Hi! Finally an update. Sorry, it took longer than I thought to get it finished. Please, let me know if you like it. And a new year has begun. Let's hope this one will be better than the previous for all of us.
… …
Emma Morgan used to grin pityingly while reading about people's documentary stories about alien abductions, but she didn't feel like grinning when she entered the golden chamber of Himinbjorg straight out from the sparkling Bifrost. It felt like she would have stepped out from one of those thrill rides in an amusement park, her arms still clutched tightly around Loki. She took a cautious breath and discovered that it was really air she was breathing, reminding herself to go easy on Coulson's chicken curry before entering the Bifrost the next time.
Once standing on the solid floor again, Loki eased his hold on her, keeping his hands on her shoulders just to make sure she didn't lose her balance after their wild travel through the Bifrost. He was used to it, but to a mortal it could have been a dizzying experience bound for a stomach flip.
He watched her affectionately, seeing her eyes wandering wildly around the round chamber in wonder. "Welcome to Asgard," he said softly. His hands slid along her arms to capture her fingers and she turned her face at him. "Are you feeling well?"
Asgard...? They were in Asgard! She had to take a double take when a part of the golden chamber seemed to still whirl around them. Loki really knew how to sweep a girl off her feet.
She quivered, feeling that light touch of his kiss still lingering warmly on her lips. How could have she forgotten that he was so tall and handsome? She was dazed about everything that she had seen, but managed a challenging frown and begun in a heated voice, "I'm fine, but we really need to talk, Loki. You practically abducted me for God knows why! You… you simply can't drop back into my life like that and turn it upside down just when everything was finally going to be… "
His face stiffened and he wondered how she couldn't see how wonderful this new beginning was for them. In the moment her expression altered and she grabbed her belly, Loki got visibly alarmed. "What...?"
She gasped when all her brain activity was stolen by the wild movement inside her womb as if the baby would have hit the dance floor.
"Wow! Someone loved the ride," she stated with a lopsided grin and, in turn, captured his hands. "Quick! Give me your hands," she said and pulled his hands on her belly, placing them straight on top of the spot where the kicks felt. "Here. Can you feel it?" she asked, her voice suddenly filled with pure warmth.
"Oh…" he sighed aloud as he felt it, the coldness of her skin through the thin fabric of her tunic and those tiny but vigorous movements against his palms while cupping the bump of her belly. It simply astonished him. He stared down at his hands and the wonder he held between them, her small hands holding his.
Another determined thump came straight against his palm as though the baby would have said hello and he let out a breath, caressing that spot. "Well, hello to you too," he whispered tenderly and an uncertain smile manifested on his face as he connected his gaze with hers.
Emma gave him a silly grin. "It feels crazy, doesn't it?"
"Yes. Very. So vigorous." His expressions varied from confusion to delight and then he grinned a bit too. "Quite a bouncer."
This was real, not a delusion. Their child was real and Emma was there with him. And even he felt those tiny feet pounding strongly against his palm, yet it felt so strange to him, alien even.
She watched him intensively and saw his sincere reactions, those small glints of smiles and amazement filling his eyes every time the baby moved. She loved his intimate touch as his hands cradled her belly (she hadn't let anyone else touched it, not even her mom) and when he looked at her with that profound fondness, she would have wanted to return into his arms. However the presence of his guards, that she only then registered, broke the sensitive moment and then she noticed the tall man standing on a round platform in the middle of the chamber behind his massive sword, staring down at them.
Heimdall gave their visitor a small smile. "Welcome to Asgard, Emma Morgan."
She gulped at the impressive sight of the warrior in the golden armor. "Thanks. Got nothing to declare, sir."
"That was a brief journey, Loki. I see you found what you were looking for."
Loki pulled his hands away from her in an awkward manner. His brows furrowed then in confusion as he kept studying his pale blue palms that had momentarily borrowed his Jotun skin tone but were returning back to normal. If the baby could bring out the Jotun in him when he simply touched it through Emma's skin, he wondered worried what it was doing to her.
Emma caught a glimpse of the transformation in his hands and gulped. "You okay?"
Loki flashed a smile to expel her worries. "Of course."
Heimdall's golden gaze examined Loki's hands too with a pondering frown. "Congratulations," he said solemnly to Emma and before she had a chance to reply he added bluntly, "For being still alive. An average mortal would not have survived this far in your condition."
