Your Way Out

Double Bladed Trust

-A/N: I realized that I never really described Elaina, simply because I want her character to be ambiguous. I want the reader to be able to sort of project themselves into the story. But, I found a nice AI generator and was able to create how I personally envision her. This is just for those who want a character to picture while reading. If you want to project your own image, please do!-

Leaned over a steaming bowl of oatmeal, Loki's waves of black hair fell over his face like running ink. Sweat dried over his brow. S.H.I.E.L.D. dressed him like an official agent. White pressed button up with a slim black tie. A navy-blue lanyard dangled around his neck where it a freshly laminated I.D. card hovered in front of his chest. He looked professional, like he belonged here.
We sat at a small table in the cafeteria. He grimaced at runny off-grey oats and dehydrated berries in his bowl. A navy mug full of murky brown coffee, more water than coffee. I drank a small container of orange juice, reclined with a book I meant to read months ago. Above the pages, I couldn't help but catch Loki's scattered glares. Disgusted eyes darting between his mundane cafeteria breakfast and me. A spoonful of cement-like oats sprinkled with deep blue specks hung over the bowl. A glob dripped off, landing in the pile with an unappetizing splat. He repeated this motion two more times until I chimed in.

"Not happy with your breakfast?" I asked, turning a page.

"I don't know how you people stomach this mess," he grumbled. The spoon clanged as he tossed it into the grey mush. With visible creased of revulsion marring his brow, Loki swirled his mug before tipping a meager sip into his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, his lips curled inward. "No," he muttered. "Let's go, get your coat."

"What?" I marked my book with an expired gift card as I packed it into my purse.

Loki was already up and rushing to dispose of his tray. He paused to turn to me. "I want something palatable and I'm not going to find it here. You're my escort, so, escort me to breakfast," he replied, throwing his jacket over his arm. "Don't make me drag you," he threatened coyly.

He didn't need permission anymore. Brimming with confidence and newly gifted freedom, Loki sauntered around Avenger's tower as we collected the things needed to leave the premises. Hands stowed in his pockets; he mischievously eyed any employee who dared to look at him sideways. Their shock plastered on their faces. Who could he be walking around? No guards. No handcuffs. No collar. No muzzle. They probably thought. If their expressions didn't make it abundantly clear, their fear seeped out of them all like fumes. Loki loved it. He couldn't hide his smirk, nor did he want to. It gave him an air of power. Fear was power.

He walked the streets of New York City in the same spirit. No one glared at him the same as S.H.I.E.L.D. employees. Maybe were too preoccupied with their phones and busy lives to even notice him, nevertheless, Loki walked through the crowded street with long elegant strides like a dancer gliding across a stage. Unbound, unchained. I pictured him strutting down the golden halls of a palace in the mystic realm of Asgard. Cape billow with each stride. Here, for now, he was just a person on his way to breakfast. His black double-breasted coat fluttering with the frigid wind. A small girl clinging to his side, struggling to keep up with his long legs.

We approached Mama's Diner, emptied after the morning rush. It was closer to noon, so they weren't expecting too many people until lunch. The cherry red seats were all vacant. We chose the same spot as last time, seated against a foggy frosted window. Cold air had scoured my cheeks red, heat rising to my face. I felt my nose practically glow. Loki was unscathed.
"You do really well in the cold," I mentioned.

His calm face turned from the window and onto me. "Do I? Is it cold outside?" he smiled.
"I'm used to snow by now, but yeah, it's pretty cold for New York. You just don't seem fazed by it,"

"I guess I'm not," Loki shrugged off his jacket and picked up a menu. He looked at his hand and flexed his fingers before curling them into a weak fist. "Do you not do well in the cold? Your face is rather red."

I put a gloved hand to my cheek. I could feel the cold pierce through the thin leather. "Not really. Where I come from, it snows almost half the year, but I never got used to it. My mom always said I was a 'spring flower'. Blossomed in the sun, withered in the cold."

"Where is it, you're from?"
"Michigan."

"Mi-sh-a-gahn," Loki rolled the word around his tongue, feeling each syllable. "What's it like?" he asked as our waitress approached. He ordered us both something called a "White Bear latte" before she had the opportunity to ask. Not that I minded.

"Just an ordinary place," I shrugged.

He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "So, it's covered in gold and has a mystical rainbow bridge that leads to a portal that can take you anywhere in the universe with the assistance of a magical sword, wielded by an all-knowing, all-seeing demi-god?"

My mouth gaped open slightly. I could hardly fathom the picture if I hadn't studied the paintings and myths of Asgard, along with my life-long experience with fantasy novels. "That's your 'ordinary'?" I asked sullenly. My hometown now felt like a cardboard city.

