Chapter 3
I yawned, slowly sitting up. Man, I'd had the strangest dream last night: Loki had actually been at my house. And he'd been nice! Aha, ridiculous I know. The floorboards were cold under my feet as I walked out of my bedroom across the living room into the bathroom.
There standing in my shower was a naked man. No, a naked God.
It hadn't been a dream! Loki was in my shower. Oh god no!
"Lock the door!" I yelled, covering my eyes with my hands.
"Have you not seen a naked man before, Midgardian?" Loki laughed.
I blindly walked backwards, reaching for the door handle. "Yes, but I didn't expect to see a naked you this morning."
I ran out of the bathroom. My mind was already burned with the image of Loki's soapy bum cheeks. Good god. I picked up the blanket from the floor, chucking it on the sofa before walking into the kitchen.
My hair hung in my eyes: it was brown and pretty dull. Nothing special. I'd been meaning to dip dye it blue but I hadn't had the time yet.
A cough sounded in the kitchen doorway. "Where does one find something to dry themselves with?"
I blinked twice. Loki now stood butt naked in my god damn kitchen.
"Cover it!" I yelled, tossing him a tea towel.
"Cover what?" Loki frowned, catching the tea towel like he had a million dollar arm.
I gave him a look of despair.
Loki smirked. "Ahhh, you want me to cover my-"
"No, please don't even say it. I do not need to hear that right now." I walked past him to grab a towel. Dammit he didn't need a staff... Whoa I was so not thinking that.
"Why would you want to cover such a-"
I chucked the towel over his head, leaning on the kitchen counter. No, just no.
Loki held the towel away from his toned body. His hair was deadly straight and his smirk even more wicked in the morning light. His muscles were surprisingly larger than I thought they would be, and his V-lines... Oh my god no!
I caught his sapphire gaze.
He smirked. "Do not blush, Midgardian, there is nothing wrong with admiring fine architecture." God was he arrogant.
"Shut up," I snapped, hurrying past him.
The floor was wet.
My foot skidded ahead of me. I lost my balance.
A strong hand grabbed my bicep. "Even you are swooning at me, clumsy, little Midgardian," he growled, wrapping the towel around his waist.
I tore from his grasp. "No, I was falling."
"So you are falling for me?" Loki tilted his head, the smirk still playing around on his face. "You would never be worthy of me, earthling."
I laughed. "Really, worthy of you? A puny God."
His eyes... They'd become annoyed. I guess being Hulk Smashed would leave psychological scars. "At least I am a God, everyone knows my name. But you, no one knows who you are. You're insignificant."
"Do you want me to slap that smirk off your face?" I glared up at him.
Loki's jaw muscles leapt. "You are not worthy of touching royalty, Midgardian."
"You're not worthy of being in Asgard so don't start that one," I snapped, pushing my fringe off of my face. "They cast you out!"
"I was worthy of being King!" Loki yelled.
I shrank back. His voice was loud and honestly it scared me. I did the one thing I always did when I was scared: I retaliated. "You obviously weren't if you're stuck here!"
"Stuck here with you." Loki's words were ice covered and his gaze was hostile. "Being here with you is punishment enough, trapped here with an insolent creature who has barely enough intellect to argue back," he spat.
"The door is that way." I pointed. "Go ahead, leave. Go be the Hulk's chew toy, I really don't care."
Loki stepped closer to me. "Midgardian you'd do well to remember that even though I may have a body like yours-" he paused, voice dropping "-I can still kill you with my bare hands in but a minute." His breath blew in my face and caused goosebumps to spring on my arms.
"Don't you dare take it out on me that you have daddy issues!" I let the anger consume me, taking a step closer to him as well. Our chests were touching. I only had to tilt my head slightly to look up into his eyes. Eyes that now burned with anger.
"I let you see my weak side yesterday, but I can assure you that will never happen again," he snapped. "You are beneath me, a pathetic excuse of a life form which is quite frankly in the way. You were born to kneel to beings like me, and you will." This was the monster who had gotten my parents killed. This was the creature who had ordered my parents' murder.
Slap. The sound echoed around the kitchen. My hand stung briefly but the satisfaction of hitting him completely drowned out the pain. A vivid red mark grew on his face.
