What's a God to a Barista? (Loki x Reader)

Twelve - Revelations

There was a throbbing pain in your abdomen where you had slammed it into the wall trying to turn the corner, but there was no time for that now, because there were SHIELD agents right on your tail and definitely close enough to see your face. Despite all of that, you being compromised wasn't your main concern. Not while Loki was at even worse risk.

He had come up to your side, and was almost ahead of you, ravenette hair flowing wildly behind him. In between muttered swears, he was still shouting at you to run. Your first thought was that he should have disguised himself again, but you had a feeling that it wouldn't do much good by then. One way or another, he was still Loki.

Your foot caught on to the sidewalk, and you stumbled, falling behind by a few fatal inches. Even after picking yourself up, you knew that the agents were still right behind you. You couldn't just run - you needed an escape. Even the escape artist himself wouldn't know what to do, so it was up to you to conjure up a plan. Luckily, you had been trapped in that town your whole life, not to mention that you had walked this way from work almost every day for months. For once, that came in handy.

"Wait!" You called out breathlessly. Rather than stopping, Loki reached out and snatched you by the wrist, yanking you up to his level. "Go across that building! There's a shortcut!" You said it loud enough for him to hear, but just enough so the agents might not guess your next move. With your wrist still in his grasp, he pulled to the side, following your directions and taking you with him.

You bolted across the gravel, hearing the agents match your footsteps behind you. Years of watching horror movies wouldn't come close to the terror that struck inside you. Somehow, the god must have noticed, because he let go of your wrist and instead wrapped his arm around your shoulders.

"What are you doing?" You whisper-shouted at him as he forced you forward.

"Just hang on to me." He demanded, and you figured you were in no position to object. Hesitantly, you wrapped your arm around his shoulders, securing both of you. "Three..." was he counting down? "Two..." definitely. "One."

With a familiar flash of emerald, you were thrown into darkness.

-

By the time you were forcibly removed from the void, the agents were already out of sight, and you were at least ten buildings ahead of the shortcut.  You stumbled back to your feet as Loki finally let you go, gasping for air. You hunched over, hands on your knees, in an attempt to catch your breath.

"Did you..." you squeaked, not even bothering to turn around and face him, "did you just teleport us?"

He was handling the whole thing a lot more gracefully than you were. "Yes. And I doubt those damned agents will catch up anytime soon."

You were still hunched over, still waiting for the world around you to stop spinning. "Woah. Ok."

"Are you alright?" He asked, a hint of worry creeping it's way into his voice. You nodded, finally straightening yourself out and brushing off your clothes.

"I'm fine," you turned to face him, "actually, that was kind of amazing."

Loki tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

You shrugged. "You teleported the both of us using magic. What else can I say?"

He turned away, running his fingers through his hair again. He didn't say anything.

You decided to take action. "I think there's a playground around here, and I need somewhere to stop and catch my breath."

He nodded, still not facing you. "Right. Lead the way."

You did as he ordered, and in just a couple of minutes, you had reached a playground. It was pretty beat-up, and belonged to a school that you were pretty sure had been abandoned a while before, but it was familiar enough. You threw yourself happily onto a swing, motioning Loki to join you. He took the swing beside you, letting his head rest on the half-rusted chains.

There was a moment of silence, interrupted only by your panting, before Loki spoke up. "I have a confession."

You perked your head up, a slight smile gracing your face. "Oh, really?" You teased, "What is it?"

"I sort of lied before," he kept his head tilted.

"Wow," you muttered sarcastically, "that's a shocker."

He continued, "When you asked me why I came here, I said that I thought of it as an easy win. That was the lie."

"So what's the truth?" You pestered.

"It might sound unbelievable, but I came here for a confession." He finally turned his head up.

"To who, exactly?" You said, gripping the chains that supported the swing.

Loki lifted his shoulders. "My brother. His team, if that's what you would call it."

Now it was getting interesting. A smile tugged at the edges of your mouth. "Why don't you practice on me?"

He grinned, although it seemed involuntary. "I was going to tell them what all the terror was really about."

"Ugh, spit it out already!" You insisted.

"I wasn't the one behind it all," he motioned to himself, "I mean, I wasn't even doing it on my own accord."

Wait a damn minute, what does that mean? "What are you talking about?" You leaned forward, getting a better view of him and forcing eye contact.

"How do I put it simply?" He murmured. "I might as well just bight the bullet."

You nodded, and he continued with one blank statement.

"Mind control."