Liar

Stepping out of the bathroom, Rocko drew up short as he found both Fury and Rogers standing there. His blue eyes flicked between the two before tugging the t-shirt on over his muscular frame. Without a word, he glanced over to where Rose was lying on the bed. The seven year old was sound asleep, arms wrapped tight around some stuffed animal. He stared at her for several seconds before looking back to the two other men.

“Captain Rogers and I would like to speak to you for a few minutes, Mister Mason.”

Rocko turned a flat, blue stare onto Fury. “And why would I want to talk to you, Fury? Or him for that matter?”

Fury looked like he was about to say something when Rogers cut in. “It’s about Kennedy.”

Rocko turned his blue eyes onto Steve in a silent, emotionless stare. He wondered if the guy knew that his girlfriend had been playing him all along. He wondered if Steve knew that Kennedy was Kylie and vice versa. Kylie wasn’t a dedicated SHIELD employee. She was a well-trained mercenary with a habit of not looking before she leaped.

“Kennedy’s a big girl. And she’ll contact you like she said you would,” Rocko muttered while keeping his voice soft.

“If it’s okay with you,” Fury began and glanced at Rose, “I’d like to continue this conversation outside.”

Rocko looked at him before shrugging. “Not gonna be much of a conversation, Fury. I don’t got a lot to say to traitors.”

Without another word, Rocko followed Steve and Fury out into the hall. Though he had been given access to this entire floor in Stark’s tower, Rocko had kept mostly to one room. Rose had her own room, which she hadn’t spent more than five minutes inside. Rocko didn’t really feel like wandering around the floor for no reason.

“How long have you known Miss Cross?” Fury asked once the door closed after them.

Rocko just stared at the director of SHIELD in silence. He could feel the irritation rolling off of Steve but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, Rocko just blinked a few times and stayed silent. He didn’t have anything to say to Fury.

“It’s important,” Steve cut in with a look in Rocko’s direction.

“How long I’ve known Kennedy isn’t any of your business, Captain. I can’t help you get in touch with her. When she wants to talk to you, she’ll let you know.”

“Kennedy broke into the Tower last night alongside Loki and took his scepter back. As well as taking her sister hostage,” Steve said without hesitating. “Does that sound like someone who wants to talk?”

Rocko rubbed the sides of his face slowly, calloused fingers rasping over his stubble. It sounded like something she would do. Kennedy liked taking risks. And ever since she’d been introduced to the Winter Soldier, she’d been walking a fine line between risk taking and safety. Rocko was worried about her. He regretted ever introducing the two.

“First of all, that chick isn’t her sister,” Rocko growled with a cold look at Steve. “Kennedy doesn’t want shit to do with her so don’t even call her Kennedy’s sister. Second, it sounds a hell of a lot like something that she would do. She’ll do anything that she has to. She’s a survivor.”

“She’s an opportunist,” Steve muttered. “She’s not a survivor.”

Rocko just stared at him for several seconds before snorting. “You don’t know shit about her. You don’t know anything that she’s been through or what she’s done to get this far. You don’t even know what she did to make sure that she could live a day past twenty.”

“Anything that Kennedy did in the past has been erased, thanks to Loki,” Fury interjected as Steve and Rocko eyeballed each other. “At this moment, she doesn’t exist. She has an entirely blank slate.”

Rocko glanced up at Fury, blue eyes staring at him for several long seconds. He, of all people, knew what a blank slate meant. He knew what it would mean to Kennedy. She wanted out; she wanted to start a new life somewhere else. A blank slate would mean that she could do that.

“You know what happens to people who stay on SHIELD’s radar. It only goes two ways. You know Miss Cross best and you know exactly what she wouldn’t choose.”

“So you want me to turn my back on her and hand her over to you.”

“I want you to do what you know is right,” Fury replied simply. “And maybe save your best friend’s life in the process.”

Selling out Kennedy to Fury didn’t sit right with Rocko for numerous reasons. For one, it went against everything that he had ever done. There was no code of conduct for mercenaries but selling someone out, especially a friend, was as good as signing your own death warrant. It was unlikely anyone would ever find what he had done but it was the principle of the thing.

Did he really need to turn his back on everything he had done? No. Did he need to take care of Kennedy? Hell no. Would he do anything to protect her? Yes. She was practically family. And there wasn’t a thing that he wouldn’t do for her.

Leaning back against the wall, Rocko slid his blue eyes over to where Steve was standing. The soldier hadn’t said anything since Fury had spoken up. The two traded looks before Rocko rubbed the back of his neck.

“You gotten any calls lately?” Rocko asked as he looked at Steve. “Any calls from anybody?”

“Agent Anderson called me late last night,” Steve nodded impassively. “But that’s it except for the call about what happened here.”

“She’s real secretive, isn’t she? Weird things happen to her but she just brushes them off, right? Somebody smashed her face up real nice, didn’t they?”

Steve’s blue eyes narrowed as he looked at Rocko. Rocko just lifted his hands in a gesture of innocence.

