OH HEY LOKI
The elevator ride down to the basement was a long one, and it descended so quickly that my stomach dropped. I carried a touchscreen tablet with me and looked at the schematics of the database. Nothing seemed out of order, but then again updates come every 10 minutes or so. The elevator came to a sudden stop at the bottom and the steel doors slid open. I stepped out into the building's boiler room and looked at the large black pipes that controlled the heating and electricity. The boiler room wasn't well lit and I jumped when one of the pipes blew steam. The control panels were located further back, past the pipes and electricity. As a computer expert, I don't approve of the two rooms being relatively close to each other, because computers overheat so quickly and could easily shut down on itself.
The room was a little bit stuffy and I unzipped a little of my jacket to cool down. I tapped my earpiece. "This is Pedagia, I'm walking through the boiler room. What seems to be the problem? The database is working normally." I waited for a response but nothing came. "Hello?"
Idiot, I thought rudely. It was such a trip down here. Regardless, I walked past the boilers and approached the door leading to the computer panels. I dug around in my pockets for my I.D. and swiped it through the black card reader, but the light flashed red. I tried again, but the doors didn't open.
"Listen, if you really want my help, someone should kinda hurry up," I tried again, speaking into the microphone. "I don't have authorized access." I waited a few seconds and then turned on my heel, frustrated.
I get that we're all discombobulated, but come on. I tapped on the touchscreen, sending Kat a message that all was clear and I was on my way back upstairs. In the middle of walking, I tripped over something soft and looked over my shoulder, already irritated. Lying on the floor was a slumped body, or at least half of it; the rest of the body was hidden beneath a water-cooled chiller.
My heart thudded heavily in my chest as I stepped back from the corpse with horror. A tingle of anticipation flew through my nerves and I knew that something was about to happen.
"Oh, shit," I whispered, my voice trembling. As quiet as can be, I walked around the chiller and crouched down to get a look at the man. Cold dread filled my heart when I saw a single bullet shot in the middle of his forehead, oozing a thin line of blood that had already seeped onto the floor.
Which meant the killer was somewhere in this room. My hands felt slick with nervous sweat and I typed another message out to Kat, my shaky fingers sliding across the screen.
"Don't do that, Pedagia."
My fingers froze and my eyebrows came together in confusion because the voice was familiar to me. Unable to resist, I raised my head and peeked over the water chiller. Sitting on the evaporator was Sullivan, his arms crossed and a harsh glare on his face. My racing heart skipped a beat, unable to decide if I was calming down in his presence or becoming alarmed.
Slowly, I stood up, keeping my hands on the touchscreen. His eyes followed my form as I straightened up.
"What happened to him?" I breathed shakily, trying to process the new information presented before me. Thoughts wildly raced through my mind: How did he get here? How is he alive? How did he get in if he's listed as a dead agent?
"I don't know." He stood upright and shifted a little in the light. His face looked sallow and since I'd last seen him, he'd developed light scruff on his face. He still wore his uniform, although it looked dirty and worn.
"How'd you survive?" I inquired to distract him, shifting my body in response. I tilted the screen of the tablet up a centimeter. If I could slide my hand over to the green "send" button, all was well. Kat would send guards down here, capture Sullivan, and maybe end the entire conflict by the end of the day.
"I caught the last helicopter out," Sullivan said simply. "I left with Directory Fury."
"Lucky break," I said weakly, tilting up the screen some more. But even I knew that Fury's helicopter was strictly reserved for guards, himself, Agent Coulson and Agent Hill.
"A real lucky break. Listen, did you do what I asked you to? About the disk?" he said quickly, changing the subject.
"I..." I trailed off, wondering if a lie would prove best in the situation. The words tripped out of my tongue. "Yes," I said hesitantly.
"I need it."
"What for? Something secret for Fury?" I inquired casually, finally getting my hands to the green button of salvation. I tapped it twice, not lowering my eyes. My heart rate picked up again. I hoped the message did send, or else I would be stuck in this room with a murderer.
"Something like that," Sullivan replied with a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.
I exhaled quietly, hoping that someone was watching this on camera. "First," I said slowly, watching his reaction, "I need to have this guy taken to the infirmary." I began to crouch down, keeping my eyes on him.
"Don't do that!" he snapped, raising his voice. "I'll take care of it." His eyes widened exponentially and noticed for the first time that his eyes were a brilliant shade of blue in the light. It was the same color as the Tesseract, the same color as Loki's spear, and the same color of the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Loki put under his control. Every single one of my senses heightened, aware that the Asgardian might be lurking in the boiler room right now. The sound of pipes bursting steam seemed louder than usual at that moment.
"Have your eyes always been that color? Or has Loki gotten to you first?" I said with a light tremble in my voice as I stood upright.
Sullivan smiled at me then, his face glowing with admiration. "My Lord's burdened with glorious purpose and I exist to help him fulfill it." He tilted his head towards the ceiling with a sigh and with shaking fingers, I reached for my sidearm. "He has shown me such marvelous things," he murmured in astonishment. "The Tesseract is full of knowledge you could never imagine."
