Thanks guys for sticking with me all this time. Life got kind of crazy and I apologize for not updating anything. Anyway, before you read this chapter, you might want to go back and read Chapter 8 one more time. I made some changes that will affect the plot of the story later down the line. Kind of important. Thanks and enjoy!
The next day was spent practicing her craft and contemplating her options, which were few. In the bright afternoon light pouring through the window, she absentmindedly flicked a few drops of water up and down out of her cup on the table across the room.
What if Loki wasn't lying? Alex remembered the fear in Loki's face and the tremble in his voice when he spoke of the being with which he once made a villainous deal. She remembered how he couldn't even speak his name. Thor seemed to have never-ending faith in his brother so perhaps he was on to something. What if the universe really was in jeopardy? Could Alex just stand back and let everything fall around her? No, she couldn't do that. She wasn't the kind of girl to stand back and watch bad things happen if she could stop it. But Kate saw him in the conference room. Could she tell it was Loki in disguise just from his aura? Alex simply had to wait to find out.
The word 'index' kept flashing across her thoughts since their discussion about S.H.I.E.L.D a few days before. She couldn't quite remember why it was important, but she knew she had heard the word while studying at S.H.I.E.L.D Academy. Alex racked her brain, trying to pull the image of the classroom together in her mind, but she hadn't been paying attention back then. The memory was blurry. She saw herself sitting quietly reading at her desk while some classmates were gossiping nearby. Apparently, one of the students had met a very high-ranking agent named Skye. Something about 'gifted people' and keeping them on a list.
Alex opened her eyes wide. Was she gifted? Is that what that word meant in that context? The pieces fell into place. The index. A list of people with powers—a list of people like her—constantly watched by S.H.I.E.L.D so a toe was never out of line. Am I on the index? she thought. Alex started to panic. Is my whole family on the index? She suddenly realized why she had been offered a spot in S.H.I.E.L.D Academy in the first place. It wasn't to be the best agent, or an agent at all even. It was so they could watch her even more closely.
Alex felt sick at the thought of never being free from S.H.I.E.L.D. She could never live a normal life. No wonder Mom and Dad moved us to the middle of freaking nowhere, she thought. An illusion of freedom.
Before she knew why or where she was going, Alex was sprinting through the tall wheat towards the city looming far off on the horizon. Tears stung in her eyes, but the warm afternoon air welcomed her like a hug and she smiled just slightly at the false sense of freedom. Alex didn't know how long she was running, but when her lungs began to burn and her muscles begged for her to stop, she obliged and paused to rest. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees, heaving great breaths. Her hair fell over her shoulders and into her face but she let it dangle there letting the blood rush to her head. After her moment of rest, she flipped her hair back and was startled by Loki standing just inches from her.
"Jesus Christ!" she screamed as she stumbled backwards.
"Wrong deity," he joked as she hit the ground clumsily.
"Good God, you scared me." The words sounded ridiculous, as if she were startled by an old friend.
"Where might you be venturing today, Darling?" Loki asked, his tone cheerful and kind.
"I just needed some fresh air." She wiped tears from her cheeks quickly with the back of her hand and sniffled like a child as she rose to her feet and turned away from him, hugging herself in an attempt to stop from crying in front of him.
"If you want fresh air, you need only ask," he said kindly with a smile. Alex remained stone still with her back to him. "Is something wrong, Alexandra?" he asked sincerely.
"You were right," she whispered, her voice wavering. "About S.H.I.E.L.D. They keep a list of what they call 'gifted individuals' like me. It's called the Index." She sniffled again and a silence fell between them momentarily.
"It seems every realm is the same," Loki began quietly. "We fear what we do not understand. My magic is not something that is common in Asgard just as your talent is not common among Midgardians. We are mocked and ostracized for our unique abilities, pushed into the shadows while those who match with society's norms are embraced."
Alex turned slowly to face Loki but she kept her eyes fixed on the ground. Loki stepped towards her, anxious to comfort her. He lifted her chin gently with one cool finger so her eyes met his.
