That evening, when she was leaving her room to start the night shift of cleaning, Jak wondered if she'd made a mistake. She wondered this as she tripped over a golden vase full of heather flowers and spotted a note from Loki. Grumbling to herself about having to clean up the water she'd just spilled, she snatched the note and skimmed it.
Please take these flowers as a symbol of our budding friendship and as an apology for startling you last night.
Sincerely,
Loki
The way he signed his name was so full of flourishes that she could barely read it. If she hadn't grown up reading letters penned with fountain pens in extravagant calligraphy, she might not have been able to make out any of the words in the note. Thankfully, her mother had made her study penmanship until the candle burned down on cold winter nights.
Shaking her head because she didn't have time to dwell on old memories, Jak crumpled the note and threw it in the nearest recycling receptacle. She picked up the fallen vase and flowers and put them inside her room, leaving them on her desk. Then she set out to get a mop to clean up the spilled water and to start her duties for the evening.
The night moved along at a snail's pace as she scrubbed scorch marks from sparring mats and sweat from gym equipment. It was wonderfully mundane and by three in the morning, Jak was laughing at herself for overreacting and trying to leave.
Until she smelled the smokey-sweet scent of magic building in the air.
"Wanda?" She called, gripping her mop tightly and bracing herself. Maybe she should join the Avengers and get the cuff off her arm. Her powers might be a tad unpredictable, but at least she could use them to defend herself.
There was no response when she called Wanda's name again and she frowned.
"Loki?" She asked in a decidedly less friendly tone. He didn't answer her, but the room flashed green and after a blink of the eye, she found herself in a lush forest. Except, she knew it wasn't actually a forest. That afternoon, she did some reading on Loki and knew that his strongest ability lay in his illusions. If this was his doing, it wasn't real. Despite the gently blowing breeze and the strong smell of pine.
"I'm not amused," she said, thumping her mop on the floor, "I have work to do and I'm tired."
A bright blue bird flew past her, trilling softly. Jaklyn swatted it with her mop and watched with satisfaction as it vanished into green shimmers of light.
"If you are trying to make me regret staying at the Compound, then by all means, continue," she waved her mop in front of her, swishing it through illusion trees as she tried to find her way to a real door and get out of the gym she'd just been cleaning. She thought she was getting close, when her mop hit something solid, but it turned out to be a treadmill disguised as a rock. She kept swinging, muttering irritably to herself until her mop hit something else with a thwack.
A palm materialized around the broom, followed by a hand, then an arm, then a smug grinning face. Loki pulled the mop closer to him, tugging her along with it. Jak took a deep breath and reminded herself that he wasn't as scary as she'd first thought. Annoying as hell, sure, but everyone seemed confident that he wasn't on earth to kill anyone.
"Good evening, Ms. Baker," he said. His voice was one of the most beautiful she'd heard in all her years. It was and wasn't like the opposite of Morgan Freeman-heavenly, but instead of soothing, it made every nerve in her body spark. She felt a chill run down her spine as he pulled her another inch closer.
"It's actually morning," she replied, her own voice sounding embarrassingly croaky, "Turn the room back the way it was before."
"I much prefer this forest to the previous design, don't you?"
"I don't like forests," she bit back.
"Why not?" He bared his teeth, "Afraid of lurking wolves?"
She rolled her eyes and yanked on the mop. It startled him enough that she was able to free it from his grip and continue her probing to find the exit.
"While I'm terribly sorry to disturb your work," he followed behind her, "I wanted to check in on you. Did you find the flowers?"
"Yes, I tripped on them," she hit something solid, but it was just the thousand pound dumbbell that Thor used to warm up. "Next time don't leave them right in front of my door."
"Next time?" He chuckled and she wished she'd spoken more carefully, "You flatter yourself to think that I will leave you flowers more than once?"
"Please don't. Flower petals have a tendency to fall all over and make a mess," she took a step forward and tripped on some unseen piece of equipment. She yelped in surprise, but Loki caught her arm and pulled her back to her feet.
"Watch yourself, Ms. Baker. I wouldn't want my new toy to be broken so soon. We can't solve a puzzle if it's missing some pieces," he took a gentlemanly step back from her, but his eyes lingered in a most ungentlemanly way.
