Merciful
Chapter Three: Sibling Squabbles
Last Chapter:
"Do not touch me, mortal," he hissed. I sighed; this was going to be an extremely long day, and I wasn't certain if I would be coming out of it alive.
Now:
Loki
I pulled my arm away from the naíve Migardian female, refusing to admit how much her touch had startled me.
I was an idiot; one small movement, one minuscule habit had given my deception away.
"Father would not lounge in his throne, Loki," Thor said in disapproval as I slowly sat up in surprise and tried to shake myself free of his grip on my arm. "Father would not allow me to remain on Midgard, Loki. So, pray tell me, what did you believe this deception would gain you? After all, the people of Asgard would not follow you willingly."
I sneered at Thor. "Odin has fallen prey to the Odinsleep. He will most likely not awaken again. The people will not notice the difference as you have."
"No!" Thor roared. "Loki! What has befallen you? For an hour, a precious hour, I believed that I had my brother back! Do you not remember how, as children, we would play war, and plan the defeat of Jotunheim?"
"Do you truly forget so easily?" I hissed in anger, feeling the icy cold of my Jotun form seep through. "I am Jotun, you ignorant oaf! When we spoke of that, we were speaking of me! We were speaking of destroying me!"
"Brother, no. I would not have if I had known. The point is that we were happy together. Perhaps you remember Mother teaching us magic? Remember when you were able to complete the simple task she gave us while I was not? I was proud of you then, Loki, and I was proud of you today when it seemed you had given your life for us."
I glared at Thor, hiding the prickle of remembrance and regret. "It does not matter. I have what I want now. I will not bother you henceforth. Just go, be with Jane! But leave. Me. Alone!"
Thor frowned sadly. "Then I am sorry."
I jumped in surprise before hearing a sound behind me. I spun around, shocked to see Sif appearing behind me. How had I not sensed her minor use of magic? And what was that in her hand? Ah, that explained it; a rune. I was unable to think on it anymore, however, as something hard slammed against my head.
The girl sighed, signalling her exasperation with me and I smirked. "What did I say? No one orders me around. Try it one more time, and I will-"
"What, kill me?" Mortal girl snorted. "Then why haven't you yet? You're being extremely compliant, considering you tried to take over the universe a year ago. You're magic and could escape in a second, so why haven't you?"
"No," I said in horror as I looked down upon Midgard. Heimdal stood tall in the center of the golden room while Thor held my handcuffed arms with a chain.
"I refuse!" I growled between my gritted teeth. "I will not be handed to the Midgardians, and certainly not handcuffed and chained!"
Thor sighed. "It is this or Jotunheim, brother. Of course, there is a way you could go to Midgard free of bonds."
"How?" I asked immediately.
"You must swear-"
"I swear it," I interrupted, pouring false sincerity into my voice.
"-upon Mother's memory. Do you still agree?" Thor asked solemnly. I was momentarily silent, remembering the last words I had spoken to Frigga, my mother, before she was killed. That had been the worst mistake I had ever made.
"What would I have to swear?" I asked quietly.
Thor smiled slightly. "Swear upon Frigga's memory that you will remain with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents until they, father, or I see fit, and that you will not act against them with the intent of harm."
I slowly repeated the words, each one a tug on my heart. When I had finished the oath, I felt an ominous air around us, as if I had just sold my soul. Or perhaps the opposite?
"That is none of your business, girl," I replied with a growl.
Jaida
"That is none of your business, girl," Loki growled in reply. I glowered at him.
"I have a name," I said in a dangerous tone. "I suggest you use it, or I swear, I will-"
"What?" Loki said, mocking me. "Kill me? I'm afraid the line is quite large. Perhaps you'd like to join the torture line instead? Much shorter wait."
I fought the urge to laugh at the snotty response. "That sounds delightful! When would you like to start?"
"Oh, you think a mortal like yourself could make a mark on a god like me?"
"For the last time, I have a name! Or should I just start calling you Alien?"
"Alien? What in Asgard is that?"
"Exactly!"
"Hey!" We both turned immediately tithe voice yelling at us; Agent Hill. I winced slightly.
"Agent Hill."
"Agent Liao…. Loki…." the agent said, eyeing us strangely. "Would you like to explain why Director Fury is still waiting for two of your reports?"
I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll visit him immediately. If his Highness allows," I said sassily, bowing dramatically to Loki. He frowned; the look on my face showed I didn't mean what I had said.
"Why should I want to visit him?" Loki asked. "He has done me no favors, and neither have you."
I took a deep breath. How was it that this one stupid god got on my nerves so easily? "I have, in fact, done you several favors, saving you from Clint's arrow being one thing. And let me tell you, you deserved it."
"Will you stop bickering like children?" Hill ordered incredulously. "Liao, you of all people!"
I nodded contritely. "Of course. I'm on my way now. Loki?"
He glared stubbornly at me, but I was just as stubborn, and he finally heaved a sigh of defeat. "Fine. I will come with. I suppose there is nothing better to do, hm?""
Fury was sufficiently mad. He absolutely loathed being kept waiting, with how busy he was. I had made sure to keep my reports short and he sent me off with Loki, telling me that perhaps, if Loki behaved well, I could go on an ops mission.
