Please note that I updated two chapters at once, this and the previous one because I didn't want to leave you with a nasty cliffhanger. Besides I was so happy with you lovely reviews that I wanted to express my gratitude in some way. Thank you again!
So, if you came straight into this one chapter, please visit the previous too.
… …
A little bit earlier up in the air:
Emma managed to get the hang of the Quinjet's controls, being able to lower the speed and turn the jet around. Searching for Loki she was dropping the altitude. She was feeling herself an idiot, being out of her mind. She could had ran or fly far away from him and all this madness, but she just couldn't leave him out there if he still was alive.
"I can do this!" she kept telling to herself. "Piece of cake!"
As she was slowly approaching the sight where she assumed the two deities left off, the controls of the aircraft suddenly jammed, not obeying her anymore, and the failure text in the screen was replaced by a red notification saying "System override". The aircraft slowed down and remained hovering in the air.
"What the hell?" Emma grunted not believing it, trying to get it moving. "What is wrong with you, you stupid piece of...?"
"Excuse me, miss, but I don't believe you have an authorization to fly this aircraft," a charming male voice spoke from the speakers, leaving Emma puzzled for a few seconds. "Oh my! By the damage taken I assumed a female pilot, was I correct?"
Emma snorted very much annoyed, putting on the headphones with a microphone to talk with him. "Like I had a damn choice! And it's not my fault. Some crazy Viking god smashed through the rear hatch!" she said to her defense, not knowing why she did that.
"Wow, whatever you've smoked I want some too. Um, perhaps you can help me out, honey. I'm looking for a guy called Loki," the male voice said, keeping up a casual tone, sounding like a New Yorker.
Yeah, well join the club! Emma bit her lips nervously. "Don't know who you're talking about."
"I'd hate to call you a liar, but I think you do. I'm talking about the big, mean guy with a serious god-complex who took down a whole S.H.I.E.L.D team in Greenland."
"Um... He's not here!"
"I can see that. There's only one person inside that Quinjet. That'd be you. But the question is, where's he?"
Emma shrugged, feeling herself for a very poor liar, glancing around looking for a camera. "He went back home, with his brother."
"Now you're lying again, darling. Let's not do this! I know you've had a rough patch, and a Stockholm syndrome is a bitch. But I really need to find him."
Emma let out a snort. She was getting upset with the funny guy. "Oh yeah? What for?"
"I'm going to kick his ass!"
"Hah, good luck with that! You and what army?"
"Thanks. It's just me, and Jarvis. My backup is on its way, though."
"Who the hell are you?" Emma asked still confused. He didn't sound like any agent of any bureau.
"I'm the guy who designed and built that aircraft you're sitting on, and left a backdoor in the system to take it over if needed. I knew it would come handy. If you don't mind, I'll help you down now."
The jet was moving again, piloted with a remote control. The male voice was quiet for a moment but Emma could hear a very silent robot-alike voice carrying thought the headphones. "Ahh... a small change of plans, honey. It seems we've located that Loki guy and his friend, and are going there to pick them up. Just sit tight and enjoy the fly!"
"What?" Emma yelped, gazing down at the darkening countryside, searching for Loki. She noticed something flashing like a small lighting on a hillside as the aircraft took an automatic course towards it, approaching it, slowly increasing the speed. Then she noticed the battling brothers, beating the crap out of each other like in some crazy Matrix-movie. "He's alive!" she sighed but not yet relieved.
"Yeah, looks that way. I heard he's a tough cookie. Who's the other guy? His brother?"
Emma had nearly forgotten the mystery male voice. In the corner of her eye she saw something with lights speeding towards them and took a better look through the side window. It was too far away to see it clearly and it was too dim already. Whatever it was, it was coming fast like a rocket.
"I'm almost there. Now let see how we can take them down. You've known him longer than I do. Have any suggestions?"
"Just one: go home!"
"Weapons system activated!" a notification light and a message appeared on the screen. "Missiles activated!" another notification followed, and Emma almost jumped in her seat.
