oOo

Chapter 17

"Let me out of here!"

He screamed.

"Let me out!"

He trashed and turned, unable to speak.

"Brother please, let me out!"

He could feel the ink rising up his body.

"Please! Make it stop!"

Loki flinched, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Mmm?" He whined.

His whole body ached.

He was in the infirmary, but was placed in a slightly bigger room than the previous.

He groggily opened his eyes and groaned, feeling more exhausted than ever and for reasons he didn't know why.

"Where am I?"

When he got a full view of the room, he could see shelves with books and magazines, and cabinets in front of him, and a TV in one of it.

The door was to the right of the wooden shelves with a glass window by its side showing the hallway. By the glass was a comfortable one man couch and on either side of his bed were small desks. Opposite the door was the bathroom.

He lazily turned his head to the left to see Thor, sleeping peacefully.

"What happened?" Loki yawned, observing the place he was in.

It was so luxurious that Loki wouldn't think it was from the organization, but when he looked closely, some of the objects including the door had SHIELD's logo on them.

Loki questioned why he was inside the infirmary, last time he checked, he was supposed to be back in his old cell and in chains for that matter.

"What in the nine realms had transpired here?"

For a while Loki just laid there, thinking of what had happened.

He could recall going inside his cell and sitting by the corner of his bed as Thor had paced in his room. He engaged into a heated argument with Thor about the Other, and it drifted to what the Chitauri had done to him, eventually changing to Odin. At one point he had started screaming at Thor that had he not known he was abused, Thor would not care at all for his sake.

Which of course, Thor had regretted.

He promised Loki that he would try better next time.

The rest was foggy and unclear.

Loki tried to think further and was unable to figure out how he had gotten into his new room and what the reason was. All he could recall was a blank in his memory and him shedding embarrassing tears from his argument with Thor.

How unprincelike and childish it was.

"Oh brother." Loki sighed, sitting upright and found himself caressing his brother's hair for comfort.

How childish indeed.

For a few minutes, or what he believed to be minutes, he continued to do the same thing until the door to the infirmary room opened. And all Loki could do was stare at the ones standing at the door. They took a step forward and the door slid shut, but Loki wasn't fazed at all. He continued to stare at them, trying to figure something out.

"You don't look too shocked to see us." Clint said.

"If you are planning to kill me and finish what we started then no, I am not so shocked."

"Good to know you're in the mood." Natasha smirked.

"I assumed it was Stark." Loki admitted.

"Why, you miss him?" Clint plopped down on the couch very ungracefully and Loki willed himself not to scowl so impolitely.

"No, but whenever I wake up, he is usually the first besides Thor." Loki answered nicely.

"Well he's not here."

Loki had a lot of questions but decided to choose his worlds wisely, for he knew that a single mistake would lead the two assassins to question him and probably stop answering.

"If I may question your surprised visit and why Stark is not here at the moment?"

"He's busy creating a container for the tesseract." Natasha answered. "They already made a break-through."

"Impressive."

There was a silence and Loki did not like how these two were just there, eying him with scorn and disdain. Loki could give a lot of reasons just for them to stop looking at him in such a way and he wondered if they were still mad at him for everything that has happened. He wouldn't put it past them to forget so easily that he was just another enemy, because Loki knew that they mean business.

But that is not what Loki questioned the most.

He questioned why Thor hasn't woken up yet with all the commotion.

Now that Loki thought about it more, Thor was looking worse for wear, and he had not seen Thor this tired before. Loki eyed Thor for a moment, then turned his attention back to the two, who still stayed at their same spots respecting his silence.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked randomly.

Loki was clearly talking about the Other and his grand scheme to freak everyone out. Clint and Natasha exchanged looks before they both shook their heads. Loki sighed, knowing that of course they couldn't have found the Other.

It wasn't that easy.

"Have you finished your idiotic research about my life and Thor's?" Loki asked with discontent. "I am sure you enjoyed my misery."

"No, we haven't." Natasha scowled.

"Oh, then you've finally found something more productive to do, like finding a way out of this world."

Natasha and Clint stayed silent for the sake of not ruining this encounter.

