Chapter 13: Shooting Stars

When Lev and Viktor returned with Barak in tow, she was back in bed, dressed in silk pajamas, and Loki was back in the chair beside her, reading Hamlet aloud from the tablet. She felt much better now that she was clean and appropriately dressed. Wandering around in an imaginary landscape created just for her enjoyment didn't hurt, either. Surprisingly, despite his earlier lecherous behavior, he behaved like a gentleman, even though both of them were only clothed in bath towels. She felt a pang of regret and, even now, was fighting the urge to reach out and run her fingers through his long, black hair.

"You look better," Lev told her.

"I feel better. Maybe I do need two days to rest," she conceded, cutting her eyes to Loki.

Lev looked startled by her admission but didn't comment further.

Switching gears with her usual speed, she said, "tell me you have something to shed light on all the shit going on."

Both Lev and Viktor smiled, but Barak looked angry. "As a matter of fact, we do," Lev told her.

Nova's easy attitude dissipated as he proceeded to lay out Ilia's deception. How Ilia was behind the original dispute between the two street gangs, the stolen coke shipment, the massacre, and finally the stolen gun shipment. He delivered the guns to the Norteños to use to muscle the B-Streeters off the streets so they could control coke sales in the city.

"How did you find all this out?" she stopped him with her question.

"He was screwing Mikhail's girlfriend. When Mikhail was killed and the shipment stolen, she figured out Ilia was pumping her for information and came to me. She's not as stupid as she acts."

Nova nodded and motioned him to continue. Next, he told her how they didn't think Ilia was brave enough or smart enough to do all that alone, so he went on a fishing trip to two of their most loyal heroine distributers. Both confirmed that Zhu had been pressuring them to distribute directly from the triad. From there it was only a matter of getting one of Ilia's men to spill the plans. For Ilia's help in destroying Nova's control over the city, they would help him take control of the coke side of the business while they kept the heroine side.

"That sniveling little worm almost pulled it off," Viktor spat. "The Norteños are planning to move against the B-Streeters this weekend."

"Shit! That doesn't leave us with a lot of time," she muttered.

"It leaves us plenty of time, Gospozha," Lev told her. "Do you think we have been sitting on out thumbs while you rested?"

"You have a plan?"

"Yes," he smiled.

"Tell me."

"Do you have something?" Zhu asked Ilia when he called.

"Oh, yes," Ilia told him barely able to control his glee. "She's playing right into our hands. I think we can put the final nails in her coffin this weekend."

"How so?" Zhu didn't sound as pleased by the prospect as he had anticipated.

"She's setting up a meeting with the B-Streeters to try to strong-arm them back into distributing her product."

"And? Don't you already have their demise planned for this weekend?" Zhu still wasn't getting it.

"You don't understand, Zhu. She plans to be at the meeting. Personally," he paused to let that sink in. "And if she's there, her enforcer and Viktor will be there too." He almost crowed the last.

There was silence on the other end of the connection, then, "Ah, I see. You are right, this is fortuitous for both of us."

"Exactly! We can take out her and most of her highest ranked people as well as the B-Streeters all at the same time."

"Text me the location and time of the meet," Zhu told him.

"I've got this, there's no reason for you to get involved," Ilia protested.

"My people will be there just for support, that's all," Zhu reassured him.

Ilia wasn't too happy about Zhu's interference, but, what the hell, the more guns, the better.

"My people will be in contact for coordination tomorrow," Zhu said and ended the call.

"Bastard," Ilia said to the phone. Then he turned to his two men and issued orders.

"If she's there, he won't be very far away," Dax/Craud told the Chitauri that was impersonating one of Ilia's men. "Gather the others, we will go to this meeting. We will grab the woman and the Asgardian will come to us."

Finally, he thought. He would finally get revenge on the person responsible for the end of his race. If not for Loki's meddling, they would never have been involved in the invasion of New York, nor would they have fallen prey to Thanos' influence when he came for the stone. Now he and his dwindling handful of followers were all that were left of their race.

