The Robbed That Smiles
Chapter 10:
"Well?" Stark prodded, reraising the forcefield to prevent the female Jotunn from leaving. An action that earned him a furious stare from Reyda, the Asgardian healer pivoting on her heel. The calming spell she'd cast over Lokki faded as she did so, broken by her own anger.
"Stop hassling my patient!" Reyda demanded, before seeking assistance from Thor to get the man to back off. "Lady Lokki needs rest, not an interrogation, sire." The healer beseeched, though she hardly needed to as the others agreed with her, backing up her assertion to varying degrees. "Whether you trust my lady or not, she is with child. And certainly you can…"
"How do we even know she's actually pregnant?" Stark blurted, slightly wincing as the burning sensation in his palm worsened. Flaring up in tandem with him airing a suspicion he had since learning of the mischief goddess' condition. "You mentioned yourself that you couldn't actually do any tests confirming Miss Nippy's pregnancy. And as the goddess of lies, faking it would be simple."
"You question my expertise?" Reyda stood up straight and glared daggers at the Avenger, affronted. "Or you think that I didn't prepare for…"
"Why, pray tell, do you think I'm here then?" Lokki interrupted the healer's spiel about not being the naive being the Avenger assumed, that Reyda had gone into her meeting with Lokki prepared to see through any trick the female Jotunn may use. Back still turned to Stark and everyone else Lokki repeated her question. Her voice was even and much quieter, albeit laced with an underlying venom. "What reason would I have to stick around here where I'm magically shackled and viewed with suspicion by each of you?"
"No idea." Stark replied curtly, the quickness of his answer and its tone earning him surprised and irritated looks. "But if you're trying to convince me that it's because you're pregnant and not for some devious scheme..."
Lokki scowled, facing away from Stark and the other Avengers, her posture exuding a royal contemptuous air. For a moment, she started to answer but stopped and bit down on the edge of her tongue, nicking it. After a moment, during which the other Avengers argued with Stark, even Natasha, who shared the billionaire's suspicions aside from his doubt of Lokki's pregnancy, Lokki turned around.
Eyeing the group with a chilly gaze, her lips pressed into a firm frown, the mischief goddess considered her words. Mulling over her options while attempting to keep as calm as possible. A difficult endeavor, but one she was determined to achieve. Less than two weeks may have passed since her arrival in this universe, but the past nine-ish days had been the most relaxing for her in months. And certainly the safest.
"Selfie?" Loki approached the goddess, his gaze focused on his doppelganger. Himself the only one of the group who wasn't distracted by arguing with Stark. A deep crease formed on his forehead as he noted Lokki's demeanor - unable to hide behind an illusion, the goddess' face was fairly readable by the mischief god. Even as Lokki tried to smother any glimmer of emotion in her eyes or lips, the mischief god noticed the signs of her inner conflict. He reached out for her.
Noticing the movement, Lokki sidestepped away from the mischief god's reach, and threw him a cold, scathing look. It and the fact the suppression bracers once more bore signs of Lokki's frost flaring up, halted Loki mid-approach. Hesitance that he overcame within seconds as his doppelganger's eyes glazed over and she collapsed without warning.
0
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Standing wordlessly at his desk, Morfield listened to the message his department head had left. A furious tirade that lasted a good few minutes before ending abruptly with a demand that the agent return his call. Somewhere in the angry spiel were hints that the department head was on her way back from a long-sought vacation as well along with a demand that the agent better have an excellent explanation.
Any less than that would result in disciplinary action against Morfield, something the other reminded him wouldn't bode well considering the agent's past.
"As if I need a fucking reminder." Muttered Morfield as he tossed his phone onto the desk, and sunk into his chair. Across the small room a few of his coworkers glanced furtively over, talking amongst themselves. Their voices loud enough to make out that he was the topic. Him, his past, and his current fuck up.
Contrary to the impression he gave Thor and Dr. Strange, the only action S.H.I.E.L.D had decided on, and which his department had to acquiesce to, was surveilling Loki. No order for capture had been issued, and the attack on the Sanctum was certainly not approved. None of those in charge were ballsy enough to risk conflict against Thor and any Avenger who would side with him. Especially not when the only evidence for the Tesseract's presence on earth was a single blip in the radar nine days ago.
