"No, Natasha! Please don't hurt me!" Begged Neris as she threw her hands up defensively. She backed away from the assassin, whose hair was as red as blood.
"Do I have a reason to hurt you?" Blood ran down her temple. Perplexion crossed her agitated features as she examined Neris. "I don't have time for this. I need to shut the portal down. Will you help?"
"Dr. Selvig. He is hurt, but he can help you." Neris led the woman to the ladder and onto the second tier. Natasha approached the tesseract, her brain scrambling around trying to figure out how to stop it.
Beside Neris, Selvig struggled to move. He glanced briefly at Neris, his eyes were pure, as they were so many times in the mirror. He spoke to Natasha, telling her that he knew there was a way to shut down the tesseract: Loki's scepter. When he built the portal he added a fail safe. Neris had never noticed it before. Had Selvig been there, witnessing his work, participating in it the entire time? Neris beamed happily at the realization that he had been there to hear her, that his brilliant mind had seen everything.
Natasha abruptly took off, as Neris made to follow, she felt a hand take hold of hers. "Neris, stay with me, please?"
Selvig lay panting, he was dirty with a splotch of blood upon his forehead. Neris didn't want to stay, if Loki's scepter was nearby, it meant that he would be too. She implored him to let her go.
"Sweet Neris," he addressed her using Loki's term of endearment. "He did that to you! There is a battle raging in the streets of New York!" He implored her to understand reason. Seeing that she would not waver in her conviction, he spoke once more. "Help me up at least, if you are so determined to go to that monster."
She supposed, with all that had happened to Selvig, all of it being against his will, she could understand why he thought Loki was a monster. Her hand went out to meet his and she helped him to his feet. Selvig leaned on her for support while his legs attempted to figure out the best approach to walking. As he lifted his computer to examine the tesseract, Natasha returned with Loki's scepter. Once more, Neris backed away in fear.
"Girl! Loki is down below." Natasha approached the portal, piercing the energy around the cube. She spoke to the air, telling it that she could close it.
Before Neris could leave to attend to Loki, she spied the armored man holding onto a flying bomb. Dread fell over her, it was coming towards them. The metal man redirected the bomb's path vertically. He zipped passed them and straight into the portal. Neris held her breath as she watched him release the weapon. As the weapon exploded in the safety of space, Neris felt her mind snap with realization.
She raced for Natasha as the woman began closing the portal. Selvig reached out and grabbed her. "NO! NO! NO!" she screamed. "What have you done? The Caela! What have you done?" Her wailing escalated, but Selvig held her at bay while she sobbed. "My brothers, my sisters! You killed them."
Rocking in Selvig's arms, Neris sobbed harder than she had ever. The utter extent of her heartbreak filled every fiber of her being. She truly felt broken and alone. There was no satisfaction in the death of the Chitauri, she only thought of her kin who perished upon the ships. There was nothing that compared to her anguish. In her mind she saw the tall Tar'en trees of her world burning, their leaves of gold consumed by flame. Amber color tree trunks burst into fire and fell, being used later for fuel. Every voice and cry of her people, her world, filled her ears like a horrible dronning.
"Doctor, what is wrong with her?" Spat Natasha as she watched the alien girl sob hysterically. She was in no mood to attend to one of Loki's minions.
Selvig searched through his mind, recalling all that Neris had told him while he was under the influence of Loki's scepter. "Her people were aboard that ship. They were slaves. She's alone, now." He rubbed her face and cradled her in his arms like a babe.
"No," said Neris through the tears. "It was one of many, many ships. But there were hundreds of Caela there, and a few thousand on the other ships. Are numbers grow smaller every second of everyday. They kill us without qualm, and we are allowed no contact with each other. . . . Our species will die out, and then I shall be truly alone. . . . Oh the punishment they will receive!" she wailed.
Natasha paled at her words. "There are more of those creatures? The Chitauri?"
Neris nodded. "You closed the portal, they cannot come now, not without the tesseract. But it wasn't the Chitauri that killed my people. Your people did."
Her skin started to turn red, hatred filled her. Rudely, she was spun away from Natasha and her enraged gaze beheld Selvig. "You know that is not true. Neris, you know it. They were going to do to this world what they did to yours."
The truth of his words saturated her brain. So much death and destruction descended upon this world the moment those monsters passed through the portal. Why would Loki do that to these people? He would never have been able to rule this world, the Chitauri would have destroyed it before that happened. A strange thought then occurred to her. Did Loki want to win this world? If dominion over this realm had been his objective, he would have won, nothing would have stopped him, he was far too clever for that. She knew Loki had secrets, he was yards ahead of everyone else, but she foolishly believed she was only a few steps behind him. Her cognizance of everything that had passed between them revealed to her that her understanding of how Loki's mind worked was grossly skewed.
"I know," she answered sadly. "Where is Loki?"
Selvig remained with the tesseract, dismantling it, while Natasha led Neris to her master, her friend, her great love. The Caela was still fearful of the flame haired woman, but had accepted that Natasha acted with courage and compassion. Could she consider this woman an ally? It wouldn't matter, she wielded Loki's scepter, she was dangerous and Neris had no choice but to obey the woman.
Natasha said nothing as Neris followed her. When they reached the room where Loki was, the chamber of comfort as Neris had come to call it, she saw the other people Barton had mentioned. Like a deer, she froze, relaxing only a bit when she saw Barton. His eyes were normal and they finally looked at her with a sense of comprehension. The green monster, Barton, Natasha, Thor, and the metal man had all gathered around Loki as he pulled himself from the floor, bruised and worn. Neris rushed to his aid.