Loki cracked a smirk and nodded with a shrug. "Pretty much. Come on, tell me about your home. I talk so much and while I admittedly enjoy the sound of my own voice, I do take some pleasure in the sound of yours," he said with beckoning lacquered eyes.

How do I describe a two-bedroom ranch to a man raised in a golden palace? How do I fondly describe a place I had no intention of going back to? Two holidays had past and all I ever received from my mother was a passive voicemail. I shifted through the dark memories and tried to think of the state's lovely qualities.

"It's not covered in gold but covered in green. Where there aren't any cities or towns, there are wide forests of pine trees and oaks. In the fall, it sort of looks like a warm toned crayon box. Maroon, orange, and golden leaves from coast to coast to coast. My dad use to take me on trips up north and we'd visit the Great Lakes. I think that's where I get my fear of water," I chuckled, "We'd rent a boat and sail out until we couldn't see land. Listen to some Temptations and Stevie Wonder while my dad fished. It always made me feel so small. Insignificant, but I liked the quiet. The calm waters sloshing against the worn old boat. Nothing but sky, and sea, and me. The fact that were bigger things out there. Bigger waters, broader skies. It scared me so much, but the kind of scare that people search for. The same fear that drives people to visit haunted houses or jump of cliffs, I think," I rambled long after our coffees arrived. Loki let me, quietly muttering our orders to our waitress as I went on.

I talked about sand dunes in Sutton's Bay, getting lost along a graffiti covered hiking trail near the creek where I grew up, and abandoned buildings I use to trespass as a teen. He listened, sipping his coffee, and chuckling when appropriate. It was like I was telling him a tale. I suppose in a way, I was. Nothing I said was particularly interesting, yet he made me feel like it was.
"I tried to enjoy the outside when I could because as soon as snow fell, I'd be trapped inside until May. Sometimes it would blizzard during Halloween, and I wouldn't go outside again until summer. We'd get three feet of snow and couldn't even open our front door. Even then, I'd have to go to school. Negative twenty degrees, ice scraping against my skin. All in darkness," I complained, finally taking the first drink of my coffee.

"Sounds like Jotunheim," Loki mentioned.

"The realm of giants," I added. His eyebrow perked with interest.

"Very good. Home of the frost giants, to be specific."

"Is it real?"

Loki nodded, staring into his mug. A chill permeated the air, swirling like a flurry of sightless snow around us. "It's a frozen wasteland filled with darkness and monsters. Foul creatures of ice and loathing," he glared at his tightened fist, swallowing hard.

"Bad memories?" I asked.

He exhaled a long breath he was holding deep in his lungs. Frigid air still swirling. He looked at me briefly and then back to his hand, finally relaxing his fingers, tapping them against the vibrant red surface. "Something like that."

His attention shifted to the lithe silver chord tethered around his wrist. Casually, he covered it with his hand. "Can I ask you about something? But you need to keep it a secret," he asked in a hushed voice.

Hesitantly, against my better judgement, I nodded. There was something severe shimmering in his eyes. Something that made me shiver.

The room was quiet. The waitress's long acrylic nails tapped against her phone screen as cars and crowds rushed by, but it was all background noise. Easily flushed out as I focused on Loki's lips. They opened slightly, taking in a small breath as if to say something, but he paused and bit his lip instead. Contemplating his words carefully. I waited patiently, drinking warm caramel and white chocolate infused coffee while nibbling at the berries that surrounded the fluffy pancakes on my plate, melted whipped cream slowly trickling down the sides. He stared off into the distance, opening his mouth once more, this time with purpose.

"Hanna," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the sky outside, "how do you feel about her?"
I was taken back. Moments past as I gathered my thoughts. Do I push aside my personal feelings or professionalism? Was Loki considered a co-worker now? Was there a right answer to this question? My silence must have made him wary because Loki perked up, clearing his throat. "I don't like her," he said plainly.

"Oh okay," I furrowed a brow in surprise. "She's definitely intimidating and not very friendly," I admitted.

He shook his head, onyx waves swaying as a stern expression passed over his face like stone. "No, she's very friendly. Too friendly."

"Are we talking about the same agent? The stone-faced, cold-hearted woman who chained you to a bed because you didn't want my head to crack open? Yesterday, she didn't even want to acknowledge you had a name. She just called you 'the prisoner'."

"That's exactly my point. What changed between then and now?"

"Nothing," I shrugged.

Loki shook his head, tight lipped with unconvinced eyes. "In my experience, nothing is usually something. Listen, I need to tell you another secret," he rested on his elbows, leaning into the table. I met his gaze, closing the gap between us. His jaw hard, teeth clenched as his eyes gleamed intensely. We were close enough to kiss, but I couldn't get distracted with that. "I'm being serious, Elaina. You can't tell anyone."

