"Just place my hands over the crystal and say my wish?"

"Correct."

With Loki sitting opposite her on the couch, and the Sceptre pulsing dimly in between them, Kyra lifted her hands up and palmed the jewel. She was about to utter her wish when -

You could make him stay.

She paused. It was that little voice in her head again. It seemed to have rather the affinity for popping up at wrong places and saying all the wrong things.

Because of course now it had her thinking. Thinking about the three wishes she had, thinking about all the possibilities.......

You could wish for him to always be by your side. To stay with you, to care for you, to make you happy.

To love you.

"What's wrong?" Loki's voice cut through her thoughts, shaking her out of her reverie.

She looked into his curious green eyes.

"One question," she asked, her hands pulling away from the Sceptre and onto her lap. "I can really wish for anything?"

Loki snapped his fingers. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. You can't really wish for anything you want. There are a few conditions. First being that the wish must not harm, and second being that your wishes must be clear, concise and concrete."

She frowned. "Meaning?"

"It must have parameters. It can't be abstract. For example, you can't just wish for world peace. What is world peace? Most importantly, what is your definition of world peace? That all wars end? That people understand each other? You must tell the Sceptre exactly what you mean. Example, instead of wishing for world peace, you have to say I wish that all wars would end and that people will always treat each other as equals. Something like that."

"So......can I make people fall in love?"

"Again, you must give it a definition. Example, I wish that he will stay by side forever, to support me and care for me, to protect me from harm etc etc. Define your wish."

"Ah. Okay. I see."

Loki nodded. "So are you ready?"

Kyra looked down at the jewel. Even in its diminished state she could feel the power that was emanating from this extraordinary weapon. In its fully restored state it must have been quite the terrifying sight to behold.

"Alright. Here goes nothing."

She placed her hands on the crystal and intoned, out loud -

"I wish that the whole world would know the true face of Nathan Wilde, which is that he's an irresponsible husband that cheated on his wife, and then abandoned the other woman and her child, refusing to take moral responsibility on them, plus sending thugs after them to make sure they stay silent."

She said this all in one breath, and watched as the crystal underneath her beamed a sudden glare. There was a distant ringing in her ears. As quickly as the light came it disappeared, leaving behind a dim glow once more.

Loki arched an eyebrow, seemingly impressed. "An extremely clear and comprehensible definition. I'm amazed you were able to say that all without breaking for air."

"Yeah well, I hope it works. Once the news get out Jennifer should be okay right? She'd get help and all? I didn't wish for her part, because - well, Nathan being exposed will start off a chain reaction right?"

"Correct. You wish is like the first drop of rainwater in a still puddle. It's bound to send out ripples. Vast ripples."

"Okay. Good. Because I am not going to waste another wish on this."

Loki chuckled and couldn't help teasing. "I thought you wanted to wish for glory and gold? To become a rich little millionaire?"

"Journalist," Kyra corrected him. "I want to become a rich and famous journalist. And yeah you're right. Haven't you heard of saving the best for the last? Trust me, I am so going to wish for that when the time comes. I only wished for this because, well, Nathan sent men to beat me up. That's rude. Extremely impolite. I've got a personal grudge against him now."

Loki scoffed, loud. "Indeed you do. Of course this has nothing to do at all with the fact that you sincerely wanted to help Jennifer and Judy."

Kyra gave a mock gasp of horror. "Of course not! How can a journalist be so soft?"

She pointed a determined finger his way and narrowed her eyes. "For the rest of the wishes, I'm going to wish for so many luxuries that even Jennifer Lopez will be jealous of me!"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Another Midgard thing?"

"You got that right."

They sat there in silence for awhile, watching the dim glow of the Sceptre resonating. Kyra was especially entranced by it for some reason. When she finally managed to tear her eyes away from it and looked up, it was to see that Loki was staring at her.

"What?"

He smiled, and it was a soft, gentle curve of the lips. "Nothing."

For some reason that single word set off the butterflies again.

