I had no idea where we were, but I did know that it was absolutely freezing- it's what imagined the North or South Pole might feel like. Loki was unaffected by the cold, he put on his armour- and after sparing me a glance held out his cloak. I replied with a glare- it was his fault I was stuck out here in the first place.
"You can either put it on or freeze to death," he said. "And trust me when I say either option is fine with me."
I took the cloak from him and wrapped it around myself, but it provided little warmth for me and probably just made me look like Loki from a distance. Looking around there wasn't much to see, a few frozen hills or mountains and tonnes of snow.
"Where are we?" I asked, automatically heading after Loki as he made his way towards a distant cliff- there was no way I was going to be left here.
"Jotunheim," he replied calmly.
I stopped in my tracks.
"Jotunheim?" I
"Is there a problem?" He asked coldly, stopping and turning around to face me. "Jotunheim is one of the few places I can go where I the Chitauri are not all that eager to follow."
"To be honest I'm not all that eager either," I replied, looking around wearily in case any frost giants decided to jump out and attack us. Then another thought occurred to me. "Won't Heimdall be able to see you here?"
"Which is why we have to get moving," he said through gritted teeth. "Unless you would rather wait here?"
That wasn't a good option either so I decided that it would indeed be in my best interests if I stayed with Loki-but trust me if he'd taken me somewhere warmer I would have ditched him in an instant.
He started walking again and I began to follow, trying to keep up with his pace whilst also trying to protect myself from the cold. Occasionally there would be a gust of icy wind that seemed to be trying to get the cloak off me.
Like in the film, it appeared to be dark here and I wondered if it was ever day here. Though it was hard to imagine this place with anything other than dark skies- even rain was out of it.
"Do you actually know where you're going, or are you just walking around until the Chitauri turn up and dragging us off somewhere else?" I asked, but was deftly ignored. "If that is the plan then can we skip the walking part and just go somewhere warmer?"
I choked back a scream as Loki appeared in front of me, wrapping his hand around my neck tightly.
"You forget your place, mortal," he said with an obvious relish for causing me pain. "You should feel grateful that I spared your pitiful life, and if you wish to keep it I suggest that you remain silent."
He held on for a few seconds longer, letting the message sink in and making me panic from lack of oxygen. I tried to prise his hand off, but he was far too strong for that and it just ended up making me look like an idiot. My lungs began to burn and spots dance across my vision before he finally let go and allowed me to draw in a deep breath.
Placing my hand on my neck, I flinched at the pain from my probably bruised skin and set about healing it.
Or at least I tried to.
The sheer cold of this place was making it harder to concentrate, in turn making it harder to use my power. It was also hard with Loki watching me carefully, but I blocked everything out and healed it, albeit at a painfully slow rate.
"Having trouble?" he asked with a smirk, and I was about to remark that he was the one who had performance issues but a twinge in my neck reminded me to shut up. "Now can we get a move on before my idiot brother arrives?"
Now Loki must have had some bad mojo going on about him because that was the moment his 'idiot brother' decided to make his big entrance- lightning and all.
"Loki! What trickery are you up to now?" he asked, looking between me and the god- he'd obviously been told I was here by Heimdall because he did not seem surprised to see me here.
However I was surprised when suddenly I was held up against Loki whilst he held the dagger I wore at my throat. Thor went to throw Mjolnir, but a tightened grip warned him against it. I tried not to move- or even swallow as I felt the cool blade against my throat.
"I had a feeling you'd come, brother." He practically spat the last word out, but I could imagine that he was grinning at this situation. "Come to take me home have you?"
"You got yourself into this mess," Thor stated, gripping his hammer tightly. "You should face your punishment instead of running away like a coward."
"I am not a coward!" Hissed Loki- he probably was a cat in a past life, he sure did hiss a lot. "And I have no intention of returning to Asgard."
"Then what will you do? Where will you go, brother?" asked Thor. "Come home."
"Asgard is not my home!"
"We grew up in those halls together- it is as much your home as it is mine."
I almost felt like saying 'enough with the bull already- Loki doesn't want to go to Asgard and I don't want to freeze my ass off. Can we just move this along to the part where he escapes and you take me to the Avengers already!' It wouldn't have been the wisest idea ever, but I was being held hostage in a frozen wasteland, so sue me.
"When will you learn that I will never return to Asgard?" asked Loki with an annoyed tone. "And in case you have forgotten may I point out that I am holding one of your precious Midgardians hostage."
"Let her go," Thor said warningly. "You do not need to do this."
"Oh but I do," disagreed the other. "What else would I use to keep you from preventing my escape?"
It took a few seconds to click into place. By then it was already too late, Loki pulled out another knife and slashed it across my stomach and letting me go so I could drop too the floor. Blood gushed from the long slash, the cold wind blowing against me increasing the pain so much and I knew I wouldn't be able to heal it. I couldn't concentrate in this place, and I knew I wouldn't last long with the amount of blood I was losing.
"It's your choice, Thor!" declared Loki. "Save the mortal or chase after me and let her die!"
Thor looked torn, but we all knew what his choice would be and sure enough it was no surprise when the Thunderer came over to help me. Loki laughed as he opened up another portal, before disappearing through it and leaving us on our own.
"Can you not heal your wounds?" he asked, kneeling down beside me.
I shook my head; "It's too cold."
I was trying as hard as I could, but it appeared to be having no effect and the loss of blood was making me feel dizzy and lightheaded.
"We need to get you to a healer," he said, after a quick inspection of the cut- which I refused to look at any more.
"Or somewhere warmer," I added, before passing out.
A/N: Just to tell you the poll will be closing when I post the next chapter up and (to let a hint out) if you are against pairings then you'd best cast your vote. It should also be noted that with pairings there may be some trouble as I try to keep the interactions between my OC and the other characters realistic so do not expect too much- especially if Loki or Tony wins the poll.
