When you came to, you found that you were lying on something soft. You had a splitting headache and a foggy brain that wasn't getting better with coming to. You didn't even dare open your eyes, your head hurt so much. It took you a minute to remember what happened and how you had ended up being unconscious.

You were going to kill that guard if Loki didn't beat you to it.

You had a horrible feeling that you knew where you were, or at least who you would find here. Unfortunately, you needed more information, and that involved opening your eyes. That took way more effort than you wanted to admit. The light of the room made the migraine erupt in even more pain behind your eyes. Just what you needed.

When you moved to sit up, so you could take in your surroundings, your next realization was that there were thick manacles on your wrists with only a short length of chain between them.

Great.

This day was just getting worse and worse.

You finally sat up and took in your surroundings. You were in what appeared to be laying on an admittedly soft couch. Hands grabbed you and helped you into a proper sitting position. You knew how foggy your brain was when you hadn't even noticed the person in the room before they were touching you. "Easy, pet. That powder packs a punch on my people, and you are just a little human." The voice was familiar, too familiar. Why was it familiar?

You focused enough to realize it was Balder.

Of course it was Balder.

You stiffened when you realized it was him. This was bad, so very, very bad. "Shh, little one. You are safe. I am not going to hurt you, unless you make me, of course." You didn't struggle yet. You were outmatched and you knew it and you weren't that suicidal. You needed a plan in order to even consider going up against him. "I told you that I would come for you. It did take longer than I wished, of course. My brother always has been bad at sharing..." he chuckled at his little joke. It wasn't funny. At all. You weren't a possession, and Balder had kidnapped you.

Asshole.

You were beginning to wonder, however, why Loki wasn't already beating down the doors of your mind to speak with you telepathically. He usually would have noticed the moment you were conscious again, even if you had no powers to contact him with. He could make the connection without you adding your magic. So why hadn't he?

"Don't fear, pet. My little brother will not find you, even with that soulbond. We are most heavily shielded here." Balder told you, his tone going for reassuring. That was less than reassuring. In fact, it was the opposite of reassuring. He must've realized what you were wondering. Of course you'd be wondering when Loki would contact you to rescue you.

You really hated needing rescuing.

He moved quickly to grab your chin. You didn't even think at that. You didn't want him touching you and you reacted on instinct, attempting to bite his hand when he reached for you. It wasn't the best reaction, but you were desperate and couldn't just sit there like a helpless little girl. It was admittedly a stupid move. And one that was an automatic response.

Balder growled at your reaction and slapped you hard across the face. Your head snapped to the side and you could taste blood. He'd somehow split your lip. He grabbed your chin while you were dazed and forced your head back. He looked at your eyes. "Good. There are at least a few more days before you can cause trouble for me," he commented as he let your face go.

In that instant you thanked all the gods that your eyes hadn't turned back all the way. You were safer right now if he thought you couldn't use your powers. Granted, you actually couldn't use your powers, but that was a different problem. Black eyes, aside, you still had the metal bangle on your wrist, plus the manacles had runes on them, so you assumed they had the same function. You were also going to force Tony to put an emergency release in the bangles in the future if they insisted on using them. Supers got kidnapped too often to not have one.

"Why me?" you croaked. You didn't mind playing up the helpless damsel routine if it could help you. You hadn't been able to make a plan yet, but you were hoping he would underestimate you when you finally figured out how to get out of this mess. You also knew that the first rule of getting kidnapped by supervillains was to get them monologue-ing as quickly as possible. Balder wasn't a human supervillain either, so he might not be aware of the tactic.

He frowned at you and turned his back to you, walking to a small table and chairs nearby to fiddle with something there. Your brain demanded why Loki hadn't contacted you yet. He should've made telepathic contact by now, even if you were shielded. You forced those thoughts away. You couldn't worry about that right now.

You needed a plan. You were a self-rescuing damsel after all.

You scanned the room, looking for anything that might be helpful. It was a rather small living room, only containing the table and chairs that Balder was now standing next to, the couch you were sitting on, and its end tables. There was also only one exit to the room and Balder was between you and it. You'd have to bide your time for now.

Balder came back over to the couch, holding a cup of tea in his hands. "Drink this. It will help," he bid, trying to hand the tea to you. You didn't take it. You just gave him a look. Did he think you were stupid? You weren't just going to drink something your kidnapper handed you. He huffed and rolled his eyes, but took a drink of the tea before he forced it into your hands. "See? It is perfectly safe. If I wanted you hurt or dead, you would be already. Your death does not help my plans." He was staring at you expectantly. You knew that offending him wouldn't help right now. You didn't have a choice, so you drank the tea, making sure the chain between your wrists clanged pathetically. You realized almost instantly that the tea had some kind of healing potion in it, as your headache cleared at once.

"And what plans are those?" you asked calmly. You still needed to get him monologue-ing. You couldn't figure out how to stop him if you didn't know what he was up to.

"Why, I am going to rule Asgard and Midgard, of course," he replied as if that was obvious. "And you, pet, are going to help me. Whether you want to or not."

That sounded ominous.

You needed to get out of there ASAP.