Steve didn't say anything as he heard that he would be out in the field once again. His mind had been a whirlwind of information and he was struggling to understand what was happening during his time at S.H.I.E.L.D. He had seen a photo of the man named Loki and he admitted that he didn't look much like a God. Steve had been told that he was, but, he failed to believe it. He knew that there was only one God and Loki could be brought down. He didn't know if he was the man for the job but he would have a go. It was his duty to protect the Earth much like he had done seventy years ago.
He walked slowly down the corridors, knowing that it didn't take long to change into his suit and they wouldn't arrive in Germany for a few hours. He was contemplating what it would feel like to don the suit one more time. He wondered if it would feel good. If it would feel normal. He didn't know.
As he contemplated his thoughts he said nothing until he almost bumped into her. It seemed that they were both wrapped up in their own thoughts to notice anyone else.
"Sorry," Steve instantly said and she jumped back and shook her head, moving her green eyes to look into his blue ones.
"I wasn't looking where I was going," she simply said back to him and he smiled softly.
"There has been a hit on Loki," he informed her. "They say that he is in Stuttgart."
Isabella's brow furrowed and lines formed on her forehead as she thought about where that was.
"My Geography isn't that good," she informed him and he nodded back quickly.
"Germany," he said to her. "I should have said, ma'am."
"And...what...what are they going to do?" Isabella wondered, hoping that they would simply bring him to one side and have a quiet word with him. She hoped that he would go quietly and wouldn't fight them. Isabella was already reeling at the information which she had been told, refusing to believe that Loki would do that. He was her Loki. The one who she had loved. And then the nagging voice in her head had kicked in, telling her that she shouldn't be shocked. Loki had tried to have his brother killed. He had tried to destroy an entire realm.
But that wasn't his fault. She refused to believe it was his fault.
"I'm going after him," Steve said, rocking back and forth on his heels, his eyes scanning past her shoulder and down the long hallway. "It's time to wear the stars and stripes again."
"Why?" Isabella snapped quickly at Steve, her tone harsh. "Do you think that he will start a full scale war or something? Do you think that he would do that?"
"I don't know what he would do," Steve held his hands up in defence, not wanting to be on the wrong side of Isabella. He eyed her with caution, wondering how she could defend this man when he had clearly committed evil acts. "But I do know that he is dangerous. Why do you not see that?"
"Because I know him," Isabella hissed at Steve, her voice low and deadly. Her chin jutted out as her blood boiled and she shook her head at him. She didn't expect him to understand. She didn't expect anyone to understand her. "He is not a monster like people seem to think."
"But he isn't a saint."
"Who is?" Isabella asked the rhetorical question. "I need to see Phil...I need to go with you to him. Loki will listen to me. He will stop whatever is happening. I know he will."
"How can you be so sure?" Steve asked her as she moved past him. She stopped her walk, turning her head over her shoulder to look at the soldier from out of time as he watched her intently. "I read your file. It has been two and a half years and he clearly isn't the person who you thought he was."
Shaking her head, Steve watched as her hair fell over one shoulder in soft strands and her eyes softened into his. And that was when he saw it. He saw the love for him in her emotions and he wondered if he would ever experience that. He thought that he had done back in the War but he couldn't be sure. And now it was too late for him to know.
"I know him," Isabella said, her voice not faltering and Steve didn't doubt her loyalty to him. "I know what he is like."
She said nothing more, instead choosing to rush off down the hallway, shoving her way past agents as they refused to speak to her. It seemed they only spoke to those who dressed in uniform. Shaking his head in disbelief, Steve moved into the room which held his suit and he eyed it with suspicion, hoping that he could manage against Loki.
Isabella allowed the doors to open automatically as she entered the bridge of the hellicarrier one more time. Her eyes instantly shot to Phil who was sat at the table, his eyes downcast on paperwork. She flung her body into the seat next to his, taking him off guard as he looked up, his hand moving to rest on his chest. His eyes shut as he heard her begin to speak.
"Why are you sending Steve after him?" Isabella wondered. Coulson opened his eyes once more and watched as she leant closer to him, her arms resting on the table and her body angled to the side as she refused to stop glaring at him.
"We don't know how much of a threat he is. We can't take the risk, Isabella."
"Let me go," Isabella pleaded. "He won't do anything whilst I am there. I can talk to him and make him see sense. He might not be doing anything dangerous, Phil."
