A/N: Guest, JigokuShoujosRevenge, and (OMW!) Shorty McGee! Thanks all for first chapter reviews. Here's chapter two! Remember that reviews keep us writing - both me and DeviantArt's ReSurrendered-Hero. So you should leave one letting us know what you think. Thanks!
A loud inhuman roar jolted Nancy awake. It echoed from the decks above her, spiraling down and bouncing off the thick metal of the ship. Reverberating in her already pounding head. A sound that could only be created by one creature. Oh, no. Images of footage played out in her mind. Scenes of fire and destruction. An indestructible, hulking green monster, rightfully named, was loose on the ship. Lovely. Absolutely lovely. They were all going to die.
A drop of blood dripped down from the cut over Nancy's eye and momentarily blinded her. She lifted her hand to her face and carefully pressed her fingers to the painful spot. When she pulled them back, her fingertips were streaked with blood. With a bit of effort, Nancy sat up and groaned softly. Her head was absolutely pounding. She glanced up at the yellow railing, identifying the culprit. That's when her eyes landed on the cage. Empty. It was empty.
She quickly spun around on the floor and locked eyes with Loki. He was out of his cage, free as a bird, with a blue-eyed guard on either side of him. They were agents. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. How could they be so easily compromised? That staff, his scepter. Full of its dark magic that could turn the minds of even the brightest men. Fear crept up her spine and into her veins, causing her blood to run cold. If he could simply take anyone he wanted, why was he just standing there, staring at her?
Loki smirked at her. This mortal who thought a cage could contain him, like all the others. She amused him. Greatly. If he thought it would bring him pleasure to hold her mind in his hand, he could so easily turn her like he had the others. But, that would never do. No, no, no. He wanted only to change her mind, not destroy it. To make her see how terribly wonderful he could be to those who chose to be kind to him. To obey him. And he would, soon. For now, however, he watched her scramble.
Still cautious of what he was planning, but fearful of what he might be planning to do to her, Nancy quickly gathered her things into her satchel, preparing to make her great escape. But first, she had to grab everything. So many things were scattered about. Papers. Pens. Folders. Contacts-case. Drops. Gotta have the drops. Might need those later. Notepad. That's important. And... the flash drive. Wait... where is it? Oh, here it is. She quickly pulled her satchel onto her shoulder and stood.
The two locked eyes again as Nancy stood there, preparing to flee. They were alone together in one brief moment in time. Even time seemed to stand still, as Nancy gazed into his green eyes. So menacing. And yet... there was something... more. The instant passed as quickly as it came, and Nancy bolted for the door.
Loki rolled his eyes at her. As though that would keep him from finding her again. If he wanted to collect her – when he had time to collect her – he would. She was, after all, the most interesting of the dull agents that had been assigned to him. Someone who broke rules to get her way and attempted to wiggle her way inside his head. But, for now, he had other matters to attend to.
Nancy ran out the door and made her way safely into the hall. She paused for one brief moment to catch her breath and glance back into the room. He let her go. She couldn't believe it. He actually let her run away. Turning away again, she bolted for the stairs, heading back up toward her station. Up, up, up. Up three floors. She was bound and determined to be of some help to someone, even if all she could do was follow orders. If she died in the line of duty, so be it.
As she reached the top step, the ship began to tilt. They'd lost an engine. No, two. It would only tilt like this if they'd lost two. They were falling from the sky. Nancy tried to hang on to the railing, but her arms were too weak. She knew she wasn't like the other agents. She never went out on missions or fought the bad guys. She only went to the training sessions that were mandatory and spent most of her days behind a desk. This was what she got for being a pencil pusher.
Nancy screamed as the railing slipped from her fingers. She went sprawling back down to the detention level, backwards down the stairs, tumbling over the railing, and down the final flight. As she landed on the metallic ground below, her head smacked the metal with a sickening crack. She fell unconscious, the taste of blood rising into her mouth.
As she began to regain conscious, Nancy heard the sound of a blast. It was distant, but she heard it. At that same moment, she heard a soft thump next to her, like the sound of something large landing in a heap. With a groan, she opened her eyes. A mass of green and black lay next to her, unmoving. The longer she looked at it, the more her eyes focused. Suddenly, she realized who it was. Loki. Someone must have shot him with something powerful.
