The God Who Cried Wolf (1/3)

Author: starhawk2005

Fandom: Marvel's Avengers

Date: January 2013

Pairing: Loki/ Jane (Lokane)

Rating: Adult (18+).

Summary: Part Four of the Light in the Dark series. Jane and Loki's secret is out….and Jane is about to have a very bad day.

Beta: Words cannot express how grateful I am to canyr12 for helping me wrestle this chapter into something readable. *big hugs*

Disclaimer: Not mine. *sobs in the corner*

Author's Note: It's movie!verse, as usual.

The next morning finds Jane standing in the middle of her trailer, deep in thought with chaos all around her.

The first thing she'd done yesterday once Loki had left had been to call Fury. Definitely an interesting conversation, although Jane certainly had mixed feelings about it. Hadn't she once promised herself that she would never do anything to help SHIELD?

She'd taken the money they'd offered, once they'd returned all her equipment to her, and tried to forgive the 'borrowing'. It had been enough money to fund her work for a year or more, and not having to write endless grants to fund her research freed up a lot of energy and time that Jane was able to put into her work. A lot of energy and time. As an added bonus, she also got to avoid the disappointment of being refused funding from other, more conventional government agencies.

But everything else that had happened after Thor had been trapped in Asgard – the Tesseract, Tromsø, not even letting her know Thor had been here – well, she hadn't wanted to help them any longer, but their money and resources had been undeniably useful. Working with them isn't the same as helping them, she'd tried to convince herself at the time.

And that thought had kept coming back during the discussion with Fury. With a new potential power source, Jane might finally be able to prove her theories, might finally be able to build an actual working bridge between worlds. I'm not helping them, she'd told herself firmly. I'm helping myself. Period.

More than once during the conversation, Jane had felt really disappointed that the one person she most wanted to share her excitement with is the one person she can't – Loki. Finally, finally, there's a promising power source out there, and real help being offered by SHIELD, and she can't talk about any of that!

When she'd finally come down a bit from the excitement of talking to Fury, she'd decided to make the all-important decision: Was she really sure about 'Apartment B'?

That's when it had occurred to her – she and Loki have only been involved in this 'arrangement' for what, around two weeks? She's uprooting herself and moving into a new place, and all for someone she's only been with for a very short period of time?

Not to mention, it's not even a relationship. It's just sex, Jane had realized uncomfortably.

What the hell are you doing? asked the familiar, negative little voice. Never mind you've only 'been' with him for two weeks….do you even really know him? Let's be honest with ourselves.

He won't tell you why he attacked Puente Antiguo. He won't tell you why he attacked Manhattan. He hasn't opened up to you at all about the fact that he's not Asgardian (assuming Jane had overheard that correctly). He doesn't see anything wrong with lying to Erik and Darcy, or to SHIELD. Is this really someone you should be involved with? Is having kinky sex really that all-important to you?

What's wrong with you?

Nothing, she'd retorted. I'm tired of living in this…ale-barrel. She'd been living in the trailer almost a year, way longer than originally planned. It was only supposed to be a 'temporary living situation', right?

And honestly, she's been seeing Loki so frequently that it doesn't even feel like a two-week old…whatever-it-is. Maybe it's not a 'relationship', but it is something. It's not just kinky sex. Jane knows it, even if there's nothing tangible she can point to. And maybe – probably – Loki would even deny it's anything more than just sex. But Jane knows better.

Or thinks she does.

But the other side of her brain isn't done: You still can't pretend that all that stuff you two don't talk about is not a big, big problem. The whole world-domination thing? How much longer are you going to ignore what's right in front of your face?

It doesn't matter, she'd again retorted right back. He's done nothing to hurt her.

That you know about, whispered the doubting little voice.

Doesn't matter, Jane had repeated firmly to herself. If nothing else, she's tired of living in this claustrophobic space. That's enough reason to move. Period.

Too impatient to sleep on it after all, she'd called the landlord of Apartment B and said she'd take the place, if it was still available. It was, and in fact it had been available right away.

So Jane had decided it was high time she started de-cluttering. De-clutter first, then start to pack up the trailer contents. With any luck, she'll be able to get some furniture soon, and maybe within a week or so, she can actually see Loki without having to also see the inside of another hotel room.

She'd spent the rest of the evening trying to do just that. The less crap she had to move, the better.

This morning had started off much the same. Jane had managed to organize most of the files from the lab that were taking up way too much room on her kitchen table (and honestly, they belonged at the lab, didn't they?). Then she'd gone through her closet, creating a pile of clothes-to-donate which is now dominating most of the space on her bed, and right at the moment she is pulling all of the dishes out of her cabinets, to see if she really needs to keep everything.

She checks her watch. One of the advantages of being a research scientist is that you don't need to keep a strict nine-to-five schedule, but it's already 10:30am and she can't really blow off the entire day. She'll go in just for the afternoon, she decides. She reaches for her cell phone to call Darcy, and let her know she'll be coming in later-

A loud knock at the door startles Jane. Hardly anybody ever comes by. Maybe it's Darcy, wondering where Jane is? While it's not unusual for Jane to sleep in, 10:30 is a little late for her.

But when Jane opens the door, after almost stumbling over a box of dishes in the process, she doesn't recognize the woman standing there. She's got green eyes and short red, wavy hair, and she's dressed in a black leather jacket and black jeans. "Yes?" Jane asks, frowning.

"Doctor Foster, my name is Natasha Romanov. I work for SHIELD."

"Oh," Jane says. "Please, come in."

Jane watches Agent Romanov weave gracefully around all the obstacles on the floor. "Sorry," Jane says awkwardly, embarrassed.

The agent looks around, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going somewhere, Doctor Foster?"

"What? Oh, no," Jane laughs. "I'm moving into a new place in town. Just starting to…pre-pack?" She removes some kitchen towels from a chair and motions the agent towards it. "Are you here about the Stark-Foster Project?"

Agent Romanov doesn't move. "Yes. In fact, there've been some new developments. Important developments. And I've been asked to bring you in."

Jane blinks. "Oh, OK," she says. "Wow, things are moving much faster than I expected, based on what the Director and I talked about last night."

"I'm afraid I don't know the exact details, Doctor. It's above my pay-grade," the agent says, smiling faintly. "But I do know that the Director is waiting, so if you'd be kind enough to come with me-" The agent motions towards the door.

"OK, I, uh," Jane tries to think. Does she need any of her notebooks? "I should probably call Darcy – my lab assistant – and let her know where I'm going. Or wait, should she come too-"

"It's taken care of," Agent Romanov said. "And we'll send later for any notes you think you may need, after you are briefed."

"Oh," Jane says. Really, no notes of any kind? She shrugs and grabs her backpack, and walks up to the agent, who peers into Jane's face very closely for a second. Before Jane can ask what's wrong, though, the agent turns and opens the door for her. What was that? Jane wonders.

The agent ushers her out, pausing to let Jane lock up after them. That's when Jane sees the small fleet of black vans waiting. Four of them, with a few men in suit jackets standing around, and another man all in black, with what looks like a…bow strapped to his back.

Something feels off to Jane. Do they really think she's that valuable, that they're sending an armed escort to collect her? Maybe SHIELD is starting to take her work that seriously, even if Stark's super-powerful arc-reactor hasn't actually been built yet. Jane's not sure how she feels about that.

If they do think she's that valuable, who or what are they trying to protect her from?

Gee, I don't know. Loki, maybe? sarcastically pipes up the negative little voice.

As they get closer to the first van, the man with the bow turns and fixes Jane with a stare that makes her vaguely uncomfortable. It seems….distrustful.

But then again, what does Jane know? She's an astrophysicist, not a psychologist. Reading stars is so much easier than reading people, sometimes.

"Tasha?" the man asks Agent Romanov.

The agent shakes her head. "Shall we, Doctor Foster?" she opens the back door of the van.

