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Song: Seven Devils by Florence + The Machine. (Oh, yeah! I went there!)

Disclaimer: Everything is Marvel and nothing hurts.

Seven Devils

The cold, rough hand came down onto her mouth with a slap, preventing her from breathing through her nose and mouth. She struggled against the bonds holding her legs and arms while tears stung her eyes. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, the hand was removed and came down hard on her cheek. She could feel blood.

"Such secrets and lies hidden inside your pretty little head. He is most pleased. He will bend and twist you until you scream, until everything inside your mind has been wrung dry. Every secret you've ever kept, everything you've ever seen will be His. Then, you shall be offered up to Death. His first sacrifice in this war."

.

"We've met before. But you can't remember that can you? With all your intelligence, you failed to piece together the puzzle. They think I'm doing them a favor. But your mind is mine and I will not stop until it is completely useless. Then I'll return you to him so he can see, so he can scream."

.

She could take the burns, the knives, the beatings. That was the easy part; she passed out during those sessions. But it was the mind games that Thanos and The Other indulged in. They brought the most painful memories back into sharp reality. They made her feel the most unbearable pain. Pain that felt like it was happening everywhere, but all of it was just in her head. Her worst fears reared their angry heads and nightmares haunted her sleep. He was a master of illusions. Thanos distorted the lines between reality and fantasy. That was the worst part, never knowing if what she was seeing was real.

There were small moments of relief though. Wherever Vanessa was, she gathered that next door or down the hall from her torture room was an office or conference room. Maybe even a Carver Training room. When Vanessa was fully aware of her surroundings and there were people in that room, she was able to gather information.

Carver Brown made his fame by killing an English king. From there, the man from Scotland started gathering followers. When he died, he'd started a wildfire. His family members then all took Carver's name as their surname. Thus becoming the Carver Society. Because every descendent of Carver kept that last name. If someone married into the family, they took that name, no exceptions.

Until Vanessa was born. To avoid suspicion, she took her father's last name, also Brown. Vanessa's father had no relation to Carver Brown, she was a direct descendent from her mother's side. And now, Carver Society was letting their supposed heiress undergo methods of extreme torture in order to brainwash her.

But Vanessa had lost complete track of time. How long had she been trapped, hidden in the Caves? There was nothing to go on.

.

"The Avengers…a most suitable gift for Death. You will surrender to me everything you know about them."

"I will not," Vanessa thought furiously during one of her sessions.

It felt like her body was on fire. Devils were tearing at her body. Her mind was for Thanos to play and pick at, there was no stopping him. So why fight? Words to a song were surfacing to the top of her mind now—yes, Cling to the words! They were comforting, a bedroom hymn she had only heard twice before. The pain was dulling. Bliss.

There was a door. Or, something that seemed like a door. There was something about the bedroom hymn that made thinking clearly under the stress, the hymn kept information about the Avengers Initiative secure. And the song brought something into focus. The magic Thanos was using was faulty. He didn't have the Tesseract or the scepter to completely manipulate without consequence.

Vanessa and Thanos were connected through this magic. They had to be.

"Yes, Nessa, open the door. You'll have your answers if you can peek into his mind. Just for a moment."

Seeing into the mind of Thanos was not something anyone could have prepared for. It was overwhelming. Secrets rushed through almost drowning her. And then she was out. Her mind was so fragile, she went out cold.

Meanwhile, Thanos withdrew from The Woman's mind. He smiled to The Other, ignorant of the fact that she had discovered a secret. He was too wrapped up in the feeling of triumph. While it seemed that information on the Avengers was protected by some kind of magic, Thanos had stumbled upon better, more useful information.

They both had information that could cause untold damage.

Carver Society Headquarters-The Caves, Turkey

"Miss Vanessa, you have to wake up."

"No," Vanessa thought, "I'm quite fine, sitting here tied up with absolutely no idea where I am and completely oblivious to any kind of pain."

"I'm undoing the bonds, now. Please just, don't do anything stupid."

"Wait, is he untying me? Focus girl, focus, you can feel the bonds getting loose. Now, strike!"

