During all of this, Thor has found Loki on the balcony. Loki turns around to see his brother storming towards him with a look that he is all too familiar with. "Brother, what do I owe..."

Loki is cut off when Thor grabs him by the throat, lifting him off the ground and pushing him against a wall. " You just couldn't control yourself for once, could you brother! Has this always been your little scheme? You promised you would help her and this is what you do with her trust?"

Loki can barely speak with Thor's hand around his throat. " If you could kindly let go, brother and explain what you are ranting about?"

Thor releases his hold on his brother. Loki twists his neck cracking it a bit and straightens his collar. " Now would you please explain what you are going on about?"

"Lark! We know what you did to herI knew you were capable of a some heinous things but to force yourself upon someone. How Loki ?"

Loki straightens up as he hears Thor's accusations. " Yes brother I am many things but a defiler I am NOT! I knew who it was that came to me and she was perfectly clear what she wanted. Am I guilty of giving in to my primal desires? Yes. Did I force myself upon her? No. Do I wish I could go back and change it? Yes. I very much wish I could."

Thor is taken aback by his brother's admissions. There was a regret in Loki's voice that he hadn't ever heard before. " Is that actual remorse I hear from you, brother or is it another one of your tricks?"

Loki looks down at the floor. " As hard as it maybe for you to believe brother, my heart is not completely made of ice."

Thor looks at Loki and thinks to himself, could his brother be falling for Lark? "Then why do it Loki? You know she loves Rogers."

Loki takes pause to think about his words carefully. " I will admit brother that I was enticed by the power and intrigue of Lark's alternate. When She came to me, and I emphasize, she came to me I gave into her intoxicating persuasions. I did not at the time think of the consequences that it would cause Lark. I was selfish brother and I realize that now. I have tried to make that clear to Lark in our training today. I realized after Lark's last vision that things were more dire than I had thought. I only want to help and protect her now."

Thor is impressed with Loki's words and the emotion behind them. He takes a step towards Loki to apologize to him when Loki has a question. "Wait, how did you find out about my transgression?"

Thor realizes that Loki is completely unaware of what has transpired. "Apparently Lark lost control of Hyde and there was an encounter with Rogers. She told Steve about what happened between yourself and Lark. Rogers became enraged, struck the wall and left. I was unfortunate enough to witness it." Thor looks down shaking his head recalling your scream and tears as he carried you to your room.

Loki's mood suddenly changes. " Brother why did you not tell me this sooner? Where is she? I need to help her control Hyde. I promised her I would be there for her, I can't disappoint her again."

Thor grabs Loki's arm. " Loki, she is fine. Her demon willingly relinquished control. She is resting in her room, hopefully with Stark. That is if he hasn't killed Rogers yet. I would suggest keeping a distance for a while since Stark is looking for you also."

"I made her a promise that I would not let that happen. That I would be there before something bad could happen. Once again it seems I am a disappointment to someone I..." Loki's words trail off as he walks over to look out over the balcony.

Thor sees now that his brother has come to care about Lark more than he expected. He approaches his brother and places a hand on his shoulder. " Loki, you made a mistake and I can see that you regret your actions. I would still suggest making sure that Stark is not around before you go to Lark. I am truly proud of you though brother. It seems you too have discovered a different side of yourself. I should try to find Barton and make sure Rogers has not met an untimely end."

Thor turns and goes inside leaving Loki and his thoughts alone on the balcony.

It's later that night and everyone has left you to sleep. You refused to take the pills Bruce gave you. You don't want to give Her any opportunity to take control again. So you lay there tossing and turning, replaying Steve's reaction to your admission. You want to be angry with him for reacting that way because it wasn't you but yet again it was. You just hope he can understand that you never wanted to hurt him. You wanted to tell him but were scared of how he would react, which he proved today.

You are starting to drift into a twilight sleep when you hear a soft voice. "Lark, I'm so sorry I failed you today."

You open your eyes to see Loki sitting on your bed. How did he get in? You didn't even feel him sit down? You sit up in your bed. "Loki?"

"I'm sorry love. I thought you were asleep." He says looking down at the floor.

"How did you even get in here? Tony has JARVIS watching my door." He still is looking down at the ground.

"I'm not really here darling. It's just an illusion. I felt it would be wiser than appearing in person."

"Loki, why do you feel you failed me?" You ask him wishing he was really there.

" I was not there to protect you from Her. I promised you that I would be there for you no matter what. I had no idea that she had broke free from my magic. I'm so very sorry Lark." Loki still had not looked up from the floor.

You wish you could touch Loki and make him look at you. You could tell he was blaming himself for what Hyde had done. " Loki, please look at me?"

He finally looks up at you and you can see the sadness and guilt he was feeling. You reach out your hand to touch his shoulder but it passes through the illusion. "Loki, it was not your fault. It was an accident, Steve didn't mean to hit my head, but it was enough for me to lose the control I had on her."

Loki's brow furrows when he hears that. "What do you mean 'hit your head? What exactly happened pet? Thor didn't go into detail when we talked earlier."

"After I left you, I was headed toward the kitchen and ran into Steve. I didn't think about my eyes, I felt like myself. He saw them and thought it was Ms. Hyde. I guess he panicked and pushed me up against the wall a little too hard. I hit my head but I told him it was me. It was too late though I felt something slip in my mind. It happened so fast, I was in the white room and she was in control. I tried screaming but it was like nothing came out. I had to watch her kiss him and he kissed her back not knowing. She told him what happened then she's standing in front of me in the room saying she's done, walks back through the door and closes it behind her. It was over so quick, I had no time to react." Your eyes start to well up thinking about it again.

"I assume your Captain did not deal well with it?" He asks politely.

"No, he did not. I don't know what I was actually expecting but it was definitely not that reaction. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. He was so angry. I tried to stop him from walking away but he just exploded and left. I don't know where he is and no one will talk about him."

Now Loki wishes he was there and able to comfort you, but he's not used to feeling this way. He knows this is his fault and wishes he could change it somehow. "Lark, I am sorry. As much as I desired your attention, I should never have given in to Her. It was terribly wrong of me and I regret that my weakness has caused you so much pain. I promise I will never let that happen again Lark. I only want to help you and to protect you from Thanos. I only hope in time that you can forgive me for what I have done."

You are shocked by Loki's remorse for his part in all of this. You never imagined that you would see these emotions let alone those words come from him. Once again you want to forgive him and cannot understand why that feeling comes so easily for you. Even though you want to forgive him you can't forget what he did and how much it has possibly cost you. "Loki, I'm beginning to doubt how much time I have left in this life. I don't want to waste it with anger and resentment. I can't forget what happened but I'm willing to give you another chance starting now. Please don't waste it."

Loki looks up at you dumbfounded by your words. "Lark, I..I don't know what to say. I won't waste this second chance. I should let you sleep, I've kept you awake too long."

"I wasn't able to sleep earlier but I think I might be able to now. Thank you Loki. I'm glad you came to see me tonight."

Loki's illusion stands up. "Good night, Lark." His image slowly disappears.

You slowly slide back down into bed and close your eyes. Thankfully, She is not in your dreams tonight.