The day had dawned hours ago. Petteri Vuori stood in silence outside the research unit, shivering with coldness, snow and wind gusting against his face, a cigarette between his lips and the dried blood of his boss still on his clothes. He took off his hat and tossed the remains of his cigarette into the snow when two men passed him carrying stretcher with a filled body bag. Peter followed it with his sorrowful gaze as the men lifted it into an odd looking army aircraft. Pete just stood there in the snowy weather, trying to figure out the mess around him. Scott Davis had died a few hours ago before the first aircraft had landed in front of their facilities. Men looking like feds had jumped off from the jet, asking strange questions and taking over the research unit and all of the data Peter and his fellow workers had been working with.
Soon after that, two more aircrafts had arrived bringing more army-looking fellows. Pete knew only one thing that they definitely weren't from the NASA. The one who seemed to be in charge had been on his satellite phone from the moment they had arrived. The strange looking group hadn't just taken Peter's and his co-workers data, they were taking down the whole research unit, disassembling also the massive radio telescope like they would have owned it.
Peter lit his fourth cigarette and took a long inhale, his hands shaking. He was sure to see nightmares of this for the rest of his life. He couldn't be more worried for Emma's sake.
"I'm sure you did all you could, Mr. Vuori," agent Coulson said, stepping next to Peter, gazing at the aircraft where the men carried one of his old colleagues.
"I don't know about that," Peter shuddered, unable to forget his useless efforts to help Scott. "I could have tried to take that shot at that Loki guy. Now that thing is somewhere out there with Emma."
The gust of wind and the snow made Coulson pull his hood tighter around his head. "How well you know Emma Morgan?"
"We've been working together for four and a half months. The co-workers are all we see here really."
"Did you notice anything strange about her after you found this Loki?"
"Other than that she took a bullet and walked away?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Scott accidentally shot at her. That's her blood over there," Pete said pointing at a nearly snow covered red smudge on the icy ground. "She fell, and I thought she died, but then she just got up like nothing would have happened and left with Loki."
Coulson stopped one of his fellow agents and asked the man taking full test from the blood on the ground. Then he turned back at Peter. "You didn't mention this before? Why?"
"I don't want any troubles for her. She is like the nicest person I know. And this is getting too X-files stuff for me."
"You can trust us. We are here to help."
"What's that organization you said you're from again?"
"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. You can call it S.H.I.E.L.D. It's simpler," agent Coulson said and waved his hand at one of the stern men who came to them. "Barton, take two teams and go after them. This Loki is dangerous so proceed with caution. I know your eyes are sharp but you might not trust them this time."
"Yes, sir," Barton, the Hawkeye, said. "Are we expecting Thor to show up?"
Pete overheard their short conversation and snorted. "What? Is this a freaking candid camera? Is Odin gonna come too? I know the Valkyries won't, because they all are apparently dead. So, don't get yourselves killed in a battle. There's no Valhalla waiting!"
Coulson and Barton exchanged looks and then Barton left to the Quinjet. The wind was still rising, blowing snow from west and reaching soon to tempestuous measures. They had to raise the volume of their voices.
Phil Coulson frowned and turned at Peter again. "Are you drunk, sir? Or under influence of any kind of drugs?"
"I wish!" Pete said and spit snow out of his mouth. "I left my last booze in the SnowCat."
"What do you know about Thor?"
"Viking gods for dummies; Loki and Thor are brothers. They are both gods, um, aesirs I believe, and sons of all mighty Odin. Odin is like the big boss of all the Norse gods. And possibly the Loki I've met is pretty pissed off and wants to take over our world. Or then he's just a scary nutcase."
"How do you know this?"
"I spent a summer hiking in Norway with my parents when I was a kid. I read all about that stuff back then. Mount Jotunheim was awesome, by the way." Peter glanced around him in the increasing wind, his eyes squinted nearly close. "Anyway, you won't be flying anywhere in this weather."
"We have the most modern technology on our side. We'll be airborne in no time!" agent Coulson assured and turned at the Quinjets.
Barton walked back at them seemingly annoyed through the blowing snow. "The wings are frozen and the engines' turbines filled with snow. We're not flying anytime soon."
"Yeah, like I said. Welcome to Greenland!" Pete stated and headed back at the research facilities taking cover from the rising storm.
Agent Coulson heaved a sigh and followed Pete. "You don't happen to have any coffee and some Aspirin in there, do you?" he asked, suffering from a nasty hangover with a touch of airsickness.
... ...
"How much further is it?" Loki asked, watching the never-ending scenery of the white snowy slopes and mounds as the vehicle slowly roamed forward against the gusty wind. He had momentarily seen the sun that was now covered with thick clouds and heavy rain of snow.
"Way too long," Emma admitted, regretting her decision to take Loki to the coast, more and more with every passing mile. She yawned, rubbing her tired eyes. They had been driving through the night and she had gone on with a couple hours sleep a few nights already. "If we're lucky, it will only take two days."
