'Clint. Any sign?'
Clint shook his head and pressed a button on his earpiece.
'No. Nothing.'
'I'll see what Tony and Bruce are doing. Black Widow out'.
Natasha jogged down the hallway to the workshop. Tony and Bruce were frantically studying graphs and diagrams on the monitors. Natasha knocked on the door frame as she stepped through to alert them to her presence.
Tony looked over. 'Natasha. Any news?'
Natasha shook her head. 'Clint says there's no sign. Are you sure he's still in there?'
Bruce nodded toward the monitor at the front of the room. Loki was crouched next to the door, glowing slightly on the monitor. 'Why is he glowing?', she asked
'It's just because of the filter we're using. It's not important', Bruce replied, biting on a pen.
'Do you have a plan?'
'Tony thinks that if we pump the cell full of gamma radiation it'll make him lose his magic, temporarily at least'.
'And what do you think?'
Bruce turned, crossed his arms, and looked Natasha in the eyes. 'I think it'll kill him', he said sharply.
Natasha nodded and stepped outside the room to relay the information to Fury.
'Hey, Bruce.'
'Yeah?', Bruce replied, turning to look at Tony.
'Are you ok? You look like shit.'
Bruce grinned and shook his head. 'You really have a way with words, you know.'
'Hey. I'm serious.'
Bruce looked away and shifted his weight uneasily. 'I don't know. It's just. . . I don't like the idea that he might die. And that it'll be my fault, and I'll know what I'm doing. I can't do that, Tony, I can't do it if it'll kill someone.'
Bruce looked into Tony's eyes, hoping that he'd understand. Tony nodded distractedly and bit savagely at his nail.
'I don't like it either, Bruce. It's one thing to go after people when they're killing people, but it's another thing to kill a prisoner. But we need to remember that he's. . . he's a monster, Bruce. He tried to take over the world, and he wasn't afraid to kill to do it. If he gets out he might try again, and more people might die. We can't let that happen, Bruce. We just can't'.
Bruce nodded, looking away. 'Yeah, I know all that. I know we have to do it. I just don't want to.'
Natasha ducked back in. 'Fury says to do it. We can't let him escape. I'm going down there in case Clint needs help'. She turned on her heel and ran off down the corridor.
Bruce and Tony listened to her receding footsteps.
'We don't have to do this', said Tony.
'Yes, we do'
'I know.'
_
Loki crouched next to the door, full of anxiety. Surely they would have noticed that he was missing by now. Surely they would come to check the cell soon. He couldn't hold this spell much longer, and he needed to get out of the cell before his body reappeared so he had a decent chance of escaping.
A sudden hiss came from a vent in the corner of the room, and a stream of pale white gas flowed out. Loki backed away into the far corner and put a corner of his robe across his mouth in an attempt to avoid breathing it in.
The gas filled the room, burning his skin where ever it touched him. Loki curled into a ball, covering as much of his exposed skin as possible. He felt his magic leave him, slowly at first and then faster. Loki cried out in pain and fear, and then coughed as the gas burned his lungs. Within minutes he was lying unconscious on the floor.