Swallowing her unease (or trying to), Jane climbs into the van, laying her backpack across her lap. Agent Romanov climbs in next to her, and another man in a dark suit climbs into the passenger seat. The agent with the bow takes it off and attaches it somehow down on the floor in the front of the van, before sliding in behind the wheel.

"Let's go," Agent Romanov says, and they head away from Puente Antiguo.

For ten minutes, the ride is mostly silent. At one point, Jane tries to make a joke about the big security detail, and Agent Romanov smiles a little, but says nothing. Jane's nerves gradually crank up higher and higher, even as she tries to convince herself that she's blowing things out of proportion.

The truth is, she doesn't really trust SHIELD. How can she, after everything that's happened?

But right now they hold all the cards. If Stark can really make this arc-reactor work, if Jane can really access almost unlimited power as a result…well, there's no way she's passing that up. Even if she has to deal with SHIELD's paranoia in the meantime. At least this time they came to her, instead of cutting her out and going to Erik.

So even if Jane doesn't agree with their methods, she's kind of stuck. She's sold her soul to the devil.

Just as Jane finishes reminding herself of all these facts, Romanov turns to her. "I'm so sorry Doctor, but we need you to put this on." She's holding what looks like a black hood in her hand.

Jane blinks at her. "What?"

"As you can see," the agent says calmly, "Security is very important to us. You're going to be working on a project that could give us access to other worlds. Other universes. I'm sure you can appreciate how secretive we feel we need to be. So it's S.O.P. that nobody – not even you – knows where you're going. At least for right now."

It makes sense (at least some). Jane's accustomed to thinking about these things from a scientific perspective, but of course the government is going to be worried about potential problems. Intelligence leaks, that kind of thing.

Besides, Jane isn't sure she has much of a choice. She lets Agent Romanov slip the hood over her head.

They drive for what feels like a very very long time (is it hours, or does it only seem like it?), and then Jane feels the van slow to a stop. She starts to take the hood off, but Agent Romanov stops her.

"Sorry, Doctor," she says, apologetic yet firm. "My orders are pretty specific. Just let me lead you. I know it feels awkward, but we'll take the hood off pretty soon, I promise."

"Uh, OK," Jane says, sliding carefully out of the van at the agent's urging. Her feet grit first in sand, and then on concrete. A door whooshes open in front of them, and the air around Jane turns much cooler. She's inside some kind of building, clearly.

There's more walking, their footsteps echoing in a hallway. Romanov's hand is firm on Jane's shoulder, guiding her eventually to stop. After a moment there's the sound of a door being unlocked. Jane is led forward, and the hood is removed.

Jane looks around her. The room is small and mostly empty, except for a table, two chairs, and a long mirror along one wall.

There's no mistaking where she's been brought. It's an interrogation room. Jane's hands turn ice cold.

"Please wait here, Doctor. Someone will be with you shortly," the agent continues in the same calm tones, as if nothing is out of the ordinary here. She slips out, and Jane hears the door's lock engage behind her.

Jane's cold hands clench tightly together. I could be in big trouble here.

The instant the SHIELD agent makes contact with Jane, he feels it.

Loki had been in the middle of the desert, checking the intricate lacework of his warning-spells, searching for any signs of Thanos, or the Chitauri, or indeed anything at all that should not have been there.

Still nothing. He checks again regardless, because there is not much else for him to do otherwise. He supposes he could explore Midgard again, see if there is anything on this barren rock of a planet that could serve to defend him if it comes to that, but it would just be something to fill time, and Loki knows it all too well.

So once his task is done, Loki turns his mind to other, more pleasing matters. Such as what bed-games he will play with his mortal lover when next he sees her.

Not for the first time, he wonders if he has allowed things to move too swiftly. He did not expect to grow so…fond of her, so quickly. Firmly, he reminds himself that he must let it develop no further, no deeper, than that. This is no time to gain himself a consort. Even if he had something worthy to offer – a palace, a country, a Realm – he has too many enemies to consider weighing his escape down with the extra baggage of a mate.

But it matters not; she seems content with the little he has to offer. She has proven most accommodating to his desires, and it makes him wonder how much further he can press her into submission. What other acts, perhaps, he can demand of-

There is an abrupt tremble in the web of magic he has stretched over the desert-city where Jane resides, sending him a sign that something is amiss. Jane is not at ease about something.

Within less than a breath, he magicks himself inside Jane's trailer, but he keeps himself cloaked in invisibility for now. Even on a planet populated by beings so much weaker than himself, Loki prefers to pick his battles. And he promised Thor he would not engage them unless necessary, did he not?

Loki smirks to himself as he takes in the scene. Ah, the irony that the so-called 'Black Widow' – a type of Midgardian spider, if his memory does not fail him – should be the one to trigger his web.

He observes Romanov's interaction with Jane, following quickly but silently after them as they exit Jane's dwelling.

He raises an eyebrow at the group of black transports, frowning at Barton's presence here.

No, this does not bode well.

I have been too complacent, perhaps.

Seeing Barton brings back unpleasant recollections, and for a moment he feels guilt, remembering how he used the mortal, but he banishes it at the next breath. Guilt serves no useful purpose.

He turns his attention to Jane, who is obviously nervous. He can practically taste it. For a brief moment, he considers simply collecting her and magicking them both away. SHIELD is no real threat to him, after all. She will probably not appreciate being taken away from her work, but it would be nothing to him to come back and steal whatever she will need, should she desire it. She can work in secrecy and never fear interruption by SHIELD or indeed any unwelcome mortal organization, good or ill.

Uncertain, he observes the brief exchange between the Widow and Barton, then watches them all climb into their transports, considering his next move.

Does the situation necessitate Jane's removal? So far, despite Jane's unease, he has not seen much of anything to indicate that they are even aware of Jane's involvement with him. Were they threatening, that would be another matter entirely, but even then, there is no true peril here. Not to him, and he will see to it not to his lover.

Choosing to wait, he climbs swiftly and silently onto the top of the transport containing Jane, holding on as the vehicle drives off.

Waiting gives him time to think, and when another thought occurs, he gives it due consideration. He had been unable to curry favour with Odin, even once he explained his ploy to deceive Thanos. Perhaps he should see if these mortals have more sense than the All-Father?

He can still whisk Jane away at any time, should they threaten her. She is not in any danger, not while he is here.

But as he is not one to show all his cards unless completely necessary, first he will make certain whether or not their tryst has been discovered. Jane may be nervous, but he promised her he would not allow SHIELD to harm her, had he not? Surely she will remember that, and her faith in her god will sustain her, until Loki is certain what is going on here.

And some time later, as the transport continues on, another thought occurs as well: This might give him a rare opportunity to see where Jane's loyalties truly lie. If the other Midgardians do suspect his involvement with her, and accuse her, will his fondness be rewarded? Or will she betray him, as all the others before her (Odin, Frigga, Thor)? She possesses no knowledge that can harm him – he has seen to it, has told her nothing of use – so he need have no concerns there. And if she is all too willing to betray him, better he learns of it the sooner.

So he waits. And watches.

Jane sits down in one of the hard metal chairs, trying not to twist her shaky hands together. If they do not suspect anything, it's best not to give them any reason to.

Maybe this has nothing to do with Loki at all, she tries to convince herself, for probably the hundredth time.

Maybe Director Fury is going to show up any moment, tell me the Stark-Foster project is progressing beyond anyone's expectations, and he needs my help. And I'll feel really silly about being so nervous.

Maybe that's all this is. She's here for a debriefing, nothing more.

Oh please, mocks the negative little voice in her head. You are the dumbest smart person ever. Of course this is about Loki! You need to stop lying to yourself, Jane.

And while we're on the subject, the voice continues, where the fuck is he? Didn't he promise he would never let this happen to you? This exact thing?

Doesn't it make you wonder what else he was lying about-

The door is unlocked and opened, cutting the negative little voice off, and Jane catches a glimpse of several armed guards standing outside in the hallway, before Erik walks in. The door shuts and locks behind him again.

"Erik!" Jane says, standing up and trying not to show how relieved she is to see him. If Erik's here, then everything must be OK, right?

