Tony, Thor, Clint, and Bruce rush into the cell. Thor subdues Bucky as Bruce drugs him. Tony and Clint carry Steve out. Bucky goes limp and Thor lays the man down on the narrow prison bed before locking the cell door behind him. The wound on the back of Steve's head is pretty bad.
"Get him to the infirmary." Bruce orders. They place Steve onto the gurney and turn him to the side so Bruce can better examine the wound. He cleans away as much blood as he can. He can tell Steve's skull has been fractured.
"Get him in the CT Scanner."
In the hour that follows, everything is a blur as Steve is cleaned, examined, moved, scanned, and then loaded onto the twin jet and shuttled to the nearest hospital for emergency surgery. A normal man would have died instantly. Loki and Natasha join everyone on the twinjet. Loki bursts into tears at the sight of Steve on the hospital bed.
"What the hell was he doing in there?" Tony asks. Clint doesn't get it either.
"He knows how dangerous the guy is and he hasn't been showing any improvements."
"I am amazed the guy was able to hurt Steve as much as he did. Jarvis, play back the surveillance of the cell." Tony orders.
"I am sorry sir, but I cannot do that." The AI replies.
"What? Why not?"
"Because Captain Rogers asked me not to. He said the contents of the video were private and not to be shared."
"Jarvis, this goes beyond privacy. This is a security breach. Steve was hurt. We need to know what happened."
"Very well sir." Jarvis plays the video as everyone watches. Loki already has a rough idea of what they are about to see.
"Wait. Jarvis stop." Thor says. The others look to him for an explanation. "I know what is on that tape, more or less. We gain nothing by seeing it."
"What's on the tape Thor?" Tony asks.
"Loki and I have been aware for some time that Steven carries a great deal of affection for his friend."
"Affection? You mean sexual affection?" Clint asks.
"Aye. I know Steven is a man loathed to admit such an attraction to his male companion, nevertheless it is there. I think he tried to instigate intimacy with him."
"That would explain why he wasn't wearing a shirt." Natasha says.
"No fucking way. Captain America is gay." Tony laughs. He's not really amused, just surprised. He would never have suspected it. Clint and Natasha look shocked as well, especially since they consider themselves experts at reading people.
"How do you know that?" Clint asks.
"It was plain to me the first time I saw the Captain engage Mr. Barnes one on one alone. His devotion and desire was familiar to me. I have seen it before, one other time." Loki looks at Thor and smiles. "Their situation is not all that dissimilar to our own."
They land on the roof of the nearest hospital and Steve is rushed into surgery. The team waits nervously for over two hours while the surgeon does his work. A man in scrubs comes out looking very relieved.
"He's going to be fine. Despite the lethal damage his vitals held. He has a plate in his head now. I've installed a shunt to allow for drainage for the next several days."
"Thank you doctor. When will we be able to visit with him?" Natasha asks.
"For a normal patient I'd say not for a couple of days, but he's resilient. I think tomorrow he will be awake and talking."
"Alright guys. Let's go home. Nothing more we can do here today." Tony says. The team loads back onto the twinjet and heads back to the tower, sullen and depressed.
"Loki when we get back I'm giving you the scepter." Tony's gaze is distant, not looking at anyone. Loki merely nods. He will do what he can.
XxXxXxXxXx
Loki is sitting Indian style on the floor in front of Bucky's cell. With his head perched on his fists, he looks at the man quizzically as the soldier paces back and forth. He's been there for an hour just staring at the man, waiting for him to speak.
"What did it feel like?" Bucky asks Loki.
"What did what feel like?"
"When you were with that man…when he was inside you. Did it hurt?"
"No. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. You could have had that too, but you decided to bash Steve's head in instead."
"He's keeping me imprisoned here."
"Let me ask you something, what do you feel when you look at him? Longing? Desire? Fear? Confusion?"
"I don't see why I should share such thoughts with you."
"Ah. Still the soldier I see. Then let me ask you something else. How long have you been here? Do you remember?" Loki watches the confusion play out on Bucky's face. He gives a shrug.
"Five days." Loki can see the fear in the man's eyes.
"You've been here for over a month. A trained warrior such as you couldn't possibly lose track of time that quickly. Not unless there is a serious problem."
"You lie."
"I am the God of Lies mortal. Do not think you can be so dishonest with yourself. You know you have a memory problem. You can't recall where you were last week, last month, or last year. In fact you don't know what year this is. You don't know who the President is, you don't know what happened to your handlers, and you don't know why the man that entered your cell this morning haunts your mind and heart."
Bucky paces back and forth assessing Loki. His discomfort with this situation grows by the second. Is he really that sick in the head?
"So what? Are you offering to do something about it?"
"In point of fact, I am. I have the ability to repair your fractured mind, but that would require that I get into close physical quarters with you, and I would not relish a repeat performance of what you did to Steve this morning."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because if you don't get better they will never let you out of here. Either you let me help you or you sit in here and continue to rot." Tony, Thor, and Bruce enter the room. Tony is carrying the scepter. Clint and Natasha bring up the rear.
"Restrain him." Loki orders. They open the cell door and converge on the Winter Soldier. He put up a good fight but he is no match for Thor and Iron Man and Clint and Natasha. Thor puts Mjolnir on Bucky's chest, pinning him to the ground. Loki makes a face.
"What? It worked on you." Thor displays a sheepish grin. Loki stands over Bucky and taps the scepter to Bucky's chest. Clint shivers and looks away. He has a few memories he'd like repressed.
"You can remove the hammer now." Loki says. Thor picks up Mjolnir and Bucky sits up, his eye aglow in ghostly blue.
"What are your orders Sir?" He says.
"Take a seat over there on your bed." Loki follows him and sits beside him. "You are all welcome to sit and wait as well. I have no idea how long this will take." He says to the others. Everybody hunkers down inside Bucky's cell and watches patiently as Loki closes his eyes and delves into the mind James Buchanan Barnes.
Loki begins with Bucky's life before the war. Of all his memories those are the cleanest and easiest to recover. Everything before the fall from the train gets restored. He sees Steve how Bucky sees him and smiles at the fond memories. The pain of having his arm ripped off makes Loki wince. He cries out in pain and opens his eyes. Thor wraps his arms around him to steady him.
"Loki it has been three hours. Perhaps you should stop and rest." Thor says. Loki nods. He is covered in sweat and has bags under his eyes.
"Aye. I'm hungry. His memories from before his transformation are restored. I'll try restoring the more disjointed bits tomorrow. Someone bring him down some food as well." Loki tries to stand but finds his feet unsteady. The scepter gets passed off to Tony for safekeeping and Thor picks up Loki bridal style to carry him out of the cell. They leave Bucky under the influenced state. It'll save them from having to wrestle him again tomorrow.