Chapter 4

"Well, as that guy Fury said, I'm not from here. From what Crowley told me, this is a different dimension than mine. And from the looks on your faces, this is nothing special to you. I thought he was full of shit but the day was already crap so I felt like I had nothing left to lose. So okay, moving on. 

My name is Ariane. I'm sure I had a last name at some point, but I don't know it. And I'm a Hunter. Not like an in the woods animal hunter like you may be thinking. I hunt Monsters. But, as it was explained to me before I got here, my Monsters are different from yours. Mine are dark and are things that go bump in the middle of the night. Angels and demons. The things nightmares are made of. And their main goal is to kill and feed on humans. There are only a small handful of Hunters in the world. We see what the normal human can't or won't. Most of us consider it more a curse than a blessing."

Prudish interrupted me. "And how do you get into something like that?"

"Never by choice. All of us were either attacked or saw someone close to us attacked. It opens your eyes to what's beyond the normal, to what hides in the corners and in the shadows. I got into it by watching a Werewolf tear my family apart. Hunters broke through the door before it could kill me too. I was five. They told me I was covered in my family's blood from head to toe, holding a doll and my big sister's hand, except her hand wasn't attached to her body anymore. Apparently, they had a little trouble getting me to let her hand go. A Hunter family took me in and taught me the fighting skills I would need to survive. And later, they taught me how to Hunt and protect so that no other little girls lost their families."

I took a deep steadying breath. I hadn't told that story in so many years. And I left a lot of details out. They were too painful to bring up. Looking around, there were many pale faces and every eye held horror at what a child that young had suffered. The man next to me stared at me with a somber face. I couldn't read him like the others and that made me unsure. 

"Years passed and I met a couple of other Hunters while working a job. A Hunting job, not a normal job. Normal wasn't a big part of my life. Too many identities to keep track of. You never stay in one place too long. The police and Hunters aren't always on the friendliest of terms. See, not all Monsters look inhuman, so when bodies that look human show up it tends to draw attention. 

Anyway. They were brothers. Sam and Dean Winchester.  Their mother had been killed by a demon when Sam was just a baby. She had been pinned to the ceiling by his power and burned. Their father got them out but he vowed revenge, so they grew up in the Hunter lifestyle. It made us kindred spirits in a way. I started teaming up with them more and more as our paths crossed more often. Eventually we became... close... or so I thought anyway."

I felt the anger harden my face. I was still livid and hurt. I know my eyes got dark and emotionless as rage and hurt filled me.

"Dean and I became a not quite a couple but something close to it. It's a rare thing for Hunters since we don't tend to live long, so as a rule we don't form attachments. After a while, things changed between us. He demanded I stop going on Hunts. He and his brother have had a... rocky... existence. I'm talking injuries and let's not even talk about the times they each died and came back. " I saw the confusion on everyone's faces.

I gave a small humorless laugh.  "Longer story for another time. They always went out together and had each other's back. But I was always left to go alone when I went Hunting since Dean thought it would stop me if I didn't have backup. Guess he didn't know me as well as he thought since I went anyway. I wasn't going to let his attempt at restricting and controlling me stop me from keeping people alive.

  Anyway. That night, well it was night for me since it was apparently daytime for you, things changed even more. I had gone on a Hunt alone as usual. It's where I got these wounds," I gestured to my side, "in the fight. But the Monster was dead, and a little boy still had his family. It was a Werewolf, so I had a personal stake in the mission. I had come back to where we were staying, something like a safe house, and I was trying to clean up when Dean got there. He was furious that I didn't listen once again and went out even when he told me not to. He raged at me a while and when I told him he was supposed to be my partner not my mother, and that I wouldn't stop hunting, he told me to leave his life and the house and never come back. I hadn't felt hurt like that since watching my family torn apart. Here was a man that professed to care about me, kicking me out as if I was nothing, as if I didn't matter. I felt betrayed. And honestly he did betray me."

