Chapter Text
If there was one thing Octavia had not planned on when she had arrived in New York earlier that day, it was to be alone and lost in a world she didn't know, and with a GOD who was claimed to be deadly, harsh and cold. The day had started out normal. She got off the plane with no problems and caught a cab to meet up with her cousin, Jane and her boyfriend, Thor; whom she had not yet met, but had heard enough about him to write a book. Jane had been excited to see her and Thor had been exactly as she had expected; overly cheerful and loud. Octavia forced a smile across her face when she spoke with him. It was still weird her cousin was dating a space alien, and he talked funny. They had met up at Stark tower and Thor had offered to introduce her to the rest of the Avengers. She accepted, graciously, excited to meet a room full of superheroes. They had all been polite, except for one in particular; Thor's brother, Loki. He had rolled his eyes and stormed off, making it well aware he was uninterested in meeting 'Jane Foster's child relative.' She may have been younger, but she was far from little. She had just turned twenty-three the following week, so she considered herself far from a 'child.' Octavia had decided immediately she couldn't stand Loki and wondered why he was even there to begin with.
Later that day, they had all gone out for a picnic in a nearby park and to Octavia's disgust Loki had joined them, though, he stayed off to himself and she found herself wondering once again why he even bothered. Not long after everyone had gotten settled, there was a loud crash. Octavia was off to the side with her earbuds in, listening to music, oblivious to the incoming danger heading straight for her. It was when she felt two strong arms grab her and pull her to the side that she became aware of the chaos around her. There were blasts of fire from all sides and she found herself being dragged around, barely missing their impact by inches. Octavia finally had the sense to look to see who her rescuer was, and to her surprise, it was the one person who she had least expected to come to her aid; Loki.
“What's happening!” Octavia cried, but Loki didn't answer. Honestly, she didn't blame him. It was hard to talk and dodge fireballs. They came to a nearby picnic table and he basically threw her underneath it, but he was also careful not to hurt her in the process, which surprised her even more.
“Stay down and do not move. No matter what you see, do not move!” Loki demanded, before running back to help the Avengers, and from what she was seeing, they had been caught horribly off guard.
Octavia could now see what they were dealing with from her hiding spot, but she had no idea what these creatures were, or where they had come from. Their hair was basically fire and they stood to be larger than even Thor, by quite a lot, and their eyes glowed a deep fiery red to match their skin color. Loki and Thor were doing the majority of the work, while Iron Man awaited his suit, and Black Widow had taken Jane to safety. Hawkeye attempted to slow them down with his arrows, but after a few attempts, he retreated, realizing the creatures were completely unfazed by them; even the explosive arrows. Captain America had been holding his own for a while, but now, he was even getting his ass handed to him.
The battle seemed to last forever, but now that Iron Man had his suit Octavia realized the Avengers stood more of a chance. Though, they were all still clearly struggling. Maybe not Thor and Loki so much, but definitely the rest of them. One of the monsters looked right at Octavia and gave a fang-baring smile. It was clear it had found an easy target, and it was now heading straight for her. She knew Loki had told her to stay put, but surely this would be an exception? Octavia didn't give herself time to decide, as she quickly crawled out from under the table and began to run.
Loki glanced over and saw one of the fire giants chasing Jane's younger cousin. Why the hel didn't she stay put? Loki rolled his eyes and headed towards them running as fast as his legs would allow, for if he slowed down even for a second, there would be a chance he would not make it to her in time. He had been right, because the moment he took down the giant she had tripped and was now scrambling to get free of its clutches, screaming bloody murder. Shit. If frost giants could burn skin, could fire giants do so as well? Loki killed the creature easily and pulled the girl away from its grasp and just as he had feared, her leg was badly burned, and she had yet to stop screaming. Loki lifted her into his arms and ran to a more secluded area, placing her down gently on the grass. She had finally stopped screaming, but she was sobbing incoherently and complaining about how much her leg hurt.
“You must calm yourself.” Loki said in the most soothing voice he could manage, though, it didn't come out very soothing. He was highly stressed and irritated. “Your name, what is your name again?” he asked, in an attempt to get her mind on something else.
“Oc-Octavia.” she managed between sobs. “It hurts. It hurts so bad.”
“I know. Lie on your back, I can heal you.” She complied and Loki placed his hands on her injured leg, causing her to scream out in pain again. “I'm sorry, Octavia. This is going to hurt, but it won't last.” Loki cringed when she screamed again as he poured his healing magic into her. He knew it was painful, but hopefully not for too long. Loki let out a sigh of relief when she had finally stopped screaming, now replaced by heavy breaths, caused by the sensations of his seidr.
"Thank you." Loki could tell the girl was trying to be brave, but she was clearly terrified.
Loki nodded and pulled her to her feet. “I must get you somewhere saf-” he was cut off by a powerful blast, knocking him to the ground. It was when the wind started to blow wildly that Loki knew exactly what was happening.
He heard Octavia scream again and he quickly pulled himself up and grabbed her hand as she was being pulled into the air, right towards the open portal. Loki was on his feet now, but the force was pulling him with her; his feet dragged the ground as he tried to find any sort of grip, but it was useless. Loki managed to get a better hold on her and pulled her against his chest, he tried to turn to walk away from the pull of the vortex, but it was too strong. He had just felt his feet leave the ground when he heard Thor yell his name.
Octavia's eyes grew wide when she realized Loki was no longer in control of the situation. She barely had time to register the fact they'd been sucked into the black hole as she watched the portal close behind them. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't bring herself too. Instead, she gripped onto Loki for dear life, thinking about everything she had not gotten to experience yet, and how she had just barely started living. She was sure they were both going to die; they were falling, and fast. Loki suddenly turned their bodies and he took the impact when they hit the ground. Octavia found herself uninjured and alive, but Loki didn't look so good. He was unconscious and his breathing was shallow. It was when she noticed he was bleeding from a head wound, that she began to panic.
“Loki! Loki, please! Wake up!” she begged, shaking him gently. Octavia didn't know a whole lot about head injuries, but she assumed hard shaking was a no, no. “Loki...” He didn't wake up. She didn't know what else to do, so she curled against him as close as she could get to make sure nothing could hurt him. She laughed at her ridiculous attempt to protect Loki. If anything did show up right now, they were both dead. When she finally got the courage to glance around, she realized that most of the ground was on fire, soot covered everything, and she was pretty sure she could even see lava. Octavia began to wonder if they had fallen straight into Hell.