~44th Floor, Stark Tower Two~

Day 3 on Earth, 6 pm.

Staring at the beautifully crafted mahogoney grandfather clock at the end of the hall in his borrowed condo, Loki unconsciously chewed his lower lip, the steadily swinging gold pendulum reminding him how quickly time disappeared on Earth.  Too quickly.  It was still fairly early in the evening, but every shadow was becoming more pronounced with each tick of the clock.  He’d already wasted most of the day high as a kite.  (Not exactly his most shining moment.)  He needed to get the tesseract safely shielded back to Asgard, and he was beginning to doubt that would happen within the time frame he’d originally planned.  Maybe his hopes had been too high when he’d arrived here.  Sigyn seemed confident enough in her abilities, and he wanted to believe she could forge a shield with her fire, but he feared the cost.  Sure he’d seen her melt frost giants, but she had been an absolute wreck in that lab upstairs.  With a deep sigh, he finally tore his gaze away. 

“Everything will turn out alright.  My story isn’t over,” he whispered to himself and put his hands in the pockets of his black drawstring pants, stepping soundlessly into the bedroom where Sigyn was curled up in a little ball under a blanket on the bed. “Our story isn’t over,” he corrected himself, sitting down carefully next to her. 

He’d had another shower, this time a cold one to wake himself up, while she napped.  Brow creasing, he leaned over to feel her forehead.  She mumbled something unintelligible and turned to her other side.  The hair at the back of her neck was a bit damp from sweat, but she didn’t feel feverish to him, so he assumed that was good.  Problem was, he’d never seen her this exhausted, and he was becoming a bit concerned if he were to be honest. 

Come to think of it, she had slept an entire day after he’d brought her back through the Vanaheim portal, so this wasn’t that bad.  Sometimes he forgot that she was Vanir, not Asgardian.  Gently, he slid his hand from her forehead to her cheek, stroking it with his thumb slowly.  He knew just about everything of Asgardian biology, but he was, to his shame, painfully ignorant of the Vanir.  Could they get sick more easily?  Legitimately sick, not just queasy?  And if so, could he catch it?  Well shit.  He didn’t know much about his own Jotun biology either.  Brilliant.  He felt stronger than he ever had, so…. probably not?  Rolling his eyes, despite wanting to wake her up and ask her about any other symptoms she was having, he left her there and made his way to the kitchen and opened the icebox, eyes scanning the shelves for a suitable snack.

“Stark and the rest of them probably wonder why you aren’t back in the lab making that shield for the tesseract,” he said, sensing Sigyn watching him as he pulled out an apple, feeling guilty that he’d awakened her. “Not that I want you to leave,” he clarified, turning to feel her forehead again. “Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s fine,” she said, leaning into him as he took a loud bite of his apple. “And I called Stark earlier today when you were asleep to let him know I needed more time to recover, and he said he had meetings with Councilwoman Hawley and Fury and Coulson anyway, so I didn’t need to worry.  He said he’d let Pepper and Jane know, too.  He’s being surprisingly considerate,” she said around a yawn. “Not sure what’s wrong with me.  I thought I’d feel better by now.”

Loki frowned, lifting her chin so he could get a better look at her. “I thought so, too.  Do you feel ill?  I mean, other than just tired?”

Shrugging, she turned away to fill a glass with water from the tap and gulped it down loudly, some of it spilling down her chin.  She swiped her thumb across her mouth and refilled the glass.

”I’m fine,” she said between refills.

He watched her through slitted eyes as she finished the drink and repeated the process twice more.

“Right,” he tossed the core of the apple into the trash and sighed.  She was acting weird.

“Change of subject,” she said leaning against the kitchen island. “Remember when I told you how I tried to find the man with the green eyes?” At his confused look, she clarified, “In Vanaheim?  Before we met?”

“Yes, I remember,” Loki said, putting his hands back in his pockets. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well that’s when I first discovered the spell I think the Other is using to track you.”

He frowned, her words completely lost on him. “Track me?”

“You know,” she pointed at his eyes, “the blue?”

Honestly he’d forgotten they were blue again.  Scowling at the thought, he rubbed them instinctively.

At his lack of response, she continued. “It’s much like those locators on these….uh,” she paused trying to recall the name as she pulled the phone Stark had given her the day before from it’s charging dock on the counter. “Oh what is it-”

He nodded at the device. “GPS?”

She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Yes, that’s it.  How do you even remember that?”

“Because I’m briliant, obviously,” he said with a shrug.

“Obviously,” she smiled and poked him in the ribs, which earned her a little laugh from him. “The spell was too advanced for me at that time,” she added when he smirked, “but I’m almost certain that’s why your eyes are blue, Loki.”

“Um….I don’t….o-kayy….” he shut his mouth, eyes closing as he tried to form a question.   

Sigyn drummed her fingers on the marble.  Damn.  She couldn’t remember the exact description, and it was annoying the fire out of her.  Everything was fuzzy, as though her brain was on hold for the time being.

“Something about…. oh…. retina iris neurons…. or um…. don’t give me that look-” she pointed her first finger at him when he frowned at her lack of recall “-or nucleus or…. something.”

He tilted his head sideways. “Then why they were green when I fell asleep?”

“The magic wears off, and when it does, your eyes return to normal.  Its power only lasts a few days.” She shrugged. “I know not why, but they have to redo it.” She waited for him to respond, and when he only squinted at her, she asked him, “It happened right after you spoke with the Other last night, did it not?”

He nodded mutely, mentally putting the pieces together.  This was seeming more and more plausible the more Sigyn talked about it, and he didn’t like it one bit.  The look of concern that now graced her features had his stomach turning over uncomfortably.

