Of Greater Sires

Reluctantly, Raeyn stood and paid for the food she never received. Seeing that she really had no other choice, she followed Cayenne back out into the blindingly bright streets and down several alleyways until there were no other people present. From there, they continued a few more blocks until they reached a particular cellar door where Cayenne stopped and knocked three times and then three more quite rapidly.

“Who is it?” asked a gruff voice.

“Cayenne,” she answered promptly before pausing. “Plus one.”

The door opened quickly, Raeyn was ushered in, and the door was slammed shut. It took a moment for Raeyn’s eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once it did she looked around the large cellar to find only six people staring up at her wide eyed.

“Why, Cayenne?” the man standing by the door asked. “What made you think bringing in a new girl was a good idea?”

Cayenne shrugged, setting her drink down as she wrapped an arm around Raeyn sluggishly. “I like her. That’s why.”

The man sighed, obviously irritated. “The last four you liked all ended up as deserters!”

“Not this one,” Cayenne said firmly. “If she joins, she’ll stay. She’s got fight in her.”

The man remained silent, either giving up the argument because he was too tired to carry on or because he knew Cayenne would see no other way. There was a small awkward silence before one of the girls sitting at the old poker table spoke.

“We’re playing Yahtzee?” she offered, moving down the booth so Raeyn could sit.

“Oh!” Cayenne said, her attention snapping up to the young innocent looking brunette. “This is Lew. I told her that I thought she would like you.”

Lew shrugged, pushing her black rimmed glasses a little higher. “Welcome to our humble abode,” she said in the same almost girly tone.

Raeyn sat awkwardly, writing herself into the game. “Why do you stay in here all day?” she asked sheepishly as Cayenne wandered off, mumbling about a drink.

A man further down the row answered instead of Lew. “We’d rather not mingle with the non-rebels. They tend to be far too forgiving,” he said mildly. “I’m Agent, by the way.”

“Ramona,” Raeyn replied, shaking his hand over the table.

“That’s not your real name, is it?” Lew asked as she rolled her dice. “Well, darn,” she mumbled to herself before scribbling her score down.

“No,” Raeyn answered swiftly. It was now obvious that none of these people went by their names, so why should she pretend to?

“Smart,” Agent replied. “Maybe Cayenne’s right about this one. She seems smarter than the others. Street smart. We need that here.”

“I’m not sure if I’m staying,” Raeyn reminded, but her resolve was quickly dissolving. She quite liked these people.

They played for quite some time, and the mention of the rebellion did not come up. The others around the table introduced themselves as Happy, Route, Colina, and Doc. After a little while, Raeyn found herself laughing and having a great time with the rebels, though she nearly forgot about their status. While Loki had promised they would no longer be alone, she only just now felt that she had friends. Almost.

“It’s almost nightfall,” Colina finally announced, throwing her cards down and unofficially ending the Gin game. “Unless any of you are planning to sleep here, you’d best get home.”

“I’m staying,” Lew said, tossing her cards in and beginning to shuffle again. “Like I have any place to go. But you guys know that. Anyone know when Eyre will be back?”

Agent shrugged into his coat. “Not a clue. She said she had business to take care of,” he replied.

Lew turned to face Raeyn. “Eyre was my friend before all this started… she’s a little older than us, but I think you’d like her.”

Raeyn nodded with a small smile as she slipped her shoes back on.

“Will you be able to get back on your own?” Happy asked from the door, about to leave with Route.

“I’ll be fine, but thanks,” she replied happily as they gave a wave and left.

“See you around, Ramona!” Route called as he followed Happy out the door.

“See you,” she said, waving as they disappeared into the evening.

Cayenne appeared after hours of not seeing her. “So do you like it here?” she chirped, sipping at a nice glass of alcohol.

Raeyn undeniably loved it. She loved the welcoming atmosphere, the people, and their personalities. She, without a doubt, wants to return as soon as possible. Without a thought, she parted her lips in a smile to reply that she loved it and of course would be back. But then it, once more, dawned on her what these people were tied to. And there was no way that she could ever see them again, or keep them under the pretense that she would join them or even agree with their ideas. This entire day had been a mistake… right?

Her confusion must have shown, because Cayenne’s hard expression broke into one of pity.

