"Loki?" she whispered her eyes only partially open she tried to recognize him. "I'm here." He replied softly; the strain was written on his face in ticks and twitches but his voice was calm and soothing; her body relaxed as he kissed her. "Wow, you work fast don't you?" Bruce said breaking the moment. Loki glared at him as he draped a robe over her shoulders and lifted her unresisting from Loki's arms. "I don't recall you remaining by the lady's side as she suffered over two hundred years of torture in mere hours." Loki snarled. "We agreed that the chances of her screams not causing me to lose it were too low for me to be within hearing." Bruce yelled in his face his eyes turning green as Loki shot out of his chair. A hand on each of their chests Althia push them apart. Loki spun away heading for the door. He didn't see her turning her face up to Bruce. A hand in his hair pulled his face down so she could lay a kiss on his lips that shined. "Thank you. No fighting let's just gather what…" she stopped her mind snapping awake fully and turned to look for Loki shock on her face. "What did he just say?"
"Loki please, just tell me what you meant?" she pleaded after he returned. "I will dear lady but let us all sit and share what we have learned in the last few hours shall we?" he replied as they returned to the room where they had been holding their meetings. He took a chair near his brother and they whispered back and forth. Dr. Banner wheeled Althia into the meeting room in a wheel chair; he wouldn't let Loki near the trembling woman when her legs gave out. Althia leaned slightly on Tasha as she eased into a seat at the table. She felt foolish being so weak from dreams. The smile on Dr. Banner's face eased her mind as he handed her a hot cup of tea. She smiled weakly back before sipping the tea. Tasha sat on her left her hands folded neatly in her lap chewing gum while Loki sat directly across from Althia. Dr. Banner was pacing around the room changing the settings and data on the large holographic boards scattered around. Tony Stark lounged in one of the chairs on the other side of Tasha and stared at his smart phone his brows knitted together. "Stark you want to get this started today?" Fury says strolling into the room. "Huh? Oh right. Ok so with glow bug's permission we put her in B.A.B.E.S." He started while putting the phone in his pocket. "To monitor her body for changes while she slept and determine as much about her physical reactions to her dreams as possible." He drones on as Althia stare at the tea in front of her and just wishes she were a normal woman. Loki wasn't known for slips of the tongue which meant he intended for her and Dr. Banner to hear the comment about her captivity. The God of mischief was hiding something about her from everyone but she was too scared to bring it back up. Eyes on her made her glance up. Both Thor and Loki were staring at her whispering. "Did you want to share something with the rest of the class Loki, Thor?" Fury said noticing their behavior he interrupt Tony's self-congratulatory speech.
Loki stretched like a cat and his lopsided smile caused the room to tense up. They didn't like or trust him. "It is fascinating to hear Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner discuss the physical reactions of Lady Althia's body but it seems you've missed the obvious again." He leaned forward resting his arms on the table. "What I encountered in Lady Althia's dreams was as a bystander and they weren't dreams they were her memories. Unfortunately they are entirely too detailed." For a moment Loki paused his eyes grew distant and haunted. "Unfortunately I was unaware, until a fit of temper, that I was hindering her ability to react to the real world. When I attempted to interfere with the dream it allowed her to wake and separated us." He explained. "So you're telling us that from inside your cell you used magic to enter the dreams of one of my people and cause them to be trapped in a nightmare." Fury said a deep menace in his voice. Loki shot him a look of disgust and impatience. "No, I'm telling you that I was a bystander unaware that my magic would work." Rising to his full height he continued "I was told I would be unable to use my magic while I was here and that the prison cell you so kindly provided was proof against me." Loki's anger was breath taking as he paced. Thor stood and walked to his brother "Loki?" he said his hand rested on his shoulder a moment "We discussed this; you are not at fault. Please tell them what you discovered. Or shall I attempt to do so?" With a wave Loki gave permission as he tried to settle.
Thor gave the dark haired man a gentle shake and drew him back to the table. Thor's eyes settled on Althia the only one who didn't seem set on blaming Loki for the trouble. Thor walked to her chair and knelt. He sighed and gently unfolded one of her hands from the mug. "Lady Althia, you have not spoken in this meeting at all. I sorrow that there are so many distressing things you are to learn but know that my brother and I are committed to finding a way for you to be free of this enemy now more than ever. We wish you only joy; be strong now." His big hand cupped the side of her face as he used his thumb to wipe the tear from her cheek. He rose and turned to the group. "Dr. Banner please come sit with her she will need all the comfort we may offer." He said with deep sadness before backing up to stand with his brother. Bruce took Althia's clenched fist and stared at it while he worked to open it. Stroking the back of her hand as he laced his fingers in hers. Natasha put an arm around her and pulled Althia to lean on her shoulder. The information began to sink in to the minds around the room as Thor spoke. When he finished all eyes stared at the slender healer in silence. "How can he tell how long she was a prisoner from dreams? The subconscious doesn't have the capacity to represent linear time." Dr. Banner says trying to deny the evidence. "Perhaps not for a mere mortal but it was not the passage of time I marked as proof nor the constant presence of the man who directed the experiments and tortures she endured." Loki spoke finally. "He never aged only his cloths changed but the others. They aged from one memory to the next as did the rooms she was trapped in." Loki's face was locked in a cold mask but the haunted look had returned to his eyes. "There were four different men who aged as I watched them come in and torture her. Four men that began as young men and became old before my eyes. How do you explain that?" he spit the last word out. His eyes softened for a moment when he glanced at Althia. His demeanor shouted his decision to exclude himself from any further debate as he fell into a chair. Tony Stark walked off into a corner talking on his phone rapidly. Fury just stared at Althia over the steeple of his fingers. Althia tried to gain the strength to swallow the horror she'd been presented. She had not known any such calm and floundered. Bruce's hand was sweating in hers as he whispered in her ear. "Don't worry about it they will calm down. I don't believe him. It isn't reasonable to believe that Hydra had you for anywhere near that long because they have only been around since the late 1940s." His voice and Fury's self-discipline were a rock in the storm. Tasha turned her "Althia what..." she started and stopped grabbing Althia's face she started speaking rapidly in Russian. "Hey, calm down it's going to be ok." Althia's wide and panicked eyes barely blinked. Tony loudly clears his throat. "I hate to interrupt the Loki bashing fest. Cause you all know I do love to bash him around but he's not wrong." Fury raises one eye brow and leaned forward "Do tell." he said while everyone except Althia and Loki are staring at him. Loki's face was impassive as he watched her struggle against the memories that fought to overwhelm her. Without realizing it she began to sway. Dr. Banner had released her hand and stood at Tony's declaration. Loki watched her mouth whisper "I'm sorry." Her eyes rolled back and she slid boneless to the floor. Only Loki noticed her soundless fall. Without speaking he rushed to her shocking the group. Lifting her carefully he checked her throat for a pulse. When his eyes scanned the room they burned. "That is enough. Your squabbling had done this." He rose with her cradled in his arms. Doctor Banner pressed his hand against her chilled cheek.
