Loki was taken aback at this sudden offer, but he handled it well, his shock never showing on his face. "A strange man invades your home and you ask him to share a drink?" He laughed. "You are incredibly trusting. And terribly naïve."
"Any other man I would have drop-kicked to the ground." Nancy admitted, "You're not a stranger. And I never said I trusted you."
Loki followed her to her kitchen and stood on the other side of her raised counter.
Nancy carefully pulled down two wine glasses from where they hung, grabbed a half-empty bottle of wine, poured them both a glass, and set the glasses down on the counter. She leaned across the counter, grinning, as she moved his glass toward him.
"Are you familiar with the game of chess?"
"Very." Loki smiled at her, seeming very relaxed. He remained standing, but Nancy took a seat on one of the bar-stools.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good at it." she admitted as she sipped her wine, "I was in a game once, where all I had left were two pawns and my king. The enemy was closing in fast. It wasn't Checkmate, but I wasn't going to win either. Tell ya what, let's play a game of chess. This wine is my first pawn. This knife," Nancy paused to open a drawer and remove a large kitchen knife. She placed it on the counter in front of her. "Is the other." She looked at him, making sure she had his full attention. She wanted him to know she was stronger than he assumed. She wasn't stupid by any means and, in addition, was fully armed... even if he could easily disarm her.
Loki watched her as she put the things before herself. Yes, he had played chess. He won chess, every time. No matter how he did it. He motioned to the items. "Finish the metaphor."
Nancy picked up the knife and turned it over in her hands. "I know the way you fight." She explained, "Not even bullets can stop you. The only place where you don't have armor…" she pointed the knife at him, pointing at his neck, "Is your throat. But you'd disarm me before I could strike." Nancy turned and put the knife away, knowing it would be useless against him. "I only have one pawn now, and then I'm dead. But I'd like to finish my wine first." Her smile never faded as she lifted her glass to her lips.
Loki nodded and motioned to the wine. "By all means."
"One thing, first. We never finished our conversation in Stark's tower. If I'm going to stall, I'm going to stall."
Loki sipped on his own wine. "Of course. Far be it from me to interrupt."
Nancy sighed, her smile fading. After all this time, after all she went through for him, he still didn't want to talk to her. "That's just it. I want you to talk. You'll go on and on to everyone else, but you'll hardly say two words to me. Why?"
Loki quickly formed a new plan of attack. Ever used to changing with the wind, it wasn't a hard decision. "If this vexes you…"
"I never said it did." Nancy shrugged. "I just feel like I'm doing most of the talking." She paused. "You were right, back at the tower. When you said I entered because I wanted to learn how your mind works." She glanced down, blushing. "You fascinate me. I know there's more to you than you let on."
"Then I propose an offer."
Nancy looked back at him. "Alright. What is it?"
Loki nodded to her glass. "For as long as your wine lasts, I will answer whatever you ask of me."
"We could be here all night." Nancy said with a smile. She took a moment to think. "Why did you call me 'pet'?"
"Oh, first let me tell you my term."
She sighed. "Of course there's a catch. Fine. What's the term?"
"After each query, you must take a sip. You did not believe I would truly allow you endless curiosity, did you?"
"No. Of course not." Nancy smiled sadly and glanced at her glass. It was only a fourth of the way full. "But first, I think I'll change into something more comfortable. My work clothes are nothing to die in." She stood, already planning her next move. "Excuse me for a moment."
As she walked to her room, she paused in her small hallway, taking the time to glance over the photos on her walls. Pictures of her parents, who were so proud to have an FBI agent for a daughter. Pictures of her friends and colleagues. Smiling faces lit up her home, but those smiles hardly mattered anymore. They were fading memories now. Her life was nearly at an end, like sand so easily blown away.
With a sigh, Nancy closed her bedroom door behind her and locked it, not that a lock would stop Loki. She could only hope he would wait patiently for her. She took off her gun-belt and looked at her hand gun. Bullets could protect her from crazed serial killers and insane criminals, but not from the super-villain Loki. What was she doing, really? Who did she think she was, trying to study him? Toying with a magical god. She was asking for trouble. And now trouble had come for her. She'd welcomed it with open arms, but stood trembling before her fate.
