Chapter Sixteen: Pretend

Sam leaned back in his chair, large headphones resting around his neck. Natasha sat beside him with one ear in and one ear out of her headset. Barton, who was on her other side, had abandoned his seat entirely and sat with his legs outstretched on the floor. His headset rested on his knees.

"They've been gone all goddamn day," Barton stated, annoyed. "We should have followed them, that would have been faster than this."

Natasha shot them each a look. "I'm glad you two have nominated me to do all the listening."

"Once something's actually happening, let us know, we'll tune right in," Barton offered with mock enthusiasm. "What are they doing that takes all day?"

Sam grumbled something unintelligible. Natasha turned to him and asked, "Have you heard anything from her?"

"Nothing," he replied woefully. "It's so strange. We rarely go this long without talking. She's got to be mad at me. I acted like a jealous idiot."

"Well, are you?" Barton chimed in.

"Am I what?"

"A jealous idiot."

Sam thought about this, but not for long. "Yes."

"See, well, there you go! If-"

"Is this going to be constructive or just hurtful?" Natasha cut him off.

Barton merely rolled his eyes at her and went on. "If you're able to recognize that you were the problem, that's a very good thing. And, okay, maybe it wasn't one hundred percent on you. Maybe the guy was a jerk, maybe Eve is being unreasonable. But the fact that you can say 'hell yeah, I'm jealous, hell yeah, I'm an idiot' speaks volumes about you. Really. Seriously."

"That's very...kind of you," Sam commented, emphasizing the word kind as though it were questionable, "but if I never hear from her again, my jealousy will have ruined my oldest friendship."

"Come on, man," Barton continued, thankful to have something to occupy his time, "if you really think she would do that because of this, she's not worth it. Give it time."

"Guys. Headsets on-I heard a car door," Natasha spoke urgently and the men took their positions. Their headsets filled with Graham's voice saying, "Good to get you home, darling," and then three distinct sounds. A smack of a kiss, a purr of a moan and then the two of them laughing.

Elsewhere

Eve folded her hands in her lap, trying to forget where Loki's hand had rested. After he'd insulted her, his hand had pulled away from hers abruptly, leaving a metaphorical burn that felt all too real. She'd continued to direct him, toying with foolish ideas involving her phone. None of them were plausible and most of them were pointless. She seemed determined to push her luck with him.

"How far away are we?" He asked, voice emotionless.

"About fifteen minutes or so," she stated after checking the estimate on the screen.

"You sound so hurt," he mocked. She neglected to respond. She was hurt. "While I have your undivided attention, let's go over a few things, shall we? When we get back to your home, our every word will be recorded. You are to act at all times like my other half. You will follow my lead only-take no initiatives of your own. Once we've thoroughly proven ourselves, I will find the devices and point them out to you. You will pretend to find them on your own and call Sam to scold him. If at any time you speak out of turn or say anything that would be considered suspicious, I will snap your neck and flee. Do you understand?"

Eve sighed. Crystal clear parameters with absolutely no wiggle room? Perfect. "Yeah, I get it, " she confirmed. She threw her legs up on the dashboard and crossed her arms, visibly pouting. "Just one thing-how are you going to meet your daily quota of saying insensitive things this way?"

"Oh, my darling," he cooed, "these devices will record us for no longer than tonight and tomorrow morning. I suppose I'll just have to be exceptionally cruel during the last two thirds of tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"Stellar."

"There's my girl," he reached over and pinched her cheek. She pulled her face away and leaned her head against the window. The rest of the way, she directed him but never looked at him. She ignored him but never thought of anything but him.

The car pulled onto her street and he slowed down to a near crawl. He grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. "You are going to be playing a part. If you can't think of something to say or you doubt your ability to perform, remain quiet. I can improvise with silence, but mistakes are harder to work around." Eve said nothing. "Eve, my love," he slid his other hand onto her cheek. She got that puzzled, conflicted blankness in her eyes. He tightened his grip on her chin. "Get in character. Show me you can do this."

She moved her right hand to his wrist and wound her emotions tight on their spools. "Loki, my love," she appeased him, meeting his eyes with a confidence she'd pulled from her core. Her main trepidation rested on one question-how long could she keep it up?

