The theme song for this chapter is "In For The Kill" by La Roux (Skream's Let's Get Ravey remix)
Chapter 74: Stratagem
After a few moments, there was chaos. The press, strangely subdued until Pierce's disappearance, suddenly erupted into a cacophony of questions and camera flashes. An old pro at press releases gone wrong, Tony took Loki firmly by the elbow, and made his way through the crowd. They had some difficulty making headway until Thor showed up, Darcy and Jane following closely in his wake.
"Are you all right?" He shouted over the noise.
Loki blinked. The chaos had flowed around her like water around a smooth stone - she was hardly even distracted by it. Pierce, and his intentions, were far more present in her mind. Thor's concerned expression made it's way through the flurry of thoughts, though. "Yes, I think so,"
Thor looked relieved, and scanned the crowd. A good head and shoulders taller than everyone present, he was able to see better than the rest of them. "The exits are all crowded," he said, and began eyeing the windows.
"Ok!" Tony clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Which of you three ladies wants to play damsel in distress?"
Loki looked confused and Jane mildly offended, but Darcy lit up, raising her hand like they were in class. "Ooh, what do I do?"
"Play dead. Or really close to it," Tony suggested. "We're gonna get you out of here ASAP."
Loki caught on quickly. "Darcy, do you mind if I cast an illusion to make the ruse more effective?" she asked quickly.
Darcy shrugged. "Sure." Before the word had even left her mouth, her hand flew to her stomach, and she looked down with a very surprised expression to discover that it had expanded considerably.
"Wow, she looks like she's gonna pop any minute," Tony grinned, and turned to Loki. "You are one twisted sister."
"Thank you," she said graciously.
"Well, here goes nothing," Darcy said, and then fainted melodramatically.
All around them, people stopped, gasping. Jane dropped to her side, putting one hand on the apparently pregnant stomach. "Darcy!" she yelled.
"Oh my god!" Tony said, rather convincingly.
Thor bent down and scooped Darcy into his arms gently.
"We have to get her to the hospital right away!" Jane's acting was a little lacking, but in the panicked room it mattered little.
They moved forward, and whenever someone turned to see what the matter was, they gave way instantly. But not everyone bothered to look. Tony was trying to politely shove them out of the way, but finally Thor grew frustrated with their lack of progress.
"Everybody MOVE!" he shouted, loud enough to make the windows rattle. There was a moment of silence, as the crowd turned to find the source of the incredible sound. Almost as a single entity, they parted to make way for the god of thunder and his obviously distressed damsel.
Once they made it outside, movement was much easier, but they weren't sure where to go. A shrill whistle pierced the night, and they turned to see Clint standing atop the communications van, waving.
"Go," Tony said, "I need to find Pepper," and without another word he disappeared into the crowd. Loki sighed exasperatedly, and led them over to the van.
"Jeez, Thor," Clint said jokingly as he hopped down next to Bruce. "I leave you alone for twenty minutes with my girlfriend..." he gestured to the very pregnant girl in Thor's arms.
Thor set her down, chuckling. "'Twas not my doing, I swear upon my honor," he laughed.
"My bad," Loki said, just to see the look on Clint's face. He looked like he'd just swallowed his tongue. Laughing, she snapped her fingers and the illusion disappeared. "Just magic, of course."
"Ugh, thank god," Darcy rubbed her back. "That thing was freaking heavy."
Natasha came out of the communications van, already dressed in her combat jumpsuit. She went straight to Loki. "Are you ok?"
"Yes. Are you?" Loki put her hands on Natasha's arms.
She nodded tersely, all business, and Loki smiled sadly. She's made the quick change to the Black Widow/Swan already. This Natasha doesn't approve of showing weakness.
Two black SUVs pulled up on their location, clearly marked with SHIELD logos. They headed over to them in a group, and started to climb into the first one.
Tony, Pepper, Steve and Maria came running up to the second. "Meet you at the tower!" he shouted. Once they had all piled in, the agent driving hit the gas. The Met was only a mile or so away from Stark Tower, but it seemed he intended to get there ASAP.
In the back, Jane looked around as everyone prepped themselves for the coming battle. Clint was checking his arrows, Natasha the magazines in her utility belt. Loki had summoned the walking stick and magnum, handing the latter over to Natasha to look over. Thor was speaking in a low tone with Loki hurriedly, and even Darcy was preparing, checking over her taser to make sure it was charged, and then pulling something else from her purse.