"And before you say something like it's just a breakup no big deal, for a Hunter it is a big deal. Just because you stop Hunting, doesn't mean Monsters stop Hunting you. He never really understood that. To force me to leave the safety of the wards on the house that night was nothing short of a death sentence for me. A Hunter on their own usually has a very violent and short life. I had been lucky up till then, but I was wounded, which he knew, and that made me fair game to every ghoul, vampire, evil spirit, and demon out there. I wouldn't stand up in a battle for long before I fell, and probably in a lot of pain as Monsters don't like Hunters, to put it mildly. To get their hands on a wounded and weakened Hunter, well... let's just say torture would be a walk in the park to what they would do before I died. And if it was a demon, well, even dying wouldn't have saved me. Torture with them can go on for eons."

"I left the house and walked for what felt like forever and stopped to rest. Crowley showed up and offered me a deal. Normally you don't make deals with demons as there is always a price and things tend to get twisted. But I was already at rock-bottom and probably wouldn't have lasted the night so I had nothing left to lose.  So, I made the deal and he brought me here. End of story."

I sat silently looking at them. I was exhausted. Memories better left buried had taken what little strength I had. The man next to me spoke softly. "And what was your deal and what did it cost you?"

I looked into his blue eyes. "To take me somewhere I could never be found. His reward was watching Dean suffer as he said Dean would regret what he said and try to find me. And I didn't, and still don't, want to be found. Ever. And only Crowley could take me beyond his reach. The catch to it all, and the price I pay, is I can never go back to my realm. If I return, every demon there will hunt me down and drag me to Hell, where Crowley is King and has a special place for me for breaking my deal. A few thousand years of having the skin peeled from your body and being set on fire among other things doesn't appeal to me. So here is where I am and here is where I stay. Be it with you or on my own with whatever is out there." I gestured to the windows.

There was silence for several minutes. Then the doctor spoke and I looked away from Mr. Sexy to look at him. 

"I think you belong here with us. You obviously can handle yourself in a fight. And I think with your history you fit right in. So, I suppose we had better introduce ourselves. My name is Bruce Banner. We can get more into our... special talents tomorrow. You need rest and that shot boost is going to wear out soon."

Prudish spoke up. "I'm Steve Rogers."  The goatee, "Tony Stark." Drop-dead redhead, "Natasha. Romanoff." The other drop-dead, "Wanda Maximoff." The brown-haired man, "Clint Barton."  The man with the metal arm, "Bucky Barnes."  The big guy with the blonde hair, "Thor Odinson, God of Thunder."  I arched my eyebrow at that one. God? 

Then that voice. "And I am Loki Laufeyson, God of Mischief and Thor's brother." This time I couldn't suppress a shiver as his voice danced down my spine.  ASMR at its best. Wonderful. But at least now I had his name. 

"Pleasure to meet you all. I admit to wanting to know more about your... talents which I'm told are different from anything I've seen, but in all honesty... I've been running on fumes and rage and it's about at its end." I looked at Bruce. "Could someone take me to a hotel so I can clean up and get some sleep?"

"Absolutely out of the question. You are staying here. You are now part of our team and I'm sure Tony here has a room he can give you."

Loki spoke from next to me, his voice a purr. "She can always share my room if there isn't a room available. I like this one and find her fascinating. I would know her better."

"Easy Brother. I'm sure Tony has a room. Although I've never seen you so eager to get to know someone before." Thor's booming laugh echoed around the room and everyone else joined in. I just raised my eyebrows in question. 

"Another time then, pet."

I gave him an impish grin and stuck my tongue out at him. He seemed like he was gonna be fun... and get me into LOTS of trouble. The kind of trouble that I was more than welcome for. 

His eyes burned blue, and he leaned forward and growled quietly in my ear, "Oh kitten, I wouldn't do that again. Or I might just have to bite that tongue. And I know we would both enjoy it."

For the first time in my life, I blushed. I had never had someone be that bold and forthright with me. But god help me, I was interested. Which told me just how little I had really cared for Dean if I could be so quickly into someone else. The knowledge of how much I wanted this man after so little time shook me. The way I was feeling was strong and it confused me which made me a little wary.

