Chapter Fourteen) Literature
Loki had waited quite a while before opening the box, for he knew he was watched and he didn't want to come across too excited to get to the books. He didn't want it to be used against him. But when he did open the box, he wanted to smile, though didn't for quite obvious reasons. He saw books that he'd read before, like 'Romeo and Juliet', which he had enjoyed, for he found all literature amusing. There were lots of books, lots of new ones that he did not know and as he looked at the dates in the books, he figured that nobody had brought back books from Earth for a very long time. The date on one of them was very recent, at which, again, he wanted to smile and he turned to the first page. It was a book called 'Harry Potter', which he hadn't ever heard of before.
After the first chapter, he was very amused, but the people watching him were not. The door opened and a woman stepped inside. "Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked him, to which he just let a frown form on his face in quite an accusing manner. How dare she ask about whether he was enjoying himself? "It's not a difficult question."
"Enjoyment isn't very easy to achieve while locked up," Loki spoke. "But you could say that I am amused," he added, a small grin playing on his lips.
"What are you reading?" she then asked, stepping forwards. "Do you like reading?"
"It's none of your business, none of it is," he spoke, closing his book and putting it into the box, shutting it. "If you would leave me in my peace, that would be appreciated," he said. He might as well try the calm way before he got aggressive, right?
"Whether it's any of our business we'll decide ourselves," she replied and he didn't like how she spoke for the whole lot of SHIELD agents, as that meant they were still as a whole against him. Sure, it was logical and he wouldn't actually have it any other way, but it would be nice to have the idea that he was actually talking to a person, not a part of a bigger picture. That wasn't too interesting at all. "Why do you like reading?"
"I only play this game of asking with one and he has recently departed for Japan," he replied. That thought certainly didn't sit well with him. He ought to be there! What if something happened and he wouldn't be there to help... Not that he could do much. Not that he should even want to do anything! But still... Tony had done so much for him. If only he still had his Godly powers. The distance would provide no problem at all. This room would be no prison to his magic. But he couldn't allow himself to think like that, as it would only result in horrible thoughts.
"You mean Stark," the woman stated, as if she was mentally incapable to keep the thoughts to herself. The actual reason she spoke them out loud was probably to provoke a reaction in Loki, who was perfectly capable at hiding them.
"Of course," he stated emotionlessly.
"What is your bound with Tony Stark?" she asked. The door had shut behind her and had locked, which was the only reason he didn't try to think of any good plots. Sure, he could harm this woman, but she had a gun and they would be too quick in strapping him down for him to do any real damange. It wasn't worth it, at any rate.
"There is no bound," Loki replied, "but certain games require the right players. It does not require kinship, if that is what you are referring too."
"He brought you these books and you wished to accompany him to Japan, to help him."
"You assume a lot."
"I am merely trying to understand," she replied, trying on a sudden friendlier course. It wasn't working. Loki was not easily impressed by such things, after all the tricks he'd played on people. He'd not left a single act untouched, which meant he saw through most of the tricks people played on him. He'd learned the hard way that it was absolutely essential to distrust, after all.
"Perhaps I do not wish to help you understand," he replied.
"It might take quite a while for Stark to return. You might consider it a good idea to cooperate."
"And why would that be, I wonder?" Loki asked, a smirk playing on his lips, as he felt the fear take over. "You wouldn't want to go against the order Stark clearly imposed on you, would you?"
"We will do what must be done," she said.
"Ah, and I am not talking, thus you believe it rightful to make me."
"You are still a danger and your motives are unclear."
"Humanity, as scared of the unknown as anything," he stated, looking away from her, as if he was no longer talking to her, but merely stating his observations out loud.
It stayed silent for a while as he had spoken those words and he had no intention of speaking to the woman, though he found it annoying that he couldn't read on and thus he turned his gaze to hers, his facial expression remaining neutral. "Why do you think I'm going to do any harm?"
"Because you have done in the past. Just because you are now acquainted with Tony Stark, doesn't mean that you are off our list of people we need to keep an eye on," she spoke.
"You have a list for that?" Loki asked in an amused manner.