The attack was hardly forceful. But it startled the man with shaggy blonde hair. Vanessa slammed him against the wall as soon as she was free. In her state, whoever this guy was, could easily kill her. But there was something about him that made Vanessa think that killing was not his intention.

"Who are you?" she hissed, her voice came out in a croak.

"We have to move, Miss. Please, I'll tell you on the way. Just, be quite."

Did she have any choice but to follow? The man grabbed her hand pulling Vanessa along. She stumbled slightly but was quick to regain her step. The man walked towards the other wall and started running a hand along it. Moments later the wall slid back to revile a dark cave lit by torches. The man yanked Vanessa inside and the secret door slid shut.

"All right," Vanessa slammed the man against the wall her focus was drifting in and out. "Who the hell are you and where are you taking me?"

The man held up his hands in surrender. "I'm Peter and I'm getting you out of here."

"Oh, right. How do you plan and doing that?" Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"I've seen a lot of things, Miss. But I've never seen anyone tortured in the way that you've endured. It's not right. And I reckon the family business is doomed either way. I don't think Thanos will spare any of us once he's got the universe. But maybe if I let you go, we can stop him yet."

For whatever reason, Vanessa believed him.

"Where is Thanos?"

"He was never here, not physically, anyway. He stopped sending The Other to check on us a few days ago, after he had a session with you."

Vanessa leaned against the stone wall, her mind scattered. She couldn't concentrate for very long. She blinked several times, hoping to regain a focus.

"How am I getting out?"

"I've set up a few bombs, miss. And I shut down the security cameras. Outside the cave there is a car waiting for you. Get in and keep driving west. Do not turn on the lights until you're in the village. One of our men says that SHIELD has a temporary safe house there."

"I—okay," there was no point in arguing. If this was a trap, then maybe, finally, Vanessa could die. Maybe she would no longer be some sort of plaything. If it wasn't well…then Vanessa could go back home.

Peter led the way down the dark tunnel. Vanessa stumbled along behind trying to get her brain to focus on something. Without realizing it, she began to hum the bedroom hymn to herself. Vanessa didn't have magic like Loki did, but the melody was soothing. Relaxing. Vanessa felt some sanity going through her now.

"Now," said Peter minutes later. He was fiddling with the stone wall again. "You need to get in the car and go as soon as you reach it. I need to go back and detonate the first bomb and I won't delay."

Vanessa nodded. "Where is the first bomb?"

"Not far from here, it's in our lovely grandmother's room. I can't risk her getting out of The Caves alive, she's got to go first."

"Why are you helping me, really?" Vanessa looked at Peter sharply.

"You saved my brother Jean from the same fate you had," Peter's response was so simple. "This is me thanking you. Now go!"

The wall had slid open. Outside it was pitch dark. Vanessa started to leave but turned back. "I hope we see each other again, Peter."

He smiled sadly. "The first bomb acts as a trigger for the others. I'm going to get blown to pieces. I figured I'm going to die anyway, might as well do it on my own terms."

Vanessa nodded. She had nothing to say so she turned and breathed in the night air. The car was around the corner. Vanessa opened the door the keys were sitting on the dashboard. It was then that a thought popped into Vanessa's head. She had buried her rucksack somewhere near here.

She moved quickly, moving rocks and digging through dirt and sand until after several minutes, Vanessa found it. She threw it over one shoulder and slid into the car. Vanessa slipped the key into the ignition and stepped on the gas.

The ground shook violently. The first bomb had just gone off.

"Good-bye, grandmamma," muttered Vanessa grimly. She could not bear to mention Peter. She'd known him five minutes and he'd just proven himself a bigger hero than anyone.

Then slowly, Vanessa's mind began to slip away. She lost consciousness.

A Little Town-Middle of Nowhere, Turkey

Vanessa was lucky. She crashed into an abandoned shed. Had she been of a sound mind, she would have known to burn the shed down, erasing all evidence. But instead, Vanessa crawled out of the car, her breathing heavy and her mind throbbing.

She walked through the empty town. All were asleep. Sleep, yes. She needed to sleep. Vanessa found a small alley and curled up into a ball to keep warm and used her rucksack as a pillow. She was out in seconds.

.