“You can take that up with her, if she’ll talk about it. Did you ever notice that she’s not around when Kennedy is? Or wonder how Kennedy always got the jump on you idiots?” Rocko couldn’t help the smirk that crept onto his face. “Real nice job you lot did in rounding up all your agents. And I think she even slid right past you, Fury.”

Rocko turned his stare onto Fury but watched Steve from the corner of his vision. He knew that Kennedy had started up a relationship with the man, didn’t really care that much either. She did what she wanted. But he wanted to know how Steve would it take now that he knew the truth. The super-soldier, however, had kept his expression impassive.

“So who trained her? Your average mercenary doesn’t know tricks like this,” Fury said without rising to Rocko’s bait.

“You still think she’s average after all she’s done?” Rocko smirked and shook his head. “I don’t know who trained her. Far as I know, she picked up a gun on her first job and saved my life twice. What she did before that and between the next time we met is her secret.”

Fury’s one eye stared at Rocko unblinking though it didn’t bother Rocko. He had done a lot and seen a lot before. A man with one eye wasn’t the weirdest thing he had ever seen anyways.

“When Agent-” Steve caught himself and started again, “Kennedy called me last night, she asked me to meet her somewhere for lunch.”

“You might want to start on that place then. What’s the address?”

When Steve told him the address, Rocko just laughed once. Loudly. Shaking his head, he let his eyes close for just a brief moment. Kennedy would do something like that. It was her way of offering up her treaty.

“You definitely want to start there. And, if I were you,” Rocko said, “I’d go alone. You show up with a big SHIELD escort, you’re likely to be left standing in the dust.”

“You want me to send Captain Rogers straight into Loki’s hands without any back up?” Fury asked, arms crossing.

“Send your fucking bird with him for all I care. You send anyone else, you won’t have to worry about his safety. They’ll be down the rabbit hole and you’ll definitely never find her again.”

“And who’s going to take care of Loki?”

Rocko rolled his eyes. “You’ve got two Asgardians in there. One’s good, one’s bad. As far as I’m concerned, my part in this job is over.”

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

Freyja leaned back against the wall, blue eyes watching as Kennedy disappeared down a side tunnel before reentering the main tunnel with a bag over her shoulder. Without a glance in the blonde’s direction, the woman disappeared into gloom of the tunnel. Somewhere in this place was Loki, doing who knew what. She shifted slowly, the chains rattling when she did so. Scowling, Freyja licked her lips and glanced at the two men that had been left as her guards. Guards that she could easily incapacitate.

One of them would probably be able to get something like an alarm off though before she could get to both. Her eyes narrowed but she sat still instead. Despite what Kennedy was doing, she didn’t want to do anything that would risk her getting hurt. At the end of the day, they were still family. Blood or not, Freyja didn’t think she’d ever be able to not care, or worry, about Kennedy.

She put her hands in her lap and stared at the tunnel that Kennedy had disappeared into. She sat there, staring at the darkness for close to two hours or so until Kennedy came back. The bag was still on her shoulder but noticeably emptier. Freyja frowned. Whatever Kennedy was up to, Freyja didn’t like it.

“Try not to look so worried about me,” Kennedy muttered as she tossed the bag to the ground. “Don’t need you to take care of me.”

“You tell Steve that when someone bashed your face in?”

The look that Kennedy sent Freyja’s way was murderous. That look alone could have left Freyja stiff and grey if looks could kill. She just lifted an eyebrow though and crossed her arms over her chest. Kennedy’s lips curled back into a snarl as she stood, watching Freyja.

“I wish somebody would bash your face in,” Kennedy spat before turning and disappearing into another tunnel.

Freyja watched her go before letting her drop back against the wall. She knew she shouldn’t have said that but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t even thought about it when she said. It had just slipped out.

She was supposed to try and calm Kennedy, convince her not to do whatever she was planning on doing. Instead, she was practically baiting her sister into doing something stupid. What was remotely intelligent about that? Nothing.

Her eyes drifted shut as she sighed, chest rising and falling slowly. Her hands rested in her lap, drumming aimlessly against her thigh. She wasn’t really sure how long they had been here. She wasn’t sure what Loki and Kennedy were planning. She just wanted Kennedy to not do something stupid. Or do anything stupider than what she’d already done.

Somehow, Freyja missed Kennedy’s return. And she only knew that Kennedy had returned when something cracked across Freyja’s face and knocked her sideways. White-hot pain flared across her face as her eyes opened and she lifted her head to stare up at Kennedy.

Loki’s scepter hung loosely from Kennedy’s hand, the wicked edge facing Freyja while Loki lurked a few feet behind Kennedy. The look in Kennedy’s eyes was still murderous, still brimming with hate as she stepped forward and crouched over Freyja. The tip of the scepter was placed to Freyja’s throat, biting into the flesh over her pulse point.

“Kennedy…”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kennedy snarled and pressed down the scepter.

