ARCHANGEL (Marvel Fanfiction)

Chapter 16. Hands Tied

They stood side by side, their backs facing each other.

"Are they acquaintances of yours?" Loki guardedly eyed them one by one, although he seemed relatively relaxed compared to Elizabeth.

"Yeah, you think?"

Who were they exactly? Why would they come after them? Could it be...

Her eyes caught a symbol on their chest, confirming her suspicion. A skull with six tentancles.

Hydra.

"Hydra? The one that made you like this?"

Elizabeth glanced briefly at Loki, not realizing that she voiced her thought. How did he even know that? She told the Avengers when Loki was prisoned.

She snapped that thought and put her focus back on these people. How did they find her? And more importantly..

What did they want?

"Elizabeth Pearce," one man with a very, very deep voice spoke to her, "You need to come with us."

"Why would I do that?" She tried to sound tough and composed, yet she couldn't help but to notice the quiver in her voice.

"You know very well why," he answered, more like a growl. "Compliance will be rewarded."

She felt herself shaking. All those walls she built with the help of her father for years, to bury everything Hydra had made of her, slowly crumbling down.

"Elizabeth?"

Loki watched in confusion as Elizabeth took one step towards that man. Then another. He noticed her hands were clenched into a fist, so hard that it was trembling.

She was in a war with herself.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards him as he searched her eyes. They were empty, but the muscles all over her face and body were tense.

"Elizabeth! Get hold of yourself!" He called for her multiple times, trying to reach her deep below there.

Her eyes was still blank. Loki clasped both of her arms with a tight grip and shook her body hard, "Elizabeth! Wake up!"

She gasped at the shock, and life came back into her eyes. She looked at him in terror. Not of him.

Of herself.

"It.. It was the code," her voice trembled. All those terrible sessions when she was forced to keep her eyes open and watch whirling patterns came rushing back to her.

"Elizabeth Pearce," the man with the deep voice called her, "Remember who you are. Remember who you belong to."

Elizabeth, still in Loki's grip, slowly gathered her composure. She stared at that man for a moment. Calmly, she shrugged Loki's hands off and faced those Hydra henchmen.

"I remember who I am," she whispered. Her fingers twiched, and suddenly she shot that man with a blast. He was thrown off and crashed to a tree.

"I am Elizabeth Pearce," she exclaimed, shooting at two more Hydra men. "And I am not one of your properties!"

The others started to shoot at her wildly, but Loki managed to block all of them with random objects before the bullets hit her. He punched one man in the face and he flew a couple meters backwards.

"Loki, swords!" Elizabeth shouted, while shooting at more men. Her midi dress changed back to her usual attire, complete with swords on her back. Her wings became visible again, and she flew to the sky to get a better shot.

She saw people pointing at her and her heart sank. She was back to be the freak. But it's not important right now. She blasted yellow beams to those men.

It seemed like Loki and Elizabeth started to get things under control, until a man shouted.

"STOP!"

Loki and Elizabeth turned their head to see him pointing a gun to a frightened 5 years old. Her mother in the crowd screamed, rushed to her side and shielded her from the gun.

"Stop or I'll kill them!" he threatened.

His other teammates, who weren't injured enough, followed what he did, and in an instant 5 more people were being held hostage.

"Now stop fighting and come with us," he continued, panting. He pressed his ribs. Maybe Elizabeth broke some of them.

She looked at the hostages, the expression in their face broke her heart. They were crying and trembling in fear, begging so that their lives could be spared.

They were innocent. They had nothing to do with this.

She tried to focus on her breathing. Then, slowly, she lowered herself to the ground.

"Elizabeth, don't." She could hear Loki trying to convince her otherwise, but it's an impossible situation. She and Loki alone wouldn't be able to save them all at once.

Her feet touched the ground, and she embraced herself to surrender.

When suddenly, in that very second, the Hydra men were attacked.

Tony shot down two people at once, Steve knocked one man with his fist and quickly threw his shield to knock down another. Natasha showed up and smacked one people down. In those chaos, Elizabeth quickly blast the last man before he fired the gun.

"Stark, Steve, Miss Romanoff," she sighed in such relief.

The other men tried to escape. Tony, Steve, and Natasha swiftly chased them. Elizabeth stood still and watched the chase.

"Are you okay?" Loki asked behind her. She didn't know why his voice caused her to suddenly break down. All those fear, those anger, those insecurities and self-doubt came surging to the surface. It crushed her to know that she was never free from Hydra's grasp. She turned to him, tears running down her face.

Loki flinched a little.

"Don't look at me like that." He said softly, his fingers lightly touched her cheeks. It only made her cry harder.

She leaned slowly to his chest and hugged him like a pillow, crying and trembling.

"I feel like I'm falling apart." Her voice was hoarse. Her legs were limp and shaky.

She felt his stiff body slowly relaxed in her arms. He put one arm to her waist, and one to her hair, holding her tight, supporting her stance. She never really thought about it before, but Loki was certainly inhumanely strong.

She felt safe inside his embrace. She closed her eyes and let her tears fell to his shoulder.