"We are beautiful creatures, you and I," he nearly whispered. Loki caught an escaped tear on her cheek with his thumb. Alex lowered her head again and stepped closer to him, placing her forehead on his chest with her arms still crossed tightly in front of her. Loki froze, unsure of what to do next. He decided to wrap one arm around her and they stood statue still like that until he spoke again.
"I remember my mother teaching me about illusions and magic as a child. I also remember what it is like for one's peers to mock them."
Alex stepped back out of his embrace. "How old are you? You sound like my dad."
Loki turned Alex back towards the house and they began to walk together.
"I am approximately 1,050 years old," he answered, delighting in her utter bemusement as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
"Wow, you're old."
"Perhaps to a Midgardian, but seeing as Aesir live anywhere between 5,000 and 6,000 years, I'd say I am quite a young fellow," Loki responded. "If you do the arithmetic, the ratio shows that I would be in my early twenties in Midgardian years." He smirked down at her as they walked.
"So all of this rage and the daddy issues and such is just Asgardian teenage angst," Alex joked. Loki stopped a moment in his tracks. A look of sheer confusion crossed his face in a flash, but he had no response. He blinked away his confusion and caught up to her in two long strides.
"I beg your pardon," he stated loudly to her. "'Daddy issues?' Are you serious?" Alex smirked up at him and simply shrugged her shoulders.
Loki began returning to the house in the mid-afternoon rather than in the evening. Though she missed her family, Alex's longing to return to Earth had ebbed. She had no desire to return to a planet where she was deemed a freak. Every few days Loki and Alex would stroll through the wheat field in no particular direction, talking and laughing as they bantered back and forth about nothing of importance.
"I'm lonely," Alex said rather suddenly on one of these walks.
"Am I not good company?" Loki asked.
"Well, you've gotten better," Alex replied smiling up at him. "But I like to people watch. I'm getting pretty bored of that house. I'm going stir crazy."
"People watch," Loki repeated as if he was trying to understand what people watching could entail.
"It means to literally go out and watch people," she clarified.
"That sounds utterly boring. And a bit bizarre," he added. "Is that normal behavior on Midgard?"
"Well, you don't want people to know that you are people watching," she snickered at his confusion. "My sister used to drive us to the mall. It's a place with a bunch of stores where you can get clothes or jewelry or whatever," she clarified when he raised an eyebrow at the word 'mall.' "Anyway, we would get coffee and just watch people and talk about the way people walk or the way they're dressed or the way families look together. Not in a mean way. It was just something to do."
"I see," he said flatly. "So you just stare at others for fun? As I said, that sounds rather boring."
"Never mind. It's hard to explain." Alex put her head down and her ears reddened as she realized how weird she probably sounded to him. "I just miss seeing other people."
"I can take you into the city if you promise to behave."
"You act like I'm a child you need to babysit," Alex scoffed but then became serious when she looked up and saw that he was not kidding her. "You're serious? We can go?"
"There are rules, Alexandra," Loki began. "You cannot speak to anyone because they will immediately know from your accent that you are not of Asgard. You must stay by my side at all times. You cannot call me by name, obviously. Am I clear?"
"Yes, yes!" Alex was nearly jumping up and down with anticipation. "Won't people recognize you though?"
"No, I assure you only a very select few people know my female form."
Alex nearly choked. "I'm sorry, you're what?" She watched as shimmering green light began at his head and swathed his body down to his feet, leaving a tall, thin woman with long black hair standing in front of her. Soft emerald green fabric draped over one shoulder, leaving the other exposed. A black leather corset pulled the waist in as the green fabric flowed mellifluously from under it down the woman's long legs. Loki's once sharp features were softer. Alex could still see some of Loki in the woman's face but knew he was well disguised.
"You make a lovely woman," she said stifling a giggle.
"So I've been told," he replied flatly with a tinge of annoyance to his feminine tone. "Are we going to the city or not?"
"No, we are," Alex answered, pulling herself together. Loki wrapped a less muscular arm around Alex's waist and in a flash of green light the wheat field was empty.
