It was late in the next morning when Emma awoke from a strange dream she would not have wanted to wake up from at all. It had felt like a sanctuary from all the scary and unfamiliar matters she was facing. The horrid memories of her torment years ago still fresh in the back of her mind. She was thankfully though of knowing that she wasn't there with those sadistic bastards anymore. Her identity and mind was reset back into the time when she still used the name Emily Morrison.
She was lying on a soft bed under the covers and lifted her head to take a look around. The small room around her was bright and nearly all white, only a few simple furniture there; the bed she was on and a small table. The bed was in a tiny alcove, assuming that there was a bathroom in the room. The daylight was streaming through a window. It could have been a very modest and plain hostel room, but without any cheap paintings hanging on the walls, it looked more like a tidy prison cell. It smelled clean, sterile. Up in the ceiling was a lamp, a smoke detector and something that looked like a half orb shaped surveillance camera.
She remembered the kind suit-man, the agent, who had took her for a cup of hot chocolate in the hospital, but not much after that. Confusion struck her hard. Had he drugged her? What had he done to her? Where was she? He had sworn she was safe and that she could go home to her mom.
Her mind was still a mess and she stayed a while in the bed, recalling her dream. It was the only thing that gave her some comfort, helping her to put aside her worries. She had heard a soft, soothing voice of a man talking to her. He had sounded kind and warm and loving. She had seen him as if through a thin mist. He had been very tall, black-haired, and divinely handsome. With his beautiful green eyes he had beheld her affectionately with a small smile.
She had dreamed of an amazingly beautiful, golden city with a sparkling bridge over a Sea that had an end like in the old myths; the end of the world, the water pouring out into endlessness of space. And the man had been showing it to her, walking with her along the streets of the golden city. A part of her was sure she knew him but the other part was refusing to tell her who he was. He hadn't told his name to her even she had tried to ask him that. His last words still haunted her: "Remember me, my sweet Valkyrie…"
Her throat tightened. She wanted to remember him so badly. He had been like a fairytale prince and she was dying to meet him for real. And at the same time she feared that he had only been a dream, a product of her imagination.
She swung up from the bed and noticed that she was wearing white tank-top and white boxer-style long pants. So, someone had peeled her from her jumpsuit.
She moved at the window on barefoot and took a look outside. There were lower buildings down below, or perhaps all of it was a larger building complex, locating on a riverside. And there was forest beyond the wide river, maybe a town somewhere far beyond the forest. Her room must have been somewhere in the 10th or 12th floor, anyway there was a long way down.
She noticed a neat pile of clean clothes, a towel and some soap and other personal hygiene stuff like a toothbrush and -paste on the table, assuming it was for her. It was a hell of a better service that she had gotten while being trapped by the Hydra. She ran her hand over the things on the table while passing it.
The room was tiny and with only a few steps Emma walked onto the other side to the steel door. There was no door handle on her side of the door. So, it was a prison cell.
Next she tried the bathroom's door and opened it. And there stood an intimidatingly tall, raven-haired man right in front of her. He lifted his index-finger over his lips as a sign for her to keep quiet. His unexpected presence startled her so utterly that she let out a scream, slamming the door close, stumbling her back against the wall and falling on her arse on the floor.
"I am terribly sorry! I meant not to startle you. You have nothing to fear from me, I swear," the man's voice said through the door, sounding calm and kind and truly sorry.
A freezing sensation went through her forearms like a cold wave but it wasn't painful anymore as her icy claws prepared for a strike, just waiting to come out. His gentle voice played a part of soothing her down and her spikes remained hidden.
Emma pushed herself up from the floor, still scared, confused, feeling trapped but mostly feeling plain stupid. Her first thought was that he must have been another mutant and they were sharing the same bathroom.
"Sorry!" she stammered, rubbing her forearms, leaning her back against the wall. "I… I didn't realize it was taken."
She was only glad that she hadn't caught him taking a dump.
"Could you please open the door?" the man asked.
"Um… No! You take your time in there. I'll wait here."
"Open the door, please. So we can speak face to face. I would do it myself but I cannot."
Emma listened to his voice that sounded awfully familiar and she cautiously stepped back at the door, hesitantly opening it ajar again. The black-haired man gave her a tender smile as she peeked at him. It was not just his voice but he looked familiar somehow too. He wore white t-shirt and black jeans, his raven hair was long but combed back neatly. He had beautiful, green, expressive eyes and a charming, sexy smile that could took a woman's breath away.
