Author's Note: Okay, I'm late, and I'M SORRY, I HAVE A VALID EXCUSE. My laptop broke. And so I couldn't type. Nevertheless, it's fixed and so, I give you, the replies to the reviews and then, the next chapter! Enjoy my lovelies!
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. Yeesh. I think that's fairly obvious by now. I do own Louie and the Typos. Haha, that sounds like an eighties band name. I should probably sleep.
Theatre: Aw, well, don't worry about it, there's gonna be a whole load of Louie-Loki stuff I got planned and hopefully it will be great :D I actually didn't include all the girl's stories in that chapter because I wanted to introduce them gradually throughout the story, haha :3 you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. (I await the list of typos)
AinsleyWright: God, I cannot WAIT until we get to that part! I can't wait to write it out - I have so many different ideas planned on how it could happen, and it's killing me to have to choose! Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
PhantomLion: I'm glad you like the slow burn - personally it's killing me to not have them just jump each other already. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter :D
Queen Martha Pond: I'm so glad you like my Darcy, I'm always a little nervous when writing a POV for the first time. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like this next chapter :3
royalrandoms4969: SO sorry it took so long! But, here you are! Enjoy, and thanks for leaving a review
Everon Prime: Thanks so much for leaving a review! I'm so glad you like the story :D I hope you enjoy this next chapter too.
And now, I give you, Chapter 14 :3
Chapter 14
Natasha POV
Natasha swirled her drink thoughtfully as bit by bit, Louie unveiled her worries. It was admittedly, slightly predictable and Natasha chastised her self for not seeing it coming. Louie had brains, yes, but she was a young woman, with emphasis on the young. Unbelievable perception on Louie's part had made all of them forget that in reality, she was still a girl who had barely left college. Her brains and composure spoke differently, but her growing feelings for Loki... well, they should all have seen it coming.
"So let me get this straight," said Darcy, putting her chin in her hands, "you have the hots for the other demigod and now he hates your guts."
"No, I most definitely do not have the hots for him," said Louie tartly, "I just -," she took in a deep breath, "- I just don't know where I stand with him." Natasha nodded.
"It's a difficult place to be," she said placidly.
"Considering he's got a criminal record, yeah," agreed Darcy and made a face when Jane kicked her. Louie deflated a little more.
"Yeah," she murmured sadly. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Stop," she said plainly, using her Training-Coach voice. It usually worked wonders and today it did not fail her. Louie snapped to attention immediately.
"Stop what?"
"Stop this pity party," Natasha said dryly. "You say you don't have feelings for him and well, if that's so, then we'll accept that." (Here, Natasha chose to ignore Darcy's loud snort) "Whatever said and done, you're acting like a child about this. Stop tiptoeing around him and go make amends. God knows we can't stand him when he's a cranky bitch."
"What do you suggest I do?" Louie asked, equally dryly, "jump him?" Natasha shrugged.
"He's still on SHIELD's bad side. Personally, I find it hard to trust someone who has the words "mischief" and "lies" in his job description. But," she added, noticing Louie's slightly crestfallen face, "I'm not you. And you know him better than most."
Louie shook her head, "No, not particularly. It's not like I know his favourite colour, or his childhood pet's name or any of-"
"Louie," said Jane, reaching for her hand, "I think what Natasha means is something a little less materialistic. You can definitely understand him more than we can - how else can you two get along without any bloodshed?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe he's playing mind games with me!" The sentence trailed off into a wail as Louie buried her face in her hands.
"Alright now, stop that," said Darcy sternly, shoving another drink into her hand. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, not sit around and pine. Oh," she added, with a little nudge, "I'm pretty sure his favourite colour is green." Louie grinned for a moment before her face fell back into lines of worry.
"Okay, enough of this," said Pepper, "let's talk about something else."
"Oh yeah?" said Darcy, "how about you tell us about you and Tony?" Pepper sighed.
"I suppose I walked into that one."
Happy POV
Happy watched as the five women spent a while chatting amiably and then hit it off on the dance floor.
"I don't like this," he grumbled.
"Neither do I. What's the status?"
"They do what women do when they get together at a club," Happy made an unnecessary hand gesture to emphasise his point, "They dance, they attack innocent young men in packs and they leave them high and dry before going off and dancing some more."
"Treacherous, I know," agreed Tony. "Keep them in your sights."
