In Another Life

Once Loki and Scout touched down in London, they had a car outside the airport waiting for them. They couldn't do anything but head to the airport considering what time it was. From the car, Scout pointed out some of her favorite places as they drove by. She assured him that they would definitely be visiting them tomorrow. He didn't mind. In fact, he was looking forward to it. It was weird having someone to share such things with him. No one back in Asgard had ever offered to take him anywhere. Sure, he was the 'Prince', so there really wasn't a place he hadn't gone. He was taught to know and see everywhere in the land, but it still would have meant something. He was never close to anyone besides his mother. As pathetic as it sounded, it was true. Those people he dared to call friends only tolerated him because of Thor. They never really gave a damn about Loki, but Scout, she cared. Loki feared the events to come because he knew once they did, it would spoil whatever it was that was forming with her. She would hate him, and he was going to lose her forever. So, he was going to make the best of the time he had with her.

"You are right. This place is quite beautiful." He hadn't really been paying attention to the outside world at all. His full focus was on Scout. She wasn't to know that though. Loki was completely unimpressed by this mortal world. These places and buildings meant nothing to him. He did not care for their history or what happened where, but he cared for the narrator standing beside him. They stood out on the hotel balcony, admiring the night sky and the view of the London sky. She spoke so lively of these places. He didn't have the heart to tell her he was uninterested in them in every way possible. They meant something to her and she meant something to him.

"I told you. I would love to just live here one day. What's Asgard like?"

"In my eyes, it is awful, but if you were to see it, I am positive you would love it."

"Is it beautiful like this?" She asked, gesturing towards the city below them.

"You would think so."

"Would I be able to go there?"

"At the moment, no. Perhaps in the future, I could take you."

"I would love that." She smiled at him, but he did his best to ignore the look in her eyes. He was already beyond smitten with the girl. He didn't want to see the look on her hopeful face as he fed her empty promises. It would make things worse when she eventually saw his true colors. "What do you dress like there?"

"In Asgard?"

"Where else?" She laughed softly. Instead on telling her, he showed her. He transformed into his Asgardian attire at the blink of an eye. Scout admired it, touching the armor and running her hands down his chest. The action was innocent, but still put Loki in a bind.

With every passing second, he wanted her more and more in every form possible. "Very green. Very un-Earthy?" Her laughter filled the air once more at her own words. She didn't know how to exactly describe it. That's the best she could do. "I can see why you don't walk around like that and wear suits instead, but either way, you look fantastic. I'm jealous."

Loki then changed her clothes into ones from Asgardian, and even then, she still looked perfect. "What do you think?" Scout looked down at her clothes in surprise. She didn't even realize he did it until he said something. She smiled at the green dress she now wore.

"Green's not really my color."

"I think you look beautiful."

"Really?" Her voice sounded unamused. She did not believe him. "I think I look better in red." Loki had told her all about Thor while they were on the plane. She remembered Tony talking about him after he had a meeting with Coulson nearly a year ago. Thor was discovered somewhere in New Mexico after some crazy alien crap went down. Tony had shown her pictures of Thor and ever made jokes of his clothing. Red was clearly Thor's color. She knew it. Loki knew she knew it.

"Red is a horrendous color." He smiled, joining her playful banter.

"Your input is totally biased."

"I suppose you are correct. You would look beautiful in any color." Scout gave a nervous laugh, unnoticed to Loki.

"Well, we should get some sleep. We have a big day full of exploring tomorrow. Goodnight, Loki."

He grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it softly. "Goodnight, Scout." It was the same routine as last night. They both parted ways in the two bedroom suite. Each looking back at the other when they weren't looking. Neither wanted to be without the other, but they would not dare speak a word of it.

Scout woke up around nine the next morning. She stepped into the kitchen to find Loki was already awake and dressed. It made her feel bad for still being in her pajamas but then she remembered it took him like a second to reach his perfect appearance. So, she didn't feel too bad after that. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I did not feel that would be right."

"I wouldn't have cared. I don't want you just sitting here, looking bored out of your mind."

"I found things to pass my time."

"Do you even sleep at all?"

"Sometimes."

"Did you sleep last night?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It is quite the long story and I do believe you want to get on with the day. Maybe another time." To her that meant, I'm not ready to talk about it right now so your schedule is going to get me out of talking about it. She didn't dare argue though. Loki would tell her everything he failed to when the time was right.

"Right. Well, I shall go get ready quickly. Then we can head out."

After a long day, they found themselves at the restaurant inside the hotel they were staying at, The Savory, for dinner. Scout had taken Loki to Big Ben, the National Gallery, the Tower of London, and even convinced him to go for a ride on the London Eye. "I know that I more than likely bored you all day with my constant geeky out of history and stuff, so thank you for putting up with me. I can get carried away sometimes without realizing it."

"I did not mind."

"Really?"