"No," Coulson said, denying her the action.
Director Fury turned his gaze up to where Agent Coulson sat and he noted the presence of Isabella and he shook his head. He instantly knew that she would be worming her way towards Coulson, pleading with him to let her go to Loki with the Cap. He said nothing and continued looking at the screen which housed Loki's face. He knew Coulson had grown too attached to the girl. He pitied her when she first landed on Earth and then his pity had changed to affection.
"Why not?" Isabella wondered; slamming a fist on the table before Coulson dropped his pen from his hand. It landed on top of his papers and his eyes met hers, his gaze just as stubborn as her own. Isabella sat back a bit, shocked at his look and he pleadingly moved his hand to rest on top of hers.
"It has been two and a half years, Isabella," Coulson whispered to her. "He has come here and has made his intentions known to us. You never thought that it was possible for him to be like this so who knows what he would be like if you went to him? He killed innocent people and I refuse to let you go to him and be placed in harms way."
Isabella said nothing in response to him, truly not knowing what she could say to his sudden outburst. Phil had always made sure she was okay. He had always been there to listen to her but this was different. This was him protecting her and keeping her safe. Isabella felt her body warm at hearing him and a sudden surge of emotions came across her as she leant closer to him and hugged him quickly.
"I don't know what he is doing," Isabella muttered onto Coulson's shoulder. "I just want to go to him. I want to go to him and stop him from doing anything stupid."
"I know," Coulson assured her. "But they will bring him back here and then you can talk to him. Then you can try and talk sense to him."
Isabella pulled back from Coulson and said nothing as he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and turned back to his paperwork. The pair of them sat in silence, hearing the commotion which was taking place around them. Isabella listened intently before she stood up when Coulson did.
A computer screen was showing what was happening in Germany. The Director stood directly behind it, his eye narrowed in concentration as Romanoff's voice moved into his ear through the piece which was settled there. Isabella's eyes widened as she finally saw him. She finally saw him again. He stood in his finery, his arms outstretched and a grin on his face. But it wasn't a grin which she recognised. It wasn't a warm and teasing look which she was accustomed to. No. It was a cold one. It was one which showed a dangerous side to Loki. A side which she hadn't seen before.
"No," Isabella whispered as he turned his glare to Steve, his sceptre in his hands before he shot at him. People fled from the scene, running and screaming along with crying in hysteria. Isabella couldn't believe what she was seeing. Loki was fighting with every ounce of strength which he had. Never before had she seen him move in such a graceful yet vengeful way. Her stomach churned at the sight of him.
She struggled to watch, barely recognising that Coulson had rested his hand on her back, trying to soothe her as Loki fell to the floor. Her eyes widened as she saw the infamous Iron Man fly into the scene, knocking Loki onto his back and she gasped, unable to stop herself from hoping that he hadn't been hurt.
Loki's hands rose upwards, admitting defeat and his finery moved from his body as the camera went dead.
Fury nodded sternly to himself; appeased with the work which had been completed. He left the screen whilst Isabella's eyes remained fixed on the darkness.
"Sit down," Coulson urged her. "I'll get you some water."
"What had he been doing?" Isabella asked, allowing Coulson to guide her back to the table which they had been occupying. She climbed the steps one at a time, her eyes never leaving Coulson as she looked at the ear piece which had been buzzing in his ear the entire time. "I know that Agent Romanoff was talking to you. What was Loki doing, Phil?"
"The people were kneeling," he told her, knowing that he had to be honest with her. "He was making them kneel and telling them how subjugation was their preferred state. He wants to rule them."
Isabella didn't know what to say in response to the sudden comment for her mouth had dried up and her throat seemed to be tightening with every passing second. She struggled to comprehend it all as she collapsed back into her seat and Coulson handed her a glass of water.
"He should be at the hellicarrier soon," he informed her and she sipped the water. "Are you sure you still want to talk to him?"
"At this moment in time I don't know if I can stand to look at him," Isabella admitted, disgusted with herself for saying it. She never thought that she would feel that way. But she did. She felt horrified with his sudden revelation. "But I have to. I have to know why."
"Go back to your room for a bit and rest, Isabella. There is nothing that you can do here. I will come for you when he has been secured."
"I don't need to rest," Isabella denied to Coulson. "I don't think that I could rest. How can I when I know what Loki wants? How can I possibly..." she trailed off, unable to say anything.