“Okay,” she paused and cleared her throat. “When are you to report to him?”

He looked down, staring hard, as though his feet were suddenly fascinating. “Every other night at eleven o’clock,” he said quietly.

“When did they first turn blue?” she asked, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

He finally raised his head to look at her, jaw set. “Right before they sent me through the tesseract.”

Her silence was deafening, and he rubbed the back of his neck, running his other hand through his hair.  The air in the room felt far too thin suddenly.

“I…. I thought it was just part of the sickening experience of traveling through it,” he said, dropping his hand from his hair lest he pull it out from the anxiety.

She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.  She wasn’t sure why she’d thought she would be relieved once they’d discussed this.  Why had she felt so confident earlier?  When she didn’t even know how to stop the Other from continuing to inflict pain on him?  She felt sick, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she hadn’t felt sick ever since she came into the kitchen, or if it was in response to this conversation.  Maybe she was just dehydrated from her efforts in the lab last night.  Yes, that was probably it.  What else could it be?  Sickness and disease was rare amongst Vanir.  Then again, so was being dehydrated.  Grabbing her water glass, she refilled it as the silence stretched on between them.  

“They won’t know where I am if I don’t report to them,” Loki mused out loud, watching the reddening clouds as the slowly fading western sun dropped behind the Los Angeles skyline out the windows.

His sudden voice startled her, and she choked on her drink.  She coughed into her fist as she wiped tears from her eyes, and he placed a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

“Sorry…. are you alright?” he asked, his brows quirking up.

She gaped at him for what felt like five minutes at least.  She couldn’t believe he was entertaining the idea of just not showing up to these little briefings.  As though the Other hadn’t considered that as a possibility and knew exactly what to do if Loki misbehaved.

“How can you,” she shook her head, “You were let go in order to carry out their plan, not your own.  On what realm is your head right now?”

Not wanting to sound irrational or overly emotional, she tried to control the shaking in her voice.  But this was Loki.  It was near impossible to be anything but irrational and emotional around him.  Honestly, was there anything that defied reason and logic more than falling head over heels for the God of Mischief himself?  She could still hear her father’s words in her head: That boy is nothing but trouble.  

She hung her head.  As though his being troublesome would make anymore difference now than it did when Iwaldi first said he was. Loki was her world, and she spun around him like she was his own personal moon, tugging on her with his powerful gravity, creating deep waves in space and time.  She heard him scoff, and it brought her out of her thoughts for a second.

Hardly. You’re my SUN for Hel’s sake, Sig ーhe threw up his hands— How in Odin’s name do you not know that by now?  

He shook his head.  Did she really think that he was idiotic enough to just not report to the Other and see what happend?  That he didn’t have something else in mind?  Or someone else?  Sigyn ran a hand through her hair, increasingly frustrated and angry that he wasn’t just telling her what was going on.  Eyes filling with tears, she inhaled and exhaled slowly.  Honestly, why did she have to cry when she was angry?

“I don’t understand,” her voice was hoarse as she blinked back those stupid tears.

“I know,” he said, sliding his hands up and down her arms slowly. “But do you trust me?”

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and bit her lip, considering the question.  Why was he being so secretive?  He had been ever since Catalina.  Then again, he’d also been secretive about his visits to Jotunheim, and that hadn’t stopped her from trusting everything would be okay then, too.  It certainly wasn’t the wisest decision but-

“Yes,” she finally said, and his responding smile was so beautiful, she nearly forgot what they were talking about.

“I am certain he used all his energy to send me through and cannot use the tesseract again.” Yet ーhe kept that last word behind a locked door in his mind.

She rubbed her temples to help keep her voice down when she responded, though it was in a harsh whisper. “You can’t possibyknow that!”

Running a hand down her face, she blew out a shaky breath.  He seemed to be having a conversation with himself, and he was doing a fine job of shielding his thoughts from her.  She pushed his hair behind his ears, and the movement caused him to look down at her, blue eyes on grey green.  

Do you think we could fight them off with our combined magic just as we fought the Jotuns on the bridge? —she slammed her eyes shut, the image of him hanging below her, losing his grip on Gungnir flashing across her mind.  The memory felt fresh, as though it had just happened yesterday.  She had the urge to put her nose to his throat and inhale, fearing this wasn’t really Loki, and seeing him again had been nothing but a dream.  Her thoughts then raced with images of the Other slaughtering Loki brutally; images of Loki choking on his own blood in ways so horrendous that her mouth began to flood with saliva, as though preparing her to lose the contents of her stomach.  She heard his breath catch in his throat.

“Sig…. no no no…. please-” he stopped abruptly, using all his mental strength to block those gruesome images that were coming through their bond.

She pulled away from him, and with one hand on her chest, she paced around the kitchen, trying (unsuccessfully) to get control of her thoughts.  Loki blew out a breath, grimacing at the vile acidic taste in his mouth.  Oh he was going to be sick all over Stark’s spotless floor, and it was going to be utterly disgusting.  Blessedly, just as he was about to dart for the bathroom, the images stopped as she turned toward him to actually speak, apparently forcing her brain to disconnect from the racing what-ifs in order to make her mouth work.

“You can’t leave me again.  You weren’t the only one who died that day.  It’s too much, it’s too much, I can’t….”

Her lips trembled as her voice failed her, and he couldn’t stand it.  Quickly rounding the island that now stood between them, he grabbed her face with more force than he meant.  He loosened his hold, and ducked his head to be at her eye level.

“I will not let that happen.  Do you hear me?  Do you understand?  I will not let that happen.”

