No More Tears

Two faced Liar

"YOU!!!!" Loki couldn't believe his eyes - or ears. The woman standing in front of him smiled and wiped the grime off her hands.

"Me." She smiled and walked over, putting a finger to the chins of all three men, shutting their mouths as she passed.

"Can't a girl be a parole officer AND a Valkyrie these days?"

As they sat in Loki's apartment half an hour later, the three of them sat and stared at her like some kind of specimen in a freakshow.

"You're a Valkyrie. How did I not know this. How could you lie to me?" Tony eventually managed to string a decent sentence together.

"I didn't lie. I just lived a different life. I've lived a different life so long that I forgot how to be who I really was. It wasn't until today that it all came flooding back. If it wasn't for the man I was with, I'd probably be dead now. He saved me. I only wish I knew who he was. He was unlike any Midgardian I've ever met. Her face reflected the feelings that Loki knew she had. For Tom. Not for him. It made his heart ache.

"So what now?" Loki turned to Thor, "we have the Valkyrie. We just need Hela."

"Not that simple. She won't come anywhere near if she thinks Sus..Val...what DO we call you?" He turned and looked at her.

"Susie. Please, it's my name now. My mother, my Midgardian mother - that's why I hid here - gave it to me." She smiled and looked at Loki, "I AM Susie. I just have a couple of extra skills." For some reason, she wanted him especially to accept her. Accept her for who she really was. He of all people should understand that, surely?

"Ok, so as I was saying, if Hela thinks Susie is prepared, she won't come near. We need to bait her in some way."

Tony stood for a minute and then said slowly, "But she doesn't know its 'Susie', does she? All she knows is she's here, in London, in this area." He had an inkling of an idea.

"No, Tony! NO, " Loki leapt to his feet. "You can't be serious. We can't use her as bait. What if she gets injured? Susie is our only hope. We can't risk losing her. " he tried to make it sound professional, but something deep down made it personal. He couldn't bear to think of her being injured. Or worse.

"Well, I agree with Loki," Thor finally spoke. He'd been standing mute the whole time.

"You do?" Loki and Tony spoke in unison, making them look at each other in surprise. Tony smirked, and Loki shrugged.

"And do I not get a say in the matter?" The only voice that really counted in all this now joined the conversation.

"NO!" The three of them turned on her at once. Then they stopped, and after a second, everyone laughed. It actually wasn't funny, but somehow, they needed to release the tension.

"Look, the only way we're going to stand half a chance is to take her by surprise. Me being bait, acting all weak and in need of rescue, isn't going to fool anyone, let alone her. I have a better plan." Susie smiled and sat back on the sofa. "But first, I need a drink and something to eat. Who's up for pizza and beer?"

Two large pepperoni pizzas and a six-pack later, the four of them had hashed out a plan. Hela was off the radar for now. She probably would lie low for a couple of days, licking her wounds, and then resume the search, most likely. In that time, they would make it known Valkyrie had come out of hiding. They would, effectively, blow Susie's cover.

"So, you all know what to do, yes? Are we all clear, boys?" She asked as she demolished the last of the pizza. She smiled approvingly when they nodded. "The only thing is, we may need extra hands to deal with her minions. She will most definitely come mob-handed."

"Now that I agree with." Thor said, a worried look in his eyes. Loki nodded.

"We need to get the Soldier and the Beast here." He said with a sly look at Tony. Echoes of a conversation long gone.

"His name is Bruce, Lurki," Tony snapped.

"It's Loki," he snarled, "and I know what he is Stark."

"Ok, you two, wind your necks in. Sniping at each other won't help anyone." Susie shook her head and smiled. She was beginning to see why these guys had the reputations they did.

"Just get the reinforcements here by tomorrow. We have tonight to rest up, then it's game on, ok?" She stood up along with Thor and Tony. Thor laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You rest, sister," he said, according her the respect the Valkyrie always enjoyed in Asgard. "I will seek out the reinforcements. We will meet here tomorrow." He turned to Tony. "I could do with a hand?"

Tony nodded, "ok. Loki - stay out of trouble. This changes nothing. You do not, and I mean DO NOT go chasing about the city on your own. Once this is all over, we can look at your probation order." He smiled at Susie, "providing you have a parole officer to refer to that is."

Loki rolled his eyes and snorted but said nothing.

The three of them walked into the hallway, he heard the murmur of voices, then the door closed, and silence fell.

He walked through to the living room and watched as Thor and Tony soared off into the night. He turned to go to bed and was startled to see Susie still standing in his hall.

"Can I help you, Ms Wilson?" He said rather more coldly than he intended. She looked at him for a moment and then walked back towards him.

"I wanted to apologise, I feel bad about being two-faced. "

"Not necessary, I assure you. I understand." He didn't.  The lie? Nothing more than self-preservation. He would have done the same. He had and it began to make him feel ashamed.

"I - I want us to be friends Loki." She said softly. She seemed to genuinely care. That alone made him feel, for one of the few times in his life, truly guilty.

Loki sighed. "Come and sit down, there's something you should know. If, after that, you still want to be friends, as you say, then yes. We can be friends."

He held out a hand and guided her to the sofa. They sat, facing one another, her hand in his. So small, so delicate. Just like before. As they were now physically much closer, she could smell pine and spice and... orange. As she looked at their hands, a sudden recollection stired in her brain.

She looked up into his eyes. Those eyes. Those beautiful, blue green eyes. Oh. My. Good. God.

"It was you...." she whispered "in the park.... in the restaurant. It was you."

He nodded, hardly daring to breathe. In a flash of green, Thomas Sharpe sat in front of her.  For a second, she didn't know whether to kiss him or hit him. Her eyes searched his face, remembering the feeling of kissing him, wanting him, feeling it rise all over again.

Carefully, she took her hand out of his. Without speaking, she sat a little further back - and swiftly slapped him as hard as she could.

"You absolute BASTARD," she hissed. "You cunning, lying, deceitful, BASTARD. How could you do that to me? You let me kiss you. You let me make a complete fool of myself. In the restaurant ,  I even thought you cared about me. " she stood up.

"I did - I do - care. I'm sorry, Susie. I didn't mean for it all to happen. I didn't mean for my soul and yours to recognise each other for who we truly are." He grabbed her wrist before she could strike him a second time. "Please, dont. Believe me, I feel the connection every bit as strongly as you. I can't explain it, I just feel it."

She lowered her hand. "So why pretend?"

"Because nobody even likes, let alone could ever love, Loki Laufeyson." He transformed back into the Loki she knew. This time in a simple shirt and trousers, barefoot and dishevelled. Vulnerable. Handsome. Her heart lurched, betraying her.

"I did Loki. I liked you. BOTH of you." She paused and kissed his cheek softly. "I liked you a great deal." She stood up. "I have to go. We both need to rest. You especially, you're going to need your magic at full strength."

With a small sigh of longing and regret, she walked out, closing the door quietly after her. She leaned against the wall, her hands covering her face.

What a mess. The trouble was not that she used to like him. The trouble was, she still did.