Lost Before The Dawn

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Playlist: 'Mind If I Cut In?' from 'The Dark Knight Rises'

Jane felt almost physically suffocated as she was marched along, surrounded by SHIELD guards either side, and with Fury and Thor behind her. The labyrinthine corridors of the helicarrier seemed almost oppressively quiet despite the constant thrum of the engines, as SHIELD operatives in their smart blue and black uniforms scurried out of their way.

As they walked, Jane frantically thought. What the hell was she going to say to him?

She was no interrogator, hell she wasn't even very sociable unless the topic of conversation involved Einstein's theory of Relativity, and she had no idea how to get Loki to reveal…anything. He was the God of Mischief and Lies, he'd see through her in a split second. She wasn't cunning enough for this…

All too soon, they were on the detention level, and Jane stared at the large, assault-proof door in front of her like a deer in the headlights. Oh dear…

"Ten minutes, Foster," Fury muttered, as she glanced at him. "Make the most of it."

The door swished open and Jane hesitantly stepped through, glancing over her shoulder just once, catching a glimpse of Thor's face, framed by his golden hair, eyes awash with trepidation and pain, even as he smiled reassuringly. Jane took a deep breath, closed her eyes and turned to face her former captor.

She ascended the steps of the gantry, onto the platform where the large, circular prison sat, with no corners, nowhere to hide from the cameras watching her every move.

And his.

He sat on the padded bench inside, head tilted back as if in complete relaxation, eyes shut. He looked for all the world as if he was asleep, with his legs stretched out and crossed nonchalantly, but Jane wasn't fooled.

"You can cut the act now," she called, stepping close to the armoured glass door locking him in. "I sure as hell ain't buying it."

"Jane," he breathed, smiling a slow, sly grin which made her heart pound, like the mouse before the cat. She folded her arms in what she was very well aware was a defensive gesture, but it made her feel better. It was freezing inside the detention cell. "Well, I must say, this is a most pleasant surprise."

"You must have known they'd send me in," she breathed, and he finally deigned to open his eyes, meeting her gaze with his lazy, malevolent blue eyes.

"On the contrary, I assumed differently. Perhaps Fury is cleverer than I gave him credit for," Loki chuckled, coiling in his long limbs and standing tall. He fixed her with a deep piercing stare, and she clenched her fists where they were safely hidden from view by her arms. "Or perhaps I simply know you too well, Jane Foster."

"You do know me well," she conceded quietly. "Probably better than I know myself at times, so you know I volunteered to come here. You know if you don't tell them what they want to know, they'll torture you?"

"I would expect nothing less," he replied silkily, slowly prowling over to stand in front of her. "I fear I have made our dear Director Fury rather desperate."

"He's just trying to protect this planet from megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur like you," Jane retorted, and he laughed. A cold feeling washed over her as she realised he was laughing at her, and she instinctively needed to know why. "What?"

"Perhaps, my dearest, you should be considering the megalomaniacs closer to home, as I believe you humans say," he purred, and she frowned. "Surely you didn't think Fury required your intellect and services for inter-dimensional travel?"

"I didn't care, as long as I got what I needed," she admitted, feeling slightly ashamed at her short-sightedness now. He shook his head teasingly, his raven hair shaking slightly with the movement.

"Jane, you disappoint me," he sighed. "Perhaps you should question your so-called saviours before judging me so harshly…"

"Wait a second, stop trying to distract me," Jane snapped, the damage done however. The thought niggled and pricked at her, and she inwardly growled. "Enough with the mind games, Loki."

"Then by all means, Miss Foster, interrogate me," he smirked seductively, and she glared at him, making him chuckle. Jane inhaled deeply, digging deep for patience before she met Loki's burning gaze. They were green again.

"Fury's not the only one who's desperate," she began coolly, watching him closely. "That morning I found you, just before we left for Germany, you were scared. I could see it in your eyes-"

"DON'T," Loki snarled, eying her with considerably less humour now, his eyes grown icy and cold, the luminous green consumed by the burning blue. "Don't try to muddle out things with that puny mortal mind of yours, Jane. You know nothing of what you speak. I am not afraid of anything."

