She felt the ship take a sudden lurch and alarms started echoing through the halls. She tore her eyes away from Loki and looked around her, a nervous feeling gnawing at her stomach.
"It is nothing to fret about," Loki said, trying to ease her nerves. "It is but my escape from this tragedy you call a ship," he smirked as she returned her gaze to him.
She gave a playful scoff. "Don't tell me you've doomed us all," she rolled her eyes, not really feeling like she was actually in danger whatsoever.
He shook his head. "Of course not. This is just an attempt to scatter Director Fury's team and allow me to escape from his confines. It is, however, a delicate plan; should I have overestimated the intelligence of him and his crew, we could all very well be dead before this craft hits the ground," he said as he tapped the glass a few times with his fingers absent mindedly.
"I'm sorry?" she raised her brow.
"I thought you to trust me?"
She looked into his emerald eyes and nodded. "Of course I do."
"Then you have no reason to fret." He was already plotting and planning what his next move was. He had worked out everything up until this point, but since he very well knew that plans such as extravagant as this one never worked out according to such plans. I must take her with me. The last time I left her, I had no knowledge of her state and I refuse to let that happen once more. "Will you follow?"
"What?"
"Will you follow me? Once my men walk through those doors and set me free, will you follow?" he explained to her, eyes locking with her and not letting her look away.
"They'll kill me in a second should I go with you, Loki," she sighed.
"They will kill you once they see the footage from that camera over in the corner. Do you honestly think the Director would allow you to continue to fight from his side when you've so willingly walked through that metal door to speak to me?" he said with narrowed eyes. "I trust you, therefore why should he trust you?" He was only pointing out the truth.
"I was actually restrained in a hospital bed and your brother came in to talk to me," she stopped him before he got any further. She saw the snarl grace his lips and then slowly fade. "Don't give me that, Loki. Thor was the one who let me out and told me to come talk to you. He said he'd take the fall from Fury," she told him.
His snarl vanished completely. "Thor sent you?"
"He didn't send me; he said that I shouldn't leave you. He didn't want me to go and betray you and just be another mistake," she corrected him quickly. "He didn't want me to choose a side. He wanted me to make amends with you, and still keep to S.H.I.E.L.D's code. I never wanted to be caught in the middle of this war in the first place, but picking a side will be just as bad if not worse. Your brother giving me this chance has made it possible for me to still play on both sides here. "
So my brother is looking out for me; taking care of his adopted brother… Loki thought, shifting his eyes to the ground. "I never wanted this…" he said softly, knowing the camera couldn't pick up his voice at that level. "This war?" He never got to complete his thought, for the roar of…something…pierced through the air. He looked up and let a wide smile curl across his lips.
"The beast has awoken," he said in a menacing tone, standing up to walk over to his bench. "In due time, I shall be set free. Do you wish to go with me, or shall I leave you here in hopes that the jaws of S.H.I.E.L.D shall spare your life?"
Orthani exhaled roughly. "Leave me. I shall deal with them, but just as long as you know that I'm not breaking that promise I made you," she said, attempting to pick herself up off the ground by using the guardrails.
"And what is that, dear?" he held his chin up as he sat down on the bench.
"That I won't go back on my word. I won't stand on their side, I won't stand on yours, but I will never fight against you. Just promise me this," she stood up straight and used the guardrail for support.
He raised his brow, indicating he was listening.
"Don't give them a reason to kill me."
He lowered his chin. "I swear on my life that they will not get to you."
Suddenly the ship lurched, and the all familiar feeling of falling from mid air took over.
"I really hope you know what you're doing," she said as she slowly started limping for the door.
"I thought I told you to stay?" he called out to her, making her stop in her tracks. "The first time I left you, I knew not of your fate. I refuse to see to that again."
She sighed and gave a smile. "Fine then. You win. Only until you get picked up, though." She said, leaning against the railing.
Actually, I believe I have different plans, my love.
At that moment, the two doors opened and in walked two S.H.I.E.L.D guards with machine guns strapped to their shoulders.
"Ah, took long enough, hasn't it," Loki hummed as one of the guards went to the computer to open the doors to the cage he was being held captive in. He stood up and waited at the door.
Just as the doors were sliding open, a loud "NO!" startled everyone. Thor went running for his brother and jumped in an attempt to tackle him. Loki reacted quickly and stood like he was preparing for the hit, but then Thor flew right through him. The image of Loki faded as he reappeared besides the control panel.
Thor jumped up just as the doors closed on him and looked around wildly in confusion. He made direct eye contact with Loki.
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki said smugly in taunting him.
Thor let out a grunt and swung Mjolnir at the glass of the cage, it only leaving a good crack but yet shaking the entire room. Loki waited for the quake to end then smirked widely.
