Infatuated with a God

Chapter One-Hundred and Thirty-Seven

Her memory wasn't an option and I couldn't dwell on that. I couldn't focus on how it made my chest tighten, or felt like my heart bled. I had to focus. I had to find a way to get through to her. It couldn't be too late.

"Okay. So we keep attacking. We keep wearing her down. If we can't get through to her, we have to hope that incapacitating her will bring that shield down. Then we can take her to the cell and... and find another way to bring her back." Another way. There would be another way. "But you have to stop fighting me, brother. At least fight your desire to intercept."

"She is mortal, Thor! She–"

"Loki, I have been fighting mortals for many years now. You have to trust my ability to fight at an appropriate power. If you keep treating her as fragile we will lose. Odin's beard, it took two full power swings to just break her shield, brother." He was right, of course. The more I helped her, the worse our odds seemed. Even she seemed to notice it. The fucking smirk on her face when I dodged his attack... She'd smirked. She looked at me and smirked. "Now. We attack again. If we can't get through to her, we can at least attempt to bring down that shield." He went to charge at her again, but I held my hand out over his chest.

"Wait."

"Loki!"

"No, look. Something... something's different."

She was annoyed, angry even. Emotion finally showed on her face. Granted not the type of emotion we were aiming for, not with all of her hatred channelled at us, but it was different from anything we'd ever seen before. In all of the research on Barnes, on her, every single time all that was shown was a sort of emptiness. When under direct control of Hydra none of her thoughts were her own, she felt and showed no emotion. That's what it was when we used the machine to access her memories, and it was how she had stood against us at the beginning of the fight. That changed, and it wasn't just us who recognised that. Miller's face lit up as he called her back. It didn't change that dynamic. She still immediately obeyed, retreating to the edge of her shield around the quinjet with no hesitation or objection. It was impossible to hear what Miller said, the shield blocking all sound from within. However, Kaya we could hear very clearly.

"Understood. I'll just deal with this issue first." She didn't wait to hear his response. Nor did she seemingly follow a command. It wasn't just my own surprise. Miller stood completely still as he stared after her, but not with annoyance or concern. Everyone else in his team did, something had happened that surprised them. And I didn't think I was too far off in thinking she wasn't exactly obeying demands anymore. Was it me trying to force her memories forward? No, it was before then. That smirk. Was it the attack to her head? Could it have made such a difference?

Before I had time to fully consider anything she held her left hand out to the side, her dagger disappearing. I realised, very quickly, that she was not accessing the sub-dimension we both used. Not anymore. It was where she pulled her daggers from, and several items of hers had been missing by the time I woke up. But it was not where she was storing them. With reluctance, I channelled enough seiðr to shut off her access. The last thing I needed was her having access to the arsenal of weapons I'd stored over the years. Her daggers would have to do. Once she had sheathed her dagger in some unknown space, her fingers began to move, a golden ball of energy building her hand as she did. Just like the witch, exactly the same signature and overwhelming energy resonating from her power. And still no trace of her seiðr. Suddenly, she threw her hand to the air above her, an identical shield to the one over the quinjet encased us. A perfect dome spreading in the area we had fought in, blocking any route for escape including hers. Just when I began to question just how much power she had to maintain two extremely powerful shields, the one behind her dissipated. All of Miller's team hurried behind her, using the time to get into the quinjet. Even Miller retreated. And a moment later it was being powered up and the door was closing. They were leaving her behind. He was letting himself lose. After all of that he took the Mind Crown over Kaya. He was either extremely stupid or extremely arrogant. Likely both.