Loki squinted, his mouth gaping in disbelief. "For heaven's sake, doesn't this chariot go any faster?"
"I'm afraid not. Besides it would be too dangerous to go faster."
Loki shifted in his seat closer, staring at her like trying to get inside her head. He thought he had already seen that slope they just passed. Was she circling? "Are you stalling? Like I said that would not do you any good."
"Don't get this wrong, but I wouldn't want to spend any more time with you inside this deathtrap than I have to."
"I am hurt. You should consider yourself honored in my presence."
Emma tried not to roll her eyes for that remark. And Loki frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. He was beginning to sound like his arrogant and smug brother, and he hated that.
The gusts of wind shook the vehicle, snow flurrying wildly around blocking out the vision of the assumed road. Emma slowed down the speed, letting the SnowCat continued crawling. It was impossible to see anything. And the red light blinking in the dashboard wasn't good news either. She had ignored it for dozens of miles already. It was time to refill but that was not happening in that weather. Worried and a bit scared of his possible reactions, she stopped the vehicle and glanced at the demigod by her side.
"What is it now?" Loki asked, shooting her a questioning look.
"The truck needs refilling and it won't happen in this weather," she explained, feeling herself like an amateur. You never left the facilities without checking the weather forecast twice and filling up the fuel tank. "The wind is blowing from the west. It means that we'll be stuck in this snowstorm for a while," she took note for her annoyance. "Unless you know how to change the weather?"
The flurry of snow kept coming thick and hard hiding the vision completely. Loki let out a sigh, wishing for once to posses Thor's powers of controlling the thunder and weather. "So, we are just going to sit and wait?" His voice was full of disbelief and annoyance. In one minute he had been the king of Asgard, having all power in the Nine Realms in his grasp, the next he was stuck in a damn snowstorm in the middle of nowhere with a mortal woman.
"So… Hungry?"
"No," Loki grunted. "I do not need mortal's food for my nourishment."
"Well, I do," Emma said and turned off the engine.
Loki watched at her as she reached on the backseat over the seats, picking up her bag, her bare lower back peeking under her sweater. Her light skin looked smooth and inviting to touch. And quickly his annoyance chanced into a boyish, witty grin. "Hm, let us cuddle to keep each other warm through the storm," Loki suggested in a mischievous tone.
Emma shot an alarmed look at him while sitting back. "I don't need warm!"
"Neither do I, but it would be fun pastime," said Loki with a grin. He loved to tease. It was in his nature, and he enjoyed seeing her getting uneasy with him, stirred up with emotions. It certainly was a hell of a better than being feeling sorry for himself.
"You know, the weather isn't that bad. I think I'll try that refilling now," Emma shrieked, her hand on the door's handle as she was going to leave outside into the storming blizzard.
Loki grabbed from her wrist fast but holding on lightly. "Stay! Please," he said softly, sounding suddenly disturbingly compassionate. He let out a tiny, soft chuckle. "I was merely teasing."
His words stopped her, confused. For the first time when Emma truly gazed at him in the daylight, his hand around her wrist, she took note that his eyes were green and beautiful and the look in them sincere. Even she tried she couldn't deny it that he was appealingly handsome. His long black hair, those mesmerizing emerald eyes, tall strong figure and a smile that could have melted a heart would have swept any woman of her feet. That is if he wouldn't have been also a dangerous, possibly narcissistic, evidently mad, blue-skinned and red-eyed being from another dimension.
Emma slumped back on her seat hesitating. "I'm still not going to cuddle with you!" she assured warily as much to him as to herself. "So, don't you try anything weird!"
Amused Loki freed her hand. "I will behave. You have my word."
Emma found it hard to trust him even a bit. Hunger in her belly she went through her bag and took bread, energy bars and a thermos bottle. She hadn't have time to take any decent food with her. She had just grabbed what she had found. And soon Loki too found himself sitting with a mug of hot chocolate in his hand.
The god of mischief kept staring at the questionable hot, brown drink that smelled nice though. But it looked like something that had came out from one or the other end of a bilge snipe. "This looks disgusting!" Loki remarked his nose wrinkling. He noticed that Emma drank from her own cup gratefully.
She threw him a nutty energy bar, guessing he should eat too. A nutty for a Nutty! Maybe he was allergic for nuts and it would blow his head off.
"Sorry, we ran out of ambrosia. Wasn't expecting a god to pop up. Go ahead! You can't go on your campaign of world domination on empty stomach," she said sarcastically and took a bite from her own protein bar. She craved for fresh fruits but those would have frozen so she had left them off.
"I am touched of your concern," Loki answered dryly picking up her offering with a frown. "Is this what you mortals eat these days? No wonder the farthest you have made it is the moon. Your world desperately cries out for a savior. Thankfully I am here now."