"Is that a gun?" Bruce asked suddenly from the front passenger seat.
Darcy looked affronted. "No, it's a lighter. Yes, it's a gun! I have a concealed carry permit!"
Clint eyed the .22 approvingly, then frowned. "Wait, why do you have a concealed weapon?"
She rolled her eyes. "We were going to a public event where we expected a psychopath to show up?" she asked.
"You knew Peirce was going to show up?" Jane asked suddenly. When no one else seemed surprised, she glared at Darcy and Clint. "What were we even doing there?"
Clint put his hands up. "Blondie here talked me into it! Take it up with him."
As Jane turned to do just that, Clint rounded on Darcy. "No, I mean, why do you have it now? Why are you checking it?"
She shrugged. "Everybody else is prepping for the big fight-" she started.
"Oh, no no no no, NO. You are NOT going with us. We are dropping you, and Jane, and Pepper off at the tower," Clint's voice tried to brook no argument.
It didn't work. "Ok, Jane and Pepper I get,"
"Hey!" Jane took a break from her argument with Thor to be mildly offended, but then realized she had just undermined her own point earlier.
"But I'm more than capable of handling myself. I tased Thor," Darcy continued to argue.
"When he was human and seriously messed up from the Bifrost. I was there Darcy, remember? Look," he set his quiver down in his lap and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know you can take care of yourself, and you've taken every self-defense course known to man. But this goes a little past defense." she tried to interrupt him, but he kept talking over her. "THAT'S WHY, that's why I think it would be a really good idea for you to stay with Jane and Pepper. Thor and Tony need to know that someone is looking out for them, in case Pierce decides to make a two-front attack. Especially Tony. You know how he gets with Pepper."
Darcy felt the words wearing down her defenses. She knew he was probably making it up to make her feel better, but damn if it didn't make sense.
Jane and Thor had managed to settle their dispute quickly enough, and Thor reached up to the next row of seats to put a hand on Darcy's shoulder. "I know better than most your bravery, Lady Darcy. It would give me great ease of mind to know that Jane was in good company."
She sighed. "You've been learning guilt trips from Jane," she said dismally. "All right, I'll stay and guard the ivory tower."
"Excellent! It's always easier for a warrior to fight when he knows his lady is well protected," Thor assured her, squeezing Jane's hand.
In the back seat, Loki gave Natasha a sidelong glance. Without even looking up from her examination of her taser disks, she quietly murmured, "Don't even try it."
Loki sighed.
They had arrived at Stark Tower, and Jane and Darcy made their way out of the SUV. Tony was at the door to help them out.
"Pepper will take you to the Panic Room," he explained. "You'll be safe there until this is over."
"Oh great," Darcy complained, but Jane managed to drag her off.
Tony and Steve climbed into the vehicle to take their places, and Agent Hill took over for the driver. Tony rattled off the coordinates he had memorized to Bruce, who typed them into the GPS device on the front dash. As soon as it gave her a reading, Maria put the SUV into gear and floored it, swerving through traffic effortlessly despite-or perhaps because of-its size.
"Ok, what's the plan?" Steve asked, ever the leader.
"Attack?" Tony suggested.
"Yeah, because that worked so well last time," Natasha drawled sarcastically. "Loki, what do you suggest?"
Loki licked her lips. "Well, from my research, I'm fairly certain that Pierce does have a grimoire, and it's probably controlling him."
"So we have to try not to attack him directly?" Steve suggested.
"It's not like he's totally innocent, Captain," Loki said exasperatedly. "There's probably some kind of exchange going on-you don't get that kind of power without giving up something big in return."
"What, he sold his soul?" Clint suggested.
"Very likely." That got them to shut up and pay attention. "We'll need to do our best to separate him from the book. He will be far less powerful without it, and might be reasoned with."
Natasha looked thoughtful. "I might be able to lure him away," she suggested.
Loki scowled. "No. No offense, Natasha, but given the choice between powerful magic and a beautiful woman, any half-sane man would pick magic."
Natasha gave her a strange look, but she missed it.
"We'll have to see what we're up against before we can plan any further," Captain America agreed.
"I don't know if you've noticed, Steve, but this group doesn't really follow plans well," Bruce said with wry humor.
"Well we don't have surprise or home turf on our side. What else do we have if we can't organize?" he asked, exasperated.
"Brute strength?" Thor suggested, and Bruce nodded in agreement.
