Coffee, Courage and a Captain

Chapter One: Falling and Cold Stone

She couldn't move.

She could feel everything- the ice-cold stone beneath her, the wind on her face, the presence of two men standing over her- but she couldn't move. It was as if she was trapped in her own body.

"Brother, do not do this," a low male voice said from above Charlotte. "She is just a mortal."

"But she's not, Thor. We both know that she is not, or have you forgotten the prophecy?"

"You stole her off Midgard- took her in the middle of broad daylight, from her established life. Questions will be raised. You could have left her to live it out by herself- you do not have to do this."

She could agree with that- somebody had stolen her.

She had been walking out of Stark Tower after a particularly gruelling day- they were preparing for the upcoming Stark Expo, and because she directed the team working in Tony Stark's research and development lab, she had borne the brunt of most of the sleepless nights and arguments.

Charlotte had spent the past few months on virtually no sleep while trying to wrangle her team into finishing eight individual projects she had been overseeing whilst trying to complete her own project to be unveiled at the Stark Expo. Because she was incredibly young- only nineteen- she was constantly undermined by the people she worked with. They didn't like that a job role that many of them had worked hard for years for had been given to a kid- and that said kid had been appointed by a usually irrational and impulsive Tony Stark.

She had been looking forward to going home, back to her plants, to her small quiet space that was technology-free and watching trashy television while she tried to catch up on her sleep. One second, she had been hailing a cab, and the next she was lying on the cold stone.

"I have it on good authority that this is the only option."

"You went and saw the witch again, didn't you?"

"He's a wizard, Thor."

"It doesn't matter, Loki." The voice was stern. "Take her back. She just started a job, she's going places. She is happy with them."

"She has been using her gifts for years now. Thor, this is the only option. And when the time is right, she will be able to return."

Thor sighed. "Loki, I swear by the Norns- if you doom us all with this, I will personally feed you to Jörmungandr myself."

Charlotte felt Loki lean down as he ran his cool fingertips over her forehead as if tracing something onto her skin. His hand gently caressed her cheek.

"Travel well, Charlotte Red. You hold a very important place in our future. We will meet again."

He stood again, and Charlotte felt a cold chill spread through her body.

"Heimdall? Open the Bifrost."

And just like that, Charlotte blacked out.

*********

"Miss? Miss, are you okay?"

Charlotte grasped her head, groaning as she rolled over and tried to open her eyes. "Everything hurts," she moaned. "Where's my phone?"

"What the hell?" she heard a man ask. "Where did she even come from- the sky?"

"Shh," a second man said- the owner of the voice that had woken her up. "I think she hit her head. She might be concussed. Help me out here Buck."

A pair of hands slipped around her waist and picked her up, holding her against their chest.

"We're just around the corner, she can come back with us and we'll keep an eye on her in case this gets worse," the man who woke her up said.