Red Room

RR28 Shades of Crimson

(Seconds before the encounter with Ivan)

As soon as Loki sensed an evil presence ahead of him, he ducked down behind the tree line with Natalia. He then astral projected both of their figures out into the open. He was losing energy fast, but he saw no other way since Ivan was coming in their direction. He still didn't have the energy to get them both out of there with his powers since he was so unpracticed, but this plan was working.

He watched as Ivan offered him escape. He checked on Natalia and thought of what to do next. Ivan was in their way and they needed to get past him. Natalia needed rest and the constant barrage of wounds and emotions were taking its toll. Then he remembered the second syringe of adrenaline in his pocket. It might be able to help Natalia but he debated on whether or not to use it yet since she was slowly recovering. They were not out of danger yet and needed to keep moving, he would think more about it later.

(Present)

Natalia watched as Loki left her to distract Ivan. The feeling was coming back into her body after being tased and she could feel it all now. It hurt like hell but to get past it all she thought about was what she planned on doing to Ivan.

Her recovering body had warmed up and the snow that landed on her skin and wet clothes had started to melt. She watched in fascination as it ran off of her body and mixed with the wet snow around her. Just a drop of blood seemed to expand in the slush and pretty soon it looked like a sea of blood. She couldn't believe that it had all come from her but there was no one else around.

Her mind started to wander as she thought about her past victims. Waves of regret washed over her and she wanted to feel the pain that she had made them endure. She thought it made her feel happy when she completed a mission for Ivan, but did it really? She couldn't remember ever feeling truly happy. Maybe for just a few moments in the frames of time with Loki.

Loki. He had come into her life so unexpectedly and saved her from her own misery. All she ever did to pay him back was to drag him back to Earth to possibly be killed by Ivan's henchmen. She was the reason James left, she was the reason most of the world leaders were afraid to shut their eyes at night, she was the reason Ksenia was in so much danger. The world would be so much better off without her, but first, Ivan needed to pay. Loki and Ksenia wouldn't be in any more danger when she and Ivan were gone. She only hoped that Loki would look after her.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she stood up to stumble away. Ivan was no longer in the clearing and that meant Loki would be back soon. She looked at the sea of washed off blood all over the ground and couldn't help but see the bodies of the comrades she had killed. Ivan was going to pay and he was going to pay now.

XXXXXX

As soon as Loki had left Natalia, he snuck around to the left side of the clearing where he watched the exchange between Ivan and their astral selves. He then looked around for something to pull Ivan away but all he saw was white and gray. Cursing himself, he dug into the freezing snow but quickly found that it really didn't bother him, it was just the thought of digging around in the wet mush. The blood from Natalia on his hands mixed in with the snow and turned it a sickly shade of crimson.

His knuckle scraped against something rough and he grabbed at it; it was a large stone.

"Great, I'm a feared Asgardian warrior with a mighty rock. Oh how Thor would mock me," he mumbled.

His head whipped up when he heard the gunshot. Ivan had tried shooting who he thought was Loki through the heart. Loki made his astral self smile at the mad man and it infuriated as well as confused Ivan. Ivan fired a few more shots and then stared in wonder when the spell broke and the projections of Loki and Natalia disappeared.