I apologize if this story slows down, but I'm in the middle of exams and getting ready for a month long trip so bear with me.
Chapter Nine
My days began to fall into a routine. Get up, get ready, train until I was aching. Eat, then train again. Have supper with everyone in the mess hall. Then a few hours of free time before I became too tired and fell asleep.
Loki didn't bother me again. But what he had said that day in the detention levels nagged at me every hour I was awake. What was after him? Whatever it was, it certainly had him scared. It had to be pretty bad.
Laying back on my bed, I closed my eyes, kicking my boots off. I was sore everywhere, and the nagging in my head wasn't helping. You don't owe him anything, I told myself firmly, he almost killed you. And what about Dad?
I couldn't help but think that my father would have given him a second chance if it meant the survival of everyone in SHIELD.
Groaning, I rolled onto my stomach. What in the hell was I thinking? I was NOT letting a wanted criminal out of his cage. Even if I did it, which was so unlikely that it could almost be called impossible, where would we go? There was nowhere to go.
It looked like Loki would have to sit this one out on his own.
A sharp banging on the door woke me up. Leaping to my feet, I clumsily jogged to the front door. "Agent Hill," I stepped back from the door. "Come in."
She didn't need a second invitation. Walking in, she placed her gun back in the holster, everything about her tense. "Is something wrong?" I asked, feeling heavy.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Sam. But the truth isn't easy to deal with." She sighed, waiting as I shut and locked the door. "Unknowingly to us, when we captured Loki, there was something, or should I say someone hot on his trail. This...person...is extremely powerful. He knows that we have Loki in our possession, and he's made us an offer."
My heart beat was off the charts, my eyes replaying the scene with Loki in the detention levels. This is all on you, Samantha Green. His voice echoed in my ears. "The offer is either we give up Loki to his hands, or he destroys us. His army is endless. We would not be able to stand a fight against them. Not even if we managed to recruit every military force on this world."
"Shouldn't that be a simple solution, then?" I asked coldly.
"No, it is not a simple solution. All though he is a murderer and a wanted tyrant, it goes against everything in our policy to give up a helpless prisoner to a force that would kill him the second they got their hands on him. It's not how we operate."
"Then what are we going to do?"
She shook her head slowly. "I don't know. I just don't know. I came up here to tell you the truth. And to tell you that if it comes to a war, that you will be evacuated immediately."
Shock flooded me. "No!" I yelled, stamping my foot. Pain shot through me in response. "No, that's not fair! I'm just as qualified as the rest of my squad!"
"The rest of your squad will be fighting. You don't understand, Sam. I made a promise to your father. That if anything were to happen to him, I was to keep you safe. I swore on it. And now he's gone, and you're my responsibility," tears glistened in her eyes. "Your father was the bravest man I had ever known. I will not go against his word. That is final, agent."
Anger boiled in my veins. How dare my father baby me like this? I wasn't a kid anymore!
Before I could think of anything to say, Agent Hill had stood up and shown herself out. The door slammed behind her.
Standing, I felt a cold chill sweep through me. I knew what I was going to do, and everything in me screamed that it was a bad idea.
But maybe...just maybe...I would save some lives. It's what Dad would have done. Any honorable agent would do this. Yet as I laced up my boots, I couldn't help but feel that I was making the biggest mistake of my life. To be caught would mean the end of my career and possibly my freedom.
It was just a risk I had to take.
The detention levels were empty, eerily quiet. It seemed like I had caught the guards at a shift rotation, which was extremely lucky. Anyone who caught me would shoot first and ask questions later. Fury's policy.
Creeping into the dark room, I looked around. I wished I could kill the power. It would make this so much easier.
Loki sat, hunched over and brooding, in his glass cage. His eyes snapped up as I entered the room, a small frown tugging his mouth down. He opened his mouth to speak, but I hurriedly waved my hands across my throat, the no-talk gesture all of us had learned in our first week.
Can you read minds? I felt stupid as I looked at him, attempting to direct the thought.
There was a pause. Somewhat, yes. If you mean, can I hear you, then yes I can.
I heard his voice echo in my head, yet his lips did not move. Why are you here? he asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
A friend of mine told me what was coming after you. It might be sooner than we think. And...well...I'm not going to sit around and let my friends die. My father would have done the same.
You're breaking me out of here? There was disbelief in his tone.
If it means saving people I care about, then yes, I am. How do I do it? There was a control panel on the platform beside his tank, but it looked complex. First of all, we'd need to kill the security cameras.
Right you are, he commented on my thoughts. I wriggled uncomfortably. Could he read my thoughts that easily? I wasn't too keen on that. I can knock out the cameras. Might be able to kill some of the lights too. You need to move swiftly.
"Got it," I murmured out loud.
I will count you down. Okay, get ready. I could see a look of concentration break out on his face. Three. Two. One.
On one, I swung forward, propelling myself forward at a dead run. I thought about what exactly I was doing as I hurled myself up the steps, careful not to touch anything in case I left finger prints. I was breaking a wanted criminal, one who had beaten me and killed my father nonetheless, out of his prison.
I was absolutely crazy.
"Okay, Sam," Loki muttered, walking to the front of his prison. He spoke out loud now, the cameras obviously getting blank feeds. I knew that this would stir a commotion in the building. We had minutes at the most. "Open the panel."
I slid my hand across the screen, lighting it up. "Good," he commented, watching me carefully. "There should be a red button above the power options. You need to press it down."
I did as he said, slamming the button down. Something in the cage clicked. "Now open that page," he pointed to the one that my right hand hovered over. I double clicked it, a simple pass code lock rising before me. "The code is 5-6-5-4."
I punched it in. The system whirred, then flashed green. Access permitted, it read in flashing letters. The cage clicked and rattled again. The left curve parted, sliding back. Loki paused, then stepped out. I swallowed nervously.
"Thank you, Sam." I flinched away from him. He looked hurt. "I'm not going to harm you," he said softly.
"Bullshit," I spat back.
"I promise."
I didn't want to listen to his silky words. I sure as hell didn't want to believe them. "C'mon," I hissed, descending the steps. "We don't have a lot of time." I set off at a heavy run, Loki keeping up with my pace at a slight jog. His long legs carried him easily. I envied him.
We rounded the corner to the emergency lift. I stepped into it, waving him in. Pressing the access path floor number, I waited, heart hammering. We could be caught at anytime.
Loki was silent as I weaved through tunnels and stairways, finally emerging in the belly of Building B. Not trusting the lift, I led him up the several flights of stairs, panting by the time I reached my room.
"Get in!" I whisper yelled, shoving him through the door. He stumbled as I slammed the door behind us, bolting the locks. He looked around the apartment, probably remembering the last time he'd been here.
"Listen to me, and listen good. While you're here, you are going to cause no shit, you hear me? You keep quiet. No weapons and no fighting. If you harm someone, so help me I will march your Asgardian ass straight back to that prison."
He grinned. "Thank you, Lady Sam. I am forever indebted to you," he bowed at the waist. I shook my head, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, yeah. And another thing. Don't touch any of my stuff."
He sat awkwardly on the couch, folding his legs. "Very well."
As I walked down the hallway to my room, I closed my eyes.
What had I done?
