It was thrilling to wander the halls of this SHIELD building late at night, as if we were on a secret mission. From a certain point of view, we were... a mission to find Loki some solace.

Bruno explained that  when agents and employees were pulling long hours on a case and needed food, or a moment to themselves, they had designed convenient venues; a short walk from the Med Centre to boot.

Within a few minutes we reached our destination, which was a large set of metal doors, strikingly different from the other doors we passed along the way. On those doors was a designated number: 36.

"Room thirty-six?" Loki asked Bruno, "what a curious number and special door."

"There's a reason for that," Bruno said, pulling out a key card, swiping it. "Just wait for it," he winked at us.

The doors slid apart, and Bruno pushed Loki's wheelchair through the entrance, with me following close behind them.

Once we cleared the doors, they slid back together.

What we saw was simply breathtaking - it was a Chinese garden! If anything was the perfect escape from the outside world this was definitely it - and Loki needed escape, big time.

There was so much to take in; the lush vegetation, the flowers/botanicals, the various sizes of rocks specially placed, to the pavillions and other structures. In the middle of it all, which tied everything together, was a large babbling brook teeming with koi, along with raised square platforms for one to walk across the brook or a place to just to stop for awhile and enjoy. Hanging from the ceiling was a special lighting system which enhanced it's beauty - which I suspected also helped the garden to thrive. It was an incredible sight no matter from what angle you observed it.

"Bruno," I said with a smile of utter happiness, "you've gone above and beyond! Thank you."

Bruno nodded, "my pleasure." He looked carefully at me, "and you shouldn't have anyone disturbing you here at this time of night, the area is closed off for basic maintenance until late morning - or until these guys are done."

After Bruno mentioned this, I noticed there were three workmen in our vicinity. A few panels had been removed from one of the walls, exposing some of the mechanical systems. Each of them were hard at work doing a specific task. I saw one wave their colleague over for assistance. From their expressions, it seemed to me they were talking over some major troubleshooting. I turned my attention back to our friendly orderly.

"That's just perfect," I smiled and gave Bruno two thumbs up.

"No, it's not perfect," I heard Loki say, his voice sounding so dejected and sad. I went over to him and saw a sullen expression on his face.

"Why would you say that, Loki?" I asked with concern.

"How can I enjoy all this," Loki lamented, "if I must remain in this wheelchair?"

Bruno and I exchanged sympathetic looks. It dawned on me that ever since this ordeal began, Loki hadn't any opportunity to get any real exercise! I looked at Bruno questioningly, and he nodded in assent.

"As long as he doesn't do anything too strenuous," Bruno said, "he should be able to walk around as much as he likes... but start off slowly."

Loki looked at Bruno, with the same questioning look, to be sure he thought what he heard was said, and Bruno confirmed it with another nod.

"I hope this place will help you feel better, Loki," Bruno said.

"I'm already beginning to, Bruno. Thank you," my friend replied then turned his attention to me, "Beverlee..." he said, a smile staring to grow, "a little help, please?"

It was all I could do to not yank Loki out of his wheelchair, even though he was just as enthusiastic as I was - maybe even more so - to check out everything we could of this man-made paradise.

"Bruno," I said, while I helped Loki from his wheelchair, "is there some place to get some beverages and snacks? I know we just ate recently, but considering the location, and we may be doing quite a lot of walking..."

"I understand, Beverlee," Bruno said with a knowing look, "just give me a moment." He walked over to an odd machine on the wall that was located near the doors we entered. He pressed a few buttons, and a slot opened up, revealing a sealed yellow bag with a SHIELD logo. Bruno took the bag from the slot, which closed after it.

"Here," Bruno said, handing the bag to me, "this should be all you need, and the recycle bins are easy to find. I'll come get you before the place reopens, but if you need any assistance, there's a call button on the far right wall." Bruno smiled wryly, "oh, and if/when nature truly begins to call... they are clearly marked." Bruno took a few steps closer to the door, then turned around, "the garden has many paths, feel free to choose any one or more of them, but if I may, I suggest you both start with the 'Green Tea Route,'" he pointed it out to us.