As much as he hated seeing her distraught, he loved the feeling of being needed, desperately so.  He knew with certainty it would make her future far more painful, loving him like she did, but he couldn’t help his selfish desire to keep her by his side.  Oh the irony—earlier he’d been terrified of dying, and she had soothed him, and now here they were, as though spinning around in the saddest waltz ever.  They needed to go home and end this.  Her shaky voice pulled him from his thoughts then.

“I do need you.  It broke me when you fell.  My entire life shattered, Loki.  I know, in theory at least, that you were in Hel too, but,” every word out of her mouth was a barely there whisper as he ran his thumbs over her cheeks, catching her tears.  “I think I’m just weaker than you.”

She stumbled on the word weaker, and it felt like his heart was being ripped out with a dull as fuck knife.  His jaw dropped, and his eyes went wide with near anger.  

“Never say that you are weaker than me again.  Ever.” When she said nothing, only tugging on his wrists to let her face go, he shifted his grip to the back of her neck and leaned his forehead against hers.

“There is not,” he stopped to press his lips to her cheek, “one weak bone in your body,” he kissed her other cheek and added, “or your spirit.”

Vaguely he became aware that her tears had stopped, and she was pulling on the back of his shirt.  She didn’t seem to be trying to remove it, just nervously rubbing the material, and that was incredibly disappointing to him.  He would have forgotten everything else and obliged enthusiastically if she had wanted to take off his clothes.  Something about this entire conversation, or maybe it was her demeanor, the way she was clinging to him, made him want to hold her to him, feel her skin against his, as though his body could better communicate than his words that he could and would protect her from everything in the nine.  Not because she was weak, Hel no, but because she was everything to him.  Her lips were on his then.  It was quite tame, their mouths remaining closed, but it was a lengthy kiss, and it left him surprisingly breathless when she finally pulled away.

“I do want that,” she said, placing her hands flat against his chest.

“Want what?” he asked, a shiver going down his back as she slid her hands up behind his neck.

Her next words made his heart skip a beat.  Many beats.

“To take off your clothes,” she whispered.  It didn’t make sense to want this right now, when there were so many other things that should have been occupying her brain space, but it was as though nothing else mattered.  Maybe she was just overwhelmed with the fear of losing him.  Or maybe it was the anger in his voice after she’d said she was weak.  He made her feel adored, like she was the most precious thing in the universe to him, and that feeling made her (ironically) weak in the knees.

“Sig,” Loki said on an exhale when her hands moved from his neck to his hair.  He pulled her flush against him with one hand behind her neck, the other sliding down her spine, slipping underneath the hem of her shirt, and she came off the floor as he stood to his full height, dragging her up with him.

“Are you well enough?” he asked, hoping to the gods that she was as he placed a line of lingering kisses under her jaw.

“Uh huh” was all she could manage when he grabbed the back of her knees, pulling her legs up to wrap around his waist.  His mouth on her neck was sending her head into a spin.  She needed this, to be as close to him as was physically possible.  She was likely doing herself a disservice by not knowing what Loki had meant by “do you trust me,” but she really didn’t give a damn at the moment.  She was still too scared of him disappearing at that second to even bother with what the next day held for them as he carried her down the hall, aiming blindly for the bedroom.

“I’m not going anywhere, I swear,” he said against her cheek as he hefted her higher, groaning when the action rubbed her against him through his trousers, and kicked the bedroom door open.

Leaning over, he dropped her carefully on the bed and covered her mouth with his.  She almost whined his name when he pushed up just enough to peel her shirt over her head, as though the slight loss of contact caused her pain.

“I’m here,” he rasped as she pulled him down by his neck for another bruising kiss.

She needed to feel his skin now, and the black cotton undershirt he wore was the only thing that stood in her way.  Angry with the wretched thing for keeping her from him, she impatiently grabbed the v-neck with both hands and ripped it straight down to the hem.  His eyes flew wide open with shock, but his lips never left hers because her fierce grip on the hair at the back of his neck held him there.  Eyelids falling shut, he deepened their kiss as he shrugged out of the ruined shirt and tossed it across the room.  Gods damn, he was not used to her literally tearing his clothes off him, and it was turning him on to the point of pain.  Fuck me—

“I’m trying to,” she gasped, letting go of his hair as he broke their kiss, moving his lips down her jaw and neck and finally to her breasts, which were still covered by a thin dark green bra.  

His mouth worked over her, kissing through the material before pulling it down enough to expose her.  Her head fell back into the pillow, her hands sliding over his shoulders to the nape of his neck, holding him there, silently begging him to keep going.  Her little gasps had him in a sweat, and he felt he would suffocate if he didn’t lift his head.  He pushed up onto his hands to catch his breath and stared at her hungrily.

His hands were on both sides of her head, and she reached up to tangle her fingers with his as he lowered himself to his elbows.  His hair fell forward as he leaned down, and he growled, whipping his head back once to get it out of the way so he could get to her mouth.  She moaned as his tongue slipped between her lips, the pressure between her thighs increasing as he ground his hips into her.  Breathing heavily, he slid one hand under her and unhooked her bra (he liked it far too much to rip it apart), and she arched up to help him pull the straps out from underneath her.  Reaching down between them to untie the drawstring of his trousers, she sighed in frustration when her efforts created a knot, so she settled for palming him through the fabric.  He groaned into her mouth and tightened his grip on the back of her neck and lower back, pulling her even closer to him as her hand moved with increasing speed. 

“Oh my gods,” he gasped against her lips, feeling like he was going to finish in his trousers in another second, she had him so worked up.

