Liar

Tonguing the cut in her lip, Kennedy smoothed the makeup over her cheek to cover the worst of the bruise. She’d spent the last half hour or more trying to smooth and cover the bruising on her face. It ached and she could only take a few Tylenol since she had to work. The cuts in her cheeks from where her teeth had cut the flesh threatened to break open if she opened her mouth too far.

Her eyes flicked to the corner of the mirror as Rocko stepped inside the bathroom. Rose was clinging to him, thin legs gripping his stomach and back and thin arms hooked around his stomach. Her eyes, big and brown and innocent like James had said, watched Kennedy quietly. There was glassiness to them, a glazed over look that pained Kennedy’s heart and made her look away.

“Here,” Rocko murmured and held out a glass of water, “it’s water and salt. It’ll sting but it’ll help heal the cuts in your mouth. Gargle it.”

“Thanks,” Kennedy nodded before taking it.

She took a mouthful before alternating between swishing it around and gargling it. The salt and her eyes watered but she continued for somewhere between thirty second and a minute. Leaning over the sink, Kennedy spat the water into the bowl and washed it down the drain with water from the faucet.

Kennedy examined the make-up on her face before ruffling her fingers through her short faux-hawk. Satisfied that she was at least somewhat presentable, she turned and slipped out of the bathroom behind Rocko. Back in the living room, she sat on the edge of the couch and tugged on a pair of boots. She tugged at the laces slowly, adjusting them to fit her feet comfortably.

She had had to borrow some of Kolby’s clothes since she didn’t have time to run back to her apartment and then run to Stark Tower. It didn’t really feel right to be wearing her best friend’s clothes but she had to make do. The clothes would be back where they belonged soon enough.

“SHIELD is going to know that you’re here,” Rocko said quietly as he sat Rose down with a bowl of cereal. “They’re gonna know that Kennedy is Kylie and vice versa.”

Kennedy finished tying the laces on the boots before sitting up and resting her arms on her legs. Rocko looked down at her from where he was standing, muscular arms folded across his strong chest. Glancing away, Kennedy looked at Rose. The seven year old was picking the cereal pieces out of her Lucky Charms and leaving the marshmallows behind.

“The Russian knows who lives here,” Kennedy sighed. “And if he’s anything like the rest of them…what I did to him won’t slow him down for long.”

Rocko nodded and exhaled loudly, his blue eyes watching her as he stood there. He knew better than she did how the Russian operated. He was the one who had introduced them. Kennedy didn’t hold that against him; he, most likely, didn’t have a choice in whether or not he wanted to introduce them.

“I’m gonna give you a number to a SHIELD agent. I want you to call it, tell them who you are and that Kennedy is willing to work out a deal if they protect you and Rose,” Kennedy explained as she got to her feet. “Tell them that I’ll give up Loki if they take you two in and keep you safe.”

She knew just by looking at Rocko that he didn’t like it. He didn’t like having to ask SHIELD for help, not after everything that they had done. They had taken his brother, Kolby’s brother and Kolby. He hated it. But he would do it, for Rose. Rose was the only person that they would do whatever it took to protect.

“What are you going to do then?” Rocko asked, brows lifting. “You don’t make deals; you do your job no matter the cost to you. SHIELD won’t like you lying to them.”

“I’m going to do my job. Don’t you worry. As soon as I’m gone, you call SHIELD.”

Kennedy pushed herself to her feet and snatched up the jacket lying on the couch. She tugged it on before looking at Rocko. The look on his face told her enough, that he didn’t like this in the slightest. There wasn’t much else that she could do.

Once she gave Rocko the number, Kennedy left the building as quickly as she could. Her hands were shoved deep into her pockets, blue eyes staring at the sidewalk beneath her feet. She shouldered her way past people and didn’t say anything as she went. She didn’t say anything until she was inside Stark Tower.

Kennedy sat on a stool in the lab that Jane usually worked in with Rocko’s tablet in her hands. Her fingers skimmed across the screen as the drive patched itself into her own computer at her apartment. She brought up the SHIELD database while scanning the room. Jane and Darcy were working on something with Selvig at another table. None of Stark’s cameras would be able to get an angle on what she was doing.

