Chapter 15.

We made Olympia as the first hints of sun peeked over the horizon, and dumped the truck behind a Haggen Market where I used the screwdriver to remove the plates from the front and back of the beast for use later. I stuffed them into my backpack as we left the vehicle behind, we couldn't waste any time as we moved and I wanted to be back on the road. We walked fast to a used car lot and found a used, yellow Dodge Charger that was in really great shape, Loki nodded his approval as I used the flashlight to look under the car for a LoJack system and found none. I wrote the key number down on my wrist from the sticker and we went around to the dealership office, being careful to avoid the cameras as we walked between the cars. Not that it would matter in a few minutes, but you could never tell with a talented Hacker, something may survive the next phase of my plan.

Me? Paranoid, maybe just a little.

"I really hope this works." I said and drew my power in and held it, letting it pulse in my chest and continued to let it build until I felt like I had enough to properly control and accomplish what I needed.

"What are you doing Little Mouse?" Loki asked me concerned and I ignored him to concentrate on shifting the energy as I began to lift into the air and felt my toes leave the asphalt covered ground. I released the energy in a controlled burst that wrapped around the building only and disrupted the power flowing into the dealership, electrical currents overloaded as the alarm system and all the computers inside the building popped and exploded in the quiet dawn. I fell back to the ground and landed on my butt, and groaned as Loki rushed over to me as I recovered. I stood up brushing the dirt off my fanny and groaned again in pain.

"Controlled Electro Magnetic Pulse." I said and smiled. "I basically disrupted all the circuits in the building and fried all the systems. So cool, and effective if you don't want to get caught." I said and pulled the hammer out of my bag, swinging it at the glass door and breaking a hole in it large enough to fit my gloved hand through close to the lock. I carefully put my hand through the hole and turned the lock pushing the door open and walked with Loki behind me to the office of the manager and found the wall mounted key boxes for all the cars. I checked the number on my wrist and compared it to the codes written on the outside of the two boxes quickly and nearly missed the number in my haste. But slowed down and took in a breath when I found it.

I put my hand over the lock on the box and built up a pulse of energy that shattered the lock and the case opened as I smiled and looked at the hanging keys, finding the one we wanted and flipped it up into my hand and showed it to Loki.

"Easy peasey." I said and began walking toward the back door of the dealership. Feeling cocky. I used a pulse of energy to shatter the locking mechanism and we sprinted out onto the lot behind the building.

"That was impressive." Loki said as we returned to the Dodge, and I clicked the unlock button on the key fob. Moving fast, I pulled the sale sticker off the back window and tossed it over my shoulder as Loki got into the car on the passenger side and I opened the driver's side door and started the car. I drove to the front entrance to the lot and rolled down the window and stuck my hand out it and used a pulse of energy to move the car parked across the entrance to prevent car theft from the lot out of the way. We bumped and skidded into the street and I slammed the car into gear as I blew through a red light and we hauled ass toward the first safe spot to switch the plates out for the ones from the abandoned truck.

There is always a method to my madness.

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We found a mall parking lot, where I left the car idling and quickly switched out the plates and threw the original ones into a trashcan. Working fast we wasted no time tearing out of the parking lot, and I laughed as we drove through the nearly abandoned streets.

"We so have this!" I shouted and Loki laughed obviously happier with the nicer car. "Get me another Red Bull, I need a bit of caffeine before I fall asleep."

I merged the car onto I-5 and headed North and Loki sighed, but dug through the backpack at his feet for the can. He stopped and looked at me and I rolled my eyes back at him.

"You need sleep." He said scolding me and I yawned as if to agree with him, checking a sign as we passed it on the freeway.

"When we get to DuPont, I will stop and find a place to sleep for an hour or so." I promised him. "Is it possible that my powers are getting stronger the more I use them? I really don't feel so drained like I normally am after a long release like that."

"It is like a muscle," Loki said and closed his eyes as the sun hit him in the face. "The more you use your powers, the stronger they become and the more stamina you build."

"Cool." I said and sighed as I looked over at him briefly. "I don't like being what I am, but I guess I can come to terms with it all. Not that I have much of a choice."

The road droned on under us, and by the time we hit Lacey, I was struggling to keep control of the car. Road hypnosis took over and my eyelids kept wanting to close, my body wanted to shut down. Loki must have noticed it as well, because he had to gently shake me as I crossed over the wake up strip on the shoulder and the loud hum filled the car. I snapped awake and groaned, shifting in the seat and sighed.

