Of Cunning and Kinship || Loki x reader

Chapter sixteen

In the depths of space, where the unknown, the dangerous and the forgotten lurked in a realm of darkness, a fearsome creature kneeled before a throne.

"The Tesseract has awakened," the cruel being spoke, "It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power,

"But our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow," a rotten smile stretched his pale cheeks, "The world will be his. The universe, yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"

-

"So, eggs, right?"

"Excuse me?" you raised your sight from an old Tibetan tome to face Daniel's playful grin.

To any bystander, the group would be just another ordinary team of researchers enjoying the wonders of Meatball Thursday at the Academy's cafeteria. All around students and teachers alike chatted loudly, complaining about work hours, making desperate last-minute revisions for tests or trading the newest gossip of the campus.

The latest majorly consisted on the apparent accident that had transpired on SHIELD's Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility just a few days prior; and since the details of said event had never been divulged to the undergraduates and faculty, there were soon a hundred different versions being distorted from ear to ear.

Yet, the group in question discussed an entirely different rumour, or rather, attempted to extract the true story from its prime source.

"They definitely planted eggs inside your chest," the engineer added before biting a good chunk of a red apple.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that" was your classic response, but you couldn't hold back a quiet chuckle, "in that scenario, who's they anyway?"

"I don't know, you tell me," he challenged, "intelligent bugs? Snake aliens? Oh! Reptilians? Please say reptilians!"

Since your unexplained disappearance months before, the team had been kept in the dark regarding your whereabouts, while still being forced to sign a similar NDA to your own regarding the events of New Mexico.

That did not stop Dan, however, from regularly discussing the topic, in spite of your consistent silence. Truth be told, his antics were more for fun than anything else, and although you hadn't had much contact with him before the mission, a sense of companionship soon bloomed with him and the rest of the team.

When the news of your return was divulged and you finally arrived at the Academy, they had all but run to your side, led by a tearful Matt who had refused to let go of a bone-crushing hug for a good hour.

Your cover story was that higher officers had recruited you to a special, top-secret emergency mission. Which obviously didn't convince anyone with half a brain who had been there. Especially Daniel, considering he was on the spot from where you went missing.

So now the dark-skinned scientist was decided to come up with the most imaginative plots for your disappearance. And obviously being a science-fiction enthusiast, his highlights had been the hypothesis of you being replaced by a killer AI, the epic of you becoming an alien queen and the newest one of you being a vessel for some Martian creatures.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that" you teased with a tired smile, "So I guess you'll have to wait and see then."

"Look, I'm just saying, if a bug or alien thing comes out of your chest, I'm not the one doing the delivery," he held out his hands in surrender, "but I'm sure Nadya would love to cut the thing open to see its insides."