Chapter Forty-Four: Go Along

While Steve was scolding her, Darla completely shut down. She wouldn't look at him even briefly and made meaningful eye contact with her shoes. She zoned out to the point where she only heard every third word he said. You ... been ... killed ... this ... you ... it ... to … maybe … out … time … When she'd heard them discussing the spell and its possible intentions, she'd thought she could impress the group by being brave enough to try it herself. The fact that the effect would be different on her than on those with super-human abilities never occurred to her. She saw an opportunity to impress and she took it-while no one was watching. Now she felt like she was in kindergarten, being reprimanded for eating paste.

Steve was in the middle of a sentence when Fury spoke up. "Now, now," he started just to quiet the Captain, "I think Agent Cooper showed initiative here."

Everyone glared at him but Darla, who looked to him hopefully with the eyes of a child. Tony saw this reaction and was fuming beneath his helmet. "No," he objected clearly, "I made it known I wasn't going to do it, Bruce made it known…"

"And you gentlemen have your reasons," Fury bit aggressively, "Agent Cooper saw an opportunity and she took it. Now we can get in the house and get our criminal, can't we?"

"She lucked out. If that spell had still been active-" Tony was close to fuming.

"Let's not dwell on the negative, Stark."

"But you're always dwelling on the negative!"

Steve was fairly fed up at this point and took matters into his own hands. Without asking permission or consulting the others, he entered the house to actually try to accomplish something.

"Should we go with him?" Bruce asked the group.

Darla stepped toward the door.

"Yeah, he didn't mean you," Tony warned, shooting himself forward to pull her back. It didn't matter much, because within sixty seconds Thor was heard warning Steve to stay out. Soon after, he was pushed out the door and had it closed abruptly in his face. "Did he just slam the door on you?" Tony laughed in disbelief. "Well you should tell him to draw the curtains over the fucking gaping hole in the wall, too.

Thor heard this comment and soon set the living room couch up vertically by the hole so they couldn't see in. "What?" Bruce scrunched up his nose, not sure what was going on.

"He said this is a family matter," Steve was a bit dazed by the encounter.

Fury frowned. "He doesn't exactly get to make that call."

"He was pretty insistent," Steve was very still, trying to form a plan of sorts. Nothing helpful was coming to mind. Soon he strode back to where his teammates stood. Darla was staring at the propped up couch and moved to the front window to peer inside. Fury was watching her closely.

"Okay, super sleuth, come on back," Tony coaxed her with a wave of his hand, sneering at Fury all the while.

"She can go in there," Fury reasoned innocently, "I doubt Thor would hurt her."

"And what about Loki?" Bruce snapped. Either way, Darla wasn't listening.

Elsewhere

Eve rolled over and crawled on her belly until she could see past her dresser. She saw Loki's long legs first. Then her sight shot to the wall itself, which had not maintained its integrity. A severe concave dent rested in the structure where Loki had hit it, particles of dust and drywall falling occasionally from the many cracks. Loki himself lay on the ground with his head and shoulders propped up against the sloping wall. Mjolnir rested heavily between his abdomen and chest, closer to his stomach. His eyes were closed. Eve's eyes shot from one body part to the next, trying to find a sign of movement.

Thor returned to the bedroom after making his homemade couch wall and looked very annoyed with Eve for moving. Though he had been kind to her, his face when he looked at Loki was stern and hard. She lost her strength and set her forehead on the ground. She just wanted to know that he was alive. Whatever happened next, at least he'd be okay. Unless Thor meant to dole out as much punishment as his expression implied. The muscular man walked to his brother's side and stood over him.

Loki's eyes flickered open. Eve wasn't looking.

"You must have conjured a very powerful force field, brother," Thor noted, yet it didn't sound like a compliment as he added, "otherwise my weapon would have shot you halfway down the street."

Eve raised her head and inhaled excitedly, her mouth remaining agape and worried. Loki did not respond to the statement. Instead he simply looked very drained and as though his breaths were not coming easily. It had to be Mjolnir preventing his lungs from expanding. She pleaded with Thor with her eyes, but he wasn't looking her way. She was overjoyed as he bent down to retrieve the hammer, then shattered when he instead pressed it down harder into his chest. Loki winced even after Thor had picked it up but he was too weak to even make involuntary noises. Thor held his weapon less than an inch above Loki's body threateningly.