"Quite literally, yes," she spoke and he let out a soft laugh as it was so typical of these puny humans to keep everything so neat and tidy, in lists and piles. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all, though I do hope I am at the top of the list," Loki spoke, quite a warming smile on his face. It was all fake however.
"As of late, not anymore," she spoke, "which you could already predict."
"What I do not understand, though, is why one would not let me join in. I am powerful, for if I were not you would not need to lock me up and I would not be here. Though you are fearful of me joining the 'Silver Demon', while at the same time believing that I am acquainted with Tony Stark, who I would then automatically be up against. How does that work, then? Do I sense a... plothole?"
"You are a danger, to anyone and everyone. You are not safe to be roaming free, regardless of the good you can do with your power."
"But what if I truly want to do good with my powers, though never have the chance as I am always suppressed?" he asked, the same toying grin on his face. The stupid thing was that this was the truth, and that was why, exactly why, he wasn't going to be believed.
"Then I would be very sorry and you would be requested to prove your good will," the agent answered.
"In here?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raising.
"Yes, unfortunately," she replied, "for you are not trusted until you prove that we can do otherwise."
He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head, though in his mind he felt a pang at his heart. Proving good will was not something Loki could do just like that...
"Thank you for your cooperation, Loki," she spoke, turned around, then left the room. Again, not wanting to come over too eagerly, he waited before taking the book, letting out a soft sigh at the idea of Tony being so very, very far away.
In the plane, Tony wasn't thinking much differently. He wondered which book Loki was reading first, which he would write in and what he would write. But mostly he hoped that Loki would be left alone so he could read. He didn't like not knowing what was going on and thus, he was anxiously tapping his foot.
Steve was napping in the chair behind him and Fury kept pacing up and down, phoning people and disappearing into one of the rooms near the cockpit to speak to somebody. Ah, that must be 'the Council', whoever they were...
Natasha and Clint were talking about something he wasn't so sure he found entertaining and Bruce was, perhaps like himself, looking around the plane in silence. Eventually Bruce got up and sat beside Tony, what he hadn't expected, as he hadn't thought that Bruce was thinking of anything at all.
"What do you reckon, this guy?" Bruce asked, nodding at the TV that had by now been put to mute as it was the same thing playing on repeat constantly.
"Yeah..." he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think he's going to be a problem."
"How's Loki?" Bruce then asked, turning to look at Tony. Tony breathed in deeply, giving another shrug, nodding again.
"Yeah, didn't attempt anything, he's okay," he replied, though knew that Bruce saw that there was more underlying Tony's words than he was telling the other. At times Bruce certainly was too perceptive... Though, he knew too that he would keep the information secret if Tony wished him to, and he did.
"Is 'okay' really the right word?" Bruce asked.
"No," Tony replied, honestly. "I think it's going to be a big problem. Good thing is that we didn't fight a lot anymore, but mostly because I just let him do what he want, except... killing himself, obviously. I also have this strange feeling that he's starting to... well, not like, but like... 'Midgard'."
"Midgard..." Bruce repeated. "You've been hanging out with him too much if you start calling your own planet by it's alien name."
"I know, I know," Tony replied. He didn't need Bruce to tell him he was being obviously pathetic with Loki, but the confrontation didn't help. He preferred to think he still hated the God and didn't care what happened back at SHIELD or that Loki might find something to kill himself with. Tony had never told anyone at SHIELD about Loki's suicidal tendencies, after all... Shit. Perhaps he should've done. No, no, he'd thought about it and it had seemed a really bad idea.
But maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all...
"You can always call back to see how he's doing, you know," Bruce said.
"What?" Tony replied, as if he was crazy. "And come across like an idiot? I don't think so."
"Or you can see it like coming across like a caring friend," Bruce said. Ah, so typical, yet Tony couldn't deny that he was right. It simply wasn't the way Tony went about things. He didn't do 'caring friend' telephone calls, especially not to SHIELD, especially not concerning Loki.
"Yeah... no," he said softly, shrugging his shoulders and turning his gaze out of the window. "Not sure if that's going to work out," he said, sighing softly. Was it really necessary to keep the alcohol away from him? "I told him to watch out, so..."
"Call him when you arrive in Japan. Since when do you care what people think of you? You're Tony Stark," Bruce spoke.