"Skill?" Clint added.
"And knowledge," Natasha put in, and Tony pointed at her, impressed.
"Incredibly dumb luck?" Loki muttered. Up front, Maria snorted.
Strangely, this made Steve smile. "Ok. We can work with that."
"Do not worry, Captain," Thor clapped him on the shoulder. "We shall defeat this puny wizard. After all, we have Loki, who is much more skilled in magic." He beamed at his sister.
"Yeah," Tony agreed. "I mean, if we can beat Loki and a whole army of aliens, surely with Loki we can beat a geek with an over-glorified spell book."
Suddenly, Loki felt very responsible for everyone. She looked at them all, Thor, Steve, and Tony confident in varying degrees, Bruce quietly thoughtful, Maria and Natasha wearing nearly identical hardened expressions, although Natasha's was darker by a few degrees. All of them trusted her, were relying on her.
All, except Clint, whose expression clearly said, 'what the fuck happened to my life?' "Right," he said out loud. "We're all gonna die."
Tony reached out and thwapped him upside the head, but the damage was done. The group quieted as the ride dragged on.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Bruce asked, studying the screen of the GPS device.
"Outskirts of the city, industrial sector," Agent Hill answered, swerving around a gaggle of taxis. "ETA is ten minutes, if the traffic holds."
Ten minutes, Loki thought, panicked. She glanced over at Natasha, who had finished her preparations, and swallowed. The words He had written to her throbbed in her head: It is essential that you take any measures necessary to protect her in the event of a conflict. There was no way she was going to convince her not to fight, which left only one option.
With a twist of her hand, the bubble of space around them grew silent, the noise of their comrades, the car, and the street outside fading away. Always keenly aware of her surroundings, Natasha looked up immediately, and then at Loki.
"We need to talk," she explained. "Privately."
"Ok..." Natasha said slowly, clearly suspicious that Loki was going to try to talk her out of battle again.
Loki took one of her hands in her own, and breathed deeply. "Natasha, I need to ask you something. I know you're a very strong woman, but I worry that we face something your strength won't count for much against. I was hoping..." she trailed off, her mouth suddenly dry. Where had all her skill at dissembling gone? "I was wondering whether you would consent to a protective spell."
Natasha did not react, except to blink once. Holy shit, she means the Helm of Awe, she thought. Maybe not. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions... "How long will it last?" she asked casually.
"Um... well, it's permanent," Loki admitted. "But it's very powerful. As long as I'm alive you'll be protected from any mortal wound, magic or mundane."
No, that must be it... Natasha couldn't believe what she was hearing. Loki was essentially offering to bind their life forces together for all eternity. Did she really care that much for her? Did He? But as soon as she felt her heart lift, she realized something else. "Wait, how much of your reserves would this take up?"
Loki sighed. She had hoped, being unfamiliar with magic, that Natasha would not think to ask this question. "Nearly all of it," she admitted truthfully.
"We can't afford that, Loki," she shook her head. "You're our only means to a magical offense. We need all your reserves for that."
"I know," Loki said softly. "I just... I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you, and I didn't even offer, you know? Hell, I don't think I could either way..."
Natasha stared at Loki, an impossible thought coming to mind. If Loki really felt that way, did she... could she...?
Suddenly, Loki recognized Natasha's expression, and His warning to be careful about the affection she showed. Crap, crap, crap ... now I've failed both of his requests. Think quickly! "I care about what happens to you Natasha," she squeezed her hand. "Even if I don't... you know..." she sighed dramatically, pushing her bluff dangerously close to a lie.
Something in Natasha's face closed, and Loki physically hurt to see it. "Yes," she agreed solemnly. "I understand. Thank you for offering."
Loki nodded, and released the spell which isolated the sound around them. The noise of the engine and the city rushing past them filled the awkward gap that had widened between them. A moment later, the SUV pulled into the parking lot of a sprawling, windowless building.
"We're here," Maria said quietly, and put the SUV in park.
A/N: This is it, guys! I'm super excited for the next chapter. I'm trying my best to plug away at these last few chapters. I made the mistake of reading Syrgja, which is mind-blowing and depressing on multiple levels. I really shouldn't read BlackFrost fics that are higher ranked than mine... they always make me feel like a crap writer lol.
Anyway, I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. I'm proud of this chapter because I managed to work in references from The Princess Bride, BBC's Sherlock, and Disney's Atlantis. Brownie points to anyone who can spot all three.