"The humans think us immortal," Loki said as he turned his back to the cage and walked over to the control panel.
"Loki, you-," Orthani tried to reason before he put his hand up to cease her talking.
"Should we test that?" Loki gave her a look before turning his attention back to Thor.
He wouldn't…
She didn't even have time to process what was going on before the guard who was standing behind her fell to the ground and she suddenly felt her bad leg being yanked out from underneath her.
She didn't even feel herself hit the ground. All she felt was the excruciating pain of the arrowhead still lodged in her thigh grind itself deeper into muscle. She couldn't help but let out a yelp as she hit the floor and then started writhing in agony. The gritted her teeth and groaned at the now constant throbbing of pain coursing through her leg. The white bandage she had wrapped around the hole in her leg slowly started to turn red.
"Move away please?" she heard Coulson's voice say. She looked up at Loki with pain written all over her face and watched as he slowly backed away from the controls. "You like this?" Coulson said as he stepped over her body, ignoring the fact he had just caused her even more damage to her leg than what was already done. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does."
Orthani was lying face down on the ground but had her eyes on Loki, her hand clutching her now reopened wound. She was breathing heavily from fighting off her urges to scream out to ease some of the pain and she could feel the bandage soaking up the blood. There was only a small amount of blood staining the top layer of the bandage at that point, but they had wrapped it several times over the wound, which didn't make that a good thing.
She heard a weapon being turned on and a noise indicating it was charging up. "You wanna find out?"
She groaned and put her head down on her arm, wincing as she fought off another wave of searing hot pain that washed over her as the tip of that arrow pulled at tiny muscle strands and such in ways they shouldn't be pulled, which eventually led to them being broken.
Just as the groan escaped her lips, she heard the familiar sound of something being shoved through human skin near her as well as a cry in pain echo off the walls. She quickly looked up to see Loki standing with the scepter shoved through Coulson's chest.
"NO!" Thor roared, slamming his fist against the glass in protest. The Loki double that was standing over by the controls slowly faded out of existence as Loki pulled his scepter from Coulson's chest, the claw now brilliantly glistening rubies from Coulson's blood.
Thor watched in a silent horror as Loki slowly shoved Coulson to the ground and then turned to Orthani, who was still lying on the ground trying to not scream out. He knelt down next to her and turned her so that she was lying on her back.
"Do you trust me," he whispered, an emotionless face plastered on his features.
She couldn't speak; all she could do was nod.
His hand shot to her thigh where her wound was now bleeding from and he squeezed her leg, hard. Her back arched as she screamed, the pain from that unbearable. She curled up in the fetal position at his feet as he continued to clutch her wound with a vice grip, her body twitching in agony.
Suddenly, she went silent, and her body went still.
Did he not kill her? Thor thought to himself as he watched Loki's eyes flick from Orthani's limp figure to him So this was but a game all this time?
He watched as Loki stood up, blood now glistening on his hand from Orthani's wound. Loki kept his eyes on his brother with a hungry for vengeance stare as he walked back over to the control panel. He watched as he pressed a button, and the vent below the cage opened its mouth. Air rushed up the passage, filling the entire room with a soft growl of rushing wind.
Thor's breathing was heavy with anger, terror, and even panic from what was about to happen. Loki watched as he backed away from the glass and looked down wildly for an explanation as to what was going to happen. He pressed the button without looking, and then watched his brother fall down the chute and plummet to a most certain death, and if he escaped death, it would be sure impalement.
He closed the small plastic case covering the button for the cage drop with a soft click. He turned to head towards the door.
"You're going to lose," he heard Coulson croak from where he was resting up against the wall.
He forced himself to hold in a scoff. "Am I?"
"It's in your nature."
Loki was laughing on the inside at the man's absolute blatantly stupid nobility. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" he said snidely.
"You lack conviction."
His cocky expression fell instantly and was replaced with a sneer. "I don't think I-"
His gun went off and sent him flying through the wall behind him in a ball of fire. Loki laid there for a moment, waiting for the air to return to his lungs and for the smoke to clear off a bit. He picked himself and stared Coulson down, wanting to retrieve his scepter and plunge it through his skull this time. He let out a growl and walked back through the wall, picking up the scepter that was lying on the metal grates in front of the control panels. He smoothed out his clothing with the same, terrifying and psychotic snarl on his face that was present when he was speaking with Natasha.
"I refuse to play your foolish games," he said as he slowly advanced towards Coulson.
"You still won't win."
Loki let a snarl growl in his throat before he turned on his heels and started heading for the door. He suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder at Orthani now lying on the ground.
She wasn't dead, no. He had used a spell to rid her of her pain temporarily and send her into a deep sleep, but it did nothing to stop the bleeding. His angry face softened.
