Guardian

Chapter 4

1067.

A cry formed in the back of Liv's throat as they stabbed the blade inside her, reopening the wound that had been trying to heal. She may have first received a long time ago, but they constantly prodded at it, assuring a scar that would never fade no matter how long they allowed her to stay alive.

With warm blood seeping out of the wound, rolling down her side and pooling on the table, Liv bit her lip and stared up at the ceiling. This was the punishment she deserved. She had failed and now she had to be punished for her crime, she had to receive it.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as they began to carve into her skin, something they would do as soon as the scars from the last time had faded. But still she did not make a sound. The pain became numbing with time, she reminded herself, desperate to hold on until that point. And when it came they could hurt her all they wanted, but all of the pain would swirl together and protect her from feeling each blade as it dipped into her skin.

-

(Olivia's POV):
I don't know why I didn't just kick him out, especially when he had even expressed interest in leaving. I had no doubt that I was harboring a fugitive, that was why Loki had not wanted to go to a hospital and feared the Avengers finding him. There were probably a million laws and moral codes that I was breaking, yet I felt a drive to save him. Perhaps if I could nurse him back to health it would erase my guilt for not having saved those I had let die in the past.

I focused my attention on the vegetables that I was chopping up, knowing that letting my wander like this while I had a knife in my hand was not my brightest idea. Once I finished slicing everything, I drained the pasta and threw in the vegetables, trying to provide Loki with at least a bit of nutrition as I had a feeling he had not had a good meal in a while.

"Here you are, it's not much but it was quick to throw together," I offered him the plate and a fork.

A little hesitantly, he accepted the food and spoke, "my thanks, Lady Olivia."

I froze at his words, realizing that I had never actually introduced myself. "How-how did you know my name?"

He looked up at me with that irritating smug look painted across his features, "I'm a god, darling. I know everything."

His words sent ripples down my spine, but I did not let the fear show on my face. I couldn't let him know that I was afraid, I had to pretend that I believed I had the upper hand in our fight for power. He was weak and could barely stand, but now I understood he did not need to be physically able when he could simply wage mental warfare.

"Well, clearly you don't know everything if you're calling me Olivia. Most just call me Liv," I flashed him a smile which I used to hide my fear. "Now if you don't mind, it's been an exhausting day so I'm going to go take a shower. Please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

I didn't wait for a response from him as I pulled out the hair tie that kept my hair out of my face the whole day and walked into my bedroom. It felt nice to finally get out of my scrubs and wash the grime from my body. I closed my eyes as I let the warm water cascade over me, calming my breathing and letting the stress of the day slide off of my body along with the droplets of water.

I was tempted to remain in the safety of my shower even after I finished washing up, but I knew I still needed to clean my kitchen and my eye lids were starting to grow heavier and heavier the longer I remained beneath the calming water. So I shut the water off and stepped out of the shower, drying my body off with a soft, plush towel and then wrapping that around my body as I went back into my room to find some pajamas.

After throwing on some underwear, pajama bottoms, and a tank top, I found the strength to leave my bedroom to deal with my newfound problem named Loki. He had finished his meal so I took the plate from him and placed it in the sink, figuring I could deal with it tomorrow. Instead, I focused my attention on scrubbing the island free from Loki's blood, knowing the long I let it sit there the harder it would be to get it off.

I could feel Loki's piercing green eyes on my body while I worked and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he reading my mind and discovering all of the secrets that I had kept hidden? Or was he trying to determine where I was weakest so that he could manipulate me into becoming his personal servant? Or perhaps he was just fascinated by the fact that I actually had to do work to clean up and I couldn't just snap my fingers to make the mess go away.

When I finally finished scrubbing, I breathed a sigh of relief and stretched out my sore arms. Loki was still awake and watching me, making me feel rather uncomfortable. By his side was Aufidius, curled up in a ball and pressed against his leg. My lips twitched upwards at the scene, but it only lasted a fraction of a second before I realized that my cat could be in serious danger if Loki didn't want him there.

"Loki, why are you still up? You should really be getting some sleep, it is the best thing that you can do to help your body heal. But since you're still up, I should probably take your temp," I spoke, starting to search through my cabinets to find where my non-animal thermometer was. I figured he would not be all that happy if I had to shove something up his ass to get his temperature.

I was interrupted in my search by his voice, "you shouldn't bother with that. I'm a frost giant, remember, I doubt I have a normal human temperature so it would simply be futile."

"Fine, then I'll just be heading to bed. Do you want me to take Aufidius? He seems quite comfortable there, but if you would rather sleep alone-"

"I do not really care if he remains here, he is no bother to me."

I was taken aback by his willingness to have a cat by his side, but perhaps he had a soft spot for them. I mean, he did choose that as his cover when he was out on the street. Instead of lingering on that, I grabbed the apartment phone and placed it on the side table next to the couch, Loki watching me curiously.

"This is a phone-"

"I am not an idiot, Lady Olivia," he interjected, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry," I muttered, heat rushing to my cheeks. "I do not know what Earth technology you are familiar with. But if you start feeling feverish or the pain worsens or anything abnormal happens, feel free to call me. You can also just call out, but I cannot guarantee that that will wake me up, I can be quite a deep sleeper."

I scribbled down my phone number on a stack of post-it notes then placed it next to my phone and scratched Aufidius's head. As I did so, Loki caught my wrist and held it tightly, "remember, you are not going to alert the Avengers to my presence. If you even think about doing it, I will know and you will be dead before you can even pick up your phone."

"I understand," I growled, tugging my arm out of his grasp and turning back towards my bedroom. I held my arm out and called Puck to me before muttering a "good night, Loki" and disappearing into my bedroom.

I brought Puck to his cage for the night and then settled into my own bed, Caius immediately jumping up and snuggling up next to me, but at the same time pretending like I wasn't even there. A smile spread across my lips as I ran my fingers through his fur and then set my alarm for the next morning. I noticed that Tyler had texted me back but honestly I was far too exhausted to respond. The minute my eyes closed, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

-

(A/N): So since yesterday was my off day, I will take this time now to throw some thoughts around from last night's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. First off, they have proven once again that there is no possible way to fix the timeline, even as little as giving 3 years more to a certain character episodes ago would have irreparable consequences. So then I worked up a headache trying to figure out how time works and if there would even be a way to get back to their timeline (because if we use Endgame logic, then they have created a number of different timelines). Anyway, I was rather shocked by the death, I really hope Fitz is ok (but hopefully we'll find that out next week), and Daniel is the sweetest thing ever and if anything bad happens to him or Daisy, Marvel better watch the fuck out. Also, I am really not surprised that this season is going to end with a giant space battle. Like, what else was there to expect?

Anyway, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and are excited to see how their relationship grows!