Sooner Or Later

Chapter 1:

"I'll do anything, just please help me."

"Let me see if I understand you correctly," Loki said, eyeing the young woman who held his book hostage. "You want me to accompany you on your quest?"

The woman was insane, Loki decided. There was no other explanation. Darcy Lewis, assistant to Jane Foster, SHIELD Agent in training, was a prime candidate for what Midgardians called 'the loony bin'.

She looked up at him, her green eyes as dark as the forests on Vanaheim. This 'female-in-distress' performance might weaken another man's defenses, but Loki was a God. He had no intention of interrupting his so-called 'punishment' for some silly mortal woman with an itch, seeking adventure.

His opinion of the fairer sex had never been high, and since his brother had married Jane Foster, his attitude was even worse. It would take more than the fluttering of this pretty little mortal's eyelashes for him to traipse through some foreign jungle.

"You don't understand," she insisted.

Loki understood perfectly, he just didn't happen to be interested.

"It's my brother," she continued, and bit into her trembling lower lip.

'A nice touch,' Loki mused skeptically, but he wouldn't change his mind.

"He's gone missing."

She actually managed to look like she was on the verge of weeping. She was good, Loki gave her that much. Sincerity all but oozed from her pores.

"No one in SHIELD can tell me what's happened to him. He was last heard to be in Costa Rica, but the Zarceran government collapsed. The phone lines are down and we haven't been able to trace him in over a week,"

"I cannot help you." He didn't mean to be rude, or heartless, but he simply wasn't interested. He'd already told her as much as three times, but she'd apparently opted not to believe him.

This was the first of several errors on her part. If the man was stupid enough to plant himself in a country on the verge of political collapse, then he deserved what he got.

"Please," she added with a soft, breathless quality to her voice, "I need your help."

Loki heaved an impatient sigh. The last thing he expected after waking up was to be cornered by a small mortal woman.

"You can help me," she insisted, her voice elevating with entreaty. "It's just that you won't. It isn't as if I'm asking you to do this out of the kindness of your heart!"

Good thing, because Loki's nature didn't lean toward the charitable.

"I said I'd do anything, and I meant it. I get that a guy of your expertise doesn't—"

"My… expertise?" Loki narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, c'mon. You don't honestly think I don't know anything about you?" Her chin came up a notch, as if he'd insulted her intelligence. "I'm not stupid, Loki. It doesn't take a lot of effort to break out the history books. You weren't exactly a favorite of anyone's here on Earth back in the Viking era, or this one to be honest."

She said the words as though they made her mouth dirty. No doubt this silly little human had never sunk to such despicable levels before now. Loki loved it. He certainly didn't expect someone like her would encourage dealings with the likes of him. Especially after the events that unfolded in New York 2 years ago.

"I'll say it again," she offered again. "Anything you ask."

He snorted softly and purposely leveled his gaze at her, more than ample, chest wanting to shock her.

"I know all about Jotunheim."

Loki froze. That caught his interest. "I see. You do, do you?"

She stiffened. "Loki, please, I—"

Loki wasn't keen on delivering a few home truths, but it seemed necessary. "Listen well Darcy Lewis, I am sorry about your brother. But nothing you say or do now is going to change the fact that that particular country, in this realm, is in chaos. If you are seeking my advice, then I'll give it. You would be wasting your time, energy and safety to look for him at this date. The chances are, he has been dead for a fortnight or more."

"No," Darcy said with such vehemence that Loki nearly flinched. "I would know if he were dead!" She slammed her hand down hard on the table next to her, her shoulders heaved with the strength of her conviction. "Believe me, my brother's alive."

Loki had no desire to argue with her. She could believe anything she damn well pleased, and if it comforted her to think the soldier had survived the coup, so be it.

"May I kindly have my book now?" he asked impatiently, and stretched out his arm. Normally he would have just magicked it back into his possession, but one of Odin's little stipulations was that he have his magic taken away while in the care of his 'brother' on Midgard.

Darcy reluctantly handed it to him. "Is there anything I can say or do to convince you to take this on with me?" she asked, and boldly held his eyes.

"Not a single thing, Miss Lewis." Now that he had his book back, he turned and walked out the door. Before he left the kitchen, he glanced over his shoulder and experienced a small twinge of regret when he saw her head bowed in defeat. He couldn't help feeling bad for her, but not enough that he'd sacrifice the first free time he'd had in months.

By the time he arrived back in his room, his sympathy for the girl's plight had waned. He'd noticed her before, plenty of times. Darcy Lewis was a pretty thing, or could be. If she got rid of those damned glasses and wore more flattering clothing. Those large sweaters did nothing to enhance what nature had generously given her. If she wore any makeup, it would surprise him. She seemed downright afraid of her own femininity.

Loki had no use for females in general, save his mother and maybe Sif. Oh, they had their place, he'd be the first to admit, but that was generally atop a bed smelling of perfumes and sex. He'd had his share, being a Prince of Asgard, and walked away free of any emotional entanglements, thankful for it.

He'd seen firsthand what a woman could do to mess up men's lives. Loki didn't need anything when it came to women. In his opinion, they were nothing but a temporary distraction.

Fandral, once one of his closest and truest friends, had been taken in by many women's charms. His mistake had nearly cost him his life once. Fandral continued to carry the scars of his weakness, not that he'd learned his lesson, Loki noted. He had come dangerously close to messing up more than one quest by not keeping his manhood in his trousers. The man had a weakness for a pretty face.

Reaching his room, Loki shut the door and sat down in the plush chair closest to the window. He gazed out over the city, now completely rebuilt thanks to SHIELD and his brother's comrade's efforts. One would never know of the destruction that had rained down thanks to him, but he could still see the sorrow in some of their faces.

He turned to the book in his hand, turning it to the page he had marked, trying to reign in sad thoughts but all he could think of was the young mortal girl who intrigued him more than anything else in this pitiful, boring realm.