Loki was still weak and they were so sure that one wrong movement would wake Thor up and they did not want an argument with a god. Loki just enjoyed mocking them, even if he was in no position to do so. It was just so tempting that he could not resist.

"Then to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Loki asked. "If it is not for ill?"

"To talk." Clint supplied.

"If it was urgent, you would have spoken by now."

"We figured it best to let a few things sink first." Natasha lowered her voice.

"And you figured a moment of silence is the way to do that?"

"Just tell him, Nat." Clint scowled from where he sat.

"Tell me what?"

"You've been asleep for two days." Natasha paused, letting the knowledge sink in. "We thought you might want to know what's been going on the Helicarrier while you were asleep and why you ended up where you are now."

"Two days?" Loki fisted the sheets. "That is impossible."

"We know you have a lot of questions, Loki." She stared. "We're here to answer most of them."

"Go on." Loki titled his head.

"Come with us."

"Why?"

"You're healthy enough to walk." Clint frowned at him. "And you don't want princess Goldilocks to wake up and start screaming at people to let your rest."

"I believe two days makes it well rested enough."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Come on." Natasha urged.

Loki did not like the look on their faces.

He knew one thing, that they had a motive and it was not pretty. Loki took a moment to think whether he should allow himself to follow Clint and Natasha even though they gave him no knowledge of where they will take him. Loki wanted to know what was wrong, and why Thor was sleeping heavily more than he should.

So he gave in.

"Give me a moment." Loki muttered.

Natasha nudged Clint with her feet as she exited the room, Clint followed afterwards with a huff. Loki eyed the two of them from the glass window, they were just waiting there in the hallway. Loki sighed in defeat as he tried to get out of the bed, gently enough so his brother won't wake up.

"I really don't trust him." Clint muttered in the hallway.

"I know." Natasha agreed, staring at Loki.

"Don't you feel it, Tasha?"

"What you're feeling? No."

"He feels off. Not in his game."

Loki stood up, and the sheets dropped on the bed.

He noticed that he was wearing a light green tunic, and a pale blue wondered if it was Thor who dressed him, but he really couldn't have a care in the world to question it. He saw some black fur like slippers with a pink cat-like nose, knowing it was probably some sort of joke on Stark's part.

Loki wouldn't know.

Loki dropped his feet off the bed and onto the cold marble like floor.

"Strange they'd give me so much leisure." He thought.

He put the slippers on and turned to Thor again, looking at the stiff position of his brother and how sad it was just by looking at him. He really wanted to know why his brother looked so exhausted, almost as much as he did.

"Always so stubborn." Loki complained.

Thor was now snoring, very loudly and was muttering words in Asgardian.

Loki rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

Natasha and Clint watched from the window as Loki reached out for one of the pillows on the bed and gently raise Thor's head and arms to put the pillow underneath him. Loki also took the bed sheet and draped it over Thor, before checking if his brother was comfortable enough on the bed.

Natasha and Clint exchanged looks of disbelief.

"I don't know about this, Clint." Natasha whispered. "That doesn't look like a threat to me."

"You wouldn't say that if you didn't know what happened to him."

"But we do now. We just don't know the extent of his torture."

"Come on Nat," Clint whined. "I'm not going to question him whether he'd been abused, tied up, raped, or I dunno! Whatever they do to prisoner's in space. I know where my line ends, and it ends at trying to gather information on what happened to him after that fall. It's not ours to meddle with, and I don't want to know."

"Because you'll feel sentimental?" Natasha mocked nicely.

"I don't trust him."

"He's nothing like the Loki we knew from New York."

"Doesn't matter." Clint rubbed his neck. "He was chaos before. Now when he recovers, it'll be controlled chaos. And that is worse than mad chaos!"

"You're over thinking things." Natasha pointed jokingly. "What's there to fear in a six-foot tall Loki in pajamas?"

"You're giving me a headache."

"Better me than Stark."

"Look, how long will this take anyways?"

"We're going against orders here." Natasha gritted her teeth. "I think by getting to know Loki, we'll know more about what the hell is going on. And if we have him wrapped under our thumb, none of us will have a problem. And besides, it's Steve's idea to let Loki in on the news."