"Neris, stop!" Snapped Barton. She halted in her tracks. "Stay back. You cannot help him." She inched closer when Barton suddenly turned his bow on her. "I said 'stop'." His voice was firm, but dripping with venom.
"Skelk, do as he says," ordered Loki. She stared. Why would he call her that when she knew he didn't mean it?
Her world caved in. Around her the people known as the 'Avengers' began asking about her. Why was she covered in bruises? Why was her skin pink? Were her ears cut off at the top? What kind of creature was she? Was her name 'Skelk' or 'Neris'? Why was she with Loki? He hit her, beat her, she was his slave. Her world was gone. She traveled with Loki. She couldn't fight, she was fearful and subservient to Loki. No answer was supplied by Neris, she merely listened as her mind sorted through everything Loki had ever told her.
She was free, he really meant it, he had secured it for her, at the loss of his own. He had beaten her not because the Chitauri wanted him to, but because he had to protect her from them, he did it so these people would think him a monster. He called her a 'skelk' not because he thought she was one, but because he wanted them to have mercy and compassion for her. He wanted her to hate him so that the Avengers would accept her. He thwarted his plans for her, and for himself. Loki hated the Chitauri as much as she. Midgard meant nothing to him, he wanted Asgard and he wanted her to be there, safe from harm.
How much more of it could she take? Did he think she was strong enough to funnel all the emotions he put her through? Because she was alien to this world, Loki had secured her passage out of it and into Asgard. Had he done all of this for her? For them? Neris felt herself sway. Her legs finally gave out, but before she hit the floor, she was suspended in the arms of Agent Barton.
"Please, don't kill him," she said before fading into darkness.
When Neris came too, she found herself sitting in a small prison cell with a single guard posted next to her. She stood and walked to the bars, peering around her. At a distance she could see a massive collection of men decked in black armor and clothes. As she reached for the bars of her prison she felt a tug on her forearm. Quickly, she removed her gauntlet and peeled back the leather and green fabric to see her arm covered in bruises and bandages. Frightened, she did the same to the other arm only to see that both arms matched. What did they do to her? In an instant she became hysterical, clinging to the bars, and screaming.
The guard outside her cell burst open the door to calm her down. At the end of the hall, the cluster of guards surrounding another cell turned to her. A few of them ran to her in an effort to sedate her, but in doing so, they exposed their prisoner.
"LOKI! LOKI! Help!" Neris screamed over and over until she was pulled from the bars and thrown to the ground. Three large men pinned her to the ground, but she continued to fight them.
"Oh, stop! Let her up. Neris, calm down. Let me explain."
Through the panic she could see the red haired woman. Natasha pulled one of the men from Neris, but left the other two until Neris had calmed herself. "What did you people do to me?"
"We took your blood. Neris, I work for a global organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. We are testing your blood to understand your genetic makeup. You've been sedated for a day. That is all that we have done to you. I swear it."
"Why?" questioned Neris. Her heart thundered in her ear. They would cut her open just like the Chitauri had done to the Caela in the beginning. Her cadaver would be left for them to tinker with. She felt bile rise in her throat, it burned from the lack of food.
"We needed samples to run tests. We're forbidden to test on you thanks to Thor. You will be taken to Asgard soon, with Loki. Since you were involved with the battle, you are a criminal and we have the right to lock you up until then. But because you are not from here Thor has the right to take you to the Asgardian prison instead. We agreed to all of this on the condition that we have samples of your blood." She seemed sympathetic, but Neris knew her to be an expert liar. What was she really saying?
"I-I understand nothing anymore. I cannot take much more of this." Wept Neris. She wasn't seeking compassion from Natasha. Her purple eyes shut tightly to block out the bright lights above her.
"Neris, I am going to remove you from this cell and you are going to go to Asgard. I cannot help you there, but I believe you will be fine."
Natasha then led Neris out of her cell and through a long hallway, opposite of where Loki was being held. Neris was then placed into a truck and seated next to . He welcomed her like an old friend. For a while she remained silent as she sat next to him, going nowhere. Were they friends?
With her hands bound together, she was unable to move her braids from her face so she did her best to meet his gaze through them. Neris offered her deepest apologies to Selvig for what had been done to him. He offered her a simple smile and offered his own apologies for the loss of her world. He had heard every word she had spoken despite being under mind control. Erik Selvig had developed a fondness for Neris that was emphatically reciprocated when she realized his sincerity. How truly wonderful it was to have a relationship with someone once again, to have a friend. The horrors of her life were forgotten as he laughed lightly with her.
When they arrived at their destination in the middle of Central Park, Selvig bid Neris a simple goodbye, followed by Natasha and Agent Barton. To their chagrin, however, Neris lit up at the sight of Loki. Her delight faltered slightly as she watched him being pulled along like a dog in chains, complete with a muzzle. He eyed her, searching her face for signs of betrayal, hatred, loathing. Deep inside the prison of his mind, he longed to profess the love he felt for her, but he would bide his time. Loki was far from finished and his former slave would have her station elevated when his goals were completed.
Neris approached Loki as Selvig handed Thor a device housing the tesseract.
"Neris of Caelandis, take hold of my arm." Thor's voiced thundered as he spoke. She made to protest his demand in favor of taking Loki's arm instead, but quickly thought better of it. Carefully, she wrapped her cuffed hands around his massive arm and held on for dear life as the tesseract shot them through space, leaving the enchantingly strange world of Midgard behind.