love?"_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 16, 2013_

A tease... that's what he was... a gorgeous fucking tease and he loved every damn moment of it...

Gritting her teeth at those thoughts, the young woman offered him an annoyed frown to which Loki merely replied with that smug grin she knew so well by now.

"Please don't give me that scary look, darling..."

"Then stop teasing me." she retorted, trying her best to sound as annoyed as possible.

When his smile faded she actually feared for a moment that she had upset him... until she felt his arm releasing her and letting her fall to her feet, one of his hands grasping her shoulder and turning her around. When she instinctively tried to lean away from the white barrier, she felt his chest against her back, his fingers grasping her chin and turning her head to look up at him.

"You still have much to learn before you can order me around, dearest..." he retorted, his body leaning forward until she felt her breasts pressing against the cold wall.

Her attempt to push against the unyielding limits of his cell and free herself from him failed, however, and it only served to remind her of just how strong he actually was. Her heart again started pounding at the thought that she was practically at his mercy, but at the same time her groin cringed in pleasure at the sensation of his free hand tracing her thigh through the remainder of her dress which was now barely held around her lower body by the narrow belt encompassing her waist. Her eyes widened and she felt her face taking fire again when his hand suddenly moved in between her legs, his slender fingers tracing the outline of her womanhood through the thin silk.

"Oh yes, love... that's the look I want to see in your eyes..." he smiled tauntingly, sighting the growing lust in her gaze.

It took all she had to not whine in protest when he removed his hand only to unclasp her belt and let it fall to the floor along with the remnants of her dress. Rather than going back to what he had been doing before that, his hand now teasingly trailed along her well toned stomach until his fingertips reached the sensitive scar left in the wake of his visit on Midgard. When she faintly jolted in his arms he released her chin and instead leaned down to kiss her cheek while his now free hand crept along the side of her torso until he tauntingly brushed his fingers along the underside of her right breast, relishing in the feeling of another slight shudder crossing her body.

Ultimately his left hand abandoned her stomach in favor of trailing downward; when his fingers fleetingly grazed past her clitoris she finally failed in containing a half-whispered, almost pleading moan and he knew then that she would not put up any more resistance. His lips curved upwards into a sly smile when he again touched to her lower lips only to realize that she was already moist.

"Did I turn you on just by holding you in my arms?" he asked humorously.

Waiting just until she'd opened her mouth to reply, he slipped two fingers inside her, instead drawing a surprised moan from her chest.

"Oh, I've missed hearing you sing for me like this..." he stated on a low, seductive tone.

Her utterly annoyed frown, despite the burning crimson in her cheeks, made him chuckle whilst he curved his fingers inside her until he felt that certain soft spot which he knew could drive a woman mad. Indeed, she did not disappoint when he brushed his fingers against it; her eyes widened and she pressed her nails into the wall at the sudden surge of pleasure firing along her spine like electricity, a gasped moan leaving her lips at the same time.

Ultimately he took her breast in hand, relishing in the contrast between the soft flesh of her bosom and the hardened peak pressing against his fingers. And then he felt her arching her back until her rump pressed tightly against the leather pants still covering his awakening member; what made him grin, however, was not that but the fact that her hips were actually moving in time with the pace at which he slid his fingers in and out of her.

"Shall I have you come undone with my hand?" he asked tauntingly.

The sight of her glare, even while flooded with lust, made his chest quiver in a silent chuckle. Oh, he definitely knew what she wanted, but it was such fun to tease her... although he had to admit that his own patience was running thin quite sooner than he'd expected. With all said and done, he had so missed that wonderful body his hands were becoming reacquainted with. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she took him by surprise by reaching back and wrapping an arm around his neck, pulling him down into a heated kiss.

Though he eagerly delved into the lip lock, it amused him to see that even now she still refused to become fully submissive. It definitely was something he enjoyed in her, and it only served to further spur him on, as he displayed by swiftly retrieving his hands from her and leaning back, at long last allowing her to face him again whilst he discarded his leather coat and the green tunic beneath it.

They seemed to be thinking along the same lines, apparently, when she stepped forward at the same time as he did, their bodies colliding together while their mouths again embraced one another in a hungry display of passion. Whilst the Æsir buried both hands in her silky strands, however, Kara reached to his waist, frantically undoing his pants and seeking to push them down while relishing in the sensation of his smooth skin as her palms traced his hips. He actually sighed in relief into the kiss when she freed his now fully erect member from the uncomfortable leathery confines.

When she moved her arms around his neck and he felt her thigh trailing along his as she set a leg about his waist, he briefly smiled into the kiss at the sensation of her groin taunting his erection. So she still wouldn't yield and be submissive... very well...

Abandoning her hair he grasped her smooth thigh and locked her leg around his waist before setting that same arm around hers. In a stunning display of grace he turned around and leaned forward, allowing her weight to pull him down; his free hand slammed onto the floor to keep her from hitting it at full speed, before he finally settled down onto her alluring curves, having never abandoned the kiss for one moment.

Though she moaned in surprise at being handled like that, Kara ultimately relished in the familiar sensation of his slightly colder than average skin upon her heated flesh. Setting her other leg around his waist now, she raised her hips only to find her attempt at teasing him thwarted when he used his own body to pin her to the floor.

"This is a game you won't win, dearest..." he stated smugly, offering her that devious smirk that made her shiver in anticipation.

Withdrawing his arm from beneath her, he brought his hand up to her face and trailed the contour of her lips – now slightly reddened and swollen from the brutality of their kiss.

"But I do love the way you keep trying..."

Now leaning down not to her mouth but to her neck, his lips pressed a kiss just beneath her jaw line and he used that as a starting point for a trail which ultimately led to her breast. He knew this felt like sweet torture to her... he didn't even need to latch onto her mind; the trembling of her body and the burning lust in her gaze and the way her lower lips even now twitched against his erection were more than enough to let him know exactly how badly she wanted it.

But he was a sadist, he knew that... never had he enjoyed watching a woman squirm as he enjoyed watching her. Her reactions were so deliciously amusing and he just couldn't get enough, until the desire was so raw that it actually hurt. As if to prove that to himself, he made a slight downward motion, relishing in the feeling of her thighs caressing his hips and the sensation of his member tauntingly sliding along her moist lower lips, coating it in her body's slick natural lubricant. Seeing her shiver in pleasure beneath him, despite her heavy frown at his endless teasing, he now grinned and lowered his mouth to her breast.

Again she shivered when he gingerly grazed his teeth over the sensitive peak, her back arching and her nails pressing into his shoulders. Her reactions truly were addictive, but by now his own desire was building up to dangerous levels where he felt his restraint slipping away. It was upon that thought that he again moved his hips until he felt the tip of his member putting pressure on her entrance. The penetration that stretched her taut around him was swift and deep, causing even him to sigh in pleasure as he took that liberty with her body, his ears relishing in the sound of her pleasure dripping moan. What gained his attention, however, was the sensation of her inner muscles tightening around him to where he couldn't even move anymore; leaning back to look at her, he was unable to hold back a grin at the sight of her expression.

"Did you climax just from that, dearest?" he asked tentatively.

Even while heaving for breath and trying to adjust to his body again, she still offered him an annoyed frown which amused him to no end. When she made a pathetically weak attempt at smacking his arm, he pinned her wrists above her head with one hand, the other lustfully grabbing the smooth flesh of her breast.

"I did not forget my promise, love... you _will_ see what it means to bed a god."

The devilish shade in his smile had her stare up at him even while her mind battled to withstand the overwhelming pleasure he was imposing on her without even moving. And she got so lost in the choking lust she could see in his emerald gaze that it took her by surprise when he pulled back until his member had almost completely slipped out of her, before he rammed into her, burying his erection inside her all the way to the hilt. Her body involuntarily arched and an ecstatic scream left her lips as pleasure came crashing on top of her like a tidal wave... then another one escaped her chest... and another... and he just wasn't relenting in the least.

By then her body had no more willpower to fight him, being too busy coping with the raging pleasure he was inflicting on her. Her breath hitched in her throat and even though her eyes closed out of reflex, her expression now betrayed just how much she was enjoying that. Her hands had balled into fists from the tension in her muscles to where she felt her nails hurting the smooth skin on her palms, and soon the overwhelming arousal brought tears to her eyes.

And yet, despite that unbridled, vicious display of lust from him, she didn't fear him... no, she was in fact wondering if this wasn't just some erotic dream she was having, because he felt much too good to be real. The sound of his amused huff compelled her to open her eyes and look at him, only to see that mischievous smile playing on his lips whilst his eyes never left hers.

Beautiful... she was so damn beautiful with that smooth, fair skin which now glistened from sweat... with those alluring curves that he couldn't get enough of... with that perfect face which remained utterly beautiful even now when her features contorted to express the pleasure he was giving her. And he loved her... he loved every inch of her... every facet of her personality... every thought in her head, no matter how serious or playful.

It was at that thought that he stopped moving, even while buried deeply into her body's moist warmth that made him feel as if he would melt. Removing his hand from her breast he snaked an arm around her waist, using that and his hold onto her wrists, to bring her up against his body until she was seated on his lap whilst he settled onto his knees... a rather unusual choice of position for him, now that he thought about it.

Setting her arms around his neck once he finally released her wrists, the young woman again found herself staring into those beautiful emeralds; and despite the fact that she was still shivering and panting from the sheer pleasure of their intercourse she pressed herself flush against him and claimed his lips for a hungry kiss, her tongue slithering into his mouth along with a content sigh, seeking his for a passionate dance. His reaction to that, aside from his usual amused huff, was to reach down and grasp her rump. But otherwise he seemed content with letting her hold dominion over him for the moment.

"Don't get all humble with me now..." she growled against his lips.

After showing her just what he was made of, how in the world could she not want to let him have his way and do whatever he desired with her body? The sight of his knowing grin had her frown in annoyance, although that feeling was short lived when she felt him move again inside her, drawing a surprised moan from her.

Oh, he definitely loved the knowledge that he had made her kneel of her own accord... that he had actually gotten her to the point where she yielded and submitted to him willingly. And he loved all the sensations she was offering him... the way her folds trembled and hugged his erection like a perfectly fitted glove... the way her breasts rubbed against his chest as he jolted her entire body with each sturdy thrust... the way her fingers tensed in pleasure, forcing her to trail her nails along his back and sending shiver after shiver rolling down his spine... the way her skin glistened from sweat and her now disheveled hair caressed his arms as he set them around her waist... and the way she tilted her head back and moaned out his name again and again, bringing him closer to his own climax with each tone that she sang for him, accompanied by the sound of his own breath now picking up the pace, in a sweet, sweet duet.

And then it happened... his pleasure soared beyond his control and all he could do was grasp her hips and roughly pull her down until he was inside her to the hilt, the tip of his throbbing member roughly pressed against the entrance to her womb, whilst his seed spilled into her in what felt like a never ending stream. A sound between a grunt and a feral growl left his lips as he found a mind shattering release with her that no other woman had ever given him before. He barely even felt her nails pricking his skin or the lone drop of blood sliding along his back, but he did hear her screaming out his name and fully felt her second climax when her folds latched onto his member as though her body was aiming to squeeze every last drop out of him.

Still he was the one to recover faster as displayed by his now heaving chest, whilst Kara merely collapsed in his arms, unable to even breathe for a few moments, her mind entirely blank as she was left to bask in the afterglow of that unimaginable orgasm. Ultimately her lungs remembered how to work and she too began heaving for breath, her body still trembling in his arms as her muscles simply refused to relax for the moment.

"I love you..."

She didn't even think he had heard that whisper, but realization hit her that he had when he pried his hands from her hips and wrapped his arms around her, leaning his head on her shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to her neck whilst a content sigh escaped his lips.

"As I love you, dearest..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Oh I'm so glad you loved re-reading the previous chapter. And I'm sooooooo sorry I kept you waiting for the really good part for so long. I'm not even gonna rant here, I'll do that in an e-mail (which, by the time you finish reading it, will probably have you bored out of your skull).

But joke aside, I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter again as much as the first time you read it :D

2\. **iuwan** \- I'm going to reply to both your reviews in one go, so... here we go.

Hmm that's an interesting thought, with Frigga being there to see them basically get into a fight and make up in the span of a few minutes, simply because they love one another so much that they can't stay angry at each other. I probably should've thought of that, but oh well... maybe next time xD

I'm so glad you love cliffhangers like that, although I suppose you hate me by now for leaving you on that cliffhanger for so long xD

And no worries, I'm never going to abandon this story, I'm much too attached to it by now ;)

Oooh, if you do come back to write stories I would love to read some of your work. And I'm sure all other Marvel fans would be just as delighted as me to have you among us. Even if your English isn't perfect it's good enough that I don't have any trouble understanding you. And for stories you can always find good proofreaders to help you eliminate any mistakes. So don't be shy and come on over to the dark side... we have Loki, because if you have Loki you don't need cookies :D

3\. **Dragon of Yin and Yang **\- Short and sweet... I like it :D

No worries, darling, I don't plan to abandon this story I love it too much to do that, it's my baby. But college has been murder this year so I might be forced to update a lot slower than I did during the summer holiday. I hope you'll still enjoy the story, despite the less frequent updates :)

4\. **Reader 1975 **\- Oh, thank you so much for the suggestion. But I'm afraid sensitivity isn't what my teeth are giving me grief for. It's a bit more complicated than that, but thank you all the same :D

5\. **SebastienMichaelis'sdaughter** \- I'm so sorry I took so long to upload this chapter, darling. I do hope the wait wasn't too unbearable and that this chapter made up for the long pause I was forced to take, because... life ._.

But I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest of the story and I'm hoping to hear from you again soon :D

6\. **MomentsInSilence** \- Aww I'm so glad to hear that, darling. And I'm so sorry I took so long to update the story, but I hope this chapter made up for the long wait. Do toss me a little review and let me know what you think... or if you hate my guts for making you wait so long xD

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	32. Entry 31

First I'd like to extend a huge **THANK YOU** and a bear hug to everyone who offered me their best wishes either in reviews or via PM. My dad is doing a lot better, lovelies :)

I am just so humbled by all the love and support I've received and I'm hoping my story is at least a decent way of giving back some of that love., because you all deserve it. You're all pure awesomeness, darlings :D

But I won't keep you with long rants, just remember to toss me a little review and let me know everything that goes through your mind as you read, whether it's positive or negative ;)

So enjoy lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #31**

_"I love you..."_

_[...] he wrapped his arms around her, leaning his head on her shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to her neck whilst a content sigh escaped his lips._

_"As I love you, dearest..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 16, 2013_

"Oh, damn that little wench..."

Wringing her hands in anger, Vanya continued to pace up and down in the study she was currently to be found in, inside her chambers. She was certain that Kara had something to do with Frigga suddenly forbidding her from visiting Loki again. And if the little Midgardian whore had somehow gotten the queen on her side, she needed a damn good plan to get past them.

A knock – or rather the pounding sound of a fist – on the door to her chambers startled the she-Elf out of those thoughts, however. Opening it, she stared in awe at the two guards standing outside her room.

"Her Highness requests your presence; we are here to escort you to her."

A cold shiver rolled along her spine, although her expression showed none of it.

"Very well." she replied.

Following the gold-armored guards, she was then left to enter one of the royal libraries, to find the queen examining the books on one of the many shelves.

"You called for me, Your Highness?" she asked, painting a graceful smile on her lips.

For a few moments the royal consort remained silent, merely retrieving a book from the shelf. When she finally turned to face Vanya, her stern expression made the she-Elf clench her jaw.

"Why did you not tell me that you visited my son in the dungeons?"

"I did not believe it to be that important, Your Highness... he and I have been friends since he visited my father's realm with his brother." she replied and to her credit the bewildered expression on her face would have seemed sincere to anyone.

"Please don't try to fake your awe." Frigga retorted, a momentary smile crossing her lips. "Do not believe that if you managed to fool my son, you have done the same with me. I know far more of magic than you could possibly dream."

"Your Highness... I don't understand what..."

Setting the book onto the nearby table, the queen clasped her hands together before speaking again.

"My son has made his choice... and it was a very wise one. I will not have you deceive him with hollow promises and with fake displays of charm, and make him lose the one woman who loves him sincerely."

Rendered speechless by Frigga's words, the she-Elf suddenly gulped.

"You will leave this place today... and I do not wish to see you in Asgard again. Am I clear, Vanya?"

It was at those words that Vanya finally frowned even as she tried to hold back her angry tears.

"You would chase me away? _Me_? A princess? For a mere mortal girl?"

"Yes." the queen replied without hesitation. "As a mother I want what's best for my son... and that is not you."

"What?" she hissed. "But I..."

"We're done. Guards! Escort the princess to her chambers so she may retrieve her belongings... then take her to the Bifrost, so that Heimdall may send her home."

With the two males entering the library at the queen's call, Frigga impassively watched the murderous glare Vanya threw her way.

"You'll come to regret this decision... I can offer him so much more than that pathetic mortal! Mark my words, the day will come when you'll wish you hadn't sent me away."

The she-Elf's furious fit, however, died a swift death when Frigga narrowed her eyes in silent anger and approached her.

"If you do anything to harm that girl and break Loki's heart, you will know what it means to incur the wrath of a true Sorceress."

In spite of her ever calm tone, the aura she gave off was enough to make Vanya pale; all she could do was offer the queen another glare and follow the guards back to her chambers. Oh, this wasn't over yet... she would find a way to come back to Asgard and to get back to Loki.

OoOoO

She had no idea how many hours has passed... she recalled Loki carrying her to his bed at some point and lying next to her beneath the soft covers... she recalled his loving kisses and lulling caresses... and she recalled falling asleep at some point. Then she recalled waking with an unexpected fear that it had all been just a dream; that he wasn't actually there... but he was.

Still holding her... still watching her... still there...

In order to drive away that fear she rolled onto her side and latched onto him, making his slender brows furrow ever so lightly.

"What frightened you like this, love?" he asked, his velvety tone reaching her ears at the same time as his arms settled around her.

"You're still here..." she muttered, pressing herself against him as if trying to convince herself that he was real.

Her words drew a soft sigh from his chest whilst his hand moved into her hair and he gently massaged the back of her head through the silky locks. It so pained him sometimes that life just didn't seem to want them together... that they had to pay for each moment of happiness and comfort with ten days of pain and sorrow.

"I did warn you that it would not be an easy journey at my side..." he said in the end. "Still, I wish I could have made it easier; if there is one thing I do regret, that is hurting you."

"Don't..." she retorted, looking up at him with a pained expression he had not expected. "Don't take the blame on yourself... no one has ever made me happier than you have."

"And would you have me even now? Now, after all I have done... after I had my rank and my freedom taken from me? Am I still princely to you?"

His words had the effect he had been hoping for, when the corners of her mouth twitched toward a smile as she leaned up to offer him a loving kiss.

"I just had you, did I not? But you're not a prince... or a king..."

At her reply his expression settled into that particular puzzled shade that she had always so adored.

"You always were more than that in my eyes... you are a god, aren't you?"

His reply was merely a loving but utterly amused smile whilst he pulled her closer and molded his lips to hers in a needy kiss. When she settled onto her back he followed her without any hesitation, his torso weighing down on hers. But, for now at least, he had no plans of taking it further than that... she gave him such a sense of fulfillment, that he felt sated in his lust for her. It was such an odd and unfamiliar feeling, yet it only made him love her more.

Upon that thought he leaned back, forest green meeting steel blue when he gazed down on her, his hand settling onto her cheek as he relished in the feeling of her soft skin and the sight of her loving smile. And as he watched her he came to realize that he actually regretted more than one thing.

He regretted that she was human... that her lifespan was nothing compared to his... that he would have to face the terrifying moment of her death much sooner than he would have ever wanted to. He regretted that he hadn't taken more caution throughout those years... he regretted that he had hurt her... he even regretted that she was not the first woman he had bedded, because he certainly would desire no other once she was gone.

"My delicate flower... so ephemeral... so ethereally beautiful in your fleeting grace..." he murmured whilst his thumb traced her cheek back and forth, his eyes briefly betraying a hint of the pain he felt at the thought of her death.

Though she smiled at his charming words, the young woman did also sight the sorrow in his gaze and she already knew what he was thinking; it was so clear to her eyes that she didn't even need to latch onto his mind.

"I wish I could stop time, but I can't." she replied, trying her best to add a humorous note to her voice. "So enjoy me while you have me..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- I do have a good excuse for not writing smut too often, though... too much of something and it becomes dull and boring. And we certainly don't want that to happen with Loki's sexyness, do we? ;)

But I hope you enjoyed re-reading this chapter as well, although knowing you're a huge Frigga fan like myself, I'm willing to bet more than a dollar that you did xD

As for my dad, yes he's doing much better. Thank you so much for the good thoughts, darling :D

2\. **iuwan** \- Aww thank you so much for the good thoughts, hun, that really means a lot. He's doing much better now so at least I'm not stressed anymore in that direction. But college still sucks up most of my free time, although I've taken the habit of writing in class whenever I can. It's just a very slow process.

Also no worries, I promise wholeheartedly that I will not abandon this story. I love Loki too much to not finish what I started :D

And actually the chapter was intended to be sort of cute-ish, among the sparks flying off from their argument and the smutty bits. Because Loki does have a cute side to him, that he rarely shows and I wanted to let some glimpses of that come through.

And sure we have him, we're _his_ army, aren't we? He's the one who started this whole thing, so come on over. We'd love to make you one of us... one of us... ONE OF US! *cue chilling music and insane grin* :D

3\. **bnoell14** \- Wow, darling you're amazing. Whenever I need to re-read the whole thing, I need at least 3-4 days if not more. So I commend you for that, you're awesome, love :D**  
**

And I'm so glad to hear you love this story so much. It really warms my heart whenever I see how much my readers enjoy what I write. So, hoping that you enjoyed this chapter as well, I'm looking forward to hearing from you again soon, darling :D

4\. **ChrryBlossom1995** \- Haha I frankly have no idea what snickerdoodles are, since I don't think we have them in my country. But they must be something pretty awesome, to get you addicted.

But joke aside, you really you humble me with that praise, darling. When I started writing this story, I didn't even want to upload it because I thought the romance was rushed, that the OC was too Mary-Sue-ish (even though that's how she was supposed to come out, for reasons I explained in my replies to reviews over time), that I hadn't captured Loki's personality right... and generally I just didn't think I'd done a good enough job to make this story public.

So whenever someone tells me how much they love it and how awesome they think it is, it just blows my mind and I am so utterly grateful that I was able to write something which other people enjoy. That's really the best feeling for a writer, to see the readers enjoying the story.

So thank you for this humbling review, darling. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	33. Entry 32

Ooookay lovelies, Christmas is sneaking up on us faster and faster. Hope y'all got your wish list ready for Santa :D

Till then, enjoy this new chapter full of Loki goodness and don't forget to toss me a little review~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #32**

_"I wish I could stop time, but I can't." she replied, trying her best to add a humorous note to her voice. "So enjoy me while you have me..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 17, 2013_

"Loki."

Looking up at the sound of that familiar soft voice, the dark haired Æsir set his eyes upon the figure of his mother standing a few steps away in his cell.

"Hello, mother." he greeted, the corner of his lips twitching toward a smile while he set the book down.

"You seem to be feeling better." the queen smiled at that shade in his tone.

"I suppose I should thank _you_ for that."

"How so?"

Standing the young male set his hands behind his back and began to slowly pace around, offering his mother an amused smile.

"Were you not the one who convinced Kara to come see me again? Were you not the one who ordered the guards to stay away while she was here?"

Replying with a warm smile of her own, the woman sighed contently and clasped her hands together.

"I only want what's best for you, Loki."

Before the Æsir could reply – his expression having taken on a defying shade – they were both startled by the sound of the heavy doors opening to reveal four guards bringing in a new group of chained prisoners.

"Odin continues to bring me new friends..." Loki stated mockingly, watching as the soldiers lead their prisoners to the cells. "How thoughtful."

Sensing the danger in letting him dwell on that subject, the queen instead approached the table nearby.

"The books I've sent... do they not interest you?"

"Is that how I am to while away eternity? Reading?"

Tightening her lips in annoyance at her failure, Frigga offered him a stern expression despite the spark of sorrow in her eyes.

"I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki." she replied softly.

"Have you? Does Odin share your concern? Does Thor? It must be so inconvenient them asking after me day and night."

Fighting the urge to smile at his jesting tone, the queen instead shook her head as she often did whenever he tried to escape a scolding session by making her laugh.

"You know full well it was your actions that brought you here." she replied, determined to not let him distract her from her attempt at making him see reason.

"My actions?" the dark haired Æsir retorted on a tone which mixed awe and sarcasm. "I was merely giving truth to the lie that I've been fed my entire life... that I was born to be a king."

"A king?" Frigga asked. "A true king admits his faults. What of the lives you took on Earth?"

"A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself."

"Your father..."

"He's not my father!" he suddenly bellowed.

His reaction, as well as the astounding amount of rage and hatred flowing in his voice and gaze, was so unexpected that Frigga nearly took a step back.

"Then am I not your mother?" she asked softly, in an attempt to steer him away from anger and to appeal to the son she had always seen in him.

And for a moment it seemed to work; his expression softened and she could see his eyes glazing over. But then he took in a breath and his features took on a stern shade that made the queen's heart cringe in her chest.

"You're not." he replied.

Despite his calm voice, his words almost made Frigga lose her composure and burst into tears. Still, she smiled at him in that warm and loving way he had known all his life.

"Always so perceptive... about everyone but yourself." she said softly, holding her hands out to him.

It was when he let his hand go through hers that he employed his own magic to disperse hers; although he was not spared the sight of her tears before her illusion faded completely, and it shattered his heart. When? When would he learn to not be so stubborn? He had hurt Kara not two days past... and now his mother... the two people who had always loved him unconditionally and with everything they had. Clenching his jaw to hold in the tears he felt struggling behind his eyelids, he heaved a sigh.

At the same time, while his image faded in front of Frigga, the queen herself sighed clenching her hands together. Yes, she had always known Loki was not her child, but that made her love him no less... and it made her suffer no less to see him imprisoned like that. Taking a deep breath so as to settle herself down, she turned around only to be startled to find Kara watching her, standing a few steps away.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

Offering her a momentarily puzzled gaze, the queen then realized that she had likely seen her talking to Loki. Smiling warmly she chose to not reply, but instead extended her arms beckoning the girl over and wrapping her in a warm embrace once she had approached.

"He didn't mean it..." she said softly whilst stroking Kara's hair. "I know he didn't... he's just angry with his father and it's not easy for him to bear the knowledge that he will spend the rest of his days in that cell."

Leaning back to see the girl's face she now reached to wipe away Kara's tears before placing a kiss to her forehead.

"That is why you are so important, child... because you offer him a form of love and comfort that no one else can. And I am so grateful to you for that."

When Kara nodded silently, the queen again smiled and gingerly bumped her finger against the girl's chin.

"Now smile, won't you?"

Unable to resist her plea, Kara soon felt unable to hold her lips from curving into a wide smile, a soft bittersweet chuckle leaving her lips.

"That's better." Frigga replied, lacing her arm around the girl's. "Now come... I want to meet your friend; the one who has taken a hold of my other son's heart."

OoOoO

"But your father said..."

"My father doesn't know everything."

Smiling at Thor's reply as she approached with Kara, the queen lightly shook her head.

"Don't let him hear you say that."

Startled by her voice, both the blond Æsir and Jane turned to face them.

"Jane Foster... meet Frigga, queen of Asgard. And my mother." Thor smiled.

Instantly Jane withdrew her hand from between his, making him chuckle as she smiled nervously at Frigga.

"Uh... hi..."

Before the queen could reply, however, the sound of the dungeons alarms going off startled all of them.

"The dungeons..." Frigga perked up.

Her gaze was instantly drawn to Kara, however, when the young woman tightened her hold on the queen's arm.

"Loki..." she whispered with an utterly concerned gaze.

Setting a hand over hers to try and calm her, Frigga then looked to Thor and nodded.

"Go. I will look after them."

With the Thunder God leaping off the balcony and flying off once he had taken a hold of Mjölnir, the queen retrieved her arm from Kara's grasp only to set it around her shoulders and pull her along, beckoning Jane to follow them.

"Odin." she called out when she sighted him ordering a group of guards to the dungeons.

"Frigga... it's a skirmish." he said, to ease her mind. "Nothing to fear..."

"You've never been a very good liar."

Looking to the two girls, the Allfather nodded lightly.

"Take them to your chambers. I'll come for you when it's safe."

"You take care."

"Despite all I have survived, my queen still worries over me." he replied, briefly placing a hand to Frigga's cheek in a loving gesture.

"It's only because I worry over you that you have survived." the queen retorted humorously.

With Odin turning to head to the dungeons as well, Frigga gently squeezed Kara's shoulder and beckoned the girls with her.

"Now listen to me... you must do everything I ask and no questions."

"Yes ma'am." Jane replied while Kara silently nodded.

OoOoO

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

Looking back to the young scientist at the sound of that whispered question, Kara reached out to grasp the woman's hand.

"We have to trust her." she whispered back.

After arriving in the queen's chambers, Frigga had sent both of them to hide in a side room. It was the queen's belief that whoever had attacked the palace was after Jane; at first Kara hadn't understood why she believed that, until Jane had explained everything she had heard from Odin about the Aether.

It was soon afterwards that an unknown male voice startled them, apparently coming from the room where Frigga had remained alone.

_"Witch!"_

"Stay here..." Kara whispered urgently.

Rushing to the other chamber, she was stunned to find Frigga in the grasp of a creature she had no idea what to call.

"Where is the Aether?"

Recognizing the male voice from before, Kara turned her gaze to the source; at first she didn't know what to call him, but then she sighted his pointy ears and narrowed her eyes in thought... an Elf?

"I'll never tell you." Frigga retorted.

"I believe you." the male replied.

Upon his words Kara heard the queen's painful grunt and stared in shock at the sight of the creature having stabbed his sword through the woman's torso. Utterly rooted to the spot as she watched the monster discard Frigga to the floor, she was startled when Thor's shout echoed in the room right before a bolt of lightning hit the Elf, burning half of his face almost to the bone. With the other creature rushing to help him to his feet and attempt to escape, and Thor following them out onto the balcony, Kara ran over to Frigga, wrapping her arms around her and bringing the queen to rest against her chest.

"Be strong..." Frigga whispered, a warm, bittersweet smile playing on her lips.

Unable to hold back her tears, Kara made her best attempt at a smile but utterly failed.

"We'll get you help... you'll be alright."

When she felt the girl's hand in hers, Frigga lightly shook her head whilst lightly squeezing the girl's fingers and offered Kara a pleading look.

"Take care of Loki..." she whispered. "He needs you... take care of him."

It was upon those words that the queen drew her last breath; when her eyes closed and her grasp faded, Kara found herself unable to do anything but stare in shock while tears dimmed her gaze.

"No..." she whispered in a heartbroken plea. "Please..."

Her lips quivered when she received no answer and her chest trembled with the urge to let loose her pained cries.

"I will... I will take care of him..." she whispered again, leaning to kiss the woman's forehead. "I promise..."

Ultimately she lowered her head onto the queen's chest, her sobs dimly echoing into the tall room whilst Thor watched her, stunned in his grief.

OoOoO

"Kara, this is a bad idea..."

Ignoring Thor's pleading tone, the young woman entered the throne room where Odin had just dismissed two of the guards after instructing them to make arrangements for Frigga's funeral that night.

"Father... Kara wishes to speak to you..." the blond Æsir stated once the elder king had set his azure eye upon them.

"What is it?" he asked, lowering himself onto the throne.

"I want to ask you... that you allow Loki to be present at the funeral."

"Out of the question. Loki is a prisoner and..."

"Loki is your son!" she cut him off. "He has as much right as Thor to see his mother one last time."

For a few moments Odin merely stared at her; oh, how he could hear Frigga in her voice, scolding him as she had when he had banished Thor. He hadn't really believed his wife when she had told him that Loki had been wise and chosen a great woman for himself, but apparently she had been right.

"He is unpredictable... I will not have him do anything to disturb this ceremony."

His words left the young woman staring at him in shock; she knew grief could drive a man to become reticent, but this was too much. Not allowing Frigga's own child to be at her funeral? Slapping Thor's hand away when the Thunder God gently grasped her shoulder in an attempt at leading her away from the throne, she stepped forward with a heavy frown.

"There is no other that Loki loved more; not even you or Thor. It was his mother that he loved more than anything else in the world! And she loved him just as much... so much, that with her last breath she asked me to take care of him."

Exhaling a shaky breath as she kept trying to hold in her tears, she was startled when Thor again set his hands onto her shoulders, probably fearing that she would collapse.

"Did you know how close they were?" she asked, looking back to Odin. "Did you ever take the time to notice? Did... did you even care?"

It was the utterly disappointed tone in her voice that made Odin clench his jaw... that soft way of scolding him was identical to how Frigga often reacted when he angered her. Heaving a lengthy sigh, he trailed a hand over his face.

"Very well..." he finally replied.

When Kara leaned against Thor's side with a relieved sigh, the Allfather found himself unable to deny that it made him happy to see such proof of her love for Loki.

"But... if he tries anything..."

"I will take responsibility for it." the young woman replied, cutting off Odin's statement. "If he should escape then... you may take my life in payment."

"Kara, what...?" Thor retorted, utterly shocked by her words.

"So be it." Odin replied, though his tone did betray a shade of hesitation.

Squeezing Thor's arm when the blond Æsir tried to speak again, she shook his head and beckoned him to follow her. Once they were alone in the long corridor nearby, the blond Æsir offered her a soft smile in spite of the sorrowful shade in his sapphire eyes.

"You know, I heard mother in there speaking to him..." he said warmly. "Loki did choose wisely."

OoOoO

"Loki..."

Startled to hear his mother's voice, the green eyed Æsir looked up from his book only to realize that the one he had actually heard was Kara. The sight of her tearstained face, however, had him lightly frown, and he set the book aside moving to his feel while the guard who had accompanied her opened the cell to let the young woman enter. It was when the guard turned and left without putting the force field back in its place, that Loki ultimately narrowed his eyes in confusion... just what in the world was this?

"What happened?" he asked, approaching her once they were alone and placing a hand to her cheek. "Who upset you like this, love?"

For a few moments all Kara could do, was stare at him with wide eyes, unable to speak as her throat constricted from the urge to cry. How? How in the world was she going to tell him that his mother was dead?

"Your... your mother..." she whispered and suddenly her voice was set free of its confines, the words pouring out of her mouth without anything to restrain them. "There was an attack... they came for Jane and... and the queen hid us in her chambers... and they came looking for Jane... and your mother, she... she was..."

Once more her voice died out under his gaze, as she saw his eyes glazing over when realization hit him, and he exhaled a shaky breath, his expression betraying such sorrow that Kara felt like a real monster for giving him the news.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she whispered.

When a lone tear found its way down his pale cheek, she instinctively reached to him with a trembling hand, intending to wipe it away; but he startled her by lowering his shocked gaze to the floor, right before his legs gave way and rendered him onto his knees beneath the weight of his sorrow.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered again. "I'm sorry, Loki... I..."

Again he caught her off guard when he reached out to grab her dress in a weak grasp... with his head lowered and his shoulders faintly quivering, the young woman was so startled to hear his voice in her head that she nearly screamed.

_'Don't go...'_

His begging tone shattered her heart, and she took a step forward setting her hands onto his shoulders; it was at her touch that he seemed to come back to life, wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face against her stomach. She could feel his fists clenching onto the soft material of her dress... she could feel his entire body jolting as he sobbed without a sound... she could feel his warm tears through the thin fabric...

"I'm not leaving you..." she whispered, leaning down to kiss his hair and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

She couldn't tell how long they remained like that, locked in each other's embrace while she trailed her fingers through his hair almost mechanically; each of them lost in their own sorrow... in their own tears...

But when she felt him leaning away from her, she set her hands onto his cheeks and forced him to look up at her before he could wipe away his tears.

"No matter what happens, you're never alone... you always have me..."

Despite his clenching jaw, he reached up to grasp her waist and pulled her down to sit onto his lap, his arms locking around her in a loving embrace. Closing his eyes, he pressed his cheek to her forehead and heaved a shaky sigh while he felt her arms snaking around his torso. And after a long silence, he finally spoke in a soft whisper, feeling her jolt in his embrace when his voice startled her.

"If I have you, dearest... I need no other."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Of course, because mother knows best~

Okay, failed _Tangled_ reference aside, I'd never let you stray too far from this story without reminding you why you love it. Besides, we share the same passionate love for Frigga who is probably the most awesome and badass female character and mother figure I have ever seen.

And thank you so much for the well wishes, my father's doing a lot better and he even quit smoking so I am super happy about that. And I know we don't really spend too much time talking about real life, but I think I know why.

Whenever I imagine both of us, I always get this picture of two hyperactive kids surrounded by toys and just running from one toy to another, not really knowing which one to choose because they love all of them. That's kinda how you and I are with our stories - as least as far as I've been able to tell until now - so that usually keeps our mind occupied most of the time xD

2\. **bnoell14** \- Aww I'm so glad that I managed to keep Frigga in character well enough for people to actually be able to keep on loving her. I was so afraid of getting something wrong and ruining her character, so I am immensely relieved to hear you loved her.

And yesssssss Vanya is a viper and I am so glad that she makes you nervous, because that's really her purpose as an antagonist ;)

But thank you so much for this lovely review, darling. I hope to hear from you again soon :D

3\. **Moriah98** \- Thank you so much for the good wishes, darling. Really it never ceases to amaze me how supportive my readers and fellow writers have been. It's really heartwarming and humbling to see that you guys care so much. I wish I had a way of thanking you guys for real, but at least I hope the story itself is a reward, as small as it may be.

And I'm really happy to hear you're enjoying the story until now. I hope the following chapters will keep living up to your expectations. Hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

4\. **Sloane Raine** \- Well I'm not going to spoil the ending, so keep hoping, darling ;)

And I'm so happy to hear that you love it so far. It always makes me feel all warm and fluffy inside when my readers enjoy my work. Thank you so much for the lovely review, darling, I hope to hear from you again soon :D

5\. **AkatsukiShizu3** \- Oh you have no idea how hard it is to write Loki's lines. I have to go through the tortures of Hell before he takes pity on me and lets me know what he would say in a situation or another... the little prick -_-

But joke aside, it really isn't as easy as it may seem to get his character right, because he's just so complex and has so many layers to his personality and I have to try and touch on each one of those layers at some point in the story. But it's thoroughly worth it, especially when I see the readers enjoying what I write, because I write it all for you guys.

As for the outcome... those are two very interesting ideas, but I'm not going to spoil anything from future chapters, so yes I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see how things turn out ;)

But thank you so much for this wonderful review, darling. Hope to hear from you again soon, with anything that crosses your mind. I love replying to reviews or chatting with people in PM, so don't be shy :D

6\. **westernfemme** \- Oh, darling I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the story so far. As for what you pointed out, yeah the whole "sight vs. see" thing is a quirk of mine which I got while working on my The _Hollow Crown_ fanfic, because it just sounded more poetic. But you are right about that, in a modern setting I really should try to use "see" and its various forms.

Now about the thing with how I referred to Fury, I actually thought very seriously about what you pointed out, so I asked one of my friends, who was my high school classmate, about that because she is Afro-American. And after I put her up to reading the entire story (because I'm nasty like that xD) her opinion was, and I'm quoting from her e-mail reply to me:

"There's nothing offensive about saying a black guy is black or dark-skinned. Just like there's no offense in saying a white guy is white or pale (you referred to Loki's skin as "pale" in a number of occasions, and I doubt any white people took offense to that). They're just synonymous terms and people have to understand you used them to avoid redundancy. If Fury had any hair you probably would have referred to him by his hair, like you often do with Loki or Thor or any other character... but he's bald and he doesn't really have too many features you can refer to him by. So if anyone gets offended by that, they can shove a sock in it and move on."

So I'm gonna heed her opinion, since she is black and she insisted that it's not in any way offensive or racist xD

But really I want to thank you for pointing that out; I'm very glad you did because it alerted me to a possible problem I had overlooked and gave me the chance to explain things so that no one will feel offended. I'm always happy when people point out what seems wrong in my work, because it gives me the chance to explain that issue in detail (if it's not actually wrong), or to correct it in the future (if it is actually wrong).

So thank you so much for this wonderful, detailed review and for pointing out my mistakes. I'm really happy that you enjoyed the story so far, even with those minuses to it and I hope you'll enjoy the future chapters as well. And I hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

7\. **schattschnieder** \- Aww I'm so glad to hear that this story manages to fulfill its purpose so far, namely to take the readers on a maze-like rollercoaster. That was my intention when I first set out on this journey to write _Timeless _so it's always great to hear that I managed to keep to my initial path up to this point.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	34. Entry 33

Soooooo darlings, Christmas is only a few hours away for most of you (unless you live further East, in which case it's already there xD) and I decided to put in a bit of extra effort and finish this chapter so I could upload it today as my gift for you lovelies.

So without any further ranting, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and friends at this jolly, jolly time of year. Hope y'all were good and that Santa will bring you everything you asked for ;)

So enjoy, lovelies, and don't forget to toss me a little review! :D

**Merry Christmas!**

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #33**

_"If I have you, dearest... I need no other."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 17 / 18, 2013_

So odd... it was such an utterly weird sensation to be back in his chambers after so long. And he couldn't help but pace around, almost melancholically; so many memories tied him to those rooms and more than half of them included the woman he had called _mother_ for so many centuries.

What startled him out of his contemplation was a powerful knock on the door which he instantly recognized as belonging to Thor. Sighing, he closed his eyes and pressed a finger to the bridge of his nose for a moment, so as to mentally prepare himself to see the blond oaf. Ultimately opening the door, he arched a brow at the expression on the Thunder God's face... he actually didn't really know what to call it; happiness... sorrow... relief... maybe all of those together?

"What is it?" he asked, biting back the urge to glare at him when Thor simply walked past him entering the room.

Turning to face him, the blond Æsir took a moment to simply watch his brother who was now regarding him with a somewhat confused gaze.

"I came to see you."

Knowing by the way Loki narrowed his eyes that the dark haired Æsir didn't buy that, Thor heaved a sigh and crossed his bulky arms.

"Very well... I came to make sure you're still here."

With an amused huff, Loki finally closed the door and approached his brother.

"It warms my heart that you care so much, Thor." he replied sarcastically.

"I'm doing it for Kara's sake."

Seeing the way Loki's humor faded, leaving that puzzled shade on his expression again, the Thunder God lightly frowned.

"Did she not tell you?" he asked tentatively.

Sighing, Loki placed a hand to his aching forehead and lightly rubbed the flesh there.

"If you're trying to confuse me, Thor, you're doing a marvelous job of it." he retorted, his voice betraying that he was starting to lose his patience.

"Kara made a deal with father... she placed her life as wager that you wouldn't try to escape."

At those words the younger prince finally looked back to his brother, his emerald eyes wide open.

"What?" he breathed, his dark brow furrowing and his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Father refused to release you so you could attend mother's funeral... but Kara insisted and said that if you should escape, that father can take her life in exchange."

Seeing the anger in his younger sibling's gaze, the blond Æsir spoke again hoping to ease Loki away from that emotion before the trickster did something that he would regret.

"I am certain father would not do that... he never sought to take innocent lives."

"Is that so?" Loki retorted on the tone he usually employed whenever he desperately wanted to point out how stupid he believed the blond Æsir was. "As if he would ever tell you that..."

"Then do not try to escape and you will have nothing to worry about."

Taking a deep breath so as to bite back his burning urge to throw all his anger in Thor's face, the younger sibling ultimately moved away from his much broader counterpart.

"Tell Kara that I want to speak to her..."

Turning to face Thor, he offered the Thunder God a gaze which mixed such a wide range of emotions that the elder prince didn't even know which one to understand first.

"Do it as a favor... for old times' sake..." he appended.

"You speak as though to an enemy. Loki, you're still my brother..." Thor replied, his lips curving into a hopeful smile.

"I'm not... you know that as well as I do." the dark haired Æsir replied stubbornly.

"Loki..."

"Will you just go, Thor?"

Silently watching as the elder sibling lowered his gaze in defeat before turning to leave the room, Loki finally released a heavy sigh once the door had closed, placing a hand over his eyes. Damn it... why did that bulky oaf have to always remind him of their supposed brotherhood? And why did his mind have to bring up only the good memories, of times long gone... when they had been close like real brothers... when Thor wasn't yet supposed to become heir to the throne... when they were equal in everyone's eyes, maybe even in Odin's?

Again taking a deep breath to settle his emotions down, he moved to the bedroom and discarded his attire before stepping into the hot bath that Tyra had prepared for him minutes before Thor's arrival. Only when he seated himself in the steaming water mixed with scented oils did he finally feel that he could relax, even if only for a short time.

Only upon stepping out a while later did he notice Kara waiting for him in the bedroom. When she turned to face him, however, he barely held back a smug smirk at the sight of her blush as she gazed at his naked form – only covered at the groin by snowy linen.

"You could at least dress yourself." she retorted.

"Well... I expected to be alone, dearest." he replied on an utterly satisfied tone, in the face of her flustered expression.

"Then why did you send Thor to call me?"

With his features draining of humor at her question, the dark haired Æsir moved to approach her while a deep frown darkened his pale complexion.

"What have you done, you foolish girl?" he growled, impassively watching as she jolted in surprise at the sudden anger in his tone.

"What I had to do." she finally replied, her brow lightly furrowing when she understood where he was going with that inquiry.

Before she could blink, Loki grabbed her arms and pushed her against the nearest wall with enough force that she felt her spine and shoulder blades protesting furiously.

"Why would you keep me from leaving this place with you?" he asked, and for a moment his gaze betrayed such sorrow that Kara felt her heart cringing.

"Because he would hunt us down like dogs... and he _would_ kill you when he caught us."

When he released her now aching arms, placing his palms to the wall on either side of her shoulders and lowering his head, the young woman instead set her hands onto his pale cheeks to make him look at her.

"I did it because I love you too much to watch you die. Everyone I ever loved... they died in my arms... my mother, my father... _your_ mother..."

At those words her eyes gained a begging shade and her tone quivered.

"Loki, you're all I have left... don't force me to watch you die as well."

In the face of her teary gaze the Trickster God heaved a sigh, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to hers, closing his eyes to enjoy the way she now trailed a hand through his wet hair; damn it, she was right... even if he hated to admit it. Upon opening his eyes again, he reached to her neck, his fingers ghosting over the simplistic pearl necklace she was wearing... then lower to her collarbone... and lower... until she grabbed his hand.

"Stop it..." she demanded, barely able to hold back a chuckle. "We don't have time for this..."

When he looked back into her eyes and offered her that mischievous smile she knew so well, her features finally drained of humor.

"Loki, it's almost time..." she now said with a pleading note in her tone. "Now get dressed."

Leaning up to kiss his cheek, she watched as he discarded his smile to nod in approval. Stepping away from her and to the bed where Tyra had prepared his clothes, he donned the royal attire he had not worn ever since he had battled Thor at the Bifrost keep. Upon dressing he lightly sighed and turned to face the wooden figure which held his golden armor and moss green cape. Yet upon sighting Kara's reflection in the polished surface, he found himself unable to hold back from glancing her way.

The way she stood at the open doorway leading to his chambers' terrace – watching the sky over Asgard which was now painted in fiery shades of red and orange as the sun set – genuinely entranced him. The dark veil covering her chocolate strands, stretching down to her waist, emphasized her pale features; the dark blue dress rimmed with black flowed perfectly over her curves; the black and gold belt hugged her waist to compliment her slender figure; and somehow, he understood why his mother had taken the girl so close to her heart in such a short amount of time.

Perhaps she had seen what he was only now seeing for the first time... that Kara did look like a queen. And it pained him to know that he would never be able to offer her what she truly deserved; sure, he had offered her his heart... but that was nothing compared to what she should have received for being such a wonderful creature that she would manage to tie down the God of Mischief himself.

Ultimately he donned his armor as well, leaving only the helmet on the wooden stand, and heaved a long sigh. He still remembered how proud his mother had been when he had first stepped before her, wearing the golden attire... and how she had scolded Thor for making fun of his horned helm. Closing his eyes and clenching his jaw despite the bittersweet smile which had blossomed on his lips, he felt his throat tightening in that telltale knot which warned him of oncoming tears. What actually, visibly startled him was the feeling of Kara's hand slipping in his; and he turned to look at her, his emerald gaze glazed over.

