Chapter 3: More Questions Than Answers
Ciara stared up at Loki, hardly able to believe that it was the same man she had spoken to, in another SHIELD base, when she'd seen him trying and failing to lift Mjolnir. He had changed a lot, looking far different to his groomed appearance, suit and coat, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the scientists. There were dark lines around his eyes, and he looked almost sick.
"So it was you," Ciara murmured in confirmation, and despite Clint's tight grip on her hair, she laughed. "I thought you might have been the same person," Loki's head tilted as he frowned at her attitude. The man's grasp on her hair looked painful, with his fingers tangled in, close to the scalp to give her as little free movement as possible.
"To think we would meet again, in such circumstances," Loki's words were quiet as he stared at her. He still couldn't understand how she'd seen through his magic when he was cloaked. She was just a human, wasn't she? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fury watching, looking furious. Whether it was that he had her hostage, or that she was once again in a place she shouldn't have been – or even both – he was not happy to see her. When he made a move to try and slip away unnoticed, Loki raised the sceptre in his hand. "Leaving so soon? Even with the girl in the grasp of your former ally?" he asked, forcing Fury to stop.
"'The girl'," he started, emphasizing. "Is trespassing as much as you are. I fail to see why I would care," Fury told him coldly.
"Ouch Fury," Ciara spoke lightly, as if she wasn't in the middle of a life-threatening situation. "Way to show how you really feel," she laughed, but it was cut off when Clint pulled her back. "Ease up a little, Barton," she complained, grabbing at his wrist.
"You are interesting, girl. I will have my answers," she looked up as Loki jabbed the sceptre at her. She couldn't have moved even if she'd wanted to, held in place by Clint. The light shone from the sceptre, but instead of going inside her, it flowed over her body, and Loki frowned as Ciara screamed in pain.
'Not meant for you,' she heard a voice hiss through the burning sensation that filled her entire body. It dissipated, and Ciara breathed heavily, now using her grip on Clint's wrist as suppose as her legs went weak.
"What..." Loki breathed, unsure of what had happened. Ciara looked at him, sweat trailing down her face as she seemed even paler than before, but her eyes were still normal, staring at him defiantly. Her defiance faded quickly, as her grip weakened, and she fell unconscious in Clint's grip. Loki looked at the man silently, letting a mask slip back over his face, and Clint hoisted Ciara under an arm.
"You claim to be setting us free, yet you take the girl?" Fury earned his attention again, and Loki turned his attention back to the man.
"Not a moment ago you were giving her freely. Why do you care now?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his tone.
"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Clint spoke up. "This place is about to blow, and drop a hundred feet of rock on us," he warned, his eerie blue eyes lifting to the shining blue energy gathered above them. "He means to bury us," he accused.
"Like the Pharaohs of Old," Fury answered honestly, seeing no point in lying.
"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself," Erik spoke up, having gone to a computer to check. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical," he looked up from the readings on screen, which all warned that the energy was going to explode.
"Well then," Loki glanced to Clint, who lifted his gun and fired without hesitation. Fury let out a cry as he was knocked to the ground, forced to drop the briefcase. The four started moving, leaving Fury behind as Erik lifted the briefcase and Clint carried Ciara under his arm.
"I need these vehicles," Clint's words caught Maria Hill's attention as she made sure the last of the Phase 2 projects were sent away. She had been reaching for her radio, when he walked by, and she noticed the figure under his arm. The ground and ceiling shook, and dust showered the woman as she saw Loki sit in the back of the truck they were taking.
"Who's that?" she asked Clint, suspicious as he didn't look around.
"Didn't tell me," he snapped, dropping Ciara into the back of the truck. Hill did a double-take, recognising the unconscious girl.
"Is that Ellis? What the hell is she doing here?" she asked as Clint opened the truck van.
"Sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong, again," he answered, and Loki watched out of the corner of his eye as the woman believed him. She seemed to relax slightly, but there was still a suspicious glimmer in her eyes as she turned away. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew something was off.