"Liar," Jane replied, as he froze, glaring at her. If looks could kill, she'd be six feet under by now. The silence stretched taut, and Jane felt his gaze prickling over her skin, like red hot silk, and she fought to maintain her act. The slight fear evoked by his change in demeanour roiled inside her, but just like before, during weeks of imprisonment with him, she kept it firmly under wraps. To fear him was to allow him control over her, and that was something none of them could afford. "There's something more driving you than just fear or jealousy though. Something else…"

Loki eyed her, his rage dying slightly, until his familiar smirk reappeared, and he stepped close to the glass, his eyes intent on hers. "My sweet, poor little Jane. Still trying to solve things far above what your mortal mind could conceive…"

Jane bristled. "Hey, you might have prodded me in the right directions a couple of times, but ninety percent of the work I did on the Tesseract was me, so don't even try that one on my, buddy. You might like to think you're superior to us, but one day we will prove you wrong beyond all doubt," she snapped, planting her hands on her hips.

"You tread on dangerous ground, my dear," he whispered, coldly, almost bestially as she held his gaze determinedly.

"I am not afraid of you," she breathed. "And if I ever was, I'd never let it rule me, unlike someone else I could mention."

"I will enjoy taming that spirit of yours when this is over, Jane," he replied, and the seductiveness was back, darkened by the roughness of his low, hypnotic voice, as she unknowingly stepped close, her hands unclenching and falling to her sides.

"And if I was to submit, what then?" she asked, meeting his eye determinedly as confusion swept into his emerald green orbs, and she felt hope rise. "You'd be bored stiff if no one ever challenged you, if no one ever defied you or argued with you. You want the challenge but not the ultimate prize; otherwise you would have just killed me or enslaved me weeks ago."

He watched her intently for a few moments, eyes fixed on hers, before he sighed, smirking. "I must say, Jane, that your interrogative skills are somewhat wanting, even if your intellect is not."

"You love giving out backhanded compliments, don't you?" she shook her head, before meeting his gaze again, raising one hand and pressing it against the cold glass, her fingers splayed against the concave surface. "I don't want to interrogate you," she admitted softly, "I just want to help you."

For a moment, his eyes burned with a kind of pained hope, green completely subsuming the blue, and she could almost feel the warmth of his hand against her palm as he unconsciously raised his own, pressing it against the glass between them.

"Everything I ever cared for was taken from me. Now I shall take it back," he told her softly. "You will belong to me, Jane."

"Don't bet on it," she whispered, as the door opened behind her, and she lowered her hand, stepping back. Her heart sank as she realised she'd failed, that Fury wouldn't hesitate but there was nothing more she could do. With a sigh, she turned and walked out.

Fury, Coulson and the others were nowhere to be seen, clearly having listened in on their conversation and realised she had failed, but Thor waited for her with a pained smile. She just shook her head and his eyes darkened.

"I feared it would be so," Thor murmured. "In his mind, Loki is the wronged party and nothing will disavow him of that notion."

"No, there's more to it than that," Jane replied, turning and leading the way down the corridor, flanked by SHIELD guards. Thor easily kept stride beside her. "He's being driven by something else, not just desire for something he felt was taken from him but something else. There's something else controlling him, Thor, using his vulnerabilities to guide his actions, making him think they're his own."

"He let slip someone had shown him the power of the Tesseract, when I confronted him on the mountaintop," the God agreed. "So he is little better than the ones he has enslaved himself."

Jane shook her head. "No. He still has his self-will, his ability to make a choice. Whoever's got to him is just a very good manipulator," she replied, not noticing the amused look in Thor's eyes, mingled with a slight trace of anguish as he watched her puzzle over the enigma that was his brother.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he paused at a junction in the myriad, twisting corridors of the helicarrier and she marched ahead.

"To see Banner and Stark. There are some questions I need answers to," she called over her shoulder, as Thor watched her go concernedly. He sighed, turning away, as he contemplated the fact that Jane Foster now belonged to his brother, heart and soul, whether she knew it or not. He hoped for everyone's sake she would never submit, or they would all be lost.

Jane's mind was whirling as she hurried along, passing Captain America along the way, marching in the opposite direction, his own face troubled. She was too engrossed with her own thoughts to notice.

What had Loki meant when he said she should look at the megalomaniacs closer to home? What was SHIELD doing that Loki knew about, that needed the power of the Tesseract? The official line was some kind of energy project but what the hell was an international spy organisation doing in the energy market anyway? Repaying a debt to society?

