***I do not own any of the marvel characters in this story***

Alrighty, this chapters quite…exciting. Lots of emotion. Tell me if you think Loki seems out of character, I'm trying not to make him too OOC.

*WARNING: LOTSA LANGUAGE AHEAD*

Chapter 11

"Agent Barton, did you have anything to do with the release of Miss Spira?"

"I told you sick fucks I had nothing to do with her escaping!" A fist connected with the side of Clint's jaw with a sickening crack, one of the many blows he had taken since the council's "security" took him into custody. The Agent spit out a mouthful off blood on to the floor, the red substance spraying over the puddle that was now collecting beside the chair Clint was being "detained" in.

"If what you say is true, Agent, then how do you explain our security guard's reports of you conversing with her before her and the Asgardian made their escape to the hangars?" The voice came from the darkness in front of him, only clasped hands gave Barton evidence that there was another in the room besides the two guards that stood on either side of him.

"This is a bit cliché, don't you think sir?" Barton hissed, his voice gurgling slightly from the blood spilling into his mouth. The Agent was sure his nose was broken, and his jaw dislocated. One of his eyes was beginning to become swollen shut, and there was a dull throbbing on the side of his head.

"Not as cliché as you getting caught and captured." The voice sneered with a smug tone to it, "To think, the famous Agent Clint Barton being the damsel in distress."

Barton grit his teeth and struggled against his restraints, straps securing him to the office chair they had wheeled him in on.

Hawkeye estimated he had put an arrow through at least fifteen of the guards, and brought down a few more with his explosive arrows, but they just kept coming like ants when the little insects were disturbed. The archer surely had not gone down without a fight, but it was as if a small army had attacked him, and before he knew it, the agent was outnumbered.

Even though he had been taken into custody, the agent was satisfied that he at least made it possible for Spira to get to safety, even if she was being assisted by The God of Mischief.

Why was Loki helping the girl? Surely it was for some sort of personal gain, his freedom perhaps. He prayed that she had enough sense to escape from the Asgardian's clutches once she was away from the headquarters. God, he hoped she wasn't dumped on the side of the road somewhere, or reduced to ashes by his scepter.

How did he manage to get that again?

"Agent, although you are a highly valuable asset to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team, " the voice threatened, "You are not irreplaceable."

Barton remained silent, his eyes focused on the darkness in front of him, and his mouth in a sneer.

Two gloved hands rubbed nervously together in front of him, flexing and unflexing in an irritated manner.

"You can still save yourself, Agent Barton," the voice said slowly, carefully, and with disguised irritation, "Just tell us where she is, and why you helped her, and we will guarantee your safe release."

"Go fuck yourself!" Barton said, spitting another mouthful of blood out, but this time, into the darkness in the direction of the voice.

A hand darted out of the darkness followed by a torso, and finally a face, revealing a man no older than Barton, with a face permanently twisted into a scowl. His face was flushed, with scars crisscrossing across his left eye. Part of his iris had gone white from the scar, while the remaining part was dotted with dark brown speckles. Dark circles surrounded both of his eyes, giving the appearance that his eye sockets had sunken in due to years of stress and sleepless nights.

For a moment, Clint was stunned, expecting one of the old and wrinkled council members to be the owner of the dark voice, but instead, a skinny and scowling young man stood before him.

The hand that belonged to this strange man held Barton's jaw tightly, his thumb nail digging into the side of the agent's face, "Listen here you piece of shit," said the man, gritting his teeth, "I'm am going to make sure you suffer, along with that hot piece of ass you're always with."

Barton's eyes went wide at the mention of Natasha, vulnerability spreading across his face like a lit up billboard.

"She has nothing to do with this." Clint said, his voice rough through his gritted teeth.

The man chuckled at this, his expression darkening with an even more sinister look, "Not true, Agent Barton. In fact, your little bitch is in Stark Tower as we speak, along with several other members associated with the Avengers team. It seems they have called a meeting pertaining to the whereabouts of Spira and the Asgardian."

"How do you know?" Barton spat, his tension rising at the thought of this man and his guards knowing where Natasha was.

"Well we saw your little troop of misfits waltz into Stark tower just a couple days ago. Not that hard tracking a whore, a Cyclops, and a giant green monster in broad daylight." The man laughed, tightening his grip on Barton's jaw.

"Banner's there too?" Barton said to himself, realizing just how serious this matter was if almost all the Avengers were there already. Almost.

Clint silently wondered why Rogers hadn't shown up yet, unless he went into the tower undetected or the WSC already had him detained. No, that can't happen.

"Yes, the doctor arrived there early yesterday morning. Don't you see Agent, we have you all under a microscope, we always have. All the while, you all go about your business thinking no one knows what you're doing…" The man leaned in close to Barton's ear, and whispered in a sinister hiss, "Who you're doing it with."