Should I honestly honor her wishes and trust these sniveling, incompetent fools to tend to her as she so rightfully deserves?
No. He couldn't. The last time when he walked away from her, she was in perfect health and not lying on the floor slowly dying. He couldn't leave her here, especially since he had just rid S.H.I.E.L.D of the god who promised to take blame for her being out of her place.
I swore to her they would not get her.
He made the scepter in his hand vanish in thin air and swiftly walked to Orthani's body, still limp with sleep. He carefully scooped her into his arms, trying not to shift her to where that arrow would do any more harm. Before Agent Coulson even had time to speak, he made his way out of the room and headed down a passageway that would lead to the top airstrip without passing any of the S.H.I.E.L.D guards that he had no control over.
One of his men approached him as he hopped up on the flight deck. "Sir, this way. They've almost got the turbine back up." The guard started leading him towards their getaway aircraft
He had no idea what that meant, but he knew it wasn't ideal in their escape. "They cannot stop us at this point," he growled, trotting towards the jet. "Where's Barton?" he shot over his shoulder.
"The Widow got him, sir."
He silently cursed to himself. "Leave him. We must go," he ordered as he climbed into the back, the jet being almost identical to the one he had arrived there on.
The rest of his men followed him in and the jet took off, the door closing as it caught air. Loki had put her on the floor of the aircraft, she still unconscious and bleeding through her bandage.
"Who is that sir?" one of his guards asked as Loki looked her over with compassionate eyes. Yet, that look quickly vanished.
"I don't recall giving you permission to talk, soldier!" he snapped, his eyes darting to the one who spoke. "Tell me, did you get the Tesseract where I sent it to?" he asked, drawing attention away from who he had taken from S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Yes sir, it's sitting at Stark Tower with Selvig, sir."
"Good," Loki nodded and put his focus back on Orthani. At least I will have no other use of these bumbling idiots once I am taken there. "Take me there. You will drop me off, return back to our base of operations and you will wait there for further instructions," he ordered.
"Yes sir! We'll be there in 10 minutes."
Must they always have the last word? He thought annoyed. He kept his eyes on her, not wanting to take them off in case something happened. He noticed her bandage was soaked with blood and he figured she was still more than likely bleeding slightly underneath it. She is not immortal; if her blood loss is not controlled…
He grabbed onto her leg again as he did before, this time not squeezing her half to death like before. He closed his eyes and focused his energy onto that one spot trying to just heal it enough to stop the bleeding. When he got to Stark Tower, he would heal her completely, but for the time being he just needed to keep her from losing too much blood. From his forearm down to his fingers, his arm started to glow a gold hue as his magic wove itself down to her wound and sealed off the hole in her leg. He didn't close the entire wound, just enough to stop the blood.
He gave it a few seconds before he took his hand off it, once again his hand covered in her glistening blood. He didn't wipe it off like he did before; he simply let it sit on his hand until he was dropped off at Stark Tower. When they had landed on the very top of the building for him to get out, he once again picked her up and carried her off. He took her into Stark's overly extravagant dwelling place and set her down on the floor gently. He had to heal her; he couldn't stand to see another look of torture on her face should she wake up still crippled and helpless.
He unsheathed one of her daggers from her waist belt and sat down next to her, looking at his reflection in the blade. He glanced at the bandage soaked in blood and determined that whoever had been kind enough to bandage her up in the first place had cut a big enough hole over the wound that he could cut the bandage without having to remove anything. Had it not been the case, he would have just healed her through the bandage, for he didn't have the time to do much else.
He exhaled and sliced the bandage in half, pulled it off, and tossed it aside. I do apologize, Tony, for-ah wait, I don't actually care about the state of your quarters.
"Agent Romanoff, you said you had Barton with you?" Nick spoke directly to Natasha over his radio.
"Yeah, we're in the medical wing. I've locked us both in the isolation chamber. He'll be under restraints until I know Loki's out of him," he heard her reply swiftly.
Nick nodded. "Copy that. Let me know when you release him," he ordered, afterwards putting the radio in his coat pocket. He went to talk to Steve and Tony to try and give them some sort of motivation to actually get the team to work as a team before rushing down to where the medics had taken the body of Agent Coulson.
He passed the room where he saw Romanoff and Barton, Clint still tightly fastened to the bed with the Velcro restraints trying to fight off the rest of Loki's mind control. He continued down the hall to go and retrieve Coulson's things until he just stopped walking.
We only have one isolation chamber with bed restraints… he thought to himself. And I remember restraining and locking Mynx in that one room myself…
He turned back around and made a beeline for that one room. After punching in a pass code, he swung the door open and Romanoff turned her head to face him.
