Author's Note: Hi there! :D Well, I'm up late once more editing chapters instead of studying lol. Oh, well, what are you gonna do. You lot really liked the last chapter didn't you? I expect it was Hulk. For a monster of rage and hate he sure has a whole load of fans xD
Okay, replies to reviewwws.
Queen Martha Pond: Hello there! I believe I missed you in the last chapter. So glad you could review this one, I love reading your thoughts on the story! Haha I'm finding it pretty easy to conjure up dialogue; it's the filling in bits that I suck at. Yes, I knew from the moment I started this story, I wanted Louie and Hulk to be friends – good friends, and I think I achieved that somewhat in the previous chapter. Thank you so much for leaving a review, I'm glad my lil' old story can put a smile on your face!
FaerySprite: Hey there :) Thanks so much for leaving a review, I'm glad you like the story. Yeah, I wanted Hulk to, for once, be viewed as something innocent, and not just bad or angry. He's good. Hulk is good. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Vertigo Venom: Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! Yeah, if you like the character interactions, I have good news for you - there's a lot more of that on the way! I hope you enjoy this chapter too :)
bubblettrocks: Thanks so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story :D I am inconsistent with my chapter updates, but I just finished all my lectures so I have LOADS more free time so hopefully I can be a little less all over the place xD and so, here it is, Chapter 11. I hope you enjoy!
Theatre: Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! Yeah, I noticed that typo and lamented over it for quite a bit xD I'm glad it just made you laugh instead. I'm terrible at editing; one time I forgot to edit completely and didn't realise it until the next day. So yeah, I hope to goodness that my newly achieved free time means I can take a moment to step back and edit my work before I mindlessly post it. Here is chapter 11, hopefully typo free.
PaulaWaula: Thank you for your review! I know, I just love portraying the good in him. This story is all about second chances, and trying to show how each of them has an unfortunate story of some sort, but that's okay because they're all good people. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Seasammy13: Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! Yesss, there's plenty more Loki/ Louie action in chapters to come! Enjoy!
And now, go enjoy this (extremely long) chapter. I hope you like it, and I hope you let me know what you think :)
Chapter 11
Three weeks later...
Tony POV
"Tadaaa," sang Tony, throwing his arms out wide.
"Holy..." Louie trailed off. Tony smirked, pleased.
"You made this in three weeks?" asked Clint incredulously.
"Well, no, I was working on an underground space for a while," said Tony and nodded to Loki, "Then Reindeer Games told me he needed a practice space so I thought, why not?"
"It's incredible," murmured Louie, looking around.
"It's a changeable arena, sort of like a virtual reality system. The control panel, up there -" Tony gestured to the far wall of the enormous room, where several feet off the arena floor there was a wide window - "enables one to change the settings for the room. It's strong. Strong enough for anything. I had Hulk test it out. It has race tracks, obstacles courses, lasers in the walls, the whole shebang. There's even a 'natural' ground, complete with a rock pool, for Louie."
There was a murmur of astonished appreciation.
Thor frowned. "But right now, Tony, all I see is barren land." Tony nodded.
"Right. This is the default setting. You can play with it up there, in the control room." He beckoned to them as he walked towards the door at the far end.
"The door leads upward to the control room as well as to the right for the showers and lockers," he said and suddenly snapped his fingers, "speaking of which, everyone has their own locker. Now. Who's coming with me to play with the settings and who's staying down here to play in the field?"
Louie waved her hand in the air. "Field, please. Are you coming, Bruce?" Bruce shrugged and patted his stomach."It's a good thing I wore my big boy pants."
Tony nodded at the pair and looked questioningly at the others. While Jane, Darcy and Clint voted to stay with him, Thor, Loki, Steve and Natasha also opted to go out into the field. They trooped up the stairs, only stopping for a moment to admire the shiny silver lockers and multiple nozzle showerheads. Tony entered the control room and Jarvis kicked in; the lights came on and the system booted up.
"Right then," said Tony, flipping a switch on the dashboard, "can you hear me down there?" The six little figures on the playing field nodded up at him.
"Okay then. Let's have some fun."
Tony flipped a couple more switches and in a few seconds, Jarvis' voice filtered through.
"Okay Jarvis, systems ready to go, let's start off with some level one stuff."
"The drones then, Sir?" Tony grinned.
"Oh yeah. That'll be good."