Loki would pay for his part in their downfall.

Nova sat in a lounge chair out beside her pool and stared up at the few stars that could be seen over the city lights in the sky overhead. It was a warm summer night, so she was dressed is a simple little slip dress that only reached to midthigh, the slight breeze barely moving the light material.

Loki eased his tall frame into the lounge next to hers. "Everything in all set up?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, not taking her eyes off the stars. "Why are you helping?" she finally asked him the question that had been nagging her for a couple of hours. She had been exhausted after they laid out their plans and she made a few calls to lay in the final touches, so she had slept for a few hours. It had been dark when she woke up and the apartment was quiet. She felt restless, so she had come out here to think. Everything about the plan made sense except for his involvement. She just couldn't figure out what was in if for him.

"Do I have to have a reason?" he asked.

She tore her eyes away from the sky and looked at him. He had shed the heavy jacket and was just wearing the lighter tunic and pants and looked relaxed. She knew better. He was scheming. It was just part of who he was, just like her anger was part of who she was.

"Fine," she said feigning indifference, "keep your secrets." She swung her legs over the side of the lounge preparing to rise.

Strong, cool fingers gripped her wrist. "Wait," he bade her.

She settled back and looked at him expectantly.

"It will be a chance for me to draw out the rest of the Chitauri," he told her. "If they are going to make a move, that would be the perfect time."

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" she asked him, teasingly.

He clutched his chest dramatically, "the pain!"

They both laughed, but then he looked at her curiously. "Why do you do this?"

It was her turn to play coy. "Do what?"

"The crime queen thing," he clarified. "You are beautiful and smart. You could do anything you wanted."

She gave a short, almost bitter laugh. "In case you've missed it, I have a vicious temper. Plus, I have questionable morals. Not a good combination for the corporate world."

"Isn't that what you humans have lawyers for?" he asked half-jokingly.

She didn't answer. Instead, she considered his comment. What she didn't tell him is that she hadn't planned on this life. At one time, she had dreamed of being a doctor. She had wanted to heal people. But then her brothers had both died and her father had reeled her into the family business. After that, she never had a choice. So, she had crushed her desire to heal. It wasn't until after that point that her rage surfaced.

Her thoughts were drawn back to the present by the feel of his fingers on her arm, tracing an invisible pattern.

"There you are," he murmured. "Where were you?"

"No place important," she responded, looking back up at the sky. Changing the subject to something less painful she asked, "what did the stars look like where you grew up?"

Instantly, the sky overhead changed and filled with more stars than she had ever seen in her life. Then her body floated up towards them and she was completely surrounded by millions of points of light. It was even better than floating in her pool at night, even if it wasn't real.

"This doesn't tire you out does it? Is there a limit to what you can do?" she asked.

"Oh, believe me, I have a long way to go before I hit my limit," his voice floated around her.

The sensation became even more surreal when invisible lips kissed their way up her arm to her bare shoulder.

"You know that I have control issues, right?" she asked trying to see through his illusion.

The lips stopped at the pulse in her throat. She could feel the smile. "Do you want me to stop?"

Maybe it was a combination of the pain medication and all the stress from the last few days, but she no longer cared. "Not really."

The lips at her neck laughed softly before placing a kiss on the fluttering pulse, sending shivers down her body. She lifted her hands to thread them through his hair, only to have them pass through thin air.

She pouted a bit, "that's not really fair."

"I never claimed to be fair," came the response from all around her.

She let her arms float at her sides and just gave in to the sensations.

His lips traced her jaw and down the other side of her throat, raining soft kisses, licks, and nips as they went. Cool fingers pushed the strap of her dress down to expose the tops of her breasts where he trailed teasing kisses that didn't quite touch what she wanted them to. She arched her back into him and heard his soft chuckle fill the air.

"Impatient?"

"Always," she sighed.

