A Tale of Mischief and Mutants part 2

Heartbeat

—-Loki—-

My attempts to sooth my wife's anxiety seem to be working Sam seems relaxed as she's laying her head in my lap. I continue moving my hand through her brunette locks as I look up to observe how close we are to reaching the other island. I'm relieved to see we've almost reached the shore of the island in question.

I want to get this mission over with and it seems we may be able to do that soon if we can find a way to ensure the safety of the hostages. I move my face closer to Sam's ear.

"Darling we're almost there."

She sits up to look for herself though she still leans on me a little as she does this. She smiles slightly seeming to come to the conclusion that Mojo has decided that our display of affection was enough to pacify his audience whilst we traveled.

It isn't long before we've reached the shore I step off first then give Sam a hand in getting off the boat seeing as with her height it's a bit more of a challenge for her. She takes my hand and steps out onto the sandy beach. Though I could use more magic to pinpoint the location of the hostages I would rather not because it's very taxing.

"Recognize anything love?"

Sam nods.

"I think so... I'm not one hundred percent certain where we are but it's a small island it shouldn't be hard to find the hostages."

I nod at this statement and we begin our search.

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When we finally find the cages I almost mistake the one we're looking at as being empty up until I spot a figure pressed into the corner of the cage. I instantly recognize that this is Hiddleston but his face is devoid of his charming smile he instead stares back at the two of us looking terrified his eyes have watered up and are widened in fear as he realizes he's been spotted. I take a step forward to inspect the door on the cage and he seems to tense up even more.

"Easy there handsome we're here to help."

Sam shoots me a slight glance of confusion that turns into a glare as she realizes I'm flirting. She's so adorable when she's jealous I'll have to get her riled up like that more often. I smile innocently at her. It's not as if I'm being serious, besides she does the exact same thing in front of me when the man in question isn't even present. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

It's obvious he's been through quite a bit today and may not be in the most stable condition mentally at the moment. I break the latch on the door and I hear a sudden beeping noise. Hiddleston turns pale at the noise and the beeping only speeds up. I immediately conclude that it's an alarm system of some kind. Sam on the other hand seems to draw a different conclusion.

"Oh shit, Tom hey listen to me. It's ok, it's not real. Your heart is fine, they lied to you. Nothing's going to happen if your heart beats too fast. Okay?"

He nods at Sam tentatively then looks back at me and the beeping speeds up slightly. I can now only assume the beeping corresponds to a heart rate monitor of some kind. I come to the realization that he's terrified of me. I step back knowing that may help him calm down. His posture relaxes slightly and Sam approaches him cautiously. The beeping is slowing now. He looks her over spotting the Avengers logo on her uniform then states the obvious.

"You're... you're an Avenger."

He probably already knew that just from seeing me here but he's obviously pretty shaken up which I'm aware from first hand experience can cause you not to think very clearly. Sam smiles at him reassuringly.

"I sure am. We're going to get you out of here but we need your help. Do you know where the others are?"

He gestures to a cage across from his with his hand.

"Amy's in there... she's been unconscious for about an hour, I saw David a few hours ago... I don't know where they're keeping him and Shawn... I have no idea what they did with Shawn."

He looks understandably upset at the fact that his costars could be in danger and he doesn't know how to help them. Sam, as always, figures out exactly what he needs to hear.

"It's ok we'll find them. Everything is going to be ok."

She holds out her hand to help him up. He takes it and groans in pain as he hoists himself off the ground. He clutches his chest and I'm left to wonder exactly what happened to him he seemed to be afraid of something happening if his heartbeat was too high and now I can see he's suffering from pain in his chest. Did they physically do something to his heart?

Whatever it was must not actually be that serious because a second later he looks a bit confused and touches the spot on his chest gently in bewilderment. Sam took it and she obviously knows exactly what happened so I will assume it's nothing dangerous. She dispels Tom's confusion.

"I healed you... I can do that."

I can tell she's afraid of telling him she's a mutant while Tom just looks confused.

"How?"

She hesitates so I answer for her if he hears it from me he won't dare to show any prejudice he may or may not have against mutants.

"She's a mutant."

He seems to remember I'm here and I notice his eyes become watery again as if by reflex as the beeping starts again. He seems to decide to try not to let his wariness of me show despite it being painfully obvious from the sound the beeping of his heart rate monitor that I've now realized is located on a wristwatch makes. He smiles at Sam.

"Oh. That's quite the ability, do you visit hospitals often?"

She smiles slightly realizing he harbors no prejudice against mutants.

"I'd love to heal every ailment I see but unfortunately that's not exactly practical for my case... I kinda have to carry whatever I heal."

He looks guilty realizing she's now feeling the pain that had been in his chest.

"Oh... I'm so sorry."

She smiles at that he's known for his over polite personality.

"Don't worry about it, It doesn't hurt that bad."

"...I thought it did."

She shrugs him off.

"I have a high pain tolerance. Anyway my name is Sam this is my husband Loki... though I get the impression you recognized him."

The heart rate monitor goes off again and Tom removes the watch from his wrist setting it down to be forgotten in the jungle.

"I do..."

He's really trying to be polite and not seem afraid of me. I understand why he is, that footage... I was truly monstrous during New York all the same I can tell he's genuinely making an effort to look past it. This causes me to smile slightly it's not often people who are afraid of me try so hard not to be. I decide to try and ease the tension in the situation.

"I've heard about you too, my wife has a slight obsession."

He glances at Sam who's cheeks have turned crimson at my statement and he laughs in his signature way. The tension is no match for that laugh and it somewhat crumbles. With the tension eased Tom seems to relax a bit. We make sure he's not injured in any other way and look over Amy who we assess will likely be out for a while and will need medical attention when we're able to get her out of here. Tom explains everything he knows about what we're up against and we begin our search for the other hostages.