"Okay," he said, speaking through the intercom again. Bruce and the rest paused to listen. "Feel free to break this bunch into a billion microdots. They'll regenerate after a while so you don't have to feel guilty about it." Tony could almost make out a manic grin on Thor's face. Steve gave them a thumbs up, while Louie pulled her hair back into a plait. A hatch below the control system window opened and four drones flew out, their mechanical arms whirring.
Tony looked at Darcy, Jane and Clint.
"Want to take the controls?" he asked, offering each one a tablet.
"Um."
"Oh, yeah."
"Nat is mine."
"Excellent," he said happily, "let's play."
Steve POV
Down in the field, Steve squinted as Bruce transformed with a loud roar.
"Hey there, big guy," he said, "ready for some smashing?" Hulk nodded, cracking his knuckles.
"You remember all I taught you?" asked Loki. Louie nodded, looking determined. Not for the first time, Steve felt pleased that they hadn't been wrong about Louie. She wasn't afraid of a fight.
"Shouldn't you be up there?" Steve asked quietly. Loki frowned and shook his head.
"I'd rather not."
"Okay, players," said Tony's voice through the speakers. "Let's have some fun." A resounding little ding went off and the drones flew at them.
"Let's go!" yelled Steve, and sprinted off towards the drones.
"Natasha," he called, "break this down for me!"
"Four drones, camera eyes, mechanical arms, retractable, possibly hiding multiple weapons, alloyed bodies, I don't know how hard we're gonna have to hit to bring them down."
"Brilliant. Near shot or far?" As if in reply, one drone zoned in on them and with a hissing metallic sound, spit mechanical darts at his feet. With a yelp, Steve stumbled back.
"Classy," snorted Natasha. She looked at Louie. "You want to share one with me?"
"Oh yeah," said Louie, bouncing in the balls of her feet.
"Don't get over excited mortal," warned Loki, frowning. Louie rolled her eyes at him.
"I won't. I'm careful. You know I am." Thor swung his hammer in an arc.
"What say you Loki? Would you like to take down the mechanical beast with me?" Loki crossed his arms.
"Let me think. No."
"Oh, come on Loki," said Louie as she clambered onto Hulk's shoulders. "Live a little." Louie's eyes gleamed and she clung to Hulk as he jumped high in the air.
Steve dodged the first two drones and headed for the one that spit darts at him. It flew backwards, heading for the rear end of the field. Steve ran, ran as fast as he could. The muscles of his legs burned in a wonderful way and he yelled in delight. It felt so good to let loose some pent up energy.
The drone seemed to be teasing him, slowing down just enough for him to catch up and then dodging away in a completely different direction. This happened over and over, and though Steve wasn't out of breath, he was starting to lose his patience. It was like playing a ridiculous game of tag.
"Oh, come on," he said, exasperated as it dodged him and zoomed higher into the air, spitting more darts.
"No shields to help you now, Steve," sang a robotic voice from the drone. Steve shook his head.
"I should have known. Come on Darcy, you can't stay up there all day!" In response, there was a static filled laugh.
"Ooh, hey, what does this do?" With a clicking, whirring noise, the machine's mechanical arms withdrew, and in its place were cannon shaped arms.
"Oh, no." Steve could almost see the smirk on Darcy's face.
"Oh, yes."
Natasha POV
Natasha leapt past the drone that Hulk chased after with a roar and dodged a flash of silver to her left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Louie on Hulk's shoulders. As the big guy leapt into the air, she stood and jumped off, arms spread. For a millisecond, Natasha froze, eyes watching her friend as she fell in slow motion. Then, with a deep rumble, the earth rose below Louie, catching her gently in its wave. Louie looked stunned for a moment, before she raised her arms in victory.
"Alright!" she yelled. Looking over, she pointed at the drone Natasha was heading for.
"That one?" she asked. Natasha nodded. The drone seemed to understand; it took off in the opposite direction. Natasha zoned everything out and gave chase. To her left, Louie ran alongside her, her mouth in a thin line.
"Still not used to running, huh?" she called. Louie grinned weakly in reply.
"Can you take it down?" Natasha asked. Louie frowned and squinted for a moment. All at once, pillars of rock shot straight in to the sky, trying to pierce the drone. It dodged this way and that, almost doing a full three-sixty turn at one point. Natasha knew that reckless driving anywhere.