She wished she hadn't done that, pulling her hands up from the control panel. "What are you doing? Stop this!" she said in an alarmed tone.
The jet was already close to the hillside where Loki and his brother were fighting and she could see Loki standing there his back towards the jet.
"Can't do that, honey. This guy has pissed off too many people. It's my job to take him down!"
"No! Stop!" Emma screamed as the jet's minigun begun firing down at the hillside, aiming at the Asgardians. She started hitting every button on the control panel trying to make it stop. Without any luck with that, she rushed at the cabin and took the one thing she managed to pull free from the wall, the fire extinguisher, and returned to the cockpit, the minigun's firing rattling outside.
"I'll show you a female pilot!" she shouted and smashed the front panel and the screens, hitting the control panels like crazy with the small extinguisher bottle. Sparks flew from the screens and the front panel, and a smoke of electrical burning filled the cockpit, but she kept hitting it hard.
"Hav... you turn... Hulk? Wha... hell are..." the man's voice was breaking and then it disconnected completely.
The annoying sound of the warning alarm fell silent as she managed to quiet it down and finally the gun firing ended. "That's what I call a system override, you prick!" Emma panted and emptied the foam extinguisher over the broken, sparking front panel.
She sat on the pilot's seat and with a caution tried the control wheel, that by a miracle and against all odds obeyed her once again, but it only moved to the right horizontally.
"Oh, great!" she sighed and gazed down at Loki, who seemed to crawl up on his feet, staring at the direction of the Quinjet with an expression that one could have described looking as fucking mad as a god who had been shot in the arse with a rifle. "Oh crap! He looks very, very pissed," Emma whispered to herself, getting worried. "Please, baby, don't get mad!"
Meanwhile on the ground Thor had used his hammer to shield himself from the gun firing, and Loki just barely managed to avoid the fierce rain of bullets, jumping to a safe distance in a nick of time.
"Let me guess; you played your tricks on her one time too many?" Thor shouted being mad at his brother, spinning his hammer as his shield.
Heavily aggravated by what seemed to be a cheap betrayal, Loki fixed his gaze at the hovering jet and rose on his feet. He couldn't believe that Emma had turned against him in so cowardly and backstabbing way. The minigun's firing ended as unexpectedly as it had begun, and Loki was about to leap on the jet, tearing it apart, when he heard Emma's voice from the jet's loudspeaker:
"Loki? Loki, if you can hear me, I swear that wasn't me! The aircraft wasn't under my control. The S.H.I.E.L.D. They've found us! You need to disappear! Someone is coming after you, right now! "
Loki heard concern in her voice. Either she was lying pretty well to cover up her failed attempt to kill him or then she was telling the truth. He didn't have to wait long to find out the right answer. He noticed something flying towards him and Thor like a rocket, and he moved closer to his brother with sidesteps, keeping his eyes at the approaching thing. It looked like a man-sized robot, and for a moment Loki feared it was humans' very own Destroyer like the one they used to have in Asgard's vault.
Thor glanced at Loki with a small sense of trouble. The woman had sounded seriously worried for his sake. "Whatever you have done, we will face this together, my brother. A truce?" Thor asked.
The god of mischief cast a valuating look at his brother. "Why not? For the old times' sake," he said and gave Thor a small smile and tap on a shoulder, drawing back and at the same time switching their appearances, turning himself looking like Thor and making Thor looking like him.
"I knew you were not beyond reason, Loki," Thor said hopefully and prepared to face the next challenge from the skies as the flying man in a red and golden armor stopped in the air and stayed hovering closer to them than the aircraft.
Emma stared at the robot-like thing that flew passing by the jet. She had once seen that thing in the news a year ago. "Oh no! Ironman?"
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Ironman asked, watching at the two creatures that didn't belong on this planet. The woman had spoiled his big entrance, breaking the remote controls of the jet, leaving him one advantage short. Whose side she was on, anyway?
"I have no quarrel with you, metal man! What do you want?" Thor asked lifting his hammer at the flying armored man.
