Villain [ An Avengers & Loki A.U ]

[chapter twelve]

I tossed and turn during the night, hoping for a good nights sleep. Unfortunately, I was not rewarded with one. The cool breeze from the open window snaked its way into the room, leaving the temperature slightly lower then necessary.

I pulled the duvet up to my chin for the umpteenth time that night, but soon kicked them off minutes later. A lingering, huffed sigh escaped my lips and I knotted my hands in my hair. I stared up at the ceiling, at the small blotches in the wallpaper on the sidewalls, the flickering light in the hallway.

I even tried counting sheep, and let me tell you, it does not work.

"If you won't drift me off to sleep, sheep," I warned, swinging my feet over the side of the bed, "Guess who's having lamb for dinner, tomorrow? That's right! Revenge is sweet, isn't it?" I raised myself up from the mattress and grabbed the draped dressing gown. I slipped down the hallway and into the kitchen where the fridge was the first thing that caught my eyes.

I scanned through its content and unfortunately there wasn't much? I guess Steve didn't really know what the latest snack foods were. There wasn't even a packet of Hershey's, which Adrian had stolen from a local candy store once. I hummed as I picked out a banana from the fruit bowl, slinking over to the balcony. I peered over the city I had tried so hard to avoid for a few years. The beeping horns in the distance, the flashing lights of high skyscrapers... it was magic. Although, if I were in Steve's shoes, I would clearly feel quite frightened if I were to come face to face with the modern world.

I tilted my head upwards, my eyes landing on the slanted roof with small tiles. Perfect, I grinned as I hoisted myself up onto a lone plastic chair. A bolt flashed through me and before I knew it, I was sitting on the roof, gazing over the city at a higher level. The wind whistled past me and a sense of freedom washed over me. I couldn't help but smile; this time, not on command.

I wandered how Loki was doing, cooped up in that tiny little cell with tiny little meals delivered to him and tiny little scientists checking his health and power. I had thought it over while I was sleeping. I could live life in freedom; I could set myself free and finally live the life I was hoping. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. has rewarded me with some money to 'get my life back on track' and I knew I could 'borrow' some money from Stark, since he and I were best buddies now. I could run from everybody and forget about the demi-god.

But it was wrong. Even if I were to escape, how could I? I would easily be captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. - I would live out my days in the cell knowing that I could never be free. If I were to escape, it would have to be bold. Be on the run with people fearing me. Building my powers so largely there was no way they could catch me again. And they only way to do that was to have a partnership with Loki himself. All I would have to do was destroy a city or two, try a ransom with some civilians (I had always wanted to do that) and then part ways. Maybe I could disappear off the face of the Earth and live life in the Himalayas or something. Far, far away from civilization.

But I needed Loki's mind, his cunning ways, his full-proof plans. I was the action, he was the brains. We could be unstoppable, far superior then what Adrian and I was once.

"Celeste?"

I screamed, reacting with my teleportation and wrapping my arms around the television antenna. Steve stood on the balcony and stared up at me with confusion, no, worry. I hadn't realized I was storing myself with the electricity from the antenna, so I stood back from it trying to pluck words from thin air, "S-Steve..." I murmured, gulping, "Sorry, I-I didn't see you. I was thinking."

"Thinking..." he repeated, nodding slowly. He stood up on the balcony railing and leapt from it, landing perfectly where I was previously sitting. Wow. I hadn't seen his powers before. And boy, they made him look ten times more attractive then he already was.