Flying was thrilling, Maryn decided, and the humans knew how to accomplish it in a great many ways. Not only was a small aircraft used, but when she caught sight of the gargantuan metal flying machine Steve Rogers informed her and Thor they would be landing on, she realised their technology was more advanced than she had given them credit for. Even in the dark of night the sight of the metal monolith moving smoothly through the clouds was breath-taking.
Once the aircraft had landed on the deck of the larger machine, the back ramp opened and a group of soldiers dressed in dark blue and black, their faces covered and large weapons clasped in their hands, stood waiting for them to disembark.
Loki was led out and manacles clasped around his wrist. She knew he could easily break the restraints but they obviously gave the humans some peace of mind, even if he was almost a head taller than most of them.
Stepping out of the small flying machine, Maryn watched as Loki was led away encircled by the soldiers. She sent Fenrir to watch where they took him and then followed Thor, Steve, Natasha and Tony through a maze of corridors and into a room at the centre of which sat a large table shaped like a shield. Natasha, the only other female she had seen yet, sat in one of the chairs near an exit, and Steve took a seat nearly opposite her. Thor moved to the large window across from where they had entered the room and looked down on the spacious control room below. Tony had disappeared sometime before, no doubt to remove his metal armour.
Feeling a little awkward, Maryn moved to one side when a man dressed in a blue shirt with wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose walked into the room. He seemed a little surprised to see her and almost too timid to look at her once he had settled to standing behind one of the chairs between where Steve and Natasha sat, and opposite Thor. She tried to smile at him but he only ducked his head in a polite nod and then turned to the table, which had opened a glowing screen on the glass top before each of the four closest to it.
Looking over Steve's shoulder, Maryn saw Loki enclosed in a round glass room with metal supports. A dark skinned man in a long leather coat and eye patch was talking with him, and Fenrir sat with his head on his paws and his eyes on Loki. Unable to resist the pull of her magic any longer, however, Maryn's attention was caught by the sight of the power encircling the man who she had never met. Although he was smaller in stature than either Steve or Thor, the power he had was different to the others. While theirs seemed to be a part of them, his looked unwanted, held deep down and hidden. The white magic he had was so pure, Maryn knew he was a good man, one that did not seek power and wealth.
"Maryn," the softness of Loki's voice in her head shocked her and pulled her conscious toward him. She blinked and turned her head toward where he was being held. As the others watched the conversation he was having with the man in the black coat, Maryn slipped from the room. Making her way quietly toward the prison, she waved her hand and her gown shimmered and morphed into a brown suede, sleeveless tunic with a hem longer on one side than the other and leather laces up each side, leather breeches underneath it with knee-high boots on her feet. She also had two of her black daggers hidden on her person.
Her footsteps echoing on the metal grates that formed the floors of each corridor, Maryn ignored the looks she received from the men and women walking past her, all either dressed in the same uniform the soldiers she had seen previously were wearing, or in dark blue uniforms with a falcon insignia on both shoulders.
Pulling her hair over one shoulder, she plaited it loosely. Stopping near the doorway that lead to the room where Loki was being held, Maryn closed her eyes and took a breath. She needed all her strength to see him now, the swirling magic of the humans on the flying machine pulling her in too many directions. At the sound of heavy footsteps, she lifted her gaze to see the man in the black coat leave the prison room. He caught sight of her and stopped nearby.
"Steve tells me that you're married to Loki." He spoke in a tone that was so matter of fact, Maryn felt herself nod even before she had full processed his words, the sight of his dark power obscuring him almost completely was strange but she ignored it in time to hear his next question. "Will I have trouble from you?"
Straightening and lifting her chin, Maryn looked into his eye, the action reminding her of Odin, "No, sir, you will not."
He studied her for a moment, his face a blank mask, "Will I have trouble from him?"
Knowing he was asking about Loki, Maryn spoke, "You have seen what he can and will do for power. You know the answer to that even if it pains me to say it."
With an unhappy tightening of his jaw, the man held out his hand, "Nick Fury."
Maryn clasped his hand and shook it, "Maryn of Asgard."
"Then I hope we have your loyalty when the time comes Maryn of Asgard," Nick Fury looked into her eyes with his piercing gaze.
