Chapter Four

Tally Marks

Cassiopeia Galaxy

Shedir System

Sector 40

They didn't do anything to him. Every time the door opened Tony braced himself for what may be coming, but they never came for him, only for Loki. He tried to guess how many days passed, but the thought actually made him laugh rather hysterically. "A day", as if it mattered how many times a tiny speck somewhere very very far away turned around its axis.

Whenever the guards came for Loki, he called it a "morning" and "evening" was whenever they brought him back and gave them some water and something that could be called food, if one exaggerated. Not knowing the passage of time was driving him crazy, starting with the first few months that he slept through. So he started counting the days.

Including the day they were tossed into the cell, they have been here for eight days already. He had absolutely no idea how many hours these "days" had though, but he still called it that. For eight days now they dragged Loki out for quite a long time and brought him back bloody and beaten up. For eight days now Loki laughed at them when they tossed him back inside, and there was not a single guard that didn't have some sort of injury acquired from the god.

And Tony just watched and waited, but no matter how much time passed, there was no way out. He couldn't see any. So just as before, he just tried to keep it together.

Day 17 was the first time Loki didn't laugh as he was brought back into the cell, but judging by the angry red marks around his neck and the amount of blood he was spitting out it had more to do with his injuries than anything else.

It was more than unnerving to see how Loki looked every morning and compare it to what state they brought him back. Watching how his flesh knit itself back together as the hours passed, then see how new damage was done all over again the next day. They never really talked to one another and the silence was also not doing anything good to Tony's nerves. He couldn't sleep. He could blame a number of things, the too uncomfortable floor, Loki being in the same cell, thus making it impossible not to be alert and on edge, or of course the nightmares that tried to take over his mind more frequently as the time passed. At least Loki didn't threatened or attacked him. Small mercies.

He also noticed how Loki looked worse and worse as the days went by, he was healing rapidly, but the more injuries there were, the slower the process became and sometimes he was still bruised when the door opened for him to be taken away again. Tony had a fairly good idea why they did not touch him yet. He was mortal, a lot less sturdy than someone like Loki, and they needed information from him, so they couldn't risk injuring him too much. He had a sick cold feeling in his gut that told him that making him see what was happening to Loki, what their captors were capable of, was their way of making him more agreeable.

It was happening slowly, very slowly, but it was happening. The guards having fewer injuries, Loki healing a little slower, they were all signs leading up to the inevitable.

On day 31, when Loki just sat next to the wall, his every breath a wheezing wet sound in the cold cell Tony could not take the silence anymore.

'I can't believe that you have no way of getting out of here,' he said. His voice a little deeper and more scratchy than usual, he was not used to not speaking for so long.

Loki's eyes slowly opened then focused on him. He stared for a moment then raised his hands up.

'You may have guessed, that my magic is sealed away,' the god told him. Now that Tony looked at it, Loki's shackles were indeed different looking from his own. There were engraving on it, some looked like runes, and some were symbols Tony has never seen before.

'So you can't heal that either?' Tony asked, gesturing at Loki's chest. That wet wheezing breath had to do something with his lungs and one or two cracked ribs.

'It will heal,' Loki said.

'What do they want from you?'

'Nothing.'

'I thought that there were things you needed to tell them.'

'I always have things to tell, but not many are interested in my words.' The god took a larger breath and straightened up a little, Tony heard the sound of bones shifting, popping back into their place. Loki then let out a breath and slumped back down to the wall. His face was mostly blank, but not as impassive as Tony was used to see it. He was probably tired.

'So why are they-'

'It does not concern you, Stark.'

Day 32 was the first time Loki was unconscious when they brought him back, for long minutes Tony stared at the dark lean figure lying on the floor not knowing what to do. In the end he didn't have to decide as Loki came to pretty soon. He didn't say a word, just slumped next to the wall in his usual spot. He was deadly pale, even more so than usual, when Tony caught the long deep gashes on his forearms he realized why, blood loss. Day 31 turned out to be the last time Loki laughed.

x-x-x

Day 37 brought them a new cellmate. Thin little guy, scared out of his mind, obviously his first time in a cell like this. He was a little green, literally, not Hulk-green, but green nonetheless and Tony couldn't understand a thing he was saying, and vice versa. He contemplated asking Loki to translate, or whatever the hell he could do that made him understood, but it was fairly obvious that the Aesir did not care about the man. Not like Tony really needed to understand. He started wailing and crying and most likely begging at the door only after a few hours. Then he screamed. That was the moment Loki snarled some pretty colourful threat at him. After that green guy moved into the corner, as far away from Loki as possible, and stayed silent.