The atmosphere in the Tower was subdued after last night’s events. She had seen Natasha once and the Russian was like a black cloud. She was walking lamely and carrying her arm close to her. She hadn’t seen Steve yet and she wasn’t really sure that she wanted to.

Her feet lifted to rest on the table, eyes closing as she sat there. Her tongue pressed against a cut on the inside of her cheek as the tablet rested against her stomach. Curling her fingers slowly, Kennedy sat like that for several long minutes as she listened to Selvig, Jane and Darcy move about and talk. When she opened her eyes again, the SHIELD database was ready.

If Loki’s staff wasn’t on the Helicarrier, there was really one other place that she could think it would be. Stark’s Tower. She was going to find that damn staff if it was the last thing she did. She’d use the SHIELD database to find it. And she would do what she had to.

When the three left for lunch with Thor and Banner, Kennedy packed the tablet inside her bag and left the lab. She headed down to Stark’s gym and didn’t even bother changing, just chunked her boots and jacket to the side before taping up her hands. Flexing her hands, Kennedy made sure that the encryption was on the tablet and walked out into the training room.

She bounced on the balls of her feet, hands lashing out quickly in short sequences at the swinging bag. Her leg kicked out occasionally to mix it up but she didn’t distract herself much from the boxing for now. She was in her headspace and the bag was a Russian that she could hit for hours and hours.

She ignored the sweat sliding down her back as her fists jabbed into the bag. Her knuckles ached as the punches got stronger and the tape wasn’t enough to protect her skin from the canvas bag. Gritting her teeth, Kennedy drove her fists into the bag as hard as she could before letting out a scream of frustration. Her hands gripped the bag, stopping it, as her forehead pressed to the canvas.

Breathing loudly through her nose, Kennedy screwed her eyes shut as tight as they would go. The knuckles on her hands throbbed but that didn’t make her grip loosen. It made her grip tighten even more, fingernails scratching over the rough canvas. Frustrated, she drove her knee into the bag again and again and again until even that hurt.

Her hand swiped angrily across her face, rubbing the tears that had spilled out away. She glared at the bag through watery eyes, lips curled into a scowl as if it was the source of all her problems. It hung there until she kicked out and sent it swinging violently once more.

“I wouldn’t know for sure, but I’m fairly sure that bag never did anything wrong to you.”

Kennedy jerked around to stare at Clint, who was standing in the doorway with his muscular arms folded across his chest. She managed to keep the wariness out of her expression but she could feel the hairs on her neck rising. Swallowing, she wiped her face again before tugging at the tape until it loosened. She didn’t move from where she was standing.

“Violently attacking people is frowned upon,” Kennedy muttered as she unwound the tape from one hand.

“Only if you don’t have a reason,” he shrugged before continuing, “and you look like you’ve got plenty of reasons.”

Kennedy glanced up at him as he walked across the floor to where she was standing. Her blue eyes glanced at him as she rolled up her tape but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t even react until he ran his thumb across her cheek. She lashed out then, hand gripping his wrist and twisting his arm about so that his elbow was bent awkwardly. Her thumb dug into the spot on his wrist that forced his hand open.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed through clenched teeth, blue eyes glaring up at him. “Don’t ever touch me ever again.”

Clint just lifted his free hand in a gesture of peace, blue eyes still watching her. Kennedy kept her grip on his wrist for a second longer before shoving him away. Crouching down, she shoved the tape into her bag and caught sight of the alert on the tablet screen. She closed the bag and sat down to tug her boots onto her feet.

“Steve’s looking for you,” Clint said as he adjusted the punching bag. “Guy had a rough night.”

“So I heard,” Kennedy muttered, still watching him, “how’s Natasha?”

“Murderous,” Clint replied and gave the bag a test punch. “And very, very worried.”

Kennedy didn’t comment on that as she tightened the laces of one boot. Her fingers tugged at the lace, adjusting it over and over until she was satisfied. She kept Clint in her peripheral vision the entire time.