"Hello, my dear," Loki said in a gentle voice, his eyes holding hers in a way that made her feeling shy. He fought against the rush of emotions, seeing her physically fine again. The lack of her outer clothing would have made him bashful in front of her if he hadn't already seen her naked. Her tank-top and long-legged panties would have been considered petite underwear by Asgardian standards, baring her slender form and leaving only a little for his imagination.
He had changed his outlooks for something more approachable. He had assumed that emerging there in his own Asgardian clothes might have intimidated her. He wanted her to feel save. "Do not be afraid. I am not going to hurt you."
For some strange reason Emma believed him. She studied his face for a short while puzzled. "You're the man of my dreams," she sighed recalling of seeing him in her dream just last night.
Loki's projection smiled at her even she looked a terrible mess, her head in bandages and dried blood in her golden hair. But she was alive, in one piece, like nothing had never happen to her. "I am glad you think that way."
Emma shook her head embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like that… I… I saw you in my dream…" Then she got even more embarrassed noticing her own meager clothing, being there only in her underwear. Still it covered much more skin than her normal swimming-suit.
"I know." He stepped backward giving her some space inside the small bathroom. There was a simple toilet seat, a sink, and a shower, and just barely enough room for two. "Please, would you come in and close the door."
"Um…" Emma gave him an uneasy grin. It was as if asking her to go firewalking over hot coals. On the second thought, that hardly would have been a challenge to her at all. "No way! I am not coming there with you."
"Please. They do not see me, but they see you talking to yourself," Loki said and glanced at the direction of the surveillance camera up in the ceiling. "I will not touch you, you have my word. In fact that would be utterly impossible. I am not really here. See?" he said and waved his arm through the back wall of the toilet room. His whole arm went through the wall.
"Are you a ghost?" Emma gasped bewildered by his illusion, taking note that she couldn't smell him. Smell had always been her strongest sense and usually she paid attention to people's scents, but he had none. It was strange, unnatural. "Am I still dreaming? This is a dream, right?"
"No, this is real, I assure you. What you see is merely a projection of me."
"A projection? Yeah, right… I use it all the time with my friends. It's so much better than WhatsApp."
It was amusing that they were speaking the same language but sometimes he couldn't understand what she was saying.
"I had to see that you are alright, my Valkyrie," Loki said, sadness glimmering in his eyes as he watched her. "Please…" he said asking her to accompany him in the bathroom.
Valkyrie? She remembered him calling her by that name in her dream. His voice had been so soothing and kind that she could only imagine of him being the most gracious, tender-hearted and compassionate man on Earth, someone who couldn't ever hurt anyone. No matter how strange it was she felt safe with him, him being the only one who wasn't scaring her. Like she would have been under his spell, Emma stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, watching at him with a bewildered smile like she would have met a long-lost dear friend. It felt like she would have known him for all her life.
"Do I know you? I have this oddest feeling like I know you from somewhere else than just my dream."
"You do. I only wish that you could remember me."
Being unable to hide her admiration she just stared at him. He was so tall and gorgeous. His long upper body looked slender but strong under his tight t-shirt and his firm, well-trained arms were just asking for a hug. He didn't look like a bodybuilder though and that was just a good thing. Emma could only imagine her mom going green with envy if she should have brought a guy like that back home with her. She couldn't have ever thought that a guy like that would have given a girl like her a second look. It was crazy but his friendly behavior made her feeling like a normal person after all she had gone through.
"Yeah, me too. How could I have forgotten someone like you? This is so weird. Are you a mutant, an angel or something?"
"For you, I will be anything you want," Loki said softly, wanting just to touch her, but that wasn't happening in this state. And she would have probably shied away from his touch just like in Greenland. If he had known then what he knew now he wouldn't have ever laid his hand on her.
"A stripper?" Emma blurted out without a second thought and grinned. But then she looked alarmed, regretting for opening her mouth. "Um, that was a joke! Seriously, I was only joking… I'm such an idiot."
Loki grinned back at her kindly. "You say silly things when you are nervous?" he recalled her telling him in the frozen land.
"Yeah, mostly very stupid things. I should shoot myself in the head. Sorry, I'm not normally this much screwed up."
Loki gave her a sad smile. "Please, you do not need to be nervous with me, I promise."
"Okay," she whispered in a dreaming tone watching at him like she would have been still in a dream.
"I am glad you haven't lost our sense of humor. I miss you so. May I see you again this evening?"
