Loki tried to grasp exactly what she was saying and when he began to have an understanding he regarded her curiously. She had warned him the first time they'd met that he would be in trouble if he was fooling her. She had been talking about her alter ego. Her other self.
"I would wager you have no control over your other personality?"
"That's right. Most of the time I have no idea what she does," The girl before him sighed and shuffled the cards, "But the government tells me that she is not someone to be trifled with, which has caused a lot of problems for me."
Loki smirked. This other version of Casey sounded like someone he'd like to meet at some point - perhaps there was still time during this little trip. He gently took the playing cards out of her hand and looked her in the eye.
"Any idea what brings forth this… alter ego?" He asked casually.
Casey's gaze became icy and she laughed harshly. "Course I do, but I'm not going to tell you. I've told you everything else you want to know, so why don't you give me my money and then be on your merry little way back to wherever you came from?"
"I'm afraid I'm the one who will be deciding when our deal has been finalized. Until that time, you'll get nothing." Loki said with a smile, amused at seeing her horrified expression.
"But, you said you'd pay me for telling you how I do the card trick! You never said anything about spilling all my secrets! If this kind of information gets out then I'll never get any peace. You already know too much. I'm not telling you anything else." The girl before him declared, balling her fists defiantly and then taking a small step backward.
He laughed and crossed his arms. "Why must Midgardians be so stubborn? Everything you do is an argument waiting to happen," He stepped closer, "Do you want your money or not? I will only give it to you when I'm satisfied with the information given."
"I don't want it anymore. It's probably just going to disappear after you leave." She took a few more steps back and picked up her backpack off of the ground.
Loki's eyes narrowed, she was preparing to run - regardless of anything he offered her. As insignificant as this little adventure was to him, he still felt angry at this thought. "Casey, it is real money that will not vanish after I do. On my honor."
She gave him a small smile. "We've already established that your honor isn't worth much, Mr. Laufeyson." She took another step backwards, never taking her eyes off of him.
"That is, admittedly, true," He shrugged, "Then I swear on my brother's life."
"No good," She snorted, "Everyone knows you tried to kill him during the invasion."
Loki smirked slightly. "Also true, so… I swear on the life of my mother." He felt a pang in his heart. Casey didn't know that his mother's life had ended.
"Be that as it may, I still don't want your money if it means telling you all of my secrets."
"This is ridiculous, you clearly need it to buy food and means of warmth," He took a step closer to her, but she just backed away, "I won't tell your secrets to anyone."
"No," Casey put her hands up defensively, "No, I don't want it, just leave me alone."
Loki stepped even closer so that she had to look up to make eye contact. Her eyes were filled with fear, but not of him - of her other self. He wondered just how dangerous this alter ego was and what it would take to meet her.
Casey became extremely nervous when the Asgardian stepped so close to her that a mere six inches was between them. She searched his bright blue eyes and only saw determination. There was no mercy, compassion, or understanding.
She took adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and then took a step back. Her foot caught on a rock and she found herself falling and then her back was all wet. She had landed in the pond and now she was soaking wet as well as freezing cold.
Loki made a move to help her up, but she pushed his hand away as she sat up. He obviously didn't know how to take a hint and grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet. Casey's forearm was still in his firm grasp and he pulled her closer in an intimidating way. She held her breath subconsciously and avoided looking at him.
"You will tell me, for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity and then you shall have your payment," He looked over her, "And, by Odin's beard, do purchase some food and dry clothing."
Casey took a calming breath to quell the beast within her and then looked him in the eye confidently. "Fine, but it is on your head if she comes out and hurts someone."
"I take full responsibility." He said, smiling in such a way that made Casey wish the monster would come out wipe the expression off of his face.
"What did you want to know?" She said, tearing her arm from his grip.
"When does your other self come forth? What brings her out of hiding?"
"Lots of things, but the one that is hardest to prevent is fear. When I get too scared my survivalist instincts kick in and… kapow! Sometimes it wears off right when she is in the middle of doing something, and sometimes it doesn't wear off until much later," Casey snorted, "Once I woke up with a government agent's gun pointed at my head."
