Twenty Six
"Lana, Lana!" I patted her gently on the face trying to rouse her. I felt the tears straining down my face. I turned my head to wipe my face on my sleeve. In the moment I turned back, Lana shimmered. Her feminine form falling away from her. Her curves falling away for lean masculine features. The thick leather armor torn away in pieces. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. I was holding Loki in my arms where Lana had been. I almost dropped him.
It made sense now. Why I couldn't find any record of Lana, why her injuries weren't healing. I was suddenly angry for the deception. I wanted answers. But he was clearly unconscious enough to not be able to maintain his deceitful form. If I wanted answers, I needed him conscious. And I really didn't need Barton and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra, or whoever he was affiliated with finding out about this. I could already hear the 'I told you so's'.
"Jarvis, we are on lockdown. No one in, no one out."
"Yes sir." He complied, bringing the bulletproof curtains down around the house and electrifying the doors. I had to get this tracker out of Loki and dispose of it before the house was stormed.
I struggled to lift his now heavier and longer frame, but once I got him up, I carried him downstairs. I cleared off my desk in one swoop of my free arm. I laid him across it. I found the first aid kit and a handful of tools I thought I was going to need.
"Jarvis, I need light. Lots of it. Dum-E, get over here. You hold a light too." I looked over Loki. He not only had the tracker buried inside his flank, he had bullet holes everywhere. I cut off as much armor as I could, hacking at the last remaining pieces with a knife. The wound where the arrow had gone in was torn open. Appendectomy, my ass. Why hadn't I seen it.
Loki's flesh was tinged blue around every wound. Through some of the blue were darker blue lines. I ran a finger along one. I pulled back, surprised on how cold he was. I grabbed a towel and mopped up the blood pooling on his chest.
I was really regretting sleeping through anatomy class. I grabbed a pair of pliers. I seized the end of the arrow and gently tugged. It held in place. I held the arrowhead and used a scalpel to remove the muscle from the barbs. I'm glad I remembered Barton saying something about the arrow being barbed. It took me awhile to remove the arrow. After it was out I had Jarvis raise one of the curtains. I threw it as far I could into the ocean. Let Barton track it out there.
I returned to Loki. I wanted answers, so I couldn't let him bleed out across my desk. I went looking for something to sew up the gash. When I returned with the fishing line, it seemed the muscle was knitting itself back together. His entire lower abdomen and even the muscle was blue. I sewed it up to help promote the healing. I figured if I removed the foreign objects, he would heal himself with with this crazy blueness. Maybe this is how the Aesir healed. I just never remember Thor ever turning blue.
"Jarvis, do we have anything we can do an X-Ray with. Or make an X-Ray machine with."
"The Ironman visor has an X-Ray setting you rarely use, sir." I really hated his British snarkyness right now. I went for the my helmet. Jarvis set up the X-Ray feature. I scanned Loki's body. He was riddled with bullets. Probably from the AK-47 that one of the dead agents was still holding.
"Display X-Ray on the projectors. Try to line it up the best you can." Taking off the helmet. I wanted to throw it, but didn't. I grabbed the pliers again. I started pulling round after round out of him.
"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, why are you trying to save his life? He is a wanted war criminal. And I believe he has been masquerading as Lana Laufeyson." Jarvis questioned.
"I know," I sighed. "I just want answers. No more interruptions." I could feel my heart breaking as I worked. My fingers ran over his skin, pulling more bullets and fragments out. The flesh that was Lana.
When I had finished, I had removed seventy two rounds from Loki's limp body. I sat on the floor exhausted. I was suddenly glad I didn't go to medical school. As I worked on him, I noticed several large scars across him. It looked like he had been tortured. It must have taken a lot of effort to cover up these scars and make himself into Lana. No wonder he changed back after he fell unconscious.
I was about to fall unconscious from exhaustion. I really didn't want him to wake up and disappear again. There wasn't much I could do, he was a god after all. I stood, thinking of what I could do with him. I lifted him over my shoulder and carried him the bedroom. I threw him on the bed, not overly caring if I hurt him more. I grabbed some wire I had laying around the lab. I bound his hands and feet. I tied his hands to the headboard. If he really wanted out, I'm sure he could snap the wires. I was betting on his depletion of magic to hold him there. Just long enough to get my answers and spout off my feelings. Then I'd be done with him. I could just give him over to Thor to take back to prison in Asgard.