"Will do." Happy sighed and crossed his arms when a thundering blow to the back of his had sent him sprawling across the dance floor. He didn't hear the cries of shock, or Pepper screaming his name. He didn't see the heavily armed men enter the club and attempt to manhandle his charges out. He didn't see the fight they put up, or the blows they gave and and received in equal intensity.
He didn't see any of it.
Louie POV
Nobody saw it coming. One minute it was a loud raucous crowd, dancing to their hearts contents, next, the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire opened out and people started falling.
"Happy!" screamed Pepper, moving towards him, only to be pulled back by Natasha.
"Stay down!" she ordered, and pulled up her dress, taking a gun out of her thigh holster. I snapped my fingers once or twice, flames appearing at my fingertips. Pepper grabbed Darcy and Jane.
"Get to the car," Natasha ordered. The club was in chaos, glass littering the floor and people shouting and heading for the exits. Darcy was about to reply when something hit her across the face, hard, knocking her to the ground.
"Darcy!" cried Jane. Her friend was a few feet away, and suddenly, shadows reached out of the dark and began pulling her towards the exit.
"No! No!" Jane lunged for Darcy and tugged, holding her back. I shot fireball into the dark and helped Jane pry away the horrible tentacle like hands from Darcy's unconscious form.
"Get behind the bar!" yelled Natasha, "get behind the bar!" I pointed my fingers at the bar and with a gust of wind, cleaned away the debris at the bottom.
The tentacle-like things were approaching and this time in my direction. As a cold, clammy vine wrapped itself around my ankle, I flung a bottle of vodka in its direction and sent fireballs chasing it. There was a terrible screech as the tentacles writhed, before they retracted. The exit door opened slightly and a figure disappeared into the night.
We dove for cover behind the bar. Overhead, bottles burst into pieces at the bullets fired at them.
"What's going on?" asked Jane, terrified.
"We need help," Pepper punched her comm repeatedly. "They're not working. Why are they not working?"
I looked around the corner. Natasha was firing rapidly, at the same time trying to make sure people were getting out safely. She was winning and losing in equal amounts. Suddenly, one man charged at her, dodging her bullets and punching her hard. Natasha stumbled, dizzy. I cursed our stupidity at getting so tipsy. The man picked Natasha up and bodily flung her towards the wall.
Natasha hit the glass cases above our heads and slid to the ground. Pepper screamed.
The agent sat up, groaning.
"I'm okay. I've had worse."
I peered over the edge of the bar. Ten men, heavily armed, with guns, knives and other such weapons were still taking out the others in the club. A bunch of them were pressing against the walls in fear, some crying, others looking pale with fear. Our bodyguards lay on the floor, unmoving. There was blood trickling from one of them.
Happy stirred feebly over in the corner.
"Alright," said one of the men loudly. "We're here for the Stark party. Come out, slowly." The man had white blonde hair and an oddly familiar voice. Fear shot into my heart. I ducked back down, looking at Darcy's unconscious form, Natasha's grim expression and the fear in Pepper and Jane's eyes. I realised that fear was probably mirrored in my own eyes.
"We have got to get out of here," I whispered.
"How?" Jane whispered back. "Darcy's out cold, and Happy is still out there, not to mention at least a dozen innocent people. We need to get them all out, and only you and Natasha have even a minute chance against them."
I swallowed, thinking hard.
"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath and calming myself. "We need to get their attention away from us and onto something else." Out there, one of the men gave out orders.
"Guard the doors and start sweeping this place from top to bottom. We need to find them." Natasha got onto her knees, reloading her gun.
"I'll distract them," she said, a determined expression on her face. "Get Darcy out and into the car. Then call Tony."
"I'm staying with you," I said, "Ten against one is hardly fair and someone needs to get the bodyguards out." Natasha nodded.
"Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"
"On three?" I asked, grinning weakly. Natasha nodded. Pepper hoisted one of Darcy's arms around her shoulders, while Jane took the other.
"One," I whispered, as the liquor around me rose into globules.
"Two." They hardened into golden icicles.
"Three!" I leaped out over the bar, aiming for all ten men in one go.
Two went down immediately and Natasha took out the man near the exit.
"Go!" She yelled and covered them as a crowd of people, including Pepper, Jane and Darcy rushed out of the club.
There were seven men left and two were armed with guns. They had to go first. I dodged the bullets left and right, heading for these two first. Scared as I was, my mind was astonishingly clear. Everything seemed to happen slower. I doused one man in liquor and set his leg alight. With a yell he tried to stamp it out and I punched him in the jaw, sending him sprawling.