"I'm here for Loki!" Ironman informed grimly at the two demigods, pulling out most of his weapons, and aiming at the Loki look-alike, poor Thor, who hadn't any idea of Loki's cheat yet.
Loki, looking like his blond brother, stepped aside calmly, pointing his hand at Thor and said: "He is all yours!" He even sounded like Thor.
"What?" Thor gasped bewildered taking a look at his false double, and himself, only then realizing Loki's game.
But simply too late. Ironman launched his mini-missile at him, tossing Thor with force off from the hillside with an explosion, and then went after him. And they were already on the other side of a great valley, landing somewhere on the other green slope.
As the man in a suit of armor rushed in a fight with Thor, Loki saw his opportunity and he took it, taking a boost on the hillside, leaping high and landing on the roof of the hovering Quinjet.
Emma felt the aircraft rocked in the weight of that unwanted passenger. Worried she stared out into the darkness far away, where the Loki-look-alike and Ironman were fighting, only the lights of Ironman's rocket thrusters glowing in the dark. Then she turned towards the crushed rear hatch. She hadn't seen the switch of the brothers' appearances and believed it was real Thor who was coming after her.
The blond warrior with the red cape leaped in through the big hole, and she jumped up from her seat, grasping the only weapon she found, the small fire extinguisher, stepping to the dim cabin.
The big blond one looked unhappy, walking slowly towards her, the jet rocking with his every step. "Are you mad, woman? You would dare to fight with the mighty Thor?" he roared in a low rough voice.
Emma felt her anger flaring up again. She hated when these godlings kept coming, thinking themselves so much better than humans. Her basic instincts of survival were beginning to making the wrong calls. Fight or flight? Hell yes, she was going to fight!
"After what you did to Loki, I will kick you mighty arse back to Asgard!" she yelled at him, unable to control the rage that was taking a hold of her, letting the beast-side of her go free.
The blond one strode to her and Emma hit him fiercely with the extinguisher, kicking and screaming like a cornered animal. He had to make a bit of an effort to disarm her as she fought him more aggressively than earlier in the glacier. She threw a punch in his face, not some girly slap, but a real badass punch and he was surprised by the force of it. He stopped her and locked her arms, unharming her. And as he held her, Loki conjured his illusion away, turning back looking himself.
"Ouch! It is me!" he said more softly, gazing down at her with a bewildered look, holding on from her wrists, taking note she was rather strong for her size, for a human that was. She had come on to him like a wild beast and he was beginning to understand what she had told him about her darker side. She wasn't holding it back now. And it touched him that she would have fought against Thor for his sake, with minimum chances, but still.
Emma saw with her own eyes him changing his appearance with a golden flow, from the blond warrior into the black-haired, beautiful, green-eyed god creature. "Loki?" she gasped and stopped fighting back, but wasn't so sure about that. "No. It's a trick! Loki can do that, I bet so can you!" she doubted, trying to pull her hands free and kicking on his knee.
"Stop that! It is me! Thor has never dabbled with such sorcery." Loki released her wrists only to place his hands gently on her shoulders as if trying to tame her. Thanks to her warning, he had had a chance to slip away from Thor and that flying armored man, and they were still battling outside. "You are mad, but precious, my sweet Valkyrie," he said, smiling to her.
His soft voice and that pet name he'd given to her ended Emma's resistance, leaving her wondering what was going on, taking a time to gather herself. After letting her inner darkness taking control for a while, the adrenaline surging in her veins was calling out for a target to strike. "Why you turned yourself looking like him, you crazy?" she screamed at him.
"Maybe this would clear the doubts off your mind," Loki said and hunched down to kiss her, his right hand moving on the back of her neck and the other sliding down on her back, pulling her near.
His lips were like a cooling spring in a desert and she was dying thirsty, welcoming every drop of a kiss he gave her. She smelled his stirring scent. He smelled so damn good and safe. When he drew back from her, Emma stared up into his eyes, drunken by his kissing, wanting more. "I'm not quite convinced yet," she whispered, intoxicated of him, caressing his cheek, her fingers diving through his black hair on the back of his head and pulling him back to her, pulling his mouth back on her hungry lips.