"Please, don't self-deprecate yourself," Emma whispered in an undertone into her cup.
Loki gave her a small sideways scowl and tossed the energy bar over his shoulder. He wasn't putting anything wrapped in a paper into his mouth. It banged against his helmet on the backseat. But he decided to give a chance to the drink and cautiously took a sip. He took another one and savored it in his mouth like he would have been tasting wine. "Um, I like this drink. I like the way it feels in my mouth. So sweet, creamy and hot." He turned at Emma with cocoa mustaches. "Hm… Maybe, a bit too sweet. It could do with a little enhancement."
How could have his behaviors been so confusingly different, Emma wondered, seeing but not believing it when the angry demigod enjoyed a simple cup of hot chocolate. She couldn't help but to grin as she noticed his cocoa mustaches. It had been unintentional grin and she did her best to wipe it off from her face.
"What?"
"You have little something, there," Emma said pointing at her own upper lip.
"Thank you?" Loki wiped his lip with his thump, his curious eyes locked with hers for a moment. That had been the first smile he had seen on her lips, and she tried to hide if from him. He knew he had greater matters to concern but he had liked that little twinkle in her eyes. For a mortal, if that what she was, she wasn't that bad and he was a bit sorry he had treated her in so horrid way.
Loki puckered up his dark brows. What was this insane sentimentality he was feeling? If this would continue further on they would soon probably braid each other's hair. He wondered what was it, that had made him spared her from his wrath.
"Here! Some boost for you," Emma offered him the vodka flask Pete had forgotten under the front seat for the enhancement he was asking for, unsure was it a good idea at all. Maybe he would get drunk and pass out, and she could kick him out into the snow and drive away. "Vodka. That's alcohol."
Curiously Loki took the bottle she handed to him and took a sniff from it. "Oh please, tell me you are trying to get me drunk?"
"Wouldn't cross my mind."
The drink smelled promising so he took a gulp like it would have been plain water. "Ah, it's nothing like a thousand years old Asgardian liquor, but it will do," he stated and poured some of it into his cup. He liked the warming feeling of the drink. Then he offered the bottle to Emma. "Drink with me!"
Emma shook her head, moving her cup into a safe distance from the bottle. "Um, no thanks. I don't drink, ever."
Loki wanted to pour some of it into her cup. He was more of a social drinker at least in those few times he had touched the stuff. "Well, I insist!"
"Sorry, it's not going to happen."
"You dare to defy me?"
"In this case; hell yes! I've got some issues with that stuff. Trust me, you don't want to go there!"
For this time Loki yielded, taking her word for it. He took a sip from this vodka-enhanced hot chocolate with a delight. "Hm, you don't know what you miss," he said in a voice as soft and smooth as the drink he was enjoying.
The whole situation was insane, Emma thought, watching at the god creature by her side. He could have killed her, he had already hurt everyone he had met and apparently he was going to hurt a lot more. But there he was, behaving humanly with a mug of hot chocolate. Was this just a sick nightmare she was seeing? She gave a short though for Scott and Pete, pondering how they might be doing at the moment, hoping that they were both alright, hoping that the help had arrived there for Scott in time. She feared the worst though. She tried to forget about it or she wouldn't have been able to eat at all.
The blazing snowstorm outside made Emma pulling her feet on the seat and wrapped the blanked around her tighter, curling up inside it, for comfort not so much for warmth. They sat in silence a long while, Loki staring outside immerged in his thoughts. The continuous howling of the tempest wind was like an off-key sad song from a poor opera.
Emma ate her snack and some bread, poured herself a refill and watched at Loki behind her steaming cup, pondering if she dared to bother him when he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. No matter how scary he was, she was curious about him. She didn't everyday take a road trip with an alien. "May I ask you a personal question?" she asked in a small voice, breaking the silence.
Returning from his thoughts Loki turned at her and moved to more comfortable position on his side of the seat, lifting his left hand on the backrest, looking satisfied with his thermo mug. "Well, isn't this lovely? We are bonding alongside by a cup of comfort?" He had no better things to do, and he was slightly interested of the movements of her mind, so he nodded. "Ask away then."
Emma didn't quite know how to put it down to words. "When I first saw you out there, your skin appeared to be blue with some patterns... I'm not mean to be rude, but is that what you really look like?"
The question was personal enough and didn't please Loki. He had been doing his best to try to forget about his Jotun origins. Denial would have been easier. A thin irritation flickered across his face and he clenched his jaw. "To be brutally honest," Loki begun (which he usually never was about himself), "I was born with such a burden, as a Frost Giant. But I was raised as an Asgardian, conjured to look like one, as you can see."
"Ah…? Right."
