***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me. ***
Finally, some action! The last chapter was a bit shorter, so I'm trying to make-up for it in this one. WARNING- the rating went up because of this chapter…beware…The beginning of this chapter was a little hard for me to write; I want to keep Loki and Spira's relationship strictly mutual and more of a strong friendship. As much as I'm completely for Loki fluff, I wanted this fanfic to be more about the companionship that Loki aches for, so yeah… Thank you to my Beta readers, I've probably thanked you guys about a million times…As usual, feel free to comment, I'm always open to critiques...anyways…ONWARD!
Chapter 4
After Agent Barton's visit, Loki decided he needed to find a way out. But how? He was useless inside his cell, and was virtually powerless besides his usual beams and basic magic. However, no matter how hard Odin tried, there were some properties of Loki's magic that were branded into him, and no one could ever remove them; his magic was like breathing to him.
He figured that if he could persuade Spira to break him out, she was his best bet out of here. Of course, doing that would be one of his greatest challenges yet. He knew she was aware of his misdeeds- who wasn't? But perhaps he could convince her somehow. There was no way he could make up a lie, she would surely see right through him, easily. He could talk her into it, or convince her that he needed to get back to Asgard…but that required lying also.
It was terribly aggravating having a mind-reader as a friend sometimes. Loki was mentally straining himself; trying to think of any way he could convince Spira to release him. Anything that he said to her to try to break him out would most likely be a lie. He could lie and tell her to use his scepter on herself, which wouldn't work. He could lie and say that something terrible was going to happen to Earth if she didn't break him out, which wouldn't work either.
Loki spent the next few hours contemplating and formulating some sort of an escape plan, but every single one required some sort of lie. The God then realized that throughout his entire life, he used lying to get what he wanted. He was so skilled at manipulating people that it was second nature to him. And now, his only hope of escape was a mind reader who could easily see through lying. How ironic.
Although Loki struggled with trying to find a way around the young girl's irritating but useful talent, he was oblivious to the fact that they balanced each other out. Loki had always struggled with having one extreme or the other in his life, there was never balance. Either he was completely overruled by strength or power, or he was a million steps ahead of the game. The Asgardian liked a challenge, and Spira was just that, but she provided balance for the ex-prince.
In the midst of his planning, Loki heard a clatter at the far side of the room, followed by a thud. Heavy footsteps were clattering about the room, almost as if someone was hurt.
The God got up from his bed and assumed a battle stance, preparing for another visit by Barton or another one of the Agents.
To his surprise, Spira stumbled out of the darkness and flipped on the lights, falling against the control panel. She was sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for air between breaths. She was dressed in a hospital gown that was smeared with blood. From what he could see in the dim light, both her arms had beads of the red liquid running down them, and dripping to the floor. Her face was deathly pale, and her dark eyes were swollen and red, a sickly yellow color surrounding them underneath her brown orbs. Her auburn hair was messy and insisted on sticking to the sides of her face. Between sobs, she was trying to brush it out of her eyes so she could concentrate on the control panel.
"Spira!" Loki shouted, running towards the glass, "What's happened, what's going on?"
"We're-getting-" Spira was struggling to speak, her sobs becoming louder, "We're-leaving."
Her hands were trembling, and she was struggling to stay upright, having to lean against the control panel for balance. As she brought up the control screen, she doubled over and fell to the ground, grasping her chest and gasping for air. Here breaths were coming in and out in short, shallow gasps, and the young girl was coughing wildly, blood splattering on the floor and dripping down her mouth. She reached up and wiped the red liquid from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Spira," Loki said, bending down to her level and putting his hand on the glass, "I need you to get up and get back to that control screen, I know how to unlock it and I can help you do it quickly. I'll be able to help you once we get to safety, just calm down and get us out of here."
Spira continued coughing, but nodded her head in obedience, slowly lifting herself off the ground and falling against the top of the control panel again.
"Alright, bring up the cell room in the security map, then get into this control panel's mainframe, and punch in the code L-O-K-i-1-M-A-X. Hit enter, and then we'll get the hell out of this place."
Spira nodded, and with trembling hands, brought up the security map to the cell room and followed the rest of Loki's instructions.
She slammed her hand down on the touch-screen, and hit enter before falling to the ground again, her back to the control panel.
Loki rushed out of his cell and swooped Spira up in one swift motion, wrapping one arm around her back, and the other between her knees. He ran to the corner of the room where Spira usually snuck in at, but stopped as Spira tugged on his black suit.
