Well this is probably the longest chapter I've ever written, I think I need to go have a lie down. Emotional trauma ahead, probably. Maybe. Thanks to everybody who reviewed, favourited and followed the last chapter, and hi to any new readers! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Nineteen
There is no more powerful drug than adrenaline. Or so Loki had though all his life. He was quickly realising that it was probably coming in a close second for him right now. All that was driving him forward, keeping up with Thor, and ignoring the excruciating pain in his leg, was Natalia, or rather his love for her. He had to tell her. Once more, before fate inevitably ripped away one more thing he cared about away. There was no more cruel a mistress than destiny, and she seemed to have a particular hatred for him.
Why was he even trying? She was going to die. He'd foreseen it. Granted, as well as being cruel, fate had a sense of humor, and more often than not his visions weren't always what they seemed. Perhaps that was why- there was that slim chance that he was mistaken. Maybe he could still save her. He had to at least try.
The ship seemed to consist of never-ending hallways and dead ends. The corridors were snake-like twisting and turning, much like the creature the Chitauri had sent to Midgard over a year ago. Loki felt that he must have misjudged the amount of Chitauri aboard, they still hadn't run into any guards and they must have noticed his absence by now. The ten or so that followed The Other wherever he went must be all that was left. That was a comforting thought. Tony seemed to realise this as well, a smug grin forming across his face.
"I did good, didn't I Reindeer Games? Looks like we have a better chance than we thought." He said quickly while looking both ways in the new corridor they had entered. He let out a large groan before, punching the wall with a metal-clad fist.
Loki followed him and felt his stomach drop several feet. There in front of them was a familiar looking cell, with two Chitauri shaped bodies inside. They'd been going in circles. He couldn't even surmass the energy to create a cry worthy of the anguish he felt. Instead he just collapsed to the floor in a heap, not even feeling the pain of his broken bones slicing through more flesh. He'd lost. He'd lost again.
"What's happening?" Natasha muttered softly, realising that they had momentarily stopped the torture. She glanced up to see, watching as her two torturers exchanged terrified looks. There weren't many expressions she could recognise on the Chitauri's strange features, but fear was one of them. Fear she could recognise on anyone- she'd seen it enough.
This new occurrence meant either two things. One, that by some miracle, someone was coming for her. Loki, Tony, Clint someone. Someone powerful enough that they could strike fear into The Other's freakish blue eyes. Which lead her onto option two- It could be something worse. Something even she, the Black Widow, should be petrified of.
She couldn't dwell on her thoughts though, because the heavy metal panel slid up, The Other practically flying inside. He moved towards her, pressing seeming random buttons, that released her bonds swiftly.
"Take her to the control room, keep her subdued. The Silvertongue has escaped." He rasped, pushing Natasha off the rough chair. She heard several already broken bones crushing from the fall. She barely even felt it. Loki had escaped. Loki had escaped and was coming for her.
The two other Chitauri lifted her from the armpits, dragging her along the rough, almost rocky, metal floor, the dents and lumps hitting her legs and bare feet with every step- and they walked fast. Every time she heard a noise, a shout, she'd raise her head, only to be met with a swift punch from one of the guards. Keep her subdued, The Other had said. Well just wait till we get to the control room, she thought to herself, a sly smile flitting across her face. I'll show you subdued.
Thor knelt beside his broken brother gently, as if he were an injured animal. It was the way you had to treat Loki sometimes. When he was hurting, it only made him more likely to bite. Nobody knew it better than him.
"Brother, we still have time. They're hardly just going to kill her, they'll want to use her as leverage. They might not even have her- perhaps your right, she could have returned to Midgard, but was unable to contact us. The Avengers will succeed, they always do." Thor smiled, pointing at Loki's chest. "You know that more than anyone."
Loki leaned his head back against the wall, pressing it with more force that perhaps was necessary. "The Avengers might succeed, but I won't. There is no version of this where I come out on top, isn't that right Stark?" Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, whether it be from the pain of his wounds or the pain in his heart he couldn't tell. "I've foreseen her death, brother. They're going to kill her, in front of me, on this ship." He sighed at Thor's solemn expression. Even after all they'd been through, everything Loki had done, Thor still pitied him. Thor still worried about his little brother. Somethings never change.
