The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Chapter 25: Disbanded

"I STILL THINK this is a bad idea," Jane says, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she watches Anna pull on a pair of borrowed boots.

The woman in front of her has freshly showered and changed out of her ratty, blood-stained clothing into a clean pair of jeans and a navy sweater, her brown hair drying naturally. Loki is in the other room waiting for them, no doubt growing more and more impatient with the minute, planning their departure from Switzerland.

"I'll be fine," Anna tells her, grateful for her concern, as she secures the laces.

"You were shot," Jane replies, emphasizing the last word. "Less than twenty-four hours ago. Not only that, you're about to go off - God knows where - with Loki, the biggest asshole on more than one planet, with no plans, n--"

"I know," Anna cuts her off. "Trust me, I know. I'm not entirely thrilled about this situation myself, but I don't have a choice."

Jane frowns, dropping her arms and crossing the room to sit next to Anna on the small bed. Loki's overcoat is still sitting on top of the pile of discarded blankets, a mass of black and green staring up at her. She stares at it a moment before turning to face Anna.

"I'm just worried," she admits. "After what Loki did to Thor - to New York - I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Anna nods, "I know. I don't either. That's why I have to do this."

She stands, carefully shrugging her injured arm into the leather jacket Jane lent her. The pain is nowhere near as overwhelming as it was earlier, and she's already able to move the arm without daggers of pain shooting through her arm. Whatever Loki did to speed up the healing is clearly working, so as much as she hates him, she has to give him that.

A knock at the door interrupts their conversation, and Anna opens it to find herself face-to-face with Loki. His face is drawn and pale, and his emerald eyes lack their mischievous sparkle.

"What?" Anna demands.

He looks at her, then at Jane. Whatever semblance of composure he had is cracking, and Anna's frustration with his presence is rapidly being replaced with concern. Something is upsetting Loki, which means something big is happening.

"What is it?" Jane asks, standing from the bed and coming to stand behind Anna.

"...Thor," Loki replies, his lips barely moving.

Jane pales, "What about him?"

"He's been...he's been taken," Loki tells them.

"What?!" Anna and Jane both exclaim.

"Apparently the Avengers have been disbanded," Loki explains. "It's all over the news. Stark is in prison, and Thor as well. They had Banner, but he escaped. No word has come from the Captain or the others."

Anna shakes her head, "But why? What changed?"

"I do not know entirely," Loki explains. "The television was on in the other room. They said...it..."

His voice trails.

"What?" Anna demands. "What did they say?"

Loki frowns, "They're calling for execution. The World Security Council has agreed."

Jane stumbles backward, and Anna catches her before she collapses. Lowering her into the bed, Anna kneels in front of her.

"No," Jane mumbles. "They can't. They wouldn't."

Anna grabs Jane's hands, "Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay."

She turns to Loki, shooting daggers at him with her blue eyes. He looks stunned himself, as if he's barely able to process the news, and he clearly isn't certain what he should be doing next.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Anna snaps at him. "You can stop pretending to be surprised. From what I've gathered, you're likely ecstatic at the thought of your brother's death - along with the rest of the Avengers - because they'll finally be out of your way."

Jane chokes back a sob at the mention of Thor's possible death, and Loki's green eyes flash angrily at Anna. He flies across the room, jerking her to her feet roughly, and slams her against the wall. His left hand squeezes into her injured shoulder while he uses his right to pin her other hand to her side. The cold seeping out of his skin against hers burns, the pain shooting up her arm.

"Take care of how you speak, mortal," he snarls. "Without your precious Avengers, I might snap your neck in a moment."

A brief look of fear crosses her face before her eyes settle back into a glare. Jane stands, attempting to pull at Loki's arm between sobs, but he swats her away like an annoying fly and focuses his attention on Anna. She can see rage boiling deep within him, along with other emotions that she cannot identify.

"Do not presume to know me, if you value your life," Loki whispers so Jane cannot overhear him, venom dripping from every word.

He drops her without warning, her bullet wound throbbing. She glances down at her left hand, which is now bright red from his touch. The skin is beyond tender, and she shakes as she lifts her hand to press against her bullet wound. His threat frightens her, more than she was willing to admit, especially without the protection of the Avengers to keep him in line.

In that moment, she realizes that Jane is absolutely right.

Anna has no idea what she's going to do now.

Now playing: "No Good" by Kaleo.

*****
Author's Note

Thanks for reading! I hope you loved it.

Do me a favor before you go - please vote!

x