For the next week it seemed like Bucky and Steve were always around, which was strange considering I was staying at Aiden's apartment and they always happened to be running errands in the city. I couldn't complain, I liked spending time with them.
"Steve and Bucky seem to run a lot of errands in the city lately." I casually brought up to Aiden on one of the rare mornings he decided to join me on my morning run.
"You do know they're not actually running errands right?" Aiden said.
"Figured that out when Bucky said he needed to do groceries when they get them delivered to the compound." I said. "Two to three times a week."
"So who do you think is going to be waiting at your door when we get back?" He asked.
"Well I went all the way to Jersey with Bucky yesterday to try what was supposed to be the best cannoli outside of Italy and then we came home, cooked dinner…" I said.
"You picked some strange music to cook too." Aiden said.
"Bucky picked it out, asked Friday to start his playlist." I said thinking back to last night. The food, a bit of wine, slow dancing… "Pretty sure it'll be Steve today. They've been alternating."
"Probably because your Birthday's coming up." He said sounding like an after thought.
"Not really my birthday." I reminded him as we walked into the building.
"You know what I mean." Aiden said as we went up in the elevator.
"Any word on the first order?" I asked.
"Nothing yet. Doubt we'll be hearing anything for the next couple of days." He said as the elevator doors opened.
"Well I should get ready have a date…" I said as I noticed a blonde woman standing in front of Aiden's door staring right at us.
"H-hi." She said.
"Abby." Aiden said staring at her.
"I tried calling… but I guess you were busy." Abby said looking at me.
"Uh… I'm gonna go…" I said and Aiden nodded before I quickly walked past her and headed into my apartment.
I headed upstairs and jumped into the shower. Once I was out I could hear yelling from next door. Abby was loud.
"Boss, Captain Rogers is at the door." Friday said.
I quickly grabbed my jacket and phone before walking out of the apartment.
"Nora…" Steve started.
"Let's go." I said taking his hand and leading him to the elevator as the shouting got louder.
"What's going on?" Steve asked.
"Abby decided to stop by." I said.
"Abby?" Steve said surprised.
"Yup." I answered pressing the elevator button impatiently. "They've been at it for about half an hour. You hungry?"
"Yeah I was actually going to invite you out." Steve said.
"Finished your errand early?" I asked.
"Yeah." Steve said smiling at me still holding my hand and making no effort to let go. "I know a good waffle place?"
"I could go for waffles." I said as we headed down. We went to a small place by the East River. It served chicken and waffles and all sandwiches made with waffles.
We took a walk along the waterfront, just laughing at little things when a woman started openly ogling Steve paying extra attention to his ass. Which led us to the conversation we were having now.
"America's ass?!" I said laughing uncontrollably.
"That suit wasn't very practical." Steve said.
"Well Gramps did try to tell you." I said. "Not really helpful for blending in but you insisted."
"No the suit Howard made for me was practical that one was…" he started.
"America's ass?" I said laughing leaning against him to muffle the laughter. "Ah, I don't remember the last time I laughed that much but all that aside, it's a very nice butt."
That made Steve made blush.
"Not that the whole package isn't great." I added.
"Uh thanks." He said still blushing. As he put an arm around me and kissing the top of my head.
We kept walking before heading back to the apartment. Things were oddly quiet next door.
I played a movie and we cooked lunch together before we fell asleep on the couch during another movie. It was almost like we were back in the forties…
We woke up at the exact moment Bucky showed up with dinner.
"Hey you." I said.
"Hey doll." Bucky said hugging me. "You two have a good nap?"
"What gave it away?" I asked making Bucky smirk as he walked over and ran his fingers through my hair.
"Your hair's sticking out." He said fixing it for me. "I brought Chinese."
"Noodles?" I asked.
"Three orders." Bucky said as he started taking out the food from the box. "What did you two get up to all day?"
"Not much just went out for breakfast, took a walk, fell asleep watching a movie." Steve said.
"You slept all day?" Bucky said.
"We lost track of time." Steve said.
"But don't worry, Steve finished his errand early." I said putting emphasis on the word errand.
"That's good." Bucky said exchanging looks with Steve.
"You two do know you don't need to make excuses to stop by right? I like having the company." I said.