He pulled the car into the driveway and winked at her before exiting. She followed and unlocked the front door with steady hands. She closed the door behind him and started taking off her shoes. He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her hair. In one swift movement, he pulled her hair off of her right shoulder and swept it to the other side. He held it there and kissed her in between her neck and shoulders. She felt him smile against her skin as an involuntary sigh that became a low moan escaped her. She laughed, at first nervously and then more normally as he joined in.

"I'd say that was a day well spent," he announced, sounding pleased. He kicked his shoes off gracefully and began walking toward the bedroom.

"Yeah, it was," she agreed. If he hadn't been so unkind on the way back, it may have actually been true. She may have been able to look at this situation as a sort of game, or an excuse to get close to him. She grimaced, ever agitated by her own twisted thoughts. Get close to him? To what end?

"Are you coming?" He beckoned sweetly, turning around briefly to smile wide at her.

She knew he was just acting but at the same time, no matter how many time she stopped herself mid-thought, no matter how many times she went over it in her head, she wanted his sincerity more than anything. "Of course," she matched his sweetness, echoing the excitement of a budding relationship, before following him.

They changed as they always did, with their backs turned to each other. As they crawled into bed, Eve entertained ideas of going right to sleep. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, though not even looking in her direction.

"Sleepy," she lied.

"Yes, a long day we've had," he chuckled. "Can I just say...and, excuse me if I'm overstepping here, but, well…"

"What is it?" She feigned interest, not looking at him either.

"Sometimes when one enters into a new relationship, it's expected to see each other sporadically, as to not rush things. But I've been here the past few nights, and it doesn't feel odd at all. Typically, I'd be itching to go home. It's so strange, Eve, but it feels like I never want to be away from you," he confessed, and every word sounded like it was a challenge to say, like he was concerned his sentiment would scare her.

"I think…" Eve began, then had to stop herself. He was looking at her now, and she saw that false honesty that had fooled her many times now. She twisted the crank, pulling any straying emotional threads back in. "I think that's very nice," she breathed, "I, uh, I feel the same." She was immediately proud of her ability to pretend.

"Ah, I'm so glad," he laughed nervously, "so, what do you say we use what's left of our energy?" He pulled her into him, giving her no time to object. He kissed her neck and below her ear, each motion precise and measured. He grinned into her skin, delighted that it hadn't taken much to elicit a reaction from her. She had melted into him, sighing and clearly holding back exactly how much she was enjoying herself. He continued the way he was and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand holding her head and the other pressing into the small of her back. He was prepared to torture her, make her want it so badly she couldn't stand it. Her hands found his chest and slid up to his neck. He was taken aback by how great it felt to have her hands on him. He recognized quickly just how easily he could lose himself, lose control. He pulled away and admired her, her cheeks rosy and her posture clearly flustered. "Take off your shirt," he commanded decisively.

Eve stared into his eyes. Her body was begging her to give in to him. But as the sensation of his lips on her subsided, she found whatever clarity she had left and clung to it. He couldn't make her do anything. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He could. She knew that in this one instance, however, that he wouldn't. No matter how badly she wanted it, it was just biology. Wasn't it? When she looked inside herself, her emotions lay in tangles across her cells. She couldn't concentrate when he touched her, she couldn't make sense of what she really wanted. At the very least, she would want their first sexual encounter to be more private. That much she knew, so she shook her head steadily no.

Loki's face fell. She had obviously enjoyed the way he'd touched her, kissed her, held her...still she chose to maintain control. He nodded once to communicate that he understood. Even so, he thought, the show must go on. "You look so beautiful," he said suddenly, "but I'm afraid I've overestimated myself. I am far too tired to continue. Is it okay if we pick this up tomorrow?" For the first time since he'd arrived, he decided it was worth it to spend energy to read her thoughts.

She let a smile loose, relieved. "Yes, that sounds great," she said before settling into bed next to him. We can pick this up, she thought, when no one is listening in.

Loki grinned at her before turning out the light. He was glad to hear it was not due to his skills, or lack thereof, because he knew he was excellent at pleasing women. He was equally glad to hear he could take her at his leisure when SHIELD was satisfied, and thought of nothing else until he drifted off to sleep.