Christie's knee wouldn't stop jerking as she sat there in the control room. The anxiety continued to build the more she thought about Natasha and Steve returning with Loki as their prisoner.
Christie didn't get spooked or unnerved easily, but now she was petrified of seeing those unrecognisable dull eyes, of hearing that cold voice, of having to accept that her lover was dead and that this thing was simply wearing his skin. Coulson and the girls had tried their best to console her - even Jennie. "Christie, Loki shan't be able to harm you once he returns," Delilah spoke calmly from where she was seated beside her around the large glass table. "The security here seems rather fantastic."
"It is," Coulson added in brightly. "The best there is, actually."
"Christie, we should've left it alone. Your nerves are going haywire, and I'm so sorry for not calming them earlier," Renesme choked out shakily with her hands clasped together whilst Jennie shot her a knowing glare. Renesme was struggling with this whole ordeal the most - Loki being evil had morphed from a theory into reality, and now she was anxious on whether or not Christie would be able to handle it.
"You did nothing wrong. I'm not usually this jittery," Christie dismissed her apologies with a grumble, still jerking her knee. "And don't look at her like that, Jen. Your scepticism was even less help." Christie added in unforgivingly, causing Jennie to drop her shoulders in shame. Then came the sound of a sudden and extremely loud siren blasting through the air as a red light began to flash mercilessly from the ceiling above. Christie snapped her head up and her eyes darted around the vast room in a panic.
"What's…what's happening?" she asked Coulson with wide worried eyes.
"Looks like we've got him," Coulson murmured back, staring at the cluster of CCTV screens mounted in front of him. His words were like a catalyst to Christie's nausea, to the point where she literally had to clutch her heaving stomach. "Stay here - and I mean it," Coulson instructed them all firmly, before breezing straight out of the control room. As soon as he left, Steve entered all suited up with Natasha, an annoyed looking Tony Stark and most surprisingly Thor. He looked absolutely livid to be there, though.
In fact, it looked like he was ready to snap at any given moment.
"THOR!" Christie gasped in both surprise and complete relief as she pelted her way over to give him an unexpected hug. He of all people would never let anything daunting happen to Loki - and him being there meant that Loki would more than likely be taken back and tried as a war criminal in Asgard.
At least it put Romanoff's threats to bed, which meant one less thing to worry about.
Thor's eyes lit up at the sight of her and he embraced her back, squeezing her as tightly as he could without completely crushing her - whilst Delilah, Renesme and Jennie gave a harsh gasped after laying their eyes on him. They had to physically stop themselves from falling to their knees and bowing.
"Annerledes," Thor sighed in relief, pressing a light kiss to her temple. "You're here? When Mother said you worked for 'Midgardian organisation' I never thought it'd be a place like this."
"Mhm," Christie hummed against his broad chest, feeling those dreaded tears finally start to well up again.
"Have you…have you made personal contact with my brother yet?" Thor asked her quietly, breaking the hug and holding her firmly by the shoulders. He was staring straight into her broken teary eyes - he could see the pain lingering in them.
"N-no. Just caught a glimpse," Christie shook her head shakily, tearing her eyes from his. "H-have you?"
"Yes. He thinks of you dead. He's broken, completely empty, like a walking shell of the person he once was. It is most bizarre and rather uncomfortable. His words do not even sound like his own," Thor filled her in sadly, those blue eyes of his now full to the brim with devastation. Christie swore to herself and she soon felt the hot tears spill down her cheeks. She rushed to swipe them away with her sleeves, in total disbelief and feeling utter shame at the fact that she was crying in front of all of these people. She absentmindedly glanced over Thor's broad shoulder and her eyes fell on Tony Stark staring over at her. She'd worked with him a few times before and they had a playful friendship, so crying in front of him really was embarrassing.
"Oh. Hi mate," she sniffed weakly, giving him an extremely feeble wave.
"Hello child of joy and earthly happiness," Tony replied whilst raising a mildly concerned eyebrow over at her, just as Coulson reappeared next to them - this time with Fury by his side.
"Christie…he's been locked down. Firmly, I mean. So, if you want, you can go and see him," he told her quietly. Christie clenched her jaw and wiped her eyes again as a contemplating silence fell over them all.
"Um, sorry to interrupt," Steve couldn't help but blink with a timidly risen hand, "but isn't that…quite a risk?"
"Hate to say it but Star Spangled Stevie here is right," Tony scoffed bluntly, leading Steve to roll his eyes ever so slightly. "He's clearly a few spoons short of a cutlery drawer, if you know what I mean. He could do anything to her-"
"Well from what I've heard, I doubt he'd want to," Fury told them firmly, having already gone through this all with Coulson a few moments ago.
