You woke up to the cool touch of leather. Everything was quiet and still, yet your head was pounding and your stomach was doing flips. Getting your sight oriented, you realized you were in the driver's seat of the car you took, still parked in the same spot from before. You rubbed your eyes, wincing from a pain from your wrists. They were bruised in the shape of fingers. Those definitely weren't there before.
To your right you saw a figure, elbow resting on the edge of the window, hand supporting his head as his eyes were closed. The figure seemed peaceful, vulnerable. Your eyes adjusted to see that the figure was Loki. His tie was loosened while the first two buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing his bare chest slightly. It was weird seeing him so calm. You almost didn't want to disturb him, but you were beyond confused.
"Loki?" You nudged his arm, his eyes fluttering open.
"How do you feel?" He asked, his posture straightening.
"I feel like shit, but I'm okay." You rubbed your temples in an attempt to sooth the pulsing, "What happened? How did we get here?"
Loki adjusted his position to face you, "What was the last thing you remember?"
You took a moment to retrace your memory, "I remember we were with my friends, and I got mad at you for something and went to the bar. There was this guy…" You tensed when you began to remember, "He said his name was Nick- no, Nate. It was Nate. We talked and went to go dance… and that's it." You buried your face in your palms, your nails digging into your skin. "I'm such an idiot! I let my guard down for one second and this happens…" You quickly looked down at yourself to find that your clothes were still intact. No rips or tears, or even any signs of it being removed. "Oh God, please tell me he didn't-"
"He didn't have a chance to do anything." Loki interrupted your thought, "He is far from here, and if he ever shows his face here he wouldn't even have a chance to breathe for mercy."
Loki sneered his last words. You couldn't think of anything to say or do but to just sit there, absorbing what happened. You finally broke the silence, "Did you carry me all the way up here?"
"What?"
"We're on the third floor and the elevator is busted. Unless you can fly, you must've carried me."
Loki chuckled, "We should be returning soon if we don't wish to get caught."
Your eyes widen, "How long was I out?"
"A few hours." You looked at your phone to see it was past two in the morning.
"Dammit, why didn't you drive us?"
Loki shrugged, "I haven't a clue how to get back, let alone know the address to enter for directions."
You combed your fingers through your hair, "Okay, this is fine. Hopefully everybody's sleeping when we get back." You started the car and left the parking garage. The next few minutes you wanted to ask Loki so many questions about what happened, but you were thankful that you were out of it and going home. "Loki?"
He turned his gaze from the window to you, "Yes?"
"Thank you."
You saw him smile weakly before returning to the window. "You're welcome."
You have been talking to the strange man for over ten minutes. You promised (more so threatened) Loki that after one drink you would be returning back to headquarters. As much as he loved swooning the group of ladies off of their feet, Loki began growing weary of the night, patiently waiting for you to be done with your drink and done with this depraved looking individual.
Looking back, Loki surprised himself by genuinely enjoying his time out up until your argument, which to him was a minor complication, but nonetheless everything else went well. As much as he was restless to get away from the Avengers and his brother, Loki still had to weigh his options when the opportunity to spend the night out presented itself, even if it was with the daughter of Tony Stark and her Midgardian friends. Upon first arriving at the club he thought he would have the same feelings for humans as he did years ago; disgusting, weak, lesser than him, mere animals compared to his intellect. Instead he didn't find them as disgusting.
Until Loki saw the man lead you to the dance floor.
All right, no big deal. Loki figured it would just be another ten minutes or so. He tried to ignore you, yet he still couldn't help to take a glimpse in your direction. When his eyes met yours, he quickly averted them and focused back to the girls. Maya and Lilly returned from the restrooms, more drinks in hand.
"Where'd Y/N go?" asked Lilly, scooching herself back into the booth.
"Out there with some boor." Loki guided towards the wave of people dancing.
Maya squinted at the crowd trying to spot you, "I don't see her."
Without hesitation Loki shot up. Standing he scanned the dancers, not seeing you or the man among them. Something was definitely wrong. Loki couldn't shake the feeling that you were in danger. Face revealing a hint of distress, Loki took long strides out of his seat towards where he last saw you. Clusters of people continuously blocked his path, his heart began to pound faster than usual with each one he bumped into.
Once he made it where you were, Loki was met with Lilly and Maya trailing not too far behind. "What's going on?" Lilly asked in concern.
