Promises Kept Part 3
Episode 8: Promises Kept Part 3
Daisy brushed away the tears hoping Loki wouldn’t notice. His eyes fixed on her intensely with his hands folded under his chin, “That’s an interesting tale Midgardian. Touching really, but I fail to see why it should concern me.”
Arrogant, this god was not the one she knew. This Loki didn’t know the pain of losing a brother, or the agony of being the only one left behind. “It concerns your brother. You made me come back here to save him, and you can lie to me all you want, but I know what he really means to you and now you must make good on your promise. You told me to save him even if it meant your death. You said I might have to kill you if it came down to it and I won’t break my promise, but you also promised me something… A weapon that can stop all of this.”
Leaning back, he scoffed. “I would never bargain my life for Thors. You are a fool”
“And you are arrogant! Thor is the only family you have left, and he loves you and cares about you. Despite what a shitty brother you’ve been, but I know there’s good in you. Ive seen it, and I’m not going to break my promise, not to you. So, please help me” Pleading the last part she rested her head on the barrier and released a sigh.
“Why do you care so much about Thor. Someone you’ve barely even spoken to.” Loki said through gritted teeth. Spitting out the words as if they were venom.
“Because you did. My friend made me promise, and I can’t let any more friends down. Don’t make me break that promise.” Squeezing back the tears she wiped them away hastily before they slid down her cheeks.
“What do you need me to do?” His voice startled her, and she jumped slightly looking up. She hadn’t expected him to agree. A part of her thought he would shut her down, and from the expression on his face she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“The tesseract. I need it and I know its here” surprise flickered across his face at the request. He hadn’t expected that, “Can you get it or not”
“Sure, let me just ask the guards nicely to let me out of my cell, while I go steal an ancient weapon that could obliterate the world, no problem.” He snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“While sarcasm is uncalled for, getting you out of this cell is a piece of cake.”
“And what pray tell can a mere human do. From what ive seen of your people, your over weight, flabby and lack any magic or abilities to knock that guard out and get this door open.”
Smiling at him she took a step forwards and slowly grinned, “Who said I was human?”
Before he could respond she turned towards the guard positioned by the door and held her hand out releasing a powerful burst of vibrations that slammed into him, knocking him into the wall and out cold. Her arm shook with pain and she winced. Still not healed yet and probably wouldn’t be at the rate she kept using her powers and never giving herself a chance to heal.
“Huh? Mutant” Loki said and for the first time she saw surprise flicker across his face causing her to smirk.
“Inhuman”
“Part alien, well that certainly is interesting. I had heard rumors of course but have never actually believed them or encountered one myself. Well maybe you aren’t so pathetic after all”
“I think there’s a compliment under there somewhere.” She muttered softly under her breath.
“Are you done standing there or are you going to let me out. I’m not an expert but I don’t think he’ll stay down for long.” He drawled waving his arms around leisurely as if they had all the time in the world.
“Right, yea. Sorry.” Holding her hand up she released a quake at the control panel short-circuiting the barrier and causing it to dissipate.
Stepping out he nodded, “Head towards the bi frost and I’ll meet you there. Ive got to retrieve the tesseract.” He said taking a step forwards before Daisy reached out and grabbed his arm tightly in hesitation.
“Wait!” Stopping him before he could proceed she took a breath and continued, “I need you to make me another promise. Don’t worry this one will be easy for you. I don’t know whats going to happen or how this is all going to turn out, but I need you to make me this promise incase there is no other way.”
Furrowing his brows in confusion he looked at her sharply, scrutinizing for any sense of trickery, “Go on”
Leaning forwards, she took a deep breath and whispered something softly in his ear that only he could hear. She felt the moment his body went rigid as he pulled away and looked at her face searching for the lie when there was none.
“Promise me, if it comes down to it you’ll do what I ask. Saving the future, the world. All of that is more important and nothing else matters. Promise me Loki.” She could see the slight hesitation in his face for a split second before ne nodded.
“If it comes down to that I’ll take care of it” Leaving without another word he headed in the direction of the tesseract. Not sparing her another glance.
Heading towards the meeting point she rushed to get back to the bi frost, her heart pounding in her chest for the fear of getting caught.
