Chapter 14: Night-time Chat
I glanced over at the clock, and cringed slightly when I saw the time. It was late. I should be asleep.
But I was restless, turning the piece of Tesseract over in my hands again, for what must have been the millionth time, still trying to get over the fact that Thor had abandoned me.
I was alone, the only Asgardian between Loki and the world. How in Odin’s name could I stop both Hela and Loki alone? Thor had been a constant support for me, a solid father figure; always watching my back.
He was a reminder of home.
I threw the shard across the room angrily, where it hit the wall hard but dropped to the floor unharmed. What could I do with a piece of Tesseract? I wasn’t a fully matured Goddess yet; it wasn’t as if I could use it to transport myself to Asgard and demand to know why Odin would tear Thor away from Earth when he was needed most. Thor could do that; he could use the Tesseract to transport him home.
I wondered if Heimdall would take pity on me and transport me back to Asgard. For all I knew, the Bifrost could be fixed by now.
Bitterly, I glared at the glowing knife-like piece of Tesseract as it lay dejectedly on the floor. Clearly Odin didn’t want me around, or he’d have summoned me too.
So why had Thor given me the worthless piece of crystal?
Suddenly, I froze.
Of course.
It wasn’t a worthless piece of crystal.
At least, not when it was in the right hands...
Or in the right machine.
Maybe I couldn’t use it to transport myself to Asgard…
But there was another way to get to Asgard, whether Odin liked it or not.
I grabbed the shard off the floor and dashed out of my room, disregarding the time. Five minutes later, I was pounding on Tony’s door.
It didn’t take long for him to appear, opening the door slowly. He blinked at the sudden light from the corridor, his hair tousled from sleep.
“Firefly? You know, as many times as I’ve imagined a night-time visit from you, this isn’t how I’d-”
I shoved past him, flipping on the lights as I did. He shut the door, looking tiredly amused. I held up the shard, and it caught the light dazzlingly.
“What’s that?” he asked curiously, squinting against the harsh light.
“This is part of the Tesseract. I need to find the device that Erik Selvig created to open the portal in Hel,” I said frankly, cutting straight to the chase.
To his credit, Tony didn’t immediately argue against the idea, or say it was too dangerous, or wouldn’t actually work; instead, he just took the piece of crystal out of my hand and examined it, the scientist part of him coming forward.
“Why don’t we just find Erik and ask him to make another?” Stark asked simply, holding the crystal up to the light.
“That would take too long. I need to go to Asgard as soon as I can. And, honestly, I think Erik’s had enough of making portals. Odin knows he’s made enough gateways to last a life time.”
“Right. Well, the portal that Erik opened to Hel is still open, so it’s a no go with that one. If we tried tampering with it, I’m pretty sure Hela would know.”
I digested this slowly, and then offered an alternative. “How about the machine that Erik originally made – the first time Loki came to Earth? I know you and the others shut it down, but you didn’t destroy the technology, did you?”
He paused briefly. “No, we didn’t. I think S.H.I.E.L.D took it; I’ll have JARVIS run a scan, see if Fury’s hiding it somewhere,” Tony replied, handing the shard back to me.
I sighed in relief, glad that he was on my side.
Tony yawned cutely, obviously exhausted, which made me smile apologetically.
“Sorry for waking you up, Tony. I’ll leave you to your beauty sleep,” I said lightly.
“Beauty sleep? Please. I don’t need beauty sleep to look this good,” he replied archly, sitting down on his bed.
I snorted. “Tony Stark; always so modest.”
“And that, Firefly, is why you are so infatuated with me.”
“Well, I’ll let you believe that.”
“Good – I’m glad that you’re finally admitting it to yourself.” He yawned again.
“You look tired – maybe you should get some sleep,” I advised, taking a step back towards the door.
But he shook his head, smiling slightly. “Once I’m awake, I’m awake.”
“Oh. Sorry,” I apologised again, feeling guilty now. He seemed to sense this, and a flash of mischief shone in his eyes for a split second before he spoke.
