Okay, first of all, wow. I'm really surprised and flattered by how many of you have subscribed for alerts on this story and even have it listed as a favorite. That is seriously a huge honor, especially this early on with so many other amazing Avengers fics out there. You guys are awesome and I want to hug you all! So, with out further ado: I present to you, chapter two! Enjoy, loves!
Bedroom Hymns
SHIELD Headquarters-New York, New York
"Damn it, Barton!" Vanessa yelped as she, Jane, Thor and Loki all ducked to avoid the arrow. She whipped a Taser out of her boot and pointed it directly at the Hawkeye. "Stand down, Bart!"
The two agents surveyed each other warily. Clint had another arrow ready to fly, pointing over Vanessa's shoulder at Loki. Vanessa stood ready to tase should Barton so much as flinch.
"I know you don't care for me much, Brown," Barton said evenly, "but I didn't expect you to protect the monster that killed Coulson."
"I'm not taking anyone's side. I want to know why two demi-gods are casually walking into SHIELD as much as you do. What are you doing here, anyway?" She added.
"I have come to help you in any way I can," Thor spoke up.
"And what is he doing here?" Barton snarled.
"Loki has come to make amends."
Clint gave a very harsh laugh. "He should be locked up for what he's done."
Clint was staring at Thor and Loki so lividly it scared even Vanessa. She took advantage of his focus on Loki though and made a leap to her co-worker. Vanessa made a swift grab for Clit's arms and yanked them upwards as he let his arrow go. Instead of hitting his desired target, Loki, the arrow hit a light up above sending glass flying everywhere.
Vanessa yanked Clint's bow out of his hands and threw it away randomly, out of his reach. Any time Vanessa and Clint ever fought each other (usually, in training) Vanessa always had the advantage. Clint was better at fighting at a distance, Vanessa was trained for close combat. She could easily turn a seemingly harmless object into a very lethal weapon. Vanessa's legs were longer and she was quicker on her feet, but Clint could hold his own.
All around the two assassins, there was yelling. Vanessa made a lunge at Clint and he kicked his legs up, hitting her stomach, sending her flying. She made a flip so her head could avoid a pounding, but Vanessa crashed through the glass wall of the conference room and landed on the table, sending Banner and Selvig flying.
Wheezing, Vanessa shouted curses in Spanish, French, Italian and Greek at Clint. But Clint was no longer hell-bent on doing Loki or Vanessa in. Instead, he was peering over Vanessa's shoulder, backing away very slowly. Wary, Vanessa started to turn on the spot, only someone grabbed her by the hair, yanking Vanessa down on the floor. There was a flash of light, and "Oph" from Banner and the scientist fell down on the ground, knocked out.
"What was that?" Vanessa got to her feet, slowly assessing the damage done to her, eyeing Loki.
"Last time I met the beast, I was smashed into Mr. Stark's floor," His voice was very smooth, "forgive me for not wanting to repeat that."
"No," Selvic said, "what did you do to Banner?"
"Knocked him out." Loki shrugged.
"What happened?"
Everyone turned, surprised to find Steve Rogers in the doorway, arms crossed, surveying the scene disapprovingly.
"Training exercise between Brown and myself," Clint said hastily. "At least, that's what we'll tell Fury."
"It won't matter what we tell Fury," Vanessa shook her hair out of her eyes. "He'll still dock our pay to take care of the damages, unless we pin it on the Iron Man suit again."
"Again?" Jane raised her eyebrows. "You two do this often?"
"Not really," Clint started picking up his arrows. "It's just that whenever something breaks we blame it on Stark. He won't notice if Fury uses some of his money to fix it anyway."
That was as far as friendly conversation ever got between Clint and Vanessa. They fought, blamed the damage on Stark and acted like nothing had happened. It didn't help that both agents trusted each other about as far as they could throw the other ether. That's how it had always been. SHIELD was probably the only reason Clint and Vanessa hadn't tried to kill each other yet.
