In this farewell,
There's no blood, there's no alibi
'Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away
What I've done
-What I've Done, Linkin Park
Loki was sure of one thing- and one thing only.
Midgardian women were insufferable. He hadn't done anything wrong, just followed her, pestered her, climbed through her window.
Looking back on it, doing all that to Sierra Dyer might have been a bit strange, to her. But it had been good fun for a trickster. He smiled maliciously. He had played captured, and hurt, until all was quiet. Then, it had been really quite easy to spring himself out of those childish Midgardian things and free himself from her counter. It was time for a little fun.
Loki still wished he had his magic, it would make the ordeal a bit easier, but every good liar had to improvise. In a few hours, he had devised a very clever throne out of her couch furniture. He wouldn't sit on it, of course, the furniture was far too lesser for that. After all, he was royalty. He left a note, and just as dawn was creeping up over the New York skyline, he slipped out of the apartment. He would find someone else to give him back his magic. Surely someone could, and then he could take over Midgard instead.
In the hallway, he saw the stairs, he was almost free- when suddenly, another apartment door opened. And out stepped Steve Rodgers. Loki swore under his breath, before trying to look as unsuspicious as he could. But when he was grabbed from behind and wrenched around, he knew he was done.
"Loki," said Steve. "You're coming with me."
"You don't have to take me anywhere. You see, I'm with your friend Sierra Dyer down the hall." He put on his most convincing smile.
"You know, for the God of Lies, you can't lie to save your own skin. We're going to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Loki sighed. These people...
The first thing Sierra noticed when she woke up was how quiet it was. Something just felt... off. She racked her brain to remember. Last night... rehearsal, street, coffee, Loki, home, LOKI! She dashed out into the kitchen to find a pair of handcuffs chained to her counter, and an empty house. She ran out into the living room- but stopped short. All her furniture had been stacked into a crude throne, and in the center was a piece of paper. She read it. In small, neat handwriting, were three words:
You will kneel.
She sighed, and ran to the phone. Luckily, her director picked up on the first ring. She cleared her throat (it really was lucky she was an actress, voices were her specialty) and began to talk in a tired, sick voice. "I can't come in today. I seem to have contracted the flu. I don't want to give it to the rest of the cast." She threw in a couple of coughs and a sneeze. Luckily, her director bought it.
"Just get better, girl. Come back as soon as you can."
More coughing. "Thanks, Niv," she wheezed, and hung up the phone. Grabbing a bagel from the basket on the counter, she pulled on her boots. "Why am I doing this?" she wondered. "Why, oh why, oh why?"
Munching her bagel, she locked her apartment door and strode off down the hall. There wasn't any hope checking with Steve, he would already be at work. So, she went with her next best bet. And she prayed to God that Tony wouldn't be too hungover to deal with her.
Catching a taxi, she sped to Stark Tower, tapping her fingers nervously on the window the whole way. She thanked the driver for getting her there swiftly, and stepped into the foray of the building. A very angry man sat behind a desk. He looked up and scowled at her as soon as she walked in.
"I'm not in the mood, so before I throw you out, who are you and what do you want?" he asked.
"My name's Sierra Dyer and I'm here to see Tony Stark."
The man frowned in a very unpleasent way, his eyebrows coming together. "Mr. Stark doesn't see just any girl." He put unneeded emphasis on the word any. She sighed.
"I'm not just any girl." she replied. "Are you a fan of Broadway?"
"Why yes," the man replied, looking quite surprised. "I follow it quite profusely. I know all the actors on it, even newcomers who haven't yet seen an opening night."
She sighed. "Then you should know who I am. JARVIS, take me up."
"Miss Dyer, how lovely it is to see you again," replied JARVIS. The elevator doors behind her opened with a pleasant ding. She stepped into them, all the while smiling at the unpleasent secretary. "Oh, and I have seen an opening night." she added, before the doors dinged shut and she was shot up one hundred floors into the heart of Stark Tower.
The doors opened into the kitchen, where Bruce Banner was cutting an apple. She stepped out. He looked up. "Oh, Sierra, hi. What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to Stark. By the way, have you seen Steve today?"
"Yeah, he's in the prison room. Caught Loki or something. Why'd you stop working for S.H.I.E.L.D? You were a good agent."
"I got on Broadway. That was more important."
He nodded and went back to cutting the apple. Sierra left the kitchen and went up a few stairs to the prison room. Inside, Steve was standing outside the newely refurbished glass box. Loki was standing inside, grinning wickedly like it was Christmas. Neither of them had noticed her yet, until she stepped out of the dark and cleared her throat. Steve looked over. "Sierra. What in God's name are you doing here?"
"I'm here for him." She gestured to Loki, whose smile had all but vanished.
"You're friends with this idiot?" asked Steve, turning his shield over and over in his hands.
She nodded. "Something like that. He was staying with me for the time being, and popped out because I left my script in the office downstairs. Is that when you caught him?"
Steve nodded, looking fully confused. "Well, if he's really staying with you, I guess you can have him." He pressed a button and the door popped open. Loki hesitently stepped out, and slowly walked over to her, looking even angrier then the man downstairs.
"Thanks, Steve. See you around. Hey, are all of us still on for dinner tomorrow with Stark?"
"Yep, just bring something and meet here at seven."
She nodded, and walked out, not looking to see if Loki followed her. He did, of course, but he didn't talk at all until they were in the elevator going down. "What are you doing here, witch?" he spat, words laced with venom.
She shrugged, and he noticed that she was still in pajamas. She seemed to have thrown on boots and come straight over, without even bothering to get dressed. "I saved your ass," she pointed out. "And I called in sick to miss rehearsal with my best friends, so you'd better be grateful."
"Best friends?" he asked, with a wicked smile. "You seemed fond of Steve up there. And what's this, you're having dinner with the Avengers tomorrow?"
"First rule of staying in my house- no personal history unless I tell you."
He stared at her in surprise, but laced his words with sarcasm. "Now you're letting me stay. Why?"
She stared at him, an odd expression in her blue-gray eyes. "First off, I don't have your magic. But I guess I'm letting you stay because I love helping people. And you, no matter what you say or what you think, have good in you."
"Then why are you an actress?" he scoffed. "Actors and actresses don't help people. They just stand on their pretty little stages and read the words that were written for them."
She turned away, a faraway look coming over her face. "Actors change people. When someone walks into our theatre, we want them to come out feeling different. We try to change their views, make them think something different. This is how things get done. You can kill the fighters, you can make them scream, but no matter how hard you try, ideas will endure."
He opened his mouth to say something else, but found, not for the first time in a few days, that he was lost for words. After a moment, the elevator doors opened and the strange, fire-haired girl who called herself Sierra walked out, not looking to see if he would follow.
But what choice did he have, really?
He sighed, and walked out behind her.
Hello again, my dear Lovelies! I'm sorry for being away, but life has gotten oh-so-busy yet again. But now I'm on break, so here's a chapter. Hope you enjoyed! See ya'll next time!