Slow down!— jaw clenching, he pushed himself back almost violently, and sitting on his heels, he took several deep breaths as he carefully untied the knot on his own.

Looking up at her through his hair that had once again fallen in his face, he discarded his pants into the ever growing pile of clothes.  He stretched forward then, hooking his fingers into the waistband of her last clothes, yanking both the denim shorts and simple black underwear she wore down her legs at once.  Lips parted, Loki leaned over her, placing one hand gently around the base of her throat, the other beside her head to prop himself up.  He wasn’t squeezing her neck so much as just holding her down. 

Son of a bitch, the way he was looking at her, the blue of his eyes nothing more than thin rims around fully dilated pupils, was going to give her a heart attack.  She didn’t think she’d ever been more aroused, which would have seemed impossible until this moment.  Good gods he was stunning, hard and ready, the smooth skin and lean muscles of his stomach flexing with each breath he took as he raked his eyes over her from under long dark lashes.  She was desperate to touch him, to hear him hiss and moan, but he held hips up out of her reach. 

Blowing out a frustrated breath, she dropped her hand, unable to control the writhing of her body.  What was he doing?  Did he want to make her beg for it?  She was damn near about to scream at him to let go of her neck so she could get her hands on him, her mouth on him, anything he wanted, just please let her up!  One corner of his mouth quirking up, eyes never leaving hers, he finally moved the hand at her throat down her chest, fingers splayed flat against her skin, between her breasts and lower, down her stomach and stopped at the valley between her hip bones.  Chest heaving as though she’d run up twenty flights of stairs, Sigyn arched up into him when his thumb dipped lower, hovering just above the aching nerve endings that were desperate for his attention, teasing her into a frantic mess.  Positively. Evil. Man.

“Lo-ki,” she really was whining now, running her hands up his biceps, over his shoulders, and back down to grip his triceps, trying to pull him down to her, but when he didn’t budge, she narrowed her eyes at him.

“What is wrong with y-“

She stopped short, yelping when in one quick move, he let go of her neck, grabbed her hips and flipped her over.  She almost protested that she needed more contact with him than this position afforded them, but rather than being yanked up on her knees and slammed into (which normally she was perfectly happy with), she felt his lips on her ankles, slowly traveling north, placing open kisses all the way up her legs.  His chest made contact with her back, and she moaned as his hand slid up into her hair, pulling her head back carefully and kissing down her throat.  Oh bless, could she just stay here forever?  Please?

“Open your legs for me, Sig,” he commanded, his voice deeper than before, next to her ear.  

It was as though he was reading her mind (he probably was), giving her exactly what she wanted. Deep, incredibly intimate fucking, where his weight pushed her into the mattress, and him far into her.  She did as he said, allowing him to guide himself into her.  It was slow and steady, his shallow strokes becoming deep and then deeper still until he was down to the hilt.  His lips found hers again, and she slid her hand behind his head into his hair.

He hissed through his teeth, eyes sliding shut at the sensation of her nails on his scalp.  With the way she was pushing back harder against him, and pulling the back of his neck more harshly, she probably wanted him to speed up.  Reaching up to grab her hand so she didn’t pull his hair out in her desperation, he tsked her and simply angled his hips to the left, driving deeper into her.  He couldn’t help his prideful grin when she gasped and moaned his name against his mouth.

She had stopped kissing him, and he put the hand that had been in her hair over her mouth.  Not that he didn’t adore her breathy little whimpers, but the sound was pushing him closer to the edge too quickly.  As was this particular position.  Slipping his arm under her stomach, he gripped her waist and pulled out of her to flip her once more to her back.  She looked stunned at the sudden emptiness, but he seated himself back between her thighs immediately and slid back into her in one smooth stroke. 

Pushing up to kiss him again (Valhalla, his tongue was godsdamn magical), her fingers dug into his backside, trying to pull him further into her.  He resisted her somewhat, but it was half-hearted, and she hoped that meant he was going to let go of his need to always make her come first.  She just wanted to see him lose control, and despite enjoying the ride immensely, she was growing impatient.  The sight of Loki having an orgasm was just…. words couldn’t do it justice.  Not that it mattered really, since he’d been hitting all the right places with each perfect roll of his hips, and the tight coil in her lower stomach was going to snap at any moment now.  She would have cried out if it weren’t for Loki’s mouth still on hers as that phenomenal coil finally let go.  

Kissing down her neck as she arched up into him, he continued driving into her, drawing out those indescribable spasms gripping him like a vice as long as he could, not just for her sake, but his.  Gods, he was in heaven, and he wished he could keep pushing to give them both more and more and more, but clearly his body had other plans.  Not that she cared—he knew she got off on seeing him lose his mind over her.  

Fuck it—He reached up and grabbed the headboard with one hand, the other under her hip, and pressing her thighs to her chest, he thrust into her faster, growing impossibly harder by the second.  He was vaguely aware that she was peaking again as his breathing became shallow.  Forehead beading with sweat, his pace faltered as the pressure between his legs increased until his body couldn’t stand it any longer.  His eyes rolled back as his mouth fell open, every muscle in his body tightening, the wood of the headboard splintering under his grip.  Her hands were everywhere, pulling, tugging, squeezing him, and he blinked rapidly, trying to focus on her face.  It was difficult to see anything other than white light in his post-climactic haze, and all he could do was lower himself onto his elbows and kiss her for the moment.  

“Give me a minute, love,” he said against her mouth.

Unbelievably content in that moment, safe and loved and whole as his arms encircled her, she offered up a prayer to the universe—Please don’t take him from me again.  

---

~58th Floor, Stark Tower Two~

Earlier that Same day, 4 pm.