Bruno then departed, leaving us with the sounds of the metal doors sliding open then rejoining.

Taking the "pocket" off of Loki's wheelchair, I rolled up our blankets and put them in, as well as the 'snack bag' Bruno had procured for us. Slipping my arm through the handles, I slung the pocket like a bag over my shoulder.

Taking a moment to steady himself on his feet, Loki asked, "shall we?" then offered me his arm. I smiled at him sweetly, taking his arm with pleasure. I knew that this gesture was not only made as a gentleman, but that he needed me to lean on for support to prevent undue stress on his injured ribs. Besides, in a place like this you wouldn't be running - and I was more than happy to take a slow pace with him. After a couple of false starts, we soon were able to fall into step.

"So, Green Tea Route?" I asked Loki as we reached the area of the crosspaths.

"Why not?" Loki said at me, "I'm curious what this path holds for Bruno to have suggested it to us."

With a slow and steady pace, we began to cover ground. We soon paused to admire an outcropping of exotic flowers growing out of several cracks in a large rock.

Loki reached out with his hand to the outcropping, his long fingers gently touching then stroking the petals of one of the blooms. After a moment, he turned to me.

"In the past, things that I... things that were important to me disappeared or were taken away," he looked into my eyes, "you've been there for me when I was helpless. You did not 'accept terms those would impose upon me.'" His eyes became downcast, "when this all gets resolved one way or another, I fear that you..."

"Not going to happen," I interrupted him.

"I've put you through so much," Loki said, sounding insecure. "I can't expect you to stay in the company of someone like myself. You may find it a relief to rid yourself of me."

"Loki..." I began to say, but then spied some boulders with semi-smooth surfaces that were just a few steps away from us. With a nod of my head in that direction, we walked over to them and sat down.

After the panic attack he experienced in his room, and now this display of insecurity, I suspected he was still highly emotionally sensitive. I had to be careful with what I said and did next. I smiled at him warmly, then said, "Loki, you didn't put me through anything I couldn't have walked away from at any time." I then stood from my boulder, our hands still clutched, "I made the choice to be by your side, and it'll be my choice again if I want to stay there." I paused for a moment, to let my words sink in.

It seemed what I said was having the desired effect, as Loki's hand began to tremble in mine. Was it a disconcerting thought or an overwhelming feeling as he began to realize a certain truth: that someone genuine wanted to stand by him, did care about him and had a willingness to do this unconditionally?

Moving my hand to the top of his, the smile still on my face, I concluded with, "and I do."

"Beverlee...I..." Loki said, seeming at a loss for words with an expression I couldn't quite describe - short of a mix of happiness and perplexion.

"Come on," I said encouragingly, hoping to divert his current thoughts as I knew he would need time to sort all this out in his mind. Letting go of his hand, I reached out and grasped his arms lightly, "let's continue our walk, and see what lies for us at the end of this path."

"Yes," he said with a small smile, now looking at me with affection, "let's."

****************

Bruno was right, The Green Tea Route boasted some dramatic scenery. As we continued on our walk, we saw more eye-catching sights along the way, each one more gorgeous than the last! There were more flowers, oddly shaped rocks and smooth stones, open structures - it was like walking around in an exotic painting.

After our talk, it was also wonderful that Loki's mood had greatly improved. Even with his slow pace, it felt like he, proverbially, had more spring in his step. For the moment, free from any worrisome distractions, he was able to better focus on these lush surroundings.

"Midgard boasts quite some beautiful flora and fauna," Loki said, with a content sigh. "So different from what we had on Asgard."

"This Midgardian is glad to hear it pleases you," I said teasingly with a grin.

"Well, this Asgardian is glad that you are glad," Loki said, playing along.

This path was becoming quite a long and winding one, and after a time, I began to notice my friend was growing weary.

"Do we know how much longer this path goes?" Loki asked. "Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being here, it's better than being in the Med Centre..."

"It's okay, Loki," I said, "I'm also getting tired from all this walking."

