"Loki? I am right over here." Thor said, noticing his brother's distress. He really should have woken him up sooner, but Fury appeared in the tower out of blue.
Loki's attention shifted to Thor who was kneeling on the ground next to the sofa. Behind him the three present Avengers, Steve, Bruce and Tony, were sitting on the opposite couch. The expressions on their faces were those of grim suspense.
Loki's gaze went back to Fury. The Director looked as he always did; he was wearing all black outfit and the emblematic eye patch. His remaining eye was scrutinizing Loki with contempt and scorn. Loki could swear that having only one eye made people seem more menacing and deadly, at least towards him. The god only hoped that Thor would be an exception.
Behind the Director, there was a team of eight SHIELD agents standing two steps behind Fury. Loki didn't fail to notice that they were all armed.
Loki's heart began to beat unnaturally quickly. He thought that the only reason why he wasn't shivering in fear yet was because he had just been woken up and his mind couldn't process the whole nightmare unfolding upon him. And so Loki was just sitting on the sofa with his legs extended in front of him under the blanket, unable to move any muscle in his body.
"Brother?" Thor's upset voice reached the broken god, but Loki found himself incapable of responding in any way. It was as if some incapacitating curse was put on him to dull all his senses, except for fear.
Thor wasn't going to wait for his little brother to break down in front of those people who harmed him in such merciless manner. The Thunderer would stand up and sit next to his brother to show the SHIELD that messing with Loki meant messing with him.
Yet when Thor sat next to Loki and brought his big arm around his brother's shoulder, the younger god flinched.
Thor didn't know whether it was his wrongdoing. Maybe, as Tony said when Loki came undone earlier that day, Thor shouldn't try to touch him when his brother was clearly experiencing some form of shock. To Thor, however, it always felt so natural to express his support in gestures such as hugs, affectionate pats on the back, or holding his brother by the nape to show him that he would always have his back.
Once again, Thor found himself in desperate need to talk with either mother or Jane. He was more than grateful that he was recently able to understand his brother's motives a bit better, and that he finally started to ask questions before judging instantly, but Thor was aware that empathy was never his strong point. Loki needed someone such as Frigga, someone who could see through the complex net of lies which the God of Mischief deep down hoped someone would be able to untangle.
"It's okay, Loki." Thor said gently, finding the words innocuous enough to prevent causing Loki any further distress.
Finally, Loki's brain seemed to kick in. He abruptly turned towards his brother and without thinking shook his arm off his shoulders. He grimaced when his hasty movement made Thor's elbow come into contact with his injured shoulder.
"I don't need your help, Thor." Loki spoke, his voice dry and emotionless.
"Don't build these walls again, brother." Thor answered. He understood what Loki was trying to do. Thor would always take Loki's remarks personally and get angry at his brother. In the end, Thor was only trying to help, and Loki was being very unappreciative of the fact. Those interactions ended up in Thor smashing Loki's face more than once. Yet Thor knew better now; or at least he hoped so. He understood that Loki said so not to harm Thor but to protect himself against further humiliation.
One quick glance at his brother made Thor recognise that he did indeed say the right thing. The blank look in Loki's eyes was replaced by hurt and regret. Thor didn't enjoy seeing such negative emotions which mirrored the feelings in his brother's mind, but at least there were emotions. It was a start.
Both brothers raised their heads when Fury went to sit next to the Avengers on the opposite sofa. The agents followed their Director as shadows and positioned themselves behind the couch. They looked identical; anonymous black suits, black sunglasses and black caps. Steve briefly wondered since when SHIELD agents wore caps but didn't pay them much attention.
"Yeah. It's definitely not creepy to have some random armed people standing behind my back." Tony's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Fury didn't mind him any attention.
"What happened to his shoulder?" The Director asked instead in a tone suggesting that Loki was his property and he should have been informed about the action beforehand. Also, it was obviously beneath him to talk about Loki as if he was actually in the room.
"Barton shot him." Steve was as concise as possible.
