"BROTHER! So this is where I find you, in the cold climes of Canada?!"

Loki and I looked toward the voice. A tall man with short blond hair, sporting street clothes and a stylized eyepatch over his right eye, approached us.

I quickly turned to look at Loki. I silently mouthed to him, "Is. That. Thor?!" Loki nodded, amused at my awe.

Unsure how to deal with meeting a person of such calibre - asides from dealing with a nest of butterflies in my stomach that were seemingly making it hard for me to breathe - I thought the best way to be polite would be to stand up, which I did.

As the man approached, Loki remained seated. He also seemed to be amused at my unease. He touched my arm, and looked up at me, "relax, he'll like you! However, he might inquire about why you are spending time in my company, then warn you about me."

The man finally reached our table and stood before us. Loki said to him calmly, "last I checked, it was not violating any rules to visit this country," then with much grace, stood from his seat. Putting a hand on my shoulder, looking at me fondly, he then turned to face Thor, "may I present Beverlee," then with a stronger inflection said, "my friend."

Thor looked at me as if sizing me up. I was still full of trepidation but hoped it wasn't too noticeable. I extended my right hand, "it is a pleasure, no, an honour, to meet you, Thor...If I may call you that?"

Amused, almost like Loki, Thor accepted my hand for the handshake. It was a firm handshake as one would suspect, considering who and what he was, but his grip was surprisingly gentle.

"It's good to meet you too, Beverlee." Something about his voice, or maybe how he said my name, just made me smile - and I was able to breathe a little better. He then looked into my eyes and spoke in a serious tone, "be wary of trusting my brother. While he speaks with a silver tongue, you must be made aware of what harm he is capable of inflicting, to you and to others."

I blinked. Then I glanced at Loki.

"See?" Loki said in a wry tone, "he's here less than two minutes, and he insults me," he shook his head, "he always makes things so rough," his eyes lowered and he wore a fatal look of resignation. Then after a beat... he grinned, "this guy."

This reaction from Loki spoke volumes to me. Hiding pain with levity. A defence mechanism I was very familiar with due to events I experienced in my life history.

Thor's words to me were also affecting. Loki's own brother, still wary of him, even after the realities Loki had confided in me. I did understand that Thor was attempting to 'put me wise,' but my relationship with Loki wasn't exactly new - not saying I knew him, but then who knows anyone completely. I still found those words bothersome...

I now looked into Thor's eyes, "thank you for your concern, Thor," I tried to keep my voice even, "but you needn't worry. I must say at this point of time," I looked at the person who called me his friend, and smiled proudly at him, "Loki has developed quite the strength of character."

Loki's expression seemed to change quickly to one of curiosity and gratitude. My bothersome feelings slowly dissipated.

Thor's expression also changed. He shook his head and sighed.

"Why are you here, brother?" Loki asked, breaking the brief moment of silence. His head cocked to the side, his arms now folded in indignance; eyes reflecting the same.

"If you allow me to join you, I would be able to explain." Thor looked at the both of us good-naturedly, with a friendly smile, waiting...

I could sense more tension from Loki. It was one thing to be interrupted, but quite another to now make this an intrusion, especially when it was by a person who had played a part in creating much of Loki's complexes.

Asides from Thor's warning to me, he had been nothing if not polite. However, I couldn't have Loki think that Thor had a special influence over me. Besides, I personally never bought into blond and muscly, whether it was a God or mortal...

There was only one thing I could think of doing. I gently put a hand on Loki's arm, directly looked him in the eyes and asked quietly, "would it be okay for Thor to join us?"

Loki looked at me, the expression of pleasant surprise had returned. As I had surmised, being asked for his opinions, or how Loki felt was rare, especially when his brother Thor was concerned. Something else we had in common.

Loki shot me a grateful smile, then turned to face his brother, "of course, please do," Loki made a sweeping hand gesture to the food court restaurants, "Brother, they serve coffee here."

"It is a good drink," Thor said, "I see your friend also enjoys it."

"Yes," I said quickly, "Loki mentioned you have a fondness for the beverage. May I get you a cup?"

"Thank you, Beverlee, but no. What I have to say won't take too long... I hope." We all sat down, and Thor looked to Loki, "Brother, you and I have been summoned to join others in New York to go on an assignment."

"We?" Loki said with a tone of incredulity, "did I hear you right? 'We' would mean you and... me."

"You heard right, Brother. They want you too."

"Excuse me," I said, "sorry to interrupt, but wouldn't this best be discussed in private? Aren't things of this nature classified?"

"Loki called you his friend," Thor said, "if he trusts you, then so do I. " Thor's voice was tinged with amusement, "even with that said, I have said nothing that reveals any sensitive information."

I nodded and then decided to shut up and let the brothers talk.

"What do you say, brother?" Thor asked, with a smile.

"This group in New York," Loki began slowly, "is it a group you were part of before?"

Thor glanced at me, then said, "it has some association with it, but it is a different initiative."

"Quite the path to lay before me..." Loki said, his voice sounding thoughtful, "are you sure you didn't hear them wrong? Did you get this request in writing?"

"They asked for the BOTH of us, Loki," Thor chuckled. "Why is this so hard for you to believe?"

"Because this world doesn't know what to do with me. Apparently, I'm too dangerous to leave alone or trust, so they ask you to be my keeper or to make sure they can keep me in sight," he bared his wrist with the tracker, and pointed to it, "isn't this enough for them?!"

"You're overdramatizing things, brother, just like the plays you used to write on Asgard."

"Hey!" I couldn't believe I was speaking up, but Loki made plenty of sense, and since his brother wasn't being the least bit sympathetic, although I really couldn't be cross with Thor - what did Asgardians know of psychology or with dealing mental health?