"You know, it's alright to cry..." she said softly, reaching up to slide her thumb down his cheek. "She was your mother and I saw how much she loved you."

For a moment his eyes showed nothing but a mixture of awe and sorrow, whilst a shaky breath left his lips. But then without warning he reached to clasp her face in his hands before leaning down to press a kiss to her lips; as much as he hated to admit it, _he_ wasn't worthy of a woman like her. She deserved someone so much better than him... and yet she kept coming back, no matter what he did or said.

When he felt her hand trailing though his hair, he finally lost control over his emotions; wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled the young woman into a tight embrace, burying his face against her neck.

Though startled at first to see him breaking down like that, Kara returned his gesture by setting her arms around his neck and soothingly combing her fingers through his raven strands over and over.

"No one will think you're weak if you grieve for her... she is worth crying for." she whispered.

She had contemplated telling him of Frigga's last words, but it seemed to her now that it would only make him feel even worse knowing that in his mother's dying moments he had been the only thing on her mind... not his brother or his father. Perhaps one day he would be strong enough to bear that knowledge, but now was definitely not the time.

OoOoO

"Kara?"

Looking to Jane as the young scientist now ran down the hallway toward her and Loki, the female offered a brief smile. When Thor – who had been approaching them in not as much of a hurry as Jane – threw a stern glance to his brother, Kara looked up at the trickster and lightly squeezed his hand upon sighting the pointed look he was offering to Jane.

"What is it?" she asked softly, looking back to the scientist.

"We-well I..." she muttered, clearly distracted by the dark haired Æsir.

Sighing lightly Kara now reached up to grasp Loki's chin and turn his face to her.

"Can you please stop looking at her?" she chuckled.

When his lips curved into that mischievous smile, the young woman shot him a stern glance only to have him wrap an arm around her waist; yes, he was definitely about to offer some jesting retort... and he did not disappoint.

"Don't be jealous, dearest... you're far more attractive than she could ever dream to be." he replied, leaning down to kiss the side of her head.

"Is he always like this?" Jane asked, quite astounded.

"Always..." Kara smiled, rolling her eyes at his antics.

"How do you cope?"

With both Loki and Kara staring at her for a moment in the face of that unexpected question, the young agent finally burst into laughter.

"Well... it's not easy, trust me. At least you got the simpler brother."

_'Touché, love.'_ Loki chuckled in her mind, whilst Thor frowned in confusion.

_'That wasn't an insult, you incorrigible jester.'_ she retorted.

_'Oh, don't be modest...'_

Rolling her eyes again she reached up to lightly pinch Loki's cheek, earning a chuckle from him on that seductive velvety tone that always sent shivers of pleasure down her spine.

"He's just messing with my mind..." she replied in the face of Jane's weird expression.

Only when Jane's eyes went wide and she stared in shock at them did Kara realize how that must have sounded.

"Moving on..." she stated, clearing her throat and trying to ignore Loki's smug smirk.

OoOoO

Darkness had fallen over Asgard for a few hours, the pitch black sky painted with twinkling stars and – beyond the great waterfall, where the sky melted into space – with colorful wisps of cloud. All humor had abandoned the younger prince as he now stood just a few steps away from his father, using the cloak of darkness to mask the fact that he was holding Kara's hand. In all honesty, the warmth of her skin and the firm return of his grasp as their fingers laced together was the only thing holding him back from lashing out at Odin.

A few steps away from him, Thor was leaning against the stone rail and absentmindedly gazing out over the eerily calm water, with Jane at his side looking as if she didn't really know what to do to comfort him, that wouldn't seem inappropriate for such a moment. For all her intelligence when it came to science, Jane was about as much of a queen's image as a baby was ready to sit on the throne and rule. And again, Loki found himself utterly grateful and proud of his choice; if there was any woman alive who would have been able to take his mother's place as queen of Asgard without shaming herself or the husband she would rule alongside, it was Kara.

Deciding to not linger on that thought too much, lest he gave in to the urge of setting an arm about her shoulders and leaning to kiss her, he settled for briefly stroking her skin with his thumb whilst casting his emerald gaze over the black waters. Only when one of the guards approached Odin – who seemed petrified in his grief, as he neither moved nor spoke – and whispered something to him, did Loki's eyes get drawn to the Warriors Three standing at his father's other side and then Sif – no more than a few feet away – amidst the healers and his mother's handmaidens. And yet, in spite of the genuine sorrow on their expressions and the sincere tears in their eyes, the trickster found that he simply could not bring himself to mend his opinion of them.

His thoughts – as well as the murmurs rising above the crowd like a low-tone buzz – were quieted when Odin lightly hit the floor beneath his feet with Gungnir, the sound echoing over the mass of people gathered there, all the way to the Bifrost keep where it drew Heimdall's gaze away from the stars and toward the city in which all the lights had been put out that night.

It was in that deathly stillness that Loki finally noticed – no, he _sensed_ – the boat gliding in utter silence along the canal beneath them, the water itself seemingly moving the small vessel as gently as a woman rocking a child, pushing it out into the open. And in the wooden longboat, laid on a bed of wood and roses, was the only mother he had ever known.

Garbed in her most treasured dress, with a transparent veil covering her face and her sword laid in her grasp, she looked more peaceful and beautiful than he had ever seen her before; and his heart twisted painfully within him at the sight, and then his throat tightened and tears stung his eyes... and though she wasn't looking to him, Kara reassuringly squeezed his hand as if she had sensed the anguish trying to overtake him. And while it still pained him beyond words to see his mother lying there, he felt oddly at peace just knowing that he wasn't alone even if Frigga was gone... that alone was what gave him the strength to maintain his dignified stance and not crumble beneath the weight of his own sorrow.

As his mind glided along those thoughts much like the boat was gliding over the still waters as graceful as a swan, his gaze was drawn to the flaming arrow shot by one of the guards; and he watched the perfect arch along which it sliced the air before impaling itself in the oiled wood at the queen's feet, within moments turning the entire boat into a blazing pyre.

It was when the boat approached the waterfall that Odin – who had watched the scene unfolding until then in the same statuesque state – again hit the floor with his spear; and before everyone's eyes the queen's body turned to stardust, rising from its fiery grave to paint a new constellation in the skies above so that she would never truly be parted with the realm she had loved throughout her life.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Haha yeah I think we're much too fangirl-y to be able to talk seriously for too long, without inevitably slipping back into gushing about Tom/Luke/Loki/Bard/whoever else xD But I don't mind it, I'm so happy that I get to fangirl with you over anything and everything. And I'm also going to use this opportunity to let everyone else know that if anyone wants to fangirl over something with me... PM me darlings, I don't bite :3

But I'm so glad the second reading caused you just as much pain as the first one. As evil as it sounds, that just shows me that I did a good job of that chapter... so I regret nothing! :D

So I hope you enjoyed this one too, even if it's your first reading; hope it's not too crappy. Other than that, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year with everyone you hold dear :D

2\. **Uncontrollable-book-nerd** \- Aww I actually feel a bit sorry that the previous chapter caused you such great pain... kidding, I don't regret a thing xD

But joke aside, I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far. Hope to hear from you again soon and that you'll enjoy the next two arches of the story just as much. Have a wonderful Christmas, darling :D

3\. **bnoell14** \- I would have done all I could to avoid it, but I wanted to keep to the canon story line. And yes, one of my reasons to keep to that line was that I knew Frigga's death would only bring Loki even closer to Kara.

Sadly this chapter wasn't on a too happy note either, although I tried to lighten the mood a bit (hopefully not in an awkward way). So don't hesitate to tell me everything that goes through your mind ;)

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas darling, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

4\. **C.M. Gate** \- Aww thank you so much for the sweet review, darling. I'm so happy that you got so emotionally invested into the story that it brought tears to your eyes... because I'm evil and I enjoy making my readers cry :D

Joke aside, I'm really happy you enjoy the story and I hope to hear from you again soon, darling. Have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family :D

5\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- D'aww you guys spoil me with all these lovely reviews :3

But while I doubt it's the best Avengers story, I'm really glad you enjoyed it so far. I hope that you'll enjoy future chapters as well. Looking forward to hearing from you again soon, darling. Have a wonderful Christmas :D

6\. **cerilene ross** \- Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Darling you have left me utterly speechless... I cannot even begin to describe how I started gushing and hyperventilating while reading your review. I even showed it to my beta reader and we both sorta fangirled over it xD

Discovering Loki and - through Loki - Tom Hiddleston, has been such a wonderful experience for me because he is one of those actors that are born probably once a century. I strongly recommend that you try a couple of his other movies as well, I don't think you'll be disappointed and I sincerely hope it'll be as great of an experience for you as it was for me.

But back to the review... this is one of those reviews that I only got like once, maybe twice, since I joined this website and started uploading stories. It's one of those rare gems that will utterly humble me and leave me completely mind blown. I really don't even know what to say, because _thank you_ seems like so much less than what I should say to express my gratitude and the feelings that your review stirred in me. So I'll just blurt it out and hopefully it'll somehow come out okay xD

So first of all, based on what you said near the beginning, I do hope you enjoyed the Steve/Kara arc and that I managed to keep Steve in character. He was one of the hardest characters to write, aside from Loki himself, because he's just SO honest and good and pure that it's really hard to imagine it, and even harder to put it into words. Because I'm far from being perfect like Steve, so I had to empathize and connect with a character whose personality was hugely different from my own. But I set it as one of the challenges I wanted to do in the course of this story and I really hope he came out alright.

Secondly, yeah my rant about Kara being a bit Mary-Sue-ish stemmed only from my own paranoia that people wouldn't like her. Hence why I wrote that super long rant at the end of a chapter, explaining why she was created as she is and why I chose to intentionally make her walk that border line between a normal character and a Mary-Sue.

But really I'm so glad you enjoyed the story so far... and you cannot imagine how utterly humbled I am to hear that my amateur writing made you into a Loki fan. That's really something I never would have imagined possible. Really, _thank you_ is much too little to say for such a stunning compliment, but I really don't know what else to say, so thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your heartwarming words, darling.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, love, and that you have lots of fun with friends and family at this time of the year. And I hope to hear from you again soon :D

7\. **Moriah98** \- Yes that was a really hard part to write, actually... maybe even harder than killing off Kara's parents, because I love Frigga so much as a character: she's quite possibly the best female character I have EVER seen, so it killed me a little on the inside that I had to keep with the canon story line and let her die.

And I promise you'll get loads of Kara and Loki in the following chapters, though most of it will happen after the end of the movie-verse when I have another completely AU arc planned to describe what would happen after the end of _The Dark World_. And I'll give you a sneak peek... I already have a pregnancy planned for Kara. So look forward to that, darling~ ;)

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that Santa brings you all you asked for. And I hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

8\. **westernfemme** \- Well, in all honesty Kara was supposed to have some similarities to Frigga from the very beginning... mostly because I share your view that Loki would see Frigga as the epitome of a woman and queen. Hence, he would inevitably fall in love with a woman who sort of lives up to those expectations.

That's also why I became paranoid that Kara would seem too Mary-Sue-ish and that people wouldn't like her... because Frigga herself is a Mary-Sue as a character, there's no denying that no matter how much I love her character. She's just too perfect as a woman/mother/queen and I think that's actually the reason why she got so little screen time in the two _Thor _movies, probably so fans wouldn't get that Mary-Sue vibe from her.

And I wanted so much to have Kara somehow save Frigga, either directly or by stalling Malekith until Thor got there. But at the same time I knew that Frigga's death would only serve to bring Loki closer to Kara and to bring him closer to removing _all _the layers of masks and just be his own self with her for a change. So with great sorrow, I had to keep to the canon universe and let her die. As for Loki escaping with Kara... I'll keep you a bit longer in suspense... till next chapter xD

But thank you for another wonderful review, love. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

9\. **RebelStKyriel** \- Aww thank you so much for this lovely review, darling. And fret not, the following chapters will be back on track with movie scenes and all that. As for what Kara would do when Loki takes Odin's place... well, as I said in a reply above, I already have a full arc planned for after the end of the second _Thor _movie.

So the last scene in _The Dark World_, where Thor leaves Asgard to live on Earth with Jane and Loki reveals himself to be disguised as Odin, will not be the end of the story. My story will continue from that point with a full arc, which will also be the final arc of the story... till the sequel comes out, at least xD

But I'm so glad you enjoyed the story so far and props to you for reading so much in just two days. I can never do it like that, I need at least 4 days to re-read it all, so you're just awesome, darling. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	35. Entry 34

OMG OMG OMG OMG lovelies, it's been so long since I last updated, I have no excuse! Well actually I do, even though I don't like it... I had a few weeks of fighting through my writer's block, and then when I'd finally started working on the story again I've had some trouble with my computer who decided to break down on me. And because of that, I fell behind on my schedule working for my dissertation paper, so I had a load of catching up to do after I finally managed to get my computer fixed, aside from my usual homework stuff for college. So yes, life sucked for me these two months.

But I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAACK, darlings~

Did you miss me? I hope you did, I certainly missed you all :D

But enough ranting, I'm sure you'll be happy to see Loki again, and he can't wait to see you all. Just don't forget to leave us a little review, he's curious to know if I'm a writer worthy of his intellectual skills or if he should get someone else for the job ;)

But enjoy, lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #34**

_It was when the boat approached the waterfall that [...] the queen's body turned to stardust, rising from its fiery grave to paint a new constellation in the skies above so that she would never truly be parted with the realm she had loved throughout her life._

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 18, 2013_

"Are you alright?"

Startled, not so much by Kara's voice, but by her hand grasping his, Loki averted his emerald gaze from the gardens he had been staring blankly at, to see the concerned look on her face. That alone compelled him to wrap his slender fingers around hers and force a smile onto his lips.

"Please don't make that worried face, dearest. It most certainly does not suit you." he replied in an attempt at jesting, while his other hand came up to trail through her hair, relishing in the feel of its silky texture.

It had been arduous but he had managed to convince Kara to rest when they had arrived in his chambers after the funeral had ended, even though sleep did not find him that night. For some time he had simply sat on the bed, holding her hand and watching her; and for once, he found that his mind was blissfully empty of thought as he allowed himself to just get lost in the beauty of her peaceful expression. Normally he would have believed that something was wrong with him, had he found himself unable to think of anything, but that night he had been forced to admit that he had needed the break; that his mind was grateful for the reprise he had given it.

It was almost dawn when he had finally torn himself away from her side, to stand outside on the terrace in his attempt to finally set his thoughts in order after the insane spiral of events within the last two years of his life.

His first conclusion? To put it simply he felt... drained... like he had nothing left to live for, now that the entire life he had known ever since he could remember had been shattered into an infinity of shards, with no hope of ever being restored.

But now... now that Kara was standing next to him so gracefully wrapped in the black silk covers of his bed, her disheveled chocolate locks cascading along her bare shoulders in such a beautiful disorderly fashion, her sapphire eyes glimmering so hypnotically in the warm morning sunlight and her hand so perfectly tucked within his own... now he realized that his first conclusion had been oh so wrong.

She was his best reason to live; he couldn't tell when she had become one of the reasons for his existence, but he was certain that now she was the _only_ reason he had left.

"If I lose you..." he murmured, and only then realized that his hand had drifted to her cheek, his thumb trailing her rosy lips.

When her gaze gained a puzzled shade, he released her hand in favor of wrapping her in his arms and pressing his cheek to her head whilst he once more looked out over the lush gardens stretching beneath his chambers' terrace. Yes, if he lost her he dreaded to even imagine what he would be capable of.

OoOoO

"She's your prisoner now?"

Looking to his son when Thor's voice echoed in the half-destroyed throne room, Odin barely held back a sigh in the face of the Thunder God's angry expression.

"Leave us." Thor said.

With Fandral and Volstagg taking their leave along with the two commanders Odin had been taking council with, the Allfather descended the steps to stand on the same level with his son.

"I do not wish to fight with you."

"Nor I with you..." Thor replied. "But I intend to pursue Malekith."

"We possess the Aether; Malekith will come to us."

"Yes, and he will destroy us."

"You overestimate the power of these creatures."

"No, I value our people's lives!" Thor frowned.

How could his father not see that the idea of waiting for the Dark Elves to return was madness?

"I'll take Jane to the Dark World and draw the enemy away from Asgard." he continued, hoping to still make his father see reason. "When Malekith pulls the Aether from Jane, it will be exposed and vulnerable... and I will destroy it _and_ him."

Finally turning to face his son, the elder king sighed lightly.

"If you fail, you risk this weapon falling into the hands of our enemies."

"The risk is far greater if we do nothing. His ship could be over our heads right now, we'd never even know it."

"If and when he comes, his men will fall on ten thousand Asgardian blades."

"And how many of our men shall fall on theirs?"

"As many as are needed!" Odin bellowed, apparently having reached the end of his patience. "We will fight! Till the last Asgardian breath... to the last drop of Asgardian blood."

"Then how are you different from Malekith?" Thor asked, his tone riddled with disappointment.

"The difference, my son, is that I will win!" Odin laughed almost mockingly.

With the Allfather leaving the hall without another word, the blond Æsir was left to his own thoughts amidst the rubble of the once beautiful hall. Very well... if his father was too stubborn to see reason, he would take matters into his own hands.

OoOoO

Two hours later Loki was still standing on that balcony, with the young woman in front of him, her back pressed against his chest as he rested his arms around her, his chin having settled on top of her head. It was amazing – and he wondered if he would ever figure it out – how she instinctively knew exactly when to speak and when to keep silent... exactly when to refuse his whims and when to allow him any caprice... exactly when to be unyielding and when to submit to his will.

Even now, she seemed to have understood that he only needed her presence there and that he was still too troubled, and his thoughts were still too scattered, to uphold a lengthy conversation; so she had simply allowed him to hold her... and to Loki it was such a comforting thing to see just how natural and relaxing the silence between them felt. He had just closed his eyes to allow himself to delve into that soothing sensation of warmth that her body offered him, when a knock on his door – which he instinctively recognized as Thor's – made him clench his jaw in annoyance... how did that idiot always know when to ruin a good moment?

Reluctantly letting go of Kara, he sighed and went to answer while the female followed him with curiosity written all over her face. It actually annoyed him that she smiled at the sight of his brother; all he wanted was a few hours of peace and quiet to share with her... could he not have even that?

"What is it?" he asked after closing the door, determined to quickly finish with whatever the blond Æsir wanted.

"Father has Jane under guard and he will not listen to reason any longer. He'll sit by and wait until they return, to fight them."

When Loki opened his mouth to ask why that concerned him, of all people, Kara went ahead to speak and he was barely able to withhold a sigh; that was possibly one of the things he loved and hated the most about her... just how easily she could worry about others, and how little she cared about her own safety when other lives were involved.

"What happened? Is Jane alright?"

"She is fine..." Thor replied.

"So what do you want from me?" Loki finally asked.

"Loki, these enemies are unlike any we've ever faced... they could be over Asgard right now and we'd never even know it. If they return, they will destroy us; I don't want to see any more innocent lives lost for nothing."

Lightly rubbing his forehead, the Trickster finally set loose the sigh he'd been containing.

"Get to the point, Thor... you're not at all convincing like this."

"I want to take Jane off-world... Malekith wants the Aether; if we can draw him away from Asgard, onto a deserted world, and let him extract the Aether from Jane, I can destroy both of them. But father won't listen... he would rather sacrifice our entire army for nothing."

"I still don't see what you want from me."

"I need your help."

Ignoring the wide-eyed gaze that the dark haired Æsir cast at him, Thor stepped forward as though he wanted to grasp his brother's shoulder, as he always did, but seemed to reconsider halfway through.

"Loki, I can't do this alone... and you know paths to get out of Asgard without the Bifrost. Fandral and the others will help us get out of the palace, and Heimdall will keep father busy... but I need your help."

"And why should I help you?" Loki hissed, narrowing his eyes at the bulky male.

"I know you want vengeance for mother's death, as much as I do... you help me, and I will grant it to you... vengeance."

"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help." he finally chuckled. "What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't... mother did. You should know, that we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you; you betray me... and I _will_ kill you."

For the following minute Kara was left to cautiously look in between the two gods who were staring each other down so intensely that she could swear the tension was almost tangible. One look at Loki was enough for her to tell that he was analyzing the situation and most likely calculating each angle which could offer him an advantage; and then, to her surprise, he smiled.

"When do we start?"

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Hehe don't worry, love, you know I always find some way to bring them back together ;)

I hope you've been alright, darling, and I'm sorry we didn't get to talk recently as much as we usually do. I really miss talking to you, but life's a bitch sadly. But I hope you didn't forget too much from the story so far and that you enjoyed this chapter :D

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Oooh that's the perfect music to listen to when reading/writing sad scenes. I've been listening to certain pieces of the TDW soundtrack while writing most of this story, because they help me stay in a certain mood that I need for various scenes.

And I know... I didn't want to kill off Frigga, I wanted to let her live, but ultimately she had to die because her death served a great purpose, both in the movie and in my story. But I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed that scene, even if it was heart wrenching. Hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

3\. **Moriah98** \- Aww love, you're much too kind with your words. I'm so happy and so humbled with all the compliments you sprinkled on this review.

Now to reply to what you said, no worries I have great plans for that baby (*cue evil laughter*) and I'm against unnecessary deaths by nature xD

As for the Dark World arc, yes I already have all the post-TDW chapters planned out and mapped out, so no worries there either; the story's entirely sketched out, to the very last chapter (which will actually be the epilogue :P). And yesssss mwahahahaha Kara's going to be a hollow wreck, I can't wait to get to that scene xD

And don't worry, we'll be back on Midgard before the end of the story because I have big plans for what's going to happen down there. So I'll keep shifting between Asgard and Earth, because well... that's what Kara gets for wanting an alien prince as her lover ;)

Ahahahaha I was hoping the towel thing wasn't too awkward, I stuck that scene in the chapter in order to lighten the mood a bit, rather than let the entire chapter wallow in grief and sadness. Don't worry, steamy scenes will come again soon (no pun intended). Make sure you're ready for them xD

So thank you so, so, so much for this wonderful review, darling. I'm sorry for the long wait, but no worries, I'm back and I should be back to updating once every few days now :D

4\. **Sloane Raine** \- Here you go, darling. I'm so sorry I took so long to update, but I should be back on track now that I got my computer fixed and managed to catch up to my schedule again. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to hear from you again soon :D

5\. **Insanity runs through my vains** \- Darling I'm going to reply to all your reviews in one go, and first of all thank you for all of them, they're wonderful :)

As for Kara... I've already decided what to do with her by the end of the story, but I'm not going to spoil it. So she might live... she might die... who knows? You'll just have to keep reading and see what happens ;)

But really, I'm so glad you enjoy the story and I hope it will keep your entertained until the very end. Hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

6\. **Abby** \- Aww I hope you're alright and I'm so sorry I took so long to update and reply. But darling, you are amazing... I keep seeing people reading everything in one go and I keep thinking how amazing you all are. I need at least two days to read through the whole thing, so darling you're fantastic ;)

I'm so happy you enjoyed the story so far and I hope what I have in store for the final arc (after we're done with the Dark World) will be just as entertaining. And to be honest, I'm very excited as well about finishing this and getting to work on the sequel. This story has been such an amazing journey for me as an aspiring writer and Loki has proven to be a deliciously complicated challenge, which has really made me grow as an author and as a person.

I'm hoping that it's an equally wonderful journey for my readers as well, because I write it for you darlings. And I hope all of you will embark on the journey through the sequel as well, when that one will begin. But until then, we still have a good way to go for this journey, so sit back and enjoy it ;)

7\. **Stacey** \- I'm so sorry I kept you waiting so long, love, but I'm back now so expect updates way more often than this ;)

And really, you all spoil me with all your lovely reviews, darlings. I am so baffled by all the love everyone has poured onto this story. When I set out to write it, I only wanted to challenge myself as a writer, because Loki is possibly one of the most complicated and complex characters to write. But I never imagined how much people would love this story and how much they would enjoy this journey with me.

So thank you so much for your kind words, love, and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the ride until the very end. Hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

8\. **Cupcake46813** \- Aww I'm so happy to see you all excited to find out what happens next, darling. It always gets me all bubbly inside to see my readers enjoying my work so much.

So thank you for your excitement and for your lovely review, darling. I hope to hear from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	36. Entry 35

Alright, lovelies, as I promised I'm back so expect quick updates. I managed to catch up with all my schoolwork - and even do some in advance - so that means I have more free time for a while.

Now I have just one small note to make before I let you get on with reading. I'll be uploading two chapters today, just because I want to be done with the whole Malekith arc already. So my replies to your reviews, darlings, will be at the end of the next chapter ;)

Now enjoy, lovelies~

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #35**

_"When do we start?"_

oOo

_**Location: **__Asgard / Unknown, Svartalfheim_

_**Date: **__September 18 / 19, 2013_

The following couple of hours were a blur for the most part, as far as Kara was concerned. But at least the plan had worked perfectly; Sif had gotten Jane away from her guards and then she and Volstagg had gotten to stall the soldiers sent when Odin realized what was going on.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing."

Loki's voice was what fully brought Kara back to reality and for a moment she even forgot they were on the abandoned ship that the Elves had crashed into the throne room. Outside she could hear soldiers fighting Volstagg, trying to come aboard and apprehend all of them, and she dreaded to imagine what Odin would do to them if they were caught.

"I said: _How hard can it be?_" Thor retorted while trying to figure out which controls activated the vessel.

"Well whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki."

Rolling his eyes, the dark haired Æsir approached the console to examine the controls himself and figure out how to get them the heck out of there.

"You must have missed something."

"No, I didn't." Thor replied in annoyance. "I'm pressing every button on this thing!"

"No, don't hit it. Just press it... gently."

"I am pressing it gently!" the blond Æsir scowled, slamming his hands down onto the console. "It's not working."

Much to Kara's relief, however, something he did must have worked because the ship suddenly powered up and turned around with Thor steering it.

"I think you missed a column..." Loki sighed.

"Shut up!"

"Look, why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot."

"Is that so? Well, out of the two of us... which one can actually fly?" Thor retorted in jest.

Ignoring Loki's annoyed sigh, Kara merely smiled and exchanged a knowing glance with Jane; it really was good to see them getting along again, like brothers were supposed to.

"I can..." Kara replied in the end. "So maybe I should take over."

With both brothers looking at her and then at each other, Loki was the first to notice Jane falling to the floor.

"Oh, dear." he said on a mock-intrigued tone. "Is she dead?"

"Jane?" Thor perked up while Kara rushed to her side, placing the woman's head on her lap.

"I'm okay..." the young scientist replied softly.

Exchanging a concerned glance with Kara, the blond Æsir then returned his full focus on steering the ship away from the artillery which was now trying to shoot them down.

"Now they're following us." Loki suddenly said, just before one of the energy beams hit the ship, nearly making both him and Thor trip on their own feet. "Now they're firing at us!"

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki... it's not at all distracting!" Thor retorted in sarcasm.

"You know, this is wonderful... this is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that! Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us... it's brilliant, Thor. It's truly brilliant!"

The dark haired Æsir's angry rant was suddenly cut off, however, when Thor pushed him through an opening in the side of the ship, his shout echoing around them for a few moments.

"What... Thor!"

"Don't worry, he's safe..." the Thunder God replied in the face of Kara's horrified expression. "Fandral's been following us in a smaller ship."

"You... you're just... Jesus, Thor!" she spat, trying to calm down her racing heart.

However, she was unable to fully conceal a smile when he grinned at her, clearly satisfied that not even Loki had seen through his plan. Setting the ship on autopilot, he then walked over to Kara and retrieved Jane.

"Come on..." he said, beckoning her to follow. "Hold on to me."

Doing as she was told, the young woman felt a scream instinctively leave her throat when the blond Æsir jumped from the ship, her eyes shutting tightly until she felt a jolt through her body bringing her stomach into her throat, when Thor landed into the small ship Fandral and Loki were now on.

"You lied to me..." Loki said while regaining his bearings. "I'm impressed..."

His voice was cut off again when Kara gained his attention by latching onto him.

"Oh, thank God..." she whispered with a relieved sigh.

Doing his best to hold back a smile at the sight of his brother's expression softening while he leaned to press a kiss to the young woman's cheek as she clung onto his neck – despite being unable to embrace her in return due to having his hands tied – Thor set Jane down to rest.

"I'm glad you're pleased." he finally retorted. "Now do as you promised... take us to your secret pathway."

With Fandral moving away from the steering rod of the ship to let Loki take over, Kara now walked back to Thor and settled next to Jane. They were forced to lose the swordsman on the way, however, when one of the small vessels noticed them; but in the end Loki managed to steer their ship toward what looked like a tiny crack in a nearby mountain.

"Loki..." Thor called out, realizing that his brother actually meant to go through that.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it." the Trickster replied.

"Are you mad?"

"Possibly!" he grinned.

Rushing to the two females, the Thunder God wrapped his arms around both of them to shield them with his body, while the vessel now trembled from its hinges as Loki steered it while trying to not crash into the walls surrounding them on both sides. Finally, the air around them turned to energy and Kara was suddenly plunged into darkness when they emerged onto Svartalfheim.

"What is this place?" she asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the desolation around them.

Glancing at the remnants of Elvish and Asgardian ships which protruded out of the black desert surrounding them from all sides, Thor finally spoke up.

"This is where our grandfather defeated the Dark Elves, a long time ago."

OoOoO

How long had it been since they were now gliding calmly through the still air? Kara had no idea... minutes... hours... days? Time seemed to be stuck in a perpetual solar eclipse and there was no wind up there; everything was still, as though this world knew only the rule of death.

"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins." Loki sighed, watching as Thor placed a blanket on Jane to keep her warm.

"It would consume you." Thor replied, seating himself a few feet away from his brother.

"She's holding up alright... for now."

"She's strong in ways you'd never even know."

"Say goodbye."

"Not this day."

"This day, the next, a hundred years... it's nothing! It's a heartbeat; you'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you..."

Looking to Loki with the intention of scolding him for those words, Kara was silenced by the expression on his face; was he... talking about himself? Granted, perhaps no one else had a better understanding of what Thor would one day go through, than Loki who had also taken a mortal as his woman.

"And will that satisfy you?" Thor retorted, although he too seemed a bit taken aback by Loki's expression when he looked up.

"Satisfaction's not in my nature."

"Surrender's not in mine."

Apparently swallowing the sorrow he had allowed to slip by his defenses, Loki now smiled sarcastically.

"Son of Odin..." he whispered mockingly.

"No, not just of Odin!" Thor frowned, standing and turning to Loki. "You think you alone were loved of mother? You had her tricks but I had her trust!"

"Trust?" Loki growled. "Was that her last expression? Trust?! When you let her die?"

"What help were you in your cell?"

"Who put me there? Who put me there?!" Loki bellowed.

Finally losing his patience, Thor lunged at him with his fist raised.

"You know damn well! You know damn well who!"

What stopped him from actually hitting Loki was the sensation of Kara's arms wrapping around his and her attempt to pull him away.

"Enough... enough, both of you!" she yelled, stepping in between them the moment Thor leaned back.

Lowering his arm when the frightened expression on her face made his heart cringe, the blond Æsir let loose a long, angry sigh.

"Mother wouldn't want us to fight." he said.

"Well she wouldn't exactly be shocked." Loki retorted, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Unable to hold back a bitter smile, Thor stepped back and shook his head.

"I wish I could trust you..."

While he went to sit back down next to Jane, the dark haired Æsir straightened his posture while humor drained from his pale features.

"Trust my rage." he said on a half-whispered tone.

When Thor failed to reply, Kara now turned to face the Trickster and lightly pushed against his chest.

"Alright, enough out of you, mister." she stated in jest.

Lowering his emerald gaze to her, he merely smiled and allowed her to do as she pleased; oh yes, he knew exactly what she was doing... she was trying to distract him from the pain, to not let him think about his mother's death anymore. Oh, what a wonderful woman he had chosen for himself. Sitting down, he then reached out to grasp her hand when she tried to step away, and his gaze alone was enough to make her understand that he wanted her to sit with him.

"Everything will be alright... you'll see..." she said softly, leaning to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss his cheek.

A momentary giggle left her when he turned his head so that her lips collided with his own, rather than his cheek, and she leaned back only to have him press his forehead to hers.

"Oh, I don't doubt that, dearest." he replied with a relieved sigh, closing his eyes.

In the silence that followed, Kara merely watched him; seeing him this close she could now so easily tell that he was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"Be safe..." she whispered, briefly pecking his lips.

When he opened his eyes and shot her a puzzled glance, she only smiled reassuringly and shook her head. Yes, she could see that he was so tired... and so emotionally drained... and she so feared the moment when Malekith would finally find them.

OoOoO

It was a good while later that Kara finally spotted what looked like a working Elvish ship, apparently waiting for them. Landing their vessel at the cover of the steep cliffs surrounding the plain where Malekith and a few of his men had now descended, Kara and Loki moved ahead to examine the situation while Thor helped Jane behind them.

"You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed." Loki said, as they both stood on the edge where Malekith could easily see them, while Kara was crouched next to Jane in between them.

"Yes, possibly." Thor agreed.

Turning to the blond Æsir, Loki now held out his hands, waiting for Thor to take off his cuffs.

"You still don't trust me, brother?" he asked when the Thunder God hesitated.

"Would you?" he retorted with a faint smile.

Ultimately, however, he did remove Loki's shackles only to have the younger prince retrieve his dagger and stab him.

"No, I wouldn't..." he replied, prior to pushing Thor to roll downhill.

With Jane rushing after him, Kara was left to stare in shock at Loki.

"What are you doing? Have you lost it?" she called out, when the Trickster followed the young scientist.

"No!" Jane yelled, when he rushed past her to reach Thor who was now grunting on the ground below.

"Jane, don't! He'll kill you!" Kara called out, running after her and grabbing the young woman to hold her back.

Inwardly grateful that Kara was out of earshot – unlike Malekith – the dark haired Æsir now approached his brother.

"You really think I cared about Frigga? About any of you? All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

When Thor reached out to summon Mjölnir, Kara was startled by his painful shout and was left to stare in shock upon realizing Loki had just sliced his hand off.

"No, no! Stay here, Jane!" she ordered when the young scientist struggled in her grasp.

Ultimately failing to hold her back, she rushed after Jane and reached her just when Loki had grabbed her, dragging the woman away from Thor and throwing her at Malekith's feet.

"Malekith!" he called out. "I am Loki of Jötunheim and I bring you a gift! All I ask in return is a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!"

"Jane!"

Grabbing Kara to hold her back when she tried to rush past him, Loki now silently watched as Malekith approached Thor.

_'Patience, dearest...'_

Looking up at him when his voice echoing in her head nearly made her scream in fright, Kara was now left to her confusion; was he acting? But she had seen him cut off Thor's hand...

"Look at me."

Malekith's voice interrupted her train of thought before she could analyze the situation properly, and she watched as Malekith extracted the Aether from Jane, any struggle she tried to put up against Loki's hold proving to be futile in the face of his sheer physical strength. And then... she didn't even realize what happened; she heard Thor calling out to Loki, then she was dragged to the side and thrown to the ground over Jane... and when she looked up, Thor was on his feet, unharmed, trying to destroy the Aether with his hammer, while Loki was shielding both her and Jane with his own body.

_'You're a great actress, love...'_

Biting back the urge to laugh at his retort, when she finally understood that everything had been something he and Thor had likely planned out in private, she was left to watch as the Aether – overcharging from the lightning shooting out of Mjölnir – finally crystallized and exploded. Their joy was short lived, however, when Malekith merely re-summoned the Aether to him, unimpressed with the earlier display of power, and ultimately merged with it.

While he left aboard his ship, the few soldiers who had accompanied him on the surface of the planet stayed behind to deal with the two Æsir. In the ensuing fight Kara was left to take care of Jane; while Thor handled Algrim in typical Thor-fashion, she was mesmerized by just how gracefully Loki was handling the five Elves who had surrounded him. Even armed with only a dagger, he was just as precise and just as deadly as a snake, but moving as gracefully and as easily as a feline.

When one of the Elves snuck up on them, however, she lost sight of Loki as she had to now focus on taking down her own opponent; by the time she glanced around again, the Trickster was nowhere to be seen, only the dead Elves remained scattered nearby.

"Kara..."

Looking to Jane when the young woman grasped her arm and spoke on that shaky tone, Kara followed her gaze until she finally sighted the hulking beast mercilessly beating a downed Thor, and Loki sneaking up behind Algrim to impale him with something that she couldn't make out as a definitive form... all she could tell for sure was that it had a sharp tip.

And then, even as she opened her mouth to tell Jane to stay there while she went over to help the two Æsir, she heard Thor's bellow and turned around to the sight of Algrim having apparently just grabbed onto Loki... so then why was Thor yelling on that heart shattering tone which sent chills down her spine? Loki could surely get out of that pinch easily enough, he was a wonderful fighter. But then the beast released the dark haired prince and threw him to the ground, and Loki didn't get up again, only holding his stomach; and the sudden dread which washed over her out of nowhere, took away her breath and hit her in the chest with the very force of a blast from Mjölnir. And yet her brain still couldn't grasp onto the situation enough to let her snap out of that weird stupor and understand what the hell had happened exactly.

But when Thor scrambled to Loki's side, while Algrim was consumed in one of his own black hole grenades, her body seemed to gain a mind of its own and she felt her legs moving; one step... then another... and another... and soon she was running toward the two males as though her very life depended on it. She could faintly hear Jane's calls to wait for her, but nothing registered in her mind except for the fear... that terrible, horrible fear which was gradually overtaking her, blurring her vision with tears even if she didn't even know yet why she felt like crying.

Just before reaching them, the treacherous land decided to get in her way, causing her to trip onto a rock hidden in the soil; with the thud briefly drawing Thor's attention to her, the blond Æsir felt his heart sinking to the very pits of his stomach as he watched her scrambling over to them without even bothering to get up anymore.

"Wha... Loki..."

The gaze she offered Thor – a piercing mixture of terror and pleading – rendered him unable to contain his tears, which he had barely gotten a grasp on. Her weak gasp when he averted his gaze, even as he still held Loki in his arms, sent such a shock through him that he could swear he heard her heart shattering into a million shards.

Having lowered her eyes back to the dark haired Æsir by then, Kara found herself utterly stunned. And then her stomach clenched as though she was going to throw up, making her instinctively cover her mouth... then her throat tightened until she could barely even draw air anymore and his face became a blur just before she felt the warm drops trailing along her cheeks.

"No..." she whispered against the back of her hand. "Please... please don't... please..."

But he wasn't moving... why wasn't he moving? Why? Why wasn't he breathing? Why wasn't he...?

The only thing that got her to move from where she was seemingly frozen in place was when Thor set his brother back onto the ground. He'd barely released Loki when the young woman wrapped his lifeless in her arms, her trembling hand caressing his cheek while around them the winds picked up predicting a violent storm, and echoing her desperate plea for no one to hear.

"Don't leave me alone..."


	37. Entry 36

Soooooo darlings, here's the second chapter I promised you today. And gosh, it was such torture having to write this one, because I just couldn't bring myself to care **AT ALL** about Malekith and his goal. Malekith was such a weak and empty villain, that the moment Loki was out of the picture, I just didn't care about the climax of the movie. And it's so hard to write a scene, when you can't put any feelings into it because it just doesn't stir any feelings in you.

So I must apologize if this chapter (and possibly the previous one) seem less good than what I got you guys used to in the course of this story. I tried my best, I wracked my brain for hours to find ways to improve it, and this is the end result... I literally could not find any way to make it better than it is in its current form. If I could avoid it, I wouldn't have even uploaded this chapter - yes, I am **THAT** ashamed of its crappy quality - but I had to somehow get through the climax of the movie, because it is inevitably linked into the story.

But starting next chapter, we go on to the final arc in this story, so look forward to good writing again ;)

Don't forget to leave me a little review and tell me how disappointed you were with these two chapters xD

Now enjoy, darlings~ (as much as you can enjoy it)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #36**

_"Don't leave me alone..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__Unknown, Svartalfheim / Greenwich, U.K._

_**Date: **__September 19, 2013_

So guilty... Thor felt so guilty when he looked over to Jane's teary expression, knowing that he still had his loved one with him. And each whispered plea mingled with sobs, that he could hear from Kara as she now cried with her face hidden against Loki's neck, felt like a nail being hammered into his very soul. No matter how he gritted his teeth, or clenched his fists, he couldn't get a grip on his tears because of that; she didn't deserve this... she was such a kind and caring woman, and fate had somehow decided that she had to endure so much pain and grief for it.

Raising his blurry gaze to the dark sky, in an attempt to get a hold of himself, he could only hope that Loki was now reunited with their mother somewhere. Ultimately he moved to his feet and retrieved Mjölnir... they had to find some shelter before the storm caught up with them, but how could he bring himself to tear Kara away from his brother? But he had to; he couldn't just leave her there.

"Kara... we must go..." he said as gently as he could, reaching out to set a hand onto her shoulder.

To his great surprise, she put up no shred of resistance when he grasped her arms and pulled her to her feet; but when she raised her head, the Thunder God felt his very core cringing at the sight of her empty gaze and the dark marks on her face – where the dust had turned black upon mixing with her tears – that made her look like a hollowed specter, rather than a human being. Glancing to Jane's expression which conveyed the scientist's own awe and concern, he then wrapped an arm around the young agent's shoulders and gently nudged her to walk with him.

By the time they finally found a cave to take shelter in, the storm had caught up with them and Jane was now clinging to Thor as he was the only one sturdy enough to not be knocked down by the powerful winds swirling around them, while the Æsir kept a tight grasp on Kara as the chocolate haired female seemed to have given up any form of will or awareness. But ultimately he managed to lead both women into the cave where he set Kara to sit while Jane rushed to her side.

"He's going to unleash it..." she finally said, while using her dress to wipe Kara's face clean. "Not just on Asgard or on a star... Malekith is going to destroy everything."

"How?" Thor perked up. "Jane, how?"

"I saw him on Earth... why would he go to Earth?"

"The Convergence..."

"None of this would have happened if I hadn't found the Aether."

"It's not your fault, Jane..." Kara finally stated, startling both her and the blond Æsir.

"Oh my God, are you alright?"

Nodding in the face of the young scientist's concern, Kara merely used the wall as leverage to drag herself to her feet.

"I'm fine..."

Damn it, even her tone sounded weird, but she couldn't let the others see that all she wanted was to go back to where they had left Loki, lie down next to him and die. What's more, she had to inform S.H.I.E.L.D. somehow about this new threat toward Earth. With Thor now attempting to soothe Jane's worries, Kara turned her back to them with the intention of moving closer to the cave's entrance for some air, when the sound of music nearly startled her out of her boots.

"It's not me..." Thor said in the face of Jane's weird expression.

"Isn't that your ringtone, Jane?" Kara asked, trying to recall why she even knew that song to begin with.

Ultimately the female realized that the reason she was even getting service there was because another portal had opened toward Earth, and surely enough the trio soon ended up back in London, at the abandoned warehouse where Jane had first gone to investigate that phenomenon.

"I'm going to see Nick and let him know what's going on." Kara said once they were out in the chilly night air. "Jane, call me when you know where he's gonna be."

"Alright, but... are you sure you're okay?"

"No..." she sighed. "But right now we have more important things to worry about, than my broken heart. Just call me when you have any information."

Without waiting for another reply, she took a deep breath to settle down her mind and shot up into the starry sky, once again taking out her phone and dialing a particular number.

_"Good evening, Miss Taylor."_

"J, I need to talk to Fury... now. I don't have time to get to the Helicarrier, just patch me through, please."

_"Right away."_

A few moments of silence followed until the familiar voice at the other end of the line nearly made her lose the frail grasp she had on her tears.

_"How the hell could you vanish like that, without a word? Do you know how worried I was?"_

"Nick, we have bigger problems right now..."

_"Loki again?"_

A shaky breath left her at the mention of that name, but she clenched her jaw and quickly regained her wits.

"It's not him... it's something else..."

_"Where are you?"_

"Somewhere above London."

With silence following her words for a few moments, the young woman halted in midair realizing what Fury was trying to do.

_"I got you on radar... we're about 50 kilometers south of you. Now get in here; I expect a detailed report."_

"Got it, boss..." she retorted, unable to fully withhold a smile.

OoOoO

It was already morning by the time Kara had finished explaining what she knew so far about Malekith and the Convergence. Jane had also called her while she was in Fury's office, to let her know that whatever Malekith was planning would happen at Greenwich. And where was she now...?

Now she was angrily storming off toward the nearest exit, with Fury in tow; to think those idiots in the Council had actually denied Fury's request to offer any aid to Thor. How could they not understand the gravity of the events to come?

"Kara, it's out of our hands."

"Forget it, Nick... if they're too stupid to see that the end of the world is coming, I'm going to help Thor and Jane myself."

"Kara!"

Suddenly stopping in her stride and turning to face him, the young woman scowled.

"Will you let me go, or do I have to resign?"

When the Director heaved a sigh and lowered his face into his hands, she knew she'd already won that battle.

"I'll see if I can alert the British Government in time." he finally replied. "Be careful..."

"I will."

Without another word she once again left the Helicarrier; by the time she flew over Greenwich, however, it seemed Malekith had already arrived. He and Thor were battling – or at least trying to, given that the effects of the Convergence which was unfolding before her very eyes caused too many special distortions around them. While she was still assessing the situation, two airplanes from the Royal Air Force whizzed past her, but the missiles they fired at Malekith's ship got sucked into the large portal which now connected Earth to Vanaheim, and soon the planes too disappeared through it.

"So much for the British Government..." she sighed.

Once more she glanced over the battlefield; how? How could she help Thor, when she didn't even know where he was anymore? Ultimately she decided that staying off the ground wasn't the best tactic, thus she moved to land near the ship.

"Kara!"

Recognizing Jane's voice, the young agent glanced around until she spotted the female scientist along with Erik, taking cover in between the columns of the library nearby.

"Oh, thank God you're here... is S.H.I.E.L.D. here? I need some equipment..."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't coming..." Kara replied, seeing Jane deflate at her words. "The Council refused to get involved in this. All Nick could do was notify the Government, but his hands are tied."

"Well that's just great! I need them just _once _and they're nowhere to be found." Jane frowned.

"Can't argue with you there... but I'm here, and I'll help you as much as I can. Just tell me what you need."

"Well unless you can conjure some equipment out of thin air, I don't know if there's much you can do. I don't even know where Thor is anymore, with all these portals that keep opening up all over the place..."

Looking to Erik who had been about to talk, she shook her head.

"No, it's not because of the ones I opened... these have to be natural portals that appear during the Convergence."

With two Elves rushing at the trio, ready to fire, Kara moved to face them in combat only to be startled out of her skin when what looked like a steel bullet whizzed past her, knocking the masked warriors away in the process.

"Was that Mjölnir?" she asked in the wake of Jane's surprised yell.

Glancing around in the hopes of spotting Thor anywhere nearby, she ushered the two scientists away from the scene as more and more Elves flooded the area to surround them.

"Get to shelter... I'll try to find Thor."

Upon getting out in the open, however, her focus was drawn to a lone figure walking toward the ship. Realizing it was Malekith, and looking up to see the portals to the other realms coming together above them, she rushed after him only to come to a very abrupt halt when Thor suddenly crossed her path, causing her collide with him from behind.

"Damn it, Thor..." she complained, rubbing her nose.

"Are you hurt?" he replied, reaching down and grabbing her hand to pull her up.

"I'm okay... you almost broke my nose."

"Thor! We're too late..."

Looking to Jane upon hearing her voice, the young agent lightly shook her head to clear off the faint dizziness left in the wake of her latest not-so-pleasant encounter with the Thunder God.

"The Convergence is at its peak." Erik agreed.

"Can those things stop him?" Thor asked, glancing to the gravimetrical rods in Erik's arms.

"We can't get close enough."

Retrieving the rods, the blond Æsir nodded.

"I can... Kara, will you look after them?"

With Malekith having released the Aether which now engulfed the ship in a crimson vortex, gradually extending its tendrils into all the other realms, Thor rushed right into the storm while the young agent now stood in between the two scientists and the madness before them, acting as a shield.

"Be safe..." she whispered in his wake, her expression conveying her concern for the Thunder God.

It took a bit, but finally Thor sighted the Dark Elf leader amidst the raging energy whirlwind surrounding them.

"Malekith!"

