I soon discovered that they had found Loki in Germany, and was currently on there way back. Stark had apparently hitchhiked the mission lending a hand at capturing Loki, who had subsequently rounded up over 150 humans in the middle of the street and demanded that they kneel to his 'Godly Being'.
By the Cosmic Gods, that dude had issues.
I still sat at the back of the main control room, my cold tea long abandoned. Fury was given out orders as per usual. He kept glaring at me from the corner of his singular eye.I couldn't help but shiver every time he did.
As soon as the quinjet landed a small army of 15 agents were sent to escort Loki inside. Fury shocked me when he ordered that I follow him.
"Come with me! I'm not letting you out of my site." He growled, clear venom in his voice.
Quietly I followed. We walked out of the main control room into the twisting corridors. I could hear marching coming towards us as a wave of heavily armed agents surrounding Loki approached. They stopped just in front of Fury, as directed by him.
I could hear Fury talking to Loki-probably insults if I had to guess, but my mind wasn't on their conversation. I was transfixed by the man dressed neatly in his green and black leather clothes.
The aura he gave off disturbed me. It left me with an inexplicable sense, he oozed darkness, deception and trickery. His every slight gesture screamed peculiarity, a liar and a thief.
He was a trickster trough and through, and then it hit me. I knew how he seemed familiar. A Face I'd almost long forgotten. I had never meet this man but I knew him. I knew his illusive nature. I studied it. Papa ensured it was imprinted in my mind.
He was the Loki. I learned about him and his brother Thor-the Asgardians. Brothers set to despise one another, their conflict rupturing cities yet their endearment of each other great. They had not been born yet when I was back home, nor Asgard created by the hands of Odin and his brothers-a home for the Aesir gods and goddesses. They had been prophesied in the celestial scroll, their beginning and their inevitable end all written by the Cosmic Entities themselves. The celestial scrolls held the knowledge of all existence, the beginnings of whole worlds-galaxies and their annihilation. Only the high scholar had access to such treacherous scrolls, and I so happened to be his daughter.
Of course I didn't learn everything, it would take lifetimes to read a fraction of the scrolls. This was why the Elites in our society were respected so greatly, once they turned 18 the knowledge of all the scrolls were gifted to them. When they turned 18 they would fall into a deep sleep where the Cosmic Entities would bless them with their knowledge and a drop of their power. Our planet could barely hold the power of three Elites even with them all varying in ages. There was never two Elites alive during their prime at the same time. One would always be older, weaker. Another youthful, and powerful and the last, young and inexperienced. It was a chain, ensuring that only one had the dominant power at a given time. I was the youngest, the newest and the weakest but now I was the only one left.
The sudden movement of the agents escorting Loki tore me away from my thoughts. As they moved past I locked eyes with the Asgardian himself. He smiled a cunning smile, his intentions to strike fear in the supposed 'human' child that was me.
"And to the darkness, the serpent slithers." I recited in my own Mercurian language, standing straight and prideful, my scowl unwavering.
He faulted, his coy smile falling away, the placid composure failing for a second. He released a silent apprehensive chuckle, slightly shaking his head as he was directed away from me.
I watched him leave for a moment longer before I turned around to follow Fury. I didn't get too far as we were soon greeted by the rest of the team. I noticed Stark first as he saluted Fury.
"Nick"
"Mr.Stark, I'm glad you could join us."
"Wouldn't miss it. I'm here two minutes and we've already caught the bad guy." Stark boasted.
"And the fact that I had my team sent out didn't attribute at all?" Fury questioned.
"Sure. Now I heard Dr.Banner was helping out, I think you should point the way."
"As pleasant as ever, I see." Fury grumbled. "Just in the next room"
"Great-why is there a 10 year old on board a top secret military ship? Am I the only one seeing this?" Stark challenged, turning a 360 degree circle and looking back at Captain Rodgers and Nat who were following close by after him.
Well, at lest someone acknowledged me even if he thought I was 3 years younger than what I actually am.
"She is classified." Fury responded. "Agent Romanoff if you would so kindly direct Miss Kyon to the nearest interrogation room, while I get our new prisoner acquainted with his living arrangements." Fury requested, then without waiting for an answer walked after Loki and the rest of the agents.
Ohhhhh, may the Gods help my distressed soul. I was done for. Nat came up behind me and directed me away.
"Classified my ass" Stark mumbled as he left.
"Hold up, are you going to interrogate a child?" The ever so righteous Captain Rodgers questioned, the look of confusion clearly evident on his face.
