They took me back to the cell afterwards, shoving me in and slamming the door shut behind me. I looked behind me and sure enough there was no sign a door had ever been there, it looked for all the world like a wall and was probably as easy enough to open. I walked over to the opposite side, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor and feeling the worry gnawing at my insides.
"You do not look so well," commented my cell mate, who had previously been pacing about and had come to lean against the wall beside me. "Pray tell."
"It's a trap," I said, even the words sounding horrifying. "They brought me here to trap the Avengers."
"The Avengers?" asked my cellmate, brow furrowing before he smiled. "You mean the group that the prince joined? He is quite fond of them."
"So you are an Asgardian?" I asked, and he nodded.
"I was a guard for the weapon's vault," replied the man. "My name is Thialfi."
"Thialfi," I repeated, getting the feel of the name. "I'm Jess."
"It is an honour to meet you," he said, holding my hand up to his mouth so he could kiss it. "And such a shame it is in this prison."
"In a few days this cell is probably going to be the safest place there is," I said glumly, and then told Thialfi all that had happened- I hoped that he would be able to help me.
"Yes, that treacherous Loki led a group of these aliens right into the vault- they killed the other guard and took me prisoner," he explained. "They were no doubt planning on torturing me for information on Asgardian defences."
"Well I think that's been delayed a little," I commented, peering up to the single window which hung there to the left of the door- the part which would lead to a drop through Space. The smoothness of the walls made it impossible to hang on to (Unless you were Spider-Man or something) and even if you did get out there was no doubt a small army of Chitauri here and nowhere to go. "We need to get the Tesseract from away from them."
"I agree, but there are only two of us and we are both unarmed," pointed out Thialfi, a fact I had already thought of.
Now would be a really good time for me to discover another power.
/
There were of course protests, no-one wanted to find the god who had done this and get his help. Who was to say he would even help them anyway? The other option though was to leave Jess in the hands of the Chitauri, and as much as some people preferred her not to be around (Her presence a constant reminder that they were only fiction in another world) they were not going to let her suffer because they couldn't protect her.
"How else do you propose we get there?" said Tony, stopping all protests. It was true, there was no other way to get there- even if the Chitauri hadn't taken the Tesseract. "Or do we plan on letting Jess come up with her own plan to get home."
It was the first time the playboy had called her by her name rather than Crazy Chick, and would probably be the last. It was a sign about how dangerous this situation had got.
"And how do you suggest we find Loki?" asked Fury. "Because if he's really as smart as he thinks he is he'll be long gone and not looking to show his face again."
"Unless this is a trap," pointed out Bruce, they looked at him questioningly before some figured it out.
"They're using Jess as bait to trap us on their side," explained Natasha for those who hadn't.
"And leave Earth defenceless against the whole of the Chitauri army," finished Steve.
"Excuse me- we do have other forces than the Avengers," pointed out Fury. "I'm sure we could survive long enough for you to make a return trip."
"And we can't exactly leave Jess to the Chitauri," agreed Steve.
"We could send only a few," said Thor. "Those who would be able to retrieve Miss Attwater and the Tesseract- if they possess it- without causing an uproar."
"Well that puts the big guy out of consideration," Tony said. "But you might wanna take some firepower just in case."
"I'm going," said Steve without a moment's hesitation. "I've done this kind of thing before."
"Not on an alien planet though," pointed out the billionaire.
"And you have?" countered the soldier.
"Enough," interrupted Fury. "We can't say for sure who we'll need because we have no idea where you'll end up."
"So what do you recommend?" asked Steve.
Everyone looked at Fury expectantly and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"If there is going to be an invasion then the safety of this planet comes above that of one woman," he finally said. "We're going to need all our forces available if this is to be as bad as she said. No-one, will be going."
/
"Are you sure about this?" Asked Thialfi, looking unsure as he stood below the window. "This is madness."
"Isn't it?" I agreed. "Hold your arms up."
He did so and I ran across, jumping onto his hands as he vaulted me up towards the window which I grabbed and shuffled onto.
Nat and Steve don't own that move.
Thankfully the window was as big as I thought it was and I was able to sit on it with ease. Looking over the edge I could see only a narrow ledge before space appeared- a very weird thing to see and for a moment I was enthralled by what I was looking out.
"How does it look?" asked Thialfi.
"Not good," I replied. "Very not good."
Perhaps you should come back in then, this is foolish."
I swallowed as I shuffled towards the edge of the window.
"Geronimo."
I jumped.