Dumbfound, she just gaped at him. His deep voice, even in a soft tone, gave her chills. "Well, am I the lucky one?"
"Indeed," Heimdall acknowledged and directed his next question to Loki, "I doubt Allfather knows about her visit."
Loki looked at him suffering. "I will tell Odin when the time is right. Please, Heimdall, don't tell him yet. I know you don't consider me as a friend, but you saw the way things were in Midgard. I had to bring her here into safety," he said passionately. He glanced far at the opening. "Where is Thor? I must speak with him."
"I sent Thor to Vanaheim solving troubles the Marauders has been causing there again," Heimdall said and Loki didn't look happy with that.
"You're Heimdall?" Emma presumed, admiring the man's quite unique eyes. "So, you're the one who..."
"Has been watching over you all these months. Yes."
"I was going to say who sees everything but... Um... Okay. Not at all creepy. Thanks for that." She flinched at the thought someone had been watching her all this time and couldn't fight off an awkward blush, pondering if he had actually been watching her all the time. "You heard me when I called for you six months ago? Those northern lights were beautiful. Thank you."
Heimdall nodded and the thick horns of his helmet rocked back and forth, making his simple gesture more significant. He had seen enough of her character to take a liking to her. Every time someone mentioned his name, his focus sharpened upon the realms and he had heard her talking to him like mortals used to talk to a friend. It had been rather refreshing. "Since she is here now," Heimdall said to Loki, "I recommend you take her to the healing room to have her condition examined."
Emma stole a glance at both of the men, lifting a finger. "Hang on now..."
Loki nearly bowed in relief. "Thank you, Heimdall."
"Yeah, thank you very much for your concern, but I can't stay!" Emma objected. "We left my father in a tight spot with Coulson and Steve Rogers. Heimdall, can you see what's going on back there? Please," she begged nervously. "Please, tell me they are not killing each other... because I know my father and... oh, shit... they are all so going to die"
Heimdall took his time to gaze back on Midgard. "No. They are talking, almost civilly, I must say," he answered and Emma heaved a sigh, touching her forehead and whispering her thanks once more.
"I hope that is enough to put your mind at ease. Your father asked me to look after you and that I will do. So, please," Loki offered his hand to her. "Everything will be just fine, I promise," he said in a soothing voice, his hand clamping on her shoulder and softly encouraging her to move along with him. "Let me show you my home."
They were already walking towards the opening where daylight shone in, and his guards followed.
"What about Logan? And my mother? We just met again after all these years. She won't understand. She'll be worried sick. Loki, I was wrong. She never abandoned me. You have to take me back there."
"All in good time," Loki assured and let her take in her surroundings as they stood outside on the bridge. "Please indulge me and tell me that you are at least a bit curious to see more."
She opened her mouth and closed it, being at a loss of words while gazing at the spectacular view ahead. The whole Asgardian kingdom opened in front of her eyes. The alien world she had only imagined was real. The sparkling bridge seemed to continue miles and miles over the sea and towards the grand, golden citadel that lied in the valley of mountains ahead. The sky above them was half bright whilst the other part was dotted with stars and there were moons or other planets looming on the sky. And then there were snow. Asgardian winter was cold just enough that it was gently snowing tiny white flakes around them.
That clement coldness felt so good and she welcomed it with a shyly curious smile. "Maybe I could take a little look around."
Even as he knew perfectly well she didn't mind of the coldness, he couldn't resist the urge to cover her dainty body against the winter and the judging gazed of the Asgardians. He pulled off his long black coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I insist," he said before she objected. "People would think of me as an awful person if I'll let you walk around here half naked."
As if that had been the sole reason people considered him as an awful person.
... ...
"What do you mean Asgard is flat? Then where does all that water go? Don't the laws of physics apply here at all?"
Emma bombed Loki with questions as he helped her down from a boat that was parked in front of the grand main entrance of the palace. It wasn't just any boat. It was a flying boat that had carried them there through air and she had seen the whole Asgard from high above in her golden glory. Emma was simply ecstatic like a child of the beauty of the place. She looked quite small too waving around in his long coat Loki insisted her to wear. It looked like a fancy, extra large bathrobe on her.
Standing on the foot of the majestic palace, her gaze climbed up along the elaborate walls that shined in the golden glow of the afternoon. The palace looked like the grand organ pipes of God's own cathedral and she felt so small and humble in this strange world.
