Chapter 2

It was finally the day Gemma would board the plane and head to Iceland. Kirsten and Taylor hugged her goodbye before she boarded.

"I'll be back, Taylor," Gemma said while being crushed in his arms.

"I know. But you'll be so far away from us," he cried with a sniff.

"Pull yourself together, man," Kirsten said with a shake of her head. "She can still video call us doofus."

Gemma laughed and hugged them both one last time. While on the plane she thought of the information she had dug up on Magnús Scheving and Sportacus. Were they the same person? Was Sportacus a real superhero?

She pulled up a picture she had saved on her phone of Magnús and rubbing her bottom lip with her index finger and thumb in deep thought.

"He's not bad looking," she whispered to herself. "Focus, Gemma... you have a task and you can't fall for anyone or vise versa."

Besides being afraid of going to a new country, her worst fear was having someone fall in love with her as she was only there to get a story. She sort of felt like she was in a movie.

"No one would fall for me..." she thought to herself. "I'm ordinary and plain."

This thought only upset her so she decided to sleep until she arrived at her destination.

It felt like she had just closed her eyes as the plane landed and an announcement was made.

Gemma rubbed the sleep away and unguarded, gathering her stuff and walking outside in the cold air for her cab.

"He should be here by now..." she said shivering. "I am not used to this m-much c-cold..."

It was already starting to get late and her cab had not yet arrived. Gemma grunted in aggravation.

"M-maybe I can pull the hotel up on m-my phone..." she said plugging it into her gps. "C-crap... it's quite a w-walk... I'll die out h-here before Kim gets her st-st-story."

With a shrug, Gemma began her long walk towards the hotel in the freezing cold. She was halfway when she suddenly stopped walking and a big shiver ran through her body.

"Th-this isn't g-good," she said hugging herself tightly, dropping her luggage. "I'm so c-cold... I-I can't...."

Gemma dropped to her knees and let out a squeal of pain. She was regretting not packing a heavier coat. She wanted to cry, she was hurting from the cold.

Suddenly a car pulled up from behind her and Gemma could hear the door close and someones footsteps crunch in the snow.

"Do you need help?" a man asked, his voice calm and warm.

Gemma tried finding words to say but all she could do was slightly nod. Without a word, the strange wrapped a warm thick blanket over her shoulders and helped her to her feet.

"You need a thicker coat," he said helping her to his car. "You will freeze to death out here."

Gemma managed to make a little giggle escape her frozen lips as he helped her in the car. Her eyes were heavy from exhaustion, she saw a silhouette of him reaching across her lap to buckle her in. His scent filled her lungs and she felt a gentle shake.

"Don't fall asleep," he said, his warm breath on her cold cheeks. "Stay awake. I don't know where you're going so I'm taking you to my house, okay?"

She slightly nodded, letting him know she trusted him. Part of her did at least. At this moment she didnt care who picked her up. All she cared about was how warm the blanket and car was.

She watched his silhouette adjust the vents to the heat so it faced her more. He clicked a button which made the seat warm up.

"It's a good thing I decided to take this route home from work tonight," he made random chat to keep her awake. "I dont normally take this road. What were you doing out there anyway?"

Feeling a little warmer Gemma gave him a weak smile. "I was walking to my hotel... my cab never picked me up."

She felt him glance at her. "You're American. I know this is a bad circumstance, but welcome to Iceland."

She slightly chuckled with him and shook her head. "I dont think Iceland likes me very much, but thank you."

He chuckled. "Of course. and Iceland has a lot to offer. You just have to make sure you're warm and full of enery."

She felt a smile cross her face. He sounded so nice but her eyes were so heavy and she wanted to sleep. Gemma's head bobbed to the right and rested on the window. He nudged her slightly.

"Miss, dont fall asleep," he was saying, but he sounded faint.

She felt the care move forward more and heard the engine pur. He was still talking trying to keep her awake. Gemma felt a warm hand grasp hers and squeeze slightly.

Gemma raised her head up and slowly opened her eyes to look at the hand grabbing hers.

"You cant fall asleep," he was saying over and over. "Are you with me?"

"I think so," she responded, but her response was slurred.

"If this is what being drunk feels like, I don't like it," she thought out loud.

A chuckle escaped his lips as he squeezed her hand once more. "This isn't what drunk feels like. When we get to my house I will light a fire and make you something warm to drink."

She smiled. "That sounds really... nice."

Gemma couldnt take it anymore. Her eyes closed again and she was out. Little did she know the stranger tried waking her up but to no avail.

Thankfully it wasn't too long after she passed out they had arrived at his house. Gemma felt herself being lifted and carried. The snow crunched underneath as they trekked to the doorway.

"Where are we?" she asked, staring around confused and half out of it.

"We're at my house now," the kind stranger said as he unlocked the door and opened it with her in his arms.

Her head bobbed a went limp along with her body as he closed the door behind him with his foot.

She felt a bit embarrassed as her ears heard him speaking to her to try and wake up. This wasn't how she wanted to arrive in another country.