Maeve's eyes fluttered open, slowly adjusting to the darkness of her bedroom. Moonlight streamed through the open window as a balmy summer air swayed the curtains to and fro. She sighed, the remnants of a comforting dream fading from her mind. In fact, she was so relaxed that it took her a few moments to realize why she'd woken up in the first place. For once, it wasn't because of her.

Loki. 

He lay inches away from her on his side. His face was screwed up in some imagined terror, but his eyes remained shut. "Lo," she whispered urgently, shaking his shoulders. "Loki. Come on, love, it's me. You've got to wake up."

Loki didn't respond, still too far under whatever night terror he was facing to hear her. She grasped one of his hands. It was cold, too cold, and she quickly dropped it, knowing that in an unconscious state, he had no control over burning her. Unfortunately, she knew that from experience, and if he hurt her, it would be even more difficult to calm him down.

"Loki," she said, this time a little louder. Tears filled her eyes. "Wake up. I promise you're safe, you're with me, just wake up. Please, Lo."

He came to with an icy gasp, sitting straight up in bed. His head turned frantically in both directions as he tried to catch his breath.

"Loki." Maeve cupped his face in her trembling hands, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's me. You're safe, I promise. I'm here."

"Maeve." He wrapped one of her small hands in his, his grasp still shaky. "I-"

"Don't talk. Just breathe," she urged, looking deeply into his wild green eyes. "You're with me. Eyes on me."

For a few minutes, the only sound that filled Maeve's world was the shuddering sobs of her husband as he attempted to regain his sanity. She hated seeing him like this, so broken and fragile, but she refused to leave his side.

Finally, Loki ran a hand through his tangled hair and squeezed her hand, his gaze dropping to their entwined fingers. "Flower," he whispered. "You can go back to sleep now. I'll be... I'll be fine."

"Hush, you silly prince. How many times do I have to tell you?" She gave him a soft smile. "We're in this together. Your troubles are my troubles."

He gently brushed the tears off of her face with his thumb. "I wish my troubles didn't cause you pain."

Maeve moved so that she was sitting behind him and began to rub his back comfortingly. Life had worn on Loki, laying heavier burdens and harsher worries on his shoulders. She knew that she couldn't alleviate every ache, but she wanted to do as much as she could. Their room became a sanctuary from the dangers of their world, and when he couldn't even escape himself, she tried to ease his mind.

She never quite understood what plagued her husband. He didn't, either. They could only guess at it being Thanos, but nothing was known about him, either. The voice was unknown to them both, but it was harsh, and it was relentless.

"You need rest," she murmured soothingly. "You have to keep up your strength."

"Darling, you worry too much."

"On the contrary. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not worried enough, considering you don't worry at all." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder, his black hair tickling her nose. "Lo, it's been over five years. The nightmares have only gotten worse. Maybe... maybe we shouldn't keep this to ourselves any longer."

"No," he said instantly, shaking his head. "I don't want anyone else to know."

"Loki, it's not weak to accept the help you need-"

"But I don't need help. My mind is too strong for any detrimental damage to occur. You know better than anyone the sheer amount of defenses I put up."

"Defenses that this voice still manages to somehow break through," Maeve argued. "If your mother knew about this-"

"Mother will never know," Loki said resolutely. "She carries enough concerns as it is, and I have no desire to involve Odin. This problem belongs to our family alone. We will deal with it."

"Then someone else. Asmund, Bjarke, Gale-"

"I said no!" He snapped, pulling out of her embrace and standing up from the bed. A few pillows fell to the floor. "Honestly, Maeve, you don't listen."

Maeve's eyes widened at his change in tone. She pulled the covers around herself as he stalked over to the window, breathing deeply in the summer air. It was one thing for him to be angry, but he rarely took it out on her.

A quiet knock interrupted their argument. Maeve and Loki exchanged knowing glances. It was too soft of a sound to be a palace guard, and very few others interrupted them in the middle of the night.

The sound of soft sobbing nearly broke her heart as a little figure burst into the room and immediately buried herself under the covers beside her. Loki knelt down next to the bed, concern etched over his pale face.

"Oh, honey, what's the matter?" Maeve asked sympathetically.

Eowyn shook her head and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Cypress made himself a spider and jumped on my bed! He knows I don't like them! He's so mean!"

"Well, that's not very kind," Loki said, but a trace of amusement flickered in his eyes. His mirth soon faded under Maeve's stern gaze. "Are you all right, Wyn?"

She shook her head quickly, jumping out from underneath the blankets. As soon as Loki stood, she clung tightly to her father's leg.

"Is your brother awake still?" When her daughter nodded, she brushed a few black curls out of the girl's eyes and also stood. "Perhaps we should talk to him, too."

Maeve wrapped the blanket more securely around her shoulders and offered her a hand to hold. Lip trembling, Eowyn reached out to clasp it, but as soon as their fingers made contact, Maeve jerked back. She let out a slow breath through her teeth, trying not to show her pain in front of the girl, but Eowyn saw right through her act.

"I hurt you! Mommy, I didn't mean to, really! I'm sorry!

"Shhh. It's just a burn. I'm fine." Maeve plastered a fake smile on her face. She flexed her fingers, which were now bright red from Frost Giant burns, and hid her injury behind her back. She couldn't stand the idea of her daughter feeling so mortified. No one deserved that, let alone her little girl. "Accidents happen, love."

Loki knelt to the ground so as to be at the level of his daughter. He raised a palm into the air, his expression understanding. "Take a deep breath. Calm down."

