Like a Hurricane
Chapter 6 – Relations
Debris and attacks were raining down on the people on the streets. Chantrea was in the middle of it all, using her telekinesis to make the rubble fall somewhere out of the way. She stopped for a moment to take a deep breath, before continuing. It was during this brief break that she saw something blue out of the corner of her eye.
She moved on reflex, passing the blue orb-like attack back, as if it were a tennis ball. Her target had to lean away.
'Loki...' Chantrea recognized him. With new-found energy, she jumped up on the next passing alien vehicle. She kicked the alien which was standing in the back and grabbed the other one and hurled it away. Chantrea followed Loki's vehicle and when she was close enough, she abandoned her own and sprung onto the other.
Chantrea aimed a kick at Loki's side, but he caught her leg with one hand. He sent her a disapproving look and twisted his grip on her ankle. Chantrea hurled herself up and managed to free her limb, landing ungracefully on her hands and knees. Due to their fighting, the alien vehicle lost its fragile balance and was changing directions every other second. Loki grabbed the rail on the side, but Chantrea couldn't find a hold and was hurled against him.
She flinched as she landed on his hard armour, momentarily dizzy. As she blinked away the faintness, she became aware that unexpectedly, a warm hand on her hip was steadying her. When her sight cleared, Chantrea looked up at Loki with wonder. His eyes were twinkling mischievously and she immediately pushed away, barely dodging the sneak attack. Loki threw a dagger her way and it nicked her cheek, before she caught it.
But Chantrea didn't think how lucky that it wasn't her guts that were cut. No, she was ticked off, because Loki dared to make a slight graze on her face. She yelled, cursing him angrily, before she became frustrated with her wandering mind.
'Haaaah!' shouting, Chantrea jumped toward Loki, lifting the dagger.
He caught her by the throat and lifted her off the floor. She dropped the weapon and dug her nails into his hand. Anger appeared on Loki's face, before he whipped his head around, sensing danger. Chantrea dropped to the floor, coughing.
Loki caught an arrow aimed at his head and glanced in the direction of Hawkeye, who let it loose. He smirked, but angry surprise was evident on his face when the weapon blew up. Chantrea was carried away as Loki was sent back flying by the blast and they landed harshly after a fall on the terrace at the top of Stark tower.
Chantrea was hanging onto the edge, her legs dangling in nothingness. She concentrated to reach her power, but it was slow to respond. A crash sounded near her and she saw Loki being swept away by an attack from Hulk. Chantrea continued to gather her energy to get on top of the terrace. By the time she made it, she was exhausted. She laid flat on the cool surface for a moment, before finally picking herself up and following inside.
'Puny god...' she heard Hulk talking, before he jumped outside and disappeared in the streets. Chantrea was still breathing hard from the exertion as she stepped through the broken window. Glass crunched beneath her feet as she looked around cautiously, for any sign of Loki.
A strange whimper reached her ears and she cocked her head sideways, puzzled. In a moment, she pinpointed the source. It was Loki, and he was laying on the ground.
"More like he's been plummeted into it" Chantrea stepped closer to examine the situation. "Several times, in fact."
'Ouch' she winced in sympathy. "That must really hurt." With that thought, she automatically stepped closer and knelt beside him. Loki seemed to have some trouble with breathing and Chantrea gently touched her hand above his chest. Through layers of armour and leather, her healing energy slowly, but surely reached him.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on easing his pain, healing him. After a moment, she felt dizzy and had to back away, cutting the connection between them. She sat down, leaning back on her palms and took deep breaths to fight off the fatigue and crush that little, panicked voice in the back of her mind that said that it wasn't supposed to be like this. Healing was her special talent, which made her unique among her people and it was supposed to come naturally. It wasn't supposed to be exhausting. And she wasn't supposed to be shaking like a puny mortal suffering shock.
She had to lean forward, so as not to put weight on her arms – she was sure they wouldn't hold her. She pulled her legs up and put her arms around them. Her breathing calmed down a little and she noticed the lack of movement around her. She glanced to the side and saw Loki was watching her, with an indescribable expression on his face. Chantrea lifted one eyebrow.
'Why did you help me?'
'Because–' Chantrea trailed off. Why did she? Just a moment ago they were at each other's neck. Scratch that, they've been at each other's neck since they met. She shrugged, remembering what it felt like looking at him flattened into the floor. Her training as a healer, however brief it was, didn't allow her to ignore his condition. 'You were in pain.'
Loki didn't say anything, but his face reflected he couldn't comprehend her reasoning.
'Whatever' Chantrea sighed, looking around. Her gaze came across a shelf, half-destroyed, but a bottle of whiskey miraculously survived the battle. That was her next target. She slowly picked herself up, trying to act as if her nerves and motor skills were functioning properly and made her way over to the bar.
