You groan, and go to sit up. A hand pushes you back down. You look to see who the hand belongs to. It is Loki. You raise yourself up on your elbows, and look around. You're still on Earth you assess as you look around. You just don't know where you are on Earth,

Loki sits in a chair, laid back with his hands steepled. It strikes you just how much he looks like villain in this setting. The large room you're in is one of luxury. Lush drapes, covers, furniture, and pillows surround you. Somehow you know Loki didn't score this place fairly.

With a sigh, you finally give him a a lasting glance. He returns it. "Where are we?" Then you think, "Well, I've definitely been in this situation before."

"Stark Tower," Loki smirks. He stands, and takes your hand. "I've borrowed it for the time being."

You sigh, and finally address the pachyderm that's made itself home in the room. "Loki, where's the Tesseract, and what happened on the ship?"

Loki's good spirits have fallen, and he pulls away from you. "The Tesseract is on the roof. Dr. Eric Sulvig is doing his job." Then he turns to you. "I warned you on the ship, but you didn't leave." He shakes his head, his dark hair moving with him. You notice for the first time that his hair has grown out.

You shake yourself. This isn't the time to be worrying about someone's hair. You swallow. "That doesn't answer my question. What happened?" You say this forcefully. You do not want to sound weak or vulnerable. You're tired of feeling that way.

Loki looks out the large window that overlooks the city. The two of you are rather high up. You almost smack yourself in the forehead. "Of course we're high up. We're in Stark Tower," you silently curse yourself.

"My 'associates,'" Loki says, choosing his words carefully. "Got the wrong message when I mentioned you before handing myself over to your friends." He sighs.

"So, they hit me over the head?!" You shout angrily. You can hear your voice rise a few octaves as you do so.

"They thought I meant to capture you." Loki's eyes are wide as he tries to explain. His arms are raised defensively.

"You're justifying it?" You spit acidly, throwing the covers off of your body. You feel relieved that you're still wearing the same clothes from the ship.

Loki shrugs. "I haven't exactly been on my best behavior, (Y/N)."

You stand, and stumble a bit. Loki tries to help you but you swat his hands away. A look of fury resides on your face. "You call killing eighty people 'misbehaving?!'"

"Actually, as of this morning, the head count is a hundred-and-two." You see his blank expression as he says this, and it infuriates you. With a scream of frustration, you storm away from him, and all the way you stumble. You're still disoriented from the knock on the head.

"Where are you going?" Loki shouts after you.

You find a bathroom, and open the door. "To take a shower. Find me something to wear." With that, you slam the door closed, and slide to the ground. You put your head in your hands, and feel a few silent tears slide down your cheeks. "When did this all go sour?" You whisper to yourself. You're thankful Loki didn't try to follow you. You're too upset to see him at the moment. You just wish things were as they had been those first few days Loki had pulled you back to Asgard. You miss the easy love, and care you showed towards each other. You miss the surprise hugs and kisses. You-

You remember something. Blinking away the tears of frustration, you dig around in your jacket. That's when you find it and pull it out. It's a flower, with dried blue petals. You haven't been without it since the day he gave it to you all those months ago. You pull yourself up, and set your flower on the sink. You look in the tall mirror, and wipe the tears off of your cheeks. They're blotchy, and you decide that although you may want to stop Loki, you also want to spend time with him before he's captured. You grip the sink, your knuckles turning white as you think about it. Loki won't be a free man much longer, and you need to do everything in your power to show him that you truly love him.

*

After you shower, you don a robe that hangs on the rack beside the sliding door of Stark's expensive shower. Tightening the robe, you tied the string, and opened the door Of course, in Asgard, bathing is different. You don't have showers, but the baths are amazing. After a year, it had been a nice change from the usual in Asgard.

The place was virtually empty, and most of the lights were off. Outside the sky has grown dark. You'd only been in the shower for about twenty minutes at the most. You tip-toe over to the window, and peak outside. The city is lit up, and full of movement. You know it's never quiet in NY. In fact, it's where you used to live.

Someone wraps their arms around your waist from behind. It's a pair of familiar arms. You lean into the body they're attached to. Loki buries his face into your neck. You shiver, and he softly kisses your neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispers against your skin. He moves down the side of your neck. "I'm so sorry." You feel something drip onto your skin. You reach a hand behind you, and gasp when you feel it. Loki is crying. He is actually feeling remorse, and it startles you so much that you have to turn around and look at him.