Eowyn's tear-filled eyes met Loki's tired ones. The shades matched exactly. In her hysteric state, she didn't notice the red rimming her father's eyes. As always, he put aside his aches to remedy hers.

Nervously, she held up her little hand, still tinged in an icy blue, and rested it up against his. As soon as she made contact, Loki's fingers faded into blue as well. He kept his face even.

"It's okay, darling. You're not hurting me. You can control it," he instructed gently. Tucking a curl behind her ear, he added,  "Take a deep breath."

Eowyn shuddered but obeyed. Slowly, the blue leached away. Loki gave her a small smile and gripped his daughter's hand.

"That's my girl. Come on, let's go see your brother."

Maeve smiled as Eowyn practically dragged Loki to the next door down the hall. The room had once belonged to her when she first came to stay in Asgard.

"Cypress? We need to talk to you." She glanced around the dark room. The curtains were still drawn from the twins' bedtime. Loki snapped his fingers and a few candles lit themselves. "Honey?"

"BOO!"

Maeve screamed in surprise as a snickering little boy jumped out from the shadows. She took several deep breaths, trying to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Growing up, her brothers had tormented her by scaring her, and the events of her life had done absolutely nothing to banish that fear.

"Cypress," Loki said, his voice sterner than usual. His gaze fell on Maeve, questioning, but she gave him a reassuring nod. "You shouldn't scare your mother like that. Or your sister, for that matter."

"But it's funny!" He doubled over, his blond curls falling into his eyes as he laughed.

"You ought to be kind to your mother and sister."

Maeve smiled wryly at her husband. "It's your own fault. Maybe you shouldn't have taught him to transform into a spider."

"I didn't. That would be incredibly foolish of me. I thought it was you."

"Me? I can't transform into anything!"

"True, my dear." A crease formed between his eyebrows as he turned to his son. "Who did teach you that?"

"Uncle Bjarke."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"Both of you, come here." Maeve sat on the bed and patted the spots next to her, waiting for her children to join her. "We're a family. That means many things, but above all, we look out for each other. It's all right to have a little fun, but we don't do it at each others' expenses, and we don't need to be always arguing."

"But you and Papa were fighting." Eowyn's eyes glittered solemnly. "I heard you before I knocked."

Cypress gasped and grabbed Maeve's arm. Shaking her rather violently, he exclaimed, "You can't fight! You're grown-ups! Grown-ups always get along! That's a rule!"

Loki laughed out loud. "Have you ever seen me interact with your uncles?"

"What about Uncle Asmund?"

"All right, except him." He sat down on the bed next to his son, casting a deeper look towards his wife. "We aren't perfect. Your mother and I do occasionally argue, but it's only because we love each other so much. We argue because we care."

"Really?"

"Yes." Loki looked at Maeve, his gaze warm. "Everyone I care about most is in this room, and I'd die to protect any one of you. We love you exactly as you are, even though none of us are perfect."

"Papa?"

"Yes, Wyn?"

"Why do we..." She squirmed. "If you love us so much, why can't we tell anyone about what we are?"

Maeve sighed and ran her uninjured hand through her daughter's hair. "Not everyone would feel the same way. For now, it's to protect you."

Loki and Maeve had discussed this immensely before the twins were born. They settled on being honest with their children early on, something Loki insisted upon, but warned them to keep this knowledge within the family. It wasn't widely known that the dark-haired prince was a Frost Giant, and rumors were just as dangerous as the truth.

A wave of exhaustion swept over Maeve and she yawned widely. Loki caught her before she could cover her tiredness and he grinned.

"Well, little ones, I think it's time I get your mother back to bed. She looks quite sleepy, don't you think?" He asked. With a mischievous smile, he scooped her up bridal-style, causing her to shriek and giggle.

"Lo, put me down!"

"Come now, flower, we can't have you falling asleep standing up, can we?" He winked and turned to the children, still holding Maeve. "Sleep well."

Eowyn giggled. "All right, Papa."

"Good night, my loves," Maeve said with a smile and a wink.

The halls of the Asgardian palace were silent and dark, an occasional lone torch casting odd shadows on the walls. Instead of stopping at their room, Loki kept walking.

"Where are we going?"

"The healing wing. Eowyn burned you again, didn't she?"

"Yes, but it isn't bad. We can just bandage it up and let it heal naturally." Maeve moved her fingers, only wincing slightly. "I don't want to worry anyone. And you could put me down, while you're at it. She burned my hand."

Loki frowned. "Why would they worry?"

"Picture this: it's the middle of the night, no one's about, and you carry me into the healing wing. See where something might become misconstrued?"

"I suppose." He chuckled a bit as he pushed open the door to their bedroom instead.

"Let's just go back to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Of course you are. You spend so much time taking care of us all and hardly any time taking care of yourself. If anyone deserves a good night's sleep, it's you." Loki pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and laid her on the bed. "Then I have to go ruining it, of course."

Maeve yawned. A mild headache began to form in her forehead, and she rubbed it tiredly. "You didn't ruin anything. Besides, we would have been ambushed about five minutes later regardless."

"True. The twins certainly know how to make an entrance. We taught them well," he chuckled.

She reached across and gripped his hand. It was cold against hers, but it was comforting. Like nothing in the world could go wrong while she was holding it.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I just..." He exhaled slowly, looking quite distraught for a moment, "...I just lost it."

"Are you okay now?" Maeve asked. She pushed a few messy black locks out of his face.

He smiled slightly and nodded. "Let's just get a few hours of rest. I'm sure we'll need them."

She saw through his lies, but they both needed sleep. Talking could wait.

"Good night, Lo."

"Good night, flower."

First chapter! Leave your thoughts!