Chapter 1

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A/N: Hey, everyone! If you've read my Avengers RP Book, then you recognize Jasmine Ross as my OC. Recently, I started thinking that the RP I use for how she met Loki had potential for a true fanfic so, when I heard that Season 2 of Loki was coming out (which I haven't seen yet), I'd thought I'd give it a shot. Fair warning that story contains trigger topics such as eating disorders, psychological abuse and hints of physical abuse.

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Jasmine finished typing the last marriage announcement article of the day. 32 years old and she still hadn't progressed further than writing about other people's so-called "happy endings." No big stories, no interviews and she hadn't even gotten to write for the advice column. Sometimes she wondered why she was still here. Okay, that wasn't a big mystery. She had bills to pay, and it was better than washing dishes. Jasmine posted her article to the Daily Bugle website, getting up from her seat and heading to the locker room.

"Jasmine?" an all too familiar voice greeted her as she stopped by her locker.

The voice belonged to her ex, Simon. Jasmine twisted the dial, hitting the first number.

"Not even a hello?" Simon asked. "Pretty rude, considering our history."

"You stood me up to see your side chick and pocket dialed me while you were with her," Jasmine remarked, hitting the second number. "Only reason I haven't left the room is because I need to get my purse."

A tear fell down Jasmine's cheek as she remembered that horrible day. She had just arranged a special date before she had to leave for Christmas to be with her family in Texas. She had set up the room, made dinner, waited all night in her best dress and Simon didn't show up. He didn't even send so much as a text. Instead, she got a call from him where he was laughing with another woman. She felt so humiliated that she cried herself to sleep.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it wasn't what it sounded like?" Simon asked. "I was meeting her for an interview, that's all."

"Sounded awfully happy for an 'interview,'" Jasmine remarked, hitting the last number, and opening her locker.

"What, you expect me to be miserable?" Simon asked as Jasmine pulled out her purse. "I love my job!"

She turned toward the exit, not even bothering to look at Simon. It was bad enough she had to listen to the same lies over and over. She wasn't going to turn around and see his stupid face.

"Typical," Simon remarked. "One stupid call and you automatically assume the worse."

Jasmine immediately turned around, finally bringing herself to look at the sharp face of the man who ripped her heart out. She felt a fire burning in her heart as her eyes narrowed.

"You cheated on me and lied to my face!" Jasmine exclaimed. "And you still have the nerve to say it was an interview? Then where's the fucking interview? Why haven't you posted it on the Daily Bugle?"

"Still in my computer," Simon insisted.

"All right, sug, let's head to your computer!" Jasmine challenged. "Let me read this interview with my own eyes!"

"Even if I showed it to you, you wouldn't believe me!" Simon accused. "You're too fixated on this whole, 'men are scumbags' bullshit."

Jasmine squeezed her hands into fists as she heard this familiar excuse. It wasn't the first time Simon had accused her of hating men every time they had a fight. Yet hearing him use it now didn't make her less angry.

"You were the one caught red-handed, so don't go turning this around on me!" Jasmine shot back.

Simon's brown eyes showed great pity for Jasmine, causing her to unclench her fists.

"I get that your parent's marriage wasn't a fairy tale," Simon assured her. "That your father was a manipulative sociopath who made your mother's life miserable, and you're scared that you'll make the same mistake she did." Simon put a comforting hand on Jasmine's shoulder. "So, you invent this whole narrative in your head because you're afraid of getting hurt."

Jasmine wanted to look away from Simon's brown eyes but couldn't. Especially when he brought up her parents' horrible marriage. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had invented the whole narrative in her head and was just looking for a way out. Before she could respond, she heard the text alert go off in her purse. Jasmine left without so much as a goodbye, silently thanking the well-timed text before she did anything she'd regret. She ran outside, listening to the bustling sounds of the New York streets as she pulled her phone out. There on the phone was a text from Summer.

*Ted's hitting the booze again,* Summer told her. *Thought I'd stay at your place tonight.*

Jasmine found her doubt once again replaced by anger. Of course, Summer's father was drunk and on the war path again.

*Stay as long as you need to,* Jasmine insisted. *I'll pick up some Chinese.*

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It was the weekly meeting at the Avengers Tower. Tony Stark was droning on and on about the most insignificant details in the universe as the Avengers sat around a round table. Today's topic was an Earth fiction known as Two and a Half Men.

"The minute Charlie Sheen got fired I quit watching," Tony explained as he walked around the room waving his arms. "I mean Ashton Kutcher's funny and I loved him on That 70s Show but, compared to Charlie Sheen, he's lame. They either should've kept their star on or ended the show right there."

"I fail to see why endlessly prattling about these men is of any importance to our work," Loki said, looking at his nails.

Tony stopped in his tracks. His gazed turned to Loki as if he was a disobedient apprentice.

"Because, Reindeer Games, if you want to protect Earth, you have to learn about the culture," Tony insisted. "And Charlie Sheen is a huge part of it."

"May I remind you that I have no interest in protecting Midgard, nor in learning about their mindless forms of entertainment," Loki remarked. "I am only here because it was preferable to a life in prison."