Loki let out a low moan of passion, his mouth on hers, grabbing her up in his arms, lifting her onto his own level and pushing her against the wall between the cabin and the cockpit. Emma held tight on him, her arms locked around his neck, her legs anchoring around his hips. Her fear of a human touch was only a bad dream when she just wanted to feel him against her, wanted to feel safe in his arms. He owed her a proper kiss, after putting her fearing for his life. He owed her a proper kiss, because she had put her whole life at stake for his sake and she knew she might not see another day.
Sensing she was willing for him, Loki kissed her roughly, letting his tongue slip between her parted lips, tasting her sweet mouth, exploring it until he'd claimed it as his own. And she welcomed him, pushing herself tighter around him. Holding her slender body against his, Loki was aching for her. He had promised her a sunset, and much more, but all they had now was a tiny moment that wasn't enough, not even for starters. "This was just a beginning. I swear," he promised feverishly, parting from her lips.
"Loki…" A faint sigh escaped from her lips like a small prayer. He had surely convinced her. She touched his face with both hands, returning back to reality. "I saw you fall... Are you alright? How can you still be alive?"
They heard a loud clap of thunder as Thor and Ironman kept crossing swords somewhere on the ground. Thor, like so many times before, had spoiled Loki's finest moments. And this time wasn't any differed. Loki let out a resentful groan, taking a quick look outside.
"We take this aircraft..." Loki begun but silenced as he noticed the whole front panel been covered with white foam. "W-what have you done here?" he asked in a puzzled tone, turning at Emma who was still clinging on him like a baby monkey on its mom.
Emma needed to gather her thought after that kiss. "A thank you for saving your butt would be nice! Ironman was controlling of this aircraft. He's the one who was shooting at you, not me. He was going to shoot a missile at you, so, I broke the controls to save your a... um, backside." She took a breath and lowered herself down from him. "He said his backup is coming. What are we going to do, Loki?"
Glancing outside through the hole on the rear hatch, into the darkening countryside, Loki came up with a new plan of escape. With a small grin he beheld Emma, taking a hold of her hand. "Do you still trust me, Emma?"
Emma swallowed, his voice sounding disturbingly mischievous again. "Why do I get a feeling that I'm not going to like this?"
... ...
With a cleansing strike of lighting Thor managed to return looking back to his-normal-self, repelling Loki's illusion on him.
There had come a halt in the battle between Thor and Ironman, Tony Stark analyzing his situation again after his inhumanly strong adversary had changed his appearance. "I don't care if you're not the Loki, I'm still going to take you down if you try to mess with me! You don't belong here!" Stark stated, annoyed. His armor had taken damage by that mean hammer and he wasn't going to let it go.
"Loki is my brother and I will deal with him."
"After I'm done with him, he is all yours!" Tony Stark said. "Until then stay out of my way, tourist!"
Thor was about to toss him hammer at the metal man once more, when they noticed the Quinjet speeding away, roaring high above their heads in the darkening sky.
"I'll get them!" Ironman informed, starting his rocket thrusters, lifting from the ground to go after it.
"No, I will get them!" Thor assured, spinning his hammer wildly to fly after the jet.
Neither of them got anywhere near to the jet when they heard a loud explosion and saw how the Quinjet burst apart in front of their eyes, fierce flames eating it away. The both heroes were thrown back on the ground by the huge blast, the burning parts and pieces of the broken jet scattering all over the site.
"Loki!" Thor cried out, pushing himself up on his feet, staring at the remains of the burning aircraft, fearing his brother had been there amongst it. His heart sunk in despair. "No! Loki! No…"
Ironman got up from the ground where the blast had tossed him and stepped next to the Asgardian god, stricken speechless, opening his vizier and looking at the devastation of one of his precious designed jets, pondering had it have something to do with overriding the system, missile failure or something what the woman had done with the controls. "Um... Jarvis, Quinjet's failure report?"
"Stealth mode failure. Rear hatch function failure..."
