No Roads Left
Chapter 6—The truth of a thousand lies
Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, Loki, the Avengers or Transformers. They belong to Marvel/Disney and Hasbro/Takara.
Loki's hands were bound, and he was shackled to a chair in a small room he now knew to be the office of one Capt. William Lennox, U.S. Army. The nameplate was on the door and desk. Sparsely decorated, Loki noted. A few books, a picture of the mortal leader of the Americans hanging on the wall, and several pictures of Lennox with a woman and little girl.
With not much to look at, Loki contented himself with trying to make sense of the yelling outside the door, which promptly ended. The door opened, and one of the humans, Epps, Loki recalled, unlocked the cuffs holding him to the chair, yanking him to his feet. The mortal dragged him down an unfamiliar hallway and into one he recognized, and they kept going until they entered the med bay.
Lennox and Graham were there, along with several armed soldiers. That was mildly alarming, but even more so was the number of Autobots in the room. Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ratchet and Ironhide were all in attendance as well.
"I assume we all can't just get some rest and talk about all the fuss in the morning?" Loki quipped.
The cold barrel of a gun was now digging into the skin under his jaw.
"That was some act you pulled out there, popping up out of nowhere," Epps said. "You were gonna grab the scepter and run, right?"
"Epps, stand down," Lennox said. "That's an order."
The airman pulled the gun away from Loki's head, but he didn't put it away.
"Loki, you have one chance, and one chance only to explain yourself," Prime said. "You'd best choose your words wisely."
"He'll just lie," Lennox said. "Because it's what you do, isn't it?"
Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He just sighed. Mortals.
"Talk, or you'll find yourself muzzled and on your way to a SHIELD holding facility before dawn. I can guarantee it'll be much more unpleasant than anything you'll face here," Lennox said. "I know you're not stupid. So take the chance you've been given, before I change my mind. You could've just popped out of here anytime you wanted, right?"
"No," Loki snapped. "Tonight was the first opportunity I've had to truly use any of my abilities."
"Sure. I've seen the footage of what you've tried in your cell," Lennox said. "And what I saw tonight with my own eyes. Blades of ice? Stopping bullets?"
"Calling ice is the one thing I can do inside the force field of my cell that doesn't go wrong," Loki said. "Something about the field, the Autobots, their technology, affects my seidr."
"Seidr?" Lennox asked.
"You'd call it magic," Loki said. "I know you've accessed SHIELD's files. Haven't you read all the information they have on me?"
"It was sketchy at best," Lennox said. "So the Asgardian cuffs do work?"
"They completely inhibit my abilities," Loki said. "So between that and the forces at work here, I'm no threat."
"You proved otherwise tonight," Lennox said. "You killed three men, injured another."
"They came for the scepter, did they not?" Loki asked. "And I helped stop them, even kept one alive for you to question."
"He's in medical right now," Lennox said. "God, I should have your ass on a transport back to the mainland right now."
"You can't do that," Prowl said, stepping into the conversation.
"Prowl, stay out of this," Lennox said.
"Loki is in our custody," Prowl said. "And by the provisions set forth in the Tyrest Accord, and the NEST treaty, we have no grounds to remand him back to SHIELD custody. You know what plans they had for him."
"Son of a bitch," Lennox said, running his fingers through his hair.
"I know the names you mortals have for me from your myths, and captain, you are correct. I do lie. But I will not lie to you now. I have lied, and cheated, and killed. I killed my birth father, a king of a realm. I lied to my family, tried to kill the man I called brother all my life, and brought war to your world," Loki said. "I was not trying to escape tonight. The instant the shield fell and the power died, I could hear the scepter calling me, and that is not why I left my cell. I followed Sideswipe and Sunstreaker because I thought they could use my help. They might not have needed my help, but you mortals did."
"He has us there," Epps muttered.
"So why not grab the scepter and go?" Lennox asked.
"I have nowhere to go," Loki said.
"You could go anywhere, right?"
"I choose not to," Loki said. "That's why."
As if he needed to explain himself to them.
"Why should we believe you?" Lennox asked.
"I swear in the name of the Allfather I was not trying to escape tonight, nor will I try and leave your custody," Loki said. "I've given you my word. I have nothing else of value to give."
Not as if he had much else of meaning to give. His magic, but it didn't count in this case, so he gave the only thing that did.
"Your life," Ratchet said.
"My life is forfeit regardless of what happens," Loki said.
"You're not dead yet," Ratchet snapped.
"Ratchet, enough," Optimus said. "Everyone, try and get some rest and we'll sort this all out in the morning. Lennox, I'll take Loki back to his cell. Besides, I think we're long overdue for a talk."
Lennox scrubbed at his face, thinking, but finally, he relented.
"Fine. First thing after the morning briefing, we are gonna have a long talk, all of us, about what happens next," Lennox said. He glared at Epps until he holstered his gun, and watched as the others filed out of the med bay.