I looked over my handiwork. Most of his wounds were starting to heal, but a good portion of his body was blue. The dark blue lines swirled over him. It was most intriguing following the lines across his lithe body. For an Asgardian, he was much smaller. His brother, Thor was a giant compared to Loki, heavily muscled compared to Loki's small frame and lithe muscles.
I shook my head. I needed sleep. I curled up in a chair and fell into a fretful sleep.
Loki was unconscious for over a week. He had the odd nightmare, twisting against his bindings. He writhed like he was being tortured. But never once did he open his green eyes. I used the Internet to find out as much as could about him, both his attack on New York and any Norse mythology about him. I wanted as much information on the trickster God.
I fell into drinking again. I was betrayed. I let my heart get broken again. If it weren't for the Hydra agents that most likely wanted to hunt me down and kill me, I'd be out boozing it up and sleeping around. I was slumped against my desk, bottle in hand. Drowning my sorrows in a bottle. I took a swig of Jack Daniels.
I heard a groan from the other room. I stood and staggered into the room. I figured he was dreaming again, and I could return to my bottle. Much to my surprise, he was awake. Green eyes flashing in panic.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here Tony! Hydra attacked me and now I'm tied up!" Loki breathed. I leaned on the doorframe to support me and took another swig from the bottle. "Tony? Sweetie?" He breathed again.
"Don't Tony sweetie me!" I yelled and threw the bottle to the floor. It gave a satisfying crash. His eyes brightened with fear. I walked into the bathroom. I pissed and grabbed a mirror.
"Tony, what's gotten into you?" Loki struggled against the wires. I forced the mirror into his face. His jaw dropped at the sight of his own reflection. His masculine features looking back to him. "Tony…"
"Fucking shut up. The only reason you're still here and not in Asgard is because I want answers. The bombings in New York when we first we're together, that was you?" He nodded.
"Fury is dead and Hydra has taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. Was that you?" He shook his head no.
"Why me?" I said the last question with tears threatening to spill over. He sighed and relaxed against his bindings.
"I was there for Thor. I wanted him dead, I still do. I meant to seduce and kill my own brother that night. I set explosives in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to lure the rest of The Avengers from him and I could kill him. However, you were sitting there, feeling sorry for yourself. I couldn't help it. You seemed so strong and confident when I cornered you in your tower during the attack. You even approached me without that armor. When I saw you, I wanted to know what had gotten the person who stood up to a god, down in the dumps.
"I never meant it end up how it did. I saw a second chance at the casino. Planted more explosives and tried to kill Thor again. Because I been watching Thor, I inadvertently was watching you too. I watched you beat yourself up about letting S.H.I.E.L.D. take me. So I walked up to you just to let you know I was okay. I never expected you to follow. I intended to be the only person in the elevator when the explosion hit. Thor would then rescue the helpless maiden and I could thrust a blade in his chest.
I became infatuated with you. It was interesting that you just happened to be there every time I planned an attack on Thor. I wanted to know more about you. And then the injury happened. I'd been to every healer in every realm. No one can get it out." He explained. I looked down to the only patch of blue skin left on him. His eyes followed mine, struggling to sit up and see the now healed wound.
"Please untie me. I have no magic. It's all being used to heal me." He pled.
"And what happens when it comes back? You kill me? You escape?" I said dryly. He blinked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I sighed and untied his hands from the headboard, but left them bound. He ran his fingers over the blue patch of skin.
"It's gone, but how?" He said as pulled the blankets back over it, hiding that exquisite blue.
"I took it out. I also removed seventy two bullets from your body."
"Thank you." He breathed. "When did I change back?"
"After you fell unconscious."
"And you still did all that for me?"
"I wanted answers. I know how it happened and why. Now I need to know one more thing." I swallowed. "Was any of it real, or was it all one big joke?"
"A joke, no! Maybe at first, but once I saw we were very similar…" He trailed off.
"Similar?" I shouted is disbelief.
"Yes, egotistical maniacs bent on holding power. Our similar upbringing. Our dislike of our fathers, love for our mothers. Our repeated failures in relationships." He droned on. I listened, I didn't care. "Tony, come sit down. You look like hell." I stood stubbornly.
"Tony, I don't blame you for not wanting to trust me, but I do care for you and don't want to see you hurt if you fall over drunk."
I sat in the chair across from the bed. I felt myself falling asleep. I had my answers, I just needed to think them over. I expected him to escape while I was asleep.