"You," Vanessa barked at a passing agent, "get someone in here to take care of this mess. And send someone down here to put Banner back in his room. Does anyone know where Fury actually is? We could use his input."
"He's with the counsel," Selvic said.
"Right," Vanessa checked her watch. "Stark should be here any minute. We have a meeting in 301 in ten. Head up there now."
"And where are we going?" Thor stepped forward.
Vanessa eyed Thor and Loki warily. "Cap will lead you two to the meeting room."
"Ma'am," Steve stepped forward, "where are you going?"
"I'm going to get some paperwork so I can pin this whole thing on Stark," Vanessa lied easily.
The only person who seemed to have detected that lie was the God of Mischief, and he was eyeing her with a sort of keen interest. Vanessa shot him a not-so-subtle glare and was off.
SHIELD Headquarters, Hallway, Third floor
Vanessa stalked down the hallway, her pace quickening with every step. In one hand, she carried a long black case, the other, held a pile of files that she thought had been destroyed two years ago. She was fuming; a million thoughts were racing through her mind right now, leaving her confused and flustered.
"Ah, Agent Brown, I thought I was the only one late for the meeting."
Vanessa stopped and started at Bruce Banner and looked over him. Bruce looked a little worse for wear, but still in pretty good condition.
"Nope. Shall we face Fury's wrath together?"
"I—what's that?" Bruce pointed to the things in Vanessa's hands.
She sighed, "Doctor, do you remember Phase Two?"
SHIELD Headquarters, Conference Room 301
Five minutes into the meeting, Nick Fury had decided he no longer wanted to delay. He had been waiting for Agent Vanessa Brown and Bruce Banner to show up. But, so far, neither had decided to grace the world with their prescience. Loki sat between Steve Rogers and Thor, his feet propped up on the marble conference table, enjoying the frustration the Director was trying to hard to mask. He and the Black Widow were going over everything that had been found out in the country called England. Why every Avenger needed to be present was lost on Loki, but the meeting seemed interesting enough.
"So, the Prime Minister did make contact with alien life forms?" The Iron Man was asking.
"That is what the tapes seem to show," Romanoff said, "Foster and Selvig didn't detect any unusual activity to suggest how they might have gotten on Earth though. So we're at a dead end until we can figure out how."
The doors to the conference room were swung open and in walked Agent Brown and Banner. Brown was carrying a large heavy black case and Banner had his hands full of files.
"Agent Brown, Doctor Banner," Nice of you to join us.
"Did you know, Director, that England is working on a way to carry on with Phase two?" Agent Brown slammed the case on the table and crossed her arms.
So Loki had thought right. She hadn't been off to fill out paper work, she had been sneaking around her own office. Fury put his hands on the table, staring his agent down. The atmosphere in the room was incredibly tense.
"Excuse me?"
"Wait," Rogers cut in, "I thought Phase Two was dropped when Thor took the Tesseract back to Asgard?"
"It was," Fury said.
"Yes, but you didn't destroy the paperwork, Director. SHIELD has been compromised." Brown glared around the room, her gaze lingering a second too long on the Hawkeye.
"That is a serious accusation, Brown. Have anything to back it up?" Romanoff tensed up.
"I was looking through the files I got from the dead Prime Minister and some of the weapon reports sounded familiar. So I went digging and found the Phase Two papers. Someone must've made a copy and took them across the Pond. So we can no longer trust MI6 either. They're the ones carrying on with Phase Two."
"You have no proof of a leak," Fury said, outraged.
The Agent and the Director stared each other down. Then she flipped open the case—which was empty.
"Well that was anti-climatic," Stark muttered.
"That man's," Brown pointed at Loki, who went from looking only mildly interested to very interested, "scepter was supposed to be in here. It's gone, obviously. And if I'm not mistaken the power that the scepter had come from the Tesseract, yes?"
She was looking at Loki now eyebrows raised, expecting an answer, quickly. Well, if he was supposed to be here making amends, Loki better start being helpful now.
