I'm genuinely terrible at getting my word count high... But I promise I'll do my best to have it over 2000 in each chapter - and once the story kicks off, it'll be a lot easier ;)
Thank you to all people who faved/followed/left a review - it really helps the motivation!
This time when he awoke, he didn't have the disconcerting feeling that he was still in their cell - or at least, he didn't have it for too long – it only took him a few confused moments to remember where he was. His head felt somewhat clearer, less exhaustion weighing down on him. When he opened his eyes, the light felt as if it were attacking him, but he narrowed them into a squint and was soon able to see. Stark was still sleeping, except he was turned towards him. Loki examined him carefully. There were not-quite-healed wounds on his face. Loki felt despair wash over him. If he had only tried a little harder, Stark wouldn't have suffered so much. He should have held on for longer, stopped Oriax. He took a deep, slightly shaky breath then reached out a hand to cross the gap between their beds, and gently brush across Tony's forearm. Stark's eyes opened slightly, and he stirred. Loki withdrew his hand but kept watching him.
"Loki…" Stark muttered, sounding more than a little groggy. He blinked and rubbed his eyes with a hand that had a similar set of scars to Loki's. Loki pointedly avoided looking at it, filled with some kind of vague shame and horror. because it was his fault there were so many of those damn scars covering him. So instead, he focused on Stark's now fully opened brown eyes. He looked almost… concerned. As if he actually cared for Loki's wellbeing. He didn't think anybody did. He had arrived in Midgard not even intending to go through the portal himself, and expecting to die. These mortals... They might prove to be just as bad as Oriax. Or at least, comparably bad. Loki sighed, relaxing for a moment, before gritting his teeth and struggling into a sitting position. Tony followed suit, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and ripping some sort of needle out of his other arm. Loki's brow creased before he noticed something similar in his own arm. He shuddered, remembering many other needles, not so benign as this one seemed to be. He hastily removed it.
He was dressed in some kind of white robe, he noted. Strange. And for once, there was no blood or grime on him. He looked at his hand, twisting it this way and that in the light. "You all right?" he heard a quiet voice from behind him say. He turned to face Stark and gave a wan, not nearly convincing enough smile and a small nod. Stark didn't look too impressed by his lacklustre effort and seemed about to say something, before the door opened and both Stark and Loki focused their attention on Nick Fury as he strode in – dressed in the same black coat Loki was sure he'd been wearing the last time they had seen each other. Perhaps it was a favourite of his. Loki inclined his head slightly, breathing speeding up somewhat. He wasn't sure what the Director was going to do to him, probably something awful, but he was fairly certain he wouldn't harm Stark. His heart thrummed, because the Director never looked pleasant, and Loki was... terrified, perhaps, that he would be clapped in chains yet again and made to suffer new, Midgardian tortures. He tensed as Fury came up to him, breathing becoming shallower. He tried not to show it, but he was pretty certain he wasn't managing very well.
When the Director put a hand on his shoulder he flinched violently and pushed it away, standing and spinning around so his back was to the wall. He used it to support himself as the world briefly span around him. Memories shooting through his head, always her hand, never a good omen. Dragging him from his cell, holding him down. Dragging along his chest and the fire, the burning, shrieking fire that didn't go away… Dimly, he heard Stark yell his name. He blinked, coming back to the small room. He moved his hand from where it had clutched at his head back to his side. "Sorry…" he whispered hoarsely and sat back down on the edge of the bed, still breathing a little too quickly, but unable to stop the fear coursing through him. He heard the other bed creaking as Stark sat down too. Fury remained standing, though he'd moved a few paces away, hand on a gun strapped to his side. Loki eyed it, wondering for a moment what death would feel like after all this time. With surprising difficulty, he brought his gaze to the Fury's face and surreptitiously folded his shaking hands into his lap. Fury looked at him for a moment before sighing, hand leaving his gun. He pulled a chair from the wall behind him and settled down on it, before steepling his fingers and opening his mouth.
"I don't want to have to kill you," he stated without preamble. "But one toe out of line, and I will. There… We…" he seemed to stumble for a moment. "Nobody's going to hurt you like that," he finally said, nodding at Loki's body. "No matter what you do." Loki breathed out slightly, feeling vaguely confused. These men had more reason than any other to repeat what had been done to him. He wasn't entirely sure why Fury was declining the opportunity to do so. But... No more shackles. No more pain. The thought made his mind reel so he set it aside for later. Fury carried on talking. "Now, one thing I should make clear is that while you're here, there should be no using your magic fo-"
"I can't," Loki interrupted. "I can't use my magic." Fury raised his head suspiciously. "Then how come you opened a damn portal?" Loki opened his mouth, trying to think of a way to explain it, but Fury interrupted again. "And, come to think of it, you should probably tell me what exactly happened." Oh, Loki knew exactly what had happened. He'd felt every single twinge of pain and he could remember it all, too. but should he go down into his darkest memories, he felt sure he would shatter completely. Even the idea of telling someone else made his vision blur and heart race.
"No!" he burst out, gripping the edge of the bed tightly. "No," he continued, in a low voice. "I'm not telling you anything… Except, if I must, how I succeeded in opening a portal."