Loki remembered how The Avengers defeated him after his attempt to lead Midgard failed. How Thor had offered him a choice of facing Odin for punishment or for the Avengers to hold him in a Midgardian cell. Loki, not wanting to face his father, had chosen life imprisonment in Midgard. After a few months of having to endure endless prattle from healers of the mind, Loki got an offer to serve as one of the Avengers. A desperation to break free from prison had him saying yes but now Loki was wondering if staying in prison would've been the better option.

"Brother, it is a joy to be here," Thor reminded him, opening a bag of beef jerky.

"Yes, sitting through droll meetings where our great leader attempts to fill our minds with insignificant knowledge," Loki remarked.

"Ignoring Loki's 'better than everyone' attitude, he has a point," Steve admitted taking a drink of water. "Knowing about Charlie Sheen doesn't make us better Avengers."

Tony turned his disapproving stare from Loki and settled it on Steve.

"Because no one's going to trust anyone who can't stay up to date on pop culture," he insisted. "So, I'm donating my time to help you catch up."

"Most of us know about pop culture," Nat pointed out as she filed her nails. "And, the ones who don't know about it can research it in their own time."

It didn't take much thought to realize that Nat was talking about Thor, Loki, and Steve. Yet Loki could care less about what the insignificant Midgardians were watching, especially something that sounded as uncivilized as this Two and a Half Men. Perhaps staying in prison would have been the better choice.

"I could learn better were I allowed to walk among civilization," Loki whined. "For the past few months, I have been confined to the Tower."

Tony laughed. "And leave you free to terrorize the people? Forget it, Reindeer Games, until you prove you can be trusted, you're staying right where I can see you."

"And, if I am kept here, my mental state may crumble," Loki suggested in a mock fearful tone. "I might become increasingly irritable to the point that you may resent having me here."

Tony looked at Loki like he had lost his mind.

"So, all this time, we've been dealing with the happy fun Loki?" he remarked.

"Perhaps I could go with my brother," Thor suggested through a mouthful of jerky. "If he misbehaves, you have my word that I will protect Midgard from his antics."

Tony turned towards Thor, seeming to give his suggestion some thought.

"All right, Point Break," Tony told him. "Whenever your brother wants to have a walk, you have to take him out."

"So, if I want to leave this prison, I must be escorted," Loki remarked.

Sure, this would give him some freedom outside of the Tower. Yet, at the same time, he did not want to be under his brother's watchful eye.

"You're the one who wants to get out," Tony pointed out. "And, since I'm feeling generous, you can be the one to pick up our dinner."

Tony pulled out his phone, playing with it for a bit and ignoring everyone else in the room.

"There's a Chinese place nearby," Tony told him. "Pick up all of our orders and bring it back to us in one piece."

Loki looked up from his nails, looking at Tony like he had lost his mind.

"Do you mean to tell me that I, Loki, Prince of Asgard and Son of Odin, am to be your errand boy?" Loki asked.

"You might be a prince on Asgard but, here on Earth, you're just another one of the guys," Tony reminded him. "Besides, you're the one who wanted out."

Loki rolled his eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, he had felt confined here in the Tower.

"Very well," Loki said. "I will reduce myself to this tedious task if it is the only way for me to leave these prison walls."

"Come, brother!" Thor shouted, finishing the last of the jerky. "Let us gather this feast!"

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Unfortunately for Loki, he and Thor were to gather the feast at the local Chinese restaurant. A place that smelled of burning chicken and some kind of disgusting sauce that Loki couldn't put his finger on with only the faint whiff of a jasmine flower. His ears assaulted by the sound of people conversing loudly as well as a sizzling noise Loki couldn't make out. If that wasn't the worst of it, the place didn't even have tasteful decoration. It was just white walls with common tables and chairs. The menu on the wall behind the worker being the closest thing to art.

"I have not only been reduced to a common servant, but I have to retrieve our meal at a place unfit for a bilgesnipe," Loki remarked, looking around in distaste.

"Try to enjoy yourself, brother," Thor advised. "As friend Tony pointed out, you are fortunate to be allowed out of the Tower."

"Has my life really become so pathetic?" Loki asked. "That I must praise my captors for the most basic act of kindness?"

"Perhaps you should focus less on your grief and more on what you will feast on from this Chinese food," Thor suggested.

Loki glanced at the menu. He had to admit, there was not a single dish that looked like it could satisfy his palate. What he needed was a commoner's advice for commoner food. Loki briefly glanced at the wavy sandy brown hair of a woman in front of him.

"Excuse me, my lady," Loki greeted as the line moved forward.

The woman turned around, revealing a striking pair of emerald eyes on a porcelain oval shaped face with a jasmine flower resting in her hair. She looked at him with a small sense of dread.

"You're Loki," the woman said with caution in a voice that sounded smooth yet ignorant.

"Why yes, my lady," Loki said, grateful that someone recognized him. "I am the God of Mischief himself, Loki."

"And you must be Thor," the woman said, turning to his blond-haired oaf of a brother.