"He most certainly would not! He loves her greatly," Thor assured the group with a solemn nod. "Even now."
"Ya. He sure seems like the loving type," Tony muttered under his breath, making Delilah smirk to herself amusedly. He turned to Christie and cocked his head to the side. "What did you guys do together on date night - shoot unicorns for fun?"
"Actually, Prince Loki was a big lover of the animal kingdom," Renesme squeaked out with a risen hand - as if anyone could hear her anyway.
"How you even found love yourself, I'll never ever know," Christie coldly muttered back to Tony as Natasha bit back a reluctant smile.
"Tony," Steve sighed slowly, causing Natasha and Christie to glance over at him too. "You can't judge their relationship based on what he's like now. We don't know how he was when-"
"Cap, we gotta work on your judge of character. Cos I know you guys were like, totally oblivious in the 40's - but boy oh boy has life changed since!" Tony exclaimed sarcastically.
"Is he always this obnoxious?" Jennie asked Coulson whilst shooting Tony a glare.
"All the time. But he means well," Coulson murmured back, leading Tony to turn his attention to the Asgardian girls instead.
"Wait, who are these guys?" he blinked as he waved a finger in their direction.
"Christie's holiday trinkets," Natasha hummed under her breath.
"They are good women," Thor found himself defending them at speed, causing both Renesme and Jennie to beam up at him thankfully.
"ANYWAY - we can't put this reunion between Christie and Loki off forever," Coulson brought the conversation back around before it could veer completely off. "I feel like it would be somewhat…cruel."
"Fine, but only if we're close by for backup. If he says or suggests something outta line, we're going straight in," Tony compromised firmly, causing Coulson and Fury to nod. The group looked to Christie for her verdict. She stared back at them all for a few blank seconds before taking a shaky breath in with a nod, trying her hardest to keep it together.
"Okay, let's do it," she whispered hoarsely. Renesme leapt up and made a beeline for Christie before she could leave, placing her hands on either side of her face.
"Remember your connection," was all she whispered before pressing a kiss to her forehead and releasing her to Coulson. Christie blinked at Renesme's words as Coulson gently steered her towards the appropriately named 'Lockdown Room' where Loki was being held without any protest. The security door slid open for them and they walked through boldly, but as soon as Christie saw him stood inside the large glass cell, she began to feel incredibly faint.
"I-I don't know if I can do this," she suddenly muttered out, stopping dead in her tracks.
"You're gonna kick yourself if you don't get another opportunity," Coulson reminded her quietly. "He can't hurt you." Loki turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching cell, and as soon as his eyes locked with Christie's, he squinted slightly. Although there was something registering in his mind, he just couldn't quite put a finger on what it was. And that's what Christie didn't understand. Didn't Thor just say that Loki thought she was dead? So why did he look genuinely lost at the sight of her?
Had he grieved so hard that he'd completely erased what she looked like from his memory?
She felt her heart shudder to a violent halt for a few seconds after locking eyes with him, but she carried on walking regardless, pushing herself as far as she could go. Coulson however had stopped walking and watched from afar, not wanting to ruin the moment. Loki's eyes stayed trained on Christie as she edged closer to him and, within no time at all, she was practically pressed up against the glass. The worst was over.
But Loki wouldn't come any closer.
"Do I know you?" he was the first to ask cockily. Christie attempted to answer - but found that all she could do was break down instead. How could he not remember her when she hadn't stopped thinking about him? What part of Loki had Thor spoken to and why couldn't she have that version of him instead? All of these tears were now draining what little life she had left out of her, but she felt like if she held it in, she'd die.
That's when something within Loki broke; it completely shattered, and he had no idea why.
"Loki, it's me! It's…it's Annerledes…p-p-please don't do this," Christie sobbed, pressing her trembling hand against the cool glass. Loki shook his head at her and let out a small laugh.
"I…know not who you are," he chuckled darkly, now sounding increasingly confused and equally amused. This just made Christie cry harder, until she was actually unable to see through her relentless tears. Coulson frowned as he observed from where he stood.
Something wasn't right.
Loki had been cold, calculated and evil since the Avengers caught him in Germany – now he seemed softer and slightly more human-like despite the bitter actions. So whatever connection he once had with Christie, it was clearly still active somewhere deep down, even if he wasn't in charge of his own body. "Do you know me?" Loki guessed quietly, his features softening slightly as he looked dead into Christie's tear-filled grey eyes. She couldn't even answer such a simple question, she was crying far too much and the hot tears were starting to burn.
"Come on, Christie. Come on. Remember your connection!" Renesme breathed from where they were sat watching from the control room via a live feed.