"Where is she," Thor demanded instantly.

Loki turned his head with agonizing slowness to see Eve staring back at him. He looked relieved that she was okay and almost smiled. That was all it took to set Eve off crying again.

"Not her," Thor dropped the hammer a few centimeters as a warning.

"If you kill me, brother," Loki's voice was slow and near feeble but it still had his confidence and assuredness behind it, "you will never find her."

Thor pulled the hammer up a few inches before dropping it definitively back where it had rested prior. Loki lurched forward involuntarily with a small oof, but kept his menacing facial expression intact. Eve was nearly wailing now, long sobs pouring from her throat. The pain combined with the stress and relief that her lover was alive amounted to too much. And here stood a man poised to take that relief from her.

"Tell me what you've done with her," Thor insisted.

Unable to speak with the weight on his chest, Loki simply shook his head. Thor summoned Mjolnir back to his hand. Loki coughed hoarsely. "I didn't mean I couldn't tell you, I meant I wouldn't tell you," he informed with a weakened snicker. Thor set to drop the hammer again and Loki was able to roll out of the way this time. Even that simple action had him cringing. On his side, he tried to get Eve's attention. She was distraught and distracted so he played in her head the snapping of fingers. With so little strength, he had to choose his words wisely. Get to me. Eve seemed to understand.

Her tears slowed now and she cleaned them up hastily before propping herself up to sit. She slid her bra on and clipped it smoothly with only a little aching from her arms. Thor was watching her, urging her to stop moving. "I just...the floor is so hard…" she did her best to look uncomfortable. It wasn't a challenge. She was planning to stand and fall to get closer to him but this was quickly derailed.

Thor sighed and rushed to her, picking her up in his arms with ease. For a moment Eve felt herself blushing involuntarily and she sensed Loki almost growling territorially to her side. As he carried her to the bed, which was covered in debris, Eve let her arm hang limply and held it out nonchalantly. Loki reached out to grab her hand. Though Thor glared and yanked her away, it didn't matter. That one bit of contact was all it took. He was able to pull magic from her, from when he'd given her the sight, teleported with her and even knocking her away just minutes ago. He drew it from her veins and her body gladly gave him what it could. It was different from when he'd taken magic back from Barton. There was no resistance. He sensed that once she fully understood, she'd relaxed and let him do what he needed to, and all in the matter of half-moments. He grinned at her, feeling much better now.

Eve was placed with care on the bed and she scowled at the nasty way the dust and such stuck to the sweat on her back. When Thor turned around, Loki was standing without a problem, examining his nails. He chuckled at his brother's annoyed stance and offered a calm proposal. "Let's talk."

"Agreed," Thor sneered, "Jane."

Loki looked puzzled. "That's not my name," he replied. Thor raised his hammer in frustration, to which Loki raised his hands beside his chest as a gesture of surrender. "I see now is not the time for jokes," he submitted as a peace offering. "We can figure this out, I'm sure."

"What is there to figure out? You tell me where you've taken Jane and-"

"And what? I go along with you quietly to my death?" Thor had no answer for this. "I think not. We shall discuss this. First, I don't want to be interrupted. I will be putting the disorientation spell back up to ensure none of your friends try to join us. Alert them of this and we'll begin." This was a bluff. While Loki did have enough magic now to cast it again, he didn't want to waste it and figured his words would do just as well. "And assure them that the spell lasts as long as I have it up, it won't wear off until I turn it off."

Thor hesitated before doubling back to grab Eve off the bed. Eve looked very confused and concerned as she was taken out of the room. She thought to revolt, strike him with her fists in protest, even though it would do no good. She hated the thought of being taken back to them, back to that room. Once out the door, she stole a glance at Loki-he didn't look nervous. He set her down by the front door and pushed her firmly, not roughly, into the wall so she knew to stay there. Then she understood. Thor thought Loki wouldn't leave without her. It actually felt sweet in a way. He opened the front door and saw Tony, Bruce and Fury standing with Steve, who was off the lawn now. He informed them of what Loki had told him and reassured them he'd take care of everything. He shut the door and picked Eve up again without realizing Darla was still by the front window.