Training with Loki proves much more difficult than either of us anticipated. Too many distractions cropping up here and there, since getting thrown against the wall by a Norse god and manhandled by him is exactly as hot as it sounds.
So when Thor and Sif offered to help out, things were really sped up with the additional effort. It still took several weeks before I was moderately able to hold my own, though I still can only take one of them at a time. Training's gone faster with weapons at least, thanks to Loki—I'm real good with daggers.
The emotional side of things are still a bit shaky still, though. I've had to keep all of this a secret from my friends and family, which was rougher than I thought it'd be. Pepper, Tony, and the Asgardians are the closest friends I have, but they're not particularly inclined to discuss these matters much. I've never been particularly close to my family or people at the Academy, but it sucks to pretend like nothing's going on every now and again when people ask. Part of me feels like it would be a huge relief to just pour it all out to someone.
Apart from that, life goes on as usual. Loki walks home with me a bit less than he used to, though he insists that I carry his daggers on me on nights when I do walk home alone—nights like tonight. They're outrageously uncomfortable, but I've been wearing boots just for the sake of having someplace to tuck them into. Changing out of my dance apparel and sneaking them in there is a bit of a hassle every time, but walking home from Barnes and Noble is a lot easier, since there's no changing involved.
At least, for now it's easier. It won't be for much longer.
And that, in fact, is the reason I've got a bit of a skip in my step tonight. Since at the end of the summer, I'll be saying goodbye to performing and Barnes-and-Noble-ing for a while, because I landed a position with the Academy as director of choreography.
Only downside is that I'll be working with James a bit more frequently.
Still, for all that he's a sleezebag, he's been getting more and more well behaved over the past few weeks… in no small part because I've been directing my power toward detangling the mess I'd apparently made there too.
Evidently spending an excess amount of time listening to me sing had a bit of an 'effect' on him too—which is supposed to excuse his behavior and prior 'attempted' offenses, but I think that if he didn't have it in him, the power probably wouldn't have brought it out.
Still, I'm willing to accept friendly terms and second chances as long as he behaves himself—which he has been doing. After all, no one else ever really had the same complaints about him that I did, never the same issues. It's in my favor either way, and practicing control of my power on him also has its obvious uses. Nothing cruel or out of character, obviously. Just… Detangling.
The daggers are shifting uncomfortably in my tall boots, but I've got the biggest smile on my face as I sift through the people on the street. I won't be making the mistake of turning the corner down the alley again, even if it is a shortcut—the street we live on is generally quiet enough as it is.
So quiet, in fact, that the two pairs of footsteps behind me seem to appear out of nowhere, and match my pace all the way down the block. My smile fades a bit, but I continue striding down the block briskly, eyeing the stairs to my right and cars to the left of the sidewalk as I go—trying to catch some reflection, or anything at all, to figure out who's behind me.
Definite possibility that I'm just paranoid, of course… It might just be some normal couple walking behind me. But the silence between them is bordering on being unnatural, and I really, really don't want to find out whether Loki was right to have me carry these things around.
"Cerys," a deep voice says my name and I turn my head, hands buried in my coat pockets as I continue walking, seeing two figures following behind me—a man and a woman, both dark-haired, and wearing seemingly casual apparel, save for long, dark coats.
"Who are you?" I ask monotonously, and my heels click more loudly against the asphalt as I turn back and pick up the pace a bit.
"Please wait, we're not here to hurt you."
"Famous last words to be heard," I murmur, but stop anyway, pivoting slowly toward them.
They come to a stop, and the woman eyes me intently. I furrow a brow slightly at the reddish tint of her eyes. "Who are you?" I ask assertively.
"We're with A.I.M," the woman says.
A.I.M.
The people that kidnapped me.
Color drains from my face as my breathing slows. "What do you want?" I ask sharply, trying to keep my tone steady.
"We're not here to take you, if that's what you're thinking," she says, shaking her head knowingly—as though she'd read my expression. "We're here to make you an offer."
My brow drops as my eyes widen. "…Excuse me?"
"Your situation was… mishandled," the man addresses me, and I look over at him, glancing about his tall stature beside her. "You were never meant to be taken by force."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"We came here to make you an offer, to ask you to come with us. Completely of your own free will, and only if you want to. We have a team, and we'd like you to be a part of it," says the woman, raising a hand and gesturing to herself. "My name is Yuriko, this is Pyreus," she pauses, tucking it back into her coat. "You actually met before, under… Less fortunate circumstances."
I look up at Pyreus, and his gaze slides downward as he raises a hand slowly into the air.
I gasp as it bursts aflame, jumping back with both hands out at my side.
It's him, the… flaming shit. The creature from the lab that burned Loki. I bend down to my boots, grasping the small bolsters and pulling them out of my boots—stepping back into an offensive position, half-turned and prepared to make a run for it if I need to.