"I took you in and helped you and this is how you repay me?" I pushed him away from me. "You know they're right, the Avengers, your father and your brother - you are the bad guy. I was a complete idiot in thinking I could change that. You're not a Disney character, this isn't a fairytale; this is cold, harsh reality. The reality where you got my parents killed and where I should have done the right thing and kicked you out when I first saw you."
Loki finally raised a hand to his cheek. "Freya-"
"No, don't use my name, don't act like you're sorry!" I made my way into the living room.
"I am sorry." I turned to look at the God just before a dark smirk broke across his face. "I am sorry I cannot end you now Midgardian, put you out of your misery."
That was it. I reached for the phone dialling 999.
Loki leaped on me, pushing me onto the sofa. "Don't. You. Dare," he seethed in my ear. His grip was like iron on my wrist. It hurt. I dropped the phone.
He picked it up. "Hello, I'm sorry I must have rung you by accident." His voice was flawless and full of lies. Cold blue eyes glared down at me. The phone was discarded on the floor behind the sofa. If looks could kill...
I don't know why, but I laughed. The God of Mischief and Lies was pinning me to the sofa with the most murderous look on his face, in nothing but a towel. "I see what you're doing," I whispered.
"What am I doing then, Midgardian?" Loki hissed, anger staining his face.
"You're pushing me away because I got close." My words hung in the air for a while before Loki rose off of me.
He stared at me, his features flickering between that of rage and something else, something softer - guilt. But the guilt disappeared all too quickly and his eyes flared with rage.
I sat up on the sofa, not daring to get up. "I know people like-"
"There is no one like me." Loki crossed his arms over his chest. "Only in your nightmares, in the darkest most desolate places of your mind."
"My life is my nightmare," I snapped, standing up. "You're broken and confused; you take it out on the people who care. You probably took it out on your mum."
Loki clenched his fists, his face flashing with rage. "Don't act like you know me!"
"Stop treating me like I'm shit on your shoe then!" I yelled back.
"Midgardian, you're nothing but dirt on my shoe." Loki stepped away from me. "An ant underneath my boot."
"Yeah well at least I'm not a psycho!" I tried to regulate my breathing.
"I'm not crazy," Loki whispered. "I am not insane I merely act instinctively which earns me the title of lunatic."
"You killed eighty people because it was fun and you got my parents killed." I stepped towards Loki. "It's your fault they're dead. And it's your fault I never got to apologise and explain to them what happened..." I trailed off, biting back tears. No. I wasn't crying in front of this pathetic excuse of a God. "You asked why I wasn't angry. I wasn't angry because I thought I'd give you a second chance but I'm seriously regretting it right now."
Loki stood scowling at me, pale arms crossed over his chest. "If you Midgardians had let me rule you then she would not be dead. I would never had been imprisoned. My mother would still be alive."
"Don't blame me for her death." I glared back at him.
We both stood hostile in the middle of my living room. I don't know how long we spent staring each other down. But the tension in the room was pretty intense. His shoulders rose and fell in steady motions whilst my breaths were rapid and shallow.
Neither one of us moved as the temperature in the room slowly dropped.
Loki uncrossed his arms, raking a hand through his hair. "I told her she was not my mother right before she died."
Slowly, I reached out and touched the semi-naked God on the cheek. "You finally decided to come back then."
He blinked rapidly, flexing his jaw. "What do you mean, Midgardian?"
"That wasn't you just now, that was the monster you created to protect yourself."
His hand reached up and touched mine. "The only other person who cared about me was my mother."
"Who said I care?" I laughed, withdrawing my hand. "I'm just worried you're either going to burn my house down along with me in it or you're going to cause the great floods of 2015."
Loki's eyes shone with an emotion I couldn't interpret. "You have a funny way of pushing people away, Earthling."
"At least it's not abusive." I rubbed my wrist.
"I will admit that I have a temper." Loki shook his head, standing up. His cheek still shone red with my hand print. He had deserved it though... But that didn't mean I didn't feel bad about it.
"I wouldn't have guessed." I walked past him - all the while his eyes on me - off to my bedroom. "Help yourself to the magic charms in the top left cupboard that's all I have." And that's all you deserve I wanted to call too, but I didn't. The tension in the air was gone now and there was no point in bringing it back.
I raided through my drawers finding my work clothes. The jumpsuit was a plain grey with an eagle in a circle on the right breast. The sign of S.H.I.E.L.D. How was I going to explain that to Loki...?