Nick Fury caught sight of the wild look in Loki's eyes as he suggested it and knew he'd made a mistake asking for that information. The god was shaking, literally shaking. He'd just had a bloody mental breakdown or something, he should have known better than to ask about it if a simple hand on the shoulder was enough to… To do that to a god. Fury nodded at Loki's suggestion, slightly embarrassed and vaguely surprised that Loki was actually cooperating despite how shaken he seemed, and so Fury simply waited for him to speak as the god appeared to sort out the words in his head.
"When I… Was taken, from my cell in Asgard, Oriax placed a… A binding spell, a permanent binding spell, on my magic. As well as simply preventing me from using it, over time it… ate away at it. Permanently. It was a little time before Stark arrived that it disappeared completely. I… can never use magic again." Fury would have sworn he heard Loki's hoarse voice shaking. "But… In our final moments there, I believe that through… Through what she was doing, my… My soul? My identity? Changed just enough that it was as if I were a different person – one without the binding spell. One with magic… Enough to open a portal to another dimension. But the shift was not permanent by any stretch. I am… I am without my magic."
Fury thought about it. It made sense, in a way. The way mystical magical nonsense made sense. One thing was nagging at him, though. He was pretty sure he knew the answer already, but… "What was she doing to make that happen, Loki?" he asked quietly, not expecting an answer but hoping for a reaction. He got one – Loki's face paled suddenly and then darkened just as quickly, his hand going to his chest – three of his trembling fingers at the tops of the three long grooves he knew cut down Loki's entire chest. Fury got the gist. Torture. That mysterious Oriax had tortured Loki until he literally broke, lost control. What a… He thought of numerous words to describe her, none of them in any way pleasant. He tried not to let his anger show, but he was pretty sure his face looked as furious as his name sounded. He glanced over at Stark, who confirmed what Loki had said with a grave nod. Fury noted Stark's fingers were resting on his other wrist, which had been broken when he'd arrived. So, he'd been tortured too – it was fairly obvious just from the scars, but it was always good to double check. Fury stormed from the room without another word, swearing he'd absolutely ******* destroy whoever treated his agents (as much as Stark could be considered one) – and even his ex-enemies – that way.
He strode to his quarters, not bothering to acknowledge anyone in his path, swatting anxious agents out of his way before they could stammer out any useless words he really didn't want to hear at this time. As soon as he reached the rooms, he let out a long string of cuss-words he must have picked up in some hell-hole he'd forgotten had existed. Eventually running out of fresh vocabulary, he looked up to the ceiling. "JARVIS, could you pull up the current footage of Loki and Stark?" he asked the AI. When news of Tony Stark's disappearance had hit him, he'd immediately relocated to Avengers tower, and bullied JARVIS into agreeing to help him in the search for Stark – which they had almost, almost began to give up on. Naturally, he assumed that would continue thereafter until Stark was well enough to continue his normal life, and luckily enough JARVIS seemed to agree with him. "Right here, sir," JARVIS replied, and the video appeared on the wall.
Stark and Loki were standing up, saying something. Loki had a supporting hand on the railing at the foot of the bed and Stark was standing unaided, though he still looked pale. "JARVIS, the audio, please," he added, as the silence continued. Immediately their voices filtered into the room. "-know what do," Loki was saying, in a rather desperate voice. "I can't… I…" he attempted to move closer to Stark but stumbled and fell. Stark immediately stepped towards him and helped him off the floor, half-dragging him back to the hospital bed. There was a small stain of blood on the hospital gown where Loki had fallen – presumable he'd split open a wound on his knee when he'd fallen. "I don't know what to do anymore…" Loki continued in a hoarse whisper, his hand clutching Stark's shoulder – probably for the comfort of another being as well as the obvious need for support. Fury frowned deeply, watching as Loki went limp in Stark's grip. Stark hefted him up slightly and laid him on the bed and sat down next to him, head in his hand. A minute or so later, he raised his head and looked at Loki for a short while, before quite suddenly keeling over and falling on the bed beside him, chest rising and falling deeply. Nick Fury pursed his lips in thought, before waving his hand and saying a curt "thank you, JARVIS," and the footage disappeared.
He clenched and unclenched his fist, staring at it blankly for some minutes. He was angry. Very angry. There was a reason he was called Fury – and whoever was behind the capture and torture of Loki and Stark was about to see that reason very, very clearly. But first, he had to wait for the pair to heal. He suspected Loki would be a victim of PTSD, judging by what he had seen so far. Stark would most likely be the same – less severe, perhaps. Neither would be untouched by their experience. Now, Loki… Possible depression, from what he'd seen in the footage. Severely impacted. Could he be an Avenger eventually? It was… Not impossible. This was certainly a thought that hadn't crossed his mind before… But even without magic, Loki would be a great ally… And formidable opponent. The idea appealed to him – one of the avengers' greatest enemies into an ally. He wondered how Barton would react. No, he shouldn't let Loki officially join the avengers in some sort of public affair. The longer Loki stayed, the more the avengers would grow to know him – and hopefully accept him. If everything went well, Loki wouldn't even realise if he did join the avengers. That would be marvellous… If it ever happened.
Fury kept the thought in the back of his head, handling it as if it were the most fragile thing on Earth. It wasn't likely – Loki had to learn to live again first. But should he recover, it was definitely something to consider. But he'd seen the way Loki had looked at his gun. The guy was broken inside, and that took a lot longer to heal than any other wound – and the scars it left were so much larger, so much more painful.