A Tale of Mischief and Mutants part 2

Not Pathetic

—-Sam—-

We arrive at the WHIH studio based in San Francisco and I'm almost immediately hit with overwhelming anxiety as we enter the building. 'There are so many people here.' Sensing my anxiety Loki takes my hand without even having to look at me instead observing the room around us he just knows me that well. I squeeze his hand once in thanks. We're soon spotted by a staff member and they come running over.

"Okay you're here for the interview. Come right this way."

He quickly ushers us away from the busy main entrance and to a dressing room.

"This one's for you Mrs. Logansdottir and yours will be right across the hall Mr. Odinson."

I'm struck almost into a panic by the thought of being left to deal with hair and makeup people all by myself but I shouldn't have worried Loki's immediately straightening it out.

"If you don't mind we'd prefer to stay together during our time here."

His tone makes it clear that he doesn't really care if they mind or not but that he's sticking by me regardless.

"Of course Sir I'll let hair and makeup know about the change right away."

The man runs off leaving us alone in the room.

"Thanks Lo'."

"Of course, darling."

I breathe out a nervous sigh. I sit down and one of the chairs and begin talking to distract myself from my anxiety about this interview.

"It's kinda weird they're not using our formal titles but it's kinda making me less nervous because it's not like constantly hey remember your representing a whole ass country not to mention alien race."

He nods.

"The title usually comes with anxiety in both parties, better to do away with it in certain circumstances."

I nod too.

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After hair and makeup is done making sure we're camera ready we head into the actual interview room. The reporter, Christine Everheart, is our interviewer.

"Alright, we're just gonna warm up with some soft ball questions."

I nod. She starts with the first question.

"How is it living in New Asgard?"

I smile.

"Tønsberg is a mundane town but I love it that way. I get enough excitement in my life elsewhere, the people of New Asgard are kind and accepted me without any fuss, and the scenery of the fjords on the drive in from the Skien airport are breathtaking."

Christine goes on asking us both softball questions until she unintentionally throws a hard ball question at Loki.

"Your brother's been out of the dating game for a while now does that put more pressure on you two to produce an heir?"

Loki looks at me both to see if I'm okay with discussing this topic and probably wondering if he should make Thor's new girlfriend public knowledge. I shrug slightly at him and he makes up his mind.

"Well, as you may be aware I'm adopted so my children wouldn't be of Asgard's royal bloodline, and Sam was.... well... she's unable to have children. My brother is currently courting someone but I'm not at liberty to disclose much about that without his knowledge."

"Is that a result of something from Mrs. Logansdöttir's time in captivity?"

He looks at Christine solemnly.

"Yes. ...it's quite a sensitive subject for her, but then again so is the majority of what we're here to discuss."

Christine nods.

"I guess there's not really a nice way to segue into that so let's just start talking."

She looks to me.

"What happened during the initial abduction? How were they able to kidnap an X-man?"

I'm silent for a second I haven't even gone into full detail about that with Logan or Loki. It's just such a horrible memory for me I just want to try to burry it. I keep my answer just as minutely detailed.

"I... they jumped me with an inhibitor collar."

Tears spring up in my eyes at the memory.

"I was out patrolling, you know like how Spider-Man does and they were on me before I even saw them... the collar started shocking me before I could even do anything... I passed out I don't remember if I was hit on the head or if the voltage of the shocks was just that high."

"And when you woke up?"

"I woke up in a bare room they eventually came for me... you have to understand I really tried to fight at first but... that just made everything so much worse."

Christine looks perplexed.

"What did they do to you exactly?"

Here I am again trapped in silence I should be screaming from the rooftops about all my captors did I should bring it all into the light the beatings, the torture, ...the rape. How I came to see myself the way they saw me as a thing and not a person how they broke my body and my spirit. I begin to cry silently and I shake my head.

Loki, in a (from a stranger's point of view) uncharacteristic display of sweetness and affection, pulls me closer to himself so I'm resting against him with my head on his shoulder. He's quite literally my shoulder to cry on. He does the usual stuff to soothe me and though I'm kinda ashamed of myself for loosing my nerve in front of the reporter and camera crew it feels so nice that I don't really care if I come off as pathetic.

Sitting here leaning up against my husband gives me a surprising confidence boost. I'm on the arm of an alien god Prince so if they think I'm pathetic I can call Mjölnir in here and we can have that debate. I don't have to talk to them about this if I don't want to it doesn't mean I'm weak it means I'm still healing. Loki is more than capable of speaking for me if I want him to. He whispers into my ear.

"Do you want me to try to explain?"

I nod my face still buried into his shoulder as I shed tears into his ornately patterned and egregiously expensive suit. I really hope I don't ruin it it's one of his favorites. Tears can't ruin clothes can they? I try to focus on the feeling of Loki's fingers running through my now slightly disheveled hair instead of his words, they describe events too painful to think about.

I do this until one question stands out as a non depressing topic for me 'how did our paths cross?' I smile slightly and sit up a bit perking up at the change in topic I want to talk about that instead of thinking about my time in captivity. I wipe my face of tears my makeup must not be too messed up because they don't call for a cut so hair and makeup can fix it. My voice is back and I've got a lot to say.

"That I'll gladly discuss."

We have a long conversation about us meeting how I'm glad Loki's such a troublemaker because if he wasn't he wouldn't have been there that day, how I learned how to feel safe again because of him, and how he fought for me and kept me out of M.R.D. custody and welcomed me into his home.

By the time we're done I'm crying again but they're happy tears. I leave the interview feeling like I've taken another step forward in my recovery I might not ever fully recover but I have millennia to try and I'm not giving up anytime soon.