Amelie Stark - It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.
Amelie Stark - It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.
I stirred awake, a soft smile spreading across my face as memories of the night before flooded back. Loki's arms around me, the sound of his voice in my ear, his gentle kisses... everywhere.
Quietly, I rolled over seeking his warmth, only to find his side of the bed empty.
Sitting up, I scanned the room until I spotted him by the window, fully dressed, his back to me. His shoulders were tense, his hands clasped behind him. Something was wrong.
"Loki?"
He turned, and I was surprised to see the torment in his eyes - it contrasted jarringly to the feeling of bliss I’d woken up with. I stood hastily, clutching a blanket to my chest at a feeble attempt of modesty, and in a few quick steps was at his side, taking his hands in mine.
"What's wrong?"
He looked down, his jaw tight. "I fear I may have... overstepped. Moved too quickly with you, without care for your feelings."
"Loki, no." I murmured, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I wanted last night as much as you did. It felt right, natural even."
His eyes searched mine, uncertainty flickering across his face. "But I am not worthy of you, Amelie. My past..."
"Is the past." I interrupted firmly. Gently I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck, pressing against him in an attempt to comfort him.
He hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering what I’d said.
Just as I felt Loki begin to relax into the embrace, there was a loud knock at the door. We broke apart quickly like guilty teenagers, startled.
"Brother!" Thor's voice sounded from the hallway. "You’re needed urgently."
Loki sighed, his expression clouding over once more. "I must go. Stay here, rest. We can continue this later."
I shook my head. “I’ll come with you.”
He regarded me for a moment before nodding once. Moving away from me, he retrieved my clothes from the night-before, before frowning. “Uh, Amelie perhaps I could provide you with a change of clothes?”
My eyes widened. Was he offering to let me wear something of his?
A shimmering veil of tiny lights appeared around my body as I felt the gentle pull of fabric against me. I peeked underneath the blanket – a beautiful green satin day-dress now wrapped around me. I gasped quietly. “Loki it’s beautiful!”
He smiled before gesturing to the door. “Shall we?”
Stepping out into the hallway, we made our way swiftly toward the main lounge. My bare feet made no sound on the polished floors as I walked beside Loki.
As we drew closer, we could hear the rumble of multiple voices engaged in a tense discussion.
I sighed. I was getting really tired of everyone arguing.
Thor's booming baritone rose above the rest. "...cannot let them continue unchallenged. We must act swiftly."
"And what do you propose, Goldilocks?" Tony's sarcastic drawl was unmistakable. "We go in, lightning bolts blazing? They'll be waiting for that."
We entered the lounge in time to see Thor bristle, fists clenching.
"Enough." - Steve, ever the peacemaker. "We need a strategy."
Loki shook his head slightly, eyes never leaving the arguing Avengers. "It seems my past is still haunting me." He whispered.
Before I could press him further, Tony noticed our arrival. His gaze hardened as it flicked between me and Loki.
I inwardly cringed but lifted my chin.
Tony's stare remained frosty. "Well, since you've decided to grace us with your presence, care to weigh in?"
I ignored him. “What’s the problem now? Anyone want to explain?”
Nat pushed herself off of the island where she’d been leaning, her arms unfolding. “We’re supposed to be coming up with a plan.”
“We’re discussing it.” Clint retorted.
I rolled my eyes. “Can you guys not go five minutes without an argument?”
“If it weren’t for Loki, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Barton.” Thor warned. “We will not start this again.”
Bruce shifted uncomfortably, his fingers drumming on the worktop.
Bucky leaned against the far wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He'd been down a similar path as Loki – manipulated, brainwashed, and forced to do terrible things. His steely blue eyes met mine; I knew he would support me.
I took a deep breath. “Put your feelings for Loki aside. What do we need to do first?” I turned to Bruce. “Is there definitely no way to reverse the effects of the serum?”
Banner straightened on his stool, seemingly nervous to have been called upon. “No. Not with any current technology or human knowledge, and definitely not without the tesseract.”
“And there was no information in the research papers?” Nat urged.
“No.” Bruce answered. “Only that any attempts to reverse the effects failed.”
Steve frowned. “So there were test subjects?”
“What are you getting at Rogers?” Tony asked dryly.
“Well do we know what happened to them? Would it help to research the effects on someone who’d actually used the serum?”
Everyone turned to Bruce as he considered the question. “It would give us more intel on what exactly it is that we’re dealing with, but not enough to form a proper basis for analysing a counterpart or to anticipate a suitable reaction.”
Bucky blinked before turning to me. “What?” He mouthed.
I smiled slightly.
“We have the serum.” Tony insisted. “We can conduct our own research. We don’t need to string together bits of theirs.”
Clint nodded. “Can’t we just lock it away somewhere? If they could make more then they would have done so by now. We can just hide it so they can never use it.”
“Serum or no serum,” Steve answered. “This group is a threat. They need to be dealt with.”
“So.” Nat said. “What do we do?”
“We could split up?” Bruce suggested. “A group to protect the serum, and a group to attack.”
Clint shook his head. “No way. We barely made it out of that place last time and that was with all of us.”
I looked between everyone. “Or, we could offer them a deal.”
Steve’s eyes flicked to mine, his voice colder than usual. “We’re not giving them the serum.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well obviously not."
Nat looked thoughtful. "They know that we would never try to make a deal with them, but someone close to us? Pretend to go behind our backs in return for… something?”
“Who here would have anything to gain by betraying us?” Bucky asked.
Everyone’s eyes snapped to Loki, who stiffened under their gaze. Thor’s jaw clenched.
“No way.” Tony stated, a cool, humourless laugh in his tone. “We send Reindeer Games off with the serum and we’ll never seem him again. Except when he comes back to kill us off.”
Nat remained composed, turning to Steve as they both seemed to contemplate the idea. “What would he ask for?”
“Freedom?” Steve suggested. “Or a chance to side against us.”
“You’re not actually considering this?” Tony asked, bewildered.
“It makes sense.” Steve continued. “From an outside perspective, he’s the most likely to betray us.”
“Uh, he did betray us…” Clint chided quietly.
The room fell silent as everyone turned to Loki.
Tony’s eyes were cold and assessing. "Think you can handle this without stabbing us in the back?"
Loki met Tony's glare with an impassive stare. "I am not your enemy, Stark."
“Prove it.”