A bullet whizzed past my head and I flung my arms outwards. The shooter went flying backwards. Knocking the gun out of his hand, I hit him in the throat and gut, before getting him hard in the knee. I winced as he yelled in pain and crumpled to the floor. Maybe I was a little too harsh.
There was a strangled sort of screaming behind me and another man went down, Natasha having choked him with the thin belt of her gold dress.
"Functional," I commented, my eyes travelling over the bodies.
"One, three, five, eight," Natasha muttered. "Where are the other two?"
"Drop your weapons," snarled a voice to my right. Natasha and I spun around. One man had knife at Happy's throat while the other had a machine gun pointed at the other two guards. With a sickening lurch, I realised that our fourth bodyguard was dead.
"I said," he said menacingly, "drop em."
"You men are such idiots," sighed Natasha. Then she moved fasted than I've ever seen her move. One shot clean and precise, and the man on Happy was crumpling before he even had a chance to rearrange his expressions. I went for the other one, and flung him backwards so hard his head hit the marble bar with a resounding crack. He slipped to the ground and lay there unmoving, eyes wide open, clearly dead. My heart dropped to my stomach. He was dead. I had just killed a man in cold blood.
"Come on," said Natasha, holstering her gun. "Let's get these three out of here."
I nodded and firmly avoided looking at our dead bodyguard. I knew that man. I'd smiled at him, just half an hour ago. Fighting down bile, I helped Happy up, and helped him out the door.
"Pepper ?" I called. There was no answer. The back of my neck prickled uneasily. It was unusually silent. Where were the other party goers? I hurried to the car as fast as I could. The three women were nowhere in sight.
"Pepper?" I said, louder, breathing harshly.
"Shit," swore Natasha staring at the rear wheel. I followed her gaze and my heart dropped to my stomach. Splayed on the ground was a mass of mousy brown hair.
"Jane!"
I sprinted forward, almost tripping on my heels. Her eyes were closed and there was a large gash on her forehead.
"Jane," I almost sobbed, cradling her face. She opened her eyes slightly.
"Oh, thank God," I said, tears threatening to spill over.
"He - took - them," rasped Jane. She was fading in and out, I could tell. "The tentacle man - he was - waiting - outside-" I leaned against the car, mind whirling. He took them, while we were being distracted in the club.
Darcy and Pepper were gone.
I barely registered the police sirens in the distance or even the Avengers plane that positioned itself above us, dropping down Thor and Steve. Natasha had to pry my hands off Jane so Thor could gently pick her up and fly her to the craft. I barely registered Steve telling me to hold on as the cable drew me upwards to the plane, him tapping my face and asking me if I was okay.
"They took them," I said numbly. They took them. They took Darcy and Pepper. They took them. A small part of my mind comprehended the fact that Natasha must have been the one to call the Tower for help. Tony - Tony would have answered.
I jerked so violently that Steve jumped backward. I gripped his arm tightly.
"Tony," I said, urgently "Tony has to know-" Steve nodded, his eyes kind.
"He knows," the Captain whispered. I nodded. I felt cold, numb. Infinitely stupid.
"I should have gone out with them. The fire had kept the thing away. I could've stopped them from being taken. I could've-" I wrung my hands in agitation. In my head, the image of skull hitting marble kept playing over and over. Natasha sat next to me, her hand drawing slow circles on my back.
"Don't beat yourself up, Louie," she whispered, "we did our best, and we'll get them back, we will..." I pursed my lips and nodded even though the doubt still surged through me.
I felt empty. Suddenly, I missed my mom more than ever. I needed her so badly, and the warmth of her arms. She would know what to do. She would.
The minute the craft landed, the injured were rushed out. Tony was waiting for us on the landing pad. I walked towards him, almost expecting him to turn and walk away - Tony wasn't big on emotions - but to my surprise and gratitude, he cupped my face in his hands, looking into my eyes searchingly.
"You're okay?" he asked, his voice shaky. I nodded.
"Tony," I said my voice thick with tears, "I'm sorry- I-"
"Hey," he said shaking his head. "No, you did good. You did good okay, sweetheart? We'll get them back." He sounded far surer than I felt. I nodded miserably. Tony gestured the door behind him where a lone figure was standing.