"Uh I don't know what you…" Steve said.
"You guys come all the way to the city to do your groceries even though you get them delivered two or three times a week?" I said.
"You knew we weren't running errands?" Bucky said.
"Of course I knew, I just wanted to see how long you two were going to keep this up for. I'm pretty sure future me would understand you two wanting to visit." I said. I had to keep reminding myself to bring up my future self every once in a while. I hated having to remind them of me not being around anymore, and having to see the sad looks on their faces.
"We didn't want to make you feel like we were smothering you." Steve said.
"If I ever feel smothered I'll let you know." I said grabbing a pair of chopsticks and digging in.
"Is Aiden joining us?" Bucky asked.
"Uh not sure." I said. "Friday can you let him know we have dinner."
"Of course boss." Friday said.
"Everything okay?" Bucky asked.
"Aiden had a surprise visit from Abby." Steve said.
"Abby?" He said shocked.
"Yup." I said. "We left as they were getting into it so he's probably going to be in a mood. Don't bring it up."
"Boss, Aiden says to start packing, you have a job." Friday said.
"Job?" I asked before turning to Steve and Bucky.
"What job?" They asked at the same time.
"Friday patch me through to Aiden." I said.
"Nora, we're heading out in less than twenty minutes." Aiden said.
"Yeah, where are we going?" I said.
"I don't remember any missions coming in." Steve said.
"Did I interrupt something?" Aiden asked.
"Just dinner." I said.
"Well take it to go." He said.
"You still haven't said where you're going." Bucky said.
"New Asgard, it's a simple milk run." Aiden said. "We'll be back in time for Nora's birthday."
"Again not really my birthday." I said.
"Is it really a good time for this?" Steve said.
"The sooner we leave the sooner we'll be back and you three can go back to pretending you don't want to screw…" Aiden started.
"Aiden!" I exclaimed.
"I'm leaving in twenty minutes with or without you." He said cutting the call off.
"He's in a mood." Bucky said.
"Yup." I said putting my dinner down grabbing my go bag from the closet before heading upstairs.
"Maybe we should tag along?" Steve asked.
"It's just a milk run." I called out from my room. "Chances are Aiden just wants to blow off some steam."
"Then maybe you should sit this one out." Bucky said.
"Guys, We'll be okay, it's just a few days. Besides this is actually really good timing, I've been meaning to pick Bruce's brain about some things I'm stuck on." I said throwing in a few changes of clothes into my bag and making sure my knives were still sharp before closing up and heading back downstairs.
Bucky handed me a packed dinner, enough for me and Aiden.
"If anything happens, call us." Steve said.
"We've got it handled and if we're going to New Asgard we won't be alone." I said before hugging him and then Bucky. "You guys should stay the night, don't want you riding your bikes back in the dark."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Bucky said with a smirk.
"Behave." I said gently cupping his cheek. I grabbed my things and headed out at the same time Aiden stepped out of his apartment. We headed for the elevator and went straight down to the garage.
Aiden's face was blank and his posture was tense, on high alert. He wouldn't even turn to look at me, just kept looking straight ahead.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He said still not turning to look at me.
"Well your ex showed up at your door and you two kind of got into it." I said.
"Don't worry about it." Aiden said.
"I am going to worry about it." I said. "You're tense and not the usual I'm on a mission where I can get shot at any minute tense and you can't even look at me. Not to mention this mission that came up out of nowhere."
"It was unfinished business and it's done now." He said turning to give me a look that could only be read as 'drop it and don't bring it up again'. "As for this mission, I got it from Valkyrie."
"Val?" I said surprised.
"Apparently the Asgardians want to handle this quietly." Aiden said.
"Meaning Thor doesn't know or he doesn't want the rest of the team to know." I said.
"Not sure which but it doesn't matter. She's going to brief us when we land." He said as we drove into the compound. We didn't even bother going inside, just went straight to the hanger and took a jet.
I took out dinner and handed a box to Aiden before taking mine. He took it and we ate in complete silence.
"I'm thinking of staying in Asgard after this is all over. Put some distance between me and New York." He said.
"You want to stay in Asgard?" I asked in disbelief.
"Just to start." He said. "Planning on doing a deep dive. Get rid of them once and for all."
