When I awoke, it was night. I could tell because I was laying face-up on the ground pf the New Mexico desert. As soon as I realized where I was, I jumped to my feet, ready to attack.
"Good darling, you're awake," a familiar accent observed. "It's not good to travel between realms unconscious."
My rage boiled inside of me. "You want to let me know what the hell that was all about? You kidnapped me! Summy's probably got all of S.H.E.I.L.D. running around!" Then I stopped to look around, seeing no sign of society and realized that I was in the middle of nowhere with a pyschopath.
I stomped over to where Loki was sitting on the ground, grabbed the front of his shirt and ulled it close to my face. "Take me back, now."
"If I must," sighed Loki, clearly defeated. He made a motion to stand up, but suddenly stopped. "It's just that there are no women in Asgard like you."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," I growled.
Loki continued, dismissing my remark. "The loneliness I have felt is something no one should ever feel. My hope was for you to accompany me and fill this void in my heart."
I should've turned around. I should've turned and kept walking and gone back to my comfortable life with Summy. My worries would only entail when my next mission was and what color the flowers would be at my wedding. That would have been the smart decision.
"But why me, Loki?" I asked, feeling weird using his name. "There are lenty of women on this earth. I'm not that special."
"You say there are plenty of maidens in this realm," said Loki, raising to his feet, "but why are you the only one I see?"
This time, I couldn't hide the color swarming to my cheeks, and Loki saw it too.
"So," I asked, slowly, "if I were to visit Asgard with you, how long would I stay?"
"Eternally, at best," answered Loki.
I was taken aback. "How about no."
Loki's eyes dropped. My stomach twisted with what I was about to say.
"I'll stay twenty-four hours, but that's it."
Loki's eyes lit up and I couldn't believe what I'd said. I was accompanying a man I'd never met to a land I'd never heard of. But if I'd learned anything from working at S.H.E.I.L.D., it was that the supernatural was often true. After all, Loki was right, I was curious. And I had my years of combat training incase he tried to make a move.
"So," he said, "you'll come?"
"I suppose so," I answered. No sooner had I answered when two unexpected things happened. The first being that Loki suddenly pulled my body close to his and shouted something into the sky. The second was seeing the lights of a black SUV engulf us and watching Summy exit the car and come racing towards us.
"Halle!" he cried, sprinting towards us.
But the sound of my name was soon muffled by the sound of an explosion mixed with wind chimes. Loki and I were surrounded by rainbow shards of light and my feet left the ground. I looked down, and saw nothing as we hurdled through, what felt like, space and time. I didn't realize how tightly I was clutching Loki's torso but I didn't care considering I was scared out of my mind.
In a few short seconds, our ride ended and we arrived in a room filled with gold colored glass with nothing in it except for a black man holding a very large sword. But before I addressed the man, I turned to Loki, who was unphased by our method of travel.
"What the hell was that? Where are we?" I screamed breathlessly.
"I told you, we are in Asgard."
"But why did we have to take the freakin' Rainbow Road to get here?" I asked, still astonished. "Here I thought we'd be taking a car, or a bus. Even walking would be less weird."
"It's called the Bifrost," said Loki, putting his arm on my shoulder. "It is the only way to travel between realms."
"You keep mentioning these 'realms'," I said.
"All will be explained," calmed Loki as we made our way towards the exit.
"You should not have brought her," said the man with the sword who had shown no movement since we'd arrived.
"It was not your decision, Hindalh," retorted Loki through gritted teeth. He pulled me closer and we exited the Bifrost into the night.