"You son of a bitch-I am going to make sure you suffer-don't turn your back on me you fucking piece of shit-I'll kill you-you'll never get your hands on Spira or any of the Avenger's-they'll tear you and your fucking gorillas apart-Rot in hell you fucked up, zombie faced fucker- FUCK YOU-"

"That's enough Agent Barton," the man said, turning his back to Barton, "Men, put him away, maybe he'll talk after some time in time out."

The two guards undid the straps and hoisted him up, dragging his stiff legs across the flood that was now speckled with blood.

"Hey fuckface," Barton said, yelling at the man who was now at the door they were nearing. The man turned his head, acknowledging the Agent, "If you have taps on all of us, how come you haven't found who you're looking for?"

The man turned his head back and opened the door, "Put him in the back cells." He said before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Make sure he suffers." The man said to the guard outside of the door, before turning around a walking down the hallway, his fists clenched under the sleeves of his trench coat.

Back at Stark Tower…

"FUCK YOU!"

"NO ONE LIKES YOU."

"Yes, you are an insolent worm."

"Thanks for helping guys, but it's not really working." Spira said, leaning back in the chair, her face red from laughing so hard.

"It seems all we've done is amuse her." Loki said, noticing Spira's face was now turning a deep shade of purple.

Spira burst out laughing again, grabbing her stomach and wiping a tear from her cheek, "I don't think my episodes can be triggered in a situation like this."

Banner and Loki had been trying to provoke Spira for about an hour, until Stark walked in and gladly volunteered to help. All they had gotten accomplished was making Spira about die of laughter during their attempt to trigger an episode.

"Spira I'm about to slap you." Stark said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"As am I." Loki said, shaking his head.

Spira laughed again, "Psh, Loki, you wouldn't touch a-"

WHAP

The sound of skin connecting with skin echoed throughout the room. Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor except Loki's, whose was held steadily in place.

Spira held her cheek, her face turned away from Loki from the impact, and her dark hair covering her eyes. A low growl sounded from the back of her throat, as her head turned around slowly. Her eyes connected with Loki, her irises swallowed in complete darkness. The God didn't break eye contact with the girl, even as she snarled and launched herself at him, bringing him to the ground.

"You asked for it!" the God yelled at the girl, struggling against her nails that threatened to claw at his face.

Stark and Banner snapped out of their surprise, Tony running to grab Spira who was throwing punches at Loki who easily restrained her from doing so. Stark grabbed her around the waist as she struggled, screaming as she did so, shadows concealed in her voice.

"No-NO! Let me rip that arrogant bastard apart, I'll kill him! Let me go-LET ME GO!" Spira kicked and screamed as Stark dragged her to the wall and pinned her up against it, holding her arms down as Banner approached her.

"Spira, we need you to control yourself, control the darkness." Banner said, cautiously approaching the young girl with piqued curiosity.

"GET OFF ME YOU PRICK!" she screamed at Stark, kicking the wall and banging her head against it.

"It's like she's possessed…" Stark said, observing Spira's behavior.

Banner shook his head, "No, she just doesn't know how to control it yet."

Loki got up and brushed himself off, running his finger over a small cut on his cheek from one of Spira's nails. He grabbed a syringe that lay on one of the operating trays on the counter in the middle of the room and walked over to the screaming girl who was now digging her nails into the wall.

"Remember this?" he said, holding the syringe up to her neck.

Spira instantly stopped screaming, but a growl sounded in the back of her throat once more, taking place of the deafening shouts.

"I'm going to stick this into your pretty little neck unless you start behaving." He said, his voice low and smooth as silk.

Spira spit in Loki's face, which he wiped away with his hand, a scowl crossing his face, "Listen here," Loki said, grabbing her neck and moving the syringe closer to her neck, "Spira, you will make a truce with this being that invades your mind. Control it as it controls you."

Spira barred her teeth, her screams threatening to start up again, "I will make you suffer Asgardian." She spat. Banner and Stark fell to the floor, their hands holding their heads just as the nurse did in the testing room in the headquarters.

Loki half expected Spira to make a break for it and run out the door, but instead, a sinister smirk fell on her lips as she stalked towards Loki who had backed up a few feet.

"You can't help me," she growled, "just like you can't help yourself."

Loki's firm expression faltered for a bit at her words, but he regained his composure quickly, remembering that he was trying to help this girl. This…friend. The only friend he had in the world. In the Universe.

"Find the light in the darkness, Spira." He said, holding her gaze as she stood in front of him, her dark eyes trained on his, which were now dark green in color, "There cannot be one without the other. You must learn to work with both of them."

"There is no light." She said, her voice dark, but a small hint of vulnerability and sadness showing behind them. "Even you, yourself have abandoned it."

"No Spira." He said, taking a cautious step closer to her, "There is always a light in the darkness, even when you assume it has abandoned you."

"Such soft words from such a cold heart."