"Dr. Banner please take Ms. Sacmish to her room and stay with her till she wakes." Fury ordered. "Agent Romanov go with them." He watched as the three left. "Sit down Mr. Stark" he commands "and try to explain to me how an 80 year old group of Nazi left overs held that woman for what more than two hundred years?" Tony Stark collapsed in a chair and explained that it wasn't Hydra who had original captured the woman and held her. "This guy she's talked about, I've been doing some digging while you all argued the possible standing next to Norrish gods. The Hydra base we found her in was registered to a shell corporation but once you find the money it's easy to trace anything." He studied his phone for a moment. "This time to an old German family that ruled a small barony in the 16th century." he struggled with the name before giving up and prowling around the room "It's unpronounceable, anyway, this Baron always had an heir who was the spitting image of the father. Thing is there was never a wife or record of the birth. Back in the 1940's the family vanished completely." He stopped and leaned back against a pillar. "That man is who I think has held her since Columbus got lost in the Atlantic." He leaned forward looking though his phone. With a few taps he brought up a picture. It was a Hydra officer, his cheerful smile showed perfect even white teeth beneath dead eyes and his salt and peppered hair. "It's the only known picture of Baron Smiley the sicko." Tony continued "His involvement with Hydra is something I'll let you figure out." He finished snapping his fingers and pointing at Director Fury. Bringing one scan to the foreground showing a section of her brain he circled several sections "As I was saying she's actually actively remembering her past not dreaming. Reindeer games was right about that. Which sucks for her because well her past is the A list of Sick Tortures of the Day." Loki listened to the entire speech in silence staring at the shrunken image of the man. "It's the same man from the dreams so I would make sure she never sees that picture of yours." He said to the room. Fury looked at Loki "Are you sure that is the man you saw in Ms. Sacmich's dream?" he asked "Yes, and when I find him I'll be sure to send you an identifiable piece for a memento." The calm coldness in Loki's voice reminded Fury that this dangerous Asgardian was still the most deadly enemy he had ever come across. "I'll save a spot on my wall for it." Fury replied his eye on the picture. A man who tortured one woman for possibly centuries and may be behind the continued funding and existence of Hydra was a man he wanted to end. Fury's ear bud beeped and he pressed it "Talk to me." He said as he walked away from the table. "I'm on my way." He finished shortly and turned back to the room. "I've got other fish to fry so I'm leaving Ms. Sacmish in your care. But I will be watching you." His eye bore into Loki "If at any point you become an inconvenience there won't be a discussion am I understood?" Loki stared back blankly. "One tiny detail Director Cyclops." Tony interjected getting the man's undivided attention "She isn't human, she's not even close to human like point break and reindeer games here. I don't know what she is but…" Fury raises his hand "I know she isn't the girl next door Stark but a) She healed Barton in seconds from a wound that should have killed him. b) She can calm the hulk right out of Dr. Banner without making a mess of my stuff and this is the important one. c) it's our job to keep an eye on beings like her. Maybe nudge them in the right direction and get them working on our side or if that fails," he held his hand out towards Loki "make sure they don't win. Send me a report on your progress involving these two, I've got a world to protect and a super-secret organization bent on world domination to put down." With that he left.
"He loves leaving on a cliff hanger doesn't he?" Tony quipped "Ok boys and girls" he looked pointedly at Thor "let's break it down. JARVIS and probably half the staff on this base are analyzing the data from Althia's scans right now. I'm putting my money on JARVIS personally. So in the meantime," he flopped in a chair with a serious expression "tell me more about the time thunder head here pledged to serve an Asgardian whore for 100 years just to get up her skirt." Both Asgardians look at him in shock. Always quick to wit Loki suddenly bust out laughing. Thor laughed and buried his head between his knees. Loki grinned at Tony and snickered saying "Ah my friend that is a tale requiring many drinks." Tony sniffed "I've got enough liquor on the jet to keep Thor drunk for" he looked off into the corner "three days give or take a few hours." Loki's eye brow quirked up "Then why pray tell are we still sitting here?" he asked archly. "Well I do owe you a drink." Tony replied fainting complete seriousness. Grinning the three men left the conference room.