"SECURITY BREACH. SECURITY BREACH." The automated voice of the security system sounded, and the cell door slammed shut again. The security screen on the control panel shut down and locked itself out, the words Security Breach scrolling across the display.
"Damn." Hissed Loki.
"I brought your-" Spira pointed to the space behind the control panel, "Your stupid thingy"
At first Loki was confused, but soon understood as her saw a shimmering light coming from behind the control panel. He let Spira down, but still kept her close to him, helping her hobble along with one arm strung around her waist.
The God's eyes lit up as he grasped the shining object and admired the dancing blue ball of energy nestled at the top of it.
"My scepter." Loki said, smiling, "This is probably going to hurt, we're going to have to run."
Spira nodded, wiping her mouth again, and gripping on to Loki's shoulder.
The God of Mischief pointed his scepter at the door that lead out of the cell room, and in one quick and practiced motion, blasted it to pieces.
"Ready?" Loki said, looking over at Spira.
"No." she said, knowing that he was going to drag her out of S.H.I.E.L.D HQ anyways, dead or alive.
Loki grasped his scepter and made a run for the exit, yanking a bleeding Spira along with him. The two ran down the hall, stumbling over each other, but successfully making it out of the main part of the maximum security wing of the head quarters. Soon, they were only a few hundred yards away from the door leading to the hangar that kept all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emergency vehicles, until they were stopped head on by Barton and one of his arrows.
"Release her." Barton said, his arrow aimed between Loki's eyes.
"Barton, he's with me, stand down." Barked Spira, gasping for air again.
"Spira, what happened, did he do this to you?" replied the archer, taking a step towards Loki and preparing to shoot.
"No!" she screamed, putting a hand out, "He's helping me, it was the council-" she started to cough again, wheezing between breaths, "They put me in the lab."
Barton's eyes grew wide as he shared a silent understanding with Spira, "What? Why?"
"We have to go, please," she said, stumbling forward, "I'll explain later, hold them off!" the young girl said, pointing to a group of armed guards making their way down the hallway.
"Remember my threat pretty boy," Barton yelled at the two escapees who pushed past the skilled archer, "Don't even think about laying a hand on her or I'll…"
Loki and Spira didn't get to hear the rest of Barton's warning, they were already too far down the hallway and nearing the hangar door.
Loki raised his scepter and blasted through the door, picking up Spira again, and frantically searching for a vehicle that he could make a fast getaway in.
He spotted a military jeep used for scouting around the area, and ran towards it, depositing the now unconscious girl in the passenger seat before occupying the driver's seat and shoving the keys in the ignition.
"Guess it's my lucky day," Loki said as the car roared awake and sped forward, catching air as the jeep plowed down the ramp leading into the hangar. After watching the many 'chauffeurs' that drove him around before throwing him into the HQ's hands, Loki had picked up on how to drive an automatic vehicle. Good thing he was a fast learner and retained information.
Spira was slowly slipping away, and Loki needed to get help fast. By the way she was coughing up blood; he assumed her lungs were filled with the red substance and needed to be drained. After so many years shared with battling alongside Thor, he had a general idea of how to handle certain injuries, and he knew exactly how to take care of this one.
The God pressed his foot down harder, the pedal of the jeep glued to the floor. He headed into the nearest town, swerving around shock-stricken pedestrians and oncoming cars.
Finally, he spotted the perfect place to perform the procedure needed to save Spira. The jeep veered into a parking lot outside a small town diner, and parked the car, ripping the keys out of the ignition and throwing his scepter underneath the seat. Loki grabbed Spira, holding her bridal-style once again, and kicked open the door to the diner.
"Everyone move, I have an injured girl here!" he yelled, moving towards the bar of the diner, "You there, get me a bottle of your strongest alcohol, a glass cup, a utility knife, and a straw or tube-like hose, now!"
The chubby waitress nodded and ran to the kitchen, obeying Loki's orders. The Asgardian placed Spira on the bar so that her stomach was facing towards the ceiling. The waitress quickly returned with the items and dumped the supplies on the counter next to Spira's head.
Loki reached for the knife and turned Spira over on her side, cutting open the side of the hospital gown.
"This is going to hurt," Loki said, pouring some of the whiskey that the waitress brought over the side of her abdomen, just below her armpit.
"Someone fill this glass up halfway with water!" Loki barked at the crowd standing around him.
He took the knife and made a small incision in her side, poking a hole just big enough for the tube to fit. Spira screamed with pain as her eyes shot open, bringing her out of the darkness.
"And someone get her something to bite!" he screamed again, holding her still. "I know, I know." He said to Spira, who was gritting her teeth and crying in agony.
