Chapter 10 –

Loki knelt down on the ground with his hands strategically placed along the etchings of the boulder as he began to run through the incantation in his mind. He felt a pang in his chest at the knowledge that her need for his help was nearly complete. The thought of his freedom from the Black Widow was no longer something that gave him even the remotest bit of pleasure.

"Loki," her cool voice came from behind him and he sighed audibly. He could feel the tremor in his body at her sudden nearness. This woman was going to be the death of him. He was sure. What possible reason could she have for disturbing him? "You can't just say those things and then walk away as if you said nothing."

"I cannot open the passage with you nagging away in my ear," the young god snapped. "Just let me do what you brought me here for."

"I think I deserve a chance to respond. You didn't even let me finish what I was going to say," Natasha insisted, the slightest hint of sentiment in her voice. Loki turned his head and gazed up at her at the sound. It was so rare for her to show even the smallest sentimentality.

"I was quite certain that you already had," the trickster abraded as he stood up from the gravelly dirt beneath him. "You have made your feelings or lack thereof very clear now if you don't mind."

"This is difficult for me… I've never let myself… I'm not use to this," the black widow stumbled out quietly. She was nervous, he could see it plainly. She took another step closer and placed her hands gingerly along his green shirt. "I'm willing," she whispered, her voice clearly trembling now as she leaned up on the tips of her toes. "Make me yours, Loki."

With a rush of movement he crushed his lips to hers. Her hands were pressed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and devoured her greedily. He felt like he had been waiting his entire life to hear those words. Her hands glided up under his shirt and every inch of his body trembled at the contact.

"You have no idea how badly I want you, Natalia," the young god moaned against her throat. She moved away from him slightly, her dark blue eyes gazing up at him with utter lust as she batted her lashes seductively.

"What are you waiting for?" She smiled as she pulled him in for another kiss.

"Loki, what are you waiting for?" her voice came at him again and broke him away from his thoughts as he knelt at the side of the large rock. He looked up, her dark blue eyes gazing down at him coldly. He abraded himself internally for letting his mind wander so easily. As if there was any chance of her ever speaking those words to him.

"This is a complicated enchantment," the young prince snipped with more venom in his voice than he would have liked. He was annoyed with himself more than her. He hated showing his emotions so plainly. He used to be so much better at keeping his feelings hidden. The woman was a thorn in his side. "And the more you bother me the longer it will take." The mischievous prince concentrated on the carvings before him as he went through the spell once more. The boulder began to shimmer and glow until the image of a hot, dusty expanse of sand and rocks appeared against its surface.

"There it is ready," Loki advised as he motioned for her to walk through while he took a step forward into the glimmering picture. The heat was blistering the moment that he passed within the mystical passage. Muspelheim was like living on a volcanic desert. Being a frost giant made the temperature even more unbearable as he felt the sweat drip from his pours. "I'm enacting an invisibility spell," he told her as she moved through the opening to stand at his side. "So that we will not be seen by the Fire Giants but you must stay close to me. If you move too far out of my range than it will falter, do you understand?"

"I'm not a child," Natasha advised in her icy tone. "I can follow directions."

They moved along the dusty terrain as they searched for any signs of vegetation. He imagined this must be what Hel was like. The extreme heat was working havoc on his body and he was beginning to think that it might be affecting his magic. He felt a definite shift in his power, a slight weakening in his sense of the mystical energy that dwelled within him. He shuddered to think what might happen if he spent much longer in this realm. Just when he started to think that no such flower existed they spotted a small patch embedded along the edges of several clusters of large rocks.

Natasha laid down her knapsack and pulled out a large plastic container. She kneeled down and began picking the blue flamedragon's carefully as she placed them inside the clear box. He moved to his knees as he started picking more flowers. He wasn't sure exactly how many she needed but he assumed she would want to get as much as possible. His dark green eyes began to drift towards her petite hands as they plucked the stems gently between her fingers. He could almost feel them on his chest as the memory of the night that he had almost made love to her came crashing into his mind. He dropped his gaze immediately. The Fates forbid that she caught him staring at her. He resigned himself not to let his eyes linger on her anymore as he placed the flowers that he collected inside the carton.