"Darkness returns, Asgardian. Have you come to witness the end of your universe?"

"I've come to accept your surrender."

His first attempt to throw one of the rods at Malekith ended when the Elf grabbed it in midair, only to have his forearm disappear when Jane activated the gear and opened a portal. The second rod impaled Malekith's left shoulder, taking his entire arm with it.

"You think you can stop this?" he growled. "The Aether cannot be destroyed."

"But you can." Thor retorted.

Summoning Mjölnir, he lunged at Malekith and hammered the last rod into the Elf's chest, pinning him to the side of his ship just before a portal engulfed him entirely, along with part of the vessel. With him gone, the Aether also vanished and the energy died out leaving behind an unconscious Thor.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__London, U.K. / the Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 21 / 22, 2013_

"Thor..."

Almost visibly cringing at the hollowed tone in her voice, the blond Æsir turned to see Kara approaching him as he stood on the balcony of Jane's house, looking out over the city.

"Are you well?" he asked.

"Everybody keeps asking that... I'm grateful for all the concern, but how can I ever be well without him?"

When he set an arm around her shoulders, drawing her attention to him, she forced a smile on her lips; everyone had done all in their power throughout those days to get her in better spirits, and she truly appreciated all the care they showed her.

"You look good in Midgardian clothes." she said, trying to divert the subject before he got the idea of talking about Loki again.

His amused huff was the only response she got, and the following minutes both of them just stood there in silence, watching the darkening evening sky.

"So what will you do now?" she finally asked.

"I have to go speak to father; all I want is to stay here... it's weird how losing people you love can put things into perspective. But I know that the life I want is here, not on Asgard."

"Can I come with you?"

Looking to the young woman at that inquiry, the Thunder God frowned in confusion.

"I want to see the place Loki called home... one last time..."

OoOoO

"Welcome home, my prince."

Offering a brief smile to the Gatekeeper, Thor then led Kara out of the Bifrost keep and ultimately to the palace.

"Do you wish to rest while I speak to father?"

"I'll go with you... you shouldn't be alone when telling him that his son is dead."

Nodding lightly with a warm smile, Thor beckoned her to follow; now that he was back, the atmosphere in the palace felt so heavy and suffocating. And the memories of his mother and brother were so ingrained into the very walls, that with each corner he turned as he led the way to the throne room, he expected to see them walking down the corridor. That was another reason why he knew he could not endure to live in that place any longer... he would lose his sanity there.

Upon entering the throne room, the elder king raised his gaze to them; and it took all Loki had to maintain his composure, as he sighted the young woman walking behind his brother, lest his magic backfired and exposed him.

"Father, I bring grave news..."

"I know about Loki..." the fake Allfather replied, and to his credit his tone sounded genuinely mourning. "But I am happy to see you alive and unharmed."

With Thor placing a knee to the floor, while Kara stood silently to the side, Odin now went silent while the Thunder God told him everything that had happened on Svartalfheim and on Midgard, before speaking again.

"You said there would never be a wiser king than me. You were wrong... the Alignment has brought all the realms together. All of them saw you ready to offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new king in return?"

"My life..." Thor replied, moving to stand. "Father, I cannot be king of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice... it changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great king."

"Is this my son I hear... or the woman he loves?"

"When you speak, do I never hear mother's voice?"

When Odin sighed and lowered his gaze whilst seating himself on the throne, Thor spoke again.

"This is not for Jane, father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now forbid me to see her, or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing."

"One son who wanted the throne too much... another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?"

"Loki died with honor; I shall try to live the same... is that not legacy enough?"

When he extended his arm to offer Mjölnir back to his father, the elder king shook his head.

"It belongs to you... if you are worthy of it."

"I shall try to be."

"I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune."

"I know."

"If I were proud of the man my son had become... even that I could not say. It would speak only from my heart. Go... my son."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **SuperNaturalxxFreak** \- Oooh I'm so glad to hear you might be getting back into writing as well. I'm always excited to read what you come up with, so I'm totally looking forward to that.

As for talking, to be honest I haven't even checked my email in a while; I imagine I'll have a few hundred messages clogging my inbox (sounds like fun, right? xD). But I'll get to emptying it these days and hopefully we can have a long chat, I really miss talking to you, love.

2\. **Moriah98** \- Aww no worries, nothing too bad happened, darling. I missed all of my lovely readers too :)

Hehehe Loki is very happy to hear you miss him and Kara, and he promises you'll get more of them in the next chapters ;)

I just hope you weren't too disappointed with the low quality in these two chapters, but that's the problem with fanfiction - you can only write as much as you care about the characters in your story... and I just couldn't care about Malekith no matter how much I tried. Even though he was supposed to be the villain in this movie, he was so bland and had no reasoning behind his actions, that Loki naturally fell into place as the main antagonist once again.

In turn, that also made me unable to write Loki's "death" as well as I could have written it; because it's so hard to switch properly between a character you don't give a damn about, and one you absolutely love and enjoy writing. So I apologize again for the crappy quality, but I promise the next chapters are much better written :D

3\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Yes, she did make a deal with Odin, but she also did flee Asgard with Loki and the others, so Odin can't really punish her... at least not yet :P And if you recall the end of the movie, in the very last scene we get Loki in Odin's place, in disguise, so I think it's safe to assume that there's no threat on her life in that regard ;)

4\. **Guest** \- Haha well he IS Loki... he is a manipulative bastard more often than not. And he uses everyone, why would Kara be anything special? ;P

But joke aside, we all know Loki is arrogant and a tad on the selfish side; this story is meant to show the journey he undertakes to mature as well, it's not just Kara's journey. So don't worry, he'll sort of... grow out of it eventually - at least where Kara is concerned.

5\. **Guest** \- I'm guessing you're the same person who I replied to above, but I won't assume, so you get your own reply. Uhmmm... I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to... there's a lot of hypocrisy in that chapter xD

A bit of expansion on your review would help, but still I'm glad you took the time to read so far and review. Hope to hear from you again soon :D

6\. **Uncontrollable-book-nerd** \- Aww I wish I had some way to change that, because I hated that scene even if I knew that in the end Loki doesn't really die... but knowing that, changing that scene seemed a bit pointless. So I decided to leave it as it was in the movie (well, with the obvious required changes to include Kara).

But I'm so happy to see familiar faces again, I've really missed talking to everyone. So thank you for the review and for your excitement, darling, it got me all bubbly inside :D

7\. **Miss Pibbles** \- Thank you so much for the kind words, darling. I hope you'll enjoy the zig-zagging story I wrote so far. If you have the time, I would love to hear what you think of it; also if you have any questions or anything seems a bit unclear in the course of the story, you're very welcome to ask, I'll gladly reply :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	38. Entry 37

Wow, only two reviews in a whole week? Well, I expected you to hate those previous chapters, darlings, so I won't complain about the small number of reviews. Hopefully you'll all enjoy this chapter and the future ones a lot more, since they're written with much more heart than the previous two.

So I won't rant any longer, I'll just remind you to toss me a little review; I feed on them and they're delicious :D

Now enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #37**

_"Go... my son..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 22 / 23, 2013_

"Thank you, father."

Holding back the grateful smile he had first intended to offer the elder king, the blond Æsir then turned his azure gaze to Kara. Instantly he was reminded of the reason for which he had avoided gazing upon her for too long, those days; the utterly hollowed gaze in her eyes – no matter what expression she had on her face – offering but a glimpse of the broken soul underneath, made him feel so guilty for being alive... more, it made him feel guilty that Loki had died to save his life.

"Come, Kara..." he called gently.

The one eyed figure did lean forward once the two prepared to depart.

"My son, she cannot leave with you. She must remain in Asgard."

It was all that the male said as of that moment, his dignified posture unbroken. Just as Odin was capable of it, so was Loki able to replicate that cool, composed gaze; still, there would always be wickedness in his spirit. The trickery was nowhere near over – the game was absolutely just beginning. Even though Kara appeared so tired and distraught, he would test her but one more time. The man's words now caused both the Thunder God and the young female to look up at him in bewilderment, the blond Æsir lowering his arm as he had reached for Kara.

"Father... I do not understand. She belongs in Midgard. I brought her here only because she asked to see Asgard one last time."

"You must surely recognize the implications of recent events; the death of Frigga and that of your brother, as well as your exit from the line to the throne. I must take a new wife to bear at least one heir for Asgard, else it will fall at my end, my son."

Understandably, if the whole thing were true, the Allfather would have indeed had no other choice. Asgard would have had to stand in these dark times, even if someone had to make a sacrifice.

"What?"

Even Thor was nearly startled to hear her voice as she breathed out that shocked word. Setting a hand onto her shoulder, he now looked from her stunned expression back to the king.

"Father... why her? She's mortal... why would you not choose one of the women of Asgard? I am certain none would refuse to take the throne at your side."

Just what in all nine realms had come over his father, to claim his own son's woman?

"She is in the possession of skills that would greatly benefit the next generation. Even if she is mortal, inheriting her abilities would potentially offset her humanity and birth offspring stronger than I." he stated.

Yes, it was as heartless as Loki knew that Odin could be; for the good of Asgard, its king would have had no problem with raping Kara and holding her against her will until she gave birth. If she could indeed present Odin with a boy that was worthy of the throne, he would probably have kept her to sire more descendants.

"Father, what you're saying is madness... Kara was my brother's woman!"

He had never known his father could be so ruthless; had his mother's death truly affected him to such an extent? When he frowned and turned to fully face Odin, however, Kara startled him by grasping his arm.

"Don't... just go..." she said, clenching her jaw to keep her composure.

There was no reason to let Thor get into a fight with his father, after he had just gained the freedom he wanted to live with Jane.

"At least you can tell Nick and the others where I am, so they won't worry for me."

"Kara..."

Closing her eyes to try and hold back her tears, the young woman released his arm and instead pushed against his chest, urging him away from the throne.

"Damn it, Thor... just go!" she pleaded. "Before he changes his mind and forces you to stay."

It was with utter reluctance that the blond Æsir ultimately left the throne room, his expression stuck in a bewildered shade. What in Hel's name had just happened there? How could she agree to stay, just like that? He had no answer, but perhaps Jane would understand her better when he told the young scientist of this.

Silence reigned even over the false Allfather for minutes before he stood and set his eyes upon Kara, intoning.

"Come. I will escort you to my chambers, where you will be protected until our wedding."

Nothing followed this but the steps of his feet, although when his countenance was out of the girl's view, Loki did indeed crack a smile. Was it happiness or pure sadism that made his heart soar? Inhaling deeply so as to hold in her tears, the young woman silently followed until they were out of view of the guards.

"Do not expect my love in return, for this shameful betrayal to your son's memory." she spat out, looking up at the back of his head. "Make no mistake... you may be able to take my body, but my heart will always be his."

She had always wanted to believe that Odin wasn't as ruthless and uncaring as Loki had made him out to be in their last conversations. She had always wanted to believe that he did care for both his sons, and that Loki was mistaken about him... but now she could clearly see that everything Loki had said was true. And yet, somehow, she already felt resignation in the face of her situation; life had never been kind to her even when Loki was alive, after all... why would it be any different after his death?

He chose against responding, deathly quiet even as he stepped to the door of his room. Moving it ajar, he now gestured with a sweeping hand for her to enter. Odin would not have offered her consolation or any such thing, though Loki did wish to break the disguise and give her all the comfort she deserved. But he couldn't, he knew that... he needed a way to deal with Heimdall first of all.

OoOoO

The morning light found Kara relaxing in hot water, the fragrance of scented oils and flower extracts all around her. At least the old ape had had enough sense to send Tyra to her; and though Kara had spent most of the night crying whilst Tyra tried in vain to console her, by dawn she had finally settled down enough to let the young maid prepare her bath and a fresh dress. Soon stepping out of the steaming water and allowing the girl to help her dry off, Kara now seated herself in the bedchamber to let Tyra brush her hair.

"Don't worry, miss... I'm sure it won't be that bad." the girl smiled at her in the mirror. "The king may be harsh most of the time, but the queen always said he has a kind and tender side to him."

All Kara could do, was offer her an evanescent smile in reply; closing her eyes afterwards she heaved a sigh... oh how she wished that Loki had been there. It wasn't long before clicking footsteps against the stone would reveal Loki's version of Odin, standing just within view. Reticent as he gazed over Kara in all of her beauty, he then shortly broke the silence.

"Meet me outside, once you are done here."

The man then slipped away, leaving the two to speak as they would. Where would he be waiting? Right outside of the castle entrance. Frigga's garden was the most wonderful place in all of Asgard to take her for a walk. Having glared at him in the mirror, the young woman then clenched her fists in anger.

"I'm sure the king has some wonderful surprise planned for you, miss." Tyra smiled, trying her best to comfort Kara.

Ultimately standing, the female now smiled warmly and reached to grasp the young girl's hand.

"Thank you... you're a wonderful girl." she said, reaching to briefly stroke Tyra's cheek. "I'm sure Loki never told you, but he was very fond of you. He spoke very highly of you when I told him that his mother sent you to take care of me."

With the girl blushing and nodding shyly, she now inhaled deeply before finally leaving the chambers; a guard had apparently been expecting her at the door to lead her to the palace entrance although Kara was by now slightly used to the maze-like layout of the castle. The turns did eventually give way to the massive slabs that were the doors of the castle's front point of entry.

It was there that the one waiting gently gestured for the guard to stop, previous to summoning Kara to follow at his side. Maybe this would permit Loki to see if he should ever drop the disguise, or if he could continue to torment her until her death. She belonged to him alone, in the end; that had been the forewarning he had given before taking Kara as his lover. With the guard offering a short bow and departing to return to his duties, the young woman was left to follow Odin.

"If you have need of me, tell me what you wish... if not, then for mercy's sake do not force me to be in your presence longer than needed." she requested, walking one step behind him so as to not need to look upon him.

She had actually liked him when they had first met, despite his harsh demeanor... she had truly believed that they could get along; but after Frigga's death he had seemingly become someone else entirely.

"I wish for you to walk with me. You may abhor me and I can understand why that would be so, even if that sentiment were to last your whole life through. Just know that this is not an act of malice; you will grace the annals of Asgardian history as a heroine who sacrificed in the name of the Æsir, while I will be fine to relegate myself to their darker pages. Until the time comes that you can only be found in those books... I promise that you will experience every luxury in this realm."

He did continue to guide her toward the space that was known as his mother's sanctuary, maintaining the faux visage of the old ruler.

"I care not for any of that!" she spat out. "Do you think that's why I loved your son? If it were so, I would not have come here to see him while you had him in the dungeons. You can keep your jewels and everything else... I have no need of them. As I have no need of my name being remembered for something I will do against my desire."

Silencing herself for a few moments when she felt her voice trembling, in warning of oncoming tears, she then finally spoke again.

"I always wanted to believe that you cared for Loki... but I see now that you do not, if you can so easily take what belonged to him."

"Why you loved my son... why _did_ you love my son?"

It was a simple question spoken in an unassuming tone; it would seem that Odin just wanted to hear the words. Meanwhile, he soon took her to the outer border of the flawlessly organized foliage, at which point he kept moving inward. This answer from her would decide not just his own outlook when it came to love, but her ultimate fate; there would be much torment in her future if she failed him now.

Silence followed his question, the words causing the young woman to come to a halt whilst her mind replayed memories in disarray, some as old as the fateful day when she had first met the Trickster God.

"Because there never was... and there never will be another man like him. You all believed that you knew him, some better than others; but I saw the _real_ Loki... and he was unlike anything anyone knew. What he showed you, were only the various masks he enjoyed putting on. But even you, the one who raised him, didn't know your real son."

Briefly her voice faltered as she battled to subdue the tears gathering in her eyes, but finally she forced herself to continue speaking.

"You never knew how kind he could be... how caring... how devoted... or how fiercely protective he was. You ask why I loved him, but what answer do you expect from me when you knew so little of him? The bond I shared with him isn't something you can put into words... I believed you of all people would know that; did you not share the same kind of bond with your wife? Did you never feel that you couldn't live without her? That she was the very air you breathe? That she was your reason to live and to keep living? Thor, for all his oblivious nature, understood Loki much better than you... even if he understood too late."

A smile twitched upon his wrinkled visage, though he had halted as well. They were hidden well enough that he could get away with this, or so he believed. Pivoting to face her, Odin shone with an ethereal light that soon gave way to reveal the God of Lies. Guilt almost never affected him so much as when he had to hear her suffer. The last time he had anguished so much was at the death of his mother.

"I doubt he ever knew those feelings, dearest... but I do."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Hehe of course he was going to ask her to stay... or rather, he was going to order her to stay ;)

And again, I'm so sorry for the poor quality in the last two chapters. I tried my best to make them as good as I was able to and I hope it didn't put you off too much.

2\. **Moriah98** \- Oh yes, darling, these next chapters will be all centered on Loki and Kara again. At least until they eventually end up back on Earth and we get to see the others again. But for now we have a few good chapters ahead dedicated only to our lovely couple. I'm not saying anything more, else I might accidentally spoil something ;)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter so far; I promise it only gets better :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	39. Entry 38

Well here we are lovelies... it's a big day in Asgard, and I hope you'll all enjoy it along with Loki and Kara. Don't know what I'm talking about? Then go read, what are you waiting for? Just remember to toss me a little review when you're done :D

Now enjoy, darlings~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #38**

_"I doubt he ever knew those feelings, dearest... but I do."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 23 / 24, 2013_

In truth nothing else could have shocked her like that; her heart actually stopped beating for a moment, her eyes widening and her breath hitching in her throat as she stared at the male before her. Her first impulse compelled her to take a step toward him, but then anger suddenly shot through her veins as she realized he had, yet again, deceived her... by faking his own death, no less. And before she even fully realized what she was doing, she rushed toward him raising her hand with the intention to slap him, as he fully deserved; due to the shock she had gone through, however, she failed to notice that her body had tensed to the point where her hands had balled into fists.

It was only in the very instant when her hand collided with his cheek, that she realized she had actually punched him instead... but somehow she couldn't bring herself to fully regretting it, after that horrible trick he had played on her, letting her believe he was dead. The feeling of her knuckles against his face did make his head turn, Loki taking half of a step back. Still, there was no pain expressed in his facial features, but merely the remorse brought to him by the realization of just how deeply he had pained her. When it became clear that she had no more hits for him, he engulfed her in both arms, pulling her to his pectoral muscles.

"Forgive me, dearest..." he murmured.

As it always happened, his embrace melted away her anger and instead the young woman set her arms around his slender waist, latching onto him.

"You damn jerk!" she yelled even as she clung to him, her shoulders shaking as she failed to contain her tears anymore. "How could you do that to me?"

Granted, he had likely felt the same when everyone had believed her dead after the battle in New York... but she wasn't about to let him live it down without playing the victim for a bit.

"I had to come up with a way to be with you again... this was the only way." he softly said, kissing the side of her head.

Why was it that he always had to do such things to succeed toward his objectives? Who was the one to claim the blame for it all? Was it Odin, or had it been in his own hands all along? Loki would probably never know the answer to that. The following minutes she spent simply trying to settle down and stop crying, and at the same time simply relishing in the knowledge that Loki was indeed alive and that she wouldn't have to actually marry Odin and... it was then that a thought hit her, causing her to lean back until she could look up at him.

"Wait... if you were disguised as Odin... where's your father?" she asked, getting a sudden feeling of dread at what he might answer.

Loki locked eyes with her during the inquiry, letting it sink in; in that moment, his lips pressed flat together, his features turning blank. Even then, the dark taint that pervaded the orbs of a man who had done something heinous was all too prevalent – though he didn't say it, Odin had met his life's conclusion at the hands of Laufey's son.

That gaze alone was enough to let her know of what had happened, and she grasped onto his coat.

"Loki... what have you done?" she whispered, utterly shocked by the realization.

"I killed him." he finally admitted, no shred of remorse pervading his tone.

"So you did..."

Startled by the deep voice resounding from behind Loki, Kara now set her steel gaze upon Heimdall and her stomach tightened as she sighted the guardian bearing his sword. Wordless, Loki merely turned to face the Gatekeeper, his face an emotionless mask whilst he conjured Gungnir in his right hand and his armor shimmered onto his body; he had been careless for Kara's sake, but he definitely refused to go down without a fight.

"Your father was more than just my king..." Heimdall stated, readying his sword. "He was my friend. And your blind ambition to gain a throne will be your undoing."

Without another word both warriors lunged at each other, murderous intent written upon their faces.

"No!"

The young woman's shout was instantly followed by both Heimdall and Loki freezing in place before what seemed to be an invisible hand pushed them away from one another. By the time they had regained their stance and turned to face each other once more, Kara was standing in between them, facing the guardian with her arms wide open.

"Heimdall please... don't do this..." she begged, tears streaming on her pale cheeks.

Lowering his sword in the hopes of talking her into moving out of the way, the dark skinned male heaved a sigh; he definitely was not in the intention of taking an innocent life along with Loki's.

"Kara, what he did is treason..."

"Isn't it enough that he'll have to live with what he did, for the rest of his life? Killing him will solve nothing, other than leaving Asgard with no ruler. Thor won't return to take the throne, even if Loki dies; he wants nothing more than to be with Jane on Earth and you should know that by now. And Asgard needs a king..."

"He is not fit to rule... the power would only consume him."

"Thor agreed that Loki understands ruling in a way that he never will. I know he will be a good king; for all his trickery and mischief, he cares for this realm... for his home. Please, Heimdall. You cared for him once... I know you did; just as you cared for Thor."

Silence followed her last trembling words, the Gatekeeper contemplating her words; with all said and done he still did care for both Loki and Thor just as much. But was Loki truly fit to take his father's place on the throne? He could only hope he would not come to regret putting his trust in Kara's words. Ultimately heaving another long sigh, he closed his right fist placing it over his heart whilst he lowered himself onto one knee.

"Then from now on I am sworn to obey you... my king." he stated, looking to the dark haired Æsir.

The sheer relief which flooded her being would have had Kara collapsing to the ground, had Loki not been standing behind her to wrap an arm around her waist and keep her on her feet. With Heimdall standing, the green eyed male merely nodded his permission for the Gatekeeper to return to his post; his battling mood had all but vanished, less from relief and more from the overwhelming love and gratitude that he felt for the wonderful woman he was currently holding. He knew Heimdall would have easily killed him, had they actually battled... but Kara had not only saved his life, she had also truly instated him as king of Asgard.

Discarding the spear, he instead brought that hand to her cheek, turning her face to him and leaning to claim her lips in a loving kiss.

"Thank you, dearest..." he whispered tenderly.

"Don't let me down..." the young woman replied. "Be a good king."

OoOoO

It was early the next day that Loki had pulled himself out of bed and had summoned Tyra to the king's chambers – which he now shared with Kara – in the utmost silence, given that his lover was still asleep; he was in a very generous mood and so he would fulfill the desire he knew Kara had secretly nurtured for a long time... to see him again as he had been when they'd met; with that in mind he had Tyra cut his hair, then had taken a bath and donned a pair of leather pants and a sleazy black tunic; it was one of his more informal outfits, but he needed a bit of time to relax before he would have to change his attire.

When Tyra left the chambers to retrieve one of the dresses she and the other maids had sewn for Kara – as per one of Frigga's last orders to them – the dark haired Æsir was left to sit next to his beloved and grasp her hand, leaning over to place a gentle kiss to her cheek.

"Wake up, love..." he whispered, his free hand coming up to the top of her head to stroke her hair.

With the young woman startled from her slumber, she glanced sleepily at him; and then a soft gasp left her, and her eyes widened while her lips twitched into a smile.

"You cut your hair..." she said in awe, reaching to the back of his head and trailing her fingers over his silky strands.

"I have no preference for it, dearest... but you do."

"Well... you do look more like a prince, like this."

"Do I, now?" he huffed in amusement.

"Yes." Kara retorted with a playful pout. "You looked like some raggedy stray with that unkempt hair."

Holding back the chuckle he felt rising in his throat, he merely arched a brow to distract her, and within moments the young woman's laughter filled the chambers when he slipped his hands beneath the covers to tickle her. It wasn't until she pulled him over her and kissed him that he relented, favoring wrapping his arms around her instead, while he eagerly delved into the sweet warmth of her lips.

"You incorrigible jester..." she mock-scolded him once he allowed her a breather. "I'm still angry at you for that stunt, though."

"Oh, I believe I can make you forgive me, love."

"You sound really sure of yourself." the woman replied, arching a brow in jest.

"Have you ever known me to not be sure of myself?" he smirked smugly.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I meant to say you sound really arrogant."

Playfully narrowing his eyes at her, the dark haired Æsir let loose another amused huff.

"Wooh... going below the belt, dearest?"

"Of course..." she replied, wrapping an arm around his neck and lazily pecking his lips. "That's part of my territory..."

His confused expression as he tried to figure out what she meant by that, instantly morphed into an awed one, and he felt his eyes widening at the sensation of her hand touching his groin and giving a taunting momentary squeeze to his member.

"I do love it when you try to be in charge, dearest..." he smirked, a mischievous spark coming to his eyes.

It was when he leaned to kiss her again, that Tyra knocked on the door and her presence alone was enough to remind them of what they had to do that day.

"Well now you have something to think about all day." she chuckled in the face of his displeased expression.

"Oh, I'll make you eat those words tonight, love." he promised.

Standing to go and let Tyra in, he then took advantage of the brief solitude offered to him when the maid went to help Kara bathe, to try and calm himself. Once the two females had returned from the bathing chamber, he changed into the familiar battle attire and stepped over to the wooden stand holding his armor, adjusting the fit of golden metal over raven leather and emerald material. He would never admit to being ever so faintly nervous... but it was indeed true, now. Exhaling through his nose, he glanced at the stone floor, wringing together his palms. Today was a new beginning... this was something he just had to keep in mind.

By then Tyra had been brushing Kara's hair, utterly unable to wipe off the wide smile from her face; she was so happy that Loki was alive, but more than that she was happy to see Kara happy again. Upon looking at Loki in the mirror and sighting that odd expression on his face, however, Kara now reached to grasp the girl's hand.

"Would you leave us for a minute, please?" she said softly.

Nodding with a smile, Tyra lightly bowed to both of them and rushed out of the chambers while Kara turned to face the dark haired Æsir and moved to her feet.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a slightly concerned shade taking over her features.

The hunter green and dark cow skin shifted as his feet did; he hadn't expected Kara to say or see anything, due to her attention being diverted.

"I suppose I'm just anxious. Becoming a king has been my goal for such a long time... I had started to wonder if it would ever come to pass."

What would happen now? Had he been too brash? Had he ended up being wrong in killing Odin, after all? Approaching him with a warm smile, Kara now leaned up to set her arms around his neck and lovingly kissed his cheek.

"You will be a good king... you always were fit to rule." she whispered against his smooth skin. "Just remember that a king cares for his people as he does for his own family. Never forget that and you _will_ be a good king."

She definitely had not expected him to be nervous after so many years of craving a throne; but it was precisely that nervousness which told her he was indeed on the right path to becoming a great ruler. It was at her touch that much of his tension flushed away, eyelids closing as he savored her loving tones. When she had stopped talking, his own upper extremities reached to stroke her limbs.

"So it is true... there really is an incredible queen behind every great king."

In this instance, all he wanted to do was forget everything and spend time caressing Kara, touching the woman and holding her against him. The trickster could listen to her talk for hours and never tire of it, but he could also relish in the concept of resting against her without a single word.

"I am no queen..." she retorted humorously, leaning back to smile at him. "Just the mortal who was lucky enough to gain the love of a god."

Once more leaning up she kissed his lips this time, taking a moment to simply relish in that sweet, sweet taste she was so familiar with by now. And it was in moments like this that she always recalled her father's last words... it was indeed worth the struggle, despite how fleeting happiness was. When their faces met in such an intimate way, Loki's gaze waned, lids closing whilst his hands moved behind Kara's back. Regardless of her words, she was so amazing to him, so... absolutely everything. Maybe defeating Odin hadn't been such a poor decision; if left alive, he would have opposed them until the bitter end. Now? There were none to intervene between them.

Deciding to end the kiss a few moments later, despite how much she just wanted to keep it going, the young woman now trailed a hand through his raven strands.

"We should go... or you'll miss your own coronation." she smiled.

In truth she was probably just as nervous as him, if not more; while Heimdall had accepted Loki on the throne, she didn't know what the people of Asgard thought of him.

Upon arriving at the throne room after a hasty walk, he slowed his pace at the door and walked the carpet that gave him a straight route toward the seat of the king. After heads had turned, he could hear the rumbling of many voices, but maintained stoicism along his route. If not for the fact that he had slain his so-called father, he would regret the fact that his mother couldn't be there. Then again – if Frigga hadn't died – he would have allowed the elder king to live.

Given that she wasn't supposed to stand at his side for this as she wasn't his wife, based on what Tyra had told her about the coronation ceremony, Kara merely followed after him. Upon arriving near the front of the hall, however, she grasped his arm and leaned toward him.

"You should probably wear your helmet too..." she winked.

Releasing him afterwards, she moved to stand with the crowd. Upon sighting Sif and her two companions nearby, she shot them a stern glance when they looked at her questioningly and shook her head lightly so as to discourage them from trying to start anything. Loki's helmet did shortly appear over his brows as he neared the throne, eyeballing Heimdall for just a second. Turning to face the massive horde of Asgardians, he sighed out at the once-in-a-lifetime feeling that coursed through him. Truly, this was going to be a long day. As he glanced over the people, however, his superior vision granted him a view of two of the Warriors Three and the woman named Sif; just to think that he had once loved her and now could barely stand her presence.

With Loki now standing before the throne, Heimdall who had been standing at the right side of the golden, winged chair, turned to face the Asgardians gathered in the hall. His hands clasped at his front around the hilt of his sheath-less sword, he lowered his arms and lightly hit the floor with the blade's tip; yet despite that the sound echoed throughout the immense room, much like a strike from Gungnir itself, silencing all the murmurs buzzing in the air.

"Odin has passed from this life... and Thor has renounced his right to the throne." he said, his deep tone rumbling over the crowd. "Therefore the line of succession now falls to the younger prince. Asgard, hail your king... Loki, Odin's son!"

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Guest** \- Aww no worries love, I know that everyone who follows this story loves it (or something about it), otherwise they wouldn't follow/favorite it. But it's my duty as a writer to ask for reviews, because feedback is the best and fastest way to improve my style.

So no worries, I know y'all love this story and I'm so happy that I could offer everyone something to enjoy and help them take their mind off life at least for a bit :D

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Hehehe what kind of Loki fan would I be, if I didn't enjoy his most delightful trait - teasing others? ;)

As for the next chapters, I hope they'll be longer; usually I don't start writing a chapter with a set length in mind - that just feels restrictive. I go with the flow of the story and usually I instinctively know when I need to cut the thread and continue in the next chapter. So it's more instinct than planning, really, and so far it seems to work pretty well. I'd love to be able to write 20-30 page long chapters, like other writers, but I doubt I'll ever get there, so please bear with me on this.

And I'm so happy you got that feeling that you wanted to cry at that scene; that was my original intention, to write it well enough that the readers could easily imagine how much anguish Kara had inside her, knowing the only man she ever loved was dead and she was forced to marry his father. And at the same time how much she actually loved Loki... so if you at least got a knot in your throat, then it means I did my job right ;)

3\. **LadyAmazon** \- Haha I was initially intending to have her make a huge scene of it, but then that isn't really in Kara's nature. She's always been a discrete person - at least as much as she could - so it just didn't seem right to have her yell at him or be overly dramatic about it. So... this chapter came out as a result and I hope you're not too disappointed :)

4\. **cerilene ross** \- Welcome back, darling, I'm so happy to see you around here again! :D

I'm so glad you still enjoy the story and the characters. And no worries, take your time to review there's no deadline for it. As for your previous review, I couldn't reply in any other way, because it was just so lovely and heartwarming and humbling and encouraging and I stick by what I said back then. _Thank you_ is much less than what I should say!

So I hope you have a great time rereading the story and that it will keep you just as entertained as before :D

5\. **BrittanyBamtastic** \- Well here it is, darling, sorry I kept you waiting for a whole week ;)

I'll admit, the feeling that you lost everyone you hold dear isn't something you can easily imagine. But I lost my mom when I was ten so I have some background emotions to draw on when I write those scenes, and that makes it a lot easier to write them well (as ironic as that may seem).

But I hope you enjoyed this chapter, love, and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

6\. **Uncontrollable-book-nerd** \- Haha well she did... more or less. She'll have him pay for it in some subtle way later, no worries ;)

7\. **Guest** \- Aww thank you so much for the enthusiasm, darling. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :D

8\. **Sloane Raine** \- I'll reply to both your reviews in one go, darling :)

First, don't forget that Loki had a little spat with Kara on the day of his mother's burial ceremony, when he found out she traded her life to Odin in exchange for him being released from his cell, because she basically made it impossible for him to flee Asgard with her. But we all know Loki is arrogant so it wouldn't be surprising if he agreed to have her go with them and Jane, with the intention of escaping with her from Svartalfheim - where there were no guards to hinder him. I probably should have stated that in a more obvious way, it was probably too subtle xD

Second, I'm sorry it was so short, I just couldn't put any heart into the whole Malekith business because I didn't care about Malekith; he was just a generic villain with nothing that made him stand out. As for Loki's reason, well he was disguised as Odin so he had to act and think like Odin, to keep up his disguise. And any king who loses his wife and son - and has his elder son give up the throne - is forced to take another wife to ensure he leaves an heir. So it was more a political reason that he offered Thor for keeping Kara - as the real Odin would have, because of her unusual abilities.

As for why he resorted to that, instead of just asking to talk to her privately and revealing himself - I think that's explained a bit in the chapter you just read (namely that he couldn't drop the disguise just anywhere, lest Heimdall saw him and came to kill him). And because this is Loki... he never does things in a simple manner, he always likes to complicate everything - and he wanted to test Kara's love for him as well, because yeah he still has a bit of trust issues. Anyone would likely have those, after what he's been through xD

Hope I covered everything in my reply, darling, and that it shed a bit more light on those scenes. I'm always happy when my readers point out things like this, because I sometimes tend to forget that people can't read my mind, and that if I don't state things clearly, it won't make sense to them even if it makes sense to me.

9\. **Lady Syndra** \- And here you have it, darling. Hope you enjoyed it and that future chapters will keep you just as entertained :D

10\. **Moriah98** \- No worries, love, I didn't expect any reviews at all for the previous two chapters because I know how poor their quality is. I'm glad you enjoyed the bits with Loki and Kara and I hope this chapter was entertaining as well... it'll only get better from here on ;)

I hope no one will be disappointed that I cut Loki's hair (I know a lot of fangirls loved him with long hair), but I personally liked him a lot better in the first _Thor_ movie, because short hair just made him look more like Prince Charming. They probably tried to illustrate his fall from royalty by changing his appearance to a more wild one, but I much more prefer the idea of a monster disguised as a beautiful prince.

And thank you so much for the compliments, darling. Really it's so heartwarming and humbling to know you think so highly of me. I shall try to not disappoint you and I hope future chapters will keep you just as entertained because there's only more of Loki and Kara to come ;)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	40. Entry 39

Sooo lovelies, since some of you seem to be worried I'm going to put your concerns to rest: the story **does not** end here. I still have a lot of chapters to go, so don't fret darlings... there's plenty more Loki to come! ;)

Also, since I doubt I'll have enough time these next few days to post a new chapter, I want to wish everyone who celebrates it, a very Happy Easter. Hope you'll all have a great time with your family and friends :D

With that said, let's crack on, shall we? Just don't forget to toss me a little review, I always love reading your opinions and replying to you, you're all awesome!

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #39**

_"[...] Asgard, hail your king... Loki, Odin's son!"_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 24, 2013_

A few moments of silence followed the Gatekeeper's words, before the crowd exploded into cheers and applause, wishing him a long and peaceful rule. As Heimdall saw it, there was no need to reveal to the people anything more; even just knowing that Loki had been adopted would have likely had them reject him and demand for Thor to take the throne. But Kara was right... Asgard needed a ruler, and Thor deserved to have the life he wanted.

Loki quashed the mental urge to recoil at the declaration that he was Odin's son, but knew better than to respond to it. Of course, when the crowd roared for him, he grinned and raised his left hand in salute, his right firmly wrapped around the handle of Gungnir – the symbol of authority for all who bore the title of _Allfather_. Truly, he would apply himself to become the greatest holder of that title; it wouldn't be hard, since Odin had been a heartless bastard. He had been truly strong in the physical sense, but there had been no compassion within him.

Kara instead refrained from cheering or applauding, settling only for a loving smile as she watched Loki. Truly she had never imagined such a day would come, when he would finally gain the throne he had so desired. But no one could have been happier than her to see him so acclaimed by his own people. What snapped her out of that state in a rather sudden way was when Heimdall again hit his sword against the floor to silence the crowd, before speaking up once more.

"My king, as is our custom, you cannot rule alone. I beseech you to choose a queen." he stated, setting his amber gaze upon the young Æsir.

At those words a form of tense silence engulfed the entire throne room, and Kara could easily see every young girl around glancing up at Loki with such ardent hope written on their faces, that she actually felt sorry for them. Oh, and she would make sure to give Tyra a piece of her mind later, for not telling her of that custom beforehand; now she had to battle to subdue her blush in the hopes that she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of everyone. Taking in Heimdall's words, Loki was unsurprised... and very much ready for this moment.

"I already have a queen in mind." he huffed amusedly, before seeking out Kara.

Spotting those ever so familiar and warm eyes, he motioned for her to join him before the throne. Indeed, there would be many disappointed women on that day... not that he cared. When he had been but a prince, none of them would have had a thing to do with him. Plus, if they knew what he truly was, they would be among the many voices screaming at ear cracking decibels for him to be dethroned. Upon that thought, however, his heart did briefly cringe in his chest at the thought that – despite having been a part of her life for so many years – he had yet to tell Kara of his Jötun origins. But now was not the time to dwell on that... he would deal with it afterwards, when it was just the two of them.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman ultimately broke off from the crowd trying her best to imagine that it was just Loki and her in that hall... not thousands of eyes pinned on her back. And yet when she looked up to sight him waiting with his arm extended toward her, an unexpected clarity came to her mind, driving away her shyness; yes, at his side was her rightful place, the place she had earned by offering him her unconditional love. Arriving at the top of the stairs which led to the throne, she lightly bowed to him before setting her slightly trembling hand in his and turning to face the still deathly silent crowd.

"Asgard, behold the one who will take queen Frigga's place." Heimdall called out. "Behold Kara, your queen!"

Though the crowd again erupted into cheers, the young woman did catch sound of some unexpected murmurs, as many of those gathered there wondered how Loki had gained a Valkyrie as his wife, while others praised his wit and good looks which could apparently sweep even the fiercest of maidens off their feet.

Feeling the vibration of her hand, Loki slid his own free, just to move the associated arm over her shoulders and consolingly pull her near. Though he had heard the appreciation given to Kara, his attention was focused more on keeping her comfortable; he too was nervous, even if he likely looked as relaxed as ever, but they would get through it together.

OoOoO

Several hours later Kara was standing on the large balcony stretching from what had been the chambers which Odin and Frigga had shared more often than not, despite the fact that the queen also had her own private rooms. She had retreated from the still ongoing feast a short while earlier; it wasn't really that she was tired, but more that she needed to set some order into her thoughts after such an unexpectedly eventful day. Watching the starry sky had proven her best ally in accomplishing that goal, particularly since it was unlike any sky she had ever sighted back on Earth. Strands of blue and green pervaded the raven veil of the night, like silky rivers in the sky, enhancing the silvery spark of the stars they crossed over; and in the center of it all the queen of the night – a full moon larger than any she had ever seen before – reigned supreme, spreading her milky light to all of Asgard.

It really was such a breathtaking sight that soon Kara found her mind emptying of every other thought, save for one... she would have wished for Loki to be there and share that magical moment with her, but at least one of them likely had to remain with the guests who had joined them for the feast.

Within moments Loki had moved along the stairway that led up to the balcony, having previously seen his love go there. Shortly he stopped and allowed himself to take in the sight of her standing there, profiled against the night sky, a silvery halo surrounding her head as the chocolate strands covering it shone beneath the moon. She was so painfully beautiful – like the goddess he had always called her – that he even felt unworthy of her... and yet she had chosen to love him, despite everything and everyone.

Stepping up behind Kara now, with just several centimeters between her posterior side and his front, he verbalized.

"For all of its wonder, the sky over Asgard is still not as beautiful as you are, dearest."

Now, two empty hands motioned to settle on her stomach, bringing her shoulder blades against his chest. Startled out of her contemplation, the young woman ultimately smiled and leaned against him, setting her hands over his.

"Shouldn't you tend to your guests, my king?" she asked humorously.

His compliment, however, had not gone unnoticed as displayed by the redness now shading her fair cheeks as she turned her head to look at him, wishing to see that hypnotic glow his eyes always gained beneath the moonlight. Locking eyes with her, Loki then bent his own neck so that he could kiss the side of her face.

"I have trusted Heimdall to deal with it." he chuckled.

The watchman could stand to socialize while he had the chance, since he was almost always at the Bifrost. It must have been rather difficult, merely observing for so long. If ever another should be born with that god's ability, perhaps he would replace Heimdall so that the deity could have a life of his own.

"I feel sorry for him already." she chuckled.

Allowing herself a moment to relish in the tenderness of his kiss, she then closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest.

"Did you mean it?" she suddenly asked. "When you said you wanted to marry me..."

Even if he had been disguised as Odin, now she knew it had been him to say those words.

"I meant it with every fiber in my being. That is why I chose you as my queen." the male answered and warmly added. "I love you beyond understanding. Nothing would please me more than to have you as my wife and the one who shall birth the next generation of Asgard's heirs."

Ever so tenderly, he did squeeze her to his form. How was it that a Midgardian could be more beautiful than any of the Æsir or Vanir? A bittersweet smile blossomed on her lips at his words.

"Mother was trying to convince me to let her meet you... on the night she died. She saw the bracelet you gave me and, despite my excuses, she knew it wasn't a gift from a girl. I wish she could have met you... for all your mischief, I know she would have liked you."

Her father probably would have been more reserved about the Trickster God, but she was certain that he too would have become fond of Loki in the end.

"Although... I suppose it's better that they didn't get to see all the pain and sorrow we both went through. That would have hurt them more than anything."

"I regret that I wasn't there when you needed me... but I am ready to move forward with you. I know that you still suffer, but I will take all the time you need from me to mend your spirit. My heart will always be yours."

His palms and digits remained over her abdomen, two lips touching her hair whilst he waited for her to reply to him. The scents of her skin and the locks of her hair were all he hoped for, now; she didn't have to move, after all. There was nothing saying that they had to go back to that party.

"I have no more family left on Earth... and despite having so many people I care about, and who care about me, living without you would be worse than death."

Looking up at him once more after that statement, the young woman now offered him a loving smile.

"If you really want me as your wife, then I'll make a new life with you here, on Asgard."

"It starts tomorrow, my love."

Those were his last words to be spoken for now. He just wanted to focus on holding his beloved, so that he could ease her soul. Loki did finally, truly believe that she held genuine sentiment for him... and there was no more soul fulfilling knowledge in any realm than being conscious of someone's love.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace / the Bifrost Keep, Asgard_

_**Date: **__September 25, 2013_

"This couldn't possibly get any worse... Loki on the throne again?"

Sighing at Fandral's statement, Sif leaned back onto the couch she had seated herself upon.

"Why would Heimdall agree to it?" she mused. "I don't believe Thor would really give up his right to the throne."

Halting from nervously eating his meal, Volstagg glanced to his two friends.

"Now shush... Heimdall might be watching." he warned.

It was mere moments after those words that the doors to the chamber they were gathered in were opened, revealing a golden clad guard.

"King Loki demands your presence in the throne room." he stated solemnly, leaving without awaiting an answer.

"Oh, great..." Fandral sighed. "Well, better not keep him waiting."

Reluctantly following him, Sif and Volstagg fell silent, the trio soon arriving into the large hall and halting a couple of steps away from the staircase leading up to the golden chair. Out of habit, more than anything, the two males balled their right hands into fists, placing them over their hearts, although they did not lower themselves onto one knee as custom demanded when they were before the Allfather. The only one to offer him no greeting whatsoever, other than a venomous glare, was Sif herself who instead smiled rather sarcastically at him.

"You summoned us... my king?" she asked, unable to mask the irony in her tone.

Loki maintained a regal appearance, bearing his leathers, armor and helmet as he always did in the open. However, he also now had a strong grip on the legendary spear that had once served Odin, its pommel settled on the ground. He had been close to speaking when he analyzed their conduct within the throne room; how deplorable.

"So, it seems that I should waste no time, either, if this is what meets me... the three of you have two choices: you may kneel to me now and secure yourselves a place within Asgard by making a spoken vow of loyalty to me, or you shall be exiled for all of your remaining days into Vanaheim. What say you?"

Glancing to one another whilst Sif silently fixed Loki with her gaze, the two males seemingly understood one another without words, before Fandral turned to Loki and spoke.

"My king... before that, might we ask how Odin died?" he asked on his most charming tone.

They already suspected that Loki had not gained the throne by peaceful means, but at the same time Fandral knew how foolish it would have been to defy him as openly as Sif was doing it.

"I challenged him and defeated him in combat." the new ruler responded.

As of now, he kept a cool air, although they had shown him sufficient respect with his title to avoid incurring his wrath; that, however, was likely due to the fact that he was the new owner of one of the most dangerous battle tools in all of the realms. Even now, the son of Laufey believed it had been his right to attack the one he had viewed as a disgusting excuse for a father.

"That is treason!" Sif finally spoke. "I don't care how you corrupted Heimdall into agreeing with this charade... but I don't believe Thor gave up his right to the throne. You tricked him somehow into leaving Asgard. You are no more worthy of that throne, than a dog would be worthy of being titled a prince."

Reaching forward to grasp her arm in an attempt at silencing her, Fandral then smiled nervously although he knew the situation was likely beyond repair anymore, after the woman had insulted Loki to his face. Loki merely smiled at Sif's opinion, before both oculars moved toward her masculine partners and his lips moved.

"I suppose the two of you will also refuse to serve me?"

Even as he addressed them, the God of Lies was well prepared to use his weapon, if Sif or any of them created a need for it; the only sign of this was a faint squeeze of its shaft. Silence followed his question, neither of the two male warriors replying; could they trust Loki? He seemed willing to look past Sif's insults and offer them separate judgment... but at the same time they all knew too well just how charming and deceiving his silver tongue was.

"Well... we always stick together." Volstagg finally stated.

That, of course, meant that if Loki banished Sif he would go along with her. Looking to him for a moment, Fandral then once more glanced to the green eyed Æsir seated upon the throne.

"I am afraid he's right..." he replied on a half-whispered tone, a bittersweet smile upon his lips.

While the knowledge that he would still have his friends with him did ease his heart in the face of their inevitable fate, it was still painful to have to leave the place he had called home for so many centuries. The Jötun was reticent in the midst of their decision for moments before he rose, his armament's blunt end scratching the floor whilst he started to descend the stairs.

"I see. Let us walk for a short while... I will take you to the Bifrost. I have business with Heimdall, anyway. Also... you may inform Hogun that this order applies to him, as well."

With all of that set aside, he stepped beyond them and placed Gungnir against his shoulder. When Sif attempted to lunge at him in her anger, Volstagg reached out to grasp her other arm and aid Fandral in holding her back.

"Don't be a fool, Sif..." the blond warrior whispered. "He'll kill you."

Ultimately settling down, the female followed her two friends as they trekked behind Loki. Never had they dreaded seeing the round building housing the Bifrost, as they did now, knowing it would be the last time they would ever use it so long as Loki ruled Asgard. Upon crossing the rainbow colored bridge, they were met with the sight of Heimdall standing outside just before the entrance, his sword held vertically in front of him as was his usual stance; what had them cringe, however, was the Gatekeeper's disappointed gaze as he lightly shook his head at seeing them. Knowing why they were there, courtesy of his uncanny sense of hearing, he now turned around to enter the building, ascending the steps and inserting his sword into its slot to activate the pathway which would take them to Vanaheim.

Upon getting to that place, Loki's features were calm as he moved aside from the doorway.

"This is where we part." Loki flatly began and ended their conversation.

He would not offer a farewell, whether it happened to be formal or otherwise. Not only had they treated him poorly before his rise to the throne, they had also opposed him afterwards; what had Thor ever seen in them?