Freyja winced and swallowed nervously as she felt a bead of blood roll down her throat. The expression in Kennedy’s eyes never changed, even as she smirked down at Freyja. It only took a moment for Freyja to realize that this was Kennedy exerting the control that she had. And she didn’t look all that reluctant to push a little harder on that scepter.

“Doesn’t feel all that nice, does it?” Kennedy asked, head tilting to the side. “Feels a little…terrifying, doesn’t it?”

In all honesty, it was more than a little bit terrifying. And Kennedy knew that. She knew what this felt like. Freyja was, most likely, barely getting any of what Kennedy had gotten. It didn’t bother Kennedy to be doing this either.

If Kennedy was going to say anything else, she didn’t. She didn’t do anything else but push herself to her feet. Kennedy just turned and walked away, handing the scepter off to Loki as she went. Wordlessly, the two disappeared down into the darkness of the tunnels.

Pushing herself upright, Freyja lifted her hands and pressed them to her throat. The cut on her throat wasn’t deep and was beginning to dry. Swallowing slowly, she lowered her hands to her lap and slumped against the wall. Shit.

In silence, she sat there and waited for one or the other to come back. The fact that Loki had let Kennedy take his scepter said a lot to Freyja. For whatever reason, there was a level of trust between the two. She didn’t know how strong that level was but it was there. She didn’t like it, at all. There wasn’t a single thing about it that she liked.

An arrow shot across the tunnel, burying itself in the throat of one guard. The second guard met the same fate within seconds. Freyja’s eyes flicked over to where Steve and Clint were walking out of the main tunnel, boots treading softly on the ground below. SHIELD must have figured out where they were.

Clint stood guard as Steve came over to help Freyja up. Getting out of the chains was slow work so that they didn’t make too much noise. Once she was free, she got to her feet slowly.

“How’d SHIELD figure this out?” Freyja asked quietly.

“Kennedy gave us the address,” Steve replied.

Freyja didn’t miss the pained look that flashed across his face at the mention of Kennedy. He knew, then, that Kennedy was Kylie and vice versa. She managed to keep the sympathetic look off her face. She knew how it felt.

“You didn’t bring any back up?”

“Numbers draw too much attention sometimes,” Clint shrugged, keeping his voice low. “And we don’t want to scare Loki off by bringing Thor.”

“Any idea where they are?”

“She can’t help you with that.”

Kennedy’s voice cut in like a razor blade. They all turned, facing the short-haired woman as she walked out of the tunnel. Her hands were tucked inside the pockets of her leather jacket, bright eyes staring at them all coldly. She didn’t look at Steve though. Her gaze just flicked from Freyja to Clint, who had an arrow drawn and lined up with her.

“You’re a little early for lunch, babe,” Kennedy said, finally lifting her eyes to Steve’s.

“I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss you,” Steve shrugged. “You’ve got a one way ticket booked for England.”

Kennedy’s eyes narrowed before she let out a derisive snort. Her lips twisted into bitter smile as she dropped her stare to the ground. It took a few minutes before she looked back up with the same expression on her face.

“They’re okay, right? Still alive?”

“They’re okay,” Steve nodded though Freyja wasn’t sure what they were talking about.

“Where’s Loki, Kennedy?” Clint asked without lowering the arrow.

“He’s…around,” Kennedy shrugged, hands still in her pockets. The smile that she gave Clint was a little more venomous. “How’d you figure it out? I’m dying to know.”

“Put two and two together,” Clint shrugged back. “Saw the tattoo on your back when you working out one day. Figured most people didn’t have Norse runes tattooed to their backs so I took a shot in the dark. Still a little surprised that it worked.”

“I’m mildly impressed,” Kennedy replied.

“You weren’t thinking of turning on me, were you, Kennedy?”

If Loki’s words startled Kennedy, it didn’t show. She just turned to look at him as he walked out to join them all. Beside her, Steve shifted as if preparing himself for an attack. Freyja did the same as Clint’s arrow swung from Kennedy to Loki.

“And leave my sparkling reputation tarnished?” The sarcasm dripped from Kennedy’s mouth as she spoke. “For once, you’re the lesser of two evils.”

“It warms my heart to hear that,” Loki drawled before coming to a stop beside Kennedy. “And this is what SHIELD sends to bring us in?”

“SHIELD seems to have a habit of underestimating people lately,” Kennedy smirked.

Freyja glanced between the two slowly before looking back to Kennedy’s face. For the most part, her sister’s face was impassive. She was continuously glancing around though, mismatched green and hazel eyes flicking from the ceiling of the tunnel to the three and back to the ceiling.

Whatever happened next, Freyja wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she felt an explosion from further down the tunnel. The only one who didn’t look startled was Kennedy who drove herself into Loki’s side as he lifted his scepter. The blast of blue energy shot upwards instead of launching at Steve, Clint and herself. Smoke, dust and rock rained down, forcing them further back into the tunnel as another charge blew.