Almost the Heir...

Chapter 6: Realization

Loki didn't say anything as he watched her climb onto the table, reach back into the duct, and pull out a shiny, silver tray, piled high with food.

He stared hungrily at the tray; he didn't know when the last time he had eaten was.

She replaced the vent and walked in front of the glass cell, tray still in her hands.

Plucking an apple off the tray, she sat down and took a bite. Before doing anything else, she closed her eyes and envisioned the tray inside the cell.

Opening her eyes again, she saw that the tray was in the cell with Loki, who was staring at Elena with a curious glint in his eyes.

She didn't know why, but Elena felt strangely connected to this man. And he looked so familiar, but she couldn't place the face.

"Elena." she sighed. "My name is Elena." she didn't know why she was telling this criminal her name, but, she was doing it anyway.

"Elena..." he said. His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment, showing a look of sadness and anger.

He quickly shook his head to bring himself back to reality. "Why are you bringing me food?" Loki asked questioningly.

Elena shrugged. "Why not? I doubt you've had anything to eat lately, and if you have, then it probably wasn't decent food." she guessed.

Loki sat down, facing the young woman in front of him. She was quite intelligent, but one thing kept nagging in the back of his mind.

"I do appreciate the company and the food, but, I think you overlooked one detail in coming to this meeting." he told her.

"And what would that be?"

"What is going to happen if some guards come in and see me with a tray of food that I am not supposed to have? What happens if you don't become invisible fast enough?"

"Nope. Didn't overlook anything." she said smugly.

Loki gave her a puzzled look. She counted down from three on her fingers. When she got to one, a large boom, that sounded quite like an explosion, could be heard. Following the explosion came several angry shouts and a stampeed of agents rushing to the scene.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.

"Mischief is kinda my thing." she said.

"I'm impressed." was all he said before returning the smirk.

They sat in silence for a while before Loki spoke up again. "So you like mischief?" Loki asked.

Elena simply nodded. Loki thought about this before asking another question. "How old are you Elena?"

Elena snapped her head up to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What? My name's not enough for you to be satisfied?"

"I assume you're not going to tell me then?"

"With all due respect, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't have you locked up in here if they didn't consider you extremely dangerous, so, I think the less personal information I give you the better. But, I guess I could tell you that I'm 17 years old." she said.

Loki thought about what she said for a few minutes. "If I'm so dangerous, why is a petty, mortal, 17-year-old girl like yourself, talking to somebody like me?"

Elena set her apple core aside before responding "I'm not like most people."

Loki whole-heartedly agreed with that, but he decided not to say anything.

Both Loki and Elena leapt to there feet. A few angry shouts and the sound of at least two agents sprinting down the hall.

"We have to find Elena and keep a guard with the prisoner at all times after this." came the voice of one agent.

"I don't get it. Why?"

"Because they're Case 0s899 you idiot!" said the first agent.

Elena felt herself pale. She suddenly felt dizzy.

Case 0s899. Every agent knew what that case was. It was supposed to be some big secret, but Elena had found out the minor details when she was nine. She had never bothered to look into it again.

Elena recalled the day she had read the case description.

She had been sitting in Fury's big, leather, rolling chair (the one she had destroyed shortly after) with her feet up on his desk.

Taking her time, Elena had looked through several "top-secret" case files before escaping into the air ducts when the director returned.

"Are you alright?" came Loki's concerned voice, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I-I think I should be going..." she murmured before taking the tray, climbing on the table, and jumping back into the air ducts.

Then it struck Loki. He realized why her face looked so familiar. It was the same face that stared back at him in the mirror.

"Elena?!" he choked out in a whisper. He held back the tears that were threatening to fall. A sad, bittersweet smile passed over his lips for a brief moment.

A/N: Hey guys! Get the chapter title now? Yeah, that's what I thought! What do you think case file 0s899 is? You'll have to wait and see!

Thank you so much for making this my most successful story! Currently at 115 reads, 19 votes, and 53 comments!!! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

-fallingleafviolinist

(The best violinist in the nine-realms)