Tony eyed the elevator doors as he ran a digital scan of his classified Wakanda folders, buried deep in the cloud.  Kidding.  He would never use the Cloud.  He shivered at the thought of being hacked.  Especially these files, encrypted so masterfully that he had to provide both handprints, voice activation, retinal scan of both eyes, both footprints…. basically a full body scan in order to access the drive.  In other words, no one but him had a damn clue about this Wakanda file.  Top government intelligence agencies across the world thought Wakanda was harmless, just another poverty stricken third world country, though at least not war torn, probably herding goats and cooking meals over fire pits in grass huts.  You know, the kind of country that needed humanitarian aid in order to feed its people.  God, were they wrong.

Third world my ass.

“Yup.  Tomorrow.  It’ll only be me, yes,” he spoke quietly into his SHIELD Level 9,000 (not really) protected phone, ready to hang up if someone walked in on his conversation.  He nodded in response to the caller’s question on the other end.

“I understand-” he stopped abruptly as Jarvis interrupted.

“Sorry for the interruption, sir, but Ms. Potts and Dr. Foster are in the elevator with only one floor left before their arrival.”

Tony glared up at the ceiling. “Wow, thanks for the heads up, Jarvis.  Maybe, y’know, give me more than five seconds next time.”

“Certainly, sir,” Jarvis replied as Tony quickly ended the call, pocketed his phone, and closed the file.

The elevator ‘dinged’ and Pepper walked in with Jane, both holding to-go coffee cups and looking like they’d been awake for days.

“Hey,” Pepper said, leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips before falling down heavily onto the built in sofa with a deep sigh.

“You guys look like I did after I ate two day old Unagi last Thursday,” he joked, making a face at the memory.  Food poisoning was the great equalizer.  Superhero billionaires didn’t look any prettier when they puked than the next guy.

“I warned you not to eat that,” Pepper chuckled and took the lid off her coffee and set it down, presumably to let it cool off. “And we aren’t sick,” she added, “just tired.  Trying to save the world from space aliens.  Same ol same ol.”

“Are there aliens that aren’t from space?” He grinned, one eyebrow raised.

Pepper was too exhausted to banter with him, so she just shrugged.  He opened his mouth to make another joke, but Jane cut him off, to which he rolled his eyes.  It had probably been unintentional on her part but still.

“We haven’t had a chance to work with Sigyn on her melting skills since Loki came into the lab and literally carried her out.  Come on she was fine.  Talk about over protective.  I mean,” she rolled her eyes, “okay, admittedly it was pretty hot.  No pun intended.  When was that…. yesterday?  I’m losing track of time.” She glanced at her watch and sighed. “I’m definitely jet lagged from Asgard.”

Tony snorted.  Jet lagged from Asgard.  Pipsqueak could be kinda funny. (When she wasn’t trying.)

Pepper rubbed her eyes and then yawned into the back of her hand. “Uh,” she picked up her coffee and blew on it, “yeah that was last night.  Feels longer though.”

“Have you heard from either of them today?” Jane asked Tony, turning around to face him. “We both texted Sigyn, asking if she could be at the lab by noon, but we never heard back.  I was afraid to call her.  Loki is-”

“Do not say he’s hot,” Tony said, rolling his eyes.  

Jane held up her hands. “I wasn’t gonna say that.  I was gonna say he’s scary.”

“Ohhhh.” Tony let out a dramatic sigh of relief then shrugged.  “Meh, not really.  Scary looking maybe.”

Jane ignored him. “I mean what if I called, and they were having sex or something, and then he murdered me for interrupting?” She paused, looking at the ceiling. “Oh my god he would totally murder me,” she thought out loud.

Tony had tuned out, not out of malice, just boredom.  After all, he had already solved the tesseract shield problem with little more than a phone call.  Earth didn’t need Sigyn and her fire magic or whatever it was anymore.  He’d also definitely tuned out the moment Jane mentioned Loki and sex in the same breath.  He cringed—Ew ew ew.

“Tony?” Jane raised her voice. “Hello? Tony?”

Her voice broke through his thoughts after a beat, and he looked up. “Say what?”

“Welcome back to Earth.” Pepper smiled and held up her cup to him. “You need some of this, too?”

“Nah, I’m good,” he waved a hand as he approached them and made himself comfortable on the spot next to her.

“So have Loki or Sigyn talked to you today?” Jane repeated.

“Yeah, Sigyn called at around eight this morning.  Said she was still recovering.” He shrugged. “Whatever.  Not a big deal.”

Jane scoffed. “Excuse me?  Why the hell didn’t you tell us?  And it is a big deal, Tony.  She needs to reach upwards of 10,000 degree heat, and apparently she’s not as good at it as she thought.”

“Harsh,” Tony said nonchalantly, and at Jane’s exasperated huff, he added, “I honestly forgot to tell you.  Sorry.  I wasn’t trying to be an asshole.”

“You must just have a natural talent for that then,” Jane snapped, yanking her notebook out of her bag to make a note in it.

Tony held up his hands. “In my defense though, I spent the entire day working out the finer details of the gas leak in Catalina, wink wink, with Councilwoman Hawley and Fury and putting out a statement for the press.  You should ask Coulson how fun it was.  And by the way, if you needed Sigyn so bad, why did you wait until now to ask if I’d talked to her?”

Pepper cut Jane off before this argument could go any further. “Doesn’t matter.  Are you really not worried at all, Tony?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?  That Sigyn isn’t some magical sun goddess or something?” He brought his left foot up to rest on his right knee and spread his arms across the back of the sofa.