Loki could tell by her expression that the words meant nothing to her. How could have she known what an Asgardian or a Jotun was supposed to look like. They sat in an awkward silence again a moment. Loki rolled his eyes, heaving a short sigh. He would have to start from the very beginning if she was to understand anything. "Asgardians and the Frost Giants, the Jotuns, have been sworn enemies as long as anyone cares to remember. I was born in the time of great war between the two races. And as a newborn I was abandoned and left to die for lacking the desirable qualities for a Frost Giant," he explained in a strained but quiet voice, staring somewhere far outside through the snowy windshield.
Emma sighed, lowering her cup. She was interested and surprised that he bothered to tell her more. And suddenly a bit sad too. "How could anyone do that to an innocent baby?"
"Apparently I was too small and weak to be an heir of the Jotun king."
"Jotun?" Emma realized. "When you were asking if this was Jotunheim, you weren't talking about some mountain in Norway."
"Uh-uh..." Loki murmured his negative answer, mouth full of cocoa.
"But here you are now. How did you survive?"
Loki didn't know why he continued, but Emma suddenly showed genuine interest towards his story. She listened to him in silence, willing to learn more, like a child who listen to a bedtime story. And he couldn't imagine any Asgardian woman, except Frigga, showing him such compassion after hearing about his true parentage. He realized that he had a need to share his thoughts with someone, to go it through aloud, to be heard. And she wasn't an Asgardian, so no harm would be done if she would know the truth. She wasn't going to tell it to anyone. He could have always silenced her for good.
He met the gaze of her blue eyes and took a big gulp from his mug, seeking for encouragement to continue. "My fa..." His tongue cut the word before it left his mouth. Not father anymore. "Odin, the Allfather and king of Asgard, after his victorious battle, a knee deep in Jotun blood, found me abandoned from a frozen temple. He stole me like a relic, like spoils of war. He raised me as his own, side by side with his real heir. He kept my true origins hidden from me, disguising me to look like an Asgardian with his sorcery. Just waiting for the day he might have some use for me." He sifted in his seat, being uncomfortable about the subject, going it over once again in his mind.
"You see, it has very recently elicited to me that my whole life have been nothing more but a cruel lie. Ever since a child I was let to believe that I could be worthy to rule Asgard one day. But, Odin would have never let a monster like a Jotun to sit on his throne." Loki gazed at Emma, overwhelmed with emotions from sadness to hatred, feelings he couldn't hide, his eyes gave them away. He leaned a bit closer to Emma, recalling their earlier conversation about her hardship of being a mutant. "So," he sighed his voice shivering, his eyes locked with hers, "I do know what it feels like to learn that you truly are a monster."
His words and the emotions behind them, struck Emma speechless. He had told her way more than she had asked for, and it took her by a great surprise. "I am so sorry," she whispered, sadness glimmering in her eyes. She knew what it felt like to be not wanted, to be abandoned by those who had once loved. "That is just... so wrong in every possible way."
That had been the first 'sorry' Loki had heard anyone telling to him after all the lies had came to light. He hadn't been asking for her sympathies, not even wanting it. In fact he would have hated to be patronized more than anything. But that simple 'sorry' had touched him in some odd way. It was as if she would have really meant it. For the first time he didn't know what to say. He had liked it though, the way she had listened to him; really listening, without questioning, interrupting or ridiculing, just listening what he had to say.
Emma kept studying his face that showed genuine grief. His story sounded unbelievable with kings and wars and monsters but she decided to believe him. She had seen his Jotun appearance, so she thought it had to be true what he had told. "So, this Odin adopted you knowing what you are?"
"Most certainly yes."
"Why he never told you the truth in the first place?"
Loki turned looking grim, rubbing his mug between his palms. "Odin was pursuing his own interests; a foolish hope for peace and an alliance with the beasts. All would have been in my expense, of course. At least now I know why I was treated like a lesser being all my life. Naturally he always favorite his own flesh and blood."
"But still," Emma looked at him questioningly, "you're a son of a king, aren't you? Does it make you... a prince of Jotunheim then?"
Loki let out a short ironic laugh. "Oh, yes. In fact I am a rightful king of the Jotuns since I slew the monster who'd fathered me. My dear, Jotunheim is the most worthless, barren and decaying realm there is. More wretched than this land here. And its inhabitants are mere beasts." He chuckled a bit, not meanly. "But, thank you for trying to cheer me up."
Did he just tell that he had killed his father? Emma hesitated to continue, as if she would have been tearing open unhealed mental wounds, wondering how weird this would go. She had enough digesting to do with all the kings, monsters and strange realms across the space. It sounded that he liked to talk so she let him do the talking. "So, what did you do? After you found out the truth?"
"Aren't you full of questions?" Loki replied with a small mischievous smile that revealed his dimples. He found her curiosity towards his affairs winsome and he gave her a long studying gaze which made her turn her eyes away from him.
Emma didn't want to give him a wrong impression. "Sorry. I don't mean to pry, just hoping to kill some time by talking."
