A Sacrifice- Chapter 6 (LokixReader)

The hike down to the river was about three miles, giving your team plenty of time to perfect the minor details of your plan. Before the three of you had begun to traverse the path, Clint thought to put on disguises, since not only would going in with full gear draw the attention of a crowd of gawking bystanders, but, more importantly, Loki. It was imperative that you weren’t seen, at least not until you needed to be.

In order to make it truly look like you were casual park-goers, the costumes you had donned were designed to create the illusion that you and Steve were a couple, and that Clint was an avid bird watcher. Clint harbored no objections against his role.

A code had also been made so that messages could be passed from person to person without anyone knowing what it truly meant. They were all bird-themed so that if you and Steve met up with Clint, it would look like you were talking about birds.

“A hawk just landed,” or, “that hawk just landed,” meant the Clint had gotten down to the river.

“Raven” was code for Loki.

“Baby birds” translated to “Loki’s allies and minions.

“Disturbed nest,” meant that you had been spotted or drawn attention to yourself.

For you and Steve, “I saw the raven too,” meant that you had already seen Loki. For Clint, it was “I already got a photo of it.”

“I didn’t see any ravens,” meant that you hadn’t seen Loki in a certain area.

And finally, “I read there aren’t ravens in this area,” meant that none of you could find Loki and to head back to HQ

With Steve’s hand in yours and Barton trailing you by a good half mile, you finally made it to the river bank.

You and Steve walked to the river bank and looked down into the water, pretending to look for marine life as you looked out for Loki.
Nonchalantly, you leaned into Cap, resting your head on his shoulder. “Let’s keep walking.”

You turned with Steve and walked downstream, looking around and surveying the area as if you were interested in the landscape.

Steve’s hand slipped to your waist as he leaned down to whisper, “Good idea; S.H.I.E.L.D. had said he was spotted further downstream.” As you began to walk, a question formed in his head that made him realize how little he knew about you. “When did you become such a couples expert?”

“I took high school theatre,” you explained with a smile.

He nodded and laughed, “That makes sense. And here I was thinking you’d had at least a dozen other romantic interests.”

You laughed and shook your head. “No, only four others.”

Steve looked confused. “Only four? Come on, someone as gre-” He was cut off by the buzz from your pocket that alerted you that you’d received a text.

You pulled out your phone and read the message. You slipped it back into your pocket before suddenly grabbing Steve’s arm, looking into the trees, and saying, “Look! A hawk just landed!”

Steve looked around as he nodded. “I saw it! It was a gorgeous bird.”

You and Steve continued your walk. The discussions you two shared ranged from modern technology to what was good at the burger joint down the street from Stark Tower. In the middle of a discussion about Broadway, you happened to look to your right and spot Loki. He was dressed in casual Earth clothes of green and black. He was preoccupied with trying to set up a camera next to a boulder, as if he was going to take some shots of the land around him.

You froze for half a second before you squeezed Steve’s hand and said, “Look at that raven!”

Steve looked in the direction you pointed, which was a bit to the left of Loki. He saw him too and nodded. “I see it.”

Instead of attacking immediately, you both kept walking straight for awhile longer. Once you were out of eye shot, Steve and you turned around and began your hike back up the river bank, trying to not be seen by Loki.

As you continued your hike, you spotted Clint coming your way. You veered a small amount to your left, just enough to bump shoulders with the other agent.

Once you had walked into each other, you immediately said, “Oh, sorry! I wasn’t paying attention.”

Clint chuckled as he rubbed his shoulder. “Nah, it’s fine, it’s fine. Just as long as the camera is okay, I’m okay.” He gestured to the expensive camera in his hand.

You and Steve both looked down at the camera. Steve looked up and pretended to take note of the back pack he had and the varying types of seeds and feeds in the pouches. He also glanced pointedly at the binoculars around his neck.

“Are you a bird watcher?” Steve asked with mock interest.

Clint nodded and answered, “Indeed I am. You guys seen anything out here?”

“Well, we did see a raven not too far down the river from here,” you said as you jerked your head in the direction Loki was located.

Clint grinned. “A raven? Damn, haven’t gotten a decent shot of one of those in a while. Thanks! And if you see anything else, can you let me know?”

You nodded as Steve said, “Of course!”

“Awesome. Again, thank you.”

You parted ways with Clint and continued your hike up the river. You and Steve made it to your designated meeting spot and sat down to wait for Clint.

About thirty minutes later, Hawkeye crossed in front of the picnic blanket you and Steve were sitting on.

“Hey, it’s the Bird Man!” Steve said with humor in his tone.

Clint laughed. “That’s James Audubon. But yes, it’s me.”

You grinned at his comment, knowing that was all Clint. “Did you see the raven?”

He nodded. “Yup. Got some nice photos, but in the process, I managed to disturb a nest.”

You glanced at Steve as he said, “Aw man. That sucks. Well, we gotta go. We’ve got a movie to catch across town. See ya around, Bird Man.”

You and Steve got up from the blanket and folded it up, “Maybe we’ll see each other again. Bye, have fun!” You called as you waved at him. The two of you arrived at the second meeting place: a large RV you had borrowed from S.H.I.E.L.D.