"Jane," Erik says, and he sounds almost as relieved as Jane feels. He comes over and takes her hands – his feel nearly as cold as hers – and then he peers closely into her face, just like Agent Romanov did earlier. What the heck is going on?

Erik's eyes search hers, his hands squeezing hers a little tighter. "Jane, I have something to tell you, and it may come as a shock, but you have to know."

"What?" Jane asks, her heart sinking. Has something happened to Thor?

"I saw you the other day, out on the street in Puente Antiguo. You came out of an apartment building, with a man."

Jane's blood turns to ice-water. It was Erik. That's why SHIELD brought me in. He saw us, he recognized Loki. This is not the way she wanted Erik to find out, not after everything that Loki had put him through.

Really? the negative voice pipes up sarcastically again. How exactly were you planning to tell him? Throw him a 'Surprise! I'm fucking the being who mind-fucked you' party?

"Jane," Erik continues. "I recognized him. It was Loki."

Jane pulls her hands away from Erik's, unable to look him in the face. He thinks she doesn't know who she's been sleeping with. "Jane?" he asks, sounding very worried now.

There's no easy way to say this, so just get it over with, Jane coaches herself. Still, she can't meet his eyes as she answers. "I know. He's the one I've been….seeing these last couple of weeks."

Erik's jaw drops. "Wh-what?" There's a long, painful silence. "How could you do this? How could you lie to us, to me-" he interrupts his own question. "Did he threaten you?"

"No!" Jane answers vehemently, finally meeting Erik's gaze. At least, he hasn't threatened me since the beginning- "Look, I know how this looks, how it sounds, but he hasn't threatened me, or hurt me, or tried to control me in any way-"

"How would you even know, Jane? If he was controlling your mind? I've been there, been under Loki's power. I created the gateway for him to bring his alien army through to attack Earth, and I did it even though I didn't want to. Do you have any idea how easy would it be for him to make you fall in love with him?" He steps closer, reaching out to grasp her shoulders.

Jane shakes her head. "You told me what it felt like, remember? To have your mind under someone else's control? Watching yourself do things as if it was someone else doing them? I don't feel like that." And yet, if Loki has her under some kind of spell, would she even recognize it? She can recognize mind-control – or thinks she can – but what about magic?

Erik scoffs and shakes his head. "If you are being mind-controlled, you wouldn't be able to tell me-" He says, though it seems to be more to himself than to her.

"I'm not being controlled," Jane insists.

Erik stares at her for a long moment. "OK, let's assume I believe you. I want to know why, then, you lied to me and Darcy. Are you working with Loki?"

Jane shakes her head, starting to feel angry now, even as she tells herself that Erik doesn't deserve it.

Trying to cover up your own shame? asks the nagging little voice.

Jane pushes it away. "No! The reason I didn't tell you, was because I didn't know how. That's all. Look, I didn't plan to get…involved with him. I was there when he attacked the town with the Destroyer and tried to kill Thor, remember? We all had front-row seats! But, I don't know, when I met him in person…." Jane draws a long, shaky breath. It sounds so pathetic when she says it like that, but what else can she say? That she had needed something, and Loki had provided it? No, she's not sharing her kinks with Erik.

"And I'm not working with Loki on anything," Jane continues. "We are just….seeing each other. I'm not building him a portal or anything. Heck, we've never even discussed-"

"So, this whole Stark-Foster thing, Loki knows nothing about it?" Erik scoffs.

"If he knows about it, and I have my doubts, it's not because of anything I told him," Jane answers.

There's another long, awkward pause. "This is not you," Erik finally says. "The Jane I've known since she was a child, would never keep a secret like this from me-"

"Oh, I'm keeping secrets?" Jane retorted, her anger finally spilling over. "What about you?"

Erik blinks at her, confused. "What?"

"How long were you working on the Tesseract, Erik? How long were you listening to me pining for Thor, thinking that I'd never find a power source strong enough to create the wormhole, and then you'd head off to SHIELD and spend the day looking right at the one power source that I needed!"

It's finally out, the ball of resentment in her chest that's been there ever since everything that had come to light after the Battle of Manhattan. She'd told herself over and over that it hadn't been Erik's fault, and yet….

"Jane, I didn't have a choice!" Erik yells, obviously upset. "Have you forgotten that Loki had been controlling me for months? That the reason I even agreed to work on the Tesseract was because he influenced me? You knew all this, and you still became 'involved'-" Erik makes sarcastic air quotes"-with him? What he did was no different than assaulting me. Hell, raping me – violating my mind. And yet, now you're telling me that you're sleeping with him of your own free will?"

He's making some excellent points, the negative little voice whispers. Loki did do all this nasty stuff. But you have blinders on, don't you?

Jane winces at the rage and pain in Erik's face. "I'm sorry, Erik, that was uncalled for," she apologizes, feeling the sting of guilt. But it doesn't change the basic facts. "Look, I don't blame you for thinking Loki is dangerous – hell, you thought Thor was dangerous! – or that I'm not in my right mind right now-"

"You aren't!" Erik shouts. Oh yes, he thinks she's lost it.

She takes another deep breath. "Erik," she says slowly, as calmly as she can manage, "I need you to believe me, to trust me on this. I'm doing everything out of my own free will. Loki is not controlling me, and I'm not helping him try to take over the Earth again. Look, I don't know why he attacked us, not in Puente Antiguo, and again in Manhattan, and yes, I do remember everything that you told me about what happened to you, and how it felt. But the man I've been seeing… " she pauses, shaking her head slowly. "It just doesn't match up. It doesn't make any sense. I have to think that there were some kind of extenuating circumstances, some reason why he did all that."

Weak, weak, weak, mocks the little voice in her head. That the best you got? Really?

Erik looks appalled. "Jane, he's the God of Lies. Whatever he told you, no matter how convincingly he told you-"

"He hasn't told me anything," Jane retorts, though it feels like such a weak justification, again. Why does it sound so stupid, when she tries to translate what her gut is telling her into actual logic? "Look, he's been…good to me, OK?"

How can she convey to other people what seems to make such perfect sense to her?

"Please, Jane," Erik pleads, visibly calming himself and taking her hands, "Please be logical about this. Even if he's been 'good to you', do you think it's an accident that he picked you of all people? He wants you for some purpose. You can build him another Bifrost-"

Jane pulls her hands from Erik's again, shaking her head. "It's not about that. He's all alone, and he needed someone. And I needed what he was offering me." She doesn't want to say any more than that. Remembering something, she looks up at Erik again. "Someone once told me, a long time ago, that relationships aren't logical."

Erik throws up his hands, angry all over again. "You can't use that argument with me, Jane! Besides the fact that you know all too well how badly that relationship ended for me, the stakes here are just too goddamned high!" By the end of the sentence, Erik is yelling once again.

Jane turns away, but Erik isn't done, though he is obviously working very hard to calm himself down. "You need to cooperate with us, Jane. You need to help us stop whatever Loki has planned. Tell us everything you know. You have to. Thousands, maybe millions of lives-"

Jane turns back to Erik. "I don't know anything. Except this feeling in my gut that you're wrong about him. That everyone is wrong about him," she insists.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Erik says stiffly, after a long silence. He's angry and hurt, and it makes Jane's heart ache. But even if she wants to, she can't tell him what she doesn't know.

"I'm sorry too, Erik," she says. "For not telling you about Loki from the start. I didn't do any of this to hurt you-"

"Save it, Jane," Erik rasps angrily. Jane tries to hold back the tears as Erik raps loudly on the door and then storms out of the room, the door locking ominously behind him. But she fails.

What if he's right? What if Loki really is using her, or enspelled her?

And even if Loki isn't using her - either just for sex, or for something far more dangerous - is her 'arrangement' with him worth all this? Worth losing Erik's friendship?

She stares at the walls, but there's no answers there.

And no Loki.

They leave her alone in the room for another two hours, and it's agonizing.

Jane's stomach aches, tied in tight knots when it's not growling from hunger.

