'Loki had just returned to Asgard, He had failed in his attempt to bring her back. A saddened look of defeat lingered on his features. Never before had he been unable to use his abilities to talk someone down or out of what they were going to do.
He knew what the Reach could do to people. And now she was there. And there his thoughts lingered.
His brother, Thor, Came looking for Loki. He found him looking off the balcony of his room into space. He could tell his brother was saddened. But he stepped forward wondering why his brother looked the way he did.
"What is it that you want, Thor?"Loki growled bluntly as he continued to stare into space.
"Brother I have come to see if you were successful in your search. Did you find her?" His voice was waxed with concern.
He turned to face Thor, his eyes narrowing. His smooth voice broken, "You don't know do you?" He chuckled, trying to hide his emotions, looking down to the side. Muttering,
"Heimdall said nothing." Then he returned his gaze to his brother.
"What are you not telling me, brother?"
"Shes not coming back."
"Where is she?" Thors voice was raised, demanding.
Loki pondered how he should respond. "Shes gone." He tried to state this as calmly as possible but his voice betrayed him.
He looked questionably at his brother, he tried to speak but no words came. His voice then came out rasped and worried, "What do you mean gone?! What have you done to her Loki?" He was trying to sound demanding but it failed, he was worried about his friend.
Loki was once again thinking about his words, a puzzled but thoughtful look hung about his face. He decided he should try put this delicately. "Thor, I have done nothing to harm her. She..." Thor looked as though he could kill his brother with the look he was now giving him. "...decided to leave..."
"Leave to go where, Loki?!" Thor was angered, he didn't believe his silver tongued brother, when this should have been the one time he believed the God of Mischief.
"Shes..." He was saddened that he had to recall the memory, guilt in his eyes. "Shes in the reach… Between worlds."
"Lies, Loki! Tell me the truth!" His hammer was in his hand, threatening for the truth. He could not believe that she would do something like this, in fact he refused to do this.
"I'm sorry Thor. I couldn't stop her." Tears were threatening to spill from his piercing green eyes.
"Why would she be so foolish? Did she not know what it could do to her! Why did you not stop her brother?!" He yelled at his brother, his face riddled with worry.
"I tryed, brother, believe me. I could do nothing to stop her." Tears started to spill from his eyes, and began to run down his face. "Do you know how pathetic that makes me feel?" He spat out.
Thor placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, "I am truly sorry brother. Let us put this quarrel behind us, and speak no more of it. We shall tell father." His voice was shaky and sorrow still hung in his words. He turned to lead them towards the Allfather, Odin.
"Should we trouble him with this so soon? With what is being planned so soon?"
"No, he needs to know. That is being planned many years from now. We can not let this get on the way of the planning or let it guilt our minds."
"Forty years isn't as many as you may think brother." He muttered as he walked out following his brother. His troubled look gone from his face now replaced with his signature smirk.'
"I'm so sorry." She mouthed. Walking away from the basin. She hoped it would have shown her something new. But it had only ever shown her the one image. And now, when she dreamed, it would be the only thing that would appear, the only dream she had.
The basin was located on a floating rock in the reach. She had been there for years now. Time passed quickly in the reach. For every year that passed outside of the reach, five passed within it.
The rock basin was a bowl that was raised off of the ground, it was carved from an outcrop that was in the middle of the cave. The bowl was no more than a foot across and the cave was small. It had a singular bench in it. The rock was the only one like it in the reach. Others were completely barren. But the basin had let her look upon Asgard once, and only once. And then it was clear.
It had shown her that one image or scene, of when Loki and Thor had conversed after she had just left. It plagued her mind. It made her wonder, had the Asgardians truly cared about her that much? Did they miss her?
You had been on Midgard for a few years now. This dream had always plagued your mind. It always woke you. You'd shake uncontrollably, and you would shift in your sleep. You'd break out in a cold sweat.
It was the same dream. The only dream.
When you arrived it hadn't been long before S.H.I.E.L.D. found you. You become one of their agents, codenamed Cobalt. Recently you had been stationed on the helicarrier to provide extra security for it. That was ever since Thor landed in New Mexico and leveled a small town in 'a grudge match'.
Being on the carrier didn't seem to stop the dream though. It only seemed to make it worse. This dream was worse though. It was different.
It had seemed as though you had waited in that cold dark place for so long, alone. Waiting for time to part. That feeling somehow remained, you went there thinking it would make everything better. But it didn't. This time in the darkness of the dream, it was only darkness, not the reach. It seemed as though you were still on the 'carryer, only a disembodied voice came.