While Sif merely walked past the dark haired Æsir without even casting him one glance and Volstagg followed her quietly, Fandral alone was the one who offered Loki a slight bow before leaving; with all said and done it just wasn't in his nature to be disrespectful. Once the three of them were standing before the swirling gateway Heimdall lowered the sword entirely into its socket, the energy tendrils coursing the Bifrost gathering into the vortex and pulling the trio into the tunnel which would take them near Hogun's village.

With his task done, the Gatekeeper now retrieved his weapon, allowing the building's dazzling rotation to come to a halt. He had expected that there would be some tension between Loki and the others, but he had believed them to be smart enough as to remain on Asgard. After the Bifrost had come to a halt, Loki was to be seen entering the doorway.

"Greetings, good Heimdall." he intoned, his tone implying a wish to talk with him.

There was purpose coexisting with this wish, partially since he knew that the sentinel was far from adept at small talk. Then again, Loki knew that he would have trouble with such if he also had to deal with perceiving just about everything in existence at the same time he was talking to someone. Merely leaving his weapon idly in its socket, the Gatekeeper now descended the stairs and turned to face Loki.

"May I be of service, my king?" he asked.

Though to unknowing eyes his demeanor and posture might have seemed overly familiar, or not submissive enough, Loki no longer needed to fear him; as with Odin before, Heimdall was now bound by honor to serve the new king of Asgard... and he intended to do just so, even if it meant to give his life for Loki. Loki took but a second to contemplate, before he replied.

"As long as I have remembered, you have served us with unwavering loyalty. I wish to reward you for your service... is there something you have wanted, Heimdall?"

Everyone desired something... surely, Heimdall was no different. Didn't he wish to have his freedom, or eventually to start a family? Briefly the guardian's golden eyes betrayed his astonishment in the face of such an unexpected question... perhaps Kara had been right after all, and Loki would be a good king.

"I recall you asking this question each time you came here, as a child." he finally replied, a rare smile appearing on his lips. "I said then that I would give you my answer when you were old enough to understand it, so I will tell you now. I only wish to fulfill my purpose of guarding Asgard, as I wish for peace throughout the nine realms. So long as you can offer me the first and strive to keep the latter, you will have my unflinching loyalty and my vow that I will serve you until my last breath."

Loki faintly bent his lips, the ends rising up. Whereas chaos had previously been a staple of his existence and a major goal, he wanted to create order for his people and his love.

"Your honor indeed knows no bounds, Heimdall. If I had to fight alongside anyone for the realms, I could not think of anyone better. But if there should ever come a time when you must choose to protect either Kara or I... protect the queen. That is my order to you."

"I will, my king. You have chosen your queen very wisely... it would be a terrible loss for Asgard, if she should perish before her due time."

It was no wonder to him that Frigga had been so fond of the girl; the former queen had always been praised throughout Asgard for her intuition and wisdom. And Kara would be a good successor to her place beside the throne, worthy indeed to have her name written in the history of the realm, to be remembered alongside Frigga until the universe would be undone.

"It is true that I did not seek to take her as my queen in the name of Asgard's best interests. However, she does happen to be exactly what our realm needed. She may not be a goddess... but she should be." he spoke rather simply to the swordsman.

For once, it felt good to be... honest. Maybe becoming the king had indeed been positive for him.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Hehe well I think a punch was enough, since it's way more painful than a slap, and it also carries a heavier meaning than a mere slap. At least it's good that Loki got the point ;)

As for what follows... we'll see. I have quite a few ideas but I'll probably save some of them for the sequel. There's no fun if I just use all my ideas in this story since I have big plans for the sequel. But as always, I'm so happy to see your reviews, they're always lovely and I thoroughly enjoy replying to them :D

2\. **LadyAmazon** \- Aww I'm so happy you weren't disappointed, darling. It's always great to hear I rise to the expectations of my lovely readers. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter as well, and I can't wait to hear from you again :D

3\. **JennyDAllred** \- That's my belief as well, because women have a certain power over men that other men will never have. A woman can sway even the mightiest warrior, and she doesn't need an ounce of physical strength to do it if she's smart enough.

And yes, Odin didn't help in the least although I can understand a bit where he's coming from. He probably took Loki from Jotunheim in a moment of pity... but pity doesn't equal love and men usually have a hard time loving children that are not their own, unlike women whose maternal instincts help them get over that fact much faster and easier. In Loki's case, he was also the child of Odin's enemy and he was part of a race that Asgard saw as monsters, so in that light I can understand why Odin always preferred Thor who was his own flesh and blood, over Loki. But even if I understand him, that still doesn't excuse him for not at least trying to show Loki the same fatherly love he offered Thor.

But I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the story so far. I hope the rest of the ride will be just as entertaining and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

4\. **Moriah98** \- No worries, love, steamy scenes are coming soon enough I promise ;)

As for venturing into AU territory... as surprising as it may sound, it wasn't hard at all. I've had these ideas mapped out in my head since I started writing the prologue. I always had the entire picture of the story in my head from the very start, so I knew I was going to have an AU arc after the second _Thor_ movie was over. I actually have many of the ideas for the sequel already mapped out in my head, but that picture isn't yet complete. I'll think on it in more detail after I'm done with this story.

And no worries, I won't stop posting, at least for now. I have too many ideas for our lovely couple, I couldn't stop posting even if I wanted to xD

But thank you so much for all the compliments and the love, it really means a lot to me, darling. Hope to hear from you again soon :D

5\. **Sloane Raine** \- Nothing to thank me for, darling. I should be thanking you for pointing it out. That way I could clarify it better for everyone who was confused; I'm willing to bet you weren't the only one xD

As for Heimdall... well Loki dropped his disguise, hoping with all his heart that Heimdall wasn't watching them. Because there's really no place where you can hide from Heimdall's gaze, he sees all. And even if he wasn't watching he would have heard Loki's voice - which returned to normal once he dropped the disguise - because according to mythology Heimdall could "hear a cricket pass gas in Niflheim" so his hearing was as good as his sight. But Loki took the risk for the sake of not tormenting Kara any longer... and she definitely wouldn't have believed him if he'd just told her that he was Loki, while looking like Odin; she would have just hated "Odin" more, for apparently mocking her with Loki's memory.

Thinking back on it, Loki could have used his magic to cloak himself from Heimdall's gaze - like he did when he went to Jotunheim in the first movie - but he was likely too rattled and too emotionally conflicted within himself to think clearly for once. So that's my excuse for it xD

As for forgiving him too soon... mhh I don't really think she forgave him 100% yet. There's still some resentment left and it will come back to bite her on the ass eventually, no worries ;)

But thank you so much for the compliment, even though I consider myself far from a good writer; I still have a lot to learn before I can shed the "aspiring writer" title xD But I'm happy that you enjoyed the last chapter; I hope that this one was just as entertaining and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

6\. **Esmee** \- I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed the ride so far, hopefully the remainder of this final arc will be just as entertaining. You have no idea how relieved I am each time one of my readers tells me that I did a good job at keeping Loki in character. He was and still is pure torture to write, because he's so complex... I doubt I've ever encountered a character with more layers and depth than him. And I'm so glad you liked Kara, I'm always paranoid when it comes to her because the plot itself forced my hand at making her almost-Mary-Sue-ish (hence my rant in one of the early chapters xD)

But I hope you'll enjoy the rest of this story, love, and that I'll hear again from you soon :D

7\. **willowlux** \- Aww thank you so much, darling. I'm glad you enjoyed so far and hopefully future chapters won't disappoint you. Hope to hear from you again soon :D

8\. **yayroos** \- You're gonna make me blush, darling. Thank you so much for this heartwarming review, it really got me all giddy and bubbly :3

Haha uhm the "male/female" thing started more because i needed synonims for "man" and "woman" so those were the most natural alternatives. But thinking on it, I think it did become a habit lately and I started using them more than the actual words. Another reason could be that I have many stories started which are set in medieval/ancient times and for those time periods it just seems more fitting to me to use "male" and "female" more than the alternatives... somehow "man" and "woman" sound too modern to my ears. I know, I'm weird but I guess that's just one of my quips xD

As for the plot of the third _Thor_ movie... as far as I know, it's coming out sometime in 2017. So by then I'll hopefully manage to finish the sequel to this story, so that movie's plot might become the third installment in a trilogy. Who knows? I am kind of reluctant to write my own version of Ragnarok too soon, precisely because I know that movie's going to come out in two years and I don't want to see something awesome there and then regret that I hurried to write my own version and I'm now unable to insert some cool scene from the movie. So no worries, the world's not coming to an end... at least until the third movie comes out ;)

But I'm really so happy to hear that you enjoyed this so much, until now. Hopefully the rest of the chapters I have for this story will be just as entertaining. And I hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	41. Entry 40

Well darlings, I hope you had a great Easter and that you had lots of fun with your family and friends. I'm back from my little vacation as well... with a surprise :D

I'm not gonna spoil this chapter at the very beginning, so read on. Just remember to toss me a little review and let me know if you liked it.

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. The lyrics of _Whine Up _belong to Kat DeLuna I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #40**

_Maybe becoming the king had indeed been positive for him._

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__October 05, 2013_

_'Cause I'm feeling your vibe and I'm riding high, it's exotic_

_And I want you, I want you here_

_Pull me closer and closer and hold me tight to your body_

_I wanna feel you, I wanna feel you near'_

Singing along with the lyrics, Kara now took a step to the side while swaying her hips alluringly to the upbeat rhythm of the song resounding from the cell phone she was holding in one hand. In truth she had all but forgotten about it since her arrival on Asgard, and had been very pleasantly surprised to find that – through some miracle, or maybe because of the magic permeating Asgard's very air – the battery was still full enough to let her listen to some music.

She had been looking for the way to the gardens, in all honesty, thinking that she would sit beneath a tree while enjoying some good old Earth songs for a change; instead she had taken a wrong turn and had ended up in the throne room. Seeing that it was empty, however, she had slipped inside and – closing the door to prevent anyone from seeing her – had turned on the music only to be utterly stunned by the superb acoustics in that hall.

Before she had even given it too much thought, she was twirling along the polished floor, swaying her hips and enjoying the sensation of the silky dress sliding along her thighs. Alright, if she were to be honest she was actually imagining that Loki was sitting on the throne, watching her. She had yet to tell him of her passion for dance, mostly because whenever she had tried to the thought had seemed much too childish.

_'Boy keep doing what you're doing get me hot_

_Winding up your body you don't have to stop_

_My temperature is rising, want you more than before_

_It's an animal attraction, whine your body up'_

As she sang along with those lyrics she trailed a hand through the strands which hung along the side of her neck, her fingers ghosting over the cleavage which her dress emphasized in such a way that any man would have had some trouble keeping his gaze away; her eyes were closed as she set her imagination loose, picturing Loki standing behind her whilst she grinded her hips against his. It had always amazed her, the kind of effect a mere song could have... even now she had to admit she was slightly aroused and had all but forgotten where she was.

While Loki had heard the words of the first tune from just outside, his abyssal brow rose upward. The well greased hinges didn't even make a sound as he opened one of the large doors, then pushed it back into place. It was when she had started the second that he was moving toward the throne. The way her frame moved was... absolute perfection. He wanted to touch her, but disturbing her mesmerizing locomotion would have been a waste of a great show.

Easing his seat onto the ornate chair, he slanted toward the left and curled four digits so that he could let his chin rest there whilst he beamed at the vision of her alluring curves. Oh, he was so fortunate to have not missed this moment in time. Maybe he would take Kara to their bed, after she was finished. Then again, was there some way to make this better? Inhaling, his voice rose just enough to cut through the music and reach her.

"I always did think you had the body of a dancer, dearest... why do you not come over and dance for me? This empty room has no eyes or ears to appreciate your skill..."

The first sounds of his voice startled her out of her reverie and she whirled to face the throne, staring wide-eyed at the dark haired Æsir; inwardly, however, she slapped herself when her gaze settled on the groin he made no effort whatsoever in concealing. Damn it, she'd gotten too lost in her thoughts and too aroused... not to mention that right now she was utterly mortified that Loki had actually been watching her, as displayed by the deep blush which had instantly painted her cheeks red. With the song soon coming to an end, she reflexively reached to move a lock of her hair behind her ear, only to remember that her hair was gathered in the ponytail which hung over her shoulder. She couldn't even remember the last time Loki had made her _this_ flustered.

"It's... it's nothing special, really... and I'm not that good of a dancer anyway." she replied, despite approaching the throne.

Whilst she spoke she intentionally glanced anywhere but back to him, in the hopes that he would change his mind.

"Nonsense... you are a wonderful dancer." he answered, whilst gently raising a hand and curling his digits.

Obviously, there was no changing the mind of this deity of schemes and illusions. He had caught her eye just for a moment, however, when it had landed right between his knees. Putting them even farther apart in case she decided that she wanted to get up close and truly personal, the male awaited what he imagined as a highly intimate moment. Seeing Loki beckoning her over, the young woman frowned at him in annoyance.

"Stubborn jerk..." she muttered to herself.

How could he be so cruel as to force her to dance in front of him, when she felt like all she wanted was for the floor to split open and swallow her? Well... if he wanted to be a jerk, two could play at that game; with that in mind she sifted through the music stored on her phone, stopping on a particular song. With the first Latino tones echoing in the tall room, she now took a deep breath in an attempt at imagining that he wasn't actually there; that he was just a figment of her imagination... otherwise, she was certain she wouldn't even be able to move from that spot.

Finally she allowed the music to course through her whole being, her body soon starting to move almost with a mind of its own, in a hypnotic kaleidoscope of fast, pointed hip sways alternating with slow, fluid undulations of her body, which only served to further draw focus to her cleavage. Unbeknownst to her, however, her expression had now gained a seductive, lustful shade despite the fact that she kept her eyes closed to avoid getting distracted by Loki's presence.

Laufey's progeny did observe, though he soon found himself subtly squirming. How sexy could a woman be...? He could already feel himself growing erect in his pants as he beheld his lover. Then, he had an idea that made him grin; without a word, his magical powers were activated, reaching out for her mind. He wouldn't go too deep, as he wanted only her thoughts as of now. Perhaps he would even add in a few things.

Unaware of his scheming, Kara now found it utterly impossible to keep her mind from straying as it always did whenever she danced, imagining that the Trickster God was dancing with her; slowly, the touches of her sleeves became his fingers grazing along her arms... the gliding of her silky dress became his palms tracing her thighs... the tightness of her belt became his arms wrapped around her waist... the tickle of her hair became his breath ghosting over her shoulder, making the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand. It was now that she truly gave herself to the music and abandoned herself to the mercy of her imaginary partner, her body's movements taking on a more pronounced sensual tone.

"Mm..." his throat rumbled, as in Kara's thoughts his hands began to more freely explore her body.

Loki could almost feel the fabric of her dress as he handled her toned hips, sides and stomach in her imagination, soon encroaching upon her bust. Digits followed palms as he let out a breath, his left extremity ascending to her collarbone to merely stroke it, the opposite hand gingerly squeezing her breast. It was all so vivid that he could have sworn an oath that he'd caught the feel of her nipple. Now, he would exercise just a little control, bringing up a memory of her past; namely, the second time he had ever penetrated her womanhood, the sensation born of it and ultimately the moan she had given as an ever so evanescent reward.

She couldn't tell how she had noticed it, but her mind suddenly alerted her that the Loki she was imagining was no longer under her imagination's control; before she could open her eyes, however, with the intention of glaring at him as she realized he had slithered into her mind, her mind brought up that memory of her visit to his dungeon cell, translating it into a physical sensation so powerful – as arousal exploded in her body – that she was forced to stop dancing before she did something embarrassing like tripping on her own feet.

"Who invited you in here?" she asked, frowning at him in an attempt to look as annoyed as she could.

The entity gave her a devilish grin, but stayed in his place whilst his deceptively gentle tone echoed.

"You did, dearest. You have been inviting me inside you throughout that entire dance. The words you sang... every swing and buck of the hips... you were calling out to me, even if you were not conscious of it. Well... I am here, now. I am all yours, but you are also completely mine... I am going to relish in watching your eyes dull as you scream and climax for your king."

Staring at him utterly taken aback by the sensations which now washed over her, the young woman then lowered her gaze as she felt her cheeks and groin taking fire; she had felt the effects of his silver tongue before, but never in such an overwhelming fashion. Had he truly enjoyed watching her dance, _that_ much? Gathering what was left of her courage she again looked up at him and instinctively her gaze – now betraying the lust building up inside her – again settled fleetingly onto his groin. Truly that alluring and seductive vibe he constantly surrounded himself with had never been so powerful that she could practically see him bending her over and savagely having his way with her again and again, while she enjoyed every moment of it. She had always bent to his whims even before, but he always offered her the sensation that she held some semblance of control over the situation... not this time; this time she felt as if any attempt from her to defy him would only spur him on to further enforce his will on her.

His gaze alone told her that this time she had no say in the matter... and that she would love every second where she completely lacked control.

As she kept her eyes upon him, Loki did finally claim a vertical base before reaching down to loosen his belt; his member ached from the effects of increasing blood flow and the confinement of his attire. Each step felt eternal, given how much he lusted for her; how animalistic he felt, now. When he reached Kara, the man took hold of her and heaved her over his shoulder, her stomach resting there while he glanced around – and ultimately – back to his previous position. The throne... yes. In only seconds, he seated his queen there and immediately claimed her lips for a kiss so intense that it _demanded_ an equal return.

With no time to properly regain her bearings, Kara took a moment to realize that she was now seated upon the golden throne; in that same instant, however, her mind was overtaken by the sensation of his velvety lips molding to hers. A brief echo caused by the sound of her phone hitting the floor spoke of the fact that he had caught her off guard... but she recovered quickly and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, all too eager to relish in what she assumed would only be a passionate kiss, given the public location they were in.

But what if...? Maybe they could...

Inwardly shaking her head at the thoughts her mind had begun conjuring, she merely delved into the lip lock only allowing him an evanescent sensation of her tongue tracing his lips. No, he surely wouldn't do such a thing in a place where anyone could walk in on them at any moment, but it did no harm to taunt him a bit and give him something to look forward to for that night.

At the feeling of those tiny taste buds against his lip, he adjusted their kiss so as to cause her tongue to deviate into his mouth, where he coiled his own around it and started the ever so familiar wrestling match. His hands now touched to her stomach before gripping at her dress, a trivial effort ripping the top half to fully expose the front of her torso; clearly, the divine being was not in a kidding mood in this instance.

Though she had decided to let him have his way in the kiss, the young woman's eyes widened when she felt the forceful tug and heard the frail material tearing apart. The sheer shock which hit her as she realized just where he was going with that, had her lean back and break the kiss, whilst she now tried her best to conceal her exposed torso with her arms.

"What are you...?"

Her voice caught in her throat, however, beneath his gaze which offered her such an odd sensation... both overwhelming and arousing her at the same time. But no, they couldn't do that in such a place.

"Loki... what if someone walks in?" she now asked, her faintly trembling voice betraying her current state of mind.

She would likely end up unable to sit still and squirming until the evening, when he would finally be done with his duties for the day. But as much as the idea enticed her, to let him have her right there where anyone could catch them in the act, she still clung to the hope of making him see reason... a hope which was currently dying a merciless death under the intensity of his stare. A short lived smile crossed his face before a backward sweep of his hand caused the doors to press tight into place.

"There... that should ease your troubled mind, my queen. Now... let us return to the matter at hand." he briefly stated, previous to kissing down her jaw and nipping at her neck.

The remainder of her dress was the last thing he intended to remove as of this time, but Loki would refrain – for just this moment. Again her face was set on fire as she realized he wasn't planning to let her get away... but ultimately it would have been a huge lie to say that she didn't want it as well.

Involuntarily arching her back and tilting her head beneath his teasing kisses, Kara was soon made aware of her increasing arousal when her groin cringed in pleasure, before the telltale feeling of slick drops of warmth reached the sensitive skin on the underside of her thighs. The fact that her mind now kept reminding her of all the sensations he had imposed on her body during their previous encounter, wasn't helping in the least and she could feel her body slipping out of her control, as displayed by how she lightly gulped when her throat went dry, her breath slowly slipping into a soft panting rhythm.

Hearing her for a moment, Loki flashed a toothy grin and started to creep down her form. Kissing down her cleavage and stomach, he pecked just above her navel before arriving on one knee. To destroy the last of her dress, or no...? Instead of putting a great deal of thought into it, he eventually opened her belt and tossed it away before shredding the last bit of cloth to see that, beneath it, there was no more to obstruct him from her body.

"Mm... you had this all planned out, didn't you love?" he huffed amusedly, on that particular tone which always made her melt.

Now, the prints of his fingers ran along her thighs and up, eventually convening at her hips. Yes, he may have been kneeling now, but that didn't equate to submission in the least. He was still fully in control and nowhere near shy when it came to reminding her of that, if needed.

Her first impulse was to press her legs together, her arms tightening their hold on her breasts; with all said and done she still felt like a silly girl in front of him... how he managed to make her so flustered about her nudity was beyond her, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the feeling at the same time.

"Maybe..." she retorted, lifting her chin and offering him a defying glance.

Even then she was doing it not because she actually wanted to defy him, but simply because she knew how it spurred him on to see her attempts at overruling him; she knew how much he enjoyed the fact that she didn't fear him as all other women did, and how much he relished in the pleasure of imposing his will on her. And, quite frankly, she enjoyed it just as much...

Her reflexive protest was met with just enough strength to pull her knees apart, Loki's countenance moving between them. After just a second, she was bound to feel him applying his lips to her sex in a kiss of sorts, taunting her with this stimulation. Unlike many men, he had no shame in doing this for a female; especially when he loved her as much as he loved Kara. With his eyes slightly opened, he could see the scar that marked her beautiful skin, but only closed his foliage pigmented oculars.

In truth she hadn't wanted to believe that he was actually going to go through with it, until the very last moment; in turn that served to allow him to catch her off guard, her surprised moan's echo bouncing off the high walls surrounding the throne room. In the same instant when his lips touched her skin, her groin cringed in pleasure and she placed a hand to his head, although she had no actual willpower to push him away.

"What... here?" she mumbled, her face taking on a deeper shade of red when she felt her lower lips twitching against his mouth.

"Mm, yes... now give yourself to your urges..."

As if to make her battle between decorum and lust even more arduous, his lips moved upward, dexterous fingers opening her ever so slightly from above. His tongue began to tease Kara's clitoris with motions much like a pendulum, nervous signals from the muscular bundle's buds firing to give him the taste that he had already learned to revel in; the lover of this adept deceiver was so moist that he knew her to be fully ready for his plans.

Another gasped moan left her chest at this taunts and she found that she simply couldn't take her eyes off him; only when her pleasure began to rise did she involuntarily tilt her head back whilst her body arched, her fingers tensing and sliding her nails lightly against his head while she covered her mouth with the other hand, trying to not be loud enough that anyone passing by would hear her.

"L... Loki..." she pleaded shakily, although pleasure took away her ability to think rationally enough to finish her phrase.

As her head cocked, Loki decided then to dismiss his clothing; his manhood was simply uncomfortable in the restraining raiment and wearing anything else would be awkward. The numerous inches of his thick length hung ready, the toned and dense musculature of his neck and jaw ever so subtly flexing while he gave but seconds of thought toward exactly how he would exercise his will upon her. Pulling back his head, Loki gave her one last heaving breath so that her slit could take in that warmth.

"I hope you are prepared for what I am going to do to you here... it will be unlike anything before this day. If you can still cling to your breath, even I will be amazed."

With the dark haired Æsir offering her a respite, the young woman leaned back on the throne while trying to catch her breath and once more setting her sapphire gaze on him.

"After all this time... I think I'm ready for anything you can conjure..." she retorted, in an attempt to sound unimpressed simply for the sake of spurring him on.

It was true that she had known him for a long time, but she still knew so little about him that often it frightened her when faced with the fact that he knew everything about her in exchange. Sometimes it even felt like such one-sided knowledge that she wondered if maybe she was insane for staying with him.

"Then you should grab that throne and grip tight... hang on as if your life is in the balance. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Taking to a standing posture, the man bent forward and gained hold of her left hip, effortlessly lifting up his future spouse. Instead of immediately going for entry, all that the new Allfather offered was a nearly sinister gaze meant to reinforce that his ambition was to grind her mental fortitude to nothing but incoherent rubbish.

Out of reflex Kara set her hands onto the arms of the golden chair, blinking in surprise while her legs instinctively latched around his waist when she felt her body hanging in the air like that. In all honesty it wasn't the _most_ comfortable position, what with her having to support half of her weight with just her palms and forearms. But that mischievous gleam in his eye, promising that he would indeed make good on his words – and even more than that – did stir her curiosity as to what he had in mind. Yes, by now she had made peace with the thought that he was indeed going to take her wherever and whenever he desired; his mother, at least, would have likely been utterly shocked to learn of what they were doing on Asgard's throne.

His hips would bring the shaft of his rod against her lower lips, a faint squeeze allowing him to raise her up and soon bring her down. Perceiving that he had started to penetrate her, the god sighed in pleasure given by the slick warmth plus her stretching folds. Only after the tip kissed her cervix would Kara inevitably find herself being pulled and pushed in time with every thrust.

With her mind having to focus some of its attention to her arms so as to keep her muscles tense, her entire body shuddered at the sudden surge of pleasure which coursed through her much like liquid fire. Due to how tightly her inner walls coiled around him, her mind also perceived him to be larger than she remembered... and it was that, combined with his sturdy movements that ultimately loosed her voice into an alluring symphony of moans.

As his queen submitted herself to that feeling, the raven haired joker could hear his own breathing faintly picking up. It came to him in that moment that the relatively soft pace would not do; he started to show more force and swiftness in his deft division of her inner walls, letting his vision wander from where their frames connected and up along her stomach. Even her bouncing chest – gleaming with sweat as it was – did not escape his viewing on a journey to her stunning visage.

Leaning her head onto the back of the winged chair to ease the tension in her neck, Kara looked up only to find his eyes locked on her gaze which was by now overflowing with lust, her expression betraying just how thoroughly she was enjoying all the sensations he was imposing on her body. Her fingers tensed when he shifted the rhythm, pressing her nails against the unyielding gold arms of his throne until she believed they would break from the pressure; all the while, below, her groin cringed again at the ever rising pleasure which in turn allowed him to feel her slick folds twitching around his erection.

"Oh, God..." she breathed out along with a pathetically weak moan.

His gaze alone was so enthralling... so mesmerizing that she couldn't look away and... what was she going to say, again?

"You don't have to be so formal, love. You may call me Loki... in fact, I encourage it." he playfully replied, before moaning just slightly for her.

She felt... so good. Raising her along his member to a degree, he then abruptly brought the woman who shared her name with a Valkyrie down to his testicles – it was unavoidable that the sensation of her cervix being opened would reach Kara, given how the head of his throbbing phallus was lodged into her womb and expanding even its material limits. His objective? To make pleasure flourish inside her until she couldn't even comprehend the most basic of thinking.

It was at that abrupt motion that Kara again arched her back, the Trickster God's name leaving her lips in a mixture of an alluring moan and an ecstatic scream which echoed loudly off the golden walls and the tall ceiling surrounding them. Despite how tightly she had closed her eyes, tears could easily be seen staining her face. In tune with those reactions, a raging climax erupted inside her, her womanhood latching onto his member tightly enough to almost prevent any form of movement as her body instinctively aimed to let him feel the full weight of her pleasure and the repeated, violent twitches of her slick folds.

A faint straining sound left him when his beloved responded by hitting the absolute peak of need, her body confining his manhood to mere nudges that coincided with the strong motions of Kara's insides. He had not been far from release himself, which was to be shown when he steadied his physical posture in preparation for an explosion of creamy, high temperature substance into her. The audio of a moan exited the monarch as he gave in to the incredible event. His mental faculties didn't diminish in the least as – simultaneous to her orgasm – Loki abandoned one curve to stroke the female's clitoris in a circular manner.

Widening her eyes, the young woman reflexively reached out and grasped his forearm although she had no strength left to pull his hand away or to speak and ask him to give her a reprieve; the sensation of his seed filling her and heating up her entire hip area until she felt as if she would melt, was enough to throw her straight in the midst of a second climax although this time her mouth opened in a silent scream as her mind and body were so overcome with pleasure that even her lungs had stopped working for a few moments. This... this was much too good to be real... she'd thought that she at least had some knowledge of Loki in bed, but now she could see that she had been utterly mistaken and that he always revealed to be more and offer more than she expected.

Loki, however, could not reach a second moment of bliss. At this point, the flow from him tapered off to seeping and eventually nothing at all. That didn't stop him from thrusting as much for his precious one, but he could only groan due to being so sensitive. Within seconds after her tension subsided, his figure also came to a well deserved respite by putting the woman to rest on his favored chair, a pale forehead touching the soft cheek it sought while he jokingly whispered.

"Ta-da..."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Haha well keep in mind that Sif, Fandral and Volstagg weren't present when Thor spoke to "Odin", so they didn't actually hear him say that he wanted nothing more than to live on Earth with Jane. And of course they wouldn't trust Loki, why would they? And yes, I always did get the feeling that Fandral was the least judgmental and racist of their group - maybe Hogun too, but Hogun wasn't there either. So it just seemed natural to me that Fandral would have wanted them to accept the situation and adapt and stay in Asgard.

It's probably the fact that he looks and acts so much like a Shakespearian nobleman/prince that gave me that impression, but it just seemed the best way to portray him with that inner conflict of wanting to stay in the realm he'd called home for so long and at the same time not wanting to abandon his friends.

But I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter and I really hope you'll enjoy the following ones as well :D

2\. **Moriah98 **\- Well, ask and thou shall receive ;)

I'm hoping you enjoyed the first post-_Thor_ steamy scene. There's still a lot of the story to go, so maybe I'll have some surprises in store for you and my other lovelies. And really, I'm going to get such a huge ego from all the compliments, darling xD

3\. **Sloane Raine **\- Hmm good question. I've actually been thinking a lot about the whole marriage issue. For the moment I have no idea what sort of ritual to use as a marriage ceremony; Asgard doesn't exactly believe in gods, since they practically _are_ gods so it's kinda complicated. The mythology does nothing to elaborate on that either, it just says that Frigga was married to Odin and Thor to Sif and so on and so forth. But they never elaborate on _how_ they got married.

So I'm thinking that maybe they don't understand the notion of "marriage" as humans do, and that for them when two people want to live together and love each other, they're considered husband and wife. On the other hand, there _might _be some ritual involved as well, maybe some exchange of vows or something. I have no idea, I still have to do some more research in that area to see if I find anything. So, for the moment at least, they're not married.

I might just plan out the following events in such a way, that they won't get the chance to actually go through the ritual of marriage, unless I find some information about it. In which case I'll somehow insert a scene for that. Or not... guess we'll just have to see how good I am at digging up information ;)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	42. Entry 41

Whew, that last chapter was quite a ride I hope... curious what's going to happen next? Well I won't spoil it at the very beginning, just go on and read it. Oh, and I forgot to say this earlier, but I hope no one was too upset that I had Loki trim his hair... I always thought that the way he looked in the first _Thor _movie was the best look for him, because it really made him look like Prince Charming.

So I apologize to those who were hoping to keep seeing him with long hair. I make no promises, but I _might _let him grow it out again to the length he had it during his scuffle with the Avengers. That's about how long his hair can get, before it just becomes a turn-off for me xD

Maybe I'll have him grow it out again to that length, or maybe he'll keep it short for a longer time... who can know? For anyone who's interested in sharing their opinion, I actually put up a poll... I don't really mind either of those two looks on Loki, so go vote darlings... let me know what _you _would like to see and I might surprise you! :D

And don't forget to toss me a little review to let me know what you think about this lil' chappy :3

So enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #41**

_"Ta-da..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__October 05, 2013_

Although she had started heaving for breath by now, Kara was utterly unable to hold back an exhausted and weak laugh, setting her trembling arms around his neck.

"You incorrigible... jester..." she retorted.

Going silent for a few more moments so as to settle down her breathing, she then released him and gathered the remnants of her dress around her legs.

"At least take responsibility for what you've done and take me to the bedroom..." she stated trying her best at a pout despite her urge to smile.

After all, it wasn't as if she could go walking around with nothing but rags covering her body; what's more, her legs were shaking so much that she probably couldn't even stand from that throne.

The time in which she had held him had been one of the greatest, heart fulfilling moments in all of his existence. There were no jokes for that situation, there was no playfulness in him... until she let go of him and started picking up the shreds of her attire. When she set her attention upon him again, he was in combat equipment – minus Gungnir – during his approach. Putting hands on her would not repair her lost outfit, but replace it with a replica until the man took her over a shoulder. Uninterrupted by the door, granted his ability to break the spell there with a wave, he strolled out and chortled. They would talk in their bedchamber. Would they continue their sexual escapades? That remained to be seen...

"You are quivering, even still." Loki declared in a neutral tone.

Trying her best to ignore the subtle glances shot their way by the guards and the maids staring at them as they crossed the hallways in that unusual fashion, Kara instead reached to grasp a strand of his hair and tugged on it.

"It's your fault, you know..." she retorted. "Besides, I'm getting cold."

With the sweat cooling off on her skin, she could easily feel even the slightest breeze in the tall corridors; not to mention that stone and gold didn't exactly provide a lot of warmth. Loki, however, took on something of a strut when he noticed the glimpses taken by all they passed; one of the maids would get a wink, whilst his head nodded to a guard. Pointing toward the wall, he then spoke to one of the cleaning women.

"You missed a spot. By the way, just tried to conceive my first heir on the throne, you might want to go clean that up while you're at it. Hope for the best!"

Instead of letting her reply, he moved onward to better things – such as responding to his beloved.

"You'll be under warm sheets in no time, love. No problem."

It was now that he affectionately patted her bottom, widely grinning.

"Wh-what's gotten into you today?"

It was all Kara could blurt out, utterly shocked by his words to the poor maid who had turned as red as a boiled lobster before rushing off toward the throne room, likely to carry out his order. Once she was gone, Kara again tugged on his hair, this time in a less playful manner.

"How could you say that to her?" she asked, after making sure no one was around.

Hearing her scolding the king would have probably lowered his authority in the eyes of his subjects, after all.

"Also, for your information, I'm still on birth control pills. You didn't tell me you want a baby, or I would have stopped taking them."

Beaming at her words, he spoke back.

"I need nothing to get into me to speak my mind, dearest. You have known this about me for a long time."

He could feel the pull of his hair, although the roots were much more solidly in place, due to his lack of humanity. Even still, he frowned at the mention of those damnable pills.

"You will not need those for a long time. You are mine and I desire an heir."

How those Midgardians could come up with something that could undo even the will of those in Asgard was beyond him. But he would not be deprived. At last, he opened the door to their room and slipped in, closing it behind him. Carrying Kara to their bedding, it was in his gentlest act of handling her for a little while that he seated her on the edge.

Offering him an amused glance once she could look him in the eye, the young woman now finally discarded the remains of her dress to the floor and settled onto the bed, pulling the silky black covers aside and patting the spot next to her.

"Well if you have no other appointments for today, come help your queen warm up and I'll tell you how having kids works." she retorted in jest.

Yet despite her humor she knew they would have to have a serious talk about it someday; she too desired children, but there were so many things involved between her and the green eyed god. Loki listened whilst he viewed her wonderfully attractive features, soon magically ditching the metallic parts of his outfit so that he might sit upon his own bed without proving too heavy a burden for it. Sliding an arm along the curve of her lower back, his expression seemed to take a turn for the earnest as he placed forest oculars upon her once more.

For all he knew about sex and pregnancy, perhaps there was something in particular that he would have to learn about Kara herself. There were no games to be played; she had her future husband's undivided attention. Arching a brow at that, she reached behind her to grasp his wrist, bringing his hand to her lips.

"You're not going to lie in bed with me?" she asked, her lips grazing against the back of his slender fingers as she spoke.

She never could tell if her actions or words upset him; and while his unexpected and unusual reactions did annoy her, she loved that aspect as much as she loved everything else about him.

A soft, warm smile graced his expression while he bent and maneuvered to get to Kara's side, taking his hand lightly from her and replacing the back of it with his own lips against hers; there were times when she knew just how to get beneath his skin and the cuteness she could display was – while rare – completely well timed. Draping an arm over her, Loki set his temple against his lover's shoulder. She was... so enchanting. If this happened to be a dream... he never desired to wake. If it wasn't, it would break his heart to fall asleep and only be capable of seeing a false image of her.

"Who taught you to get into bed with your clothes on?" she asked humorously, reaching to gently grasp his ear and tug on it lightly.

Leaning to kiss him afterwards, she smiled and whispered against his lips while tugging on the edge of his tunic.

"Take these off, Wildfire..."

Even she was actually surprised to hear herself calling him that; while she recalled it was one of the many names that humans had given him back when he had been worshipped as a god, she had never actually used it. And yet, somehow, it sounded so... erotic... it really was an odd thought, but she couldn't find any other word to describe the sensation that word left in her mind; as if that word alone had been enough to unleash his seductive vibe to its fullest. Chuckling at her ear pulling and teasing, Loki dismissed his clothing so as to shift and rub his abdomen against her side.

"As you wish, my lady... my wonderful lady." the male lovingly whispered, especially the second part.

Whilst he was getting comfortable against her, his hand came down on her stomach, rubbing over the silky flesh. He hoped against every tragic fate in the branches of existence that Kara would conceive on this night. Settling next to the Trickster God, the young woman now wrapped her arms around him, letting him rest his head onto her shoulder whilst she took to stroking his silky hair.

"Tyra said she talked to the guards today and that the defenses are almost completely restored."

Smiling lovingly at him, she then leaned to place a kiss to his pale forehead.

"I'm proud of you..." she whispered. "Though I do wish you would tell Thor that you're alive. I'm sure he'd be too happy about it, to try and take the throne from you."

Granted, the Thunder God would likely be furious at the death of their father by Loki's own hands, but she was certain he wouldn't react quite as badly as Loki imagined. After all, she would have been immensely happy to find out that one member of her family was still alive, no matter what other events surrounded that knowledge... Thor surely wasn't any different in that aspect.

"I have been focusing entirely on restoring the military strength of Asgard... when we go to war, it always takes a heavy toll." the chaotic one conversed.

Bending his arms to take hold of the woman, Loki brought her skin even closer against his own as he gently answered.

"Thor... doesn't need to know about me. He has moved on with his own life and will hear no more from Asgard. I am happy for him and have no desire to fight with him about his father."

Their future meetings were all too apt to be marred by Thor's hatred of Loki for the slaying of Odin; Laufey's son was resolute in his choice. Catching that odd expression in his phrase, Kara lightly frowned in thought; did he truly hate Odin so much that he would even refuse to acknowledge him as father anymore?

"He might have been harsh and relentless in his decisions, Loki... but he _was_ your father. No matter how much you hate him, that's a bond you'll never be able to break."

"My love..." he intervened, right at the last syllable from her mouth. "Do you remember the things I told you? All the stories about Asgard's history and the other realms..."

Now, Loki was stoic; after much consideration and skirting around the issue, it was finally time to tell her exactly what she needed to know about him. He would not have her being shocked, in the case that she gave birth to a Jötun halfling. More than that, he hoped the infant would not be so large that it would kill her. Blinking in surprise at that unexpected question, the young woman nodded while a smile tugged at her lips.

"How could I forget? You have such a wonderful talent for telling stories... not even my mother told them as well as you did."

With Loki, nothing was ever as it seemed; he was much too meticulous, he never did or said anything without a purpose, and Kara knew he hadn't asked that question without some reason behind it. But she didn't ask... he would tell her soon enough, as he always did whenever he wished to reveal the reasoning behind his words or actions. Setting his gaze upon every feature of her soft visage, he – instead of halting just to tell her how comely she was – reached to stroke her warm and fair cheek.

"Do you recall... how I mentioned that the Asgardians dislike the other races and raise their children to hate them, as well?" Kara's bedfellow inquired of her.

Grasping his hand and placing a kiss to his palm, Kara now frowned again in some confusion.

"Yes, I remember everything you told me... what are you trying to get at, Loki?" she asked, her expression taking on a concerned shade.

By now she was getting that familiar sensation of a cold chill down her spine; it was never a good thing when Loki started beating around the bush with her, even if he did it ever so rarely.

"I am adopted, Kara." he chimed in, at the end of her question.

With that confession out of the way, he appended.

"Odin himself told me... I am the son of Laufey, a Frost Giant. Odin found me abandoned and took me in, in the hopes of using me to create a long lasting peace between the Æsir and Jötuns. He implied no care for me at any point... I was a political pawn to him, even as a youth."

Silence followed his words while Kara could do nothing but stare at him in shock; ultimately releasing a shaky breath, she averted her gaze from his, covering her mouth with one hand. So everything he had told her of Odin had been true, after all. Feeling tears stinging her eyes, she looked back to him before once more wrapping her arms tightly around him and setting her forehead against his, even as the salty drops overflowed from beneath her closed eyelids. She recalled now all the things he had told her of that race... and how all the Æsir – even he, at that time – considered them to be savage monsters; and she couldn't even imagine how he had felt to learn that he was one of that very race. Not really knowing what words of comfort to offer him – if there were any at all – she instead pressed her lips to his in a loving kiss.

When she embraced him, Loki took hold of her and returned that very same kiss; the mutual locking of lips wasn't a truly passionate one, as it was entirely comforting as opposed to lustful. The supreme ruler of Asgard had no problem with that at all, sinking into Kara's gentle comforts. She could be... so undeniably soothing, to the point that the negativity melted away from him like a creature shedding its old skin. What a woman...

"I want to see it..." she whispered, now leaning away from his alluring lips. "I want to see what you look like... your real self."

Now that she knew of his true heritage she imagined that, despite his human appearance, this wasn't actually what he looked like. If she were to be honest, she was somewhat scared to see him like that; what if he would appear much too frightening for her to endure it? What if all she had loved for so many years was only an illusion? Was she about to find out that she belonged to an actual monster? With her heart cringing at those thoughts she inwardly shook her head; no, he wasn't a monster... no matter what he looked like, he was still Loki.

Some tension came to his musculature at her announcement, a blackened brow raising despite the pained shade his gaze now betrayed in the face of her request.

"Kara... but why?"

Naturally, he not only disliked that form – he abhorred it. While it required no focus at all to keep when compared to his current one, he felt... filthy, in that state. It was a reminder of what he truly was, down to his very core: a bane to his people. Leaning back just enough to look into his eyes, she placed a hand to his cheek stroking the smooth skin there.

"Because I want to know the real Loki..." she smiled softly. "I know what it means to hide who you really are; I've had to keep my abilities a secret for most of my life. But with you I was always just myself."

She still recalled his utterly awed expression when she had told him that she could read people's thoughts, on that fateful day when they had met and she was nothing more than a little girl.

"I trusted you with my deepest secret... trust me with yours." she whispered, again kissing him.

Expressionless after the kiss was stopped, he gazed into her eyes. Her deepest secrets were indeed among his memories... and it was not as if she happened to be ignorant to the differences between their situations. Even still, his flesh did not ease as he closed both eyes. Splotches of blue began to overtake milky white, muscle becoming more defined as he could perceive the sensation of blood in his veins running as cold as a blizzard. Whilst the icy azure conquered all, prominent ridges formed on his countenance, his outermost layer acquiring a slight hardness. At the end of this transformation, eyelids opened to reveal two orbs, each stained with a color that the imaginations of many would oft register as deep seas of blood. Loki was a runt, compared to just about any other with the genes of a titan tossed into their composition. Indeed, if their kind did at all measure status by height, this one would have been a punch line without a joke; garbage, really.

Silent whilst she watched the transformation with her own eyes, Kara was left to stare in awe at him. How? How could anyone ever hate something so wondrous? From his stories she had imagined that a Frost Giant would look more terrifying or at the very least more hideous... but that dark bluish hue reminded her of the deep ocean she had so loved to watch as a child; his eyes were like burning rubies and the patterns adorning his skin were so intricate in their apparent simplicity, as if the hands of the most skillful artist had drawn them. Reaching out she hesitantly trailed her fingertips along the curved ridges etched onto his forehead, a measure of curiosity now visible in her gaze even as the corners of her lips twitched toward a smile. Slowly, delicately, she traced the contour of his face and then allowed her thumb to ghost over his now pale blue lips, before she once more locked gazes with him, taking in the sight of the powerful contrast his dark strands now made with his skin.

"You're beautiful..." she whispered, her voice shaky as her body ever so lightly trembled beneath the touch of his cold form.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Haha I wanted to somehow integrate that into my story, because I laugh so hard at hearing it, no matter how many times I watch that scene; it never fails to make me laugh. And since the chapter containing that scene was much too serious overall, I decided to insert it somewhere else... this just happened to be the best spot for it xD

2\. **bnoell14 **\- Oh holy crap, love, I am soooooo immensely happy and grateful for your wonderful words. Sometimes I too wish Kara was an actual canon character, but thinking deeper on it, in movie form she'd probably seem much too Mary-Sue-ish and much too like a "deus ex machina" type of character, which would probably make fans hate her in the end. So in that light, I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad that she's just an OC.

As for realistic, it really wasn't my intention to make it overly so, but I guess a king wouldn't have many reasons to take a new wife, other than strictly political ones. And since I always loved stories regarding palace intrigue and what it means to live in that kind of environment, what it means to rule and to have so many important decisions weighing on your shoulders, it was kind of inevitable that it would come across as very realistic.

But I'm glad that you liked it and I can't wait to hear what you think of future chapters :D

3\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Well here it is, darling. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well; look forward to future ones, there's a lot more comin' ;)

4\. **Moriah98 **\- Oh I'm sure her dancing skills will come in handy again, but we'll see how the story progresses ;)

As for Kara... well I won't spoil it, you'll have to wait and see (*insert Loki-style _ehehe _here*). Rest assured that I have it all planned out for a baby, I'm just not telling when it'll happen... maybe now, maybe in the sequel... who knows? :P

But I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed that update so much, darling, I had a feeling you'd like it. I can't wait to hear what you think of future chapters as well :D

5\. **Sloane Raine **\- Yes I was thinking it would be more like exchanging some sort of vows but not in the modern way... the wording would definitely be different, but I have to figure out how to structure such a scene. As I said, they _are _gods, so they don't really have some higher deity to invoke (which is usually what happens during marriage ceremonies, we invoke a deity to watch over the new couple and bless their marriage and so on). So that's gonna be a bit of a problem that I'll have to solve in some way, before I can actually make an attempt at a marriage scene.

But still... who knows? I may or may not give them an actual marriage scene; you'll just have to wait and see ;P

And thank you for that bit of information; I barely started looking a bit into it (college is eating up most of my time still) so I didn't yet know that :D

I'm hoping to hear from you again very soon, darling, and I hope that you're going to enjoy future chapters just as much :)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	43. Entry 42

Hope you guys enjoyed the previous chapter, because... steamy scene ahoy! :D

Joke aside, I'm going to reveal a bit of info... I've had some requests over the time that I wrote this story for the throne scene and for a lemon where Loki has his actual Jotun appearance. I'd already been contemplating adding the Jotun scene, because it also served the plot of him revealing his true bloodline to Kara, but the throne scene was pure fanservice. I hadn't initially intended to have two lemons in such close proximity, or even to have a total of three lemons in this story, but you guys asked for it and I am happy I could deliver. As for the proximity of these two scenes... well the story worked it out for itself, as the Jotun scene just naturally flowed out from the end of the scene in the throne room. Hope you guys don't feel that it's an overload of steamy-ness, but enjoy it while you can because depending on how things flow in the sequel, steamy scenes might be rarer in that second installment xD

But enough of reminiscing, I'll let you read on; just don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know what you think :D

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #42**

_"You're beautiful..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__October 05 / 06, 2013_

He had wanted to keep touching her, but at the sensation of those vibrations, he moved to pull from his most valuable belonging; she was human and couldn't handle the cold that well. The immediate and short term exposure would be fine, if only uncomfortable. However, if she should remain in his frozen embrace for too long, he could certainly see her health suffering for it.

"I... don't think that I can hold you like this, dearest. Humans are not as resistant as the Æsir... I could harm you." he said lowly, having only hesitated because of her words.

Beautiful... instead of any other word he could have expected, why that one? To be seen as attractive in his truest shape was confusing to him. At his attempt to move away, the young woman instead reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself to his body.