It didn't help that Strange and Thor's denial that the mischief god had the artifact was taken at face value by Morfield's department head. (Morfield had been banking on just the thunder god denying it, as then it'd have been easy to argue the god was biased since Loki was his brother. Strange backing up Thor threw a wrench in that argument. The wizard was considered by Morfield's department and SHIELD to be the least biased of the Avengers regarding the mischief god.)
His colleagues still peeking at him and talking incessantly, Morfield slouched over his desk, and his head held in his hands. Rubbing his forehead in an attempt to assuage the headache spreading sharp pings of pain through him, he sat there listening to the rabble of his colleagues. A moment or so past just listening before he stood up and collected his phone and a few other things. Without a word he headed towards the door, ignoring his fellow agents curious glances.
"Oh! Morfield." An agent muttered, having entered just as he was about to leave. "I was just coming to get you. SSA Argyle is adamant that you see her, and…"
"I know. I got her voicemail." Morfield grumbled and started pushing past the other agent, muttering something along the lines of being on his way. Despite having zero inclination to comply with his boss' demand.
"Oh. Then you can meet her at the Rainsford lab then. She mentioned she was going to meet with Dr. Pendrick first rather than heading straight here." Blurted the other agent, to which Morfield grimaced and turned slightly pale. Seconds later he continued on his way, ignoring all the chatter and milling about among the agents from other departments.
'Why would Argyle go to Pendrick?' Morfield asked silently on his way out, and was unable to come up with an answer before he reached his vehicle. In consequence he started his engine while mentally grumbling, and drove from his parking spot semi-oblivious. 'Erik better have a reason why he and his wizard buddy didn't stick to the plan. It'd be so much simpler if they'd lured the bast...'
"Oi! What the hell?!" The agent swore, his eyes grown full and wide when a portal opened up in his backseat. The pale-gray orbs only grew wider when Mordo entered through it, and sat back calmly in the seat. "H...What are you doing here?! I…"
"Shush." Mordo cut off the agent, their gazes meeting briefly in the rearview mirror. The wizard then muttered something not in English and waved his hand, his fingertips sparking with magic. It quickly tapered off and he lowered his hand. "That'll take care of any eavesdropping." He muttered before addressing Morfield. "If you're heading to the laboratory - I suggest an indirect route. Or to just head home. You have at least two people tailing you."
"T...that's because you fucked up! Why didn't you stick to the plan?!" The agent hollered, barely keeping his eyes set forward on the road. Mordo frowned at that, but instead of pressing the other man to watch the road, he did and prepared his magic just in case.
"I did. Until I couldn't." The wizard replied enigmatically, receiving a deeper glower from the agent. "...which of you had the epiphany to have a hitman sent with me and one of the lab's Chimera? He's the one that went off plan. I had to improvise."
Morfield squeezed the steering wheel until his knuckles paled. Through clenched teeth he spat. "Improvise?! You weren't supposed to improvise unless you needed to flee! You certainly weren't supposed to wreck the place! Or do whatever you did to the soldiers outside! You were supposed to go in and lure the god out, and portal him to the lab. What's so difficult…"
Mordo bristled and used his magic to sharply brake the vehicle, causing the agent whiplash. Though he did magically shield the driver's head from impacting the steering wheel. The agent swore loudly, and started sputtering angrily at the wizard. He stopped when a heavy object pounded onto the hood of his car, the sound causing him to jump and spin his head around to see the cause.
Mechanized arm buried into the sleek hood, Bucky Barnes glared through the windshield at the two men inside. Every crease and line of his face was etched with anger, chilling Morfield whose brain took a moment or so to place the other man. Once his brain fog cleared he gulped, all feeling leaving his limbs, his fear chilling him so badly.
"Which one of you motherfuckers has Steve?" Bucky growled and lifted his arm from the hood, his sharp leer locking first on Morfield then on Mordo.
0
"What the…." Roger's eyes widened, his mouth agape in horror and shock.