"Of course they do, but your vision of the laws of physics is too limited," Loki explained and added teasingly into her ear, "Where mortals' physics ends 'our magic' begins."
His voice was full of enticing mischief and it made her grin, and even more so when she felt his hand on the small of her back and she turned at him. "All I know is," she said and captured his free hand, studying his fingers, finding pleasure in the way his skin felt against hers, "that I've missed the magic of your touch more than anything. I can't believe I'm really here with you. This feels like a dream and I don't want to wake up this time."
He held her warm gaze and let their fingers entwine, wanting to pull her closer. Here she was now. He had done it. He had brought her there and to his great surprise done it without betraying or deceiving anyone as far as he was aware.
Delicate snowflakes glimmered on her hair and eyelashes, and to his concern the snow hardly melted on her skin. Even so, she seemed to glow with euphoria. He wanted to drop on one knee and present her the ring he had kept safe for months now. He had wanted to do that from the moment he reclaimed her and that thought was burning a hole in his head.
His persistent guards had been tagging along all the way and Emma had been a dear trying to make conversation with the Einherjar warriors who were unaccustomed having a small talk with the guests of the royal family. Without his guards he would have scooped her in his arms and carried her straight in to his chambers and on his bed.
"Are you going to let her freeze to death out there or bring her inside?" Frigga asked as she slowly approached them, a sorry expression on her face for interrupting their sensitive little moment.
Loki smiled a bit surprised before turning his gaze from one precious woman to another. "Mother, here she is. My Emma," he said affectionately, his hand still holding Emma's.
Frigga moved closer, studying their guest with warmth since there weren't many who brought out that softer side of her son. "Every time I see you, you look different, Emma," she acknowledged and the look in her eyes was telling that she saw more than she revealed.
Emma realized it was the first time she actually meet Loki's adoptive mother in real life and had no clue how to act, except releasing her hold from Loki. "Queen Frigga. Hi," she smiled, unsure should she shake hands or drop a curtsy to the queen of Asgard. The pair of blue eyes observed her so deeply that she was ready to confess her every sin. And the big one she couldn't even hide anymore.
"In the current circumstances it is good to see that you are doing well." Queen's gaze dropped from Emma's unnaturally pale face down to her bump and Frigga couldn't help herself. "May I?" she asked when her hand was already invading Emma's personal space.
Being too confused to give her consent or deny it, Emma just stared at Frigga as the queen placed a hand on her belly. If it had been some other person she would have savagely slapped that hand away, but now she glared at Loki as if telling him to tell his mother off. He only gave her an awkward shrug as if she should just bear it.
"So cold." Frigga and Loki exchanged looks as she pulled her hand way and turned at Emma with concern. "Are you not in pain?" the queen asked.
Emma shrugged and wrapped both hands over her bump to keep it safe from other unasked touches. "Not at the moment. Aching comes and goes. It's nothing I can't handle." She paused to decipher the others' eccentric expressions and their worry grew on her too. Heimdall said that she was lucky for being alive and now this. They were practically measuring her if she was able to go through with it whatever it was. She was really beginning to miss that Loki's playful smile which had vanished. "Why? Is something wrong with the baby? Is that the reason you brought me here? Loki, what's going on?"
To truth be told, Frigga was stunned to see the girl walking there on her own, but her calm surface never gave that away. "We only want to ensure that both of you are in good health and will stay that way. Please, follow me." She cast a worried glance at her son and whispered, "Oh, let us pray Odin did not see her coming."
Emma knitted her brows. "Why? Would that be a bad thing?"
"Of course not. There is nothing to worry about," Loki reassured and wrapped an arm around Emma's shoulders, but his eyes lied on his behalf.
"Nothing to worry about?" Emma echoed nervously. "Then why do you look so gloomy like your pet snake just died?"
A trace of a smile brought out his dimples briefly. "Odin does not know yet about your… er… condition."
… …
"Aliens?" Aileen shrieked furiously, her fingers clutched around her purple taser. Her daughter was kidnapped by a stranger again and this idiotic man in front of her was talking about aliens! "Alien abduction? Really, Phil? Is that the best you could come up with? If you expect me to believe that then you're as delusional as Emily was! I don't know what I saw out there but I would rather believe in some sort of hocus-pocus trick that you or those others orchestrated just to capture her again. No. I want the truth!"
