Liar

Gripping the flashlight between her teeth, Kennedy’s eyes scanned the case that Loki’s staff was locked inside. She was kneeling on the floor outside of the case as she studied it. Her weight shifted, bruised face tilting slightly as she peered at the case. It wouldn’t be exceptionally tricky to unlock it and get the staff. Stark was too confident in himself.

She smiled a little before sliding her bag off her shoulder. Pulling the small tablet out, Kennedy synced it to the lock on the case before opening a program on the touch screen. As the program began deciphering the lock, Kennedy carefully lowered it to the floor. She pushed herself to her feet then and her eyes glanced around the room slowly.

Fingering the rosary hanging from her neck, Kennedy pulled her SHIELD issue phone from her pocket. Her finger skimmed over the screen, gliding through the contacts in it. She stopped the scrolling at Steve’s name. After a minute, she pressed the ‘call’ button and brought the device to her ear.

If she hadn’t changed Steve’s habits too much, he’d be in the gym working over a punching bag right now. She hadn’t spent time with him since his birthday, had been more or less avoiding him as much as she could. She felt guilty about that but it couldn’t be helped.

After the fourth ring, the voicemail on his phone picked up. She couldn’t help but let out a little sigh of relief. Her free arm folded across her stomach as she stared at a spot on the floor.

“Hey, Steve,” Kennedy murmured, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just had a lot of shit going on this week and all. I was thinking that we could meet up tomorrow, for lunch, okay?”

Kennedy gave him the address of where to meet her at before hanging up the phone. She pulled the battery out and dropped both the battery and the phone inside her bag. Checking the program’s progress, she smirked to herself slightly before walking around the case slowly. Her eyes skimmed over the staff before she folded her arms across her stomach.

A metal surface on the wall reflected her appearance back at her mockingly. She hadn’t bothered to clean her wig too much; it didn’t have much purpose after tonight. She hadn’t bothered to cover the bruising on her face or the cuts. There was still bruising on her throat from James had choked her almost two weeks ago. It still hurt a little to swallow.

Walking closer, Kennedy turned her face to study the side where he had punched her. She hadn’t seen which hand connected with her face at what time but that first punch had hurt him enough that she figured it was his metal arm. The bruising was dark enough to suggest it. The skin beneath her eye was swollen still and dark with a bruise.

She was surprised that her ankle wasn’t broken, or at least sprained, with the way that he had gone after it. At the most, it was badly bruised and a little stiff. She was more surprised that she hadn’t hurt it by running three miles to New York City and then three blocks to Kolby’s apartment after catching a bus to the neighborhood. She was lucky enough that the bus driver had been feeling sympathetic to give her a free ride to the general hospital in that area.

Kennedy looked like she had gone a couple rounds with the welterweight champion of the world. She felt like it too. But she needed a clear head and pain helped to sharpen her mind. It encouraged her to move faster so that she could knock back a couple pain killers and catch some sleep. A few more hours and she would be fast asleep in a safe house before making herself into a new person so that she could catch the next plane to anonymity.

The tablet beeped and she turned back to the case as the locks began to click out of place. Scooping up the tablet, she tucked it into her bag before pulling out another bag. Kennedy unfolded the bag before unzipping it and laying it out flat on the floor. She turned her attention to the staff and checked the sensor lights on the bars that supported it.

Satisfied, she carefully reached inside and lifted the staff slowly. While she was confident that the program had done it’s job, she needed to be cautious. If she was caught now, it was all over. Kennedy had enough fight in her for one more round; anything else would have to wait until she had a week’s worth of sleep and food underneath her belt.

Kennedy slowly lowered the staff into the unzipped rifle bag. It was the largest that she had and fit the staff just right, thankfully. She smoothed her palms over her jeans before zipping the bag shut and closing the case. The locks clicked back into place as climbed to her feet.

Adjusting her gloves, Kennedy unstrapped the black Ruger P89 from it’s spot on her thigh. She thumbed the safety off before turning and bringing the muzzle up to rest level with Freyja’s iris.

“It’ll rip through your eye, I know that,” Kennedy said tightly, eyes narrowed. “So just get out of my way, Freyja, and forget about it.”

“I’ve done a lot of staying out of the way and forgetting about it, Kennedy,” Freyja murmured quietly.

“Shut up and move,” Kennedy snapped.

“I’m not moving. Shoot me if you have to,” Kennedy tightened her grip on the gun, “but I’m not moving. I’m not going to let you ruin your life.”

“Not going to let me ruin my life? You’re not going to let me ruin my life?” Kennedy snorted and tried not to laugh. “You’re a little late there, sis. Try eight years late.”

