Don't let me see mistakes and lies
Let me keep my faith in innocent eyes
Innocent Eyes by Delta Goodrem
Chapter 11
"I don't see what you were trying to accomplish. They won't help you."
Loki continues in a campaign to ignore her. He hears her sigh and shuffle in her seat. He refuses to give into the temptation to look her way. Instead, he covers his eyes with his arm and blocks out the rest of the world.
He has been actively trying to ignore her since the interrogation. It was payback in a way. Jane probably knew this and is no doubt frustrated with him for his lack of attention and he liked it. Normally when he sulked back in the day, everyone let him. He once went an entire week without speaking as a child and not one person seemed to care back then. How refreshing.
The dynamic duo put Loki and his secret wife in a room with bunk beds, a chair, and a special agent in a second chair by the door. Loki still wore his handcuffs, but Jane remained free. He suspects this was so she could defend herself in the case of a feral dark-haired Asgardian-Frost Giant. He thinks this is preposterous until he reminds himself that he is only partially Frost Giant. He can't kill her, but he can sure as anything hurt her.
She is quite possibly the last person he wishes to hurt right now because she is his only remaining ally. She probably doesn't know it herself, but she will help him.
But first thing is first. They have a guard, are in a room being watched and listened to. SHIELD has refused to help him. No surprise there. All that limits the possible ways he can speak with her. Too bad she doesn't speak any alien languages, he thinks, considering he knew eight fluently.
Gathering his magic against the chains, he stretches his mind, feeling out of body as he does so. Nothing feels real. The only true cage is that of the mind, a scholar once said. How right he was. Loki feels a thrilling freedom to move his spirit beyond its normal confines. But then there are two insistent tugs, something tugging him forward and something tugging him backwards. He knows it is the magical drain pulling him backwards, but what is pulling him forward?
Reaching his mental hand forward, he is rewarded.
I still refuse to call him a god. Although watching him try and climb to the top bunk had been quite amusing, the amusement is gone now.
Unfortunate, she tells herself, unfortunate and rude, along with whatever adjective known to explain how mean he is. Don't react, he whispers to her, but she obviously thinks it is her own mental process.
Selfish, a coward, devious. Enough about that. Think Jane, how can I get out of this? Don't scream, he tells her.
There is only one guard and there is no doubt a camera somewhere on here. Probably more guards outside-
Don't react.
She stands with a gasp as her chair squeaks against that floor. The guard immediately tenses at the sudden movement. Loki could not see a thing. The strings that tied their minds together in this moment did not give him her sight. That's wasn't the idea. He didn't want to look through her eyes. But Loki can feel it.
Fool! Sit back down! Sit, now!
Jane gasps a breath against her raging heart and probably looks to the SHEILD agent. "Sorry, I'm... Feeling a little claustrophobic." He can gather that she sits in the metal chair again.
Get out, get out, get out, get out of my head!
After all the work that went into getting in here? Not likely.
The special agent remains blessedly silent while she is making mentally enough sound for all three of them.
Loki can only take so much screeching in a day. Would you stop screaming?
Get out of my head!
No. No, I don't think I will.
He knows she is tempted to raise her head and glare in his general direction, but feels her decide to grip her head instead. There isn't enough room in here for the both of us. One of us has got to go. You. Leave. Now. Her mind quiets and all he can hear is the blood pumping through his veins.
Is he gone? She wonders.
He feels the tug of his lips, begging to form a smirk. I don't take being ordered well.
Frustration fills Jane until she can't keep back a growl. Loki keeps back a swear. As soon as the sounds leaves her lips, he can hear their guard stand. He comes closer by the sound of it.
"I wouldn't mess with her," Loki sighs, "She's having a bad day."
You call being dragged to another planet by force, being locked up for being a victim, and having your private thoughts invaded a bad day? Really! I should come over there and hit you for underestimating the hell you have put me through!
"Miss, are you alright?"
No! She mentally screams. "I'm fine." I've lost a year and am married to a killer.