"Well you need to leave the bridge before you hyperventilate," Coulson told her, his voice low as people turned from their work to look at her. She was oblivious to their looks but he knew that they were intrigued as to what was the matter with her. "Come on. I'll come with you."
Isabella returned to her room with Coulson in tow and she searched through her bag for her toothbrush and toothpaste. She knew that her breath smelt terrible for her mouth was horribly dry. She proceeded to try and sort her hair out, knowing that it needed a good wash for grease was beginning to form in it. She ran some water from the tap over it, slicking it back into a tight bobble again. She freshened up her foundation, her hands shaking as she wasted time. She knew that she was wasting time until he came back to her.
She moved out from her clothes and changed into a pale skirt which formed a bubble shape around her legs down to just above her knees. She tucked her white blouse into the material and rested against the basin, both of her hands curling around it before a knock sounded on the bathroom door.
"I think Thor has showed up," Coulson told her. Isabella grabbed the lock, twisting it and opening the door whilst looking at Coulson with wide orbs.
"Why? How?"
"Agent Romanoff came onto the line. She said there was a rumble of Thunder and then she thinks another Asgardian came on the ship. She described him to me and I think it is Thor."
"Where has he taken Loki?"
"He flew down to the ground," Coulson said. "But Stark went after him along with the Cap. They managed to bring him back on board, managing a truce of some sorts. I don't know the full details but they're almost back here."
"How did Thor get here?" Isabella wondered aloud. "How did he manage it...there is no way...he doesn't have the tesseract..."
"You'll find out," Coulson told her, sitting on the edge of her bed as he watched her place her dirty clothes into her bag along with toiletries. He saw how some wisps of hair failed to move into the correct place in the ponytail but he said nothing. She looked drained and scared. He had never seen her in such a state.
"I feel sick," Isabella admitted, crouched down near her bag as her hands rested on the zipper.
"Nothing will happen to you," Coulson promised her. "Come on. We'll go back to the bridge and wait there. You need a walk...do something to clear your mind."
Isabella nodded once to agree with him, moving by his side down the hallway again before he passed the laboratory which had been set up for Dr Banner.
"You haven't met the Doctor yet." Coulson remembered. "I'll introduce you."
Isabella nodded, entering the world of technology which she struggled to comprehend as Banner looked up from his work. He blinked quickly, wondering if he was seeing the right person before Phil smiled at him.
"Dr Banner. I don't think that you've been introduce to Isabella Underwood."
"No," Banner said, dropping the pen he was holding and offering her his hand. "How do you do, Miss Underwood?"
"Isabella is fine," she responded to Banner in a small voice, not daring to answer his question for she was sure that he didn't want an honest answer from her. "Pleasure to meet you, Dr Banner."
"Yeah..." Banner trailed off as he looked over her shoulder and he saw him, the smirk fixed firmly on his face as he walked down the corridor, his hands in front of him and bound.
Isabella slowly turned around, wondering what had distracted him in such a fashion. Even as she turned she knew. She knew that it was him he was looking at for his face had paled and his eyes had narrowed into slits.
Finally, she laid her eyes on him. He looked back at her, the smirk leaving his face as he wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. He wondered if he was simply seeing something which wasn't there. It had happened to him during his early days of darkness so why could it not happen now? But he knew she was real. He stopped walking, feeling the tip of a weapon press against his shoulder, nudging him forwards.
He saw her begin to move, her eyes never leaving his before a man grabbed her around the wrist, stopping her from going any closer to him. He whispered in her ear and his chest swelled with annoyance. How dare he touch her in such a manner. A snarl escaped his lips at the sight of it but she refused to avoid his stare. Their green orbs held longing inside of them and the pair of them didn't truly know how to react.
He had no choice but to begin moving one more time for the guard had pushed him roughly. Normally he would have flicked his wrist and sent the man flying into a wall, pain surely ensured. But he did nothing, his body too in shock at the sight of her. After all that time he had thought that she had died. He thought that he had lost her.
And there she was. Dressed like a human and living on Midgard. He had no doubt that she would come to him, demanding answers and he too had some answers which he wanted to know.