"Hello." You don't know who it belongs to, yet it seems familiar and safe. And then you're hugged. By a man. You feel the warmth and think the dreams real, hugging the body back as if to greet it.
Only, it, he, lets go. "I have to go."
"Not yet." You plead softly.
"I'll come back." You believe the voice, having never seen its owner.
Only after it leaves, you have the dream again. Experiencing the reach again.
You wake yourself up screaming, tears stream down your face.
I shot up straight, my hands clenching my hair. Legs thrown over the side of the bed. I was safe, in the helicarrier. The sound of the turbines letting me know we were flying.
An agent opens the door and walks in. I look up to see Natasha Romanov or as some say, Black Widow. I wondered if I woke her. Only I couldn't bring myself to say anything. That was the first time in months I had had a dream.
Then I remembered the report that was handed to me. The tesseract had been stolen and she, Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) were brought in to help find it and Loki, the one who took it from one of S.H.I.E.L.D.S. most secure facilities.
"Are you alright?" Her voice brought me back to my senses. She was sitting beside me now. Her hand was on my shoulder, her other rubbing my back trying to calm me.
"Just a nightmare." I shuddered.
"Must have been some nightmare. Care to tell me about it?"
It took me a few moments to fully gather what she said, and be able to speak clearly, "Its allways the same one. Trapped, alone, and in darkness. Not able to escape. I thought I wouldn't have it again. It had been 6 months since the last."
"Its okay now. You are awake. It won't hurt you." She patted my back once more before standing. Then she stood making her way over to the door before stopping.
I looked up to her, feeling better. "Thank you Natasha."
Smiling warmly she started, "Get dressed, Fury wants to see you up on the bridge."
"'Kay, I'll be up there in five." She nodded once then left.
I arrived at the bridge to see Agent Romanov, Capt. Rogers, Bruce and Fury. My suit was similar to Natashas S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, only mine had a hood and the sleeves cut off just below the elbow.
"Nice of you to join us Vianna."
"Sorry to keep you waiting sir." I took a seat at the table across from Steve.
"As you should know, Bartons been compromised, somehow being controlled by Loki." Fury wasn't happy about the situation. He put a picture up on screen. "This is Loki…" The name sounded familiar somehow."...you are going with the captain here and Agent Romanov to retrieve him and if possible the tesseract. He has been spotted in Stuttgart, Germany." He paced a few times before resting his hands on the table. "this mission is of utmost importance and you will be leaving immediately. Bring him in and we'll get him to talk. Understood? Good. Now get going."
We arrived in the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet to see Loki about to kill an old man. The Capt. stopped him with his shield causing the shot to rebound and hit Loki, knocking him over. They then began fighting, the shot did little to no damage to Loki.
"Hes all over the place." 'Tash stated.
"My turn I guess." I jumped from the low flying aircraft and landed easily with no injuries.
"I got this Vi'," Capt' just manages to say before Loki sent him back a few feet away. He was wearing odd green, gold and black armor. He also had a sceptre in his hand.
A laugh emanated from Loki, and a grin spread across his face,"It looks like you had this 'handeled' you pathetic creature." He growled, sarcasm laced in his voice.
"Says the one who attacks the elderly."
His attention was now focused on me, he grunted, displeased with what I had said. "And you are!?"
"The one who's going to bring you to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Vianna."
He laughed again, his smirk growing. "Pathetic mortal. You can only kneel!" His sceptre was pointed towards me and he fired.
"No!" Capt. yelled, he didn't realise.
I held my hand out and it stopped the blast. I hadn't used my powers much. But I could create a barrier of sorts and had some control over the wind.
Loki looked confused, "How? Who are you?!"
"I told you who."
Music came from the jet, announcing Iron Man's arrival. He blasted Loki in the chest with his flight stabilizers. He was sent backwards into the stairs. The sceptre was separated
from him. "Make your move, reindeer games."
Lokis armour slowly faded, he held his hands up as a sign that he had surrendered. He knew he was outnumbered and possibly outmatched.
"Good move."
"Mr. Stark.."
"Captain." He looked over to me. "Whos the girl?"
"Shes an Agent, Vianna." Tony nodded.
Loki looked back at me and smirked.
"Creep." I mumbled. He laughed, having heard me. "Want to fill us in on your little joke?"
His grin spread. "Oh, it's nothing. Really."
"Get him onboard."
We were on the way back to the helicarrier and Loki hadn't taken his eyes off of me. I figured he was just trying to unnerve me. It was working, even though he was subdued, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing it was working.
"I don't like it." Steve broke the silence.
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
"I don't remember it being that easy. That guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you were pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"
"What?"