"Come on, Clint!" she yelled. "Stop running and fight!" In return, all she got was a faceful of dirt: the drone whacked a carefully aimed clod of Louie's straight into her face.
"You didn't," said Louie, shocked. Natasha gritted her teeth.
"He's really asking for it, isn't he?" Mechanical arms clicked in a very come-and-get-me manner. With a shout she sprinted forward, dodging darts and lasers. Clods of earth flew around her, hitting the drone repeatedly. She looked back to see Louie standing there with her hand outstretched, rocks rising around her like a horde of angry birds.
"Two against one is not fair," said Clint.
"Who said anything about fair?" asked Natasha, grinning. With a flying leap, she was on the drone. Louie's attack intensified as Natasha firmly crossed her legs around the drone to keep herself from being shaken off.
"Now, to find the control panel," she muttered, feeling the surface of the robot.
"Sorry Nat, no can do." Natasha yelped in shock and pain as a mechanical arm stung her in the lower back. She fell backwards, only to have the ground rise up to meet her.
"What did you do to her?" asked Louie, eyes wide.
"Temporary stun. She'll have my ass for it later." Louie stumbled back a little, looking slightly nervous.
"Come on, Avatar. What have you got?" Louie hesitated, eyes drifting to Natasha's. Clint waited patiently.
"Don't just stand there, fool!" snarled Loki from behind her, ducking a shot from Thor's drone.
"Wha-? Right!" Louie slowly circled the drone, eyes skimming over it. Natasha sat up to watch, groaning. Damn, that was a dumb move on her part. Fighting against Clint was always difficult. She should've known better than to let her guard down.
The drone fired a series of darts but in a flash, Louie raised a wall of rock as a shield around her, before clambering over and letting loose a stream of fire. The drone dodged and backed away. Louie fired more earth at it, pounding away relentlessly at its camera eyes. The mechanical arms flailed about as Clint tried to get a hold of his drone. Louie narrowed her eyes, and Natasha could see her thinking her way through it. She felt a surge of pride. A strategist. Nice.
Louie let out a yell and thrust outwards - a huge gust of wind blew the drone backwards. Natasha winced. Maybe not the best strategist. As if to prove her right, the drone took the opportunity to flee.
Natasha looked at Louie sympathetically, to see an odd little smile playing on her lips. Instead of giving chase, she let loose another horde of dirt clods after the drone. Turning its head around, the drone clicked its arms menacingly before they retracted and the cannon arms appeared. Louie smirked and raised her finger.
The earth zoomed straight into the barrels of the arms before they vibrated and exploded. Louie surged forward. Arms gone, the only things left for the drone to use were its laser eyes. Or so it thought. Natasha watched as the drone's lasers kept missing Louie easily, as if - oh the clever girl.
"You took out one of the eyes. Its aim is lopsided," Natasha muttered, finally understanding. With the drone's long distance fighting now non-existent, it could only run or fight at a short range.
"You're not running again," called Louie, moving forward. Ducking the flapping mechanical arms, she raised a fire-coated hand to the other eye. With a hissing, crackling nose, the glass cracked and melted. The drone turned in a circle aimlessly, curse words emitting from the speaker. Louie laughed before looking to Natasha for permission. Natasha nodded, with a smile.
"Go for the kill, kid."
"Sorry, Clint," said Louie apologetically, before bringing her hand down in a slicing motion. A thin flash of silvery white was all Natasha saw before the drone split in two and fell to the ground with a heavy thunk.
Louie huffed and walked over to Natasha, dropping down onto the ground.
"That was exhausting," she declared, "that was worse than when you trained me."
"This is why you need to build up stamina," said Natasha, wincing as she rubbed her back. As they watched, Hulk finally dragged down his drone and ripped its head off.
"He really knows subtlety," said Louie conversationally, waving at the big guy. Hulk grinned, before dashing about, possibly looking for more things to smash.
The only drone left was the one fighting Thor and Loki, Steve having long brought down his own. Thor's hammer barreled through the air as the two demigods flew at the robot. This drone seemed way more competent with its weapons, leaving Natasha with no doubt that it was Tony behind the wheel.
The two brothers moved seamlessly and Natasha watched in awe as a centuries old partnership worked against one drone. It was as if they were two limbs of one creature; if one attacked, the other defended, if one of them took a hit and fell back, the other would know to surge forward and protect them both.