Sullivan was obviously a threat to me now. As he continued to speak about the Tesseract, I pulled out my gun and aimed it for his chest, clutching the touchscreen to mine. My hands continued to shake violently as I squeezed one eye shut, trying to remember the basic gun lessons I'd been given. Fear prickled at the nape of my neck when I imagined what would happen if I missed.
Of all times to fail, don't let it be now, I thought wildly as Sullivan lowered his head to look at me.
"Oh, Elliot," he whispered sadly, looking me dead in the eye. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, steadying my hands as best as possible.
Sullivan fixed me with a sad smile before I fired. I forgot how heavy the gun was and I felt the recoil as the bullet flew from the barrel of the gun. He jerked backwards, the bullet settling in his chest above his heart, and sagged against the evaporator, a ghost smile still on his face as a trickle of blood dripped onto the floor.
"Katherine!" I yelled in my earpiece, absorbing what I'd just done. No response. "KATHERINE! DO YOU COPY?" I cried again, feeling uneasy again, glancing at Sullivan's body.
My right arm throbbed from the recoil after I threw my earpiece to the ground, cursing the thing for being broken. The best thing I could do was glare at it for existing. At the same moment, a tall, dark shadow spilled into the ground like liquid.
My heart slammed hard against my ribcage, and I backed away so quickly from the shadow that I hit my lower back on a smooth, hard pipe. I ignored the feeling of pain that shot up my spine as my eyes searched for the body belonging to the shadow.
My hand flew to my throat to smother the scream that would have tumbled from my lips, and I stared with widened eyes at the figure standing no more than 4 meters away behind another evaporator, virescent eyes glaring at me in the dark. The touchscreen in my arms slipped and fell onto the ground with a loud smash. The screen flickered and then died, turning black.
Every thought I had in my mind suddenly flickered and died as well. I stood against the pipe for nearly 5 minutes, pinned to the spot by a gaze so fierce I could do nothing but stare. My eyes refused to close, or even blink.
"You've killed one of my best agents, Elliot," he said in a rasping voice, soft and deadly. Goosebumps rose on my arms in response.
"I don't like that all," he added in that same, soft voice. I swallowed that same lump in my throat and faced the Asgardian who had thrown S.H.I.E.L.D. into chaos, had killed without mercy, and had taken one of the world's most brilliant astrophysicists under mind control. Loki emerged from behind the evaporator, his hands curled around his golden staff, bent like a cat ready to pounce. And I was his target. I wasn't sure if he was intent on killing me. In fact, I wasn't sure what he was going to do.
Four meager hours of gun training came to mind and I began to take slow steps backward, keeping my eyes locked on Loki's, although he wouldn't allow me to look away, anyway.
Hours of time seemed to stretch as we played a game of advance and retreat. The sounds of bursting pipes alarmed me, but I didn't jump or move my eyes from the Asgardian approaching me.
"Look at you, you brave child," he whispered in awe, widening his eyes for a moment. "And you haven't even lowered the gun." I tightened my jaw in response. "What, aren't you going to shoot?" he asked gently, standing upright and opening his arms in invitation.
"Guns don't affect you. You're a demi-god," I murmured then, still keeping my sidearm raised. "I'll only get myself killed."
Loki chuckled quietly, fixing glittering emerald eyes on the barrel of the gun, and then to me. "Does keeping the gun raised give you some sense of safety? Of protection?" he inquired, taking a step closer. "That maybe, just maybe...you stand a chance against me?"
I had never met this Asgardian in my life, but I had picked up on two things.
He was extremely tall. As he came out of his crouch, I realized that he completely towered over me, giving him a large advantage.
He was cunning. His words were an attempt to manipulate me, to confuse me. To blatantly emphasize that he was indestructible, and that I should surrender now and drop the gun.
When I first arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. I learned basic gun and fighting techniques. At the moment I cursed S.H.I.E.L.D. for only giving me four hours worth. Shouldn't we have all gotten full, extensive training?
I was trying to remember fighting tactics. The only one I could remember was to watch the eyes. Luckily for me, Loki was no ex-Veteran. His emerald eyes were very expressive. I could see right now that he didn't intend to strike...yet. All I saw was amusement, and I knew why. An Asgardian against a 5'4" human. Who was the victor in this? The answer was obvious.
"You...Elliot," he whispered, using my full name again with pleasure. "Have something that I need."
That set off warning bells in my head, and an unpleasant tingle spread throughout my scalp. Summoning my courage, I narrowed my eyes.
"I don't have it," I said, attempting to sound cold and formal, but I failed when my words ended on a tremor. I was grateful that I hadn't entirely unzipped my jacket, or else I would reveal the crucial piece of information I always carried on me. I continued to step backwards, hoping I wouldn't trip over my feet.
"Oh, but you do." He smiled patiently, flashing a row of perfectly white, straight teeth. "For this to succeed, I need that disk."
