Chapter 9: Cigarettes and the Sky
There are quite a few quotes in this one right out the Avengers so now seems like a good time to remind you that I own nothing.
So in case you were on clear on that, I own nothing!
Thanks ever so much for reading. Seriously, you are so wonderful.
Onward!
Ellie waits a whole night before she dares step out of her bedroom. Although it appears he really did leave for Germany, Loki is as unpredictable as he is crazy. She proceeds with great cautions to his bedroom door.
She knocks first, just in case, and is relived to get no response. Upon further inspection it becomes clear that his rooms are deserted, except for the many instruments she loves so much.
The kitchen is equally empty, and when she presses her ear to the locked doors that lead to the workspace, she is met with silence.
A little thrill runs up her spine. Surely he didn't leave her totally unguarded, but this is as alone as she's been in the weeks or months or whatever.
She considers for a moment or two before running back to her room.
Kicking at the mattress until it shifts off the box springs, Ellie retrieves the clothes she stashed there that first night here. It feels like lifetimes, but when she pulls on her holey jeans, favorite white tank top, and worn flannel shirt, she sighs in relief, feeling herself for the first time in weeks or months or whatever.
Rage boils her blood when she digs through her closet only to find her Converse sneakers missing.
She'll just have to go barefoot. That's not going to be pleasant.
For the first time in weeks she straps on her wristwatch with the thick black band and then tucks her hair into the black beanie he ripped from her head in the car. She shoved it into her pocket when he wasn't paying attention.
Ellie finds herself in the kitchen, staring at the large vent right above the fridge. There are several identical to this on in the hall as well, but the ceiling is too high for to have a shot at wiggling into one.
The vents have been tormenting her since she first noticed them at the very beginning of her stay, but she didn't dare even look at them too long, not with Loki sneaking up at her at random times.
But now she can't hear any sounds coming from the workspace beyond the locked doors so she'll take the risk.
She regrets leaving her instruments behind. It's an inane thought.
There is no hesitation in her movements and she climbs onto the counter, then the fridge. There are no knives due to Loki's magic, but she manages to get rid of the screws using the end of a fork. She winces as the metal grate hits the concrete floor, and holds her breath, waiting for someone to come and lock her away in her room.
But there is no one.
She stares dubiously into the dark and wishes for a flashlight. Knowing full well that this escape plan is probably crazy, futile, and something that only ever happens in the movies, she heaves her frame into the dark because this seems like the only action available.
She has to try to get out of here. She has to warn someone, find someone that will believe her before it's too late.
So she wiggles into the vent, blindly following it in hopes that it will meet up with the other vents in the hallway and eventually lead her out of the corridor and at least into the locked up work space.
From there she'll just wing it.
Really, at this point what exactly does she have to lose?
It takes her nearly an hour, but Ellie gets to another grate. She lets out a relieved sigh when she peers down into a familiar hallway. She pauses for a moment, mouth against the grate as she attempts to inhale clean air. The vent is almost unbearably dusty, and all the coughing slows Ellie's pace.
Eventually she gets to the workspace. She tries to get a good look at the abandoned equipment, marveling at the vast empty space, separated by huge sheets of nearly transparent plastic. The effect is extremely creepy, making Ellie think of ghosts, and there is really no one here.
Did he really leave me here totally alone? He could die and I would stave down here. Asshole.
The ceiling is high, but there is only about a ten foot drop between the grate and a rickety metal walkway that runs along one edge of the decaying workspace. Ellie spends a good amount of time contemplating how exactly to bust open the grate to get of the goddamn vent, and trying not to panic at the thought of dying in this tiny enclosed space in an abandoned underground bunker.
No one would notice nor would they care.
Using an elbow, she rhythmically pounds on the grate and seriously considers turning back. The thought is painful and she hates her own weakness, hates that she would prefer to get back to the comfort and not safety, but at least the familiarity of her room below.
She is still fruitlessly banging away when an explosion shakes the bunker. For one insane moment, she thinks she is the cause, but then the vent is falling, crashing onto the rickety metal walkway. Heat and flame fill the large workroom for a moment. The clanging rattles around in her head, leaving her disoriented as her ears ring.