“I don’t guess you’ve heard yet but the guy that works with Kennedy turned himself in,” Clint said suddenly, turning to look at her. “Came in with the kid, said that Kennedy’s willing to work out a deal as long those two are kept safe.”

She paused long enough in tying her second boot to look up at him. “And Fury’s going to trust her word on that?”

“Fury’s going to do what he has to so that this will end. Loki’s still out there.” Kennedy didn’t miss the way his eyes flashed darkly. “And Kennedy’s turned into a cornered animal. He wants to end this before somebody else gets killed.”

“Maybe he should have thought about that before killing off her friend,” Kennedy shrugged and shouldered her bag.

Clint looked at her before shrugging. “Probably so but she’s willing to give up Loki. She’s desperate. Maybe she’s realizing how much terrible she’s gotten herself into.”

“Maybe,” Kennedy replied, “or she’s just looking to sucker punch SHIELD.”

“It’s possible but Fury’s going to beat her to the punch before that,” Clint replied and gave the bag another test punch.

Kennedy looked at him for a second longer before climbing to her feet. She folded her jacket over her arm and gripped the strap of her bag with one hand as she walked towards the doors. She wanted to get away from Clint and some place that she could check what that alert meant.

“See ya later, Kennedy.”

Kennedy stopped short, her stomach knotting and her blood turning into ice. Her tongue swiped across her dry lips as she turned to look at Clint. He was adjusting the punching bag again.

“What?”

He looked at her, one eyebrow lifting slightly. “I said ‘see ya later, Kylie.’”

Kennedy stared at him before nodding. “Right…yeah.”

Shouldering her way through the doors, Kennedy gripped the strap of her bag tighter as she walked. Her right hand was trembling again and tightening her fist did nothing to stop it. Curling it inside her jacket, she practically punched the down arrow of Stark’s elevator. When the doors finally opened, she climbed in and pressed the ground floor button.

Her arms folded across her stomach, gripping her shirt as she stood there with her back pressed into the corner of the elevator. She chewed on her thumbnail, blue eyes focusing in and out on a spot in front of her toes. When the elevator finally came to a stop and the doors opened, it took all she had to not sprint out of them and out of the front doors of Stark’s tower.

The entire time that it took for her to walk back to her apartment, it took everything she had to not run like someone was chasing her. She walked as far as she could without having to take a bus or a subway until she actually had to. Once she was on the bus, she shrank down into her seat and held her bag in her lap.

Her hand shook so tightly that she had to clamp it between her knees to get it to stop. Even then, she could feel the tremors racing down her arm. Kennedy swallowed and bit down on the second knuckle of her index finger. She stayed in that position until it was her turn to get off.

Kennedy practically jogged the last three blocks to her apartment. She took the stairs over the elevator and managed to not fumble her keys while unlocking the door. The door slammed shut after her and she flicked the locks into place before dumping the bag and jacket onto the couch.

Her pace didn’t slow as she shouldered her way into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of vodka. Yanking the cap off, she downed what was left in the bottle. The burn was comforting as she slumped back against the counter and closed her eyes. Her hand stayed wrapped around the neck of the bottle despite the fact that it was empty.

When she could, she walked into the living room and pulled the tablet out of the bag. She carefully ignored the look that Loki gave her and said nothing. Her fingers slid across the screen, unlocking it so that she could see what the alert was for.

“Do you really miss that staff of yours?” Kennedy asked, blue eyes lifting to look up at him.

Loki just smiled as Kennedy turned off the tablet and tucked it into her bag. She disappeared into her bedroom, kicking her boots off and tugging the tank top off of her body. By tomorrow, Loki would have his staff and she would be gone. She would disappear as many times as she had to so that they couldn’t find her, so that no one could find her.

She opened her bathroom door and stuttered to a halt when she saw her wig lying on the counter. It was her wig because it was still dirty and disheveled and there was blood in the black hairs. It was her wig because the blood smeared on the mirror said so.