Having expected to be the one teleported, he stood stock still as the other soldier vanished instead. The other soldier, whose name he'd never asked, was most certainly underpowered against the enemy Fen called Thanos. An enemy that had, if Lokki was to be believed, killed all the Avengers of her universe. Yet the android had teleported the other soldier.
"Why the hell did you send him?!" Rogers rounded on Fen, grabbing for the android's hands in order to stop the AI machine putting the phase-cloak back up. Overwhelmed and furious, he hardly cared or noticed the swear word that passed his lips. "I'm the...you...you just sent that man to his likely death! I…"
"Yes. The odds are against that man's survival. But even if I sent you instead, it would still be the same risk." Fen countered, its orange-ochre eyes boring into Rogers. "Besides, had I sent you and Lokki discovered that fact…it wouldn't matter whether you escaped unharmed or not, or even if it was necessary, she would destroy me." The android trailed off, while Rogers gave Fen a peculiar look. One that the android deciphered easily. "I may not be alive or sentient in a traditional sense, but I would rather avoid dismantlement of any kind. It would be a bugger putting myself back together."
"Couldn't you…" Rogers started to reply, about to say something along the lines of just getting Stark or someone to help in that scenario, but bit his tongue. Partly because it was a callous remark. Mostly though because he remembered what universe he was in. Lokki's universe. The Avengers were all dead here. Himself, Stark, Banner, Natasha...each of them had been killed according to the mischief goddess. Rogers glanced over at Fen, his forehead and brow creased. After a moment he shook his head, while the android finished inputting the commands to raise the shield-cloak around the ship. "Still, you should've sent me. If the enemy in that ship is highly dangerous, I..."
"Grrrh." A low growl interrupted the Avenger, and Rogers tensed and turned towards where the sound came from. His cheeks paled when the bear from the library sauntered forward, eyeing him with the intensity of a predator. Its growling continued until it reached the Avenger and the android, once there the bear sat down and peered unblinkingly at the two. "Rawgrrhhh."
"Now is not the time, Nar." Fen spoke to the bear who lifted its head, exposing its neck and the speckled band wrapped around it, a crystalline bauble dangling from the band. A misty green decahedron, the bauble drew Rogers' attention, not least because the bear - Nar - was making every effort to show it off. "No." Fen grabbed and pulled back Rogers' arm when the Avenger reached for the band. "Not now."
"Ggrawhgrrr." Nar growled at Fen, voicing its displeasure at the android using noises that were unintelligible to Rogers, but which the android understood. "Rawrgrrhh! Grrrr Garggh, hrrr.."
"It is too...things are not as expected." The android replied, still holding the Avenger's arm and glancing at him in between every few words. Actions that ticked Rogers who was reaching the end of his patience. Between the attack on the Sanctum and not knowing what happened there, and being unable to prevent Fen sending the other soldier into danger rather than him, Rogers was more than annoyed.
Too annoyed to endure the half unintelligible argument going on between the android and the bear. He ripped his arm out from Fen's grip, and backed up a few steps, tensing when the android moved to grab him again. An attempt he evaded by backing up further, placing a handful of feet between him at the two.
"Look, whatever that is...whatever secrets…" Rogers grimaced and started to reach for his shield when Fen appeared to approach. The android quickly thought better of it and just situated itself to prevent Nar from walking to the Avenger. "All I want is to make sure the soldiers who were transported here from my universe are safe and get them home."
"See?" Fen turned to Nar. "She didn't send him. And it wasn't a time rift. He speaks of his 'universe' not his 'time.'"
"Hhhrrrr." Nar grumbled, shifting his attention to Rogers and scrutinizing him closely. The band and bauble once more hidden beneath its fur. "Hawgrr...urrrhh. Hraaan, ghrr."
"I know." The android scowled, grumbling. "He used a com from his universe." Fen paused, listening to the bear's growl-speak and nodding along, no longer defensive against Nar. The two of them instead seemed annoyed at Rogers now, and the Avenger suddenly felt exposed. Guilty. It hadn't been too difficult to understand the conversation based on Fen's replies, and the looks the two flashed at him cinched it.
The two were talking about the void-black ship and how it had tracked them, using the signal from Rogers' com. The Avenger pulled a face and opened his mouth to explain himself, when a shockwave ripped through the ship and nearly knocked him off his feet.
