Hawk

Loki had, of course, known he was being followed as he left the building for the desert. Who was following him ? Why it was Darcy, the strange Midgardian and a team of warriors. 'Now, I will never get Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Even if I slipped away from them they would just find where I left from and try to guess where I would be returned.'

As he crested yet another brown dune, the bright-blue sky shone, he snarled at the interruption and the heat. Ever since Jotunheim, the heat was slowly affecting him - draining his energies and leaving him feeling overheated and, comparatively, lethargic. Smoothed the expression from his face and turned to watch his pursuers stop. Unlike him, most of them were covered in sweat, however all of them would have loved for a cool breeze.

His gaze drifted from Darcy to the male Midgardian who had pulled out an unfolding, black long bow of a strange material. Summoned his black, gold, silver and green armour as he said, "You don't even know me, Midgardian, and yet you decide to gather a celebration for me. How very sweet of you."

The Midgardian had an arrow pointed at Darcy's skull when the black-haired woman spun around. Said man responded, "My name is Hawkeye, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to you. Who are you and what do you want ?"

'That is a good question - who am I ? Loki the son of Laufey, raised as the son of Odin and Frigga. Prince of Asgard, friend of Fandral and lover of Thor. I who saved the girl Morgil from death, who saved Thor on Nornheim and my friends on many other occasions. I who was raised to rely on magic and manipulation instead of brute strength, honour-bound by love and by shed blood to Asgard. To protect those who love me through those lessons - I am my father's son, not Laufey's - though I am a jotun. No matter that some would hate me if they found out.'

He got ready to summon one of his knives as he answered, "I am Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard. As for why I am here, Hawkeye ? I am here to help Thor regain Mjolnir so that our father might awaken again."

A knife formed in his hand as Hawkeye said incredulously, "That blond beast is your brother ?"

Before those words finished he threw the knife and it flew over Darcy's head to clip a bit of hair from Hawkeye's. That was when he stalked down the dune to glare at Hawkeye, "You dare call my brother a beast ! He is Thor Odinson, Exiled Prince of Asgard ! Insult him again and it will be your death Hawkeye of Midgard. Now, why do you threaten the Lady Darcy when she has not a weapon ?", ignoring the guns pointed in his, and Darcy's, direction.

'As if Midgardian bullets could do anything to me or, at least, not anything lasting. Darcy however would not be so fortunate as I have no more healing stones on my person.'

Darcy turned to look at him and threw her hands in the air, "Whoa, whoa, nobody needs to start talking about death, 'mkay, Loki ? He'll apologize for insulting Thor and we'll find out what Agent Hawkeye wants. Right, Agent Hawkeye ?"

Hawkeye looked distinctly un-ruffled by his knife-throw and said, "I'm sorry, Prince Loki, I didn't mean it as an insult to your, ah, brother. As for why Ms. Lewis is being targeted I saw how you dented that car and you weren't even trying. That was before you used some sort of magic or something on me. Obviously, you might just be an illusion right now, but Ms. Lewis is not."

That made him smirk, "How do you know that she is ? Perhaps I am merely making you imagine her, I can do many things that being the very least of them. Perhaps I am actually behind you waiting to slit your throat.", he inserted an illusion of himself doing just that into Hawkeye's mind.

It made the man startle and nearly drop his arrow from the string before the bow was swung wide to aim at him.

At Hawkeye's movement, the warriors pointed their guns at Darcy, who exclaimed, "I am not an illusion so don't shoot me !"

Hawkeye was starting to look annoyed, "That's exactly what an illusion would say. However you feel, Director Fury wishes to speak with you, Prince Loki."

"By Thor's and by others' word, your people stole many precious possessions from Jane Foster. Swear that you will return them and I swear that I will go with you."

The brown-haired man replied, "I will have to discuss it with the Director first."

"Ah, but by the time you do that I will have escaped from your pathetic Midgardian warriors. Either you agree to my terms or there is no deal. Know that after this I will never consider another."

"Fine, I swear that her research will be returned. Now, will you come with me ?"

As he replied, "Of course, I swore that I would, Agent Hawkeye.", he made Darcy 'disappear' like the illusion he claimed she was. In the sky above, what sounded like Father's ravens Huginn and Muninn cawed.

'Unless, of course, I happen to break out on the way to wherever we are going. After all, I never agreed to see the Director, just to go with him. Still, S.H.I.E.L.D sounds as if it could be interesting, if only as a source of entertainment. I may just meet with this Director Fury anyway, may.'

He followed Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back out of the brown desert and into the city of Puente Antiguo; then into a middling-sized, onyx vehicle with equally black windows.