Loki was running his fingers over the glossy surface of the book's spine when he heard a familiar metal click right behind him. He tensed up almost immediately, preparing for what was bound to happen next. When he didn't hear any banter he turned slowly, back against the bookshelf, and faced his attacker. It was a dirty blond man in a hoodie, his weapon drawn out and aimed at his face.
A breath passed between the two before Loki grew frustrated. This was his last break before the flight to the mansion. He wasn't ready to get caught just yet.
"If you're going to do it, then do it. I do not have the patience for this." he spat.
"Y-You're him, right?" The man asked hesitantly, weapon in his hand shaking. "You're wearing the same hoodie you did when you r-robbed that store."
This wasn't a SHIELD agent. His demeanor was too meek though his eyes were daring. It was almost cute.
"Ah. You're just a citizen then." Loki rolled his eyes. "Begone or else I will turn you into a pile of toads or something else that you Midgardians believe magic users do."
"I-It's true that you d-do magic?" The man was shaking even more though he tried to get an obvious stand on it. "You could turn me into a toad?"
"Yes. I'm feeling creative today."
"You're bluffing."
"Do you want to find out?" Loki placed the book back on the shelf before stuffing his hands into his hoodie. He jutted his chin out as if he was confident that the man would do him no harm. He was pretty sure he could bluff his way out of the corner of the airport store and mingle into the crowds to escape. The corner he was in just happened to be the blind spot of security cameras which kind of backfired on him. He was planning on setting a few horrible excuses for literature on fire. He had just unwrapped a triple pack of lighters he found in the store too.
Said lighters were buried in his pockets, one in the left, two in the right. He grabbed one.
"P-put your hands out in the open where I can see them."
"No," Loki said. "I don't want to."
"I said put your hands up!" The man said in a louder voice, drawing the attention from a few other shoppers. Loki heard a gasp and scream for help.
"Great," He rolled his eyes. "Now they're getting the police involved. You idiot. I hope you don't find pointing guns at people minding their business any way heroic."
"I'll be helping out by taking out guys like y - "
Loki moved fast and quickly disarmed the man. He swung the back of the gun into the man's face - not once - but twice, and pushed his unconscious body to the side. He took out a lighter and stopped over at the bookshelf to light it on fire. It quickly caught and soon the whole shelf of literature that shouldn't have been published was up in flames. Good riddance, Loki sniffed, throwing the lighter next to the man's body before moving on.
By now a huge crowd in the store was screaming and calling for help. Someone got their hands on a fire extinguisher and ran over to put the flames out. People were recognizing Loki now, many snapping photos and ducking behind merchandise in case he lashed out. That wasn't his plan of course. He wanted to get the hell out of there.
A hand grabbed his arm and spun him around. Natasha's eyes were narrowed and her teeth clenched. Oops.
"Why would you do that?!" she sounded frustrated. "That is actually something bad, Loki! What if the whole store caught on fire?!"
"There was a man with a gun - "
"Yeah, I saw you take care of that," she started pushing him towards the exit. "Security is on their way. We need to slip out and over to the jet now."
"I got it," Loki said.
They ducked out of the shop, the busy airport now in chaos. People were still screaming, many fingers pointed right at them. Pictures were being taken.
Natasha had her hood on, blocking most of her face out minus a few strands of red hair. Loki was not covered though. He might be wearing the ultimate garment of disguise, but he stuck out like a thumb.
"Put your hands up, we have you surrounded!" A voice from a loudspeaker called out, security guards appearing and circling around them. They were in riot gear, weapons drawn and out. "Hands up Loki!"
"Damn," Loki cursed. "I messed up."
"You did." Nat sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for what's coming next. But go with it, okay?"
"What - " Loki began but wasn't able to complete his sentence.
Natasha kicked him square in the back before swinging around the grab his arms and pin him to the ground. She took out a pair of cuffs from a fold in her clothes and cuffed him on the floor. Loki didn't even have time to blink or groan in pain.
"Boys, I got this taken care of," she said in a professional tone. "I'm Agent Hill with the FBI. He is now in my custody."
She brought him up to his feet. The guards looked on, hesitant with what they should do next. The circle parted and one guard who must've been in charge stepped through. He twirled the loudspeaker in his hand.
"Ma'am, may we see some i.d. on that? We'll take him from your hands. We have orders to turn him over to another agency."
"And what agency would that be? I'm not authorized to hand over any cargo."
"That's classified I'm afraid, but can we see some i.d.?"
There was a pause where Natasha sized him up, estimating whether or not she could take him out. But then her gaze swept over the rest of the circle in gear. There were too many for that. So instead she shuffled through her pocket for her wallet.
"Of course."
Loki raised a brow. There was no way they were getting out of this. He was sure she probably had a few fake ids but one with Agent Hill's name on it? No way.
But she pulled out a card confidently and reached over to hand it to the guard. The guard stepped forward to receive it. Well I'll be damned, Loki thought.
"Ma'am...this is a gift card to Victoria's Secret."
He spoke too soon.
Natasha smiled cheekily before putting her hands up in the air. "It was worth a try."
