Disclaimer: I don't own, I don't profit.

Special thanks to my beta, Notes from the Classroom. She reviewed most of this chapter (all the mistakes are mine). Notes is a published, award-winning, author, but she writes fanfiction for FREE. I highly recommend you check out her latest, "The Prodigal Son" in my faves. It is an awesome mix of humor, romance, action and adventure starring Spock/Uhura, Sarek/Amanda and Sybok!

Jane

Scowling down at the notepad in her hand, Jane strides through her lab in Stark Tower. "Darcy! Darcy! I can't read this! Where are you?"

There is no answer. Jane narrows her eyes at the squiggles on the page. Just because Jane wrote said squiggles doesn't mean she can decipher them. Darcy can - Jane swears it is a super power. Dropping the notepad, Jane looks around in frustration. "Darcy!" It is at just that moment she notices the clock. It says 6:43. That can't be right.

Jane looks out the window at the darkening autumn sky. Okay, maybe it is right. Did Darcy even say goodbye? She vaguely remembers a goodbye, but she was sure that was yesterday...

"Ahem," comes a voice from behind.

Jane turns around. Standing in the doorway of her lab is her ex-gay-boyfriend's, previously mind-controlled, adopted little brother - and Darcy's distant long-time-ago grandmother. He's more casually dressed than she's ever seen him. He's wearing a muted green t-shirt, jeans and a sport coat. Thankfully, Darcy convinced him to drop the "straight-boy-trying-too-hard" slicked back long haired look. His hair is short and soft, curling in black ringlets around his ears.

Jane puts her hands on her hips. "Darcy's not here," she says, sounding as peeved as she is.

"I'm not actually here to see Darcy," says Loki.

Jane blinks. "What?"

Clearing his throat, Loki says, "My brother mentioned that there was an event that the two of you were going to attend together this evening, before your relationship ended. He is unable to attend the event due to a mis-scheduled appointment -"

Jane rolls her eyes. "Get to the point!" She has a feeling she knows what kind of 'appointment' it is...and with whom.

Narrowing his eyes at her, Loki says, "And since Thor is unable to attend the event as your friend or as your, your -"

"B-O-Y-F-R-I-E-N-D," Jane supplies.

"-he asked me to come in his stead since he is forever grateful for your understanding and wishes to assure that you are well."

Jane stares at Loki. And then what he said clicks. "Wait, Thor uses me as his free, unpaid therapist to get over the stupid hang ups about his homosexuality that he developed in the Realm Eternal that is supposed to be so much more highly evolved than ours. He thinks he's blowing me off for an event - probably because he never checks his email, I cancelled weeks ago - so he sends his brother as my consolation prize! Well, I never wanted to go to the Ultimate Fighting Tournament anyway!"

Loki's nostrils flare as he stares down at the tiny mortal woman. She barely comes to his chest; she is wearing an oversized flannel shirt that completely disguises any womanly features she might have. Did Thor think that by dating a female that looks like a pretty boy that he could get over his natural inclinations? Loki snorts. "Well, I didn't want to go either! I was only here to do HIM a favor!"

"Fine!" the little mortal yells.

"Fine!" says Loki. He spins on his heel, but thinking better of it, teleports before he sets the place on fire. How does his granddaughter put up with that horrible creature?

Jane watches the green smoke dissipate with a huff. Of all the stupid, condescending ideas Thor has ever had...

And then she blinks. There was a reason - well, one among many, she cancelled on the Ultimate Fighting Tournament...and she's late!

x x x x

The projection of galaxies on the ceiling of the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater dim and there is a collective sigh from the audience, and then clapping.

As the lights come on, a cheery man in his sixties approaches the podium at the front. On his arm is a spry elderly woman Jane has never met but has admired for decades. Before her name is announced, Jane leaps from her seat and starts clapping loudly. Around her, people in the audience do the same.

The applause doesn't stop until the man taps the microphone. "Beside me is a woman who evidently doesn't need much introduction." The crowd laughs, and the man holds up a plaque and shows it to the crowd. "For letting us know how much we really don't know about the universe, the Hayden Planetarium would like to present this lifetime achievement award to Vera Rubin, for her discovery of the galaxy rotation problem."

The crowd goes wild again and Jane grins. Crazy scientists.

There is a meet and greet afterwards and Jane gets to meet and shake hands with her idol. Sadly, Ms. Rubin is whisked away before Jane can ask her too many questions. Still, as Jane meanders through the crowd with her champagne glass, she is pretty happy. She feels refreshed and rejuvenated. Who cares if she is alone? Who cares if she is getting odd stares from a lot of the attendees because she is still considered a whacko in her field? She got to meet Vera Rubin! She turns to follow Ms. Rubin's path with her eyes...and drops her glass.

Across the room, shaking Rubin's hand is Loki. He followed her here! Why that condescending, stuck up...

Her brain fizzles out in her anger.

As soon as Vera and her small entourage steps away from him, Jane strides across the room. His back is to her - as though he hasn't seen her, as though he hasn't been following her. Jane jabs him with a finger.

Spinning around, Loki hisses, "Excuse me." His eyes widen slightly when he sees her, and then they narrow.