"Interesting." Fury commented, unable and unwilling to hide the malicious sparks from lighting up his remaining eye. His mouth twisted almost invisibly, but it was enough to give his face an unpleasant aura. It felt as if he knew that Loki was shot but couldn't resist the temptation to ask anyway.
Thor remembered the conversation he held with the Director when they were holding Loki in the glass cage in the floating fortress. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?
I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance, upon me. There's no pain would prise his need from him.
A lot of guys think that. Until the pain starts.
What are you asking me to do?
I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?
He should have known. Thor truly should have known what Fury would do to Loki had he managed to get him into his hands once again. Fury was ready to torture him even before the whole invasion unfolded; no wonders that he did so when he took his brother now.
"Here is how it is going to go. I will…" Fury began confidently, but surprisingly, Loki cut him off.
"No." The young god said. His tone was vulnerable yet stable. Somehow, Loki managed to lift his eyes and meet the Director's eye.
"Excuse me?" Fury hissed angrily.
"I said no." The years of training were paying off. Thor may have pointed out that Loki was only the God of Mischief, not lies, but that didn't mean that Loki couldn't be a good actor when it suited him and when he managed to put himself at least partially together.
"There is no point in you asking me questions and me answering them." Loki said, his voice unnervingly calm.
"That is what is implied by interrogation. If you refuse to cooperate…" Fury's hand was moving in the direction of his gun. Thor noticed.
"Fury." Thor spoke with clearly audible threat.
"Loki?" The Thunderer continued towards his brother now, the unspoken question obvious in Thor's questioning tone.
What are you doing?
You said you would cooperate.
"There is no point in your idea of interrogation because you wouldn't believe me anyway. I am the God of Mischief, the Master of Lies. I can lie to your face and you would never know. Alternatively, I may be telling you the whole truth and you would never believe me either. There is no point." Loki finished, still keeping eye contact with Fury.
"You may be right. You can't be trusted. And so the only solution…" Fury was once again interrupted.
"The only solution is to tell you what you want to hear in such a way that you can be certain that I am not lying." Loki breathed out, the insecurity creeping into his voice.
He didn't like what he was about to do. Yet he was tired of running and unless he wished to spend the rest of his days in some cesspit of the universe hoping that Thanos would not find him, he had to do this.
"You want to know about my reasons for attacking your planet." Loki said.
"Mainly I wish to protect the Earth from any further harm. So yes, this can help all of us to determine to what extent we can trust you. But mainly, I have this inner feeling that you know about a threat that is coming to Earth as we speak. Its name is Thanos." Fury eyed Loki curiously.
Loki's face lost instantly any colour.
Someone has spoken his name aloud.
There was no way back.
"Thor, can you contact the Valkyrie?" He asked his brother.
The sooner this was over, the better.
"What, why?" Thor was confused.
"Please, just do it." Loki was half-begging. It was essential for his plan that Thor did what told.
"Brother, trust me." Loki said as sincerely as he could. Ironically, Loki found it easier to shift his tone of voice to fit the emotions he tried to convey if the emotions were lies, not the truth.
Thor nodded.
"Er…Banner?" Thor turned his attention towards the scientist. "Can we contact the Asgardian settlement?" He hoped to get the answer that there was a faster way than sending a raven.
"They are in Norway. I can call the assisting SHIELD agents there, if the concerned here explains why exactly is contacting this Valkyrie essential for our business here." Fury's tone was dark, but a hint of curiosity was there.
Before Loki could say anything, he was cut out by a familiar voice.
"That won't be necessary. Give me a minute."
Everyone's head turned at the sound. All they could see was a disappearing figure of Doctor Strange.
"What? How long was he here?" Tony was beyond puzzled now. "Does this guy just come into my tower as he pleases?"
"Everyone seems to be coming to your tower as they please, Stark." Loki voiced his answer before he could stop himself. The remark seemed natural for the silver tongue, yet he froze when he understood that he was not in Asgard before it all went to hell. He was amongst his enemies. He had to be more careful.
Yet to his surprise, Stark chuckled with smirk.