"Very well." Loki finished his drink, liking her choice of words, staring down at the bottom of his cup like thinking carefully what to tell her. "My brother Thor, thanks to his arrogant and idiotic actions, brought about new war between Asgard and Jotunheim. I can tell you that much that Thor is not the brightest star in the constellation, if you know what I mean." Loki noticed Emma giving him a tiny amused glance, and he liked it. "Odin became very angry, more than anyone would have guessed, and banished Thor to Earth. The burden of the throne fell upon me when Odin himself fell into a slumber for restoring his life-force. He is old and getting weaker. Watching over the Nine Realms is taking its toll I assume."
Loki remained quiet for a moment, regretting his own outburst that had driven Odin into the Odinsleep. Everything had gone wrong from there. He had killed Laufey, the monster who had fathered him, only to protect Odin. And it had meant nothing to the old king of Asgard. Even so he had played his own little part in that game. "You want to hear the funny part?" he asked and licked the remains of the sweet taste of hot chocolate from his lips. "I never wanted the throne. All I ever wanted was to be equal with Thor. But once it was handed to me, I knew, that throne was my birthright. I was a king until I was betrayed by Thor who broke his exile by returning to our realm. Even I did my best to keep him on Earth for the sake of Asgard, it was not enough." The thermos cup in his palm crushed with that thought.
"Ohh... that's alright. I have a spare cup," Emma murmured uneasily for consolation. She tried to understand what he had told her, fitting it into the bigger picture. It was like his whole life's story, from a world way different than hers. But it seemed that their worlds had already collided as she had witnessed it through the sound waves from space.
She offered him the spare cup and a refill but Loki shook his head. So, she gave him a moment of peace before she said: "Sounds like you have a very complicated family."
"That I used to have," Loki reminded, mostly to himself, sadness in his voice. "They are not my family anymore. They never were."
Emma took a sip from her cup, reflecting his story, finding a few things in common with her own life and his. There was something bothering about his words though. "You keep referring Jotuns as monsters. Are they really that bad?" she asked cautiously.
Loki pondered was she asking that in general or was she talking about him. "No kind word has ever been spoken about those foul creatures. Jotuns would have conquered this realm of yours over millennia ago and turned the whole planet into a frozen wilderness like this land here if Asgardians would have not stopped them."
"Oh?" Emma shuddered. "It is just that the history is always written by the winners," she said in a small voice and glanced at him. "Always."
After what she had said, a great uncertainty reflected from Loki's face as he considered the possibility that the Allfather would have fabricated the whole history; by demonizing their enemies and thus justifying his own actions against the Jotuns. It made him pondering, had it even been true that he had been abandoned as a baby by Laufey like Odin had told him. What if he too had been simply stolen like the Casket of Ancient Winters. He gave a tiny shook of head and pushed aside his doubts. Odin's lies couldn't have gone that far.
To Emma it seemed that the god creature fell once again into his own thoughts and she feared that she had said something inappropriate. So she changed the subject. "Was your brother by any chance banished to New Mexico?"
Loki shrugged, not giving a damn. Why would she have been interested of Thor? "Why you ask?"
"Well, our equipments showed that there occurred six massive energy discharges over New Mexico within a week. The latest three just yesterday. Similar that occurred when you arrived. I was wondering..."
The god of mischief lifted his curious gaze at Emma, a satisfied gleam in his green eyes. He didn't stay too long for wallowing in sadness. If he would find again the place Thor had arrived he would easily find Thor's woman and have his revenge. After that he was free to do whatever he pleased. "Yes. We should go there, to New Mexico."
"We? You can't possibly mean you and me? As together?"
"But of course," said Loki, filled with sudden enthusiasm, moving closer to her and taking her cup from her hands only to place it over the dashboard. "I recall you promised to take me anywhere I will desire to go," he reminded her, picking her hands on his.
Emma took note he had quite big hands and long artistic fingers, and the skin of his palms were smooth as one could have assumed for a royal. Concerned she tried to free herself from his soft grip, sliding back as much as she could in the small cabin of the truck. "Yes, but that is like – I don't know – over 4000 miles away. We're not getting there with this truck. Greenland is a very big island…"
Loki moved with her over the seat, keeping her hands in his hold. "Yes, and I am most grateful for your efforts. Please, let me express you my gratitude," he said in a playfully seductive voice.
"No! You don't really have to do that!" Emma squealed. His voice made her skin crawl. And his touch, even soft one, made her very uncomfortable. He was coming on to her too eagerly and she just wanted to run out into the storm.
"But I must." Loki lifted his right hand on her face, touching her cheek, his fingers resting on her temple and the gaze of his piercing eyes on hers. He didn't mind of touching her once more, but the real reason for it was that he needed to create a connection with her mind for what he was about to do. With all the information she had about him now and especially about Thor's visit to Earth, he didn't want her to go AWOL on him. And with that little telepathic link with her primitive mind, he would always find her, no matter if she would try and succeed to escape from him. She was as good as his little pet.