There was a part of Tony that kinda wanted to reassure him, or calm him down, something. But then he caught the man's green eyes and it made him reconsider. He was not a coward, but ever so subtly he moved away a little. It brought him closer to Loki, which normally would not be good, but at least the god didn't look at him like he wanted to have a bite at him, the literal bloody non-sexy kind of bite. He couldn't say the same about the green guy.

The more time passed the more cautious Tony became, their new roomie was definitely tracking his every move with his eyes. He didn't sleep at all that night and while the green one slumped down and slept, he managed to move even further away from him without having to be careful, putting Loki between them. At least the Aesir didn't comment on it, again, small mercies. It was ridiculous though, that Loki was actually the lesser of two evils. Lesser of several evils even.

On day 38 when the door opened the green one covered in the corner, then started to screech again when the guards went for him. Loki sat impassively about five feet away from Tony, while the human kept his eyes on the guards as they dragged the green one out. He could hear his shouts even after the door closed, then it quieted down a little and tuned into the unmistakable sound of begging. There was silence for a while after. When the screaming started Tony was annoyed that he startled. He still recognized the green one's voice. He was screaming, not in fear anymore, but in agony.

It went on and on for what seemed like hours before it quieted down again then vanished altogether. Tony could hear the blood pumping in his ears. The alien may have been dangerous, maybe even someone (something) horrible, but listening to this was a different matter.

'Your instincts were surprisingly accurate,' Loki spoke suddenly. Tony turned to look at him. They were sitting by the same wall now after Tony's relocation.

'About?' he asked.

'That beast…'

'Wanted to eat me… yeah, it was hard not to notice.' He shouldn't be glad, not after what he was just listening to, but damn, it was good that the green guy was not coming back. It may have been problematic. 'You on the other hand did not look so tasty to him,' he commented.

'Monsters rarely do.'

Tony had to wonder who the monster Loki was talking about was, because it didn't sound like he meant the green man.

The guards came back for Loki not long after. Tony realized then that they could hear every scream, every cry, every single second of the green man's torture, but there was never any sound from Loki.

x-x-x

After day 40 Loki dramatically worsened. He constantly had some unhealed wounds and his sickly paleness became constant. Tony was literally watching how they slowly and methodically broke him apart. Knowing how much Loki fought at first, knowing what he was capable of and seeing this happening was not doing anything good to Tony and his state of mind. He literally did nothing for the past forty days. He started to exercise some when Loki was gone just so his muscles won't start failing on him. He's taken on the habit of walking up and down in their cell, not that there was anywhere to go really, but he had to move. Forty days and he still didn't see a way out, he didn't really know where they could go beyond the door.

And also, he hated to admit it, but he dreaded the day the guards would finally take him out instead of Loki, because while he didn't know exactly what they were doing to him, he could see its effects on the god. Tony was only human and these guys definitely knew what they were doing.

On day 46 Loki was unconscious again when they brought him back and this time he didn't wake up immediately. Tony stared at him for a few minutes then reminded himself that he was supposed to be the good guy and went to move him to the wall, making him sit up. Loki didn't wake. He was still unconscious when the guards brought them food and water. Seeing that Loki was not awake they didn't leave his share in the cell. Tony left some of his for him. He was the good guy, he reminded himself again, so it felt like something he should do. Besides, Loki was the one losing blood and having to heal, not him.

When Loki finally woke up Tony already moved back away from him. After he noticed the food and the water beside him he looked at the human for one long moment before taking the water. He left the food though.

On day 48 Loki threw up blood, violently and Tony didn't think before he moved closer and helped him stay upright. When they reached the wall and Loki sat down he shrugged Tony's hand off and shoved him away, his eyes angry and poisonous.

On day 51 Loki's hands got broken, but he didn't let Tony help him drink some water. Tony called him a stubborn asshole, Loki called him a pathetic fool, then they continued to ignore the hell out of each other.

On day 52 the guards were bloody and wounded and angry again, but Loki didn't laugh.

