Sorry this took so long! I've been working a ton. Here is chapter 3, and be sure to tell me what you think!
Thankfully, Marie made it back to her room on the Helicarrier without having to face any other agents. As the door slammed behind her, she finally stopped, her breath coming in raggedly as she tried to check the tears that were threatening to fall.
Damn him, she thought. How did I let him get to me? They gave me this job because I was supposed to be impervious to his mind tricks. But how did he know? He knew everything, every little emotion that she tried to hide deep within her soul, he had seen in an instant and toyed with it like a cat with a mouse.
And that name; Vitra, though it sounded foreign and Asgardian, something about it felt so familiar. Out-of-reach thoughts and memories tickled at the corners of Marie's consciousness at the mention of that name.
This is ridiculous, Marie shouted to herself. How, in a matter of mere minutes, I could become a blubbering little girl in his presence. She shook her head, as though the action could clear the tumultuous emotions that raged through her at the thought of the tall mysterious man that was imprisoned on the ship. Marie did her best to push the encounter out of her head as she dried her eyes and proceeded to inform Director Fury about the prisoner's failure to read her.
As soon as the girl stormed from the room, Loki's menacing demeanor faded rapidly, and he slumped against the glass as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
Vitra had been the only person he had ever felt remorse at tricking, though it was a very rare thing that she wouldn't see through his careful plans and admonish him before he could even bring them to fruition. However, this time, he had to confront this woman to be sure she was still his Vitra. It was easy enough to guess the circumstances surrounding her parentage, but the proof lay in the fact that she seemed to have retained her powers, and that the feelings of loneliness and not belonging that had originally brought them together still remained.
Loki stiffened, preparing himself for the horrible spasm of pain that accompanied any thoughts of Vitra, but this time they did not come. It is because she is here and she lives, thought Loki. Her body was never recovered, we only assumed she was dead….. how could I foolishly accept her death so easily?
No matter, Loki thought, she shall be mine again. I will restrain the armies until she has regained her memories, and then she will rule by my side as my Queen over this pathetic world, and we will have our revenge on whoever caused our separation in the first place. He had always thought she would have made a magnificent Queen, and part of his determination to secure the throne of Asgard was to see her as its Queen.
Now all I have to do was wait for my chance, Loki thought smugly, and the world and Vitra will be mine.
Marie had made her report to Fury, who seemed to doubt her assurances that she was fine and would be able to continue to care for the prisoner, and left to foolishly hand feed a caged monster.
All the way there, Marie tried to psych herself up for meeting the god of tricks after the humiliating way their last meeting ended. She decided it was best to simply try to forget that the first meeting ever happened, and pretend she still held the upper hand in this situation.
With as much nonchalance as she could muster, Marie made her way into the chamber again, and at first glance it she could see Loki's intimidating figure facing the opposite way, so she was quiet shaken when without turning, his voice rang out, "Back for more, I see."
He turned to face her, his eyes holding a dangerous mischievous glint while the rest of his face remained calculatedly passive.
Why does he have to be so beautiful? Marie thought traitorously. For there was really no other word to describe his sharp features and Grecian physique, and his beauty made Marie's heart pick up quite a few paces in her chest. She had always been self conscious about her pale skin and unique features, and standing facing this man she thought; he really is a god, and here I am, like David facing a devilishly handsome and magical Goliath.
At this, Marie became angry; why should it matter how he looks or what he thinks of me, he is a murder that intends to harm innocent people, and when she replied to him, her voice was laced with undisguised malice.
"Well, I am here because S.H.I.E.L.D has decided to keep you fed and relatively healthy until they decide to torture you for information and then execute you for crimes against humanity."
Loki smiled at her anger, "Ooooo, someone is a bit touchy. Perhaps you'd like to come in here and teach me a lesson yourself?"
Marie threw him a disgusted look before signaling a guard to deliver Loki's food through a small slot in the glass. Loki seemed uninterested in the food, and continued to gaze uncomfortably at Marie before she asked, "What, not fine enough for a prince?"
Loki gave her a small smile and replied, "I am not hungry, nor do I tend to be on this ship long enough to experience hunger enough to actually consume that poisoned garbage."
Marie scoffed at him, but was surprised that he knew that the food was laced with a sleeping draught. "Fine, if you don't intend to eat, could you at least give up the location of the Tesseract so this pointless search can end?" Marie figured that she could at least try to extract some information from the insufferable bastard.
Loki looked at her searchingly, and after a few moments responded, "I will give you some of the information that you desire if I receive some information in return."
Something in the back of Marie's mind told her to ignore this; that it was a trick, but she quelled that feeling and said, "What do you want to know? I won't tell you anything about S.H.I.E.L.D or…."
Loki silenced her with a wave of his hand and said, "Please, I have enough information about your secret little team of freaks, I want to know about you."
Marie was stunned, "You want to know about me? Why?"
Loki smiled and said, "Let's say it's of interest to me to know about my captor." He turned and moved to his seat in the back of the cage, preparing himself for a long talk. "Please, Agent Robertson, have a seat."
Marie was infuriated that he was asking her to sit as if this wasn't his prison cell, but his home, however, her curiosity won out and she took the nearest chair. "What do you want to know about me?" she asked hesitantly.