"Guess you should call and tell them to cancel the party." I answered and Aiden turned to me. "I've got your six and you have mine. I go where you go."
"We'll talk after." He said as we started landing the jet. It was dark and we were nowhere near the palace or the town.
"You sure this is the place?" I asked.
"We're keeping this on a need to know basis." He reminded me.
"This is a bit too cloak and dagger don't you think?" I retorted as he opened the jet doors.
We walked out and I noticed a truck. As soon as we walked out the truck lights lit up and Val got out of the car.
"Val." Aiden said.
"You got here fast." Val said. "Nora."
I nodded.
"You said you needed this taken care of quickly and quietly." Aiden said. "What's going on?"
"A few days ago we had an intruder in the palace." Val said.
"How did that happen?" I asked. "The palace is guarded better than Fort Knox. You have a destroyer in the freaking vault."
"Not anymore." Aiden said. "Ragnarok."
"Oh." I said.
"We were celebrating the harvest and the palace was open to everyone for the feast. Someone we're not exactly sure who managed to get down to the vault." She said.
"Please tell me it was the vault with all the priceless art, gold and jewels." I asked.
"No, it was the other one." Val said.
"Shit." Aiden said.
"What did they take?" I asked.
"They only managed to take one thing before the guards found them." Val said taking out a tablet and bringing up a photo of a staff with interesting carvings. "This is…"
"The Berserker staff." I said recognizing it from one of the history books back on Asgard. Aiden and Val just turned to me surprised. "Forged from steel from the mountains of Helheim it's supposed to give the wield enhanced strength but it also makes them go well… berserk. I thought all of them were destroyed by Thor's grandfather Bor?"
"They were except for one, that ended up on here when the frost giants attempted to invade Midgard. It was found by Shield, lost again, then found again and repatriated to Norway which was then returned to new Asgard. But part of the terms of our initial asylum and being granted territory and sovereignty were that we would remain neutral and any Asgardian technology and weapons would remain in our hands as long as we could ensure they wouldn't end up in anyone else's hand."
"Which is why we need to handle this quickly and quietly." Aiden said. "Did the guards notice anything about the thief?"
"Nothing we can identify her with." She said.
"She?" I asked.
"The guards said she was dressed in a gown and she had a tattoo on her wrist. It was a circle with lines pointing toward the center." Val said.
"First order." Aiden said.
"Why would they want the Berserker staff? One angry strong soldier that they probably wouldn't be able to control wouldn't get them anywhere." I said.
"But Asgardian weapons on the black market could sell for a millions." Aiden said. "Fund whatever their big plan is."
"Our priority is the staff, there was a reason they were all destroyed." Val said.
"We'll get on it. I'll start making calls see if anyone knows anything about alien weaponry." He said. "We'll be in touch."
"Be careful, and whatever you do, don't touch the staff without gloves on." She said.
We nodded before getting back on the jet.
"Where we heading?" I asked.
"Spending the night in Barcelona and heading to Nador in the morning." He said. "Have a few contacts in the area that might give us a few leads."
"Just a regular milk run." I said as my phone buzzed. I opened it and saw a photo of Steve and Bucky sitting in the living room with their feet on the coffee table and the TV playing back to the future. I smiled and sent them a text telling them to get their feet off the coffee table.
"You really want to leave them behind?" Aiden asked.
"We're partners. You've been by my side since I showed up and even before then." I said. "Besides they're kind of used to me keeping them waiting."
"You're not going to ask about Abby?" He said.
"Would you tell me if I asked?" I retorted.
"You're probably the one person I would tell." Aiden said with a shrug.
"You won't, at least not until you're ready." I said as I leaned back in the co-pilot seat. "But as someone who's had her own fair share of heartbreak and has fought with an ex I can tell you this, if she still bothers to get pissed at you and scream at you the way she did it means you still matter to her."
The Following Morning-
We woke up before the sun came out to Aiden's phone ringing. His contact came through and was going to meet us in Nador.
We grabbed everything we needed from the safe house and headed out.
"Let me do the talking." Aiden said as we were about to walk into the bar. "This guy's a bit of a misogynist, believes that women should be seen and not heard."
"Then you just want me to be your arm candy?" I retorted.
