Learning To Love

Chapter 5

"Thor?" Sierra exclaimed, stunned. "Why are you here?" His face brightened.

"Lady Sierra, how nice to see you." Thor embraced her. When everyone's hellos were exchanged, Fury spoke up.

"Alright, Thor, why don't you tell us why you are here." Thor furrowed his brow, trying to decide what to say.

"It's Loki," he replied finally. "He disappeared yesterday. We don't know if he was kidnapped or escaped, but I suspect the latter."

Sierra shifted nervously and being as subtle as she could, she ran her eyes over the Avengers, trying to get a read on their reactions. For starters, they all appeared shocked and pissed off. She briefly wondered if she should just show them Loki and tell them what happened. Tony's voice brought her back to reality.

"So, what do you want us to do? We don't have a good way to look for him, unless you're sure he's on Earth," Tony said, his annoyance clear.

"I wanted to warn you, and let you know so you can be on the lookout for him, just in case." Thor said. Tony looked at Bruce.

"Let's go set up scans to look for him. If a camera of any kind sees him, we'll know," he said, glancing at Thor.

"It's New York all over again," Clint said, rubbing his forehead with one hand.

"Is that all?" Bruce asked. Sierra could tell he was barely keeping himself together. He'd crossed his arms tightly and his voice sounded strained. She couldn't blame him, any of them, really, after what they had experienced in New York only to have Loki...escape from Asgard? That idea didn't sit right with her. There had to be more to it.

"I believe so. I'll let you know if Loki is found," Thor promised them. "Thank you." Sierra spoke up for the first time since his arrival.

"I need to go too, but I'll be on the lookout for Loki," she managed to say. Thor nodded his approval and Sierra ignored the questioning stare from her brother.

She did get stuck talking for a while longer, catching up with Thor and such, but after a while Sierra decided she genuinely needed to get back to Loki. She hugged Bruce once more and said goodbye to everyone else. Glad to escape the tower, she made the short trip home, her mind racing the whole time. Her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel and she leaned forward the whole drive, making her shoulders sore from the tension. She was in such a mess.

Loki waited for her when she got home, now watching a movie on TV. Sierra chuckled at the sight of the final scene of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. He glanced toward the doorway and actually smiled at the sight of her.

"Hello. Everything okay?" he asked. She threw herself down in a chair next to him.

"I don't think so. I went to Stark Tower. Thor is here, and he was looking for you. Now all of the Avengers are on your trail, and I don't know what to do," she ranted, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I don't even know why the hell I'm sitting here with you instead of kicking you out, but whatever, too late now. But when they find you...we're both screwed, bud." Loki leaned back on the couch, keeping his expression calm.

"Well, this isn't good."

"No shit, Sherlock," Sierra huffed, rolling her eyes. He looked at her funny, but he brushed it off and said,

"So, we continue to hide me?" She shook her head.

"It's not that simple. Bruce and Tony have scans going, and if anything with a camera on it sees you, they'll know." Sierra leaned forward and dropped her head into her hands.

"Why can't we just tell them about you?" she asked. "I can lie. They don't need to know I hid you." He glared at her.

"If they find out about me, they'll lock me up without a chance to explain myself," he argued.

"Then you need to tell me how you ended up here. Who beat you up and threw you down here? I need to know why I'm lying for you," Sierra said.

"I don't know. Not for sure. We have to wait, get more proof, figure this out." He leaned towards her, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, let me know how you plan to do that from the comfort of my house, and frankly, we don't have time for that. The other thing, if we are going to keep hiding you, we need to disguise you." His face widened into a smile, the first real one she'd ever seen on him.

"I have just the thing," he said. "What shall I look like?"

"What?" Sierra asked in surprise.

"I can...change my appearance." He almost sounded embarrassed.

"Oh." She felt a bit taken aback, until she realized she had seen footage of him changing his armor at will, while on the helicarrier. "Don't get too...creative? Like, just change your eyes and hair and stuff." Loki laughed a little.

"Okay, how's this..." A gold shimmer washed over him from head to toe, and before her sat a tall young man with Loki's features, but short, blond hair, blue eyes, and slightly darker skin, making him look less washed-out. Sierra nodded approvingly.

"You look good."

"You think?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked almost seductively She rolled her eyes.

"Don't get cocky."

"But this is good?" he confirmed.

"Yeah, this is good." She grinned. "You don't look like you, except you do a little because I know it's you."

"As long as that's a good thing."

"It's perfect. Hey, want to watch a movie? There's one I've been wanting to see again ." Loki agreed, and Sierra slid Titanic into the DVD player. They sat quietly for a while, watching the movie, but after about forty-five minutes Loki broke the silence.

"You're right. I need to tell you what happened. Why I'm here. Everything that I know right now, at least."

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