"No! What are you doing? Stop!" Emma cried out, doing her best to fight him off, which wasn't much. She didn't want to be touched in any way by anyone. "I'll sue you!"
"Shh!" Loki hushed her gently, a bit amused of her reaction, glancing around him only with his eyes. "Look!" he whispered, letting her go, presenting her the flawless illusion of the great throne room of Asgard that he had conjured all around them, partly to cover up his true intentions and partly to really thank her.
Emma heaved a small sigh, astonished by the unbelievable vision that surrounded them, traces of embarrassment fading away from her face, since he hadn't gotten physical with her as she had feared. The SnowCat was gone and they were only sitting on a bench inside a huge golden hall that could have eaten a whole stadium, several even.
Loki smiled proud of his flawless creation. Unfortunately this was as close he would get home for now on. Unless he would master the dark energy to gain access to the Bifrost that might take another thousand years. "Welcome to Asgard!" he sighed, taking a look at Emma who was nearly holding her breath. It gave him an odd satisfaction to see how his illusion made so great impression on her. Finally his sorcerer's gifts were receiving the admiration they had always deserved. Then again, she was merely a mortal, so this might have been quite mind-blowing experience to her.
"Oh, is this real?" Emma beheld the conjured image without blinking, astonished by the sight. The mighty pillars, the grand golden throne, the arching ceiling far above them where were paintings, picturing the divine family with Odin, Frigga and their two sons; Thor and Loki with halos around their heads. "Is... is that you?" Emma gasped pointing up at his image. He was pictured there as a saint or a god. "And that's your throne? Wow, what a place! How is this possible? Are we there?"
Loki liked it when Emma had called the throne 'his throne'. That's the way it should have been. He watched a while his vision in longing silence. This had once been his everyday life. Soon it was becoming only a memory of his past.
"I am afraid the simple illusions are all I can offer you for now, Emma Morgan."
"Is this some cosmic magic or are you messing up with my mind?"
The god of mischief appreciated her interest towards his gift more than he wanted to admit. "Call it magic, cosmic energy or highly-advanced science, all the same, it is the fabric of the whole universe. I merely alter what you see, crafting it." With only one move of his hand, the scenery changed, showing them a view over the glorious citadel of Asgard as it was seen from the high tower of the palace. What came to the illusions, this was his masterpiece. He had never done anything this big before. It surprised even himself.
Emma just sat and watched at the marvelous illusion that felt like she would have actually been there. She gave a sideways glance at Loki, puzzled why he was showing this to her. Clearly there was a side of him that wasn't all evil and cruel. What he did was beyond her understanding, but it surely felt magical. She turned back again watching the breathtaking scenery, unable to hold back the tears falling on her cheeks. "It is so beautiful."
"Are you… crying?" Loki asked his tone turning softer and confused. There were no pleasing women!
Quickly Emma wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "It's a girl thing. You wouldn't understand."
It sure was! This was the closest thing she had ever have to been in a boy's home. Arose of mutant abilities used to wreak people's normal social live. Her head felt so messed up by all the trouble, anxiousness and the beautiful illusions (and his mind games) that if he would have tried to make a move on her and kiss her on that very moment, she wouldn't have resisted it, no matter what he was.
His forehead furrowed, Loki decided to take her word for it. "You see that observatory?" he asked pointing at far in the distance at a ball-shaped golden structure on the other side of a colorful, sparkling bridge. "That opened a bridge to Bifrost, allowing us to travel everywhere in the Nine Realms, guarding them and keeping in order. Midgard, your Earth is one of those realms. And those energy discharges you mentioned about were merely wormholes thru Bifrost."
He kept explaining the order of the Nine Realms and the work of the Bifrost Bridge a pride in his voice, and fascinated Emma listened. She liked the way he explained it, for the first time kindly and understandably like he would have been a totally different person. His knowledge of the universe and how it worked was simply fascinating. For only once she interrupted him with a question: "So, the universe itself… does it have an end, some sort of limits, or does it keep forever expanding like we believe now?"
"Are you mortals still struggling to understand the mysteries of cosmos? No wonder other more advanced civilizations do not bother to pay you a visit," Loki said carelessly, taking pleasure in teasing her.
"Are you not going to tell me?"
"No, you are not ready to know the truth."
"That's unfair. You know what I think?"
"I am not a mind reader."
"Hm. I think you are as ignorant about the truth as I am."
A wide smile spread on Loki's face for her attempt of making him to tell her. "You cannot handle the truth," he assured playfully and then continued his talk about the other realms.
Despite his teasingly condescending attitude towards her, Emma could have listened to him for hours. His deep, soothing voice alone would have been a reason for her to listen to him even if he would have been reading names from a phonebook. A part of her felt guilty of actually enjoying his company after all he had done.
She kept staring at the dazzling Asgard's citadel after he had finished, thinking that that's what heaven must look like. "That looks like a perfect world. Why you came on Earth? Here, in Greenland?"