"No you're going to wait at the bar and flirt with his guard, see what you can get out of him." He said.
"Easy." I said as we walked in. I headed to the bar and ordered some whiskey. I watched Aiden through the mirror as he took a seat in a booth towards the back. It was a few minutes later that his contact walked in with an armed guard. He took a seat at the far end of the bar.
I glanced over at him and smiled at him before looking away and tucking in a lock of my hair behind my ear. I sipped my whiskey keeping an eye on the conversation behind me. His posture was relaxed but I knew Aiden, he was still on guard. I finished my drink and just as I put down the empty glass the bartender brought another to me.
"I didn't…" I said.
"It's from the man across the bar." They said before walking away. I looked over at the guard and smiled before lifting my glass towards him. He smiled and returned the gesture. He got up and walked over.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked.
"All yours." I answered.
"I'm Xavier." He said.
"Anna." I answered.
"You're a long way from home." Xavier said.
"Am I? Hadn't noticed." I answered making him chuckle.
"Well I'm sure you weren't trying to get here. It's mostly a rest stop on the way to somewhere better." He said.
"I don't know, this place has its charm, the beach." I said.
"These beaches are nothing compared to the beaches of Marbella or Melilla." He said.
"But crowded." I said.
"Very true." Xavier said. "So where are you really going?"
"Haven't decided yet. I'm trying to decide between Marrakesh and Casablanca." I said.
"Well both are good. Lots of sand." He joked making me laugh. "Marrakesh has a bigger market. You can get anything you desire there and more."
"Marrakesh…" I said pretending to contemplate it.
"If you decide to visit I would be more than happy to show you my city." He said putting a hand on my knee.
I looked at it and then slowly leaned into him. He took it as his cue to try and move his hand up higher. I look that moment to slip a small non listening device into his pocket. I looked at the mirror and saw Aiden was ending the conversation.
"Xavier, we're leaving." His boss said.
"Of course." Xavier said. "I appreciate the company, if you're ever in Marrakesh look for me at the red Serpent. We can pick up right where we left off."
"Bye." I said with a smirk.
Once they were out Aiden walked over to the bar.
"Glad you two got along, we're going to be seeing him again very soon." He said.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"There's an auction in Paris tomorrow night, all big items. There's a five million dollar cover charge just to get in." Aiden said. "Mikhael owes me a favor and got us on the list free of charge."
"Am I your plus one for this or am I still just your spotter?" I said.
"Plus one. It's black tie." He said.
"Good thing it's in Paris." I said finishing my drink and before heading out.
We flew out directly to Paris and since it was very short notice we both had to go shopping to find a tux and dress for the event.
"Amir Alcazar." Aiden called out as we were getting ready.
"Money launderer, based in Dubai." I said making me review names I should know.
"Good." He said. "You almost ready?"
"Just about." I said adjusting the dress a bit before walking out. I had opted for a grey lace long-sleeved dress with a sheer skirt. I left my hair down in loose waves. Still took some getting used to see me as a red head but it looked good. Made my eyes pop.
.
I walked out of the room.
"You clean up nice." I told Aiden watching him fix his tie.
"Not bad yourself." He said. "You did hide a knife or something on you right?"
"It's like you don't know me." I said shifting the skirt so he could see the thin knife holster on my thigh.
"Just making sure." He said before we headed down to the car. "Clear on the plan?"
"Make the rounds, keep an ear out for anyone that may be interested in acquiring a rare Asgardian rage staff and after the bidding intercept the staff during the exchange, get it back to Asgard and be back in New York in time for Halloween." I said. "Not my first job."
We drove to the darker part of town into what looked like a run down hotel. Despite that the inside was very elegant and in pristine condition.
They didn't even bother to check me while they gave Aiden a pat down. We went in and took a look around. Diamonds, art, weapons, exotic animals
"It's like a black market toy store" I said.
"That's actually in Cairo." Aiden said handing me a champagne flute. "Stay alert."
I linked my arm with Aiden as we made rounds and took a look around. While there were a lot of things that bordered on disturbing, very dangerous or both, there was no sign of the staff.
"I've been to a few of these things, most of the time they have a special rare item they keep to the end." I said.
"Guess we're going to have to stay for the entire thing then." He said.