"Then you'll have to take a few agents through mind control to get it," I replied with a grim smile. "Because it's in their hands, now."
One of the fattest lies I've ever told.
"Or is it in yours?" he asked suggestively. I licked my lips quickly and tightened my hands on the butt of the gun in response to his words. An elated look came into his eyes. "Ah, there it is."
In the span of time it took me to blink, Loki had thrown himself towards me and a powerful hand grasped my jaw so tightly I thought it was going to break. I grasped onto his slim wrist frantically to pull my face free as he pushed me backwards, and then I felt the curve of another pipe press against my back, and then my right hand was empty, my sidearm clattering uselessly on the ground. A groan of pain slipped through my lips as my spine curved unnaturally against the pipe. I tried to look everywhere but his face, but he turned my head sharply to face him.
"Tell me where the disk is, mortal, or I will crush your jaw," he snarled through his teeth, his emerald eyes boring into mine. He tightened his grip on my jaw for emphasis and I winced, closing my eyes to withstand the pain. My throat convulsed. This wasn't happening!
These kinds of things happen in storybooks, I thought with disbelief, squeezing my eyes quickly, hoping it was a crappy dream. When I opened them he was still there, refusing to let me look away while he searched my answers for an indication to the answer to his problem.
The only other sounds in the room were my panicked breathing while Loki waited for an answer. For all it was worth, I kept quiet, only grimacing when my jaw ached. His cold breath tickled my face as his face came dangerously close to mine. "Don't defy me, mortal."
I sucked in a deep breath and his eyes suddenly dropped, and a look of childlike wonder filled his face. "Oh..." he breathed. "Oh."
Shit, I thought with horror, watching his one free hand reach for my jacket. Every curse possible filled my mind over and over again as the single zipper began a slow descent from my neck to my navel to reveal the black tank top I wore, and the disk. One cool hand pressed against my collarbone to spread the lapels apart. I shivered in fear, and from cold hands resting above my chest.
"Oh, that is clever," Loki admitted with a pleased laugh. "Never leaving your side."
The blaring of an alarm startled him and he looked up.
For me, it was the sound of safety, and it gave me a needed surge of adrenaline. I mustered as much strength as possible to budge his wrist, but he lowered his head quickly, tightening his grip, flaring his nostrils in anger at my attempts to break free.
"I'll take this," he snarled, grasping the chain, prepared to pull.
"Good luck accessing the information," I wheezed. "It's locked."
"I have plenty of technicians on my side already," Loki murmured, a grin of victory curling on his lips.
"Only I know it," I clarified angrily, watching his face for his reaction.
I would rather submit myself as a prisoner than allow you to walk away with that disk, I thought furiously, listening to my hammering heart, waiting for his reaction. Understanding filled his eyes and he stepped back, releasing me without warning. I stretched my jaw, which throbbed painfully.
"Then I will have your mind," he said simply, and the blue ball of energy began to glow, and I shifted away from him, adrenaline rushing through my veins again, prepared to run for my life. "Dr. Selvig has told me the feeling is very peaceful. If I were to tell you a concept that is so plain, so easy, wouldn't you want it as well?" Loki laughed breathlessly.
Three things I'd learned from Loki, and the third was that he was completely and utterly twisted.
"Unless you beg me to spare you," the God suggested, twirling his staff in his hand. He spread his arms in invitation again. "To that, I will."
"I'm prouder than that," I wheezed, grasping the pipe behind me to keep my shaking knees from buckling.
Loki narrowed his eyes, and drew back the spear, baring his teeth at me. "Then you will, kneel," he hissed, the swirling blue orb glowing in the darkness of the room.
"PUT DOWN THE SPEAR!"
Fury, I realized as relief flooded through my veins, seeing a black mass hurtling towards us.
At the sound, Loki turned his head to face the group of ten or so guards who had arrived with guns. He drew the spear back with a snarl and sent two beams of energy towards the guards, scattering them all over the boiler room. He finished off the other guards easily and with a grunt, aimed a third energy beam towards one of the pipes, which exploded.
In the midst of all this I was retreating away from him, spotting a door nearby that might have been the cleaning closet. If anything, I could lock myself away and refuse to come out.
Stupid, a small voice whispered in my head. You should be fighting, too. My sidearm was no more than two feet away from my feet. But the premise of safety was greater than the risk of fighting, so I continued to back away, groping wildly behind me for the doorknob.
Bringing up the rear was Directory Fury, armed with something that resembled a bazooka, adjusting it on his shoulder to fire. For a quick second, his eye darted to look at me, backing away from the scene, and I temporarily froze in my retreat when I saw how displeased he was.
"Not today, Director," Loki said with a cheeky smile. Before my eyes, Loki disappeared in front of me, and in a matter of seconds, was at my side. I winced in pain when he grasped my arm with enough force to break it.
The displeased look in his eye gave way to confusion and disbelief, and I couldn't understand why. When the scene before me began to melt away, I realized why.