Blind

Rolling onto her belly as something struck her door, Kennedy pushed herself up onto her forearms slowly. Her black hair hung in her face, the wavy tendrils swimming before her eyes. She turned her head slowly to the left, mismatched eyes finding the glowing screen of her alarm clock. Two a.m.

“Mother fuck.”

Grunting, she dropped back onto her belly and pulled the pillow over her head. Ghost shifted on the bed beside her, the Rottweiler’s large body causing the mattress to creak when he moved. She licked her lips, eyes closing as she laid there.

Something struck the door again, harder, and she growled in annoyance. Pushing herself upright, she grabbed the Beretta from the nightstand before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet rested on the rug for a moment before she was standing. Another harsh ‘knock’ bounced off the door and Ghost barked, loudly.

“Hush,” Kennedy hissed as she thumbed the safety off.

Slowly, she padded up to the door. She stretched onto her toes, one eye squinting shut as the other peered through the eye piece. A low growl rumbled in her throat as she flicked the safety on before unlocking the door and yanking it open.

“Calling hours are between two and three every four Mondays,” Kennedy growled in irritation.

“And it is now two oh five,” Loki replied as he stepped inside with a shorter man following him.

“P.M. As in, two and three in the afternoon,” she groused, closing the door as soon as both were inside.

Outside, the thunderstorm that had moved yesterday afternoon was in full swing. Thunder boomed and lightning crackled outside the covered windows. Rain droplets pinged against the windows loudly, echoing in the quiet apartment. Flicking the breakers on, Kennedy tried to turn on the lights. No power.

As Kennedy set about lighting the dozens and dozens of candles around the apartment, Loki was peering between the curtains. He’d never told her what was out in the rain that scared him. She wanted to know.

Kennedy kept her gaze focused on the other man that Loki had brought with him. Dressed all in black with the collar of both his shirt and his jacket turned up to his chin, his blue eyes were scanning the studio quietly. One of his hands rested on the gun holstered to his thigh while a droplet or two of water dripped from the ends of his hair.

The logo on the shoulder read S.H.I.E.L.D. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment before she returned to lighting candles. She kept that little detail tucked away just as she had done with that spot on Loki’s back. Despite having agreed to work for him, Kennedy didn’t trust him.

“I did not realize that you would be in such a state of undress,” Loki said as he turned away from the window.

Kennedy glanced down at herself, half-nude in an attempt to keep cool during the warm night. “I didn’t realize that I’d be entertaining company at two in the morning.”

She found a large t-shirt and pulled it on, all the while ignoring the fact that there were several large holes in the soft material. Feeling a little more secure in the fact that she was no longer half-nude, Kennedy sat down on the couch and picked up the vodka bottle where she’d left it.

“If this part of the job detail, we’re going to have to discuss some things,” Kennedy said, still watching the man Loki had brought with him.

“This is not part of your job,” Loki replied, crossing the room to sit once more on the loveseat. “He is your coworker and you two will be…working together.”

Kennedy could feel Loki’s green eyes on her as she watched the other man. The other man was staring right back at her, his blue eyes glowing brightly in the apartment. The fact that his eyes appeared to be almost glowing was more unnerving than his unblinking stare.

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” she asked, her own eyes flicking between Loki and he.

“That,” Loki answered, “is none of your concern. All you need to know is that this is Agent Clint Barton and you will be working with him.”

Raising her eyebrows, Kennedy folded her arms back against her chest. Her gaze skimmed over the man slowly, taking in every aspect that she could in the candlelit. He wasn’t extremely tall and he wasn’t bulky with thick ropes of muscle. She didn’t doubt that he was strong though.

Barton was watching her as well, his arms folded over his chest as he sized her up. Her chin lifted slightly, eyes narrowing as she looked at him. When his gaze finally met hers, the next several minutes were spent staring each other down. Neither looked away from the other.

“I can work with this,” Kennedy muttered, still not looking away.

“Agent Barton?” Loki asked, shifting in the corner of her eyes to make eye contact with him.

“I can work with her, sir.”

As Loki moved to his feet, Kennedy and Barton broke eye contact to look to him. He towered over both of them as he slowly paced about her small living room. If the entire point of this little meeting was to introduce them, Kennedy was going to find a way to strangle Loki. This could have waited until when it was actually daylight out.

“What are he and I working on?” she asked.

“If you needed to know now, I would have told you,” Loki said nonchalantly.

“So what the fuck was the point in coming here at two in the damn morning?” Kennedy snarled as she got up from the couch.

