1 week ago. New York.
The sun was setting over the hills. There was a gentle breeze that swirled in the afternoon air taking with it the scents of bouquets that littered the cemetery grounds.
It was a small funeral. They were fortunate enough to gather something from where they left your ashes at the hidden HYDRA facility.
Stark had paid for the services and your niche at the columbarium. He donated a hefty sum to give you your own wall and a bench to sit with you. No one else was present but the team. Loki knew that Bruce had sent out an announcement to your former family.
Loki didn't bother to know whether their lack of attendance was because of not caring or because they were embarrassed. Either way, they weren't here.
"A shame. She was so young. So talented." A deep voice carried itself over to Loki's ear. "She had the whole world to breathe in and no one gave her a chance to exhale."
The man sat down next to Loki. He held his walking stick in between his legs as he looked straight ahead. "Except for when she was with you," the man continued.
"Is there someone else you could bother with your endless prattling?" Loki glowered.
"No. Not really. She asked me specifically to talk to you," the man answered in riddles. Loki lifted his head, finally settling his eyes on the man that dared speak with him.
The gentleman continued to look straight ahead. He had purple-tinted glasses with a bruise gracing his upper cheek. The knuckles on his hands that clutched his walking stick were bloodied and torn, almost healed. Loki couldn't shake the feeling that he had met this man before.
"Are you all right? Do you need someone to help with your..." Loki pointed towards his bruises.
"I'm blind. I get into accidents a lot," the man said as a way of explanation.
Loki narrowed his eyes and said, "We both know there's a hint of a lie in that statement. For example, how would you even know I was referring to your bruises if you were completely blind?"
The man chuckled. "You know, she asked me the very same question when she first met me on the rooftop those many months ago. Matt Murdock," the man said holding out his hand in greeting.
The pieces started to fit together as Loki remembered seeing you with the masked devil on one of your patrols. "Loki. Laufeyson. Prince of Asgard," he introduced himself, shaking his hand.
"She asked me to come meet you..." Matt started.
"Shh...shh..." Loki quieted him down, turning around to see if any of the others were watching or listening. No one was the wiser. Everyone milling about talking to themselves. Patting each other on the back for a job well done and quietly thanking their deities that it wasn't them. It wasn't their funeral the team was attending. Just like you had predicted.
Loki looked back at Matt, and a pang of jealousy struck his nerve. Of all the people you had decided to contact, he thought he would be your first. But instead, you chose to go to the devil himself.
"From my sources, I thought she had died in that unfortunate mission you guys went on," Murdock continued. "Imagine to my surprise, that a week later, I heard her familiar breathing, her recognizable heartbeat. I thought I was going crazy at first.
"She needed a place to stay. So, I let her stay with me until she could find her own. When she heard about this funeral taking place, she asked for a favor," he finished with a smile.
"A favor? So, what was in it for you?" Loki asked suspiciously.
"She helped me take down a few people. Accompanied me to some high-stakes brawls I needed help with," Murdock smiled. "Hence..." he lifted his hands and showcased his healing knuckles.
"I can't believe I saved her life only so she can put it in danger once again." Loki strained. Matt laughed.
"Yes, but you gave her the freedom to do so. Not many people would have given her that." Matt reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a card. "As her lawyer, I advised against this until she had a new identity, by the way. But she insisted." Loki reached for the card and in black script was an address in Brooklyn. A vague sense of familiarity washed over him as he read the address. "She'll be waiting for you."
2 weeks prior. Hidden HYDRA facility, Georgia.
"I'm not gonna make it, am I?" you asked meekly. Loki looked down on you, hurrying towards the aircraft. "Lie to m-, g-god of mischief," you whispered.
"You're going to be fine, darling," he said, coolly. You smiled up at him one last time and exhaled your last breath.
"Darling, w-wake up." Loki shook your body as he fell to his knees again. "Zee! This is no laughing matter. I need you to wake up!" he cried. "ZEE!" Loki's face twisted in pain as he watched your lips part to your dying breath. The fire in your eyes, the one that he loved so much, the fire that he looked forward to seeing every time he annoyed you or got on your nerves, extinguished.
"Loki!" Rogers yelled. "She's causing an explosion around her. You need to leave her!"
"I- NO. I can't!" Loki cried. The fire grew around you. You woke up momentarily with a searing pain in your abdomen. The pain was slowly draining you of your vision. Loki engulfed both of you in his seidr as the fire rose higher and built a wall covering both of your figures on the ground.
"Darling, a change of plans," he decided. He couldn't let you die. He had to do something, and you blacking out just cemented his decision that much quicker.
"Loki..."
"I only have enough seidr to heal you and keep you invisible till we leave."