A small notepad rested on the nightstand beside her bed. A journal of night-time dreams and ideas. Hopes and aspirations that would never come true. She flipped to a new page.
Anita,
Don't miss me. Whatever you do, don't miss me. Be strong, for the both of us. I love you, sis. I always will. Tell Mom and Dad I'm sorry.
Nancy
It was short, quick, and to-the-point. She knew more explanation was required, but she neither had the time nor the room to explain. In an instant, she lifted the page to her lips, kissed it, put it back down, and turned for her closet. Loki was waiting and she was running out of time.
Nancy took a pair of jeans and an old blue t-shirt out of her closet, changing into them as she looked over the rest of her clothes. White dress shirts, dark-blue suit-coats with matching pants and skirts, splashes of color here in there in the form of day-clothes, all took up residence in her little clothes' nook. At least what she had on was comfy, if nothing else. It was the comfiest outfit she owned, except for her pajamas. And she would never go out there in her pajamas.
She also took out her contacts. No way was she having another dry-eye episode in front of him. The first had been too awkward. Instead, she opted to wear her glasses. Rectangle frames that weren't meant to be pretty, just efficient.
Nancy glanced over her reflection in her bedroom mirror, noting the dark circles under her eyes and her scattered hair. She definitely didn't look spectacular, but here she was all the same. At least she'd lost a bit of weight since the last time she'd seen Loki. She had her training to thank for that. Always training, always preparing for this day. Now that it was here, all of it seemed in vain.
Partially satisfied with her appearance, Nancy made her way back out to the kitchen. She carefully returned to her bar-stool and looked at her glass of wine. She'd taken so long that he had more than enough time to poison it. Knowing that he was probably going to kill her anyway, she took a sip.
"Unwise to drink before your query, pet." Loki said, smirking, as he sipped on his own wine.
"No, that's to make up for the question I already asked. 'Pet' still requires an explanation."
"I like it." Loki replied.
"That's it? You just like it?"
"I never said I had to answer in depth." He took another sip. For every one of his answers, he took a sip, also playing their little game.
Nancy took a sip of her wine to make up for her previous question. Her wine was going faster than she had hoped. Perhaps she should've taken longer changing clothes. She took a moment to think carefully about her next question. "What are you planning to do to me?"
"I'd rather it be a surprise."
They both took a sip.
"If I might make a request, if you are going to kill me, could you make it swift and clean? I've never been much of one for pain." Another sip.
"I do not relish the thought of a slow death, either." He easily matched her drinking pace.
Nancy smiled sadly. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her and she was nearly out of wine. How had the wine gone so fast?
"Did I offend you, when I kissed you?"
"No."
She laughed softly and smiled. At least she hadn't offended him. "Did you like it?" Another tiny sip.
Loki took another sip and raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps."
Nancy smiled and blushed, turning away shyly so he wouldn't see. Only a swallow of wine remained in her glass. The same amount in his. She didn't have much time left, and she knew it.
"I'm glad I met you." she said quietly, finally looking back at him. "I know you're a super-villain, but I'm still glad I met you."
Loki gave an amused smile. "Was there a question in there?" He downed the end of his wine. Silly girl, having played his game so easily. She really had no idea what went on inside his twisted little mind, did she?
"No." Nancy admitted. She glanced at her glass again, suddenly realizing she was out of time. She didn't want this. Not yet. Not this soon. She was only thirty-five. A shaky breath escaped her lips. "Ya know, you try so hard to make your life something great." she began. "I wanted to help people. Catch the bad guys. Be a hero." Her voice broke as tears flooded her eyes again. "Get married. Start a family." Her hands were trembling as she tried to hold her glass of wine. "Thirty years. It's not long, is it?" Her last question. "You've lived for hundreds, if not thousands of years. And all I get... are thirty-five. We try so hard…" Her tears were flowing freely now. "We all try so hard... for nothing… nothing."
Nancy lifted her glass to her lips and knocked back the end of her wine. She swallowed and set her glass back on the counter. Trying to retain what little courage and honor she had left, she straightened and lifted her head, waiting for Loki to strike.
Loki picked the glasses up and moved them aside. "There is one thing you should probably know about my methods." He didn't look at her, barely acknowledged her in fact. That didn't stop a green mist as it began to swirl around Nancy. Invading her airways. Her mind. Leaping and dipping and dancing in a hypnotic rhythm.