'Hill,' she heard Fury groan over the static of her radio. 'Do you copy?' he asked, wincing as he spoke as if injured. 'Barton has turned!' before Fury could get the full warning out, Hill looked around and dove to the side as Clint fired his gun at her. She rolled out of view, pulling her own gun out and firing a shot that narrowly missed the compromised agent. He moved into the truck quickly, driving off as she fired more shots at the truck. 'They have the Tesseract, shut them down!' Fury ordered.
As Hill chased them at high speed, still shooting at them as she contacted other agents for backup, Ciara let out a groan as she started to regain consciousness. She heard the explosions and gunshots around her, but could barely process them as her head pounded painfully, and she curled up. She felt the pulse of energy before Loki shot another blast at the trucks following them, hitting one and causing it to explode.
Ciara's skin tingled, still feeling the effects of the power that had rejected her and instead felt like it was ripping her apart. Her stomach churned and she felt as if she was being spun in a circle violently. Finally she was forced to move, despite the action going on around her, and vomited over the side of the truck. Her head cleared and stopped spinning, and she looked around to see Hill speeding after them, her gun out the window.
The speedster slumped back into the back of the truck, not understanding what was going on. She was aware of Loki beside her, ignoring her as he watched the fight going on. He occasionally would use the sceptre he was holding tightly to blow up a truck that would get too close, before Hill sped ahead and slammed her truck against their own.
"I'm gonna puke again..." Ciara mumbled as the truck jerked violently, and sinking to the ground and curling up. The nausea had faded slightly, but all her energy was gone. She'd not felt so weak in a long time. More gunshots filled the air, echoing over the roar of the engines colliding, until Hill was pushed aside and they sped away. Barton pushed the truck faster, and they left the tunnel. The cold wind brushed at Ciara, making her shiver as she felt her consciousness starting to slip away from her. She felt one more blast of energy, before the darkness swallowed her up.
Loki slumped back in the seat as they escaped their pursuers, and a quiet fell, interrupted only by the dull rumbling of the truck. His eyes moved to Ciara, who was passed out again, curled in a ball with a pained expression on her face. His brow furrowed, not understanding her reaction to the sceptre. It should have worked on her, like it had done with the others. But instead it had been like she'd repelled the power and it had drained her.
He shook his head very slightly, frustrated that he found himself with more questions than answers about the strange mortal girl.
When Ciara finally woke from her dreamless sleep, her head was still hurting, but nowhere to the extent it had been before. A quiet moan escaped her lips, and she shifted, before realising that one wrist was restrained. She opened her eyes, and found that she'd been cuffed to a pipe.
"What...where am I?" she wondered, looking around the poorly lit room. There was a dampness to the air, and the only light came from a bulb that looked as if it hadn't been used in years, judging by the thick layer of dust covering it. Ciara thought back to what happened, but it was all a blur. The last thing she remembered clearly, was sneaking into SHIELD's base and meeting Loki.
She looked to the plastic tie that kept her restrained, and examined it curiously. It had been done roughly, but not so tight that it was hurting, just enough that she couldn't pull free. Ciara shook her head. Like that would keep her in place.
"You're awake," she heard the voice, and looked up quickly at Loki, who stood in front of her with a blank expression.
"Am I?" Ciara replied, her tone dry. She sat down properly, stretching one leg in front of her. "And here I thought I was dreaming," she continued, looking away to examine the tie again.
"Amusing," Loki commented in as dry a tone. "This, however, is interesting," Ciara didn't look up, keeping up her bored expression. "I'm curious as to where you came to acquire such a powerful item," finally she looked up, and her eyes widened before she could stop herself. He held her cloak in his hand, examining it casually.
"Give it back," Ciara's voice was a growl, and Loki glanced to her idly. The look in her eyes was possessive, and she looked ready to fight.
"How about you answer some questions, first?" he suggested. "Starting with where you found an item imbued with magic," he requested of her, taking a step forwards. Ciara's fist clenched tightly.
"It's just a cloak. There's nothing special about it, I just use it to look flashy," she said, her voice as tense as her muscles. Loki watched her for a moment longer, and when she didn't break eye contact, he laughed, and approached her.