"That is correct, yes," he said tapping the table.
"So, is it possible that the Prime Minister was being possessed the same way that Barton was with the scepter?" Banner asked, sinking into a chair next to Stark.
"No," Loki said curtly. "No human could wield its power like that."
"I used it to close the portal," Romanoff said.
"Yes, to close it, that does not require using its power. Besides the Chitauri, I'm the only one who can use that scepter. "
"But England is continuing with Phase Two, so you must be wrong," Brown said.
"Or, the what is it you called them, MI6?" Brown nodded, "Or, they could be working with the Chitauri. Possibly possessed, but I would bet that there are many people who would jump at the chance to bring SHIELD to it's knees."
Stark Tower-New York, New York
Two weeks had passed since Vanessa had discovered the leak in SHIELD. Fury had moved her and the Avengers into Stark tower, despite Tony's protesting. It was the only place Fury could have complete privacy to plan a take-back mission now that SHIELD was compromised. Pepper Potts was more than welcoming. She made sure that everyone had comfortable rooms and anything that they might need to ensure a nice stay in Stark Tower. She ensured that the kitchen was fully stocked at all times, mostly for Thor's sake, but everyone needed frequent snack breaks it seemed. And she kept Bruce happy in Tony's labs while the two scientists worked to trace Loki's scepter.
Vanessa, Agents Hill, Romanoff, Barton, Steve, Thor, Fury, and a reluctant Loki spent long hours trying to come up with a plan on how to best break into MI6. Right now, the only plan that seemed to have a chance at a positive outcome was going to England under the cover of pretending to be the President's secret service. But even that plan held more risks than Vanessa preferred.
It was late, probably about two a.m. by the time Vanessa could get herself to bed. She brushed her teeth and washed her face before slipping into some pink sweats and a black tank top. She climbed slowly into bed, eyes darting around the room. Vanessa had done nothing to her temporary room to make it more "homey". Nothing about it expressed Vanessa's interests or her childhood. She hadn't had much of one any way. Vanessa closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
When she awoke, Vanessa was face down on the floor, sheets twisted around her legs and the pillows were scattered. She tried to steady her breathing as Vanessa untangled herself from her sheets.
"Come on, Brown," she muttered to herself, "it was just a dream. Get a grip."
Vanessa walked blindly into her bathroom, tied her hair back and splashed water on her face. She yanked a towel off the rack and patted her face dry. Vanessa's pupils were dilated, whether from fear, or simply because it was dark, she didn't know. Glancing at the clock, Vanessa discovered that she had only ben a sleep maybe two hours. And there was no hope of getting back to sleep now.
Frustrated, Vanessa went back into the room and pulled out a black London sweatshirt and yanked it over her head, pulled on some socks and then went into her rucksack, pulling a sketchbook and a charcoal pencil. Vanessa was quite a gifted artist and she enjoyed it. She used her talent to get all her feelings out. Since there was no hope for sleeping, Vanessa figured she would go sit on the balcony outside of Tony's bar floor and draw New York in all its shining glory.
Vanessa didn't dream much. Or, at least, she rarely remembered her dreams. But the ones she did remember were haunting. Vanessa was a spy, a pavement artist, a honeypot agent and an assassin. Everything she ever did for SHIELD, every person she'd killed, had always been for the "greater good". But none of that mattered. Because the people Vanessa killed and seduced had loved ones (most of them did anyway). How many families had she torn apart? How many hearts had broken because of her actions?
She had dreamed about Charlie Richards. He was Vanessa's first kill. Vanessa was sixteen when it happened. Her first honeypot mission. Vanessa was sent to Italy to investigate a terrorist group there. Charlie Richards was the shining child of an American Attaché who had been stationed there. And like every tragic story, Charlie had been caught up in the "wrong crowd" so to speak. He had been all right, in the beginning. Charlie had taken a liking to Vanessa and like every novice, she had fallen back; forgetting how to keep herself in check. Slowly, things went from bad to worse. Vanessa stopped seducing the men in the terrorist organization and started giving everything she had into Charlie. She got sloppy, her cover was blown and SHIELD had to send in backup in the form of Clint Barton.
