Weakness | Loki [Book One]

Chapter Eleven

"I'll stay with the skiff," I said when we landed. 

"Good. We'll deal with the Aether." Thor led the other three away towards Malekith's ship. 

I had no intention of staying with the ship, but Thor didn't know that I was a former Hydra agent yet, so I couldn't blow my cover and start fighting alongside them. I teleported to the opposite side of the ship to watch as the events unfolded. 

Invisible, I watched as Loki betrayed Thor by stabbing him and sending him tumbling down the hill. There was some chatter that I couldn't hear, but I saw Loki throw Jane towards Malekith and "cut off" Thor's hand when he tried to summon the hammer. 

Then, according to plan, Loki's illusions disappeared and Thor attacked the Aether that was being released from Jane. He may have thrown everything at it, but it wasn't going to destroy the Aether, and Malekith knew it. He knew he was going to win the battle. 

I crept closer as Malekith gained more power. I slipped a knife from my boot and lined it up, aiming for the head.

The blade buried itself in his skull just as the Aether was gone completely from Jane. Malekith fell to the ground, surprised at what had happened, but very much dead. His henchman was still fighting, though. Apparently, his leader dying did not mean he would stop trying to kill us. 

Then, I saw two worlds at once. In one, the monster was dead, killed by being sliced in half by its own sword in Loki's hand. In the other, Loki continued to fight it while Thor contained the Aether. I knew one was an illusion, but I couldn't understand why Loki would bother with an illusion until the unreal monster drove its sword through Loki's chest. At this point, it was taking most of my strength to contain my laughter. 

"See you in Hel, monster," he said as the illusion monster was sucked into some kind of black hole thing. 

That's one way to do it, I thought. 

"I didn't do it for him," I heard Loki say. I couldn't believe Thor was falling for this. He mourned his brother's "death" and took Jane to find a way back to Asgard, and then back to Midgard. He finished containing the Aether and took it with him towards a cliff on the opposite side of the horizon. 

Once they were out of sight and earshot, I walked toward Loki (who was still pretending to be dead, by the way), clapping slowly. 

"Well done," I said. "Pulled at the heartstrings. The brotherly love was through the roof. Ten out of ten."

"It wasn't my best performance." He grinned as he stood up. "It was a little on the exaggerated side, and I didn't have any time to think of better, more impactful last words." We both laughed.

"Back to Midgard, then?" I asked. 

"Of course." He grabbed my hand and we teleported back to Stark Tower. 

We appeared on the platform of the tower and let ourselves in through the door. 

"Hello, Delta, Loki," an artificial voice said. "Mr. Stark is currently not here, but he will return presently."

"Terrific." I found a book and sat down on the couch in front of the TV. I turned on the news as Loki sat down next to me.

"We have the official reports in from the battle in which Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark, was rumored to have destroyed his Iron Man suits," the reporter said. "Stark is currently in surgery, but stated that he decided to destroy the suits in an effort to minimize conflict in the future."

The news station showed a clip of the metal machines exploding like fireworks on Captain America's birthday. 

"What. An. Idiot," I said.

"Ms. Delta," Jarvis said. "Mr. Stark has returned."

"Where is he?"

"The Helipad."

I walked quickly out of the room towards the Helipad where Stark was. 

"You're an idiot!" I said when I arrived. 

"Most would say I'm a genius," he said cockily. 

"War could break out at any moment, and you destroyed your Iron Man suits? I wouldn't call that genius, Stark."

"Delta, calm down," Loki said. 

"Listen to the reindeer, Delta. You're lucky I even give you a room to sleep in." He walked into the tower as the helicopter flew off. I teleported silently to my room, where I closed the window and unlocked the door. I was about to teleport elsewhere when Loki knocked on my door from the outside. 

"I'm leaving," I said. I opened the door and looked at him.

"You can't just leave because a rich man with an ego the size of Asgard insulted you."

"I do what I want, Loki," I said. 

"I'm not saying you don't."

"I'm not an Avenger or a non-human. The only thing I bring to the table is a messed up history and a knack for languages. The only reason I'm here is because I ran into you at a coffee shop."

"Where else would you stay?"

"I'll go where the wind takes me."

"Be safe, love," he said softly. 

"See you around." I teleported away.