"What…" Rogers' throat went dry when he noticed the black-void that was the arboretum windows, all the stars having vanished. Disappeared into a black nothingness. Even as he observed it as such, he understood that wasn't what happened. The stars hadn't gone anywhere - rather the other ship with its dark exterior had pulled up and stopped just outside the arboretum.
0
"Which one of you motherfuckers has Steve?" Bucky growled and lifted his arm from the hood, his sharp leer locking first on Morfield then on Mordo. When neither answered he repeated his question and brought his mechanized arm down again, smashing the engine hood even further. The man in the driver seat jumped at the action while the back seat passenger hardly flinched, drawing Bucky's attention.
Since receiving news about his friend's disappearance via Stark, the billionaire having contacted him after failing to track Rogers through the com device the inventor had given, Bucky had sought after his friend. And though the billionaire hadn't given much information to him about what Rogers had been doing before vanishing, Bucky assumed it was about the Statue. That's what it'd been about that morning.
Thus, he had headed to SHIELD's offices, ready to stake out or storm them, whichever was needed, for news of his friend. Before he could decide on either - his choice heavily leaning towards the latter one - Barton had intercepted him. The retired Avenger had also been contacted by Stark and by Natasha, the woman much more informative than the billionaire. It was from Barton that Bucky learned that an offshoot of SHIELD was involved and that one of its agents should have information. An agent Morfield.
"Well?" Bucky growled, removing his arm again from the hood and instead maneuvered forward and grabbed the driver's side door. Wrenching it open, he glowered at the driver, ready to pull the agent out if the man so much as thought about pressing the accelerator. "Where's Steve?"
"I...I don't…" Morfield stared up at the Winter Soldier, his heart thumping loudly against his ribcage and his gray eyes filling with fear. Trepidation.
Noticing the look, Bucky bristled, mixed feelings running through him. For the past few years, as he adjusted from being the Winter Soldier to being himself again, he'd encountered people who knew him only as the brainwashed puppet of Hydra. Each one had given that identical look. And each time it brought up the same torrent of emotions in him. Impossible to describe and a torture to feel. Steve Rogers had helped him through it each occasion, and it'd been over a year since the last time he encountered such a look.
"Hey." Came Barton's voice through the earbud com-speaker the ex-Avenger had given him before they started their stakeout. The sound drew Bucky away from the tumultuous emotions brewing up from Morfield's fearful stare. "Stay sharp. His friend is up to something."
"I know, I'm not..." Bucky started to snap back at Barton, irritated but also glad for the interruption from his guilt-ridden thoughts. His words faltered once he turned his gaze to the backseat passenger or rather to the now empty backseat. Mordo had taken advantage of the momentary hiccup of Bucky's attention to portal away, leaving Morfield to face the Winter Soldier alone. "Mother fucker." Bucky muttered, scowling at the empty seat before turning his attention back to the agent.
"I…" Morfield swallowed, shaking as Bucky pulled him from the vehicle although the fear in his gray eyes had lessened. Replaced instead by a wary caution, something that took the Winter Soldier a while to notice. Once he did, a crease formed on Bucky's forehead and on the swathe of skin above the sellion of his nose.
'That's a first…' Thought Bucky, confused by the change in the agent's demeanor. The fear in the other man's eyes - he had expected it to remain strong, not to lessen, especially not without any effort on his part to assuage it. It was…Eyes widening suddenly and darting over the agent's face, Bucky bristled. Anger rushed through him as snippets of memory flashed across his thoughts. Snippets that included a man identical to the agent, a man who had helped Hydra experiment on him. "You...you're one of…."
"Hey. We should make our way back." Barton interrupted, stepping up next to Bucky. Having been watching from a distance, the retired Avenger had noticed the shift in the other man and had approached, his instincts screeching at him. Shouting even louder in his head when he heard Bucky growl that the agent was Hydra, one of the ones that had infiltrated SHIELD in the past. Barton tensed, eyeing Morfield closely after Bucky's revelation. "...We'll question him back at the tower."
"...Fine." Responded Bucky after a moment or two of thought, his mechanized hand clasped tightly as a vise around the agent's arm.