I soon noticed they both were staring at me. I took a deep breath - I seemed to have temporarily lost my voice at that moment. With my hand, I made a gesture to wait for a moment as I took a sip of my coffee.

"Thor, like you," I started slowly, "I sincerely believe that this would be a great opportunity for Loki to join this 'new initiative' However, you have to put yourself in Loki's shoes." As Thor didn't make any remark about him and Loki having a different shoe size, I surmised he understood what I said.

Then I turned to face Loki. Putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, I again looked directly into his eyes; this time anxious. My voice was soft, "Loki, listen to me. Everyone in some way suffers from pain and guilt. Even me. They are the things we carry with us. It makes us who we are. It must have been difficult for you opening up to me, let alone anyone. But, know something? It's made me like you even more. And you know something else? You've so got this. Let me tell you why. You now have been presented with an opportunity to turn things around. I can understand your misgivings. If this proposal hadn't come from Thor, it would certainly sound like something concocted by you." I winked at him.

That elicited a small smile from Loki. I took another risk and moved my hand from his shoulder to grasp his hand. Loki accepted the contact to my, and I hoped also to his, relief.

"You have so much to offer this world, Loki. You'll get a chance to make things right. Your experiences and what you've learned up to now will be a HUGE asset in assisting the team, let alone what you'll learn as you go. You'll be able to use that intelligent and calculating mind for the greater good."

It seems my words were sinking in, Loki had calmed down considerably. His expression was now one of pure enthusiasm, I could see in his face he was seriously considering all the possibilities.

I leaned in close to Loki, and said quietly, "while we can't always expect everyone to like us, for those who don't," Loki waited, curious for my advice, I wryly smiled at him, "screw 'em."

Loki couldn't hold back his mirth.

Thor looked at me with admiration - at least that's what I could discern from the smile I saw - then said, "Thank you, Beverlee, for showing such kindness to my brother. I wish I knew such words."

"It's not always about the words, Thor," I said, grabbing another sip of my coffee, "it's about speaking from the heart." I then intently looked at Loki's brother, wondering about the right words for what I was about to say next, "with that, I do have a request to make of you."

"Anything for Loki's friend," he grinned.

"Loki may have a difficult transition to this group. Please, watch over him and keep him safe? That's all I ask."

Thor was amused... and so was Loki.

Loki looked at me, took my hand and gave it a squeeze, "you're very sweet, Beverlee..."

"I believe, when it comes to my brother," Thor had a glint in his eye, "he can take care of himself."

Loki turned to face Thor, his head cocked to the side, looking surprisingly pleased with his brother's sentiment.

"Fair enough," I said, smiling at both of them.

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

It had been a week since I had seen my friend. I missed him, and wondered, with some concern, on how he was doing, but I would also think about how great it was that he was going to use his talents to make the world a better place. It considerably lessened those troubling feelings. I remembered fondly, our last words before he had left the food court with his brother.

"Be careful, my friend," I said.

"Where's the fun in that?" Loki smiled wickedly.

As time progressed, however, thoughts of Loki got pushed far back in my mind as I had to return to my own realities. Among other things, the usual routine for someone on Midgard; going to work, chores that related to the domicile, attempting to keep some kind of exercise schedule and keeping up with TV shows that I enjoyed.

I had worked at my place of employment for more than twenty years. When I first started, it felt pretty rewarding. I felt I was making a difference, and in time, as I worked hard at what I was doing, I began to excel at my position. My supervisors even began to take notice. I would be hand-picked for certain high-brow projects. However as the years went by, with the ups and downs that came with the changes in management, not to mention budgets, it came to a point where there was a huge lack of appreciation for the employees, which of course included me. What's more, this had become the type of job that I could pretty much do in my sleep, the projects seeming to be more mind-numbingly dull, boredom set in rapidly. Why did I continue to stay? Well, it paid the bills and... it came with a health plan.

At least there were two things I found some joy in being there. One was the odd and interesting discussions I would have with my colleagues and Team Leaders, which would temporarily alleviate my boredom. Interesting would be like:

"The Jets are in fine form this season, I hope they make the playoffs!"

"If they do, you know I'll be watching," I'd say.

Odd, on the other hand:

"Have you noticed there's quite a lot of people in the construction business named Tom?"

"I guess Bob isn't as much the builder anymore," I'd say.

The other, taking my second fifteen-minute break. This was the time I would take a brisk walk around the perimeter of the workplace. Outdoors in the summer, and in the winter, through the skywalk. Putting earbuds into my ears, and listening to a high energy tune on my smartphone, it was a great escape.

On this particular day at my workplace, things were no different. Years ago, when dealing with nasty respondents over the phone, they caused me much concern and undue stress, but over time, I soon learned to become indifferent to it. A receptionist, an owner, the manager, anyone who would try to make me feel like a second class citizen... I would just politely end the call. It was due to two colleagues giving me the best advice, "It's not you, it's them, Bev," the other, "just make the attempt, that's all you have to do. They say no, just move on." The current project I was on, the people seemed to be mostly made up of that unpleasant set, but I slogged on through as usual.

When it came time for my second break walk, a smile appeared on my face as I listened to a new song I had recently discovered. Returning from break, which left one hour of the day, I continued to slog until the clock displayed 3:55 pm. I was overjoyed, yet again, to be able to take my leave. I wrapped up from work and headed to the elevator. Exiting from the building and into the outdoors, it took only a few steps before I found a man standing before me...

It was Thor. Loki wasn't with him. And the expression on Thor's face told me something was wrong...Very wrong.

I quickly approached him.

Thor looked into my eyes, and said, "Beverlee," he put a gentle hand on my shoulder, "Loki is in trouble and... needs your help."