Chapter two: Up, Up and going down

The smell was unbearable. It smelled like disinfectant. I wrinkled my nose and my eyes slowly fluttered open. It took me a minute to notice where I was: a hospital room. I swallowed. What happened? I thought I died. I glanced around, scanning the room. I saw four, worried faces, staring right back at me. The first person I noticed was my boss, Mr. Stark. He was looking down on me, trying to read my expression. He suddenly gave me a warm smile.

"Well," he scoffed. "Looks like Sleeping Beauty is finally up!" I stifled a laugh. I smiled back at him. "Sorry, Sir. I was kinda hanging on a thread for my life, ya know?" I rolled my eyes. I caught sight of Natasha Romanoff, sitting in a chair, with her hands crossed over her chest. She also looked at me with concerned eyes. She simply nodded, regarding my status. I was ok. I glanced at Dr. Bruce Banner. He was leaning over some paper working on a table, his hair completely sticking in every direction with his white lab coat flopping in the breeze. The window to my hospital room was open. I Steve Rogers drinking coffee or at least I thought it was coffee. He had his lips pursed together; thinking whether or not he should've said something. For his own good, I advised him to stay quiet. I spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

"What the heck happened?" I uttered incredulously. Mr. Stark raised his eyebrow sharply.
"I dunno, you tell us. After I came back from my "errand" I see my intern flying out the window. I don't know about you guys," he said and rotated back, regarding to his audience, "But if you see a human being flying out the window of a sixty story building, you really think 'Is the person crazy or something?'". After making his speech, he sat down. All of them were staring at me intensely. I felt so uncomfortable, that I shifted in my hospital bed and twisted a piece of loose hair in my finger.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk." I told them. I took a deep breathe. No pressure, Blithe. Seriously, just chill. I thought to myself.

Yeah, right.

"After you left, Mr. Stark, I went up to your office, to you know…um organize your files and stuff. And I see…uh…Loki sitting in your favorite chair, and I thought to myself, 'Wow! Mr. Stark better not find out that the notorious Asgardian god, Loki, is sitting in his chair, or else he might kill me!' And Loki flung me out the window, because he was demanding for his toy, the Tesseract, and threw a tantrum." Sarcasm dripped from my lips. I sighed after saying what I thought were my last words of interrogation. Apparently not.

"Is that all?" I heard Natasha Romanoff say. She had stood up from her seat across the room, and strutted towards the crowd. She tilted head up and I knew she meant business. I just nodded by bobbing my head up and down. "So, I suppose that Loki is back again. I'll go call Fury. He should know by now." She looked at Stark and walked out the door. I clutched my pale green blanket closer to me. I heard a noise from out the window and everyone jumped. Thor was perched on the balcony, and stepped down. He walked in.

When Thor came in, I felt a heavy lead-like feeling in my chest and it made my head throb. I still had weird feelings for the Asgardian prince. But I couldn't go there. If I let myself slip up just a little, it would definitely come back and haunt me. I managed to compose my face so I didn't show any emotions. Steve stepped forward and demanded what was going on. That made two of us.

"I am terribly sorry, friends. But my brother has been released and I am the one to blame." The Avenger spoke.

"So what does this have to do with my intern almost landing on concrete?" Stark responded back. I winced at his tone. He was frustrated. Thor walked over to Tony and came eye to eye with him.

"It has to do much more than you think, Stark. I only blame myself for the disastrous things he causes. I took pity on him and asked my father, Odin, to release him from his imprisonment." It came out in a soft whisper. It was like he was telling something horrible. And from my point, it was.

"How long ago was this?" I heard Rogers ask. He had been quiet during the whole conversation. "How long ago did he get released?" Yeah, I also wanted to know. Thor rubbed the back of his neck and looked sheepish.

"About three days ago. The last time I saw him was when our mother welcomed him back." I pressed my lips into hard line. "So what?" I began. "Does this mean that he's having a play date and is most likely going to kill us all to get to the Tesseract?" I asked. Stark nodded.

"That sounds about right."

The doctor had advised that I stay in the hospital for another day. They had ran tests and my vitals seemed kind of normal whatever that meant. My bed was hard and I couldn't sleep that night. I kept thinking about Loki. He had thrown me out the window as if I weighed nothing, and last time I checked, I wasn't exactly Miss Universe.

