"Do you seriously believe any of this junk?" Maggie asked Hawkeye, her resident guard, as she sat sprawled on the metal bench that occupied her holding cell. He leveled her with a serious look before finally responding.
"With this job I've learned that one should either believe in everything, or nothing at all. There's too much gray area to do anything else."
Maggie let out a sigh. "But I'm not a trained... whatever you are. I'm just normal- well, up until today I thought I was normal, now I'm not so sure," she mumbled as busied herself with plaiting a small braid into her auburn hair. She had spent hours in the cell with this man while Nick Fury and Thor busied themselves with her departure. Fury informed her before he shut the heavy metal door of her containment that he would personally, along with a handful of agents, go to her house and collect her belongings. After explaining what toiletries and clothes she needed, Maggie insisted on them also packing up all of her notebooks along with Gus, her canine counterpart.
"Please," she had begged, "please bring me these things. I'll go mad without them." Nick Fury scrunched his nose at the thought of dealing with a dog, but had consented nonetheless.
Now, four hours later, there Maggie continued to sit. She idly thought that Fury was holding her so long as a sort of torture; her insides were buzzing. It took Maggie not very long at all to realize finally that this energy, or whatever it was, inside of her was now here for the long haul. She'd never admit it to anyone she currently found herself with, but this power was not as foreign to her as she originally let on. She never told anyone, not even her (not)father, that she had had felt this feeling before. The same sensation that now set her fingertips a tingle had visited her in times previous, times in which she felt threatened, or scared, or angry.
Strange things had always seemed to happen while Maggie was around. One day at lunch, Maggie remembers vividly that it was a Wednesday, she took a nasty tumble on a grease-soaked napkin and, as naturally high schoolers do, the rest of the room burst into laughter. The smarmy snickers inflamed Maggie's cheeks as an energized anger roared through her. A second later, a light fixture plopped atop some browned salad greens, bursting into flames and Maggie took that as her cue to flee the scene, stuffing her glowing fingertips into her jacket pockets as she ran.
One day she set Sydney Wilson's hair on fire after she accused Maggie of having a crush on her boyfriend. Maggie was nowhere near the girl when her blond curls spontaneously combusted. No one noticed as they attempted to douse Sydney's hair that Maggie's eyes, locked on the girl, glowed like eery embers.
After countless incidences akin to this one, the foreign feeling that invaded Maggie always faded away, but not this time. Maggie was certain, after the strength of the energy she emitted at the drug store, her powers had now grown strong enough to maintain a constant buzz in within her. She held a new alertness that freshened her senses, yet also pestered her with annoying jitters.
"God, how long does it take to pick up clothes and a dog?" Maggie finally belted after another steady silence between Hawkeye and herself. She threw her arm over her eyes and huffed in frustration.
"Relax, we're back." A foreign voice, Fury's, invaded the room.
Maggie let out a gasp of surprise and shot up. "I didn't even hear the door open."
"That's because you were too busy tapping your foot on the wall. Loudly," Hawkeye pronounced flatly.
Maggie gave him a sheepish look then turned her attention to Fury. She bit her lip. "So is it... time for me to go?" she asked nervously.
Maggie could have sworn that the look in Nick Fury's eyes was that of pity as he looked at her and spoke, "Yes, Maggie. It's time to go. Thor is waiting for you with the dog and your things in Hanger A. Hawkeye will escort you."
Maggie gulped as she followed Hawkeye out of her cell and fell in step beside him. "Should I be scared?" she asked him quietly.
Hawkeye thought briefly of the only things he knew about Asgard; Thor and Loki. He thought of Thor's bravery and honor juxtaposed by Loki's madness as he considered the fact that Maggie was a scared eighteen year old girl. Hawkeye's answer took longer than expected.
"Just be brave," he replied finally as he squeezed Maggie's shoulder. They had reached the hanger's doors by then, Maggie gave Hawkeye a small smile.
