The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Chapter 32: Revelation

ANNA STARES AT LOKI in disbelief. Whoever this Midgardian woman is who sits across him, he does not know, but she is not who she seemed to be when he met her. Not only did she betray Stark and the rest of the Avengers - a sin which Loki would probably forgive had she not implicated him as well - she was hiding something. No mere mortal should be capable of defending herself so successfully against him, even with his magic dampened by these blasted shackles.

"What?" She asks him, clearly confused. "I don't...What are you talking about?"

Loki frowns, "Don't act coy. It's clear you are a traitor, but now you're a warrior as well? Are you an assassin?"

"An...y-you think...I'm not an assassin," she babbles, clutching her injured arm.

Fresh blood seeps through the bandage, a vibrant crimson spreading slowly beneath her fingers. She must have torn her stitches during the fight. Part of him wants to cross the room and attend to her wounds, but he stubbornly refuses. It is a very small, easily ignored part of him.

"You have training," Loki asserts, narrowing his eyes as he studies her closely. "While unpracticed, your skills are superior to most warriors."

Anna shakes her head.

"No," her voice is tight. "I've never trained. I've never--"

Loki lifts an eyebrow as her voice falters. The brunette averts her gaze from his, searching the floor as her mind searches for answers. Shockingly enough, Loki can tell she is being truthful. Were he not the god of mischief and lies perhaps he would insist otherwise, but his superior instincts in deceit tell him that Anna speaks truth. Which means, if she has never trained yet fights with such ferocity, then perhaps the answer is that she simply does not remember her training.

"What of your past?" Loki questions, moving past the topic of training.

Perhaps the woman possesses memory gaps, indications of tampering with her mind, that would allow him to discover her origin.

"My past?" Anna glances up at him. "You think I'm lying."

He shakes his head, "On the contrary, I believe you. You believe that you have undergone no combat training. However, whether or not you remember such training is another topic entirely."

"That's ridiculous," replies Anna. "How could I not remember training? I can remember everything about my life from the time I was young. They're not false memories either, if such a thing exists, because I actually lived them. I have photographs, home videos, my parents. You can even go through the adoption records, school yearbooks, everything - it's all there."

Adoption? She was adopted? Loki raises an eyebrow at the thought. It has not been long since he discovered the nature of his own parentage, and he did not expect to share such an experience with Anna. He hardens himself at the thought. Now is not the time to find commonalities between the two of them. No, this woman is the cause of his imprisonment on this revolting planet. She is not a friend.

He exhales, wishing that his magic was not limited at the moment. If only he possessed his full abilities, he could search through her mind with ease and learn the truth that way. As it is, they seem to have arrived at an impasse. She cannot answer his questions in a manner that would be of use, and he can do nothing to circumvent that fact.

"I'm sorry," Anna's voice sounds small, pulling him from his thoughts.

Loki scoffs, "For what, pray tell?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen," she confesses, toying with the fabric of her jeans with one hand. "Any of it. The fight. Us. What happened to the others."

She inhales deeply, and Loki holds his tongue. Tilting his head slightly to one side, he waits for her to continue.

"After New York, after Cole..." her voice breaks at the name, leaving Loki to assume Cole to be her deceased fiance. "I was angry. I threw myself into my work, traveling nonstop. Accepting assignments no one else wanted. Then Rifat...I watched him die in front of me. Stark attacked us here, in Istanbul. Bullets barely missed me, and to watch an innocent man die...to hear that his family - his children - soon followed...I was furious."

His family? A pang of remorse for Anna fills his chest at the thought. Not only had she lost her lover, she was forced to watch the murder of this man at the hands of someone meant to protect the world. The news of this man's family's death only increases the blow. No child should suffer in such a way, and Anna clearly feels the weight of their deaths.

"I wanted revenge," she admits, her voice barely a whisper. "Eren saved me on the street that day, introduced me to these men - to their organization - that claimed they could help. They told me they simply wanted to prevent Stark and the Avengers from gaining too much power - from turning into tyrants - and I...I, um..."

"You agreed to help them," Loki concluded.

Anna nods, "They sent me to New York without any instructions other than to insert myself into the life of the man I was so quick to despise. I didn't want to do more - I was too frightened - but..I met you. I found out who you were. I hated you, so I sent them a message from Jane's computer asking to do more. I didn't think anything of it - I didn't know they would care about Jane. When we left, I had yet to hear back from them, I swear. They drugged me, put a tracker in me, before I went to New York. They used me to get to all of you."

She drops her forehead to her knees, bending them to pull them into herself. When she speaks, her voice is muffled but steady.

"I never thought this would happen. They must have Pepper still, they're using her to manipulate Tony, and I led them straight to Jane," she lifts her now tear-filled eyes to meet his, crystal clear blue boring deep into his heart. "I thought they were going to kill you. I tried to stop them. I tried to--"

Loki stands abruptly. She stops talking while he crosses the small distance between them in a few long strides and reaches down to pull her up to him. Inches separate them as she stands before him, guilt and fear etched all over her face, and he hesitates before pulling her into a tight hug. Her body tenses against his for a moment, then she melts into him. Sobs wrack her body, the sound muffled against his shoulder, and Loki holds her close while she cries.

He mutters comforting words into her ear, taking in the faint smell of patchouli coming off her skin. No stranger to having desires and emotions manipulated by a greater power, his heart aches for her. Uncharacteristically, he gently leans back and captures her chin between two fingers to pull her attention to him. She fights back tears, her blue eyes red, as he smiles down at her.

"We can fix this," he promises her.

Now playing: "Trouble" by Coldplay.

*****
Author's Note

Finally! Another chapter from Loki's perspective. What are your thoughts?

As always, please be kind and vote.

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