Chapter Two: Menace
Tony strolled down the hallway, gag in hand, and whistled his favorite Black Sabbath tune. He stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met Barton's. "What are you doing out here? You left Loki alone?"
Barton was running toward him and stopped hastily, sliding a bit on the linoleum. He was panting. "No, I, he, he got away."
Tony dropped the gag. From behind him, he heard heavy footsteps. "Ah, shit," he muttered.
"Men-why are you outside? What of Loki?" Thor barked from down the hall.
Tony and Barton exchanged panicked glances. "It's all you, buddy," Tony jeered, trying desperately to hide his own panic.
Barton met Thor's gaze as he stormed up to them, looking ashamed and terrified. "Your brother, he-"
"Out with it!" Thor demanded in distress.
"He was able to use the traces of magic left in my body to teleport away."
Anger shot through Thor in waves. "You were alone with him?"
Tony took a defensive, nervous step back. "Hey, man, you left too."
"Because you asked me to! I thought it was implied that none of us should be left alone with him-especially with his tricks! We should have sewn his lips shut!"
"Oh! Well," Tony jumped back in excitedly, "that's where I was! Going to get a gag to keep him from getting silver spit all over us." He hastily picked it up from the floor and showed it to the god, who was not appreciative.
Thor gathered his thoughts for a moment, forcing himself to be calm. "The good news is, chances are he is very weak. This was a desperation gambit, nothing more than a fool's attempt to prolong his fate. Which, now, will be all the worse. The bad news-"
Tony grimaced. "Let's be honest with ourselves, most of it is bad news."
Thor glared at him. "He could be anywhere."
Elsewhere
Eve wasn't even breathing. What the fuck was happening?
"Good girl," cooed the menace. He felt her trembling, his chest was pressed against her back. Her fear was palpable, tense and very real. "Are you going to scream?" She shook her head weakly. Truth be told, all she wanted to do was scream. Loud. "Smart choice, because if you scream, I will definitely be forced to kill you." She let out the smallest of whimpers and when he was sure she would remain quiet, he removed the makeshift weapon from her neck.
She shuffled away from him, still on her knees, and he grabbed her elbow to hold her back. "N-no," she whispered, "I'll be quiet, I'll be quiet."
Now this girl was particularly frightened. The surprise entrance really gave him an edge. She stayed perfectly still apart from the involuntary nervous shudders that pulsed through the arm he had hold of. He lifted her up as he stood and shoved her onto the couch. She exhaled forcefully and avoided his eyes. She curled her knees into her chest where she sat and wrapped her arms around them. He sat down close to her and made sure she was aware he still held the hunk of bowl, ready to cut her at a moment's notice. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted until she was forced to look him in the eyes. "If you do what I ask, there will be no reason to be afraid."
Eve felt herself blinking too much, scared to break eye contact but equally scared to look into the face of the man who'd caused so much destruction. She obviously didn't want to call him a liar, but she didn't believe him. He grinned and his eyes twinkled with a mischievous light. "Alright," he started up again, "maybe I was being overly generous. There will still be plenty of reasons to be afraid. But you must learn to be thankful for the things that frighten you," he played with the shard in his hand and eyed it up, "if you're frightened, it means you're still alive."
She nodded, pushing her chin lightly into his smooth fingers with each movement. "Good!" He exclaimed and backed away from her, lounging now with his feet up on the coffee table. He was clad in a far more understated outfit than the one he'd been seen in on television, a simple slimming, dark grey shirt and pants paired with dress shoes and a muted green tie that hung loose on his neck as though it'd been worn for too long. In all honesty he looked exhausted. "Now that we're on the same page, my dear, let's discuss my predicament."
He paused and considered telling her the truth, that he needed time to figure out how to regain his powers. The thought nearly made him laugh out loud. He continued confidently, silver tongue spilling sweet silky lies into her ears. How would this simpleton know any better, anyway? "I need a place to stay where they can't find me. Tell me, is there any reason SHIELD or their various associates would come around here?"
Eve stammered in a miniature panic. He'd asked her a question. A question she had no idea how to answer. "I, um, I don't know," she managed to get out before sighing in distress. The wrong answer, if she couldn't be of use to him, seemed to equate to fatal slash wounds all over her body.
"You don't know? Think."
"No, I mean, I don't know what SHIELD is. What is it?"
"That's as good of an answer as any, I suppose. Better than 'Nick Fury is my uncle' or something like that."
"Who's-"
"Very good! Now, are you familiar with the Avengers?"
"Just what I've seen on TV. I know they're, uh, superheroes and all that."
"Do you know any of them personally?"
She laughed in spite of herself. "No!" She felt she may have objected too loudly. "Ah, that came out too eager, but really, I don't. Can't you just read my mind? I'm not lying!"
He stared her down, looking bored. "If that's what you want." He closed his eyes and pretended. He didn't even have enough magic left to read this mortal's insignificant thoughts. He would just have to trust that she offered up her mind as a token of honesty, and if she was lying, she'd be punished for it later. He nodded solemnly and opened his eyes.
Eve smiled, relieved. "Yes. See? I have no affiliation with anyone who would mean to harm you."
He laughed. "Do you not affiliate yourself with the human race?"
She blinked. "What?"
"If you do, then you do affiliate yourself with a lot of people who would very much mean to harm me. Think about it."
"I, uh, I hate humans. Humans are the worst." She looked at the couch in distress. She was being an idiot.
He laughed louder now until an aura of annoyance overtook him. "Ah, I found your statement amusing until I saw the foolish motive behind it. Do not say things just to appease me. Make no mistake, woman, your fate is already sealed. The universe has seen all that has happened and will happen to you. Nothing you can do or say will change whether or not I kill you, it has already been decided. And I am not some fool who listens to the musings of mortals, understand, your words could never sway me."
"I don't know why I said that. I'm panicking."
"Has no one ever taught you to be calm under pressure?"
"Not this particular brand of pressure, no."
He rolled his eyes and shrugged vaguely. "Fine. Let's continue. You have no affiliations with anyone-apart from the human race-who would mean to harm me. That's very good. Do you live alone?"
This was actually sort of a complicated question. "Technically I don't. I live with my mother, but she's going to be gone for at least a few months."
"How do you know she won't be back?"
"She's on vacation."
Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that so?" What she said sounded like a lie.
Eve sighed, realizing the man could just read her mind to see she was lying, and decided that it wasn't worth losing her life over. "No. She's in rehab. Indefinitely. That's all I'd like to say about it."
"Well, good. You're alone."
She held back a glare and swallowed the anger that welled up in her throat. This was not the time to lose her temper. "Yes, I am."
"You will let me stay here." She merely stared back at him, unable to protest. "You will help me with whatever I need help with. And I will know what you're doing always. You are not to leave this place under any circumstances. If you try to tell anyone that I'm here, the police, a friend, an enemy, I'll know. And I will not kill you, but tie you to some tree in the woods as I retrieve anyone and everyone you've ever cared about and kill them in front of you."
"I won't tell a soul," she promised unsteadily, secretly hoping that she would be able to find a way to have the criminal apprehended.
He patted her softly on the cheek and smiled, sinister sickness spreading across his face. "Fear not. Once you get to know me-I'm actually lovely company."
