If there was one thing Steve Rogers was starting to learn, it was how many secrets Agent Phil Coulson could keep. Coulson's death brought about meeting his adopted daughter Evelyn, another person who carried many secrets and mysteries of her own, ma...
We took a scenic route, a nice long way to the location that Clint had left in my jacket. He slipped it in my pocket last night, and as many times as I went through his visit in my mind, I don't know when he did it. No matter, though; I knew where to go and I brought Eve with me.
When we stopped for gas, and took a break so Evie could eat chips. She said she didn't get access to such things as much as she liked. I did like looking at Evie in my mirror. I watched her sunbathe as we moved through the hills. I watched her actually close her eyes with this blissful smile on her face when she put her head on my back, holding me close. She was relaxed and happy now, and knowing Nick wasn't ready to track us physically, I was pretty sure we'd left him behind for awhile. After some beautiful countryside, we reached the place Clint told me about.
"Where are we?" Evie asked excitedly.
"A little coffee place," I shrugged, sliding off. I took her hand as she slid off and swung her leg over. She stumbled a little and I caught her in my arms. I could see Clint in the shop, his eyebrows raising. "Don't know what he needs to tell us. Ready?" Her hands on my chest and looking up at me, she nodded. I took her by the hand and led her inside. We ordered lunch and coffee, paid with cash and joined him at the desk.
"So nice of you to come," Clint nodded.
"No trouble," I said casually, reclining in my seat.
"There could be," Clint said. "I found something, or rather, Tony did."
I watched Evie shift uncomfortably. Something about Tony always set her on edge, but I didn't know what. "What is it?"
"Is she ready for this?" Clint asked. "Really ready?"
"Yes, I am." Evie nodded. "Knowledge has always been power, Clint. With --" she closed her eyes and exhaled. "With Dad gone, I need all I can get now."
Clint took a deep breath, and looked to me for an answer, the answer he would be going with. Evie looked at me pleadingly. Welcome to guardianship, I told myself.
"It's true, she needs to know, whatever it is, and we'll help her through," I said meaningfully.
Clint opened another 8 mm recorder. "Tony tapped into the files while we were on the Helicarrier. He found some footage that--well, I'm sure no one knows about." He clicked it on. "Are you sure?"
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"Y-yes," Evie said quickly, swallowing hard. "Play it."
I covered Evie's hand with my own. "Evie, this is--"
"I know what day this is of," Evie's jaw tightened, her mouth forming into a grim line. "Play it."
"It's an impressive cage," Loki said casually as he slowly stepped around, looking at it from the inside. "Not built, I think, for me."
Fury's anger was apparent. "Built for something a lot stronger than you."
"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play to be the man. How desperate are you?" He was clearly goading Fury, like a child plays with a captured insect though he was the one under glass. "You call on these lost creatures to defend you."
Fury took the bait. It was easy to see that he would have loved to pummel Loki. He stepped closer to the enclosure as his charges rolled from his tongue. "How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate."
"He wanted to kill him just then." Evie said softly.
"A lot of people did," Clint said quickly. "I still do, actually, but exile will have to do for now."
"You might not be glad that you did." Loki met Fury's stare through the glass. "Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A world for all mankind to share - and then to be reminded what real power is."
Suddenly Clint paused it. "This is...this is uncharted territory."
"What do you mean?"
"The footage we saw of Loki and Fury's conversation was incomplete," Clint took a deep breath, and that made me uneasy. "Are you ready for this?"
Evie leaned forward, turning her hand so that I couldn't cover it as I did before. She grasped my hand, and I squeezed and grasped back. Her eyes were already filling with tears though there was no reason. "I have to do this. I have to know. There has to be some reason Loki did this to my father, there has to be something we need to know, and what Fury is hiding."
I took a deep breath. That was the first time she called him Fury instead of Uncle Nick. I didn't know what was on that tape, either, but she had a point. "Okay, go."
Clint nodded, and hit play:
"You strike me as one who has been here before." Nick growled.
Loki was clearly having fun, but became a intrigued. "Maybe, maybe not."
"Frolicking with the mortals, maybe?" he asked. "About, say, a few mortal decades ago?"
Loki's eyebrows raised, and his expression turned coy. "Have you been tracking me? Impossible since that would make you terribly young. Do you have--evidence--of this? I wasn't in Vegas, as you say, but I don't keep track..." His smile broadened. "Kymera." He enjoyed Nick Fury's reaction. "How is the old girl?"
I looked at Evie. She gasped, and had covered her mouth with her other hand.
"She's dead."
"Oh, pity, when?" He said it as if he were taught good manners; he showed no real feeling.
"Few decades ago."
"You know you humans are resourceful when you want to be," Loki said. "But vulnerable, very very vulnerable. Very--" He frowned. "Kymera's dead."
"Yes."
"Died?"
"That's what dead is, bastard."
"You act like a protective father," Loki joked. "Tell me," Loki frowned. "Did she happen to die...say, nine months after my visit? That is gestation time for you humans, isn't it--" Loki stopped his teasing as he watched Fury's jaw tighten and his eye narrow. Suddenly, Loki put his hand on the glass, his eyes widening in sudden probability. The game was over. Something real was happening. "Did...what happened-answer me!"
Fury stiffened. His chin raised as his expression turned cool. He turned on his heel. "Well let me know if real power will want some magazine or something."
Loki hit the glass, and watched Fury leave. He growled as he turned away from the entrance. "A probable heir?" Loki whispered , thinking aloud. "Where would they keep someone like that if they existed?" He began to pace. "Where?" He hit the glass. "Where?" He looked around, and then started laughing. "Of course."