Graham stayed by his side.
"What're you still doing here?" Lennox said. "Go to bed."
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Graham asked.
Lennox pinched the bridge of his nose, counting back from 10. Graham was his second, and considering all the crap they'd been through, formality was never a good thing.
"What?" Lennox said.
"I think Loki is telling the truth," Graham said. "For what it's worth."
"You and Ratchet," Lennox said. "I know. Graham, for God's sake, quarters. Now. Before I make it an order."
Graham snapped off a salute, managing to draw a half-hearted smile out of his commanding officer. Morning would come too soon for them all.
88888
Loki was hard pressed keeping up with the Prime, so he hurried his pace, pulling up behind the big bot once they were outside. He watched as the Autobot leader transformed, and opened a door.
"Get in," he commanded, and Loki scrambled up into the cab, and he rode in silence until they arrived at a stretch of beach not far away. Once more, the door opened and Loki jumped down, landing on his feet. He stepped back, watching as the being transformed again. Prime sat down in the sand, and pointed to the sand beside him, so Loki took a seat beside him.
"Ratchet told me days ago I should speak with you," Optimus said. "He suggested you could benefit from my own experience, that your story isn't so different from my own."
"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker said as much," Loki said.
"They're wiser than they'll ever admit," Optimus said, warmth in his voice. "But that is a wisdom I myself have gained from circumstances I wish I did not have to face."
"Ratchet told me how long your planet was at war," Loki said.
"We still are," Optimus said. "But my tale goes back to before the war. I wasn't always Prime. There were once 13, but through the ages, the title of Prime was passed from one generation to the next.
I was a foundling. The mech I considered my sire took me in, raising me as his own. He had one creation already, named Megatron. We were raised as brothers. Megatron had an aptitude for the military, so that was the life he chose. My own path was academic—I preferred science and history, becoming an archaeologist, but I was taught how to defend myself. Megatron made sure I could fight, and those were happy times—before we grew up and apart."
Optimus looked down at Loki, who was staring into the distance, but he could sense how tense he was, and he continued with his tale.
"Matters between us weren't always smooth, but we always managed to find common ground. Megatron wasn't just a warrior. He was a skilled orator in his own right, but he lacked patience. He became Lord High Protector of Cybertron, and I the Prime," Optimus said. "We ruled Cybertron together. He took charge of the military, protecting our home and its people, while I oversaw the civilian population, and was also the spiritual leader of Cybertron. But it all changed when what power he had was not enough. He plunged our planet into darkness when he killed our sire and started the war."
"Perhaps he thought you were the favored son," Loki said.
"Alpha Trion loved us both, and tried not to show favoritism," Optimus said. "We ruled as equals, but it wasn't enough. Megatron wanted the power of a Prime. He didn't understand what that title means."
"He wasn't worthy, was he?" Loki asked, looking up at the Autobot leader.
"He was the true born son of a Prime," Optimus said. "I think. . .no, he believed he was going to be Prime himself. But he wasn't. It's not something that's given, it's earned. I learned that the hard way."
"And what sacrifice did you make to become worthy?" Loki asked.
"Myself," Optimus said. "Not even my death brought Megatron the satisfaction he sought."
Loki looked up at him, and Optimus could see the question in his eyes, but that was a story for another time.
"I'm not completely blameless," Optimus said. "Sometimes I wonder if I'd tried harder, possibly he wouldn't have descended into madness. He was always the darkness to my light. I've come to accept the darkness in my spark, but I do not let it rule me, unlike my brother. Ratchet and Ironhide think me mad for trying to stop him. I always thought there was a chance he could be redeemed, but I was wrong about the one being who mattered to me more than anything."
"Were you. . ." Loki started to ask.
"Together? No. We were together in every way but that," Optimus said. "There was another—a femme. Her name was Elita-1."
"What happened?"
"Megatron killed her," Optimus said, glancing down at the mortal They were quiet for a long time before Loki spoke up again.
"What of your brother?" Loki asked.
"He's gone now," Optimus said. "He died by my own hand."
Optimus looked down, hearing Loki's sharp intake of breath. "It was inevitable," he said. "If I was stronger, I could have ended the war long before now."
"He was your brother," Loki said, "And you loved him."
"You think me a fool?" Optimus asked.
"I don't know what to think," Loki answered.
"I should get you back," Optimus said, standing.
Later, Loki lay curled on his side in his bed, staring into the darkness. Optimus' story had a painfully familiar ring to it. Such a noble being, brought low by his actions. Left alive, without his brother.
Could he break Thor like that? Did he want to? Had he already? Could Thor do as Optimus had, stop the madness? Feeling the bile rising in his throat, Loki leaned over the edge of the bunk, vomiting onto the floor. So that was one way it could end. He never considered that. He never even made it past considering what happened if he succeeded in killing Thor. He had wanted his revenge, but did he really want it that much after all?