"Looks like." I answered. "Think we should scout?"
"Yes, I'll hit the head." He said.
"I'll be at the bar." I said before we split up. I ordered a scotch in a perfect British accent before taking out my phone.
There was a message waiting from Steve.
Found this and I thought of you
Attached was a photo of an old copy of the Wizard of Oz. There were two ways I could take this. He could either be thinking of the time he and Bucky read me that story when I got turned into a four year old or it he could mean I was a time traveling version of Dorothy lost in unknown times. I'll stick with the former.
I snapped a photo of my drink and sent it to him.
Remember when Gramps made you try scotch for the first time?
It only took 25 years but Steve finally mastered how to use emojis. He sent me back the green puke emoji. The head expoding emoji and the skull and crossbones emoji.
I feel sick just thinking about it. How can you drink that stuff?
I smiled and sent him the eye roll emoji.
That's because you're supposed to sip it not gulp it down.
I picked up my drink and took a quick glance around. My eyes met a guy across the bar who smiled at me. I arched an eyebrow and took another sip of my drink before turning back to my phone.
How's the mission going?
I glanced out of the corner of my eye at the mirror behind the bar and saw the guy still looking at me before getting up and walking in my direction.
Actually still working, have to go flirt with a guy…
"I want everyone to leave here with a bottle of Seviogn Blanc… need to make sure they all leave feeling like winners." He said to the bartender before turning to me. "Impressed yet?
"I'm actually more of a scotch girl myself." I answered in a perfect accent.
"Well then you must have impeccable taste." He said.
"I like to think so." I said smiling.
"Anything catch your eye?" He asked.
"It's an impressive set, that emerald choker is exquisite but nothing I couldn't find elsewhere." I said.
"That choker belonged to the queen of England." He said. "Though I do believe it would look better on you."
"That's very nice of you to say but I don't know I was expecting… more." I answered.
"Have you ever heard the stories of the Norse gods, the Asgardians that visited Earth thousands of years ago?" He said but didn't give me a chance to answer. "The god of Thunder, and his father Odin who legend has it was even stronger then Thor himself…"
Well Odin was the better strategist of the two…
I listed to him blabber on for what seemed like ages.
"Well a friend of mine managed to get his hands on Odin's staff." He said.
"Odin's staff? From Asgard?" I said sounding surprised. Truth was I didn't know what I was more disappointed in, the fact that this idiot was telling me all of this without even introducing himself and knowing what my 'name' was or the fact that he actually thought it was Odin's staff.
"A friend of mine stole it from Asgard himself." He bragged.
"He must be an amazing thief." I said seeing Aiden walk towards us.
"If you want I can…" he started.
"There you are." Aiden said.
"Everything alright dear?" I said eying him up and down for any injuries.
"Nothing to worry about love." Aiden reassured me. "Thought we should go grab our seats."
"Of course." I said. "thank you for the company."
"The pleasure…" He started but we were already gone.
"He seems chatty." Aiden said.
"You have no idea." I answered. "You took long."
"Ran into our thief." He said adjusting his tie. "Ended up breaking a restroom sink with his head."
"Aiden…" I chastised.
"He's alive, hid him in a closet." He said.
"Idiot touched the staff?" I said.
"What do you think?" He retorted. "Think your friend's going to bid on it?"
"Not sure, apparently he's close with the thief you knocked out." I said.
"Back to square one then." Aiden said synching his phone with the auctioning system. We placed a few low bids on a couple of things just to keep up appearances but didn't win anything.
Took a while but finally they brought it out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, for our final item we have something you won't find anywhere else in the world. It's a one of a kind item that belonged to a god. This is Odin's staff. This staff can give one person the strength of an entire army." The auctioneer said. "We'll start the bidding at one million."
"And we have one…" They said as the numbers on the screen quickly went up.
"We have five and a half does any one want to go for six?" They called out.
Suddenly the number jumped up to eight.
"And we have eight million does anyone else want to counter offer?"
"Last chance. Going once… twice… and sold!"
"Time to move." He said putting an arm around me and guiding me out of the auction room.
"Who's the lucky winner?" I asked.
"Not sure but we'll find out soon." Aiden said as we followed the attendants moving the display case holding the staff. We followed them to another back room office where slowly the payments were being confirmed.
