four
"dangerous, venomous"

Lusine had barely had time to fasten the material belt at her waist before there was a loud, rapid knocking at her door, followed by the piercing shriek of sirens and the stomping of the boots of running soldiers.

At complete peace, she ran her hands down her body to smooth the black silk and crossed the room to the door, swinging it open with a simple smile laid upon her mouth.

"Miss Volkov," Agent Coulson began, out of breath, "we are evacuating. You need to leave immediately. Come with me."

With a quirk of an eyebrow, Lusine closed the door behind her and followed. "Are we being attacked?" She asked with a genuine curiosity, matching his brisk pace, bare feet hot against the cool floor.

"Not quite," Coulson replied as they turned the corner sharply and Lusine took a moment to evaluate the man in the middle of the evacuation.

She knew he was well-respected here. Heard his name in the mouths of many attendees. He'd even persuaded her to undergo testing after he assured her that it wasn't for scientific purposes but more for the good of her own health. The doctor had peered into her eyes with a light, tested reflexes, measured her temperature, and everything in between to understand what needed to be done for her.

Despite the testing and the cursing from Lusine, he found nothing to be devastated about. He bandaged her wounds and told her to get plenty of rest.

An hour later she pulled the bandages off and found her skin healed. The swell of bruising had diminished and it seemed that even a little of the black veins had shrunken away.

The underlying wounds would take longer to heal. She realised this as Coulson urged her to hurry along, her bones creaking as she picked up the pace as if they were ready to splinter within her, severing from the mainframe.

"Then what is it?" Lusine questioned further, her voice retreating to the snap of venom she'd always known to suit it best.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about right now. Best to get to safety first, Miss Volkov," He insisted, his eyes turning to her with a brief warning not to persist.

The temptation to extend her claws and grasp him with her power tickled in her fingertips, but, for the first time, Lusine resisted the urge. She needed to preserve her power for greater things, not the curiosity, the love of power, that had always plagued her.

Already declined a response, Coulson leads Lusine to the vehicle which would take her to safety. He tells her to get in and to buckled herself up.

Then the ground shook.

The Agent held onto the car, steadying himself, and Lusine stumbled to the side before steadying herself. Without another question, she squeezed into the back of the car and forced herself to sit and wait.

"He's here," She muttered to herself, voice low and eyes locked on the building they'd evacuated. "He's in there."

"What?" A woman sat next to her said, looking at her strangely.

Lusine shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."

"The God of Mischief and Lies finally shows himself," The Void murmured, his voice a click in her mind as she stared, unblinking, out. "Not good for anything but chaos."

Lusine smiled widely, wickedly and shrunk into the seat, resting her head back, turning her forget-me-not eyes up. In her compact mind, she replied, "Chaos keeps me alive."

"Chaos does not keep you alive. I kept you alive. The Void kept you alive. You will not attribute our power to your own, Lusine Volkov."

"I am alive because I am not of this world, not because you held my hand, brother. Do not think me blind in faith when I wield the hand that stopped your heart." Her mind was buzzing with the words bounding off every curve and curl of her skull.

The voice went quiet.

Lusine wore the smile of a wolf.

The same woman glanced over once again, disgust written across the lines of her face. "Why the fuck are you smiling? We're evacuating not going to Coachella," She hissed, flecks of spit escaping and landing on Lusine's leg.

The Goddess looked down at the saliva on her leg, smile fading and fingers curling tighter together. "You talk as if I know what your Midguardian drawl means," Lusine said coolly, lifting her eyes up, challenging the woman with raised brows.

She opened her mouth to speak again as Coulson gets into the back and the truck immediately starts moving, building up speed.

Midguardian or not, all watched in horror as the ground crumbled beneath the ground they'd once walked upon. Falling floor chasing them from the compound like wolves to a rabbit, the true nature of what had just befallen them.

Lusine knew it in her bones that it was Loki, felt it in her blood as it sung in delight at the chaos that had flooded her system. It could have been worse, but they were organised and ready for evacuation. Protocols for everything and anything.

And yet, chaos always finds a way to bring its personal piece of hell to those undeserving, but to those it's destined.

Lusine Volkov revelled in it, basked in its sunlight and let it stitch her back together in the ways the coldness of the void could never, bone fingers incapable of tender love.

-

-

For the first time in her existence, Lusine found herself a little overwhelmed on the deck of the base Coulson had taken her to post-evacuation. Of course, she'd been on boats before, but nothing like this. Not with the masses of soldiers, guards, workers, agents all running back and forth, talking into their black devices and ear pieces, guiding jets into place and cargo where it needed to be.

The epitome of a deer in headlights, Coulson put a hand on Luisne's back and guided her inside.

"This is like nothing I have ever seen before," She uttered, eyes glancing all around her.

"I suppose this is quite different to where you call home," Coulson replied, taking his hand from her. "But this is where you may stay until you are ready to go home."

"Oh," Lusine couldn't avoid the noise escaping her and now she felt compelled to continue. "I don't believe I am welcome there so you may find that you regret your offer, Agent Coulson."

"Perhaps there will be a place for you here," He said. "Once you're healed, I'm sure there's something you can do around here."

Quizzically, she looked at him with glassy eyes. "That is... extremely kind of you," Lusine said, clasping her hands together in front of herself. "I could not ask that of you."

"I'm offering," Coulson insisted. "I'm sure Director Fury wouldn't mind a Goddess on hand to help in times of disaster."

Lusine drew in a sharp breath. "Thank you," She managed to say.

He replied with a simple smile that hit her all at once, reminding her of her father. Her dear father who she missed greatly, but the same father who would despise her for the murder of his son, who would exile her from The Wolf Moon at the wishes of his Queen.

"Take a seat," Coulson gestured to the table and chairs. "I'll bring you something to drink."

In an attempt to compose herself, Lusine pushed the thoughts of family from her mind and tried to appear at least half the goddess she was. Crossed one leg over the other, the high slit up the side of her silken, floor length dress revealing far more skin than should be allowed in a military operation as this.

Illusion magic helped bring more health to her skin, but she did not feel compelled to hide herself here. She was not the enemy and black lightning strikes upon her skin would not change that.

Savouring the magic that pooled within her, Lusine leaned back in the chair as Coulson came back over with a single glass and a jug of water. She knew he was doing it from the goodness of his heart and felt a compulsion to smile and thank him as he set it down for her.

"I'm afraid I have to leave," Coulson admit, not even pausing long enough to sit with her. "Important business to attend to. Ask anyone where your accommodation will be and they'll take you there. Training rooms are available for use also."

"Thank you, Agent Coulson," She replied simply, feeling no need to taunt him or jibe at him, wanting to trust him if only because he reminded her too much of her father to be good for her to mock and torment him.

-

1493 words
22.4.18
even lusine can't hate coulson