"Yeah, I get that. I meant what happened to it?"
Thor turned to gaze at the metal man with anger flaring in his heart.
"A complete and utterly destruction. A detonation source, unsecured missiles. No survivors."
"This was your doings!" Thor roared at the man, taking a hold of Ironman's wrist, crushing his armor with his bare hands.
"Can't we talk about this?" Tony Stark asked, worried, feeling his exoskeleton failing to protect him in the clutches of the Asgardian deity.
"No life-forms detected present at the time of explosion," Jarvis told, and Thor eased his grip a bit.
"What?" Thor sighed, starting to get the hang of it. This was Loki they were dealing with after all. "They were not in the aircraft?"
Tony heaved a relieved sigh, Thor letting go of him. "Thank god for that. Not you, the big one!" Tony said pointing up. "So, it was just a trick to fool us?"
"You would not be the first one Loki have fooled."
Sweeping the area with infra-red sensors, Jarvis found nothing expect a flock of sheep, a few passing by vehicles on a nearby road, but nothing that would have linked them to Loki and Emma. It was as if they would have disappeared from the face of Earth.
"I'm not finding anything," Tony Stark informed, "We need to cover a bigger area from high above."
"I had him in my grasp. He escaped and it was your fault!" Thor said resentfully.
His efforts to find his rascal adopted brother with a higher sense was also useless; he had asked telepathically from Heimdall to use his all-seeing eyes to find Loki, but since Loki's presence was carefully shrouded from even the gatekeeper of Asgard, there were no trace of the trickster god anywhere.
… …
"They are long gone. It is safe to get up now. You are back being yourself." Loki's voice was reassuring but slightly amused as he checked his surroundings to find which way to continue in the shades of evening.
Down on a foot of the great green hill Emma cautiously lifted her head above a moving woolen pack, taken aback. No, actually gravely shocked by what had just come to pass. She started at the animals around her and got up on her feet, turning her horrid gaze at Loki who stood there with her.
"I. Was. A. Sheep!" she gasped, touching her herself from heat to knees making sure she was back being her own human self.
Loki gave her a charming mischievous grin unable to curb his enthusiasm. "Wasn't it great? I have not transformed myself into an animal in ages."
Emma shook her head as if that was the most terrible thing she had ever faced. "Oh my god! I. Was. A. Sheep!" she repeated, staring at the flock of sheep around them that had provided them a perfect disguise from their searching party. "That was like a nightmare!"
"It was not that bad. Admit it, you enjoyed it!"
Emma shook her head again, disgusted about the whole matter. "I did not! And… I was so hungry that I think I ate some grass…"
"Well, now we know that you will make a cuddly lamb." Loki chuckled at her genuine and innocent reaction. "Come on! You will get over it," Loki assured, and took a hold of her hand, moving through the herd with her. He helped her climbing over a stony fence and they continued walking along a country road in the darkening evening.
The thought of it still made shivers going down her spine. "You could have at least warned me first! Not just waved your hand and turned me into a freaking critter!" she cried out at Loki, walking side by side with him with two legs now. "Oh, I think I still smell of wool!" she said and took a sniff of herself.
"I saved us. You should be thankful."
"You promised, no more tricks!"
Loki couldn't help himself. He suddenly stopped walking and stared cautiously at the field behind old oaks on the other side of the road. "Oh no! You better watch out for that big mean looking goat that is staring at you!" Loki said in a silent voice, sounding serious.
"Where? I don't see it," Emma said a bit worried, stopping and staring into the darkness with him.
"There. I think it is making eyes at you and checking out your pretty tail. I guess he saw you as a sheep."
"Where?" she squealed in an alarmed tone, hiding her arse from the gazes of some imaginary harassing goat, pushing her tail against Loki.
"Over here!" Loki whispered into her ear over her shoulder, placing his hands on her waist.
Emma felt her heart jumping in to her throat with his sudden touch. She had had enough of excitement for one day already. "Oh, you're evil!"
"Oh, just a bit of fun. Come now, my sweet pet!" he said, chuckling and taking her under his arm. She fitted there perfectly.
