Leonard I'm sick. Sing soft kitty. I'm writing this chapter from my deathbed. Three cheers for poor immune systems! Hello to all my new readers who popped up last week, I'm so glad you decided to board this ship. (^_^)
I don't own anything to do with Marvel.

Chapter Eighteen

Natasha gave a grunt of pain as her battered body was flung to the floor of her cell. The harsh coldness of the room stung at her wounds like salt. With a moan she pulled her knees up to her chest, a position she always found comforting even with her broken ribs and splintered shin. She looked for something to treat her particularly bad injuries with, before infection set in, but knew it was fruitless. The Chitauri were nothing if not thorough- her torture had shown her that at least.
Just be patient she repeated to herself, trying to prevent the silent tears that were threatening to spill. They would not break her. Loki would come for her. She just had to give him time. And she had all the time in the world.

She slowly lowered herself to the ground. She needed sleep, God knows how long the Chitauri would let her rest for, but she was willing to bet that it wasn't long. Of course, rest wouldn't come- Pent up adrenaline, fear, nightmares, that unnatural cold... no she'd just have to lie there and pretend. And then her mind, that was so used to thinking up conspiracies, always prepared to be betrayed, strayed back to the one person she was dependant on right now- Loki.
Had he abandoned her? Or worse, had he been behind this all along? Gave them one of the Avengers in return for his life? No, he had known they were there and wanted to leave. But then again- He was the God of Tricks.

If Tony wasn't used to flying he certainly would have thrown up. Thor on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. He glanced quickly around the room they had landed in. It seemed to be a hallway, very dark, with only a few tiny blue lights flickering every couple of meters. The metal walls looked old, rusted. The ship seemed to be in some pretty rough shape. The complete silence was unsettling in a big way. He gulped before turning to Thor.
"Why the darkness?" He said quietly, turning on a small lamp on his arm piece.
"Chitauri can see equally well in both light and dark- Darkness serves them better," He said inspecting his surroundings closely, "Come, let's find my brother and the Lady Natasha."

How Thor could seem so confused and so sure at the same time completely baffled Tony. He seemed to pick turns and doors at random- Tony felt that he would punch his way through the walls if it would get him to his goal faster. There was a surprising lack of patrols- none in fact. With every twist of direction and every empty hallway, they both became more and more anxious.
"It's quiet." Thor remarked, slowing his pace slightly and pressing his ear against a door.
"Too quiet." Tony quipped back, unable to resist the pun. Thor ignored him, frowning deeply. "Stark, this place is enormous. We will never find him." He said punching the wall suddenly. A few shards of metal fell to the ground. Tony approached him, gingerly placing a hand on his arm. "Where there's a will, there's a way my friend." As if on cue they heard a muffled shout, and they pressed themselves against the rough wall quickly.
In the corridor perpendicular to them, there was a small procession of chitauri soldiers. One of them marched in front, while two dragged a third slumping figure with them. Loki.

They couldn't see much in the dim light, but it was obvious that he had been tortured. His right leg stuck out at an odd angle, a trail of dark red left behind where his bare feet had dragged. His almost grey skin gleamed with sweat in the dismal blue glow of the lamps. The first guard thumped his fist on the wall, and a large portion of it lifted with a groan, revealing a dingy room inside. Tony had to hold Thor back, as the guards flung Loki into the room, swinging him slightly to put some extra distance in the throw. The first guard turned to the others rasped some orders, then marched away swiftly. The remaining chitauri positioned themselves at either side of the door.

Thor and Tony glanced at each other, knowing that the Chitauri's forces must have been greatly reduced if only two guards were placed at Loki's cell- Even with out his powers Loki would still be a formidable enemy to have. Tony stopped for a moment, trying to remember the moment he had started thinking of Loki as an ally instead of an enemy. He tapped Thor's arm, pointing at mjolnir and then at the door that Loki was behind.
With a grin Thor nodded, raising his arm behind his head and then flung it swiftly at the space between the two guards. He looked in satisfaction as mjolnir lodged itself it the wall, and gained the desired reaction from the two guards.

With them distracted, Thor leaped from the hall, lifting his arm to collect his hammer as he did so. Tony followed, firing a small missile at one of the Chitauri as Thor brought mjolnir down on the other guards head. They both slumped to the ground at the same time. Tony heaved one of the unconscious guards into his arms, lifting one of it's arms up and letting it drop down to hit the wall. The door rose with a satisfying groan. Thor swung in, shaking his brother into consciousness.
"Loki! Brother, it's me, wake up!" He muttered softly. Tony rolled his eyes, picking up a small pitcher up a small pitcher of water and dumping it onto Loki's head. Loki opened his eyes, sputtering and cursing loudly.
"Stark that was uncalled for." Thor scolded but Tony just shrugged. "It worked didn't it?" Loki attempted to stand up, but let out a guttural cry of agony, his hand flying to his leg. Tony inspected the wound, his eyes widening in horror as he saw white bone sticking out of his thigh amongst the red gore spilling from the gash.

"Jesus Loki, what did they do?" He muttered trying to find someway to stop the bleeding. Loki gave a rasping laugh, as Thor helped to sit him up. "What no Reindeer Games? Rock of Ages? Rudolph?" He hissed as Tony used the remaining water to try and wash some of the blood away. "I think a better question would have been what didn't they do." Tony handed the water to Thor.
"You try and patch him up a bit, I'll try and find Nat." He said getting up quickly. Loki grabbed him quickly. "Natasha didn't return to Midgard?" Tony shook his head, walking back towards him. "Why did she leave here?"
Loki shrugged, the effort of it, obviously causing him some pain. "The Other told me he gave her the option of fleeing and leaving me here to die, and that she took it. Lying bastard." He spat the ground, before a look of terror settled over his bruised features.

"The premonition. It's going to happen." He grabbed a fistful of thor's cloak, a wild look of dread in his eyes. "We have to find her, now!"