With another groan, Nancy pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. A sudden pain in her side caused her to cry out and grip the wound. She must have broken something during her fall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something flickering, and looked that way. Fire ringed the melted and scorched edges of a large hole in the metal wall. So there was a blast after all. She looked down at Loki again, studying his calm face. He looked harmless when he was unconscious. Of course... maybe he wasn't unconscious. Maybe the blast had killed him. After all, it was strong enough to shove him through the wall. Surely he couldn't have survived a blast like that.
Curiosity finally got the better of Nancy and she timidly placed her fingers on his wrist, checking for a pulse. She gasped when she felt it.
Loki groaned as he woke. The blast from the gun, based on the Destroyer... he should have known it would knock him back. He should have braced himself and not underestimated the dying agent. If he didn't hurt so much he would move. Slowly, his senses began to return. Then, he felt the hand on his wrist. Someone trying to detain him no doubt. He instinctively grabbed his attacker's wrist.
"Ow! Let go!" Nancy cried, more out of fear than pain. She pulled back, trying to free herself from his grip, but he was too strong. His hand held fast to her wrist like a vice, able to crush it with little effort, she supposed. She awkwardly kicked at him, still trying to get away, but the pain in her side weakened all action. "I was just trying to see if you were alive!" she explained, "You are, so let go!"
"As you were just trying to worm into my head." Loki opened his eyes to stare at her. Nancy McAllister. The fact that she had stayed when she found him said much about her. He smirked. A woman whose mischief wished to rival his own. Something he rarely found in Midgardians. There was no denying it. He must have her. He must make her his, and only his. Tame her, bend her to his will. Yes, it would prove a worthy challenge. Behind him, Loki could hear guards fast approaching. Drat. Something would have to be done about that before he could do anything about the girl. He slowly released his newest obsession."I will see you in a moment." He moved to ward off his attackers.
As Nancy struggled against him, she heard the running footsteps of a group of agents. Combat-level agents. Soldiers! She turned as much as she could to look down the hall and saw them running towards her. Perfect. The perfect distraction.
Her blood ran cold at Loki's words, but as soon as he released her, and turned to face the guards, her attention turned to her satchel. All her supplies were scattered everywhere again, forced out of her bag by her fall. She immediately began to gather them up, listing them off one by one to make sure she had them all. And she definitely needed to get a zipper for that bag. She'd get one of those new top-of-the-line satchels, with lots of pockets. And zippers. Lots of zippers.
With the last paper finally in place, Nancy stood, and not a moment too soon. A guard flew past the spot she was moments ago, nearly knocking her over in the process. She could feel the slight breeze created by his momentum as he flew past. One last look to the brawl in front of her, and then she was gone down the hall, seeking somewhere – anywhere – to hide.
She went up a flight of stairs and down a hallway. What level was this? Agents' Quarters Sub-Alpha. She tried a door. Locked. No wonder, the system was down. Which meant the computerized lock system was down. Up another flight, down a ladder, around a corner. Then another. And another. In a door. Out one more. Round and round and round. Nancy continued on, feeling like she was in a very, very bad dream.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Loki appeared in front of her. She stumbled to a stop, the pain in her side beginning again, and nearly crashed into him.
Loki didn't bother to reach out to steady her as she stumbled to a stop before him. He looked into her eyes first, then allowed his gaze to rove over the rest of her, from her head to the tip of her black shoes. Assessing everything about her. Reading her fear.
"Yes. You will do nicely." Loki snatched her arm and held tight. If she was any sort of agent, she would fight him, and he wanted to be sure to have a good point of leverage if she did. He knew he was stronger than she was. He always would be. Noting the time and the animalistic growls from the bowels of the ship, Loki turned for the door and dragged her after him. They had best leave before the beast tore the ship to shreds. He had stayed too long already.
"Oh, no you don't." Not going down without a fight, Nancy twisted a bit and landed a kick straight to the back of Loki's knee. He sank to the ground, stunned. While he was disoriented, she yanked his arm behind him and bit down, hard, on his hand that held her.