Someone pushed through the crowd and walked around to Spira and placed part of a towel in her mouth so she wouldn't break her teeth as Loki went through the procedure.
Loki took the tube and shoved one end through the incision he had made and placed the other end into the glass that was now filled with water.
Almost immediately, blood was sucked through the tube and emptied out into the glass. Loki ran his hands through his hair and slumped back in the chair beside him. Spira was now quiet and breathing with less difficulty, the occasional whimper coming from her every so often.
"No one call for emergency services." Loki said to the crowd, "I have this taken care of, I'm a-uhm-certified practitioner." He didn't want to draw any more attention to the situation than there already was.
Gasps and murmurs came from the crowd as the onlookers observed the girl on the bar. She was still bleeding from her arms, and there was now a tube sticking out of her side; not the common scene for a small diner.
Finally, once all the blood was drained out of Spira's lungs, Loki let out the breath he had been holding for the past ten minutes and breathed a sigh of relief.
He crept over to the other side of the bar and faced Spira, wiping back the hair from her eyes, "Better?" he asked, watching her eyes open slowly.
"I should slap you for stabbing me." She said, a small smile coming across her sweat-slicked face.
"If it weren't for me stabbing you, you'd be dead." He said returning her comment with a smirk.
"Whatever, just hurry up and get the tube out before I'm completely awake."
Loki nodded and walked over to the other side of the counter, "Do you want me to count?" he asked, grasping on to the tube.
"Yes, but no tricks. On three." She replied, stuffing the towel back in her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Okay…one, two, three." Loki firmly pulled the tube from her side, being careful not to rip it out too quickly.
"Agh Fuck!" Spira said, clenching her teeth and grabbing on to the side of the counter, "God I wish I had a Cortisone shot right now."
"You're just going to have to live without one," Loki said, dabbing whiskey over the incision before pressing a clean towel against it, "And it's just a little scratch."
"Here, I brought some bandages," said the chubby waitress who was pushing her way through the crowd, "I hope these help."
"Thank you." Spira mumbled into the towel.
Loki grabbed the bandages from the waitress and began dressing Spira's wounds. He helped her bandage the small needle marks that were on both her arms, probably from an I.V or some sort of shots. The God decided he would ask her later about those. As for the incision, he concluded that she would most likely need stitches since it was a good half-inch deep.
"Does anyone have the floss given by dentists on hand?" Loki yelled to the crowd.
"Dental floss." Spira mumbled, a small laugh coming out of the young girl.
"Whatever." Loki replied.
"I do!" Cried a man who was much shorter than Loki. The man had glasses with square lenses and thick, dark hair that was slightly balding at the crown of his head. He held out the small container of floss to Loki, who nodded politely after taking it from the short little Midgardian.
"Anyone have a needle?" He said again to the crowd.
"Me! Here, I have one!" replied an old woman who was standing near the back windows of the diner.
Loki gratefully took the needle from the woman once she made her way to the front of the crowd, then returned to Spira. The young girl had propped herself up on a chair, and was drinking out of the whiskey bottle that Loki had just used on her.
"You're going to need more of that." The god said, wiggling the needle and floss at her.
Spira groaned as she realized that there was still more pain to come. She took a large swig of the whiskey before placing the bottle on the counter and putting the towel back in her mouth, "Get it over with." She said, glaring at Loki.
Loki nodded and quickly strung the floss through the needle and began to stitch up the small but deep incision on Spira's side.
Finally, after a few short minutes of shouting and inappropriate obscenities, Loki finished stitching Spira up, thankful that she was now stable.
The crowd had cleared a little now, and one of the cooks from the kitchen was wiping the blood off the counter with a wet rag. There were people murmuring to each other and looking at Spira and Loki with nervous eyes.
"You have a lot to tell me." He said, taking a seat beside Spira, taking the bottle from her hands.
Spira looked at him for a minute, reading Loki's eyes and his demeanor before finally saying, "You thought I was going to die. You were worried."
"You weren't breathing for a good two minutes, and there was blood everywhere Spira. I know I may seem like I can predict the future, but watching you lay there, unconscious and not breathing in the jeep made me think the worst." He took a large gulp of the whiskey before capping the bottle and placing it on the counter.
Spira studied him again, searching for any kind of false authenticity. So far, he was honestly concerned for her well being.
"Since when are you so soft, God of Mischief?" she asked, poking at his side.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Loki smiled, putting on his best mock-innocent face he could. Spira decided to drop the subject and leave it at that. After all…he did save her life.