"Its like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
"Yeah theres a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."
A bit of thunder shook the aircraft. "Where's this coming from?" Romanov stated.
Loki looked worried, trying to look up into the storm that came from nowhere.
"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightening?" Steve looked at Loki.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows."
There was a thud that came from the roof of the jet. "Great."
The back of the jet opened and someone in armour sent Tony flying to the front of the jet. He grabbed Loki and exited after spinning his hammer and flew.
"Now there's that guy."
"Another Asgardian?" 'Tasha was checking the electronics to see if the aircraft was damaged.
"Think the guys a friendly?"
"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." He exited the craft to go after them.
We arrived at the Helicarrier with Thor, the one who stole Loki from the jet, and Loki. Captain managed to stop Tonys and Thors fight. We now only needed to know what he was upto. Having watched the interrogation between Fury and Loki on a monitor we needed to know his next move. But didn't know where he would make it.
"Iridium, what would they need that for?"
Tony walked in with Agent Coulson. "Its a stabilizing agent. Means the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He taps Thors arm, "No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing." He walked over to the monitors. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Maria Hill walked in earlier, watching the interrorgation.
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"
"He would have to get the cube to heat to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."
"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect."
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English."
"Is that what just happened?" Steve sounded confused.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Vianna. I want you to go in there and try get somthing out of Loki." Director Fury was angered at Loki.
"I'll do it right away sir." I didn't want to refuse his orders. There was no real reason for me to. I started to go towards Loki's 'cage'.
"Oh, and be careful."
The halls were made of metal, I knew how to move silently and quickly through these halls now. It had been a year since Thor first landed in New Mexico. The walk to Loki's 'cage' felt like it took longer than it should have.
When I entered the room he was facing the other way. I made my way to the chair near his prision and sat. I could tell he knew I was there.
He turned around, "I knew they'd send you in." He had his smug grin on his face.
"Are you going to tell me your plans?"
He laughed, "Why would do that?" He was standing near the cages glass wall, now facing me with his hands behind his back.
"You're going to lose you know."
He cocked his head sideways, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
"I'm asking the questions."
"I didn't know you would lower your self this low to live with these pathetic mortals. After you tricked us." He hissed with venom.
"I don't know what your talking about Loki. I was born on Earth, I've worked with S.H.I.E.L.D for years."
He snickered, "Is that what they told you, Vianna?"
"Its what I know. Now tell me your plans."
"Why should I tell you anything when you don't know anything about your dark and lonely past?" He was smirking, And he knew of the dreams, but how? They were only dreams right?
I could feel tears forming in my eyes and I walked out. Moving back towards the bridge. I could hear Thor talking about Bilgesnipe. I walked upto were he and Fury were. "I couldn't get any thing from Loki. I'm sorry."
"Have we met before?" Thor looked at me as he asked.
"I've been getting that alot lately. But no we have not met before Thor."
"Are you sure?"
"Very much so."
"Allright. Stop with the formalities. It is highly unlikely that you two have met. Vianna was no where near New Mexico when you were there, and shes been working here for 10 years now." Unless that dream wasn't a dream, and I knew them. "Now, are you sure he didn't tell you anything abour his plans?"
"I'm sure. He revealed nothing, Sir."
"Allright then. You are dismissed."
I decided to check up on Bruce and Tonys progress.
I arrived at the lab to find Tony and Bruce flicking through files on a monitor. There scan was running but hadn't picked up on any signatures yet.
"Hey guys, found the cube yet?"
"No, not yet." Tony was looking at me like I was some puzzle. "You know, I've been wondering. Seeing as though Loki recognised you in Germany and Thor on the bridge, did you come from Asgard?"
"What? I'd neve met either until today."
"You sure? 'Cause it would explain the powers, and the fact that you havn't aged since you got here."
"Not to mention that Loki mentioned your 'dark and lonely past', which upset you." Banner chipped in.
"What are you getting at?"
"That your a spy, double agent. However you want to put it."
"I don't remeber anything from before 10 years ago. So even if I wanted to put your suspicions to rest I wouldn't be able to."
"What happens when your memory comes back and we're right?"
"What if you're wrong?"
"We'll just have to wait to find out."
"You're basing you're assumptions on a whole lot of 'what ifs'."
"And your getting defensive over nothing."
I sighed and left. After all what if they were right. I decided to go back to my room and rest untill they located the tesseract. Someone would come and wake me if I was needed.
A cloudy image of the lab came into view. Fury, Natasha, Thor, Bruce, Steve and Tony were there. Arguing about somthing. The words were nothing but somerthered whisperes to me. Untill Thor spoke.