"So becoming afraid will do what? Turn you into a green giant?"
Casey smiled slightly, suddenly aware that her situation could be much worse. She could be like the poor soul burdened with the Hulk. "Well, I'm not exactly… around... when the alter ego comes out, but from what I've heard she looks just like me, but has a totally different personality."
"Interesting. Do you have any idea what sort of power she has?"
"I'm told she is strong, fast, and mean as a hornet." Casey still remembered the look of fear on that government agent's face.
Loki seemed to consider this information for a moment and then raised an eyebrow. "You say there are other things that trigger your transformation? What?"
"Porcelain," Casey answered without hesitation. It had been the first thing to set her off, "But only if I touch it with my hands," The thing she didn't tell him was that she almost had that little issue under control, "Occasionally classical music and even less frequently, the smell of pizza." Both of those were nearly taken care of as well.
"It would seem you have many things to avoid, Casey," Loki commented, "I do not envy you."
"Yeah," She shrugged, "But I've learned to live with it. Keeping my fear under control is the hardest, but the key is taking deep breaths."
"So you wouldn't turn into your other self if I jumped out at you?"
"When you just appeared in front of me while we were walking here I thought for sure I'd lose it and you'd be a goner, but I managed to keep it in check. Which is lucky, for your sake."
"Truly," He grunted, "So… surprising you is not the best thing I could do."
"No, that is probably not a good idea." Casey chuckled. Her stomach grumbled suddenly and she glanced at him in embarrassment.
He regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps this conversation would be best continued over a bit of luncheon?"
"That'd be nice, but I don't have any money."
"Allow me to pay for a meal as a bonus."
"Sounds good to me!"
Tony Stark had been enjoying a carefree day in New York until that random person off the street had tripped him. He'd fallen and scraped his knee. Since that moment Tony had been hiding out in the Shawarma Palace. He was on his fifth helping of the delicious meat when the bell above the door jingled and two people entered the little shop. A young woman followed by a tall man with dark hair. In Tony's Shawarma filled state he was feeling to sick to his stomach to recognize this person as anyone but a familiar face. It wasn't that the Shawarma had alcohol in it - the billionaire had simply eaten five helpings of it and it made him a little loopy.
"Hey! I know you!" He called to the man with the black hair. The man looked Tony's way and his face suddenly looked different and slightly fearful, "You don't happen to work for me, do you? If so, I will give you a raise if you don't tell Pepper I'm here. You see, she thinks that I should stop eating junk food, but this shawarma, I'm telling you… it's incredible."
"I'm sorry, I believe you have the wrong person." The man with black hair informed him.
"Oh, my bad. I just thought you looked familiar," Tony muttered in his addled state, "Waitress, could I pleased get a Shawarma Basket to go?"
Loki breathed a sigh of relief when Stark didn't seem to be able to put a name to his face. The Midgardian idiot probably wouldn't even recall their encounter later. A good thing too, Loki did not want word getting out that he was alive. It would have been disastrous.
"Casey, what would you like to eat? And do you have any suggestions on what I should eat as I am uncertain of the contents of this food?"
"Like I know what it is! I've never eaten here before. Let's just get what that guy is getting, Shawarma Baskets." Casey shrugged.
They ordered their food and Loki payed for it with some human money he had stolen earlier on his trip. He carried the greasy food over to a small table and set it down. Before he was even seated his companion had begun devouring her meal with the ravenous appetite of a Bilgesnipe. The look on her face was one of pure content and he wondered how long it had been since she had eaten a proper meal.
Loki peered into the basket before him and picked at the wrap of meat and vegetables. It smelled good so he placed it in his mouth. It was, as Stark had stated, incredible.
The two ate in silence for a while, neither willing to give up eating the food for conversation until Casey wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked up at him timidly.
"You know, for a guy who attempted to take over my home planet, you're a pretty decent fellow," She said, "Thank you for the meal."
"You are welcome. Thank you for appeasing my curiosity."
"Yeah, sure," She mumbled, taking another bite of her food, "Just don't go getting any ideas about us being friends. I'm in enough trouble with the government as is. I don't need to be hunted down because you and I are buddies."