Then I noticed the path was actually coming to an end, and what we saw was simple yet perfect...

On one side, a waterfall; the water cascading down several large boulders that were arranged in a special design, which made the sound of the cascade absolutely enthralling. On the other, a structure, but this one wasn't as open as the others, it was like a small wooden gazebo that was furnished with a couple of couches and a small table.

We both looked at each other, and almost in unison we said, "Bruno," then laughed. This orderly knew all along what we both were seeking - and we couldn't have been more grateful.

We entered the gazebo. I got Loki to sit on one of the couches as I unslung the pouch off my shoulder, and put it on the table. From it, I took out the yellow snack bag, and looked at it carefully to see how to open it. Luckily, it was not unlike one of those self-sealing sandwich bags - just pull apart to unseal. Inside there were two bottles of water and two packets of some kind of snack. For now, I just took out the bottles, handing Loki his before taking mine, then sitting down beside him.

It felt good to sit down after that long walk; I could only imagine how tired Loki was from it. We sipped our water in silence for a few minutes, listening to the delicious sounds of the waterfall, unwinding from our journey.

Then, all of a sudden, a large angry 'boom' was heard. It made us both sit up from the couch and put our bottles on the table. Within moments, another boom, louder than the last. I deduced it was a thunderstorm, a natural event I took pleasure in, but I noticed my friend wasn't finding it pleasurable in the least... It wasn't hard to understand why.

Loki's eyes went wide and he instinctively looked up and around us intently with an expression of distress and irritation. His breathing had also quickened.

"It's just the rain," I said softly, reaching for his hand, then grasping it firmly. "Trust me, he's not here..." I paused for a moment, then added, "but I am."

Loki stopped what he was doing. His eyes met mine and we just looked at each other for a moment. Then, with his other hand, he carefully reached out and touched my cheek, "yes, yes you are," he said quietly, relief clear in his voice.

There was another boom, but this time Loki didn't flinch. I smiled at him warmly, it made me so proud he could turn around every one of the thoughts which tried to invade his happy ones.

Suddenly, the lighting system flickered - then went dark. The area we were in was now as black as pitch and I surmised it was the same everywhere else in 'Room 36.'

With my other hand, I searched my jacket pocket to find my phone, so I could use the flashlight app...

What the...?!

I suddenly discovered it wasn't there, the place I always carry it.

That's not possible...

Could I have dropped it during our walk? But I'm sure I would have noticed that...

Had I not been holding Loki's hand at the time this happened I would have started to get very nervous, well more nervous than what I was feeling right now....

At least the sounds of the waterfall were still there. I took a very deep breath, exhaling slowly to try to relax.

"Beverlee, are you all right?" I heard Loki ask.

Hearing his voice in the dark was quite calming.

"I'm-I'm not usually afraid of the dark," I attempted to explain, "but darkness like this I find a little, okay, more than a little daunting."

I'm not sure where it stemmed from, but having my sense of sight deprived, something about not being able to see my hand in front of me or anything else, triggered within me a state of fear.

"Something must have gone wrong with the basic maintenance," Loki said, his voice thoughtful, "since we can still hear the waterfall, seems to me like a blown fuse. Luckily the rest of the electrical systems are still functioning."

"Crossing fingers they... keep them that way," I said, my voice shaky, trying very hard, but failing miserably at preventing the escalation of my anxiety.

"Hey," I heard him say, "breathe, Beverlee," as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, "I'm here. You're safe." He pulled me a bit closer, then did something I didn't expect...

He moved his leg in such a way that at first it touched mine, then he snuck his ankle in and around mine.

"Loki?" I asked curiously.

"I hope you don't mind my forwardness," I heard him say in an upbeat tone, "I... need my hand back for moment, so I thought I could make a temporary trade?"

I couldn't help but smile, as again I was impressed by how perceptive he was. He knew how important the holding of his hand was to give me some security. Had he asked me to let it go outright, I would have found that very difficult. Doing this made it easy, well easier, to release his hand.