"So we're just going to use him for information?"

"Not really." She shrugged. "We're doing this for the team. The sooner we all get along, the better."

"I still don't like this exercise." Clint cracked his knuckles.

"It's not an exercise."

"But Loki only just woke up."

"That was an hour ago."

"But still."

"Listen, he looks fine doesn't he?" Natasha pointed. "We're going to make this happen."

Just as they were about to start a very heated argument, the door to the infirmary room opened. There stood Loki, looking almost as worse as Thor, but the funny thing wasn't his look. Clint couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing, while Natasha briefly curled her lips in amusement.

Standing in front of them was Loki.

Holding a pillow.

And was wearing kitty-slippers? Whose Idea was that!?

"Don't." Loki raised a hand.

He scowled at the two, who were trying their best not to laugh at him. They were doing a horrible job trying to keep up a straight face that Loki only glared at them more.

What else was Loki supposed to do?

His magic was nearly back and had managed to heal most of his injuries but he didn't want to risk it by using it for meaningless things, such as conjuring up clothes of his own. And they were in a hurry, weren't they? Loki was just following, grabbing what he could find, so what was wrong with that?

"I refuse to be an object of your amusement."

"Right." Clint just stared.

"Mmm.." Natasha hummed and pointed at the pillow.

"I refuse to be uncomfortable." Loki argued. "If you wish to kill me, then the least you can do is to make it pleasant."

"Whatever." Clint pointed down the hall. "We're headed that way, then take a right to the elevator."

Loki stared walking while the two followed and eyed him.

"As I was saying..." Natasha turned to Clint with a smirk.

"Oh shut up, Nat."

Spy scored 1, while archer scored 0.

oOo

Steve entered the lab to find Tony sitting lazily in one of the chairs with a stark-pad while Bruce and Erik were remodeling the container of the tesseract. Steve strode forward to stop Tony from spinning around on his chair like a crazed child with sugar in his system. Tony just smirked at Steve while turning his attention back to the stark-pad.

"Anything?" Steve questioned.

"Still can't find him." Tony said.

"Do you think he left the Helicarrier?"

"I doubt it." Erik chuckled madly. "If the Other left, he would have died if he fell thousands of feet from the air."

"Unless he has teleportation skills." Tony piped.

"I don't think he has." Bruce rubbed his glasses clean.

"But what if he does, Bruce?"

"If he had teleportation skills, he would have done more things than just hide and he would have taken Loki by now."

"Speaking of Loki, he's healing up nicely." Tony pointed out. "I mean, he's been out for two days now but given his overall scans, I say he's doing pretty awesome."

"You can't blame him, the stress caused him to pass out." Bruce muttered.

"It's the question why, that I'm wondering about." Steve breathed.

"PTSD." Bruce said. "Like I mentioned before."

"I know from personal experience." Tony mumbled to Bruce.

"Exactly, and we have to look out for more of this, because it could get relatively worse."

"Like what?" Steve wondered.

"If he was imprisoned on a desolated world with no one, he would still feel isolated. He would have a hard time trusting people and would eventually keep to himself. We're lucky that Thor is managing to get him out of that comfort zone and start talking about what happened to him, because if he bottles that up, it could turn worse."

"He'd be aggressive." Tony raised an eyebrow. "And hateful."

"Yes." Bruce pointed out.

"There's something else isn't there, Bruce?"

"I was wondering if there might have been an RSI or Repetitive strain injury."

"What's that?" Steve leaned forward.

"I heard about that." Erik piped up. "That's when you do a repetitive action for a great amount of time. You'll have symptoms of pain, aching, weakness, cramps and all those other things."

"You're saying Loki has one?" Tony scrunched his face.

"I'm not saying he does." Bruce shrugged. "I don't know what form of torture was done to him enough to fully assess him."

"What else are you hinting at, Dr. Banner?"

"A lot of things, Steve." He took a deep breath. "His PTSD is much worse than Tony's, that's for sure. One of the main problems that people often forget is depression, which makes it all the more worse for him. There could also be neurophysiological damage to his head or trauma hallucinations."

"Don't forget family trauma." Erik laughed.