A hand wrapped tight around her wrist, jerking her back as she made to go for Loki. Turning, she glowered at Barton, her teeth baring slightly. From the bed, a low growl rumbled from Ghost’s throat. That got Loki’s attention, who only glanced over his shoulder long enough for her to see his smirk before he continued his pacing.

“Don’t forget that you work for me now,” Loki said as he peered out the window. “And I shall give you my reasons if they are necessary to your success and or survival.”

“You’re such a reassuring person,” Kennedy muttered, jerking her wrist loose.

For a good measure, she swiped a strong, quick kick at Barton’s leg. He danced out of range just in time though she still felt her toes swipe the material of his pant legs. Satisfied for the moment, Kennedy picked up the bottle of vodka and took a sip.

“Agent Barton, wait for me outside,” Loki said, not turning from the windows.

A roll of thunder boomed overhead, startling all three of them before a flash of lightning lit up the sky outside. Barton looked at Loki for a moment before nodding and stepping past Kennedy. She turned as he passed, keeping her eyes on him until he had stepped outside of the studio and pulled the door shut after him.

“I would ask that you stay on guard and watchful of those around you in the coming days,” Loki murmured.

“And why is that?” Kennedy asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“I have enemies here. And you are to be very useful to me in the long run.”

“What about Barton? Isn’t he useful to you?”

“Infinitely so,” Loki nodded, turning from the windows to look at her. “He is not in control of his mental capacities at the moment. You are in full control of your mind. And if those who oppose me posses any sense of intelligence, they will not hesitate to kill someone who willing works for me.”

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t know anything about you,” Kennedy returned. “I helped you find a phone to use to call whomever you needed and that was the extent of our relationship. Isn’t that what we agreed upon?”

Loki smiled, his thin lips parting to reveal white teeth.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“I didn’t know it rained this much in New York,” Freyja said, startling Kennedy.

Kennedy jumped to her feet, her lips stretching into a genuine smile as she saw her sister standing there. Her arms wrapped around Freyja, hugging her close for a few moments. Then they pulled away.

“When did you turn into a little hippie?” Kennedy asked, eyebrows rising in question.

“When did you turn into some kind of biker chick for the Hell’s Angels?” Freyja returned with a glance at Kennedy’s own clothing.

“I asked you first,” the brunette pointed out before shrugging slightly. “And it’s comfortable.”

“It looks about as comfortable as a wearing a set of steel bra and panties.”

Rolling her eyes, Kennedy brushed the comment off as they made their way over to baggage claim. She grabbed Freyja’s smallish suitcase while the blonde grabbed her larger duffle bag. Once they had everything, they left the airport and headed outside to maybe, hopefully, catch a taxi.

“This is the first time it’s stopped since yesterday afternoon. Just be glad it’s not humid,” Kennedy said as they stood on the sidewalk.

“I’m very glad,” Freyja smirked. “I don’t usually encounter that much humid. I don’t know if my hair would hold up.”

Kennedy snorted but only shook her head in response as a taxi pulled over. They climbed inside quickly, the door closing just as the clouds overhead broke open once more. Kennedy gave the driver her address before leaning back against the seat.

She could feel the cool metal of her gun pressing against her back as she leaned there, hazel and green eyes scanning the landscape that they passed. Not for the first time, she thought about investing in a car. It’d be useful but she didn’t have many reasons to get one. She liked walking places.

“What inspired the sudden urge to come see me?” Kennedy asked as they finally got into the elevator of her building.

The power had come back on that morning and Kennedy had taken advantage of it. She didn’t want to use all of her candles up just yet. And she liked modern conveniences. They were, well, convenient.

“I just had a feeling that I should come out here and see you,” Freyja shrugged. “So I did. Why? Don’t want me here?”

With a grin, Kennedy shook her head. “Nah, you know I love having you around.”

“Good,” her sister smiled.

Kennedy just worried more about being able to do her job with Freyja around. She could have told her sister no, that it wasn’t a good time to come but she hadn’t. Freyja would have come anyways. Her sister always went by her gut instincts and, so far, had never had any reason to doubt them.

And she didn’t want Loki, or Barton for that matter, dropping by whenever they needed. She didn’t think that she’d be able to explain why a tall man dressed all in leather and metal was outside her door at three in the morning. Or whatever time he decided to stop by. Of course that was also if he did stop by.

“Earth to Kennedy,” Freyja called, snapping her fingers in Kennedy’s face.

“What?” Kennedy blinked, jumping slightly.

“C’mon. Let’s put this stuff up and go get something to eat,” Freyja said and proceeded to pull her from the apartment.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Kennedy said, following after her sister.