Jane will not be cowed. "You followed me here! Really? Does Thor, that big oaf, think so little of me that he expects me to fall to a million pieces just because he left me for a man?"

"I did not follow you here," Loki snaps.

"Oh, really, you just came here just to see Vera Rubin's life time achievement award?"

Glaring at her, Loki hisses. "Actually, yes, I did. I admire hercontributions to your people's understanding of magic."

Jane raises a finger, about to snap something back at him. And then she blinks. "You do?" What had Darcy said? You and Loki should hang out sometime. You're both cranky and crazy about science. "You do, don't you," she says again, as though to herself.

Loki looks at the mortal in front of him, prepared to say something sharp. But then he catches her tone.

Tilting his head he says, carefully, "Yes."

Jane takes a deep breath. "I am so sorry. I..." She closes her eyes and waves a hand in the air. "Let me make it up to you. Let me treat you to coffee."

Loki's jaw twitches as she opens her eyes. "I prefer hot chocolate." Coffee is horrid and bitter, no matter what Thor says.

She nods. "Well, I know a place that does a decent job at both."

He looks her up and down. For the event this evening, Dr. Foster has dressed in clothes that are actually flattering. She's too petite to be his ideal - her breasts are too small, and even in heels she doesn't come up to his Adams apple, but she is definitely not a boy. She has a nice figure, a pretty face, and a neck that is long and elegant.

He looks around at the thinning crowd, and back to Jane. He could do worse.

Even if she is only asking him out as an apology.

x x x x

"You mean, you haven't been home since..." Jane's voice drifts off, and she wraps her hands more tightly around her steaming mug. She can't bring herself to say Thanos' name.

Sitting with his leg spread wide, Loki is leaning back in his chair. Though not as bulky as Thor, he is very tall - she doubts his knees would fit comfortably under the table. The t-shirt he is wearing accentuates long flat planes of stomach. Even if he isn't as broad as his adoptive brother, he is still very muscular. And just as handsome really, in a different way.

He smiles a little grimly. "No, the Casket of Ancient Winters...it reacts with my unique physiology, in ways that are unhealthy."

Jane purses her lips. She thinks she remembers Thor saying something about the Casket 'resonating' with Loki in a way that drove him half mad. She decides not to push it.

Leaning forward, Loki takes a sip of his second hot chocolate. Licking the whipped cream off his lips in a way that makes Jane almost lick her own lips, he says, "And what of you, Dr. Foster? Since the creation of your Einstein Rosen bridge, what have you been up to?"

Jane blinks. She didn't so much create a bridge as design the 'top secret' interstellar craft that can vault through space time. It's a pain in the ass actually getting to the craft in outer space though. "I've been working with Kurt Wagner," she says. "Maybe you've heard of him. He's part of the X-men team; he can teleport. We're trying to figure out how so we can teleport into space."

Loki's eyes narrow. "The blue one."

Jane flushes a little and she grins. "Yeah, he's charming." Kurt's flirtatiousness has been a blessing. Just what she needs to remember she's still attractive, that there are still opportunities out there. Sighing, she puts down her cup and shakes her head. "But...

"But he's blue," says Loki with some finality.

Jane's brow furrows. Stupid Asgardians and their stupid prejudices. "I don't mind that. The blue is," she looks up in the air and bites her lip. "The blue is hot...it's just I doubt very much that he'd know what the galaxy rotation problem is."

She meets Loki's gaze. He is staring with the most incomprehensible look on his face. Wait, she just complimented his brain, didn't she? Does he think she's interested in him? She blinks. Does she mind if he does?

"I can teleport," he says.

Jane swallows. Oh, yes, she knows. "Thor told us we were not to approach you on the matter - that under no circumstances would you like to be SHIELD's guinea pig."

"I might consent to being your guinea pig," Loki says. The words pop out of his mouth before he's really had a chance to think about them.

Jane's face flushes red.

"I mean," Loki says quickly, "I know how to teleport with magic, but I don't know how it works...if that makes sense. I would like very much to know the human mathematical formulae that can explain it."

That is what he meant, isn't it?

For a moment he thinks Jane looks disappointed, but then she brightens. "That would be wonderful, and I'm sure you would be more helpful than Kurt. I mean between you and me we'd probably actually understand the science of it faster." She laughs. "Although, it's kind of disappointing that you're not blue."

Loki swallows and his stomach does an uncomfortable flip-flop.

x x x x

He should not be walking Jane home. Oh, his mother would approve, but he shouldn't become emotionally invested in Thor's leavings once again. And yet here he is, hands in his pockets, walking through the streets of Manhattan, bending lower to hear Jane speak about her research, and about being an outcast in the scientific community - and that should definitely not affect him as much as it does.

They're walking along the sidewalk on the Western Edge of the Park. A low wall is to their left. Traffic to their right. There is a pause in their conversation, and then Jane says, "You know, I'm surprised Thor sent you to take me to the Ultimate Fighting Tournament tonight."

Loki purses his lips. "You shouldn't be surprised. He really doesn't understand how anyone could not be as excited about it as he is."