"Don't..." she pleaded, in spite of her body's protests at the low temperature it was now forced to endure.

Willing herself as much as she could to not shiver anymore, she smiled and again leaned her forehead against his.

"You're still Loki..." she whispered lovingly. "I still love you... and I still want you... no matter what you look like."

To think that for so long she had wanted to ask him why his skin was always colder than that of anyone else she had ever touched, but had never deemed it important enough; it almost made her laugh to think that if only she had given in to her curiosity, she would have learned all this sooner... and perhaps she would have managed to help him through his darker moments better, had she known of what he really was.

The Jötun blinked at her spoken thoughts, stopping in place for a moment. She had begged for him to stay with her, even while freezing... and pushing her very warm self against him. After a short internal struggle, his frigid upper limbs took hold of Kara again, rolling to put her on top as their legs slightly tangled together.

"Just as I love and desire you." the frosty one droned, rendered nigh speechless by amazement.

No woman had ever, in all of his days, made him feel so truly wanted. If she really could endure him, then Kara would receive all she could want on this night.

"Good..." she smiled. "Because I didn't imagine the God of Mischief to be this shy."

She hadn't said that to him since the first time they had ever made love, but perhaps it would serve to help him relax and return to his usual demeanor. Allowing one of her legs to settle in between his own, she trailed her thigh against his only to find herself startled when she felt his manhood against her skin. Her awe was gone quickly, however, leaving behind an intrigued and somewhat seductive smile on her lips.

"Well... you _should_ take responsibility for being this beautiful." she stated humorously, trailing a hand up his torso as her fingers traced the intricate designs adorning his skin.

Indeed, his member was a fair bit larger in this form, when flaccid, due to a slight increase in his overall body size. Still, when she spoke with such a lewd facial expression, he could not help but reveal a grin.

"You sound like you have something in mind, dearest."

Could she really go the distance with him, now? How good would it feel for them? That was something he had no answer for, having never shared this state of being with anybody else.

"Well, I wasn't lying when I told Natasha that you made me too naughty for Heaven." she retorted, offering him a half-grin in return.

Faking an innocent expression, she placed a finger to her lips which she now pursed into a playful pout.

"I was curious, so I did a bit of studying on my own."

Right after that statement, however, her features took on a seductive shade while her lips curved into a smile which promised all manner of debaucheries. The only thing to make her break eye contact with him was when she leaned down to place a kiss onto his chest... then another, lower... and another... and another... lower and lower on his torso.

"What... would you... say if... I returned the... favor?" she asked in between kisses, her warm breath ghosting over his skin as she spoke each word.

Every breath and soft, taunting kiss would build a sensation within him, causing him to sigh whilst she made her way down.

"I think that I would be too busy enjoying it to say anything." he admitted playfully, while pondering their position.

Loki wanted so much for her to take his rod beyond her lips that it translated to a twitch in that most intimate of places.

"Well that would be no fun..." she replied in jest.

By now her body had somewhat gotten used to his temperature by lowering her own, thus she wasn't shivering anymore; and despite the fact that she couldn't deny that she was cold, she wanted to push her limits and see if she could endure him in his real appearance. Soon settling in between his legs she lowered her gaze to his member and tauntingly trailed a finger along its entire length, from his groin to the very tip. Despite all the knowledge she had gained for him, however, actually _doing_ what she was about to do, made her nervous. Would she be good enough to satisfy him? She imagined she wasn't the first woman to do that for him, and she hoped she could rise to his expectations.

Given how rare it was for a woman to even invest a second of thought toward doing this for him, his semi-erect size jerked at her warm touch. He was tempted to just put his hands behind his head and let her sate the curiosity that appeared to fuel her, but Loki wanted to touch Kara and be invested in this moment; it was correct that she was likely to be bored if he gave absolutely no feedback. Even a man receiving oral sex could be bad at doing so... after all, there was no such thing as a lack of options. There was only a slow mind that could not process the moment fast enough to come up with anything.

Unable to hold back a sly smile Kara now traced her palm back up along the shaft, inwardly marveling at how smooth it was and how she could feel it hardening more and more right under her touch. The dark blue color which covered his entire body faded into a lighter shade around his member, actually reminding her of ice. Ultimately she leaned down and set loose a warm, shaky breath against the awakened rod of flesh, prior to finally placing her lips to his icy skin and tauntingly alternating between kisses and hot breaths on the sensitive skin, whilst she moved at a torturously slow pace toward the tip where she planned to finally let him feel the moist warmth of her mouth.

Exhaling through his nose, his hand reached down and caressed her cheek, previous to intertwining with Kara's hair. Those breaths, he could feel, were making the veins push toward the surface of his skin. The kisses? They were undeniably speeding up the development of a strong and lasting erection, which he already had decided to put to full use. If she didn't stop before he peaked, the queen was again going to find herself filled to the limit by his size.

Reaching her destination, the young woman pursed her lips and placed a kiss to the very tip of his erection; without breaking contact she then parted her lips and slowly... excruciatingly slow... she started to move downwards, allowing him to relish in the sight of his member vanishing into the hot confines of her mouth. If she had to describe the sensation, she would have said that it felt like trying to swallow an ice cream whole... a very sharp tasting ice cream, with an odd fragrance that was quickly getting to her head, fueling her arousal.

Observing her, the red eyed giant felt his jaw drop ever so faintly before he let go of a moan; her mouth was so warm in comparison to his body that the sensation had hit very strongly against the nerve endings she sought to stimulate.

"Ah dearest..." he whispered, taking a few seconds to refocus his mind through the clouds that had shortly hung over it.

He did momentarily get the hunch that he would have to teach her a bit about this, but no matter. Wrapping about half his size into her mouth, Kara then slowly began to move upwards; given that she had never done such a thing before, her jaw was already protesting at the strain put on it by his sheer size. Placing a hand to his shaft, she ultimately released the head while exhaling a hot breath against it. In doing so, the drops of his body's lubricant which had gathered in her mouth now slithered their way down her chin, causing her skin to glisten on their way toward her chest. But she ignored that, in favor of trailing the tip of her tongue around the head, right at its base... she had fleetingly heard that particular spot drove men crazy, and she was actually curious if it really was true.

When those signals hit Loki's brain, there was a slight grunt; she was definitely doing well by him.

"You are so good at that." he sighed, digits curling to grasp a few strands and give them a tender pull.

He knew that, if she did this too long, she would be feeling that icy sensation down into the depths of even her stomach.

"Hardly... this is the first time I've ever done something like this." she retorted, looking at him but still speaking with her mouth against his member to let him feel not only her warm breath, but also the tickle of her lips as they moved with each word.

Rather than waiting for a reply from him, she once again poked out her tongue, trailing the flat of it along the shaft at an angle where he could easily see her doing it.

"You still have a talent for it, dearest..." he jested, ever so softly tugging at her lengthy locks.

His lust, however, started to represent itself as a dark grin creeping over his visage. Then, his eyes turned to the side... just in time to see that familiar, accursed little container on the bedside furniture; he would do something about that later, but now let his orbs dart back to Kara's tempting face. He could only fail to get enough of her attractiveness.

Nipping at his skin with her lips in retort for his silly remark, Kara shot him a gaze which ultimately failed to convey too much annoyance. Once more moving her lips to the tip of his member she again engulfed him into the warmth of her mouth, this time taking in little over half of his erection and setting a slow, somewhat cautious pace. With all the knowledge she had gained, she was still nervous and didn't want to risk hurting him.

He let go of a cool breath, commencing a gentle rub of the back of her head. Now, he felt the tissue of his reproductive organ jerk between her lips; it wouldn't be too much longer at all before the feeling began to slowly bloom and guide him toward what promised to be a magnificent experience. Yet despite her best attempts, she was soon forced to release him again; as large as he was, her jaw was protesting loudly enough that she couldn't ignore it anymore.

"I never thought I'd say this about a man... but you're too big." she retorted humorously, lightly rubbing the spots just beneath her ears where the jaw connected to the rest of her head.

It did rather annoy her that she couldn't return the favor, however, as displayed by her light pout. Though the words did nothing to quell his joy, Loki gestured with a hand for her to climb up his body and rest on top of him.

"Do not hurt yourself for me, love. Come here." he asked, opening his arms.

What if... he ended up hurting her? Would the cold of his body or his seed cause some kind of damage? That was something he needed to let her know. Sex in his most used form was just fine... this one? This was a bit of a leap, since she was no Jötun. It was something to be nipped in the bud.

Moving to lie over him despite the occasional shiver in her body, Kara now took to brushing the back of her fingers along his cheek while her eyes moved up to closely examine the design adorning his skin.

"You really are... so beautiful..." she whispered, moving her hand to trace the semicircle crossing his forehead to the very edge where it faded underneath his raven strands.

Upon getting there, she buried her fingers in his hair and locked her gaze onto his now ruby eyes, smiling lovingly. It was this moment that made him ever so reluctant to do what he had in mind; she was everything he could want... and none of the things he could ever desire to hurt. Rolling to pin her, he then moved his neck to put their faces apart.

"What are you, mad? I'm a monster... I could hurt you if I entered your body in this shape. Even if I didn't tear you apart, I could make you sick or even kill you."

Being the great deceiver he was, he could hide the pain caused by his cutting tone toward this marvelous woman; he just wanted to make sure his point was received and at least contemplated, in the hopes that she would never ask him to show his true form again. Startled by his movement, Kara found herself suddenly lying on her back looking up at him. Yet when he spoke, her reaction was one that he definitely had not expected... she covered her mouth and burst into laughter. Once more looking at him afterwards, she set her hands onto his cheeks.

"What monster? You're still Loki..." she said softly, trying to steer him away from anger.

"You think this is a joke? A game? I could so easily hurt you." he growled.

Obviously her chortling had only further incensed him. There was even a subtle, dark gleam in the blood colored irises of his gaze whilst he relentlessly locked onto hers. She didn't even seem to care about the risk; was this one reason that humans sometimes died so young?

"And I'll still love you, whether you hurt me or not." she retorted stubbornly.

Clearly he wasn't the only hardheaded one in that relationship, and she wasn't about to let him deprive her of seeing something so beautiful just because he had the silly idea stuck in his head, that he was some sort of monster. With that in mind she now wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up to trail kisses along his jaw.

"You _are_ beautiful..." she whispered, hoping that somehow she would manage to convince him of it at some point.

Her affections made his heart cringe, a frown forming on his lips. Why did she have to make it so difficult? She could be so frustrating! Now, instead of continuing to dispute it with her, Loki rolled away and to the other side of the bed, lying there with his back toward his lover. Rejecting her when his flesh called for hers was not easy, but he was unwilling to do what her lust made her believe that she wanted.

Unable to fully hold back a smile at his stubbornness, the young woman chose to remain silent for now. Instead she sat up and crept up behind him; upon reaching his side she let her fingertips ghost over his skin, following the intricate pattern which decorated his back. Every now and then she leaned to place a kiss to the narrow ridges she was tracing and soon her leg crept over his, allowing her warm thigh to settle against his hip.

The contrasting temperatures only enhanced her soft touch, making Loki close his lids; it wasn't as if she happened to be fighting him in an attempt to seduce him, so he could enjoy this... right? Why did she have to be so gentle... so sweet and patient? Even then, he would not cave so easily. If he did, there would be a... deal... involved. When he failed to reply to her affections, Kara again chuckled, letting him feel her warm breath on his back.

"Oh, my king... will you not heed your queen's desire?" she asked humorously, adding a playful begging shade to her tone.

As she posed the question, she now wrapped an arm around his torso allowing her hand to caress the well defined muscles there, at the same time pressing her breasts and stomach to his icy skin and kissing the back of his neck.

"Only if you agree to a condition; if I should harm you or I am too cold to please you, you will never ask to see this form again." he said, more out of reflex than with any purpose.

Damn it, his nature was working against him... such was the essence of an embodiment of discord. He still hoped against the odds that she would reconsider, but she had again started trying to tease him into intercourse. A giggle left her lips whilst she again sat up, grasping his shoulder and turning him onto his back. Upon sighting his eyes, she leaned over him and kissed him, devouring his lips with a hunger she had ever so rarely displayed before.

"Alright..." she finally replied on a soft tone.

Tauntingly trailing her hand down his torso she went back to the lip lock, before lowering her body so that she could press her breasts to his chest and let him feel their peaks which his cold skin had kept hardened to their limits, to where the sensitive skin there sent faint signals of pain and discomfort to her brain.

Feeling her chest literally poking at his own as she took control for the beginning of this session, his hands grasped at her sides and slid down at a torturously slow pace toward her hips. Eyes shut, he gradually pushed into the lip contact, but then lifted his hips to guide his length against her lower lips and clitoris. If the cold could make her nipples so hard, what could it do to her sex? With her womanhood twitching at the cold, the young woman was unable to hold back from letting loose a mixture between a content sigh and a soft moan, prior to parting her lips and letting her warm tongue dive into his mouth. It was amazing that even the inside of his mouth was cold, but the sensation of his icy, moist tongue was definitely adding to her arousal.

With his own tongue, he began to coil around hers while regaining the bit of hardness he had acquired from Kara's previous expedition to his groin area. Again, she was to be found on her back and beneath her mate, this time enduring constant but slight pressure to her slit. It wouldn't be much longer at all before he planned to penetrate her; then and only then would she know just what she had gotten herself into.

As if aiming to test his patience, the young woman allowed him dominion in the kiss but slightly lifted her hips and began to tauntingly move them up and down, rubbing her slick folds against his icy erection. Never would she have believed that something so cold could arouse her, if she weren't experiencing it right then and there. Or maybe it was the knowledge that it was Loki that kept increasing her arousal.

The frozen one permitted their lower halves to cooperate as if in a slow dance while his tongue massaged hers. He was curious; how would she react to penetration? Would the sounds that left her, be of pleasure or those from a woman seeking to escape from the situation she had offered herself for? Motioning downward enough that he had to break their kiss, he patiently waited for Kara to buck upward and tease the tip prior to pushing into her petite form. That heat... it made the act feel so good that Loki could only grunt in lust, despite staying as sharp minded as he could to judge her facial response.

Widening her eyes at his unexpected reaction, the young woman felt her interior muscles instantly responding to the cold by clenching around his member so tightly that she feared for a second it would become painful for him. At the same time she clearly heard a sound tearing from her chest shakily due to the low temperature... an odd mixture between a pleasure dripping moan and a painful mewl, when he stretched her over her usual limit. While normally her muscles should have been more elastic than that, the freezing skin on his unyielding rod forced them to stay tense, reducing their ability to expand so as to more comfortably contain his size.

Giving her the moment she needed to catch her breath, Loki pressed on until he was near her cervix and started to pump with full, firm thrusts. Leaning backward until he was nearing a straight posture, the male put a hand underneath either of the female's kneecaps, to hinder her efforts if she should try to embrace him with her legs; after all, he didn't want her unknowingly limiting him, should he whimsically elect to modify this shared experience.

Along with his first thrust Kara arched her body when pleasure shot through her like electricity, her hands reaching above her head as she sank her nails into the black-cased pillows. In turn that only allowed him an unhindered view of her chest bouncing in time with his pace, and the outline of his member clearly defined on her lower stomach.

"God... oh, God..." she moaned out in pure ecstasy.

How could that faint but constant pang of pain in her groin feel so good and increase her arousal, rather than diminishing it? Maybe she was a bit of a masochist, but this definitely felt much better than anything she could have ever imagined.

Moaning as he observed her inertia fueled locomotion, he soaked in every sensation from the relentless grip of her inner walls, to that of her lower limbs brushing him with each movement. Then, he beamed while subtly shifting his hips so as to change the angle and put the concentration on the upper side of her vagina. The God of Chaos even pulled back and eased up so as to stimulate the back of her clitoris with the head of his length.

The bolt of pleasure which shot straight into the back of her head when he taunted that specific spot practically had her scream out his name, as she again widened her eyes to stare at the headboard of their bed due to having cocked her head back. By now her folds had coiled so tightly around him that she could feel even the tiniest movement he made, as well as the ridges which descended from his torso to his groin and ultimately converged in a spiraling design snaking its way around his erection. Her moans took a turn for the higher notes that her voice could produce until she was literally screaming in pleasure at each of his thrusts.

After a few of her passionate cries, Loki slowed to a halt and reached forth, stroking her cheek.

"I will not have you orgasm _that_ soon before me, dearest." he chuckled, the effort of the past few moments only ever so faintly evident in his breaths. "But, do not worry. When I let you unravel, I will see to it that it is... perfect."

Kara was his living playground... that was an interesting thought that led him to wonder just how many ways he could interact with her shell of flesh.

Looking up at him with teary eyes while she battled to settle her breathing down, Kara found herself unable to hold back from shuddering every so often; even if he wasn't moving, his sheer size and the ever present tension in her groin kept her arousal high. Upon regaining more of her awareness, however, she shot him as much of a glare as she could – despite the overwhelming lust present in her gaze. She hadn't expected him to play fairly from the start, but bringing her down when she had been just about to reach the peak of her pleasure was something that utterly annoyed her. Well, two could play at that game... if he wanted to make her beg for release, he had his work cut out for him.

With an amused huff, the son of Laufey now fully straightened his erection inside her before plunging in, stretching her taut as he knocked once against her cervix, then slammed into it with enough force to just barely open it. However, he deprived her of that entry, retreating just before her womb submitted to his will. Instead of ceasing his teases, the man acted to completely disengage for a moment, seeking to torment her with the sensation of pulling out. It was time to change the position, which would open more possibilities with which to drive his queen to immense frustration previous to granting her every wish.

Her frown melted into another wide-eyed expression when she felt what she believed was his attempt to ram straight into the back of her womb, only to have her body protest furiously when he stopped short of it, by tightly latching her inner muscles around his icy rod to the point where she actually believed for a second that he would tear her open.

"Loki..." she cried out on a pleading tone, although she managed to refrain from actually saying the words and begging for him to let her climax.

Although there was no toothy grin, a decidedly sadistic glint had nestled firmly in his eyes. Now that he was outside of her, the owner of the previously spoken name maneuvered to just one knee so he could grasp her hips and turn her in place. When it happened to be her back in his field of view as opposed to her chest, the other leg joint did again come down, followed by a backward move that brought him below her hips. Handling her with one hand, he raised her hips while the other set of digits sought to align the rod that had been pleasuring her up until about two minutes ago. Quickly forcing his way into her once more, the woman's lover redistributed his weight onto both knees and hands. Overall, this would appear to be a straightforward position – except for the fact that his strong thighs had hers locked almost inexorably together. With agonizingly slow advances and backtracking and more than half of his masculinity within her, a keen eye would discern that the squirming and wincing had but just begun.

Blinking at being handled as if she weighed nothing more than a feather, the young woman glanced at him over her shoulder once he had placed her onto her belly; her attempt at asking him what he was planning to do, however, fell into gasped moan when she felt him filling her to the brim once more. Again she arched her back, this time her stomach and breasts pressing into the soft bedding beneath her while her nails again sank into the silky sheets. At first she allowed him to go at his own pace, but when it became clear that he had no plans of increasing her pleasure – instead keeping her at a steady level which was grueling – she soon realized that her body had begun moving on its own, rocking her hips in an opposite rhythm to his, in its desire to reach the peak of her ecstasy.

His lips twitched toward a playful frown as he let his core muscles take on the balance lost by one extremity being misplaced from the linens. Taking hold of her waist, Loki held her in that very pose while he went on with vexing his partner. She would not get what she sought as easily as she had hoped; he had already promised otherwise.

A couple of minutes were all her body could withstand of that torture, as sweet as it was; by now her muscles were so tense that it actually hurt and all she wanted was to peak and release that tension.

"For mercy's... sake... Loki..." she moaned out.

Still she wouldn't beg, although right now she hated her stubbornness to Hell and back, even if it was one of the traits which had caught Loki's attention in the first place. Feeling her interior squeeze him, he eased forward, somewhat removing himself from her. He wouldn't let himself get too deeply into it now, but would admit that it felt quite good.

"Just say it and we'll end this, dearest." Loki murmured, trailing his lips along the side of her head before leaning back to see her expression.

At the same time he kept an edge which would indeed tell that he could do this for a while longer before his own pleasure reached the point of an absolute requirement to be sated.

With her body twitching again and again from the tension in her muscles, and her palms hurting as she clenched her fists onto the thin silk covering the bed and pressed her nails into the soft flesh through the material, Kara found herself unable to hold back from looking at him when she heard his voice so close to her ear.

"Please... please, my king..." she whispered against his lips, before even fully realizing what she was saying.

Her mind was so muddled from the pleasure constantly looming over it; really, all she wanted was to climax and end that choking sensation that didn't even let her breathe properly... to end the ache which had set itself deep into her groin, as her body stayed on the verge of an orgasm, tense with anticipation... to feel him again lodged as deep into her as he could go, filling her to the brim with his seed.

"Mm... such dirty thoughts, love... I'm impressed." he smirked, reaching to gingerly grasp her chin. "And I do love this lewd expression on your face."

Backing off just a bit afterwards so as to raise her up, Loki chortled triumphantly and – one at a time – put his knees between hers. What had been blatantly slothful temptation before, was now hard and almost punitive as he divided her with fervor. Having ignored his own sensitivity, he groaned when it suddenly washed over him without orgasm... for now. It felt as if Kara's insides were trying to strangle his phallus in retribution, but all it did was add to everything.

When her weight shifted onto her knees and calves, Kara merely turned her face away from him; to think he would put her in such an obviously lewd position was something that annoyed her as much as it aroused her. However, with his first thrust, her mind emptied of thought and she moaned out in surprise at his sudden movement, the inertia actually pushing her forward, letting her feel the silky sheets rubbing against her breasts. And yet, it amazed her that his erection had not warmed up in the least, keeping her slick folds wrapped around him tighter than usual. Upon that thought her eyes filled with tears again, when her pleasure spiraled out of control, foretelling a violent climax in the very near future.

Picking up on that storm in her mind, he trailed a digit along her back to leave a chill along her spine – until he grasped her hair hard enough to pull the strands with sufficient power to make her head follow.

"Do not restrain your voice, dearest... don't deprive me of those sweet sounds which only you can sing for me. I want all of Asgard to know that you conceive my child tonight."

He could almost hear the pleasure scratching around, fighting to be free of Kara's control. Then, there was an unexpected event; he was the first to peak, spearing her womb and commencing the flooding of it with what was sure to feel like an arctic cold fluid. It would seem that he was truly sadistic, as he had taken orgasmic satisfaction from her ordeal.

His actions were not in vain, as the combination of his velvety tone, as well as the tug on her chocolate locks and his cool touch on her heated skin caused her pleasure to surge higher and higher... until she felt him emptying himself inside her, his peak drawing forward her own climax which now crashed onto her with a force that made her mind blank of every shred of thought. The only thing she could remember was to scream out his name, fresh tears overflowing along her cheeks when her mind finally registered the sharp pain in her groin, as though someone had stabbed countless tiny needles into her flesh. Still, it was such an exquisite pain that she didn't know whether to ask him to stop or to beg him for more. One more sound accompanied her ecstatic scream, and that was the faint echo of shredding material, as her nails tore through the soft sheets whilst her body shuddered again and again as she completely lost control over her muscles.

The capturing of his size was enough to slightly prolong his release. Whether she had wanted it or not, the deluge kept flowing until Loki picked up on the feeling of some of it escaping between them, as she had already accepted his seed not long ago. It amazed him that she could manage to reach ultimate pleasure with someone who felt like a blizzard incarnate. Even though the splendid moment died for him sooner than for Kara, the deity refused to stop until her tissues loosened up. It was not comfortable or easy, but his pride drove him onward.

It took a few moments but finally her pleasure began to subside, leaving her almost breathless; her entire body would probably feel sore in the morning from being so tense for so long. Still trembling from the effort and less from his cold skin, Kara now attempted to catch her breath, soft, gasped mewls leaving her lips each time her lungs emptied of air. At least the searing ache in her groin was starting to diminish as her body heat began warming up the fluid he had deposited in her.

Suddenly leaving her folds, the raven haired Æsir immediately reclaimed his preferred shape and temperature before arriving at her side, head falling down on the pillow there. They said that it took a goddess to truly be aware of the ways to pleasure a man, but he definitely had no reason to complain about Kara. In fact, Loki actually felt quite winded from the endeavor, although that did not stop him from offering her that smug grin she was so familiar with.

"That was quite the workout, dearest."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Well, the answer to your question was this chapter itself, so I won't be redundant about it xD

But I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed that bit of interlude between the two lemons. And I'm so very grateful that you leave a review on each chapter, no matter how short it is. It really means a lot to me to see my readers getting this involved and excited about my work. So thank you for being awesome, darling, and I hope to hear from you again soon :D

2\. **Sloane Raine **\- Haha truth be told, I'd forgotten about that too until I got to the point where I was writing that chapter. My mind suddenly went all _"Dude, she still does NOT know he's adopted... gonna do anything about that?"_ So what the heck, I figured the afterglow of sex would be the perfect moment for her to learn that he's not really who she thought he was all those years xD

As for the whole burning the skin thing... there's no mention of that in the mythology so you could say I went with the actual Jotuns. But then again, if I get a good idea regarding Kara's bloodline, I might just give an explanation for why she didn't get fourth degree burns like Volstagg ;)

Another explanation could be that - unlike any other Jotun we ever get to see in the MCU - Loki can change appearances and make himself look human. And when Odin found him and picked him up, Odin's hands didn't get burned from Loki's skin - which could mean that only if a Jotun touches you it burns you, not the other way around; because even if Odin was the Allfather, he was still an Asgardian not a Jotun so technically he _should_ have gotten burned like Volstagg did.

So maybe Loki's different from actual Jotuns; because if his human appearance would be just an illusion, his touch would have burned anyone he'd EVER touched in Asgard, including Frigga and Thor. But it didn't, which leads me to believe that his ability to shapeshift between a human body and his actual Jotun appearance, means he's different in some way.

I mean, Marvel changed his heritage to where Laufey - who in the mythology is Loki's mother - is now a male, so maybe in the Marvel universe Loki's mother was Asgardian or human? Not sure how she'd survive conceiving him, unless you go with the explanation that only if a Jotun touches you it burns you, in which case that could have been avoided with some extra care; but maybe she died at birth or something, which is why Odin found him "abandoned" on Jotunheim. So if they could change his mother into his father, why couldn't they make him different from the rest of his race? Marvel loves their hero and villain outcasts, so why not make him an outcast of all races? Loki certainly is one of Marvel's most persecuted characters as far as I know, so anything's possible xD

But these are just my own headcanons, so take them with a grain of salt; they just happen to be the most logical explanations I could conjure for why Loki was able to touch others without burning the flesh off their bones like other Jotuns.

But really, thank you for these wonderful reviews. I love how you always point out certain details that give me the opportunity to explain in further detail what I meant. I'm sure many other readers have the same questions as you, but are probably too shy to ask. So props to you for being awesome, love! Hope to hear from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	44. Entry 43

Soooo darlings, we're fast approaching the end of the story... I think about fifty chapters should do it for this installment, don't you think? xD

So leaving you with that food for thought, don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know what you think of this chapter - or any other chapter in this story, for that matter :D

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #43**

_"That was quite the workout, dearest."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__October 06, 2013_

Only a weak, exhausted chuckle left her lips at that; she only had enough strength left to turn onto her side before she literally collapsed next to him.

"You lost..." she breathed out, her chest still heaving.

In the face of his puzzled expression her grin couldn't have possibly been any wider.

"You lost..." she repeated in a sing-sung voice, playfully pressing a fingertip to his nose.

His expression, as he recalled what she was talking about, was priceless as far as Kara was concerned; his jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened... and then he clenched his teeth and shot her his best attempt at an annoyed glare, in spite of the fact that his emerald gaze was still slightly glazed over from the afterglow of their intercourse.

Forcing her muscles to work, the young woman scooted closer to him and pressed a loving kiss to his lips.

"Don't be a sore loser, my king." she pleaded in jest.

"Mm... if you give me a proper kiss I might consider it..." he retorted, the corner of his lips twitching toward a smile.

"Not before you give me your word that you will hold to what you said earlier."

It was at that statement that his humor faded away, leaving behind a slightly concerned expression on the young male's face.

"Why do you love that form so much?" he asked as if to himself, brushing the back of his fingers over her cheek.

"Well why do you hate it?"

Almost visibly startled by the fact that she had questioned him back, the trickster once more locked gazes with her; and for a moment Kara could have sworn that he looked like a lost child, rather than a mighty god.

"Why wouldn't I hate it? My race is a race of monsters..."

"And who has the right to decide that? Odin? Thor? The people of Asgard? My people? Who has the right to say what you are, other than you?"

"I am a monster..." he replied, his expression briefly taking on the stern shade she knew so well by now.

"You don't really believe that, do you? You're simply saying it, because everyone around you has said it ever since you can remember... that Frost Giants are monsters."

Leaning up to briefly peck his lips, the young woman then set her piercing azure gaze on him.

"Maybe that race has done much evil in the past... maybe they would do so again, if they could... but just because you share their blood, doesn't make you the same as them. My people have done unspeakable things as well... slaughtering millions... enslaving others... selling women and children for money..."

"But you're not like them!" he stated with a tone of finality, his arms involuntarily tightening around her.

"Because you choose to not see me in the same light as the rest of my race..." she giggled. "So why would I see you in the same light as the rest of yours?"

"Dearest, you still don't know everything I am capable of... if you did... I can assure you that you would hate me."

Frowning at his almost fatherly tone – as if he was speaking to a silly child – she grasped his hand when he again tried to stroke her cheek, pushing it away.

"I know well enough... weren't you the one who brought an alien army to enslave my entire world? But I don't hate you, do I? I'm still here, aren't I? Even now I should have probably been frightened when you threatened to harm me, and any normal woman would have likely started crying in fear. But I never truly feared you and I doubt I ever will; because I know that – no matter how monstrous you may appear in front of others – you're no monster. You're just Loki... _my _Loki..."

The result of her words was something she could have never predicted, given that she had only once seen it before; and yet – when he let loose a shaky breath and she saw tears glistening in his eyes – it brought a loving smile to her lips while she set a hand onto his smooth cheek.

"Don't cry, you silly man..." she giggled with a pleading shade in her tone.

His response was to tighten his hold on her, bringing her to rest against his chest while one of his hands slithered into her hair. Smiling again at his reaction, Kara fell silent and merely made herself comfortable in his embrace, placing a kiss to his chest and closing her eyes.

"I love you too..." she whispered, as if in reply to his wordless actions.

He didn't sleep at all for the remainder of that night – despite his body's exhaustion, his mind was much too alert to allow him any slumber; instead he only held her and stroke her hair, his gaze fixed onto an invisible point ahead of him. It was unimaginable that someone would love him to such an extent... even Frigga, for all the care and kindness she had shown him, had never truly managed to make him feel so wanted and – more importantly – so needed.

"You were right, mother..." he ultimately smiled in a bittersweet tone. "True love does happen accidentally and you can never plan it or foresee it. And I do love her... infinitely more than I believed I was capable of loving someone other than myself."

As fate would have it, when he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to the young woman's cheek, she stirred awake.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" she whispered, still a bit drowsy. "Are you okay?"

"Forgive me if I woke you up, love..." he replied.

Rubbing her eyes to chase away the remnants of her sleep, Kara was now left to look up at him; the sight made her forget her worries, and she could do nothing more for a few moments but admire his pale skin so ethereally glowing in the moonlight, and his eyes glistening like real emeralds and his hair shining like black silk... she actually wondered if he was even aware of that otherworldly – godly – aura which only the moon seemed able to bring out. Still it rendered her unable to hold back a loving smile, while she reached up with hesitance, shyly touching his cheek as though she was afraid that he wasn't real.

"You're so beautiful..." she whispered, utterly lost in his angelic appearance.

Though at first he offered her a smile that made her feel as if the sun itself was warming her very soul – even as he smiled – she could see tears glimmering in his eyes.

"I am truly unworthy of you, dearest..." he replied before she could say anything. "And yet you come back to me again and again... and even when I wanted to let you go, you refused and somehow reeled me back in; I have become so addicted to you, that I cannot fathom life without you anymore."

Burying his lips into her silky strands, he kissed the top of her head and then leaned back only to fix his painful gaze upon her.

"Still, I know that I will lose you someday... be it a decade or a century from now." he again spoke, ghosting his fingertips over the smooth skin on her cheek. "You say I should enjoy you while I have you; but can you truly enjoy something, when you know that losing it is inevitable? Must fate truly be so cruel? Could I not trade half of my life and give it to you, so that we might both share an equal amount of time?"

It was upon those words that he finally became aware of his tears, when one lone drop fell onto her cheek, shimmering like a diamond for but a moment before it began its downward trail along her skin. To think he would cry so easily... _he_ of all people... he who was the master of emotions and self-control... and to think he would do it for her... for a mortal woman...

"Why did it turn out like this?"

His own whisper almost made him choke; it broke his heart to love her this much. Was this what real love felt like? Was this the kind of love his mother had spoken of, so many years before, when he was too stubborn and wild to listen? Did love really feel so... elating and yet so overwhelming... so soothing and yet so frightening?

Having listened to him in utter silence until then – given that she was much too awed by his words – Kara now offered him a bittersweet smile. Was this really the depth of his feelings for her? She'd never really doubted that he loved her, but to hear him actually pour out his heart like that made her feel so happy and at the same time it frightened her so deeply and it saddened her beyond belief.

"No matter what happened... no matter what you've done... or what you will do... no matter what will happen from here on, I will always love you. And you will always have me; even when I'm no longer physically next to you, I'll never really leave you because I love you too much to leave you alone. You'll always have me here... and here..."

At those last words she reached to gingerly touch his forehead and then placed her hand to his chest over his heart. What she didn't expect was for him to place his own hand over hers, wrapping his fingers around her palm and raising it to his lips which he gingerly pressed against her skin.

"You are worth so much more than anything I can give you, dearest." he said, once more setting forest colored orbs upon her. "I doubt I will ever know how you became such an irreplaceable part of my life, but for once I feel no need to hold that knowledge."

"I'm not irreplaceable, Loki..."

"You are..." he replied, cutting her off. "Because you have something that no other woman has ever been able to gain... you hold my heart... all of it, without restriction. And I was so frightened when I first realized that I was offering you more and more of it as time went by... but somehow I could not bring myself to regret it. Because you were my beacon... you were the lone ray of light, the ember that shone even in my deepest darkness. No matter where I went, I always knew my path would inevitably lead me back to you – whether I wanted that or not. There were moments when it was so scary to be with you... because I did not wish to taint you and to turn you into a twisted version of myself. But at the same time there was never any place where I felt more at ease, than at your side."

Again kissing the back of her slender fingers, he closed his eyes and allowed silence to engulf them for a few moments before speaking again.

"When I first met you and got to know you, all I saw in you, was a reflection of myself. But lately... perhaps something has changed in me... because I cannot see myself when I'm with you anymore... I can only see you. And in your smile I see something more beautiful than the stars... and warmer than the sun... and more soothing than anything I have ever felt."

When all she could do was to set both hands onto his cheeks and caress his skin, he once more looked at her and huffed on that velvety tone that she had always loved, while leaning down to kiss her allowing the young woman to wrap her arms around him.

"You don't have to say anything, dearest..." he whispered warmly on her lips. "I know your heart and your mind. I simply felt the need to say all that, so you would never doubt what I feel for you. I am far from being the man you deserve, but for you I hope I can someday be that man."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **Elanya21 **\- Haha well, love makes fools of us all... that's just my attempt at taking the easy way out xD

But really, even the strongest woman/man can be blinded by love and Kara is quite blinded by her feelings for Loki; because if you think about it objectively as you read on, no woman would have normally put up with all the bullshit Loki put Kara through. But that's just the strange way in which love works its magic, where you can forgive almost anything coming from the one you love.

As for the lemon, I'm really glad you liked it; and well it is one of Loki's weaknesses (not just in the MCU but also in the mythology) that he tends to talk too much, because well... his silver tongue is what got him out of a lot of tight spots and saved his life, so maybe he relies a bit too much on it ;)

But I really hope you'll enjoy the rest of this ride and that I'll hear from you again soon. I'm truly curious what you'll think of Kara's evolution throughout the story and how you'll feel about the way I portrayed the canon characters. So looking forward to hearing from you soon, darling :D

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Aww no worries, love, there's no contract that says you need to review in the first few hours after I post a new chapter xD

And well... who says a Jotun can't be hotter than his skin? ;P Okay, sorry for the pathetic joke... moving on... xD

As for your question... aaahhhh it's really hard to reply without spoiling anything, so I'll take the cowardly way out and say you'll just have to read on xD

Sorry if this was a shorter reply than usual, but yeah I really don't want to spoil future chapters, so hang in there... I'm almost done writing the next chapters so I'll try to upload more often. Especially now that I'm pretty much done with classes and I'll be at home to study for exams I'll definitely have more free time in between study sessions, to write, so look forward to that, love :D

3\. **KMB **\- Oh I'm so happy to hear you hate him for that... that was my purpose and I'm so glad I got it right. Well that, and my other purpose was for the readers to not fall into a false sense of liking Vanya ;)

But... yes, there is a _but_... Loki does have a (admittedly pathetic) excuse, namely that Vanya was also using a form of seductive magic on him, because she is a seductress and is well versed in magic. I think I saw something in the mythology at some point which said that it was mostly women who were magic users, whereas men preferred physical combat; it's why most healers were women, as well. So couple that, with Loki's innate stubbornness and his general mentality that no one can ensnare him... and there you have it, he was caught with his guard down.

But at the same time, at that point he did feel a form of attraction to Vanya and he was also inwardly conflicted over what he felt for Kara, because he didn't know if it was just sexual infatuation or something actually real. So there's that too... but either way, my purpose was served xD

So I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story and that I'll hear from you again soon, darling :D

4\. **Sloane Raine **\- Well I guess the fact that he still looked pretty much like himself was a great help in keeping her from freaking out, so don't give her all the credit xD

And yes, as I said, most of those are just my own headcanons but they do seem like the most logical options, when you think about Loki's character and the MCU as a whole. But I think I may have a good idea for Kara's bloodline, I just have to see if I can find a way to work it into the sequel (because this story already has more than enough going on as it is), so maybe I'll actually have a good explanation for why Loki's touch doesn't burn her xD

But for now I hope you enjoyed this new chapter; look forward to future ones because shit will hit the fan sooner or later. But I won't spoil anything of it :P

Hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	45. Entry 44

Soooo lovelies... I don't really have anything to say for the moment, other than maybe another huge THANK YOU for being so awesome and offering so much love to this story. Really, without you guys there'd be no point to all the work and emotions I put into writing this, so thank you (˘ ³˘)~❤

Don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know what you think; my muse feeds on them and we don't want her losing too much weight, right? ;)

Enjoy, darlings~ :D

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #44**

_"[...] I am far from being the man you deserve, but for you I hope I can someday be that man."_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__November 09, 2013_

The peaceful silence of the palace corridors was broken that morning, when Loki came storming from the throne room, a timid young healer rushing to follow him in the wake of his departure. Minutes later, the king pushed open the large doors to the healers' quarters to find several of them gathered around his queen, apparently in the middle of examining her.

"I'm fine..." she smiled, in the very moment when his concerned expression entered her visual field.

With one of the healers moving away to let him approach and grasp Kara's hand, he glanced to the elder woman standing across the stone table from him. He had no need to speak, as his expectant gaze was enough for the healer to offer a reply.

"The queen is well, Your Highness... there is no trace of illness in her body."

"Do not dare lie to me... this is the fifth time she has ended up here, in this past month alone."

"Loki..." Kara said, squeezing his hand.

"Don't side with them, dearest... if they are too incompetent to care for you properly, I will have them replaced."

"Loki, I'm fine... I promise." she insisted.

Exchanging unflinching gazes for a few moments, the dark haired Æsir ultimately sighed.

"This is the last time I allow you to defend them... I will not have you suffer from some illness while surrounded by people who should be able to cure you, but lack the skill."

It was unnerving how she had suddenly started having those episodes where she became dizzy until she lost consciousness... or how she felt sick almost every morning... by now he suspected it had something to do with their little experiment; why in all nine realms had he given in to her plea? Why had he done as she wanted and allowed his monstrous side in their bed? Surely something had happened to her that night and it was all his fault for not being resolute enough... he knew how abruptly diseases could befall Midgardians, but he would be damned if he would lose his queen to that.

What drew him out of those thoughts was Kara's attempt to sit up, although he did not wait until she reached a vertical position to pick her up and carry her out of the hall, toward their chambers.

"Stay..." she requested, grasping his hand after he had placed her on the bed and turned to leave.

Once more glancing to her, the dark haired god narrowed his eyes in confusion at her stern gaze but ultimately complied and seated himself on the bed.

"Don't act as if you weren't going to go back there and interrogate those poor women for nothing." the young female now retorted, an almost amused tone in her voice.

Her voice died out, as did her humor, when he just squeezed her hand in reply and allowed his collected façade to crumble, revealing an utterly concerned expression.

"Dearest, I... you cannot possibly imagine how it terrifies me... the thought of losing you to some illness..."

"You won't... because I'm not sick..." she said softly. "I... I actually have to tell you something. I've asked the healers to keep quiet about it, because I wanted you to hear it from me. We're... we're going to..."

Her phrase was cut short, however, when a knock on the door startled them both just before a guard's voice came from beyond the wooden frame.

"Your Highness, a messenger from Alfheim is here to see you."

Closing her eyes for a moment with a resigned sigh, she then once again looked to Loki's conflicted expression; she knew he strived to be a better king than his father, but she couldn't deny the feeling of loneliness growing within her. With the other realms learning of his ascent to the throne of Asgard as the new Allfather, he had less and less time for her with each passing day.

"Go..." she whispered, offering him a loving smile. "We can talk about this later."

_We can talk about this later..._

A phrase she knew by heart already, as she had used it so many times over that month. There were moments when she wanted to just walk into that throne room which had stolen her lover, and shout it in his face regardless of who else happened to be there. But time and time again she reminded herself that he wasn't spending time there for his own pleasure; she could have never imagined just how much responsibility Odin had shouldered whilst on that throne, and she often wondered how Frigga had ever coped with it.

"They can wait." Loki replied, drawing her out of that string of thoughts.

"You shouldn't... just go, I'll be fine. I need to rest for a bit, anyway."

If she told him now, he would never leave her side... and what if he was needed for something important? What if Alfheim was in need of help? It wasn't her place to be selfish, as much as she wanted to... it just wasn't in her nature.

Finally her words seemed to deter him, and he nodded lightly before leaning over to place a loving kiss to her forehead. She could see the reluctance in his eyes, but merely smiled again watching as he stood and left the royal chambers with the guard in tow. It was after the door closed that her smile wavered and tears twinkled in her eyes. Lowering her gaze she placed a hand to the lower side of her abdomen and gingerly squeezed the flesh there; the head healer had warned her that the following months would come with abrupt changes in her demeanor, so she had to do everything in her power to control it, lest she disgraced herself with a public outburst.

But how... how could she control this loneliness that was slowly circling her like a predator? How could she find a way to at least let Loki know, when they barely saw eye to eye during the day, and at night she was either asleep by the time he returned from his duties, or he was much too mentally exhausted and she didn't know if it was the right moment to relay such news. It was as if they had both somehow slipped into a vicious circle where they were drifting further and further away from each other...

And the fact that she had refused all his attempts at ignoring his fatigue and making love to her hadn't helped in the least. Maybe she was being overly cautious, but at the same time she had never been pregnant before; no one could expect her to know what would happen and which risks she could take or not. And the arguments which stemmed from that between them were another reason for her choice of keeping quiet for so long... with him so busy, how could she know that he would even _want_ that child now? What if he wanted to wait longer before becoming a father, despite what he had said before?

OoOoO

A pair of arms wrapping around her waist startled the young woman who had been watching the clear night sky.

"You look ravishing, dearest..."

The whispered huff in her ear made Kara relax and painted a smile upon her lips.

"You're back early, tonight." she replied, leaning back against him.

With Loki placing a kiss onto the shoulder her dress bared, he then raised his head and buried his lips into her silky hair.

"I was in no mood to deal with duty today... and I'll need the rest for tomorrow."

Humor died out at those words, leaving behind a puzzled expression on the young queen's face.

"Why? What happens tomorrow?"

His chest pressed against her back when he inhaled deeply, before the sound of a long, sighed breath reached her ears.

"Vanya is arriving tomorrow evening... she's coming here with her father." Loki said plainly, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

Turning her head so that she could look up at his face, the woman felt her breath hitching in her throat at the sight of his expression... he really wasn't joking.

"What?"

"It's nothing but a formal visit, love..."

His gaze finally moved from the gardens to her, when he felt her body shifting until she leaned away from his arms.

"Please... just ask her father to not bring her with him." she replied, faintly panting as her pulse gained an erratic pace. "I don't want her here..."

Her first thought went to the child in her womb; if that witch somehow caught wind of the fact that she was pregnant, Kara was sure the she-Elf would stop at nothing to remove her _and_ the baby from the picture.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, the dark haired Æsir quite visibly jolted in surprise when she grasped onto his tunic and he saw a shade of fear nestling in her eyes, unsettling him to his very core whilst he wrapped her in his arms only to realize she was trembling.

"Please, Loki..." she whispered.

"I can't... there's no more time to send a messenger."

"Please..." she begged again, tears filling her eyes.

"Kara, it's just an official visit. She'll be gone in a few days, I promise."

When she tried to lower her gaze, he instead clasped her face in his hands.

"There's nothing she can say or offer, that would make me choose her over you."

It hurt to see that she seemed to believe him so weak-willed; hadn't he displayed his heart to her just a short while back? Hadn't he done everything in his power to show her just how much he loved her? Did she really have so little faith in him?

"You weren't there when I met her... you didn't see that... that murderous look in her eyes..."

"Then I will have you constantly guarded while she's here; nothing moves in this palace without me hearing of it." he stated in an attempt to settle her fears.

While normally such a try would have been successful, this time Kara was much too fearful for the life of her unborn child, to be able to calm herself.

"Loki, I don't want her here! Please... even your mother warned you to not have any dealings with that woman. Do her words mean so little to you?"

The particular way in which he sighed, told her that she'd managed to anger him.

"Politics doesn't work that way, don't you understand?" he replied sternly, on a somewhat higher tone than he'd originally intended. "Sometimes I have to deal with people whom I'd rather kill... perhaps if I'd taught you what it means to rule, you wouldn't have put me on a throne; but you did, and this is the situation we have to deal with."

For a few moments all Kara could do was stare at him with that shocked expression she offered whenever he lost his temper with her; he never enjoyed their arguments, but heavens! She could be so grating sometimes... and sometimes she knew exactly what to say to trigger his anger. When she rushed back into the chambers, leaving him alone on the terrace, he moved to lean against the rail and lowered his head with a heavy sigh. Ultimately his fist clenched and he punched the railing, a piece of stone dislodging and falling into the dark gardens below, whilst he covered his eyes with the other hand and sighed again.

It was in moments like this that he wished with all his being for his mother's advice...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__November 10, 2013_

Eventually she had settled down enough for her logical mind to kick back into gear, although by then it was too late to try and mend things, given that Loki had fallen asleep. A couple of hours later she had managed to finally slip into a restless slumber, plagued by nightmares; a torture which only ended when she was startled awake by Loki lightly shaking her. For a few moments she was aware of nothing but his concerned expression as he leaned over her... then, slowly, her mind settled down and began to work properly, drawing her attention to his hand stroking her cheek, her ragged breath and the sweat she could feel on her skin, as well as the pale dawn creeping along the clear sky outside.

"Are you alright, love?"

The dark haired Æsir's gentle tone earned no response from her, instead only making the young woman scoot closer to him and hide her face against his chest.

"It was only a dream, dearest..." he whispered soothingly, wrapping her in his arms and kissing the side of her head. "It's alright, I'm here."

"I'm sorry..." she finally muttered after a few minutes of silence.

Lowering his gaze from where he had pinned it upon the gradually lighting sky, the young king offered Kara a slightly puzzled glance. Placing a hand to her cheek he gently guided her to lean back so that he could see her face.

"What for?"

"I got out of line earlier... I overreacted, but..."

"Oh, hush, you foolish girl..." he huffed amusedly, leaning to claim her lips for a fleeting kiss. "I don't want Vanya here any more than you do; but trust me... I will not let any harm come to you, I swear."