Loki was caught off guard by the excessive bustle in the palace. Asgard's golden fortress always held a degree of busyness, it was a castle, after all, and castles demanded a certain amount of caretakers for a certain amount of upkeep. Today was different, though. When his food was brought, late today, he caught a glance into the hallway and was struck by the multitude of servants hurrying this way and that like worker bees.
"What's this all for?" he asked the doe-eyed servant girl who today won the unlucky raffle, it was her turn to take the fallen prince his meals.
If possible, her eyes grew even wider after he addressed her, surprised that he spoke to her. She had a right to feel this way, however, Loki rarely wasted words on the help.
"We're preparing a feast for the daughter of Heimdall," she replied to him slowly after debating whether she should answer him at all.
His eyebrows raised in curiosity. So his future pupil commanded this much ado? He nodded at the girl and then flicked his wrist, dismissing her so he could be left with his thoughts.
"Knowing my mother, a feast is sure to welcome our return," Thor commented with a small smile. Maggie's eyes immediately went as wide as saucers.
"A feast? Isn't that a little excessive?" she asked. Thor and Maggie had been placed in an circle filled with intricate designs drawn in chalk on the cement floor of the hanger. He explained to her briefly that getting them to Asgard would take a lot of effort, and a combination of Earth's science and Asgard's magic would be used to transport them. Thor and Maggie faced each other; each clutched a glowing cube with steel handles bolted to the sides. The cube began to hum and Thor looked at her.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Maggie gulped and nodded, patting Grover softly as he shivered beside her. Suddenly the room seemed to start spinning. An immense pressure pushed down on her chest and shoulders and made her ears pop. Maggie could faintly hear Grover's howls, they seemed miles away even though she could feel his fur under her fingers. The hanger quickly faded into a deep black that stretched endlessly before the pair. Maggie could barely see Thor out of the corner of her eye, he was nothing more than a blur, like his whole body was vibrating at a high speed. There was a sharp tug at her gut that felt like someone was pulling a rope attached to the walls of her stomach. She gasped as dashing auroras of color faded into gold before her eyes and her eyesight rocked now instead of spiraling.
It took Maggie a moment to gather her wits, but after she did and looked up, her breath was taken by the scene before her. The palace sprawled before them and with its golden tubes it looked like a giant pipe organ. The village surrounding it was only slightly lesser in lavishness, the houses where various shades of golds, silvers, and bronzes that accented the gleam of the palace. Amber colored stairs and streets wove this way and that in snake-like patterns up and down the hills of the village. Maggie turned to look behind her and was faced by a dazzling cerulean lagoon that stretched hundreds of meters before it simply leveled off at a waterfall that seemed to pour into the stars themselves. A rocky beach of jade stones connected the village with the sea.
They were in Asgard.
Maggie turned to Thor with wide eyes. "This place makes Earth look like a flea market," she finally breathed out.
He chuckled loudly and gave her another small smile. "Asgard is exuberant, this is true. But your planet holds a beauty all its own," he replied. He placed his hand lightly on her back and began to lead her towards the looming doors of the palace. When they reached them Maggie balked.
"I can't do this," she whispered to him, still refusing to budge.
Thor sighed and took her shoulders, turning Maggie so she was facing him. She looked into his kind blue eyes, a wordless plea resounding in her gaze for him to understand.
"I was once in your place, you know." Maggie frowned at him in disbelief as he continued on, unfettered by the look on her face. "I was exiled for my home not too long ago, my arrogance gave my father no choice. At first I was angry with him, I was completely stranded in a strange world and I was at a lose as to what to do next. Luckily, I found help. The kindest of humans, a scientist named Jane Foster, took me in and believed in me when I didn't. She helped me survive, and that's what I plan to do for you. If you ever feel overwhelmed or alone, you can always come to me," his finished his speech with finality and squeezed her shoulders. "I promise."
Maggie gulped, but nodded all the same. She squared her shoulders and turned back to the doors. "Then what are we waiting for?"
an: okay, loki and maggie will meet next chapter, i promise. again, not as long as i would like but this felt like a good stopping point for this chapter. sorry it took so long to update, i'll try to get more active. as always, please review! tell me what you like, don't like, pointers, advice - anything!