"That seems to be the case, Reindeer Games."
Loki didn't answer, but his glare promised to turn Stark into a frog at the nearest opportunity.
Before anyone else had the chance to voice their opinions, Strange apparated back with the Valkyrie by his side.
She was wearing the outfit of the elite Asgardian force and her facial expression was one of complete disinterest and ignorance upon seeing the Earth's mightiest heroes.
Loki noticed that Thor blushed slightly upon seeing the girl. Did his brother develop a crush on every girl he saw?
Yet the Valkyrie seemed to have eyes for someone else in the room.
"So, here you are, Hulk." She gave Bruce a smile.
"It would seem so." Bruce answered, for the first time sensing a hint of pride upon confirming his connection with the green beast.
"I wonder what other secrets you hide." She raised her eyebrows in curiosity.
One of the agents behind the couch loudly shifted his feet.
"Am I missing something?" Tony asked, watching the whole exchange. After a moment, he smiled to himself.
"You just like strong women, don't you Bruce. Oh, if only Natasha was here to see it, she would be truly…" Yet before he managed to finish the idea, he felt a cold object on his neck.
Two cold blades, actually.
"Proceed with caution, Mr Witty. You may lose the tongue of yours if you're not careful." The Valkyrie whispered and eyed the dagger which she was not holding with curiosity. She followed the hand of the person in black who was holding it. Apparently, Stark's remark didn't anger only her, but also one of the agents standing behind the sofa.
"Nat." A different agent said and one of the knives was removed from Stark's neck.
After giving Stark a warning glare, the Valkyrie removed her dagger as well.
Everyone's attention turned to the agents.
Two of them slowly removed their caps and glasses.
It was Natasha and Clint.
"What the…" Tony began but stopped himself before someone tried to cut his throat again. He seriously considered wearing his Iron Man suits at home since now. Only Pepper's face, which appeared in front of his eyes had he tried this, stopped him from developing the idea futher.
"You didn't think we would miss this, would you?" Natasha said emotionlessly, completely ignoring the previous conversation considering Bruce.
"Clint? How are you?" Steve asked his friend. He may have been angry at the Archer, but he hoped he was fine nevertheless.
"Fine." Clint answered abruptly, his sight shooting at Loki.
"Why am I here exactly?" The Valkyrie interrupted the situation impatiently. "I have somewhere to be, Your Majesty." She gave a warning look to Thor.
"May I offer you something to drink?" Tony asked, slightly captivated by the confident woman in front of him.
"Finally someone sensible. Bring your bottles."
"Bottles?" Tony questioned silently but stood up and went to the kitchen anyway.
"My brother needs you." Thor answered her original question.
"And why is that?" She gave Loki a questioning look.
Loki sighed, but more in annoyance than fear. The room was getting crowded and he enjoyed that the attention was not on him for a while.
"I just need you to tell them what happened when we had the fight on Sakaar. Then this…um…pretending-to-be-a-sorcerer can bring you back." Loki said matter-of-factly.
Strange was just standing away from everyone, ignoring Loki's comment.
Somehow, Loki was slowly getting the idea that it could be quite useful to have this man as a friend. Two sorcerers going at it. They could make quite a team.
"What do you mean?" The Valkyrie questioned, and Loki's attention was turned back to presence.
"When I touched your forehead." Loki said and saw how her eyes darkened. Fortunately, Stark was back with a bottle of hard alcohol and a glass.
The Valkyrie took the bottle and ignored the glass. She finished the whole bottle before anyone could say anything. When there was no drink left, she challenged Loki with her look.
"Just tell them, please." This woman really wasn't Loki's cup of tea. In a way, she was similar to Thor. Self-confident and always stealing the attention. The God of Mischief was quickly losing patience with her.
"Somehow, he made me see my own memories. I had to relive them until the contact was broken. I couldn't stop nor alter it." She said quickly. "Is it all?"
"Yes." Loki said abruptly to be rid of her.