Isabella couldn't take her stare off of him, watching as he was finally pulled from her sight and her heart lurched. She couldn't let him go too far. She had seen him finally and she didn't want to stop watching him for fear of never seeing him again. He had changed, she was sure of that. His hair was considerably longer, curling out at the ends and his face had seemed gaunter. His cheekbones seemed to hold more of an angle to them. He looked older. He looked weathered. She couldn't explain it.
"I need to go to him," Isabella managed to spit out and Coulson nodded in agreal.
"Director Fury is securing him and then you can go to him in five minutes. I promise you."
Isabella had no choice but to agree. Those five minutes pained her. She had gone two and a half years without him but it was the five minutes which hurt her the most at that moment in time. Coulson received the word that he was secure and he led Isabella to the prison which he was being kept in. Fury passed them on the way out, nodding at Coulson as the door shut to the room and Isabella took a deep breath.
"Do you want me to come in with you?" Phil asked and she shook her head, squeezing his hand once and closing her eyes.
"I need to do this," she said. "I have to do this."
"I'll wait here. Shout me...just shout if you need anything..." Coulson said and she nodded.
Agonising steps were taken towards the doors before she stood close enough to them for them to note her presence and open. The sound rushed through her as her body carried her into the vast metal room. She walked past a control panel, not noting it as her eyes fixed on him one more time. He sat in a glass cage, his body bent at the waist and his arms resting on his thighs as his head looked up, sensing that she had come to him. His eyes found hers and he saw that tears had begun to pool in the corner of her orbs.
"Loki..." she whispered his name and he looked away, wincing as he heard her soft voice. How he had longed for her to say his name like that. How he had longed to hear her speak to him and comfort him. He had longed for it until his body had become numb, unable to feel any more pain. That was when he pulled himself from his own personal hell.
"I thought you dead."
Isabella took in his voice, his words blunt and his tone cold. But the velvety feel still wrapped around them, comforting them as they moved into her ears. She shook her head, moving as close to the glass as she could before walking into it.
"I fell...I fell here..." she told him, her voice hoarse and she wondered if it was her speaking. "What are you doing here, Loki?"
"Have you not heard?" Loki wondered, turning his gaze back onto her and sitting up straight as he watched her. "I have come to rule."
"No," Isabella shook her head. "I know that you do not mean that, Loki...this is not what you want...you told me in Asgard that you didn't want the throne..."
"The throne was taken from me," Loki told her simply. "I need to rule Earth. I need to show them that they need me."
"Loki," Isabella said his name again and he snarled to himself, wishing that his mind would not soften as he heard her. "Do not talk silly...why are you doing this? I thought...I thought that you had come here...I hoped you had come back for me..."
"I did not know you were here," Loki told her honestly, his voice low and hard as he leant back against the glass. "As I said before...I thought that you were dead."
"I am not," she stated the obvious. "It pained me, Loki. Thinking of you on Asgard...wondering if I were...I begged for you to come...I pleaded..."
"What?" Loki wondered, his brows knitting together and he frowned at her. "I have not been on Asgard."
"But I saw you," Isabella said to him, shaking her head. "I saw you hold onto the sceptre...you were safe..."
"I fell," Loki said to her. "I saw...it matters not what I saw," Loki denied quickly to her, shaking his head and standing up from his seat, towering once more. "I fell into the darkness and landed in darkness."
"But...what happened to you, Loki?" Isabella wondered, wishing that she could move the glass as Loki sauntered into the middle of his cage. He commanded the prison which was holding him, still looking as regal as he did when he had been King.
"I travelled through realms," he simply spoke. "I have seen things which you would not believe. I have grown, Isabella."
"And now you come here," Isabella spoke. "You come here and wish to take over the world."
"My ambition spans larger than Midgard," he assured her and she shook her head, the tear falling down her face before it dropped onto her heaving chest. Loki looked at her again, wishing that he could feel her hand in his one more time. He wished that he could have her by his side again.
"This is ridiculous," Isabella told him, shaking her head. "Why would you want this, Loki? Why?"
"As I said," Loki spoke calmly. "I have grown, Isabella. I have changed."
"Don't," she whispered to him, raising her hand and resting it on the glass, hoping that it would shatter by some miracle. "Loki...you suffered enough on Asgard...enough pain happened when you were King there...do not make the same mistake here..."
"Alas, this time I shall succeed," he promised her, tired of listening to her pleas as he began his walk closer to the glass. He looked at her raised arm against the glass and saw the burn from underneath the sheer blouse she wore. He winced, gulping at the memory.