Thor moved forward, aimed a whack at the drone and missed, leaving his side exposed for the drone's darts. In a flash, Loki had knocked them aside with his dagger, while Thor went in for another hit.
"Get the eyes, Loki," he called as he brought the hammer down on the robots head. As the drone raised his arms to defend itself against Mjolnir, Loki slashed the camera eyes with flowing green energy. There was a slight pop and the drone malfunctioned, ripples of electricity travelling over its body.
"I meant just blind it, Loki," sighed Thor.
"Shut up. I stopped it didn't I?" Thor grunted, brushing dust off his jeans. Louie burst into applause.
"Now that," said Natasha, "was teamwork." Loki huffed carelessly, but Natasha didn't miss how he glanced at Louie's awestruck face and looked away. Louie beamed at Loki.
"Now don't pretend that wasn't fun." Loki ignored her and handed his dagger to Thor.
"As I promised. You can have it back now that I have finished with it."
"Well done, folks," said Tony sounding a little disgruntled. Natasha shook her head and walked towards the door.
"I'm done for the day," she said. Hulk grumbled loudly and Louie chuckled.
"Well, if he's stayin' then so am I." Natasha headed up to the control room. The first thing she did as she entered was to smack Clint round the head.
"Ow!"
"Serves you right for throwing dirt in my face." Clint stuck his tongue out at her and propped his feet up on the control panel.
"You people just use all my good stuff as footstools, don't you?" asked Tony, glaring at the boots that were defacing his property. Naturally, he was ignored.
Together they watched as Hulk ambled around, chasing down the boulders Louie flung left and right. Steve was starting a wrestling match with Thor and Loki was leaning against a wall, observing silently. Natasha watched Clint watch Loki.
"He's good," said Nat softly. Clint nodded shortly.
"I know. I've seen him fight." Natasha nodded, not knowing what to say.
"I still hate him, you know," said Clint in a voice low enough that only Natasha could hear, "I still remember everything he made me do. Sometimes being around him makes me so mad. How can we be housing a - a murderer?"
Jane and Darcy laughed at something Tony said and Clint sighed, eyes still of the figure of the young woman out in the arena. As they watched, she raced Hulk to one end of the arena.
"And then I see Louie and the way she treats him and how much time she spends around him -" he broke off, shaking his head. "She's good. She's a good fighter."
"I know. We're doing pretty well with her, aren't we?"
"Yeah," Clint set his jaw and looked at the girl laugh and wave at Loki, "and I think it's about time we gave her a mission."
Louie POV
"You're kidding," I said, mouth open. "You want me to what now?" Clint jabbed with his staff and I parried, easily twisting his weapon away with my own. I liked using the staff. It felt better in my hands than a gun.
"Yep. Cap and Natasha already approve. They think you're up for this."
"But," I paused for a moment and then ducked as Clint swiped. "But I've only been at this for a couple of months!"
"Yeah, but I think you can do it. It's nothing too hard just a stakeout and possible negotiation. We'd be done in one night." I went quiet, focusing on trying to make an attack. My first mission. I felt a thrill of excitement and terror.
"Okay then," I said, shrugging nonchalantly. I leapt at him, cutting my staff through the air diagonally. Clint blocked it with his staff and brought his leg up in a kick, getting me in the side.
"So," I panted, "who am I going with?" He smirked, spinning his stick in one hand.
"Me, obviously."
"Right," I frowned, "obviously."
"That's enough for today. Meet me in the Tower's garage after dinner tonight. Wear something appropriate."
"Alright then," I said. I tapped my staff on the ground "I like this." Clint nodded.
"I noticed. Close combat is definitely your thing." I glanced at the whiteout wall. There was now a list of fighting styles up with tallies next to the ones I succeed at. Naturally, guns had a total of around three while hand-to-hand was well in the thirties.
"Oh and Louie," added Clint as I turned to leave, "you're not telling anyone else where you're going." I bit my lip. I had lessons with Loki after dinner.
"Nobody?" Clint stared, eyebrow raised.
"Being and agent involves a lot of secrets and lies," he said bluntly. I nodded.
"I understand."
After dinner I went to my room early, ignoring the curious look Loki gave me.
Quickly I donned a black, long sleeved shirt and dark jeggings. Over them I wore my Converse - the kind that went all the way up my ankles. I braided my hair to keep it out of the way and, as a last resort, threw on a jacket. Clint said it was going to be a stakeout. Who knew how long we'd have to wait?