This small town was filled with people outside in the streets staring in the direction of The Caves. Clint Barton and Maria Hill, curious and concerned left the temporary safe house and joined the throng. Black smoke clouds were coming from The Caves.

"Looks like a bomb went off," Maria commented shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Or several," muttered Clint. "I bet if we call for backup we can finally have leave to go in there and investigate."

"I don't think Fury will go for that. We have no idea what happened and no way to penetrate through the security systems. If anything, once we report back, we'll be asked to return to headquarters."

"Yeah, maybe," Clint kept his eyes on The Caves. He didn't think they should report in just yet. He and Maria needed to stay just a little while longer.

According to the villagers, The Caves played home to an intense religious cult. Occasionally, people from The Caves came down to get food and clothing, but those people never spoke with anyone. They kept to themselves. The people living in The Caves didn't bother the villagers and the villagers didn't bother the people in The Caves. But Vanessa had been here. There were people in the village that had mentioned her. She had been just as curious about what went on in The Caves as Clint and Maria were.

"We should get back inside, start packing," said Maria.

Clint nodded, following his superior. He wished that Natasha could've come instead of Maria. Not that he didn't like Agent Hill, he did. She was a tough woman with amazing instincts. But only Tasha could have been able to sense Clint's discomfort. They would've talked about his doubts over everything just now.

"The old abandoned shed was destroyed last night," some man was talking animatedly to another, both smoking something that nearly choked Clint. "a really nice looking car was inside, although the paint job was ruined."

"Good riddance! Akarlar should've gotten rid of that garbage years ago. I suppose he's taken the car for himself, no?"

"Aye, he did. It was found in his shed after all. If someone claims it he'll surrender it though."

Odd, Clint thought. That was very odd. Maybe someone, the bomber, had escaped The Caves last night. Maria had caught the conversation too and raised an eyebrow at Clint. They would need to keep an eye out for someone who looked a little worse for wear.

.

It was the sun that woke her. Vanessa blinked and stretched. She felt slightly more herself, but it was still very hard to concentrate on any one thing. She shouldered her rucksack and stepped from the alleyway. Several of the villagers turned their dark eyes on her, repulsed.

It suddenly occurred to Vanessa that she must look filthy. She was sure her hair was a wild and tangled as ever; her clothes were dirty and torn in places. When was the last time she had showered or even brushed her teeth?

No, stop it. That's not important right now. Peter said something about SHIELD agents being here. Focus, Nessa and find them. Tell them what you know.

"We should get back inside, start packing."

Wait a moment. Vanessa knew that voice. She stared looking around frantically. Vanessa knew that she must look completely insane to those in the vicinity. And maybe she was. Her mind was definitely not the same. Whether it was permanent or not still remained to be determined.

At last, she spotted them. Clint and Maria were making their way inside a small two-story house. The safe house! Vanessa started in that direction, stumbling and nearly sobbing with relief. People were parting the way for her, not wanting to touch the filthy and mentally unstable woman. They shot Turkish slangs at her. She didn't care.

Vanessa reached the door and started pounding on it, as hard as she could in her weakened state. The door flung open and Vanessa fell, Clint catching her. Slowly, Vanessa brought her face up to meet his puzzled gaze. Slowly, recognition spread across it.

"Help…me…" was all she managed before Vanessa lost herself to the all too familiar darkness.

Stark Tower, Loki's room-New York, New York

"You think you know pain? We will make you long for something as sweet as pain."

With a start, Loki sat up in bed, his body drenched in sweat. He had seen her. She'd been broken, alone and insane. Thanos had made him see that. There was a crash from outside and Loki tensed. Seconds later, Thor smashed into the room looking frantic.

Trying to steady his heart race, Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"I thought I—" Thor surveyed the room. "Are you all right?"

Loki must've shouted before he woke up. He'd been doing that pretty regularly lately. Most nights, Loki would wake up and not remember what it was he had dreamed. But then there were other nights where his dreams were as clear as day. Those dreams always contained Vanessa. She was always broken, never dead, but she might as well have been. Thor had gotten into the habit of barging in whenever this happened. Unfortunately, Loki could not control his volume level when sleeping.

But what was the point of lying. So Loki shook his head in response. "It was the same dream again, is all."