Once Charlie knew of Vanessa's true identity, everything fell apart. They were locked in combat, Charlie had the upper hand because Vanessa didn't want to kill him. All the while, Clint stood up high with his bow and arrows, trying to get a clear shot at the Attaché's son. When he did release the arrow, Clint missed his target by an inch, hitting Vanessa instead in the arm.
She should've let Charlie kill her then. But something snapped in Vanessa and she pulled the arrow from her skin and had driven it into her lover's chest and watched the light leave his eyes. When he died, Vanessa had broken down and Clint had to drag her to a SHIELD vehicle and into a safe house.
It had been her worst kill. There was no chance of maintaining any innocence after that. And SHIELD had been furious about the case being blown. It had been a long time before she was allowed to go on any other missions. And Clint Barton had never stopped seeing Vanessa as the sixteen year old who fell in love and compromised a SHIELD case.
Vanessa slipped into the bar and headed to the glass door and snuck outside into the chilly October air. But there was someone sitting outside already. Stark? No, Stark was shorter than that. Cautiously, Vanessa walked forward until she was almost upon the figure—
"You know, I am really quite tired of everyone sneaking up on me," the smooth voice said, irritated. "If I wanted to leave or cause trouble, I would have already done something."
Loki turned around to face Vanessa, annoyance written all of his pale face. "You can leave now."
"This is not your tower and Stark is in bed," Vanessa plopped down and flipped open her sketchbook. "So I'll do what I like, your Majesty."
She began to draw the city skyline furiously, yet, somehow, she started drawing Charlie. Beautiful, young and good Charlie. The one she had once loved, a long time ago.
"Who's that?" Loki's voice held slight curiosity.
"My first lover," Vanessa said simply. "I killed him when I was sixteen."
"What kind of a person kills their lover?"
"The kind that was born and raised in SHIELD," Vanessa said.
"Oh?" Loki raised his eyebrows, intrigued.
"Yup," Vanessa tor out the page she had drawn and crumpled it before throwing it over the edge. With more care this time, Vanessa begins to draw the river Thames and the Tower of London. As miserable as her work had been over there, the city had been a sort of soothing place to be.
"When my parents found out that they were expecting me they signed over custody rights to SHIELD. SHIELD owned me before I was even born."
"What would they want in a weak, helpless infant?"
"I was an experiment. SHIELD wanted to know what kind of agent they could come up with if they had their way of raising one from birth. Three days after I was born, my parents left to do a mission in Russia.
"SHIELD had me learning several languages, piano, computer skills, history, geography, mathematics, anything they thought would be beneficial. And they created a child who's IQ was almost genius. Then they took me out and set me on missions. At the age of five I began tricking targets into walking right to their deaths." Vanessa tore her eyes from her work and looked at Loki, who looked thoughtful. Why was she telling him this? Was he using some sort of magic on her? "Nobody ever expects a child to be so cunning and evil. When a child is crying, begging for someone to help their dying mother or father, nobody would hesitate to come to the rescue. Then, Turkey happened."
"Turkey?" Loki furrowed his brow in confusion.
"It's a country. You have to understand, SHIELD only let my parents see me a few times a year, they were strangers to me." Yes, he must be using magic against her. The harder Vanessa tried to fight the urge to spill her story, the weaker she felt against the power. "But every time I saw my parents, it was like I was never good enough. If I made a mistake, I got a beating.
"Then, Agent Coulson put his foot down. He has always been the closest thing I've ever had to a real father." Loki actually had the decency to look away, he looked…was it shamed? "Phil forbade my parents from ever seeing me again.