She weren't that worried about what might Loki do; she eased his pain and made his regeneration kick-start, but that was all she could do with what little energy she had left. Which also meant that he was harmless for at least a few more hours. "Or maybe less. I don't really know the regenerating abilities of the Aesirs..." She reminded herself as she looked for a glass. She didn't find one, so in the end, she just hopped up on the counter and drank from the bottle.
'Ugh' she grimaced and shook her head. This was strong stuff and it immediately made her feel more in control. As she took another sip, she could feel her trembling subsiding, as her nerves calmed down. She sighed blissfully and just sat there, on top of the counter.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she suddenly became aware of the lack of noise. It seemed that the battle was finally over. Loki twitched, meaning that he was healing rapidly. Chantrea took another gulp from the whisky, before she heard some movement. She gulped and looked towards the broken window. The group which she fought together, filled in and moved closer to Loki.
He was finally able to sit up, albeit with much difficulty and, as he turned around, he found himself face to face with the Avengers, weapons ready and aimed at him. He froze for a second, before speaking:
'If it's all the same to you...' he let out a sigh, 'I'd love that drink now.'
'Whiskey?' Chantrea offered, lifting up the bottle.
After they had secured Loki, the Avengers went out to eat shawarma as Tony had suggested earlier. Chantrea tagged along, happy to have some real meal in her stomach. It was really a wonder she didn't faint with only a croissant for a day and a half.
'Mhmm... I didn't know what you were talking about,' she said, gulping down a bite, 'but this is like döner kebab! Or gyros! I love it! I could eat more!'
'Nice to see that... you're enjoying yourself' Tony said, a bit taken aback by her speed of consuming her meal.
'I'm going to get another' Chantrea stood up and went up to the counter. Thankfully, they were the only customers, since everyone was working on dealing with the aftermaths of the battle. Miraculously, this shawarma restaurant survived it. It was as tough as Tony's whiskey.
'This food, I like it' Thor said, smiling, mouth full.
'Just don't smash the plate on the floor' Natasha warned him between two bites. She saw the report on Thor's last visit to Earth.
'I wasn't going to' he said, seemingly offended.
'Ah, this is really good stuff' Chantrea returned with and extra big portion of shawarma.
Thor looked her over sceptically, silently wondering how all that food would fit inside her stomach. She was so tiny, compared to him. Now, if it was Volstagg, he wouldn't be surprised.
They ate in good spirits, enjoying the meal and making light conversation. The danger was taken care of, New York city and most of its residents survived and Earth remained free of Loki's schemes. And now they were eating a most delicious food. All was good.
Loki was kept in a glass cage, similar to the one before, in a building in New York which was a property of SHIELD. The group had disappeared somewhere after taking him into custody, leaving him alone with his dark thoughts. If he knew his brother, then Thor would insist that he would be taken back to Asgard to be judged by their laws. To be judged by Odin, whom he once thought of as father. And he, Loki would probably be able to talk his way out of the punishment. Or at least convince them to give him a lighter one. Frigga would be on his side, wouldn't she?
He was lost in his thoughts, so he only noticed the fact that he wasn't alone when the glass door swished back into place. He glanced up, seeing Chantrea cleaned up, in a brand new uniform SHIELD provided. She held herself proud, as always, but she was pale. She was holding something.
Chantrea stepped toward him, but he didn't stand up from his seat.
'I thought you would be hungry' she said simply, leaving the package next to him. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, biting her lip, hesitating. Then she shook her head and turned around to leave.
As the glass door slid open and she stepped outside, she swore she heard Loki mutter something that suspiciously sounded like 'thank you', but when she turned around to look at him, he was indifferently sitting there, like a statue. He didn't touch the pack she left him.
Chantrea stared at him for a moment more, before turning around and leaving. She was seriously exhausted and she needed her sleep. She knew tomorrow would be no walk in the park; Natasha and Clint promised to take her to meet Fury, again. She supposed she had earned some good points with helping out in the fight against Loki and his army, but from their point of view, she was a volatile and unknown element.
She sighed, rubbing her face and went to find an empty office which had a sofa or something. She had food, now she needed sleep. And she would deal with her problems tomorrow.
As soon as Chantrea was out of sight, Loki glanced at the package. The food inside smelled good and after a bit of battling with himself, he decided to take what he can. He was indeed hungry and he needed his energy for his return to Asgard. He opened the paper bag and found a strangely presented meal. The meat and vegetables were wrapped in some kind of flat bread. There were plenty of napkins – paper, of course – and he spent a whole minute trying to figure out how to hold and eat the damn thing.
