Siren Song

Mission

"But why can't I go with you?" I asked again. I was hoping Stark would be the one to convince the rest of the team to bring me along, but he was just as firm about me staying behind as Steve. Which surprised me as they rarely agreed on anything.
"Because you're, like, 16. And I'm not going to held responsible if a kid gets hurt out there." The parental tone he had taken up didn't fit his smug face.
"I'm 20 years old! I'm just as much of an adult as any of you," I scoffed.
"Yeah, that's great kid. I left some soup on the counter in case you get hungry. Don't worry, it has an easy open lid." Stark said as he put the house on lockdown mode. Steve stopped me before I could argue.
"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like you're ready to get back out there. I would hate for your to get hurt."
     "Plus, we need someone to watch Voldemort." Everyone stiffened at Tony's mention of Loki. Until now, everyone had been avoiding the topic entirely. Oh, and of course it just has to be me to watch him.
     "I'm not a babysitter," I said through gritted teeth.
     "Course not. Babysitters get paid." He shot back. Clint blocked Tony from my view and commanded my attention.
     "This isn't some run of the mill mission, kid. We just can't risk you coming along." Everyone shot him a quick warning look that I didn't miss. There was definitely something they weren't telling me.
     "Another alien invasion?" I joked. He shook his head as he strapped a knife to his side.
     "It's about your dad. Fury thinks he's gathered up new recruits and plans to steal lab equipment from one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s bases." Natasha sighed, obviously annoyed that he told me. He shrugged. "She has a right to know."
     "You guys are trying to catch my dad? Then I definitely need to come along!" I argued.
     "It's the exact reason why you can't come along." Bruce said calmly. I looked away in heated frustration.
"Emily, do you remember how hell bent you were on killing this man a month ago?" Natasha asked.
"It's more than that. I don't want to send you guys out to deal with my problem. What if you get hurt?" I reasoned, but I knew that deep down I wanted to give him a good punch in the jaw.
     "We're more than capable of taking care of ourselves," Natasha soothed.
"So am I," I insisted. With all of them almost ready to leave, she placed her hands on my shoulders.
"Emily, we said no. You're staying here. Do you understand?" Embarrassed that I was being scolded in front of everyone, I turned away before answering.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes and gave me a quick side hug before filing out the door with everyone else. I stared at the locked door for longer than was necessary. I wasn't sure if I was just excited for them to come back home, or if I just wanted to be in the same room as Loki. I refused to look at his cell though I felt his eyes on me the entire time. I wanted so badly to speak to him. This may be my last chance to. But what would I say?
     I bit my lip and forced my feet to carry me away from Loki. I won't talk to him. I'll let him go back to Asgard. That's the way it's supposed to be. It'll be better for everyone. I was stupid enough to think he cared about me once, I won't make the same mistake twice.
I shut the door harder than was necessary in hopes it would make Loki sorry for what he's done, but I new better deep down. A bratty temper tantrum wouldn't make him feel guilty. He doesn't feel anything. I leaned my back against the door and slid down to the cold floor. If Loki and I had still been on good terms then this would've been the perfect moment for him to ask that I join his army. If he had worded it carefully enough, I would've done it.
I held my knees to my aching chest. The Avengers had every right to treat me like a child. I wanted to think it was just an endearing way of teasing me, but I'm probably nothing more than a stupid burden to them. Me falling so easily for the enemy's lies probably strengthened their resolve.
Even after everything that's happened I still couldn't help but perk up my ears and listen to his heartbeat. Tears clouded my vision, making my heart throb painfully. I let them fall as I was sure there was no one in the house that could catch me crying. I sobbed until my throat hurt and my eyes burned. I'll never be happy again.
Even though my teammates assured me that I would get over it and forget about him, I couldn't believe them. I'll never get over this pain. I fell in love with him so deeply and so quickly. This feeling won't just disappear. But he will. He'll leave for Asgard soon and you'll never see him again. The thought stirred a deep feeling of desperation in me. Even if I just confess my feelings that aren't reciprocated. At least I would get it off my chest. This would be my last chance.
