Special Agent 2: The Dark Soldier

Chapter 9

Loki was suspended in darkness, ruby red tendrils edged with obsidian twisting their way around and inside of him. It was like he was frozen as he hung floating in darkness, his arms outstretched, his head tilted back. Darkness flooded his senses and for a while, he could only see, think, hear, smell, feel, and taste darkness.

He hadn't known darkness had smell, feel, taste, or sound. It smelled ominous, almost like smoke but not quite, felt like oily liquid moving past him, gliding over his skin, tasted like bitter medicine, and sounded...silent, almost, but the silence occurring of the middle of the night, when you woke up, couldn't go back to sleep, and grew paranoid someone was approaching your room trying to kill you because of an oddly shaped shadow.

After a while, the darkness seemed to thin, the dark ruby streaks finding their way into Loki's senses. His eyes, his ears, his nose, his mouth. He could even feel infinitesimal tendrils slipping through the pores of his skin, twining around his blood vessels and weaving through his cells.

There was surging power in every single tendril of the dark ruby energy. Loki felt it cruising through his blood, curling up inside his lungs, working its up through his heart, and filling his brain. He felt both energized and frozen, a paradox that yet made sense with the tendrils gathering inside him. Perhaps paradoxes were reconcilable now.

Anything could happen now.

Across from him, also hanging in the darkness, was Agent Sniper. Her mask had been torn from her face and she was suspended in a similar position to Loki, the ruby red tendrils snaking their way into her body as well. The redness enveloped her the way it was enveloping Loki. Her eyes were wide and blank but that meant nothing. Loki himself felt like he was frozen, unable to move even his eyes. He knew she was there, he knew what she looked like and what was happening to her, but he couldn't actually look at her.

Loki had never seen her entire face before. She had always worn a mask around him. But now it was gone.

Slowly, the energy surrounding Loki reached out to touch the energy surrounding Sniper and the two prone forms were drawn closer together until there was only a hand's breadth of space between them.

Then Loki was staring into Sniper's eyes and she was staring back. Something seemed to click on in his brain and there was something unnerving about looking at her. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Then darkness descended on him and he saw nothing.

****

Loki opened his eyes, staring at the dark sky far above him. He was lying on the pavement of the alleyway outside the window he had fallen through. Carefully, he sat up, only to see Agent Sniper across from him, sitting up at exactly the same time.

For a moment, their eyes connected and there was a moment where neither one moved, but then she was on her feet, snatching up her vibranium rifle from its position beside her, and took off running for the exit. As Loki shoved up onto his own feet, he saw the NCIS agents near the exit of the alleyway notice the two of them and DiNozzo took off running after Sniper.

Bishop ran towards Loki, flinging her arms around his waist. "Don't ever do that again," she said, her voice muffled as she spoke into his jacket. Then she stepped back and shook him. "You scared me to death, Loki!"

"I'm sorry, darling," Loki said apologetically. "I'm not quite sure what happened."

"You were gone for five hours!" Bishop cried, looking like she didn't know whether to be relieved or to be angry. "Five hours, Loki!"

"Are you sure?" Loki asked. "Five hours?"

Bishop looked like she was about to slap him. "Yes, I'm sure! DiNozzo called Gibbs when it happened and it's now five hours later. So yes, I'm very sure."