Merciful
Chapter Nine: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust
Last Chapter
"For one to trust, both must trust," the voice said. "Do you trust my daughter? You have a week."
Jaida
Three days with Loki was really wearing me down. The most he had done since summoning the tent was transport us to different location each night, claiming that he 'trusted' me to do all of the hunting, guarding, cooking, whatever.
"Jaida, when are you going hunting?" Loki asked 'innocently' from his lounging position on a tree stump.
I gritted my teeth and spun around. "You know what?" I hissed. "Do it yourself. I'm not a slave!"
"I never said you were," Loki said, a slightly befuddled expression on his face, standing slowly.
"You're treating me like one!" I said loudly. "For crying out loud, I have to hunt three times a day just to keep you quiet about food!"
"Well sorry, I didn't know you were so close to the animals. Ah, that's right, I forgot! You are one!"
"I would have thought you wouldn't be troubled with killing several animals yourself, seeing as you killed so many people in New York!" I retorted angrily. I instantly regretted it; even the birds silenced as Loki's face fell slightly.
"How many?" he asked quietly, avoiding my piercing look.
I tilted my head slightly; did he seriously care? "Eight hundred thirty-nine civilians. One hundred ninety-seven agents, the most in the history of S.H.I.E.L.D.."
Loki immediately sighed and lowered himself to the stump. "That many."
"Yes. There weren't many unaffected."
"Will anyone forgive me? Has anyone?"
"No," I said, wishing it weren't the truth. "Not yet. That was an act of evil. There was no in between. You may be able to change the opinions of some, but for those affected, New York will always be the first thing brought to mind when you're even mentioned."
"Ah." Loki ran a hand through his hair, which was slowly growing unruly. "I see. That is… understandable. Does that… are you included in everyone?"
I bit my lip. "I wasn't as personally affected as everyone. I didn't lose anyone close to me."
"What about Coulson?"
"… I didn't lose anyone close to me," I repeated hesitantly. Loki rose an eyebrow.
"Do you not trust me?"
I shouldn't, no. After all, Loki was the god of mischief and lies, the one who had killed more than a thousand people in just days, the one who had brought an alien invasion upon us and wreaked havoc, laughing as he stabbed his brother in the side. "Why would you ask that?"
"I would rather the one person required to be with me all day at least trusted me enough to, let's say, sleep," Loki said sarcastically. "That would make you much smarter than if you trusted me no further than you could throw me, and yet still left yourself vulnerable to attack. Even now you are unarmed."
"I'm never unarmed," I replied. "Let's just get packed up. I'll find something there."
Before I had even finished what I was saying, the forest we were in gave way to an older woods with a nearby cliff. Trying to mask my surprise that Loki had actually done something, I peeked over the edge of the cliff, noting the ledge seven feet down before turning around to the scene of a perfect campsite, complete with something that looked like a three-headed rabbit.
"Traditional Asgardian beast for smaller meals," Loki explained at my apparently confused expression. I hadn't even noticed him standing by me, and I jumped slightly. Loki immediately grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling down the cliff.
"Thanks," I muttered, pulling away carefully. "I'm guessing that rabbit thing won't be done for a bit."
While we waited, Loki and I began sparring, as we had occasionally over the past few days, with nothing better to do. I was still unable to beat Loki, but I was slowly learning how he fought and his favorite tricks. Then tonight, out of the blue, Loki's concentration broke. I took advantage of this and placed my knives at his throat before realizing that the invisible barrier was sparking, a familiar arrow stuck to it. My mind raced.
"My plan requires you stay out of sight. You need to move, ASAP. Jaida Liao, the Council already doesn't like you. You're dead to them, which is a good thing. Barton and Romanoff believe you to be alive, but that is as far as it goes. Get Loki, and get out."
Fury's orders. For all I knew, they could protect my two companions. Immediately, I began hissing into Loki's ear.
"You asked me a question earlier that I didn't answer. Yes. I shouldn't, but I do trust you, and I think that says more about you than it does me. If I'm right, drop the barrier and go along with it. If Fury wants me dead to the rest of the world, then I'm going to have to do this right."
The arrow fell to the ground, and I pressed the dagger closer to Loki's neck. He quickly realized out what I wanted and began struggling just enough that it didn't look suspicious. That was all Loki knew of my plan, and I could only hope he would be intelligent enough to figure out the rest, especially when I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying off the cliff. Then I spun around to where Natasha and Clint were standing at the tree line, faces impassive as always.
"How did you find me?" I asked. No greeting, tiny, almost unnoticeable amount of relief. I thought they would go for it, but I could still see sparks of suspicion in their eyes.
"Guess and check," Natasha said, beginning to walk towards me. "Energy readings weren't working so well, and neither was face recognition. We've been scouting the most likely places for a week, when we noticed an energy pattern. Emphasis on the pattern. We decided to check it out."
"Where have you been?" Clint asked almost nonchalantly. I glared at him.
"Do you really care, Barton? I was under the impression that you wanted absolutely no contact with me," I hissed.
"Well Loki-"
"Yes, Loki," I interrupted. "You were right, and I was wrong. Alright? That doesn't mean you go and abandon one of your closest partners!"
Clint blinked, and then shook his head. "Jay, fine, I made a mistake. Do you know how horrible I felt when we thought you had been blown up?"
"I can guess," I said. I could feel fingers wrapping around my ankle, but I didn't acknowledge them, focusing on my two partners. "You were 'heartbroken' and wouldn't 'stop searching until I was safe'.