He stood up and turned his attention back to where they had come from. She could grab the rest of them herself, he thought wryly as he tried to clear his mind. He needed to find a way to put an end to these feelings once and for all. Soon he would be free and what good would his liberty be if he continued to pine over this woman. The first thing that he felt was the dispersing of his spell. He whipped his head around and saw that the Black Widow was nowhere in his sight. Where in the name of Hel did she go? He heard the sound of gunshots and darted towards the direction of the noise.

The young god skirted the corner to find her shooting her weapons at a wild bilgesnipe or at least what would pass as a larger, carroty colored version of the beasts that dwelled in Asgard. He heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the crazed animal collapse to the ground before he rounded on her in a fit of rage.

"Which part of stay at my side eluded your grasp of understanding?" Loki shouted angrily.

"I'm not sure how many flamedragons they will need to make the cure," Natasha replied without a hint of emotion. "I'm just doing my job."

"And what good would thousands of them be if you are not alive to deliver them?" the trickster chided.

The sound of footsteps shook along the terrain as a Fire Giant walked toward them. The monstrous red beast was three times his size. Its crimson skin and long pointed horns glowed with an eerie demonic light. "You don't belong here," it growled as it sent a burst of fire roaring in their direction. Loki pushed her out of the way as the flame scorched his shoulder blade. He hissed in pain as he sent a flurry of daggers at the fiend. The third of which hit the creature right between the eyes causing him to collapse to his death as Loki heaved a sigh of relief.

"I can take care of myself," Natasha bit off indignantly as she rose from the ground. "How dare you push me that way." The Black Widow's dark blue eyes glanced at his shoulder. A hole had been seared right through his leather vest and shirt and the skin was blistered. A softness fell over her face as she observed the wound but her words remained cold. "That's what you get for being a chauvinistic pig."

"Your concern for me is so touching, Agent Romanoff," Loki remarked sarcastically as he reinstated his spell to make them invisible from the other inhabitants of the realm. The scolded skin was extremely painful but he wasn't about to show even the tiniest bit of discomfort. "Shall we go now?"

"How long will it take to heal?" the Black Widow probed. Her voice had returned to its usual calming timber.

"Don't worry it will have no effect on my ability to take us out of this place." The mischievous prince advised purposefully ignoring her question. The fact was that with his enhanced healing it should be back to normal in a few days and once he got out of this realm he could try a healing spell that could speed up the time even more. He was too weakened from the boiling hotness of the world around him to attempt anything now.

"You shouldn't have done it," Natasha reiterated, holding her backpack tightly in her hands. "Don't ever do it again."

"I do what I want," Loki commanded regally as he strutted towards the passage. He knelt down in one swift motion as he reached his fingers toward the etchings. He made the mistake of using his injured arm and the pain that shot through his shoulder at the movement caused a groan to escape his lips against his will.

"It will heal quickly won't it?" the black widow entreated, her voice filled with concern.

"Do you truly worry for me, little spider?" his voice was no more than a low whisper as he looked up at her inquisitively.

"I just don't want anything to slow us down," Natasha replied frigidly as her mask settled back into place.

Loki exhaled in a huff as he turned back to the rock and started the enchantment so that they could leave this dreaded realm. Why did he insist on letting himself hope that she would have a change of heart about him? He had a greater chance of being crowned King of Asgard by legitimate means. The young god brought back their horses as he tried to hold in another hiss of pain while he pulled himself up onto the mount. He would try a healing spell as soon as they made their first camp. He didn't want to waste any time getting out of Nidavellir. He truly had no desire to run into any dwarfs. If he never saw another one for as long as he lived it would be too soon.

The young god sat along the thin bedding that he had laid out in the small cove that they had discovered. It was a stroke of luck that they had come across it as the rain had begun to tumble down mere moments before. It didn't shower often in this land but when it did the storms were torrential. Loki rid himself of his ruined shirt and vest with a flick of his fingers as he tilted his head to gaze at the damage that the Fire Giant had inflicted upon him. He pressed his hand along the lacerations and started to recite the words of his spell in his mind.