Ha!

She knew who would be looking for answers though. Fury had mentioned Banner and Stark were working on locating the Tesseract, and if Loki had let slip something to her about SHIELD's true intentions for the Tesseract, she would bet her life on it that he'd let slip something while Fury questioned him for everyone to see and hear.

She knew of Doctor Banner and Tony Stark, both by reputation as incredible scientists. Banner's theories on gamma radiation, while not her main field, had been inspiring and Stark's inventions had changed the course of human development. Of course she knew of Banner's other side, heard the rumours from Erik and the few scientists who willingly spoke to her.

The door to Banner's lab swished open, and she walked in confidently, refusing to feel intimidated as two pairs of eyes swung away from their workstations to stare at her questioningly, as she paused on the threshold.

"Fury mentioned you were working on locating the Tesseract. Need a hand?" she asked nonchalantly, as Stark eyed her appraisingly.

"Think we got it covered," he replied shortly. "Nice chat with the boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Jane replied repressively. Banner smiled at her sympathetically. "Well, have you accounted for the multiple distortions thrown up by the Tesseract's energy field?"

"Yes," Stark muttered confidently.

"And the exclusion field?" she asked next, brows raised as she exchanged an amused glance with Banner, as Stark appeared increasingly annoyed with her questioning. "How about the time-spatial differentiation factor-"

"Yes and yes," Tony snapped, eying her darkly as she just folded her arms and grinned. "I can see why he likes you, Foster. I kind of like you too."

"One megalomaniac is quite enough for me to deal with, thank you very much," Jane quipped, making Banner chuckle, as she held out her hand. "Doctor Jane Foster."

"Bruce Banner," Banner took her hand gently, and she smiled warmly. "I've read your work on the Einstein-Rosen Bridges. Impressively sound."

"Yeah, don't we know it right now," Stark rolled his eyes, bypassing Jane slightly.

"What can we do for you, Dr. Foster?" Banner asked gently, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. "I'm guessing you didn't come here to help with finding the Tesseract."

"No," Jane smiled. "I think you know why I'm here."

Stark paused, eying her carefully as she watched them both closely, waiting for a sign. When they both just stared at her, she folded her arms again and pointed to one of the touch screens.

"Breaking into SHIELD's secure files to find out what they're really doing with the Tesseract?" she asked.

Stark grinned. "I like her."

Loki smiled as he watched Agent Romanoff's retreating back, her red curls bouncing as she jogged along, betraying her haste.

Perfect.

"Loki plans to unleash the Hulk, keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way, send Thor as well…" she paused, just a moment, and he made sure to wipe his smile off his face. "Thank you for your cooperation."

And with that she was gone.

Loki shook his head. Mortals.

Barton had forewarned him of the assassin's skills before they had embarked on this course of action. It was an old game of his, and she was truly a skilled player, the best he had ever encountered but he had been manipulating and bluffing opponents centuries before she was born.

He simply needed her to believe he had lost, let slip too much information in the heat of the moment. And she'd believed it, as he had calculated she would.

Mortals were so predictable. On the other hand…

He hadn't been expecting Jane's manoeuvre. However it had been just the moment he needed to persuade her to investigate SHIELD's true intentions, along with Stark and the monster. And once she discovered the truth, then he would be there to comfort her disillusionment, even as he ensured the Avengers would be no threat to his further conquest.

Two birds with one stone.

For a moment her words to him echoed in his mind, and he closed his eyes as he sat back down on the paltry little bunk in his cell. Her words bit far closer to his heart than anything the Black Widow could have said. She was beautiful and deadly, but hollow, empty, little more than a vessel to be filled with whatever her masters' commanded of her.

Jane was a fire spirit, filled with intelligence and strength, and loyalty enough to never submit to someone she felt was dangerous to those she loved. And truthfully, did he want her to? Was she the one exception to her entire race? She knew he was there by his own will, yet she tried to help him…

It was the only way her words could truly have hit so near the mark this time. He was afraid, and that fear churned within him always, ever since he was thrown from the Bifrost.

Damn her, impudent little mortal! He did not need this confusion now. He had to focus if his plan was to succeed. It must succeed, it must.

Earth, and Jane, would soon belong to him forever, as he had never belonged anywhere before. But they would. He would make it so.