"I think I am going to have to give in and let you drive for a bit." I sighed out and took the next exit as I gave him a quick rundown of the controls and how to tell his speed as he drove. Traffic laws, and using a turn signal was included, he listened closely to me as I pulled into the WalMart parking lot and switched seats with him.

"You want to really keep it around fifty-five." I said as we did a few laps in the parking lot. "It will keep the cops off of us, and not attract any attention." I said as he pulled the car out onto the street carefully and watched him turn the car toward the freeway.

"You are getting it, pretty soon I will have to teach you how to drift. Then we can race for Pink Slips." I said as he eased the car back onto the freeway heading north and gave me a sidelong glance.

"Just get some sleep, I believe I have this mastered." Loki said and I laughed as he drove on and gave an annoyed sigh.

"When you see a sign for JBLM, wake me up." I said and reclined the seat and put my arm over my eyes and let them close. "I trust you not to kill the both of us." I sighed and yawned as the drone of the macadam under the tires and the hum of the engine lulled me into sleep.

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He was growing impatient, and boredom was quickly setting in.

The Presence knew that if she were allowed to grow stronger, she would be harder to kill ultimately and he needed her weakness on his side. He stretched his mind out harder and clenched a fist at not being able to find her, she was still being protected by another force, and he was growing frustrated.

"Loki." He sneered, and wanted to rip the lungs out of the man, and make her watch as he died of suffocation before he killed the girl in the slowest way possible. Emotions were not something he was used to having, and this body afforded him too many, he wanted out of it and was biding his time until he gained his release.

He reached his mind out to Asgard and found no indication among the people and council that Odin kept of her being found, he only found whispers of the betrayal of Loki and they wanted him to be brought back to face justice. They thought he had her and was holding her for use against their King, they also feared she was going to help him. He savored their distrust, and sampled their anger as he listened into their thoughts. He opened his eyes, and looked out the window into space and smiled into the blackness, this could work out so well for him in the end.

He folded his hands behind his back and stretched his mind out into the cosmos, listening for any signs of her and feeling for a spark to mark the soul that burned within her. The soul that linked him to her in life and death.

Nothing. Frustratingly nothing.

Patience however was what he had and time would work on his side, she would be found eventually. Be it stubbornness or providence, he would find her and he would wrap his fist around her throat and choke the life out of her.

A sudden beam of light startled The Presence out of his thoughts, he sensed four Asgardians traveling faster than light through the universe and pulled their destination from the mind of one of the travelers.

A small, blue planet in the Sol System.

Earth.

"How may jumps to Earth?" He asked the Kree General and coordinates were entered into a panel.

'Six." The General replied and The Presence looked out the window again and smiled a smile that left the rest of his face bland.

"Then let us begin." He said and continued to listen for the sounds of a throat begging to be cut.

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Loki gently shook me awake and I nearly freaked out when I saw we were parked in the South Hill Mall parking lot in Puyallup. We were way past JBLM, and I was annoyed he did not listen to me. I rubbed my face and glared at him, and he put a hand up to stop me before I yelled at him.

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I did not want to wake you." He said, calming me a bit as I looked out the windshield at the Macy's and rubbed my face again to shake off sleep and sighed.

"You didn't get lost?" I asked and he held up my road map and smiled, opening my bag and pulling out a now warm Red Bull. I pulled the rapid release knife out of my boot and flicked it open with a quick movement of my wrist and stabbed the bottom of the can, opening it with a pop. I then shot gunned the drink as I pulled the tab and shivered as the first tickles of caffeine hit my brain. Loki raised an eyebrow at me as he watched the scene play out and frowned as my head stopped swimming. I checked the time and leaned back in the seat to let myself wake up a bit more for a moment.

"What was the purpose of that?" He asked me as astonishment crossed his face and voice.

"It is a very fast and efficient caffeine delivery system." I said and smiled at him. "We may just be able to skip our plan to ditch this car here and just make for Bellevue, but I need food and to stretch my legs. I just woke up, but am already going a bit stir crazy."

I pulled up info for the mall we had stopped in on my phone, and I called up a layout of the stores as well as a list of available options for food. I checked the cash flow and found we still had enough to get by if we needed it, and sighed again as my head did a tilt.

"What do you propose?" He asked me and I sighed.

