The Rise to Heroism {Loki Laufeyson} Book One

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Are you sure she's not dead?" I wish I was.

"I am certain of such." Well, I should be.

"I don't know big guy, she looks pale." That's because I feel sick.

"She accompanied Loki in Jotunheim, of course she's pale." Loki.

The voices, they're like daggers to the skull. My head aches viciously, each pulse making me wince.

A gasp. "She moved!"

"I told you so!"

I open my eyes, immediately blinded by the lights above me. Once my vision adjusts to the immense light, I slowly turn my head to face the owners of the voices. Tony Stark, Thor, Steve and Pepper are all staring at me in awe.

"H.P!" Tony exclaims.

"Who?" I groan, rubbing my sore eyes - who am I kidding? Everything is sore.

"Abbreviation for Human Pancake," He says.

Damn. Another nickname? Resentment is becoming a regular feeling for me lately. "Oh...kay." I yawn and stretch. Why is my body so damn stiff?

"It's because you were asleep for three days." Tony muses.

I blink. "How did you do that? You don't have any super powers! Yet, you just read my mind?"

A look of hurt flashes on Tony's face and I regret the 'no superpowers' part. "I may not be able to read minds, but if you haven't noticed, I'm very good at the expressions game." He turns to Pepper. "For example, Pepper is worrying about the paperwork due next week."

Pepper frowns. "I'm always worrying about that paperwork."

Tony smirks, picking up a drink from the counter behind him and taking a swig. "Exactly. That's because you're a workaholic. You need a vacation, badly. You're starting to gain worry lines in your brow area." He replies. Peppers hands stroke her forehead, shooting Tony a murderous look.

"The point is," Pepper begins. "You're going to be staying with us for a while."

"Why?"

"Because you need a home, and a job, and a life." Says Tony. I had a life before this... What did I ever do before this?

I glare at him. He is slowly starting to infuriate me. "What do you mean by that?"

Tony shrugs. "Well, you'll be working for my company, living in Stark Towers and helping out wherever you can. You need to repay that betrayal and lucky for you, I didn't tell Fury. Therefore, you need to redeem yourself once again Short Stack." He walks over to me, ruffling my hair. "You start on Monday."

"What's today?" I groan.

"Monday - get to work!" He helps me up, pushing me over to Pepper. I stumble, slamming into her. This is going to be a long few weeks...

By the time I get to sit down, my feet are aching and swollen in my shoes. Then again, the shoes are two sizes too small, which doesn't help at all...

I collapse onto the bed, feeling the stress melt away in the memory foam mattress. I had to run around town buying things Tony needed for his new Marks. Pepper told me that he hasn't been sleeping much and seemed reckless, therefore, I needed to go out and retrieve his desires. She wasn't wrong. At one point, I had to run downstairs to put out a fire - that being the fifth fire today might I add!

Steve on the other hand, just wanted to make friends. Sure, he's cute and if he asked me out, I wouldn't reject him. But Loki is the one and only person on my mind at the moment. My goal is to restore his memory somehow. But with him being in Asgard and me here on earth, that may not happen for a little while.