"Going somewhere?" I jumped, my heart missing a few beats.
"Don't do that." Loki learn against the door frame, eyeing me.
"I thought you were told to stay inside during the night."
"I'm not going alone," I sighed. Loki's eyes narrowed. "Then who are you going with?"
"Clint," I replied casually, adjusting my hair and stepping out of the room. Shutting the door behind me, I walked quickly towards the elevator.
"Barton?" Loki asked incredulously. "Why?"
"Ever hear of a date?" I lied, groaning inwardly. Oh Louie, you creature of wit. Loki's eyes widened dramatically.
"Thor and his... woman go in those infernal things. You mean - you and Barton - you -?" I ignored him and focused firmly on counting sheep in my head. It wouldn't do to let him in there and find out where I was going.
"I see," he said shortly. I looked at him, surprised.
"I'll be back before you know it," I said nudging his shoulder. Or well, his bicep really, he was a good ten inches taller than me.
"Hm."
The elevator travelled down painfully slowly and I snuck a glance at Loki. We passed the first floor of offices and my heart sank, realising he wasn't going to get out.
Down at the garage, I looked around for the archer. He was leaning against a sleek sports car, twirling the keys in his hand. Clint frowned as his gaze slid to Loki and I groaned quietly. I really did not want to have to sort out the two of them right now.
"Ready?" he asked, ignoring the demigod. Loki bristled next to me.
"Yep," I said my voice unusually high. Clint gave me a look. I knew what he was asking. Did I tell Loki where I was going when he told me not to?
"So, where are we going on our, um, date?" I asked nervously, hunching my shoulders. I had never been more thankful for Clint's SHIELD training. Without missing a beat he replied.
"It's a surprise. Now let's go."
"Bye Loki, " I said in a small voice. "I'll see you in a bit."
I got in and Clint started up the vehicle. Casually he put an arm around me as he backed out of the garage. I narrowed my eyes. He was laying it on a little thick. When we were on the road, I turned back and gave Loki a small wave as he disappeared from view, ignoring the little pang of guilt I felt. He looked a little forlorn as Stark Tower disappeared from sight. Clint withdrew his hand and handed me a bag.
"Some toys for you. Pick out what you want." I pulled out one device. Gun. Nope. I tossed it into the back seat.
"Watch it!" said Clint, "You're as bad as Natasha. God, she flings them around the room like they don't hold ten rounds."
"Sorry." I stuck my hand in the bag again. Taser. Nope.
Pipe-bomb-esque bombs. Nah. I paused before chucking the bunch and picked out a couple. Okay, maybe one or two.
"What's this thing?" I asked, holding up a baton. Clint glanced at it.
"Retractable staff."
Oh yes. Definitely yes.
Nothing else seemed quite my style so I dropped the bag into the backseat.
"That's it?" asked Clint. I nodded.
"So where are we going, really?"
"You mean, on our date?" Clint asked innocently, "I told you, it's a surprise."
"You're the one that told me not to tell anyone where I was going," I said sourly.
"I did," he agreed before giving me a sideways glance, "but a date?"
"Hey, he was glaring at me," I ground out, "it's difficult to come up with something decent when he does that."
"I take it Loki glares at you a lot then."
"Oh, yeah," I agreed. "I think he has a special one reserved especially for me." Clint slowed down at a red light.
"How are your lessons?" I glanced at Clint. He wasn't the type to make small talk.
"Okay, what gives?"
"What are you talking about?" I crossed my arms.
"You're being awfully chatty tonight. Note the keyword - awfully." He sighed.
"I just don't trust Loki. Around you or around anybody else."
"Nobody trusts Loki," I pointed out, "but that doesn't mean everyone is as much of a dick to him as you are. So tell me, what gives?" Clint's grip on the wheel tightened.
"It's a long story."
"I'm not going anywhere." Clint didn't reply, his face stony.
"Clint?" I prodded. He shook his head, eyes darkening. I huffed and sat back, trying to figure out how the baton opened. He'd tell me eventually.
A good hour later, we were driving slower and the moon had risen well into the sky. The car purred down an alleyway and stopped.
"A very villainesque place," I said quietly. Clint snorted.
"It's the ones that dress prettily and live in penthouses you gotta be careful of."
"So what are we waiting for?" I asked.