"Yeah, well, to the people at SHIELD, that doesn't say so much," Tony spoke.
Loki was alone for a long time and he wondered whether that was because they simply didn't want anything to do with him or they didn't know what they did want to do with him. Either way, it didn't sit well with him to just sit here and wait. He didn't know what he was waiting on, after all and that certainly wasn't a nice feeling. There was nothing he could do to change it, however. He simply continued to read, soon forgetting about the time that passed, as the book was taking over his mind one page at a time. He felt merged into the story and it was a good story indeed. There was magic, although of a strange kind and, more importantly, he could relate to the main character.
It was only after quite some time that the door opened again, but only to bring him something to eat. He didn't touch it, not feeling like he could trust these people, though after an hour or so he couldn't deny that he was incredibly hungry, so he had a bite. When nothing seemed to happen he tried another bite. In the end he still had only eaten a small portion, but he was no longer hungry. Tony had continuously told him he needed to eat and drink enough, to make sure the wounds would heal properly and his body had all the strength to get better. It was probably only for that reason that he had eaten... He didn't know whether he should feel good or bad about that.
When, presumably, nighttime came he realized that he would have to sleep in the presence of all these people. He didn't like that at all. He knew he was being watched over at all times and he didn't like prying eyes, especially not when he slept. Thus, he continued to read and tried to ignore his tire.
Eventually, once again, the door opened, which snapped him out of his half-asleep gaze at the small letters on the pages. He looked up, shutting the book, his eyes having seen the number on the page, which he remembered.
"Your night clothing. We assumed you would like something more comfortable," the woman spoke, laying a pile of dark blue, soft pyjamas on the bed. "You will need to change now," she spoke, taking the curtain she held in her arms, attaching it to the ceiling. It was the same woman as before and Loki wondered why she wasn't yet falling asleep. "I'll need to stay, for I can't let you dress without someone watching," she spoke. "Don't worry, I've seen a lot."
"Think again, I'm not dressing," he spoke, looking up at her.
"I'm sorry, but you have no choice. We have to make sure you are looked after and thus you need to stay clean. So change into your nightclothes," she spoke, but he didn't budge.
"I can care for myself," he spoke.
"I know you can, but you're not being given the option in this situation. Cooperate, Loki, and you can go to sleep," she spoke.
"I don't need any sleep," he spoke, annoyance clear in his voice.
"I thought you knew how to look after yourself?" she said, pointing at the pyjamas. "Loki, change, now," she said. "It's only me that can see you and I won't be explicitly looking. Now, please, hurry."
Loki looked up at her, wondering why she truly still thought he was going to cooperate. He wasn't going to get changed in front of her, because he wouldn't show himself to her, to anyone and he didn't want anyone to know of the wound on his chest, the one that was obviously covered by bandages.
He stood there, unmovingly and soon the woman let out an annoyed sigh. Perhaps if he waited long enough she would reconsider and leave him be. But something told him that SHIELD liked to play games with him.
"Loki, do you want me to lose my patience?" she asked warningly and she sounded an awful lot like an angry mother. Loki let out a low growl because of it, but otherwise kept his anger hidden.
"I do not care for your patience, but your presence restricts me from changing, thus I will not. Nothing will change my mind and it is something you will have to accept." Was it truly such a crime to let him keep his own clothes on? It wasn't like he was actually dirty, as he hadn't done anything all day! He'd just been sitting here... So, for the purposes of looking after him this really didn't need to happen. Certainly they knew this too.
"Rules are rules," she said.
"Who makes these delirious rules and is it not so that sense can prove rules wrong?" he sneered.
"Not in your case," she replied determinedly and Loki was truly losing his temper, which was something he knew he shouldn't do. He couldn't allow them to get to him and having another breakdown in front of them would certainly provoke a reaction from their side that Loki did not wish to encounter. "You will make this so much harder for yourself if you do not listen."
"I will not listen to you, woman," he spoke snappily, belittling her clearly. He did a step towards her, intimidatingly. "Your senseless rules mean naught to me and will not apply. Do you understand?"
"Undress, or I will taser you and undress you myself," she spoke, her eyebrows raised.