Silence followed his words for a few moments, whilst they merely sustained each other's gaze, until Kara finally nodded lightly whilst a shadow of smile blossomed on her lips.

"Alright..." she said softly, reaching to stroke his cheek.

For once she hoped that he wouldn't be able to tell she wasn't being entirely truthful; it wasn't that she didn't trust _him_... she just didn't trust Vanya to lack the skill of actually getting to her, if she really wanted to. And that was enough to keep a pang of fear awake in the back of her mind.

OoOoO

Why was she there? She didn't want to be there... why had she let Loki convince her that she needed to be there? That it was her duty, as his queen, to greet their visitors along with him... damn that silver tongue of his!

What snapped Kara out of that spiral of thoughts – rather abruptly at that – was the sound of the massive doors to the throne room being pushed open by a pair of guards, to reveal two Elves entering the hall and approaching the throne; a rather young looking male with dark hair and a stern expression on his face, only dulled by the gentleness in his gaze... and the one woman whom Kara had hoped never to see again in her life, walking at his side, her gaze fixed upon the young queen.

When Loki stood from the throne and descended the steps to greet them, she followed exactly one step behind him – and inwardly she was eternally grateful to Tyra and Heimdall for teaching her all that she lacked regarding proper etiquette.

"Welcome to Asgard, Lord Freyr."

Lightly bowing his head and placing a hand to his heart, the Elf king offered a kind smile in return to Loki's greeting, a gesture which left Kara quite astounded – how in the world could that... woman... be the daughter of a man who seemed nothing like her?

"I regret that I could not be here for your coronation... I wish you many long years of peace; your parents would be proud to see you."

Though the dark haired Æsir did not reply to the Elf's words, Kara still noticed the evanescent shade of sorrow to cross his face in spite of his smile. Her focus was soon drawn away from Loki, however, when Freyr set his gaze upon her – and his expression reminded her of how her father had watched her in his final moments.

"And this must be the young queen we have heard so much of..." he stated softly, afterwards again averting his eyes to Loki. "I see great strength and wisdom in her eyes; you have chosen well."

Shyly lowering her gaze at that, Kara inwardly tensed once again as she felt Vanya's eyes burning holes into her skull; she didn't need to look, to know that the woman was likely glaring at her. Still, knowing that it would have been impolite for her to remain silent, she inhaled deeply to try and gather her scrambled thoughts.

"You are too kind, Lord Freyr."

Barely holding back a relieved sigh when Loki suggested that he and Freyr should withdraw for a private meeting, and ordered the guards to escort Vanya to her chambers, the young woman was abruptly wrenched out of that calming sensation when the she-Elf spoke.

"If it is no trouble... I would like to speak to the queen." she said in her sweetest tone. "It has been quite some time since we last saw each other."

Upon raising her gaze – and trying her best to not let the terror in her heart show on her face – Kara now realized that Vanya was no longer looking at her, but at Loki who instead was staring her down with a most obvious warning shade in his eyes. And yet, when he spoke, she could have sworn that his tone was the sound of gentleness itself while at the same time holding a shade of finality which made it clear he would not accept any disobedience from Vanya.

"I am afraid it will have to wait... my queen was graceful enough to set aside her plans briefly, in order to come greet you. And I am certain you are tired from the trip here."

Apparently slightly taken aback by such a decisive and swift retaliation from him, the she-Elf merely stared at him for a moment before plastering a warm smile onto her lips to mask her displeasure.

"Yes, of course... then I will wait until the queen sends for me." she replied on a tone that to Kara sounded so polite and yet so mocking at the same time.

With one last glare thrown her way, the redhead finally moved to follow her escort out of the throne room.

"Lord Freyr... if you would be so kind as to let my guard escort you. I will be along shortly..."

Once the Elf king had nodded his approval and left the throne room, Loki finally approached Kara who was still faintly trembling, apparently rooted to the spot; clasping her face in his hands and gently guiding her to look at him, he leaned down to place a soothing kiss on her forehead before beckoning two guards over.

"You will escort the queen at all times and stand guard at her room while I am not there... under no circumstance are you to leave her alone, or allow princess Vanya to see her in private. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Your Highness." one of the two males replied, the other following his lead.

"Good."

Once more kissing his beloved's forehead, he offered her a reassuring smile and gave one last brief stroke to her smooth skin, before tearing himself from her side and leaving to tend to Freyr.

OoOoO

"My queen... what brings you all the way here?"

Offering a slight smile to Heimdall when the male posed his question, Kara stepped inside the Bifrost keep, whilst the two guards posted themselves at the entrance outside.

"I just wanted to see a friendly face..." she said, moving to stand at his side and look out into the vast emptiness of the space before them.

"Is something troubling you?" the guardian now asked, his golden gaze still fixed upon the young woman.

Heaving a sigh, she wrapped her arms around herself to hold back a slight shudder.

"It's nothing... I'm probably just overreacting..." she lightly droned on, as if trying to convince herself more than him.

"I do not believe that your desire to keep your unborn child safe is _overreacting_."

Her first impulse at those words was to simply stare at Heimdall, before she recalled that he could hear everything as well, not just see it.

"Do not tell Loki..."

"I would never dream of robbing you of that pleasure, my queen." the man smiled. "But you need not fear Vanya... I am sworn to protect you, as I am sworn to protect my king. And Loki would die before seeing any harm coming to you."

In spite of the fear still scratching at the back of her mind and heart, the woman found herself unable to hold back a smile.

"Thank you..."

Everyone was showing her so much care that she couldn't respond in any other way than accepting it. Deciding to try and take her mind off of Vanya for a bit, she now turned her gaze back to the starry infinity stretching out from the Bifrost.

"Never mind Vanya... how are the others doing? Thor... Jane..."

Understanding the meaning behind her request, the guardian also turned his golden gaze forward, setting it upon Midgard.

"It seems Thor has grown quite accustomed to the Midgardian way of life. He and Jane Foster are doing well."

"I miss them..." she said softly, a shade of sorrow crossing her face in spite of the smile lingering on her lips.

"As they miss you; perhaps you should ask Loki to let you visit them."

"Perhaps... I should have gone to stay with them while Vanya is here..."

Realizing that her thoughts had again strayed to the redhead, she frowned and lightly slapped her cheeks.

"No! Screw Vanya..." she muttered, puffing up her cheeks in annoyance at herself.

Drawing a brief chuckle from Heimdall, she once more looked up at him.

"What about the others? Nick... Tony and Steve...?"

"They were quite displeased when Thor returned without you, but their own limitations prevent them from reaching Asgard." the male replied, his voice taking a turn for the serious.

"I wish Loki would tell Thor that he's alive... they probably all still believe that Odin is holding me here against my will."

"I am sure the king would not deny your request, if you asked him to let you visit his brother and your companions."

"Perhaps I'll speak with him these days..." she contemplated.

After a few moments of silence, whilst she watched the oddly soothing silver-speckled blanket before her eyes, Kara once more smiled to the golden clad Gatekeeper.

"Thank you, Heimdall..."

Merely bowing his head in reply, he silently watched her leave with the two guards following her and exhaled a light sigh; he dreaded the thought of Vanya doing anything foolish that would force him to act against her... but he had sworn before Loki to safeguard Kara's life at any cost, and he would do just that even if it meant the Elf princess' demise.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace, Asgard_

_**Date: **__November 12, 2013_

"Just how long are you planning to avoid me?"

Instantly Loki's jaw clenched at the sound of that voice and he looked up from the book he had been reading in the library, to see Vanya already approaching his chair.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean... you were treated just as any other guest." he retorted.

"Don't play the fool with me... you've gone out of your way to avoid seeing me in private ever since I arrived."

Halting at his side, she reached out and trailed the back of her hand along his jaw, only to have Loki grasp it and lean away from it.

"What do you want, Vanya?"

"Oh, don't tell me the little human enthralled you to this extent..." she smirked smugly.

Leaning over until their faces were at the same level, the redhead slid the tip of her tongue along his ear before whispering into it.

"How long has it been since she last slept with you?"

Upon feeling his body stiffening at that, she leaned back and almost let out a laugh in the face of his awed frown.

"Don't underestimate a woman's ability to gather information... I heard the whispers... I know all about your fights and how she keeps refusing you recently. One would think she's not satisfied with you and probably looks for satisfaction elsewhere..."

"Shut up!" he snapped back, cutting off her little speech. "That is none of your business and I will not allow you to cast any doubt in my mind about her loyalty."

Rather than deterring her, however, his cold retort seemed to only spur her on and the dark haired Æsir was left to stare in shock when she simply sat in his lap and kissed him; in the few moments that it took for his mind to snap out of that initial stupor, he suddenly realized that she was using her magic on him again... and damn it, his body was too willing to go with it.

"I'd never refuse you..." she whispered seductively on his lips, whilst he still battled to regain control over his senses and get away from her. "It must be so annoying... all that pent up frustration... and no one to help you relieve it..."

No... no, no, no... this was bad! He couldn't even bring himself to raise his arms and shove her off, even with his mind in full alert, screaming at him to get away from that snake. It was as if her words alone had snapped open some lock inside him, releasing all the irritation and desire he had suppressed for the past month.

It was all he could do to glare at her, as realization dawned upon him that she hadn't been idle during her time away from Asgard... oh no, she had indeed trained to master her seductive charms, he could feel it in the sheer strength of the spell which was steadily clouding his judgment. Why hadn't he trained himself to become immune to this type of magic? How in Hel's name had he expected that she wouldn't use it on him with the first chance she got? How could he have been so careless?

But just when the redhead had leaned to kiss him again, the sound of the door opening – just before a voice reached his ears – finally seemed to distract Vanya and weaken her spell enough for him to regain his senses. But... that voice... that was the last voice he had wanted to hear at that moment.

"Loki, can I talk to you for a bit or are... you...?"

With his mind fervently working to give him back control over his body, he averted his gaze from the redhead only to feel his heart sinking to the very pit of his stomach, at the sight of Kara staring at them with her mouth still slightly open where her voice had died out in the middle of the phrase; all color had drained from her face and she looked so deathly pale that for a moment he feared she would collapse right then and there.

When she exhaled a shaky breath and turned on her heels to storm out of the room – not before he caught a glimpse of tears welling up in her eyes – the adrenaline finally got his muscles working, and he grabbed Vanya by the arms to shove her aside; not even looking at her when she lost balance and fell to the floor, he stood and rushed out of the library.

"Kara..."

It didn't take long for him to catch up to her, just as she entered their chambers, but she flinched under his touch when he grasped her arm to get her to face him.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped, her voice trembling from the overwhelming urge to cry.

"Kara, please listen to me..."

When she raised her teary gaze to him and scowled, for once he felt a cold shudder rolling down his spine.

"Listen to what? Your attempt at justifying that... that monstrosity? There's no way you can sugarcoat it... I saw you, and nothing will ever erase that image from my memory!"

"Kara, I... you can't possibly think I would ever want any other woman."

Again he reached out to her, only to have her step back, and that gesture alone was enough to make his heart quiver like never before.

"How could you? With her, of all people?" she whispered, her throat tying up in a knot. "You told me you loved me... and I... I _believed_ you!"

Silence fell between them as Loki found that even though he'd opened his mouth, words refused to come out as his throat tightened at the terrifying thought which suddenly overwhelmed him... he was going to lose her... and this time there was no one to talk her out of it.

"Why?"

Her shaky whisper finally seemed to get his voice working again; and yet all the centuries he had spent on polishing his oratory skills abandoned him all at once, leaving him at a loss for words. When he once more reached out to her, his hands were shaky and it seemed as if that fact alone kept her from flinching again as he clasped her tearstained face in between his palms.

"Kara, please... please believe me... I would _never_ do that to you..."

"Just tell me why..."

With her reply causing him to realize that she didn't believe him, the dark haired Æsir stepped back, his arms falling limp at his sides.

"Have I not shown you how much I love you, until now? You still have so little faith in me?"

When the woman wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her head, he felt his chest tightening and a pang of anger rising from the depths of his pain.

"Why? How can you still trust me so little and yet claim that you love me?"

It was then that Kara seemed to finally realize the implication of his words, as she stared at him in silence for a few moments.

"Do you truly love me, or not?"

In the face of the sudden sternness pervading his tone, the young queen finally gave in to her own anger.

"You should know the answer to that, better than anyone... don't try to turn this against me! Why her? Is it because I'm human? Because I'm fated to live only a few decades more? What does she have that I cannot give you?"

Even before she had finished the last question, she saw his gaze coming alive with anger and inwardly shuddered.

"You say you love me... and yet it has been a month now! What right do you have to distrust me, when you constantly reject my every attempt to show you how much I love you? Perhaps if you had not turned me away at every chance, this would not have happened. If you hadn't pushed me away, we would not be here now, having this argument!"

In the face of his fury, all Kara could do was stare in shock until her own irritation once more took over her.

"How can you blame this on me?" she breathed out in disbelief.

"Because it _is _your fault!"

Silence followed after he had shouted that in her face, until she lowered her gaze and covered her mouth with a trembling hand. He knew it wasn't true... that it wasn't what he had wanted to say at all... but right now he was much too angry to care; he needed to calm down before trying to talk to her again. With that in mind, he offered no more words, but simply stormed out of the royal chambers, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Aww I feel so special now :3

But really, I didn't want to make her immortal... that was never in my plans since I first got the idea to write this story. I could have probably found some way to shoehorn that in, but yeah it just didn't seem to fit with the ideas I had for the story. Besides, it makes for some very good drama between the characters, because ultimately Kara is human and well... human nature (nuff said) xD

But really, your words made me feel so special in some way... it might even go to my head :P

Joke aside, I really hope you'll enjoy this new chapter and future ones just as much as you enjoyed the story up to now. And I hope to hear from you again really soon, darling :D

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Well I don't mind it either way, just keep in mind that I'm not gonna be upset or anything if you take longer than a few hours to review. Really, I am so immensely grateful to you and to everyone who has reviewed so far... I can't even express it properly in words.

As for your question... all I'm gonna say is that Thor and the others will make an appearance... some in future chapters, others in the sequel. I'm not telling who's showing up when, because I don't want to spoil anything. But I promise you haven't seen the last of Thor, Sif or the Warriors Three. I still have big plans for them ;)

3\. **TigerInTheMoonlight **\- Oh I was so amused by the contradiction in the reviews I got for this chapter. Well, as I told LadyAmazon, it wasn't in my plans to make Kara immortal. Also, I kept the Marvel idea of Asgardians (even if I did insert some mythological elements); Loki and everyone else in Asgard are not immortal... so making Kara immortal would kind of be pointless. Also, even in the mythology, Jotuns were never immortal to my knowledge. Therefore by correlation, Loki still wouldn't be immortal.

But don't worry, darling, I have some really big plans for the sequel and I might find a way to sort of fix that situation... maybe... possibly... we'll see xD

I hope that was a good enough explanation as to why I avoided anything that would make her immortal. Hope you enjoyed the story so far and that you'll enjoy future chapters just as much. And I hope to hear from you again soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	46. Entry 45

Sooooo lovelies, I finished adding the last finishing touches to the rest of the chapters. So expect updates really quickly (like 2-3 days between updates, max). While I know you're all eager to read the following chapters, I also want to give everyone a chance to read each piece of the story and leave a review if they wish, to tell me what they think of one chapter or another. So bearing that in mind, I'll just let you read on :D

Enjoy, darlings~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #45**

_"It __**is **__your fault!"_

oOo

_**Location: **__The Royal Palace / the Bifrost Keep, Asgard_

_**Date: **__November 12 / 13, 2013_

Upon passing by the library and seeing Vanya standing in the doorway – probably waiting for him – he clenched his jaw and exhaled an angry sigh. Wordlessly reaching out and twisting a hand into her auburn locks, he now dragged her with him to the throne room after sending a guard to summon her father there, all the while ignoring her high pitched protests of pain which echoed along the tall hallways.

Once Freyr arrived to see his daughter still in Loki's grasp, the Elf king barely bit back a sigh and the desire to cover his face with his hands.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

In the silence which followed, he was almost startled out of his skin when Loki threw Vanya at his feet.

"You will leave Asgard, now!" he demanded, his tone holding a murderous shade. "You are welcome to return, Lord Freyr, but this wench is banished from my realm under pain of death!"

"Allfather... I believe I deserve an explanation for this." Freyr replied while helping Vanya to her feet, still utterly taken aback by such an unexpected turn of events.

Averting his gaze to two nearby guards, Loki nodded briefly toward the she-Elf.

"Get her out of my sight! Make sure she does not leave her chambers until they depart, or I will have your heads!"

With the guards moving to flank Vanya before escorting her out of the throne room, Loki finally turned his attention to the redhead's father.

"You are fortunate that I did not have her executed."

"Loki... what in all nine realms happened?"

By now the Elf king knew too well of his daughter's infatuation with the young Allfather, and expected to hear the worst.

"She tried to seduce me earlier... and Kara now believes that my heart no longer belongs to her." he growled. "If I lose my queen because of your daughter, make no mistake; I will kill that poisonous snake with my own hands!"

Perhaps Freyr would have replied to that and sought to change Loki's mind, but he knew too well that he was outranked... and that Alfheim was severely outmatched, in the eventuality of a war.

"Please accept my most sincere apologies for her behavior... had I known, I would not have brought her with me."

OoOoO

For a while she simply stood where Loki had left her, rooted to the spot, while thoughts swirled ceaselessly in her mind. How could he blame it on her? How could he say it was her fault... _was_ it her fault? No, she refused to believe that; why was it her fault that he was trying to cheat on her?

_'Didn't you push him away? Did you really not do that?' _a tiny voice in the back of her mind - most likely her own conscience - chided, causing her to place a hand to her abdomen.

But what was she supposed to do? She had no idea if it was okay to sleep with him while she was pregnant... wasn't the baby's safety the most important thing right now?

_'But you didn't tell him...' _that same voice retorted.

But how could she? He was always so busy, and he always had more important things on his mind, and she didn't know if he would be happy to hear such news, and...

"I have to go..." she whispered to herself, tears still choking her.

She didn't want to face him right now; maybe she was a coward for running away like this, instead of dealing with the tension between them, but right now the palace walls were suffocating her. She needed some time to settle down her heart and gather her scattered thoughts... and then maybe she could face Loki and they could somehow make it work out.

With that in mind, she rushed to the dresser and wrapped herself in a hooded cloak. Upon opening the door, however, she was startled to see the guards still standing out in the hallway.

"Do not follow me." she stated when the two males prepared to walk with her.

"But, Your Highness... the king has ordered..." one of them replied hesitantly.

"And I am ordering you to not follow me! You would disobey your queen?"

Glancing to each other, the two males reluctantly placed their fists over their hearts and bowed their heads in obedience. She hated to pull rank on them like that, but she couldn't have them tell Loki where she was going. Pulling the hood tighter around her face to conceal her features, she now rushed along the hallways until at long last she was outside the palace walls. Upon arriving at the stables, one of the attendants rushed to saddle a horse for her and soon the young woman was galloping through the streets of the city, on her way toward the outer bridge.

With night approaching, there was hardly anyone outside anymore and soon all she could hear were the heaving breaths of her stallion and its hooves clippity-clopping along the cobblestone.

_**oO Flashback Oo**_

_"He seems to like you, dearest..."_

_She had spent that afternoon in the stables, watching the attendants caring for the horses. While she had loved that particular animal since her childhood, she had never gotten the chance to see them up close; and so when Tyra had suggested that she visit the royal stables, she had been beside herself with joy, feeling like a little kid in an amusement park._

_At some point the eldest attendant had offered her an apple and had directed her to Sleipnir's pen. Though she had been nervous at first when the grey stallion had turned his attention to her, she had actually been startled when he – instead of going straight for the treat in her hand – had lowered his muzzle to sniff along her hair with a soft whinny, making her giggle as his breath tickled her._

_And it was then that Loki himself had arrived, drawing Sleipnir's attention when he approached the pen._

_"He's adorable..." she replied, while the horse finally decided to retrieve his apple. "Although... well you did tell me you never had any children, but... how in the world did that story come about, then?"_

_Silence had fallen between them for a few moments, whilst she watched Loki stroking the stallion's face as the horse rested his head against his new master's chest, until the dark haired Æsir decided to reply._

_"I was the one who brought him as a gift for Odin. We had to traverse Midgard... it was some years later when I first heard of that monstrosity of a tale circulating in your realm. Mother was horrified, and Thor was so enraged that it took both Odin and I to restrain him, so that he would not go there and destroy everyone."_

_Although it did not escape her that he had not exactly answered her question, silence again had reigned between them whilst she stroke the stallion's silky mane, until Loki turned his emerald gaze to her._

_"Would you like to learn how to ride, dearest?"_

_"Really?" she breathed out, unable to hold back a grin._

_Chuckling in the face of her childish excitement, the young king offered a gentle nod._

_"Sleipnir could use the exercise..."_

_**oO End of flashback Oo**_

The way the galloping sound changed when the horse left the stone streets and dashed out onto the rainbow bridge, brought her back from that train of thought and she realized her gaze had grown hazy with fresh tears. Although no more than three weeks had passed since that day, it somehow felt as if it had happened centuries before. Had they really grown so distant, so quickly?

It was upon those thoughts that she saw the Bifrost Keep rising before her and soon halted the horse near the entrance.

"Heimdall... I have to go... please..." she pleaded, causing the Gatekeeper to offer her a puzzled glance.

When she entered the keep while taking off her hood, and he saw the tears on her face, his expression straightened.

"What troubles you, my queen?"

"I have to go... I want to go back to Earth. Please... it doesn't matter what happened, I can't stay here for now. I can't... I can't face him..."

"Are you sure that running away is the wisest decision?"

"No..." she whispered. "But all the same, I don't want to face Loki right now. Please, let me go..."

When he hesitated, as if trying to convince her that it was best to stay, she clenched her jaw.

"Please don't make me order you to."

"I am afraid you will have to, my queen... I do not believe it wise for you to leave."

"Very well..." she sighed. "Then I am ordering you to send me back to Earth, now! And swear to me that you will not tell Loki about this child... I will tell him when the time is right."

Somehow she got a sinking feeling in her stomach even as she spoke those words; what was that? She was going to come back, she just needed a bit of time away from Loki to be able to think clearly. She _would_ come back... right...?

Before she could spiral any deeper into those thoughts, her body jolted in surprise at the sound of energy flowing out of Heimdall's sword and setting the building in motion.

"Where do you wish for me to set you down?"

At the guardian's question she actually had to take a moment to think; he couldn't exactly beam her right onto the Helicarrier... well, he could, but that would do quite some damage to the ship. And right now she was in no mood to deal with an angry Fury, nor did she want to have to offer more detailed explanations than necessary... by that account, Tony was out of the question as well.

"Leave me somewhere near Thor's home." she finally replied, moving to stand in front of the energy vortex which had formed before them.

If there was someone who would understand her without asking too many questions... if there was someone whom she could talk to without feeling awkward about her story... it had to be Thor and Jane.

"Very well." Heimdall replied reluctantly. "I will keep watch over you..."

Looking over her shoulder and offering him a slight smile for that comforting statement, the young woman nodded and once more pulled the hood over her head, while the Gatekeeper lowered the blade into its socket, causing the energy to pull her into its midst.

OoOoO

It wasn't more than a few minutes after the Bifrost had stopped its dazzling rotation, that the steed Kara had ridden arrived back in the city, this time carrying a different rider in the saddle. Another few increments of sixty seconds passed before the golden clad male sighted his destination – the massive twin doors, guarding the throne room beyond as vigilantly as the two soldiers who greeted him with a fist placed over their heart and a short bow of the head. Not returning their greeting, in his haste, Heimdall merely placed his hands to the heavy gates and pushed; silent as death, the steel, gold plated doors gave way to reveal the sight of Loki seated on the throne.

Gungnir was leaned against the right side of the winged chair, but the king himself was merely staring absentmindedly at the floor, his fingers laced together in front of his lips. He didn't even seem to notice Heimdall's entrance, until the Gatekeeper stopped right on the spot of the floor he had been staring at, lowering himself onto one knee.

Instantly Loki's mind went into full alert. It was unheard of for Heimdall to leave his post at the Bifrost; the only time he could recall seeing Heimdall in the throne room – other than his coronation – was the day when he had come to warn Odin that Laufey and his men had attacked Midgard.

"What happened?" he asked, before the guardian even had a chance to speak.

Whatever had gone wrong, in whichever of the realms, would be a most welcome distraction from his current predicament... and perhaps he could settle his mind down enough to be able to sort things out with Kara afterwards.

"My king... looking upon you now, my lips are reluctant to reveal the news I bear."

When Loki's gaze sharpened whilst the young Allfather got a sinking feeling in his stomach, Heimdall rose to his feet.

"The queen... she is gone..."

Even before he had finished speaking, the dark haired Æsir rose from the throne.

"What?" he breathed out, his heart now pounding against his chest as if trying to leap out.

Instantly, his mind overwhelmed him with all sorts of thoughts – some far worse than others – and he actually had to grasp his head at the sudden dizziness which overcame him; it was enough that Heimdall stepped forward with the intention of rushing to his side – probably fearing that the young king would collapse – only to stop when Loki raised a hand and gestured for him to stay there.

No... he refused to believe that she'd done anything foolish...

"What do you mean?" he finally asked, trying his best to not pant from the surge of adrenaline in his veins. "Where is she?"

"She returned to Midgard..."

Closing his eyes for but a moment, Loki inwardly heaved a sigh of relief more sincere than he had ever done before.

"And you just let her leave?" he replied, finally squaring his shoulders and looking back to the Gatekeeper.

"I attempted to reason with her and convince her to stay; but she ordered me to send her back, Your Highness... I could not disobey a direct command from my queen."

"Where did you send her?"

"She asked that I would leave her where your brother lives with his woman."

It was at those words that Loki's features blanked, erasing any form of expression from his face... why _there_? It was the one place where he did not want to go, even just to get her back. Had she done it on purpose to keep him from following her, knowing that he did not want Thor to find out he was still alive? His jaw clenched at that thought and a sudden bout of anger rose inside him. Why would she do that? Did she really want to get away from him so badly? Well... she would get her wish...

"Very well." he spat out. "Then leave her there, if she enjoys my brother's company that much!"

"My king, is it really wise to...?"

"My word is final, Heimdall! You are not to allow her passage back into Asgard, until she begs for it! If she prefers life among those pathetic creatures, than being with me, she shall get her heart's desire!"

Lowering his gaze and biting back a sigh at the stubbornness displayed before him, the Gatekeeper merely placed a fist over his heart and lightly bowed in compliance, turning to leave the throne room and return to his post. He could only hope that this inflexible streak both Loki and Kara seemed to have, would not destroy all that they had built between them over the years.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Haha I admit Loki does deserve a good beating for that little stunt, but at the same time I have to be on his side too (not just on Kara's side) because he too is part of my story, so I have to side with all my characters :P

But I'm really glad to see this chapter got you so worked up and I can only hope the following ones will keep you just as engaged into the story. Thank you so much for this thoroughly entertaining review, darling. I hope to hear from you again soon :D

2\. **Penny** \- Well yes, that's how I viewed things as well; hence why Kara isn't and will never be immortal. There's just something really attractive to the fact of being mortal, probably because we can all relate to that better than to immortality which we have never experienced.

But I'm getting too philosophical. Thank you so much for the review, I always love when people come out and tell me what they think, I love talking to my readers. I really hope you enjoyed the story so far and that you'll enjoy the rest of it just as much. And I hope to hear from you again soon :D

3\. **kittykawaii4** \- I am actually planning to do a series of quick updates, because I have pretty much everything finished already. The main reason why I'm not updating daily, or just uploading all the remaining chapters at once, is to give you guys the time to read each piece and maybe tell me what you like/dislike, if you so desire.

So don't worry, the next chapters will be coming really soon ;) Until then, I hope you enjoyed what I updated so far and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

4\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Haha see why I couldn't answer when you asked me if they would have a fall out? Because they were going to actually have one and I didn't want to spoil this for anyone xD

Now for your question, well she was much too distraught by the fact that she'd just seen her husband-to-be in the arms of the woman who would likely have no qualms with killing Kara to get her way. And I had her focus too much on that and with all the emotions clashing inside her it wouldn't be impossible for the pregnancy to slip her mind at that moment. Not to mention that Loki didn't help at all by blaming it all on her xD

Buuuut I'm not telling if it gets fixed or not, I don't wanna spoil what's ahead ;)

5\. **Uncontrollable-book-nerd **\- Haha I'm actually going to defend Loki in that particular aspect and say that well... he has nine realms now weighing on his shoulders, and Kara was living with him so he likely felt there was no need to read her mind, because he practically always knew where she was or what she was doing (in some way or another - meaning servants/guards).

As for body language... as I said, he now has the entire universe on his shoulders and that can wear down even the brightest mind. Because Loki has yet to find a balance between his newfound duties and his personal life. So it's not that unexpected that he would act a bit unlike himself, or fall into some extremes or stuff like that xD

But I'm really glad this chapter got you so involved, I really missed seeing you in the review section, darling. I hope I'll hear from you again really soon :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	47. Entry 46

Sooooo for once I have nothing to rant about, darlings. Oh, just one thing... now that I finished writing for this story, I'm back to working on _Stringing a bow _\- for those of you who are Hobbit fans and who were following that story. And I have lots of surprises in store for the near future as well, after I'm done with that one, so stick around :D

Oh and don't forget to toss me a little review to let me know what you think :)

Now enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #46**

_"You are not to allow her passage back into Asgard, until she begs for it!"_

oOo

_**Location: **__London, U.K._

_**Date: **__November 12 / 13, 2013_

"Thor...? Is that what I think it is?"

Upon hearing Jane's concerned tone, the blond Æsir emerged onto the terrace and followed her gaze to see the clear night sky changing colors from black to a pale green, until a multicolored beam of energy hit the street not far from their house, faintly shaking the ground and disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"Stay here..." he said cautiously.

Moving back inside he retrieved Mjölnir and used its magic to summon his armor, before going outside to see what had happened. Perhaps his father needed him back in Asgard...

For a few moments Kara had simply stood in place to regain her bearings, before looking around. Now that she was actually there, nostalgia overcame her and she realized just how much she had missed her home world. Living in Asgard surrounded by guards in armor, maids and servants felt a bit surreal, like living in a fairytale; but the reality was that she was not one of them... she belonged here...

Soon enough she spotted the figure of a bulky male approaching her along the street, and when he passed by one of the street lamps she felt her throat tightening upon recognizing the Thunder God.

"Are you here to relay a message from my father?" he asked, halting a few steps away from her.

His question briefly left her in awe, before she recalled that the hood was shielding her face from his gaze, and she reached with trembling hands to push the material back, watching as his eyes gradually widened.

"Kara...?" he mumbled, in obvious disbelief.

As if his voice calling her name had some magical power to it, she felt the grasp on her tears slipping away from her and allowing her conflicting emotions to overflow until she broke down into sobs. Within moments she could feel those familiar arms enveloping her in comforting warmth, and then the way he gently nudged her to walk with him until she heard Jane's worried voice as if through the haze of a dream.

"Kara? Oh my God, is she okay?"

"I do not know yet..." Thor replied, guiding the young woman into the house.

"Let her sit down on the couch, I'll go make her some warm tea."

Once the scientist had rushed to the kitchen, Thor did as she had requested and set Kara down onto the leather sofa; ridding himself of Mjölnir, he once again faced the young woman only to feel his chest tightening as he could now clearly see the emotional weariness on her tearstained face. He dreaded to hear what she had to say, but still...

"Kara, what happened?" he asked, settling onto one knee in front of her.

When all she did was to stare in silence at her trembling hands, he reached out to gently cover them with his, only to startle her; but at least she raised her gaze to meet his.

"Are you well?" he asked again. "You're trembling..."

"I don't know..." she finally whispered, her chest still quivering with each breath. "I... I didn't know where else to go... Nick and the others would have asked too many questions... and..."

"No, no... do not worry about that..." the blond Æsir replied, reaching up to clasp her face in his hands in order to calm her down. "Just tell me what happened..."

Was he about to hear that his father had raped her? That the man he had looked up to all his life, was that kind of monster? Such a prospect frightened him as much as it angered him, but he had to somehow get her to talk coherently.

"It wasn't Odin..." she breathed shakily, leaving the Thunder God at a complete loss for words.

"What?"

There was no way around it... Thor had the right to know that his brother was alive, and she didn't want to invent some story just to cover that fact.

"It wasn't him you talked to... it... it was Loki..."

His awed countenance crumbled at the mention of that name, and for a split second she could swear that she saw tears twinkling in his eyes.

"But... but how...?" he questioned, his voice gaining a faint tremor.

He didn't even know whether to be angry or to laugh at the news... that insensitive fool of a brother!

"He was disguised as Odin. Thor... your father's dead..."

The smile which had begun creeping onto the Æsir's lips died a swift and merciless death at the woman's reply.

"Wh... what?" he mumbled.

"Loki said he challenged him to a fight after returning to Asgard... and Odin lost."

"No, no... that is impossible..."

Whatever comfort he was seeking in her gaze, he failed to find, and Kara could do nothing more but watch him lower his head while covering his eyes with one hand to try and conceal his tears. Looking up to see Jane watching them from the doorway, she heaved a sigh and allowed silence to engulf them until Thor finally seemed to regain his composure.

"Tell me everything, Kara... please."

The following few minutes passed with only her shaky voice resounding in the room, as she told them about how Loki had revealed himself to her the following day; how she had barely convinced Heimdall to not kill him; how he had taken the throne and rebuilt Asgard's defenses, and how he had banished Sif and the others to Vanaheim for their refusal to serve him.

"So I was right..." the Thunder God mused. "He is a better ruler than I could have ever been. I am glad to hear he is so loved by our people. Perhaps I will one day go see him... I believe he would benefit from having Sif and the others there; perhaps I can still mend things between them, if I tell them that I did renounce the throne of my own choice."

"I asked him so many times to tell you that he was alive... but he said you have no need to know; that he's glad you found your happiness here with Jane, and he didn't want to drag you in Asgard's politics anymore."

Arching his brows, apparently astounded by such thoughtful demeanor coming from his brother, the blond Æsir then once more fell silent, as if he was waiting for her to continue with her tale – which in turn made her gulp lightly. Ultimately, after saying so much, she couldn't just cut it off there and leave them in the dark... she needed their help, because at least for now she didn't want to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Everything worked out for a while, but then... I suppose I should have expected it, but Loki and I just... we started drifting apart over the past month; we started arguing out of... nothings, really. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't forget he has the burden of all nine realms on his shoulders now..."

"He will get better."

Thor's sudden reply caught her off guard and caused her hands to jolt in surprise within his grasp.

"Mother said that – at first – she and father faced the same problems. But he will learn to balance out his duties with the time he should offer to you. You simply have to be patient..."

"I don't think that matters anymore..." she whispered, the sudden urge to cry choking her until she could barely breathe.

When his brotherly smile faded and gave way to a confused frown, she inhaled deeply and released a shaky sigh in an attempt to speak clearly.

"Vanya and her father arrived in Asgard two days ago... and tonight I... I went to see him in the library and..."

Her voice faltered when tears overflowed down her face, and though she opened her mouth several times no more words came out as her throat constricted, rendering her vocal cords useless... but to her relief it was enough for Thor and Jane to understand where she had been going with that statement.

"Have... have you tried talking to him?" the Thunder God asked on a tone that to Kara seemed almost timid.

Allowing her the time to get her voice working again, he merely kept stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs, trying to offer her what comfort he could.

"He... he followed me when I left and... we had another fight. He tried to tell me what happened, but I... I was just so angry and hurt that I... I didn't even let him explain. He got angry as well in the end and... and he said it was my fault that it happened in the first place... and he was right..."

"No, Kara... do not blame yourself for his mistake... it can't be your fault..."

"But it is, Thor! I'm the one who pushed him away in the first place... and I didn't even get to tell him..."

At his puzzled expression, the young woman retrieved her hands from his grasp and covered her face before heaving a deep sigh and finally whispering shakily.

"I'm pregnant..."

OoOoO

The first moment when she woke up – rather, when the sun startled her from her sleep – she felt a bout of adrenaline rushing through her veins at the sight of the unfamiliar room. But slowly, her mind shook off the veil of drowsiness and she recalled that she had fled Asgard the previous night... that's right, she was at Jane's place.

Shielding her eyes from the bright daylight with one hand, she heaved a sigh before finally willing herself to rise; her sleep had been restless and filled with dreams that she couldn't remember – save for a lingering sensation of dread; she felt drained, both physically and emotionally, and there was nothing she longed for more than to somehow wake up and realize that the previous day had been only a horrible nightmare.

Inhaling deeply to not allow the urge to cry overtake her again, she got out of bed and glanced at the clock on the wall only to realize it was almost noon; this really wasn't like her, to sleep so late, but she blamed that on the exhausting events of the last hours. What drew her attention next, however, was the sight of what appeared to be new clothes folded neatly and placed onto a chair in the guest bedroom she had occupied.

Approaching and finding a note written in Jane's distinctively sloppy calligraphy – indicating that she could take a shower if she wanted to, before joining her and Thor downstairs – she finally felt her lips twitching into a smile as she realized that the young scientist had actually gone out to buy her those clothes, given that all she possessed was still on the Helicarrier.

"Darling Jane..." she whispered fondly. "Always so eager to help..."

Deciding to heed the woman's advice, she retrieved the clothes and stepped into the bathroom; the warm bath was a blessing in disguise which soothed her body, even if her mind was still a tangled mess of thoughts. But at least by the time she descended the stairs to find Jane preparing lunch and Thor helping her around the kitchen, she felt much more relaxed; truly, knowing that she had someone to rely on was a great help in keeping her fear at bay.

What startled her – given that she had been much too busy watching Thor and Jane to look to her left where the kitchen connected with the dining room – was to hear Darcy's cheerful voice.

"How's the mom-to-be, today?"

Finally averting her gaze toward that room, she again smiled upon sighting the young girl seated there, waving at her with a huge grin, Erik seated right beside her.

"Give it a rest, Darcy." he replied in his usual grumpy tone.

While Kara approached the table once Thor had gestured for her to join the two, the female's expression suddenly dropped.

"You don't even look pregnant... did Jane pull my leg?" she complained.

"It's only been little over a month, Darcy... I won't _look_ pregnant for at least another two or three months." the agent replied somewhat humorously.

Inwardly, however, she was beyond grateful that Jane had thought of calling those two there; she had missed them, and Darcy's ever bubbly and cheerful disposition was probably the best therapy she could have gotten. Glancing up when Thor set a plate of food in front of her, she offered the Thunder God a smile to which he replied by reassuringly grasping her shoulder.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you lived here all your life..." she retorted.

"I still have much to learn..." he said humbly. "But Jane is teaching me all I need to know."

When finally he and Jane joined them at the table, Kara once more glanced over to him.

"I'm glad you adapted so well here..." she said softly.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Stark Tower, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__November 22, 2013_

She knew she would end up here, eventually... it would have been impossible to avoid, given that pretty much her whole life on Earth was tied to S.H.I.E.L.D. and its sharp-eyed Director... the same Director who was now eyeing her quite sharply as he was standing in front of her, and she could swear that even the eye hid behind his leathery patch was drilling holes into her head.

Eventually she had calmed down enough to ask Thor to help her get to New York; once there, she had sought out the one man who could help her get in touch with Fury... and he still lived in that god-awful looking tower; at least talking to Pepper and Jarvis again had been nice.

"You could have at least sent us a message... something to let us know you're alive and well."

Fury's stern tone drew her out of her thoughts, and she once more zoned in on the man before her.

"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't... but so many things happened so fast that I didn't know what to do first. No matter what you might imagine, it's not easy adapting to life in Asgard."

Well... she wasn't being 100% sincere, given that she had adapted fairly easily there thanks to Loki, but a half-truth was as good an apology as any other.

"Oh, give her a break... if she gets all worked up, it won't be good for the baby."

Startled out of the tense silence which had befallen them both, Kara and Nick averted their eyes to the other end of the large room, where Tony was leaning against the bar with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"What? Even I know that..." he retorted awkwardly.

Ultimately Fury heaved a sigh and trailed a hand over his head.

"About that... you're on leave until the doctor says you're fit for work again."

"I think I can still work for a few more months, Nick."

Thankfully, she had visited a doctor during that week and had learned much needed information about what her pregnancy entailed, a thing which had soothed her fears almost entirely... of course she was still a bit anxious, and the doctor had told her it was only normal during her first pregnancy as it was something she had never before experienced. Considering Asgard was supposed to be superior to Earth, the healers there hadn't been able to tell her that much about it; then again, their way of life was mostly like what she imagined Earth's Middle Ages had been... apparently her own people were superior in some ways, after all.

"I'm not taking any risks, knowing you..."

Nick's reply gained her full attention again, and for once she didn't argue with him but merely smiled.

"Alright..."

It was odd how the knowledge that she had a life growing inside her suddenly made her more cautious; then again, she couldn't even imagine doing anything that would cause harm to her baby... maybe this was the _maternal instinct _she'd heard of before, because she had no other explanation for such a deep attachment to a child she hadn't even seen yet.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Well, in a way yeah you could say he's going back to being his _old self_, but I'm not telling if it's gonna end in tears or if it gets fixed, because that would mean spoiling the ending for everyone. So you'll just have to wait and see, darling ;)

2\. **Uncontrollable-book-nerd **\- Haha yeah, I wanted to make Heimdall a sort of babysitter for both Kara and Loki; somehow he just has this fatherly air about him, so I though that role would fit him. And he is basically their bodyguard anyway, and we all know that between that and babysitting there's just one step to take xD

And don't worry about disappearing, life can always turn out to be an asshole, I know that too well; I'm just happy to see you around again :D

3\. **JenJen018 **\- Aww don't worry darling, I already have a sequel planned which I'm hoping I can start uploading soon after this story will end. So you'll get to see a lot more of Loki and Kara ;)

4\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Sorry it was so short, I didn't mean to... it's Loki's fault! xD

But you know I like to let the river of creativity flow at its own pace; I never end a chapter when I want to, but when I feel I have to end it. And so far it's worked great for me, I've had some chapters in stories where I ended them on great cliffhangers... which is my purpose, because that's what keeps people interested to know more ;)

5\. **kittykawaii4** \- No worries, darling, I promised the next updates are coming quickly, so here you have it :D

6\. **Ginger **\- Haha I wish I could upload the remaining chapters all at once, but I want to give everyone who wants to comment on one particular chapter, the chance to do it. That's why I'm waiting 2-3 days between chapters, so I'm afraid you'll have to be patient too ;)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	48. Entry 47

Soooo here it is, darlings... the moment I'm sure you've all been anticipating for the last 2-3 chapters: it's time to meet the newest heir to the throne of Asgard! Now before you read on, please take a moment to peruse these notes, because it's important.

**First**, regarding the scene where I described Kara's ultrasound. Some may know this, some not, but the things I described there are actually things which have been documented but which have not gotten a wide spread. Babies are actually that active even before birth and they can do all those things and more during their time in mommy's belly. Things like this can show up on an ultrasound even before the five month threshold, but that is the moment when I chose to describe that scene, because that is the first moment when the parents can learn the gender of the child and that will play an important part in the story - though mostly in the sequel.

If you're wondering why these things are not widely known, the answer is simple: if all women were aware of this, abortion rates would probably drop significantly, thus places like abortion clinics would probably become obsolete. And as we know, the higher-ups in any country don't really care about the "common folk's" health, but about making money; and it's really hard to keep saying that an unborn baby is not a person - therefore that a woman should not feel guilty for an abortion because she's not killing a person - if the mother is informed and knows that her unborn baby behaves like any normal child does after birth, hence her unborn baby **IS** a living person that she can choose to kill through abortion.

But this is a very lengthy debate which I will not delve into any deeper; long story short, what I mentioned in that scene is true, it's not something I invented for the sake of the story, those things are actually documented by doctors.

**Secondly**, I tried to give an accurate description of labor and delivery, without getting into all the messy and bloody and gory stuff. So hopefully I did a good enough job of that. If any of my readers have already gone through the process of delivering a baby, props to you, you are awesome for doing that. I would love any sort of feedback from you, because it would be an enormous help as reference for future stories (I actually am currently working on one which will have another pregnancy-delivery moment). It's not necessary to give me that feedback in a review, if you want to spare others the bloody and sweaty details, you can PM me and I would be delighted to hear how you experienced pregnancy and delivery.

Many of my friends where I live have already gone through that process - some more than once - but sadly we don't get to talk too often, so I am relying on you, lovelies, to help me out if you can and want to :D

Okay, so with that long rant in mind, I'll leave you to read the chapter. Don't forget to toss me a little review to let me know what you think :D

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #47**

_It was odd how the knowledge that she had a life growing inside her suddenly made her more cautious [...]_

oOo

_**Location: **__Stark Tower, New York, U.S.A. / Columbia University Medical Center_

_**Date: **__February 10, 2014_

_"Miss Taylor, everything is ready. Mister Stark and Miss Potts are waiting for you in the lobby."_

Looking up from the book she had been reading, the young woman moved to her feet while setting the item onto the nightstand.

"Thank you, Jarvis..." she replied, smiling into the camera placed in a corner of her room.

She had spent another couple of weeks with Jane and Thor, but ultimately had given in to Tony's request of staying with him and Pepper in New York. And she had to admit, she was impressed... Tony hadn't questioned her about Asgard or Loki nearly as much as she'd expected, but he always pouted whenever she teased him about it.

Pepper herself had been overjoyed to have her staying with them, and Kara could understand why. Unlike Jane and Thor – who seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever – Pepper and Tony had wanted children for quite a while; so it seemed only natural that the young woman would want to know as much as possible about what to expect for her own pregnancy... and Kara was too happy to let her learn anything she wanted.

"J, what do you think it's gonna be? A boy or a girl?" she now asked, contemplatively tapping her fingers against the ever growing belly.

_"I am afraid I do not have enough data to calculate such probability, Miss Taylor."_

"Why am I not surprised at your answer?" she chuckled.

In truth she was a bit nervous about that day's medical exam; not only would she be able to learn the baby's gender, but now that she had entered her fifth month it was also the first ultrasound where the doctor could clearly see if the child growing inside her was healthy or not.

"You'll be alright..." she whispered almost out of reflex, placing a palm to her belly and gingerly stroking it. "I know you will..."

Taking a deep breath she finally left the room and headed down to the lobby; what she hadn't expected – even though Tony had told her in the car that they had a surprise for her – was what had happened upon their arrival at the hospital.

She had just stepped in through the front doors into the main lobby of the building, when she was startled by what looked like a large bouquet of lilies on legs, approaching her from the right. Before she could wonder too much about it, however, a familiar face peeked from behind the floral arrangement leaving her at a loss for words at first.

"Steve..." she breathed out with a huge grin gradually spreading on her lips.

She hadn't seen him ever since her return and Tony had informed her that he had been on a mission somewhere in Afghanistan; in all honesty she had been quite worried about him, and it seemed now for good reason... once he had lowered the flowers, she could easily see the edges of white bandages peeking over the neck cut of his shirt.

"It's okay... it wasn't anything too bad..." he said reassuringly when she reached to trail her fingertips over the bandages.

Grasping her hand and kissing it, he offered her that lopsided smile she had always found so endearing.

"Well now that he's alright, let's not be late for your appointment." Tony retorted humorously.

"You're still an insensitive bastard, I see." Kara chuckled.

"You know you love me for that."

With a wink he now headed to the reception desk with Pepper, whilst Kara and Steve merely glanced to each other and shook their heads in mutual understanding.

OoOoO

"Well... are you ready?"

Returning the female doctor's kind smile, Kara nodded and moved to lie on the bed while lifting her shirt just enough to expose her belly. She was so grateful that she had met the woman; being a mother herself, Karen had been immensely supportive and understanding even when Kara had merely been overreacting at the appearance of new symptoms as the pregnancy evolved.

"I don't know how you still put up with me..." she smiled shyly.

"Don't sweat it; I was the same with my first kid." Karen smiled in return. "There's no woman alive who can say she wasn't nervous throughout her first pregnancy."

When the young woman glanced to Steve who was standing just a few steps away – having given in to Kara's plea of not leaving her alone in the examination room – Karen chuckled lightly.

"Come closer, dad... don't be shy."

"Oh, I'm... I'm not..." he mumbled, startled by the assumption.