As he heard the roar of the monster as it broke free of Banner's mind, he smiled even as concern echoed within him.

He hoped Jane was safe.

Jane could barely believe what she was seeing. Horror filled her and she shuddered as the truth sank in.

So this was what Loki had meant. She shook her head, willing it to disappear, to not be true, but the evidence stayed before her eyes on the touch screen.

And this was all her fault. If she hadn't handed SHIELD the equations to harness the Tesseract's energy on a silver platter….

No. No don't do that to yourself. Even if you had refused their offer, they'd have just conned someone else into doing it, and probably confiscated your research into the bargain. This is what Loki wants, to manipulate you, to make you vulnerable. You can't let him win….

Once more that strange sexless, ethereal voice echoed in Jane's head as she closed her eyes. It was right, but anger still smouldered in her heart as she heard Fury's familiar exasperated tones grated on her ear.

"What are you doing, Mr Stark?"

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you!" Stark snapped pointedly. Jane opened her eyes and spun to face the Director, glaring at him balefully.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract!" Fury retorted, and Jane snapped.

"We are, Director," she growled, her fists clenched. "In case your one eye failed to notice."

Banner stepped in, with a calming hand on Jane's arm but she could feel the tension building in him. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature right now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," Stark trailed off, his eye drawn to the touch screen in front of him. "What is Phase 2?"

Over my dead body is SHIELD getting that cube back, Jane thought defiantly. No way in hell.

No one noticed the entrance of Captain America until he casually put a strange-looking gun down on one of the workbenches, and Jane stared at it.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons," Rogers explained, before glancing at the three scientists. "Sorry computers moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything together related to the Tesseract," Fury replied coolly. "This does not mean-"

Stark brought up a schematic on the display and twisted it round for all to see. "Sorry Nick, what were you lying?"

Fury shut up, sighing deeply, as Rogers stared at him in disgust. "I was wrong, Director. World hasn't changed a bit."

"You would never have let me use my research, would you?" Jane asked, quietly. "All along, this was just one big game and everyone was your pawns."

Fury scoffed at her. "Perhaps you need to go and lie down, Dr. Foster," he replied dismissively. "Perhaps Loki's been influencing you after all."

Jane bristled just as Agent Romanoff and Thor walked in, Thor's eyes flying to hers questioningly, concern washing through them as he noticed the rage in her own.

"Did you know about this?" Banner demanded, looking at Romanoff.

Jane tuned out as the arguments began to come, swift and fast, Fury blaming Thor, and Rogers going at Stark, and Banner growing ever more stressed and out of control. She could feel her own anger rising with every word that fell from Romanoff's and Fury's mouths, but she pushed it back.

This had to be what Loki wanted. If the Avengers were the last hope for this planet against his forces, then he needed them to be divided, to be fighting among themselves. Someone needed to be the adult here.

Finally, as the fighting grew to a crescendo, Jane strode into the centre of the lab and took a deep breath. And shouted as loud as she could, "ENOUGH!"

Everyone froze.

She met their eyes defiantly, folded her arms and exhaled. "Has it occurred to any of you that perhaps this is exactly what Loki wants? You've manipulated every single one of us here, lied to us and planned to use something which doesn't even belong here to build weapons of mass destruction, I mean what are you? Crazy? Some of the most powerful people on this planet and you're acting like a bunch of schoolboys measuring your…you know what, I'm not even going there!" she snarled, not giving them time to finish. She thought she caught a gleam of awe and pride in Thor's eye as he watched her. "This is just so wrong on so many levels, but right now we've got a job to do. We can't fight Loki and get the Tesseract back while we're biting each other's heads off, so shut it, all of you and save it for later, after we've stopped whatever is coming for us at Loki's command. Sound good?"

They all stared at her, just as the computers beeped and Jane saw the search programme was complete. She and Banner rushed to it at the same time. No one noticed the shining blue crystal on Loki's sceptre as it called to its master's servants.

Once again the arguing started and Jane wanted to scream. Banner breathed out in shock as Jane's eyes widened as she refocused on the computer programme.

She felt the shockwave before she heard the explosion. It pushed her sideways, through a window and down, until she hit something cold and hard, knocking the breath from her lungs, making her side scream out in agony.

Well there goes the other ribs… she thought deliriously, as the pain grew too much and her body shut down.

Jane fell into unconsciousness.