"Apparently so. Why? You wanna have a go?" Nat quirked her eyebrow up in question, a smirk brewing on her lips.
If they were to ask me I'd say that whom ever was going to interrogate me had best be prepared to wait a while cause I wasn't giving anything up unless I had to. And right now I just felt like an object being passed from one person to the next, it was grating on my nerves.
"No I-ah I think I'll pass"he stammered unsure as how he should proceed with the knowledge that a child would be questioned.
Nat shrugged her shoulders and placed a hand on my back as she guided me away. We didn't bump into anybody else so Thor must of went a different direction. I was worried, what would happen to me now that my gig was up. Would they lock me up, demand I give them answers?
"What's going to happen now?" I asked looking up to Nat.
"She speaks." She replied looking down to me, slightly shocked.
"She does, but you still didn't answer my question." I retorted.
She was silent for a moment.
"Well that depends on what Fury wants to do and how well you co-operate." Nat replied.
"And what if I don't co-operate?" I challenged as we reached the interrogation room.
"Then your only going to make things harder on yourself."
She opened up the door and told me to sit at the table in the middle of the room. There was only one chair so I assumed I'd be the only one in here. She left afterwards leaving me alone with my thoughts. I didn't sit, my stubbornness showing in the only way I could retaliate.
I walked around the small room and noticed one wall was almost entirely made of glass, a mirror almost. I wondered over and touched it with my forefinger, then I released a breath on the glass causing it to fog up slightly.
I looked at my reflection, my sodden expression mirrored my emotion. I was tired of pretending, but at the same time I couldn't voice my thoughts because that would mean that everything that happened to me was real. That I would have to accept that I was alone. The last of my race, I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready for the flood works or for the heartache that would surly follow. I wouldn't tell the agents anything, not because I wanted to hide who I was. I couldn't tell them because voiceing it was worse. Actually admitting where I was from and what was left of it now, would cause me to crumble. I wouldn't be able to survive such torment.
I sighed and moved away from the mirror, my own reflection bothering me. I shuffled around the room taking into account the camera nailed in the corner. It must have been nearly half an hour later before someone actually came in disturbing my cycle of self-pity.
Nat entered, quietly followed by Captain Rodgers who brought in another chair and placed it at the table. I watched him as he did so, then filter to the corner of the room were he folded his arms to his chest. So I guess he was just going to watch Nat interrogate me then. Nat pulled out the seat and sat down, nodding her head for me to follow. Grudgingly I did, although taking my sweet time to do so. So Nat would be my interrogator, unless she was willing to torture me I wasn't saying a thing.
I leaned back in the chair, folding my arms as I waited for her to start.
"So kyon" she began "I've been informed that you've been holding out on us."
I remained utterly silent as I raised an eyebrow in response.
Nat knelt forward.
"It's okay to feel nervous around people you don't know, we just want what's best for you, okay? You haven't come to any danger while you've been here have you?" She spoke softly with the intention to engage with my youthful self.
I knew the game she was playing at, I wasn't buying this whole " were just trying to help" shit. I remained silent, my expression inanimate.
"Can you tell me what age you are to begin with?" She pleaded, sitting up straighter.
When I didn't answer she spoke up again.
"Kyon, I know that you can understand me, we talked before you came in. I just want to know you a bit better, we know nothing about each other."
I wanted to say that I knew nothing about her, but after reading her file I actually did know quite a bit about the spy in front of me.
"What if I start off, hmmm? My name is Natasha Romanoff and I work for S.H.E.I.L.D to help put away bad people, I get to go on adventures and help people. I'm one of the good guys, Kyon. You can trust me." She expressed.
I may be only 13 but I felt like she was talking to an infant the way she was going on. I felt personally insulted that she thought so little of my intellect. I glared at her, she did NOT look trustworthy. I could feel the Captain watching me intently and it was slightly unnerving-not that I was going to let anyone see that.
Nat leaned back on her chair mirroring my stance by crossing her arms.
" I watched you during training earlier, the skills you showed were exceptional for someone so young. You took down Agent Smith who is almost three times your size, most agents aboard this ship would struggle to do what you did. . . You must've been training your whole life to be that talented, huh?" She accused, noting any changes in my facial features.
I remained placid, unresponsive.
"Okay let me recite what I do know about you then. . . You crashed in a spaceship off the coast of Ireland" she paused, watching me. "Something must of went wrong with your spaceship because you were found half drowning in the sea" she paused again, analysing me. " You were hurt, bruised your side and broke a few ribs" she continued.
