I would personally like to thank my friend Sherry for helping me out with this story. I've been struggling with this pair for a while, and she kindly donated her time to help these two come to fruition. Lydia Hart is an OC of mine from the Torchwood Universe. I really hope you like her, and enjoy this story. Reviews are welcomed, but constructive feedback is a must. Thank you for reading 3

Ancient temples held many treasures. Stories of booby traps and curses had made the temples perfectly preserved, as the locals did not dare tread nearby. One temple contained a crown that clearly didn't belong to this ancient human colony, and it was her job to take it from the temple, ensuring it did not fall into the wrong hands. The Time Agent appeared inside the temple in swirling gold light. The air was musty, and inconsiderately she stepped forward as her boot crushed a scarab beetle with an audible crunch.

The silver crown was high atop a pedestal along with a series of stairs to climb. The Time Agent exhaled. Common traps involving stairs usually consisted of loose ones, and there was a pretty long plummet below. She'd have to run, it was just fortunate her body allowed her to be fairly agile. Lydia Hart broke into a run, sprinting across the stone floor in order to gather speed. She climbed the stairs, all fifty of them, and reached to grab the crown...

When out of the shadows, a man appeared in front of her. A grin spread across his features, and he had taken her by surprise. He laughed as she stumbled backward and slipped, almost plummeting to her death, but her hands managed to grip the concrete platform. He peered down at the petite blonde woman, sporting a black catsuit as her hazel eyes filled with fear. "Naughty girl. Didn't your mother ever tell you stealing is wrong?"

Lydia's legs dangled into the darkness, as she struggled to pull herself upright. "Yeah, well putting dangerous alien technology into a world that clearly can't handle it is wrong too!" She grunted, after trying to pull herself upright again her chin hit the concrete.

He chuckled, and crouched as he carefully studied her face. "You and I appear to be after the same inanimate object."

"For different purposes I gather." Lydia's words were strained as her fingers grazed across the concrete. "You seem to enjoy being in this position of power. You could easily help me up, or drop me. It is your call, whoever you are."

"You are entrusting me with your possible final moments? I must say, it is a fairly bold move." He rose to full height and smoothed down his black leather jacket. "I am Loki."

Lydia stared at him for a moment. "No you're not." She laughed. "I sure as hell believe that Loki wouldn't wander around town dressed like that!"

This angered him. He had never encountered someone before who didn't believe his identity. "Do you prefer to be dropped?"

"Listen, I don't care who you are. You could be Batman, and it wouldn't matter. If you help me, I'll help you. Deal?" Lydia was slowly beginning to lose upper body strength.

"Who is this Batman?" Loki queried, his interest in her growing. Suddenly, he watched as Lydia started to slip from the concrete. Her eyes were filled with fear, one hand slipped and the other was about to when Loki fell to the concrete floor, reaching out and grabbing her wrist mere seconds before the piece of concrete she was hanging onto gave way. Both gazed at each other, confused – hearts racing. He really could drop her if he wanted to, but with an allmighty pull he dragged her up and she crawled across the platform where she rested against the pedestal. Both were panting heavily as Loki stood back up again. He didn't understand why he saved her life. She had insulted him! He merely said nothing further on the matter.

"That... is something Batman would've done." Lydia wiped her lips with the back of her hand as she slowly got to her feet. Her strength was returning, and her eyes returned to the crown.

"Must I prove to you that I am Loki of Asgard?" He growled, regretting that he did something this Batman would've done.

"No... no one needs to prove anything to me. Except... what the hell is that?!" She pointed over Loki's shoulder and plucked the crown from the pedestal as Loki looked in the direction she was pointing in. He turned back and noticed she had taken the crown. Angrily, he lunged for her just as Lydia was typing in coordinates on her Vortex Manipulator. As he grabbed her around the waist, both disappeared in golden light.