"N-no, Loki. I need you," you cried. Mostly from the pain, but also from realizing that Loki had intended to leave you.
"I'll leave your duffel here. I'll heal you and make you invisible. Don't move. Don't make a sound and I'll try to get everyone on the jet as quickly as possible. As soon as you see the jet on the horizon, you run as if Fenrir was behind you. Do you understand?"
"You were suppose-to...you were supposed to come with me."
"I know, Zee. But I won't have enough power left to heal you and then make both of us imperceptible."
"Then, don't heal me!"
"Absolutely I will! You stubborn woman. You won't survive otherwise. And even if I agree. All your moaning and blood will tip them off to where we are. The plan has changed."
"But what about you? You won't be free."
"I'll find a way."
"When?"
"I'll find a way! Don't come back. Stay away as much as possible till things scale down. Do you hear me? Wait till everyone forgets who you are. That you were even part of the team." He commanded and you simply nodded as tears washed down your face.
A flash of green soothed your skin and centered on your abdomen. The relief was temporary as you felt your skin knit itself back together. Pinches and stings. Pain and agony.
You yelled out as your skin closed in on itself and you let out a blinding flash of light from the fire growing all around you. "Darling, until we meet again," he whispered.
"Until we meet again," you repeated kissing him. You wound your hands in his hair willing him to change his mind. Loki broke the kiss first. He knew that if he continued, his resolve would break, and he would try to find a way to make you both leave tonight, together. But he can't. He would have to practice the one thing he didn't have, patience.
"Hold still," he whispered, and the flames died down. His seidr fell and retracted into himself. You could only see his face. His bright eyes now glistened with tears. The soot from the fires covered his armor and smudged his face.
You watched him, seeing him for the first time. His deep blue-green eyes. His sharp cheeks and pointed jaw. The intensity and passion on his face. You moved marginally, your hands quivering to hold his face. You wanted to memorize the face of the man that helped you gain your freedom and sacrificed his own.
Loki squeezed your wrist. His fingers sinking deeper into the ground.
"Loki," Roger's voice sounded near your head. "I'm sorry Loki." Loki's face turned abruptly towards him. His eyes were like daggers affixed to cutting Steve down. He doesn't get to be sorry, you could almost hear Loki say it.
Loki gracefully stood up. His eyes never left yours as if he could see you. As if he could warn you not to move. He stepped over your body, over what looked like a pile of dust and ash on the ground. He left your path of sight, you wanted to turn to see him go, but you were painfully aware of the Captain kneeling right by your head.
You closed your eyes instead, trying to remember his face. The way his eyes looked at you, and hopefully, it won't be the last time you see them again.
As soon as the quinjet's doors shut, you turned your head to see it lift. When it was nothing but a black spot in the distant horizon, was when you finally moved. You didn't have much time; you knew the clean-up crew would be here soon. "I'm coming for you, Loki."
The Present. New York.
Loki walked over to the other side of that wall, where only your plaque had been installed. A small stone plate That read your name.
Zephyr Friend and Avenger.
Loki ran his fingers through your name. Whispering it with reverence. He planted the lilies on the canister by your plaque and sat down at the bench behind him.
He took a deep breath in and sighed, reading the last line of your headstone.
Until we meet again.
And Loki smiled.
He smiled because in his breast pocket was the card Matt Murdock handed him a week prior, during your funeral.
You stubborn woman. He told you not to come back here. To wait till everything calmed down. You were always so impatient and reckless.
Just a couple more minutes and the surveillance drone he knew the Falcon had sent after him will go away, leaving him alone to grieve with his thoughts. He left Stark's car parked outside the cemetery gates and used public transit to make his way to the address written on the card.
He was nervous. He hadn't seen you in over a month. He told you to stay away. Should he reprimand you? Should he be angry that you didn't listen to him? Or should he run into your arms and spin you around as an old friend should?
Thoughts of the last time he saw you plagued his mind. His last image of you was of pain and loss. You were in his arms, losing a lot of blood from the gunshot wound in your abdomen. You were so light. So, frail. You both had said a hasty goodbye, changing the plans on you to save your life and to grant you your freedom.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a brown-bricked building, housing a patisserie on the lower floors. He looked up, noting the few windows that had their lights on, and wondered which one was yours.
You stood on your balcony looking over the Brooklyn Bridge and its many lights. You were nursing your second glass of wine, taking a deep breath, and blowing out a small squall in your hands.
"Are you sure you should be showing off like that?" Daredevil asked crouching on your ledge.
"Why not? I haven't been able to practice or use my power in over a month."
"I thought that's what you wanted."
"I didn't want to be used for my power. Not that I didn't want to use it," you answered back. Matt laughed. "I never thanked you for helping me. I would never have this life if it weren't for you."