"Where do we deliver the staff?" One of the guys said.
"The Hotel Le Meurice, penthouse suite. Same as the necklace." The other man said. "Has anyone seen that imbecile? He didn't say what bank to wire the money to."
"Hotel Le Meurice." The guy repeated as the locked everything up. One of them was about to reach for the staff.
"Hey! Gloves on, don't want you to smudge it." The other chastised as we headed out.
"The Le Meurice? That's… across town." I told Aiden.
"Ah I know, they make the best braised duck… shame it's not going to make it there." He said.
"Next time." I said as the valet brought up the car. I took out my phone and started hacking the street cameras in the area so we could figure out the route.
"Okay they're heading east…" I said. "Oh that's going to make things tricky…"
"What is?" Aiden said as I turned the phone so he could see the screen. "Shit."
"Three armored trucks." I said. "Only one is actually guarded but…"
"Other two have an automated defense system, they'll take us out before we even have a chance to get close." He said.
"I can try to hack them…" I suggested.
"No, the level of encryption on them it would take too long." Aiden said stopping the car for a minute. "The hotel… we get them on the way up to the penthouse suite."
"They have a head start." I pointed out.
"Not for long." He said speeding away.
We managed to get there before them. We ran out of the car and Aiden through the keys at the valet as we practically ran in.
"Elevator needs a key card to even open." Aiden said getting impatient.
"Way ahead of you." I said pressing the phone to the scanner and getting us in. "Plan?"
"You knock on the door, flirt, get us in. knock out the buyer, I'll take his place intercept the scepter and get out of there before they wake up." Aiden said undoing him shift cuffs.
"Easy in and out." I said bending down and taking out a few knives I had hidden in the dress draping. I handed one to Aiden and put the other in my clutch before fixing my hair.
As we got out the other elevator opened up.
"The staff and the necklace…" Someone said and Aiden quickly pulled me back and pinned me against the elevator wall.
"Wha…!" I started but he put a hand. Over my mouth and signaled me to be quiet. If anyone looked in, it would look like the two of us were making out
"Will be here any minute. Why the hell did you even buy the necklace?" One of them said.
"There's a certain red head who's company I want." The other said. "Asked one of the attendants to slip her an invitation for a night cap."
I rolled my eyes.
"Do you even know her name?" The other said.
"Doesn't really matter…" He said as they walked down the hall and Aiden moved aside.
"That's the guy from the bar, who's the other guy?" I whispered.
"The thief." Aiden said.
"You said you broke his head on a sink?" I asked.
"No I said I broke a sink with his head." Aiden corrected as he checked to make sure the coast was clear.
"I thought breaking his head was implied." I said.
"Well he's apparently very hard headed." Aiden said sarcastically as we heard wood crack. We looked over to see he had kicked the door open. "And angry."
"And looks like he's sticking around." I said.
"Think you can get him alone?" He said as there was yelling and then the thief stormed out. "Nevermind."
"Need to hurry. They'll be here any minute." I said quickly getting up and going to knock on the door. Except since it was broken it opened right away. "This a bad time?"
"Oh! You're here!" He said.
"I'm a bit early…" I said. "Hope you don't mind?"
"No no please…" He said ushering me in and closing the door. I took a quick glance around. There wasn't anyone else in here. A few knives and a gun lying around which he quickly chose to put away. "Can I get you anything?"
"Scotch if you have any?" I said with a flirty grin.
"Nora cut the small talk…" Aiden said as I got up and grabbed an empty bottle of vodka as he ran in.
"What the…" He said as I smashed the bottle over his head knocking him out cold.
"Need to move him." I said getting ready to grab his feet.
"No time." Aiden said just rolling him over so he was hidden before shifting into him just as there was a knock on the door.
"AH! You finally made it!" Aiden said sounding very excited and high. Forgot how good of an actor he was.
"And you have company?" The dealer said.
"The best company…" He said smiling at me and I giggled.
"Where's my staff?" Aiden said. The dealer looked at us before signaling to his guards to bring it in.
They brought in two cases. The dealer opened the first one to show Aiden the emerald choker in it's case.
"The necklace." He said.
