OMG, when I said inconsistent, I did not mean months in between. Well, hopefully. I do a better job now... Anyway, thank you for your reviews. I apologize if I never got around to answering yours, but I did read and appreciate it!

Warning: N/A

Chapter 7- Locked In

Thinking back, Loki really should have expected the shackles. Humans did love their shackles. And their guns. And their iron cages.

He supposed he could understand their instinct; last time they'd had him he had 'escaped'—or at least they thought he had—and then he had teleported with one of their team mates no less. Then he'd proceeded to brain wash him. So, he could understand their caution, but then it wasn't as if their shackles were going to do them any good. Or their guns. Or their iron cage.

It wasn't as if he hadn't escaped from worse before. But then he didn't even know why he'd let himself get dragged back and locked into shackles. It had probably had something to do with the look on Stark's face. Or maybe the guilt. Or maybe he was just bored.

Loki definitely preferred the latter option, but he had a feeling it wasn't the truth. But then when had he ever bother with the truth?

"Stark told us what happened," the man before him said. He had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes; the same man, referred to as Rogers by his team, that been dressed in that strange spangly red, white, and blue outfit when he'd attacked Loki in both Germany and Nevada. Loki supposed he was attractive, in that same tall, blonde, and handsome way that Thor was. And fortunately, the only thing that stirred in Loki when he was around was vague annoyance.

Stark's group had shown up faster than he expected them to, but then he supposed that was also a blessing. Stark had been glaring at him the entire time they waited, not pointing any weapons at him, but somehow that had been worse. Because it just meant Stark was angry enough that he didn't need a weapon to keep Loki there.

And Loki had seen that look in other people's eyes before. He'd seen that look in his own eyes before. And it was strange how much it hurt, especially since it had never hurt before. But then he supposed, he'd never been the one who was so… wrong before.

"Hmm," Loki answered, turning his head away from Rogers. His hands were still bound in the heavy shackles, so he wasn't able to fully turn away from Rogers but well, the effect was the same.

"You going to tell us why you didn't just take him to the rest of your minions?" Rogers tried to take a step toward him, but the cage around Loki got in the way. Loki almost laughed, as if this human could intimidate him.

"No," Loki answered, and Rogers sighed. And Loki really just wanted him to leave. Fury had already been there, the woman—Romanoff—had been there, asking him questions about what he'd done to Stark. He'd maintained his silence because there was nothing they needed to know. Nothing he'd done to Stark would actually hurt the man, and it wasn't as if he knew anything about the Other's plans anymore.

Not that he would help the mighty avengers, even if he did know something.

"Fine," Rogers said, turning his back on Loki. He nodded to the guard who stood at the door to the room, his gun trained on Loki's figure. And then he was gone, and Loki was alone. Or as alone as he ever was.

Loki sat in silence for a long time after. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't dare. Not with all the guards staring at him with itchy fingers on triggers. There was one guard in particular that shifted every time Loki moved, his finger skimming along his gun, and his feet shuffling along the floor. Loki never said anything, but he had to resist the urge to smile widely at him.

Thor showed up faster than Loki was expecting him to. After all, it had taken an explosion to get Thor to show up last time. Still, maybe his big brother was actually learning. Or maybe SHIELD had thought Loki would open up to him more than he'd opened up to the others.

Loki didn't much care either way. It wasn't as if he was planning on actually talking to Thor.

"Hello, Thor," he said when he walked into the room.

"Loki," he answered.

"You seem tired, Thor. Did dragging me in do such a number on you?"

"When will you cease this game, Loki?" Thor returned. "Tell us where you've hidden the tesseract."

"I don't know," Loki answered, and the look in Thor's eyes made him wonder if Thor actually believe him. There was something about the way he stared straight back at Loki as if he wasn't quite as blind as he'd always been before.

Then he was turning his head away, shaking his head and sighing, and Loki was smiling to himself. Thor would never believe him over his precious mortals in a millennium. He had never truly thought Loki worth his truth, and he wasn't about to start now.

"I know not what Fury will do if you don't cooperate."

"Tell him to go ahead," Loki answered. He was not afraid of a few humans and whatever uninspired tortures they could concoct. At least it would be better than these… emotions he was feeling now.

"Brother," Thor started, ignoring Loki's warning glare completely. "I feel as if I have missed something important."