"Smallish guy, red hair, glasses. He's nothing much, but a tech genius."
"What did he do?"
"He hacked into SHIELD's systems."
"So what, we're gonna go beat him up for it?"
"Louie, we're not the equivalents of the biggest bullies in the park. We just keep the peace."
"Then why are we here?"
"The average person can hack into SHIELD's systems in a total of eight minutes. Nat can do it in about half that time."
"And this guy?"
"Two and a half minutes."
"You want to hire him," I said, realisation dawning. Clint nodded.
"SHIELD needs that kind of person on their side. Especially someone with underground connections."
"So will it be bribery or blackmail?"
"A bit if both," said Clint with a wicked grin. I nodded. So this was how SHIELD recruited its people. We sat in silence for a while, until -
"So really, why a date?"
"Oy!" I said exasperated, "I'm just not a creative liar. I was focusing too much on counting sheep in my head."
"Counting sheep, huh?" He was obviously trying very hard not to laugh.
"Yes," I snapped, "because if I hadn't he'd have probably known anyway, he gets inside my head-"
"What did you say?" Clint said sharply, no longer laughing.
"He-," Oh wait. His powers were sealed. Oh boy.
"He gets inside my head?" I said again, timidly.
"But I thought he couldn't use his powers?" Clint said loudly.
"Shhh!" I hissed. "Okay, he can't do it with everyone anymore, just me-"
"He gets inside your head," muttered Clint distractedly.
"Yes, that's what I said, but it's okay, I blocked him today, he doesn't know I came out on SHIELD work," I said a little proudly. Clint shook his head, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes plastered on his face.
"I knew it. I knew we shouldn't have let him near you. Jesus, I'm calling Fury, they can fucking have him back -"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" I said alarmed. "Clint!"
"Louie," he said, "he's dangerous, can't you see that?"
"He's powerless," I snapped right back, annoyance rising. I reached for his phone, pulling it out of his grip. "Stop treating him like he's just a piece of dirt, he isn't-"
"Shut the fuck up, Louie," he snarled and twisted both my wrists together with one hand. I froze, mouth hanging open. I was frightened. I was frightened of Clint. None of the Avengers had frightened me the way he did right now, at the way he was staring, with so much spite and hatred.
"You have no idea," he said coldly, murderously, "what you're talking about. Him? Powerless?" Clint laughed humorlessly. "He's a snake, Louie! This is how he works. He gets in your fucking head!" He stared unseeingly at something in the distance.
"Clint," I said in a hushed voice. "You're scaring me." His eyes widened in realisation and he dropped my hands. I fought the urge to rub my wrists - he looked terribly ashamed.
"I'm sorry," he ran his hands through his hair. "You just, you have to understand, Loki's way of working isn't brute force. You may think he's powerless, but if he gets into your head, it's more than enough for him to wreak havoc." A wild look appeared in his eyes. "Believe me, I know."
"What?" I asked shocked. The archer took a deep breath.
"Do you remember the last time Loki came to earth?"
"That's when the Avengers Initiative officially started," I said, remembering something Pepper had told me. Clint nodded and stared at the steering wheel.
"Loki brainwashed a bunch of humans to do his dirty work, some key players in SHIELD and a scientist named Eric Selvig."
"I remember him," I said, my mind going back to his face plastered on the news during the Greenwich attack.
"He also took me."
"You?" I echoed blankly. Clint clenched and unclenched his jaw.
"One minute I was fine and the next I feel blank and like my some purpose is to just... do as he says. Whatever I did, I felt like I was just watching myself do it without a care in the damn world. Like I was okay with it."
"What did he make you do?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know. Clint looked at me, his eyes tortured and blank.
"I can still remember everything. Every single thing. The people I killed. I knew some of them. They were good people and the worst part," he said his voice shaking, "is that I can't forget."
I sat in silence, a nasty feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach. Tentatively, I placed my hand on his fist. He stiffened at the contact.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I was wrong. You do know. You know more than I do. And I have no right to tell you anything." Clint nodded, inhaling sharply. I edged closer to him, forcing his blue eyed gaze to turn back to me.
"But you can't tell Fury. You know you can't. If Loki goes, then I go too." It was a horrible way to finally realise the gravity of what I'd just said, what I'd finally come to understand. My fate was tied to Loki's until he got off the hook. And that could be forever.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," said the archer shortly. I sighed.
