The bedroom was lit in dim candle light. Loki sat behind Anja on the bed, carefully braiding her hair in a few places while she sat cross-legged in front of him, reading some golden-covered Midgardian book. Loki couldn't make out any of the words on the page from his vantage point, but he knew this book had to be a favorite of Anja's, as the pages and binding looked loose and slightly tattered. It was very easy to spot a well-loved book, after all. The binding stretched from being held open and the pages turning repeatedly; the more a book was read, the thicker it got. Loki had several himself that had to be in the same exact state as the book Anja held.

"You must really love that novel," he mused, twisting a few strands of her hair together.

"Hmmm?" Anja hummed, barely glancing up from the pages of the book.

Loki chuckled. "I said you must love that book."

Anja turned slightly so she could see him. "Love is an understatement. This battered old thing has helped me through nearly every rough patch I've ever had," she replied. "It's just doing its job by helping me deal with this whole mess we have on our hands now."

He smiled. As a child and young adult, Loki had done the exact same thing. Escaping your problems in a fictional reality was often much easier than dealing with your current reality. Loki had his fair share of childhood and adolescent issues, and he couldn't imagine Anja was any different. Sometimes burying yourself in books was the best choice.

"So what, dare I ask, is this book about?" Loki asked, tying off the braid he was working on before starting on the next one.

The smile on Anja's face grew as she glanced at the cover. "Oh, just a teenage criminal mastermind and his adventures with fairies," she explained. "It's a huge oversimplification, but basically magic mixed with modern tech and life."

"Sounds interesting," Loki responded. "Certainly seems to be a great way to escape everything here."

Anja nodded slightly, careful to not move too much so she didn't interfere with Loki's braiding. "Saying I had a rough and lonely childhood is an understatement. I didn't really have many friends beyond Layla and Spencer until after Tony hired us, so I spent a lot of time with my nose buried in books," she explained, staring into the book again. "These characters filled the void of friendship. Whenever I was sad or nervous, when I didn't want to burden Layla and Spencer more than I already did, I turned to them. Helped me not feel so alone, you know?"

Loki definitely knew. He had a very similar experience. Growing up, he had been so very different from his peers- and that was even before he knew he was not Asgardian like the rest of them- that he was often left out and isolated. He had Thor and his band of friends, but even they often made him feel less than welcome. But now? Things were different.

"I know all too well," he answered, finishing another braid. He was grateful she was looking at her book and not at him as he frowned a little. "I always felt similarly. I was told repeatedly by someone I once considered a friend, 'You are alone. And always will be.' I heard it enough that I honestly started to believe it."

Anja turned again, more fully than last time so she could look up at him, a frown on her face. "I'm so sorry, Loki. No one should be told that- especially not by a friend."

"No need to be sorry, min kjære," Loki assured. "Because of you, the next time I see them, I can tell them they were wrong."

The frown on the young woman's face dissipated and was replaced by a small smile. "Perhaps this is why we clicked so well," she mused. She reached over for her bookmark and shoved it between the two pages she had been reading before setting her book down on the bed beside her.

"Perhaps so," Loki agreed. He was quiet for a moment, debating his words carefully. "When we arrived at the tower, I had not anticipated a warm welcome from anyone who may have been there. But then there was you- who despite knowing every horrible thing I had done- looked at me like I was the sun."

The dim lighting made it hard to tell, but Loki thought the girl may have blushed a bit as the smile on her face grew. "Well, I've been blessed to have five parents in my life- between my birth mom, foster parents, and Spencer's parents- and all of them had always told me to treat people with kindness. I was always going to give you the benefit of the doubt, especially after the mind control was revealed," she replied before shaking her head lightly. "You needed a friend, and I was going to make sure you had one. I didn't anticipate falling in love with you. But as it turns out, everyone needs some sunshine in their life, and you happen to be mine."

Loki couldn't help but smile at her. "I'm honored, truly."

Anja continued to smile, but it seemed more somber. "You know... my mom used to sing me this song when I was little, and it's weirdly fitting for this chat," she went on.

"Well, now you have to sing it," Loki pressed.

"Oh, I'm a rubbish singer at best, but if you really want me to, I can... on one condition," Anja bargained.

"Alright. What's that?"

"I want to hear you sing a song your mom sang to you."

It was a fair request. "I'm not a great singer either, but alright. Deal."

Anja cleared her throat. "Here goes nothing," she said before closing her eyes and beginning to sing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."

Anja stopped singing and opened her eyes once again, looking back at him. If she hadn't been blushing before, she certainly was now. The smile on Loki's face had only grown. "I assure you, your sunshine isn't going anywhere," he promised.

Anja smiled. "That's reassuring," she said. "Did you finish braiding my hair?"