Loki snorted but settled his tone. Like he would have had a damn choice!
"Thor, in his great wisdom, broke the Rainbow Bridge to Bifrost, destroying with it our connection to the other realms." He remained quiet for a moment. That was too close memory to deal with. It had happened just yesterday. The fatal battle with his brother on the Rainbow Bridge that had thrown him into a desperate solution. The illusion faded away, bringing back the reality with the SnowCat and the blizzard outside. He was telling the story, so he didn't have to tell it completely correct. Only a flicker of smile visited on his sorrowful face. "He was mad. My efforts to stop him were useless. And finally, in the rage of battle, he cast me into a collapsing wormhole. That's how I ended up here, without means to return home. I definitely would have not chosen this place." He let out a snort. "I am sorry to say but even the Frost Giant in me does not appreciate this frozen wasteland."
That explained why the energy discharge had been unstable. Emma swallowed, looking him straight in the eyes. She had a soft spot for underdogs since she considered herself as one. Loki's story was heartbreaking and suddenly she found herself truly feeling sorry for him. That had also answered the question why he had seemed so pained when she'd first found him. "The collapsing wormhole? Wow! You've gone through a lot. I'm sorry to hear that. I can't even imagine… How did you manage out of it alive?"
"That remains a mystery to me as well. But it was painful as hell."
"Christ! Your brother sounds like a total asshole."
After a slightly puzzled expression Loki grinned, placing Emma's cup back to her hand. "Oh, I agree," he nodded and toasted with his flask. "Against all odds, maybe this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Emma gave him an uneasy smile. The first smile they actually shared. "Let's not get carried away. But thank you, really, for showing Asgard to me. It was amazing." Emma drank from her cup to get a chance to be quiet for a while and taking her eyes off him. She didn't want to go saying something stupid again like that comment about his brother. And she didn't want to go telling Loki that she found him amazing. That would have been too wrong and weird. They were just killing time, that's all, not getting closer or anything like that.
The hot chocolate wasn't that hot anymore and there was an odd after taste in it. "This tastes strange," she wondered and took another gulp just to be sure. It tasted strong and bitter as if there would have been... Her eyes caught up with the vodka flask Loki just drained empty. "Oh, you wouldn't, would you?" she asked stammering, getting a bad feeling.
"Would I what?" Loki looked back at her with innocent face.
"Because if you would have," Emma slurred a bit tipsy way, pointing her finger at him, "you'll be so sorry," she stated, emptying her cup without a second thought. "Oh no!"
Loki puckered up his lips. "Are you, by any chance, getting drunk?" he asked, amused, being comfortable enough to introduce to her his mischievous side. He had added only a small amount of the vodka into her cup when she wasn't watching, not expecting her turn completely soused. The small bottle he had drunk hadn't much effect on him.
"How could I? I haven't been drinking, for God's sake. My body won't tolerate any alcohol. Another of my amazing mutant powers! That's why I don't touch that stuff."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Loki heaved a sigh, face-palming. He shouldn't have done it. He had thought it was just a bit of a fun, just to ease her mind, but apparently he had been wrong. Had he poisoned her? Was she going to die now?
"Oh, let me tell you something, mister! You've been a really big meanie! And you're as scary as hell! You stabbed my boss. Not that I'd liked him very much. He's a dick. But you don't go hurting people on this planet like that, and then go showing a girl some beautiful illusions. It doesn't work like that here!" Emma ranted, all inhibition gone with the small sip of vodka. There wasn't a problem with her body to tolerate alcohol; it consumed it faster than an average person's. But even a drop went straight to her head, messing her up. She took a breath and gazed at the demigod, her voice and eyes turning softer and emotional. "Were you a blue baby?"
Loki shook his head, glancing at her under his palm like what the hell. "What?"
"Aww, you must have been very cute little blue baby. No wonder Odin took you in."
"You would show great wisdom to be quiet now and say no more!"
"When my mutant powers begun to develop, I swore I wouldn't ever bring a child into this world. But if I would there be no reason to abandon it." Emma sat in silence for a moment, tears watering her eyes. "My mom abandoned me because I didn't fit anymore into her perfect life of fake tans, hair extensions and hot-pink acrylic nails. I could never do that to a child, to put it through what I've been," Emma explained, concentrating to every word, her slurry voice crumbling.
Loki heaved a long sigh, rolling his eyes. So much for fun! He had created a monster. "That is quite enough, you mewling sentiment!"
Emma didn't listen to him at all. She was too busy pouring her heart out. "Ah, I never knew my father. Mom said it was a one night stand, they both drunk. She picked him up from a bar... She didn't even know his name. She said he was Logan... For God's sake, she didn't even bother to know his first name before jumping in bed..."
Loki felt his was going to throw up soon. Someone's parents' sex-life was a bit too much for him to bear. "Too much information! Shut up, please! I would not want to kill you now."
