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Day 11 - Doppelganger
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It started small.
He didn't hold the door to the conference room open for her. Not that big a deal, really but still odd.
Then he forgot their standing Tuesday night date. Well, things were very busy right now. SHIELD was still in the process of rebuilding and everyone was doing the work of two, so forgetting something once in a while was expected.
But then the little things started to pile up.
He forgot she didn't like onions in her salad. He ordered his steak medium rare instead of medium well. He forgot her favorite color was Peacock Blue. He grabbed a cup of coffee instead of his usual tea.
And there were behavioral changes too.
He started sitting with his back to the wall and watching the main door whenever they went out. He walked much stiffer and kept looking around like he was expecting an attack at any moment. Then there was the incident where he almost put Mobius through a wall after a friendly slap on the shoulder.
Probably the strangest and most concerning change.... they hadn't been intimate in over two weeks.
But the final straw came during lunch. As Loki presented her with a tray of food, Agent Iris Fields felt her blood run cold when she looked down at the damning food before her. Everything seemed normal, salad without onion, grilled chicken sandwich, ginger ale, a cookie.....
.... and a container of navel oranges.
"Is everything all right?"
Fields looks up at her boyfriend, plasters a smile on her face and nods. Loki raises one elegant eyebrow but says nothing, digging into his own meal. Meanwhile, Fields no longer has an appetite anymore but she forces herself to eat her sandwich and pick at her salad. She pockets the container of fruit, mumbles something about eating it later and gives him a wave as they part.
But Agent Iris Fields doesn't head back to her third floor office.
She heads for the top floor, quickly sending a text and calling in a favor.
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Nick Fury looks at the container of orange slices sitting on his desk, looks at the trio of agents standing across from him and raises an eyebrow. "This," he nods towards the fruit, "Is why you think Loki isn't Loki?"
Standing between Agents Maria Hill and Mobius Mobius, Fields tries to control her shaking hand as she pushes her glasses up her nose, "Y... yes, sir."
"It's damning evidence." Hill adds with a frown.
"With everything else that's been going on, that..." Mobius points at the Styrofoam container, "Is the nail in the coffin. The guy walking around SHIELD with Loki's clearance is NOT Loki."
Fury looks from one agent to the next before turning his gaze back to the innocuous orange slices. He takes a deep breath and leans back in his chair, "Fine. Take him down. Find out who he really is."
Maria nods once and heads for the door.
"And find out where Agent Fields' real boyfriend is."
Fields' face turns red making Mobius snort.
"You didn't think I wasn't aware you were knocking boots with that pain in my ass?" Fury chuckles, before motioning towards the door, "Go, find your Asgardian boy toy."
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"Are you sure about this?" Mobius asks, watching Fields watching the man wearing her boyfriends face through the one way glass.
"Yes." Fields says with a slight tremor in her voice, "I need to do this."
Stepping away, she opens the door into the interrogation room. The Not-Loki looks bad. The team sent to take him into custody had anti-magic protection worked into their armor but Loki, even a fake one, was skilled at combat. Several team members were in the infirmary and the man before her looks like he lost a prize fight. He's sporting numerous bruises, a black eye and a busted lip. He's slumped forward in his chair, magical restraints keeping him mostly upright.
"Iris." Not-Loki groans when he sees her enter, "My love, please..."
"Shut up." Fields snaps, moving to stand in front of the bound man, "You're not him. I know you're not."
Not-Loki shakes his head, "You're wrong. Love, it's me. I swear."
She reaches into the pocket of her jacket, pulls out the container of navel oranges and holds it under his face. He squints at the box and frowns, "What? You're favorite fruit? I don't...."
"It's not my favorite." Fields cuts him off, "If you were Loki... MY Loki, you'd know the story behind these.... and why Loki would never give me navel oranges."
Not-Loki goes still for a moment before he sits up straight, no longer feigning weakness. He looks at Fields with his one good eye and chuckles, "I should have known. He fed me false information to tip you off. Never trust a Loki."