Thor was about to open his mouth to reply when the cool and ever exhausted voice of JARVIS filled the room.

"Misers, Agent Romanoff is requesting everyone meet in the bar right away."

"Why?" Thor questioned the machine.

"Nike has been found."

Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. As a young girl, that had been Vanessa's nickname around SHIELD. She'd been set on always being victorious, always challenging herself and succeeding. So one day, as told by Agent Romanoff, Agent Coulson had commented that she was like the goddess. The nickname stuck for several years before wearing out. It was now her codename to keep her disappearance a secret.

"Brother, they've found her!" Thor let a smile cross his face.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing." Loki muttered getting out of bed.

"What?"

"She could be worse off. I don't think I can handle seeing that."

SHIELD Jet-Somewhere is the Sky

In and out of sleep she fell. When she was awake, Vanessa was silently sorting out her thoughts. She needed to be able to explain what she'd learned accurately. She hadn't spoken to anyone since finding Clint and Maria in Turkey. And they didn't try to get her to talk.

Sometime when she was sleeping, she'd been cleaned up. Her hair was washed, teeth brushed and she'd been dressed in a grey sweatshirt and black cotton shorts. There was still dirt under her fingernails.

She had no idea where she was right now or even what time of year it was. How long had she been gone? Then there was the matter with Thanos. What was he doing with his newly acquired information? Exhausted, scared and still so confused, Vanessa succumbed to sleep's pull again.

Stark Tower, Hallway-New York, New York

When Vanessa pulled her mind back into focus she realized that she was back within the walls of Stark Tower. Maria and Clint flanked her on both sides, taking her to one of the science labs. A rattling sound made Vanessa look down. New terror seized her. Vanessa's hand and feet were in shackles. When had that happened and why was she being treated like the enemy? Clint held the door open and Maria walked through first. Vanessa was pushed inside after her; she noticed that Clint had her rucksack.

Vanessa took a few steps forward, noticing that Banner, Stark and Rogers were sitting at a lab desk directly in front of her. A hand grabbed Vanessa's shoulder. Terrified and acting on instinct she reached behind her and pulled out the gun in that person's holster. Vanessa cocked it and whipped around, pinning Natasha Romanoff to the wall with her forearm.

There were shouts and Clint raced to pull Vanessa away. She let him, shocked by what she had done. Trembling, Vanessa dropped the gun. Someone forced her to sit down in a chair.

"Well, at least we know that even with chains confining her, Nike is still quick and clean with her reflexes," Natasha commented unfazed by what had just happened. "Although it's great having you back, you should know better than to just drop a loaded and ready gun." Natasha picked up her fallen gun, put the safety on and put it back in its place.

Why was Natasha calling her Nike? Nobody had called her that in years. And Vanessa was the furthest thing from victorious right now.

"That's not funny, Nat," Clint growled. "Stark, are Fury and the Specialist coming?"

"They just entered the building," Tony replied.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let the Specialist in just yet?"

Vanessa perked her head up slowly. Standing behind her were Thor and Loki. It had been Loki who'd spoken; he was looking between Maria, Clint and Stark. Thor however met Vanessa's gaze and gave a small, warm smile.

"Well, Fury thinks differently," Maria said, "He thinks the specialist can help us with a good interrogation."

Vanessa dimly noted the table in front of her with another chair on the other side. Stark, Rogers, Banner, Clint, Maria and Natasha were all going to be observers. Thor and Loki clearly were acting as guards incase Vanessa tried to do anything. Fury and this specialist however would be doing the talking.

The door opened and Fury, tall and commanding as ever stalked in, alone, and shut the door.

"Where's Special Agent—" Rogers started.

"He's going over some notes before he comes in," Fury stated. "Now, tell me what you know so far about the Operative. Has she said anything?"

"Not since we first found her," replied Clint.

Maria pulled out a folder and scanned it. "Once we were able to examine the Operative we discovered a series of cuts, burses, a sprained ankle and several broken ribs. There's a large bruise starting at her chest and extending down to her pelvis. It looks like someone hit her repeatedly with a pipe or something. Director Fury, it looks like torture."

