Reflexes
*Flashback*
‘Trying to read my mind, dear?’ He said with a smirk, sitting on the opposite side of the long table from me.
I didn’t even realize I was staring. I had a certain talent for reading people. Not minds, I wasn’t that talented. Everything I needed to know was in their body language, the way they spoke, what they said. I had it down to a science.
Loki was one of the few people that I just could not pin down. Of course, I knew the basics about him. Second child syndrome. Egotistical. All bark no bite. And definitely not as scary as he pretends to be.
But there was still something I could not figure out. I’d been trying to since I met him. There was just something he didn’t want me to see. Something he didn’t want anyone to see.
I realized how rude I must have looked with my brow furrowed as I was trying to find something but I didn’t even know what I was looking for.
I looked back up to his eyes, ‘sorry, I zoned out.’ I looked back down at my notebook with pen in hand. ‘Besides, you know I can’t read minds.’
‘Hm. Some witch you are then.’ He said as he went back to his book.
I rolled my eyes, ‘you know that’s not how my powers work. I just bend the air around objects to move them. I’m only a witch during the full moon,’ I joked, ‘it’s the best time for ritualistic blood sacrifices.’
He gave a short laugh, ‘you’re a funny one, I should talk to you more often.’
‘Please don’t.’ I mumbled in annoyance.
‘You know, most people pine for an ounce of acknowledgement from me.’ He was still smiling.
‘I’m not most people.’ I pulled my hood up and continued to write in my notebook.
He had completely ditched the idea of trying to read and instead turned all of his attention toward me, 'show me how your powers work.'
I looked back up at him, his eyes showed fascination and mischief. I sighed, closing my notebook. With a bored hand I twisted my wrist to fly his book off the table and into a nearby wall.
He raised his eyebrows and his mouth stitched into a grin, 'fascinating, what else can you do?'
'Other variations of air manipulation,' I held up my hand facing it out towards him, 'try to hit me.'
He liked the challenge and attempted to hit his fist against my open palm, but an invisible force-shield blocked him.
He laughed, obviously very entertained. I look back on this moment as the pivotal point of are relationship that sparked Loki's undying need to get closer to me, infuriating me regularly in the process.
*Present Time*
Changing in front of your team mates is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Usually, there was a debriefing, five hundred piles of paperwork, and at least a little heads up before going out into the field. But some times you just can't organize devastating events to fit into everyone's calendars.
'Cap, give me the run down' I said as I threw off my sweat pants to replace them with my suit. God this would be so much easier if Tony would have finished that nano-tech suit for me like he promised. It helped knowing that everyone else around me was getting changed in the same rushed fashion.
'We got an alert from a nearby security tech company that Hydra agents have taken hostages after infiltrating the building to access their data. This company works for some of the worlds richest and powerful, if they get their hands on their information-'
'We'd be screwed, don't fuck it up. Got it.' I buckled the last clasp on my suit as I climbed into the helicopter.
When we landed on the roof of the building, it was quiet. Way too quiet. We all stood there for a minute, taking everything in.
'Okay, you,' Steve pointed to me, 'are our man behind the curtain. Disable the agents and evacuate hostages as Nat, Buck, and I distract and deescalate. Hawkeye, your eyes and ears, keep us covered. They're on the seventeenth floor with the hostages.'
'Piece of cake. I always feel like we should have a handshake or something after Cap's speeches. Or like a cheer. You know, like football players before they go back onto the field' I said dryly. Only Bucky laughed. Tough crowd.
We sweeped the floors above the seventeenth, working our way down. It didn't take long for us to find what we were looking for, and we took our positions. They were in a conference room with all glass walls, it would be easy for me to work from far away.
I watched Nat, Buck, and Steve start to do what they called, deescalating. It looked like a lot of yelling and pointing with guns to me though. I focused my brain and waited for the signal to alert me of when to strip them of their weapons.
I was having a hard time concentrating though. There was something that was bugging me. Something that was alerting my brain but, what was that sound?
It was so low that I could barely hear it. It was competing with my heartbeat thumping in my ears. A steady pace,
a tick.
tick.
tick.
Oh Fuck.
I franticly scanned the room, it couldn't be far away. I had to do something quickly. I had to find it, if I did then maybe I could-
Clint distracted me and my head was starting to spin, 'alright man behind the curtain, go ahead and do your thing.' Oh fuck. I turned my attention back to the conference room; okay, one thing at a time. I focused my eyes and breathing quickly to take in the scene unfolding in front of me. I maneuvered my hands forcefully, resulting in the HYDRA agents' weapons ripping away from their grips and flying through one of the glass walls out of sight and reach.
Okay, step one done.
Step two. 'Guys I know my timing isn't great but I've, uh, got a situation. Fuck, how do I say this. I think I hear a bomb' I panicked into my headset, quickly scanning my surroundings again.
The comms unit broke out into chaos, 'You what?'
'Are you sure?'
'Okay priorities shifting to evacuation. Clint I need you to-'
The light caught my senses before the sound did. In the corner of my eye, a bright beam was reaching across the room.
These are the moments that test you when you are the deciding factor in whether someone will live or die. Your biggest asset is your reflexes, and they are tested countless times in fabricated environments before you are put into a real life scenario.
These real life scenario's break people. They break the person willing to risk everything to save others. In the worst situations, they break the people who were too vulnerable to protect themselves.
This was my real life scenario; the biggest test of my reflexes that I have ever faced.
I told myself that if I could survive being put ten feet away from a bomb and walk away with no causalities, I'd tell him.
And I'd ask Tony for a raise.
Everything was in slow motion.
I pivoted on my heels towards the growing light and braced my arms out in front of me, trying to gain traction on the floor as the force of the explosion pushed me backward. I slid a few feet before falling to one knee. The fire was hot against my skin, reaching out towards me. I willed my powers to create distance between me and the flames.
I felt the back of my heel hit something, and I abruptly stopped sliding. I held my footing and leaned in forward. I felt my muscles shredding underneath my skin as I poured all of my strength into my force-field.
The flames gave in slightly, and we were two magnets locked in place, repelling each other.
I was slowly tuning back into my other senses, and I managed to shout into my comms, 'get everyone out before I lose control on this thing!'
The explosion pushed forward as I said it, gaining inches on me. My body was being torn apart. I have never used this much force with my magic before, and I had no idea how long I could hold it until my body would collapse from the exhaustion.
I pressed my boots further into the tile beneath me, trying my best to steady myself as the flames kept creeping forward. I just need to hold it until everyone is out. Then I can give in.
Then, I can go home.
Then, I can tell him.
The heat filled my face, and at the same time that I felt my back foot slip, I heard a crackle on on my comms, 'Clear, get-'
and then I was falling.