In mere seconds, Loki pierced the darkness with the power of light that I could only compare with the laser shows our local planetarium would offer - but even then! What mere mortals could only conjure with mirrors, prisms and diffraction lenses, he was easily creating with his hands. The bright and vivid colours of red, green, yellow and blue - what I was seeing just blew me away.

"Loki, this is incredible!" I said excitedly, continuing to watch this spectacle with enthusiasm, "I never knew..." and I bet no one else did, except perhaps Thor and his adoptive parents.

"There's much people don't know about me," Loki said very quietly.

"I don't doubt that," I said, looking at him carefully, seeing the colours of his illusions reflecting on his face, "but...I'd... like to learn."

Like learning about Loki's shirt... When I had found the char marks that no one else had noticed - it now made sense - he must have used an illusion to hide them.

Loki changed up his colourful display, and created a bright image of a large rose that hung in the air before me. I smiled and put my hand on his arm.

"You charmer," I said, feeling more relaxed, "you certainly know how to show a girl a good time."

Loki looked at me with a shy smile.

With a wave of his hand, the image of the rose disappeared. He replaced it with a static image of a bright yellow lantern so we could see each other.

Being as relaxed as I was, an involuntary yawn ensued, "Sorry," I said contritely. "Y'know, with that talent... if you paired that light show up with some sound," I thought out loud, "I wish I had my my phone, I could..."

"You mean this?" Loki said innocently, magically presenting it to me in one of his hands.

"Loki?" I asked, realizing this was the second time I used his name as a full question. I should really stop that...

"Beverlee," Loki said, speaking slowly, "please, don't be upset with me... I-I didn't steal your phone," he swallowed hard, then looked into my eyes, "while I do admit I am interested in this device, I noticed you always had it on you, and when we exited the Med Centre you left it on your bed. I thought you had forgotten it. So I retrieved it before we departed."

I glanced down at my phone in his hand, then up again at him.

"You had it all this time?"

Loki nodded nervously.

From my puzzled expression, Loki continued to explain.

"I had believed you would have noticed it missing earlier..." he said, now looking ashamed, "I... admit I was amused that you hadn't."

A sympathetic smile soon appeared on my face. I couldn't be angry with what he did. As fond as I was of my friend, I couldn't deny his nature of being a trickster.

"I'm... not upset with you," I said gently, taking the phone from his hand. "Had you given my phone to me earlier... I would have missed your lovely light show," I gave him a reassuring look, "besides, it was also a good opportunity for me to 'unplug.'"

"Unplug?" my friend asked.

"Umm, to take a respite from technology and reconnect with something more important," I held up my phone, "this can sometimes be a problem or a solution," I put it on my lap, "I'll tell you right now, connecting with you... is more fulfilling to me than this device."

Loki looked at me with sweet relief, then reached out and took my hand, "then may I say, to connect with someone like you who understands me, in so many ways, after being harshly misjudged by others..." he paused, his words becoming emotionally affected, "you don't know what that means... to someone like me."

I was very touched by what Loki said, giving him a smile of utter happiness. We looked at each other in silence for more than a moment.

"Come on," I broke the silence, with an encouraging smile, "let's get you comfortable so I can show you how this device works."

********

With the illusions dispersed, I activated the flashlight app on my phone. I took our blankets from the pouch along with our snacks and arranged things in cozy fashion so we could just relax and enjoy my smartphone tutorial. For now, the light from my touchscreen was all we needed.

Knowing he was the hands-on type, I let Loki hold the device and verbally told him how it powered on, then started with the basics. In my mind, knowledge was power. If Loki knew how to use this device, I believed it would become helpful in at least two ways, like if something happened to me or perhaps if something was happening around us. There was no scenario I could imagine Loki perverting any of what he was learning. I mean, he was now on the side of benevolence, so this could only be advantageous. Loki asked some pretty good questions too. I was relieved that I was able to answer all of them!

Finishing that, we got onto the topic of music. While I didn't quite know the styles of music on Asgard, I chose a few selections from my playlist for Loki to listen to and through that I was able to figure out what styles he liked - which helped in creating a playlist for him.

