Memory

Time is Running Out

"He's--He's back now?" I gasp out. I can't think, can't feel anything but relief.

Hela gives a bored nod.

"So where is he?" I ask.

"You're smart, girl, I'll give you that. I expected you to be so distracted you wouldn't ask. Why did you wake up where you did after I sent you for the Tesseract?"

"Because... it was near the Tesseract?" I try.

"What? No, no, try again. Really, it's quite obvious." She plays with a dagger, flipping it over and over in her hands. "Anyhow, you'll figure it out soon enough anyway. Now for the next object I would ask you to find..."

"What is it? And how long do I have this time?" I ask.

"Well, since you found the Tesseract so quickly, I think you won't need but two weeks this time. Find me the hammer Mjölnir and get it to me on time, and you will begin to feel a little human again."

"What? But where is he--"

I'm back in Livvy's apartment.

It's not morning anymore--It's the afternoon.

Livvy looks at me and stops pacing around the room, and Loki spits out his tea in surprise.

"He's--Rowan's alive," I whisper, tears pooling in my eyes.

I did it. He's back. I can see him again. I just don't know where he is.

Livvy runs and helps me up from the floor, proceeding to destroy my ribs in a bone-crushing hug.

"Well, where is he?" Loki asks.

"That's the thing, I don't know!"

"Damn it," Livvy says.

"I asked her where he was, and she asked why I woke up where I did after she sent me for the Tesseract. But now I have to find Rowan and get Thor's hammer. And this time, I have two weeks." I sigh.

"Wait--you woke up near the place you died the first time, didn't you?" Loki asks.

"I freeze as the realization dawns on me. "SHIT."

"Where is he?" Livvy asks.

But it's Loki who answers for me, realizing what I have. "Prythian."

"Crap." Livvy says.

"You know it?" I manage to get out.

"I may happen to have a way to get there nearby." She gives me a wicked grin. "That I am not supposed to know exists."

"Where?" I admit, I'm a little excited to learn about a new place that I didn't know about before. So now I can finally say I know this place better than the actual movies.

But I can feel the phantom beat of a long-gone heart when I think of seeing Rowan again.

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