Voices below sharpen into clarity a few moments later. They shout things like "clear!" that make her think of the military. On shaky hands and knees, Ellie crawls out of the vent. For a moment there she was sure the dusty space would become her coffin.
As she shimmies on to the walkway, she comes face to face with shiny black boots. She sits up onto her knees, and frowns down at the little red dots that glow against her dirty clothes.
They are screaming at her, but again, the words go fuzzy. Still, she understands enough to raise her hands above her head.
"I'm—" Dust and smoke and debris from the blown up doors at the far end of the workspace clog her throat. "Eleanor Tate. I'm Ellie and he kidnapped me. Please don't kill me."
The little red dots disappear.
"Anyone got a cigarette?" she asks.
They put her in the back of a van before they take her to a private airstrip. She asks if she can go back to his room to grab the guitar or maybe the banjo, but not one of the ten commandos acknowledge her request nor do they hand over a cigarette.
She goes willingly, wherever they lead, her bare feet padding along behind their heavy boots.
A slender woman in a dark blue jumpsuit greets them as the back door to the van is pulled open. Ellie is disappointed to see that it's night. She's missed the sun so desperately, even after Loki's little stunt with the roof.
"Eleanor Tate?" asks the woman as the commandos get to their feet and file out of the vehicle. Ellie stays put, pulling her beanie a little lower on her head.
She nods.
"Of Washington DC?"
She nods again.
"What were you dong in that bunker, Ms. Tate?" the woman asks. Ellie stares at the gun at her hip for a moment.
"I was a prisoner," she murmurs.
"Whose prisoner?"
Apparently finding the good guys was quite easy. They came to her, but now that she's out of the bunker she doesn't exactly feel safe. Far from it, actually.
"Loki. He claimed to be a god."
"And you believe him?"
Ellie shrugs.
"Why do you believe him?"
"He can do impossible, horrible things."
The woman in the blue jump suit nods to the commandos, and one grabs Ellie's upper arm, leading her out of the van. He's not exactly gentle, but it doesn't hurt either.
"Let's get her to the Helicarrier."
Ellie is whisked away into a strange aircraft that appears to be a sort of helicopter, jet thing.
"You're not wearing shoes," observes the woman in blue. "We'll get you some shoes. And clean clothes. Did he do that to your neck?"
Ellie sits next to the dark haired woman in blue, fiddling about with buckles on her flight seat, but the woman has to take over when Ellie's hand shake to badly.
"You don't say much," says the woman.
Ellie shrugs.
"Most people have questions," she continues.
Ellie just stares straight ahead at a commando as the craft takes off.
"I'm Agent Hill, associate director of SHIELD."
Ellie nods, but has no idea what the fuck that means.
"Have you heard of SHIELD?"
Ellie shakes her head.
"Don't you have questions?" pushes Agent Hill. "Who are you? Where are you taking me? That sort of thing?"
"Are you the good guys, Agent Hill?" Ellie asks.
"Yes. We are the good guys."
"Okay, then."
When she gets a good look at the floating fortress in the sky that is their ultimate destination, flickering out of apparent invisibility, Ellie really does have questions but she finds herself unable to speak at all.
Since meeting Loki, Ellie knows that she understands nothing about the universe. There is magic and other realms and gods with unspeakable power in this world, but something about the floating fortress in the sky dries up the questions on her tongue.
The commandos escort her to a room that is really more of a cell. It is very familiar, and she grins ruefully. She has gone from a prison in the ground to a prison in the sky, it would seem.
Agent Hill gives her a funny look when she's unable to contain her giggle.
"Clean up quickly," says Agent Hill, pausing in the doorway. "You'll need to be debriefed."
Ellie nods mutely, wandering into a bathroom. She grins when she gets a good look at herself in the mirror. The massive amount of dust and dirt from her escape attempt and the explosion that ended it make her look like a chimney sweep.
