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Chapter Two:
Her cell was cold. It was damp and dark and eerily silent save for the steady drip of water from the ceiling. Waverly didn't know how long she had been here. Shortly after The Other began to teleport out of the tower, she had passed out. It was all still fuzzy. She remembered going to the mess hall, something about a net, and the next thing she knew, she was in this cell. It was small, she could barely stand up straight. The walls and floor were made of hard, black stone. There was a small bucket in the corner for her to do her business and once or twice a day, The Other himself brought her just enough water to stave off complete dehydration. Right now, Waverly was curled up in a ball in the corner, trying to retain as much heat as possible. She had pulled her arms inside the sleeves of her thin t-shirt and curled her toes around the hem of her pant legs. It wasn't enough. Waverly shivered and pain wracked her body.
She knew the pain stemmed from the numerous small puncture wounds all over her skin. What she couldn't remember was how she got these wounds. It was as if a thousand little needles had been pushed into her flesh. The tiny pin-pricks were bright red, stung, and caused pain to flush through her body with every movement. She felt weak and couldn't really concentrate on anything because her mind was so fuzzy.
Waverly hadn't tried to escape or use her powers. She was coherent enough to realize The Other wouldn't be stupid enough leave her in full control of her Ice Hawk abilities. Maybe she had been injected with some of The Other's antiserum. That would explain the puncture wounds… but then why did she have so many?
Waverly pushed the thought from her mind. She was so cold, so hungry, and so tired that it hurt just to try and think about how she had ended up in this situation. So instead, she thought about Loki.
Loki was Waverly's saving grace. The thought of the god of mischief kept her from losing her mind. It was scary enough being in this cell. It was scarier still that she had no idea what was going on. So, Waverly closed her eyes tightly shut and conjured a picture of the god in her mind's eye. She saw him in his Asgardian clothes complete with the velvety green cape. Loki had a soft look on his face that he only had when looking at Waverly. His thick, black hair fell in a curtain around his shoulders and he had that mischievous little smile that made Waverly go weak in the knees. His deep green eyes were soothing and Waverly stared into them as she fell into an uneasy sleep.
When she next awoke, Waverly's brain was much more focused. She blinked and pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing against the pain of her many wounds. Squinting through the dark, Waverly saw that the far wall of her cell was nothing but crisscrossing iron bars. Beyond that, it was too dark to see. Waverly leaned against the wall of her cell and pulled her knees to her chest to keep warm. Slowly, she began shifting through her memories, piecing together what happened.
The Other had kidnapped her. He used some kind of net implanted with hundreds of tiny needles to capture her. The needles were filled with antiserum. The antiserum suppressed her powers and dulled her combat senses. Then, The Other had used his magic to transport them to wherever they were now. Waverly vaguely remembered being dragged down a long flight of stone steps before she was thrown into this cell. She couldn't remember how long ago that had been and since she was stuck in eternal darkness, she had no idea how much time had passed since she had been kidnapped.
But why had The Other captured her and not simply killed her like he so desperately wished to?
Waverly remember the conversation she had had with the villain before he teleported her to wherever she was now. No, not 'wherever.' She was on The Other's barren moon of a home. The Other intended to use her as bait to lure Loki and the Avengers away from the safety of SHIELD so that he could finally enact his revenge. Once the Avengers and Loki were dead, The Other's master would destroy Earth on his way to ruling the universe.
Waverly felt her stomach knot in a mixture of worry, dread, and self-pity. She knew without a doubt that Clint and Loki would come after her. And if they came, it was likely the rest of the team would come. They would be walking straight into The Other's hands. And it was all her fault. She should have done something. She should have tried to fight back. But she didn't. She was too shocked and too afraid to do anything besides allow herself to get kidnapped and used as bait. Waverly felt warm tears spill from the corner of her eyes and drip down her cheeks. It was her fault that Loki, her brother, and her friends were right now heading to their own demise. It was her fault that Earth was only a short time away from being destroyed.
Then, an even more horrible thought crept into her mind. What if they weren't coming? What if her brother, Loki, and the Avengers simply left her to die at the hands of The Other in order to save the world? It was bad enough to think that they weren't coming. It was worse to realize that Waverly wanted them to come. Her tears fell faster. She should be thinking of the greater good. She was an Avenger and a SHIELD agent. It was her job to protect Earth and her people from any threat, no matter how dangerous it would be for her own safety. The best possible thing to happen now would be for The Other to kill her and for Loki and the Avengers to stay on Earth to defend the planet from The Other's evil master.
But that wouldn't happen. Loki at least, would come after her. Waverly was sure of it. Her brother would likely come as well. Out of everyone in the world, those two men cared about Waverly more than anyone else did. She knew they would come for her. Waverly didn't want them to. It was just what The Other wanted. They would be walking right into his trap and there was nothing she could do about it. The tears fell faster. Waverly slid back to a laying position and rocked back and forth with sobs until sheer exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep once more.