I went into my top drawer, searching for underwear. Nothing. Ugh. I walked back out into the living room to the tumble dryer and pulled out a bra and pants.
"What is the point in wearing that, Midgardian?" Loki smirked from the sofa. He was still in the towel but he no longer looked like the raging man he had been a few minutes ago. He was the cocky Loki I'd experienced in the bathroom.
What was he talking about? I looked down to the undergarment in my hand: a thong. "No VPL I guess." I shrugged, heading back to my room.
"And what on Midgard does that mean?" Loki frowned.
"Visible pant line," I laughed, closing my bedroom door. I changed quickly, zipping up my jumpsuit just above my bra before exciting my room. I had to admit I was a little self conscious about the way I looked now that he was in my house. Why did Loki have to land in my shed anyway? I was just a normal twenty one year old student who was quite content on solitude. Well, sort of normal. I pulled my unruly hair into a ponytail, walking through the living room.
The kitchen floor was mopped up and Loki now sat on my counter - the towel still around his waist, thank god. I needed to stop saying God, he was one... And I certainly wasn't thanking him.
"You are wearing a uniform - a S.H.I.E.L.D uniform." Loki spoke between two massive spoonfuls of Magic Charms. At least he hadn't put them in a glass or something. I'm surprised he hadn't said anything else about my career choice.
"Yes, I'm going to work," I sighed. Another bowl of cereal was on the counter. I stared at the floating wheat objects confused, there was rat poison in one of the cupboards...
"I got you breakfast too," Loki smirked. "We God's must look after the weaker species I suppose."
I eyed him before grabbing a spoon and digging in. "Could you please sit on a chair?"
"Why?" Loki asked, standing.
"Having you so close to me on the counter in just a towel is kind of off-putting to say the least," I mumbled.
"Midgardian, why haven't you handed me in?" Loki sat in the chair opposite me, his fingers laced together.
I swallowed another mouthful. "I don't know."
Loki watched me eat, a small smirk playing across his features - which was in all ways creepy. "Even for a Midgardian I would have thought you intelligent enough to hand me over. After all I've done you're sitting here with me now. I know of no other as brave or perhaps as stupid as you."
"S.H.I.E.L.D would lock you up and throw away the key," I whispered.
"Do you not want that?" Loki put down his spoon, blue gaze intense. "Your anger just then suggested you do, Midgardian."
"Funnily enough, no." I put my bowl in the sink. "I believe in second chances though, so don't muck it up."
A loud knock sounded at the door. Who would that be? I wasn't expecting anyone.
"Stay in here until I leave," I whispered.
Loki nodded. He seemed tense.
"And for god's sake put some clothes on."
Loki smirked. "Do not deny you were enjoying the view, Midgardian."
I glanced to his chiseled chest. I was enjoying the view but I'd never tell him that. Ever.
I grabbed my handbag and opened the door.
"Are you Miss Swinton?" The red head in front of me smiled. Her green eyes scanning the room behind me. Hopefully Loki had done as I'd told him.
"Yes." I knew the woman standing before me: Natasha Romanoff aka The Black Widow.
"You're needed and quickly." She wore her trademark black jumpsuit with it's blue shockers on the wrists.
I leant on the door. "On who's orders?"
"The Director." He wanted me in. It must be bad if he thought I was needed.
I nodded, slowly shutting my door behind me. "What's happened?"
We walked briskly down the drive to a shiny, black car.
"Loki's back. He arrived last night somewhere on Earth but we don't know where."
"Oh, really?" I didn't even hesitate with my answer. I couldn't.
"Yes, we're on high alert. We have to find him." Natasha unlocked the car. Dammit, things were just getting worse.
I climbed in, glancing back towards my house. "Who else has been called in?"
"All of the Avengers." The car purred as Natasha turned the key.
"Then why do you guys need me?" I clicked on my seatbelt.
Natasha turned to me. "Your power."
I let the words sink in before I spoke. "Who told you?"
Natasha let her vision drift back onto the road. "Maria Hill did."
I gritted my teeth. "She had no right-"
"You're our only shot at finding him, Freya." Natasha stopped at the red light. "Do you want a psycho wandering the streets and hurting people?"
"No, I don't," I whispered. He wasn't wandering the streets he was in my living room, doing who knows what. But I knew for sure he wasn't hurting anyone.