To her own surprise it actually felt comfortable to have his arm around her. "Why couldn't you just turn us invisible like you always do?"
"Because, the best place to hide is in plain sight. And I do not simply turn myself invisible, it is more advanced science, you would call it sorcery..."
"You are a big mean horny goat!" Emma snorted, feeling her anxiety settling down, being able to smile a bit with him. They started walking again. "So… you are saying you've done this before? This animal stuff? Not just turning your brother into a frog?"
"A few times, yes."
Emma looked at him suspiciously. "You've ever done anything kinky when being an animal?"
Loki glanced down at her as they were walking. "Define kinky!"
"Ugh! You mean like how bad and creepy stuff you have done? I'm not sure if a want to know…" And she had already kissed that mouth!
Loki puckered his brows. "No, I mean, I am not familiar with the word."
Emma let out an uneasy laugh. "Oh, forget it! It's nothing important."
"Sounds like it is. So, what does it mean?" Loki asked, sensing her nervousness about the matter.
"Um, are you familiar with the word pervert?"
Loki glared at her, his brows knitting even more. "Yes?" he answered cautiously.
"It's pretty much the same thing… like being a dog and humping someone's le..." Emma stopped, reading from his expression that she shouldn't say another word.
Loki let out a loud sigh, his mouth gaping by her offensive insinuation. "I am going to pretend I did not hear any of that."
"Good. Thanks!" Emma said and bit her lips.
They kept going a while in awkward silence and then Loki turned at her again. "What manner of man you think I am?" he asked, the matter beginning to bother him.
Emma glanced up at him. "I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I've just met you, and you turned me into a sheep. Now, I'm not the kind of girl who does that on a first date!"
Loki gave her a puzzled look a smile returning to his lips. "Are we being in a courtship now, you and I?"
"It is either that or then you are just rudely dragging me along while you are trying to take over the world."
Loki laughed at her fondly and wrapped his arm around her protectively as they walked along the road. "Who says I can not have both?"
"Seriously? We need to talk about your grand plans to rule this 'realm'."
"Oh yes. I would need your help with that. You have to tell me everything about..."
"No. I was kind of hoping that you would give up those schemes. A lot of people would protest. Including me."
Loki squeezed her softly, his arm around her. "You will come to your senses, my dear, once you learn to accept it."
"Yeah... How about you coming to your senses too, big guy?" Emma suggested cautiously.
The big guy wanted to change the subject. "You were less overbearing being a sheep. Don't tempt me to transform you again!"
"Wow, who's being overbearing?"
Emma glanced around her in the dim evening. They were somewhere in the middle England's countryside, having no idea where they were going and without a vehicle. She had left her bag in the jet and she only carried 150 American dollars and a credit card she couldn't use because the S.H.I.E.L.D. would have probably traced its transactions. It seemed they were continuing their journey by foot now where ever it would take them. They were a far away from the sunny beaches. Getting caught wasn't an option now when there wasn't just the S.H.I.E.L.D. but also Ironman and Loki's brother after them.
Emma turned back at Loki, a part of glad that they were in this together. She had used to be on the run on her own and it had been scary, having no-one to trust. She had him now but she was also in that situation because of him. "So, what did Thor want with you?"
Loki took a breath to consider his words carefully. "He though he could have beaten me here since he failed to do it in Asgard. I disagreed." A small white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.
"Yeah, I saw it. That was insane! I thought you both were going to die."
"It takes more than that to kill our kinds."
"Good. I prefer you being alive," Emma said in a small voice, wrapping her arm around his back in a bit uncertain way.
Loki turned at her with a smile, holding her under his arm. It felt good to be so close. "As do I. So, you want to hear the worse thing I have done as being an animal?"
"Do I?"
"You already met Thor. There was this other time, in our early childhood; I transformed myself into a snake, because I knew how much Thor loved snakes..."
"Oh god! You can turn yourself into a snake?"
"Yes, and here comes the best part. When he picked me up to admire the creature..."