Freyja wrapped her hand around the gun and pushed it down so that the muzzle pointed to the ground. Kennedy’s lips curled back in a snarl but she didn’t try to force it back up. She didn’t need to break the only gun that she had on her at the moment. Instead, she relaxed her arm and let it swing down to her side.

“I know…I know,” Freyja replied, “I haven’t been a good sister. You’re still my sister, Kennedy. I wouldn’t change that. You’re still a good person.”

“Oh bull shit!” Kennedy snarled and swung the gun back up. “You don’t give a shit about whether or not I’m a good person. You just don’t want Loki out on a free leash. You hate him for what he did to you and you can’t let it go, you dumb bitch.”

Kennedy didn’t look away from Freyja and didn’t miss the way Freyja’s expression changed. It went from concern and caring to cold and distant, blue eyes hardening and her jaw tightening. Kennedy didn’t flinch as her finger wrapped around the trigger, ready to squeeze at a moment’s notice.

“I know what you think of me, I know you don’t think I’m a good person!” Kennedy spat through gritted teeth. “You don’t think I’m worth saving, I’m expendable. People are black and white for you, Freyja, and anyone who works with Loki is nothing. That’s what I am to you, nothing.”

“You aren’t nothing to me,” Freyja snapped, eyes narrowing. “You’re my sister, Kennedy. You’ve made some bad choices but you can stop, okay? You can wipe the slate clean by putting the scepter down and telling SHIELD where Loki is so that this can end. This isn’t going to get any better if you give him that damn scepter!”

Kennedy laughed bitterly before forcing a tired, cold smile onto her face. “There’s no such thing as a clean slate.”

Her finger curled, preparing to squeeze the trigger when Freyja’s hand slapped it away. Kennedy’s eyes widened before she ducked, narrowly missing Freyja’s swipe at her head. She dove forward, ramming her shoulder into the blonde’s abdomen in an attempt to catch her off guard. Freyja stumbled backwards, one foot sliding out from beneath her.

Quickly, Kennedy backed away from Freyja and turned to go for her gun. Freyja’s hand wrapped around her bad ankle and yanked Kennedy to the ground. Kennedy’s skull collided with the floor, her vision going fuzzy as she laid there disoriented. Blinking, Kennedy struggled to push herself upright as her head swam and her vision remained fuzzy.

Freyja loomed over her and Kennedy lashed out, pushing her away before she dropped back to the floor. A shadow fell over them and then Freyja was lifted, pulled away. Kennedy heard her sister snarling at someone before there was sickening thud and the sound of concrete cracking. Blinking again, Kennedy rubbed at her eyes to get the fuzziness to go away.

When she looked up at the ceiling again, Loki was looming over her. His green eyes stared down at her, one brow arched slightly. Scowling to herself, Kennedy rolled to her stomach and slowly pushed herself upright. The room swam once she was standing and she wobbled, her hand reaching out for something to grab onto support with.

Loki caught her, steadying her with a curious look. He didn’t say anything though as she finally got herself steadied and the room to hold still. Reaching back, Kennedy carefully prodded the back of her head. It was sore and tender but not bleeding. Her eyes were still fuzzy but a few hours of sleep would clear that up.

“What would you do without me?” Loki asked as he unzipped the case containing his staff.

“Watch less reality tv,” Kennedy muttered as she crossed the room to scoop up her gun.

Loki snorted as she crouched down slowly so that the room didn’t start swimming again. Once she had her gun secured, Kennedy glanced over to where Freyja was lying. The blonde was slumped on her back by the wall, her eyes shut. There was a large crack in the concrete wall, presumably where her body had connected from Loki throwing.

“We’re taking a hostage?” Kennedy asked, turning to look at him.

“Where’s the fun in not?” Loki smiled.

Scooping up her bag and the rifle case, Kennedy glanced over as Loki hoisted Freyja up from the floor. She must not have had any back up because there was no activity in the Tower. So far. Kennedy wasn’t going to stick around and wait for Stark or Thor or someone else to show up either.

Kennedy led the way out, gun at the ready as they made their way through the dark Tower. She moved as quietly as she could, boots sliding across the floor silently while her eyes scanned their surroundings. Her vision was still fuzzy but less so now. She could manage as long as she was careful.

They made it out of the Tower without incident, Loki depositing Freyja into the backseat of the ‘borrowed’ SUV while Kennedy climbed into the driver’s seat. Once he was in the passenger seat, Kennedy started the engine and left. Her hands gripped the steering wheel as the SUV slipped into the light two a.m. traffic. She kept at the speed limit so as to not draw attention.

