The Siren's Mark (Loki Romance)

Chapter Twenty

I've never been this sick in my life. I had stopped by a doctor's office to get checked out, only to be sent home with a cold. A cold of all things—causing the feverish symptoms that've had me laying motionlessly on the couch for twenty four hours, without responding to any medicine? Unlikely. There may be a virus in my body, but I'd wager that my condition is resultant of something that starts with "s" and loosely rhymes with "eardrum."

Though even that's not the biggest cause to the damper in my mood.

It's been a full day now, since Loki was supposed to come over, and never showed. Never answered any texts, either. And when I called Pepper to complain (and possibly ask her to go down the hall and kick his ass for me), she mentioned not having seen him since Tony and Thor went out of town. So, there was a distinct likelihood that they all went together—until Tony confirmed that he wasn't with them. She then mentioned that one of their cars had been taken out for the night, and later returned without him in hit.

If he really did go out of town somewhere and bail on me, he'll sure as hell get a swift kick in the balls if he comes back without a good excuse...maybe after an equally petty round of silent treatment for a day. The likelihood that something happened to him had to be so much lower—he is a god, after all. What could possibly happen to him?

Not the most comforting thought, but...it's only been a day.

Despite all that, I still can only expend a fraction of my sickly energy worrying. And when my phone rings on the coffee table, it takes everything I've got to trudge off the couch, just to grab it. Almost certain that Loki's name will pop up, my shoulders slump when I glance at the screen, and see Pepper's name before sliding to answer the call.

"Hey," I murmur, painfully choking out the sound.

"Cerys," she says sternly, without addressing my clear malaise. "You need to come to Stark tower now."

"What?" I cough. "Why?"

"I'm sending a car, get dressed and get in it when it's there."

"O-Okay? What's going on?"

"Loki," she says, and I freeze up. "You know how he hasn't been answering you? Well, it's 'cause he's gone off the frickin' rail."

My eyes widen as I straighten up. "What do you mean, 'off the rail?'"

"I mean stir-crazy," she answers frantically. "He's with several other A.I.M units, we caught them heading out to the docks in some stolen vehicles—remember those 'codes' they had you get from Robert Heinecher? Well they've got the actual codes now, and we think they're going to try for one of the underground facilities."

Panic grips my stomach, and I swallow thickly—painfully. "W-when did this happen? Why's he helping them?"

"I don't know, S.H.I.E.L.D sent some of the agents he's been working with these past few months, but he's just not responsive—they're in Midtown right now, and if they're heading to the facility, you'll be straight in their path. So you need to get out of there, now."

"N-no," I shake my head, standing to go look out the window—nothing I can see or hear from here. "Loki wouldn't hurt me Pep, maybe he needs help," I cringe as my throat scratches with every breath. "Maybe I can get him ou—"

"No," she interrupts sharply. "I just told you, he's not responsive to anyone—he's acting like he doesn't know any of us, he's..." she pauses. "He's wearing that getup of his from the invasion, and he's with Yuriko and the others. You can't use your voice yet and you're sick—he might not hurt you, but they will. Just come to Stark tower, we can still use your help from here." Voices break out in the background of the call for a moment, and Pepper grunts frustratedly. "I don't have time to argue, car'll be there in fifteen."