Blind

Freyja looked up from the list she was making to where Kennedy was lying on her bed. Kennedy had gone almost straight back to sleep when she’d gotten back from the store. All she’d done was kick her unlaced boots off before practically face-planting onto the mattress. About ten seconds had passed and then Freyja had heard a snore.

That was the only snore that Freyja had ever heard though. Kennedy had pressed her face into the pillow and slept soundly since then. It had been almost two hours since then.

Turning, Freyja opened the fridge doors to see what all there was to eat. A whole lot of nothing, apparently. Raising her eyebrows, Freyja just shook her head before picking up the list. It was typical Kennedy behavior.

Kennedy lived off what she needed, when she needed it. If she didn’t need to eat, she didn’t eat. That was the way it had always been. Freyja spread her money about to cover everything that she would need and Kennedy pooled it all into something or other. She never knew what it was that Kennedy spent her money on.

It wasn’t really her concern though. Or, it had never been her concern. Ever since she’d made that call to Kennedy a few days ago, Freyja had had the same unsure feeling when it came to Kennedy. She couldn’t help but feel like there was a storm brewing and that Kennedy was caught up in the middle of it.

The fact that Kennedy had snuck out last night only made Freyja worry more. It had never been in Kennedy’s behavior to sneak around. That was Freyja’s regular MO, always had been. She snuck out and got into trouble; Kennedy covered her ass and kept her out of trouble.

Kennedy had always kept to herself though. She never asked Freyja for help, she never told Freyja what she was doing. But she never snuck out. Though she didn’t always tell Freyja what she was doing, that was usually only true for projects that she was working on. For the most part, Kennedy told Freyja everything.

The only time that Freyja could remember Kennedy ever sneaking out was when they were in high school. Since they were the same age, they were in the same grade. They had been juniors and Freyja had been getting ready to sneak out herself. She’d looked out the window in time to see Kennedy scaling down the tree and darting across the yard like a bat out of hell.

She hadn’t really thought much of it at the time. And she’d pretty much forgotten about it by the time she saw Kennedy again. She didn’t look any different, she didn’t act any different so Freyja had pretty much ignored it. Until last night.

There was no way that Freyja would have known that Kennedy had snuck out if she hadn’t woke up when Kennedy was coming back in. But it wasn’t just Kennedy coming back in. There was a man with her but it was clear that he was only helping her sister get home.

Freyja had feigned sleep and listened as the man had helped Kennedy inside. Through cracked eyelids, she’d been able to watch their reflections in the screen of the tv. He had practically been carrying Kennedy inside and had helped her more or less undress before leaving. She’d gone back to sleep after that.

Despite all that, Freyja hadn’t brought it up that morning when Kennedy woke up. Instead, Freyja had let it slide and played up her ignorance of the situation. But she wanted to know who that man was and why Kennedy was with him. And she wanted to know what was going on with Kennedy.

For now, Freyja was going to have to wait. Waking Kennedy before Kennedy was ready to be woken was like deciding to stick a limb in a great white shark’s mouth. The outcome was obvious and not too pretty but it still happened. And despite being close to Kennedy, she didn’t doubt that she’d get backhanded or worse.

With a shake of her head, Freyja went back to making her list as she looked about the kitchen. Since Kennedy was still unconscious in lala land, Freyja left a note on her pillow before leaving the studio. She hadn’t lived in New York as long as Kennedy had but Kennedy had pointed out a few things in case Freyja needed something and Kennedy couldn’t go with her. A small grocer’s a block over was one of them.

Tucking her blonde hair behind her ear, Freyja stepped out of the elevator once it reached the ground floor. She was making her way out the door when someone who looked like the man from last night made his way into the building. He may have been helping Kennedy inside last night because he lived here, Freyja realized. That didn’t explain why he helped her undress but it made sense, mostly.

Still, Freyja lingered for several moments. She turned to leave only to stop when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A man had fallen into step with the first one, though he was several inches taller. He had long, shoulder-length black hair that was combed back neatly though the ends were beginning to flip out. He was also dressed in a suit, an extremely nice one, that made him look more than slightly out of place.

His head started to turn in her direction but Freyja quickly stepped out the door before she was caught staring. Without a backward glance, she stepped out on the sidewalk and walked quickly. There wasn’t anything strange about seeing two men walking side by side. But there was something strange when the lobby had been empty and the second man hadn’t come through the door.

She thought about turning around and hurrying back upstairs to where Kennedy was. But she didn’t. Freyja just continued walking down the sidewalk with her stomach tying itself in knots. She really didn’t like this at all.

Really, Freyja had no proof that Kennedy was doing anything bad. It was entirely possible that Kennedy had gone out with friends last night for a few hours and was simply being helped home. But Freyja knew that wasn’t the case. There was no way in hell that that was the case.

She wished that she some way to get in touch with Thor. Thor would be able to figure out something to do. But she had no way of getting in touch with him. If the damned Bifrost hadn’t been destroyed she could call for Heimdall and go back to Asgard easily. That was no longer the case.