But the worst is the doubts, the nagging little voices in her head. You didn't want to work for SHIELD, but they came running with their chequebooks, and now here you are. You should've remembered how they screwed you before, and stayed far, far away from them.

And while we're on the subject, something else you should've stayed far away from was Loki. All his promises, and where is he now?

I guess the truth is, he was just after someone to play his twisted little sex games with. And now that you're in trouble, it's not so much fun, so he's in the wind.

You'll never see him again.

Stop it! Jane yells silently at the voices.

But they are stubborn: He's not coming. You're all alone.

"Loki," she finally dares to say it out loud, sure that someone from SHIELD is watching and listening, but she no longer cares who else might hear, except him.

But he doesn't come. Where are you? Why did you leave me here like this?

She paces the room, arms crossed tightly around herself, trying not to hyperventilate, trying not to feel like the walls are closing in on her. The negative voices continue to natter on, and a headache is starting behind her eyes.

When the door opens again, it's almost a relief, but not for long. It's Fury, holding a Styrofoam cup, and two file folders.

"Doctor Foster," he says, taking one of the chairs. "Please, sit."

Jane's initial impulse is to resist his invitation, but then she reminds herself that she's done nothing wrong, she hasn't hurt anyone, and so she decides the best thing is to play along. She has nothing to be guilty about.

Wordlessly, Fury pushes the cup towards her. It's water, or seems to be, and though Jane doesn't really trust it, she's too hungry and thirsty to care. She empties it all in nearly one swallow.

Fury has one file folder, the thinner one, open, flipping through it, and Jane isn't surprised to see it's all about her. "Jane Emily Foster, Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Penn State University," Fury begins. "Born June 9, 1981." He goes on, listing off other key facts from her life, like the date and cause of her father's death, the titles of the first two scientific papers she published on her Einstein-Rosen bridge theories…

Jane fists her hands tightly together under the table as a sudden thought occurs to her. Loki might be nowhere to be found – where the hell is he? – but maybe she's not powerless here. "I think I am entitled to a lawyer," she interjects as soon as Fury pauses for breath.

"Under the Patriot Act," Fury drawls, sitting back in the chair and crossing his arms, "You're not entitled to anything, Doctor."

Jane's anger makes an abrupt return. "You're labeling me as a terrorist?"

"How else would you describe it, Doctor? You are, by your own admission, sleeping with a known war criminal."

It's true, whispers the negative little voice, but Jane shakes her head. "Like I told Erik, I know how this looks. But-"

"But?" Fury cuts in. "There are no buts here, Doctor. Would you like to know how many people in total Loki has killed during his last two visits to our planet?" He pulls the other file folder out. It's much thicker than the file on her.

Fury flips it open and shoves it in front of her. Pictures of Loki in his various armours, pictures of Loki in a glass-walled cell, reams of numbers listing how many people were killed, how many injured, estimated costs of the damage to downtown Manhattan-

"Your demi-god 'boyfriend' is responsible, either directly or indirectly, for killing or injuring just over a thousand people. So you'll forgive me if I am looking for one helluva good explanation from you, as to why you think what you're doing with this entity is defensible."

Gritting her teeth, Jane shoves the file right back at Fury. She decides to go on the offensive. "Did anyone actually stop and ask Loki why he did these things?"

Fury scoffs. "Psychopaths generally don't give rational answers, Doctor. So what would be the point?"

"So, you didn't bother," Jane presses.

"Even if I wanted to – and again, I didn't – Thor took care of it for us. The Asgardian royals said they would take Loki and the Tesseract right away, and who are we to argue with gods? With the Tesseract on Asgard, Earth is no longer a target, and that was my only concern at the time." But the look on Fury's face suggests to Jane that he hadn't been entirely happy with that turn of events.

"In any case, according to Dr. Selvig, you haven't gotten an answer from Loki, either," Fury points out.

"I didn't ask," Jane admits.

"And why not?"

Jane pauses to think, trying to figure out how best to put it. "At first, honestly, I don't think I wanted to know. I guess I was afraid I might hear something from him that I wouldn't be able to live with. But the longer I've been with him, the more I think that it's not possible that he did these things….willingly."

"You'll need to be a little more specific, Doctor," Fury prods her after a brief silence.

Jane chooses her words carefully again. "The way he's acted towards me."

Oh, because he's always been so nice, pipesup the sarcastic, rebellious voice in the back of her mind. He's never been vicious, has he? Oh wait, he was pretty nasty to Thor, wasn't he? And how about at the beginning, when he was acting like he'd like nothing better than to skin you alive, using just his teeth? Do you think maybe there's just the slightest possibility that Fury and the rest of them are in the right, and you're a lovestruck moron?

Stop, Jane tells herself. He's been pretty good – cultural misunderstanding aside, anyway – since they agreed to their 'arrangement'. If he's such an evil creature, why stop that first time? The first time he yanked me out of my trailer and away to a hotel, and I was scared out of my mind? He didn't hurt me, or force me into anything. He hasn't come to the lab and stood over me with a dagger. He hasn't abused me.

The question is, how can she make other people see this, without having to get into the realm of 'too much information'?

"Tell me, Director," Jane continues, "if Loki wanted to make me build him another portal, how do you think he would go about it?"

Fury leans back and crosses his arms again, single eye narrowed at her. "I ask the questions in this room, Doctor."

Unable to sit still any longer under Fury's fierce glare, Jane gets up and paces slowly back and forth. "Fine, I'll tell you. He takes over my mind."

"That's what Selvig thought was going on initially, when he first spotted you and reported in," Fury says. "But I don't believe Loki is controlling you. You don't exhibit any of the signs."

"No," Jane agrees. "So if he doesn't own my mind, the other option would be to threaten me. He's a lot stronger than me, than any of us humans, actually. I'm sure there's any number of ways he could torture me, terrify me, force me with physical intimidation to do whatever he wanted." Talking about him like that reminds her too vividly of how they first met, but she clamps down hard on those memories. Really not helpful right now.

She stops pacing and leans on the table, making herself meet Fury's gaze. "But he hasn't."

Fury frowns thunderously. "You're dancing around one other very obvious possibility, Doctor. Loki doesn't need to threaten you. He's the God of Lies. The Trickster. Don't you think it'd be pretty easy for him to convince you that he loves you? Make it seem OK to do anything for him-"

Has Loki even used the word 'love' when talking to her? Not that Jane can remember. She snorts derisively. "Why, because that's so much quicker and easier than just beating the crap out of me? Quick, call Guantanamo Bay! 'Love conquers all'!" she declares sarcastically. It's probably not a good idea to bait Fury, but Jane can't help herself.

He just sits and glares, though, which gives Jane some time to think. There's a logical argument she can make here, she knows there has to be.

"But hey, let's go with your theory," Jane continues. "So, Loki lies – or uses some kind of spell, hey, why not? – to make me fall in love with him. If that was the case, you'd think he'd be encouraging me to work on the portal for him, right?"

Fury just shrugs, clearly waiting for her to get to the point.

Jane leans further over the table, glaring hard at Fury. "Well, he hasn't. He's never – ever!- asked me about my work. Never tried to push, or even suggest, that it's something I should be working harder or faster on. He's never even visited me in the lab!" Well, that's not strictly true, but since Loki's visit had been only sexually-motivated, Jane doesn't think the details are relevant here.

"If anything," she finishes, "he's kind of been a distraction. Does any of that sound like someone whose goal is to get another gateway built?"

"You forget, Doctor. Loki lives a lot longer than us mere mortals. He can wait." Fury retorts.

Jane scoffs and shakes her head. "Sure, he could wait, but honestly, from what I know of him, he's not that patient." A new thought occurs to her, one she's never considered before. "And even if he can wait, we can't. He's immortal, but I'm not. And maybe nobody else can build him that bridge. He waits, what, ten, fifteen, twenty years, for me to figure it out? Longer? Eventually I'm going to die, and maybe there won't be another scientist for a long time, if ever, who can make my theory work. Or," she adds, as still another thought occurs, "I get hit by a bus randomly tomorrow and die. How does that help his cause?"