"You dare threaten a God in such a way?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raised in an accusing manner.
"But you no longer are a God, Loki. You have no magic and thus; yes, I will," she spoke. "Now do as I say, or suffer the consequences."
"When I redeem my magic, you will be the first I will punish," he spoke, his eyes narrowed.
"Is that you giving into the rules?" she asked, her hand resting on the taser on her belt.
"No, it is me warning you. Any wrong move and you will be condemned to your dea-" and so he was tasered and when he woke up, he indeed had been changed. The pyjamas smelled strangely and he hated it, he hated it all and he wanted to curl up, he wanted Tony and warmth, he wanted the coffee that Tony brought him, or the warm sticky sweet stuff that Tony made with a slice of cake, he wanted it all... he wanted to be home...
But where was home? The Tower? Asgard? Jotünheim? None were his home and then suddenly he realised that he had no home, no definitive place to stay regardless of the offers the people made. He had no place of his own, no real place to stack the books he liked, where he could keep the ornaments that he found beautiful...
He pulled the covers further over him, letting out a shaky breath as he felt his eyes sting. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't... There seemed no stopping it, however. So, he pulled the covers even further over him, covering his head entirely and slowly dared to let the tears slip. He made no noise and tried to listen out for any that might indicate someone entering the room. He continuously dried his eyes and face, so he wouldn't be too obviously crying if someone would suddenly pull the covers away.
So, a day had passed and he was already losing it in here.
After a few minutes he managed to contain himself and he got up not too long afterwards. He looked down at the stupid pyjamas, trying not to think of what it meant that he was wearing them. Probably she hadn't dressed him on her own. She must've had help, which meant that it was even worse than it could've been. He wondered what they'd said to each other, what they'd seen. He wonderd what they'd made of the bandages that covered his chest. Had they taken a peek? He let his fingers run over his chest, though knew he couldn't check to see if the bandages had been moved, as it meant giving them another look. He felt watched and couldn't even see who was watching him. It drove him into severe anxiety, that he made sure he didn't show.
Now what? Would he spend the rest of the day in here again, with little to nothing happening, without knowing whether Tony was actually alright. How much time had passed? He couldn't be sure, which frustrated him only more. Couldn't they have at least giving him a clock or something? That would've at least toned down some of the worst nerves. Perhaps they wanted him disorientated. It wouldn't be the first time such methods were used to torture him. He'd often been ridden of either one of his senses or abilities and often he'd been placed in spaces that gave no indication of location, just to drive him that bit more crazy. This seemed similar, only these puny people didn't scare him enough to actually cause him to lose it. He was just annoyed.
The moment they touched ground and Tony had a moment alone, he found himself getting his phone out and dialling SHIELD's number. "This is Stark," he spoke as a tough sounding secretary picked up the phone. "I wish to hear what's going on with Loki," he spoke.
"I'm sorry, I don't go about such matters," the woman replied.
"I'm Tony Stark, give me to someone who does know," he said, already getting impatient. Would it be like it was in jail? One phone call? He wondered...
"Hello, this is agent-"
"Yeah, hi, Tony Stark, let me speak to Loki," Tony said, looking around him, pacing slightly aggressively.
"I cannot let anyone speak to one of the captives," the agent replied.
"Loki is not a captive and prisoners get phone calls too. Now give him to me," he spoke.
"Rules are rules," she answered and Tony let out a loud sigh. He could see from a distance that they were unpacking the aeroplane and that he should help, but this was more important.
"And rules are there to be broken. Now give him to me, it'll do no harm and I cannot stop this Silver Demon guy when I'm worried. So give him to me, now."
He heard voices in the background and eventually, he heard doors and a bit of movement, Loki's name and then there was silence. "Loki?" he asked. It was quite strange, for he'd never spoken to him over a phone before.
"Stark..." Loki replied, his voice cold, which showed Tony that the God wasn't all too happy.
"I'm calling to see how you're doing," Tony said, trying to get in as much in as little time.
"I'm fine," he replied. "Apart from the fact that I'm talking into a strange device to my top enemy." Obviously someone was standing before him and probably someone was listening into the line. Ah, so he needed to be careful with his words.
