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Loki scrunched his nose at the image in the mirror, He wasn't even entirely sure what it was he saw that caused his emotions to twist and bubble like they did as he stare into the reflective glass. Whether it was his long unkept hair, deathly pale skin with dark rings around his eyes. Even with the glam spell he had managed to keep up after Odin had bound him with those horrid metal bracelets around his wrists, he was still but a ghost of his former self.
Or was it the scars and marks he could see marring his body beneath the glam if he focused long enough, the marks he could not erase without his full power. Some from his battle here on Midgard a year ago when he was defeated once again by his broth- Thor and his friends, and some he couldn't quite recall how he had come about. There was actually quite a bit he had trouble remembering at the moment and when ever he tried he would only find bits and pieces and even those were fuzzy at best, he hadn't even heard a word the Allfather had spoken to him when Thor had dragged him back to Asgard. And trying to concentrate on piecing it back together only resulted in head-splitting migraines.
It may have even been the blue monster lurking just beneath his skin that made the image staring back at him so disgusting to look at. Perhaps a mixture of them all, but what ever it was he hated it. That pathetic, weak creature looking back at him.
Pepper startled a little as the ai's voice broke the silence in her office.
"Miss Potts the prisoner is acting violently." Jarvis informed her.
"What?" She asked confused. As Jarvis brought up a live feed from the containment room. The screen showed the green-eyed god smashing the mirror in the cell's ensuite. Trust Tony Stark to make a prison cell with its own personal ensuite.
There was blood on the sink and shards of mirror that lay on the floor, the god himself let out a frustrated growl as he attempt to tear the remaining pieces off of the wall. Without thinking Pepper took off out of her office and straight down to Loki's cell.
It wasn't until she had barged through the bathroom's door that she realised just how foolish her actions could be. He was dangerous, he took out half of Manhattan the last time he was here and she had just run straight into his cell. She wouldn't stand a chance if he decided to use a mirror shard as a weapon and attack her. And even if Jarvis warned Tony of her danger there was no way he would make it back to the tower in time to do anything.
She cautiously opened her eyes lowering her arms, not even realising she had raised them up in defence in the first place, as the pain she expected didn't come. Much to her relief there was no sharp sting as glass sliced through her skin, no mad evil laughing as Loki watched her die, like the villains in the movies.
Pepper's eyes scanned the small bath room trailing over the wreckage of what was once a very expensive floor to ceiling mirror and stopping when she found the green-eyed god sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, fully clothed in the corner shower.
"Lo-Loki?" Pepper spoke cautiously as she walked over towards the Asgardian. Broken shards of mirror crunching under her heels as she made her way across the wreckage on the floor.
"Loki? Are you okay?" She tried again but still got no response from the man. She was pretty sure that he hadn't even noticed she had entered the room. She paused, watching him with concern, the water had a slight pink tinge to it as it sprayed over his injured hands and she couldn't be sure due to the water from the shower and the fact that he wasn't making a sound but he may have been crying.
She had no idea what to do part of her wanted to go over and try to comfort the guy while the other half warned her not to. After all she had no idea how he would react if she startled him, which with how he was at the moment was a rather high likely hood, he may lash out. Not wanting to chance setting him off she decided to leave him be and come check on him once he had calmed down a bit.
Pepper left the cell informing Jarvis to make sure the water stay at a reasonable temperature. The last thing she wanted was too be stuck caring for a god with a cold, though it was clearly obvious the god she had now wasn't the healthiest. And asked Dum-E to sweep up the broken glass all over the sink and floor.
An hour and a half later Pepper stepped out of the elevator holding a small tray with grapes an apple and a small bowl of trail mix. She found the trickster sitting in the corner against the thick glass wall reading one of the books she had brought down for him the other day. She wasn't sure he could read their text at first but he had assured her that if she could teach him basics then he would be fine. So she had Jarvis play him an educational video that taught the alphabet. Turns out he was a fast learner and a little over an hour later he was reading the first book. At first he had pestered her with question after question, about the meaning of words or what certain objects mentioned in the books were. So she ended up giving the god a dictionary, though he didn't need consult the dictionary very often now.
Loki had a towel draped over his bare shoulders and wore the navy sweat pants he was given when Tony had placed him in the cell. And his hands were wrapped in the torn grey cloth of his shirt. The strawberry Blonde guessed either Dum-E was washing his other pair of clothes or they were sitting in a wet heap on the bathroom floor.
"Hey, Um how are you're hands?" Pepper asked as she approached the glass.
The god of mischief gave her a quick glance before going back to his book. "They'll heal."
Pepper shook her head "Look, if you give me your word that you wont try anything, I'll bandage them up properly for you."
This got the gods full attention. "Oh." He spoke raising a brow "And since when has my word meant anything to any one? In case you haven't realised I'm often called the god of lies, it has been many centuries since my word has had any worth. Be it truth or not."
That was a little unexpected. "Okay... Well now I'm a little less, though still willing to take it." She spoke.
"Fine." Loki sighed "Do as you wish."
Pepper handed the tray to Dum-E then ran upstairs to fetch a first aid kit, returning a few minutes later with a first aid kit and a plain green tee that had been floating around the place. It had just shown up in the wash one day. At first she had given it to Tony thinking it was one of his, who then tossed it into the living room stating it wasn't his. She tried Bruce next as he'd been spending so much time in the labs with Tony lately, when he didn't recognise it she had tried the other avengers who frequented the place and still no owner.
"Here." She said as she tossed the prince the shirt upon entering the cell then went about unpacking the things she needed from the first aid kit.
She glanced around the room as Loki pulled the shirt on. Happy that Loki had eaten the apple and most of the grapes. "You know I always imagined Thor as the messy brother." She mused looking over the books scattered across the floor and table by the bed.
"We're not brothers. And I am not messy." The green-eyed god pointed out.
"Oh really." Pepper scoffed "Well what do you call that?" She gestured towards the books. "Not to mention the fact you just tossed your towel in the general direction of the bathroom." She chuckled.
"I prefer the term organised chaos. It's not mess if you know exactly were everything is." He stated matter of factly. "And the towel is now in a place of convenience for the next time I enter the bathroom."
Pepper laughed as she got to work tending to the tricksters hands. She sprayed the cuts that looked as if they had already began healed a little with antiseptic before wrapping them in bandages.
"So what was that all about anyway? Tearing down a mirror with your bear hands isn't the smartest idea." She joked as she finished wrapping his hands.
Loki just shrugged bringing up his hand to rub at his left temple. Pepper had notice him doing that quite a lot lately, perhaps she should get him some aspirin though she wasn't sure how effective they would be on a god. She packed up the first aid kit before glancing at her watch.
"Well I'd better go I have a meeting to get to." She said as she left for the elevator.
"Thank you." She heard Loki say softly as she left the cell. Well she hadn't been expecting that. She smiled warmly as she turned back to face the cell after entering the lift, to see that he had retired to the cot in the corner of the room.