Knowing he had it coming, Phil Coulson faced the torrent of rant as Aileen let him have it for lying to her all this time. Not a muscle on his sullen face flinched even his whole body (especially his abs) was still aching after the electrifying surprise she had had in store for him.
He glanced at that purple taser he had taught her to use properly, now regretting it painfully with his every cell. "You tased me!" he repeated again, finding her feat against him so damn hurtful. He tasted blood in his mouth and wiped the corners of his mouth. He must have bit his tongue in the process.
"Damn right!" Aileen barked. "I promised Emily I will tase you if I have any reason to doubt you and right now I have plenty! And I'll zap you as many times as it takes until you tell me where my daughter is."
Steve Rogers winced with the idea but kept his mouth shut as Aileen had encouraged him to do with words highly unsuitable for a mother of two little girls.
"I am telling you the truth right now, Aileen," Coulson promised, lifting his hands in surrender. "I know I should have told you the truth from the very beginning but honestly… You wouldn't have believed it. You don't believe it now. This guy Loki is not from our planet. He's not some Norwegian TV magician. He's a real alien who Emma fell in love with and they caused us some major pain in the ass six months ago. We believed he died but evidently he's still alive and kicking, and now he came back just to pick her up…" He sighed heavily. "Her and the baby. I regret to inform you that we can't reach Emma. She's not on Earth anymore."
"That is bullshit!" Aileen cried, pointing her weapon at him with a trembling hand. She hated seeing him so calm. "I want my daughter back. I had her. I had her in my arms, Phil!"
Coulson scowled at Logan who was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Help me out here, will you? You know the truth, Logan. Tell her!"
Sulking, Logan crossed his arms more tightly and chewed his cigar a moment in a desolate silence. He had just witnessed how the mother of his kid zapped the agent with a tiny taser, making the man she claimed to love rolling on the floor like a drooling puppy. Logan didn't try to pretend he hadn't enjoyed it a bit, but he didn't enjoy of seeing Aileen suffer over the loss of her daughter. She meant business when she was worried sick for her kid and Logan knew she wouldn't ever forgive him for letting Loki take Emma away. It was unfair as hell for her to go through this again.
"I'm so sorry, Aileen," Logan said and put his cigar back into his pocket. "This feels so unreal but I know it's true. Everything Coulson told you is true. I know it, because I've seen it. Emma and I, we busted Loki out of the place Coulson's people held him. I saw Loki, what he really was, all blue and everything when he was wounded six months ago. I'm telling you, he's an E.T. but he'll look after her. I know he will."
Aileen stared at him coldly like a warrior preparing for a final strike, like a beautiful amazon Logan pictured her to be. She didn't know what to believe. "How can you tell that to me? You've been a father to her for a few months. I've been her mother her whole life. I drove across the country dozens of times in the past eight years for the tiniest lead on her, never, ever finding her until this day. How could you do this? Are you telling me she is gone? For good? You had no right to give her away, Logan! She didn't want to go! She's not well."
The pain in her voice made Logan drop his gaze to hide his regret. That and the uncertainty of the consequences of his decision. He surely hoped Emma was fine and safe. God, he truly hoped so because she was light years away now.
A sudden knocking and clanking sound broke the freshly fallen silence as Aileen threw her taser across the room more violently than she had meant to and grabbed her head in frustration. "What am I suppose to do now? Where am I supposed to look for her?" She stared at both men like hoping for answers. Neither said anything. At least nothing she was willing to hear.
Their interrupted dinner was still on the table but she wasn't going to clean it up. She passed the table touching the chair which Emma had sat on and lowered her head.
Coulson followed her, forcing his feeble feet to carry him. "Aly…"
"I need to be along now," she stated with a quivering voice that stopped him like a slap on a face. She went upstairs finding the belongings of her daughter as if looking for a clue where to start searching again.
Coulson and Logan remained silent, neither moved, until she was out of their sight. There were three strong-minded men in the room but it felt like she was the one calling the shots. And on that moment, feeling like been betrayed, she had every reason to be angry with every single one of them.
Coulson loosened his tie and collar, processing the new found information Logan had divulged in passing. The agents in him rarely took a day off but it was getting harder to keep his emotions in check. "Did you say Loki was blue when he was wounded? Is he a Kree? I thought he's an Asgardian."