But it was worth it in the end. It was delicious for a Midgardian food, he supposed. He ate in silence, but he couldn't enjoy his meal completely. His thoughts wandered to the woman who brought the food for him. He was suspicious and baffled at her behaviour. She helped him heal – however little she did – and now she brought him some much needed nutrition. All this despite the fact that they were trying to kill or overpower each other continuously.
Either she was very naïve, or she was planning something. But he will be prepared when she comes to him for whatever she wants. He, the god of mischief, the trickster, won't be tricked, again.
The next day, everyone met up in Central Park. Erik Selvig brought the Tesseract and the plan was that Thor and Loki would use it to return to Asgard, then everybody would go on their merry way. Except Chantrea who had a date with Fury. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to it.
Chantrea arrived with Natasha and Clint and had to forcefully silent a strange noise threatening to bubble out of her when she caught sight of the Aesir brothers. Thor was leading Loki by the arm, who was cuffed and muzzled.
'Why is he...?' Chantrea asked, surprised, as she patted Natasha's shoulder and nodded in Loki's direction.
'He is also known as a very adept liar' she explained.
Still, it was very strange to see him like this.
Thor and Loki stopped and the others surrounded them. Erik Selvig brought the Tesseract and a container; and Doctor Banner carefully put the cube into the contraption. After all was done Thor said his goodbyes and patted Eric, his friend on the shoulder. As he took hold of the appliance which now held the Tesseract, Chantrea glanced around, noticing the SHIELD agents around them who ensured no civilians would get near.
Central Park was a busy place, after all. Chantrea was just about to turn back to see Thor and Loki off, when she noticed a familiar face in the distance. She blinked, but no, the image didn't disappear! And the face of the woman reflected that she, too, recognized her.
Chantrea's eyes widened in fear. She wasn't ready for this meeting, not yet. She'd rather meet with Fury, a thousand times over, before meeting a member of her family.
'Bye, guys!' she shouted and jumped towards the brothers, just as Thor twisted the handle of the contraption.
Chantrea disappeared in a blue light with them, hanging onto Loki's shoulders.
Stunned silence followed.
'Did she just–?' Natasha asked, not able to finish her sentence.
'Yeah.' Clint nodded.
'You tell Fury' she managed and Hawkeye turned to her, indignant.
Before they could continue, a soft curse broke into the conversation.
'Damn it' said a woman right next to them. She wasn't there a second ago. She raked her fingers in her short brown hair in frustration. 'I didn't think she'd do that...'
'Who are you?' Tony looked her over, sliding his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose.
She stopped pacing and looked at all of them.
'Someone who wanted to have a word with Chantrea. But she got away... Damn...'
'So she escaped because of you?' Steve asked, to clarify.
The woman mulled it over for a moment, before nodding.
'I think so, yes.'
'And here I thought she didn't want to go to Fury' Tony mumbled, looking away.
'Why wouldn't she want to meet you?' Bruce asked. 'Who are you to her?'
She crossed her arms.
'You, people, are very suspicious, if I may say.'
'We have reason' Steve replied.
The young woman nodded.
'And you're right, if it's connected to her, I guess...'
'So?' Tony asked, again.
'Oh, I'm Danna' she introduced herself, smiling. 'Nice to meet you. I'm Chantrea's sister.'
Clint was staring at her eyes.
'Your iris is red, just like hers. Do you have some powers, too?'
Danna let out a half-smile. Her eyes were twinkling, as she uncrossed her arms and put a finger to her lip in a gesture of silence.
'Wouldn't you want to find out?' she winked, before disappearing completely.
Another silence followed her departure. Tony couldn't contain a sarcastic remark:
'Well, what a lovely family!'
To be continued...
A/N: An enormous thank you for Jazz! The points you made were very valuable :)
Loki! And more Loki! There was only one (and a half?) scene where Loki wasn't present in this chapter. Yay! And I think I understand why I got only a few reviews for last chapter (compared to the ones before - and don't get me wrong, those reviews I did get made me very happy!), and it's because Loki hardly made an appearance and... looking back on it, it felt like a filler chapter for you, right? Well... umm... maybe? I needed to get it done, but to be honest, I would've rather written the chapter after this. Finally! The movie ends and we're going to Asgard, with more Loki, and more info about Chantrea and her people.
And don't be afraid of Chantrea turning into a Mary-Sue (if that thought had crossed your mind). Most of her abilities are common things amongst her people - her unique specialty is healing, yes, but the others are common. I'll explain it in a later chapter. Or someone else will do ;)
I hope you liked this chapter - I'm looking forward to your comments! And I can promise more Loki from now on!^^ Also, tell me, pleasepleaseplease if there was something you didn't like. I want to improve, and that's how you can help me. And yourself, because I'll take notes and keep them in mind next time I write, which will make the story more enjoyable to you ;)
And thank you for everyone who put my story and I as favourites and/or on alerts! :))