“No. I mean,” he held out a hand, “it was a nice gesture from her and all, but I’m handling it,” he gave a thumbs up, “we’re good.”

“Handling it?  What the hell does that mean?” Jane squinted at him and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees with her hands clasped.

“Just trust me, ok?  I’ve got this.”

Pepper turned her body toward him, eyes narrowed, taking in his seemingly relaxed posture.  She knew all of his quirks, and he was putting on a good front, but clearly he was anxious about it.  And as much as she wanted to question him, she didn’t want to push him in Jane’s presence.

Jane threw up her hands, but Tony spoke first. “Look, I know you’re annoyed with how cryptic I’m being, but that’s all i’ve got.”

She tossed her notebook back in her bag with more force than necessary. “We’ve only spent most of today practically sweating blood over how to make this shield but fine.”  

“Good,” Tony said and stood up, raking a hand through his hair.

Jane stood as well, grabbing her messenger bag and slinging it across her body angrily. “That’s all I’ve got,” she imitated Tony under her breath.

She couldn’t believe how much time she’d put into this only to be told meh, nevermind…. as though her expertise was useless.  Not that she had any real experience with vibranium but still.  Clearly the guy was done talking, though, and Pepper wasn’t helping by just sitting there, and Jane was getting more pissed off and likely to say something like “your goatee is stupid” by the second. Leaving her coffee on the table, she sighed. 

“Guess I’ll head back to my floor.” When Pepper did nothing to stop her, she blew her hair out of her face.

“Try to get some sleep,” Pepper said with a little wave.

As Jane disappeared behind the elevator doors, Tony looked apologetically at Pepper.

She stood up to hug him and kept her voice low. “Does this have anything to do with the Wakandan files I don’t have access to?”

Tony hung his head and closed his eyes, and after a minute looked back up and sighed. “No one but me has access to those, Pep, so don’t feel bad,” he whispered.

“C’mon Tony, you know you can trust me,” Pepper pressed.

Exhaling a loud puff of air, he leaned in looking as though he might kiss her, then moved at the last second to her ear. “Let’s just say Wakanda isn’t what it appears to be.”

It was barely a whisper, but she heard it as he placed a kiss on the skin just under her ear. “That’s all you can give me?” 

He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “For now, yes.”

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~44th Floor, Same day, 8 pm~

Sigyn stared at Loki, who was asleep on the bed next to her, his shining hair fanning out across the pillow, sheet covering him just below the v of his hips looking like some sort of dark angel and shook her head.  How did he look like that when he slept?  She was fairly certain that she drooled unattractively in her sleep.  She rolled her eyes.  Even the damn sunset shining through the floor to ceiling windows was blessing him with an otherworldly glow, shadows and highlights in all the right places.  Honestly, if she weren’t so in love with him, she’d probably hate him.

After one more round of mind blowing sex, his body had succumbed to sleep, and he’d nearly passed out right on top of her, which would have been fine if he weren’t so much heavier now.  She inched toward him, not trying to wake him up, just wanting to be closer.  He’d been sleeping for near thirty minutes.  As she ran her fingers lightly across his chest, she heard her phone from the kitchen.

She’d discovered the music app while Loki had slept this morning.  Apparently she had a thing for dark electric guitars and dreamy male vocals.  She downloaded a few songs, that is, once she’d figured out what download even meant.  She set Change  by Deftones as her ringtone after much fiddling with the settings.  Gods she wanted to take Earth music back to Asgard.

Sliding gracefully off the bed, she quickly pulled on her shirt and shorts and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her.  With his excellent hearing, Loki had probably heard it, but in case he hadn’t, she didn’t want to wake him up unnecessarily.  Hurrying into the kitchen with silent steps, she grabbed the phone quickly.  With ever widening eyes, she spoke quietly with Tony, trying to keep her voice down.

“So wait, you don’t need me to melt anything now?” She frowned, playing with the hem of the shirt she’d pulled on before leaving the bedroom. “Yes, that is good news …. Absolutely,” she said awkwardly, and Tony hung up before she did.

She stood there numbly, not sure what to do with herself now.  It had completely thrown her for a loop, and the idea that human technology could surpass her magic was just…. it was just….

Humiliating—her mind supplied the word.  Feeling completely useless on this stupid planet, longing for home even more than she had been, she sighed and tossed the slim black phone onto the island, wincing even as she did so.  She cringed as she picked it up to check for cracks in the (was it glass?) casing.  Turning it over in her hands, relieved that it wasn’t broken, she yelped at the feel of arms sliding around her waist from behind.

“Good grief,” she said, “you’ve got tostop scaring me like that.”

Loosening his hold so she could turn in his arms to face him, Loki smirked. “My deepest apologies,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I swear I don’t try to walk silently.  It’s just normal for me.”

She was silent.  Pensive.  Staring at the floor.

With a look of concern, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

She cleared her throat, continuing to avoid his eyes and said, “Apparently a shield has already been made.”

“What?  How?  Why did they put you through that yesterday then?” he said, anger coloring the tone of his voice.

Letting her forehead fall onto his bare chest, she sighed. “I don’t know, Tony said he couldn’t give details.”

Jaw clenching, Loki rubbed her shoulders, ticked that Sigyn had gone to that ridiculous lab.  She’d been off ever since.  Well…. not including their bedroom activities over the past two hours.  She’d definitely been on for that.

“So,” Sigyn continued, “I’ve been relieved of that duty.”

Loki put his forefinger under her chin and lifted her head up to meet his eyes. “Don’t feel bad, love.  I understand not wanting to live in the shade of someone else’s greatness.”