Loki cried out and released her. He had never expected her to bite. Perhaps he had overestimated her intelligence, after all. It was never wise to attack him. Even less so to bruise or cut his flesh. Loki always found his revenge.
Successfully freed, Nancy turned and bolted. She had to get away. He would be furious now. She had to get away. But the pain... the pain in her side... it was unbearable.
Though he was furious – she had, after all, escaped him unscathed – Loki now knew what to expect. He stood to his feet, checked his time schedule to ensure he indeed had time to take her with him, and followed after her. He didn't even have to run. His long stride easily caught up with her fledgling footsteps. He wrapped an arm around her waist and decided to drag her that way. It would be easier than attempting to pull her along without breaking her arm.
Nancy cried out in pain as he grabbed her. His grip was too tight. She struggled, trying to elbow him, and stomped down on his boot with the sharp heel of her shoe. It didn't even leave a scratch. Nearly out of options, and weakened by pain, Nancy threw her head back, smacking her head into his.
Although Nancy was a talented fighter, Loki managed to avoid most of her attacks, save the head-butt. However, it barely hurt. He would wager that her head throbbed far more than his. He was, after all, used to sparring with Thor. He continued dragging her along with him, toward the quinjets. Near the exit doors, an agent raced towards them, gun drawn.
"Nancy!" he reached for her hand.
"James!" Precious James! Her one true friend in the world. Well, not really. They'd just shared a few drinks one night and quite possibly a bed. But, still. James! She grabbed his hand, still trying to fight off Loki, and held on for dear life.
How dare this pathetic mortal try to take his prize from him! Loki raised the staff. A bolt of blue energy sent this James careening against a far away wall, successfully tearing him from his grip on the woman. He would remain unconscious, at the very least.
"No!" Her one chance at freedom had been blasted right out of her hands.
Loki stopped long enough to pull his spear back to his side and growl into the woman's ear. "I do not share my playthings well." He readjusted his grip on her waist and continued on. He felt it then, something was wrong with her. Something in her mortal body had broken or torn or bruised. There was a certain gash in her side, and he hated to admit it but the irregular blood flow he sensed in that area concerned him.
He shook it off for the time being. He would do his utmost to decipher what was wrong, but not now. They had to leave soon, or his rebellion would be defeated.
"I refuse to be your plaything!" Nancy clawed at Loki's hands as she continued to thrash. But, still... the pain in her side. She couldn't fight as fiercely as she'd wanted to.
Unfazed, Loki chuckled. She really had no say in the matter. He kicked open the nearest door and hauled her out into the bright sunlight. That, at least, was sure to throw her off balance. Perhaps that would give him the time to determine her injuries. He couldn't have her dying on him. That would never do. He would fix her, and then he would have his way with her mind.
Nancy blinked from the suddenness of the bright light. She was nearly blinded by it. Her strength was quickly fading and she began to calm down, unable to fight him any longer. The pain was just too much. She couldn't fight him anyway. She wasn't strong enough. At least, not right now. She panted harshly, her heart racing from her struggle and fear.
Loki felt her calm and held in a smile. Good. She was a fast learner. Perhaps she would be easier to teach to obey than he had anticipated. Pain was a powerful teacher. He hauled her toward one of his confiscated quinjets and looked to his nearest henchman. He didn't know the man's name, only that he had been one of Barton's SHIELD recruits. He narrowed his eyes and made his request in one word. "Barton?"
"Romanoff intercepted him," the man answered, looking beyond Loki to some unseen realm.
"Pity," Loki clucked his tongue. Barton had been... indispensable. But, he would play the hand he had been dealt. He handed his new plaything off to a bevy of henchmen. Six or seven, if he counted correctly. He didn't release her until he was sure they had firm hold of her, hands and feet. Only then did he utter his instructions. "Plane."
They wouldn't need more than that. Oh, this day could not get better. Midgard at his beck and call, the world's heroes falling from the sky, and the perfect plaything to distract his uneasy mind. Yes, this would be fun. He funneled his thoughts into his henchmen's minds and beckoned them to hurry.
With little hesitation, the men held her tightly and moved to drag her aboard. Meanwhile, Nancy could only cry out from the pain in her side.