Troubled Mind | Bucky Barnes

Part 14

A/N: I knew somewhere in the middle of writing this that I wanted this character to go to Asgard and meet Loki. I sort of stumbled upon a way for her to do this by accident. You know when you're writing without direction and suddenly the perfect plot device just clicks. Sometimes when I'm writing, it's almost on auto-pilot. I don't know what a character is going to say or how they will react to a situation but the words come out as I'm typing without even thinking about it. It's almost like the characters take on a life of their own. I'm not controlling it, but they say or do the perfect thing that just fits and now I'm adjusting everything to meet it. It's an odd process and I don't know if any other writers can relate but this is sort of what happened in this chapter especially. I love the strange and complex relationship between Alexi and Loki because I found they are exactly the same in many ways and completely different at the same time. Which is why their feelings for each other is so confused. But don't worry, dear reader, some people who come into your life have an enormous impact but are only meant to stay a short while.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the comments you leave make me so happy! 

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The next night, there was a knock at Alexi's bedroom door. It was early in the evening but still being tired from the party, she had decided to relax in her room that day. She opened the door to find Loki standing there.

"May I come in?"

A little confused by his presence, she answered uncertainly, "Uh...sure." She backed away and he entered her room, closing the door behind him and taking a seat in a chair near the window. "Can I do something for you?" She was still a little apprehensive but tried not to make it sound as though she wasn't. She sat on the bed, moving aside the book she was flipping through before he entered.

"Ah, I see your reading the one I recommended," he said, pointing to the familiar cover.

She held it up. "Yeah, it's pretty good. You were right."

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?" he said cupping his ear with his hand to hear better, a smile spreading on his face. "I didn't quite catch that last part."

Alexi rolled her eyes. "I said you were right. About the book."

"I'll take my small victory."

Alexi chuckled and shook her head.

"Have you thought about what you will do when you return?"

It was all Alexi had thought about for weeks. Ever since she began to show signs of recovering. It was the question that plagued her thoughts in all her free moments, and even her dreams at night. "Not really," she answered quietly.

"You have no real home, no family and no friends, by your own admission," Loki was listing things off as he went, while Alexi's offended expression went unnoticed.

She interrupted whatever he was about to say next with, "Do you have a point you're arriving at sometime today?"

"I only mean that perhaps you might stay longer. On Asgard." He was looking out the window and not at her, so he didn't see her mouth fall open and eyebrows shoot up. She quickly caught her expression and tried to make it neutral.

"Uh...well...you know...Thor said that Odin wouldn't really want me to be staying here for much longer. And I will respect those wishes."

"But you would want to stay, if they were not opposed?" Loki asked looking at her now.

For the first time in a long time, she was actually speechless. What the hell is going on? Was all she could think. There's no way in hell that mass-murderer-plans-to-enslave-a-planet-god-of-lies, Loki actually has feelings for me. Right?