What Right Have You?
Jemma/Loki
BioFrost
Okay, guys, this story was written with the permission and assistance of Ozhawk, starting directly where the twenty-sixth chapter of her collection of one-shots, "Soulmate Shorts" leaves off. This story has the same title as that one-shot, and I'd really encourage you to head over and read those one-shots - and the continuations of a couple of them that she's written, for that matter. This first chapter is the original one-shot that she wrote, and chapter two is the beginning of the story that I wrote with her. Hopefully you guys enjoy it!:)
Chapter One:
It is definitely possible to be too curious.
Her very first time meeting Jane Foster and Bruce Banner – such important scientists – and Jemma's own curiosity had made her linger as the others followed them on the tour of the Tower labs. She couldn't help herself from reaching out to touch the little device that hovered, apparently unpowered, above the strange symbols etched on the lab floor.
"No!" Bruce Banner's shout was the last thing she heard before the world exploded.
Voices speaking an unknown language was the first thing Jemma heard as she regained consciousness.
"Where am I?" she croaked, trying to force her eyes open.
The voices went quiet, and then a very deep voice rumbled, "You are on Asgard, my lady."
"What?" Jemma's eyes opened wide at that, and then she narrowed them, blinded by golden dazzle. Squinting, she made out a giant man crouching before her, wearing all golden armour. "Are you Heimdall?" she put together the pieces after a moment.
"I am. And there is one here who you have met before," he gestured, and Sif's concerned, beautiful face came into view.
"Doctor Jemma?"
"Lady Sif," Jemma managed a smile. "Oh, thank God I ended up somewhere safe." Her head lolled back and she fainted.
Sif and Heimdall exchanged glances. "Maybe not so safe as all that," Sif said wearily. "You know Odin's command; I must take her before the throne."
"Another Midgardian?" Odin snapped. "This is not to be borne; they invade Asgard at will now?"
Sif put a bracing hand behind Jemma's back as she tried to back away. Jemma had recovered consciousness on the ride to the palace and started asking questions; all Sif could tell her was that Odin had ordered any intruders to Asgard brought before him, no matter the circumstances.
"The device was the one Lady Jane and Sir Bruce built for Prince Thor to return without need of the Bifrost," Sif said. "It should not have activated under the touch of a Midgardian. We must return Doctor Jemma so that Lady Jane and Sir Bruce can study what happened…"
Odin's eye glared harder. Jemma tried to shrink into the floor. That Cyclopean gaze was worse than Nick Fury's, and that was saying something.
"Loki," Odin said finally. Sif tensed as a tall figure emerged from shadows behind the throne and resolved into the Trickster God, clad in his formal green and gold court robes, a gold circlet atop his dark hair.
Jemma shivered with fright as that green gaze fell upon her. Dr Foster had explained that Thor originally thought Loki was dead, but he was masquerading as Odin while his father slept so that Thor could be with Jane on Earth. It has sounded sort of romantic and self-sacrificing. But under those glittering eyes, she doubted Loki ever had a romantic thought in his life. She felt like a particularly unusual butterfly caught in the net of an entomologist.
"This falls under your purview, since it was your magic that enabled Lady Jane and Sir Bruce to complete the device. Study the Midgardian and discover why she was able to activate it."
Loki bowed to Odin, and gestured Sif and Jemma to follow. Jemma's feet dragged; only Sif's reassuring presence enabled her to move. They followed Loki to what looked like his study or perhaps lab, though it was full of arcane instruments Jemma couldn't name.
"Leave us, Lady Sif," Loki said. Jemma looked, terrified, at her ally, but Sif obviously didn't have the authority to deny the Prince, because she bowed slightly and gave Jemma an apologetic look before backing out and closing the door behind her.
Jemma stood frozen, a rabbit in the headlights, as Loki paced around her, his boots soundless on the stone floor.
"Interesting," he purred. "Ve-ry interesting. You have no magic, and yet there is something about you. I shall have to experiment."
His tone reminded her of Doctor Whitehall, and Jemma wanted to scream. Until Loki moved back around in front of her and looked down at her from those piercing green eyes. His face softened suddenly into a slight smile.
"Don't be afraid, little bird." He reached out a pale, long-fingered hand, glowing faintly green at the fingertips, and one finger touched under Jemma's chin, tipping her face up.
Jemma screamed. That hurt, that really hurt, icy cold flooding through her body. She went up on tiptoe, trying to pull away, but she couldn't. Loki was screaming too, his skin turning a weird shade of blue, odd markings appearing. He collapsed first, his hand falling from her face as he went to his knees, and Sif burst in, sword drawn.
"Doctor Jemma! Prince Loki?" she said uncertainly, seeing Jemma still standing and Loki on his knees.
"Get out," Loki rasped, getting to his feet. "Now!"
The door slammed. Jemma looked up at Loki, his skin back to normal, and cringed as he reached for her again.
"It won't hurt this time," his voice was soft. His hand caressed her cheek gently. "Do you not understand?"
She shook her head numbly.
"You're my soulmate, little bird. You have no words on your body in the manner of your kind, do you?"
"No," she whispered. Loki? Her soulmate?
A mirror appeared in mid-air, angled to show her the underside of her own chin, where his finger had touched, and a green-and-gold symbol there. "My sigil," Loki said quietly.
"What right have you to mark me?" she burst out but was silenced when he showed her the finger he'd touched her with, and her signature scrawled across it.
"Soulmate," Loki said quietly, incredulously. He'd had one brief glimpse into her mind before the bond hit and it was vast, as curious as his own. The universe had chosen well.
Somehow, Jemma was no longer afraid. Loki's green eyes were tender as he gazed at her, and as he stooped to claim her lips, her arms found their way around his neck.