"It's nothing more than I deserve, Thor! Losing her, that's my punishment. All of this, this is the universe's way of showing me the what a living hell is. I suppose you can run from your fate, but you can't hide from it." He finished softly, recalling the words she had said that lifetime ago, back when she was the guard, and he her humble prisoner. It was night, he often thought, that their relationship changed. He winced at easily her words twisted to fit his destiny. Irony was a beautiful, heartbreaking thing. Natasha's nightmares were about her past- Loki's were about his future.
"No." Tony said firmly, grabbing Loki's good wrist and yanking him to his feet. "This isn't the universe showing you punishment. This is the universe showing you a shot at redemption. Now, you can either grab it by the horns, no pun intended, or sit wallowing in self pity with your femur sticking out of your leg. It's your choice."
Loki steadied himself, and spoke to Thor without turning around. "Thor how strong is Mjolnir?" Thor gave a hearty laugh. "Brother you know the answer to that." Loki nodded, determination spreading through his veins like wild-fire.
"Well then. Isn't crashing through walls a bit more your style?"
"This is it." Loki muttered, brushing some of the metal dust from his arms. It had a disgusting, sticky texture, not unlike tar. The door in front of them had an aura of déjà vu floating around it. It was huge, intricately carved and designed, blue mist seeping from underneath. not wanting to waste anytime, Loki nodded to Thor, who lifted Mjolnir behind his head, about to crash it down on the mammoth door, when to the trio's surprise it swung open.
The room they entered was enormous, to big to even comprehend, its ceiling disappearing into nothingness. An illusion Loki thought to himself, amused. Their last bit of glamour went into this room. The Other needed to sort out his priorities.
His eyes searched the room frantically, until his finally fell upon her. She was raised slightly off the ground by the two of the guards. They looked slightly worse for wear. She must have given them some trouble, recently by the look of things. Even being at least half their size and weight, weaponless and beaten, she had still given them some pretty nasty look injuries. Was there nothing she couldn't do?
They had over powered her eventually though. She looked only semi-conscious, her left eye sealed shut, red hair seemingly a darker hue, matted to one side of head. His stomach turned at the idea of what injury she had suffered there. What if she were to survive this only to die of a brain hemorrhage when they returned to Midgard?
He stopped thinking then and threw himself into a sprint to reach her, until an invisible force picked him up and flung him to the other side of the room, slamming him against a large table, Loki raised himself and realised that he was positioned by main control panel. His mind spun, and without thinking he lifted the largest item near him, a large battered looking spear. The Other laughed.
"My dear Laufyson, do you really think you can destroy me with that?" He sputtered, raising his voice seemed to pain him greatly. Loki shook his head, his signature devious grin spreading itself across his bruised face.
"No, But it can destroy this." He positioned the spear so that it hovered over control panel. "I destroy this, this entire ship will fly into a death spiral until it inevitably crashes." The Other's smile dropped.
"It'll kill you! It will kill her!" He marched towards him as fast as his body would allow. Loki nodded madly.
"Oh it will kill us all. " Loki confirmed. "But better all of us, than just Natasha. At least her death wouldn't be in vain." He spat. The Other looked pained, before giving an angry cry. "Fine! Throw the spear away and we'll come to some sort of arrangement. I swear on the fate of my race."
Something in The Other's face seemed genuine, and Loki reluctantly threw the spear away from him. The Other looked relieved, but something flitted across his face. The look someone got when they just thought of a new move to play. He was going to win this chess game yet. Loki flung himself forward, but The Other raised a hand and Loki froze in mid-air, his face turned towards Natasha.
"But, I forgot!" He wheezed, a wild manic look in his eye. "My race is doomed anyway." He lifted his free hand and Natasha flung into the air, her limbs spread out in all directions, screaming with the pain the movements cost her.
"You will know pain like no other." The Other said softly, before a painfully bright light filled the room. It lasted barely a second before it disappeared. When the room returned to normal, nothing had changed. Nothing except that Natasha lay crumpled on the floor, her usually bright alive eyes, now dead.