"Talia," Aiden said and I looked at him confused for a sec before I realized he was talking to me.
"Oh my…" I said eying it before the dealer closed the box and went to open the case. This one was locked up tight. Three different codes, not to mention it was handcuffed to one of the guard's wrists and then there was the fingerprint scanner. It popped open and there it was.
"Perfect." Aiden said. "Thank you gentlemen, now if you excuse us…"
"The card." The dealer said.
"Excuse me?" He said.
"The card we gave you, access to the intermediary account." The dealer said. "With the funds."
"Oh uh…" Aiden said feeling himself and checking his pockets. "Must've dropped it somewhere, mind checking back there sweetheart?"
"Uh.." I said ducking down and checking the guy's pockets. I found it in his jacket pocket. "Found it!"
"Thank you." Aiden said grabbing it and quickly handing it over.
"The pin?" The dealer said.
"Uh… 2016" Aiden said. The dealer took out his phone and dialed something before the screen turned red.
"That's wrong. What's the pin?" He asked again as the guards all started reaching for their guns. "Wouldn't want things to get messy in front of your guest would you?"
"No no of course not." Aiden said just as I felt something grab onto my foot.
"Wah" I yelped in surprise before kicking the guys head slamming it against the cabinet with a loud thud.
"What was that?" The dealer said.
"It was a mosquito, crawling on my leg. Nasty bite." I answered quickly.
"Mosquito?" He said arching an eyebrow.
"I'm sure I have the code written down somewhere…" Aiden said changing the subject quickly.
"It's your birthday." The thief said walking in. "It's your code for everything."
"Ah! That's right!" Aiden said. "My birthday…"
I slowly reached for the dagger I hid in my dress and one of the guns they had left on the bar. The thief slowly walked closer to the case with the staff…
"It's uh… January." Aiden said and the thief turned to look at him.
"December." The thief corrected.
"December… right… Christmas time." Aiden said.
"You're not Marcus." The thief said.
"I'm not." Aiden said as I threw him the gun and threw a knife at the thief.
"Get them!" The dealer said as they started coming after us I jumped over the bar and onto the shoulders of one of the guards knocking them down taking their gun quickly knocking them out.
"Don't let them touch the staff." Aiden reminded me.
"I know." I said shooting at the thief that was trying to get to it. I ended up breaking the glass table knocking the staff out of the case.
"Get that staff!" The dealer shouted.
"Work around." Aiden said as we split up moving behind the couches to get closer. One of the guards managed to get the staff with his gloved hand I threw a knife at him slicing his arm forcing him to drop it. I slid over and grabbed one end of the staff before it hit the ground while the thief grabbed the other end.
I could feel something inside of me burning. It flowed up my arm and suddenly all the noise just faded into the background and it was just me and the staff… and the asshole that was trying to take it away from me.
He pulled and I just held on tight.
"Let go…" He grunted.
"Not happening." I said pulling back but he wouldn't budge. He tried kicking me but I twisted around and jumped kicked him pushing him back as his grip on the staff loosened I pulled it away before swinging it at his head knocking him down and making him stumble onto the broken table. I quickly started hitting and kicking the rest of the guards and kicked the dealer across the room before the thief was up again.
"I want my staff back!" He shouted.
"Fuck Off!" I shouted kicking his chest which he caught before I swung the staff at his ribs and then I just couldn't stop. I kept swinging over and over again.
"Nora!" Aiden said onto the other end of the staff with a rag on his hand. "It's over… he's out."
But I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to let go.
"Hey…" Aiden said slowly and gently putting a hand over mine. "We're done. Time to go home."
He managed to pry my fingers out of their grip and quickly pulled the staff away. I looked around and the guards were scattered. The thief was a battered bloody mess.
"Come on." Aiden said picking up the case. "Nora. Let's go."
I followed after him picking up the case with the emerald choker on the way out. We took the service entrance out and he had the car drive around back to pick us up. Didn't even realize until I sat in the car how torn my dress was.
"You okay?" Aiden asked.
"Fine." I said annoyed.
"You sure?" He said.
"I said I'm fine!" I shouted.
"Alright." He said. "We're heading straight to the airfield, I'll contact Val once we're in the air."
I didn't say anything I just really wanted to punch those idiots for being so careless. And those idiots in London. Fuck why are people so fucking stupid!