"Where is he?" Fields asks, more then a little disturbed by this sudden change in attitude.
"Oh, around." Not-Loki says casually before a nasty sneer appears on his face, "You know, I still don't understand what he sees in you? A half blind, chubby mortal with the breeding of a mongrel dog. How he could stand touching you is beyond m..."
Fields slams the container of oranges into his ugly mouth, bits of Styrofoam and fruit flying. "YOU BASTARD!" She screams before following up with a punch to his good eye, rocking him back in his seat.
Chaos descends as several agents burst into the room, pulling Fields off the sputtering Not-Loki and dragging her towards the door, hissing and spitting obscenities.
Just before the door closes behind her, Fields hears a rueful laugh...
"Now I know what he sees in her."
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Walking into the infirmary, Fields spots Maria Hill standing outside a private room. Ignoring decorum, she bolts across the room and wraps her superior in a bear hug.
"Uh." Hill sputters, clearly not expecting such a reaction and a bit uncomfortable.
"You probably broke a dozen federal laws and did stuff that I don't have the clearance level to know about but," Fields hugs Hill even tighter and mumbles, "Thank you for finding him!"
Hill cracks a smile and pats Fields on the back, "You're welcome. Now, why don't you go say hi."
"Oh!" Fields lets go and steps back, a bit embarrassed at hugging her boss, "Yeah. Thanks." She refuses to look Hill in the eye, instead turning to the closed door next to them. Grabbing the handle, she opens the door and pokes her head inside.
"Iris." His voice is scratchy and he's covered in bruises in varying stages of healing but it's Loki, her Loki. He reaches out with one hand as a small but warm smile splits his face.
With a whimper, Fields launches herself across the infirmary room, taking Loki's hand in hers and pressing it to her cheek. Behind her, Hill closes the door to give the two lovebirds some privacy.
Loki sighs and relaxes into the hospital bed, "Come here." motioning to a spot next to him with his other hand.
Fields resists, wanting nothing more then to jump up next to him, "But, the doctors. They said your ribs...."
Loki snorts and winces at the twinge of pain that movement causes, "What I need to heal properly is you next to me. Come."
"Okay." Giving in, Fields carefully climbs onto the bed and curls up against Loki's side.
"And what is this?" Loki asks, grabbing the hand she laid on his chest. The bandaged and very sore hand she laid on his chest.
"Well.... I kinda.... punched the other you." Fields says softly.
Loki's grin is massive as he lifts her injured hand and presses a kiss to her wrapped knuckles, "That's my girl."
A comfortable silence falls over the room as Fields listens to Loki's heartbeat and Loki savors the feeling of his lover in his arms. Fields is just about to fall asleep, exhausted from the stress of the last few weeks when Loki shifts under her.
"I almost forgot." Loki says, reaching for something on the rolling table next to the bed, "I talked Mobius into getting this from the kitchen for you."
Fields lifts her head to see Loki holding a small Styrofoam container. He tilts it so she can see the label on the top.
The label reads 'Tangerines'.
A smile spreads across Fields' face as she carefully takes the box in her injured hand.
"As if I could ever forget how adorable you were, ranting and raving about how the kitchen staff kept mislabeling the naval oranges as tangerines." Loki chuckles, wrapping his hand around hers. "That was the day I started falling for you and I knew if I told him your favorite fruit was naval oranges you would figure it out.... and you did."
Eyes wet, Fields presses her face into Loki's chest, trying so hard not to cry. Loki holds her tight with one arm, refusing to let go of her hand were it rests on his chest, next to her face and still clutching the container of tangerines.
"My sweet Iris."
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Deep underground in a secret sub level, Not-Loki waits in a small room. It's empty except for himself, the chair he's strapped to and another empty chair across from him. He waits for what seems like days but is more like hours, in silence.
The door across from him opens soundlessly, admitting a tall man dressed all in black. The tall man sits in the empty chair and says nothing. He just stares at Not-Loki with his single good eye for the longest time before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
"So." Nick Fury brakes the silence, "Tell me about these.... Variants."
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END