I stood up and stared at the door. Am I making the right decision? It's just three words. I sighed and took away my sound. His back to me again and I cowardly sneaked my way down the hall. I didn't even know if there was really a point in trying to sneak past him. He obviously had ways of knowing where I was without hearing me.
     I jumped behind the bar and landed silently on the hard wood floor. I waited where I was expecting him to demand I show myself, but he didn't say anything. I slowly raised my head over the counter and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw him standing in cell looking right at me. An awkward silence followed as I stood up straight and made my way to his cell. I didn't get as close to the glass as I normally would have, but I was definitely too close to the enemy. Steve would probably lose his shit if he was here to see how careless I was being. I cleared my throat and refused to meet his eye as I spoke.
     "Hi." Loki said nothing. "I need to tell you something, ya know, before you leave." Again, no answer. I looked up to finally glare into his eyes. "Are you going to talk to me or are you going to be a stoic asshole this entire conversation?"
"You are not worth my acknowledgment," he sneered. I tried to ignore the strong sting his cold voice gave.
     "You're not making this easy, you know."
"And I don't intend to. Are you honestly foolish enough to trifle with me a third time? Does your life mean so little to you that you wou-"
"I love you." Loki stopped in his tracks. The lines in his face relaxed as my words sunk in. I couldn't quite decipher his ever changing expression as his lips threatened to break into a smile. My heart pounded wildly as he took up a somewhat disappointed expression.
"Why do you have to make everything so difficult?" He seemed to ask himself. I looked away as tears began to form. I had to make this quick before I started sobbing again.
"I know you don't feel the same way, but I thought that this would be the last chance I would get to tell you."
"Emily, I-" he began, but his words were interrupted my J.A.R.V.I.S.
"Emily, it seems that intruders are attempting to breach the safe house." I raced to the closest monitor in the living room.
"What? Do you know how many?"
"Exactly seventeen. Eight of them are blocking the three exits in pairs while the rest are working on disarming the house's defenses." I panicked and quickly pressed the alarm button Natasha had told me to use in emergencies. I braced my ears for the siren, but the sound never came.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., why isn't the alarm going off?"
"The system is down at the moment"
"Emily, you have to fix it," Loki commanded from his cell.
"I don't know how to fix this! I only learned how to use Google yesterday!" I strained my ears for the movement outside. If I could distinguish who was leading them then maybe I could use his voice to confuse the rest of his team, but no one was saying anything. Except for the sounds of footsteps, they were all being uncharacteristically quiet.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., you have to call Tony!"
"I can't. I'm afraid my protocols have been overwritten." My heart sank as my mind drew up blanks for my next move. What would Steve want me to do?
"Emily, you have to let me out," Loki pleaded through the glass. Steve definitely wouldn't want you to do that.
     "You must think I'm an idiot to try that shit. Especially after finding out you were just using me."
     "I was lying! I do care about you! And I want nothing more than to protect you right now!" The desperation in his eyes made me want to believe he was telling the truth. But I knew better.
     "You'll say anything to get what you want. I'm starting to think every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie." Pain flitted across his face as I spit my hateful accusations. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually working for you." Loki stepped back a bit as a scowl returned to his face.
     "Quit being stupid and think this through. Let me out so I can help you. You promised that you would put more faith in me." I stroked my chin mockingly.
     "I did didn't I? Enlighten me, was this before or after you admitted to using me?"
     "We don't have time to argue! You can't take out these men alone!" He tried to reason. I smirked.
     "I think I can handle a few burglars by myself," I said as I made my way to the door with the most heartbeats.
     "You can't stop bullets!" Loki yelled after me. I crept my way down the hallway trying to ignore him. I didn't want to admit he was right. I had already ripped through 600 of my father's workers. Granted, they had no idea I was coming and were unprepared. I wasn't going to let that stop me. These are just a few men probably looking to steal some of Stark's equipment. It's nothing I can't handle. And when the rest of the team come home to find that I had successfully protected the safe house, they'll have to start treating me like an adult. They'll start treating me like an Avenger.