"Yes, this boring, unassuming life. Devoid of drama and revenge. Don't you miss it?"
"No," you laughed. "You look for trouble, Devil of Hell's Kitchen. I don't think you could live without it."
"One of these days, you're gonna want to come with me on these stakeouts. You must be so bored working in that bakery downstairs. Then coming back up here. Not leaving the building at all." Matt stilled, a small smile forming on his face as he heard some all-too-familiar footsteps. "Speaking of drama...I better go. I'll come back with some papers for you to sign for your new identity."
"Ok. Thanks for stopping by Red," you smiled, wondering why his behavior was so abrupt all of a sudden. You watched as he ran and jumped onto the building next to yours. "Who's the showoff now?" you whispered, but you knew he heard you.
You finished the rest of your wine, holding up the empty glass to your eyes. You watched the twinkling lights of New York, not through a glass wall but with your own eyes. Breathing your own air.
Eventually, you turned, making your way inside the small studio apartment to make dinner. The bright white walls contrasted with the one brick façade and a large floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the bridge. You closed the door to the balcony and stood still, hearing a buzz on your intercom. Oh, I didn't think Matt would be back so soon.
Walking up to the comms, Loki searched for your new name. Alizeh Ghavi. His allspeak translated your name, Fierce Winds. You've come a long way from Y/N Y/L/N, he thought.
Alizeh. He tried your new name on his tongue. Ah-lee-zay...Zay?...Zee. You will always be Zee. He pushed the button, and he was immediately met with static and a loud buzz unlocking the front door. He walked the steps, painfully slow. Up three flights, nervous about what he was going to say or what he was going to do.
When he reached your door, he knocked twice and waited.
"Matt! The door is open, is Foggy with you?" you shouted through the door. Loki was crestfallen. How often did Murdock come here? Did he not say you were expecting him? Why would you think it was Matt Murdock?
Loki opened the door hesitantly, walking his way past your threshold. The air smelled of garlic and tomatoes. Music was playing from a speaker well inside your apartment and there you were in the kitchen, wearing a baby blue skater dress that went down to your knees, barefoot.
"I'm making spaghetti tonight. I hope you guys haven't already..." that's when you turned around and saw him.
You were stunned. You weren't expecting to see the tall handsome god in your entryway. He was dressed in a formal black suit with a green satin handkerchief in his pocket.
"It's not Murdock, darling."
"No. No, it's not." You stood there biting your lip, taking him all in.
"I can go get him if you..." you ran up to him and threw your arms around his neck. Your lips met his and as soon as he wrapped his arms around your waist, he lifted you up and twirled you around making you laugh.
"I never thought I'd see you so soon," you whispered in his ear, giving him a tight hug.
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
"You told me to stay away. At the very least, I thought you'd be angry with me for not listening to you."
"You never listen to me," Loki chuckled. "I didn't expect you to start now...and at the very most?"
"I thought you wouldn't want me to come back anyway. You and I...we never really started off on the right foot."
"No, we didn't," Loki smiled as he took you all in. His hands felt full as he ran them up and down your sides. Your cheeks were rich with color and plummy. The sheen on your hair was brighter. And the sparkle in your eyes, the fire in them, wasn't lost after all.
"How long can you stay?" you asked looking up into his eyes.
"Not long," he answered back weary, thinking about Stark's car, transportation, and the watchful eyes of the team. If he hoped to continue to see you, this would have to do for now, until he could arrange something more permanent.
"Ok. Are they still watching you?" you asked. "Yes." "Are you free?" "More than before." "Will you come back?" "Try and stop me," Loki grinned.
One year later. Brooklyn, New York.
Every weekend, for the past year, had been filled with clandestine meetings. Loki would leave early in the morning on Saturdays, under the pretense of visiting your niche at the cemetery. The team had kept an eye on him at first, but eventually, they relaxed their surveillance on Loki, letting him have his weekends to himself as long as there weren't any pressing missions.
Loki walked into your apartment and set down a bouquet of roses on the kitchen counter. He continued to loosen his tie, not even once, looking up in your direction, as he took off his suit jacket and hung it up on the rack by your front door.
He then turned to the windows as he rolled up his sleeves and there you would be: anxiously waiting for him to turn off his Avenger persona and relax to the role of your secret lover.
He caught sight of you bathed in the sunlight and reflections of glass from the city behind you. Every time he looked at you, his breathing would hitch and the air around him would get hotter. He smiled and opened his arms, "Come here," he growled biting down his lip.
And each time you would run into his arms as he holds you tightly, squeezing you, stealing your breath with a kiss. The way you always stole his.