Loki nodded. "I sure did."

"Thank you, love," Anja replied. "I appreciate it. It's been a long time since someone has braided my hair. I'm absolutely horrible at it. I can only do the simplest braids so I usually just do other stuff to my hair."

"You're very welcome. I certainly don't mind doing your hair for you," Loki said. "All you ever need to do is ask."

"I'll keep that in mind," Anja answered, stretching a little as she yawned. "We should probably get to sleep soon. It's getting late and with everything going on we should try to get some rest."

She made a strong point. With the looming threat, they could use all the rest they could get. Thanos' forces could show up at any time and being tired would do none of them any good. Loki didn't think they'd get a ton of sleep, but even a little would be better than none at all.

"You're right," he replied, getting off the bed to blow out the candles. After extinguishing the flames on a few of them, he realized he very easily could've used his magic but by that point it was too late.

Once all the candles were no longer burning brightly, he made his way back to the bed, now only illuminated by whatever moonlight was coming in from the window. Anja had already made her way to the head of the bed, burying herself under the covers. Loki climbed into bed, joining her under the blankets. Anja immediately snuggled into him, resting her head on his chest as she hugged him tightly. Loki wrapped an arm around her, closing his eyes.

"You still owe me an Asgardian song, mister," Anja reminded.

"A deal is a deal, I suppose," Loki mused, leaning down to gently kiss the top of her head. "Hopefully my singing voice doesn't prevent you from falling asleep..."

"It won't. I promise."

*****

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.

A strange sound woke Loki some time later. He didn't even remember dozing off. He remembered singing to Anja like she wanted, and watching her drift off to sleep. He must have fallen asleep sometime after that. He silently wondered what time it was when he heard that infernal noise again.

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.

Anja stirred lightly beside him for a moment before sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked to her right, causing Loki's eyes to follow. On the nightstand, her phone was illuminated and buzzing against the hard surface. Anja reached over and answered it.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

The room was quiet enough Loki could make out the voice of the person on the other side of the phone perfectly. "Sorry for waking you, Anja," Steve Rogers' voice replied, "but I've got some bad news."

That couldn't be good.

"What's up?" Anja asked, suddenly a bit more awake.

"It's Tony and Spencer," Steve started again. "Some of Thanos' forces showed up in New York, and they were deemed missing. I spoke to Pepper, and she said the two of them were on whatever ship they brought to Earth."

"You've got to be shitting me," Anja sighed.

"I wish I was."

Anja glanced at him briefly before looking back at the bed instead. "Alright. So what's the plan then?"

"Bruce is on his way to meet with Rhodes. Nat, Sam, and I are going to intercept Vision and Wanda in Scotland," Steve explained. "The plan currently is to retrieve them, rejoin Bruce and Rhodes, and then head to Wakanda where we would be better equipped to handle the Mind Stone and whatever Thanos decides to throw at us. I'll keep you in the loop about where and when to meet us. I already told Layla and Thor all this too."

Anja frowned. "Understood."

"Talk to you again soon, Anja."

"Bye, Steve," Anja muttered, hanging up the phone.

She stared at the phone as she sat it down on the bed in front of her. The frown on her face had only grown since ending the call with the captain. Loki couldn't say he blamed her; two of her closest friends were lost somewhere in space with Thanos' cronies. Certainly there was nothing good about that. Unless there was a miracle, Loki knew the odds that Tony and Spencer returning would be low. There was a huge chance Anja never saw her friends again.

Loki leaned over, pulling her into a tight embrace. He didn't say anything; he knew there was nothing he could say that would make things better right now.

Anja hugged him back. "This is a nightmare," she said quietly.

Loki had a feeling that the nightmare was only just beginning.

*****

Hi everyone! Sorry it took me so long, once again, to get this done. I wish I had a better reason other than work kicking my butt, feeling generally blah with the sun setting super early now, and just general laziness, but I don't. Procrastination at its finest, I suppose. I also received some less than polite comments on another story of mine recently (granted, that story is close to 10 years old and unedited so I know it's far from perfect; constructive criticism is one thing, and being a jerk is another), and that was a bit discouraging for a couple days and killed any motivation I had to write. I think I've shaken that off now. Anyway...

My hope is that I have another chapter up before Christmas, but I'm not 100% that will happen. We are entering our busiest time of the year at work, and coupling that with balancing home life and any holiday plans, my writing time may be slim. But only time will tell. I have some minor decisions to make about the next couple chapters (and some big decisions a few after that) but once I make them, my hope is that I can quickly write a chapter for you all.

As always, thank you so much for your support and patience. It truly means a ton to me. I hope you all are doing well and having a wonderful holiday season!

~arty_writes