"Do you mean like a date?"
"Something like that, yes."
"Um," Emma swallowed a bit unsure. "If we know each other like you said, then tell me something about me that only I know."
A fondly smile flickered in his eyes and Loki heaved a small sigh as though recalling everything she had told him.
"You love chocolate in every form and you hate snakes. You like swimming but even more you enjoy diving. Your special gift saved your life once when you were caught by a current while you were swimming in the sea. You have been living with your mother in a house that your grandparents build. And your grandmother, Emma, was very dear to you. She died when you were 12 years old and you still cherish her memory. Your father's name was Logan but you have never seen him. You do not let people too close to you because… you have been hurt by some really bad people. You fear the darkness that is inside of you, but believe me, my dear, there is nothing to be afraid of. Your body has an unbelievable ability to adapt into the surrounding environments. You developed gills when you were nearly drowning, and just recently you developed claws that you would never ever have to remain under other people's mercy, that you can fight back if that's what it takes. Do not be frightened of your gifts."
Loki spoke softly, seeing how his words astonished her, all kind of emotions sweeping through her and she just stared at him in wonder, the remaining of her uncertainty about him clearing off. He wanted to comfort her and ease her fears and from her eyes he saw that he succeeded. Her claws must have been even more terrifying to her in her current state than before. And he wanted her to trust in that there was nothing wrong with her.
"Not quite convinced yet?" he asked with a more playful smile, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, you are terrible with alcohol; you cannot hold your liquor. And in your earlier years you used to read a bit questionable magazines with your friends… as I recall they were called Cosmopolitans? Picking up some tips for… er… more matured…"
"Alright!" Emma yelped awkwardly, completely astonished by his words. He had convinced her a way earlier with the Logan-part and all the rest of it. "Jeeze! You do know me. And, really… everybody reads those kinds of magazines. I'm not some weird, perv… person…"
Loki smiled apologetically, dropping his gaze for a moment. They had made love so passionately he couldn't ever forget it, and now she couldn't even remember him. It made him sad but he remembered her words; 'there is always hope as long as there's live left'. Such a cliché, but he wanted to believe in it.
"So, do we have a date?" he asked cautiously. It almost felt like he had been courting one of those young girls he met in Damien's home in England.
"Okay. It's a date. But…" She grimaced lightly. "You know all that stuff about me and I don't even know your name. How old are you? Where are you from? Why are you here?"
"I will come to you again tonight and tell you everything. It would be wiser not to say a word to the others that you have seen me. They would not understand. They would try to break us apart."
Emma heard the concern in his voice that caught on her too, remembering again where she was. "Who are the others?"
"They hold me captive, locked up in a cage. This is the only way I am able to see you. Please, do not tell them that you know me. Try to be as cooperative as you can. Do not let them hurt you. And please, remember me, my Valkyrie," Loki said, giving her a gentle smile before he vanished before her eyes in a golden flow.
His disappearance startled her almost as much as his appearance, leaving Emma standing alone in the bathroom. "Hello?" she sighed, puzzled, opening the bathroom door and taking a look into the room. He was gone like a ghost. He had to be a mutant with some awesome powers if he was able to do that, she reasoned.
She stared down at her hands bewildered about the things he had told to her about her claws. He had made is sound like she should have been proud of them instead of being afraid of her scary, icy spikes. Whoever he was, he had known her better than she did. And she wanted to know him too.
Then her own reflection in the mirror caught her full attention. She looked different somehow. Her hair was longer, her face looked a bit older than she remembered. How long had she been captured by her tormentors? She wasn't sixteen anymore. Her head was wrapped in white bandages and she noticed a part of her hair been smudged with blood, dry and black-brown now. What had they done to her? Hastily she unwrapped the bandages and looked at herself closer from the mirror, trying to see where all the blood had came from. There were no wound, no scar, nothing that could have told what had happen to her.
She stared a moment at the camera up in the ceiling through the open door. They were watching her every move. That's why the black-haired, hunky guy had wanted to speak with her in the bathroom. He had been so hot that it nearly made her dizzy. Had she really seen him? Or had she finally lost her mind, became mad after all her sufferings, seeing imaginary things? Surely there was nothing wrong with an imaginary boyfriend like that!
She wanted to wash off the blood, so she picked up the towel, clothes and stuff from the table and went to the bathroom, taking a shower, peeking every now and then over her shoulder incase the illusional stranger would pop up there again without a warning. She didn't want to be caught naked in the shower by him.