Feeling the strength of his power and grip when he shook her hand, Maryn put more energy into her glamour, "Loyalty and the promise to fight with you whatever happens next," she told him.
He held her hand for a moment longer before nodding, letting it go and then walking away without another word.
Letting out a silent breath, Maryn steeled herself and walked into the room where Loki was being held.
The prison he stood in the centre of was suspended by what looked like large metal claws, the grating around the room wide enough that when she looked down through its gaps; she saw the hull of the flying machine they were on. A large round hatch under the prison lead to the outside of the ship.
"So you still hear me call for you."
Loki's words made her unspeakably angry but she hid her rage and leaned against the yellow and black railing at the top of a few steps just near the door to his prison, folding her arms over her chest but looking through him coolly. "Why would I not? I expect you called me here to use your silver tongue and honeyed words to sway me to your logic."
The tall prince smirked and took a step closer to the glass of his prison, his hands clasped behind his back, "You told me once that my sweet words were not to your taste, Maryn."
"And you told me once that you would love me even after death!" taking a breath after the sharp words burst forth out of her control, Maryn turned her face away from him, her vision blurring and the burning ache of her magic beating at her bones and skin to be let loose making her feel weak.
There was a tense silence between them before Loki spoke again, "That beast hates me."
Maryn glanced at him to see him nod towards Fenrir who sat nearby, watching his every move, tensed to lunge in a moment. She had forgotten that he was even in the room. "He has every right to hate the master who abandoned him." She said softly.
"You have every right to hate me as well, sweet one," Loki's velvet deep voice washed over her and she closed her eyes, repressing the emotions his voice and words brought forth. He had no right to speak to her as if he still cared for her, as if she meant anything to him other than as a memory of the history they shared.
Turning on him, she narrowed her eyes, her magic rising up and outlining her hands in crystal blue fire, her eyes shimmering with the same colour, "Enough! You have no right to speak to me as if you love me still. The choices you have made show me that you care for no one but yourself." Without thinking, she stepped through the glass of the prison cell, her magic enabling her to pass through it as easily as breathing.
"I was meant to be a king, and yet Odin chose Thor and I was to be pushed to the side once more!" Loki snarled out, his ire rising to meet hers.
Tears welling up, Maryn snapped, the entire aircraft shivering as her magic built, "You hurt me!" she screamed, "I was close to death, my body broken by our link and all you want is to rule? Our child is dead, Loki. Does that mean nothing?"
The silence that fell between them made her stomach twist in a sick pain, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. The flicker of white-hot agony down her spine made her bite her lip and stifle a groan as she turned from him. She put out a hand and caught herself on one of the support columns, trembling as she fought to control her power.
"Drop the glamour, Maryn," Loki's abrupt words shocked her, they were almost an exact echo of the words he had said to her the day they met.
Steadying herself, she turned back to him, glaring but stopping the enchantment that hid the damage done to her body by her out of control magic.
Loki's face remained void of emotion as he studied her. She knew what he was seeing; her skin was a ghostly pale, dark circles ringing her dull eyes, the fine trembling in her hands. The moment she dropped the glamour she collapsed back against the closest column of the glass room, her gaze remaining firmly on his.
The dark prince took a step toward her and she forced her body to stand straight to face whatever would happen next.
He reached out, his hand cupping her jaw.
The devastation of his touch broke the reign she had on her tears and a single silver drop slid down her cheek, his thumb catching it at the corner of her lips, his palm cradling her cheek and jaw.
"Let me help you." He spoke lowly even as Fenrir growled at him from outside the cell.
Lifting her eyes to his intense gaze, Maryn searched his face, "Why did you leave me?" she whispered softly.
His jaw clenched, "I chose another path." He spoke quietly, his voice level and emotionless still.
She watched the strange blue light, which veiled the beautiful green of his eyes flash, take over, and then recede. "And yet you fight what you have chosen," she breathed, the intensity of his gaze sharpening and leaving her breathless.
His lips quirked into a self-deprecating smirk, "I always was indecisive."
Shaking her head she felt her heartbeat speed up, "No, you were never that, Loki," she murmured.