"I enjoyed listening to you speak so passionately." He was the first person to ever say something like that to her. Normally, they would ignore her or tell her to shut up. Even Tony would tell her she was boring him to death. Loki did neither the entire day. It felt nice to be listened to for once. She felt wanted for once.

"Well, thank you." The waiter then came over and took their order. "So, this might not be my place to ask this but why are you here?"

Loki couldn't tell her the truth. As much as he didn't want to lie to her, he had to. For the first time, he wanted to be honest. His honestly would only cause her pain. "I just ended up here somehow."

"That's weird. Did you like fall from the sky or something?" She joked.

"Somewhat."

"Oh...shit...sorry." She frowned, awkwardly looking at her glass of wine.

"It was all a mistake but I am more than glad that it led me here....to you."

"Yeah, it is nice that we've met. It's also great that I have no clue what you're thinking. For once, I can trust someone besides Tony." It was easy for Scout to trust Tony. Before he knew of her special gift, he was always honest to her. Never once did he lie or think bad thoughts of her. If he had a problem, he say it to her face, but he never really did. Tony always thought her to be extraordinary. Nothing less. They had met when she was sixteen years olds and living in a shelter for homeless teenagers. She snuck into a conference he was speaking at just a few blocks from where she was. She told him of some ideas she had for his company, and how much she admired his witty personality. He was blown away. Later that week, he tracked her down at the shelter and became her legal guardian.

"You trust me?"

"Should I not?"

"No." Lies. All lies. Scout would never trust Loki if she knew what he was thinking. If he wasn't thinking about her, he was thinking about the war that was about to consume this entire planet. Earth would be under his power. He would rule this realm as King. There was no chance in hell Scout would ever even consider being his Queen. Once the take over begins, she will be lost to him forever, but it was too late to back out of it now.

"What are you thinking about now?" She questioned him.

"You." It wasn't what she was expecting him to say, but it was what she was hoping.

"What about me?"

"Everything." Their food then arrived and they ate in a comfortable silence full of awkward glances. Scout found herself growing feelings for Loki. It was too soon to even be thinking of those things. She couldn't help it though. There's was only one person she could talk to about these personal things, but Tony would more than likely just freak out. She would have to settle with speaking to Pepper when they got back to New York. "I have to leave." Loki told Scout as soon as they were safely behind closed doors in their hotel room.

"Why?"

"I will be back. I promise. It is only more business to attend to." Her mind became flooded with worry. What business could he possibly have? He didn't know any one Earth except for her. It only meant that his was doing to things off this planet. That made her thoughts go wild.

"You will tell me about it some day, won't you?"

"No. It is for your own good. Only to keep you safe."

"Safe from what? What's going on Loki?" He began walking away from her, but she caught his arm and pulled him back as best as she could. As strong as she was, he was obviously stronger. He's a God. No match for a puny mortal. "Please, tell me what is happening. I will understand."

"You will not understand. Trust me when I say, the less you know, the better." He carefully pulled himself from her grasp and took a few steps back from her. She reached out to grab him again. Except this time, she caught nothing back air. He created an illusion of him standing before her, but as soon as she touched it, he was gone.

"Loki!" She yelled out for him. No one responded. She was alone.

Back in New York, it was now Friday, two weeks later. Loki never came back. Scout left London the next morning, completely heart broken. There was no sign or word from him since then. She slowly allowed herself to forget all about him. Tony began to notice the small change in Scout's attitude. She was sad. As much as she tried to hide her emotions, she failed. Tony not being one for words of encouragement, asked Pepper to talk to her about it. But she wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. There was no point in talking about something she couldn't change. He broke his promise. Scout didn't have any way of contacting him. How could you contact someone who very well might not even be on the same planet as you anymore? Scout started to regret even opening herself up to Loki. It only left her in heartache.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Pepper asked, coming into Scout's office.

"Nothing." She replied with no emotion present. She wasn't in the mood for small talk, but she could tell how much Pepper was trying. So, she wasn't going to ignore her all together. It wasn't Pepper fault that she was hurting.

"Come on, hun. He's just a guy. There will be others."

"I don't think there will. Not like him."

"Is it safe to assume he isn't living with you anymore?"

"Yes."

"You'll get over it soon sweetie. You're bound to meet someone else. Do you know how gorgeous you are? Guys have always been flocking to your feet."

"For all the wrong reasons. I know what they think about me. My "gift" is nothing but a curse. I'd rather just not know what people are thinking all the time. Because of it, I'm going to die alone."

"But what made Adam any different?"

"I couldn't read his mind."

"What?" Pepper was surprised. "You mean, you actually met someone who you couldn't read their thoughts?"

"Yepp." Scout turned off her laptop and placed it inside her bag. It was now past five p.m., and she was starting to get ready to go home.

"Does Tony know about this?"

"Yes. And it's not important anymore. He's gone. Obviously he got what he wanted out of me and just disappeared. I'd be fine if I never see him again." Lies spilled from her mouth. She wouldn't be find if she didn't come back Scout stood from her desk and gathered her belonging. "I'm gonna head out. I'll see you Monday."