“I know it’s hard,” she said soothingly. Perhaps it would have been a bit more comforting if Raeyn couldn’t smell the vodka on her breath. “It was hard for me too, when I started all this. Of course, that was before all this mess, but suddenly my life was in danger, my friends lives were in danger, and I was caught up in a bunch of business that I never dreamed I would be. But I helped stop a lot of bad things from happening, up until now. And even now, we’ve got a little edge on these guys, I promise. This isn’t a suicide mission.”

Raeyn nodded, but by now her mind was made up. As much as she cared for these people now, and as much as they seemed to care about her, she was their enemy. And they were hers. If they won, she would not only have to go into hiding once more, but society would know of her kind and be expecting her. They would hunt her. And now she had no hope of going to Asgard, because Loki was defying the Allfather by even being here, and she was tied to Loki.

Raeyn had successfully made more enemies that she ever dreamed, and if Loki had any idea where she had been today, not a single ally.

She closed her eyes as her future became that much more complicated. Rubbing her temples, she tried to calm herself down enough to apologize and scurry out of the cellar and ran as far and as fast as her weak Asgardian body would carry her. She paid no attention to which direction, she simply wanted to clear her mind. She quickly became lost beyond repair, and the sun had already set. Soon it would be completely dark, and she would hate to be where she was when that happened. People would get hurt, and she’d draw quite a bit of attention to herself.

Sighing, she resigned herself to her last resort. Loki? she asked, wondering about his sorcery and if it would pick up her thoughts if he wasn’t paying attention to her.

Loki! she yelled in her mind, stomping her foot angrily as nothing happened. She turned around and prepared to try and use her own sorcery to find her way home. She could easily see Stark Tower from here, but how could she get there?

Just as she was about to try something, there was a flash of blue light and quite a bit of smoke as Loki appeared standing in front of her, his smirk evident.

“Need something, my lady?” he asked a little cockily. “I’m sorry it took so long, you caught me in the middle of some unfinished business.” Of course, he wouldn’t admit that at first he feared it was the Other calling him, or worse…

“Can you just take me home?” she asked wearily walking over to him once the smoke had disappeared. He obliged, once more offering his arm to her which she gripped but did not look at him. He peered down at her in concern but did not speak as he unlocked the power within his scepter and BOOM! They were back in the Tower.

As soon as her feet were firmly on the ground, she was pacing once more. Should she tell Loki where she’d been? But then what would happen to those people? But if what they said was true, what would happen to her if they succeeded? What would happen if they failed, but recognized her?

“Are you well?” Loki finally asked after watching her pace all across their home, running her fingers through her hair. Concern was written on his face as he briefly thought of where he had found the girl — certainly, it was not a place that a lady wished to be.

“I’m just stressed,” she said curtly, hardly sparing him a glance.

At this, Loki laughed. To Raeyn’s ears, it almost sounded cruel. “Stressed? What on earth could you have been doing to be stressed?”

Raeyn turned to snarl at him. “Don’t go there. If you want to get all high and mighty with me, you might as well want to clear out.”

Loki lifted his hands in surrender, but his infuriating grin would still not vanish. Gritting her teeth, she accepted his attempt and jumped over one of the black leather couches to sit.

“Never mind. What did you do today?”

He sighed, sitting next to her on the large piece of furniture. “Well… I visited your old residence,” he said reluctantly.

Raeyn’s serious expression quickly faded to that of confusion. “The University?”

Loki nodded and sat back. “I had some business there.”

“What type of business?” Raeyn asked, turning to look at him and still completely confused.

Loki sat back, resting his hands behind his head. If Raeyn wasn’t mistaken, he almost seemed nervous.

He finally swallowed, and rested a hand on Raeyn’s shoulder from over the couch. “You must promise you won’t be angry… I had not planned on mentioning it to you…”

Raeyn leapt up and out of Loki’s grasp. “What did you do?” she hissed, glaring at him in a mix of fury and awe.

He sat back now, not looking at the girl.

“I modified your peer’s memories so that they would no longer remember you.”

Raeyn’s chest rose and fell quickly. “Y-You-”

Loki looked up suddenly, cutting her off. “Please do not be angry! I did it for your protection, that was all!”

“Those were my friends!” Raeyn shrieked, backing away from Loki. “Outside you, they are the only people who knew I exist, and now you’ve taken that from me!”

“You never mentioned them, I thought…”

“I was trying to protect them! So no one thought they could use them to get to me!”

Loki made a pained expression in her direction, but she was already storming back to her room. The door closed quietly, but the bolt was slammed to lock.