Chapter 24
The Day Of The Peace Convention
The slaughter of world leaders, men and women attending the convention, flashed in Jane's mind. They were supposed to learn of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life in a peaceful way, not at the end of a Frost Giant's blade. Not by an alien invasion. She hoped.
"Jane?"
She shivered as she recalled the glassy-eyed stares of those held captive by shock, the chaotic frenzy of those fleeing—
"Jane."
A hand touched her shoulder and she jerked away in surprise.
Loki stood at her workstation, gaze fixed on her with that half-smile he usually wore. The flash of concern was gone so fast she doubted it was ever there.
"If you would like to take a break..." Loki suggested.
She shook her head. Working focused her mind, otherwise she'd be worrying about the coming hours.
He watched her as if trying to gauge her sincerity, then abruptly turned from her. "Thor will be fine. He is nearly indestructible."
The God of Thunder hadn't even entered her mind, but, now that he mentioned it, maybe she did need to worry about him.
She gripped the Tesseract and stood. "I should be there," Jane announced a little too loudly.
He spun around. The end of his coat swirled outward with his sudden movement. "You are not to go anywhere near there."
"I can protect them."
Erik walked to her. "Jane, he's right. It's safer for you here."
"Besides, you have no way to get there," Barton said.
She hadn't thought of that.
"The advance warning you gave them will have changed the future for the better. You'll see." Erik squeezed her shoulder before he went back to his workstation.
Loki changed the subject. "I have an idea about how you might locate the other realms, but it won't be well received by our overlords." He gave her a conspiratorial wink as he nodded to Barton.
Officially distracted, she said, "I'll take anything right now."
"If you can build something you could track, I can plant it on Jotunheim."
She stood straighter. "That could work. The transmitter would have to withstand extreme cold and be camouflaged from the local lifeforms..." She cradled the Tesseract in her arm and sat, jotting down her ideas. When a random thought came to her, she stopped and looked up at him. "Why the Frost World?"
He blinked several times before he answered. "From a tactical standpoint, that is the most advantageous realm to find first."
True, but she felt there was more to it than that. Regardless, SHIELD would never agree to it unless it was someone other than Loki. "Can you teleport another person there?"
"My magic keeps the portal from closing during the journey. Without me, the person would be lost to the void."
Yeah, this wasn't going to work. She sighed and put her pencil down.
He knelt beside her and whispered in her ear, "Isn't it better to ask for forgiveness than permission?"
His close proximity teased every nerve ending in her body. She closed her eyes and swallowed, fighting back her desire for him.
"Back away from her," Barton's voice broke through the haze clouding her mind. When Loki didn't move, he added an emphatic "now."
The God of Mischief stayed put, smiling against her ear. She rolled her eyes and pushed her chair several inches away from him. Why did he always have to cause trouble?
Barton stood behind Loki with an arrow aimed directly at him.
The two men had been on the verge of a fight for the past two days. Barton would remind him of Dr. Collins' PTSD and all the wrongs he'd committed, and Loki would make it worse by taunting him with that half-smile she shouldn't find so appealing.
The dark-haired god straightened to his full—and impressive—height. He turned to the shorter SHIELD agent and asked, "How would you like to visit Jotunheim with me?"
He probably wanted to bring him along so he could "lose" him in the void. She got to her feet. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Barton's bow lowered. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing—"
Loki clasped his hands behind his back and interrupted her. "I have a brilliant plan to help your kind locate a realm."
Erik darted to their little party. "What have you come up with?"
As he told them, she watched her mentor's eyes light up at the possibility and Barton's narrow in suspicion. She sat down, shifting the Tesseract to her other arm, and waited for the storm to blow over.
Except there wasn't one.
Agent Barton faced her. "This would help the project?"
"Assuming we can build a transmitter strong enough to be detected from at least ten light years away to nearly 100 thousand. And that's just for our galaxy."
"So Stark can build one?"
She almost sighed. He must not understand how far away a light year was. Most people didn't. "If anyone can, it'll be him."
He turned back to Loki. "They build it, we plant it. You do anything I deem suspicious and I'll gladly put this arrow between your eyes."
"You'd be trapped on an inhospitable planet only to perish that nightfall."
"And?"
Loki eyed him as if he were reevaluating the shorter man. "I believe we have a deal."
He sat in the chair next to her and drummed his fingers on what appeared to be a normal-looking book.
She looked at him straight on. "If you're bored, I can give you something to do."
The corner of his mouth twitched. "There is only one thing I'd like to do right now..."
The lascivious smile he wore told her exactly what he'd like to do. Or more specifically, who. Warmth blossomed in her cheeks.
"This is for you," he said as he slid the book still under his hand over to her.
She blinked at him.
"It's a gesture of my gratitude."
She couldn't think of why he would be grateful to her.
He sighed. "For freeing me from the confines of my imprisonment."
"Oh, well, I needed you," she said without thinking, then quickly amended, "to help me find the other worlds. That's all."
After a long moment, she broke the awkward silence and asked, "Can you use your magic on me?"
He leaned toward her and nodded in Barton's direction. "I don't think he would appreciate that." He leaned back. "Why are you suddenly curious about my magic?"
"Do something else then, like levitate my pencil." She pointed to it on the table.
His eyes narrowed. "Why?"
She shrugged. "Scientific inquiry. If you can't, that's fine." She went to pick up her pencil, but stopped when it rose several inches on its own.
With his gaze on her, he said, "Any child with an affinity for magic can levitate objects."
"How long can you keep it up?"
"Longer than you can possibly imagine."
He smiled and she rolled her eyes, though her heart might've tripped over itself.
Jane stared at the pencil. It was just an ordinary writing utensil, but encasing it was something unnatural. And it felt familiar. Too familiar.
She thought back to the first time they had met at the Triskelion. Loki had stood next to Thor, submissive, yet angry. The memory was clearer and more vivid than when she had lived it.
His magic was under such tight control that she could barely penetrate the outer layer. When she did, her hold on the vision almost slipped. He'd been around her even before this point in time. He'd been around for far longer based on the strength of their connection.
A piercing blue light tore her out of the trance as explosions bombarded her ears and rocked the room. Her heart pounded, drowning her in adrenaline. She sprung out of her chair and stared, breathless, at the many Jotunns fighting the paltry force left behind.
Author's Note: Dun dun dunnn... Next chapter is the halfway point and is in Loki's POV!
I'm keeping this short because I don't have much time. A little one and a husband should be enough of an explanation. Don't they know I need to write? Lol.
Hugs to everyone, including my beta, DreamFlight, and my sister. You all are awesome! And I know this because I have a finely tuned awesome detector. :)