"What the hell is this!?" I hiss through my teeth.
The flames subside as he turns his gaze heavily to Yuriko. I watch as they exchange concerned glances for a moment, before looking back at me.
"I've been called Lady Deathstrike," she says. "This is Firelord. We were recruited by A.I.M as part of an initiative, and we've been searching for others like us. You, for example."
"And kidnapping me was what, a recruitment method?" I grind out at them with a low, aggressive tone. "Do you know what they did to me?" I nod in Pyreus' direction.
"You were the only one of your kind that we managed to find," he says. "Alastair isn't known for doing things by-the-book, and again, those experiments weren't authorized. He didn't tell us that, though," he regards Yuriko annoyedly. "Fucking scientists."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Seemed to me like you guys were pretty well prepared to receive someone like me. Had all that shit ready to go when I was there."
He shakes his head. "Those machines weren't meant for you. Alastair lied when he told you they brought you to headquarters. You were at a peripheral lab, and he brought you there to harvest your powers and catalog them for usage, with or without your consent. When our people at headquarters heard what was happening there, they shut his projects down and sent us to collect you the right way. We need people to be with us because they believe in our mission, not because they're being forced to."
"And what's that, exactly?"
"We overthrow governments," he states plainly. "And reforge them."
My eyes widen with disdain. "And why the hell would I want anything to do with that?"
Pyreus continues. "Your ass lives out in this world, am I wrong? Have you seen what's going on out there? War and ruin—people die by the hundreds every single day," he steps toward me, gesturing earnestly with his hand in the air. "Two-hundred and forty three women and children were murdered today alone, blown to bits because they were caught in the cross fire between an authoritarian government and rebel soldiers. Look it up yourself, you won't find it handed to you on the news. But it's all happening right now, even if you're too far away to see it."
"And," Yuriko interjects. "By your close association with the younger Odinson, we thought you'd be open to the idea."
I lower my chin, looking toward her confusedly. "Loki? What does he have to do with any of this?"
I watch as they exchange glances, and Yuriko knits her brows together as she looks back at me. "The leader of the Chitauri invasion… Living amongst the Asgardians and S.H.I.E.L.D itself, true enough, but he's the very emblem of our mission. We thought that you might-"
"Wait, wait," I interrupt, shaking my head briskly. "What are you talking about? What 'Chit-auri' invasion? You're… You're not talking about…" my voice trails off as I glare at them.
Yuriko catches the hint to finish my sentence, "The invasion that happened here, years back? Yes, that's the one."
Silence hardens the air surrounding us, and I lower the daggers slowly, lips parted slightly as I stare at her. "No way," I shake my head. "No way in hell, you're lying—whatever that was, it was… If Loki was a part of that, I would've heard about it by now."
She shakes her head. "I'm surprised you're only hearing about it now. We assumed you knew. Why do you think the Avengers encircle him so closely?"
For the first time, I look away from them, trailing my eyes along the ground as I try to put together the pieces. Seeing all the S.H.I.E.L.D agents surrounding him the first day we met, the way that Pepper told me to be careful with him the day of the festival, how Sif warned me about him too… It can't be, though. I would've known sooner, someone would've told me…
"We'll give you time to think about it," Yuriko's voice snaps me back out of my thoughts, and I recoil slightly as she approaches me with a piece of paper in her hand. I look down as she holds it out to me, "Call this number when you decide. You can always turn back if you want to, and nothing will happen if you choose not to call. Nor will you see Alastair again if you do," she pauses, eyeing my disconcerted expression intently. "We take care of our own."
I watch as she looks down and begins digging around for something in her coat, until she pulls out a small device. "And as for the Odinson…" she mumbles, and a screen pops up with a number of codes and cyphers that I can't make out.
After a few moments of watching her punch in some passwords, a camera recording of Loki begins to play, zooming in on him wearing golden horns, and circling a device with a blue cube in the center of some rooftop—golden spear in hand. I swallow thickly when I realize that the building is Stark tower, where the portal had opened up.
I stare at the screen as it zooms into him further, unsure of what to say as she reaches out and presses the paper against my thumb—still gripping the dagger tightly in my hand. Almost without thinking, I shift it slightly to make room for it against the hilt.
"If you still don't believe it, you can ask your friends at S.H.I.E.L.D. Or dig around a little in their files," Yuriko says, staring at me earnestly as she puts the device away. "Even if it means breaking the rules a little, you'll find out the truth. I'm sure it would help you decide. And," she steps back and tucks her hands into her black coat. "You could make a real difference in the world if you did. Much more than you would dancing and singing away your gift. So, think about our offer. We'll be waiting to hear from you—hopefully."
I watch as she turns back toward Pyreus quietly, and disappears with him down one of the alleys between the buildings. I look down at the piece of paper for a moment, and deafening silence rings between my ears.