Her blue eyes glanced up to the sky momentarily, as if that would be of any use. Since she had arrived in New York, the storms that Kennedy had complained of had disappeared. There wasn’t even a cloud in the sky right now, which she wished there was. Sighing, she shook her head and turned the corner of the sidewalk.

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

Kennedy’s head lifted groggily from the pillow when she heard the steel door of the studio close. She looked around and, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, started to lower her head to the pillow once more. She wanted to get back to sleep before her ribs started throbbing noticeably. But she noticed the note lying on her pillow.

Reaching up, she picked up the note and turned it so that she could make out the writing. It was from Freyja, saying that she was going to buy some food so that they’d having something besides take out to eat. Crumpling the note, Kennedy tossed it to the floor just as Ghost began to growl from the foot of the bed.

“Mother fuck,” Kennedy growled. “It’s probably that fucking Steve guy.”

She reached over and clumsily felt around for some kind of weapon before finding her gun. Dragging herself up from the bed carefully, she thumbed the safety off and made her way over to the door. Without even waiting for someone to open the door, she yanked it open and tried to ignore the flash of pain that darted along her torso.

“Oh, it’s you,” Kennedy muttered as she stared up at Loki’s face.

“It’s the fourth Monday and two-thirty in the afternoon,” Loki said, looking down at her.

“Consulting hours have been postponed until further notice,” she replied before stepping out of the way.

Her body leaned against the door frame, watching as Loki and then Barton walked inside. She let the door swing shut before thumbing the safety off and tossing the gun onto her bed. Without even hesitating, Kennedy pulled the bulky black sweater off and dropped it on the floor by her closet door.

Clad only in her torn jeans and a grey tank, she made her way across the studio and into the kitchen. Instead of going for a bottle of alcohol stashed somewhere, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a sip. Her different colored eyes continued watching Loki and Barton though.

Loki took a seat in the same place that he always did, long legs sprawling out in front of him. Barton stood nearby, arms folded behind his back and watching everything. Kennedy shook her head and made her way back into the main room of the studio.

Gingerly, she lowered herself to the couch, teeth grinding together as she did so. Her feet lifted, planting on the coffee table while she remained sitting upright. If she didn’t slump it didn’t bother her ribs as much.

When she looked up, she found Loki’s keen eyes watching her. The emerald green of his irises sparkled in the light coming in from the window. For a moment she met his gaze, eyes narrowing slightly as if to tell him to back off. Loki, for his part, never said anything until she had situated herself.

“Can I help you with something, sir?” Kennedy asked, not entirely sincere or even attempting to hide the snark in her tone. “‘Cause I’d really like to sleep since I was pretty damn busy last night.”

Loki’s expression just remained impassive, not even rising to the bait of her ill-tempered jab. “So I’ve heard. Agent Barton has told me that you perform remarkably well on your feet. And with little tendency to hesitate.”

Kennedy’s gaze flicked to Barton who remained just as impassive as Loki. She looked at him for several seconds before looking back to Loki. Loki was watching her, his lips quirked ever so slightly into a smirk. She wanted to rub the smirk off his face. But she kept her own expression neutral.

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Kennedy shrugged, struggling once more not to wince. “It tends to work well.”

“Something wrong?” Loki asked, head tilting slightly.

“Nothing at all,” Kennedy sniped, arms folding.

Loki’s eyebrows rose slightly, almost as if to say “bitch please” which, when the thought crossed her mind, almost caused her to laugh. Instead, she just bit her tongue and pressed her lips into a thin line to keep from smiling.

“Seeing as this probably isn’t a pleasantry call, I’d kind of like to know why you’re dropping in on me in the middle of the day,” Kennedy said, leaning forward.

“I have another job for you and Agent Barton,” Loki replied, brushing fuzz off his pant leg.

“I’m not being the body guard this time,” she returned without hesitation. “Pretty boy over there can do the shooting and fighting.”

“I thought you rather liked the idea of fighting. You always seem to be excited to fight,” Loki replied, watching her.

Kennedy ground her teeth together, refusing to admit that she was actually hurt. Loki just smiled knowingly, as if he was trying to get a rise out of her. She shot him a glare before leaning back against the couch cushions again.

“What’s the job?”

“I need some iridium, so we leave for Germany tonight.”

“Okay, great, I can’t just climb on a plane and leave with a snap of my fingers,” Kennedy replied sarcastically. “My sister is here. I’m trying not to draw any attention to any of this.”

“And you’re doing a marvelous job,” Loki remarked dryly. “Limping about like a wounded animal with bandages everywhere. Honestly, is she a dolt?”

In the blink of an eye, Kennedy was in his face. Her left foot rested on the seat cushion, her face inches from his. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl, teeth bared.

“Don’t make me find a way to kill you,” she snarled.

“I’d like to see you try,” Loki smiled.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kennedy caught sight of Barton moving in her direction. She waited until he was closer before turning, catching him in the side of his thigh with her knee. His leg crumpled beneath him and she drove her other knee into his stomach, doubling him. She planted her foot between his shoulders and pushed him down onto his face on the floor.

“What time is the flight?”