"I guess my parents met someone from a different agency in Turkey who swore he could get me under their watchful eye if my parents spied on SHIELD. When I was nine, my parents tried to kidnap me and take me away. But they got more than they bargained for. SHIELD had started training me in combat and I was good. I put up a pretty good fight until the real agents could get in. I'm not sure what happened after that. But my parents were killed.
"Agent Romanoff lives under this delusion that she can somehow wipe all the red from her ledger. She's a fool for believing that any of us had a chance of redeeming ourselves for destroying families. SHIELD trained me to kill and seduce and cheat and steal and lie. And I'm a damn good agent. I could easily kill a man with just this sketch book."
"I seriously doubt that." Was Loki attempting to joke?
"I'll have to show you sometime. It's one of my signatures, turning objects that look pretty harmless into the most lethal weapons. It's why I'm mostly a pavement artist and not a seductress like Romanoff. I look innocent enough, harmless and that makes people think they can break me and have their way with me. That is how I gain my information and that is why I'm still alive. Nobody thinks I'm capable of causing harm; after all, I rarely carry a gun around. I'm worse than any weapon SHIELD could invent because I can kill with my bear hands without batting an eye."
"Then we are not so different, you and I."
"No, we are. You're actually better than me, Loki."
"Pardon?"
"When I was eighteen, SHIELD gave me to option of leaving and trying to live out a normal life. Phil did everything in his power to convince me to take the offer and run as far away as I could. But I took it because I didn't know any other life. Then I was sent to observe and kill."
Vanessa had abandoned her drawing now and was facing Loki head on. He was completely absorbed in her story now. And now she was desperate to tell it, her bedroom hymn.
"When I'm doing missions, I can take my feelings out of the equation. But when it's all over and I'm alone at night I see the faces and the cried of every person I've ever killed. I have nightmares about facing their loved ones, yet I keep tabs on those people. I keep telling myself that one day, I will face them all and own up to all the pain I've caused.
"You're braver than all of us, Loki Laufeyson because you've done awful, horrible things too. Yet, here you are, you could leave any time you want with your magic. Nothing is stopping you. Yet you've proven to be very helpful. You're trying to make amends."
The god seemed at a loss for words. Overcome by everything Vanessa had just said. He looked away and muttered something that might have been a thank you. Vanessa set her sketch book down and drew her knees to her chest. She had just told her tragic life story to the man who killed the closest thing she had ever had to a father. A man who could easily take that information and use it against her. That information could bring SHIELD to its knees, it could destroy her. Yet, Vanessa found that she didn't care. It had been kind of therapeutic to lay everything down. And Vanessa knew that Loki understood, at least a little bit, how she felt.
They sat in silence for a very long time. At some point, Loki grabbed Vanessa's sketchbook and started flipping through it. He would stare at each picture some for much longer than others before flipping to the next page. Loki turned a page and left out a small gasp. Startled, Vanessa turned her head to see what it was he was looking at.
It was a picture she had drawn right after Phil had died. It was of the Chitauri she had seen on the news. The faces were twisted into a hellish evil and dark shadows seemed to leap off the page. It frightened Vanessa. She didn't think that she had even looked it since she had drawn it. With a snap, Loki shut the book and set it down.
"What can you tell me about the Chitauri?"
He took a long hard look at her before shaking his head.
"Not now." Loki put a hand on Vanessa's face, forcing her to close her eyes. "You need to sleep."
He let go of Vanessa and started murmuring the words of a bedroom hymn. When she awoke, the sun was high over New York City.
Author's Note
So that's the second chapter down! I seriously love the response I'm getting. To the three lovelies who've reviewed, you're my favorite. To everyone who's marked this story as a favorite or has it listed to an alert; you guys, I love you.
I really hope you all like Vanessa's back story, it's key to the plot and although incredibly dark, I quite like it. The title for this chapter comes from yet another Florence + The Machine song. Give it a listen; it's a brilliant one. Not every chapter title will be a song by her, but I have a feeling most of them will.
Pretty, pretty please leave a review? I love them and they make me smile. They're the only payment I get!
Cheers!