Logan glowered at both of the men. "The hell I know. Emma only mentioned he's a Jotun."
Coulson folded his arms and rubbed his chin. "That's new. Then how can you be so sure she's safe where ever Loki took her?"
"At least I know she won't be tested and exploited like some lab rat in another secret underground base," Logan defended and moved closer to Coulson, looking angry and sad; a nasty combination for a man like him.
Steve Rogers leaped forward. "We should all keep calm here. Okay?"
Logan ignored the stars and stripes guy and kept staring at Coulson. "Emma still sees nightmares of the things those people did to her years ago. Her cries used to wake me up at nights. And you know what? After all the crap you made her go through, she thought about doing the right thing. Four months ago, she was going to turn herself in to SHIELD because she was tired of looking over her shoulder and she wanted to make up for the mess Loki left behind. Only thing stopped her doing it was when she discovered that she was pregnant. Her nightmares grew worse. She wasn't afraid for herself anymore. Nevada taught her the hard way what SHIELD does to the freaks they find; you cut them open and freeze them up. She knew what she was carrying and was terrified of what your people would do to her kid."
A sour frown pulled the corners of Coulson's mouth downwards. Emma must have seen their whole 084 collection in Nevada. It was some nasty Area51 stuff. No one was supposed to know what they kept in there, so no wonder she didn't want him to know it was really Loki's baby she was carrying. "I would have never harmed Emma. Or her baby," he swore.
"Yeah?" Logan grumbled. "What about the next guy in charge after you?"
"You're a real piece of work, Logan," Coulson said harshly. "I've been on your side from the day one. Emma saved my life and revealed a huge scam inside SHIELD. We had her. Aileen had finally found her lost child. We could have protected her together. I would have gone to extreme lengths to keep her safe. That's what I'm good at. That's what SHIELD is all about. But you handed your daughter to Loki and let him take her away just like that."
"And you wanted so desperately to be her step-daddy that you forgot who she really is."
Logan stepped closer to the new SHIELD boss with a murdering stare and Coulson stared back at him nonchalant.
Steve Rogers hurried between the men. "I don't think Emma would want you to fight."
"Stay out of this, buddy," Logan grunted. "In the matter of fact, I want both of you out of my house!"
"Logan?" Aileen's shaky cry called from upstairs and captured their attention.
She sounded distressed enough to make Logan leaving the debate and soon they all stood on the doorway leading to Emma's bedroom, Logan stepping inside first.
Aileen was sitting on Emma's bed, an open notebook on her lap and a small drawer of the bedside table by her side, containing printed documents and a decorative dagger. "Did you know about this, Logan?" she asked, holding a small, old-fashioned voice recorder up as if showing it to him.
Logan shook his head confused. He had never even seen it. It hadn't been his business to go snooping in Emma's room. "What did you find?"
She pressed the play button and Emma's voice spoke out from the small device:
"Hey, baby. I'm your mom and my name is Emma. If you're listening to this then it means that I can't be there with you. Believe me I really wish I could. I wish I could hold you in my arms. But it's okay. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. I want you to know that you were loved a long before you were born. You're safe, Sweetheart. Your granddad Logan is going to take good care of you. I know he will. You be good to him, okay? I know he could be grumpy sometimes but he loves you just like he loved me. You're never gone be alone. I'll be always with you even you don't see me and maybe one day you will meet your father. He promised to come back for us, so you keep looking up at the stars…"
Coulson had entered the room behind Logan, listening carefully Emma's recorded voice. She sounded so peaceful and loving like a mom taking to her baby, but the message was clear. His gaze swept over the tidy room finding a few piles of cardboard boxes in the corner. It looked like Emma had been hoarding baby stuff; baby clothes, diapers, even bottles and infant formula like those doomsday preppers.
Aileen stopped the tape and her eyes were brimming with tears as she gazed at Logan and Coulson. "She made a tape for the baby and a guide for you to taking care of the child. She believed that she won't survive through childbirth or even make it that far…"
Logan looked shocked. He couldn't get a word out of his mouth.
"What do you mean?" Coulson asked cautiously.