His lips left her breasts and she groaned in protest only to have it silenced by his mouth coming down on hers. This wasn't like the last kiss they had shared, where he had dominated to shock her into calming down. No, this was a kiss that invited her to join in. She kissed him back with abandon, opening to him and meeting his tongue with hers, tasting, smelling, and feeling but not seeing him. It was overwhelmingly erotic; unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

One of his hands stroked her thigh, moving higher up with each caress while he pushed her other dress strap down to completely bare her breasts to him. She could feel him cup one of them and rub the pad of his thumb across her nipple. The hand caressing her thigh cupped her bare mound and her hips rose in response.

He pulled away from her, "You are so beautiful."

"Let me see and touch you," she asked. "Drop the illusion. I want just you."

The Los Angeles night sky with its weak star light replaced the galactic expanse and she was back on the lounge chair with Loki bent over her. Her dress was bunched around her waist, but she didn't care as she took in him. His bright green eyes where hooded with desire, his lips damp from kissing her.

"You have on too many clothes," she told him.

He smiled and ducked his head almost shyly, but he pushed away from her and stood to remove them. She just laid the lounge all the way down and watched him undress for her.

"I'm glad I didn't try to do it," she told him. "Too many buckles and buttons. I would end up getting a knife and cutting them off."

He laughed, "and I'm running out of clothes that don't have your blood on them."

Finally, he stood there in all his naked glory. He wasn't built like a bodybuilder, instead he had the build of a runner; lean and sinewy. His pale skin almost glowed in the night, his long, black hair hanging to his shoulders like liquid darkness.

"You're the one that is beautiful," she said and held out her hand to him.

This was not what he had planned when he joined her out here, but when she held out her hand to him, he took it and allowed her to pull him down beside her. She was so wantonly beautiful, laying there with her lips swollen from his kiss and her eyes glazed with passion, he couldn't walk away.

He bent and took her lips again, more forcefully this time and she met his force with her own, but instead of dueling for dominance, their tongues and lips danced together in harmony. He cupped her breast and rolled its nipple between his fingers making her moan into his mouth and arch her back to press harder into his hand. He cupped her sex with his other hand and slid his fingers into her warmth, parting her to rub the little bundle of nerves there.

In response she unwound one of her hands from his hair and pressed it against his hand holding him tightly to her. He broke away from the kiss, and took the other nipple into his mouth, sucking hard on it and making her cry out wordlessly.

He slid a finger into her, and she bucked under him. Her hand left his to clutch his back, her sharp little nails biting deliciously. He added teeth to his ministrations of her nipple and pinched the other, while adding another finger to her depths. She was so wet and tight; it took every bit of his self-control not to take her right then. Instead, he curled his fingers inside her as he rubbed his thumb over her bud and felt her whole body stiffen, then shudder as her orgasm gripped her. She contracted around his fingers and she cried out his name to the night sky.

When she began to relax under him, he withdrew his hand and moved between her legs. With one smooth thrust he entered her. Gods, she was so tight it was almost painful. She hissed as he entered her and stilled under him.

"Are you okay?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she answered breathlessly, "I just haven't had a man down there in a long time."

He hadn't thought he could get any harder, but he did at her confession. Cradling her face between his hands so he could watch her expression, he slowly began to move inside her. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"Look at me," he commanded her, and she opened her eyes to meet his. Holding her gaze, he slid almost all the way out of her, then swiftly thrust back in. She bit her lip to keep from quiet.

"Don't do that either." He teased her lip free with his fingers.

Another thrust elicited a moan and another his name again. He began to thrust faster and harder and found a rhythm that brought both of them close to the edge. She grabbed his ass and wrapped her legs around his hips for better leverage.

He felt her orgasm start before she stiffened under him and felt his gather. He changed the angle of his thrusts to penetrate deeper and she screamed his name as she fell apart. His orgasm came right behind it and he buried himself to the hilt in her, his back arched, and he roared to the heavens.

Afterwards, he pulled out and lay beside her on the lounge, gathering her limp, sated body to his and they fell asleep under the twinkling stars.