His voice died out, however, when Kara merely smiled and reached out to him; and he was unable to stop himself from heeding her unspoken call.

"It's normal for the father to be just as nervous, so don't think about it too much." Karen replied.

Once Steve had arrived at the woman's side and grasped her hand, the doctor turned on the ultrasound machine.

"Let's see what your little treasure is up to."

When she gently pressed the camera to Kara's belly, the woman suddenly felt a jolt within her; and surely enough the image on the screen revealed the child frantically moving, apparently startled by the unusual touch.

"Talk..." Karen said gently. "The baby needs to hear your voice; to know you're here."

Trying to ignore the awkwardness she felt at that advice, she nodded in compliance.

"It's okay, honey. Mommy's here, everything's alright." she said, not really knowing what to do.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the baby calming down, and a mixture of emotions filled her chest, bringing tears to her eyes and an incredulous smile on her lips.

"See?" Karen smiled. "She can hear every word you say. Most doctors won't tell you this, but it's very important for both parents to talk to the baby during pregnancy. That way, after birth, it's easier for the child to recognize them."

"But..."

"Last time her brain and ears weren't developed enough to perceive voices, but now she can hear you."

"She...?" Steve finally asked, startling Kara.

"Yes. Congratulations, you'll have a little girl."

Allowing the two a few moments to contemplate that, Karen once more smiled.

"Here... I'll show you something. Put your right palm on the side of your belly."

Once Kara had done as told, the doctor once more gestured to the screen.

"Now look..."

For a few moments nothing happened, but then Kara was left to stare in sheer awe at the video before her. At the same time when she felt the baby moving, the image showed her turning around until her head was against the spot Kara's palm covered.

"See this?" Karen asked, pointing to a very specific spot on the baby's head. "She's smiling... most people believe that a baby does nothing but sleep for nine months. But more recent studies have shown that a baby has a very busy schedule in mommy's belly. They play and talk back when parents talk to them... and they can even sing and dance if they like the music you're listening to. So it's very important to start her education now; you can talk to her, read her stories or play music for her. She'll hear everything."

OoOoO

"So what happened?"

It was Steve's question that ultimately had Kara return to reality from that sort of pleasant stupor she had been in ever since she'd left Karen's office and the hospital. Her baby girl was perfectly healthy and she had seen things that were nothing short of miracles happening before her very eyes. Upon arriving home Pepper had asked Steve to join them for dinner; so now the soldier was sitting on the edge of her bed while she rested for a bit.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific..." she retorted in jest.

His serious expression, however, caused her to sigh whilst running a hand through her hair.

"A lot happened..." she said almost as a whisper. "Long story short... I have no idea when I'll be going back to Asgard."

She knew Tony had told him some general things from her story, but she didn't really want to go into the details.

"Does he know?"

"What?" she blinked, taken aback by the sudden inquiry and at a complete loss as to its meaning.

"Does Loki know? About the baby..." Steve replied, lightly gesturing to her belly.

At first she thought of just not answering, but his scrutinizing gaze had her shifting uncomfortably soon enough.

"I didn't exactly get to tell him before I left... also, I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know if Karen actually thought you were the father, but I shouldn't have encouraged that joke to continue."

"Well I can't say I never wanted to be a father... don't think about it too much."

When silence stretched on between them, Steve inwardly sighed; he would probably regret saying what he was about to say... but seeing her so dejected and devoid of life – despite the contradicting happiness which the child was offering her – was harder to endure than anything anyone else could throw at him. To think he had once been actually grateful that she had been reunited with Loki, because he had realized back then that he could never piece her back together the way that dark haired menace could... and he had really envied Loki for that. But to see her like this _because _of Loki just made his blood boil. He had told her that Tony hadn't said everything, but the truth was that the young scientist had indeed given him all the details he would have rather not heard.

"Look, no matter what happens... or what you choose in the end... just know that I'm always here if you need me." he finally said, reaching out to grasp her hand.

The way her eyes shined with tears as she silently returned his gesture ultimately compelled him to move closer and set his arms around her, placing a kiss to her forehead along with a reassuring whisper.

"I'll always be here for you..."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_**Location: **__Stark Tower, New York, U.S.A. / Columbia University Medical Center_

_**Date: **__June 21 / 22, 2014_

"Kara, Tony said he's ready if you want to watch him test that new suit..."

With the door to Kara's room sliding open, Pepper was startled to see the young woman knelt next to the bed with one hand on the side of her belly and the other clenched in a fist around the covers. Snapping out of that state when she heard the young woman's painful groan, the blonde rushed into the room and over to Kara's side.

"Are you okay?"

"I thi-..."

Another contraction cut her off in mid-sentence and she gritted her teeth in pain.

"Ooh that was a big one..." she whispered, panting in a very specific pattern. "I... I think... it's coming... the baby..."

Briefly widening her eyes at the news, Pepper sprung to her feet and reached out to help Kara up.

"Right... Jarvis, will you call Dr. Seymour? Tell her we're heading over there right now."

_"Right away, Miss Potts."_

With Pepper's help in walking, Kara clenched her jaw to prepare emotionally for what was apparently the start of her labor. Karen had told her everything that she needed to do so everything should have run smoothly enough.

_"Miss Taylor, I am picking up an increase in spasms in your pelvic area."_

"I know, J... I was hoping... for that..." she replied, somewhat out of breath.

It certainly hadn't been easy hefting around that baby for the past month or so, and now – coupled with the almost constant pain in her contorting muscles – she felt as if the child was a ball of lead pressing down on her hip bones. By the time they had exited the elevator in the lobby, she could see Tony rushing out from a nearby corridor – and inwardly blessed Jarvis for alerting the man – holding the bag she had prepared for her stay in the hospital.

"Here... I'll go get the car." he said, handing the bag to Pepper.

Within a few minutes, the automobile screeched to a halt in front of the main entrance.

"Okay... ready to go?" Pepper smiled encouragingly.

"Yes, please... now..."

With the contractions being so intense and closely huddled together, she wasn't exactly sure how much longer her legs would be able to sustain her and she could already feel her knees ever so faintly trembling. In all honesty, she was immensely relieved when Tony chose to pick her up and carry her to the car, repeating the process once they had reached the hospital and placing her in a wheel chair which one of the nurses had rushed over to them.

"We're here to see Dr. Seymour..." Pepper said to the young woman.

Directing them to the reception desk to get Kara admitted, the nurse once more rushed off to call Karen who arrived to greet the trio before they had even finished the paperwork.

"Room 405, Linda." she said to the nurse at the desk. "I'll take it from here..."

Once in the room, she and Pepper helped the young woman over to the bed, where Karen began her examination by taking her pulse.

"Do you want any pain relief? An epidural is the method we use most often..."

"No, I'll be fine... I've had worse..."

"Yes, I remember you telling me about how you got that scar... but this could last anywhere from a few hours to one or two days. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"If anything happens, I'll call you or the nurse."

About half an hour later Karen had just finished taking note of Kara's vitals and doing another ultrasound to check on the baby, when Steve barged into the room, apparently having just arrived.

"How is she?" he asked, stopping just a couple of steps away from the bed.

"She's fine..." Karen smiled reassuringly while removing her sterile gloves. "She'll be in pain for a while, while her body gets ready to push the baby out; but they're both perfectly healthy so I don't think there will be any trouble."

"Is it okay if we stay here with her?" Pepper asked.

"Of course... even with the nurses coming to check up on her regularly, she'll probably do better having you here."

While a nurse wheeled out the ultrasound machine, the doctor finally moved to her feet.

"Now, you're going to be sweating a lot since you refused the pain medicine... so I'll give you an IV to keep you and the baby hydrated."

Doing just that, she once more glanced over to Pepper.

"I'll ask a nurse to bring you a bowl of ice water and a towel; during labor the body gives off large amounts of heat, so it would be good if you wiped her face and arms with the cold towel from time to time, to keep her temperature under control."

"Alright..."

"You look more nervous than I am, Pepper..." Kara chuckled painfully.

"Oh, hush... you don't know the meaning of the word." the blonde retorted in jest.

OoOoO

It was past midnight and by now Kara had been in labor for more than eight hours; she felt like she wanted to tear her belly open and get the baby out just to end the pain. It wasn't unbearable, but it was now so constant – with those grating spikes whenever contractions occurred – that it was grueling and each second felt like an eternity. And still...

"I can't wait to see you, honey... mommy's so eager to see you..." she smiled weakly, placing a hand to the side of her belly.

Tony had left about half an hour earlier to get Pepper a clean change of clothes, while the blonde had gone down to the cafeteria to get some coffee for her and Steve and a bottle of cold water for Kara. The sensation of the wet towel touching her forehead now drew her attention to the soldier who was standing next to her bed.

"Thank you... you really should go get some sleep, Steve."

In reply he merely trailed his fingers over the side of her face, pushing back the hair which had stuck to her skin; she was drenched in sweat and would have loved a shower, but she definitely wouldn't have been able to stand on her own long enough for that. Thanks to Karen, and to her own research on the matter, she actually didn't feel anxious at all because she knew what to expect... the unexpected; rather, she knew that anything could go wrong at any moment, but had placed enough faith in the female doctor to not let that aspect frighten her.

And Karen herself had been beyond words; she had actually stayed overtime in order to keep monitoring Kara's labor, because it seemed that her body wasn't taking that much time in preparing for the delivery. She had visited the room every two hours to do a quick check-up and had said that she was astounded at how well the young woman handled herself... apparently when they had measured the intensity of her contractions, they had gone off the scale.

Maybe she'd gotten used to the pain by now, but to her the contractions didn't really seem _that _bad; and now that the pressure had moved entirely to her hip bones, she no longer had trouble breathing when lying down, which was a definite plus. But she was getting so impatient... she wanted to see and hold her baby girl already, and the wait was killing her.

OoOoO

"Dr. Seymour, please report to room 405... we have a broken water."

Dawn had barely begun creeping along the sky, and Kara had just gotten out of bed with Steve's help to stretch her spine and move around a bit – given that Karen had informed her it would also help the baby into the right position for delivery – when she'd suddenly felt a sharp pain in her belly unlike any of the previous contractions, followed by a feeling like a small balloon popping inside her, after which transparent liquid speckled with blood had suddenly gushed out along her legs; fortunately Pepper had rushed out immediately to call a nurse, leaving Tony and Steve to help Kara back to bed.

It was only a couple of minutes before Karen hurried into the room where one of the janitors was now cleaning the floor.

"Let's see what we got here..." she said, putting on a pair of sterile gloves before glancing to Tony and Pepper. "I'll ask you two to go outside for a bit..."

When Steve moved to follow them, the doctor instead only smiled while reaching to lift Kara's dress so as to examine her.

"You can stay, daddy..."

"I'll... I need a bit of air anyway..." he replied, trying his best to not sound too embarrassed.

Letting him go with a light chuckle, she then leaned over while one of the nurses provided a light for her.

"Have Adriana get here and be on standby in case we need anesthetic for a C-section." she said to the nurse.

Once the young woman rushed out, she once more smiled to Kara who was by now watching her with some concern.

"I have to say I've never seen such a short labor in a new mom... but you're lucky, it's about time to meet your baby girl."

"Thank God..." she breathed out in relief.

Within minutes the room had become incredibly crowded; two nurses, the anesthesiologist, a pediatrician waiting to receive the baby after delivery, an OB technician to help the female doctor during delivery and Karen herself were now gathered around the bed. While at first Kara had felt incredibly embarrassed at the thought that so many strangers would have to see her with her legs wide open, the pain which now seemed to return with renewed strength had her throw modesty out the window, and her mind only focused on one thought: to get that baby out and end the torment.

After what seemed like an eternity of people fussing about the room – while one of the nurses had taken up Pepper's task of keeping her cool with the wet towel – Karen finally sat down at the end of the bed once they had helped Kara move into a comfortable position and smiled at her.

"Alright, honey... I hope you're ready, because I need you to push... now!"

Her first attempt seemed to do nothing initially; but then pain once more shot throughout her as if someone had reached into her with both hands and torn her open, and she couldn't hold back her voice anymore. The following ten minutes consisted of nothing but excruciating pain which seemed to only grow sharper with each effort she made. She could barely hear Karen continuously urging her to keep pushing... or the nurse at her side trying to offer some words of comfort... she could barely even feel that she was crushing the young woman's hand in her grasp.

But then... then she heard that unfamiliar cry and her gaze – as hazy as it was from the tears and sweat drenching her face – reveled in the sight of Karen standing with what looked to be a tiny bundle of flesh stained in blood, wiggling its equally tiny arms and legs.

With the nurse helping her lie against the bed, she couldn't hold back a smile as she reached out with trembling arms only to have Karen place the baby onto her chest, the contact seemingly calming her.

"I'll have to hand her over to the pediatrician for a quick check-up, but you can enjoy each other's company for a bit first." the doctor smiled warmly.

Carefully placing her hands onto the small child, Kara ultimately let out a laugh in spite of the fresh tears of joy overflowing from her eyes.

"I can't believe I made this... she's so beautiful..." she whispered, trailing a finger gingerly over the baby's cheek to wipe off a bit of blood from her skin.

By now she had completely forgotten all the pain she'd gone through; just seeing and holding her daughter made her feel as if everything was right with the world and nothing could go wrong. The only thing to cast a shadow over her happiness was her wish that Loki had been there as well, to greet their child's arrival.

But no matter... she would definitely return to Asgard soon; she had to, now, because Loki had to know that he had a child.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **kittykawaii4** \- Aww I'm so glad you enjoyed that chapter, darling. Hope this one was just as enjoyable and that the rest of this journey will keep you just as entertained :D

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Ask and thou shall receive ;) Hope you enjoyed this one just as much and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

3\. **LadyAmazon **\- Haha I don't think Kara would mind, so of course you can be the godmom; that baby's already going to have a truckload of uncles anyway, so hey why not a godmom too? ;)

4\. **ilypopxtart333 **\- Aww that's so great to hear. It might sound corny or cheesy, but I'm really happy for you; I've always wanted to have children, but so far it wasn't meant to be. Maybe in the future, who knows? But I'm honestly so happy for you, darling, and I'm so immensely humbled and honored to hear that you found Kara relatable enough... that's really, one of the greatest compliments a writer can receive for their characters.

I wish you all the best and an easy, problem-free pregnancy, darling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the previous ones, and that I'll hear from you again soon :D

5\. **KMB **\- Haha well I always wanted my readers to not like Vanya too much, so I guess I accomplished my purpose. Although you might get to see a slightly different side to her in the sequel, but that's not yet pinned down. I have a lot of work to do before I decide if I'll somehow redeem her or not. And I agree, Loki does need a good ass kicking, to get back to his normal self xD

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	49. Entry 48

To those who were hoping Kara would be back on Asgard soon, I'm sorry to say that she still has some unfinished business on Earth. What do I mean? Well read on, darlings, and see~ :P

Don't forget to also toss me a little review to let me know what you think :D

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #48**

_[...] she would definitely return to Asgard soon; she had to, now, because Loki had to know that he had a child._

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Manhattan, New York, U.S.A. / the Bifrost Keep, Asgard_

_**Date: **__December 15, 2014_

"Sir, LEM Sat 14 has picked up something."

Looking up from the file he had been examining with Kara, the dark skinned male stood and approached Sitwell's spot at the computer.

"What is it?"

"Still trying to identify it... whatever it is, it's approaching fast. And it's not just one..."

Frowning in confusion, Kara too moved to her feet and stepped closer only to feel a cold shiver roll along her spine at the satellite image which she could recognize almost instantly.

"Nick..." she breathed, grasping his arm.

Turning to sight her frightened gaze as she stared at the monitor and her pale cheeks, Fury furrowed his brows.

"You know what it is?"

"It's them..."

With the Director offering her a puzzled glance, the young woman finally looked to him.

"Call Steve and Tony... now..." she breathed before rushing off the bridge.

As she ran toward the training room where she knew Natasha was currently to be found alongside Clint, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a specific number.

_"Kara, what a surprise..."_

Ignoring the cheerful greeting, she spoke hastily.

"Jane... is Thor there?"

A moment of silence followed before the young scientist's concerned tone rang out in her ear.

_"What happened?"_

"Tell him to come to the Helicarrier... now, please."

_"I don't get it... what's wrong?"_

"Tell him they're back... he'll know what I'm talking about."

Hanging up before Jane could question her further, she finally reached her destination and dashed into the training hall, startling both her friends from their mock fight.

"What's wrong?" Natasha asked. "You're horribly pale..."

"It's them... they're back..." she replied, her voice shaky.

After a moment of confusion, Clint suddenly widened his eyes.

"Is it Loki again?"

"I don't know... the satellite picked up several of their ships approaching Earth."

"Are you sure it's them?"

Looking to the redhead, Kara nodded while covering her mouth to hold back the nauseous sensation growing in her stomach; even now she still vividly recalled that image of the alien ship which had been burned into her mind on the day of Loki's attack.

"I'd recognize those ships anywhere." she finally said.

Silence followed her words, and just when she was about to start thinking that they didn't believe her she felt Clint's hand weighing on her shoulder.

"Maybe you should go rest for a bit and calm down. You won't be of any help in this condition."

"I called Thor..." she nodded. "Make sure Nick gets Steve and Tony here and... do we even know where Bruce is?"

"We'll take care of that..." Natasha promised with a reassuring smile. "You go rest for a while... if it's really them, you'll need it."

OoOoO

The way back to her room had been like a dream; she assumed only muscle memory had actually led her to her own chamber. The only thing to truly snap her back to reality was the sound of prattling which reached her ears as soon as she stepped inside. Approaching the crib to find her beloved Astrid amusing herself with one of her toys, the young woman settled onto her knees and smiled lovingly at the baby.

"My beautiful angel..." she whispered when she gained Astrid's attention, her hand settling onto the child's head to gingerly stroke the soft raven strands covering it.

For a few moments she simply watched the baby as she now used her hand as a toy; yet her eyes stung as she battled to hold back tears, her heart quivering in her chest.

"I'm so sorry, honey..." she now said. "I should have waited until you were born... you would have been safe on Asgard."

She should have waited... she should have swallowed her pride and faced her fear and _stayed_ there until she gave birth... she should have at least told Loki that she was pregnant.

"I'm sorry I brought you here, my little angel. I'm sorry I put you in danger..."

She no longer cared if the entire world was destroyed in the imminent attack; as long as Astrid would survive, she could die with a peaceful heart. When the baby reached out to her face, she smiled despite the tears now streaming down her cheeks and leaned down to kiss her daughter's forehead while Astrid giggled joyfully.

"I love you so much, honey..." she whispered. "I wish I had some way to let your father know that you're here... he can protect you so much better than I can; but I'll do my best in his stead, I promise."

If only she could somehow contact Heimdall and ask him to speak to Loki; with the Æsir having blocked her from latching onto his mind, she had literally no way of talking to him... not even to apologize for leaving like that. And aside from the dire fear in her heart for the daughter he didn't even know he had, she missed him... oh, she longed so much to see him again, to hear his voice and to feel his arms locked around her in that embrace that only he could offer, which made her feel like nothing and no one could ever harm her.

But she could cope with it... even if he didn't forgive her... even if they could no longer mend things between them... so long as he took Astrid away and kept their baby girl safe, she would be content regardless of what happened to her.

OoOoO

"This has to be some sick joke..."

"We all saw the ship as clear as day the last time, Stark." Steve retorted to the scientist's statement, dropping a photo onto the glass surface of the table. "It's them... Kara was right."

By now they were seated at the table on the bridge of the Helicarrier along with Natasha and Clint, Fury and Thor standing a few steps away. The transparent surface was littered with satellite pictures which Sitwell had provided once they had gotten a clear view of the approaching Chitauri armada.

"Why now?" Natasha pondered. "What would they want here, again?"

"Think Loki's leading them this time too?" the soldier replied.

"I do not believe he would do that." Thor stated. "He got the throne he desired... but beyond that he would never do anything to harm Kara. And she has made him vow that never again will he rise against Earth."

"You do know he has the Tesseract on Asgard, right?" Tony retorted, shooting a pointed gaze to the Thunder God.

"Loki is not someone you can easily understand, but I do know this... he will keep his word for Kara."

"Well, assuming he's not the one leading them, that still doesn't answer our question." Clint said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Why would they be back now?"

"If they wanted the Tesseract, they would have attacked Asgard." Fury contemplated. "There has to be something on Earth that they want."

"Revenge..."

With everyone turning to sight her in the doorway when her voice rang out across the bridge, Kara took a deep breath and approached the group. She had left Astrid asleep in her room and was now wearing her usual black leather one-piece suit, her weapons already in place.

"Well that actually makes sense..." Tony replied, doing his best to add a humorous tone to his retort.

With Kara offering him a faint smile, the young scientist glanced at her pointedly before approaching and embracing the young woman. They all knew the one concern Kara had right now... and it definitely wasn't Earth.

"She'll be safe..." he stated reassuringly.

"We'll make sure of that." Steve smiled.

"We'd be terrible uncles otherwise." Clint chuckled.

Looking to their determined expressions and their encouraging smiles, Kara found herself utterly unable to restrain her tears whilst she finally returned Tony's gesture.

"Thank you."

OoOoO

"Any news?"

Looking up at Fury, Sitwell leaned back in his chair; he had spent the previous few hours trying to determine just how many enemies they were up against.

"We still can't tell how many ships they have, new ones just keep showing up on the readings each hour. But I have managed to determine their most likely trajectory."

"Where?"

"New York... it looks like they're going to Stark Tower again."

"Stark, you copy that?" the Director now spoke into his earpiece.

_"Got it. You found Banner yet?"_

"Yeah, he's on his way."

_"Good."_

Turning to face the others who had been gathered in the training room, the young scientist clapped his hands to gain their attention.

"We got a location... time to go."

"Where?" Natasha asked.

"My place, dear." he winked.

Blinking at his flirting retort, the redhead then narrowed her eyes and cracked her knuckles, Tony raising his hands in defense.

"Hey, that's where Fury said they're going... don't look at me."

"Pepper..."

Looking to Kara's concerned expression, the scientist smiled reassuringly.

"No worries, I sent her to our Malibu house. Jarvis will look after her."

"Alright, then suit up." Steve stated, before leaving the training room to retrieve his own costume.

With Tony and Clint following suit Natasha rushed to the main hangar to ready the Quinjet, leaving only Thor with Kara.

"Are you sure you wish to go with us?" he asked in some concern.

"I can't just stay here while you're all out there risking your lives."

His hand weighing down on her shoulder compelled the young woman to look up to the blond Æsir.

"I am certain he'll come..."

"Even if he does... what can he do alone, against an entire army?" she retorted, trying to blink away the tears gathering in her eyes.

"You said he is king now... he has the armies of Asgard at his command." Thor smiled encouragingly.

Clenching her jaw when she failed to hold back the tears, Kara nodded lightly.

"You really think he'll come?"

"I believe he loves you enough to see past an argument. He would never stand aside while you're in danger."

_"Kara, we're ready. Come on."_

Startled by Natasha's voice ringing out in her ear, the agent beckoned Thor to follow and rushed toward the hangar. The flight to Stark Tower took no more than half an hour, the tension inside the Quinjet being thick enough to cut with a knife, as far as Kara was concerned. It was such a deathly silence that she could swear she felt the walls closing in and trying to crush her.

"Guys...? We got company..."

Natasha's sudden statement startled all of them, and instantly they rushed to the front of the aircraft to look out through the windscreen. And they were all rewarded with the sight of what appeared to be a swarm of hovercrafts spreading out over the city, pouring out of five mother ships along with a few Leviathans. Within moments chilling screams broke out into the streets, as the Chitauri commenced their attack.

"Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?" Tony retorted.

Rushing to open the back of the Quinjet, he flew out without another word while Steve tore a parachute from its support, making haste in strapping it to his back.

"I'm going ahead to help Tony." Kara replied.

"Take care..." Thor stated, briefly grasping her shoulder.

With a grateful smile the young woman nodded and lunged out of the craft to follow the iron clad scientist.

"Ah, here you are..." Tony stated upon sighting her flying at his side. "Shall we break out the aperitif?"

"By your lead, Mr. Stark." she retorted in amusement, gesturing to the five hovercrafts which had spotted them and were now converging to take them out.

"Come on, Wonder Woman."

With that jesting reply he shot out like a bullet to meet their enemies head-on, Kara following suit after briefly checking her bladed gloves. Her focus was momentarily averted to another part of the city, a few blocks away, where what looked like a massive lightning bolt shot up from the ground causing a dozen alien crafts to explode and drawing the attention of one of the Leviathans.

At the last moment she glanced forward again, barely avoiding a direct collision with one of the hovercrafts. When the small ship passed her by, however, she reached out and grabbed onto the Chitauri riding it. Straddling the creature's back whilst its chilling trills filled her ears, she raised her right fist and forcefully thrust it forward once the blades shot out of her glove, impaling both steel fangs into the back of the alien's head. With its voice dying out and its body collapsing beneath her, she kicked the dead Chitauri onto the streets below; after that she was left to fight against the dazzling wind as she made her way to the pilot. Sinking the blades into its neck she felt the alien's spine cracking, the faint vibrations of breaking bones echoing along her arm.

Once the hovercraft went out of control, she retrieved her claws and took to the air again whilst the ship crashed into the wall of a bank, the explosion causing two cars nearby to blast and take out the three Chitauri which had been attempting to enter the building. For a moment she silently watched the blood dripping from the steel edges of her blades and along her fingers, staining her skin in dark crimson.

She still hated killing... no matter how many times she was forced to do it, it still left such a bitter taste in her mouth to destroy another living thing, human or not. Clenching her teeth to hold back her emotions, she trailed the other hand over her face. No, if she lost her composure she was sure to die... and she had no hope of Loki aiding them when he didn't even know what was happening there; their only hope was that through some miracle they would all survive long enough to end the madness, even if it cost them their lives.

OoOoO

"My king..."

Setting his emerald gaze upon the Gatekeeper, as the dark skinned male's deep voice echoed faintly in the Bifrost keep, the Æsir halted a few steps away and watched as Heimdall turned to face him.

"What brings you out here?"

After their last encounter, when he had proclaimed the dark haired Æsir as king in his father's place, Heimdall had not seen Loki at the Bifrost building and he had to admit he was curious.

"I needed some place to think." came the Æsir's reply.

Against his nature, the guardian arched a brow at that unexpected reply.

"If it is solitude you seek, would the royal gardens not be a better choice?"

"I didn't say I needed solitude..."

At Heimdall's puzzled expression, Loki barely bit back the urge to shift uncomfortably on his feet.

"I wish to know how she is." he finally said. "I know you've been keeping an eye on her."

"I had expected you to come sooner, my king."

Sighting the way Loki clenched his jaw, and the pain his eyes momentarily betrayed, the Gatekeeper actually found – to his great surprise – that he still cared for the dark haired Æsir, as he had throughout Loki's childhood.

"She is well..." he now said, turning his back to Loki and setting the sword in its socket.

With the Bifrost building shifting to display the space beyond it, Heimdall descended the steps and approached the opening whilst Loki silently followed and stopped at his side, his emerald gaze set out over the colorful display of space clouds and silvery stars.

"She has returned to her usual life, although she visits your brother and his woman often."

He had kept to the word he had given Kara and hadn't told Loki of the daughter she had birthed on Midgard; that was the young woman's privilege and hers alone. With silence following his words, he now turned his amber gaze to the young king.

"I know you can contact her yourself, if you wish to... you have no need of me telling you how she is. Why did you come to ask?"

"Because I'm a stubborn fool..." the Æsir muttered.

Heimdall's amused huff nearly startled him, and he offered the Gatekeeper a puzzled look.

"Aren't we all?" Heimdall replied with a slight smile.

Lowering his eyes for a moment, Loki then again glanced out into the vastness of space before them.

"Can you see her?"

Turning his gaze toward Midgard, Heimdall nodded.

"Yes... she's we-..."

The sight of the young woman in combat choked the words in his throat, and he stared in disbelief at the alien armada attacking Midgard, until Loki's voice reached him.

"What happened?"

The guardian's expression said it all... something was wrong and it gave him such a sickening feeling that made his stomach tighten in anxiety.

"Midgard is under siege..."

The reply had Loki's eyes widen whilst a cold shiver rolled down his spine, almost making him shudder visibly.

"What?" he breathed out, much too shocked by the news to say anything else.

"It's him... Chthon..."

Before he could say anything more, his focus was drawn away from Earth and back to Loki when the emerald eyed Æsir conjured Gungnir in his grasp.

"Send me down there." he ordered.

"Surely you cannot mean to go alone..."

The intensity he could sight in Loki's gaze when the Æsir turned to face him, made even Heimdall feel unsettled. But with all said and done, Loki was now his king and it was his duty to keep him safe.

"You will ready the army and send them along afterwards... I know why he's there and I will be damned if I'll allow any harm to come to her. Now send me there!"

Watching as the Gatekeeper rushed to comply he again turned to see the space before him; the building now shifted once more whilst energy tendrils rushed through its structure to activate the portal which would transport him to Midgard.

"Be careful down there, my king."

While Heimdall's warning rang in his ears the Æsir conjured his armor, his hand tightly clenched around Gungnir's cold handle and a murderous glint in his eyes. Yes, he had expected Thanos to seek him for revenge, but still he had hoped that Kara would remain uninvolved. He could guess why Chthon had gone to Midgard... and he would tear the lizard scum to pieces with his bare hands, before letting him set a finger on Kara.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Aww poor Loki... but that's what he gets for making a beautiful baby girl ;)

2\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Well you don't need to worry about that just yet, Kara still has some time to stay on Earth. But I'm not saying anything more, lest I spoil the ending for everyone xD

3\. **Guest** \- Haha well Loki's reaction won't come for another couple of chapters at least, because well... they'll all be too busy with other small, insignificant things like saving Earth and all that xD

4\. **Charlotte **\- Well she didn't keep it from him on purpose, but the way things happened she just didn't find a right time to tell him. If you recall, during the first month of her pregnancy he was much too busy with his duties and hadn't yet found a balance between the throne and his personal life (which is how I imagine every young king to be, until they gain that sort of wisdom that only time and experience can give); and then the whole madness with Vanya happened and she ran away from Asgard... and once on Earth she had no real way of contacting him or even Heimdall, in order to return to Asgard.

And that's my pathetic attempt at excusing her for not telling him that she's pregnant xD

As for asking the healers... well they might be advanced in some ways, but most of their way of life is almost identical to how humans lived in the Middle Ages. And I'm pretty sure back then they didn't know you could still get frisky with your hubby during the first months of pregnancy. So I imagined the healers on Asgard not being super-advanced in medical knowledge. In fact, based on what they showed in the movies, we only really saw them using something similar to a body scan which humans can also do with a CT scanner. So based on that, they're not really more advanced than humans, because I'm pretty sure a human doctor could have also found the Aether in Jane with a CT scan. And more importantly, even though they are supposed to be more advanced, even they couldn't help Jane.

So as I said, based on that, I imagine they're not really too advanced in the medical field. So it's entirely plausible that they wouldn't know so much about what a woman can/can't do during pregnancy; I played exactly on that in order to advance my plot, so I hope it wasn't too much of a pet peeve for you. I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the story so far and I'd hate for you to lose your interest so close to the end.

5\. **Sloane Raine **\- That's actually a good idea, that I may save for the sequel and say in retrospect what he did all those months without her. But sleeping with Vanya? Not sure... he did banish her from Asgard under pain of death... but who knows? This is Loki we're talking about xD

6\. **TheBookFairyXx **\- Aah I can't give any detailed reply to that, because that would mean spoiling the ending for everyone xD

So I'm sorry, but I can't comment on your review, other than agreeing that I too feel better when Kara's on Earth, because ultimately that is where her whole life is, even if she's willing to sacrifice it in order to be with Loki.

7\. **icreatemyself10 **\- Yes, yes you may... in fact I wholeheartedly encourage you to trouble me for another chapter!

But really, you are amazing, darling. It's been a while since I last re-read the entire thing from start to finish, but I'd never be able to do it in just two days. So props to you, love, you are awesome! :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	50. Entry 49

Just to let you know, lovelies, this is not the end of the story. Why am I saying this? Well read on, and you'll see... just wanted to let you know, so that you won't be too eager to consider it a closed chapter. There's still a tiny bit of road left for this first journey; a few more steps we need to take before the end.

Also, please take a few more minutes at the end to read the reply I gave to a review left by **Kyoki no Megami** as I have explained some things in that review that maybe some of you missed or did not fully understand from reading the previous chapters - though you might need to read her review as well, to understand what I was replying to in some points. But please do give that a read as well :)

So with that in mind, do toss me a little review and let me know what you think :D

Enjoy, darlings~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #49**

_He knew why Chthon had gone to Midgard... and he would tear the lizard scum to pieces with his bare hands, before letting him set a finger on Kara._

oOo

_**Location: **__Manhattan, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__December 15, 2014_

"Steve, duck!"

Crouching out of reflex, the soldier was left to watch as a burning car flew over his head, crashing into the four Chitauri warriors who had been trying to back him into a corner, and ultimately smashing them into the side of the nearest building.

"Thanks..." he replied with a slight smile, standing and turning to sight Kara nearby.

Though they had only been fighting for a couple of hours, the battle was so grueling that it already felt like forever. And it was by no means easy for any of them to cope with everything around them; the blood... the screams... the gruesome sight of severed limbs or disfigured corpses everywhere.

"Looks like they're showing no mercy this time..." Steve contemplated.

Despite everything he had seen in war, even he felt his stomach tightening as he glanced around.

"Why would they? Last time they only killed a few, because Loki was supposed to become ruler once the battle was done. They couldn't have him rule over a world of corpses."

"Good point... you really think he's not involved in this somehow?"

"If he was, we would have seen him already... you know he's not the type to do things like this discreetly."

Briefly smiling at the woman's humorous retort, Steve then sighed upon sighting a few of the aliens approaching.

"Well... break's over." he stated, readying his shield.

"Think you can manage them alone? I want to check on Natasha... I think I saw her on the west side of Stark Tower."

"Yeah, go ahead... be careful."

With the soldier posting himself between her and the approaching Chitauri, Kara now took to running along the streets while trying her best to avoid debris, as well as the dead bodies or bloodied limbs littering the area. What drew her attention, however, was a bloodcurdling scream coming from a nearby alleyway.

Deciding to take a detour the agent rushed toward that place, arriving to the sight of a Chitauri warrior which had cornered a young girl, the child using her own body in a desperate attempt to shield a younger boy from the menacing alien. Without a second thought Kara now lunged forward, readying the blades from both gloves. Yes, she despised killing... but between a ruthless alien and two defenseless children, her choice was more than clear.

To her luck the Chitauri soldier heard her coming a moment too late, allowing her to leap onto its back and sink both pairs of blades into its back all the way. Keeping one hand still in order to hold herself in place, she withdrew the other and punched the alien in the head, the blades sinking into its skull with a sickening sound of breaking bone and gushing blood. With its trill dying out in a gurgle as blood flooded its mouth, the alien ultimately collapsed; it was only then that Kara finally moved away and allowed the bloodied blades to return to their sheaths.

"Come on..." she said, reaching out for the children.

Her breath hitched in her throat, however, when the sound of that god awful chilling trill reached her ears and she turned around just in time to sight three other Chitauri approaching them with their guns at the ready, their bulky bodies blocking the entire entrance to the alleyway. Clenching her jaw to settle down her racing heart, she glanced around until she spotted a door leading into one of the buildings. Looking back to the aliens, she estimated their distance and ultimately took a deep breath to clear her mind. Within moments the air before her rippled, forming a shield spanning across the entire alley, to separate the Chitauri from her and the children whilst she raised her leg and kicked the door open.

"Come on!" she said again, beckoning the children to her.

When she moved toward the two, one of the Chitauri fired only to have the energy blast deflected by the shield, Kara herself placing a hand to the side of her head as her mind translated the impact to physical pain. Clenching her teeth to keep her focus, she reached out and grabbed the children by their arms, dragging them toward the open doorway. Again one of the aliens fired its weapon, the searing pain which sliced through her brain cutting her knees from beneath her... then another blast hit the shield... and another... and then another, as the aliens seemed to finally realize that was the key to taking her down.

Looking up to see the frightened children watching her, she sighted the doorway opened right behind them. In a desperate attempt to get them to safety she placed her hands to their sides and shoved them inside just when her mind finally failed to keep the shield up any longer, one of the Chitauri's shots narrowly missing her and blasting a hole in the wall at the back of the alleyway.

"Go to the basement and stay there!" she ordered, reaching to the door and closing it.

For a few moments she could do nothing but stay there on her knees, still holding the doorknob, her entire body trembling from the searing pain in her head that was now gradually subsiding. Finally regaining control of her body, she moved to stand and face the three aliens which were by now closing in on her. There was no way she could take all three on and live... but she would take at least one of those bastards to Hell with her. On that thought she jerked her hands downwards, the blades shooting out of their sheaths, blood still dripping to the ground from her last kill.

What she had not expected, had been what followed... one of the Chitauri had lowered its weapon and drawn a blade instead, apparently aiming to humor her desire for close range combat, whilst the other two settled for watching. Her opponent had then moved forward to engage her, but their focus had been broken by the trills of the alien's two companions mixed with the sound of an energy blast, followed by a deep thud as their bodies hit the ground. When the third one had turned around, Kara was startled to see the tip of a blade piercing through its head.

Her breath again caught in her throat and her heart suddenly started pounding when the blade withdrew and the alien fell to the ground, revealing her savior standing a few steps away, the blade of his spear glinting ominously beneath the thick blood dripping along it.

"Loki..."

At her whisper he raised his emerald gaze from the alien lying at his feet, and she sighted the murderous hatred in his eyes settling down, replaced by something she couldn't read properly; relief... sorrow... maybe love? All she knew was that before she even realized it she was moving toward him, and he was copying her movements, until their bodies collided and his mouth crashed onto hers just when she wrapped her arms around his neck and he returned her embrace.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered when he finally allowed her to breathe again. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hush, dearest..." he replied with an utterly relieved tone, kissing the side of her head. "We will talk at home..."

All he wanted was to just take her away and return to Asgard, but he had to stay... this world meant so much to her and he knew it would shatter her heart, should he leave it to Chthon's whims.

"When this is over you're coming back with me, if I have to tie you down and drag you back to Asgard myself." he now stated, his tone admitting no refusal.

Never again would he let her be parted from him; there was no safer place for her but at his side and he could not stand the thought of living another day away from the woman who so filled his heart and life.

OoOoO

So many... there seemed to be no end to the aliens pouring out of the massive ships hovering high above the city. Even Steve, for all his endurance, was starting to run out of energy in the midst of that never ending battle. His breathing was becoming more and more labored by the minute, and his muscles' protests at the constant strain were increasingly hindering his ability to fight. When a few Chitauri finally managed to corner him, he could already feel his legs ever so faintly trembling beneath the weight of his own exhaustion. But just when he had made peace with the thought that it was his time to die, he almost dropped his shield when a beam of rainbow colored light shot down from the sky and hit the ground a few steps in front of him, the entire area faintly shaking beneath the impact.

With the light vanishing, the young male was left to watch as six warriors clad in golden armor rushed forward, their battle cries mixing with the aliens' chilling trills. In an astounding display of might and experience the six males disposed of the Chitauri nearby with an ease that left Steve gawking at them in shock.

"Spread out!" one of them ordered, apparently the leader of that group. "Show no mercy, for you will receive none."

With his companions rushing out in all directions whilst multicolored tunnels of light shot down all around the area, revealing what seemed to be countless soldiers wearing that same golden armor, the commander now turned to Steve.

"Are you injured?"

"N-no... nothing serious..." the soldier mumbled, still trying to recover from the sheer suddenness of the situation.

Nodding, the male then turned on his heels to move out, only halting when Steve finally recovered his voice enough to speak again.

"Who are you?"

Once more looking to the human male, the Æsir went to reply only to be halted by Thor's arrival.

"They are Asgard's army." the Thunder God replied.

"My prince." the Æsir stated respectfully, offering a light bow. "We have come on king Loki's orders, to end this war before Midgard falls."

For a moment Thor himself could do nothing but stare at the warrior before him; somewhere deep down he hadn't really believed that Loki was alive, despite having the utmost faith in Kara. But to hear it now, it almost brought tears of joy to his eyes.

"Is Loki here?" he asked, trying his best to not let his voice shake.

"The king arrived earlier, yes."

Nodding, Thor watched as the warrior now left to join another few who had been passing by in their rush to seek out alien opponents.

"So he's really here to help us?"

Looking to Steve when the soldier posed that question, the blond Æsir sighed heavily.

"It seems so. It is very fortunate for us that he has come."

OoOoO

_Chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr, chirr..._

Nightmares... she was going to have fucking nightmares of that blood chilling alien trill... not to mention that it was getting on her nerves by now.

At least she had been fortunate, as Loki had refused to leave her side even when she had pleaded with him to go help the others. Then she had seen the Æsir warriors arriving and had ultimately given in and stopped pleading.

The sound of an energy blast echoing over the empty parking lot they had stopped in, snapped her out of her thoughts and she briefly averted her eyes from the injured woman she had been tending to, to sight Loki locked in combat a few feet away with three Chitauri who had approached to take him on. For a moment she got lost in watching him... it wasn't the first time she had seen him fighting – whether it was training or real combat – but she was always overwhelmed by the sheer grace and ease with which he fought, his movements fluid and relaxed almost as if he was dancing.

"Here you are... Midgardian..."

The chilling, half-growled voice startled her and she turned around just in time to sight an energy blast hitting the woman before her, disintegrating her head. For a moment Kara felt her stomach tightening at the gruesome image of the girl's spine now sticking out of her neck, blood gushing down her lifeless body... she had to cover her mouth with her hand, when she felt about to throw up.

In her desire to be spared from that gory sight she averted her gaze to the source of that voice, sighting what appeared to be a hooded Chitauri standing a few steps away from her. And suddenly she was afraid... despite his lack of heavy armor and his slender build – which really made him look like more of a priest than a warrior – he gave off a much darker aura than the other aliens.

When she turned her gaze to Loki, who had by now been surrounded by Chitauri warriors which were swarming around him, she felt a hand creeping about her neck and again heard the male's voice, this time right behind her.

"Behave yourself and watch, Midgardian."

"Who... who are you?" she breathed out, unable to keep her voice from trembling along with her body.

"I am my master's whip... I am his sword... and I am the one who will deliver the Asgardian's punishment for his failure."

Smiling when he felt her throat moving as she gulped, Chthon now averted his eyes to Loki.

"Know that he will suffer... and know that you are the reason for it."

"What?" she whispered shakily.

"Had we attacked Asgard, he would have likely fled... but for you he has forsaken all caution. We came here for you, Midgardian... you are the bait which lured him out and into our grasp."

Clenching her jaw as her fear morphed into anger, the young woman balled her right hand into a fist, the blades of her glove shooting out of their sheaths.

"That's what you think..." she growled.

With a speed she'd never known she possessed, she swung her arm hearing the telltale sound of steel hitting steel when her blades collided with Chthon's helmet, breaking off a piece of it. Leaning back out of reflex, The Other now growled in anger whilst Kara scrambled to her feet and turned to face him. It was upon offering him a careful glance that she realized he wasn't a Chitauri... he was much smaller than them and his body did not bear the reptilian traits of the warring aliens. Not to mention that he spoke, whereas all the others seemed to only communicate via growls or that awful trill.

"Foolish Midgardian..." he breathed out a growl.

Out of nowhere he retrieved a weapon similar to a short sword and attacked without hesitation, leaving Kara barely enough time to parry his blow.

"You would have lived a little longer, had you behaved yourself." he now stated, feeling the female lightly shuddering at the sight of his reddened teeth.

For a few moments they remained locked in that pose, their bodies tense, Chthon trying to use his own weight to break her stance whilst Kara drew upon her mind's power to strengthen her muscles' endurance. It was when she felt her energy dropping that she decided to take a leap of faith... raising her leg she kicked her opponent in the chest; while his armor protected him from the blow itself, her unexpected move had been sudden enough to catch him off guard, allowing her to break his balance and send him back a couple of feet.

"Do you believe your feeble resistance will keep you alive?" he asked with a smile, actually amused by her futile struggle to fight him.

Rather than regarding his jab with an answer, the young woman merely resumed her fighting stance; what she could not have foreseen, however, was Chthon's actual speed. She didn't even have time to blink before he immobilized her and turned her to face Loki; his blade was gone, one of his hands holding her throat, and the other clenched around her wrists in a deathly grip.

"Now watch..." he whispered, sending a cold shiver along her spine.

Her lips did curve into a faint smile, however, when Loki seemed to finally allow boredom to get to him. Setting the spear across his shoulders whilst he whirled around, he fired a bolt of energy which sliced through most of the Chitauri, surrounding him in a sea of blood and mutilated corpses. With the Æsir's motion coming to a halt right as the spear tip was pointing toward them, Chthon finally grinned as he sighted Loki slipping out of his stance, his eyes widened despite his struggle to not let them betray the horror swelling in his chest.

"Let her go." the Æsir ordered. "Your quarrel is with me."

"I only do my master's bidding... death is much too kind a payment for your failure and betrayal. This is the punishment he sends you."

OoOoO

Shocked... stunned... the words were much too insignificant to describe what he felt when Chthon stabbed his sword into the young woman's back, the tip of the blade piercing her stomach and staining the pavement in her blood. The entire world seemed to fade around him and he could hear nothing save the faint sound of her knees hitting the ground when Chthon released her, and the chilling breath which left her lungs as she collapsed onto her side.

And as his gaze blurred from tears his jaw clenched, and his grip tightened around Gungnir's handle, his body trembling as anger and adrenaline rushed through his veins. In the face of his fury the spear charged with energy until sparks began flying from its bloodied tip, and even Chthon had to admit he was unsettled by the bloodlust which now washed over the area as the Æsir turned his hate filled gaze to him.

Barely avoiding a direct blast from the spear, he straightened his pose only to find himself face to face with Loki whose emotionless expression was now more ominous than anything Chthon had ever seen.

"You will not leave this realm alive..." the Æsir growled, baring his teeth at the alien.

Even before he had finished speaking, he whirled the spear which sang a chilling tone as it sliced the air, until the sound of steel hitting steel echoed around them as the blade met Chthon's sword. What truly sent a shiver along the alien's spine was the realization that – in his crazed anger – Loki was stronger than him, as the Æsir pushed him back with almost no effort. It was upon that thought that Loki withdrew the spear and caught the opening when Chthon tried to shift onto his feet, thrusting Gungnir forward and piercing the alien's armor, as well as his body.

"Go wait for your master in Hel..." he spat out. "I will have no rest until I destroy him!"

Releasing the spear, the Æsir did not even wait to watch Chthon falling to the ground, but turned on his heels and rushed over to the young woman's side.

"Dearest..." he called lovingly, gathering her in his arms whilst warm tears trailed along his pale cheeks.

He could not begin to describe the joy that flooded him when she opened her eyes and offered him an evanescent smile.

"Don't cry... don't cry, my love..." she whispered, reaching a trembling hand to his cheek, staining his skin in blood.

His reply to her plea was to lean down and press his lips to hers, his heart cringing at the taste of her blood.

"Please... stay..." he begged, pressing his cheek to her forehead whilst his hand trailed through her disheveled hair.

"You came for me..." she replied, heaving a breath. "You came... to save my world..."

When he leaned back to look into her eyes, she again smiled despite her own tears.

"Thank you..."

Again he kissed her and she replied eagerly, doing her best to ignore the searing pain rushing like liquid fire through her veins.

"I love you..." she whimpered against his lips while he pressed his forehead against hers. "So much... I love... you..."

"As I love you, my beautiful goddess..." he replied, kissing her over and over.

Once again she drew a deep, painful breath.

"Let me drown in your eyes... one last time..." she pleaded.

When her muscles lost power and her hand slipped away from his cheek, the Æsir grasped it and brought it to his lips to kiss the back of her fingers. Steeling his heart he now opened his eyes and locked gazes with her, allowing his glance to show all the love he held for the mortal who had changed his life forever. Again she smiled, her expression lighting up like the sun.

"Be a good king..."

Upon that whisper she closed her eyes, and the Æsir cringed as his heart shattered into countless shards which pierced his chest. Leaning down to kiss her again, he finally broke and buried his face against her unmoving chest... and then he felt a scream tear itself away from him, filled with sorrow and anger and despair and fear, for now he truly knew he would have to face eternity alone. And soon, he could hear nothing more but his own heart wrenching sobs, echoing dimly over the destruction and death surrounding them.

