Loki and His Mistress of Mischief

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"Your majesty, I can no longer continue with this charade."  Heimdall approaches the throne.  "I know who you are and you are not Odin."  A strong voice rings from the tall helmed man approaching with his sword.  

"Then you will be exiled and considered an enemy of Asgard."  Odin's voice morphs into a velvety Asgardian tongue.  

"You grow anxious."  Heimdall interjects.  "I know the throne cannot fulfil what you think it can."  The image of a short bearded one eyed man disappears and a tall dark-haired man takes his place.  Loki scowls at Heimdall.  "You miss her."

"Enough!"  Loki shouts in pique.  "Get out, while you still can."

"Do you want to see her?"  Heimdall persists.

"No."  Loki stands and turns away.

"You have sat upon the throne of Asgard for four days and have done nothing but pine after Dinah, the Avenger."  Heimdall steps closer to Loki.  "You miss her and want to be with her, admit it, Loki."

"Heimdall, I will not give you another chance.  Please, just go."  A defeated soft voice is all Loki can muster.  

Heimdall steps back down the stairs and turns towards the palace doors.  "You can still go to her if you wanted.  Dinah deserves the truth."  Without another word, Heimdall disappears into the kingdom of Asgard and deserts his post.  

Loki strides into his bed chambers and looks into the mirror and spies a small notebook in the reflection on his desk, one Dinah left behind.  He grazes the pages, examining her sketches and small entries about her days spent on Asgard.  A sad smile tugs at his lips.  "I do miss you."  He places the notebook back onto the desk and decides he can no longer stay away from her.  "I can't just reappear, she believes me to be dead..."  

"Hey Dinah, I brought you some pizza in case you were hungry."  Natasha knocks lightly on the bedroom door.  Dinah has been spending the last 4 days in her room, in her house with Natasha.  "You know I can't cook that well, but at least its hot!"  Nat attempts to cheer her up, and coax her into eating.

A small creaking can be heard as Dinah walks across the floor, still wrapped in Loki's cloak from the last time she saw him.  "Hey, Nat."  A disheveled woman with her hair falling down the sides of her tear-stained face, emerges from the bedroom.  "Thank you."  She takes the plate of pizza and sluggishly walks back into her room.  

Nat decides to follow her, "Are you alright?"

"Not really."  Dinah exhales deeply.  "He told me he loved me..."  Tears stream down her face, but she makes no sounds of sobbing, just a few sniffles.  "Loki was so different and...good this time."  Nat sits on the bed beside her, attempting to comfort her best friend.  "He-"  A slight hitch in her voice, catches her breath, "He promised..."  Then the full sobbing begins.  

Nat wraps her arms around Dinah, and leans her head against Dinah's.  "At least you know for certain that he was a changed man when you saw him and that he died a hero, saving Thor, Jane, and even you."  Nat moves the hair from Dinah's face.  "You have no reason to feel guilty or anything.  He knows you love him."

Dinah lifts her head and smiles through the tears, "Thanks, Nat."  She gives her a friendly kiss on the forehead and walks towards the balcony.  "Didn't Fury want us to report tomorrow morning?  A briefing about the new targets for the Task Force?"

Nat shrugs, knowing this is how her friend copes, "He did.  He also wants you working with Stark to further develop the Stealth Tech for the Quinjet."

"Well, can't lay around and wish to be dead forever, so might as well get back to work."  Dinah eats the pizza slice.  "Mmm, Pizza Hut?"

"Papa Johns."

The two agents call it a night and prepare for their early wakeup, ready to attend meetings with Director Fury.

Dinah is working in the labs, trying to fix a specific axel for the new Stealth Tech for the Quinjet.  A small black cat with green eyes peers around the corner, letting out a soft meow to alert Dinah of its presence.  "Woah, how did you get in here, little guy?"  Dinah pats her legs and crouches down to get the cat to approach, which it does surprisingly fast for a cat.  Normally they are much more cautious.  "No collar.  Hmm."  The cat purrs as Dinah pets the back and scratches his ears.  "Well, you're too cute not to take home.  Come here."  Dinah picks up the ebony feline and he crawls onto her shoulders.  "Wow, light on your feet, huh bud?"  The cat rubs his head on Dinah's cheek.  "What a sweetie."  Dinah continues working and occasionally becomes distracted by her new feline companion.  

Hours pass and its time to head home.  "Come on, you can come home with me."  Dinah pats her leg and the cat follows instantly.  "I think I'm going to have to give you a name."  Dinah peers downward and sees the little cat staring up at her.  "You have long whiskers."  A light bulb goes off, "Whiskers it is."  Dinah chuckles to herself.  The two walk home and interact with Nat over dinner.

"It just walked into your lab?  One of the most secure laboratories in the entire SHIELD facility?"  Nat questions suspiciously as she spears a carrot with her fork.

"Maybe someone let him in, they knew I was depressed, so they gave me a little buddy."  Dinah shrugs her shoulders.  "Well, because of this cat, I smiled for the first time in 5 days."

Nat smiles, "We're keeping him."