"Are you enjoying the books?" Tony carried on, although he had to snigger, picturing Loki's discomfort with phones. He got an 'hm' in return and figured that was a yes. Tony let out a soft sigh. "I'm safe, in Japan. We're heading to one of the Japanese bases now that they've lent us. Then we're going after this Demon guy," he said. "I'll keep you posted if these people let me speak to you."
"Yes," Loki replied and Tony let out another sigh, as he knew there was more Loki would say, could he speak his mind. It was certainly frustrating, but there was so little he could do about it. He could hardly tell Loki to simply ignore that SHIELD was listening it, for he couldn't even ignore it himself.
"Take care in there. I'll try to be back as soon as possible and rid you from that captivity."
"You better..." Loki replied and Tony smiled a little, though knew it was more out of hope than out of actual happiness. "That is to say; you'll regret it if you do not."
"Ah, I'm certain that's the case," he replied, granting Loki the satisfaction of an actual threat. "Oh, before I go. What're you reading?"
"Does it matter?" Loki replied, clearly not wanting to admit he was reading at all. Tony laughed softly.
"I want to know."
"You mortals all have a strange concept of magic," Loki replied. Ah, so that's what he was reading. "It's... amusing."
"I'm glad you like it," Tony replied and found himself smiling quite genuinely at that. "Well, I better get going, then," Tony spoke. "You're reading the first book of a series of seven, I'll get you the rest when I'm back," he said, smiling.
Loki stayed silent for a while, "...fine."
Tony laughed softly. "Have a nice day, princess," and so he hung up, picturing the look on Loki's face at his remark.
Loki had been about to snap at that, though right when he was about to do so the phone started beeping and after a moment he realized that that must mean that Tony had hung up, which lead to him having no way of responding to the degrading remark, that SHIELD had listened in on. How dare he?!
The phone was snatched away from him, but he didn't look up at the agent that took it. He only hoped that he'd get to talk to Tony again soon, for he needed to put him back in his place. This wasn't acceptable. The only thing he could do was hope Tony wouldn't actually die in this fight, for he would not never forgive him if that was so.
"So, you're probably hungry," one of the agents said. "As you haven't had much of your dinner last night."
"I'm fine," he replied, as it wasn't a lie. He wasn't hungry, although he knew he should be. Indeed, he'd not had a lot and he did feel strangely weak, which indicated that he should eat, yet he wouldn't come across eagerly. He wasn't eager.
In Japan, Tony was suiting up, as were the others. Tony didn't exactly believe that they should all get to investigation and that they should stop the ralleys that were already going on. Besides, the Silver Demon was flying around somewhere and they were going to have to catch him.
Tony, Steve and Clint were off into the city, while Fury and Romanov got to the investigation and Bruce...? Well, Bruce just stayed back. He was their emergency call, pretty much... They weren't going to get the hulk in and ready to destroy Tokyo or any other major city in Japan. Yes, having him as plan B worked and as he stayed behind, he could research.
It wasn't easy flying Hawkeye to one of the roofs, while holding Captain America still to take to the right place on the ground. Nope, it wasn't all that easy at all. "Okay, you're going to have to stay on the ground and calm these people as the panicking civilians aren't helping," Tony spoke to Steve, which he found funny as he was always the one to give orders. "Try to get the police to do their work well, I'll fly around and try to get my eye on something silver, though perhaps Hawkeye was better at that...
Well, Tony had the advantage of being up high and manoeuvring wherever he wanted, which certainly was a freedom. And what would they do if they found him? Try to take him down? If it would truly be that easy, then certainly he wasn't still running lose, was he? Ah well, nothing wrong with taking a peek here and there, before getting to the real action. That's more or less how they'd got Loki in the end too. Although, that was more a prison break, perhaps. If only Loki would be so lucky now... He didn't deserve that cell this time, although Tony figured that perhaps he did, as he had done quite a bit of damage. But he hadn't been himself fully and he'd been punished more than severely for it already. Perhaps that just made him dangerous, though, but that was a thought he'd leave for later. At the moment Loki didn't have his powers, which meant he wouldn't even be half as dangerous than he could be. Besides, he was out to kill himself, not rule the world. To Tony that made him more dangerous, but to SHIELD... not so much. It was a difficult thought to process; that many would actually be glad to get rid of him, but it was a logical thought too and he'd simply have to accept that most would agree that a world without Loki might just be a better one.
