The Secret Asgardian (An Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 19: Fresh Air

19. Fresh Air

“Miss Eldrid?”

I opened my eyes slowly, my face already set in angry scowl. Heavy bass music was playing downstairs on a lower floor, and it was so loud that it was vibrating the whole building. My room shook slightly, and I groaned as I looked at the time.

1am. What was Tony doing down there?!

“Miss?” A voice said politely, and I looked over at the speaker in the corner.

“Yes, JARVIS?” I yawned, already used to Stark’s virtual butler.

“Mr Stark wishes for you to join him on Level 2.”

“At this time?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes, miss.”

“What’s he doing down there?”

“I believe he is having ‘a house party’.”

“Seriously?” I moaned, pulling the pillow over my head.

Suddenly, the door opened and Tony himself stumbled in. He looked more than a little tipsy, and when his eyes focused on me a goofy smile lit his face.

“Firefly! Why don’t you come on down, join the party? It is a rule, rule number … number…” A puzzled frown crossed his good-looking face, and then he shrugged carelessly, “Doesn’t matter. It’s still a rule.”

I sat up in bed, crossing my arms over the pyjamas that Stark had provided. He’d kindly kitted us all out with new clothes and assigned us rooms.

“I’m too tired,” I complained, looking at him beseechingly. I was still furious with his little party ‘rule’ for me only. He considered this for a moment, and then laughed.

“Ok, seeing as though it’s you, firefly, I’ll let you off. But you’ve got to come to my party tomorrow night. Wait, would that be tonight? What time is it, JARVIS?”

“1:03 am, sir.”

“Well, you have to come to the party tonight then!” He grinned, and staggered out of the door, closing it behind him.

“Is he always like this?” I asked tiredly.

“Normally he only acts this irrational if something’s troubling him,” JARVIS explained, and I sighed. I guess I couldn’t blame him for wanting to take his mind off everything.

I pulled the covers over my head and attempted to block out the music, but Tony had seemingly turned the volume up so now it was even worse than before.

I struggled to my feet in outrage, and pulled on a pair of leggings, a vest top, a woollen jumper and a pair of designer trainers. I couldn’t see the colours in the dark, but I decided that it didn’t matter. I couldn’t be bothered spending any effort morphing into clothes.

I cracked my door open, glanced down the hallway, and then made my way to the elevator. Once inside, I pushed a button to get to the ground floor, and waited, listening to the classical music. At least it wasn’t thumping club music.

“JARVIS, I’m going out. Could you open the front door for me?”

The exit was controlled solely by JARVIS to ensure that no unwanted business people or Iron Man fans tried to get in. That must have been a downside to revealing his secret identity to the world, though I knew that Tony would love the attention it brought.

The lift doors slid open, and I crossed the room quickly, hearing the music above. The black marble floor squeaked under my trainers, and I hastily passed the front desk where a security guard was fast asleep. There wasn’t really a need for a human guard, but I presumed that Stark would want extra security all the time.

I waited by the glass front doors impatiently.

“JARVIS?” I hissed.

“Mr Stark doesn’t want anyone leaving the premise at night, Miss, apart from his party guests,” The computer said reluctantly.

“If you don’t open this door, I swear to Odin that I’ll burn right through it,” I threatened in a fierce whisper, and a second later the door clicked and swung open. A blast of cold air hit my face as I left the warm room, but I didn’t hesitate.

Stark Tower was positioned just on the edge of the city, right on the coastline. There was a research facility nearby, which I think was researching things to do with the environment, and I could almost see Tony going in and checking it out, perhaps offering advice how to improve their experiments. The thought made me smile slightly.

I walked along the dark road in the moonlight, and ended up stood on the thin stretch of beach, staring at the glistening waves. Once more, as I watched the sea, both beautiful and deadly, I was reminded just how precious this world was.

I folded my arms tightly, and my breath came out in little puffs in the icy air. I could smell the sea brine and hear the lapping waves. It was a soothing sound, and I breathed the sea air in deeply, a small smile creeping over my face.

I stood in the sand for what seemed like a minute, but in reality I had been there for almost an hour. I heard the sounds of footsteps on the road behind, but not in the direction of the Tower. These were coming from the road that led to town. I didn’t turn around.

“Hey, there,” A masculine voice said behind me, and I turned toward him.

“Hi.”

It was a tall, bulky man wearing dark clothes. His hair was ragged, and his beard was longer than his actual hair. With his holey gloves and shoes, I immediately recognised him as a homeless person, or ‘tramp’. That in itself was a rarity. I didn’t often see tramps daily, but then again, it wasn’t daytime.

“You’re brave to come out alone at night,” He said in a low voice, and I didn’t like the feral look in his eyes. I automatically took a few steps back, but he took one forward.

“Hey, she’s not alone!” A voice called out, and I clapped a hand to my forehead as Tony walked forward, stumbling slightly as he approached. He pushed past the tramp and laid a hand on my shoulder before turning back to the man with a daring look on his face.

“Sorry, but she’s not available,” He chuckled, and the man scowled before hulking away back down the road to town.

Stark released my shoulder and turned his gaze on the sea, looking slightly haunted. Maybe he wasn’t as drunk as I’d thought.

“Don’t go out on your own again, Eldrid. It’s not safe at night,” He sighed wearily.

“I just wanted some alone time,” I admitted, feeling guilty at his worried look.

“If something happened to you, your uncle would kill me,” Stark said, smiling playfully.

“He’d kill me first,” I said with certainty, and Stark laughed quietly.

“I don’t know about that. He seems to be very fond of you, and overprotective, kind of like a father would be.”

I frowned at the sea.

“Why would he be? I’m not even related by blood to Thor. Gods, I was probably related more to the Frost Giants I killed then to him!”

Tony was silent a moment, before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I briefly stiffened, before relaxing into his welcome warmth and leaning my head on his shoulder, both of us gazing out at the dark sea. I could just make out the blinking lights of houses on the other side of the expanse of water.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked suddenly.

“JARVIS,” He said simply, and I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to answer. My anger at him had long since faded now.

I shivered against a sudden blast of icy wind, and Stark released me.

“Come on, let’s get back. There’s a party still going without me,” Tony grinned, and we walked back up the dark road toward Stark Tower, which was lit up like a beacon against the black inky sky.