Between the Lines

Secrets

The limo was nothing like she expected. Plush, discretely private and very, very expensive. More than a mere newspaper editor - no matter how good - would be able to afford.

Loki could see, even with several measures of whisky inside her, Kathy was astonished. He smiled to himself. He liked that she could be surprised. He realised he wanted to keep on surprising her.

"You like my car then." It was more of a statement than a question. "You also wonder how I can possibly afford it as an editor - no matter how much I've raised the circulation, hmmm?" He sat in the corner of the back seat, watching her carefully.

She sat on the edge of the sumptuous leather as if it were nails, fiddling with the hem of her perfectly tailored suit jacket.  Something - someone - was making her nervous.  Him?  Maybe.  She made him... well, not nervous that was for sure.  She always wore a skirt suit to work. And heels.  Ardent champion of equality as she was, she still wore that last bastion of female clothing.  Almost a challenge.  To take her seriously, to treat her as an equal although she had legs he would kill to see properly.  

See round him.  

Whoa Laufeyson, down boy! Calm yourself, he thought.  This was supposed to be professional.  This was supposed to be the breathing space before "the next level". He swallowed and smiled. His legs casually crossed, he leaned back, loosening his tie and undoing the buttons of his waistcoat. He watched as her eyes were mesmerised by the movement of his long, elegant fingers.

She tried very hard not to stare. It was well nigh impossible when he was so damn hot. "I - no - I mean, it's lovely, but it's none of my - no, really." She was fumbling her words, struggling to form a coherent sentence. it wasn't the whisky; that had long since evaporated. So what was about him that did this to her?

Loki laughed, actually laughed, and she blushed furiously. "I'm sorry Kathy, I'm not laughing at you."

"Yes, yes you are!" She retorted, feeling on stronger ground defending herself.

"Ok, maybe just a little. I shouldn't tease you, though. It's not fair." He smiled, and for the first time in a long time, he felt truly relaxed. What was it about her that did this to him? "I am, as they say, independently wealthy. Family money." He looked at her, and she rolled her eyes. He smiled. "I see you have as much deference to the rich as you do to anyone else." His tone was sarcastic but not unpleasant. She shrugged.

"Having money doesn't make you special. What you choose to do with it does." She looked him in the eye. "Spending on large cars and a luxurious lifestyle? Hardly philanthropist of the year, are you?" Getting into her stride, now she relaxed and sat back, her skirt riding up just a little.  He found himself distracted by the question - tights or stockings?

Ordinarily, he would have been riled by someone being so blasé about his lifestyle but coming from her? It was more guilt than anger.

"You're right, I DO have a large car, and yes, I enjoy the finer things in life." He nodded. "ALL the finer things..." he paused and looked at her intensely. She felt his stare burn to her core and melt what little spine she had left. If he touched her now... "But there is more to me than you think. That, my dear Kathy, is the purpose behind this evening." He tapped the glass between them and the driver, the limo gliding to a halt.

He opened the door and stepped out, offering her his hand. "Please, allow me."

She was nothing if not polite. A moral compass didn't come at the expense of manners. She accepted his hand and climbed out, smoothing her skirt back down.  As the material stretched over her thighs, Loki got his answer.

"I thought you said we were going for dinner?" She was confused. This didn't look like any restaurant she recognised.

"No, I said I knew a restaurant where they did a good steak.  Not the same thing at all.  You, of all people, should know the value of words, Kathy. " he raised an immaculate eyebrow and smiled.  "The restaurant I have in mind will deliver. Now, if you'll allow me?" He opened the door to the building they'd stopped at.

She stared at him for a moment, unsure if this was really a good idea.  The building they'd stopped at was one of the most iconic in the city. An old power station, now ultra-luxurious apartments. Indeed, she'd done a little digging into who the developers were and found nothing. Less than nothing, and that had made her even more suspicious.

Now she was about to see inside, first hand.  She smiled graciously and walked through the open door, heels clicking in the silence.  Pausing in the marble floored lobby, she waited while Loki summoned the lift, using a small titanium key he withdrew from his waistcoat pocket to activate the penthouse call button.

They stepped into the lift and into another world. The carpet was luxurious. The inner walls of the capsule decorated with hand painted scenes. Scenes from another world almost it seemed. A dark night sky, a glittering set of constellations she didn't recognise above a glowing city.  She turned to him with an unabashed smile.

"It's beautiful!"

"Yes.  I thought so, too." He wasn't looking at the artwork.  He wasn't looking at anything. His eyes were closed, his hands curled into tight fists.  He seemed to be struggling with something.

"Loki?" Somehow, the situation she found herself in seemed to lend itself to first names. In his private lift, going to his apartment, it seemed a tad hypocritical to call him "Mr" anything. Now Daddy, on the other hand...good God, STOP IT, she scolded herself.  "Loki, are you ok?"

He opened his eyes, and she gasped. Instead of the icy blue green they normally were, they were scarlet. Completely scarlet. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "so very sorry, this isn't how I planned it..." as she watched, a mixture of terrified and fascinated, he began to change colour.

Not pale with fear, or red with embarrassment or even green with nausea. No.  Blue. Bright blue.  She thought she was losing her mind and she watched his skin colour.  Azure blue with delicate silver swirls all over.

The lift stopped, and the doors opened. Loki looked at her. "I -I don't know what to say other than please don't be scared?" He gently laid a hand on her shoulder as she looked up into his face.   "I looked at you and I couldn't stop it.  That's never happened before. "

"You - you mean this happens ALOT?" She was about as confused as it was possible to be and still function.

"Please, if you'll allow me? Come inside and I'll tell you everything. I think you'll want to hear it." He held out his hand and this time as she took it, it felt super cool and smooth and soft.

"You're cold!" It was an observation that struck them both as amusing.

"You know what they say- cold hands, warm heart!" He winked and despite she was in a luxury penthouse apartment on the banks of the river, despite her boss was now a fetching shade of azure, despite the fact she had not one iota of a clue about what the hell was going on, she felt more at ease here than in a very VERY long time.

As he guided her through the apartment, she said "Loki, forgive me, but what the HELL is going on?"

Loki looked at her, his ruby eyes blazing like fires.  He pulled her close by the hand he still held and looked down, "Do you trust me?" he asked hoarsely, hardly able to believe he was about to do this so soon. He had no choice.

"Yes" a single word, all he needed.  

As he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her, Kathy felt her head spin and the room grow dark. Instinctively she buried her head in his chest, frightened, but not of him.  Of the seething green cloud now swirling around them.

"Loki???" she started to say almost in panic but by the time his name had died in her throat, it was light again.  As she looked around, she felt the room spin. 

"Get her some water please Agent Hill, she's going to need it." was the last thing she heard as she collapsed into his arms in a dead faint.