Loki remains silent to that slight. He knew he was a monster. It was another thing to hear James say it, though. It was concerning how much that bothered him and he chose not to think about it.
"We sent for coffee a while ago. Not sure what is taking them so long. Would you like something else? Water?"
"No, no. I'm alright." Loki can mentally hear her talking herself into smiling at the guard. "I just have this sudden headache and I don't know how to get rid of it." Loki verbally, as well as mentally, scoffs.
He can feel that the agent spares him a quick glare for scoffing at her pain, which was only half of the joke, before turning his gaze back to her.
"Advil?"
"Yes, two please," she groans. Loki mentally prods her again. We need to escape.
And why should I help you again?
Aside from the obvious that you are my partner now, we are on a schedule. And we don't have much time. Loki shifts his elbow enough to see out of the crook of it.
The agent looks up to the ceiling. "Anyone catch that?" He raises a hand to his ear.
You need to make a ruckus on the bed below mine. Go now.
Loki covers his eyes.
Jane's annoyance spikes. I haven't even agreed to help yo-
The agent tilts his head towards her. "They shouldn't be much longer. Perhaps you should try laying down?"
JANE FOSTER! NOW!
Her emotions calm into a knot of twitching energy before exploding into anger, confidence its sidekick. He can hear her moving swiftly, lunging for her bed, but then a loud bang comes and Jane is screaming.
Loki finds himself upright, eyes open in the next instant. His veins run cold and his eyes feel heat. The handcuffs already draining his magic, same kind as the ones back home. The mind link vanishes almost instantly, slipping from his grasp. He sucks in a breath, watching as the guard bows low to make sure Jane isn't broken. Loki lets himself roll off the high bed and land on the bent back of the guard. He has his changed hands over his victim's neck and pulls. The agent tries to fight him, Jane screams, and Loki sees the world tinged with a hue of red.
A scalding hot hand touches his blue arm and his eyes snap to Jane's. "Don't kill him," she pleads. For moment, Loki holds on, hearing the choking sounds beneath him die, then he lets go. The agent goes limp and Loki stands.
"I need something sharp," he breathes. Jane points with the same hand that had touched him. He bends over the mortal male and retrieves a knife. Sounds of an alarm go off while he calmly fiddles with his binds. He had a hand in designing these popular handcuffs back in the day. It was so long ago, many forget that he had his hand in many pots. Of course, at the time he thought he was just making his world a safer place. Come to find out, it wasn't even his world nor place.
His chains fall and he immediately turns to Jane, who is holding the side of her face with her free hand. He climbs onto her bed and pulls her closer. The door to their cell opens and SHEILD agents spill into the space, shouting.
He meets Hawkeye's gaze for only a split second. The warrior lets loose an arrow that is aimed for Loki's head. Loki, however, only smirks at the flying object before his world goes dark.
- somewhere on Earth -
Jane notices two things in the next couple of seconds.
The first being that her head hurts! Like my-head-feels-like-the-size-of-half-a-planet kind of hurt. The second thing was that she was home.
Literally.
Of all the places Loki could have teleported to, he chose a much more familiar desert with a sleepy little town in the distance.
Her elation dims as she feels Loki's arm holding her waist. She swings her hand and hits him on the chest. He gives her a look that clearly states that he did not deserve that.
"You almost got us killed!"
"I know," he hums, "It was wonderful."
He's mental. If he hears her thoughts, he doesn't comment as he drags her towards her own house. "Hey, I- let me fish out my-"
He waves his free hand and the door clicks before swinging open.
"-keys…"
He leads, well, drags her inside. The space reminds Jane of how long she's been gone. For over a year! It sure looks like she hadn't lived here in almost a year. There was dust on everything, but it smelt like home. The smell of dust and heat warms her soul. No matter how many candles she would light, the smell would always returned. Eventually she learned not to fight it. Now, however, Jane wouldn't rid her home of it for the world. She takes a deep breath. Something wasn't right, though… Before Jane has time to really think about it, Loki is seating her on at her dining table. He crouches before her and tugs on her arm.
