So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.
You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.
Don't forget to check out the Photobucket album listed on my profile page too.
DAY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0611 HOURS
S.H.I.E.L.D HELICARRIER
SECURE OFFICE
JASPER SITWELL
The Centipede and Deathlok projects have produced some very useful results. One of these results is the backscatter x-ray eye implant. Agent Garrett had it developed to observe as well as control his operatives in the field, and it is also proving useful to us right now.
The son of Alexander Pierce has one. The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't willing to let his son give up his life as an agent do to something as simple as shrapnel to the eye. Agent Garret was more than happy to offer one of his technological advances is a gift, and well Alexander Jr. may not have gotten a choice in the matter but he has made the best of the situation.
I hear he wasn't pleased with his father making the decision for him, given that the device does come with some less than savory features, like the ability to release an electrical charge capable of killing him in an instant. However given that I'm his handler, and know full well that his father would kill me himself if I ever activated that failsafe without his approval he really has nothing about. All he has to do is continue to be loyal to the cause.
That being said the footage I sent to the councilman is interesting, and a little unsettling. Having a camera in his eye allows for constant visual observation, and the recording he is watching on his end of this video conference is a clip from just that. Its nothing very dramatic, but in the line of intelligence the quick passage near a reflective panel, and the use of some subtle sign language can send the same level of message is bombing Hiroshima.
So does the way the he dismisses me with his usual clipped politeness and the screen goes black.
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0613 HOURS
TRISKELION
PRIVATE OFFICE
ALEXANDER PIERCE SR
Turning off the feed however doesn't drop the security protocols sealing off the room just yet. My discussion with Agent Sitwell is over, but my discussion with Agents Rumlow and Rollins have just begun. With my son and his team on a deep cover mission, command of the STRIKE unit at S.H.I.E.L.D had to go to someone else, and Agent Rumlow has fit well into the new role, even if his personality doesn't fit well into anything else.
"You want me to go get Junior, right boss?"
"Yes I do." We didn't authorize this extraction, but I trust my son's judgement, and given that the implant can not do audio transmissions there may be details about the situation in that bunker we are not aware of. He may be unorthodox but his results speak for themselves.
"And what about the Asgardians?" Now that is a good question.
"Its time we brought the woman back where she belongs. When you retrieve her, send her to Von Strucker, he's less likely to kill her on the operating table then Whitehall. As for this Loki fellow, I don't want to give him anymore of our agents, so avoid direct contact with him. Play this with patience, wait until she is separated from him before you take her, is that understood son?"
His frown says its disappointing even as his words say its agreeable. "Oh and Agent Rumlow?" I add one more detail after he and Rollins are already walking to the door to began preparations. "Why don't you take the Asset as well, if Loki does steal any of our agents, put them down with extreme prejudice." Now that order is agreed to with a smile.
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0615 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
NORA
The conversation we both seemed eager for and dreaded did not start right away. Loki decided that it would be better if we sat for this discussion, and I agreed with him on that. It was pretty clear to both of this would be a long one, and I was pretty sure there would be at least a few moments in it where the topic might make me feel weak in my knees.
The desk turned out to be the destination again, which wasn't surprising really when you think about it. Besides it and the armchairs hugging the walls of this small room, it was a choice between that or the bed. I'm glad it was not the bed he choose, for obvious reasons that I'm sure he is aware of.
I suppose you could say Loki started the conversation. Though the way he did it was without words. After he saw me sit he pulled up a chair to join me on my side of the desk and then he held out his hand. It was a question, given the way sparkles of gleaming green light danced out of his palm.
He was asking if the magick would bother me.
It did before, not because it frightened me, but because it was overwhelming. He did these amazing things, things that defied what I thought were the laws of reality. It was a bit too much until I had time to get used to the idea. I've had that time. A moment ago I felt it tingle as it formed things around my skin, if I could handle that I can handle whatever he intends to do now.
His intentions turned out to be food. Or new food it seems. When he waved his hands and it appeared on the table my eyes searched out the remnants of the last meal, but even the very dinnerware it was on seems to have vanished, only the apples and the wine and glasses remain.
The new menu bears some similarities to the old one, in that none of it seems to be a dish large enough to count as an actual meal. Thinking back I realize that while he has made sure I have been fed well, nothing he fed me was really larger then an appetizer. I wonder if that means there is a limit to how much carry in whatever manner of invisible container he pulls these things from, or if its just a matter of personal preference. The last seems to make more sense then the first, given the enormity of this robe, I can see Loki is the kind to nibble at a treat in between pages.
There is a bowl of fried almonds sprinkled with sea salt and fresh sprigs of rosemary. A platter of rectangular breakfast pies that I can see bacon, asparagus spears, arugula flowers and sunny side up eggs on that fills the air above it with the scent of thyme.
Even a set of cups and a teapot that reminds me very much of something Moroccan. It strikes me as odd, the idea that a Norwegian god would drink tea, but then again Loki is not Norwegian at all, he and his people just visited there. When I think of it like that the tea is not so strange, and I actually like that we have that taste in common.
The sight and scent of it is lovely, but all I really have a craving for is some of that wine, and perhaps those apples.
Loki knows it too, I imagine he knew it even as he was summoning these treats for us but he did it anyways because he knows I'll want to eat eventually. For now he proves just how good he is at reading people by the way he places a cup of warm milk tea in my hands before he sits down at last.
"So where do you wish to start?" Silence is my answer, and continues to be my answer for the greater span of a minute as I let my grip tighten around that tea cup and look into it with false fascination. The memory of the pain and anger in his red eyes circles in my thoughts again, doing its damnedest to steal away my courage before I can even use it. I won't allow myself that failure. Lifting my head with a determined exhale I place the cup back on the table without letting it touch my lips. "I want you to tell me what they did to you, what cruelty could make something as lovely as an elf hate itself."