"Fine," Fury said brusquely, tapping his fingers impatiently on the file folders. "So far, you've told me what he hasn't been doing. What has he been doing?"

Jane goes back to pacing, feeling her face grow hot, but there's no denying it. She knew this line of questioning was coming, though she still tries to dodge it as long as she can. "He's not with me all the time. And before you ask, no, I haven't asked what he's doing when he's not with me."

"And what does he do when he's with you?" Fury asks impatiently.

Jane has to stifle a nervous giggle. Um, gets me naked, ties me up, and teases me with illusory snakes? Phone sex at the lab? Spanks me while pretending I'm his rebellious sex slave? It might be worth the embarrassment to say it out loud and see how Fury reacts.

But in the end, she loses what little nerve she has. "We sleep together. In the Biblical sense."

Fury shakes his head in disbelief. "I know some women are attracted to dangerous men, but don't you think you're taking it way too far? Assuming, that is, I even believe you at all."

Jane throws up her hands and paces again. "Director, let me assure you, I am a crappy liar. Both Erik and Darcy – and my Mom! – will confirm that." But then she realizes she has been lying, to Erik and Darcy and pretty much everyone lately. A lie of omission, but still a lie.

Right now, Erik probably thinks she is a good liar, all things considered. And it's not like she can blame him.

She slows her steps, thinking fast. She needs more ammunition. And there's something, some piece of evidence that she can use, she can feel it, but it's choosing to elude her at the moment.

In the meantime, she adds: "Look, I realize I've only known him a few weeks, but the point is, he's been pretty good to me. And even when he does do something I don't like, I can always stand up to him and tell him off. And he's backed down every time." She hesitates, then adds: "And the one time he did frighten me, badly, it was same thing – when he realized I was terrified, he backed off." Jane stops and looks Fury straight in the eye again. "Does that sound like the behaviour of a megalomaniac psychopath bent on world domination?"

"Probably nothing more than a very clever and sophisticated act, to lull you into trusting his crazy ass," Fury retorts. "He's the goddamned God of Lies, Doctor-"

"So what if he is? That doesn't mean he lies all the time." It's Jane's turn to scoff. And yet, there's the rebellious little voice again: Yes, but haven't you told yourself quite a few times what a good actor Loki seems to be?

Just then the 'God of Lies' reference finally shakes loose the idea Jane's been trying to prise out of her grey matter. Yes! she cheers to herself, ignoring the nagging little voice's last reminder.

She goes to lean forward on the table again. "But you know what, Director? If you don't want to take my word for it, if you don't want to believe me, that's totally fine." She manages to pause for dramatic effect. "How about believing in Thor, though?"

Fury raises his eyebrows. "What about Thor?" he asks testily.

"He was here four days ago. He came and talked-" Yeah, let's go with that – "to Loki, and after they did that, Thor decided to leave Loki here. He didn't try to take Loki back to Asgard, didn't tell Loki to stay away from me. If Thor, and presumably Odin, think it's OK for Loki to be here on Earth, then doesn't it seem plausible that there isn't any danger? Thor sees himself as Earth's protector. If he thought for one instant that Loki was up to something that could hurt any of us, he would never have left Loki here. Or, he'd be back in a flash to make Loki pay. Even if you don't trust my judgment, how about Thor's? Or Odin's?" Even though Jane suspects Odin may not actually approve of Thor's decision to leave Loki here, Fury doesn't need to know that, right?

From the look on Fury's face….well, let's just say his expression matches his last name, Jane thinks to herself.

Going out on a limb, Jane continues. "You knew Thor was here, didn't you? I'm sure you picked up the Tesseract's power signature when he arrived. There's not much going on that SHIELD doesn't seem to know about-"

"We read the power signature, yes. But we didn't know who it was," Fury contradicts her. "You say it was Thor. I say it was Loki."

Jane blinks, her heart sinking. Her brilliant argument is coming unraveled. "You mean, Thor never came to see you-" Oh crap. Loki had asked Thor not to tell SHIELD about them, so now that she thinks about it, Thor had probably just gone straight back to Asgard.

In trying to protect Jane and Loki's secret, had Thor unwittingly ruined Jane's best argument?

Jane shakes her head. It's the best defense she might have here, so she won't give it up easily. "Trust me, it wasn't Loki. He's been here for almost two months." But Jane's heart sinks all over again as she realizes that she has no proof to offer. Sure, SHIELD had picked up on Thor using the Tesseract, but she has no clue how Loki had gotten here.

SHIELD obviously hadn't picked up on Loki's arrival. Or she has to assume they hadn't, since nobody had ever come to warn her about it.

"Enough, Doctor!" Fury suddenly shouts, slamming a hand down on the table, making Jane jump. "I've wasted enough time on this. The clock is ticking, Doctor. So I'll ask you one more time: What is Loki up to?"

But Jane can only mutely shake her head. Suddenly, she's very afraid.

"If you won't cooperate," Fury says, his voice quiet but deadly, "I am afraid we'll have to employ more….extreme measures."

He's talking about torturing me, Jane realizes. Christ, I'm in so much fucking trouble.

She squeezes her icy hands into fists, and tries to comfort herself: No way Loki lets that happen. He promised-

Oh yeah? So where the FUCK is he, then? Abandoned first by the god of thunder, and then the god of mischief? Batting a thousand there, Janie.

"It's not my preference, though," Fury is saying. "So I'll give you the night to think about it, Doctor Foster. Maybe tomorrow you'll realize that you have a responsibility to help us."

"Wait," Jane says desperately, thinking fast. "If Thor was here and then left, you should have read two power surges, right? One when he arrived, the other when he went back to Asgard. If it was Loki and he stayed, then shouldn't you only have read one surg-"

"I told you, Doctor Foster, unless the next sentence out of your mouth has to do with Loki's current whereabouts and actions, we have nothing else to talk about. At least until tomorrow morning," Fury finishes, the threat obvious.

Jane shakes her head slowly, helplessly. Even if I wanted to tell you, I have nothing to tell you, she thinks. Frozen, she watches as Fury gathers the folders and her empty cup, and leaves.

The torture is an empty threat. It has to be. Even if Loki isn't about to blip in from nowhere to save her – Where is he? Has something happened to him? – Jane can't imagine that Thor will be too happy if he finds out about her being tortured, either. Maybe that's an argument she can use. Tomorrow.

Please, please, she prays, though she's not sure whether she's praying to Loki, or Thor, or to a non-Norse God she hasn't believed in, in years, get me out of this.

Jane paces her cell nervously, trying not to meet the flat, indifferent stares of the guards standing around her jail.

Four armed guards had ordered her out of the interrogation room soon after Fury had left, then marched her down to this cavernous basement room, which had four large iron-barred cells set up, right in the middle.

They'd brought her food and water, and then just sat and watched.

Despite her nerves, Jane had been too hungry to ignore the food. But once it was consumed, there had been nothing to do but sit on the tiny cot, or pace the cell. There's a small, curtained-off area with a toilet, but that's the only privacy Jane gets.

Except for sitting on the bed and covering her face with her hands, that is. In that darkness, though, there's nothing to comfort her. So she keeps getting up and pacing.

On what has to be her hundredth circle around the cell, her stomach cramps and nausea grips her, threatening to spill her recently-acquired meal out on the floor. No matter how many times she tells herself that they won't torture her – Thor wouldn't allow it, and she's pretty sure Erik, no matter how angry and betrayed he feels right now, wouldn't be pleased, either – it doesn't remove the fear.

She's a private person, an introverted, law-abiding person who rarely breaks the speed limit and has never even had a parking ticket, and to be locked in like this, under scrutiny, is torture all by itself.

It had been bad enough when SHIELD had originally come in and 'borrowed' all her work (and she imagines they've probably done it all over again; they're probably ransacking her trailer and the lab right this minute, as she paces in impotent circles), but this confinement is so much worse than even that.

She can't even see the stars.