"How this is a new feeling to you?"

"I do not think you are as guilty as you're pretending to be," Thor answered, and Loki could only stare at him. Because Thor didn't say things like that.

Well, Thor didn't actually notice things in general, but well, Loki had gotten used to that a long time ago.

"The director would not believe-," Thor started, and Loki almost laughed as Thor's words clicked in his mind. He smiled, half laughing at himself for almost letting his fool of a brother trick him.

"Very good, Thor."

"What?"

"Very good, you almost had me."

"Loki-."

"I have nothing to say to you," one side of his mouth turned down, his smirk becoming more pronounced. "Next time Fury seeks to trick me into confessing something, he may wish to send someone more practiced in the art of deception." Thor frowned; to his credit, he did a good job seeming confused by what Loki was saying. It almost seemed real, but well, Loki knew from experience that one couldn't trust Thor.

"Brother, what are you-."

"I would see you out, but well," he held up his hands, the shackles making a horrible jangling sound. The guard in the corner twitched, and Loki flashed him a smile. Thor sighed one last time before he turned and left the room and Loki behind.


"Are you sure you're alright, Tony?" Bruce asked again. He'd probably asked the question twenty times in the past twelve hours, and it was beginning to get annoying. Sure, Tony liked the guy, but he wasn't his mother. Tony didn't even like Pepper bothering him when he was in this kind of mood.

He ignored Bruce completely, reaching instead for a glass of brandy. He downed it in one swallow, setting the glass down before turning back to the board lighted up in front of him. It wasn't as if he hadn't already had a—very uncomfortable—checkup.

Romanoff had questioned him, Rogers had questioned him, Fury had questioned him, Bruce had pretty much felt him up, and Colson had stood by and watched as if it was make Tony feel as uncomfortable as possible day. And to top it all off, no one had let him get a drink.

No one.

It had been ridiculous.

Oh, and he had been forbidden from going downstairs and kicking Loki in the soft spot. Fury had said something about deniability that he'd known hadn't been true. Rogers had said Tony might still be mind controlled and do something he would regret, which Tony was sure was true but still ridiculous. Shouldn't he know if he was mind controlled?

Bruce had been the worst though, asking him logical questions about why he hadn't just thrown his punch when he'd had the chance. Really, it was ridiculous, and not that simple.

And Tony had no idea why he hadn't socked Loki.

And, man, did that just boil his blood. It made him angry—no, it made him furious. Mostly with himself.

He could still remember every thought that had passed through his mind, every time he'd turned his mind around because of the pain in his skull or because he'd thought Loki had actually been on his side. He hated that he hadn't been able to break Loki's mind control faster.

And he hated that he still couldn't make himself believe that Loki was evil.

It wasn't that he didn't hate the guy. Because right then, he did. Oh, he really did. Tony's mind was precious, like fairest of them all, evil queen precious. He didn't condone people messing around in there, much less just changing whatever they wanted to suit themselves. But that didn't mean there hadn't been something off about the whole thing.

Like why Loki had brainwashed him differently than everyone else. Like why the staff hadn't been sending the same readings as before. Like why Loki had never met up with the rest of his brain washed lunatics. Like why he was still sitting in some cell when Tony knew he could get out. The pieces didn't fit together, and Tony hated when the pieces didn't fit together more than he hated Loki.

Well, at the moment. It changed by the hour.

He stood from his stool abruptly, pushing the bourbon away from him as he moved away from him work space.

"Tony?" Bruce asked, looking up from his own project.

"I'm going to see Loki," he told him.

"I really don't think you're allowed to do that," Bruce said, but he knew better than he really try and stop Tony from doing anything as he left the room. Bruce was a fast learner.

He moved down the stairs pretty fast, wondering if Bruce would tell on him or just let him burn his own bridges. He knew where Loki was being held; he'd overheard Fury and Rogers talking about it while they were checking him out. He stopped in front of Loki's cell, the guards in front eyeing him warily. He smiled charmingly and reached for the door. He'd long since learned that if you acted confident, people didn't stop you from doing what you wanted.

Once he was inside, he stopped just outside the iron bars of Loki's cell, watching as he raised his head and locked bright green eyes on Tony's face.

"We need to talk," Tony said.