"You should probably get someone to check your injuries," he said softly. I gave him one last glance, trying to shove all my emotions into it and walked as fast as I could towards Loki.
Loki POV
Loki stood in the shadows, alongside Bruce and Tony, waiting for the plane to return. He had known the minute the call had come through, that something was very, very wrong. Natasha's voice had filled the library too.
"Avengers, we need help. We've been attacked, two of us taken, one dead, four wounded." The message then cut off, and Loki had been left with a hollow feeling of fear, coursing through his veins.
One dead... one dead.. the thought frantically ran through his mind. Who? Who? He was sure the second phone call that Tony answered personally had filled him in but Loki was too much of a coward to ask him.
The faint whirring of an engine signaled the craft's approach and Loki drew in a sharp breath.
Please Gods, don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead...
The injured four were taken out first, Bruce running forwards to help and Natasha, Steve and Thor taking two others and Jane. Loki's heart clenched for a moment. Where was she?
A lone figure exited the plane last and Loki recognized the long hair. He held the wall in relief. She was safe. She was fine. Louie spoke to Tony for a minute before glancing his way. She headed for him, all but running. By pure instinct, he moved forward, out of the shadows.
"Loki," she breathed, her face crumpling, "Loki, I fucked up - I fucked up." She was breaking, Loki realised. Without thinking twice, he reached for her. He didn't quite know how it happened but then, his hands were clutching hers tightly, and she was standing with her nose pressed against his chest, almost hyperventilating.
She clung to him like he was the only thing holding her grounded to the world.
She was scared, he realised. Scared of what she had seen. Worry immediately filled his mind. What had she seen? She had seen someone she know die. She might have killed someone. She saw her friend being taken. Too much. It was too much.
She half wrenched her hands away, wringing them tightly, frantically, her eyes moving from him to the Tower to some blank spot in the distance, thinking hard, worrying about something. She almost trembled and sank to her knees, fingers twisting, clenching tightly. Loki knelt next to her. He missed her contact but he was scared to touch her.
A small part of his mind recoiled at all the contact, at such a violent display of emotions, at how weak and pathetic mortals were, but Loki ignored that part of him. It wasn't fair of him to put such a label on her. It struck him how frail a human truly was, and for once, he didn't look upon them with frustration or scorn. He looked upon them with pity.
Louie's body heaved with dry sobs, and Loki stayed there, next to her, and watched . Her eyes were wide and blank, staring unseeingly into the distance.
"I fucked up," she said in a low voice, "so bad." Loki didn't say anything. Instead he knelt quietly, until Tony walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go," he said in a surprisingly strong voice, "we have to work on this while we're ahead. The sooner we get on it, the faster a rescue will happen."
Loki felt an enormous amount of respect for the man - he was holding himself together exceedingly well. Next to him, Louie stiffened. Loki naturally followed suit, noticing the angry aura licking her body. She kicked off her heels and pulled her hair back into a braid.
"Let's do this," she said, her voice smooth. They hurried down the stairs and to the conference room.
"I also have some news on what was downloaded," said Tony striding along in front of them.
"What was it?" Tony eyed Louie worriedly.
He entered the conference room where everyone was waiting for them. Thor was next to Jane, who looked very pale with a white bandage marring her pretty face. Louie went to her immediately and Jane hugged her.
"I'm so sorry," Louie whispered. Jane hugged her back, her eyes filled with worry. Tony flicked on a switch and a screen came up.
Louie POV
"So I went through everything and came up with nothing. No virus was released, no info on any of us was taken. The only thing that was taken," the screen came to life, "was a few seconds of video surveillance from our rooms."
I inhaled sharply. It was footage of Loki and me from the day I cut his hair. My back was towards the camera as I snipped this hair from the front. I ignored some of the glances shot my way. The screen switched off.
"That's it? Natasha asked. Tony nodded and rubbed his forehead.
"It didn't make any sense to me until they took Pepper and Darcy." Tony walked up and down, trying to form coherent sentences.
"Well, we can assume we know why they took Pepper. Your relationship is public knowledge and they must know you'd do anything to get her back after the Mandarin incident," Bruce put in. Natasha folded her arms and looked at Tony.
"Yeah, but why take Darcy?"
"Added leverage?" shrugged Steve, also pacing. Tony pointed at the blank screen, where the haircut had been shown just seconds ago.