Coulson sighed and took out his transmitter.
"Sir, I think we should open the cage," he muttered into it. Fury replied somewhat immediately,
"HAS YOUR LITTLE ASS LOST IT'S DAMN MIND?!"
"No, sir - but I can tell that Loki is this close to recognising her. Who knows what she could extract outta him once he does? This could be what we need," Coulson explained as calmly as possible.
"That's all cute and fairytale like on paper Coulson, but we're not letting him outta there. Dude is way too unpredictable and we've got the upper hand. Darmer's only got a few more minutes in there until Romanoff takes over instead," Fury told him firmly, seemingly putting his foot down. Coulson gulped and turned his attention back to the lost lovers in front of him.
That's when Christie understood what Renesme meant. Finally, somewhere in that self pity, she'd rediscovered her common sense.
"WAIT. Loki, look at me, like really look at me," she begged him through the glass. Loki blinked and found himself doing as she asked before he could ask why. Their eyes connected for a few seconds - and all of a sudden, like a breath of fresh air, Christie heard something that she had been longing to hear again for so long.
"Annerledes?" came Loki's uncertain voice in her head.
"LOKI!" Christie mentally screamed back.
"You're…you're alive?"
"Didn't you know? Can't you see me?" Christie asked, only now noticing how glassy and hollow Loki's eyes were.
"No, it's as if I am trapped. I can barely control myself anymore. The last time I was fully in control, it was with my brother on a cliff somewhere. I know not what I am doing and I hardly know what I am saying. The thoughts that this new me is acting upon are certainly mine - but this thing has given me the power to enforce them."
"Jesus, Loki," Christie murmured out loud. So he wasn't as pure as she thought, then. These really were his thoughts - he just wasn't in control. No wonder Frigga sent her back down.
"Oh, how I long to see your beautiful face again…I thought you dead," Loki's voice rang through her mind again. His voice even cracked as if he was close to tears.
"I thought the same," Christie told him quietly as her heart raced even faster. Loki's body, however, let out a frustrated shout and began banging the glass with his fist.
"STOP IT!" he barked out loud. Christie gave a gasp whilst Coulson put his hand on his transmittor, ready to jump if he needed to - and Fury did the same from where he was watching.
"Stop what?! What's he talking about? She hasn't said a word!" Steve asked the room in a panic from where they watched.
"She connected with him!" Renesme breathed in relief, leading them all to stare directly at her. Her cheeks flushed and she bit down on her lips. "She…they're talking in their minds and his body is frustrated. It's a mythical…skill."
"So that's the real kinda harmless him she's talking to now?" Tony blinked as Renesme and the Asgardian girls nodded.
"You're shouting," Christie informed the real Loki inside her head whilst signalling for the team back down.
"I'm sorry," Loki apologised earnestly. "Annerledes, after we were separated, I saw little reason left. So I…I let go."
"I thought as much," Christie replied, watching 'Loki' pace up and down the cell whilst violently slamming his fist onto his head. It was quite an uncomfortable sight.
"I was doomed. That is why something else is using me to get what they want. What we both want. They saved my life," Loki explained.
"How do we get them to leave?" Christie asked him desperately.
"I know not the answer," Loki sighed. "I could get my own body back for a few minutes, I've been able to do so with practice - but I only have limited time and control. I just need to see you and hold you again." Christie's heart jumped with fleeting hope and she turned to where her father-like figure was standing.
"Coulson, please. Release the door, please!" Christie begged, practically on her knees. Coulson shook his head and opened his mouth to argue - when, as if on cue, Tony came waltzing in. To everyone watching, Christie had been a silently sobbing mess whilst helplessly pressed up against the glass of the containment cell - and the guilt and sympathy of seeing Christie so broken was now eating Tony alive.
"What's going on?" he murmured directly to Coulson.
"She wants to open the cell. I can't, Chris - I've already asked Fury and he said no," Coulson replied, genuinely looking sorry.
"Coulson please! Just for a few minutes?" Christie pleaded with a shaky hand on her forehead.
"It's against orders, Christie," Coulson shook his head.
"Fury told you that you're not allowed to do it, right?" Tony suddenly clarified with him.
"Affirmative," he nodded stiffly.
"Sweet - but he never told me," Tony shrugged flippantly before suddenly slamming his hand down on the red release button.
Fury's eye went wide and he starting protesting through the monitors as the agents surrounding the room immediately sprung into action - but it was already too late.
The cell door had been opened.
...
happy new year! here's to a year of loki coming to disney plus and giving us more content! see ya in a week!
(also, who's your favourite serving girl out of the three right now?)