Chapter 2

Waking moment

Very little happened over the next 24 hours. Loki still laid on the table in the centre of the cage wearing his flimsy light blue shirt and trousers while Cavanah and Thor stayed in the lab in silence. Cavanah was constantly at his desk, eyes continuously glued to his screen and every so often left the room when his phone rang. Whenever Thor had finished checking the readings, he just sat on a stool outside the glass cage and watched as the man stayed almost perfectly still. He was so desperately trying to recall his lost childhood memories, that time seemed to fly by and he would leave the lab late at night only to return the next day, bright and early to repeat the previous day.

For someone who had seemed so determined to find answers, Odin hardly ever visited the lab. But every day, he would take five minutes to visit the three of them. Loki never uttered a word or even seemed to notice them while Odin spoke quietly to Cavanah; Thor still gawking at the still, pale figure.

On the third day when Thor went in to the lab early in the morning, he noticed Loki was sitting up right, starring right at him. He stopped just inside the door; even at this distance it was clear he certainly had his eyes locked on him. He walked slowly over to Cavanah's desk, all the while keeping an eye on the man who gradually turned his head as Thor walked towards him.

"How long has he been conscious?" Thor spoke in a hushed voice as he set down a large book on the desk next to the computer monitors. He then put on a long white coat, picked up a medical penlight and placed it into his pocket.

"Ever since I got in." Cavanah glanced over his shoulder, laughed slightly then looked at Thor. "You are however, the only person he has done that to."

Cavanah looked over his glasses at him with a questioning look as Thor risked another look at the cage. He immediately bolted his head round as soon as his gaze was met with those terrific green eyes.

"Why... why do you think that is?" He stuttered as he looked over the dials on the monitors.

"Well, you've been near him the most. Granted he was unconscious or delusional, but if he would recognise anyone, it would be you. He may try to communicate soon. But who knows? Maybe he's telepathic."

Thor turned away from the monitors and leaned against the table, trying unsuccessfully to return the man's cold stare. He hardly seemed to blink. Even when he did, it wasn't rushed; a very smooth and fluid movement. Could almost be considered seductive in different circumstances. As he thought too much into it, he almost became lost in those green eyes, blocking everything else out and just starring endlessly at him.

Cavanah nudged him in the side with a small box and Thor barely maintained his balance at the unexpected gesture. He straightened up and gave a half smile as Cavanah shook is head smiling and turned back to his monitor. "His wounds should have had a decent amount of time to heal now. I suggest you remove the bandages and inspect them thoroughly."

Thor opened the box and pushed the many tools aside, only to see more horrific looking implements. He held up a particularly long and nasty looking knife and said, "Is this really necessary? Surely I won't need this?" As he tilted the blade in his hands and continued to inspect it, the more he though that it was custom made. The jagged blade and the unusual shape of the handle seemed very unique and felt frighteningly comfortable in Thor's grip.

"His bandages are very thick. I had to make them like that after the first night. He tore away at the first set so you'll have to really hack away at them to remove them."

Thor grimaced and nodded as he replaced the knife, closed the box and began to walk over to the cage.

The man must have seen the knife, Thor thought, as he approached the cage and waited for the door to slide back. He stayed motionless on the table, legs dangling off the side as Thor set the box down and opened it. Even with his back turned, he felt anxious, thinking that those green eyes were no doubt trained on his every move. He glanced behind himself and tilted his head in confusion as he noticed the man hadn't actually been looking at him. Thor followed his line of sight and realised he was focusing on Cavanah instead who was still at his desk, oblivious to either of them. He shook off his uneasy feeling and turned back to the instruments in front of him. After a while of deciding which would be more effective and least terrifying to use, he picked out a pair of heavy-duty scissors. They had a long grey handle that encased around the sharp edge of the blades. At least they didn't look as menacing as the jagged knife.

He quickly placed the others back inside the box out of sight and closed it, turned around and was surprised to notice the man was still not looking at him. He walked in front of him to get his attention and edged his way slowly towards him. With his free hand, he reached out and held Loki's right arm up. The man's eyes now turned to him with their ever-blank expression. Thor, slightly unnerved by the man's lack of anything, again shrugged off his instincts and began to study the bandages of his forearm. He positioned one hand where the bandage met his bare skin and wedged the blade of the scissors underneath it. The material was tougher than he expected, almost cast like and difficult to cut through. After freeing the man's arm, he tilted it slightly into the light, careful not to stretch the wound. There was a pale scar, even lighter than his already pale complexion, where his gash had healed nicely. Thor smiled as the man looked down at his arm for a minute then back up at Thor. He automatically held out his other arm and allowed Thor to remove the other bandage.