"But that wasn't Darcy," said Jane, frowning, "that was Louie." But my eyes were zoning in on my messy black hair, hanging down my back in wild curls.
"Oh. Oh, the fucking idiots," I said, gaping.
Tony nodded grimly. "My thoughts exactly."
"Sir, we have them, come through here."
The door creaked as it opened. There was a pause and then, a hiss of exasperation.
"You fucking idiot!"
"S-sir?" There was a crash as a fist slammed into the door.
"You fucking idiot, it's the wrong girl!"
Bruce POV
"Excuse me," said Bruce, frowning, "what did we miss here?" Louie's face was buried in her hands.
"Oh my God, of all the stupid, moronic coincidences-" she broke off, swearing. Tony shook his head.
"Look at her hair Brucie, and tell me it doesn't remind you of another dark haired, curly head we know."
"Oh, hell," said Steve, frozen in mid-pace. Louie tugged her now straight mane, pacing up and down herself.
"She even did it in curls tonight, like mine. It would have been an easy mistake to make in the dark club. She and I aren't that different in a sense."
"Not true," corrected Loki, almost inaudibly.
"Excuse me?" asked Louie, frowning. Loki rolled his eyes.
"You are far taller, your skin is a shade darker, your face is more oval shaped. Your hair is longer and it is black,any fool can see that. Your eyes are bigger and a more interesting shade of brown." A silence greeted his words. Louie stared, her mouth hanging open. Bruce almost smiled.
"Yes, well," she said, collecting herself, "but this video doesn't show my face." Tony nodded.
"Which is why I though the same thing. It was taken from above, at an angle; so it would be easy to mistake their height. I'm guessing, in the chaos they just mistook the two and kidnapped Darcy instead of Louie."
"So we can safely assume taking Darcy was a mishap on their part?" asked Thor.
"Does that mean she's safe?" breathed Jane.
"Or does that mean she's worthless to them and therefore dispensable?" put in Loki quietly.
Darcy POV
Darcy's mouth felt thick and bitter and her head pounded as she came back into the world of the living. Slowly she looked around. Pepper was staring at her, eyes wide and terrified. They lit up with relief as she blinked slowly.
"What-?" She started to say when Pepper shook her head violently, raising her hands to press a finger to her lips. Her hands were bound. It was then Darcy comprehended that it was unusually dark and dank inside this tiny room they were in. Also, the tiny room seemed to be moving. Also, she was kind of lying on her side, a few feet away from Pepper, whose hands and feet were bound together.
Darcy looked down at her own hands and they were bound too, tightly and painfully. It was a crudely done job. She edged closer to Pepper, until they were both sitting side by side against a hard metal wall, and observed her surroundings. The inside if a truck was what it felt like - they were one the move.
"What happened?" she whispered hoarsely.
"You were knocked out," Pepper whispered back, "there was a fight at the club and they took us. We've been travelling since. It's been hours, and I'm pretty sure the sun is up."
"We have got to get out of here," said Darcy, her wrists itching in discomfort. Pepper nodded, her lips pressed together. Then, she raised her bound hands to her lips and started to chew. The cord around her wrists was sharp, but it was thin. Darcy raised it to her lips. Plastic. She bit it with an incisor.
It was hot inside the vehicle and Darcy was feeling mighty uncomfortable. Her dress was meant for nights out and comfortable couches, not sitting on her butt inside a moving truck. The fabric felt heavy and her skin felt sticky.
"I despise being kidnapped," sighed Pepper in a very fed up tone.
"A common occurrence, I take it?" asked Darcy dryly. Before Pepper could answer, the truck screeched to a halt.
"Don't chew all the way through your bindings," instructed Pepper, eyes on the door. Darcy nodded.
"I hope you have a plan, Pepper, because I sure as hell don't."
A/N: Gee, that escalated quickly. Now I hope you forgive me for taking so long to write this chapter, I worked super hard on getting it just right. And we're really on a roll, aren't we?
I hope you don't view Darcy and Louie as too similar, I just mean that they both have the Fair Skin, Dark Hair thing going for them. If you're asking yourself, why would people make such a stupid mistake, well, it happens. Trust me, I've heard a real life story with an even more unbelievable mix up.
Anyhoo, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write :3 If you enjoyed it, well then, please leave a review and let me know what you think :D I love to hear from you guys.
Also, thanks a million for the follows and favourites everyone, I'm so very happy :))))
25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT
Until next time,
Much love,
xo