"And what is that?" she managed, paralyzed with fear as the mist covered her.
Loki simply smiled at her.
Nancy could have tried to hold her breath, but she knew it wouldn't work. She would have to breathe eventually, which would allow the mist into her lungs. Instead of trying to fight it, she submitted to it. Soon, the mist grew thicker and heavier, blocking her view of Loki entirely. Her head began to swim and she felt as if she would faint. Her hands and arms began to tingle, like the feeling produced by laughing gas. Losing control on her body, Nancy slumped to the floor.
Loki squatted down next to her as she began to slip into unconsciousness. He studied her intently, a smirk revealing his perfect teeth. He lowered his voice to near a whisper. "I cheat."
Once Nancy was fully asleep, Loki scooped her into his arms. Strange, how easy it was. Transporting them both back to Asgard took mere moments, and Loki looked around the empty cell. Well, not empty anymore. This was to be Nancy's new home for the foreseeable future. Where he would test her and prod her and try her patience. Where he would mold her to the woman he knew she could be.
With a smirk, he gently laid her in the corner. Knowing better than to stick around inside and have her attack him when she woke, he stepped just outside the golden barrier and watched her. Just waiting for her to wake.
/
The next evening, James knocked on Nancy's apartment door, concerned as to why she wasn't answering her phone. They had a dinner date after all. How could she have forgotten so soon? He knocked a second time… then a third… then a fourth.
"Nancy? You there?"
He dialed her number again and could hear her phone ringing from the table beside the door. He knew something must be wrong; she always had her phone on her, no matter what. He'd known it was a bad idea to go back to the Bifrost site. Why'd he let her go back? Knowing her bad luck, she'd probably triggered another alien abduction. That silly woman.
In one swift move, James kicked the door open and strode inside, on guard and alert for any intruders. He moved stealthily along her walls, wishing he had his gun.
"Nancy?" he called, but the room was silent.
James peaked around the corner and saw the limp figure of her dog lying in a heap beside the sofa. He stooped to check on it. Good, it was still breathing. On the cushion of the sofa, he saw her black scrunchy, signalling that she'd taken her hair down. He remembered how she'd worn her hair up last night, since they'd been working a case. Of course she would have taken it down.
He moved to the kitchen next and saw the wine glasses. So, she'd had company. Someone she knew and felt comfortable enough sharing a glass of wine with. He moved to her room and saw her discarded work clothes. She'd changed. She'd gotten more comfortable. But, her bed was still made. Whoever the intruder was, they hadn't made it to the bedroom.
James moved to the final room, her office, and opened the door. Suddenly, he was confronted by thousands of images. Photos of Loki, taken from S.H.I.E.L.D. security videos. Pages from books of mythology. Maps with red strings threaded here and there across them. And then, right next to her desk… one yellow page attached to the wall, at eye-level. The words I will be back for you scrawled in hurried handwriting. James turned and dashed from Nancy's apartment, heading for the stairs as quickly as his legs could carry him. Loki had come back, and he'd kidnapped Nancy again.
"Stark Tower, this is Felicia, how may I help you?"
"This is agent James Harper with the FBI, former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I need to speak with Tony Stark immediately. This is an emergency."
"I'm sorry, agent Harper, but Mr. Stark and the Avengers are out on a mission. If you'd like to leave a message, I'll have him get back to you as soon as he gets home."
"But this is important! I need their help! Agent Nancy McAllister, also a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., has been kidnapped by Loki."
"I'm sorry, agent Harper, but Loki has been reported and confirmed dead. If you still require the help of the Avengers, there's currently a six-month waiting list. If you opt to be put on the list, you will receive a call from one of our consultants, within the order your request was received. The consultant will go over your case with you and determine if it is worth the Avengers' time. If the consultant deems the case worthy, your case will be placed on another waiting list. From there, in the order it was received, one of the Avengers will review your case and determine if you truly need the help of the Avengers. At that time, one of the Avengers will contact you if they deem your case worthy. Now, agent Harper, can I get your address and a working phone number for you, so we can get the paperwork started to file your case?"
But agent Harper didn't answer. He'd already hung up.