"Oh that is bad." Tony whistled. "And looking at Loki's story, he didn't look like he had a relatively happy childhood."

"I checked." Erik turned his chair to them. "Loki's closer to his mother than to any of them. She's the one who taught Loki magic."

"What about Thor?" Steve asked.

"He's probably next." Tony said jokingly. "The douche in movie 1."

"Okay?"

"Thor said they had a huge argument two days ago, didn't they?" Tony wondered. "And after that, Loki just collapsed."

"Thor was determined to speed up the process by giving Loki some comfort." Steve nodded engagingly. "He wouldn't even take no for an answer and we all had to give in. Not that we disagreed, but we all thought it was probably for the best. Thor was looking as worse as Loki."

"He better be thankful." Tony shrugged. "That room is one hell of a beauty. So what else is there about Loki's psychological issues?"

"Flashbacks and intrusive memories." Bruce piped.

"That's normal."

"But it's worse for him and for you, Tony."

"I know, Bruce."

"There's also frightening dreams, or nightmares in symbolic or natural form and any exposure could make him have a relapse. Like what you just told us that happened inside the bathroom at the infirmary."

"Sorry I kept it secret."

"At least you said something." Steve nodded.

"Moving on." Bruce continued. "There could be emotional constriction, some personal detachment or social withdrawal."

"He's still doing that." Tony said. "Loki's not telling us anything unless Thor forces it out of him or it leaves him no choice at all. He's not very social and he likes to keep to himself and man! All those are true! Thor's going to have a fit when he hears this!"

"And is Thor still out of it?" Bruce wondered.

"He's not sleeping well with what happened yesterday, Bruce."

"That incident."

"The guy is all bent on his brother, it's just confusing." Erik sighed. "I don't know what he sees in Loki to try and protect him."

The three of them watched as Erik retreated to a corner and started studying global anomalies of this universe's planet and ignored the creation of the half-made container. Bruce shook his head and stopped working as well, turning around to lean on the edge of the table, waiting for Steve or Tony to break the silence.

Erik was long gone, and still angry at what might happen to their future.

"Thor hasn't been sleeping," Tony broke it first. "He's been arguing with Fury for the majority."

"Most of us are."

"Mainly you, Rogers."

"I just want everything to work out alright. There were two attempts on Loki's life, and Thor just killed them yesterday!"

"Cap." Tony called.

"I can't side with Shield because those two Agents had gone rogue that they only wanted to rid the ship of Loki, but I can't condone what Thor just did. I know Thor is worried about Loki, but to kill two Shield Agents. He could have spared them."

"I'm biased." Bruce nodded. "I don't know what got into Thor or what those two were thinking."

"Isn't two life attempts reasonable enough?" Tony said.

"What do you mean?"

"Rogers, you killed more men in the war. Natasha and Clint are kinda like mercenaries. Hulk is... the Hulk. I don't even want to start on my kind of lifestyle before. But think about it, this is Thor. He's a freaking warrior from Asgard! You saw that battle with Bor, Odin's father. They kill people too."

"But that doesn't excuse what Thor did." Steve breathed.

"I can't blame him." Tony shrugged.

Steve stared at him as Tony continued to talk.

"His brother is an emotional wreck. If you were Loki's brother, you would have done the same thing. Wouldn't you?"

"For a friend of mine." Steve thought about Bucky. "You're right."

"What research was said about that issue anyways?" Bruce questioned. "Were they mind controlled? Were their eyes blue?"

"No." Steve answered. "Clint and Natasha told me there was footage of them walking around the halls, but nothing about them talking about it. Fury has some idea that it might be the Other trying to influence them."

"Guilt tripping Thor?" Tony scoffed. "That's just excuses."

"It could be true." Steve said. "But Fury said our priority isn't them at the moment. It should be the Other."

"I don't know." Bruce sighed. "I don't think I can dismiss this. Why would two Shield Agents just attack Thor and Loki, knowing that they stand no chance against them. Sure there were some people who saw the movie, but don't you think word has spread by now?"

"Word has spread." Tony assured his partner. "Barton and Romanov said so."