So much information to process, but hardly a single coherent thought manages to form in the moments that follow. My boots scrape across the ground as I finally pivot slowly, turning in the direction of home.
The loft is quiet by the time I get back, and it's clear that no one has come home yet. Loki'd mentioned to me that they had some Asgardian business to deal with tonight, one of their bi-weekly check-ins with their people, and it seems they haven't finished yet.
I leave the lights off as I stride into the middle of the dimly lit living room, looking out at the city lights beyond the glass, while my head buzzes amidst the fragile silence. I still haven't quite managed to think clearly about what just happened—my head's been too busy spinning with all the information it got bombarded with.
Never mind trying to calming myself down from the fact that I just had another encounter with A.I.M. Seems my brain's insisting on processing one damn thing at a time.
I lose track of how long I've been standing by the window like this, and pretty soon, I hear a pair of keys unlocking the door on the other side of the kitchen. A few merry voices fill the hallway on the other side, and I barely turn my head in their direction as they walk into the loft, flicking on the kitchen lights—leaving the living room in darkness.
Thor and Heimdall are in the middle of some conversation about schooling, it seems, while Loki and Sif trail behind them, silently listening. Thor gives me a smile and a greeting as he sets a small grocery bag on the counter, followed by Heimdall. Sif continues listening to Thor's statements about grades and age grouping as she follows him into the kitchen, eyeing the grocery bag, and only Loki seems to notice something off.
Only for a moment, though. The conversation ceases between the four of them, the mirth slowly melting away as they start to notice my sullen expression.
"Cerys, are you alright?" asks Thor, and Loki glances at him before looking back at me.
Loki pauses, waiting on a response that doesn't come, and finally steps forward. "Cerys?" he asks, stepping forward in his usual black jeans and leather coat. "Did something happen?"
I stare at him blankly. This supposed leader of the 'Chitauri' invasion, the reason for the remembrance festival that I've performed in these past two years. The emblem of A.I.M's mission. And… My lover, I guess. I haven't even called him my boyfriend yet, if that's what he is. He's just a lover, who never bothered to tell me exactly who and what he was before I bothered falling for him.
Loki's eyes narrow confusedly as he observes me.
Lies. The words seethe in my head as I peer at him. So many lies.
I turn my head back toward the window, feeling something cold and icy tighten in my chest. A calm resentment squeezing all the warmth and trust and care into a dense, unfeeling ball inside my heard. Part of it wants to tell them what happened, but… if what Yuriko said was true, if what she showed me was real, then they never bothered to tell me.
In fact, no one bothered to tell me anything important at any point—that I was a 'siren,' that they were taking me to Switzerland because there was a threat against me, that S.H.I.E.L.D was at the festival because of me, that Loki led an invasion that killed thousands of people and crumbled our city. None of it was information that anyone thought was relevant to share with me. Not S.H.I.E.L.D, Pepper, Tony, Thor and the others, and not Loki. No one.
The paper crumples a bit as I turn it over in my left hand, glancing at my hollow expression in the window reflection. I squeeze it tightly, and tuck it into my pocket. I won't bother to tell them, either. Who's to say what they would do with the information, what they would try to cover up, or what kinds of plans they might hatch for me? Yuriko said that nothing would happen if I decided not to call—I guess we'll find out, while I make up my mind.
"Nothing," I murmur, looking back at them blankly. "Nothing happened."
I glance at Loki, holding his emerald gaze for a moment. His brow flinches confusedly as he steps toward me, but nothing flickers in my chest in turn at the sight of his disconcertment. Nothing at all.
The others stand motionless, staring at me from the kitchen as I pivot slowly on my heel and tread across the living room. With their eyes on me, I disappear into the hallway and head to my room—pausing to lock the door behind me.
:X Uh oh. Looks like Cerys might be digging herself a bit of a hole. Maybe... I really can't help but wonder how this chapter left you all feeling, what you guys think is going to happen. Let me know in the reviews? I'm honestly super curious what you all think of what's happening right now, or what's going to happen. Or what Loki's thinking.
ALSO, I'm sure some of you noticed that I pulled in some characters from the comics. Yuriko and Firelord. AIM too, since they're not super directly part of the cinematic universe. I'm not exactly following Marvel's design by involving them with AIM, that's all just for the purpose of this story. But I thought it'd be cool to bring in some characters from the comics.
Also I don't know if you guys would want a heads up that the story will soon be coming to a close, but while I was reading others' work, I noticed that a lot of writers gave one. So I'm letting you all know too, we're definitely nearing the end. For this book, anyway. I've already cooked up a sequel that I will probably write.
But yeah, that's all for now. Love you guys, and I'm really really grateful to you, my faithful lurkers and commenters, subscribers and kudos-err! I really, really appreciate all the support you guys give. Really - thank you all so, so much.
