Guardian

Chapter 38

(Liv's POV):
"Thank you, Ryan, it means a lot to know that he'll be in safe hands," I smiled, wrapping my arms around him.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, pulling me out of the embrace. The number was unknown, causing me to frown, but with the day I was having I feared that it would be important. I thanked Ryan one last time and apologized for having to rush out, answering the call as soon as I was out of his apartment.

"Hello?" I answered, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

A voice that I vaguely recognized answered, "Hi, Olivia, this is Tony Stark. We were wondering if you'd be willing to stop by the Tower at your earliest convenience."

"May I ask why?" My voice remained steady, but my heart was pounding in my chest as I rushed down the stairs of the apartment building to get back to Loki.

"We just have some follow up questions."

"It has been over a month since the incident, why are reaching out now?"

"We've gotten some information in relation to Loki's movements, but we will fill you in on the rest once you are here."

"I'm sorry, but why do you need me? I've never met the Loki that you are referring to, I don't see why I need to be there."

My reluctance was clearly making Stark suspicious, which I probably should have anticipated. He spoke, "is there a reason that you don't want to come over?"

"I'm just a little busy right now, but I can probably make time tomorrow evening, if you can wait that long?"

"Fine. We'll see you then."

Stark hung up on me after that and I shifted uncomfortably, wondering if I had just put myself on the Avenger's watchlist as well. And even if I wasn't now, I certainly would be tomorrow when I failed to show. Needless to say, running was about to get a lot harder.

Afraid that Stark was monitoring my movements throw my phone's GPS, I immediately turned off my phone, hoping that it would at least impair his ability to track my phone. Of course someone like him probably had a work around, but I could only do what was within my abilities to keep Stark off my trail. Besides, I planned on trashing it after the play anyway.

I slipped into the driver's seat, trying to calm my racing heartbeat, and focused on the road ahead of me. Loki's piercing eyes watched me closely and I knew immediately that he could tell something was off, of course it didn't help that my knuckles had turned white with how tight I was grasping the steering wheel. Hoping to throw him off, I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face.

"Ok, so I just have one last stop to clean out my bank account and then we'll be free to go to the show. Any thought about where you'd like to live?" I kept my voice light and prayed that it was enough to fool the God of Lies. A foolish hope, but it was worth a shot.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" He queried, his eyes still watching me carefully.

"What do you mean? This is standard procedure, I'm not going to throw away my hard-earned money. Plus, it is so much easier to start a new life with money instead of with nothing."

"Liv."

A sigh passed through my lips. "I think the Avengers are on to us. They obviously don't have any real proof, but Stark called me and scheduled a meeting at the Tower tomorrow. I don't know what they know, but it's not good."

"I suppose it's a good thing that we are leaving tonight, then."

"Yeah, I suppose." I paused, wondering if I should admit how dangerous it was to have the Avengers onto us. Eventually, I decided that trying to protect him from the truth wasn't going to help either of us, but I might as well bring it up in a light hearted way. "You think I'd look good as a redhead?"

"Pardon?" I glanced over at Loki to find him looking quite confused.

"Listen, I've been on the run on this planet for years. HYDRA and SHIELD are hard enough to hide from and honestly I don't even know if I've done that with whomever is after me. But the Avengers... I fear it will be much harder to hide from them, especially with your background."

"If it would assure your safety, I will go back to Asgard," Loki spoke, his tone oddly serious.

I shook my head, "I'd rather keep running for centuries, unable to stay in one spot for more than a week, than lose you, Loki. I love you."

"But I don't want to cause you any more pain. You have been imprisoned for far too much of your life already."

"And you would be causing me pain if you left, Loki. So just shut up and let me take care of it. It will all work out and, worst comes to worst, we find a way off this planet."

It didn't take us long to close my account and make our way to the theatre. Loki used his magic to change our clothes into something a little less casual and we arrived a little before they started letting us into the lobby.

I probably should have brought him to a more traditional production first, but I could tell that he was amazed by the way they had adapted the show. It was set in Africa, featuring an all Black cast, and connected back to the copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare that was nicknamed the Robben Island Bible after political prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam had brought it with him to prison, calling it his bible.

The show was beautifully done and I understood immediately why it had undergone a transfer from London to New York. And during the time that we spent in the theatre, Loki and I didn't once speak about the waters rising around us but instead stayed invested in the lives represented on stage.

We left the theatre hand in hand, making our way to a less populated area of the city so that Loki could create a car for us to drive to the JFK Airport without anyone noticing his use of magic. Our current situation came crashing done on us once again, but we tried our best to discuss it in a light hearted fashion.

"So have you thought about where you would like to go?" I asked Loki as we walked through the bustling streets.

"Well you know this planet far better than I, what would you suggest?"

I paused for a moment, considering what places I thought he might like and those that I had not visited in a while. "There is always a chance that the plane tickets will be traced back to us, so I would suggest not staying in England. But really any European country is nice and would require minimal travel from there. There are some nice countrysides if you would prefer that, but also large cities that would make it easier to hide in plain sight."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned it on to show him some of my favorite spots. It felt as though we were planning a getaway, some sort of fun vacation and not running from those who believed that we should be behind bars. But that quickly flickered out as a man stepped in front of us, a blaster holstered at his side.

"Liv Havardsdóttir, we have been looking for you."

-

(A/N): Oh boy, oh boy, here we are! Who do you think it is that has tracked her? And are the Avengers on to them too?