Of course, the attention always went to Thor. Even in a common place such as this.

"Yes, that would be me," Thor boasted. "My brother and I have journeyed to collect this delicious Chinese food for the Avengers."

"So, he's with you?" the woman asked, her eyes turning back to Loki.

Her eyes stayed on Loki as if he was the Midgard Serpent. Making sure that he wouldn't strike at a moment's notice.

"I take it you are aware of my brother's past, Lady..." Thor began.

"Jasmine," the woman greeted. "Jasmine Ross."

"Like the lovely flower in your hair," Loki noted, causing Jasmine's cheeks to turn red.

"Yeah, like the flower," she told him, brushing her fingers through her hair.

"I can assure you, Lady Jasmine, my brother will not harm you," Thor assured her. "He has served his sentence and is now a part of the Avengers."

Jasmine's face seemed to relax. Yet her eyes were still on Loki as if he was a bilgesnipe ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"My brother and I are here to collect dinner for them," Loki explained to her. "However, our experience with meals is Asgardian and we have very little knowledge of this Chinese food."

Jasmine smiled. "All right, sugs, I can help you out," she told him. "I don't know every Chinese dish available but my favorites are the sweet and sour chicken and the sesame chicken. Egg drop soup is a must."

"Why, thank you, Lady Jasmine," Loki said as the line moved forward. "I do appreciate your wise words."

"No prob," Jasmine said as she stepped toward the man behind the desk. "If you want, you can sit with me while you wait for your order."

Jasmine made her order and then grabbed a slip, taking a seat at one of the nearby tables. Loki couldn't help but smile at her as she waved to them.

"Brother!" Thor told Loki, interrupting his thoughts. "What would you like to order?"

"Perhaps the chicken dish," Loki said. "And a bowl of this egg drop soup."

"Which chicken dish?" the man behind the counter asked.

Loki turned back to him, remembered that Jasmine had suggested two chicken dishes. He chose the one that sounded better in his mind.

"The sesame chicken," Loki told the man.

"Your order will be ready in a few minutes," the man told them. "Grab a slip and wait."

Loki immediately grabbed one of the paper slips, heading to Jasmine's table. Sure, she was a mortal but he did appreciate her advice and she didn't grovel all over his brother. As long as Loki could remember, everyone he met would worship Thor and barely acknowledge Loki.

"My lady," Loki greeted.

"My lord," Jasmine teased back.

"I assure you, I am no lord," Loki insisted, taking the seat across from her. "I am a prince of Asgard."

"And I ain't a lady," Jasmine told him. "I'm just a reporter trying to make my way in the world."

A reporter? Yes, Loki had heard about the profession from Tony Stark. He had also heard from Black Widow that he had slept with a reporter who wrote a scathing article about him. Hopefully, this reporter had far more morals than this one Tony had the misfortune of crossing paths with.

"A reporter?" Thor asked, taking the seat next to Loki. "So, you are a writer of news?"

"That's one way of putting it," Jasmine told Thor. "I work for the Daily Bugle. My job is to find stories and put my own spin on them."

"Really?" Loki asked intrigued. "What sort of stories do you write?"

"Many things, like a charity program trying to find homes for alley cats, a secret crime operation going on in Hell's Kitchen," Jasmine explained with a fire in her eye. "Or a man who tried to take over New York now dedicated to protecting the city he once tried to destroy."

Loki gave a deep chuckle. It was clear to him that Jasmine had found an opportunity, and she was grabbing it. He supposed he should feel insulted but, in all honesty, he felt flattered that someone thought him important enough to tell stories about him to the world. Sure, the Vikings saw him as a god, but they glorified Thor while giving Loki the most humiliating stories they could imagine. One in particular was burned into his brain.

"Are you saying that you find me a story worth chronicling?" Loki teased.

Jasmine giggled. "Actually, I was thinking about an interview," she corrected. "We can get together sometime, and you can tell me all about your redemption."

Loki's heart was racing. A story about him that would endear him to the masses. He could get the recognition that had always escaped him for years, maybe even become a god to the people again. Loki put his hand on Jasmine's, giving her one of his charming smiles.

"I would be honored to, Lady Jasmine," Loki assured her, his heart starting to race.

"And should you require an interview with me, I would be happy to oblige," Thor offered.

Loki gave a small glare toward his brother. Did everything always have to be about him?

"Of course," Jasmine said, getting a couple of cards from her Midgardian handbag. "Feel free to call me or text me to work out the details."

Jasmine handed one to Loki and another to Thor, much to Loki's annoyance. It was then that the man behind the counter called out a number.

"Sorry, sugs, gotta go," she told the brothers. "But it was great meeting you."

"Farewell, my lady," Loki said to her with a charming smile. "I do hope to see you again soon."

He took Jasmine's hand and kissed the back of it making her eyes light up, gazing at him as if he were a prince in a Midgardian fairy tale. Perhaps this errand wasn't so bad after all.

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A/N: So what did you think? Do you like Jasmine? How do you feel about Loki being part of the Avengers? Feel free to let me know in the comments.


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