But worst of all is the feeling of complete and utter loneliness and abandonment. She's sure SHIELD won't bother to tell her remaining family where she is. Darcy similarly probably has no clue. Thor is too far away to help, assuming he still even cares. And Erik? Erik doesn't trust her any more, that much is obvious.

And Loki…

Empty promises, the negative voice gloats, victorious. Did you really expect anything else? Why would someone who tried to level Manhattan bother to save his little friend-with-benefits? Oh wait, you're not even a friend, are you? He tells you nothing at all – not what he did, or why, or what he does with his time when he's not fucking your naïve little brains out-

SHUT UP! Jane screams at herself. But there's nothing else she can think of to counter that.

That's probably why he never told you squat about what he's doing here. That way if you ever got captured, he'd never have to worry about you ratting him out. He's probably halfway around the globe by now, laughing to himself about it all. How well he's ruined your life. Maybe that was even his plan all along?

Jane puts her hands over her ears, even though that won't stop the voice of her doubts.

And even if we play Devil's Advocate here, even if he meant what he said about keeping you safe from SHIELD…God of Lies, right? Even if he wanted to be truthful with you, maybe he can't be. How's that for a hypothesis, Doctor Foster?

The headache behind her eyes is increasing and spreading, the tension becoming just this side of unbearable. She wonders how long it will be before the anxiety and fear break her; before she tells the guards to go get Fury? Before she just starts making crap up, tells them what she thinks they want to hear (even if it's all lies), just to get out of here?

It feels as if the bars are pulling in closer and closer, as if the whole cell is squeezing down on her, as if it's getting harder to breathe. Jane collapses on the bed and buries her face in her hands again-

That's when Jane feels something. It's like a whisper, but one she doesn't hear with her ears. I'm losing it, she thinks. Coming unglued from the stress.

She risks raising her head from her hands and looking over at her guards. Her mouth drops opens in shock, because all of them are dead asleep. The two in chairs are slumped over, snoring quietly. As for the two who had been standing, one has slid down the wall and is in a limp, sprawled pile, and the other is just curled up on the floor like a fetus.

What the hell-? Jane shoots up onto her feet, her heart in her throat.

She senses something – someone – behind her, in the cell with her, and she whirls around just in time to see Loki materialize from nowhere against the back wall of her cell. She blinks furiously, trying to make sure it's not just a trick her overstrained sanity is playing on her. But no, it's him. Armoured in his usual black and green, and displaying his most charming, gentle smile.

A flood of possible reactions crowds her brain – scream at him in rage, collapse into a sobbing heap right where she is, slap him across the face as hard as she can – but in the end she runs to him full-tilt and throws her arms around him, clutching at him as tightly as she can.

His arms enfold her immediately, without any of the hesitation he used to show. "Easy, my Jane," he says softly, soothingly in her ear. A small corner of Jane's mind realizes she's shaking like a leaf, but she doesn't really care. She just presses herself harder against his chest, like she's trying to fuse them together so she won't ever have to feel this helpless again. She breathes in his scent, digging her nails into his armour and holding on for dear life, until it no longer feels like the planet is about to tilt and throw her right off, screaming into the void.

When she can finally breathe easily again – she's aware of Loki's hand on her back, running in slow calming circles – she finally pushes back from him. Her cheeks are wet, and she swipes at them in embarrassment. Though she can feel the anger simmering just below the surface – what kept him, for God's sake?

But when she opens her mouth to speak, Loki holds up a hand to stop her. "Have a care, pet," he says quietly. "My sleep-spell is powerful, but I must stretch it over this entire building and all those inside and around it. Any loud noise, and your…attendants, will wake."

Jane bites her lip against an angry retort. Who the fuck cares how loud she is? Isn't he about two nanoseconds away from teleporting them both the fuck out of here?

"Come, little one," he beckons her, urging her to turn until she's facing away from him. In front of her, outside the cell, the guards snore on in their enforced oblivion. The fuck is he doing-?

Loki's hands grasp her shoulders, but the green light Jane expects to wash away the view of the basement doesn't come. Instead, his hands slide slowly along her shoulders and up her neck, long fingers threading through her hair and firmly kneading the tension out of her scalp.

After so many hours of being on edge, it's difficult to resist the comfort he's offering, but Jane's confusion isn't being eased at all. "What are you doing, Loki?" She tries to keep her voice quiet, as he asked, but "Hush," is the only answer he gives her. His hands are on the back of her neck now, strong fingers working the kinks out of her muscles. By the time his hands start their work on her shoulders, Jane is like putty in his hands, almost swaying on her feet. She's so tired, and this feels so damned good.

She doesn't resist as Loki guides her over to the cot. He pushes her lightly until she sits, and she watches him blankly as he pulls her shoe off and starts to massage her foot, still smiling gently up at her.

Jane closes her eyes and lets herself slump forward, almost lulled completely. But there's still that angry, confused voice yelling for attention at the back of her mind.

So she wrenches her eyes open and gives it a real voice. "Come on, Loki, what the hell are you doing?" Why are we still fucking here?

He lifts an eyebrow at her but doesn't stop. "Is it not obvious? I thought I was seeing to your comfort. I am sure you have had something of a trying day."

Jane shakes her head and chuckles, but it's bitter. "Understatement of the year. Can we please leave now? That will help me feel even better."

But Loki says nothing for a long moment, his eyes focused on his hands as he shifts his attentions to her other foot. "In due time, little one," he finally says in a low voice.

"What the heck does that mean?" Jane asks, her voice rising. He's not going to leave her here, is he?

"Hush. Do not trouble yourself," he says, flashing her a quick grin. He lets go of her foot and leans up, cupping her face in warm hands and swallowing her next question with a fierce, thorough kiss that leaves her breathless.

His mouth releases hers, but he doesn't back away, his lips brushing lightly against her lips as he continues speaking in quiet, calm tones. "You are thinking entirely too much, my dear Jane. You need to focus on something more pleasing, and I believe I know just how to aid you in that task. Get up and go stand over there." He indicates the back of the cell, near where he first appeared.

Knowing Loki's penchant for mischief, Jane's pretty sure she can guess what's coming. "Are you crazy?" she growls, folding her arms and staying put on the bed.

He laughs quietly. "Such modesty, my Jane? Come now. Who is there to see us?" He cocks his head at her, eyes glinting with amusement. "You need your rest, but you are entirely too anxious right now. I am certain that a climax or two will help with that."

Jane just shakes her head and glares at him, too annoyed to remember to be quiet. "Are you fucking crazy? Even if they are asleep" – she gestures with her head towards the sleeping guards- "there's cameras all over this room! I'm not about to create a prison porno-"

"Hush. Your 'cameras' will see nothing, I assure you. Much like your mortal guards." Smirking, Loki pulls Jane to her feet, tugging her until she follows him. She shakes her head again, but she can already feel her resistance waning. It's been a crazy day, all day, and what's a little more crazy?

He kisses her again, deeply and passionately, and her resistance slips another few pegs. It doesn't take much to make her want to go along, to do anything to forget this terrible day. The rage in Erik's face, the threat in Fury's eye-

"Come," he says again, softly, encouragingly. "Let us see what we can do to improve your focus." His hands swirl around each other, and when he is done, he's holding what looks like a white silk scarf with two broad bands of emerald green bisecting it, and covered in a pattern of small black circles. Oh, and white fringe on the ends. He's going to use that to tie her up? His smirk widens. "Turn around."

Jane hesitates, but obeys. She would've thought sex in a public place would be sufficient to satisfy Loki's kinks, but apparently she's wrong. But she's not going to argue about it, she decides. She just doesn't have the energy.

She starts a little when the scarf is settled over her eyes. It tightens as he secures it, but it's not uncomfortable, and it does blot out the unwelcome sight of her prison and their unconscious audience.

Loki pulls her back against him. "I recollect telling you once that I would take your sight from you, yes?" he purrs huskily in her ear. "This would seem like an opportune time."

"And I suppose you always keep your promises?" Jane whisper-snarks just a little testily.