"And you," he spoke, looking at her up and down. But it was not in a way which made her blush with longing. It was a way that turned her blood cold and made her want to cover herself. "Look at you...dressed like one of them...acting like one of them..."
"I have had to," Isabella said quickly back to him. "I fell here and I couldn't go home. I had to adapt, Loki...but I begged for you...every night I pleaded for you to come to me...never did I think that you had fallen...I never thought that had happened."
"It did," he assured her. "I spent my time convincing myself that you were gone. I convinced myself that you had died and I would not see you again. Yet here you stand. One of them. One of the humans who need to be ruled. But I won't let that happen."
"What does that mean?" Isabella wondered from Loki and he smiled at her, a trance of warmth passing his lips as he finally came to stand opposite her. He moved his own hand to the glass, mirroring her action as he rested his fingers on the clear material.
"I shall have you once again, Isabella. I shall be with you and we shall be happy. That was all that we wanted," he reminded her and she nodded at him, her eyes brimming with hope.
"We can be happy," she promised him. "Just stop this, Loki. Stop this and we can be together...please...even after all this time I love you...only you."
"And no other man has come close?" he wondered and she shook her head defiantly, leaning her body into the glass, wishing it would simply swallow her into it.
"No," she assured him. "It has only been you, Loki. Always you and only you. You have to know that. Just stop this...there may be a way for us to go back to Asgard before anything terrible happens..."
Loki chuckled; the sound dark as he dropped his hand to his side once again and shook his head, turning his back to Isabella and she watched him intently. The hope which had been in her body was slowly dissolving as Loki refused to look at her.
"My sweet Isabella," he drawled out. "It is too late to stop this even if I wanted to. I have a plan and you shall see what it is."
"No," Isabella replied in nothing but a whisper. She knew that he could hear her as another tear moved down her cheek. "Loki, what is this? You cannot take over the Earth. It is preposterous and you know that. Deep down you have to know that."
"I do not see it that way," he told her, his voice loud and commanding. "The humans need this," he said, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her as she continuously shook her head back and forth. "They need me to rule and I need you with me. I spent my time pushing you from my mind, Isabella. I told myself that you had gone and now I find you here. I find you here and I refuse to let you go from me again."
"I will not be with you if you do this, Loki," she snapped at him, slamming her fist against the glass. "Why are you doing this? You wish to take the Earth because you lost Asgard? You wish to rule to show how powerful you are? Well there is no need. I know how powerful you are! I saw you in Asgard...I saw how the power caused you to act and I didn't like it! You were not the man who I fell in love with! You were not the one who held me at night and protected me!"
"You always did have a temper on you," Loki simply said, twirling his body to look at her as she slammed her fist against the glass one more time. "Why do you make everything difficult?"
"I am not the one who makes it difficult!" Isabella roared at him, unable to control herself. "You are the one who does that! And I don't know why. I have no idea why you do this because you won't talk to me! I waited for you...I defended you against everyone! I begged for you to come to me and now you're here...and I wish...I wish..."
"What?" Loki snapped at her, moving to the glass with long and quick strides as he saw the door open from behind her. "What do you wish?"
"I wish you hadn't bothered!" Isabella roared. "I wish that things were different and you actually cared for me enough to stop this madness!"
"Isabella," another voice spoke from behind her and she felt Coulson take her elbow, dragging her from the room as she sobbed loudly, listening to Loki as he banged on the glass. His voice was loud and full of determination and sheer emotion.
"I am here now, Isabella, and I am not giving up! I will rule the Earth and you will be by my side whether it is by your will or force! I can assure you that! You will be mine again and you will do as I say!"
Isabella said nothing in response to him as his green orbs burned into hers and she turned on her heel, unable to take the glare which was coming from him. She stepped out the door, allowing Coulson to hug her tightly and she rested her head on his shoulder, rage and sorrow filling every inch of her body.
...
A/N: And they're back! I loved writing this chapter and I hoped you all enjoyed it. Thank you to AnnaJeffersonHolmes (I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thank you for reviewing!), IsaacClarkFangirl23 (Hope this chapter was good enough for you!) and LadyFides (thank you for reviewing even though Uni has begun once more! I know how frustrating it is what with the amount of work involved) for reviewing! I do hope you will let me know what you think!