Dog Days

Chapter 19

After a long shower, I pull on my clothes as Loki does the same. He smiles at me as he asks "How are you feeling love?"

I smirk at him as I remark "Sore." He gives a soft scoff, before I explain "It's a good type of sore."

As he pulls on his shirt, he asks "You know it will be worse in the morning, right?"

I nod as I pull on my shoes "I'll be fine."

He hums, before asking "Would you like to stay with me tonight, or sleep in your own tent?"

I hum, before remarking "Is that even a question?"

He smirks, before we walk out together. He stops me instantly and I ask "What?"

He places a finger over his lips to silence me, before I hear footsteps in the sand.

He rounds the corner and I follow behind him. As he looks around the back of the tent to the cypress trees and he points out "Two figures."

He pulls his gun out of his holster and orders "Follow."

As I follow behind him, he seems to walk through the sand, without so much as a shuffle. As we follow the traces, he possesses the same hard assassin features as before. His face is stone cold as we approach the scattered shadows.

He follows the footprints about another quarter mile, before he stops. He sighs and I follow his gaze to find Fandral and Volstagg making out.

He steps forward casually asking "What the fuck do you think you two are doing out here?"

They practically jump out of their skins, before I remark "Lights out was four hours ago. Why would you wait so long?"

Fandral furrows his brow "We thought that we wouldn't be seen."

Volstagg clears his throat "Evidently we were wrong. We didn't know that you two were on patrol."

Loki glances down at his gun, before holstering it. Fandral looks over Loki's wet hair, before crossing his arms. He looks to me and asks "Long night?"

I set my jaw and Loki smirks "I'm honestly surprised you haven't blabbed to the whole unit yet."

Volstagg furrows his brow and asks "What are you talking about?"

Fandral looks back at him and explains "They aren't on patrol. They just got out of the shower at 1am."

Volstagg gives him a confused look, before realization hits and he asks "How long have you two been shagging?"

Loki furrows his brow and declares "Since the day I got here."

Volstagg nods for a moment, before asking "I can't even tell which one of you tops."

I shrug, before declaring "It's about 50/50."

Loki scoffs at me "In that case, I'm well overdue for cock."

I set my jaw at his vulgarity and he snickers, before looking towards Volstagg and remarking "He does have a nice arse, though."

I take in a deep breath and look towards the ground in a slight moment of embarrassment. He places his hand on my lower back and sighs "He has really been really caring with me, and I can't help but smile when I think of him. It's not just the sex."

I smile, before looking back towards him. I furrow my brow and ask him "Should we head back?"

He gives a short nod, before feeling his pockets and pulling out a little tube only to tossing it at them "You didn't see us, and we didn't see you, got it?"

Fandral smirks "Have a good night, First Sergeant." He nods to me "Staff Sergeant."

Loki begins to turn around, before he stops and asks "Who else on the unit sneaks out?"

Volstagg and Fandral share a look, before Volstagg declares "Groot sneaks out with a playboy, almost every night around eleven. Hogan, Drax, Sif, and Peter all sneak out with their satellite phones on occasion. Probably just talking to family."

Loki gives them a soft smile "I guess we all need some privacy from time to time."

He pulls me away and I ask "What did you give them?"

He sighs "Lube." As we're far enough away, he declares "I'm going to need you to keep them as far away from their tent as possible tomorrow morning. I'm going to need to look through their satellite phones."

As we near the camp, he explains "I'm guessing one of those four is the person I'm looking for. I can probably disregard those two and Groot."

I give a short nod "Who do you think?"

He replies as we step into his tent "I won't know until I look through those phone records and trace every number."

I furrow my brow "Best guess?"

He smirks at me and remarks "I already told you, Thor. I remain unbiased until the evidence proves otherwise."

I set my jaw, before declaring "I guess the fact that I've known them so long makes me think that none of them could actually do this."

He takes in a deep breath and states "I prefer to stay distant from my suspects to avoid possible overlooking of detrimental evidence."

I give a short nod and he sighs "I'll know more, tomorrow, when I go through their things. This could all be over by lunch."

It makes me realize something very important, and I can't help but ask "And what if it is over by tomorrow?"

He stands there for a moment with a sad smile on his face "Then I either move on to the next case, or I leave to try and infiltrate the terrorist cell."

I furrow my brow and ask "That's it? Five days, and you're just gone?"

He takes in a deep breath and states "We both knew that this would happen, Thor."

I look down and declare "I didn't think it would be this soon."

He steps towards me and states "It might not be. It might be a dead end for all we know. It's just a relief to think that we might be just a little bit more out of harm's way."

When I look up at him, he remarks "You don't think you could get rid of me, that easily, did you?" I give him a sad look and he rests his hand on my cheek "I'm a cockroach, Thor. You can never get rid of me."

I hold his hand on my cheek and state "I love you, Loki."

He gives me a soft smile and declares "I love you, too, Thor."

I can't help but smile at him and he takes my hand, insisting "It's time for us to go to bed. We've got to be up in four hours."

I hum, before he leads me over to the cot. The last thing I remember is holding him to me.