Doesn't Play Well With Tricksters

17 - Intentions

Rachael stretched her arms far over her head, looking anywhere but the one place her eyes wanted to wonder. The one place she'd been avoiding for the past two weeks. Ever since the lust-curse landed her in Loki's bed.

She turned her back to the god in question and executed the complex maneuver Natasha had been trying to teach her since the sudden upsurge of magic fueled weapons. Secretly,  she thought Natasha was overcompensating. It wasn't her fault she couldn't out-manipulate the spells the way she outwitted her marks as a superspy. But, if teaching Rachael a few combat moves helped to make Natasha feel more in control, she wasn't going to argue.

Natasha clapped excitedly when Rachael finished the maneuver in a wide legged, easily defendable position. "See!" She all but squealed in delight. "I knew you could do it!"

Rachael smiled at her enthusiasm. "It only took, what? Three weeks?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Loki interupted. "Some things are worth the wait."

Rachael rolled her eyes at the double entendre.

"All hands on deck." Stark's voice rang through the intercom system. "Lounge. Five minutes."

As they headed toward the impromptu meeting, Rachael loosened her wrist guards and twisted her hair into a knot on top of her head, more for something to do with her hands than anything else.

Once in the lounge, she perched on the arm of Clint's armchair, as far from Loki's favorite sofa as she could get.

"Seems we have a little trouble in the Tower, folks." Stark started as soon as he stepped foot inside the lounge. "The two people who should be working together to solve this Magic problem of ours seem to be having a case of the 'two week later regret's."

"Not both of them." Loki grumbled under his breath.

"While I'm not against the occasional workplace romance," Stark's eyes darted toward Pepper, winking in a none-too-subtle fashion. "If it's putting the team at risk, then something is going to have to be done."

"Very tactful, Tony." Pepper shook her head.

Rachael suddenly found something very interesting in the wood flooring at her feet, refusing to meet anyone's eyes as she answered the unvoiced concern. "I'm working on figuring out why the curse jumped so easily between us. If it's to do with the volatile nature of the magic we weild, that's one thing. If it's easily spread, that's something else entirely. If it ends up being akin to a magical virus, we could all be in very real danger."

Stark's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "I hadn't thought it that way."

"Fortunately, or unfortunately being as we can't study it, the curse seems to have been broken entirely."

"How, exactly, did it get broken?" Rodgers asked, gaining a series of groans from around the room. "What?" He countered. "It's an honest question."

Rachael blushed.

"The spell induced a powerful lust which, once fully sated, disappeared."

Racheal fidgeted in her seat, uncomfortable with the public discussion of what had happened and definitely not willing to point out the spell disappeared long before either of them reached their happy ending.

"Orgasm, Rodgers. Orgasm." Natasha answered, making Rodgers blush to match Rachael.

"Well, unless anyone wants to volunteer to test the theory, we're at a standstill." Rachael spoke up.

"Well, if it's a repeat you want..." Loki answered, leaving the invitation wide open.

"Repeating the same situation will, most likely, yield the same results." Banner interupted, becoming Rachael's favorite person in the room with one, very logical, point.

"Pepper?" Stark asked, a smirk playing at the right corner of his mouth.

"Tempting, but no." She answered.

"All in the interest of science, I assure you." Stark countered.

"I'm sure."

Rachael smiled at their exchange. They made a cute couple.

"So, what do we do then?" Clint asked. "Wait for another hit?"

"Not much else we can do." Rachael answered.

---

Loki stopped Rachael as she was heading out of the room, guiding her back toward the sofa as the others left them in peace.

"Do you regret what we did?" He asked.

She hesitated, knowing he would know if she lied. "Yes and no." She sighed, looking down at her lap. "Don't get me wrong, it was amazing. But we have to work together. And I don't typically just sleep with someone on the spur of the moment. I tend to be a little more calculated, a little more careful than that."

"Sometimes things work out differently than we planned." He used one elegant finger to lift her gaze to his. "To be entirely honest, I did not plan to have these feelings for you. They are inconvenient and make me question where my plans are leading me. I, however, do not regret indulging in them." His gaze lowered to her slightly parted lips. "Nor will I regret indulging in them again. As I now plan to do so. Many more times."

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.

"I will not cease my efforts to court you. I will not shy away from you. I do not expect it to be easy, nor will I exercise any sense of urgency. But you will be mine again, and in every sense of the word."

"Loki, I-"

He placed a finger against her lips, silencing her. "No protests. No excuses. I will earn your trust, your body, and your heart. I will not stop until I am worthy of all three."

He then teleported himself away, leaving a trace of his warmth where his finger touched her lips.

She closed her eyes and drug her hand through her hair, wondering how the hell she'd gotten herself into such a position. How had she gone from despising his existence to practically panting at nothing more than a memory and a few well placed words?