I do not own any of the characters etc etc etc. Just playing with them.
Chapter 13
Toni's Point of View
It was getting late when they wrapped things up in the lab – it wasn't like that was a surprise to Toni especially when it looked they had hit on the right vein of thought only to have it lead to a dead end.
After Captain America's rather dramatic exit from the lab the only visitor that had popped by was Fury to check on their progress.
She could tell that the secret agent was not all that happy about their lack of progress but if he thought he could do any better he was welcome to give it a try. Otherwise, as far as Toni was concerned he could keep his looks to himself.
She had been unable to stop herself from clicking her heels together and saluting him as he left the room. But only after she had asked some questions about the god they had under arrest in the basement – it wouldn't do to annoy him before she had got the information she needed out of him. She could tell by his answers that he wanted her to think that he knew more about Loki than he was telling her. She could tell he was lying. He didn't know squat.
She walked back to her room – after taking a small detour to the abandoned laundry department (the warmth from some of the clothes told her that it hadn't been so for long – the end of the world may be coming but it would be faced with clean underwear) - with a small bundle tucked under her arm and with a slowness born from a bone deep stiffness. She forced herself to swing her arms and stretch as carefully as she could as she walked the empty corridor. She hadn't realised just how tensely she had been holding herself in the lab and even forgot to adopt the manly-Stark swagger as she tried to work the stiffness from her body.
Upon reaching her room she nearly burst into tears when she saw a tray sitting on the table with a note.
It just read.
from Phil Coulson
Her eyes misted over as she took in the sight. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't much, a flask – a large flask – a carton of milk, a variety of chocolate bars and some mini-boxes of different (and completely unhealthy) breakfast cereals. He had even remembered a mug, a bowl and a spoon.
She opened up the flask, noticing that there was a smaller one sitting behind it.
She inhaled deeply.
Coffee.
She moved onto the smaller one and repeated the process.
Hot Chocolate.
"Phil, I love you," she mumbled.
One bowl of cereal, half a chocolate bar, a mug of hot chocolate, a shower, two painkillers and freshly wrapped ribs later Toni was feeling revitalised and ready to do what she had to.
She had given it some though during the time between Roger's exit and Fury's entrance earlier in the day and after Fury's wishy-washy comments on Loki she had decided that it was time to see what she could find out.
She was going to pay the ancient alien a visit.
The first thing she did was pad up the front of her reactor and hissed at the sting that came from the inflamed skin on her chest.
"Perfect," she grumbled.
The inflammation didn't happen all that often – it usually took a lot of exertion on her part as it was caused by a build-up of sweat beneath the rim of the socket – but when it did it hurt like hell and could get pretty nasty.
She would deal with it later, the skin hadn't broken yet so it would be fine for a while.
After applying several layers of medical padding – someone was very safety conscious and she had found a basic First Aid kit in the bathroom - to dim the glow of the reactor she added a vest top for good measure.
Pleased with the result she reached for the S.H.I.E.L.D uniform that she had 'borrowed' from the laundry.
She needed to roll up the legs and do the same with the arms, and whoever 'Abigail Deans' was she had a more generous bust than Toni could ever hope to have, but other than that the fit could have been worse. And the extra give in the chest helped in hiding the suspicious third lump caused by the padding.
She turned in front of the mirror and smiled at her own reflection – the cuffs safely housed in her bedside drawer. Toni thought she didn't look that bad at all.
She brushed her still damp hair back into a bun at the back of her head and slapped her hands against her thighs.
She was as ready as she was going to get.
Toni walked with purpose from her room – after checking that the hallways was clear both ways – and down the halls and floors to the containment cell. She tried not to nervously play with the material of her 'borrowed' S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform every time someone passed by her. It was only when the fifteenth person jogged by without even glancing her way that she began to relax. On a ship this big everyone was too busy with their own duties to care about anyone else.
She felt fidgety without the hologram and resisted the urge to run back to her room and forget all about going to see Loki.
She could do this.
When she reached the last stretch of corridor and the guards came into view she straightened her shoulders and walked with as much authority and confidence as she could muster. Experience had taught her that if you acted like you were supposed to be in a place people assumed that you were. And it worked.
Neither of the guards said a word when she waved the tag (that she may have stolen from Fury earlier) in front of the security scanner and stepped into the room.
The door swished shut behind her.
Tony glanced around the room feeling claustrophobic. All of it was dim except for the lights coming from the control panel and from what was supposed to be Bruce's – well, Hulk's – accommodation.
Creepy.
"Now this is a surprise," the guy's voice was lovely for an insane criminal set on enslaving all mankind. Loki was smiling at her like some kind of demented Cheshire cat and it unsettled her. Maybe that was what he liked do. She looked down at him and his smile widened even further. How was that possible?
He crooked a finger, gesturing for her to approach.
Yes, he definitely liked to unbalance people.
She gulped, straightened her back – she hadn't realised she had begun to slouch – and stepped down the stairs until she was feet away from the glass wall. Loki's eyes followed her the whole while.
She folded her arms over her chest – feeling a bit self-conscious about the reactor and hopped she had done a good enough job in hiding it - and tilted her head to the side. Loki just sat and stared, the smile never wavering.
"What were you expecting?" she asked him softly, "A trained ninja assassin who could kill you with a spoon?"