"Now where the hell is my Agent, Natasha?"
She furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about, sir?"
"I remember handcuffing Orthani Mynx to that very bed myself just four hours ago," he said, pointing to the bed Clint was now in.
"This room was empty when I got down here…" she trailed off, looking up at Nick with a puzzled expression.
"You mean to tell me she is running around here loose?" he widened his eyes, speaking in a dry sort of sarcasm.
Natasha didn't answer him.
"Keep your radio on, I might have a side mission for you in a moment or two," he told her, closing the door behind him. He took out his radio again. "I need all security members who have eyes and can walk on both feet to team up and sweep the ship in search of Agent Mynx. I don't care if you're bleeding from your ears, I need you on your feet and searching for her," he relayed over the mass security system. "I expect you to find her and report back to me."
After two hours, she still hadn't been found.
"Now, I know she's good at hiding, but no person alive can hide so well even our security can't find her after sweeping the entire goddamn ship with a fine toothed comb," Nick cursed, folding his arms in front of his chest and watching as his Avengers commandeered a jet and headed for Manhattan.
"Maybe she left, sir," Agent Hill spoke up from behind him.
He nodded. "Get our communication up with that aircraft. I have something to tell our two assassins," he ordered, bringing a hand to his face in contemplation.
"Communication is up, sir," Hill answered, showing him on the computer screen.
"Good, get me on the line in that aircraft," he said as he pulled his radio out of his coat for the billionth time that day it seemed.
Hill typed something into the monitor and then nodded. "You're connected to their communication, sir."
"Agent Romanoff, and Agent Barton, do you copy?" he spoke clearly, and then went silent waiting for a reply.
"Agents Barton and Romanoff, we copy."
"Agent Mynx has vanished on us, and she isn't on this aircraft. If you see her, kill her. That is an order." His voice proved that he wasn't messing around.
Silence fell for a few seconds.
"I can't do that, sir," he heard Clint relay back. "I've already shot her once when I was under Loki's control. I refuse to do it again. She's still my partner, regardless of what you think she's doing."
Nick exhaled in frustration. "Agent Romanoff? Do you comply?"
There were another few moments of silence.
"I copy sir. Kill Agent Orthani Mynx on sight." He could tell Barton wasn't happy with her answer by the way he heard a low growl in the background.
"Good. I can't have her fucking us up any more royally than she already has."
A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I didn't think that chapter was going to be so well receipted,so thank you sooo much! I love you guys, especially if you're still reading after all this time. x)
Ok, so if you can't tell, we're slowly coming to the end of the Avengers movie. Which means this story shall soon be coming to a close. I know, it's kinda sad. HOWEVER. I have decided to tell you this now, why, I don't know. But I had an epiphany last night and I think I could possibly do a sequel, completely of my own ideas and plot and stuff, and pull it off and have it be epic. However, I'm going to leave that up to you. If you want to see a sequel, then let me know from this point out at any time, and if I see enough people want to read it, I'll go ahead and start writing it. It's very Marvel-esque, I will say that much.
So yeah, this isn't over yet! Just hold on for the end of this one as well; it's gonna be a strange ride. O.o
Alzu: Aw, thank you! I try and keep my posts around the same time, which is around 10 am Central time. (I have no idea what it is for Global and I'm too lazy to figure it out x.x) so it you hang around your computer around that time, then I will normally post around 10 to 11 ish give or take. Maybe even earlier on some days.
Angie007: Jealousy is an interesting thought. A jealous Loki.O.o I don't know if I could handle myself at that point.
Jayc Black: What? I managed to pull of a compassionate Loki without sounding like a moron? xD And thank you, really. That means a whole lot to me, honestly.
R. M: Glad I was able to meet the expectations here. x) Thanks again!
anime0angel: ;-; Oh my god, I'm speechless right now. Thank you. So freaking much. I don't think I can say that enough. I'm absolutely flattered you'd say that about this story, holy cow.
ALittleLoser: Ehehehehehe. I hope this update answers your question.
Captain Cynthia: You are totally forgiven. And thank you for being such an avid reader from the get-go. =) And you get props for being the first one to call my story epic. x)
And with the whole choosing a side thing, you'll sorta see how it all plays out when the Tesseract opens. The chapter after this one will be the one that really explains the whole 'choosing a side,' and I doubt it'll make everyone all sad.
LadyRae19: Thank you! I'm so happy that people think it was believable. With Loki, it's hard to tell. x.x
TheMagentaColor: Oooh boy, then you're gonna be on the edge of your seat every time I update. x)
LJ: Yay! Writer Success! WOO! Haha, sorry, had to say that. THANK YOU KIND PERSON. (Why that came out like Thor said it, I have no idea. O_o...awkwardd...