"These clothes are getting gross, you can only do so much in a shower. I can get a change and one for you if you want one, and they have food court. I say we shop for a bit and get something to eat. If the car has not attracted too much attention by the time we finish, then we will just head up to Bellevue and drop this car for the next one. I know you got attached to her, but we will have to say goodbye." I said and he smiled at me as I tapped away at the phone and I shrugged back at him.

"Where do you wish to go?" He asked me and I laughed.

"An island paradise, where you can get those really colorful drinks. They have tiny paper umbrellas in them, and the ocean is as blue as the sky." I joked and he laughed at me, pointing at the huge building.

"I meant here silly girl." Loki replied and I laughed at his teasing me.

"You have obviously never been to a mall." I said and he rolled his eyes as I clicked the knife shut in my hand and put it back in my boot.

"Come on Magic Dance, I will get you a Cinnabon if you are a good Mischief God." I said and grabbed my bag and started heading toward the entrance to Macy's.

"I am as always, exhilarated." He said sardonically as we walked toward the mall. He handed me the car key as we entered into the department store and started digging through the racks of clothes.

I found a pair of low rise skinny jeans in black that were not to spendy and grabbed a new pair of socks and underwear as I went to pay for my stuff. I nearly lost it when Loki tried to follow me into the changing room and had to stop him before he created a scene on accident.

"This is a women only zone." I said as I turned and stopped him, he looked at me as I handed him my backpack and I pointed at some chairs where two other men sat, looking like they wished for death as they looked down at their phones. He sighed back down at me and rolled his eyes in annoyance at me.

"Ladies change their clothes in here, if anything goes wrong, I will scream bananas." I said and he relented, taking the bag and walking to the chairs.

"Just don't be too long." He chided and I walked through the door to put on a clean set of undergarments and jeans.

While I changed, it hit me how I had basically reduced a God to waiting for the girlfriend status and found it completely hilarious. Sinking to my knees in the stall as I laughed, I had to take deep breaths as I sat on the floor and tried to pull myself together before I could put my jeans on. The laughter turned into tears and I let out a weeks worth of depression as I crumpled on the floor. I sighed as I stood up and pulled my old jeans off and put the new ones on. I used the old pair to clean my face up and I pressed my hands against the mirror to further collect myself. I tucked the cuffs of the new jeans into the tops of my boots and laced them up, checking myself in the mirror I turned and liked what I saw and smiled at myself.

"Damn, I have a great ass." I said and I heard another woman in the next stall snort rudely.

"You wish slut." The woman in the next stall said, being catty through the walls.

"Too good for a Mortal Man bitch." I said and hit the wall with a closed fist, realizing what I had said and internally rolling my eyes at my choice of words.

I gathered up my old clothes and stuffed them down into the shopping bag to be thrown away inside the mall. I walked out to the waiting trio of men and one of the other two guys sitting on the chairs with Loki tapped the other on the arm and checked me out as Loki glared at him. He turned away from them as the other men made it their business to look at my ass as we left the store, and I rolled my eyes at the attention.

"Another shop?" He said curtly, and I rolled my eyes as I threw away the bag of old clothing and pulled the waistband of my jeans up a bit and settled them onto my hips.

"I need a new shirt and a hoodie maybe." I said and caught him looking at the jeans and he made a face of disapproval.

"You know…" He said and I shushed him immediately and he rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Yeah," I said and rolled my eyes. "Other men are going to look, so unless you want to leave a body count of epic proportions, get over it." I crossed my arms and he looked back at me.

"I am not going to throw a blanket over my head or lock myself in a room to make you comfortable, I have a body, and I have enough integrity to tell other guys to fuck off. Drop the trust issues, and learn to trust me." He laughed at my scolding and we walked up the concourse to another store. A few men did stare, women as well. We both ignored them, and I smiled up at him.

"I suppose you are right Little Mouse." He said and sighed, I don't want you to get hurt though.

"I know, but remember…."

"You are a survivor." He said, cutting me off as we walked and I smiled and leaned into him and he regarded me with amusement.

"You are such a vexing girl sometimes." He said. I rolled my eyes, and laughed loudly as we walked past a teen aged couple, the guy had his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and he carried her bags as her told her things that made her smile. Loki watched them and he then mimicked them and put his arm up around my shoulders as we walked. I laughed again at his efforts, and nearly fell off my feet when I stopped short to pick on him and he caught me across the back of my neck with his arm.