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **kittykawaii4 **\- Haha well it was inevitable that he would go get her back at some point... knowing that Chthon was there just sped up the process, so to speak ;)

As for his reaction to Astrid... well you still have a tiny bit to wait for that. I will have a scene when he meets his daughter, that is undeniable, but as you can see this chapter had to deal with other things first.

2\. **LadyAmazon **\- I actually had this whole scene planned out since I started writing the prologue; I always knew that Loki couldn't just get away with failing Thanos and hope that Thanos would never look for him to punish him. And since I highly doubt even the third _Avengers_ movie will have anything of the sort, since I'm not sure if Loki will show up in any other Marvel movie aside from the third _Thor_ in 2017, I decided to have Thanos act a bit ahead of schedule (since _Age of Ultron_'s post-credits scene promised us Thanos as the villain for the third movie, FINALLY xD). So him sending Chthon with the Chitauri armada to destroy Midgard was pretty much the most obvious choice and the most logical since in my story Thanos already knew about Kara and probably knew for certain (due to his mind link with Loki) that she is Loki's lover. And what better punishment for Loki's failure, than taking away what he loves most?

And no worries, you'll see a bit more of Astrid before the sequel so look forward to that, darling :D

3\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Hehe, here you go, love. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you and all the other lovelies won't hate me too much for it :P

4\. **Kyoki no Megami** \- Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh, where do I start? This review... I just can't... I can't even words right now... I have read and re-read and re-re-read your review I think at least twenty times until now. If you've taken the time to read my replies to some other reviews along the story, you'll see that I'm the type who thoroughly enjoys when I'm able to give lengthy replies. So a long review like yours is pretty much a dream come true for me xD But I'll take your review one paragraph at a time and reply to it thoroughly because I loved it so much, darling :D

So firstly, thank you so very much for the compliments. I am so happy that my writing helped you empathize with the characters, because it means I must have done something right. That's pretty much a writer's main goal when they create a story, because if you fail to make your readers feel what the characters are supposed to feel or what they're supposed to instill in the reader, then you've failed as a writer and none of us like that. And I am so happy you enjoyed the smut as well... I don't really write too much smut mainly because I'm quite shy in real life and that shyness often accompanies me even while writing... that, and over the years I've grown to learn that sex is not and should not be the main focus of a relationship; that if the relationship is like a cake, sex should be just the cherry on top. It's something that's very natural between lovers but not something that defines a relationship and not something that should replace actual love... because as far as I'm concerned, real love doesn't need sex to make people happy. It's probably why I love Tolkien's works and especially _The Lord of the Rings_ so much, because it shows that love can offer you the feeling of leading an accomplished life even without sex... rather, even if sex occurs only years later, for the purpose of completing your family with children.

But love itself isn't inevitably tied to sex and that's probably something I try to incorporate in my stories of late. Also, for me _having sex_ and _making love_ are two completely different things and wholly different experiences, because just having plain sex doesn't necessarily involve actual feelings of love - hence one-night-stands. So it's a very intricate view that I have regarding love and sexuality and I hope I managed to convey that at least a bit throughout this story.

Now, you'll be happy to hear that during Kara's absence from Asgard nothing happened between Loki and Vanya; I was hoping people would realize that, because Loki banished her from Asgard under pain of death so he really wants nothing to do with her anymore. She'll come into play again in the sequel, where she will have a larger role than here and we'll see what happens there.

And I'm so happy that you caught onto his near-immortality; I know many of my readers were hoping that Loki and Kara would get more time together after the ordeal they've been through, but as you said, for Loki surely the 14 months when she's been on Earth didn't feel like an eternity. Also, he knew Heimdall was keeping an eye on her and so long as Heimdall didn't come to tell him that something was wrong, he could rest assured that she was alright. And well, Loki is a very complicated being, he was also very angry with her for leaving and seeking out his brother and he is insanely stubborn and proud, as we've seen from the movies; of course he wouldn't have trampled on his pride to go after her, unless something happened that put her in danger. Then yeah he would definitely forget about any sort of conflict they had, because he would want to keep her alive and that would take priority and would remind him that he actually loves her despite any quarrel they had at some point.

Now regarding the mortal/immortal (or near-immortal) pairing, I honestly feel the same; I always was paranoid that Kara was too similar to a Mary-Sue in the story, but again if you read my lengthy replies to reviews over the course of the story, I explained why she **HAD** to be that way for her relationship to work with Loki. But, the end of this story will definitely not be the end of Loki's journey, because I will continue it in a sequel as I promised several times over the course of the story. And I won't spoil anything, so I can't comment on anything more related to Kara, after this chapter. Just rest assured that I have many great ideas for the sequel and I hope you guys will find them just as entertaining as I consider they are.

And don't worry too much, any good writer enjoys making their characters suffer; because I feel there is no way to write a good and memorable story without tasteful drama. Drama is what drives the plot in ANY story ever written, and negative events have been the base core of all stories, since humans have started writing literature. Even in Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt, the very first stories (those written about gods) were full of drama and power struggles and murders and unrequited love and such... so drama is the engine that creates any story, without it a story just isn't interesting and it can't be called a story. So if you're a monster for that, then all of us writers are monsters xD

And on a side note, there's no length limit to the reviews my readers offer, so feel free to make it as short or as long as you wish. I always love hearing what my lovely readers feel or think when they read my story, what they liked, what they hated, what they would like to see in the future or what they hope will happen in the next chapter and so on. So never fear to write as much as you wish and as much as you feel you need to write, I read all reviews with the utmost joy and am equally grateful to everyone who takes the time to offer feedback, no matter how small it is.

So at the end of my reply, I once again thank you so very much for taking the time to read my work and for your heartwarming compliments. I really hope you'll enjoy the last bits of this first story for Loki and Kara, and I hope to hear from you again soon, darling :D

5\. **Elanya21 **\- Aww I'm so happy you stuck with it and even happier that you enjoyed it so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and that the following ones will be just as entertaining :D

6\. **icreatemyself10 **\- Aww you just painted the most adorable image in my head and I hope your little angel enjoyed the movie as much as you did :D

Thank you so very much for the humbling and heartwarming compliments. I never considered myself anything more than an amateur seeking to improve her writing skills purely for enjoyment. And yet it's amazing each time I see someone praising my skills, because I never feel that they're good enough. I sometimes go perusing the newest additions to my favorite fandoms here on FanFiction, and I always find stories that are insanely better than anything I could ever write. So it's always utterly baffling to hear people praising me, when I have so much to learn still.

But I am entirely grateful for each word of praise and for every constructive feedback that I receive, because those have played a huge part in my evolution as a writer, and often people forget how important critique is and they take it personally whenever you try to offer them a helping hand in the form of pointing out a flaw in their work. And it's sad to see that, because when you realize the significance of getting honest feedback from your readers, you know that those who reject it have little chance of becoming better at their craft.

So I am always so grateful for every comment that my readers give me, whether it's positive or negative, because that only helps to speed me on the way forward and it makes me want to further polish my skills and write better stories each time, that people can enjoy even more than my past works.

As for reviewing each chapter, don't worry about that darling. It's not mandatory, as much as I love it; sometimes you're just not in the mood to leave a review, or you're much too busy to take the time to leave feedback. It's happened to me and I believe no one on this website can say it never happened to them. So even if I do put a reminder at the beginning of each chapter, I am very understanding when it comes to this - heck, my Favorites list is full of stories I haven't even had the time to read yet, much less review. So I would be a complete hypocrite if I'd get upset or anything when people don't review my own works.

As for a Batman fanfic... well I loved the Nolan trilogy, I've watched it at least five or six times up to now. And it might be interesting to try my hand at such a realistic and dark version of Batman, but for now I have my nearest future planned out in terms of writing. After I upload the Epiloge to this story, I will also upload an Author's note where you'll all be able to see my plans for the near future. But your suggestion is definitely on my "to write" list, no worries... you may yet see a Bruce Wayne/OC story from me sometime in the future ;)

7\. **Guest **\- Darling, I'm not entirely sure what happened; if you wrote the review on your mobile, I think something happened, because your message is blank aside from a couple of letters.

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	51. Entry 50

Sooo darlings, here we are at the last chapter of this first story; hope you're all looking forward to the Epilogue and the Author's Note (in case you're interested what I'm planning to write next). So I won't rant any more, I'll just let you read on...

Don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know what you thought :D

Enjoy, lovelies~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Entry #50**

_"Be a good king..."_

oOo

_**Location: **__S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier / Stark Tower, New York, U.S.A._

_**Date: **__December 15, 2014_

"Sir? Agent Romanoff is on line 4..."

Looking up from the touch screen on his desk, Fury set his gaze on Hill and suddenly his chest clenched while a cold shiver rolled down his spine at the sight of the woman's tear filled eyes. She didn't even need to say it... someone had died, that much he could already guess. With the woman leaving his office, he turned off the recordings of the battle which had ended just a few hours earlier. Pressing one of the side buttons on the screen, he leaned back and turned the chair around so that he could face the clear sky.

"Talk to me, Romanoff..."

His words were followed by a few moments of silence, only disturbed by the sound of a shaky sigh.

_"We won... the city has suffered massive damage, the National Guard is out to look for any survivors and to assess the losses. We've currently regrouped at Stark Tower to rest and recover from injuries. And..."_

When her voice faded off in another trembling breath, Fury clenched his jaw; he no longer had any doubt that one of their own had died.

"Who did we lose, Romanoff?" he asked gently.

_"Kara..."_ she finally whispered.

The first moment that his brain processed that name, he was left in a state of shock; he had expected anyone to die... anyone but her. As he now stared into the emptiness of the sky, it took him a bit to realize Natasha was still speaking into his earpiece.

_"She... Loki arrived some time after we got here. I never thought I'd say this, but he came here to help us. I have a more detailed report on the way, but the bottom line is they weren't after us, this time. They came for him..."_

"What the hell does that mean?"

_"He said he made a deal with them... he didn't keep up his end of it, to give them the Tesseract, because we intervened the last time. They came here looking for Kara, to draw him out. He was ambushed soon after he arrived... Thor wasn't quick enough to help, and Kara was there with him__. She..."_

"She died for him?"

With the silence stretching on, Fury clenched his hands onto the arms of his chair.

"Did he say anything else? Will they come for him again?"

_"He refused to say another word after that... he didn't even resist when we locked him away here. Thor says he doesn't believe Loki will give us any trouble, but we insisted just in case he gets up to his old tricks again."_

"Good call... let me know if anything else comes up. I'll inform the Council of our loss."

_"Yes, sir..."_

OoOoO

Putting down the phone, the young woman again sighed and allowed herself to collapse onto the nearest chair.

"What did he say?"

Looking up to the one who had spoken to her, she shook her head lightly at the concerned expression on the archer's face.

"He'll talk to the Council... he didn't give out any specific orders; just said we made a good call to keep Loki locked up."

"So what are we supposed to do with him until then?" Tony asked, as he had been listening from across the room. "I'm not running a hotel for psychopaths."

"We could try taking him back to the Helicarrier..." Bruce suggested.

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea, after his last visit there." Steve retorted.

Reaching up to rub her temples in an attempt at diminishing the splitting migraine she was having, Natasha now averted her gaze to one of the nearby screens which showed the interior of the room where they were keeping Loki. Thor had been in there with him for the past hour, but so far it seemed the younger sibling had no desire to speak or even acknowledge his brother's presence. Watching him as he sat on a chair in the middle of the room, his forearms on his knees, his shoulders lowered and his gaze firmly planted onto the floor between his feet, even Natasha had to admit that it made her pity him.

To see him so utterly crushed by his sorrow was something she had never expected from Loki... granted, none of them had expected to see him cry either; or to hear that heart wrenching shout tearing away from his chest as he held Kara's bloodied body in his arms. But Natasha could tell that all of them had been shaken up to their very core by that unexpected reaction from Loki, because it had forced them to accept the fact that he had actually loved Kara in a sincere way.

"He needs to know..." she suddenly said, looking to the others.

The first one to recover from his puzzled expression was Tony, who suddenly understood where the woman was hinting.

"No! No, no, no... you're not gonna hand that child to a maniac."

"She's his child; don't you think Kara would have wanted him to know?"

"I'm not really sure how much sanity he has left after today..." Steve replied cautiously.

"Yes, yes... thank you." Tony retorted, gesturing to the young man.

"But I still think he should at least see his own child..." the soldier continued, making Tony's smile drop faster than a snowball rolling downhill.

"I agree with that..." Bruce said tentatively, rubbing his forehead in thought. "I... I mean, we all thought he didn't care about anyone but himself and... he proved us wrong just earlier today. Maybe in the end he's not as different from us as we want to believe."

Placing his hands onto his hips with a sigh of defeat, Tony finally nodded.

"Well I know what blondie would say..." he said, nodding toward the screen. "Fine... if you can get her away from Fury; but if he does anything to harm her, it's on you."

OoOoO

"I'll go and return with her as soon as I can."

With those words Thor then stepped out onto the terrace of the tower, immediately taking off on his way to the Helicarrier. He had spent the last two hours trying to get at least one word out of his brother, but to no avail. And it hurt... it hurt to see Loki like that; he had known that his brother was a broken man even before, but he had actually noticed just how Kara had been steadily piecing him back together. And to see him broken again now, made him want to cry...

No one had been happier than him to see Loki there that morning; and though he had been angry at first, knowing that the green eyed god had again deceived him by faking his own death on Svartalfheim, he could have and _would have_ laughed out and maybe even embraced Loki in joy, had he not arrived at the scene to find his brother crying his heart out over Kara's body.

It was upon those thoughts that he landed onto one of the runways atop the Helicarrier, rushing inside and taking the path he still remembered toward Fury's office.

"What happened?"

Seeing Thor barging into his office certainly had been surprising and Fury by now expected the worst.

"I came for the child."

With the initial bewilderment gone, Fury suddenly widened his eye.

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked before he could really word his question properly.

"We all agreed that Loki needs to know he has a child."

Standing, the dark skinned male placed his hands onto the desk and frowned.

"I am _not_ sending that baby down there, where he can get his hands on her. Kara would have..."

"Kara was my brother's woman!" Thor interrupted. "And that girl is their child... she is all he has left. Knowing of her existence, might just help save what's left of his sanity. You can either give her to me or I can take her by force, but I _am_ taking her with me... and I would rather take her peacefully."

For a few moments the two males simply watched each other in silence, as though they were trying to overwhelm the other simply by the intensity of their gaze. Ultimately, however, Fury's desire to not have any more quarreling for one day prevailed and he sighed in defeat.

"Very well..."

Pressing a button on the screen set into his desk, he once again sighed.

"Hill... I need you in my office with the baby."

"Thank you..." Thor replied afterwards, his grip on Mjölnir loosening.

Looking back to the Thunder God, Fury remained silent, staring Thor down until Maria arrived carrying the sleeping girl. It was only when Thor turned to leave with the child that the Director spoke again.

"You'd better make sure she stays safe."

OoOoO

_"Don't cry... don't cry, my love..."_

Although it was only in his mind, Loki could have sworn that the whisper he had heard was really there, next to his ear. It actually made him jolt in surprise and raise his head as though he had expected to see her standing before him, with that worried look on her face; the one he had seen much too often of late.

The sight of the empty room ultimately allowed him to come down from that sudden rush of hope, and he again lowered his eyes. His mind was muddled, moving in slow motion, struggling amidst the thick layer of sorrow which had covered it. He didn't even realize that he was indeed crying again until he raised a hand to his eyes, intending to rub them so as to clear his blurry gaze which he had initially attributed to exhaustion from the earlier battle.

Lowering his hand, he found his eyes settling onto the red stains on his pale palm... her blood... making it look as though he had killed her.

_'And have I not?'_ he mused, clenching his jaw.

He should have let her believe that he was dead; he should have never contacted her again. He had known that the Chitauri were coming for him sooner or later... he had known Thanos would never forgive him for failing... he had known... and still he had been unable to sever all ties with her.

Maybe if he had, they wouldn't have come looking for her, to get to him... maybe they wouldn't have attacked Midgard again... maybe...

Gritting his teeth at those stupid thoughts, he lightly shook his head and clenched his fist. Of course they would have come to Midgard either way... Thanos could still read his mind, even if Loki was getting better at blocking him out at least temporarily. But Thanos already knew Kara was the only true weakness he could use to deal out punishment; he would have sent the Chitauri after her either way...

His contemplations were interrupted by the sound of the door lock clicking, until the panel which separated that room from the rest of the tower slid to the side, revealing the one woman he would have had no qualms with tearing to pieces with his bare hands.

"Loki..."

For a moment the odd tone in her voice actually baffled him, but he refused to accept the idea that they sincerely felt sorry for him.

"Don't give me that fake look of compassion." he growled, narrowing his eyes at her.

At the first sound of his voice, Natasha found that she had to force herself to not step back; such was the intensity of hatred in his tone, that she felt as if he would literally move to his feet and shove his hand into her chest, tearing her heart out. Doing her best to keep her composure, she opened her mouth several times in an attempt to speak, although she seemed to have trouble finding the right words.

"I'm... I'm sorry you had to go through that. And I know that doesn't mean anything to you, especially coming from me."

Once again Loki narrowed his eyes, this time in some confusion; he knew when people lied – no one could recognize a lie better than him – but this time she didn't seem to be trying to deceive him.

"What do you want?" he finally asked, eager to get it over with so that he wouldn't have to look at her anymore.

Seeing that he seemed to have calmed down to some extent, Natasha allowed herself to relax a bit.

"None of us really believed Kara when she said you loved her... even when Thor backed her up and said that what you two had was real."

"If you were trying to surprise me with that confession, you're failing miserably."

"I wasn't... what I want to say is that we were wrong to not believe her. Anyway, that's not why I'm here. She... she left something in our care. And she left it for you."

The sight of his frown fading away ultimately gave her the courage to speak again.

"I'll tell Thor to bring it to you..."

OoOoO

The sound of the door sliding open again drew Loki out of his thoughts as he was standing at the window, watching the destruction spread around the tower; at first he couldn't even tell just what the heck Thor was holding, when the Thunder God stepped into the room... until his ears caught the faint echo of a baby's prattle. Utterly rooted to the spot while his mind still tried to process the whole situation, he watched as Thor approached and held out the baby to him.

"This is what Kara left behind... your daughter..."

Reaching out with shaky arms, Loki paused in midair and flexed his hands to regain full control on his muscles, before he ultimately retrieved the small bundle of flesh. His first thought at the sight of his child's face was that she already looked so much like Kara. When he trailed a finger gingerly along her cheek, the baby instinctively reached out and latched her tiny hand onto it; that small gesture was strong enough to pierce through the dark veil of despair he had been slowly sinking into, at long last drawing a faint smile from him.

What was this new feeling he sensed growing in his chest? Somehow it was... warm... like the rays of the sun on a clear summer morning. It was such an odd emotion that Loki found himself scared of it at first; and then his mind – finally freed of its haze – kicked back into gear, analyzing the situation. The conclusion came quickly; it was her... it was that tiny, helpless, innocent creature in his arms that was triggering the new feeling which was now steadily swelling in his chest and slithering its roots into his heart.

And he knew at that moment that he would not hesitate to do anything for her sake... even if it meant to give his life for her.

His focus only shifted from the child when he felt Thor's large hand weighing down on his shoulder. When he averted his emerald gaze to his brother, he was surprised to see the blond Æsir motioning him to follow. With curiosity now taking hold of him he did indeed follow Thor until they arrived into the large living room he recalled from his last visit in that building.

As he entered behind his brother while still holding the child, he was suddenly taken aback by the sight before him. He had expected anything from them... contempt... hatred... murderous desire... anything except that weird mixture of pity and kindness.

"It's good to see you still have some of your sanity left..." Bruce said, drawing Loki's gaze to him.

"Yeah, well... guess a baby can melt down even the toughest villain." Tony stated with some sarcasm. "I am sincerely astounded at this display of fatherly instinct."

Unable to resist an ironic smile at that jab, Loki now glanced over to the Stark male and narrowed his eyes.

"Well _you_ wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?" he replied mockingly.

When Tony clenched his jaw, looking like he was ready to walk over and punch the dark haired god, Natasha cleared her throat and frowned at him. The reproachful glance he got from Steve as well ultimately compelled him to back down and he merely shook his head in resignation, walking to the bar to get a drink.

"You got any idea if these creeps are gonna come here again?" Barton now asked, attempting to divert the attention from that tense subject.

He still didn't agree to trust Loki with anything, but even he had to admit that maybe there was more to that green eyed devil than they'd originally thought. At least Kara must have seen something more in him, considering how many years she had loved the guy.

"Thanos will rebuild his army in time..." Loki finally replied, although his gaze had settled on his brother. "Make no mistake, he will return; it is very possible that he will lead his army himself the next time, now that The Other has failed to kill me."

"The... other? What other?" Bruce asked in confusion.

Casting him a glance that more or less spoke of his irritation at how little information they had about their enemies, Loki then went to reply once again.

"His name is Chthon and he is the closest servant to Thanos... or should I say, he _was_; I made sure to repay him tenfold for daring to take Kara away from me. For most of the time I spent with them, however, he was my only link to Thanos before I arrived here with the Chitauri. And then, when Thanos considered me worthy of meeting him, he created a direct link between my mind and his, so he would be able to control my actions."

Silence followed his statements as the others stared at him speechless, finally coming to the realization that Kara had been right when she had suspected that someone was driving Loki from behind, and that he might not have been entirely to blame for the previous attack. Still, hearing him say such things so plainly, as though it didn't affect him at all, was unnerving.

"Kara tried talking to us about this..." Steve finally admitted.

Once more smiling mockingly, Loki moved his eyes from Banner to the young soldier.

"And you didn't believe her, did you? Why am I not surprised? You humans and your pathetic mindset... your disgusting need for proof... you would rather die than accept someone's warnings, if they're based on instinct and not on fact."

"That's not what matters here right now." Natasha finally chimed in. "If Thanos comes again... we could use your help."

Even she had to admit that – as much as she hated it – he was right to berate them this time. But actually asking for his help was somewhat of a long shot, albeit one she was willing to take. For a second she regretted speaking out when Loki's piercing gaze settled on her, his eyes momentarily burning with hatred.

"Why should I?" he growled. "You all tried to kill me... when you failed, you sent me to be imprisoned for the rest of my life. And that is worse than death. Make no mistake; I have no pity or compassion to spare for any of you."

"Because you're now the king of Asgard." Thor retorted before anyone else could try to come up with a reply. "And it is your duty to watch over the nine realms."

While the others stared in shock at the Thunder God, Loki finally glanced to him and frowned in some confusion at those words.

"Did she tell you that I was alive?"

"She did."

"Did she tell you that I banished Sif and the other two idiots to Vanaheim, with Hogun?"

"She did."

"Did she tell you that I killed Odin to take the throne?"

"She did."

Before Loki could ask any more of those half-mocking questions, Thor now continued with his reply.

"She also told me that she was the one to stop Heimdall from killing you; she was the one who convinced him to accept you on the throne; she told me you were the one I spoke to before leaving Asgard, disguised as our father."

"Then why?" Loki now asked, narrowing his eyes. "Why did you never come to face me?"

"Because I don't want that throne... all I want is to stay here with Jane. You always wanted to be king, and now you are. And you have Kara to thank for that, otherwise Heimdall would have indeed killed you... don't dishonor her memory; be a good king and a good father."

Sensing the younger sibling's hesitation as he lowered his gaze to the baby sleeping in his arms, Steve ultimately decided to speak for the rest of the group.

"If for nothing else, do it for her. Maybe we don't deserve your help, but this world was Kara's home and she risked her life so many times to keep it safe."

What followed was silence, hanging over them like a looming cloud as minutes ticked by and everyone could practically feel and see the tension rising as Loki kept watching his sleeping daughter; at some point Natasha had started wondering if he was even considering their words, although when she glanced to Thor the Thunder God merely nodded. He knew his brother better than anyone else in that room... by now he could tell when Loki was thinking on the subject, weighing out the good and bad sides.

Ultimately it was the dark haired male's soft sigh that pulled all of them from that numb state, almost making them jolt in surprise.

"Very well... you will have my aid."

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **kittykawaii4 **\- Well, here you have it darling; I hope the previous chapter didn't leave a too bitter taste in your mouth. And I'm not really sorry that you cried, because it means I conveyed the right emotions ;)

2\. **LadyAmazon **\- Haha, well these final chapters had been written before I had even gotten to the _Avengers_ movie in the course of the story, so I knew that all the events would inevitably lead to her death... but I couldn't say this before, because it would have spoiled the ending for everyone.

But now that it's done, I can come clean and say that I never planned to spare Kara even when I said I wasn't sure if I would end up killing her or not... that was just to avoid spoiling the end, but she was fated to die since I first got the idea of starting this story. Now what happens with her next... well, that's for me to know and for you to find out in the sequel ;)

3\. **TigerInTheMoonlight **\- Aww but I like being cruel to my characters, that builds a strong personality :P

As for Asgard's army coming to help, it was inevitable and it would have been more awkward if they didn't come, considering Loki is now the new Allfather xD

4\. **KilalaInara **\- Haha well I'm not sure if it was exactly what you expected (regarding Loki's first meeting with Astrid) mainly because there was so much going on in his mind and there was so much sorrow for him to deal with at the moment. So it wasn't anything too "flashy", but more how I imagined a man like him would react in such a situation.

And YES the feels! I'm so happy I managed to convey the proper emotions with that chapter, and I'm not sorry for any tear that was shed by all of you lovelies while reading it :D

5\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Aww I'm so glad it made you teary, darling; I was hoping for that! Hope this chapter wasn't so sad anymore ;)

6\. **Bookworm2605 **\- Oh gosh, thank you so much for this lovely review, darling! I am so utterly happy that you enjoyed the story so much :D

Now the reason I keep saying that she is a bit Mary Sue-ish, is because I felt like I had her get over the deaths around her too quickly. But maybe that was just my impression, because I hate having to write a character being depressive or wallowing in grief. You're definitely not the first to tell me that she's not a Mary Sue, but I guess that's just my own fear (which I have whenever I work on an OC). I am truly happy that she turned out to be a good character and that you were able to empathize with her and feel pretty much what she was feeling throughout the story.

As for Loki... well no one will ever be able to portray him better than Tom himself, because he made this character his own in such a way that I don't think anyone will ever be able to surpass his interpretation of Loki. But I have watched a lot of his works while I was writing this story, precisely to try and get a feel for how he "fuses" with a character and makes it his. And by understanding that a bit, I was able to sort of... further delve into Loki's character and try to portray what he might think/feel/do in a certain situation and with certain people. I am really happy and humbled by the compliment, and I'm glad that I was able to keep him in-character. It's such a wonderful thing when people tell me that through my story they became Loki fans or were able to better understand Tom's portrayal of him and things like that... it's a really heartwarming feeling, but ultimately I probably don't even come close to Tom's fantastic talent.

And well, I won't say anything about Kara for now... you'll have to wait till the sequel to find out what happens to her ;)

Also no, she didn't get to tell Loki about the baby although you probably already realized that by now, after reading this chapter xD

Lastly, thank you again for this lovely and heartwarming review. I'll definitely continue to write, because it's always so much fun to let your imagination run wild; the mind truly is a wonder and it can create such interesting and beautiful things, and the art of writing is one way of keeping your mind trained and helping your imagination develop constantly. So I will continue to do it, though I may take a short break now that this story is done. It's been a long year since I started writing for this particular story and my imagination could use a short holiday ;)

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	52. Epilogue

So lovelies... we've arrived at the end of this journey and I sincerely hope you all had fun on the way. I certainly did and I cannot be more grateful to all of you for your support. I will upload the Author's Note in a few days, to give you all a chance to tell me your last thoughts on this story, or if you wish to comment specifically on the Epilogue.

The reason for that Author's Note, will be for you guys to know what to expect in the near future from me. So with that, I leave you to enjoy the outro of my story. Don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know everything you wish to say :D

Enjoy, darlings~ ;)

P.S. Every _Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World_ character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

* * *

**Epilogue**

_**~ Six years later ~**_

"Daddy, daddy! Look what I made!"

Green eyes moved upwards from the words etched onto snowy paper, just in time to settle upon the source of the female voice, which was running across the garden toward the very tree where the dark haired male was seated. A small, slender young girl clad in pale blue silk in the form of a dress which fluttered behind her the same as her untied raven strands; a cheerful, loving girl, full of energy; his... no... _their _girl... their Astrid.

Upon reaching him, the child held out a paper with both hands, her lips stretched into a full grin as she fixed him with steel-blue eyes. Setting the book aside, Loki retrieved what he knew by now to be a drawing, given that she had always shown him each of her works. Turning it over, he found himself unsettled to his very core at the sight of the kind expression staring back at him.

Within the span of just one moment his jaw clenched; a painful blade shot out from his heart straight into the back of his head; his throat tightened as though someone was trying to choke him; and then his gaze grew blurry until he felt the warmth of a lone tear trailing down along his cheek.

"Daddy...? You don't like it? It's mommy..."

Staring at the girl's worried expression for a second, he willed himself to smile and held out a hand to her.

"Of course I like it..." he said softly.

Smiling again, Astrid now sat next to him and cuddled at his side.

"I used that picture you showed me..." she giggled before shooting him a suspicious glance while her lips gathered in a pout. "Do you reeeeally like it, daddy?"

With an amused huff, the male leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Yes... it looks like mommy gave you her talent."

Looking from him to the drawing again, Astrid now sighed.

"Daddy... will I ever get to see mommy?"

Once more clenching his jaw to hold his composure, Loki gingerly tightened his one-armed embrace around the girl. Lately she had been asking that question more and more often; and he felt like such a monster for not telling her the truth... but how could he?

"One day... I promise..." he whispered in her hair.

OoOoO

"For goodness' sake, child... it's late, you should be asleep already."

Again eluding the young woman's attempt at catching her, Astrid ran across the room and jumped onto the bed with a loud squeal.

"I'm not sleepy, Tyra." she retorted, placing her small hands onto her hips.

"Child, your father's going to be upset if he finds you awake at this hour."

Before she could reply, Astrid found her gaze drawn to the door where her eyes settled upon her father as he stepped into the room.

"What's all the commotion in here?"

With the maid bowing silently to him, he set his green gaze upon the child and found that he had to fight back a chuckle at her defiant expression; truly she had inherited some of his more... unconventional personality traits.

"Leave us..." he said softly to the maid who now hurried to leave the chambers.

Back on the bed Astrid lightly gulped; more often than not, it wasn't a good sign when her father decided to send Tyra away, after catching her doing something wrong. It wasn't that he shouted at her or anything... he just had that nasty way of scolding her calmly, with that disappointed tone in his voice, which made her feel even more ashamed of not listening to him.

"I'm sorry, daddy..." she said right after the door closed.

After all, she always ended up apologizing for her mistakes so she figured she could just get it done before he got a chance to berate her. His amused huff left her in a predicament... now she had no idea if he was upset or not.

"I admit, this is a good attempt at appeasing me." he stated somewhat in jest.

Approaching the bed, he fixed her with his gaze while Astrid again pouted at him.

"I don't like it when you scold me..." she muttered.

"Then why do you give me reasons to do it, darling?"

"I don't know... I can't help it..."

Her reply finally drew a chuckle from him; he couldn't yet tell if it was a good thing or not, but he could swear that sometimes he saw himself in Astrid to such an extent that it was unnerving. Reaching out while the girl was now looking at her toes, he trailed a slender hand through her silky hair before leaning over and kissing her forehead.

"Daddy...?" she asked tentatively, at his display of affection.

When Loki offered her an expectant glance, Astrid reached up to grasp his hand.

"Can we go see the stars? I'm really not sleepy..."

As usual, the dark haired male found himself unable to resist that pleading shade in her eyes. Lightly smiling, he reached out for her watching as her face lit up in a joyful grin, while she threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as he picked her up.

Minutes later they were on their way to the stables, Astrid now resting her head onto his shoulder.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, darling..."

"You're the best daddy in the world..." she giggled, kissing his cheek.

It wasn't the first time she had said that to him, but each time it left him speechless; far from him to consider himself a good father... how could he, when he had known so little of the father who had raised him, and even less of the one who had made him? Fortunately, Astrid's attention was soon drawn away when they approached Sleipnir, the stallion leaning down to snort in her hair and making her giggle as she reached out to pat his muzzle.

Opening the pen and stepping inside, Loki placed Astrid onto the horse's back where the girl began braiding his long mane; it was by far one of her favorite past times. Deciding to spare the stallion from a saddle that night, the male merely retrieved the reins which made Sleipnir scratch at the ground with two of his four front hooves, his snorts showing how eager he was to go for a ride.

The ride to the Bifrost took a lot less than Astrid would have wanted. She'd always loved just standing on the bridge, watching the restless sea beneath, or the open sky above. But even so, there was still one thing she liked watching more. Upon arriving at the keep, she ran inside the very moment Loki had set her onto her feet.

"Little children should be asleep at this hour."

Giggling at the Gatekeeper's deep voice, she glanced up to see Heimdall watching her with a smile playing on his lips.

"I want to see the stars... please? Can I?"

Briefly glancing to Loki who merely nodded, the guardian turned his back to them and raised his sword, inserting the blade into the socket he used to activate the Bifrost. Grinning, Astrid now watched as the building shifted until the whole space before her was an open gate beyond which she could see a mixture of colorful clouds and dark space, all sprinkled with stars – both small and large – twinkling like diamonds.

"Thank you!" she grinned, hugging Heimdall when he stepped next to her and Loki.

Chuckling lightly, the guardian briefly patted her back and averted his own gaze to the kaleidoscope before them. The following few minutes went by in silence, with Astrid admiring the stars and Loki watching her as she held onto his hand.

"Can you see uncle Thor?" she suddenly asked, looking to the keeper again.

"Yes..." Heimdall replied after a moment, having turned his gaze toward Midgard. "He is well; he too watches the stars, as you do."

"Do you think he can see us?"

"I doubt it... but that's a good thing."

Averting his golden gaze to the child as she watched him with a puzzled expression, he smiled again.

"That means he'll be even happier the next time he sees you."

OoOoO

Two hours had gone by and finally Astrid was asleep, now carefully cradled in her father's arms, although Loki himself was still watching the stars with Heimdall at his side.

"I should go put her to bed..." he said, lowering his emerald gaze to the child.

"She had Tyra bring her out here yesterday..." the guardian replied. "To show me a drawing of her mother."

Even without looking at Loki, he could still tell when the man's jaw clenched; few dared to mention the girl's mother in front of the young king, and not out of fear... simply because the sorrow his whole being radiated at the slightest reminder was so heavy that not many people could withstand it.

"She has Kara's passion for art..." he finally stated, his throat again tightening in that painful knot as he said her name. "And her talent..."

With those words he now turned to leave, only to be halted when Heimdall spoke again.

"My king... don't you believe that six years is long enough since you allowed your sorrow to weigh you down?"

Turning around he watched as the guardian turned as well, to face him.

"Your daughter has seen it, no matter how well you try to conceal it. She worries for you... she said she doesn't like it when you're sad."

"I know what you would say... the same thing as everyone else. That I should find another woman, for the sake of Astrid growing up with a mother..."

"No, my king..."

At those words Loki's gaze darted from the sleeping girl back to Heimdall and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand just what the man was saying. Sighting that expression, the Gatekeeper now spoke.

"I would never suggest anything as bold as that. Those who do, have not seen all that I have seen over the years... I know that you could never love another woman as you loved her."

"Then what are you saying?"

In spite of his slightly annoyed tone, he still kept a good restraint on it so as to not wake the child.

"I am saying that this grief has held you in chains long enough... that you should do something about it."

"And what would you suggest I do? She's dead, and as versed as I am in magic, even I cannot undo death." he spat out.

"Are you certain of that, my king?"

When Loki widened his eyes and stared at him utterly speechless, Heimdall merely offered a slight smile, his golden gaze fixed upon Loki's emerald orbs.

"How far would you be willing to go?"

**The end...?**

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **TigerInTheMoonlight **\- Aww thank you so much for the compliment and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed that scene. I was a bit paranoid that I went too fast through it, but at the same time I didn't want to focus too much on that just yet.

Loki's relationship with Astrid will be fully fleshed out in the sequel, for these last chapters the focus still had to be on the fact that Kara just died on that very same day. So in a way, the baby kind of took the back row in relation to that. But I wholeheartedly agree, a fatherly Loki is probably the best kind of Loki. And you'll all get to see a lot of that in the sequel, no worries ;)

2\. **kittykawaii4 **\- Haha well it was to be expected that he would meet Astrid, she is his child and if he took the responsibility of screwing Kara, he has a responsibility to raise their child xD

3\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- Well I couldn't exactly end the whole story on the lowest note possible, that would have been much too cruel of me. But I hope you enjoyed the Epilogue as much as every other chapter before it :D

4\. **LadyAmazon **\- Thank you, thank you, I aim to please ;)

But really, I've noticed that very few writers actually go the length of killing off their own characters, and I think it's mostly out of fear that the readers will dislike it too much or will lose interest in the story. And my opinion is that if you have a solidly built story with good characters, the readers will still enjoy it even if they are sad over the death of the OC. And if they dislike it, well to each their own... when I first started writing I tried to write in a manner that would please everyone, and at some point I realized that was just a fool's errand; I would never be able to please everyone and it would just drive me insane and would make me hate writing.

So with the risk of losing a few readers for saying this, writers shouldn't be afraid of displeasing their readers. Writing a story is just like a director making a movie... you just create a way to tell **your own** ideas and **your own** visions. That doesn't mean it's not okay to accept suggestions from the readers, by all means I always encourage my readers to give me suggestions and the like, because some might actually mesh well with my own vision and I'll be able to use them in a certain story.

But ultimately my stories are a way to show my own imagination and my own outlook on a certain book/movie/whatnot. And I know that while a lot of people will enjoy my vision of a certain story, many others won't, but that's okay. That's what writers need to keep in mind, that it's okay if people disagree with the way you tell your own stories, because people are nothing if not opinionated.

5\. **Moriah98 **\- Hey, it's good to see you around here again, it's been a while. I hope you enjoyed the ride, darling, just as much as you enjoyed that last chapter :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	53. Author's Note

So my darlings, I uploaded this little author's note to let you all know that **THE SEQUEL WILL BE COMING!** \\(^o^)/

Ever since I started working on this story, I've had some ideas already playing out in my head for the sequel, so they have had quite some time to become ripe. Now the reason for this author's note, is to let all of you lovelies know that I **WILL** be writing a sequel.

Also I want you to know that the sequel will include the second _Avengers_ movie, _Age of Ultron_. If you're curious what I loved most about it, I only have one word for you – **JARVIS!** xD

But I'm sure you all missed Loki immensely while watching that movie (just as I did) and I personally loved it despite any negativity that some fans dumped onto it and on Joss Whedon, whom I think did just as great a job with this movie as with the first one. So I felt it was only natural that it would become part of a sequel to _Timeless_.

And I'm already thinking of making this into a trilogy, because well... 2017 will be giving us _Thor: Ragnarok_, so I will likely include that movie into a third story for Loki and Kara. But that's thinking too far into the future; for now let's settle on a sequel :D

Also, for those of you who have been and still are _Lord of the Rings_ fans, I have a little surprise. While I'm taking a break from Loki in order to go back with a fresh mind, that does not mean I will take a break from writing, because I have to keep exercising my brain in order for it to stay in shape (as any writer should do).

So I've gone back to work on a _Lord of the Rings_ fanfiction which I'd started some years back. I'll do a rewrite of the first chapters and see where I can take that story from there. I'll also upload an author's note at the beginning (like I did for _Quadrille_) in order to explain some things before you guys can actually read the story, so no worries; you'll get all the details you need when I start uploading the fic.

Long story short, all you _Lord of the Rings_ fans should expect a story from me soon-ish. Those who know me well enough were probably already expecting this, because I am a **HUGE** Tolkien fan (the best proof is my _Hobbit_ fanfiction). I'm hoping the pairing I chose will entertain you guys and that – despite the huge number of _Lord of the Rings_ fics out there – I'll still manage to bring some new elements into my story that you all can enjoy. I am hoping to see many of you taking that journey with me into the wonderfully rich universe that Tolkien has created; well, I'd love to see all of you there, but I am aware that's probably just wishful thinking xD

Also, I've been working on a _Dracula Untold_ story for some time now (in-between writing sessions for _Timeless_). Since I love my country's history incredibly much, Dracula's legend has always had a special place in my heart. And while I'm not happy with one of our country's heroes being portrayed as a bloodthirsty butcher, I do understand artistic license and do enjoy the fantastic aspects of that legend.

I'll rant more about the movie and Vlad as a historical figure in the author's note I will upload along with that story, but I'll just say for now that _Dracula Untold_ is likely going to remain as my most favorite Dracula movie ever, simply because of the very realistic way they portrayed Vlad the human. Luke Evans has done an outstanding job with his character and it was an incredibly good movie, considering it wasn't a historical drama, but a fantasy action flick.

As I probably got you used to by now, this story too will have a pairing with an OC; and it will be set after the events of the movie, but in a rather AU manner (the best example being that Vlad will not have a family at the beginning of my story). It won't really be linked to the movie except here-and-there, where I'll maybe mention an event that happened in the movie, or make a loose connection to that. But I'll give you lovelies more detailed info in the author's note which I will prepare for that particular story.

So these are my writing plans for the immediate future, although based on my mood shifts and in the case that I get distracted by some other ideas, they might change... but my intention for now is to get the _Lord of the Rings _story going as soon as possible; the one for _Dracula Untold_ might have to wait a bit longer. But of course, all of this will come **AFTER **I finish writing my _Hobbit_ fanfiction, _Stringing a bow_; no worries, lovelies, I'm not going to leave that story unfinished.

And, again, no worries there **WILL **be a sequel for _Timeless_ as I promised... I just feel the need for a prolonged break from Loki, because I always had this gift of being able to tell just how much I can strain my interest in a character/story before I break it and it goes away completely. And with how long _Timeless_ proved to be – which was way longer than any story I have written so far – I have stretched my interest in Loki for quite a bit, so I want to give it some time to relax... I'm positive that seeing some of Tom's new movies (like _Crimson Peak_, which comes out this October) will help me a lot in getting back that sort of feel for his particular way of acting and creating endearing characters.

So it might be a bit before I will actually manage to get the sequel going, but I'm sure you'd all prefer waiting a bit longer, than me losing interest and being unable to do a sequel at all. Just thought to get those facts out there, so that you guys won't lose hope and faith in my promise to deliver a sequel.

But for now I leave you with all my love and all the gratitude I can muster; you guys have been immensely supportive of this story and of me, and I cannot thank you enough for all the love you gave to my character throughout this journey.

Because writing _Timeless_ has indeed been a journey for me... it opened a whole new world as I learned more and more about Norse mythology, and it also made me a better person as I had to delve deeper into Tom's work in order to get a "feel" for how he crafts and grows his characters, in order to learn how he shows the different layers and different facets of the character he plays. And because I had to delve deeper into his work, I also rediscovered my love for Shakespeare's works; and just getting to see that selfless, considerate, loving people like him still exist in this world has made me feel that I can still become better than I am.

So all in all, this story has broadened my horizon and has brought back to my attention things that I used to love, but which had gotten lost in the nebulous vortex of daily life. But working on this story has also reminded me that sometimes it's good to just take it slowly and allow yourself some rest from this fast-forward era we all live in. If any parts of the story seemed to drag on, or too long, that is the reason... I wanted to take this story as slow as I could and allow the river of imagination to flow at its own pace. I believe that's the best thing a writer can do; I've had moments when I tried to force myself to keep writing only to end up hitting a writer's block, but fortunately I got over it and today here we are, at the end of this first journey.

I am looking forward to the second part of this endeavor and I hope you'll all be there to enjoy the ride with me. But for now, here are the replies to the reviews I got so far for the Epilogue of _Timeless_. If you guys wish to leave a review with your thoughts regarding this author's note, I will reply to those via PM, so don't be shy and let me know if you guys want to share any feelings or thoughts :D

See you in the sequel, lovelies~ ;)

* * *

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1\. **LadyAmazon **\- Hehe well it's a bit of both actually... since you guys already know I will be writing a sequel, it probably lost a bit of its initial power as an ending. It was actually intended less as an actual epilogue and more as a sneak peek at the sequel.

But I will reveal that the sequel will likely not start after the Epilogue, but a little before that; so the Epilogue of _Timeless_ will actually be a scene in the sequel (maybe with a few changes here and there, not sure yet).

But I'm really happy you enjoyed it, darling. And I'm so utterly joyous and grateful that you took this journey with me. So I won't rant anymore, I already did that enough in the above lines. I'm really hoping I'll see you in my other stories as well and in the sequel, of course :D

2\. **TigerInTheMoonlight **\- I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the Epilogue as well, darling. I'm hoping to see you in the sequel as well, and if any of the stories I mentioned above will be to your liking, I'm hoping to see you there too :D

3\. **kittykawaii4 **\- Oh there will definitely be a sequel, darling, don't worry about that. I've finished listing the main ideas already but for the moment I will focus on other subjects, as I explained in the above lines. But you have my word there will be a sequel. As for Kara... I won't spoil anything, she might be back, or not; it just depends if I find a plausible way for her to come back. But we'll see, that has to wait for now.

I'm hoping you really enjoyed this story and that I'll see you in my other stories as well, if they are fandoms that you like :D

4\. **americanlatinajapanesegirl** \- I'll try my best to get started on the sequel as soon as I can, darling, but I'm hoping that I explained my need for a break from Loki well enough in the above lines. But feel free to chat me up whenever you wish via PM, I'm always available for conversation with anyone who desires to talk to me.

I'm really happy that you enjoyed this ride to the very end; and I sincerely hope to see you in my other stories as well, if any of them are based on fandoms that you enjoy :D

5\. **Bookworm2605 **\- Oh gosh, so many delicious questions to answer. Well I'll try to answer them as best I can, without spoiling (too) much of my ideas for the sequel.

So first of all, I'm so happy you liked daddy Loki, because I always imagined him to be a very good father, because he is the kind of man who learns from his own mistakes and from his own pains. And I always imagined him striving to be a much better father for his own children, than Odin was to him. And no worries, I'll put in as many father-daughter moments as I can in the sequel, I love them just as much.

As for Kara, she won't be reincarnated that much I can say for sure; I'm still working out the details revolving around my ideas for her, but we'll see. I'm not spoiling anything... she might be back, she might not... we'll see ;) Although the theories you mentioned are incredibly tempting to use, I already have my own idea concerning her in the sequel so you'll have to wait and see xD

Now Astrid... she's a bit more complicated because she's the _product _of an Æsir and a human; so she'll probably be somewhere in between as far as age goes. Which means she'll likely have about half of Loki's lifespan - so if Loki's lifespan is a few thousand years (I'm probably going to chuck it at around 5000 maybe) - she'll live about half that amount of time, give or take a few centuries. I have very big plans for Astrid herself - she'll basically be my second main OC in the story - so she kind of needs to live a long time, for the sake of those plans coming to fruition. But I won't delve any further, because that would spoil the ideas I have and I don't want that... I want them to be a surprise for you guys.

As for not reviewing the previous chapter, no worries, love; I'm not that strict with my readers xD

And thank you so much for mentioning that song, it's such a wonderful piece of music. And you're right, it does fit Loki and Kara so much, like a couple other songs I listened to while writing many of the chapters. One of the songs I listened to many times while writing on this story was _How can I not love you_, by Joy Enriquez; it's a song from the soundtrack of the movie _Anna and the King_ which is an astounding, beautiful and heart wrenching movie - seriously, I end up crying every single time I watch it, no exceptions.

So I think I replied to all your questions, darling, if I missed anything feel free to let me know and I'll get a reply to you ;)

I'm hoping you had a great time with this story and that I'll see you in one of the other stories I'm working on (when I start uploading them) if any of those are fandoms you enjoy. And of course, I can't wait to see you again in the sequel :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤


	54. Notice

Hey there, lovelies!

Just a quick, short note to let you all know that the Prologue for the sequel is up! So for those of you who didn't yet know from following me as an author or following my Twitter, go give it a try and let me know what you think of this first glimpse into the second journey we're going to take together ;)

Enjoy, darlings~ :D


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