"Okay, love you." Pepper went over and hugged Scout bye. She had always been a hugger when it came to Scout. Pepper always thought she needed that extra little bit of affection since she never had any growing up.

"Love you too."

Scout decided to walk him. There was no sense in rushing in cab back to an empty apartment. Although Loki and her time living together was extremely short, she had gotten used to him being there. It now felt weird to not see him, and she hadn't even known him for a week. He just grew on her that quick. In that time, Scout had also gotten a cat. It helped her from feeling so lonely. After Loki left, she did come to terms with her loneliness, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She prayed every night that her mind reading ability would just vanish. Then she would be able to have a normal life with friends. Even if those friends weren't true. At least she wouldn't have to go through life alone. Sure, she had Tony and Pepper, but they couldn't always be there for her. They had lives of their own.

When she arrived at her apartment, there was a fresh vase of flowers on the foyer in the main entry way. A new one arrived every other day, full of red roses. There was always a card, but never signed. She began receiving them around six months ago. After a few weeks, Scout stopped reading the cards, and didn't bother with the flowers. She wasn't interested in some weirdo secret admirer. Also, she never like flowers. It would just make her sad when they died and had to be thrown out. Therefore, she never bothered with them. They were her maids problem.

Scout was shuffling threw her mail, when she heard a noise coming from the other room. Her black cat, who she named Luke, came running to her, and Loki wasn't too far behind. She gasped and dropped the letters in her hand to the floor.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I live here?" He was confused.

"Umm, no. Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because you just left me in London! You don't get to just come back here after nearly two weeks have gone by! You promised you would come back."

"I never gave a time."

"Obviously you should have thought about that before leaving. I thought you just meant you'd be gone over night like you were before. I can't read your mind, Loki. I don't know what your thinking. It is absolutely frustrating. You have to tell me these things."

"I am truly sorry. I did not think it would matter."

"Of course it matters. I was worried about you. I thought something bad had happened."

"You worried for me?" No one had ever worried about Loki before, except his mother. "Why?"

"Well...uh...we're friends....obviously I will worry...sometimes. It's a completely normal feeling when someone goes away. Why does it matter?" Scout was starting to get on the defensive side. She didn't want to give Loki the wrong idea. Even though what he was thinking about her feelings was correct. She didn't want him knowing that. He wasn't about to be let off the hook that easy. He needed to learn a lesson. You can't just leave for days without telling someone, especially if you aren't going to say where you're going.

"Well, I have returned. You have no need to worry for my well being. I see you have some strange creature running about now."

"He's a cat, and his name is Luke." She bent down and picked him up. "You will do him no harm." Luke was an over weight, and eight years old. Normally when people go to adopt an animal, they go for the kittens and puppies. Not Scout. It always made her think about how she felt going from foster home to foster home. The older she got, the less of a chance she had to be adopted. It was no different for these dogs and cats in the shelters. Once she saw Luke, she fell in love. "Would you like to hold him?" She asked, stepping closer to Loki.

"No." He looked down at the creature in Scout's arms with a hint of distaste.

"Okay." She completely ignored his response and held the cat out for him to take anyways. Loki hesitated but didn't have a choice. He took the animal from her hands and held it awkwardly. "Haven't you ever held a child before...or anything for that matter?" She placed his arms in the proper way to hold a cat, then Luke rested perfectly in his arms. It was a cute sight to see. Scout couldn't help but smile.

"No."

"Really? No wife or kids back in Asgard?"

Loki gave a small chuckle and shook his head, "Not at all."

"Why? You're quite the catch. Asgardian women must be flocking to your side."

"Yes, they trip over me as they are running to Thor. I am not exactly what you would call desirable." He replied, sadly.

"I pity them. They don't know what they are missing out on." Scout smiled at him, then took Luke from his arms. "Are you hungry? I'd imagine you didn't take care of yourself while you were away. Judging by your body language, you are exhausted." She was right. Loki hadn't slept a wink since he left. He would have been back that morning like her planned, but things never went according to plan for Loki. Things with Thanos didn't go well and he spent his time away being tortured. He wasn't going to let Scout know of this though. It would only make her worry more and raise plenty of questions he just couldn't answer. That was the last thing he needed right now.

"I am fine."

"Don't lie." She rolled her eyes and pulled out some items from the refrigerator. Even with him being gone, she went out and bought some food that he would like. A part of her deep down thought he would be back. It was just a matter of when. "Go rest and I will make you something to eat."

Loki knew not to argue with her. Never had he just did as a he was told. He cared and respected Scout though. He'd listen to anything she had to say. Luke hung out in the living room with Loki while Scout cooked. The cat freaked Loki out and all he could do was sit and stare at it. Especially when the creature jumped onto the couch and curled up into Loki's warm leg. His face became distorted as he watched the cat. When Scout came into the room, she couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

Loki definitely was not lying when he said he wasn't from this planet.