Barely looking at the girls as his only interest was finding you, Loki replied, "I'm afraid Y/N was taken. We need to find her immediately."
Maya grabbed Loki's shoulder, pointing to a backdoor, "There! I just saw her go through that door."
Loki, Lilly, and Maya rushed through the mob as quickly as they could. Through pushes, elbowing, and shoving, they finally managed to get to the backdoor.
On the other side you were being escorted to a black truck with four doors and tinted windows. Nate opened the door behind the driver's side, carefully guiding you in. You tried to hit him before passing out with the exception of mumbled words leaving your lips. With the little strength you had you managed to scratch his face, leaving a cut that wasn't deep enough to bleed but at least left some pain.
Nate winced from your attack, "You bitch! Hold still and this'll be easier." He gripped your wrists as tight as he could, forcing you all the way over the seats. Now you were completely unconscious, motionless, helpless. As he released your wrists, Nate's hand slid up your leg, reaching your thigh, "That's better. If you would've shut your pretty little mouth sooner I would-"
Nate was too preoccupied to hear the backdoor open. He was forcefully interrupted when his head was bashed into the side of the car, followed by a body shoving him into the brick wall of the club behind them. Nate was met with the end of a sharp dagger held by Loki, his free arm pinned Nate to make sure he had no chance to escape.
"Do you really think an imbecile like you could kidnap a woman without anybody noticing?" Loki hissed, fury radiating in his eyes.
"I- Uh-" Nate stammered, sweat beading down his face, "I was taking her to the hospital. She fainted and I thought she needed help."
"Really?" Loki shoved the dagger closer to Nate's neck, nearly drawing blood. "And you wouldn't think to look for the people she came with to aid her?"
"L-Look man, I didn't know. She told me she came alone."
"Don't lie to me. I'll have you know I'm particularly skilled in the art of lies."
While Loki interrogated Nate, Maya and Lilly came crashing through the door. They were alarmed when they saw Loki's knife to Nate's throat, but horrified when they saw you unconscious in the backseat of Nate's truck.
"Holy shit, Y/N!" Maya ran to you, carefully sitting your body up. "Hey, Y/N can you hear me? Come on you gotta wake up." She was stroking your face in a soothing manner, hoping you would wake up.
Lilly stepped next to Loki glaring at Nate, "Who the hell is this pervert?"
"That is an excellent question." A thought settled in Loki's mind. Was this man with Hydra? Could he be trying to kidnap you for them? "Who do you work for?" He demanded.
"I'm not telling you." Nate sneered, somehow still feeling cocky.
Loki gave Nate a sadistic smile, "Let's try that again." Without warning Loki punched Nate in the stomach causing him to keel over onto his knees. Loki grabbed a handful of Nate's hair on the back of his scalp and with a swift motion jerked his head to meet Loki's eyes before punching him on the jaw. Nate collapsed from the blow, blood pooling from his nose and mouth. "One. Last. Time." Loki dug his heel in Nate's shoulder, pinning him where he was sprawled out on the ground, "Who do you work for? Is it with Hydra?"
Nate spit a mouthful of blood on the ground, "With who? No dude! I work for a firm a few blocks away."
Loki scowled, knowing that he wasn't telling the truth. "May I remind you that while I have my foot in a particularly breakable area that I am the god of lies." He let gravity bring his weight down onto Nate. "Out of everybody inside you chose Y/N specifically. Why?"
Nate let out a harsh grunt, "I can't say! If I do they'll kill me."
"If you don't tell, I'll make sure of it personally that you'll experience things far worse than death." Loki dug further, an audible crack could be heard from Nate's shoulder.
"F-Fine! I'll tell, I'll tell!" Loki released some of his weight but didn't allow Nate complete freedom, "We worked together years ago, back in the children's facility. I mean, not directly together, but the same division. I saw her in the tabloids the other day when she was with Tony Stark in Greenwich." Maya and Lilly gave him strange looks, "Okay yeah I read tabloids. When I saw her picture I tracked her down."
"What were you planning to do exactly?" Loki sneered.
"I-I figured I would take her to the higher ups as a surprise gift, get a promotion and a raise maybe?" Nate started to sweat from everybody's eyes throwing daggers, "Bringing back one of the most notorious agents that's been presumed dead would definitely give me points! I mean, killing a couple of tots is one thing but her? It was practically an extermination."