I was starting to wonder if I had done something wrong to receive this punishment.
"Alright, what should we do?" I sighed as we walked away from Fury's office. I wasn't used to being idle.
Of course, Loki didn't realize I was talking to myself. "Why don't we spar? I haven't since I tried to take over Midgard."
He said it so nonchalantly that I almost wanted to. Then I remembered that this was a god who had a thousand years of practice under his belt, while I had a meager fifty. "No thanks. I like my face the way it is."
"Then mayhaps a flight?"
I glanced up at the sky. The clouds from last night had retreated, leaving behind a chilly dusting of snow on the ground. I chewed on my lip before giving in and leaping into the air. It was day, not my preferred flight time, but it was better than nothing.
Soon Loki joined me as a hawk with a vicious looking beak and talons. He powered right past me, up further into the sky. I scowled mentally; I, as an owl, couldn't fly at speeds like that. I glided on the thermals instead, enjoying the warmth beneath my wings and keeping a watchful eye on Loki as he swooped and dove. Then suddenly, it was all silent and still. Just as suddenly, there was a hawk diving at me, and I screeched in alarm as he passed me by an inch.
Loki, you little…!
I leaned forward and wrapped my wings around my body, falling into a dive and landing on the ground in the last second. Loki also landed, and for a brief moment, I saw a spark of childish excitement in his eyes.
Loki
I had let myself be carried away. The sky was, indeed, beautiful, but that was no excuse for my exceptionally childish behavior. As soon as I had landed, I composed myself and looked at the girl - Jaida - impassively. Her face was flushed, and her mouth twitched slightly, trying to decide if she was wanting to laugh or yell.
"Thanks for giving me a heart attack there," she said sarcastically.
"You are quite welcome," I replied haughtily. "Now. Is there nowhere to eat around here?" It was, after all, almost noon. She looked up, seeming to notice this as well.
"Yes. Come on." I reluctantly trailed after her, feeling strangely helpless in this mortal world, tied by my oath. Finally, we reached a low building, and I subconsciously wrinkled my nose at the disgusting scent of Midgardians food. However, I had not eaten since before Thor discovered my disguise, and my stomach did not agree with my mind.
Entering the building, all conversation ceased before returning in hushed whispers. Jaida toon this all in stride, holding her head high and getting food for both of us. The only time she faltered was when Barton, the Avenger I had enslaved, completely ignored her, even going so far as to move over so that she was unable to sit with him and Romanoff.
"The Three Musketeers are fighting," I heard someone mutter. Jaida slowed slightly, seeming to hear it as well. Sharp senses.
"Who do you think will hold out the longest?"
"Never mind that, who's gonna die first? They are assassins."
"You, if you don't shut up about it," Jaida said cheerfully, sliding in beside the three gossiping agents. They gulped and glanced at me before finishing their meal as quickly and silently as possible.
"I feel like I'm walking around with an unstable bomb," Jaida said, looking at me. "Everyone is avoiding me, and you… I'm not sure when, but I'm almost positive that you'll blow it sooner or later."
"God of Mischief, at your service," I said absently, studying a piece of… meat? Could it be called meat? It was cut so thin, placed on strange bread, and hardly even looked like meat. It smelled similar, though, and I carefully took a nibble, resisting the urge to gag. I needed food. This was food. I hoped.
"Just eat it, Loki," Jaida sighed, noticing my reluctance. "It may not be the expensive gourmet banquets you have in Asgard, but it's edible."
"Reassuring," I said quietly. I was about to take a bite when there was a rumble. For a minute I thought it was my stomach, but looking around told me otherwise. All of the agents were on their feet, looking around warily.
The next sound was obviously an explosion, and I was on my feet as well, instantly clothed in my green and gold armor. Weaponless. I growled when I realized that my magic must have been reduced enough to keep me from doing anything particularly harmful. This was beginning to get suspicious; who did Thor find? Who was capable of strong magic like this and runes?
I was unable to ponder this any longer as agents began shouldering past me, shouting out orders and exiting the building. I looked to Jaida, who looked torn. I knew what she was thinking; go help her fellow agents and find out what happened, or stay and watch me? Her face hardened, and she glared at me.
"Come on. You're going back to your room."
I would have argued, but the next explosion was closer. So close that the building began to crumble around Jaida and me, the only ones remaining behind.
A/N: MWAHAHA- I mean… *cough cough* Hah. Yup, cliffie! And just as I was getting to the exciting part…. Sorry 'bout that, but don't worry! I'm on a roll with this fic, you'll have an update soon enough. I was going to update this in first hour tomorrow, but I just got up to so much writing… might as well update now and have another one tomorrow than not update, pause in my writing, and get writer's block or something, right?
Okay, thanks to the favorite from sass-master-lucifer (is that a SPN reference? I love SPN, SuperWhoLockVenger for life!) and the favorite and follow from my good friend MuchoMangoz1734. Hey, look! I was wrong, it's actually eleven, not one!
Good-bye, my friends! Off to write more Loki stuff!
Edited: 12/20/13 for spelling errors.