We went into another store and I bought a black t shirt with two stylized angel wings down the back, a studded belt, sunglasses, and a purple hoodie with white skeletons dancing across he back. I laughed and held up another hoodie for Loki to try on and he slipped it over his head and it actually looked good on him, but he looked uncomfortable so I let him pass on it. He endured the torture of shopping and found us a seat with our tray of sandwiches from Subway in the food court as I ducked into the women's room to change my clothes and dump the ones I had on.

We ate quietly, and I looked at news reports on my phone for anything concerning our activities, but nothing popped up. A couple douche bag teens made rude gestures at me and I rolled my eyes, managing to ignore the group, but I could tell Loki was having a hard time with it. To be mean I used a bit of power to knock the chair out from underneath one of them and he hit the ground hard. His friends laughed and I used a bit more power to knock another one of them out of his chair and the group panicked and they stood up and left in a hurry as Loki gave me a bemused smile.

"Brilliant Little Mouse." He said and I gave him a sly smile.

"Told you I could handle myself against their devil penis music, plus guys like that are a public nuisance." I said as we got up and threw our trash away and left the mall and headed back to the car.

"You endured that with panache." I said as I got into the car and started it up, putting on my new sunglasses and swung the car out of the parking lot and navigated it through the streets. He pinched his lips together and I looked at him and could tell something was bothering him. I tried to blow him off as I merged into traffic on the 512 and glanced out the window at the fairgrounds on my left side, I finally gave in and slapped the steering with a gloved hand and groaned.

"What is it now Mr. Grumpy?" I asked him and he looked at me, his stormy eyes irritated and I rolled my eyes so hard I swear I could see my own brain.

"What is that on your hip?" He asked and I sighed as I changed lanes and merged onto the 167 and continued North.

"It is a tattoo. A permanent piece of art marked on my skin in ink, using needles. Want one?" I said and used one hand to pull the waistband of my jeans down to show him the inked Cherokee Rose beautifully etched in my skin. The white petals, and green leaves curled and shaded with skill, and he looked at it.

"Why?" He asked me as I changed lanes to overtake a slow driver and snorted when I saw it was an old man who could barely see over the wheel.

"It is to remind me that there will always be hope, no matter what happens." I said. "After Michael, I went to a very dark place, I stood on the edge of a bridge, I had nowhere else to go and felt like the whole universe was against me. I cursed God, and I cursed Fate as I stood on the railing of the bridge and leaned forward to jump when some random homeless guy grabbed me and pulled me back. I hated him for saving me, but he told me how it was not my time and that I had to fight, his personal angel told him to save me because I was meant for so much more. The guy was nuts, completely out of his mind and probably high, but some part of me said he was right."

"The next day, I woke up and found an artist and had him draw me a few designs, I chose this one, and I got the tat." I said and he looked at me sadly, and looked down at the rose as I let go of my waistband and let it slide back up.

"The man was right, you have a greater purpose." Loki said and I smiled at him.

"I didn't know it then, if I had, I probably would not have been such a mess. Are you really disgusted by it?" I asked as he glanced at it and his fingers touched it gently, and my heart skipped a beat.

"No." He said and I relaxed a bit and let the car slow, he removed his fingers and my heart stopped fluttering as he leaned back into his seat.

"It is part of you, and it is rather beautiful." He said and looked at me. I smiled and pulled at the waistband of my jeans smoothing it over my hip to get the belt to stop digging into my hip and he closed his eyes briefly and let out a breath. I glanced into the rear view mirror to see a convoy of Black SUVs bearing down on us, surrounding silver Audi, and I tensed.

"Shit!" I said and Loki turned in his seat to look out the rear window as the black monsters boxed us in and the Audi blew past on the shoulder, I tensed more as the people in the vehicles stared at me and I wanted to become part of my seat in the car.

"We may have a problem." He said and I nodded at him and shook as my heart started to pound.

"I thought they would escort him up I-5 to 90." I said and let fear edge its way in and I looked around me and another SUV flashed its brights at us. I slowed slightly and merged over to the shoulder and wrapped my hand around the parking brake. Seeing that we were coming up on an on ramp, and I decided that if the issues continued, I would take my chances in one way traffic.

A red haired woman in the passenger seat of the SUV next to us did a double take as us and I tightened my hand on the steering wheel. She pulled a gun out and racked the slide back and my eyes widened as she motioned for me to duck, I froze for a half second. Looking at the gun and tried not to panic, but I think my face gave away some fear because she motioned to someone in the back seat and the wondow began to roll down.