On day 65 Tony tried to not pay attention to the way Loki shoved a broken bone back into its place, but he heard it. He had to grudgingly admire just how much damage the god was able to take, how he could heal stuff like that in a matter of hours… or lately, in a matter of days, if his wounds were not reopened.

On day 78 Loki didn't shove him away when he sat down next to him to help him drink some water, but his eyes were still murderous. Tony was half exasperated by his pride but also respected it somewhat that Loki refused to give in.

On day 84 Loki screamed. He has been away for a long time, and Tony was walking up and down the cell again, stretching his muscles, when all of a sudden his scream echoed from somewhere outside. Tony froze and did not move again for quite a while. He could feel how his pulse quickened, how the blood rushed into his ears and he clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly. He couldn't shut out the sound though, so he heard everything. They were cries of pain, not fear, not the sound of begging and sobbing like they heard from the green man. No, Loki would not beg and he was certainly not afraid of them, that much Tony could say for certain.

When they brought him back the guards looked especially smug, no doubt being proud that they could finally tear screams out of the god. They tossed him down to the ground. Tony only moved once the door was closed and wordlessly helped Loki get to the wall to lean against it. He tried to shrug him off again, but Tony just gripped him a little firmer and helped him anyway. Once they were sitting Loki looked at him, his eyes hard, but seemingly searching for something in Tony's face. Then he turned his head away and Tony didn't know what he did or did not see.

The next day after Loki was taken there was silence for a long while again, but then just like the day before the screams started. Tony sat down and pressed his fists into his eyes, trying really hard not to listen to the sound, but there was nothing else to focus on. When the guards brought him back Loki was standing on his own feet, but barely. The guards still looked smug, one of the beefy aliens even said something as they dragged the god inside, to his pals or to Loki, Tony couldn't tell. Loki spit in his face in answer, which earned him a massive kick in the stomach. The second guard held back the one who kicked Loki and after a few angry words they left.

'You're one badass sturdy stubborn bastard, you know that?' Tony said as he moved closer to help Loki sit at the wall properly. The Aesir didn't say anything in answer though, but he did look at Tony again with that almost searching look, turning away again finding or not finding what he was looking for.

On day 88 they came for him. Tony knew they would, he was expecting it for a long time now. Every time the door opened his muscles tightened and he braced himself for the inevitable. He didn't need to guess what would happen to him. Not just because he's been at the mercy of those who wanted a weapon from him before, but also because he saw what they were doing to Loki. Prideful, powerful Loki gradually breaking apart under their hands. Tony was only human, but he swore to himself that he would not give in easy, and that he would never tell them what they wanted to know. There was only one thing to do, bear it as long as possible and search for any way of escape when he was outside of their cell, taking a look at everything.

So when the day did come he squared his jaw and let himself be dragged outside. He was sure Loki's eyes followed him, but he didn't look back at him. Would he look pleased, that Tony was about to suffer finally? That he will have more time to heal while their captors were busy with Tony? Or was he wearing his indifferent mask? He couldn't guess and he didn't want to look. The six-fingered one was there first, asking him again to tell them about the weapon. After all, he knew what would happen if he didn't. Tony told him with a smile that he could kiss his ass. Loki smiled, Loki laughed at them, fought them, and no way in hell some crazy god who wore a gold horned helmet would do better than Tony Stark. They could hurt him, but they would not break him, he would not fear them. So when he was dragged away to a room, that was all too obvious in its function, Tony quickly grabbed a nearby blade just before they could tie him down and sank it in one of the guards. He got hit for it, hard, but worse would follow and hearing the pained shout and seeing the deep stab wound was somewhat satisfying. He also promised to himself that he would not scream. Later, he would, he knew he would, but not now.

He kept his own promise for ten days, then he was unable to.

On day 100 he landed on the cell floor with a large thud. His injuries were painful, but never too damaging, they needed him alive after all. He still didn't know a way out and it was getting hard to remember Pepper's smile, because it seemed just so very far away and like something that he last saw years ago. He felt two hands on him as he was pulled uprights. He was not as prideful as Loki, so he didn't push him away. He even thanked him for moving him to the wall. Loki didn't reply, but also didn't move away, sitting down a feet away from Tony.

On day 100 Tony stopped counting the days.

x-x-x