His words passed through my ears like silk ribbon. Loki, God of Trickery. Promising him secrecy could lay a curse on my soul. Was he asking me out of trust, or did he see me as someone easily manipulated? I shook away the thoughts and sighed. "I'm listening. You can trust me," I managed on a trembling breath.

He quickly scanned the diner and then outside the window. He angled himself closer. I was scared we might touch. The mere inches between us could be compromised with an unsteady breath. I was careful to steel myself. I breathed in his scent. The gallant leather and rich wood, mingling with the bittersweet coffee that lingered on his tongue. With a gloved hand, he placed his fingers under my chin, ushering my attention to his eyes, rather than his lips. Steel blue daggers that locked me in place.

"I didn't come to Earth just because," he admitted.

I gave him a faint smile. "I think we all knew that."

Loki pressed a leather clad finger to my lips and softly hushed my voice. "Just listen," he pleaded. "I came here looking for something. A relic of my world. Either Vanir, Aesir, Dwarven, Elven, or who knows. A weapon, so ancient that its creation can't be placed. So powerful, it's said to vanquish entire armies with one blow. A single strike is lethal," his finger lingered on my lips before slipping down my neckline and across my throat. "I chased this weapon across the Nine Realms, and it led me here. I believe something chased me across those realms and I might have led it here. Something dangerous."

"More dangerous than you?" I asked, my voice giving way to my fear and desire.

He didn't answer. Not with words, at least. His earnest eyes sent a cold shivering down my spine. I recalled his fear. The inky black waves that dragged him under the first time we touched. The darkness.

He held my hand, leather in leather. "Do you trust me?" Loki asked.

There it was. The cold tip of a dagger edging its way into my back. Pushing me forward into the unknown. I could back away. Drive it deeper. A more assured ending, avoiding any torture or heartache.

I could feel his heart sinking. Each second that I hesitated, the weight inside his chest grew heavier. I squeezed his hand, kissing the back of his glove. "I trust you," I decided.
A weight melted off my shoulders. His sighed deeply, relieved. A smirk pulled along his lips as a small flicker of joy passed along his face. He didn't pull away. We lingered close to each other. To estranged eyes, we probably looked like your average couple, newly in love, wanting to breathe each other's air. I couldn't even kiss him, despite yearning in my chest.

"Good," he finally sighed.

"Do you think she has something to do with it?" I asked.

"I don't know how yet, but yes. How long have you known her?"

"Formally? I met her the day before I met you. I know she's worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. for years. Decades, I think." I recalled looking her up in old files. I was given a short profile on her and some of her achievements. Where she studied and trained, where she was born, and all the reasons I should fear her if I ever became a threat to the country. Hanna had a history with S.H.I.E.L.D. and before. She was ex-military, approached by the organization to combat bigger threats, and has been kicking ass in a blue suit since the early 2000's.

Our waitress set the bill on our table as Loki peered off deep in thought. He pinched his bottom lip between his thumb and index finger. "Stay with me today," he demanded. His eyes were calm blue steel, but I knew he was shaken.

"Okay. Just tell me where."

At first, we wondered. Loki held me close to his side, keeping me snuggled under his coat. He was colder than the wintery breeze, flushed with dusty snowflakes, but I weathered his icy body just to be close. I followed him down several blocks until his wrist rumbled. Banner's bracelet vibrated. The green light that emanated from it was a dark orange hue, almost red. "Figures," he cursed under his breath. "Come," he ordered, slipping his hand into mine.
We trudged along the busy street, back the way we came. Loki parted through people like a king dividing his subjects. People naturally walked around him. Knowing he wasn't going to budge for them. Occasionally, someone would bump into him, and be greeted with a harsh glare. At least one of them did a double take, as if they recognized him. Before they could confirm their fears, he was hidden by the crowd.

As we approached the tower, Loki's bracelet returned to its green hue. The tower was only a block away, but he pulled my hand and lead us down a different street. It was clear that he was testing his limits. He was able to walk roughly 8 blocks in any direction before his bracelet vibrated. For every block after that, the orange deepened to a scarlet hue, pulsating more violently. Walking back the way we came negated this and quieted the bracelet. We were outside for about two hours before it vibrated again. It stayed green but pulsed harshly against his wrist.
"I guess it's time to get back to work," he sighed sadly.

"They should get you a phone." I added.

Inside the lobby, I stopped to say goodbye. We separated, but Loki glared at me with confusion. "Excuse me, bunny," he hissed, slinking his fingers between mine. "I told you to stay with me today. Is the day over?"

I peered outside the glass doors as if to remind myself that the sun was still up. I shook my head. Loki cocked an eyebrow, pulling me close with a swift tug. "Then stay," he growled in a low raspy voice. Stern, almost vicious. His voice felt like a seductive bite along my neck. It was that commanding tone that sent a jolt of excitement through my veins, shuddering below my stomach.

He released my hand, knowing I'd obey and follow him wherever he took me.