Her eyes caught his and he seemed to become ensnared in them, the smirk falling from his lips and his eyebrows drawing together a little, the creases between them making Maryn's fingers itch to smooth them out. Her lips tingled with the memory of his kisses and she ached to feel his arms wrap tightly around her and cradle her close, even as she remembered her anger at him for abandoning her.
"Do you hate me?" his words were so quiet if they hadn't been standing so close she would never have heard them. His hand still cupped her jaw, his thumb at the corner of her lips brushing up across her cheekbone before dropping to the corner of her mouth once more.
She held his gaze, "Yes."
He swallowed hard, his hand dropping from her face, and took a step away, the blue light taking over his gaze and his chin lifting as he grinned dementedly, "I suppose that is your right," he studied her again. "Your power is taking over, girl; I can give you the means to stifle it until you learn to control it."
His sudden switch from sad and caring to aloof and in total control made Maryn's head spin and she had to take a moment to breathe before she answered. "What would it cost?"
With a grin that reminded her of the man she had married, the Dark Prince shrugged easily, his long, sleeveless green, gold and black metal and leather coat, and the leather and metal strap he wore across his chest with a tarnished metal pauldron over his right shoulder disappearing in a golden shimmer of light. The spell revealed the high-collared tunic he wore underneath, "Why would it cost you anything, sweet one?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, "There is always a cost to power."
His head tilted to the side and she saw a flare of heat go through his gaze as he let his eyes slide down her body and then back up again. Her cheeks filled with a crimson blush so hot she felt unable to breathe. "There is only one thing I want, little girl," his voice deepened as he spoke.
"It is something you will not get," she said firmly, folding her arms over her chest.
Fenrir snarled lowly and pushed to his feet, stepping closer to the glass room sensing the tension in his mistress.
Loki held her gaze for a moment longer before a wide smile broke across his face, "You always were able to sway me to your way of thinking, sweet one. The price is not important now."
She watched him distrustfully for a moment before relaxing and nodding, desperate to make the constant pain of her power fighting to be free leave her exhausted body.
He leaned a little closer to her despite Fenrir snarling and stepping up to the glass, his gigantic body filling the entire panel.
The sound of running feet heralded Thor's entrance, the humans a step behind him.
"Open the damn cell!" Tony snapped at Fury.
Thor pushed Fenrir away from the cell and snarled at his brother, "Let her go Loki!" his hammer gripped tightly in his hand.
Loki never even batted an eyelash. His sole focus was on Maryn as she looked up into his eyes.
She watched his magic reach out to her, wrapping around her body with its familiar cool caress that warmed her. She knew the others in the room couldn't see the emerald fire that wrapped around them both and thought he was hurting her, but the relief of having her magic cool in her blood, the walls in her mind gently rebuilding and calming the intensity of her power to a more manageable level was glorious. Darkness encroached on her mind and she saw pain flit across Loki's gaze, hidden from the others but not from her.
"I'm sorry," where his last words as her eyes slid shut and she lost consciousness.
All Thor could do was watch as Maryn's body sagged and dropped back. He caught her as she fell through the glass of his brother's cell and cradled her to him, her chest rising and falling but her skin so pale she might well have been dead.
"What did you do to her?" Rogers asked Loki, his hands balled into fists at his side.
Loki huffed, "I healed her and built up the walls in her mind to help her control her magic."
"She had enough control to bring us here," Thor growled at him, watching Loki turn his back and make his way to the bench set against one wall, the weight of Maryn lying silent and unresponsive in his arms drawing his eyes from Loki a few moments later.
Looking at him, Loki's gaze hardened, "Using her magic as she did to bring you here would have taken more energy from her than anything else she has done on this planet."
Jaw clenched against his guilt, for he knew Loki would not lie about Maryn's ability, Thor glared at him.
"Will she wake up?" Fury barked out the question, expecting an answer.
Waving a hand at the group gathered outside his cell, Loki smirked, "She will awake when her body has had time to rest."
With angry glares, the group stared suspiciously at him before promptly leaving without another word, Thor carrying Maryn and Fenrir following them out.
It was only the gargantuan wolf who thought to glance back and saw Loki's skin pale further, sweat break out on his brow, and his whole body sag in exhaustion as his eyes closed and he lifted a trembling hand to his temple.