His answering laugh is deep and just a little sinister. "Whenever possible." His breath is hot on her neck, and Jane's skin prickles.

Jane starts to say something else snarky, but it's halted when long fingers lightly grasp her chin. "Be still," he orders, his fingertips sliding up to the lower edge of the blindfold, tracing across her cheekbone, the bridge of her nose, and along the other cheekbone, before slipping lower and idly tracing the shape of her lips.

Almost against her will, Jane leans against Loki, tilting her head back as his fingers glide down over her chin and the line of her throat, tracing feathery patterns, before his hand spreads warmly over her collarbone, stealing under her clothing.

He pulls her flannel shirt down and off her shoulders and arms, and then there's a pause, Jane standing alone, missing the warmth of him behind her, her knees shaky. Then he's pressed up against her back again, warm hands creeping under the edge of her tee-shirt, spreading flat against her stomach, and Jane shivers for a different reason.

He's so very warm, and she's so tired after being tense for so long. She can feel herself getting wet, giving in to him. He tilts her head back again, presses kisses against the side of her neck and her throat, the hands under her shirt slowly moving higher, and her skin tingles, her whole body wanting to melt into his.

He makes quick work of pulling the shirt over her head, deftly avoiding the blindfold, then takes her hands and gently guides them behind her back. Something which feels like another silk scarf is wrapped around her wrists.

His warmth surrounds her once more, his hand tilting her head up, fingertips teasing along her throat again, the fringes of the first scarf tickling her back. "Relax and give yourself to me," he whispers.

She's been on edge for too long and she needs the comfort, the distraction. With her sight gone, it's easy to pretend they're somewhere else, anywhere but here. It's easier to let everything just go, to do exactly as he says.

Besides, how can she stop him? Even if she wanted to (and she doesn't), she's still locked in this cage with him, and now she's blind and bound.

There's nothing else to do but obey.

His breath is soft against her ear as his touch moves down her pinned arms, then back up again, over her shoulders. He traces the edges of her bra-straps, and Jane feels another brief moment of loss, of cold, when he backs a little away from her to study the clasp at the back. An instant later and it's loose, his hands slithering under the cups to curl around her breasts, and Jane gasps when he rolls her nipples between his fingers.

"Hush," he says again, and she can feel the curve of his grin against her neck as he continues to fondle her, squeezing and stroking. Jane bites her lip, but it's hard to stay quiet under such a skillful assault.

Her bra, hanging loose now around her belly, suddenly vanishes. Jane doesn't know if Loki used magic or something, but her curiosity is derailed when he gives her nipples a final gentle squeeze, and then slides his hands in a feathery caress down to the waistband of her jeans.

The tips of his fingers dip just below the waistband, exploring, and then he's popping the button and working the zipper down, and there's another of those short moments of loss, Loki backing away from Jane enough to work her jeans down and off.

Christ, she's sure her panties are soaked, which he'll probably notice right now as he pulls them off. It's what she expects him to do, but instead he's pulling her back against him once more. He chuckles low in her ear, the tips of his fingers dipping below the waistband of her underwear, tracing tiny designs on her skin, moving slowly lower, and Jane moans and pushes her hips forward, every nerve begging for his touch. Aching for his touch. But he pulls her back, pins her hips with his free arm so she's trapped against him, his bracer cold against her belly.

"Distracted yet, my dear?" he teases, now stroking the curls at the top edge of her mound. His hand doesn't move any lower, though, pulling a frustrated groan from her before she manages to bite her lip and silence it.

This earns her a low laugh and a gentle nip on her earlobe. She squirms, or tries to, but then her hands are suddenly free. Her head spins as Loki scoops her up and deposits her on the cot on her back, all in one fluid motion. He leaves the blindfold in place.

She feels him tug her panties down and off. "Spread your legs wide for me, my sweet," he purrs roughly, and there's a definite commanding tone in there. Though Jane blushes, suddenly remembering their audience – sleeping or not, the potential for embarrassment is there – she does what he says, even as Loki continues speaking right into her ear, commanding her attention again.

"And now, my dear Jane, you are to do exactly as I say. I want you to keep very still, and very quiet. Not a sound, not a movement. We would not want to break my sleep-spell, would we?"

Jane blushes and bites her lip, and her hands fist the coarse sheets on the bed as she tries to brace herself for what's coming. She doesn't have a hope in hell of obeying his last command, but she's going to try. Distantly, she supposes she could resist, refuse, but the ache in her core won't let her.

For several long moments, nothing happens, and Jane waits tensely for him to touch her. She's too painfully aware of how hard her nipples are, how exposed she feels with her legs splayed apart like this. When he does touch her, finally, it takes everything she has not to jerk and make a surprised noise.

He starts by caressing her mouth, her lips. Tracing the shape of them again, then pressing a gentle fingertip between them, obviously wanting her to open her mouth. He strokes the digit across the surface of her tongue and along her teeth, and she has to fight not to stroke him right back with her tongue, to suck on his finger (she can pretty well imagine his smirk).

He eases his finger out of her mouth and trails it wetly down her throat and between her breasts, then without warning devours her lips with another hungry kiss. Jane fights back a moan, and then another one when he ends it, tilts her head back, and presses more demanding kisses all over her throat.

Slow, lazy love-bites along her collarbone almost undo her fragile control, and he's not even touching her most sensitive areas yet. I'm screwed.

She manages to keep herself still when his mouth finds her nipple, sucking firmly, but the tiniest of sounds escapes her throat, and he chuckles. He scrapes blunt nails across the tip of her other nipple, and this time she does move, jerking in response.

He lets go of her, and Jane's ears easily pick up the soft creaking of his armour as he takes up a new position at the foot of the bed, between her legs. Strong hands clamp down on her hips, pulling her until her backside is at the edge, and Jane barely manages to bite off a whimper as his tongue glides wetly across the inside of one of her thighs.

She tries to steel herself again, totally expecting him to work his way slowly up one leg, and then the other, like he's done before. Her control comes completely undone, in gasps and bucking motions of her hips, when he chooses to rub the pad of his thumb firmly over her throbbing clit.

Jane struggles to keep still and quiet, but it's completely impossible. He's a master at this kind of torture, holding her open and stroking and massaging every fold of skin, always going back to brush against her clit unexpectedly, and it goes on and on and on. She can feel his breath caressing her wet skin as he laughs softly at her failing efforts.

Tsking, he moves back to her side, sighing with mock sympathy into her ear: "My poor, poor Jane. You seem to be having much trouble staying still and quiet. Do you require my aid with that? Otherwise, I fear I might have to stop-"

"N-no," Jane hisses, keeping her voice as low as his. "Don't stop. Don't you dare stop." She's suffered enough for him today. If he stops now, she thinks she may well try to kill him, god or not!

"As you wish," he whispers. Hands seize her wrists and raise them forcibly over her head, his mouth coming down on hers to muffle her moan as she feels the unmistakable sensation of a snake. It slides from his arm and over hers, gliding dryly over one of her nipples and then down around her thigh. It slithers around her leg in slow circles, making a leisurely path down to her ankle. It next slides away across her foot, back towards the bed. But she's not free, it's still got her in its coils, pulling her ankle back with it, and Jane thinks it's weaving itself in a figure-eight around both ankle and bedpost. Another snake follows the same path down her other side – arm, nipple, thigh, ankle – and Jane is almost glad of Loki's tongue pushing into her mouth, effectively silencing her.

Both snakes are coiled firmly around her ankles, anchoring them to the legs of the bed. Jane feels them turning into ropes, though she can't see the green flash of light that usually accompanies that particular trick of his. She tries to move her legs, squirming against the bonds, but other than side-to-side motions of her knees, she can't do much of anything. Apparently even that's too much for Loki, as two more snakes materialize and slither down to her knees, and somehow they manage to twine themselves in such a way that once they turn into ropes, she's completely pinned. Jane's not sure how – are they wrapped around the bed-frame somehow? Not that it matters.