"What if she remembers and sides with Loki?!"
"We'll deal with it." Tony replied in his cocky tone.
"She may be to powerfull for you metal man."
"Than 'The other guy' will take care of it." He mentioned to Bruce.
Only he was holding the secptre.
The dream faded. Was it real? No, it couldn't be. Why would they all be in the same room like that?
A loud explosion interupted my thoughts. It was a half decent sleep too. Apart from that odd dream. Verry odd. It wasnt...
The door to my room burst open. Someone in the S.H.I.E.L.D uniform headed for me. I didn;t have time to respond before I felt a sharp pain to the head and everything went dark.
I woke up on a couch with a view. Only it wasn't from the helicarrier. It was a view of New York. Then I realised I had to be in stark tower. What other building would have a comfy couch in New York with this view.
Only Tony wasn't the one that was in the room. It was Loki. "Good, you're awake."
"What do you want with me?"
"For you to remember."
"It musn't have been that good if I forgot about it."
A deep growl eminated from him, "How would you know. You remember nothing. Not even a lie."
"I remember a dream. Thats all."
"A dream? Of what." He sounded intriged at what I had said.
"Darkness, alone, a rock. And two brothers fighting."
He looked puzzeled at the last statement, "Two brothers. Who?"
"You and Thor." I sat up on the couch to find that he hadn't restrained me at all. "No restraints?"
He chuckeled, "No, the fight was of when you first disappeared, wasn't it?"
"Yes." I found myself answeing without realiseing.
"I thought you didn't remember." The anger was showing in his voice again.
'I don't...', "You can make me remember, can't you?" It was like my mouth was moving of its own accord.
He started moving closer to me, a look of intrigue on his face. He could see the look of confusion on my face, and smirked. "I can."
His hands touched my temples, they were cold, icy even. I could feel a migrane start and tears fall down my face, but still his hands remained there. I could see things, hear things as they flashed past my eyes. Were these my memories, or his? Yours. It was my voice.
He moved away and I could feel myself breathing heavily. My face fell into my hands, the induced flashbacks faded.
I lifted my head to see Loki, his face looked concerned. I wiped the tears from my face. "Thankyou."
His exterior shifted to one of self controll, he smirked. Happy that his magic had succeded. "Your welcome." He turned to walk outside onto the balcony. "Will you help me conquer the Earth?"
"Straight to the point." I tried to stand but fell back immediately, earning a glance from Loki. "I don't think I like the idea of being an accomplice to your scheemes Loki. I like Earth the way it is. Its good in its own ways. I've lived here for the past 10 years and its been a good experience."
He turned around sharply, storming over to me. "So you'll join those who've lied to you. Betrayed you so you woldn't know the truth." He hissed.
I tilted my head, a puzzeled expression on my face.
"Oh, so they never told you." He lifted his head up and paced back a few steps, sitting on the edge of a lass table so we were level. "They found you walking in the middle of the desert, defenseless. They drugged you so you would forget everything."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I'm not done yet." He placed his hand in his lap. "The ones you call you allies, S.H.I.E.L.D, experemented on you. They made you forget so you wouldn't hold grudges. And then they used you to for their own purposes and missions." His tone changed venemous at the end.
"How did you find this all out?"
"Agent Barton."
I grabed my hair ready to pull it out.
"And that was after they found out where you had come from. They knew all along."
I shook my head, no. They couldn't do this. They wouldn't.
"They'll be here soon." He stood, grabing his sceptre, and walking out onto the balcony of the tower.
I want to know the truth. Would they tell me. No. Not if what he said is true. Could I even trust Loki, the God of Mischief? Could I trust S.H.I.E.L.D? If there going to be here soon I'll have to ask Barton.
"I stuffed up."
"What do you mean you stuffed up?" Tony walked into the room where Natasha and Clint were talking, suprised at what Barton said.
"I told Loki about Vi' when he asked."
"And thats bad why?" Tony was acting like he had been kept in the dark. But he wanted to know exactly how much he told Loki before cutting to any conclusions. He had after all hacked into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.S secure files. He found a file he wasn't expecting though. A file named COBOLT.
"If he tells her, well lets just say we won't just have Loki to deal with."
"Unless you convince her it was all a lie."
"How would do that, Tony?"
"She'll probably go to you to find out if its true. Then all you have to do is lie. And then hope she doesn't notice."
"That would only work if Loki doesn't use his magic to restore her memories or use the secptre on her. It'll be like out foxing a fox."
"No. He wouldn't use the secptre if he thinks her knowing the truth will result in her joining him."
"Hes right but we need to get going."