I don't know what to say. Should I tell him? If I reveal the future, what will happen?

"The whole story? Right now?"

"Yes."

"Um...ok." I pause to gather my thoughts, and I suddenly have an idea. I hope this works... "Well, um, starting from here, I'm not quite sure. But I do know that you will find the iridium you need at a gala somewhere in Germany in the next few days." I detail the rest of the movie up to the point where Selvig sets up the Tesseract on Stark Tower, leaving out the fact that Thor will show up and Barton will get un-mind controlled. Those things need to remain a secret so that Loki can't change them. I make sure to point out that Loki's plan will be a success, despite a few minor setbacks.

Loki studies me intently throughout, and I know he is watching for any sign that I'm lying. "And?" he asks, knowing I haven't told him the end of the story.

"And then the battle with the remaining Avengers will happen."

"And who will win?"

"I can't tell you, that'll spoil the ending!" I say with a slight grin. I know he won't appreciate the joke, but I need to upset him to make my idea work.

Loki's eyes narrow. "Do not test me, mortal."

My smile fades, and I shut my mouth, refusing to meet his gaze. A moment later, the scepter materializes in his hand, and he points it at my chest. I jump with surprise and fear, stepping back. "Answer me," he growls.

I swallow hard, eyes locked on the beautiful gem in the scepter. Then I set my face like stone, putting on a show of false confidence. "The Avengers will win." I glance up at him, then away again, unable to meet his probing eyes. "The Avengers are going to defeat you, they won't fall for your tricks. They're going to see through it and stop you!" I realize just then how high-strung my voice sounds, and that my breathing is uneven and heavier than normal. I lick my lips and try to calm myself. "You don't stand a chance; you might as well just give up now," I continue in a stronger voice. "They'll beat you with no trouble at all and there is-"

"You're lying."

My eyes leap to his, then away again. I shake my head a little too hard, smiling and trying to act nonchalant. "What? N-no, I'm not! I told you, it's stupid to lie to the god of lies!" I say with a forced laugh.

Loki steps forward, eyes boring holes into me. "Yes, it is, isn't it, mortal?" I begin to back away slowly, my smile fading. My heart rate is out of control now, breaths coming short and fast, though I keep a mask of calm on my face.

"Yes...yes, it's very—"

"Tell me the truth."

I keep backing slowly away as Loki advances. "I told you already, you won't win the—"

Without warning, Loki's hand snaps forward and locks around my throat, slamming me back into the tunnel wall. My eyes go wide in panic and astonishment, my calm facade crumbling in an instant. I claw at his hand, mouth wide open in an attempt to draw in a breath. To my amazement, I can still barely breathe, but the pain is awful. "Tell me the truth," Loki growls in my face. I try to kick at him, scratch him, anything to get him to let go, but my attempts are pitifully futile. The pain is nearly unbearable.

"Please...let me...go..." I choke out. But his grip only tightens, making the pain worse and making it even harder to draw in a breath. Tears spill out of my eyes. This must be how it felt when Thanos killed him...

"Tell me the truth," Loki repeats again. I can feel myself fading, my head starting to swim from lack of oxygen. I open my mouth wider.

"You'll...you'll win...but...there will be...a cost..." I force the words out, mostly mouthing them. My air supply is nearly gone- I can't breathe anymore. I'm going to die if he doesn't—

Loki drops his hand, and I collapse to the ground, both hands going to my throat. I lie where I fell, choking and gasping for precious air. I had expected Loki to be angry, to threaten, and maybe to slap me or something, but I had not expected him to try to choke the life out of me! I severely underestimated him. And I'm supposed to be a Marvel nerd...at least he took the bait.

"What cost?" My captor glares down at me, almost daring me to lie again. I look up at him through watery eyes, still trying to draw in a decent breath. I know better than to defy him again.

"The people," I barely manage to croak out. My voice sounds terrible. "They will defy you. They are weak, but...they have independent spirits. It will be a fight to subdue them."

Loki states at me, and I force myself to stare back. I can't back down now. But his gaze is more calculating than angry now.

"Then I will crush their spirits," Loki says after a moment. I look away, feelings of anger and defiance rising in my bosom. Not mine. Not today.

I sit up slowly, but shrink back against the wall when Loki kneels down next to me. He grabs my chin, turning my head and forcing me to look him in the eye. "Never lie to me again."

I give a jerky nod, my breaths still short and painful. He stares into my eyes, gaze hard and unforgiving. I lower my eyes- a gesture of submission. Satisfied, Loki lets go of my chin and stands, the scepter in his left hand vanishing in a flash of green. I briefly wonder if it was ever actually there. And why was he letting me breathe? That could have been much worse. Why did he hold back?

"Get up," Loki says. "We have a training session."

I climb slowly to my feet, shaking and still trying to draw in a decent breath. I feel very weak all of a sudden. Two nights ago I was lying in my own bed at Uncle's house, looking at Marvel memes on Pinterest. Now I just almost died at the hands of a man I thought was fictional...how did I come to this in a matter of 36 hours?

Loki takes me to the large area full of vehicles that I saw 24 hours ago when I first arrived here. Barton and a few armed men are waiting for us. They take us to two identical black Ford F350's, and Barton puts a blindfold on me so I won't know where we are when we leave the underground facility. I offer no resistance, and silently do everything I'm told. Barton helps me climb into the backseat of one of the Fords, with Loki on one side of me and an armed guard on the other. The truck rumbles to life, and we're off.

I am completely silent and still on the long ride to wherever we're going. My near-death encounter has given me a lot to think about. I am glad that my ploy worked, and that Loki now believes he will win the fight against the Avengers. But that is the only thing in my life that I am happy about right now. I purse my lips to keep them from trembling as I think about my parents, and my younger sister and brothers. They must be worried sick. And my uncle as well, he was still asleep the morning I went out to see for myself what was in that garage of his. Now I regret that I ever set foot on Uncle's property. If only they knew where I was, maybe they could figure out a way to bring me back. But they'll never guess I stepped through a magic door into a fictional world!

I take a deep breath. I need to turn my thoughts to something else before I start to cry again. I wonder what all I can do with my new power. I've read fanfictions about people with the ability to turn invisible. Some of them were only able to turn invisible, nothing else, but some could also control their heat signature, sound, and even control which parts of their bodies could become invisible. Some could make other objects invisible, and make other people's heat signature vanish, and I even read one where the person could make other people go silent. I smile slightly in spite of myself. That would be a useful ability for sure.

I yawn tiredly. Sheesh, how far away is this super-secret place anyway? We must have been driving for at least fifteen minutes now. I lean my head back against the headrest. My neck is aching from having my head in one position for so long. I sigh contentedly as my neck muscles relax. The hum of the diesel engine has a strangely calming effect on my nerves. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was falling asleep.

Thankfully...I've never been one to...sleep in...the car...Author's Note: Tbh, I had no idea when I started this fanfic that Vikki was going to end up almost strangled by one of my favorite MCU characters, so I was just as surprised as you are. If you are surprised, that is. I hope you're enjoying anyway, though!!And to the guest who has read this fanfic on Quotev: yes, I am working on new chapters! It just takes me much longer usually because there is so much to work with. I have more than half of the newest chapter done though, and I'll be publishing it as soon as possible!Thank you all for reading!AuthorsDream, signing off.