"That might be believable, Ciara Ellis," a look of alarm passed her face as he spoke her name. "If I wasn't the God of Lies. I can smell them a mile off," Ciara's expression narrowed into a glare at him again. "Now you will answer me, mortal, before I tire of your game," Loki ordered.
"Don't call me that," Ciara snarled at him. "I didn't stand that Asgardian lady calling me that, and I won't have you calling me either," she warned, and a flash crossed his eyes, of an emotion Ciara didn't quite catch. She then gave a heavy sigh, looking away. "It chose me. A few years ago," she finally answered him, her voice quiet.
"'Chose you'," Loki repeated.
"Yeah, that's how relics work," Ciara shrugged. "I found it, in a library. It chose me, so I was allowed to keep it," she then gave a low laugh. "Though they might not have let me, if they knew what I use it for," Ciara considered to herself.
"Finally, an answer. Was that so difficult?" Loki mocked her, tossing the cloak at her. Ciara caught it with her free hand, pulling the black fabric closer. "Now, how did you reject the sceptre's spell?" he asked, and Ciara frowned. A flash of the past came back to her, of the man using his sceptre on Clint and Erik. He'd tried to use it on her, and it hadn't worked.
"I don't know," she answered honestly, and to his frustration, Loki could tell she was telling the truth.
"And how you saw through my cloaking spell?" he asked. The question had been on his mind for some time. He'd hidden from everyone, including Heimdall, yet the skinny mortal had seen through it as if there was no spell at all.
"Been wondering that myself," Ciara answered, sounding a bit more cheerful. Loki's fists clenched in frustration. "I think..." she started, looking to the tie again as she seemed thoughtful. "Maybe my powers?" she thought aloud.
"Powers?" Loki repeated, and hummed a little to himself. "Yes, Barton told me about that. You're a Mutant, with enhanced speed," he watched as her brow furrowed slightly. She was terrible at keeping secrets when cornered.
"Then why are you asking me questions, when you have your puppet?" she asked with more bite than she intended. She then caught herself, and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know why I was able to see through it. My powers are the only reason I can think of," Ciara admitted, and leaned back against the cold wall. Loki didn't reply, thinking about this.
Honestly, before he'd arrived on Earth, he'd not had any idea about what he could only consider as a superior class of humans with strange powers. Yet they kept themselves hidden and oppressed. Treated like monsters.
Ciara didn't look up, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Loki's form tense, and his fingers curled into a fist. She wondered just what she'd said to annoy him. From what she had seen so far, he was a far cry from Thor, who had been a pampered prince to start, but had shown his genuine kindness and a caring side. But Loki, she thought, was dark were Thor was light. While Thor had only incapacitated when fighting SHIELD agents to reclaim Mjolnir, Loki killed and manipulated others, like he had done with Barton and Selvig. He'd killed almost everyone in the lab when he'd arrived. Ciara didn't look up, swallowing slowly. This was a much more dangerous situation for her than she'd originally anticipated.
"Anyway," she finally spoke up, and Loki seemed to snap back to reality. She had lost her light smile, and seemed serious for once. "I've answered your questions. I'd like you to answer one of mine," she decided.
"I beg your pardon?" Loki was taken aback by her statement. The way she spoke to him, it was too relaxed, too casual. To Loki, it was as if she wasn't taking it seriously. "You fail to understand the position that you're in, girl. You are a prisoner until I understand how you rejected the sceptre's power. Then, once I have my answer, I will-"
"Kill me?" Ciara finished for him, her expression innocent. She tilted her head in an almost birdlike manner, blinking up at him. "But until then, you want me alive. I just want to know one thing. Your plan," Loki was silent as he processed her words. Either she was sure she would escape, or she didn't care about what he'd said. But either way, if she was scared, she wasn't showing even the slightest hint of it.