"Let me see the damage."
She starts to shake her head and freezes in the next instant. Why does it hurt so badly?
"It's pulsing. If you'll just get me some ice, I'm sure I can-" her voice fades as a sticky substance runs down her wrist. Loki is forcing her hand away in the next instant, despite her hissing. Upon raising her hand, Jane Foster identifies the red substance on her palm just before some of it leaks into her eye.
"Well," she croaks, "I must have hit my head harder than I thought."
She feels her husband's-
It's Loki. Only Loki, Jane. Name him anything other and you will become attached.
-hand over her head. He is muttering something along the lines of, "Why am I always healing you?" She doesn't grace him with a response. She does, however, snap her gaze to his as his green gaze shifts from her head to her. It feels as if all her secrets are on display.
"Stay out of my head," she warns.
"Don't worry yourself. I haven't been since we got here and I'm not in a rush to try again." He drops his hand and stands.
A scream pierces the house and Jane's heart leaps out of her chest as a figure rushes from her bedroom. Loki extends his bloody hand, catching a baseball bat in mid-swing.
Jane's back straightens. "Darcy!"
But the intern is too busy panting and glaring at Loki to pay her any mind. She is currently sporting casual sleepwear with kitten slippers and hair that is chin length.
"You-you…" The intern sputters, "I'm going to kill you!"
"You'll have to get in line," Loki smirks. Smirks! Jane presently deciding if she should let her intern try. But, then again, she knows how powerful he is. She stands.
"Darcy... Darcy, calm down. Okay? Please calm down. You aren't doing anyone any good here. Put the bat down."
"B-but you- and he… And the blood!"
"Ah," Jane rubs her bloody forehead. "I can explain that."
The male releases the bat and Darcy brings it to her chest, hugging it like it is a teddy bear. Jane opens her arms and brings her dear friend close, bat and all. "I've missed you."
Darcy turns her lips to Jane's ear. "Why are you with the hot god from hell?"
The elder woman draws away. "I'll explain that, too. But later. We have SHIELD after us and we need a plan to get him," points with her thumb, "back to Asgard."
"I get the feeling that he doesn't want to go back. I say that because he is ignoring everything you said just now."
"What?" Jane turns to see Loki in her kitchen, slowly turning circles. His brow is knit and his lips are pressing. The girls join him in the kitchen and Jane is tempted to make herself a cup of coffee, but the frost giant holds her attention.
"What I am looking for…" he speaks, "It's here. The Aether is here."
Darcy leans into the countertop. "What's an Aether? Is it like Meow Meow?"
Jane tilts her head, content to not feel any ache. "Mjolnir, and I don't think so…"
Darcy lays the bat aside with a shrug. "Pop-Tarts and coffee for dinner anyone?"
The astrophysicist perks up to this. "Since when do you make coffee?"
"Since you have been gone for over a forever and I bought a Keurig. Less prep."
Loki is still investigating and Jane keeps him in her line of vision. She opens her mouth but the sound of a door squeaking open causes her pause.
A child, no more than six, trots into the kitchen and gets herself a glass off the counter. Taking a sip, the girl turns inquisitive eyes to Jane.
Jane, in turn, looks to Darcy.
The brunette intern smiles cheekily and bends her waist to the side, splaying her hands, as if presenting the next big thing.
"Surprise!"
Now there's a KID?
What will the dynamic duo do next?
Stay tuned!
Thank you Mrs. Marple Poirot, mfaerie32 (trust me!), Benfan1 (ah, that Ben. ;), Maddison1803, analise17 (sounds like someone needs to write a fanfic! run with the idea!), DarkFay, ISolemnlySwearToManageMischief, AvengersLoki, carlita stoneheart, jeadamized, megumisakura, Lilithakaducky (sorry. working on it.)! Love the feedback!
Now I want Pop-Tarts and a coffee. Problematic.