"Ma'am, I'm afraid I'll have to put you under arrest for - "
A loud clash of thunder drowned his words out. He blinked for a second, everyone surprised by how loud it was. But then he opened his mouth to repeat what he was saying. He drowned out again, this time flinching from the volume.
"Damn," Loki said for the second time. "He's here."
"Shit," Natasha swore too.
But there was nothing they could do. The guards shifted uneasily before their leader ordered for them to start escorting the two out of the public area. The two didn't fight as a pair of guards roughly grabbed their arms and started shuffling them down the hall towards the more private areas.
They only made it three minutes down the hall before another bout of horrible thunder shook the walls. He was too close, Loki mused. It was just a bit of time before Thor came crashing in through the roof, the big oaf. A guard noticed his apprehensive gaze at the ceiling and chuckled.
"The roof is solid. Thunder isn't going to break it."
Loki only snorted.
Another violent boom shook the building when they reached the escalators which led up to the security headquarters. The lead was about to take the first step on the electronic stairs but the one person expected to show up appeared in an unexpected way.
Thor was on the escalator going down. He was wearing his full armor, winged helmet and all. His cape was bundled up in his arms, hair soaking wet, with mjolnir hooked to his belt. The blond had the most miserable look on his face that Loki hadn't seen in forever. He looked like a cross between a drowned rat and a little boy who lost his candy while swimming in the ocean.
It was too comical and unexpected, that Loki laughed long and hard. Thor's face scrunched up more from his reaction but the corners of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. Even he had to admit it was funny.
But the guards did not find it funny. They backed up, shoulders tense, withdrawing their weapons in warning. The leader crossed his arms. He was not getting paid enough for dealing with super hero shit.
"I see you got caught in the rain," Loki called out. "That's a good look for you, maybe you should go out like that more often. It really conveys your idiotic nature."
"Release my brother, please." Thor didn't quite ask but demanded once he stepped off the escalator and let his cape drape behind him. He took off his helmet and rested it against his hip. "I can take him from here."
"You are the second one to say something like that regarding this guy," the leader narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what the hell is going on here but I don't care. He is staying in our custody until we turn him over to SHIELD."
"So SHIELD is involved." Natasha whispered. "I thought so."
"It would be wise if you simply let me handle him. Asgardian affairs are above SHIELD's."
"I don't care if the queen wants him. I am not violating my orders."
"So be it," Thor said, tone slightly apologetic. He put his helmet back on and retrieved his hammer. The guards began to shoot but the bullets did not do too much damage.
Thor swung his hammer around, hitting guards away like swatting flies, until he had a path to Loki. He got a grip on his adoptive brother's hoodie and dragged him away from the group.
"Come on brother, pick up your feet! We must run!" The Asgardian yelled, pulling Loki along. Loki got the message and started running in front of the blond who stayed a few steps behind to protect him from the bullets being sprayed their way.
They were about to go straight ahead but more people with guns appeared, causing them to take another path down the hall. Those were definitely SHIELD agents.
"Loki!" Natasha yelled, suddenly appearing at his side. Thor blinked, confused as to how she suddenly showed up, but did not attack her.
"Lady Romanov," he said. "Have you allied yourself with my brother?"
She shot him a suspicious look before nodding.
"Ah, then I assure you he's in safe hands."
"Sure he is," Natasha snorted. "I'm not buying it."
"I just saved you from being captured!"
"I don't know how I feel about handing him over for you to use him."
"I changed my mind. I only wish to reconcile now. Please allow me to - "
"I hope you know I am right here!" Loki snarled. "Stop discussing me as if I am a child!"
Thor opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a new wave of agents in front of them, closing in with fresh ammo. Natasha moved to grab Loki in order to jump out of the way into a nearby store but Thor beat her to it. He held onto his brother's waist and whirled his hammer around quickly to propel them up and over the agents.
The gust of air rippled their hair, flying at a fast speed through the building. They quickly approached a tall glass window where the hall bended. Thor twisted so that he took most of the blow when the window shattered and they fell through. They were still flying through the air, making it a lil ways over a few roads and into a small cluster of trees next to a highway.
The pair crashed into the top of a tree and stumbled down through branches that scraped at their skin. Thor still held on to Loki, trying his best to take the force of most of the fall as Loki's body was so fragile in his current state. He had no magic to heal himself so Thor tried his best to keep the injuries at a minimum.
The ended up sprawled on soft overgrown grass. Loki rolled off of Thor so that he was laying right next to him. He didn't want to move as though his brother had taken most of the pain, he still got battered up. He felt very sore. Small shards of glass covered his hoodie like snow. It was good that the garment was so thick.
Thor coughed, looking much worse than Loki. Glass fell from his golden locks, blood dripping from cuts on his face and hands. There were leaves and bits of wood stuck in his hair and chinks of his armor. His eyes were closed.
Loki sniffed, taking in his brother's appearance. He wasn't sure he could fully comprehend what just occurred. It all felt very surreal and had happened too fast.
"Thor," he said slowly. "You're an idiot and I hate you."
"I know."
A/N: I have re-written this about five times over the whole entire summer and I am still not happy with it. I give up. I promise I'm trying but there's so much pressure. Thank you for your reviews