"I am guessing she knows you?" I said and prepared to take the 18 interchange.

"I may have called her a quim after threatening her." He said as I jerked the wheel to the right and screeched down the ramp, yanking up hard on the parking brake and drifting the car around the curve. Loki pushed back into his seat and looked ahead, wild eyed as I controlled the skid and released the brake and shot down the highway.

"Douche move Loki! Women take stuff like that personally:" I accelerated down 18 toward I-5 and looked into the rear view to see the SUV rumbling after me like a relentless juggernaut. I grabbed the parking brake again and he saw what I was doing and I prepared my next move. The Charger had a better center of gravity than the monster SUV, and it was faster too, but they had the skills of SHIELD agents. Not to mention a redhead with a gun and with a vendetta, we had me and I had a working knowledge from years of being a criminal. Not to mention a few powers I was too tired to use.

The odds were stacked against us getting away, but I intended to make them work for it.

"I am inclined to agree." He said as I jerked the brake up and wrenched the steering wheel around, putting the car into a controlled skid again as I slammed the accelerator down and tires screeched again and. I released the brake and drove across the grassy median and onto the eastbound lanes, throwing up grass and dirt in my wake. Loki yelled and pushed back into his seat again.

"Have you lost your mind!" He shouted as I sped off, weaving in and out of cars. The SUV struggling to keep up, and I laughed but it got cut off as a bullet came within inches of my right ear. Loki growled as it punched through the windshield, and I wove the car around a semi truck, using them as a shield against any more flying bullets.

I rolled down the window as the SUV gained on us and I used a pulse of energy to tip the trailer of another semi truck over. I groaned when it tipped over onto the shoulder, and another bullet slammed into the trunk of the car as the pursuing car gained on us.

"Stop shooting my stolen car bitch!" I screamed and Loki snorted as I passed another truck and hit it with a pulse, this time jackknifing the truck and tipping it over and watched as it skidded across the two lanes of highway. Effectively blocking it.

I screamed in triumph and let the car slow bit by bit as we drove down the highway, Loki gave me an impressed smile and let out a tense breath. I pumped my fist and knew we now had no choice but to ditch the car, and fast.

"Stop shooting my stolen car?" He asked me and I shrugged as I took an exit and turned down the street toward the Muckleshoot Reservation. I laughed as I drove down the road and pulled the car into a Starbucks and let out a long, shaky breath, rolling my eyes I looked over at Loki and grinned at him.

"At least I didn't essentially call the redhead a cunt." I said and laughed exiting the car quickly as adrenaline surged and made my legs shaky and rubber like. Loki carried my bag and made it a point to look at the back of the car as he put an arm around me to support me as we walked away from the parking lot quickly, avoiding the street as much as possible to not be seen.

About a block from the car, I broke away from him and threw up in the bushes while shaking from the adrenaline dump. He opened the bag and handed me one of the Red Bulls, I opened it quickly and used it to rinse out my mouth, spitting the nasty, warm liquid out as I braced myself against a lamp post in the parking lot we stood in.

"Better?" He asked, holding my elbow and I nodded, he looked at me concerned and I straightened up and slammed the Red Bull, tossing the can over my shoulder. We started walking again, putting distance between us and the car.

"I sometimes throw up after high stress situations, it is nothing, you should have seen me after the night I got shot at." I explained as we walked, I needed to rest again for a while and I looked for something relatively safe.

"Let us not repeat that." Loki said and we kept moving, turning to see a familiar SUV blow past us as we ducked behind another building before we were seen.

"Shit." I said, and looked up at Loki as I leaned against the wall of the building. "These guys are relentless, we need to get the hell out of here before Big Red pulls a baby momma and tries to throw down." I said and grabbed his hand quickly before jumping to Seattle.

We both reappeared in an alley near Poineer Square and I braced my hands against a red, brick wall as my head spun making a note to myself about adrenaline crashes and my abilities. I took a few long breaths, and felt Loki put an arm around my waist to support me as we both walked out onto a crowded street and blended in with the people.

"That was not wise Little Mouse." Loki said, and he pulled me along and I put a hand on his chest as the world spun.

"I improvised, it was the best I could do on short notice, just be glad you are breathing through your nose and not through a hole in your chest." I said as we turned toward the bus lines, and boarded the first one we could get toward Seattle Center. I rested my head on Loki's shoulder and closed my eyes as the bus turned toward the Space Needle.