When War and Lies Collide

Bugs

Loki led them a few blocks away from the park before settling on a hotel.  They had passed a few sketchy ones, but he didn't find them to be satisfactory.  He wouldn't allow his companions to sleep in a trashy motel during their 'vacation'.  So, after picking the best of their options, he formed a plan.

Loki being the finicky person he was chose quite the hotel with an average rating of 4.5/5 stars.  There was an indoor swimming pool and hot tub, an arcade room, a gym, basketball and tennis courts, and the rooms were just fantastic.  He wouldn't mind staying in Midgard if every place was like this, yet he had an inkling that Volstagg would overuse the room service privilege.

 Knowing that they all looked like a group of rowdy college students (especially Fandral), Loki used an illusion.  To them, they would appear the same.  But to the mortals, their entire appearance would be altered.  Only a well trained SHIELD Agent with a bit of experience in the field would be able to notice the slight shimmering the illusion would cast over them. Before entering, Loki mumbled a couple words under his breath and within seconds, the spell was in place.  "None of you utter a word, I will do all of the speaking." Loki ordered sternly, his eyes landing on each of them and then resting on Fandral.  "Alright?"

"My lips are zipped!" The blonde replied with a large smile plastered on his face.  The prince rolled his eyes before leading them inside and strolling leisurely to the front desk, leaving the others in the center of the lobby under a rather expensive looking chandelier.

"Good day, Miss.." Loki took a moment, reading the tag that was attached to the employees breast pocket. "Samantha." He finished, emerald eyes flicking back up to the woman's own.  He was a bit nervous knowing that there were agents around, but confident enough to pull off the act.  

"Hello, sir.  Do you have a reservation?"  She asked, a light blush finding its way to her cheeks at the somewhat flirtatious and handsome man in front of her.  Loki wasn't an outright flirter like Fandral who always got straight to the point.  He was charming, entrancing, and always got what he wanted.

"Actually, I have a few.  You see, I made reservations for my group here, we've flown in on a business trip from the UK.  Your website proved that this was a rather nice place to stay." He replied in his cool tone, leaning his elbow on the desk and not breaking eye contact.  He had Samantha under his thumb and he knew it.

"May I have your name?  I'll look up your room numbers and give you the keys."  She replied, turning her eyes to the computer before her and waving around the mouse, waking the monitor with a slight buzz.

"It should be under Caverly." He replied, casting a glance over his shoulder at Sif and the warriors before turning his attention back to Samantha who was busily clicking at the keyboard.

She bit her lip, furrowing her eyebrows.  "I'm sorry, Mr. Caverly, but none of your reservations have popped up." She informed him, her hazel eyes darting from the laptop to Loki with what seemed to be slight recognition.  Loki had to act fast before she made the connection.

"May I, Sam?"  He asked, tilting the screen so it faced him, not breaking eye contact.  A small, shy smile played on his lips.  "I can call you Sam, right?"   He asked quickly, the woman immediately getting flustered by his act and giggling.  While she was distracted, Loki typed away on the keyboard while casting an illusion, the Caverly reservations appearing on the screen.

"..of course you can call me Sam, I'm actually fond of that little nickn-" Her bubbly, overwhelmed rambling was cut off by Loki's exclamation.

"Oh!  Here they are, I just found them." Loki said, turning the screen and showing Samantha.  "I'd hate to keep my coworkers waiting, may I have those keys?" He interrupted, throwing her off with a wink.

"Oh, yes!  Yes, of course.  One moment."  She said, frantically fixing her blonde hair that was in an up-do as she grabbed the room cards.  "You have unlimited access to all of our additions while you enjoy your stay." She added with a smile, a nervous laugh escaping her glossed lips.

"Fantastic.  Thank you, Sam." He replied, taking the cards and brushing his hand over hers as he did so.  Her blush grew to be a fierce red as she continued giggling.  Loki nodded, turning on his left heel and walking back over to the group.  Sif didn't look overjoyed at the interaction he just shared with the woman at the desk, but Loki made sure she didn't feel inferior.  "Come along, Mrs. Caverly."  Loki said in a teasing tone, Sif rolling her eyes but a smile creeping onto her lips.  He locked his arm in hers, leading them down the hall and out of sight.  

 "That woman was unbearably annoying." Sif finally muttered, Loki chuckling in response.  He sensed a hint of jealousy in her words, and he couldn't say it bothered him very much.

"Agreed." He replied, Fandral scoffing.

"You two are so harsh, I thought she was very friendly." He defended, no doubt because he was attracted to her.  

Loki lead the group of now arguing Asgardians down the hall before distributing the room cards, their excitement growing.  "Always act like you are being watched, don't catch anyone's attention more than you have to.  Keep your guards up and do not get close to anyone.  SHIELD is searching for us by now."  The prince commanded, everyone nodding understandingly.

Without another word, everyone scattered, eager to see the condition of their temporary bedrooms.  Everyone had gotten their own rooms except for Sif and Loki.  He had combined their room, yet specifically got two accessible cards, one for each of them.

Fandral scanned the hallways and doors for the matching number to his card, blonde locks of shaggy hair in his eyes.  He had wandered quite the ways from the hall they had entered in, and was getting a little bored of looking at numbers.  He shook his head, running a hand through his hair and clearing most of his vision.  After a few more minutes of what seemed like his endless search, his eyes rested on the correct number plastered on a wooden door.  "Finally!"  He mumbled, sliding his card through the scanner.

It took him a few tries to figure out how to position the card so it scanned the bar code, but finally the door clicked open and he was able to enter.  Inside the room was beautiful, and very comparable to Asgardian quality in the least.  It had a full bathroom with a luxurious looking bathtub (that even had jets, to Fandral's excitement), a small kitchen that went off of the 'living room' and one of the fluffiest beds he had ever seen.  He sat on the mattress, sinking into it with a content sigh.  He would have stayed there the entire time if the pool hadn't been calling his name when they entered.

After setting up a few things and gawking at the confusing toaster oven for about ten minutes, he gave in to his desire.  He would definitely find that pool.  So, he grabbed the swimming trunks that he had bought/stolen from the shop they were at earlier, putting them on and tossing the rest of his clothes on to the floor in a pile.  As he left, he didn't notice the small, glowing red dot that was attached to his shirt.

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"Yes, Coulson, I'm sure I bugged him!"  Skye insisted stubbornly, meeting up with the team after she had lost the Asgardians.  "I had him bugged from the beginning, I bumped into him and attached it to his sleeve."

The Agents all let out a sigh of relief, glad that they hadn't completely lost them.  "Simmons, track the bug.  We'll find the location and track them down.  It shouldn't be too difficult to find them."  Phil said, straightening his tie as Jemma pulled out a small computer like device, clicking away at the keys.  

"The tag is in the Luxury Hotel a few blocks from here.  If we move fast, we can track the signal.  All sound has been cut off as of three minutes ago, and I assume they know we are coming now that they've disposed of the bug." Jemma replied in her thick accent, looking at her companions nervously.  If they expected this little attack, there would be more trouble than what they bargained for.

"Ward, prepare the weapons.  Everyone else, get back to the vehicles.  We've got a bug to catch." Coulson said with a hint of authority.  He wasn't going to lose to the trickster god once more, and he definitely didn't plan on dying again.  Failure wasn't an option at this point.

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This hasn't been proofread yet but I hope you enjoy it!  Let me know in the comments below and don't forget to vote!