"What are you doing?" Natasha's icy voice came at him, breaking his focus and causing the pale light that had begun to emerge along his finger tips to evaporate.

"What is your problem now?" he exasperated without moving his eyes away from the lesion. "If the sight of me undressed is too much for you than turn away."

"Get over yourself as if you're god's gift to women," the Black Widow bit off heatedly. The mischievous prince couldn't help but grin at the fire in her voice and the irritation that she was so plainly showing. He may not be allowed near her heart but at least he could get under her skin. "I was merely asking out of curiosity."

"Let me explain something to you, little spider," Loki pronounced dryly as he placed his fingers along the blisters once more. "Casting a spell requires words which in turn require my full attention. When you speak to me during it I lose my focus. So if you don't mind." He made another attempt at the incantation. The light flowed from his fingers and created a small shimmer across his skin. He could feel some of the sting dissipating on contact and the red sores faded considerably. He gazed back up at her when he was through. "To answer your earlier question it should be back to normal in another day at most."

The black widow made no response from her place on the other side of the tiny cave. She lied her head down on the small pillow that he had provided and situated the blanket that he had given her comfortably across her body. Loki laid back as well, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as he waited for her to fall asleep. When he was all but certain that she was in a sound slumber he turned himself gingerly on his side and extended his hand out in her direction as he started to work his enchantment. He decided to give her a winter wonderland this evening as he smiled slightly to himself, his fingers moving in a languid motion when she suddenly shot up from her resting place.

"What are you doing?" Natasha probed accusingly. Her dark blue eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I wasn't doing anything… I'm trying to sleep… why don't you do the same?" Loki lied as he turned away from her. He enclosed his fingers together as he rested them on his stomach.

"You were casting a spell on me weren't you?" Natasha insisted as she stood up in a huff. "It's true, isn't it? … admit it."

"You're paranoid, little spider. I can't do anything to you, remember? If I was trying to hurt you I would be back in my lovely glass home." The young god insisted as he held his palm out to her as if to prove the truth in his words. The flaming dragon practically glowed in the dim light given off by the crackling fire burning in the center of their camp.

"I knew it," She divulged, her voice almost cracking as she stepped closer. "I always dream of the red room… nearly every night for as long as I can remember. Of the training or even worse the missions that I went on for them… the people I killed." She stepped even closer as she loomed over him. Her sapphire eyes were brimming over with emotion. "But not since that first night when I caught you… you said you were trying to calm me. Every night I've had these peaceful dreams of parks and seashores and… every night except the night at the tavern." She turned her back toward him for a moment as she took a deep breath. Loki was amazed by the honest feeling in her words as he sat up cautiously. "You've been giving me these dreams haven't you?"

"Yes," Loki admitted.

"Well, stop it," She turned back to him in a fury. "Do you hear me? Stop it. I can't feel for you I can't. I'm not built that way. I was raised to… emotions are nothing but weakness… just a failing that can be exposed by your enemies."

"Not always," the young god entreated as he stood up and closed the distance between them. She had never been so open with him before. Could she feel something for him, after all? "Sometimes they make you stronger."

"Why can't you just be the man that I met in the helicarrier?" she pleaded weakly. "Please stop looking at me that way."

"I could just as soon stop breathing," Loki whispered huskily as he enclosed her face in his hands. "It's your fault. You make me want to be different… to be anything other than what I was… you make me want to be that." She knocked his arms away from her forcefully and he winced at the throbbing pain that shot through his shoulder at the action.

"I'm sorry," Natasha revealed apologetically. "I didn't mean to hurt you I just…"

"It didn't hurt that much," the trickster contended, his sparkling emerald eyes staring at her longingly. She felt something for him but she was fighting it. He could see it so plainly in her face. "Being this close to you and not being able to touch you… hurts so much more." He leaned in and captured her lips in a passionate kiss but this time she made no move to fight him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as her lips moved against his in a frenzy of desire. He was afraid to hope, afraid to think at all as he surrendered himself to the sensations of being so close to the woman that he loved.