"It was pleasure." And with a quick glance to Strange, they both disappeared from the room. Loki noted that even the overly-confident sorcerer couldn't resist her commanding tone.
The prince was quite glad that she was with his people in this Norway. She would be as good as Thor to prevent any harm coming onto the Asgardians.
"The point of this was…" Fury reminded everyone that he was the important person in the room. He lost the hold of the situation and he didn't enjoy that.
"You heard her." Loki tried to be as concise as possible. "I can make people relive their memories. Once the process starts, it cannot be stopped unless the contact is broken. As she said, she couldn't stop it nor alter the memories. I can make the same thing to myself. I will show you what happened before I came down onto this planet which will also conveniently answer your question about my knowledge about…Thanos." Loki presented his plan.
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"Can you truly do that, brother?" Thor asked softly.
"Yes. I wanted the Valkyrie to come here so you could be sure that I wasn't lying or making these memories up. That would be impossible." Loki said. In a way, he wanted them to reject his plan. To call him bluffing. Yet he knew that they have seen the charm of the Valkyrie and they were aware that no one would be able to persuade her to lie in anyone's benefit.
"Let's do that." Fury said.
Loki's forehead immediately covered in sweat.
He would have to do it know.
"I need everyone who wishes to witness the process to hold hands. There needs to be physical contact." Loki tried to find comfort in giving orders to the heroes and his tormentors.
It didn't come even though all of them created a human chain.
Tony sat back down on the couch and with a sarcastic smile took Fury's palm. Fury held Steve who held Bruce. Biting his lip, Banner took Natasha's hand who, perfectly hiding her emotions, went to stand in front of the couch and put her other palm into Clint's. The archer gave a challenging look to the last one who was not connected yet. Thor.
The God of Thunder bit his disgust and took the Archer by the hand. Then he focused his attention to Loki.
"Give me your hand, brother." Loki said in small voice. Closer he was to making his plan happen, the more he was sure that it was a terrible, terrible idea.
Without hesitation, Thor slipped his hand in his brother's waiting palm. He felt that Loki's hand was deadly cold. He squeezed it, wishing he could give his brother some of his strength.
Everyone was waiting in anticipation.
Thor's heart was beating wildly. He wanted to know for ages what happened to his little brother in the Void. Yet now when he was so close, and he could see Loki's distress, he was unsure whether he truly wanted to know.
Loki felt completely tense. It was as if time stopped and everything began happening in slow motion.
Loki swore to himself that he would never talk about what happen to him in the Void. Talking about it would make it more real. Now he was not only about to talk about it, he was to relive it. He was to show his most vulnerable state to all of them, including his brother, who would never let those terrible things being brought upon him.
It took Loki a lot of time and effort to break down the walls around his heart and let Thor take a brief look inside. He hoped that by the time they were finished with this, the walls wouldn't be back up.
"Thor." Loki said, his voice shaking. He couldn't stop tears forming in his eyes. When his brother's remaining eye connected with his eyes, Loki brought himself to continue.
"When this is finished, please don't leave me alone no matter how much I push you away. Unless you will be too disgusted with me to ever try to talk to me again."
Not giving Thor a chance to reply, Loki once again let go.
He let go of the presence and soon, all of those connected to the human chain were falling in the Void.
It was dark and quiet.
Nothing to scare the superheroes.
Yet soon a feeling of uneasiness seized them.
The uneasiness turned to panic.
They were not just witnessing the visual side of the memories.
They were also witnessing the raw emotions Loki was feeling in the Void.
Soon, their eye adjusted to the only thing they could sense and see in the omnipresent darkness.
It was Loki. Only his hair was much shorter.
He was screaming.
Let me know what you think. The next chapter won't be an easy read. Definitely not for Loki.
The rumination that Thor experienced that contained the quotes from the Avengers about the possibility of torturing the truth out of Loki was essential for this story. During the early chapters, some of you mentioned in your reviews that you never saw Fury as an evil character. I must agree with you yet this little exchange he had with Thor never truly left my mind and I shaped Fury's character in this story according to these few lines from the film. One mystery less ;)