The wound on his left hand hadn't healed as well as the other but still looked much improved from when he arrived. This time Loki didn't look up at Thor, just kept looking at his red scar, holding his hands perfectly still, supported on his knees.

Thor went back to the small table and replaced the scissors before saying, "All wounds on both arms have healed sufficiently enough but judging by the deeper cuts on his left, I think it's best if we leave the others for another few days."

Cavanah replied without even tearing his eyes away from his computer monitor. "Very well. While you're in there, test his hearing and vision."

Thor tapped his lab pockets before plucking out his penlight and walked back over to Loki. He felt the anticipation as he raised his arm up slowly, placed his hand on his chin and gently tilted his head back. The man flinched slightly but didn't push Thor away as he turned on the small light and shined it in his eye. The man's first reaction of course was that of shock. He blinked furiously and shook his head. Thor backed away and pocketed the light again. As the man regained his compose, Thor noticed his eyes' appearance return back to their usual green, as his pupils grew smaller.

Thor looked back at Cavanah and shrugged. "His pupil dilation is perfect."

Cavanah quickly glanced at him over his glasses and said, "Very well. Move onto hearing."

Cavanah's almost dismissive tone gave Thor the impression that he was ignoring him; like he wasn't paying him any attention what so ever. Undeterred, he approached him again and clicked his fingers next to Loki's right ear, then to his left. Each time, Loki's head jerked and his eyes grew wide, instinctually turning towards Thor's fingers as he clicked. Thor smiled again and walked back over to the table to collect the box. As he was walking past Loki, he noticed he was holding his palms out in front of him, turning them while flexing his fingers. He assumed he had more sensation in them now that his tight bandages had been removed and didn't restrict movement anymore. He walked back into the main lab thinking nothing of it.

He placed the box on a crowded shelf, disturbing a handful of loose papers as he did so and watched them gracefully float down and land on the floor. He gathered them together, stood up and placed them on the edge of the desk. He glanced over them, intrigued since he didn't recognise them. Before he had a chance to read them, he almost sent the papers flying again as the lights went out and all the monitors went black.

"Ugh! Great. Great. Brilliant! Everything's gone. Everything." Cavanah stood up and inspected his monitor before sitting back down and punching the screen in frustration. Thor steadied himself and watched as Loki sat perfectly still while bathed in the faint light from the cage.

Thor turned back to Cavanah and whispered, "Does the cage run off a separate generator?" He looked towards the cell again and noticed the man had his eyes closed but was now standing as close to them as possible while still behind the clear glass.

"Yeah. Was that bloke's idea. What's his name..? Coulson! Yeah that's the one. Security type. Bit boring. Thinks a broken man can break through that door." Cavanah continued his efforts to bring his computer back to life by banging his fists on the keyboards and pulling out the wires in his monitor.

Thor stayed still but craned his head closer as the lights in the cage dimmed slightly before he heard Cavanah proclaim, "Haha! It lives."

Thor abruptly turned his head to see the screen light up then go dark with code running across it. "No no no no no. What in the world?"

Thor watched as Cavanah took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as his computer continued to display everything in garbled code.

Cavanah soon gave up and reclined back in his chair, letting the computer continue its fit. Thor chanced another look towards Loki and couldn't quite believe what he saw. Before he could even begin to question what he was seeing, his attention was drawn to the sudden flash of light from all of the monitors and pieces of electrical equipment in the lab. Everything, even the fans and the kettle switched on and made every possible sound as the monitors all simultaneously started flashing documents; between each, unknown symbols flashed.

Cavanah practically flew off his chair and stood in the centre of the room with Thor as they both looked on, bewildered, terrified and confused as everything in the room became animated. As Cavanah looked on, documents still flashing on his computer, Thor took his time to look back at the man, who he was now certainly shrouded by an eerie glow of green light. The man stayed perfectly still, standing as close to the glass as possible while emitting a blinding shade of emerald that engulfed him and spread out; floating through the walls of the cage with ease.