"But that's just it Tony." He shook his head. "I mean, think about it. There were possibly 30 or more Agents in that room, up from the balcony to the entire controls. If word spreads fast, they would know Loki didn't do it on his own."

"This is Shield, anything is possible."

"And the Other?" Steve questioned. "Everyone is worried and is keeping a close eye on every corner."

"He could be anywhere on the Helicarrier by now." Tony answered. "It's been two days, Rogers. Nothing!"

"Not even Jarvis?" Steve asked.

"None."

"At least the tesseract is secure." Bruce pointed at them with a screwdriver. "If the two Agents really were influenced by the Other, and wanted to attempt at threatening Loki's life, they would have picked a better time. Not when Thor is just there inside the room. And with double the security for the tesseract, I don't think they'll get past the defenses, especially Tony's new improved defenses."

"Exactly." Tony laughed.

"He can't teleport." Steve assured. "He's just fast."

"And good at playing hide and seek!"

"That too." Bruce nodded.

"Unless someone gives him access to the Tesseract's security." Tony shrugged jinxing it. "What?!"

"This is Shield." Steve said firmly. "This is security. We have to trust the organization."

"Secrets have secrets, Captain. Just like what I told you before, you can't just trust the organization. It doesn't work that well. If you payed attention to some files, or even the news, the government wants my weapons of Iron Man. I don't trust them enough with that responsibility."

Steve stared at Tony, who was yet again twirling dizzily in his chair. Steve caught a glance at the stark-pad Tony was holding and saw some codes, and some security footage waiting to load.

"Are you hacking them again!?"

"What? No!" Tony stopped spinning and hugged the stark-pad. "Don't pick another fight with me Rogers! I'm not! I just want to know if Lo' is okay!"

"Lo?" Bruce chuckled.

"Nickname." He shrugged. "I can give you one too, Brucie."

"No thank you, but you're welcome to do so. I think."

"Why are you so worried about him?" Steve wondered.

"Why not?"

Steve walked over to Tony and snatched the stark-pad from him and handed it to Bruce, who stared at the screen with confusion. Tony was complaining rather childishly and sat there with crossed arms, glaring daggers at Steve.

Steve just remained stoic, looking like the guilty father who took away his child's toy.

"What's the big deal?" Tony asked.

"Privacy." Steve said. "We found out Loki's awake."

"Oh? And you didn't tell! I wanted to go to his room and bother him!"

"What good does that do?"

"I just want to bother him. I even left him kitty slippers!"

"Kitty slippers?" Bruce licked his lips.

"Black ones with a pink cat nose. I found it lying around the place. Think about it, Tony Stark pisses off Norse god of mischief. Such a beautiful headline, and I wanted to freak him out that I am smarter than him and knows a lot of things."

"You wanted to show off?"

"Exactly!" Tony pointed, huffing. "Now give it back."

"I asked Clint and Natasha to talk to Loki about the life attempts." Steve crossed his arms. "Just to talk, nothing else."

Bruce stared at the screen of the stark-pad as it fully loaded. Bruce's eyes widened as he rewound the video feed. He took a deep breath before trying to cut into Tony and Steve's little parental argument.

It's like they were kids or something.

"Ummm.." Bruce tapped Steve's shoulder. "Loki's not in his room."

"What?" Tony and Steve said at the same time.

"Neither are Agent Barton and Romanov."

"But I gave them strict orders." Steve protested. "Where are they?"

"What about Thor?" Tony stood up.

"He's sleeping." Bruce smiled. "He's all snug in there."

They stared at Thor, who was indeed sleeping on the stool, head on a pillow and body draped with the sheets to Loki's bed. Tony and Steve couldn't believe their eyes, it didn't look like an attempt on kidnapping.

"No Loki, Romanov or Barton." Bruce said.

"Bruce gimme!" Tony snatched it from Bruce. "I'll find out where they took him."

"Do you think they're planning on killing him?"

"I don't know, Bruce." Tony looked at Steve. "This is on you, Captain."

Steve began to pace, turning his attention to Erik, who was had fallen asleep on his chair and began to snore. Bruce was hovering by Tony's side, looking at the codes that Tony was doing, and finally, they unlocked the footage without alerting Shield that they were in the system.