The fire in Loki's eyes fumed at Nate's words. He dug his heel further into Nate's shoulder causing him to release an audible and painful groan. Loki leaned down to Nate's ear and with a hushed tone said, "If it were up to me, I would skin you alive and leave you to the rats. Not before I rip you limb from limb with my bare hands."
Nate was visibly trembling, "P-Please let me go! I swear I won't tell anybody! Hydra doesn't even know I'm here, if they did I'd be dead by now!"
Loki gave him a callous smile, "Oh don't you worry, I'll make sure you are well protected when I bring you with us where you'll be happy to answer any and all questions we may have." With one final swift kick to Nate sternum, Loki took a few steps away to admire his bloody work until he noticed you being supported by Maya. He rushed to her side to take you in his arms. You were like a ragdoll having no control over your limbs. Your head constantly lolled back before Loki decided to carry you bridal style.
"It's against my creed to cause harm to others," Lilly strode to Nate who was trying to stand up, "but since you tried to kidnap my friend I can make the exception." With that she kicked Nate as hard as she could in the ribs making him fall back on the ground.
"Yeah, you piece of shit!" Maya stood by Lilly and gave Nate a similar blow but to his side, causing him to cough and gasp for air.
The girls turned to you in Loki's arms almost lifeless. "We need to take her to the hospital." Lilly said, taking her phone out to call an ambulance.
"No," said Loki, looking down to your expressionless face, "I am responsible for Y/N. Let me take care of her, we have all the medical supplies she needs at the headquarters."
At first Maya was doubtful of his decision, but reluctantly agreed while she took out a pen and paper from her purse, "Here's our numbers," she said, "if Y/N gets worse call us."
"Please do." Lilly said, "I feel sick to my stomach about what happened."
Loki nodded, taking the paper, "She's very fortunate to have you as friends. You both seem to care about her very much." Loki said, looking at your unresponsive face. You seemed peaceful, vulnerable. Loki couldn't place it, but for some reason at this very moment he felt more protective of you. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline rush he experienced making him think this way.
"Uh, guys? Where did he go?" Lilly pointed to where Nate's broken body was.
Maya ran to the end of the alley towards the street, throwing her arms in an exasperated shrug. "He's gone. Sonofabitch booked it."
"You don't think he'll come back, do you?" Lilly asked Loki, still carrying you in his arms.
Loki shook his head, "No, I believe he was telling the truth that they will kill him for failing an unauthorized mission. If he has the brain capacity he won't tell his superiors of this night, neither shall we. If I may make a request, let's not discuss this night with anyone, especially with our colleagues."
"We won't."
"What happened tonight stays out here," Maya began, "but we're still here for Y/N no matter what. But what's Hydra?"
"Yeah," said Lilly, "he mentioned that they worked together, but Y/N never liked to talk about her past."
Loki hesitated, "I believe that is a question that she needs to answer for you another time. It's rather… complicated, to say the least."
Maya and Lilly nodded, "We understand," said Maya, "I think we all have shit in our past we want to forget."
Loki sighed, "I know that all too well. I must be going now. I will contact you when she wakes up." Loki bid Maya and Lilly farewell, then promptly left the alley with you in his arms.
The drive back was quiet. It wasn't an awkward sort of quiet, more so the type that you both needed after everything that happened. If you were a normal person you would linger on the memories of what led to your potential kidnapping. From when you met Nate, not paying attention to your drink for a split second, passing out, you would want to call the police and talk about your trauma with somebody, anybody. Yet you were far from being a normal person. Another one of your training lessons was to move on from any traumas you've experienced. You weren't allowed to hold on.
"Loki?" He tilted his head to you, "You don't think Nate was a Hydra agent, do you?"
Loki clenched his jaw, luckily you were focused too much on the road that you didn't notice, "No. I assure you I interrogated him and from what he could blubber he was just another lowlife mortal waiting for prey."
"Oh." You sighed in relief. You were already worried about getting back without being seen, having a Hydra spy on your as surely wouldn't have helped.
Thankfully when you returned to the headquarters there was nobody around when you parked the car back in the garage. It was after three in the morning, so you assumed there wasn't anyone still working, yet you still wanted to take precaution. Upon leaving the garage, you took your heels off to make less noise. There didn't seem to be anyone around, until with no forewarning Loki grabbed your shoulders to pin you to the nearest wall.