"I really feel like you are trying to get me to call Agent Woo and tell him I want the factory job," she crossed her arms over her chest, realizing that she'd dropped her mop and it had been lost in the illusion.
"Am I making you feel unsafe?"
"Dispel the illusion and maybe I'll feel a bit less threatened."
He sighed and waved his hand, returning the gym to normal. She frowned when she realized that she'd been walking in the opposite direction of the door.
"No one has any regard for showmanship these days."
"Thank you," she found her mop and returned it to her cleaning cart. "Now, care to tell me why you sought me out before the sun is up and trapped me in an illusion of a forest?"
"You were never trapped," he said, sounding somewhat offended, "It is no fault of mine that you could not find the door."
She slammed the mop into the bucket of soapy water, splashing herself more than him, but enjoying the water stains that his leather pants would bear.
"As I said," he continued, "I wanted to check in on you. I thought you might enjoy a bit of a change of scenery. This whole building is so dull. And covered in the Avengers' logo."
It was true. Every piece of gym equipment had a sparkling "A" insignia on it. Jak had wiped them down enough times to be a bit sick of the logo herself.
"Why did you want to check in on me? And why at three in the morning?"
"I couldn't sleep," he admitted, "Based on the time of our run-in last night, I knew you'd be awake. I thought I would see if you wanted to talk."
"No, not really," she pushed the cart toward the door, "I'd rather listen to my music and finish my work so I can go to bed."
"Does Stark force you to work at night?" Loki asked, following her as she made her way to the nearby restrooms.
"I requested this shift," she answered. She wasn't sure why she was telling him the truth, but soon she found herself saying: "I don't sleep well in the dark, so I might as well put those hours to good use."
"Could you not sleep with the light on?"
"I didn't interrogate you about why you couldn't sleep," she propped open the bathroom door and scowled when she saw all of the golden hair clogging the shower drain.
"My brother has never been particularly cognizant of cleaning staff and the trials they face," Loki remarked, wrinkling his nose as Jak unfurled the mass of hair from the drain.
"If he had been with the Avengers when I attacked, he probably would pay more attention to me," she grunted, wrestling with the drain as it released more and more hair. She'd just cleaned this bathroom two days previous. "But he forgets I live here most of the time. And I think I prefer it that way."
"Oh? Not keen on winning the affection of the Crown Prince of Asgard?"
"The unwanted attention of one Asgardian prince is more than enough, thanks," she smiled at him and then returned to fishing hair out of the drain.
"I like you," Loki decided aloud, "I look forward to training you and uncovering your secrets, Ms. Baker."
"You can call me Jak," she said without thinking. She threw the hairball in the trash and put her gloved hands on her hips, looking up at him as he watched over her shoulder.
"Jak," he repeated, "I like the name, but I have the feeling it isn't yours."
She blinked in surprise. She'd gone by Jaklyn Baker for the past fifteen years. All of her official documentation was in that name. No one, save Steve Rogers, had ever suspected her of using a pseudonym in all that time.
"What makes you say that?"
"You wear the name like an expensive scratchy shirt," he mused, thoughtfully stroking his chin, "You keep it because it fits and it cost you a great deal to get it, but it has never been comfortable."
"Philosopher as well as sorcerer? You are a man of many horned hats," she grabbed her scrub brush and returned to cleaning the shower, determined to keep him from learning her real name or any name she'd gone by before becoming Jaklyn Baker.
"Another puzzle piece," he muttered, "I am intent on solving your riddles. All of them."
She laughed at that and looked at him over her shoulder.
"Maybe you will. But don't count on me making it easy for you."
"Of course not," he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, "It wouldn't be any fun then, now would it?"
Goosebumps covered every inch of her skin and she felt her heart skip a beat. Before she could think of an adequate retort, he was gone, leaving her and the hairy shower to their business.
A note from the author: Thank you so much for reading! I'm thinking this book won't be quite as much of a slow burn as my Till Death Do You Part series, mostly because I don't have the patience for a slow burn, but don't worry. We aren't going to jump head first into anything. We'll see where the plot takes us. ;)
Special thanks to brandylynn12893 for your review! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far and I really appreciate your review! :)
Until the next chapter!