He had been flying for over half an hour without a glimpse of anything silver. He was overlooking the streets to find any logic in the way the masked mafia were acting, but couldn't pinpoint it. What was the motivation behind this Silver Surfer's attack? Suddenly, without having seen it coming, something hit his suit, which knocked him backwards and made his repulsors stop, causing him to drop. He regained himself soon enough and looked around, trying to find where it had come from. It had come from above, surely.
"Found something suspicious," Tony spoke, knowing the rest could hear it. "I'm going after it," he said, flying upwards as he had that idea that it had come from above, he couldn't however actually see where it was. "Jarvis? Boost up the sensors, whatever this is, it's not so funny," he spoke, looking around before flying on.
"Yes sir," Jarvis replied, to which he sped up and tried to figure out where the blast had come from. Was this the Silver Demon, then? Was he invisible, like SHIELD's ship was?
"Pinpoint this location on a map somewhere, before they kill me off and you can never find my body," he said, into the communication device. He got an affirmative from Bruce, who clearly didn't like the sound of Tony talking about being killed off.
"Just remember you have a God to save after this," was the reply he got after a few moments. That was right when his hand connected to the surface and Jarvis popped up a rather detailed view of the thing he'd just come in contact with.
"Found it," Tony said, although he wasn't too sure what he'd found. "Seems they're hovering a ship above this city. Quite a big one. Quite a dangerous one. I think I should abort mission, but I also think I'm too late."
"What are you going on about, Stark?" Romanov said, wanting a more straight forward description of the situation, obviously. He couldn't quite give it, though.
"Just, hurry up and get your ass over here. I'm going to need some help. Soon."
All the while Jarvis was making calculations about the ship he was still flying close to. At least if he stayed close to it, he wouldn't easily be shot out of the air. At least; that was his view on the matter. Here was to hoping he was right...
Tony's hands moved up and as he flew a little higher, he felt his hands touch something, though couldn't actually see anything. "Jarvis, do a scan so I can see a model of this thing. How big is it?" he asked, trying to fly in a direction he believed the ship didn't go in to he could activate his scanner.
This did, however, make him raise his arm in an attacking manner. He wasn't exactly sure how that would take and moments later, a small missile left the invisible field of 'ship' and eventually, even as he flew off, started to tail him.
"Oh dear, have a problem," he said. "Clint, coming your way, be ready," he spoke, telling Jarvis to power up his repulsors so he could outrun, or outfly, the missile. He was a little worried about this, though figured that panicking wasn't all too good of an idea.
"Sir, the scan is incomplete. The image of the scanned ship is as follows:" Jarvis spoke and an image popped into view, which showed him the enormous ship. He raised his eyebrows and flew only faster. Of course he didn't have the entire ship, which worried him, but this gave an idea.
"Jarvis, send it to Bruce," he spoke, to which he got an affirmative answer. Now his full focus was on getting to Hawkeye on time. "Almost there..." he said, flying faster, finding Clint and going towards him. "No time for a mistake here, Barton," he spoke, not wanting to get burnt by a bleeding missile...
But of course Clint made no mistakes and not a moment too soon the missile erupted into explosion, just out of reach. Ah, that was better. Still, though, they had that enormous ship to deal with.
"Well, that went well," Tony said, while he was flying towards Clint to land next to him. He looked into the direction the ship was in, feeling quite relieved to be away from it, though they weren't save yet. "So, I think I alerted them to our presence. Now what?"
"We need better organization. It's not about size, it's about planning," Steve spoke.
"Yeah, tell that the heat detecting missiles," Tony replied, though he was keen to hear whatever plan Steve had in mind. "Just please tell me we're taking Bruce along."
"Of course," Steve replied, which caused Tony to smirk. At least with Bruce there he was certain nothing could get to them. The Hulk was invincible, after all. Well, for the most part, anyway.
"Good," Tony said, although he knew Bruce would have some objections to make. Though, even then, Bruce wouldn't let them go aboard this invisible ship on their own. "We'll be fine."