"Nora." Aiden said.
"What?!" I snapped.
"We're here." He said. "Might want to change."
"Yeah," I said getting out and heading into the jet. I grabbed the first thing from my bag which ended up being a black jumpsuit with a lace silhouette plunging neckline. I also changed my heels for a pair of heeled ankle boots and put my hair up in a messy bun.
.
"Feeling better?" Aiden asked when I came out.
"Mh." I grunted sitting down. He sighed as he started up the jet and flew us back to New Asgard. Aiden tossed me a protein bar about half way to New Asgard hoping that would get me out of this mood I was in.
We landed outside the city as before and it was dark.
"You want to wait in here?" Aiden asked. "It's cold?"
"I'm fine." I said grabbing the box with the necklace but stopped in front of the other one.
"I'll take that one." He said.
"Yeah." I said just staring at it.
"Nora?" Aiden said.
"Going." I said following after him. Val was already there with a few guards.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." Aiden greeted.
"Any problems?" She asked.
"No more than usual." Aiden said handing over the case. "Make sure to lock that thing up right this time."
"Already increased security, and put up more safeguards." Val said.
"Should have done it the first time around. Make sure these guys don't fall asleep when they're on duty." I said.
"You alright?" Val asked eyeing me up and down.
"Super." I answered. "You guys are still having that state visit next month right?"
"Yeah the prince and his wife. Why?" She said.
"Make sure the idiots get this back." I said handing her the necklace.
"You touched the bloody staff didn't you?" Val said.
"Yes." Aiden said. "Any idea how long she's going to be like this?"
"As long as she doesn't touch the staff again, a few days maybe longer." Val said. "Don't get her mad, things could get ugly fast."
"I noticed." Aiden said.
"Thanks for everything." Val said.
"Don't mention it." He said as we headed back in.
"Where we going?" I asked.
"New York, where else?" He said.
"I thought that was the last place you wanted to be right now?" I retorted. Aiden stopped what he was doing and sat down for a minute.
"After you died, things got dark for me." Aiden said. "Sam focused on the kids and work and frankly he's probably the most well adjusted out of all of us. Wren was with Steve and Bucky. And I… I failed to do the one thing my brother ever asked of me. I failed you and I couldn't be in New York because everywhere I looked, food trucks, the park, Starbucks I saw you. For the longest time I couldn't even look at Wren without being reminded of you and Wren and that just made me feel even worse. So I left. Moved around constantly. Took whatever missions came up, the jobs no one liked to take, the ones in that moral grey area where it may not be right but it had to be done.
I was in Argentina following up a lead when I saw her in this café. Asked to join me at my table. She helped me blend in so I agreed. Don't know how but we started talking. Saw her every time I was in that café. We kept talking. Before I knew it, I followed her back to New York. We moved in together and it felt like home again. I started working less and we started talking about our future together. I saw the signs for a while, everyone got older even Steve and Bucky but I looked exactly the same. Not a single grey hair. No wrinkles or crows feet. Even in five years with Abby I could see her change but not me. She didn't care."
"But you did." I said.
"You're probably the only person who knows what it's like to stay frozen in time while everyone around you goes on with their lives." Aiden said.
"It's torture." I said knowing exactly what he's talking about.
"She wouldn't let me end it, not even after my work followed me home. So I left." Aiden said. "Went off the grid hoping she'd get the hint but as you can tell…"
"She's stubborn and she loves you." I said. "Just like you love her."
"Abby deserves a life, she deserves a full happy life with someone who will get to experience it all with her." Aiden said. "I won't take that away from her."
"I'm probably the last person that should be giving relationship advice right now. Mostly because everything is really pissing me off and I really feel like screaming and hitting Aya right now but I get it because you walking away from Abby isn't really different from me lying to everyone about not knowing I'm dead. We're doing it because even though it's the short end of the stick, if it means they get to be happy, then its worth it." I said. "But just because this is how my story ends, doesn't mean yours will too Aiden. No matter what I will always have your six."
"And I've got yours." He answered. "Now let's go home."
"Good cause I'm starving." I said.
"So are you hangry or is it the staff?" Aiden asked.
"Probably a bit of both." I said.