Aileen lifted the notebook. She had only flipped it through and discovered it was a sort of a diary of her daughter. Everything in it convinced that Coulson had been telling the truth. "It's all in here. What she's described is not normal for any pregnancy. Logan, did you know she was in terrible pain? This baby was turning her physically into something… different. We saw her turning blue. It was changing her. Phil, you were right." She stood up looking hopeless. "What the hell is a Frost Giant?"
… …
Feeling like she had left the reality back home and entered a gold-wrapped and cotton candy flavored fairytale, Emma followed the queen of Asgard through the spectacular palace Loki by her side. The architecture was beyond her imagination. Every where she looked, were grand gilded pillars, ceilings higher than she had ever seen, marble floors and beautiful ornaments.
The hallways went on and on and then they finally reached their destination; a slightly dim room with fire places and a strange table that crazily reminded of a modern-day viking's sacrificial altar. Seeing it, make her halt with growing uneasiness as they entered. Even so the room itself had a nice and calm hammam ambient. At least that's what it felt like to her because perspiration was just waiting to happen.
"The healing room," Loki explained and gently ushered her forward to a woman who was waiting for them. "This is lady Eir. She is the most adept physician of Asgard."
"Ah… I don't know about this, Loki." Emma took a long studying look at the place and the healer lady who came to meet them. She pinched her shirt with two fingers and fanned her chest nervously, facing him. "I don't need healing. I'm fine, really. The last time I saw a doctor that didn't end well… for him." She winced with an unpleasant memory. "I swear I will start clawing people if they'll touch me! No one's going to probe me," she whispered.
Loki gave her a sorry smile. Her nervousness made her more adorable as she was fussing about everything but her own condition, the only thing that would have required her full attention. "I assure you, you are in safe hands. There is absolutely no need to be nervous. Please, just relax, my dear."
"Oh, don't tell me to relax! I relax when I want to and I don't like this."
Frigga took the lead and greeted the main healer. "Thank you, lady Eir, for granting us this private audience. I would ask your utter discretion. Everything you see and hear here today must not leave this chamber."
"Of course, my queen," Eir said and her curiosity only grew as she looked at the mortal girl with the younger prince. She didn't have to guess the cause for this secrecy. All she had to do was to lower her gaze a bit on the girl's belly and figure out the rest. "And she is our patient?"
"Not really. Just sightseeing," Emma murmured, having difficulties to cross her arms over her belly in a way that would have looked natural.
Loki ignored the healer's correct but unspoken assumption. His gaze pounced between Emma and the healer with hesitation. He knew what people thought of him and this wasn't going to make anything easier. "This is Emma of Midgard. Gravid, evidently." He flashed a smile, not indenting to sound as smug as it came out.
Emma rolled her eyes grimly. "And whose fault is that?"
Unwilling to take all the blame, Loki cleared his throat and continued, "But, however her condition is quite unique. It is essential to make sure that her body will be able to withstand the rest of the pregnancy. Her safety as well as the child's is of our greatest importance."
"Yes, of course." Lady Eir nodded in understanding, pulling on her mild professional smile and turning towards the patient. "Lady Emma. Please, if you could lie yourself down here on the soul forge so we can begin."
Emma kept staring at the strange examination table with a grimace. "A soul forge, huh?" She could already feel the heat rising inside of her and took a tiny step backwards. "As if a furnace? I think I'll pass."
Frigga moved closer to her. "This device helps us to examine you. Your fear is unnecessary. It won't harm you and it is perfectly safe for the baby," she said assuringly as if this was something they did on a daily basis.
Loki picked Emma's hand and closed it between his palms as gently as his words came out, "I am here with you, Emma. Please, trust me when I say that you will be safe."
He looked at her begging like a puppy or like a kid asking for some extra hot fudge and sprinkles on a sundae. Oh, ice cream! She automatically licked her lips. She was carving for a big bowl of cold, cold ice cream. Then again, screw the bowl! Recalling his beautiful cold Jotun form, she wanted to use his naked body as a platter and lick him clean from the frozen yummy. She wondered if her tongue would get stuck to his blue skin.
"Emma?" Loki whispered her name to recapture her strayed focus.
Emma sucked in a deep breath and held it, glancing at the strange device again. It was getting so damn hot that she was ready to do almost anything to get out of there. She wiped her damp forehead and said, "If I'll die here then it is your fault and I'll haunt your ass for all eternity."
Loki quelled his chuckles under a cough and solemnly swore, "I shall not let you die."