I chewed on my nails all night. It was a nervous habit that was nasty, but it had eventually developed into something that I found comforting. Quietness drowned out the noise from below. The cars and all the city noises didn't bother me. I was restless. My stomach grumbled, but I hated hospital food. It tasted like sandpaper and it made me gag sometimes. In fact, I hated hospitals in general. They made my skin crawl and I had the paranoia that I would just catch another disease while I was in here, trying to get better. I started to drift sometime around midnight, but sat up quickly when I heard a sharp rattling bang came from outside the room, in the corridor. I flinched back when I heard it, afraid that some crazy patient had gotten loose and was going around causing the other patients discomfort. I looked intensely at the door, hoping the noise would stop, or somebody would complain. I looked to the side. Right in front of me Loki stood in his mighty glory.

He wore more elaborate armor than before. His horned helmet was placed on his head. Loki had a dangerous expression on his face. His lips were pursed in a provocative sort of way. His eyes flashed anger. I shivered. His hair was tousled around and he had a wild look on his face. His head was cocked down slightly. A large staff with gold snared around it and a bright blue circular object glowed on top of the staff that resembled the Tesseract, caught my attention. Loki held his staff with pride.

"Hello, child." Loki announced. "I am so terribly sorry. We seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot." He bowed slightly to me and walked over to my bed. I snorted. He looked up and gave me a piercing look full of malice and hatred.

"Not only did you intrude in a place that doesn't belong to you, but you also almost killed me!" I was gasping for air as soon as I argued back to him. Loki's nostrils flared and he reached over to my face. Without hesitation, he grabbed me by the collar of the hospital gown, and lifted me up. I was a few inches off the bed. I wanted to be put down, but he had another plan in mind.

Shit.

"Listen to me, young one. I have been nothing but patient with you!"

"You call that patient, Loki?" His grip tightened on my collar. I start to sputter my answers. "Okay, please put me down, please Loki." Slowly, he loosened his grip on me and let go of my collar. I fell softly with a thud on the bed. I took deep breathes. I was really starting to hate this new magnetic pull I had with death. I curled my lip back and gave my attention to Loki. He smiled sweetly and gave me an innocent look.

"Tell me where the iron man is holding the Tesseract. I don't want to hurt you, mortal, but you really are…" he paused briefly. "Giving me a headache. It makes me infuriated to know that you have whereabouts of the Tesseract and you aren't willing to share with me." Loki returned to my side and sat on the bed. It caught me completely off guard and I wrung my hands together under the hospital blanket. Something unexpected happened. Loki simply leaned over and yanked the blanket off of me. The breeze coming from the open window felt cold. "What are you doing?" I stammered my response to his unexpected action. Loki gave me a wicked smile and moved closer to me. I felt my skin becoming clammy and cold sweat dripped down the nape of my neck. I was wearing only a hospital gown and my jeans. He leaned down on my and I could feel his heat. Oh, god. He was so warm. Like he had a fever. The heat felt good on my skin. My head swam and I couldn't think straight. Loki started to whisper in my ear. His voice was calm and quiet. He spoke softly.

"I am attracted to you for some reason, mortal. Why? Answer me. I need to know. What is it about you that causes me to get…" He didn't finish. His cool breath tickled my ear and my neck.

"This accursed feeling is tearing me apart, child." Loki stood up and put a cold hand on my chin. He tilted my head so that I could only look at him. "I want the Tesseract. And you are the key to my conquest." Before I could response to him, Loki planted a small kiss on my cheek. Once more, he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "I can pleasure you, mortal. I have had many lovers in Asgard. But, know this. With my affection, there is a price to pay. And I can tell that you have never experienced a man's touch before, am I right?" I looked away.

"That's known of your business, Loki." My voice came out strained.

"It is now. You and I aren't so different from each other. You crave attention, as do I. You have suffered from Thor's ignorance and he will never return the same affection that you have for him." How did he know what I felt for Thor? I know all about you, child. A voice echoed through my mind. Loki was talking to me. In my head. I looked incredulously at him. I know that you have unlimited access to Stark's little toys and I need you help me. I know that father and mother live in Virginia. I know that you live alone, Blithe Blackburn.

I have watched you for a long time. I see through the sky, child. I see all that happens in Midgard. And then I saw you. My, what a pretty little mortal you are. No women in Asgard are as pretty as you. It pains me that you were born a mortal. Otherwise, I would have taken you for my own desires…

Stop! I shoved the pillow from behind me and threw it at Loki with my right hand. He dodged in neatly. Without saying anything else, a blue swirl-like vortex swallowed him and he was gone.