After awhile I could see Loki was yawning, which soon got me doing the same.

"Just one more song, Beverlee?" Loki asked, with an uncontrollable yawn, "please?"

An almost involuntary broad smile appeared on my face - Loki was acting just like a kid who was asking for another story or a glass of water to stall before having to go to bed. Even that thought lead me to briefly think about his actual childhood.

"It's late, Loki," I said, reaching out to put my hand on his shoulder, "I promise we'll continue this another time. We really need to get some sleep."

"Okay," Loki said, with a bit of disappointment, but his smile didn't dim. "Thank you for teaching me about your device, Beverlee."

"My pleasure, Loki."

With all the fun we had been having, I noticed my phone's power had considerably gone down and in need of a charge, but my cord was back at the Med Centre. Since we weren't using the phone anymore tonight, it wasn't a bother. I would just charge it when we returned.

As soon as I completely powered off my phone, my friend used his power again - he created a bright yellow light illuminating the area so I could set up the other couch for myself with one of the blankets we brought along. I chuckled quietly to myself, on how Bruno was right, yet again, about us having to bring them with us.

I then helped Loki get comfortable on his couch with the other blanket before returning to mine, where I lay down and covered up.

"Sleep well, Loki," I said.

"Because of you, Beverlee, I believe I finally can," Loki said.

I gave him an affectionate look.

Loki ended the illusion and the area went back to black.

No longer afraid of the darkness and listening to the sounds of the waterfall, I soon fell asleep... with a smile on my face.

****

I slowly awoke to the sound of voices talking amongst each other, and as I opened my eyes, I could see it was Agent Coulson, Dr. Lowenstein and Thor. It also appeared that the workmen doing the basic maintenance had fixed the problem with the lighting system as we slept. It was curious why Bruno hadn't come to get us, but that wasn't important at the moment. I also hoped that our Agent in Charge - and Loki's Physician in Charge -wasn't angry we had left the Med Centre. For the moment, I decided to just play it nonchalant.

"Beverlee, I trust you slept well?" Coulson asked.

"I... did, actually," I replied, stretching, "it was such a better setting for both of us to do so."

"Speaking of both," Coulson said, "where's Loki?"

I looked to the other couch, he wasn't there. His blanket was also missing. However, my phone was still on the table. I smiled for a moment then returned to the matter at hand.

"Umm.." I said to Coulson, thinking this over. Strangely enough, I didn't seem too worried this time, considering what Loki tried to do in his room at the Med Centre.

Coulson raised his communication device on his wrist close to his mouth, "Security, we have..."

"No!" I said, quickly standing up and grabbing Coulson's arm. "No, you don't have to do that. Loki hasn't escaped. Here's around here somewhere," I gave him my best disarming smile. "With his injuries he wouldn't get too far. I believe I know where he is," putting on my shoes, I said carefully, "please, would you both remain here while I collect him?"

"Okay," Coulson said, begrudgingly, and sat on the couch Loki had been previously sleeping. Lowenstein joined him, while Thor leaned against the wall.

Leaving the gazebo, I walked over to the waterfall. In a grassy area, I noticed Loki's blanket was there, but he wasn't. I trusted my instincts and walked a little closer then waited. Within a few seconds, Loki materialized, sitting on the blanket. He turned his head to look at me and waved me over. I approached; sitting down beside him.

"I hope you're not cross with me," Loki said quietly, "I woke up before you, and I just wanted a moment to myself... before we had to go back to the Med Centre," he looked at me carefully, "Bruno did come to collect us, but I told him you needed your rest, and asked him to tell Coulson to meet us here."

"I understand," I smiled up at him, then linked my arm around his, resting my head upon it. In a swift and seamless motion, he unlinked his arm, then put it around me, "When I didn't see you on the couch, Coulson thought you had escaped.... I, on the other hand, knew you hadn't."

"Clever girl," Loki said, looking at me with a warm smile, "I take it the trio are waiting for us?"

"They can wait... just a little longer," I said, returning his smile, then turning back to watch and listen to the beautiful sounds of the waterfall.