"My dear Casey, I would never expect us to be friends. I don't have any friends."
"Good." She grunted. The girl went back to her food, but looked up a moment later, "That is, it's not 'good' that you don't have any friends… I meant 'good' because you and I aren't friends. Wait, you seriously have no friends? That's sad."
"Yes, I understood your meaning. You are hungry, please return to your meal." Loki ordered, nibbling at his own food. He wasn't bothered by the fact that he had no friends, just as he was not bothered by the fact that he had no family. Still… it would have been nice to have at least one person to confide it.
Casey hadn't eaten a real meal for two days and having this warm food now was making her stomach ache. She didn't slow down, though. She didn't know the next time she would be able to have food as good as this and she wanted to fill up. Loki seemed to be watching her curiously, but she didn't really care at the moment. As unsightly and unladylike as her gorging must have looked, she was starving and no Asgardian was going to make her stop eating this heavenly food.
"I'm curious, is there anything that, when consumed, could release your alter ego?" The Asgardian in question asked.
"Um…" She considered it while chewing her last mouthful of food, "I don't think so. It's never happened before, but I suppose it's possible." She stuffed the last of her shawarma in her mouth and wiped her hands off on a napkin. She'd never thought about it before. Being allergic to nothing, Casey hadn't ever really stopped to think about what kinds of things she put in her mouth. If it was food she ate it. At least, now she did. Back when she lived with her parents she was a very picky eater and always worried about eating too many carbs and what kinds of diets worked best. The only consideration that went into her current meals was if it was edible or not.
"I only ask because I put something in your food to see how you would react."
Casey stopped chewing and spit the shawarma back into the basket. She knew it looked revolting, but she didn't care. Glaring at Loki, she put water in her mouth and swished it around, spitting it into the basket as well. "What did you put in my food, Loki?" She hissed quietly, leaning closer to him.
"Oh, nothing spectacular. Just a little poison that should stimulate enough fear for you to lose control." He snickered.
"No, no, no, no! You didn't!"
"I did. It should be taking effect any moment now."
"Do you know what will happen? She will hurt people! What if they hear about it and come and get me? I can't be locked up again! No!" Her voice started rising. She could feel the panic growing inside of her and something clawing to get out. The fear was beginning to get to her, "Deep breaths, deep breaths!" She cautioned herself, standing up and heading toward the door marked "restroom". Behind her she heard Loki rise and follow her. That was the least of her worries at the moment. She needed to calm down and get away from people. Throwing open the bathroom door, Casey headed to a window and opened it.
"Where are you going?" Loki asked from behind her.
"I've got to get out of here. I need to find a place with no people," This was bad, very bad. She should have known the Asgardian only wanted to take advantage of her other self's power. He was as terrible as this situation, "If you value your life you'll get out of here, Loki. If she remembers anything you did then she'll come after you first."
"I'd like to see how this plays out, but thank you for your concern."
"I just don't want your blood on my hands." She climbed through the window and into an alley. She ran down the alley, feeling the panic grow in her stomach. Fear spread through her and began to take control. Terrified, Casey found a fire escape and climbed up the ladder as quickly as she could. When she was on the roof of the building she used any and all power she had to push the metal ladder out of place. Once it was out she shoved it down and it landed with a loud clatter. Now she was alone on the roof with no one around who could get hurt.
"Keep it together," Casey ordered herself. Sitting cross legged in the middle of the roof, she held her head in her hands and breathed in and out deeply. It didn't seemed to be working, "Come on! It's merely fear. It is merely fear! It cannot control me!" She was shouting now and the horrible feeling in her stomach was growing worse.
"Fear is a valuable weapon, Casey. If you use it properly, it can control anyone - even you," Loki crouched beside her, now dressed in intricate gold and green armor, "And there was never really any poison, but the simple idea that there was caused so much fear! So much hatred! It is glorious what fear can do."
It sounded like a whisper to Casey as a sort of laughter filled her head. The image of a needle being stuck into her arm came to mind, followed by the sound of her own blood curdling shriek. Then everything went black.