You've reached up to touch his face. His green eyes are bloodshot, and his cheeks are dripping with tears. "Loki," you say quietly, absentmindedly shaking your head. "Why are you crying?"

He shakes his head, unable to speak. You've never seen him show such raw emotion. You've never seen him express any form of humanity. You know he is anything but, but you also know that deep in your bones this is real. His pain, his regret, his tears, are all real.

So, you hold him. He rests his head on your shoulder, and you hold him. You run a hand over his hair, shushing him. He clings to you, and you know that it's all he can do. You hate seeing him in pain but, at the same time, you know it's a good thing. You know he needs this. All though, you have a feeling it's not over all the lives he's taken in the past few days.

Finally, Loki pulls away from you, and you dry his eyes. He gives you a crooked grin. "I apologize for that as well."

You beam back at him, and move aside a stray strand of his long hair. "It's okay," you say. You don't know why you're being so quiet. "You needed it." He nods a little, before he stops and just stares at you. He's expecting you to say more, DO more, but you're at a loss for words, or anything for that matter. All you can think to do, is tenderly kiss him on the lips. As you do so You don't think you are capable of this kind of gentleness. You thought love like this only existed in the movies.

You throw your arms behind his neck, and he places his hands at your waist. Your bodies are so close now. The kiss is growing more urgent, more passionate. In a moment, Loki uses one sweep of a movement to hoist you into his arms. You giggle against his lips, and you feel him smiling underneath yours. He walks you to the bed with the purple, luxurious sheets and lays you on it.

He crawls over top of you, resting his hands on either side of your head. You continue to kiss him, resting a hand against the side of his cheek. Your other one is curled into the bedsheets. After a few more blissful moments, Loki pulls away from you.

"Wherefore art thou (Y/N), the daughter of Odin?" He looks down at you, a playful look residing in his gaze.

You smile back up at him quizzically. "Did you just use a Romeo and Juliet quote on me?"

"Yes," Loki replies as he bends his head down towards your throat. He ever so slowly, and softly presses a single kiss onto the soft skin of your inner throat. "I just asked you why you are the daughter of Odin. In my year alone I've done a lot of reading. In a sick way, that human Shakespeare was onto something." He shakes his head. "For one night," he whispers, looking from under his eyelashes at you. "Will you be my queen?"

You bite your lip, and look away from him in the semi darkness. Suddenly, you feel extremely exposed in the robe you're wearing. "Loki," you take a deep breath. "Yes, but it's only to show you how much I love you." You know you're being melodramatic, but you need something to cling to, so your reach down, and put your hand into the pocket, pulling out the flower he gave you.

His eyes widen when he sees what you're holding. He frowns. "Our rose has wilted."

You shake your head. "Roses die, Loki. I was wrong to think one could symbolize the way we feel for each other." You toss the rose off of the bed, and look back up at him. "And I will be your queen." You smile. "But only for tonight."

Loki nods, and goes back to kissing your neck. You arch your back, enjoying it. You feel him bruising your skin, but you don't care because it feels good. Impatiently, you start to tug at his clothing. He sighs, and quickly strips, straddling your hips. You take a breath, before undoing the knot on your robe. Loki casts it aside with his clothing.

Your eyes travel over his pale flesh. You bite your lips, and he looks down at you with a mischievous smirk. "Nervous?" He asks. You feel your cheeks go red, and your stomach flip-flops. He shakes his head. "Don't be. If you want," he kisses your forehead before resting his against yours. "We don't have to go on." You shake your head violently, and he chuckles. "Alright then."

Ever so gently, he slides himself into you. It hurts a bit, but instead of admitting this, you grasp the sheets between your fingers until it gives way to pleasure. You tangle your fingers in his hair as he presses his body into yours, and a small moan escapes your throat. Loki laughs and rams into you harder. You can feel the pleasure building just below your stomach. You've never felt anything like it. You bite your lip, and he goes faster. You wrap your legs around his waist and dig your nails into his back. He growls a bit, and locks eyes with you, but keeps going. You feel a scream building up inside of you, and without warning you let it out. Loki laughs as he begins to perspire. After the pressure inside of you builds one, final time, he lets out an animalistic yell similar to yours and collapses into you.

The two of you are panting. Loki kisses your shoulder, before rolling off of you and drawing you into his arms. The two of you calm down. You look up at him, and clear your throat a bit. "I love you," you whisper.

"I love you, too," he breaths in response. You take a deep breath, and give a tired smile. He returns it , and the two of you fall into a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.