Sprained ankle? Broken ribs? Puzzled, Vanessa glanced down at her feet. There was a brace around her right ankle. With trembling hands Vanessa slowly lifted the hem of her sweatshirt. There was a flesh colored bandage wrapped around her middle, hiding the bruise.

For the second time, the door was pushed open. Vanessa didn't care who it was. She continued staring into her lap. She wanted to sleep, or die. Her mind was so scattered, so sloppy.

"Agent Brown, this is Special Agent Coulson; he'll be running this interrogation."

With a snap, Vanessa looked up, certain that she had heard wrong. But no, there was Phil Coulson taking a seat in the chair opposite her. Very much alive. No, it had to be another illusion. Vanessa stood up, panicked and backed away towards the wall. Thor and Loki grabbed her arms.

"You're not real," Vanessa breathed. "You've been dead over two years! I went to your funeral!"

"Nike," Natasha rushed forward. "Calm down and list—"

"Don't call me that!" Vanessa shouted, struggling against the hands that held her. "I'm not—"

"What?" It was Phil, looking at Vanessa with the kind eyes she remembered. "You're not what?"

Vanessa didn't answer. She sat down again and fired back another question. "Why am I chained up?"

"You're right," said Phil. He started rummaging through his pockets. "We should not have you in chains, especially given the circumstances."

Phil took out a key and gently took Vanessa's hands and unlocked the chains on her wrists. They fell on the table with a clang. Keeping eye contact, Phil handed Vanessa the key and she slowly unlocked the bonds around her ankles.

"How are you alive?" she was still on edge, but something told Vanessa that this was not some magic trick. "Fury said you were dead."

"I nearly was," Phil said calmly. "But after several hours of surgery it was clear that I was going to live. By the time I was out the battle of New York had already happened. I spent months recovering, letting everyone, especially those in the Avengers Initiative believe me dead. Then, I took the position of Principal at the Parker boy's high school. I've been there for a while now."

"Why…why would I need to think you dead?" The shock of the news was somehow helping Vanessa concentrate.

"It was easier for everyone involved. But once you ran off I was pulled in to try and track you." Phil was using the same friendly and calm tone he'd always used when debriefing someone. He was trying very hard to make Vanessa relax; it was working. "Now, what happened?"

Vanessa took a deep breath and started to talk. "I went to London first and met a woman called Danielle, she worked for the Society. After a few hours of questioning her, I finally discovered that a man named Jean Carver had what I wanted. He was working in Paris, so I went there next."

"What did he have?"

"The list of SHIELD leaks. I tricked him into giving me the list by convincing him that in order for me to be a full member of the Carver Society, I had to complete an initiation mission given to me by my grandmother. I told him my task was to kill Nick Fury and that I needed the help of the leaks to do it. He didn't question it. I killed him."

"Why?"

"If I didn't, the Society would have," mumbled Vanessa. "They would not be as kind. After that, I got on a train and started towards Turkey…I—how long was I gone?" It had just occurred to Vanessa to ask. "When I left, it was January, what's the date?"

Phil smiled sadly. "It's not like you to lose track of time, Vanessa."

Suddenly furious, Vanessa slammed a fist down onto the table, making everyone jump. "I've been trapped underground, without any kind of daylight for God knows how long having my body abused and ready for anyone to do whatever they wanted while my mind was an open book for The Other and Thanos. Forgive me for not being able to keep track of the time. At least I didn't pretend to be dead!"

Phil ignored the insult, "Who is The Other?"

"He's Thanos' bitch. But he's terrible in his own right. My lovely grandmother trusted Thanos to brainwash me so I'd be loyal to the Society and bring SHIELD down. But he had other plans."

"What plans?"

"Death," Vanessa looked up, "Thanos is in love with Death and he feels that offering up the Avengers and anyone else along with them will finally win him the love of Death."

"Death is not a person." Tony stated.

"Neither is Thanos, moron. He's a Titian," Loki said. "Death is the opposite of Eternity, the two of them comprise all of reality."

Vanessa very much wanted to laugh, but she just could not. She had to keep talking while she was focused.

"He wanted me to give him everything I knew about the Avengers. So he kept digging through my mind, pulling up nightmares and making them seem like reality and he made me relive things."