"Jay-"
And then suddenly I wasn't there anymore. Loki and I were watching from a distance as a clone of me screamed, being pulled over the edge of the cliff by a clone of Loki.
"I hope that works," I muttered. "Now where, if they can track your energy output when you transport?"
Loki frowned. "How exact is their tracking?"
"When it comes to god power? Radius of five miles. It isn't as much of an exact science as all our other tracking methods."
"Then I shall bring us five miles over that cliff, and we can take a plane somewhere."
"Face recognition."
"Magic disguises."
I sighed. "Alright. That should work."
A day later, Loki and I were in Australia, wandering the Great Outback. Most would see that as a bad idea, but I was a highly trained agent and Loki was a magical fairy princess who could conjure up water whenever. It was our best chance to avoid civilization, despite the heat. Luckily, I was still able to report to Fury, as the phone was a magical creation of Loki's.
In the heat, Loki and I had been avoiding anything that involved too much physical activity. Therefore, instead of sparring in the heat of the day, we simply conversed under a rocky outcropping we had chosen as our camping site.
Since the fiasco on the cliff, Loki had actually been opening up, and started telling me about tales from his past and correcting human myths about him. In return, I had been telling him about my past.
It took a while, but as soon as I could steadily maintain my owl form, I was able to meet the other member of the Red Room. The Black Widow operation had been shut down, but like the Avians, there were a couple more groups. The Felinity operation - made up of two men and a woman with cat-like abilities - and the Rodent operation - those who would soon be able to turn into tiny creatures like mice. They were to be the main spies. Finally, there was the Alpha operation. The grunts, the bulk of everything. Most couldn't actually turn into an animal, though several had animalistic qualities. Together, we were a force to be reckoned with.
Loki
Jaida's tales captivated me. When she spoke, I could see the emotions in her eyes, though she never allowed them to leak out in any other ways. I learned much about her, like her first experience as an owl, her first kill mission, and how close she had been to her fellow Avians, all of whom had been killed in a mysterious blast. She had considered them her sisters, but she did not know how true that really was. I did; the girls all shared the same father. The same father who was instructing me to gain Jaida's trust and then most likely shatter it later. It all sounded rather familiar, and I found myself pushing those communications further and further out of mind. After all, I knew one that I also trusted Jaida. She was the first person I had trusted since the betrayal of my family, and I knew that if her trust was broken, so would mine be.
"Loki! Are you listening?" Jaida asked, grinning.
"You were talking about when you nearly ate a mouse who was actually also a member of the Red Room," I said instantly. Jaida looked temporarily surprised, and then shrugged.
"Yup. So what's up? You seem distant today."
Did I? I really had not noticed. Perhaps It was because my week was quite nearly over. I was sure that Jaida's father had something huge planned, something dangerous, and I suddenly realized that he may not want his traitorous daughters to survive this. A sharp pang went through me, and I realized that I did not exactly want Jaida to die. Frustrated with myself, I stood, and began pacing furiously. I heard Jaida stand slowly, gravitating towards me.
"Loki." I turned, slightly surprised to see her standing right in front of me, head tilted sideways. Then, without any conscious thought, I bent my face down, and our lips met.
Suddenly, completely in sync, Jaida and I pulled back, staring at each other in horror. Jaida moved her mouth, but didn't say anything, the first time I knew her to be speechless. I simply stared at her, before slowly lowering myself to the ground and burying my face in my knees. I had no care at the fact that Jaida was seeing me like this; she had already made me vulnerable.
What had I done? Why must I torture myself so? I needed no one, especially not in this way, and especially not after Sigyn. I didn't need to be the death of anymore women close to me, not one more. Not. One. More.
You are nearly done. Return to S.H.I.E.L.D.; it's time for the finale.
Jaida
The... kiss couldn't have lasted more than a second, but it was a second too long. Loki and I pulled away, and I tried to figure out who had made the first, idiotic move, before Loki fell to the ground, wrapped his arms around his legs, and buried his face in his knees. I hesitantly bent down.
"Um... Loki? You alright?"
"We can't do this," he said suddenly, bolting up. "We have to go back. Never speak of this, understand?"
"I understood the last part," I said skeptically, "but we can't go back, Fury-"
And then my phone rang.
3rd Person
Natasha and Clint were stunned as they watched Jaida fall over the cliff. Clint immediately ran forward, frowning when he saw Jaida slam into the rocks below, and Loki flicker away.
"I don't understand," he muttered. "Why didn't she fly away?"
"I don't believe her," Natasha said flatly. "She was lying. I could only tell because when she shoved Loki over the cliff, I began watching her closely. She's smart enough to know that a fall wouldn't kill him, or even set him back. So where was Loki in all this? I think he was in on it, too."
"What are you saying?" Clint asked slowly.
"I believe Jaida Liao has been compromised."
The little mouse in Clint's quiver chattered excitedly. Jaida's survival had been a setback, but they had made the most of it, and were now back on track. It leapt away, ready to alert its master.
A/N: Hey, guys! I bring great news. You get two updates today! A little forewarning, though, the next chapter… well, Jaida gets a bit violent. I really didn't want to have it Jaida's viewpoint, seeing as how disturbed her mind would be, so most of it will be in Loki's POV. Yay! How about that kiss, though? Yay? Nay? Give me your opinion! The next chapter will be up soon. Also, I will be posting this story on Wattpad, as well, at the insistence of MuchoMangoz1734. There will be an R5/TMI crossover there, but not here. Finally, thank you to the new followers and favoriters! I'm sorry for not listing you in so long, but it's currently the most I can do to post. See you all in a few minutes!