Thor and Cavanah just looked on as the light surrounded the computers; both of them oblivious to Loki eyeing them up just before he breathed deeply and closed his eyes. Thor and Cavanah both clapped their hands to their ears in shock as a high pitch shriek sounded, echoing off the walls and intensifying with every second. As it grew louder Cavanah fell to his knees with Thor shortly following. Both of them, now kneeling on the floor, hands still firmly clasped to the sides of their heads, turned to each other as their screams and shouts went unheard and their eyes grew wide with fear. Thor's temples, red hot with pain and his head, now banging and his ears ringing with the piercing sound, were the last thing he thought of before the room filled with light and the sound suddenly disappeared.

Thor remained kneeling with his hands still glued firmly over his ears and his eyes scrunched shut. Even with his eyes closed, he still remembered seeing the blinding white light as it enveloped the lab. He stayed down, adrenaline pulsing through his body making his legs feels as though they were on fire. He tore his hands slowly from his face and splayed them out in front of himself and opened his eyes as he took in several deep breathes. His face felt hot and his head still pounded but he managed to focus enough to see the form of Cavanah lying on his side on the floor. Thor blinked as his vision cleared and crawled over to Cavanah. Just as he managed to roll him over, the door of the lab burst open and Coulson and three armed guards stormed in.

"Damage and situation report." Coulson shouted and two of the guards walked straight past Thor and towards the cage as the other walked by his side.

Thor looked up at the man in the sharp suit before glancing at the computers, which were black; a faint smell of smoke filling his nose. "Uh... Everything started acting strange then..." Thor rubbed his eyes as he tried to remember. "Um, Cavanah and I stood away from the computers... then a bright light and a noise..." He motioned with his hand, trying to jog his memory, then suddenly stood up and turned to Loki while two people in white coats knelt down over Cavanah.

"Thor? Was any of this due to the prisoner?" Coulson's voice was unusually calm for such a sight before them but Thor was too busy starring at Loki who was sitting back on the table, legs dangling off the edge as before.

"No. I remember removing his bandages then leaving, then..." He trailed off, eyes flickering up towards one of the many cameras set up in the lab. He tilted his head to Coulson but kept his gaze on the strange man. "Did you see anything on the security tapes?"

Coulson huffed and moved aside as Cavanah was carried away on a stretcher. "Regrettably the entire system went on this level. Complete black out. The only room with power was this but looking at your equipment, I'm guessing there was an overload." He held his hands behind his back and walked in front of Thor, trying to look intimidating but failing due to his shorter stature. "If you remember anything, please inform me immediately."

He nodded to the two guards by the cage and they headed back out of the lab, Coulson following them, leaving Thor alone with the strange man. He stopped just before the door closed and said, "Until further notice, he is your sole responsibility." He pointed towards Loki but he needn't had. Thor just nodded solemnly, waited until Coulson was out of sight and put his hands on his hips, taking in the damaged computers before turning to Loki.

"Did you do this?" Thor spoke quietly; half hoping for a reply, half hoping he was still as innocent as he had seemed when he first arrived. Thor was now rethinking his first impression of their unusual guest.

Thor walked in the next day with a heavy head and a cup of coffee steaming away, awakening his senses with its delightful smell. He stepped over several loose wires on the floor and narrowly missed stepping on a man lying underneath his desk as he sat down.

He put his mug down and moved to one side as the man scooted out and stood up. "New monitors installed, sir. Luckily all the hard drives were backed up from an hour before the incident. Virtually all the information should be there for ya."

Thor eyed the man who didn't quite seem to fit in to his dad's usual selection of staff employees but it was too early to debate whether he was reliable or not; he had too much work to do.

"Thank you." Thor smiled at him over the rim of his mug as he took his first sip of boiling hot coffee. He placed the mug down again and began typing away at the computer as the men exited, leaving the wires untidily scattered around the desk.

He brought up the main screen that Cavanah had showed him before and buried his face in his hands as he saw two of the dials were at zero. He racked his brain trying to remember what FED and FEI stood for then remembered as his attention was somehow drawn to the pale man starring at him from behind the glass.

Thor thought to himself as he watched the man starring back at him. 'Could I have dreamed that? How can you sit there so calm? Are you oblivious to your surroundings? Can you read my mind?'