Jane tilts her head. "It's just - I would have expected him to want him to use my ticket to take his current boyfriend instead. I mean, Fury would totally be into that sort of thing."

Loki stops short and Jane stops beside him.

"Thor is dating Fury?" says Loki, his mouth dropping. Fury. The one eyed director of SHIELD?

Jane blinks up at him. "Yes, you didn't know?"

"No," says Loki staring down at her with wide eyes. And then he smirks. "And they say I am the one with the daddy issues."

Jane puts a delicate hand to her mouth, and then bursts out laughing. Loki does, too.

When they've both recovered, Jane wipes her eyes and puts her hands into the pockets of her coat. "I'm sorry," she says.

Loki tilts his head down at her, a ghost of a smile still on his face. She is so tiny. There is a loose strand of hair he wants to tuck behind her ear.

As he resists that impulse, Jane shrugs. "I'm sorry I called you a consolation prize. You're too funny and too smart and too handsome to ever just be a consolation prize. You deserve better."

The smile on Loki's face vanishes, and Jane ducks her head. She may be a genius astrophysicist, but when it comes to feelings, she is a bull in a China shop.

"Jane," says Loki.

Jane looks up at him. She's about to apologize for being an idiot again, but stops short when he reaches out and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. When did he get so close? She looks at his lips. When did they get so close? Her eyes meet his. His gaze is heavy and serious. The earth seems a little wobbly beneath her, like gravity is on the fritz.

He's going to kiss her. Well, he wants to kiss her, but he won't unless she takes the initiative because he's Asgardian and they don't do things like that in public. Should she move to her tip toes? No. No. She is not going down that road again. She shoves her hands deeper into her pockets to restrain herself.

She finds herself licking her lips. He does look so kissable...but the last time she took the initiative with an Asgardian things didn't go very well and...

Loki's lips are very suddenly on hers and Jane's train of thoughts comes to a sudden, screeching, stop. As does the rest of her.

Jane's lips do not move beneath Loki's, and her whole body goes rigid. He misjudged - or maybe her words were not in earnest? No, he can hear lies, she hadn't been lying. He suddenly is aware that there are people walking around them. Has he performed some horrible Midgardian faux pas? He wouldn't have thought so based on the television shows he's watched, but then Darcy has informed him that they were distressingly inaccurate, and that the "third date rule was a load of toad droppings." He's not sure what the third date rule is...maybe it applies to kissing?

Pulling back he stammers. "Forgive me, maybe that was out of line?" Has he blown this chance even before they've had a "date". How typical.

"No!" Jane says, eyes wide. Her hands come out of her pockets and wrap around the back of his neck. She stands up on her tiptoes and looks up at him and he can't quite read her expression.

"That was perfect," Jane says, biting her lip.

His brow furrows. If it was so perfect, why isn't she kissing him back?

Her hands move to his cheeks, and her expression gets serious. "Loki, I'm standing on my tiptoes and I can't reach your mouth. Could ya' bend a little?"

He can't help it, he laughs.

"Hey, it's not funny!" Jane says. Dropping down to her heels she steps back she swats him across the chest.

Grabbing her hand Loki reels her in and wraps his arms around her. "I'm not laughing at you..." Loki says.

She raises an eyebrow.

He runs his hands down her back. Even if she is tiny, she is curved in all the right places. Bending at the neck he whispers, "I am just happy."

Janes mouth falls open as she cranes her neck to look up at him. That actually is very sweet.

Loki swallows. "Dr. Foster, to avoid neck injury to both of us - would it be alright if I picked you up?"

Jane laughs. "Yes!"

The arms on her back slide down. "I'm jumping!" she shouts, and does. Loki catches her, his forearms under her bottom, hands on the outside of her thighs, and she doesn't care if it's appropriate or not, she wraps her legs around his waist and he spins them both. Their faces are pressed together, forehead to forehead, and nose to nose, so she can't really see his expression, but she is grinning ear to ear. His body is lean, muscular and masculine beneath her.

Her fingers tangle in his hair. Her thumbs brush his cheeks; she can feel the delicious beginnings of stubble there. She wants to scrape her lips against it but his lips trap hers...and that's quite alright, more than alright. And it's quite alright if people are staring, because she's missed this - the feel of a man - and having a man to push her to be just a little inappropriate.

With a final, gentle tug at Jane's bottom lip, Loki pulls back for air. Jane is tiny, but her form, under his hands, and against his body is hardly childlike. Her breasts against his chest are soft, and her hips beneath his fingers - he can't help himself, he gives a little squeeze to the curves there. She pushes against him and wraps her legs tighter. He stifles a groan.

"Perfect," he whispers.

She laughs and kisses his cheek. "Yes."

A/N:

Okay, just a little sweet fluff for the final chapter. I hope it was fun though!

If you enjoyed this, please check out my original myth!Loki story, "I Bring the Fire". It is for sale on Amazon Kindle and (right now) in the iTunes Bookstore too. All links are in my profile (some fanarts too!) - and you can read an excerpt in "My Stories"!

As for this story - Reviews == Love! (And are the best way to keep fanfic author's writing).