Her shoulders slumped a bit as he led her to the living room couch. “I suppose it is probably for the best,” she offered.

He nodded, his mouth in a straight line. “Well, I’m relieved.  You should have seen yourself yesterday.  Pale as a ghost.  Sweating.  Shaking.” He took a seat on the plush cushion and pulled her down next to him.

“Here,” he patted his leg, “lie down.  Relax.”

She did as he said and laid down on her back, her head in his lap, eyes closed.  Now that the shield was no longer an issue, her mind wandered to the tracking spell.  She replayed Loki’s words from earlier.  Do you trust me?  What was he going to do?  Would it come across that she didn’t trust him if she asked him?  Was he afraid to confide in her?  Ridiculous.  He could tell her anything.  She opened her mouth, but his voice in her head stopped her short.

Don’t speak—he began combing her hair with his fingers.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Wha-“

He cut her off by leaning down and slanting his lips across hers.  

I said DON’T speak—he put a hand on her waist to pull her a bit closer—Walls have ears.

Sorry sorry—she reached behind his neck, wondering where this was going but playing along nonetheless, opening her mouth for him.  Norns, everyone in this tower probably thought she and Loki were sex fiends at the rate they were going.  

I’m going to let Two meet the Other tomorrow night in my stead—Loki slid the hand on her waist down her thigh to her knee and back up.

Who? 

Well, he looks just like me, and kisses ALMOST as well —he pulled back enough to wink at her, his signature smirk pulling at his features attractively. 

Jaw dropping, her eyes went wide as she realized he had green eyes.  She reached up and stroked his cheekbone with her thumb.

“Surprise,” he said, turning his head to kiss her palm.

Tongue sliding across her teeth, nervous but excited (shit this just might work!), she sat up and moved to straddle his legs. Her eyes darkened as he wet his lips and leaned his head back, arching his neck to look up at her with parted lips.  Gods damn she really couldn’t be blamed for her next actions.  She leaned in to bite his oh so tempting exposed throat.

“Ow!” He reeled back with a hiss, pushing at her shoulders as his hand flew to his neck and came away with blood on his fingers. “What the Hel, Sig?  What, are you trying to renew the bond?  Fucking vampire.”

She blushed bright red, hands covering her mouth.  She dropped them to press the wound she’d created as he glared up at her. “I’m so sorry, so sorry, so sorry.” Leaning back into him, she kissed every inch of his face as she continued apologizing profusely.

“You should thank your lucky stars I heal quickly,” he said with narrowed eyes as her kisses inched closer to his mouth.

“But don’t do it again,” he growled against her mouth and swatted her backside hard for emphasis, to which she cried out in shock (and a bit from actual pain).

Eyes wide, she bit her lip and looked down at the hand that had smacked her and back up to his face.  She would have been lying if she said that hadn’t been hot as Hel.  He raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips, filing that information away for another time.

Avoiding the bite on his neck, which was nearly gone already, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to her so she could get a better look at the fine details of his face—I would never have guessed you weren’t Loki.  You’re even more identical than I remember.

That’s the point—he let her move his face from side to side.

So am I technically talking to Loki or Two right now?  I mean through the bond?—she leaned further into him, as his hands made circles on the small of her back.

He smirked and reached up to place one hand behind her head, looking up at her through dark lashes—Loki.

She looked over her shoulder—Where are you?

He pulled her face back and kissed her again—Don’t do that, Sig.  Looks too suspicious.

Two was making her head spin with his kisses, and she pulled away enough to look him in the eye, suddenly very confused—Wait, have I been kissing Two the entire time?

Only since you were on the phone—he smiled and gently lifted her off him—And I‘M on my way up.

“Say what now?” She asked, frowning as he stood to his feet. “Ahh!” She jumped, hands flying to her mouth at the sound of someone knocking on the stairwell door.  

She looked at the door and back at him, eyes narrowed.  He merely smiled and walked down the hall, disappearing into the bedroom.  She squared her shoulders and went to the door.  Leaning her ear against the painted steel, she waited.  After a beat she blew her hair out of her face, and holding her head high, she opened the door.  A blond man in the garb of a security guard stood waiting.

“You alright, ma’am?” He said in a generic American accent, one eyebrow raised in a distinctly familiar way.

She glared and put a hand on her hip— Blond is not a good look on you.

The man grinned and transformed so slowly from blond to black hair, brown to (still) blue eyes, grew a few inches in height, and lost a few pounds, that she didn’t even realize it had happened until Loki was standing in front of her, dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt identical to the one she’d ruined earlier.

Her eyes went wide as he strolled past her—That was kind of creepy.

He laughed out loud at that, and she couldn’t help but smile at the sound.

I don’t understand—She followed him to peer out at the now purple tinged twilight sky from the wall of windows in the living room—Do you have to be someone else while Two is around?

He shrugged mutely—Not sure, but I don’t want to take any chances that anyone will see two of me.

Brow creasing, she held her head up despite wanting to sink into the floor.  Two looked like Loki, which was great, but he wasn’t the real thing, and she didn’t like the idea of him leaving.

When are you leaving, and when will you come back?—She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder, suddenly very nervous.

I’ll still be in the tower, but Two will take over up here with you and Stark and the others starting tomorrow morning—he turned to face her and breathed in the smell of her hair—I’ll stay through tonight.

Do you not want Stark to know?—she pulled his neck down so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders.  She had a bad feeling about this, and she didn’t want to let go of him.

The fewer who know, the better.  Less lies to keep up with.  And you can always speak to me through Two.  It’s just one night, Sig.  Then the next day, I’ll leave Two at the tower, and you and I will go to the portal, tesseract safely shielded in tow.  Two will then disappear in the tower, and you and I will be back in Asgard.  And I will be me again—he nuzzled her neck, and she couldn’t help but smile in response.