Waiting in front of the rainbow bridge, but far enough away that Heimdall wouldn’t see her yet she tapped her foot nervously with anxiety. Loki had been gone several minutes and had still not returned. She really hoped he hadn’t been caught or worse maybe he stole the tesseract for himself and just left her standing here like a fool.
A few seconds past before Loki appeared. Holding his hand out a cube contained in a metal box appeared in his hand, “You should leave before anyone finds out I’m missing, and the cube is gone. Thor’s not quite as dumb as one would believe. He’ll know it’s you.” Nodding her head, she grabbed the cube and headed for the rainbow bridge.
Pausing, she glanced back over him and spoke. “What about you? How are you getting out?”
“I have my own way off this planet. Just worry about yourself.” He said before disappearing like he was never there. Turning around she headed down the bridge almost at a jog where Heimdall appeared to have been waiting inside.
“Daisy, where is Thor? Are you ready to go back?” He asked looking over her shoulder for the blonde gentle giant who she felt bad about tricking when he was so trust worthy.
“Big guy had some stuff to take care off. I need you to send me back to my team. They are probably wondering where I am.” Yes, being gone for a few hours was going to cause some issues.
“Yes, I imagine so.” He said as she noticed a slight glimmer of amusement reach his eyes as if he knew a secret that she didn’t.
Holding the cube close to her chest she stood in front of the bi frost as Heimdall turned the sword and a beam shot out. Pulling her back to earth.
October 22, 2018- Present day
Landing hard on the ground a wave of nausea settled over her and she closed her eyes slowly to get her bearings. The first thing she noticed upon getting up was that she wasn’t at shield, “This isn’t right. What am I doing at the avenger’s tower?” she whispered softly before flicking her gaze up at the sky, “Hey! You stupid all-seeing eye! I told you to take me to my team, not the avengers tower.” She didn’t get a response not that she expected and now it just looked like she was yelling at the sky like a crazy person.
“Daisy?” The voice startled her for a minute and she looked down to see Logan staring at her with a shocked expression on his face.
“Hey…. Sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going but it was kind of important and I was only going to be gone a couple hours—”
“A couple hours, are you fucking kidding me Daisy? You’ve been gone a whole god damn month. Its October 22! Where the hell have you been?” Stunned silence followed his revelation and she stumbled back almost in shock.
“A month? Are you— God damn it!” She yelled at the sky glaring up at the clouds and hoping Thor could see her or at the very least Heimdall to know how fricken pissed she was.
“Stupid! Moronic, blonde headed idiot!” She yelled at the sky hoping that Thor could here you, “Why the hell didn’t you tell me—” Getting cut off Logan grabbed her shoulders roughly, a pissed off glare marring his features.
“What the hell are you yelling at Daisy? Do you know how worried ive been? How worried everyone has been, why the hell are you yelling at the sky?”
“Doesn’t matter anymore. So, did everyone move to the avenger’s tower while I was away?” She asked finally getting why Heimdall had been smirking at her and she really hated him for it.
“Yea, they did. And don’t change the subject. Where were you? We thought something had happened to you like Bobbi and hunter.” He said.
“Doesn’t matter where I’ve been.” She said hiding the concealed cube from his eyes as she stepped into the building from the balcony she had been at before stopping, “Wait, what happened to Bobbi and Hunter?” She asked turning back towards the grizzly man.
“They never returned from their mission over a month ago. We haven’t been able to find them either. Its more probable that Hydra was them.” Taking a deep breath, she backed up and felt herself beginning to shake with the onset of a panic attack. Turning away from Logan she made a move to go inside when he grabbed her arm causing a jarring sensation up her bone and she jerked with a cry startling him.
“What the—” his eyes drifted to her arm and he furrowed his brows, “I don’t understand. Your arms should have healed by now. How are they still—” ignoring him she moved inside and headed down the hall, “Daisy Wait!” Logan yelled causing several people to turn and she realized that her cover was blown when she saw Jemma whose face was unreadable as she walked up to Daisy. Her eyes gave nothing away and her face remained somber and blank. The slap came unexpectedly, and she felt her head snap to the side. Hesitantly reaching up to touch her cheek in shock she looked back at Jemma the least violent person she had ever met in bewilderment.
“How dare you!” Jemma snarled. “You can’t just disappear for a month and expect everything to be okay. Where the hell have you been?” She yelled her voice raising an octave.