The others had seen Loki lean over and then saw my blush and gave me questioning looks. I smiled and shook my head. Nope, that was for me alone and I wasn't sharing. 

Bruce cleared his throat. "Uhh, Tony? Can you show Ariane to her room? I believe you had her things taken there already, right?"

"Sure, this way." Tony stood. "If anything in the room isn't to your liking or you need anything, just tell F.R.I.D.A.Y and she will let me know."

I followed Tony after saying goodbye to everyone, giving Loki one last look as I left the room. "Friday?"

"She is our A.I. system. I designed her and she is an essential part of the Tower." He stopped at a door. "I put you here so you won't too turned around and so you can find the main rooms. All the shared rooms are just back down the hall. Someone can give you a better tour later after you get some sleep. If you need anything, Bucky is next to you and Loki is across the hall. Welp, goodnight, and welcome to the team. I'm sure Bruce will want to take a look at you in the morning so get some sleep." With that, he turned and walked back down the hall to the living room. 

I stared at the closed door in front of me and took a deep breath. So Mr. God of Mischief was right across the hall. I filed that fact away for later. I opened the door and my jaw dropped. It was... amazing. Everything was in shades of green, from deep emerald to pale green. I loved it. I looked longingly at the bed but I knew I needed a shower. I saw my bag by the bed and with a sigh I went to unpack. Once I had things put away, which didn't take long as I didn't have much, I grabbed my nightshirt and went to the bathroom, which was impressive. It was huge. A giant tub and a huge rain shower. I was in Heaven. I had to be. Except no Angels were trying to kill me so that was a plus.  I giggled and stripped as fast as my wounds would let me. 

I headed to the shower, turned the water on, and let it run over my hand. I would take a bath another day, I was just too tired and didn't want to fall asleep in the tub. I turned the temperature to scalding and stepped in. I gave a groan as the hot water began to melt away the tension of the last few days. I washed my hair with expensive smelling shampoo that smelled like citrus, which oddly was my favorite scent. Then I just stood with my head bowed and let the water run over me. 

"Ok, I live here now. Not leaving this shower."

"Oh, really kitten. I'm sure we can find reason enough to entice you out of your shower."

I jumped and whipped a shampoo bottle towards the voice before I registered it was Loki's voice. The bottle sailed right through him.

"Umm...."

He gave a deep-throated laugh. "Remember? God of Mischief? I may have forgotten Master of Illusion."

"Yeah, you skipped that little detail. How are you doing that?"

He gave a slow smile. "Magic. Although that was quite rude. Had I really been here, that would have hit me."

I laughed. "Well Mischief Man, had you actually been here, I'm positive you would have caught it."

"Without question." He eyed me. "You are quite unusual, pet. Most people would grab for a towel as their first thought is to cover themselves. Your first thought is to strike and yet you still stand with no covering." His eyes heated as he stared at me.

I shrugged. "I'm not ashamed of my body and I learned that living is better than modesty. " 

I knew what he was seeing. Lean, tanned, and covered in scars. I knew most men liked the look of my long legs, my ass, and my full breasts but I didn't think much of it. I just needed my body to be quick and strong and do what I needed it to. 

He continued to stare at me without saying anything. I arched an eyebrow. "Enjoying the show?"

"Immensely."

I gave a slow smile as I eyed the bulge that even his illusion was showing. "Shame you're not actually here then. It would have been a much better show. But sadly, you are just an illusion and the show is over. Goodnight, Mischief Man."

I left the shower and walked right through his illusion self and into the bedroom. My heart was pounding but outwardly I was calm. I pulled on my sleepshirt and crawled into bed. I gave another moan as I settled into bed. It was as soft as it looked and felt like a cloud against my tired body. As my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was Loki's intense face, his blue eyes never leaving me. As sleep rolled over me, I heard him speak softly. 

"Yes, quite unusual but very enticing, darling. I am eager to see where this leads."