Loki gave a small smile, and holding her gaze asked, "Tell me anything about yourself; about your life, your family, why you are here on this ship."
Marie was astounded by his very forward questions, but something in the fathomless depths of his eyes convinced her of his sincerity, and she said, "Uhhh, I am 20 years old, I am from California, I graduated from Harvard at 18 with degrees in philosophy, music, and molecular biology, and I've been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a year, happy?"
Marie never thought in her wildest dreams that she would one day sit and discuss her life with a handsome alien captive, who was sitting across from her searching her face as if he could see everything about her printed clearly across her face.
Loki laughed at her defensive tone of voice, and said, "Very well, and what of your….. 'gifts'?"
Marie shot back, "Wait! I told you about me, and now I get some information about the Tesseract!"
Loki again fell into mirthful laughter at her anger, and replied, "Yes, you told me things I could have very well found in a computer or have gotten Barton to tell me. I want to know more about you, the parts of your being that you attempt to hide from the rest of humanity."
During his speech, Loki's voice had dropped very low, and he leaned towards her and fastened his very intense gaze on her face, and Marie found that she could help but be drawn towards his hypnotic voice and personality.
"I….I don't want to talk about it," Marie whispered, unable to break from his eyes.
Loki leaned in even further, "Trust me, Marie, I understand how it feels to be different, to have abilities others don't understand, or even fear."
For a split second Marie thought she had caught a glimpse of the man underneath the hard and angry façade, and it frightened and thrilled her that it was very familiar to her own broken soul. Again, feelings of acceptance and familiarity crept into her heart, from where, she knew not, but Marie could not shake the feeling that this man was somehow a part of her fate, and either she would help S.H.I.E.L.D. plot his demise or end up burning with him.
Almost unwillingly, she continued, "There was an….accident, with many people, and my powers presented themselves, but it was at a great cost. The powers saved me, but they—I mean I, couldn't save anyone else, so I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes that I could make up for the lives I couldn't save." Marie couldn't say anymore, and she closed her eyes in the hopes that she could compose herself.
Loki sat there astounded that fate could not even spare her a kind thought and give her happiness on this God-forsaken world. Her confession proved what Loki had been speculating, this was his Vitra, kidnapped and placed on this planet in an attempt to punish him and the man who claimed to be his father. Her emotions, her powers, her desire to help others; it was Vitra, there was no doubt in his mind.
He would claim her again, she would be his and together they would take their revenge and burn the skies.
Loki snapped out of his own thoughts and found the girl again composed and staring at him expectantly. Loki smiled, leave it to Vitra to still calculate and plan even when emotionally compromised, he thought.
"Ah yes, now you desire information about the Tesseract. I must say Marie, you and I are not so different; we both only wish to help this world and its people, yes?"
At this statement, Marie's face twisted in annoyance at being compared to the criminal. Loki continued, "As far as the whereabouts of the Tesseract, I know not where in the wide world it might be. You see, I sent it off with the command that I should not know where it was headed, and for it to constantly be in motion, so the information might not be tricked or tortured out of me."
Loki smiled evilly, knowing this was not the answer she had hoped for. Marie's expression turned furious as she kicked the chair and stormed from the chamber.
After giving what little information she could to Fury, Marie was storming around the hellicarrier fuming over her encounter with Loki.
How could I be so stupid, she thought. I sat there and cried and told him every little secret about me and he turned around and tricked me! Stupid god! She was more angry at herself than she was Loki, and though she didn't want to admit it, there was something about him that made her body, mind, and heart react traitorously. As Marie was not paying attention, she did not see the large brightly colored figure until they collided, sending her to the cold floor.
Looking up, Marie found herself looking into the very confused and concerned eyes of Captain America. Like a gentleman, he immediately rushed to her side to help, "Wow, miss, I am so very sorry, I had a lot on my mind and I wasn't watching where I was going." Marie smiled at his apology and brushed it off as he helped her off the ground. "Please," she said, "I was my fault. I was too busy thinking about my bad day to pay attention."
The captain smiled, "You too huh? I've been having a rough time babysitting Stark on board, he just infuriates me!"
Marie laughed at this, and responded, "Well, I'll trade you wards. I've been assigned to watch Loki, so I think Stark is probably a walk in the park compared to crazy Norse gods."
Steve's face crumpled in worry at this statement, and Marie could hear him think, she's so small. Is Fury wise to have her guard Loki on her own?...
Marie smiled at his concern, and surprised him by saying, "Don't worry, Captain. I've got a few tricks up my sleeves to handle Loki." Marie was shocked at herself that she was speaking so confidently to this legend, but there was a kindness in his face that put her at ease.
Steve's face was priceless when Marie answered his thoughts, but his voice was impressed when he said, "Well, well, it seems that Fury has quite the collection of extraordinary people at his disposal, Miss…?"
"Agent. Agent Marie Robertson," Marie supplied with a smile and a hand.
The Captain took her small hands gently in both of his large ones and smiled, "Steve Rogers, at your service, and anytime you want to trade kids, just let me know."
Marie laughed heartily, and they went their separate ways, but she couldn't help but feel that on this ship full of heroes and monsters and gods, she had found something truly rare; a friend.
Please review! 3 KMC