"Well," she said, slapping her hands against the top of her thighs, "we should probably get some sleep. Work day tomorrow you know."

"Indeed. Especially after today's events, I think we all deserve a good night's rest."

"Second that."

They got up from couch. Since the first day she'd managed to get together a proper sleeping arrangement - which was her in her bedroom and Loki on the living room couch, the very one that they had been sitting on.

Loki headed off to the toilet while she walked on to her bedroom. Before she entered she paused at the doorway and turned back around.

"Loki?"

He looked. "Yes?"

"Can you......" she trailed off.

Can you stay?

Can you be my boyfriend for real?

"Yes?" he waited.

"........turn off the hall light? Yeah, that switch over there. Thanks."

"No problem. Goodnight - Kyra."

She smiled. She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue.

"Goodnight Loki."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Frigga, wife of Odin and Queen of Asgard, placed a pleading arm on her husband's shoulder.

"Is this not proof? That Loki has changed?"

Odin kept quiet and said nothing. Standing before him was the dark and silent Bridgekeeper - Heimdall. He was the one that had send forth the news of what had happened at Midgard, along with proof.

A small metal ball was clasped in Odin's hand, its outer surface covered in silver leaves. A touch, at a certain spot, had made the ball crack in half, spilling out blue light. This blue light formed a holographic screen in the air, a screen that was currently showing a video.

A video shot from above, showing a dank, isolated alley, where a bunch of thugs were beating up two people, one man and one woman. The man was protecting the woman with his body, suffering the brunt of all the attacks.

There was audio, but the camera had been too faraway, and the only sounds picked up were the thugs' curses and the blows being dealt. It was clear to see though, that the woman was speaking to the man.

They leaned forward and kissed each other on the lips.

Odin froze the picture, at the instant when their lips touched.

"It's been barely two weeks into his exile, and already Loki is willing to do this. For a mortal no less! The ones that he used to claim he despise! Is this not proof that he has changed?"

Frigga's hand squeezed Odin's arm lightly. Her voice was soft.

"I miss him. My son. Our son. Bring him home, Odin.

"Bring him home."

*

Outside, hidden just beyond sight, just outside the royal doors, a lone figure stood, shrouded in shadow.

From inside, Frigga's words filtered out to the night air.

"Bring him home, Odin. Bring him home."

There was a sword hanging from the figure's belt, and the fingers around the hilt tightened.

As his face turned away from the doors and his steps moved the other way, a guard ran up.

"Commander - "

The figure held up a hand. "Not here."

The guard followed his superior quietly outside, away from the royal halls and to a secluded spot below the castle walls.

"Well?"

"As you ordered Commander, my men and I went to Midgard and tracked down Loki. We followed him and the mortal for eight days, and kept close watch on all their movements. Here's what we gathered so far."

Herrick took the set of papers and flicked through it, his eyes lingering on Kyra's occupation and job description.

"Oh and sir, one of the sentry drones around the palace caught this."

Esbern handed Herrick a metal ball not unlike the one Odin had been using earlier. Only this time, the holographic screen showed a woman wandering the palace grounds, with some sort of device in her hand.

This time, her voice was captured perfectly.

"Man, imagine the headlines I could make with this! I'll be instantly famous! I'll be the most famous journalist in the world!"

Esbern watched his commander, whose face was expressionless.

"What do we do now sir?"

Herrick said nothing for some time, just playing the video. Then he closed the ball.

"Frigga is right. Loki has changed. He's become the man Odin hoped he would be." He paused. "Even though I had my doubts at first, but - the exile worked."

Esbern frowned. "So......it's over? We're done?"

Herrick looked back down at the papers Esbern had given him, which included a colored headshot of one Kyra Pierce.

"Of course we all know it's not the exile itself, not really," he said, as if he hadn't heard Esbern. "It's because of her. Kyra Pierce. The woman that changed him........for the good."

A pause.

"The woman.......that can also change him for the worse."

And here his expressionless face broke out into a very unfriendly, very humorless smile.