He chuckled at that and his grin changed, the closest thing she had seen to a real smile appearing on his face. He stood and sauntered towards her.
"Indeed little one," she gulped and fought to keep her knees from knocking. She felt vulnerable without her suit or her hologram. And her chest was stinging still. She stopped herself from scratching the skin through the uniform and padding, knowing from experience that it would only be made worse. Besides, the pain killers would be kicking in full blast pretty soon. She knew she had been sure to cover the reactor properly so the tell-tale glow wouldn't give her away even though she couldn't help being paranoid about it and knew she wouldn't be able to relieve the sting without causing more damage from the material.
"And yet they send you," Loki moved gracefully around the wall of his prison coming to stop in front of her. The clear wall of his cell the only thing separating them.
"Oh no. No one sent me," she leaned in toward him, conspiratorially, and grinned as confusion washed over his face for the briefest of moments.
"I was just curious,"
She looked closely at his face.
Come on!
"Curious?" he asked her, frowning slightly.
Was that sweat dotting his forehead?
"Yeah, curious," she glanced around for something to sit on and spotting a chair she retrieved it and sat it where she had been standing. She lowered herself into it and studied him. As he studied her.
It was sweat, she was sure of it.
She had fought Thor one on one and the guy hadn't been breathless and yet Loki's skin was shiny with perspiration. That could not be right. Could it?
He seemed to grow bored of her silence and stalked back to the make-do bench at the opposite side of the cell. Something told her that they had not put it there for Hulk's benefit. She felt angry that they had built this especially for Bruce. What she worried about most of all though was when they would have felt the need to use it and if they would have released him afterwards. She knew he was dangerous. She had seen the footage, but all of them were in their own ways. Hell, she was going around with enough energy in her chest to blow up the entire ship – and a lot more.
"Are you here for a reason?" the sharp question drew her back to the here and now and she blinked several times to refocus and found she had been staring at the Asgardian the whole time.
She fought the blush.
And failed.
"Can you really do magic?" she asked, surprising both of them with her earnest question.
She had seen him blast things with the sceptre but the little bit of research she had managed to get in on Norse mythology said he could do magic to.
"And, you, do you believe in magic?" the alien asked her in that deceptively calm voice if his, leaning forward on the bench ever so slightly.
She shrugged.
She liked t agree with Arthur C Clarke's words - "Magic's just science that we don't understand yet".
"You are an alien," Loki quirked an eyebrow at this and she wondered if she had offended him. Was it politically correct to call him an alien? Maybe earthly challenged was the correct phrase? She would have to ask Fury.
"Captain America was frozen in ice for seventy years and survived. And your brother crashed into a jet at a thousand feet. Who am I to say what is and is not possible?"
It was her turn to be surprised now as Loki threw his head back and laughed.
She frowned.
She hadn't said anything funny she was sure of it.
"You are indeed a surprise," Loki told her once he had stopped laughing and he walked towards her again with the same look on his face she imagined a lion had before it pounced on a zebra.
"A most pleasant surprise,"
He stopped just in front of her and crouched, balancing on the balls of his feet and resting his hands on the barrier separating him.
She looked at his closely.
He was pale. Too pale. Sickly pale. The kind where his lips tried to become the same colour as his face.
It could be the lighting on the inside of the cell but she doubted it.
She took in his whole face. His head slightly cocked to the side like it had been earlier.
He was smiling slightly. Like he was laughing at a secret joke that no one else was getting.
But his eyes didn't fit. They weren't cool and detached like they would be if the smile was fake. But they weren't laughing with his lips. They didn't fit.
"Do you know who I am, little mortal?" he asked her softly.
She nodded her head.
"Loki, God of Mischief," she told him wishing she had done more research before coming here.
My stupid impulsiveness.
He shook his head, the smile widening and tutted like she was a child being scolded.
"Not just that, my dear. Lies and mischief,"
He leaned in closer to the wall until his face was nearly touching it.
"And I can smell deception on you, little mortal," he sneered at her in victory.
Toni's breath caught.
Could he actually do that?
She stood slowly, telling herself over and over to stay calm and not act freaked.
She wasn't going to get anything verbally out of him tonight.
She put the chair back where she had found it while Loki asked what her secret was.
Toni turned back to the cell, returning to her place in front of him.
She smiled at him.
So he knew there was something but he didn't know what.
Interesting.
She leaned in close until she was close enough for her breath to fog up the glass.
"Wouldn't you just love to know," she whispered.
"Goodnight,"
She jogged up the steps.
"Just what was the point of this?" he called just before she pressed the button to open the door.
She didn't answer him.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she called over her shoulder.
She stepped out in the corridor, the two men on guard still looking firmly ahead – they only had to worry about springing to action if the door alarm went off – and walked steadily down the corridor until she turned the corner.
Her legs buckled and she crumpled against the wall, breathing deeply and trying to stop herself from passing out.
She slid down the wall.
"I can't believe I just did that,"
Tada!
Poor Toni, the fact that she just went to have a chat with Loki kind of just hit her.
I hope you liked this guys.
I am so sorry about the delay, I wanted to have this up a lot quicker but…well…life happened.
I can't make any promises but I will try to have the next chapter up within in a fortnight. I will honest to goodness try my hardest.
Anyhoo.
I hope you are all taking care and have had a safe weekend.
If you could let me know what you think of the chapter/story in general that would be brilliant
Toodles :)