     The pace of my heart picked up as I made my way towards the back door. Just as I was about to reach for the handle, the piercing shriek of the house alarm assaulted my hyper sensitive ears. I was immediately immobilized as I covered my ears trying to drown out the sound. The alarm stopped as soon as it started, allowing me to tentatively emerge from my fetal position. I became aware of my thrumming heartbeat again and was quick to notice a second.
     I spun around in time to see a gun pointed at my head, but not quick enough to knock it off it's aim. The bang of the gun made my eardrums throb painfully as they were still recovering from the last shock of sound. My eyes shut tight as the ringing caused a splitting headache. No, you don't have time to whine about a headache. You need to fight. I gritted my teeth and started to lunge after the man who fired the shot, but he was gone. I never even heard him leave. I can't hear at all right now.
     I landed on the ground with a thud and tried to get back on my feet as quickly as possible. On the floor, I noticed an obvious bullet hole. He had a clear shot to my head. How the hell did he miss?
     I struggled to gain balance as my ears were still ringing. It made me feel helpless and unbalanced. If I can't hear where they are, then this fight is going to be a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be. I made my way down the hallway, trying to be as stealthy as possible. I nearly screamed when the sirens went off again. I covered my ears as the wailing seemed to get louder with every step. I felt overwhelmed with sound as my head pounded painfully. Then I realized that they weren't trying to kill me. If that were the case then they could've done it by now.
     That guy could've shot me, but he didn't. He wasn't aiming for my head. He aimed for my ears. They thought they could get past me as long as I couldn't hear them. What a double edged sword these abilities have turned out to be. And who are these people to know so much about me? This can't be Loki's doing. Loki.
I reluctantly made my way back to the kitchen. I'll probably regret this, but if there's even the slightest chance that Loki can help me then I'll take it. It's obvious I'm incompetent. Loki was right. I was a fool to think I could handle this, but there was no way of knowing that they could actually get past me.
I prepared to face whatever snide remarks that would come from asking for his help, but my heart sank when I reached his empty cell. My anger flared as I let out a piercing scream. Loki's uninhabited cell became completely useless as its glass walls were shattered. I don't care how prepared these people were. Any human within a 150 feet of me just lost their hearing. That should make it a fair fight. If I can't hear then neither should they. These people weren't going to get off easy. They don't deserve an instant death. I can just imagine how proud Steve is going to be when he finds out I fought them hand to hand using the moves he taught me and won.
     The siren abruptly ended again, but I didn't trust it enough to uncover my ears this time. The continued ringing didn't allow me to pinpoint anyone's location so I started combing through every room in the house. I took great care not to step on any of the glass that littered the floor from all the shattered windows. My room was empty, as was Clint's and Tony's. I started to become suspicious as Natasha's room also turned up nothing. I cautiously began to uncover my ears, but kept my hands close to them in case I heard anything. My throbbing headache made it difficult to realize my hearing was slowly coming back.
     I was grateful, but also overwhelmed. Was my breathing always this loud? I was also confused. I could only hear one other heartbeat besides mine, but J.A.R.V.I.S. had said there were seventeen. My scream was pretty loud, but it wasn't loud enough to kill. At least, not loud enough to kill an Asgardian.
     I changed my course to follow the thundering heartbeat coming from the training area. So he stuck around after all. I guess this would be a perfect time to get his revenge on the girl responsible for costing him his war. I tried my best to push my feelings for him aside. I either win or die.
I stopped short in front of the entrance. Would I be capable of killing him? If it came to that, could I bring myself to do it? And if I did, could I live with myself after? The answer was something I didn't have time to dwell on.
I reluctantly entered the training area. I thought I was ready to face whatever was to come, but I was wrong. I was prepared to fight the God of mischief. I wasn't prepared to fight my father.