“It’s no problem … but considering that you’re the one who cruelly woke me up, I think it’s only right that you keep me company for a while,” he replied, an innocent look on his face.
I hesitated by the door, before deciding that arguing was futile. Instead, I began to walk around his moderately-sized bedroom, peering at different objects that caught my attention. A flash of deja vu swept over me; I’d been in a similar situation before.
“Tell me about Asgard.”
I stopped and looked over at him, a bemused smile on my face. “Hmm?”
He settled back on the bed, his back against the headboard, and an interested look on his face. The glow of the arc reactor shone brightly beneath the thin black fabric of his vest.
“Asgard. You know, the place where you were born? I figure that I should probably know some details about it if I’m coming with you.”
I was silent for a moment before cracking up, soft laughter spilling out of my mouth. He was silent as I struggled to regain my composure.
Finally, slightly breathless, I managed to reply. “You cannot be serious.”
“Deadly serious.”
I searched his face, looking for a hint of amusement, but all I found was a quiet determination. I changed tactics.
“Don’t be stupid. You can’t come to Asgard with me.”
“Why not?” he asked indignantly.
“Because that would be insane. Humans don’t go to Asgard. Gods, Asagrdians aren’t even supposed to interact with mortals, let alone take one to Asgard.”
His brown eyes met mine defiantly. “But I’m not an ordinary human, am I?”
“No…” I conceded slowly.
“And you are technically my girlfriend-“
“Wait – when was that established?”
He grinned devilishly. “The day I admitted that I was in love with you.”
Heat rose to my cheeks involuntarily, as a warm happiness glowed inside me. I still couldn’t quite believe that the Tony Stark loved me. It was a relatively insane notion, considering that it had taken so long for us to establish this.
“Ok, let’s move back to you pointlessly attempting to persuade me to let you come with me,” I said hastily.
“Right. Well, as your friend and boyfriend, I can’t let you go to another realm and walk into God–knows-what alone.”
“It’s not like I’m hiking through Jotenhiem, Tony. It’s just Asgard. You know, the place where I was born?” I replied dryly, mimicking his earlier words.
He frowned slightly, running a hand through his hair agitatedly. “There’s something … off about this situation. I can’t really explain it. I mean, why would Odin take Thor away from a world that needs him now more than ever? And why didn’t he summon you too?"
Tony perfectly echoed my own concerns, which had been bothering me from the moment Peter handed over the shard. I shrugged uneasily.
“Maybe Odin forgot that I was here in Midgard too?” I suggested half-heartedly.
He shook his head, a pondering look on his face. “How could he forget that? I have a bad feeling about this, Eldrid. I don’t want you to go to Asgard alone – just in case.”
“’Just in case’ of what?” I asked quickly, worry gnawing at me.
Tony merely looked at me with serious eyes, an expression of concern on his face.
“Let me go with you.”
“But… humans don’t go to Asgard,” I argued weakly, my resolve dissolving as I met his gaze.
“Well, I can be the first,” he said optimistically.
“It will be a strange concept to the other Asgardians though,” I pointed out feebly.
“What will?”
“Us. Asgardians and humans don’t tend to, you know…-”
“Get together?”
“Actually, I was going to say ‘become romantically involved’, but I suppose your definition works too,” I said mildly.
He nodded in understanding, before suddenly cocking his head to the side and giving me a sidelong look.
“Hey, are you ashamed of me?” he asked suddenly, sounding more amused than indignant.
“Not at all,” I replied smoothly, telling the truth. “I just don’t want people judging us because it’s not “the done thing”.”
Tony snorted. “Who cares if they judge? There’s a saying you know; those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
I sighed, defeated. “Fine. You can come with me.”
He grinned triumphantly. “Great.”
“Just don’t think that you’ll get a warm welcome when we get there,” I warned, visualising the looks we’d receive as I moved to the bedroom door.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Firefly.”
“Good night, Tony.”
“Technically, it’s morning. So, good morning.”
I rolled my eyes and left, leaving him chuckling to himself.
***
Author's Note:
I hope you are all enjoying the story so far! If you do like, please vote and comment! Thank you, and please keep reading!!! :D