"Now why..." he lifted the sceptre from his side, just enough to let it linger over her chest. The sharp end brushed the thick fabric she wore as a shirt, and a flicker of wariness passed through her eyes. So, she wasn't entirely fearless. "Would I tell you that?" Loki asked softly, the threat clear. Ciara didn't look away. After a moment, a grin started to spread across her face.
"I'm your prisoner, Loki," she answered, amused. "You plan on killing me eventually. The fact that you haven't tried to hide it to get me to talk makes it a certainty. What's the harm in humouring my question?" Ciara tilted her head again. Her silver hair fell into her eyes, and she swatted it away.
"My plan..." Loki stood straighter, not lowering his sceptre. "Is to free your people from the lie of freedom. With my army, I will bring this world to its knees, and rule over all," he declared, watching for her reaction. Ciara was quiet, her eyes on the sceptre still pointed at her chest.
"Take over the world, huh?" whatever reaction Loki had been expecting, he didn't get it. He lowered the sceptre, unsure of how to take her words. "Bit cliché really. But...that blue cube thing makes it way more interesting," Ciara then stood up, brushing the dirt from herself, and a smirk slid across her face. Loki paused, still confused by her reaction, before it clicked. She had escaped the tie keeping her in place.
"How-"
"Didn't Barton tell you?" Ciara laughed as she walked past him, strolling through the underground building. "There's very little I can't escape from," she continued to laugh, enjoying the look on Loki's face.
"Do not presume that you are safe simply because you escaped such a flimsy binding," Ciara stopped as Loki materialised in front of her, scowling furiously down at her. Her laughter faded, and she frowned, confused as something seemed off with him. She rubbed at her eyes, and looked up at the God towering over her, but his form was still blurry to her, as if she should have been wearing glasses. "You are still human. You are nothing compared to me," she looked around and dodged Loki as he grabbed for her.
"Let's get one thing clear Loki. I am not human," Ciara told him, her tone light, but the frustration was there. She hated to be called human. She wasn't one. That much had been made clear to her by her father almost 20 years ago. "But..." once she calmed, she smirked, a thought coming to mind. "I am interested in what's going on here. So I guess...I'll stick around for a while," Ciara decided, waving her hand through his illusion, causing it to dissipate, and she walked off.
Loki watched her approach Clint, who frowned as she spoke to him, but he made no move to grab her. In the corner of his mind, Loki noted that she had seen through his illusion, but dismissed it quickly. More importantly, he needed to decide what to do with the mortal girl who, rather than fighting him or begging for her life, seemed to be interested in siding with him.
'She doesn't pick sides. Not since she was betrayed by the person she cared for the most,' Barton's words rang in his mind, when he had the agent tell him about the girl. 'The only person she trusts is herself, and she doesn't get attached. If Ciara offers her help, it's because your side is the most interesting. The minute she loses interest, she's gone,' the warning was clear. Loki watched as she buzzed around Selvig, laughing when he tried to swat her away.
"You would turn against your people?" Ciara looked around as Loki approached her warily. "I will not favour anyone, mutants or otherwise. And I do not go back on my word. Once I have my answers, I will kill you," he warned her. Ciara arched her eyebrow at him.
"I don't care," she answered simply. "Fact is, your threat to take over the world, using the cube to bring your army here," Loki's eyebrow arched very slightly at her words. She caught on faster than he expected. "It's far more interesting than anything else. Hell, SHIELD are after me as it is. May as well give them a real reason to come after me," Ciara told him honestly.
"And how am I to believe you? How can I know you won't go running the moment I drop my guard to warn those protectors of my plan, and our location?" Loki pressed her, refusing to believe her answer despite knowing it to be true.
"You can pick up on lies, right?" Ciara smirked at him. "And SHIELD wouldn't trust a word I say, for good reason. Typically, I've not been on the right side of the fight. Why start now?" she asked him. Again, no lies.
"Well then," Loki glanced away, dismissive and not seeming interested in what she had to say. "If you are so determined, you may as well make yourself useful," he told her, and Ciara's grin widened, excitement sparking to life.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked, and Loki had to wonder, if he'd somehow found someone as damaged as he was.
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