"Ugh!" You grunted, you saw him put his finger to his lips. Peeking around there were two lab assistants walking down the hallway in your direction. Body still and breath hitched, you waited for them to leave before speaking, "Could you be a little more gentle? I'm still kind of queasy."
"Only if you ask politely." He countered with a playful smirk.
You rolled your eyes, then you moved him aside to get to the elevators. Once the two of you were in you pressed the button to your floor. There wasn't much else to look at, so out of the corner of your eye you observed the enigma of the demigod standing right there. You had no idea what to make of Loki. The first day you met you wanted to figure him out like a human puzzle. Loki's eyes spoke so much yet the way he presents himself left you utterly clueless. One moment you were absolutely nothing to him, then he hated your guts, then he saves your life. Surely he only saved you because he needed to get back as much as you did, given you were his ride home. However, he was so gentle and sincere to you when you were in the car after everything happened. Was this all an elaborate game he concocted just to mess with you? What made you so special that Loki decided you were his perfect target?
The elevator's ding woke you from your thoughts. You peered through the doors into the halls to find nobody there. It was home bound for both of you until your stomach dropped with sudden realization. The security cameras.
"Shit. Shit shit shit!" You whispered.
"What?" Loki queried.
"The cameras. I completely forgot about the cameras."
Loki smiled in his mischievous manner, "Fortunately for us, I planned ahead." As if on cue down the hall your bedroom door opened with… you coming out? You were in your pajamas, mug in hand walking to the water cooler next to the elevators. Seeing not-you was the weirdest thing you have ever witnessed. Loki's illusion of you was almost to a T from the way you walked to the specific freckles you had on your body. Loki stepped out of the elevator next to your doppelganger filling your mug. "What do you think?"
You stepped out as well, observing yourself closer, "So the cameras can't see us right now?"
"Only my illusion." He said as you went back to your room.
"I hate to admit it, but that's kind of cool and really handy."
You both made your way to your respected rooms. Your feet were sore, your head was throbbing, and overall you were a mess. The only thing you wanted to do was sleep and sleep and sleep. Although you wish you could do more of that if it wasn't for your deal with Loki.
"I guess I'll see you first thing with a to-do list." You said to Loki before entering your room.
Loki looked at you puzzled, "I'm sorry?"
"Our deal. I have to be your personal assistant for two weeks, remember?"
Loki didn't say anything, instead he thought for a moment. "Forget about the agreement."
You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, "Huh?"
"After everything, I thought about our bargain and I'm changing it."
"To what?"
"Instead of you following my orders, I would like to train you to fight."
Train you to fight? Was he being serious? There was no way he was serious. However, with his fixed expression he was definitely being serious. "I don't need you to train me. I spent my whole life fighting in dozens of different styles and forms. Hell, I even beat the freakin' Winter Soldier."
"Beating one man doesn't mean you can take on the world." Loki turned his gaze to the ground, then back to you, "You were defenseless, helpless against that neanderthal. If I wasn't there he would have had his way with you."
You were getting annoyed by Loki's sudden tone, "Oh please, I could've taken him when I came to."
"What if you didn't?!" Loki raised his voice in frustration while he took a step towards you. Your breath hitched with his sudden proximity. His stature was tall and brooding, but as before his eyes told a different story as they were filled with concern and grief.
You nodded your head ever so slightly. "Okay." You whispered, "We can change the deal."
Loki relaxed his shoulders, taking a step back towards his room. "Good. First thing in the morning we'll meet in the sparring pit."
Nodding, you opened your door to the familiar surroundings of your room. You were nearly all the way in when you stopped yourself, "Loki?" You called him before his door was shut. He quickly threw the door back open to see you, "I… Uh, I'll see you in the morning." Was all you could say.
Loki paused, as if he was waiting for you to say something different, "Goodnight, Y/N." The way he said your name made something inside of you flutter. The feeling was gone when the two of you closed your doors.
You stripped down your dress and fancy underwear and into a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt that was probably a few days old. You didn't care about the light smell, all you wanted was blissful unconsciousness. You grabbed a makeup wipe and rubbed the gunk off of your face to the best of your ability. Next was the jewelry that you haphazardly tossed on your nightstand along with your purse and phone before throwing yourself onto your bed. You awaited for sleep but every few minutes a certain god of mischief invaded your mind, his voice whispering only your name. The next few weeks of training were going to drag on.