“That doesn’t concern you” She found herself saying slipping into a well-placed mask that Jemma couldn’t read.
The scientist opened her mouth to retort something else when Tony stepped in with a fake smile, “Alright, that’s enough of that” he said grabbing Daisy by the arm and guiding her out of the room while calling over his shoulder, “Ill just take Daisy to the room we had set up for her. I’m sure she is tired.” The door closed behind them and then Tony released her and raised an accusing eyebrow, “I sent you to talk to Thor a month ago. What the hell have you been doing?” He hissed dragging her down the hall.
“Tony quick question. Did you know that a few hours on Asgard was like a month on earth?” She ground out crossing her arms.
Pausing in his footsteps her turned to look at her stunned into silence, “Crap” he whispered.
“Yea crap is right!” She snapped angry at his stupidity.
“Well that explains why Thor is always gone for years at a time and then comes back like he just saw us a week away” Tony said sheepishly giving her a guilty grin.
“Yea, probably because he had.” She said as they came to a stop at what she assumed was her room. He left without a word after that and left her alone to her own thoughts and devices. Bobbi was missing, Hunter was missing, and Jemma hated her, and she couldn’t even tell anyone where she had been and despite all tony knew. Even he didn’t realize the real reason that she had gone to Asgard.
Pushing open the door to her room she crashed on the bed heavily and closed her eyes, “Crap,” She repeated softly to herself.
Waking up in darkness she rubbed her eyes blearily and sat up realizing it was already night. She must have slept for hours and she wondered briefly if she had gotten jet lag. She didn’t know if that was possible, but it would explain how she had just crashed into a sleep coma.
Slipping out of bed quietly she noticed the tesseract lying on the ground. It must have fallen during her sleep. Picking it up she placed it on her bed gently and padded out of her room quietly.
The hallway was empty, and everyone was probably already asleep when she stepped out onto the balcony and released an exhausted sigh, the day finally catching up to her.
“Its late. What are you doing up?” Startled at the voice she whirled to see Logan standing there with his arms crossed.
“Nothing” she mumbled brushing past him to escape only to stop when he grabbed her arm. His gaze narrowing as he looked at her with suspicion.
“Why are you avoiding me?” he asked his voice hoarse from sleep.
“I’m not avoiding you” She said looking away from him so that he wouldn’t catch her in a lie. He always used to say she was a terrible liar. Its why she never got away with anything as a kid.
“Kid, you are a terrible lying. Why the hell wont you just look at me. I know that you can barely look me in the eye and I know that you try to escape me every chance you get so, what the hell!?” he yelled.
“You don’t get it!” she yelled before she could stop herself. “Do you know how hard it is to be around you? God! I can’t even look at you! You’re just a reminder of everything I want to forget because when this is all over it wont even matter. When I fix the future the one I had with you when you raised me as a child. Its all going to be gone and I have to live with that. While you get to remain blissfully ignorant! So why don’t you do me a favor and stay the hell away from me!” All of it came rushing out at once and Daisy found herself powerless to do anything, leaving Logan with a stunned expression on his face.
Jemma shouldn’t be here. Coming down late at night to see Fitz, but apart of her believed there was good in everyone and despite Fitz best efforts to prove her wrong she still came down to see him during the cover of night when everyone was asleep. The lights flickered on upon her arrival and he raised his head blankly to glance at her, “Back so soon. Brought any self-help books with you. I heard those are all the rage in 2018” he drawled sarcasm lingering in his voice. “Tell me do you visit other prisoners in your free time or am I just special”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t think your little ghost friend can be saved, not when he goes around making deals with devils, but you still have a chance.” She said smiling brightly.
“Sounds pretty hypocritical if you I ask me. I hope you didn’t tell Robbie this you might hurt his feelings.” He sneered. A sigh escaped Jemma’s lips as she took her seat in the unoccupied chair.
“You’re not as bad as you pretend to be” she said softly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled slightly at him.
“Your exactly as snobbish and entitled as I thought you were.” Her face dropped slightly, and she sighed. Hoping that maybe she could’ve made some progress. She knew he was a good man deep down and she knew the apocalypse world had turned him into a monster like so many others and she wanted nothing more than to believe that if she could change the monster back into the man then that meant there was hope for the world.
