Sorry for the wait and the short length. Most of them will be longer but since it's a Loki chapter... we can't give up all of what he's up to, can we?
Chapter 4: Pixy Stix
Loki
New York City, New York, USA
December of 1986
The more Loki learned about Alexandria Potter, the more intriguing the whole thing became. She'd been interesting from the start of course- it wasn't every day that Death personally interfered in anything, much less with a baby. Not that Loki had ever found out exactly what Death had been doing there that night- aside from picking up a few souls. Death was slippery like that.
But there had been… something he'd felt off of her that night. Only for an instant. He hadn't felt it long enough to place it, hardly felt it long enough to know it was there before Death's touch coated over it, or whatever it did. He didn't know. He wasn't even sure what it was that he felt- only that it was… familiar? Maybe? Whatever it was sent a shiver through his wings.
That was just from when she was a baby! Six years old and already someone was willing pay a fae to kill her? There was no mistaking the Fae's Mark on the girl. She'd been marked for death, and would be hunted all her life. Most anything with the slightest bit of sensing ability would be drawn to her- part of why a fae was so expensive to hire. The fae might not kill their target, but eventually something would. Whoever hired the fae really wanted Alexandria Potter dead. Normally, even Loki would qualify this as "excessive force", since they were only dealing with a 6-year-old. A magical one, yes, but still a young child with no control over said magic.
Needless to say, Loki was very interested in learning more.
Still, he wasn't really sure he should be poking in this. His curiosity burned, and he would definitely satisfy it without a thought if not two factors.
One, Death was involved. Not even Loki liked poking too far into his business.
Two, the two children of the Hunter who'd picked Alexandria Potter up happened to be his brother's vessels. It had been a huge shock, putting it lightly. He hadn't realized that the whole apocalypse song and dance was coming up. There hadn't even been whispers about it yet! If the vessels had been born, he'd thought he would have heard something! His information network was well-maintained for a reason!
He considered staying back until the Hunter- John Winchester- dropped little Alexandria with the nearest authorities. Someone would be watching the vessels, so he shouldn't be noticed near them. If anyone upstairs learned the pagan god Loki was poking around their vessels, he'd be in a sticky spot at the very least. He did not want that kind of attention. Not from his brothers and sisters. His disguise was good, but he had no interest in testing it like that. He'd stayed out of their way all these years for a reason.
But… he'd never been able to resist learning secrets. Especially not when there was a little danger involved.
First things first: someone had to deal with that fae. If Loki was going to be investigating Alexandria, she needed to be alive. He wasn't confident enough in John Winchester's abilities to leave the matter to him. Not for something Loki was so invested in. He'd only begun to hear of John Winchester recently. He probably didn't have the experience to know what exactly he was dealing with.
He spent an entire month poking and prodding John Winchester to the right answers. Despite the false trails he tried to set up, the fae was connected to Alexandria through the Mark so was not misled for long. The fae was tracking her down, and John Winchester was annoyingly slow.
At least the hunter was smart enough to call in backup as the fae closed in on Alexandria's location. He didn't even need to be prompted to come up with the idea to tell the one guarding the girl and vessels to skip town while they set up a trap.
It was a nice trap, too. Once it sprung the fae wouldn't be able to escape- but she might still kill the hunters. Hm. Loki needed more information anyway…
So as soon as the trap was sprung, he put the hunters to sleep.
Loki walked inside, munching on some sour candy he'd brought for the conversation. He smiled and waved.
She recognized him instantly, freezing in shock before smiling coyly. "Hello, Loki. What can I do you for? I'm a little, shall we say, hindered at the moment… it would be so nice if a daring rescuer could assist me, don't you think?"
Loki smiled back. It wasn't a nice smile- the fae's instantly faltered at the sight. "It might be nice, dear, but that's not why I'm here. Someone's been naughty…" He tutted.
The fae pouted. "You can't let it slide? Just this once? I was given an offer I couldn't refuse… even if the job is a little distasteful."
"By who?" Loki's voice went sharp.
"Sorry, but I'd rather face your wrath than theirs-"
Within an instant Loki had her by the throat, his eyes glowing dangerously. "Would you?" As she struggled, his hand heated from flame until it began to burn her skin. "Would you really like to test my patience? I'm known for many things, but not that."
She hissed at him. "All this over a six-year-old girl?!"
"I'm curious."
The fae cried out as her skin burned from the fire dancing on his fingers. At last she growled, "The ones upstairs! They hired me! You can't blame me for saying yes! They don't accept 'no' from anyone they see as lesser- which is everyone!"
Loki set her down.
Father damn it. That made things even more complicated.
But first… the fae needed to be dealt with. He cast a spell to freeze her so she wouldn't harm the hunters when they woke up and stormed out of the room. They'd wake and kill her soon enough. While they were busy with that…
He munched furiously on his candy. This was bad. If his brothers and sisters wanted her dead… damn it. Why would they want a six-year-old girl dead? Sure she was touched by Death, but… this made no sense. None! They wanted some random little girl dead so badly they deigned to hire a lowly little fae? It made sense that they wouldn't get their hands dirty, he supposed… but why? Why Alexandria Potter?
There was a… possibility it was a lone, rogue angel behind this. For whatever reason. But there was even less reason to hire a fae to kill a little girl- and with what? The fae had mentioned an offer she couldn't refuse, and made it sound like it wasn't just a rogue angel, but the full support of Heaven behind it…
Loki would have to work off of the assumption that it was all of them. It was better to plan for the worst.
He'd have to stay away from her after this, curiosity be damned. If everyone upstairs noticed the girl wasn't dead… It was better they didn't. She was already in danger of being discovered alive around the vessels. If Loki drew attention to her, she was dead. He'd have to play this carefully. As long as she was near the Winchesters, he couldn't do anything that might make the angels look in on the vessels, and by extension notice Alexandria was alive.
He was going to have to tread very carefully. Good thing he was used to playing dangerous games.
Thank you for your time.