Emma turned at him with a silly smile. "Loo-kiii, you have so pretty eyes."
Loki glanced at her with a shyish, flattered smirk. "You think so?"
"Yeah… I like your smile."
"Oh, you do now?"
"You have dimples. Even your dimples have dimples." She giggled like a little girl.
"Oh… this cannot go any worse…"
"You know, for such a psycho, you're not bad. You're a beautiful, dark, fallen god," Emma slurred, lifting her hand on the other one of the figures she saw and caressed his cheek. "Ohh, did it hurt when you fell down from the heaven?"
Not feeling so flattered anymore, Loki grabbed from her wrist and dropped her hand down from his face. "Pull yourself together, woman!" he growled, uncomprehending how could have she turned out into such an idiot. Her drunken state was her only excuse for him to spare her life at the moment. Otherwise he wouldn't have tolerated anyone speaking to him like that.
Emma couldn't help but to giggle as she saw Loki's helmet on the backseat. She was as a high as a kite, without a control of herself. "So, what's deal with your horns, huh? Hah, I mean, they are very big and long." She burst out laughing. "Someone's having little size issues?"
Loki frowned, uncomprehending her point. He hated to been laughed at. He had always hated that in all those years in Asgard, Thor's friends making fun of him. "What are you talking about?"
"Men on Earth, when they have size issues they drive with big, big cars, owning just about anything big, compensating their lacking of –well, you know- the size."
That ripped the remains of a smile off his face. Heavily annoyed, after figuring out her meaning, Loki stretched his arm to get his helmet from the backseat, to explain the meaning of the horns of his mighty ceremonial/war helmet. "I will show you!"
"Don't!" Emma shrieked, giggling, covering her eyes, expecting him to show something quite different. "It's way too cold here. It wouldn't do you justice..."
Loki let out a loud gasp at the tone of her offensive words. "For a woman of your intelligence, you are a..." He raised his voice to scold her, only to notice that she passed out under his arm, her weary head pillowing against his chest. "Are you dead?"
Emma was breathing softly, finally quiet and sleeping. She made a small sound, a pleased hum, leaning against his body and lifting her arm around his waist. Loki remained unmoving for a moment as if waiting her to fall off. He put his helmet back on the seat, giving a short valuating look at it. He had always loved his helmet. It was certainly a hell of a better than Thor's ridiculous winged one. "I have no size issues," he assured to himself.
He laid his gaze on the sleeping woman under his arm. She felt warm against his side, her small body pressed against his as if seeking shelter for her rest. Loki heaved a sigh and folded his arm around her, having no heart to shove her away. Her warmth was welcomed in the coldness even he would have managed without it. Borrowing some of her blanket, he wrapped it around of both of them. Unaccustomed of such intimacy with a strange woman, he found it rather comforting. Cuddling thru the storm wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all. There was a side of her that he actually liked, not the drunken one, definitely not that one. Her mutant powers, no matter how strange they were, fascinated him when he thought about what she was capable of. And she didn't even appreciate her gifts, even she was still alive thanks to them.
The cold wind shook the snow vehicle. And inside it Loki rested his eyes, staring through the windshield into the icy storm. It was like Jotunheim out there. Wasn't it just his luck to be cast out into some frozen wilderness like this? He had now too much time to think about his ordeal altogether, caused to him by Thor's regardless actions and Odin's lies. His whole life nothing more than a lie! It made him wanting compensation, an absolute satisfaction for all the wrongs, torment and loss he had suffered. Throughout his whole life in Asgard he'd never felt that he fitted in there. He knew the reason now.
"I only wanted to protect you from the truth."
"He kept the truth from you so that you will never feel different."
He recalled those words Odin and Frigga had told him. Would that truth really been so bad to deal with that they had seen it wiser to keep from him? Now he was forced to deal with it alone. Very well! Let the Allfather and the son have Asgard. If he was born to be a king then damn right he was going to get himself a throne and destroy anyone who would try to stop him from achieving his goal. He would take Midgard and launch his wrath upon humanity as revenge. For that he would probably need an army.
He noticed his fingers caressing Emma's shoulder, his arm resting around her. Of course! The answer lied right there in his arms. Maybe, if he could find others of her kind, others rejected and unwanted like she and he was he could give them a reason to fight for against their oppressors. That could be a fine start. He would need her help for that.
"Rest now, my pet," he whispered into her ear and pressed his cheek against her silky soft hair. The scent of her golden curls reminded him of the sweet fruits of Asgard. He had to admit it that he had enjoyed her company in spite of that he had practically forced her to come along. He had liked the way she had asked him all those questions, the way she had listened to him fascinated, the way she had looked at him a few times with her big blue eyes when he showed her his illusions. It had all made him feeling a bit better about himself, but there was nothing in this world that would have truly taken his pain away.