"Yeah, well, trust me, he doesn't like it either."
"You tell me if the bastard tries anything, okay? I'll gladly rip his tongue out and hand it to him." I winced at the imagery it gave me.
"I will." He nodded.
"Until then I guess I'll just have to be content with making his life as miserable as humanely possible. Come on," he whispered suddenly, poker face in place. "He's here."
I stiffened, turning my head. I could see him. Face tucked into the collar of his jacket, he was walking quickly towards the warehouse. Clint got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
"Hey!" he called when the redhead was a few feet away. "Seb Rohmer?"
"Who wants to know?" asked the man - boy really, his voice still held the fading but tinny quality of a pubescent lad.
"We do," said Clint gesturing.
"I didn't do nothing wrong," he said defensively.
"We asked you if you were Rohmer. Not if you did anything wrong," I pointed out.
"Well, ah, maybe I know him," he said slowly. He raised his head, and his glasses glinted as he shifted nervously. I rolled my eyes at the lie.
"Yeah see Seb's in big trouble," said Clint ambling forward. "He tried to hack into some systems he shouldn't have been hacking into. Systems that aren't supposed to even exist."
Seb Rohmer looked from me to Clint and bolted.
A/N: Haha, well, that was fun. A slightly jealous Loki and a fairly clueless Louie. And of course, there's Clint. Now, a couple of things that I need to address:
At this point, Louie's powers, when it comes to fighting, involve a lot of manipulation of her surroundings, instead of using energy bolts etc, which is more difficult to muster. So basically I borrowed a lot from Avatar, the Last Airbender when it came to that logic. She can manipulate what exists. She can't "create" at will like Loki and his illusions. If you've watched Nickelodeon's Avatar, you know that, for example, if there is no water in the surroundings, it's not possible for waterbenders to fight, etc. Fire is oddly the exception to this rule but I'm guessing that has something to do with say, heat and whatnot. (I can't remember for sure - I haven't watched it in years). Anyway, I'm trying to apply that kind of theory here so that Louie's powers develop in a realistic manner. So then, hopefully, you won't see her suddenly causing time to flow backwards or magically heal, levitate or transform or all that other fancy mumbo jumbo in one sudden jump - if at all. Baby steps, you know.
Now, after saying all that there is another little point I must discuss: If this logic is so, why can Louie speak telepathically to Loki and how was she able to heal him? I'm glad you asked. See, that has more to do with Loki than Louie. It's Loki who can telepathically speak to Louie and Loki who healed himself. To heal he accidentally borrowed some of Louie's energy- the girl is a walking battery. Then, the telepathy thing is a link that exists only between the two of them. Because Loki's magic is sealed, he can't technically speak to anybody in his head. But again, he can speak to Louie because he can borrow her energy. Louie too can speak back to him, but to him and him alone. Telepathy is not a talent of hers that spreads to all around her. It's just a her and Loki thing. I hope that made sense.
In honour of my going to watch the Avengers Age of Ultron today, I decided to upload this asap. In a few short hours, I will be hysterical. I just know it. I hope you lot have watched it too, I'd like to discuss it from this point on in my story - not excessively, but just a bit you know. Maybe I can incorporate facts into my story?
Also, Holy CRAP you guys! 66 followers and 46 faves! My brain ceased functioning when I saw that. Gosh, thanks so, so much, all of you, I'm so glad you're interested in the story!
And now, my beloved friends, I must be off, off to the cinema! I'll let you know my opinion of it in the next chapter :3
Oh and also, as the answer to the question I posed at the end of chapter 10, Louie's perspective of Hulk changed when he stopped being the Hulk and just became Hulk. Hehe. That's actually a tip of the hat, if my memory serves me right, to the initial version of a wonderful story called Archaic Kinds of Fun, by the fantastic IronBat, something you should DEFINITELY check out. It's under my favourites, if you need to find it fast. Her story is in the process of being rewritten (and it's a bloody good rewrite) but I believe I vaguely remember a scene in the first version of someone insisting that it wasn't THE Hulk, he was just Hulk.
(My memory is the worst so I can't remember exactly who said this... oh god. What if it's the wrong story? No, no I'm pretty sure it was this story. Let's just cut to the goodbye then shall we?)
25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT
UNTIL NEXT TIME FOLKS! :D
Much luurrrve,
xo