She chewed her bottom lip nervously.  He made it sound easy.  Too easy.

Are you sure that’ll work?—She pushed his hair behind his ears as he stood back to his full height—I mean, can you sustain him for that long?  Does he have his own consciousness that you have to maintain?

He almost glared at her for asking such a ridiculous question, but then he remembered that he’d only sharpened his powers enough to duplicate himself with ease, and yes, to sustain that duplicate and his consciousness for many days, since he’d been trapped on that desolate desert of a rock for the past three months.

Indeed, I can sustain him, and he does have his own mind, the one I created for him, and yes, it will work—He nodded, and her return smile was lovely, if a bit forced.  

One hand on her waist, he curled the other hand around the back of her neck and dropped his forehead to hers—We will be home in two nights, Sig.

He was about to kiss her again but stopped short, eyes flying wide open when his phone rang from inside his back pocket.  He pulled it out, but before he could answer it, Sigyn grabbed it right out of his hands and held it against her chest.

“Oh I know this song!  It’s called…ah…oh! Closer by that Nine Inch Nails man…or something. Good gods, Loki, you little deviant, did you choose it??” Her eyes lit up, and she bit her lip as she backed away from him.

“Sig,” he held his hand out, walking toward her, “c’mon, I need to answer that.” She ducked out of his reach, wiggling her eyebrows. “Sigyn,” his voice was rising, “Give. It. Back.”

“You did, didn’t you!  God of mischief,” she laughed out loud, “you actually are a sex fiend!” She danced away from him, hips swinging provocatively to the dark beat as the lyrics started, and she closed her eyes singing along. “You let me violate you….you let me desecrate you….you let me penetrate you….” her breathy singing quickly devolved into choking laughter as Loki finally got his arms around her.

“Dammit woman, give it back!” He practically shouted and with great effort, he pried it from her fingers.

She wiped tears from her eyes, relieved to have something to break the tension building in her mind, and wrapped her arms around his neck as Loki, rolling his eyes, swiped his thumb across the screen and put it to his ear.

“Loki?” Tony’s voice was hard to hear with Sigyn laughing.

“Yes, I’m here,” Loki answered and couldn’t understand anything Stark said as Sigyn pulled his neck down and sang “I wanna feel you from the inside” quietly in his other ear.

He turned to glare at her, mouthing STOP at her, and putting his hand over her mouth, he spoke into the phone. “Stark, I’m sorry, what was that?”

She licked his palm, and he pulled his hand away, cringing at it as she laughed.  He tried to pull her arms off his neck, but it was difficult to do with only one hand.

Tony sounded annoyed. “I said—“

“You bring me closer to god,” Sigyn crooned in his free ear, and setting his jaw, he leaned away, putting the phone in his pocket, call still going, and used both hands to pull her off him.  Practically running away from her, hearing the tinny voice of Stark yelling a muffled HELLO? from his pocket, he put the island between himself and Sigyn.  He retrieved his phone and cradled it between his ear and shoulder, eyes narrowed at Sigyn. “I’m so sorry, Stark, say that one more time.”

“What the hell, dude, don’t gods have better hearing?” he heard Tony say as Sigyn circled around, raising her hands in surrender.

“My hearing’s fine,” Loki sighed, exasperated with her, but allowing her to kiss his cheek. “It’s the woman with me who is not fine.”

Reaching up to hold the phone again, he grinned at her, and she pressed another kiss to his cheek, and another, and another, moving her mouth lower to his jaw and under his ear.  Leaning his head back, he held back a moan.  Oh gods, I AM a sex fiend—his eyes slid closed.  He was getting entirely too worked up to be talking to Stark.  He was about to let the phone just drop to the floor and go for round three with her, but then Stark said three words.

“I ordered pizza—” 

It was as though Loki completely forgot Sigyn was even there. “Be there in two,” he said, ending the call, and grabbing her hand, he dragged her to the elevators, thankful that she’d already dressed herself.

FEARLESS CONTINUES IN CHAPTER EIGHT: A HEAVY GIFT

Visit the Trilogy main page HERE.

Chapter links: ¹ You’ll Have Answers Later ² Talk Some Sense to Me, Sig. ³ Interlude in Asgard (Endless Grief) ⁴ Wild Magic (It’s All We Have) ⁵ Heat is My Specialty (What is Blue For) ⁶ Storms Pass, Loki. ⁷ Trust Me, I’ve Got This. ⁸ A Heavy Gift ⁹ Sick and Tired ¹⁰ Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green Is for Life Part 2) ¹¹ Home is Chaos ¹² Looks That Kill ¹³ Living Ghosts ¹⁴ No Rules (Tick Tock) ¹⁵ The Calm ¹⁶ The Storm

Chapter 17 Coming October 2021

CHAPTER SEVEN THEME SONG:

“Feel Good” by Fryffin & Illenium

FEATURED MUSIC:

“Change” by Deftones

“Closer (E)” by Nine Inch Nails

What Readers Have Said

About CH 7 “Trust Me, I’ve Got This.”

“YOU’RE BACK!!!!! Oh I’m so excited to start reading this again. I love this story and this new chapter was wonderful. (You know Loki will be trying to get the cooks on Asgard to learn how to make pizza)

-Ferbette, on CH 7 “Trust Me, I’ve Got This”, 01 May 2019 (AO3)

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Please feel free to leave a comment below. Reviews are (almost always *wink*) a source of excitement and humble joy for Jen!