"Did he get the information?" Fury cut in.

Vanessa shook her head.

"How?" Suddenly, Loki was beside her on his knees. His face was concerned, amazed and filled with disbelief. "How did you manage that?"

"Uh…remember that spell you used to put me to sleep?" Loki nodded once. "What exactly does it do?"

Loki hesitated, not sure why he was being asked this. "It protects your thoughts and settles them and eventually puts you to sleep. Out mother used to use it on Thor and me. Why?"

"When He was digging through my mind that song came up and I kind of latched onto it and it uh…protected the information I had because I was so focused on not letting Him see that. But there's something else it did."

"What did it do?" It was Phil this time.

"It helped me see, for just a moment, but that was enough."

"You're not making any sense," Tony murmured. "See what, exactly?"

"The magic used to play tricks and spy on my thoughts was very much like the Tesseract; a portal from one mind to another. So I concentrated on crossing over to his side, I wanted that missing memory and He couldn't sense me because the hymn was protecting my intentions."

"Amazing," Loki breathed.

"Did you get the memory?" asked Fury.

"Yes. That night in with Tudor, he told me that there was a piece of extraordinary magic. With all the right things in place, the owner could use this magic and control the Universe. According to legend, the Infinity Gauntlet is more powerful than the Tesseract. The only problem is that nobody knows if it's real or not. Legend says that it hasn't been seen for millions of years."

"And Thanos is trying to find it, see if it's real?" Thor asked.

Vanessa nodded.

"How did you escape from The Caves?" Clint asked. "It looked like bombs had been set off."

"They were. But I didn't do it. Peter Carver, brother to Jean set them up. Thanos and The Other hadn't been around for a few days, I'd been completely out of it. Peter set up a series of bombs and led me out through a secret passage where a car was waiting for me. The first bomb worked as a trigger for the others. And it was positioned where Maria Carver, leader of the Society, was sleeping. She's dead but so is Peter. But I have no idea who else might've died."

"You crashed the car into the shed?" Maria gave Vanessa a curious look.

"Yes, I couldn't stay focused and awake. So I kind of…lost control."

"Why would Peter help you?" Natasha crossed her arms. "You killed his brother."

"He said it wasn't right, what they were doing to me. And he said that I saved his brother from enduring the same fate I had…he was thanking me."

There was silence for several minutes before Thor cleared his throat.

"I think we need to take Vanessa to Asgard."

"Why would you do that?" asked Phil.

"Because her mind has been tampered with to an awful extent," answered Loki. "If you want her back, fully back, she needs to be treated with magic. No Midgardian methods would work."

Asgard, yes, Vanessa nearly forgot. "You'll need to go back anyway, to warn Odin."

"Why, what for?" Thor narrowed his eyes.

"Because while Thanos didn't get information about the Avengers; he found out where the Tesseract is and I'll bet you he's headed towards Asgard."

"Well, I think we'll have you three—" Phil started.

"Four," Thor cut in. "Jane will be coming, too."

"But she's in New Mexico right now. As I was saying, you three will be there by tomorrow so you can get to the Biforst and get to Asgard. And you better bring Vanessa back in one piece."

"We shall," Thor nodded. "When we return, hopefully everything will be taken care of."

It was then that through her exhaustion, Vanessa realized that she had never gotten the answer to one of her questions. She looked at Phil with a determined look. She would have her answer.

"What's the date?"

Phil looked incredibly sad. "March 31. Now get some rest, Vanessa."

She'd been gone for nearly three months.

Author's Note

Wahoo! This has been the longest chapter so far! I actually decided to split some of it to be in the next one.

Anyway, the first section is meant to feel a little choppy and confusing because Vanessa really has no sense of time and no firm grasp of what was happening to her. I'm also not very good with writing a ton about torture, and I think having my mind open to anyone to pick at would be absolutely horrible. So that was why I decided that would be the main element in Vanessa's torture.

Also, this chapter was so hard to write. I changed so much about it but I'm well pleased with this final cut. Follow my tumblr if you want to at seven-devils-fiction.

And pretty please leave a review?

Cheers, guys!