Blind Date

Chapter Two

The following day Loki still saw no reason to announce himself too her, so he entered her lab as quietly as he could and sat down a few feet away to watch her. She cocked her head as he entered but she didn't speak, so he assumed he had got away with it.

She was running her finger over a blank page. The sunlight on her brown hair made it shine and he wondered how she managed to style it, not to mention, how she applied makeup.

"So if the Monren variable is 5, then using a polymer between ultra-thin layers of the alloy might be both stronger and more shoch absorbent than a solid sheet. Jeeves, email Michelle Weston, CC Stark Industries Contracts Department... and Acquisitions. If this stuff is as good as the paper suggests, Tony might want to buy the patient. Email subject, your polymer. Body, Hi Michelle, I've been reading an article on your new discovery and would like permission to experiment with it on a non-commercial application but with the possibility of commercial applications in the future..."

He tuned the rest of her speech out, except for how she sighed off. Her name was Saga. Saga Lang.

He's been friends with an Aesir girl named Saga in his youth.

Once her message was finished, she made her way to the kitchen at the rear and as she passed him, he got a good look at her eyes. They looked normal, not cloudy or white or damaged. He followed her to the kitchen area and watched as she filled the smaller mug with water, then she threw it over him!

He gasped and spluttered, shocked to find himself doused in cold water, while she laughed, pleased with herself.

"I'm sorry," she said between giggles. "But you can't say I didn't warn you."

She had warned him, and he has underestimated her.

"I'm Saga," she held her hand out for him to shake.

He stared at it for a long moment, torn between reacting with anger and aggression, or gaining her trust to find out how she knew he was in the room, and how she could pinpoint his location.

"Let bygones be bygones?" she asked, her tone hesitant. "It gets awfully lonely here when the Avengers are away."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Not for sure, but I'd guess you're Loki." She dropped her hand when it became clear that he wasn't going to take it. "Everyone else who worked here left when it was announced you would be moving in."

"Why didn't you leave with them?" he asked.

She turned back to the kettle and filled it with one mug of fresh water. "Do you want some tea?"

He hesitated for a moment before replying, "Please."

She added a second small cup of water to the kettle.

"I didn't leave because Tony begged me not to. He swore he could keep me safe from you, told me I'd never have to see you, that I wouldn't even know you were here. Eventually I caved."

"For someone who needed such reassurance to be around me, you don't seen frightened."

She smiled sadly. "What's the worst you can do to me, kill me? I'm not actually scared of that."

"Then why did you need convincing to stay?"

"The Avengers mean well, but they baby me. They make it hard to learn to be independent and when push came to shove, I was too scared to go live on my own. Here I have Jeeves to help with my work, I wouldn't get that anywhere else, he helps me with my money, to label my clothes and all sorts of things that I can't do alone."

The kettle boiled and she began making two cups.

"Don't you have any other friends who would help you?" Loki asked.