He shook off that last thought and laughed at himself as he returned to the computer. He glanced at his watch and let his head fall back as he willed the time on. He decided to catch up with the local news. Being virtually locked in a government facility for a week meant he had had no social life nor any life at all apart from secrets, confusion and coffee by the gallon. He clicked on to a new site, complete with video updates of the most serious and recent events. He chose one at random and grasped his coffee as he settled back and just listened as he rested his eyes.

"Another sunny day expected over many parts, starting with highs of 80 with no chance of rain or heavy winds later in the week. This evenings forecast predicts clear nights with no cloud cover and very little possibility of humidity."

Thor got comfy in his seat as Loki silently shifted to get a better view of him and the screen.

"And now back to our main story this week. Flurries of reports have been coming in over the past 5 days with supposed eyewitness accounts of a creature resembling big foot. Many residents have said that they were 'inhumanly tall' and had almost 'reptile like' skin. Obviously the police are taking every report with as much sincerity as the next but photographic evidence or any other kind has yet to have been obtained. Until they see proof, the local police departments say there is little else they can advise residents to do, than to stay in doors and be aware, of big foot."

Thor smirked and turned the screen back to the dials while tilting his head back and downing the last of his coffee. One of the dials began to rise, slowly and steadily but definitely increasing. He starred at it for a moment before it settled back down. He raised his eyebrows at it and quickly glanced over at Loki. He was sitting on the edge of the table again, starring at him. Thor just rolled his eyes and reclined in his chair. Nothing to do that day, just wait for orders or for Cavanah to return to work. They hadn't found anything wrong with him, except the fact that he had lost his memory; so far showing no sign of recovering it. Even if he did remember what happened, he might think his mind was playing tricks on him and ignore it. Hopefully.

He rested his hands on the armrests as he sank into his seat and relaxed, letting his eyelids close. He tried to make sense of all the memories and ideas in his head from last night; unfortunately with no success. He sighed and gave up and instead decided to drum his fingers along the armrest, creating a comforting tapping sound filling the agonising silence in the lab. Nothing too specific, just a random melody that continued for a good minute before he became bored and got out a book from the desks' drawer.

He wasn't much for reading, so maybe that's why the slightest sound and the most delicate of movements from the cage caught his eye. The strange man was now standing up close to the edge of the cage again but this time with one hand raised and pressed up against the glass. Thor gave him a puzzled look before placing the book down without loosing sight of those green eyes. He strode over to the cage, trying not to reveal his childish curiosity combined with his child like fear. He stood a few meters away from the cage as he saw the mans' hand move ever so slowly behind the clear glass. The man flexed his fingers before tapping a rhythm on the glass with his nails; the sound dulled by the thickness of it. To Thor's surprise, it was exactly the same as the pattern he'd done himself.

They kept eye contact, Thor both drawn uncontrollably to keep starring at him and to run and hide and ignore everything. This action implies many things, raises many questions and means the start of something new; contact.

The man slowly lowered his hand and gave Thor one of the most complex looks he had ever seen. He was expecting sadness, joy, even possibly guilt or fury, but what Thor saw in those sea green eyes could only be seen as relief and happiness. Such a strange way for a someone who was imprisoned to seem.

Thor cautiously edged his feet closer so he was standing only a few feet away. He blinked as Loki remained calm, a smile slowly gracing his face. Thor hesitated before blurting out, "I'll ask you again. Did you do that..?" Thor waved his hands behind him as he felt the words slip past his lips before he could stop them.

Instead of laughing at his stupidity or even ignoring him, the mans' smile grew and he simply replied, "Yes, but I meant no harm."

Thor stumbled back as he was shocked by his perfect English; laced with a British accent possibly? The man continued as Thor regained his balance. "To your earlier enquiries, I can sit here so calm because I am well aware of my surroundings; very grateful I am of them too. And if you hadn't realised already, I can read you mind."

Thor was awe struck, well aware that his mouth was gaped wide open and that he was starring. He just couldn't move. Loki narrowed his eyes at Thor's strange stance. He smirked and looked down at his feet for a second then returned his soft gaze to Thor. " I am Loki, by the way. Prince Loki."

So, on to the third installment. Please tell me any aspects you wish to see unfold. Relatively new to this and I find encouragement helps so much.