When another snake abruptly materializes right around her throat, Jane jerks sharply under him as much as she can, but it doesn't squeeze, instead slithering up her arm to her wrist. Before long she is completely fastened to the bed, barely able to move, and it seems like her whole world has shrunk down to her body, the bed underneath her, and Loki pressed against her.

"Much better, is it not?" Loki asks softly, lifting his mouth from hers. "But I must still keep you quiet. Shall we see if this will suffice?" His hand curves firmly over her mouth. His grip isn't painful, but it does remind Jane just how helpless she is.

"Best to test it, though," he comments laughingly, and Jane pulls on her bonds, panting against his palm as he proceeds to tease her nearest nipple with teeth and tongue and lips. His other hand toys with her other nipple in an approximation of what his mouth is already doing to her.

Twisting against the ropes, Jane thinks she might just die of frustration if he doesn't stop teasing and get down to goddamn business, and as if reading her mind, his hand leaves her breast and slips in between her legs, and he easily penetrates her.

He has no control over the muscles deep inside her, however, and Jane clenches herself around him, moaning against his hand, silently cursing him as he moves into and out of her at a languid pace.

He stops and pulls both hands away from her. "Forgive me, my dearest," he explains, "but I think I must find another way to silence your pleasure-sounds…that is, if you want me to put my silver tongue to best possible use." Jane opens her mouth to answer, but there's the silk scarf again, being wound firmly between her teeth once, twice, and after he wraps it around her head a few more times – it seems much longer than it should be - burying her lips in cool silk, he tightens it firmly and secures it with a knot just behind her ear.

"I apologize for any discomfort," he says, lips brushing against that ear. "I shall do my utmost to…distract you."

Jane feels him kiss and lightly nip his way down her throat, groans softly as he pauses to sample each nipple in turn, and then Jane feels his hair tickling across her lower belly as he bends to lap at her clit. One arm snakes across her hips, holding her perfectly immobile, and his other arm reaches around her leg to bury his fingers deep inside her once more.

In the darkness behind the blindfold, every other sense seems magnified a thousandfold. The stifled sounds of her muffled grunts, the sharp sensations caused by his fingers moving insistently inside her, the taste of the silk between her teeth, the scent of leather and sex that seems to fill the small cell.

He works her to the edge mercilessly. Quick circles of his tongue on her aching nub, a third finger inside her to stretch her, an occasional rough caress of his callused thumb across her folds and clit while he presses his lips against the soaked hair of her mound…at least he can't make her beg this time.

She grinds her teeth into the silk gag and finally comes hard, coloured lights dancing across the backs of her blinded eyes. Loki doesn't stop, though, continuing to work her nerve endings, driving her orgasm even higher, until she squeals as best she can and goes utterly limp and pliable.

She feels him ease his hand out of her, then he's releasing her limbs from bondage one at a time. He frees her mouth next, kissing her slack lips passionately. But still he leaves the blindfold on, and dizzily Jane wonders if he's through with her yet. I can't…I don't…Christ…

Jane finds out soon enough when he lifts her in his arms. Still blinded as she is, it's hard to figure out exactly what he's doing until it's done, at which point Jane finds herself seated in his lap, facing him. She can't see him, of course, but the familiar textures of the armour under her hands tell her as much.

"You are tired, I know. And I will allow you to rest soon," he promises her. "But the desire to be inside you is consuming me, I must admit. I hope you do not object. I intend to do the bulk of the work," he says, his knuckles brushing between her legs as he reaches between them to undo the fastening of his pants.

"Sssure," Jane says, so tired her words are slurred. If she doesn't sleep like the dead after this, she'll be very surprised.

There's a few more vague sounds and small motions, and then he's wrapping her hand around his shaft. Jane can feel the latex under her fingers – he's thought of everything, which is good, because she doesn't have the capacity right now. "Guide me inside you, my love," he says.

Has he ever called me that before? Jane wonders, even as she does what he says.

True to his word, he does most of the 'work', his hands slipping under her backside to raise and lower her along his length. He kisses her hard, muffling their collective noises, though he pauses after a few thrusts to finally remove the blindfold.

Jane blinks several times, her eyes slow to focus, but before she can start to remember just where she is, Loki's hand is on her cheek, guiding her eyes back to his face. "Look only at me," he orders in a low growl.

Their movements begin again, faster, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh seeming way too loud to Jane. If Loki is concerned about the noise, he doesn't show it to her, tangling a hand in her hair to draw her face to his, to crush his lips down on hers all over again. His other hand works its way in between them to rub careful knuckles across her clit, and within a few more thrusts Jane is shuddering and coming unglued again, her sounds muffled by Loki's tongue.

He presses his mouth hard into her neck when he comes – right against the old bite-mark, in fact, though his teeth do not break her skin this time – freezing as he pulses himself dry inside her.

They sit like that for a long moment, clutching each other, before he withdraws from her, rolls her carefully off him and gets up. Jane slumps down onto the cot, barely able to move, soaked in sweat, her muscles refusing to obey anything she tells them to do. Even though, for a horrifyingly long moment, she's sure Loki is about to teleport away.

And leave her there.

But when she musters the energy to raise her head from the sheet, he's still there, tossing the condom with a mischievous smirk onto the floor (though it disappears before it lands) and lacing himself back up.

The silk scarf is mixed in with the rumpled sheets, and Loki steps back over to the bed, pulls the scarf carefully out from underneath her, and uses it to gently blot the sweat from her body. Another swirling motion of his hands and the scarf vanishes, her bra materializing in its place. He helps her sit up and dresses her again, like a child, though Jane's arms and legs (and eyelids) feel so heavy that she can't bring herself to resent it too much.

"Are we going now? You know, now that you've gotten your semi-exhibitionistic kink on?" she asks sleepily, her tongue trying to fight her on the multi-syllabic words. But he only hushes her again.

Her last conscious experience is of lying on the prison bed again, though she's not actually lying on it. She's lying on Loki, her head cradled against his shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. She doesn't understand why they're even still here, but she doesn't have the energy to argue, especially when he won't give her an answer.

Her last conscious thought, however, is that she's done waiting for Loki to tell her why he attacked Manhattan and Puente Antiguo. She can't ignore the elephant in the room any longer. Even if it scares him away, or even if it makes him murderously angry, she has to take the chance. She doesn't really believe now (if she ever really did) that he will kill her, no matter how angry he gets. And even if she learns something about him that she wishes she hadn't, they can work it through together. He'll tell her, if she has to tie him down and tease him til he begs to spill his guts. Or so she tells herself.

Just….later.

Jane wakes slowly, languidly, stretching like a contented cat. Her body aches, but in a way that she's become only too familiar with, and thoroughly enjoys.

Until her hand brushes against the cold hard bars of her cell, and she remembers where she is. Remembers everything.

She's alone. Loki left her here.

No.

No, please, God.

Her nightmare isn't over.

There's a noise then, the unmistakable sound of multiple guns being cocked, and Jane's heart shudders to a stop. What the-

Clutching the sheet to her chest, she sits up very slowly in the bed, turning to face the front of the cell. Immediately, she wishes she hadn't.

Loki is still here, still inside the cell with her, smirking, with his arms folded across his chest. That part, Jane is fine with. Relieved with, in fact.

Fury is standing outside the cell, with what must be at least twenty heavily-armed guards, all of them pointing their guns at Loki. And her. That part? Jane is not fine with. Not even close.

She freezes, not wanting to provoke anyone into firing on them. Despite her panic, she notices that Agent Romanov is standing to the right of Fury, her gun also pointed at Loki. And to Fury's left, is the man with the bow who drove them out here. He's the only one not holding a gun, but Jane doesn't feel any less scared of the arrow pointed in their direction.

Why are we even still here? Jane wants to scream at Loki, but her throat is locked and nothing comes out.

There's a long, frozen silence.

"Director Fury," Loki says smoothly, calmly. As if they are standing in Jane's trailer and merely discussing the weather. "I doubt you are surprised to see me."

And then he smiles.