Signaling a left turn, Kennedy slipped out of the main traffic. Her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following them. Satisfied, she continued driving through the back streets until they came to an old parking garage. Pulling inside, Kennedy parked the SUV and shut it off before climbing out. Loki climbed out the other side and hoisted Freyja over his shoulder.

Glancing around outside the parking structure, Kennedy quickly jogged across the street with Loki following. They slipped inside the abandoned subway entrance, boots loud on the concrete as they made their way down into the tunnels. Pulling her flashlight out, Kennedy gripped it in one hand and held her gun in the other. She splashed through puddles, flashlight scanning the darkness for the red paint smeared on the walls.

Kennedy turned off the flashlight after one hundred yards and walked the rest of the way in darkness. Loki walked beside her, the blue gem of his staff casting an eerie light in the dark subway tunnel. Ahead, lights glowed dimly and didn’t get much brighter by the time they reached them. Slipping inside the lit area, Kennedy’s blue eyes scanned what was left of Loki’s old hideout.

“Keep an eye on her,” Loki said before proceeding to drop Freyja onto the floor. “She shouldn’t cause you much problem.”

“Aye aye, boss,” Kennedy murmured before holstering her gun.

Loki disappeared down a side tunnel when one of his SHIELD agents appeared. Kennedy watched them go before tugging off her wig and the skull cap. She tossed them away without glancing to see where they went; she didn’t need them any longer.

Hooking her arms underneath Freyja’s, Kennedy tugged her across the floor to the wall. There, she clamped the chains around Freyja’s ankles. The chains went do much to restrain Freyja when she woke up but Kennedy would at least hear her when she moved. She stared down at the blonde for a minute before rolling her eyes and walking away.

Kennedy lowered herself to a sitting position before digging out the plastic bag with her pills in it. She pulled out a lightweight painkiller and swallowed it before stuffing the bag back inside. She pulled her personal phone out and stared at the screen. She had a missed call from Rocko, that probably wasn’t actually Rocko, and a missed call from an unknown number.

The unknown number started calling against as she sat there staring at the screen. Kennedy only stared at it before pulling the battery out of the phone and tossing it into a nearby puddle. There was nothing that she needed on that phone anyways. She pulled out her SHIELD phone and the battery before turning it on.

There was a voicemail from Steve waiting for her. After staring at it for a minute, Kennedy hit the play button and held it to her ear. She listened to the voicemail three times before removing the battery again and tossing the phone into the same puddle. Her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin rested on her knees.

“Kylie?”

Kennedy glanced over her shoulder to where Freyja was slumped against the wall, blue eyes blearily staring at Kennedy. Kennedy just looked at her for a few seconds before turning back around.

“Guess again.”

“Jesus Christ…” Freyja murmured, “you played us all right from the get-go. You’ve been under our noses the entire time, that’s how you knew about Central Park.”

“I told you I wasn’t stupid,” Kennedy muttered and rubbed her face before climbing to her feet. “No one figured it out either, except for Clint. I don’t know how he figured it out but he did.”

“What about Steve?” Freyja asked.

“What about him?” Kennedy replied flatly.

Freyja was looking at her, boring a hole into the side of Kennedy’s face as she flicked her flashlight around the tunnel. Her tongue prodded the side of her cheek as she scanned the ceiling. Satisfied, Kennedy walked back over to where her bag was sitting.

“He loves you,” Freyja replied. “And I know you care about him.”

“Well,” Kennedy smirked tightly, “you’re wrong there. Maybe you missed the part where I pretended to be a SHIELD agent. I don’t really care about Steve.”

“That’s the biggest load of crap that I’ve ever heard and you know it,” Freyja snapped, glaring.

Kennedy shrugged and walked over to where Freyja was sitting. She crouched down in front of her, mismatched eyes meeting her sister’s blues. Freyja just locked her jaw tight and glowered at Kennedy while Kennedy stared back at her impassively.

“How much would mace irritate you?” Kennedy asked, cocking her head to the side.

One of Freyja’s brows lifted as she stared at Kennedy. For a minute she didn’t say anything and then she rolled her lips into a thin line before looking up at the ceiling.

“It’ll burn for a few seconds. Basically does the same thing to us that pepper spray does to you.”

Kennedy licked her lips before nodding. Pushing herself back to her feet, she ruffled her fingers through her hair and returned to her spot by her bag. Reaching inside her bag, Kennedy pulled out the small canister of mace and slipped it inside the pocket of her jacket.

“I don’t hate you, Kennedy,” Freyja murmured. “I’m sorry, for all of it. You’re still my sister and I still love you.”

“You’ll hate me soon enough,” Kennedy muttered back.