“So, doctor what are you going to do to fix me this time?” Fitz muttered sarcastically, but she could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile at his lips.
Daisy left quickly after that before Logan could utter anything or make a comment or worse grill her on what the hell she was talking about. God, she was so stupid sometimes. This was why she needed to keep her mouth shut and focus on what was important and at the moment that was Bobbi and she thought she knew just the person who could help her. Although, it would be without consequences.
Finding Robbie hadn’t been hard even though she didn’t really know the layout of the avenger’s facility. She wondered if he had even noticed she was gone in the entire month or what he had been doing cooped up in his cell. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for what she was about to do.
Surprisingly he was sitting up when the lights flickered on. His legs crossed, eyes closed, deep in concentration. She almost wanted to ask if he was meditating but thought better of it and waited for him to notice her presence. He didn’t seem inclined to speak and she wondered if he was actually asleep. His face worn and tired, she opened her mouth to say something when he beat her to it, “Are you going to stare at me all night or do you actually have something to say?”
Fumbling for the right choice of words she said the one thing that she knew she would regret later, “I want to make a deal” Snapping his eyes open he regarded her with curiosity.
“Well isn’t this a surprise Chica. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to make a deal with the devil.”
“I don’t care. Bobbi’s been captured, and I need your help to get her out and I don’t care what price I have to pay. If you help me, then ill let you out of your cage despite my better judgment, deal?” She asked waiting for his response.
His response was a resounding laugh and slowly a grin stretched his face, “Did you really think it would be that easy? Trading my freedom for your friend? No, I want something else, something more personal. Isn’t that the way it is when you make a deal with the devil Chica.” A shiver went down her spine and she dreaded his next words. Knowing that the deal she was about to make was going to cost her everything.
“What do you want?” she found herself whispering. Her heart racing with anxiety and dread.
“What do I want? He asked leaning in, “I want something of equal value to your friend’s life…... I want,” he paused and smiled slightly, “I want your soul Chica”
“My soul? Why do you want that? What could you possibly gain from it?”
“That’s an easy one. I already know that you’re the only obstacle in my way of succeeding. The others are in over their head, but you— you’re the only one who’s willing to do what it takes to succeed and that makes you a threat, and what do we do with threats, eliminate them. So whats it to be Chica? Do we have a deal?”
Daisy thought about all the things that could go horribly wrong with this deal. Was Bobbi’s life really worth her soul and the chance to stop the apocalypse. While the logical part of her brain said that it wasn’t worth it, the cost was too high. She also knew the moral side; her conscience would never be able to live with sacrificing one of her friends who she loved. She would never be able to sleep again if something happened to Bobbi and so she ignored the logical part of her brain and said, “Deal”
Bobbi couldn’t stop crying. For the first time in her life she wanted to die. Always cherishing life and now all she wanted was for the pain to stop. She now found herself sounding like Daisy who had a death wish.
“Stop hurting him” she sobbed no longer able to listen to hunters’ shouts. His very existence was the only reason Bobbi had remained sane and despite what the did to her he never stopped trying to make her smile even through his own pain.
Hydra wanted information, but they weren’t going to get it from The S.T.R.I.K.E. agent or Bobbi. Hunter final stopped screaming as his body was deposited on the ground and the door shut behind him, leaving them in total darkness. Crawling over to his still form she grabbed his hand weakly and knew a day was coming soon when Hydra would be through with the torture and just kill them both.
She waited for him to squeeze back like always to let her know he was alive and when he did she felt the tears start and she hugged him tightly to her chest, “You need to stop taking the torture for me” she whispered weakly.
“I’m not going to let them hurt you Bob.” He managed to say through the pain and she knew it was difficult to speak.
“Yea? What are you going to do? Talk their ears off.” Her attempt at the humor was weak and she found herself slowly wrapped around hunters’ arms. The only source of comfort she has had for 36 days or was it 35? Honestly, she had been down here for so long that she couldn’t even remember.
“Hunter?” she asked softly hoping he hadn’t fallen asleep.
“Yea?”
“When we get out of here I want to try ice cream.”
“Bloody hell, you’ve never had ice cream.” The answer was an obvious no since they didn’t have ice cream in the future.
“Oh, when we get out of here I am definitely getting you ice cream.”
“Yea, okay” They both knew they were never getting out of there.