Frost & Fire

Chapter 4 (Abigail)

I shivered almost uncontrollably as I did my best to keep up, making sure the other cells were let open. Even if I couldn't do much, I was letting the captives go and refused to let anyone behind. "Nobody leaves a single person. Please, show the guards what you know." I said to one of the men we let go. I stopped running after a few feet, my warming unit wasn't warming me as quickly as it should have and I was sure it was somehow damaged but I didn't want to leave. "Daddy, I can't...I can't run any further. I think the unit is broken and I'm just too cold to move." I called after him as I leaned against one of the walls and tried to curl into myself.

Loki turned around and wrapped his arms around me. "Don't worry, Kitten, we'll get you back home and you'll be okay." He picked me up so that I was carried and could hold onto the bit of heat that was coming off of him. His skin was as blue as the other giants, a shade I was not used to seeing on him. Usually when his skin would turn blue, it wasn't nearly as deep of a blue as it was now, but his temperature was what scared me.

"Am I going through hypothermia? You're so warm, it's not normal." I whispered softly.

"We're both okay, I promise. Just rest, please, Kitten and I'll make sure Heimdall returns us to Midgard."

"No!" I said quickly and pulled on the lapels of his shirt. "No, we need to stay here! Thor can bring me a new one but we cannot leave!"

He sighed as we made it out of the cave and I could hear the footsteps of everyone who was on our side. "Kitten, it's not safe."

"I know, but...dammit just have.." I stopped speaking and curled up more in his arms. I knew I had to hold onto my strength and I could only hope he would listen.

He brought me back to the castle and laid me down on our bed with as heavy blankets as he could find. I never realized just how cold everything was until that moment. Before I knew it, Thor was running in with a new SCU and helped Loki remove my old one and put the new one on. I could feel the warmth almost instantly when Loki tapped it on.

"Thank you, Brother. Once she is well, we will be returning to Midgard. She's going to need constant warmth."

His voice was strained as he spoke. It was painfully obvious that I wasn't going to win this time, even though leaving would be the worst mistake we could possibly make. When we first arrived on Jotunnheim after we got married, I should have fought for us to step up then and not just disappear. We needed to focus on our people first and then I could go to a warmer planet, but until then I was going to fight.

"No, Daddy. Please just listen to me." I said as I wrapped myself tighter in the blanket and I was sure my lips were blue as I shivered. "Leaving will be our worst mistake. We need to not only get a council together of both the older generation and the survivors, but also a plan to stop these attacks."

"I hate to admit it, Brother, but she is right. Think about this logically."

"Logically? My kitten was just kidnapped! If we hadn't found her when we did she...she.." I could tell he was having a hard time finishing his sentence so I stood up and wrapped my arms around him.

"I know. And that's why we have to think strategically, Daddy. They know how to get to you and if we run they know they just have to wait. And what about the other women who have been taken?" I kept my voice calm and collected the best I could. "We can leave for a little while when we get something in place."

"Kitten, I can't allow you to continue putting your life in danger. What if another unit gets damaged in the middle of the night? I cannot lose you."

He placed a hand on my cheek and I snuggled into it. "You will never lose me." I whispered softly.

It didn't take long for the survivors we rescued to start filling the throne room wanting an audience with us. It went about as good as anyone could imagine with many of them voicing their concerns about leadership being able to protect them. Loki allowed me to take control of the meeting and it seemed to relax many of them with the idea that we would be bringing on a council to discuss better ways to rule and in all honesty, to keep us in a position of trust. I wasn't naive and knew that it would take some time but going at things a little more diplomatically seemed to help. We would still rule as king and queen, but now we had a group of people to keep us in line in our roles.