Tony and Bruce stared with eyes as wide as a balloon.

"Steve, I think we just found them." Bruce breathed.

oOo

Agent Sitwell was in one of the lower boiler rooms with three Agents by his side. Each of them were big and looked just about ready to pummel someone to the ground. They were being cautious, and were whispering lowly even though the Boiler room had no security camera's to check up on. They really should have picked a better spot to hide in.

"The Other could be a potential ally." Sitwell hissed.

"Or a potential threat." Cordell said.

"You're Cordell right? You're once part of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team, aren't you?" Sitwell questioned and Cordell nodded.

"Special Tactical Response for International Key Emergencies." Tucker smirked. "Impressive. I'm Tucker, from the combat unit."

"Jack, from Black-ops."

"Good, then I'm sure you know how the each ops work." Sitwell nodded at the three. "I just need you three to do what you can and spread the news of our plan. As quick and as silent as possible."

"We were given orders to act if necessary, right?" Jack said dryly.

"Exactly."

"But none of that order pertains to this." Tucker laughed. "Sir, with all due respect. This is an alien hostile."

"We have to find him." Sitwell muttered. "The Other is still in here somewhere and we could get answers to the scepter."

"That's not really wise." Jack stated.

"Do you want to end up like the two guys you three blindly sent to take Loki to lure the Other out?"

"They were dumb-ass newbies." Cordell shook his head. "They wanted it over with, and look at where they are now? They're probably burning in hell for all we care. And what do we need Loki for? He's pretty useless to Hydra."

"I don't think he is." Sitwell said.

The three turned to each other with a questioning gaze.

"I don't know most of the work, and neither do you three, but we know something big is going on especially with the scepter. And Loki's magic is by far one of the strongest energy Hydra might use in the future. We need the Other to create a distraction long enough for us to get back to our own world and prevent them from watching anything else. Especially if they find out that Hydra is still alive."

"Shield limited everyone's access." Tucker scowled. "No one is to search anything from this world, and with Stark's security in effect..."

"We're not going to try that."

"So you want a distraction to prevent them from watching anything else?" Jack questioned. "Long enough for us to get back to our own world?"

"Exactly." Sitwell nodded.

"And the Other?" Cordell wondered.

"Maybe once he's dead we can get his body back to Hydra. Anything we can get our hands on will be twice the success."

"And Loki?" Tucker crossed his arms. "We can't get near him with Thor around."

"Are you kidding?" Jack laughed. "He's not the only one we have to worry about!"

"There' Romanov, and Barton." Cordell muttered. "Two of the finest Shield Agents in the org. We have Captain patriotic to work with as well."

"Stark is not just a brainiac." Tucker nodded.

"So is Dr. Banner." Jack sighed.

"Then use Loki as the distraction." Sitwell said. "They think he's nice enough to trust, but once you're the villain, all the crimes you once did can't be erased easily. Just hidden."

"What do you want us to do, Sitwell?" Cordell glared.

"Once we get back to our own world. We take the Other's dead body, and Loki off the Avenger's hands and you three can go off the grid."

"I'm not letting you do that!"

Suddenly one of the Shield Agents emerged from one of the pipe rooms, and stopped dead at his track when he saw the four idly talking at a place where they should not be. The guy, scared shitless from his spot, was holding a gun pointed straight at the three. The guy must have overheard them and in panic, he picked up the nearest gun on him and aimed.

"Every year they're getting more and more brainless." Sitwell sighed.

"Tucker, what are you doing?!" The guy clicked his gun. "I was looking all over for you!"

"Sorry man." Tucker shrugged.

"What are you four doing down here? Agent Sitwell?!"

"Are you from the Combat-ops?" Sitwell asked. "Is he your friend?"

"Partner." Tucker nodded.

"Tucker?"

"Sorry, Ben."

Sitwell gestured and Cordell shot the guy on the head with a silencer and the body crumpled to the ground. Sitwell stared in disgust as he palmed his face in frustration.

"Hide the body." He ordered. "And get the hell out of here."

"Hail Hydra." Jack smirked.

oOo

TBC.

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