I looked to the side, remembering the pain and the violent crash, the blood-my blood swirling and mixing with the water when I hit my head off the glass. I couldn't control the slight shiver that spread down my spine. I refused to think about the crash since it happened, trying to forget the suffocating feeling that accompanied anything that involved my pod.
Nat caught onto my reaction and I could tell she was going to keep pulling at the strings until she got her answers.
"Was there someone chasing you?"
When I didn't reply she continued.
"Where you running away from something?We're you sent here? Why were you sent here? Kyon answer me. I don't believe that it was a coincidence that you crashed here just a few weeks before Loki arrived. What are you hiding. Who are you working for!" She was becoming more aggressive, her questions more bold and vigorous.
She was getting frustrated. I smiled and lent forward onto the table.
"unless you are willing to torture the information out of me, I'm not telling you anything." I purred.
"Perhaps we will then" she dared, planting a seed of doubt.
I was about to response with retort answer but was interrupted.
"Maybe we can have a chat before things start to escalate?" The Captain asked, looking to Nat.
"By all means" She replied, standing up and turning her back against me looking at the mirror.
"Great" He responded sounding genuinely relieved.
I didn't know how I felt about this switch-a-roo nonsense. If the all so great Natasha Romanoff couldn't crack me then the Captain surly couldn't.
I watched him, wondering how he would approach me.
"I'm going to tell you my story, excuse me if my story telling is a bit rusty." He laughed, slightly nervous. "Okay, soo. . . I joined the army during the 1940's just like everyone else my age. It was the common thing to do during the war, most young boys did. But I was utterly terrified-I was young, leaving home and had no idea what to expect but I had a duty to my country that I intended to full-fill. I was dedicated, I worked hard and was determined to find my place. . . And I did. It was tricky at first but my hard work paid off and I found my place amongst my fellow piers." He paused, as if remembering a memory.
There was a smile on his face, his eyes glistening over with fondness as he reminisced old memories.
"I was happy" he finally announced. "I met a beautiful lady, she was smart and could pack in a mean pouch." He chuckled.
I smiled along with him, his love contagious.
"I loved her. We were going to start a family together and grow old together."
I could feel the atmosphere changing, and not for the better as he continued.
"But-umm, on my last mission I was flying a plane that was about to explode and I had to do what any soldier would, I had to make a sacrifice that would change my life forever. Soo I crashed the plane into ice. . . I thought that that would be the end, that I would've died. I was prepared to die"
He was silent for a minute. His eyes drawn to his hands which he was fiddling with on top of the table.
"But I didn't die. I was frozen in the ice for 70 years, there was no sense of time-nothing. Until I woke up in New York, my city, a place I grew up in and knew inside and out, a place I called home. . . But it wasn't my city anymore, there were unfamiliar streets filled with unfamiliar people. Everything felt wrong. I woke to find that the world had moved on. That the people I knew and loved were either long buried or forgotten." The Captain's voice trembled as he added. "I woke up in a time I didn't belong, in a place I could no longer call home." He finished, silent agony tearing him apart.
"But that is life, it throws hard, unimaginable objects at you, but you have to plough on. You have to get up in the morning and get on with your life. You can't waist the time your given." He whispered.
I felt a tear fall from my face. I brought my hands to his, placing them in his fidgeting fingers. He looked up and I looked into his eyes. I understood the agony, the grief that he felt. I willed him to see it in my own eyes. To see everything that I lost, that we lost. The hole we felt in our hearts that would never heal, the ache so strong that it would paralyse you with harrowing pain that tore at your soul. Tearing away bit by bit until you couldn't recognise yourself. I willed him to see I understood and he wasn't alone.
I closed my eyes, gripping onto the Captain's hands and took in a deep breath.
"I am from a planet not too far from here" I whispered.
I opened my eyes, hopping to gain strength from the man in front of me to continue. I felt another tear fall, dropping into the table.
I cleared my throat and was determined to continue "The planet I am from is long gone, an empty shell of what it once was."
"It was beautiful, lush with life and love, but every good thing must come to an end. Who knew that the source of our life would be what killed us. . . Our sun exploded and I was the only one that survived." My voice broke as I whispered. "I am the last of my race, a daughter of a dead planet."
Everything seem so real once I said it out loud. I felt the Captain squeeze my hands in support.
I heard a shuffle of feet and looked up to see that Nat had turned around and was now facing me.
"Can you tell me then, what planet are you from"
I gently took my hands off the Captain's to wipe my eyes. "Well, since you asked so nicely" I chuckled, trying to get a grip of my emotions. "I am a Mercurian, of the planet Mercury."