Loki shivered, and cast his eyes downward. He had been called cold-hearted before, many times in fact, but to hear it from Spira, even though she wasn't quite…herself, made him feel like his heart had been run through with a stake.

Loki looked back up at her, deciding his next choice in words. He wanted to tell her to come out of her episode, wanted her to quit making him face the cold truth. But that was just it, it was the truth. Loki realized this, and felt another stake drive through his heart.

He was not about to turn into some benevolent, good-natured philanthropist, but he didn't want to make it so he was seen as a good person in Spira's eyes.

No one's opinion of him ever mattered until now. Now that he had a friend who actually gave two shits about him, and wasn't afraid to admit it, he wanted to return the favor. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it hurt him that Spira's inner consciousness thought of him as cold-hearted.

Sure, she wasn't her usual self now, but this darkness was still a part of her mind, a part of her. Her deepest and darkest thoughts seemed to come out when she was having an episode, therefore, her words held some sort of meaning. They weren't just empty or angry threats, they were like dark little monsters coming out to shield the sun.

"You will fight this. You will gain control, or I will release this liquid into you veins, and hope it isn't something lethal." Loki held the syringe up, his face expressionless.

He looked over to Banner for verification that if it came to that, it would be alright to inject Spira. Banner nodded, his hand still holding his head, but he didn't seem to be in as much pain as before. Spira must've been slightly distracted by Loki.

A question then popped into Loki's head, and he wondered why it hadn't sooner. Why is she not attacking me with her power?

"I'm not fighting today, God of Mischief." She hissed, shaking her head, "You will wish you never struck me." She growled again, and launched herself at him, but Loki caught her by her throat and stuck the needle into her neck, the clear liquid flowing through her veins, driving her further and further into unconsciousness with each beat of her heart.

Spira's slipped to floor, Loki catching her before she had a chance to connect with the concrete. Banner and Stark watched as Loki carried her out the door and down the hallway to the elevator, which would lead them to the floor with their rooms on it.

Banner looked down, a very empty and sad feeling lingering in the air that followed Loki out of the room. Stark shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he got up and made towards the door.

Both of them wanted to say it, but their pride wouldn't allow them too. Poor Loki.

Loki stayed in Spira's room, reading a book by the fireplace, waiting for her to wake up. He quieted his thoughts, wishing to ignore every thought that ran through his head pertaining to her words.

Finally, after an agonizing few hours of forcing his thoughts to be silenced, Spira stirred, and slowly raised herself up into a sitting position, one hand in her head.

He kept his back turned from her. She probably wouldn't be able to see him until he made himself known, since he was sitting in an over-sized arm chair, facing the fire.

Instantly, he heard her mumbling.

"What…happened…" she said to herself, "…Loki-I….he…Oh no." she started crying, hot tears scorching her cheeks, "I remember this time…I said those horrible things to him…" he allowed her to cry for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"I believe you hurt yourself more than you hurt me." Loki said, closing his book and walking over to Spira.

She let out a choking sob as she put her face in her hands, "I'm…so..Loki I'm so sorry."

"Are you crying because you threw a few harmless insults at me?" he stood beside her bed, but did not sit down.

"Yes and…" she said between sobs, "…I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't…I failed." She let out another sob, and then a long sigh, tired from crying so much.

"Loki, sit down." She said, a tired tone crossing her voice, as though she only had a few breaths left inside her.

He sat down, and she took one of his hands in both of hers. She was silent for a moment, and then spoke, "I wanted so badly to find that light, Loki. The green one." She looked up at him, and saw that his eyes were cast away from her.

"Is that why you didn't attack me, like you did to Stark and Banner?" he said, his voice low.

"I saw the green light, but it was so far away. I kept on telling myself that I didn't want it hurt. I would give my life for it not to be hurt. The darkness told me that if I surrendered to it, it would keep you safe." A stray tear fell down Spira's cheek, and on to their hands, "You're my closest friend Loki, I don't want to hurt you."

Loki looked up at her, a strange expression on his face. It was that of complete and utter vulnerability, another rare expression that Spira caught on his face. She noticed a cut on the side of cheek, and she ran her ringer along it.

"Did I do this?" she asked, tracing it down to where it ended, at the bottom of his jaw.

"It's just a scratch." He said, turning his head sharply.

Spira withdrew, and sighed sadly before speaking again, "I'm sorry I hurt you. Whether it be a scratch or…something deeper."

"I'm sorry I slapped you." He said, turning his eyes to meet hers.

She smiled and let out a small laugh, "Friends?" she said, scooting closer and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Yes, friends."

Their heartfelt moment was interrupted by a sharp rapping at the door, followed by two heavy bangs.

"What is it Stark?" Spira yelled, rolling her eyes.

Stark looked between Loki and Spira, confused for a minute.

"What?" Spira said, frustrated.

"They have Barton."