She washes her face and beats the dust out of her beanie before discarding it on the counter. Running her fingers through her hair, she moves back to bedroom area to find a stack of neatly folded clothes, all in black.
The pants mold tightly to her legs, but the jacket is a shade too big. It's collar reminds her of Loki's leather trench and a shudder goes up her spine. She's with the good guys now, but she doesn't feel safe, and she is certainly not free of Loki's grasp.
She frowns at the heavy combat boots. It's been weeks or maybe months since she's worn shoes, and the prospect of donning such footwear now is unpleasant, but she doubts it is proper etiquette to show up to a debriefing with bare feet.
Whatever the fuck a debriefing even is.
For five minutes she sits cross-legged on the end of the bed before the commandos are back. They actually knock, which is somewhat refreshing.
Loki never knocks. He prefers to sneak up on her, making her jump and squeak.
She's led to a sort of command center, surrounded on three sides by giant windows. Occasionally a dark cloud passes by, but Ellie cannot see much out in the night. She's thankful, despite the lack of sunshine. Flying has never been her favorite activity.
There are forty some odd people, all dressed similarly to Agent Hill in dark blue, seated at workstations, but the bridge area is oddly quiet. They stare transfixed at screens that play a newsreel. Ellie's eyes go wide at the headline.
Attack at benefit gala in Stuttgart.
"Oh, fuck," she mumbles as stares at the footage taken from cell phones and security cameras. There is Loki, in golden armor and a truly ridiculous hat with antlers, commanding a crowd of hundreds to kneel. Copied images of the god keep the former party goes corralled.
Ellie wants to call out to them, to explain that the projections are incorporeal, but apparently this happened hours ago. Plus, he's got the glowing stick of doom so they're all fucked anyway. She isn't surprised to see him blow up a cop car with a blast of blue.
The commandos have led her to a large circular table near the back of the expansive room, and she sits, finding her legs incapable of supporting her weight.
"Oh, fuck," she mutters again.
Logically, all this time she's known that he is dangerous and deranged. She has seen his darkness, but in the confines of the corridor, it seemed much more complicated, something that he was losing a battle against.
Seeing him out here in the wide world, he is just evil. Absolute evil.
A different news station plays a clip from a security camera of Loki addressing the cowering crowd.
"Is this not this simpler?" he asks. The audio is disjointed, but the new station helpfully includes subtitles. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
She's heard this all before of course, and back then her only response was an eye roll. There, in the relative safety and familiarity of the corridor, it just seemed like such utter and total bullshit, not even worth commenting on.
Guilt threatens to crush her. She should have commented. Not that there is any changing Loki's mind, but she didn't even try.
And what was it? A day ago that she was fucking him? She wanted it. Oh, how she wanted it. How part of her still want it, selfish, pathetic creature that she is.
Pulling her knees to her chin, she watches intently as some dude all decked out in American flag paraphernalia, a jet, and the infamous Iron Man take Loki away. They roll the same clips, and orders are barked, but there is a ringing in Ellie's ears and words don't sound right.
A hand on her shoulder makes her jump and for one horrible moment Ellie is convinced she'll turn to see Loki, giving her that mischievous grin. The one that is infectious, rather than the one that is fucking bat shit crazy.
She turns instead to see a tall one-eyed man in a trench coat. Something about the way he is staring at her gives Ellie the impression that he's been watching for awhile, carefully gauging her reaction.
"You look surprised," he comments.
Ellie shrugs. "I shouldn't be."
"But you are?"
She shrugs again. "I feel sick," she whispers, covering her face in her hands.
"I'm Director Fury. I trust Agent Hill has told you what you need to know about SHIELD?" he says.
She nods. They are the good guys, some covert government agency that has probably known about beings like Loki and other realms for a good long while.
"You, Eleanor Tate, have been missing for close to three months," he says. She stares at him in horror. Her time in that underground hallway felt both longer than three months and much, much shorter. "And we've been looking for you."
She glances up as he takes the seat next to her. "You have?" she squeaks, totally surprised.
She's nothing. A nobody. How could the disappearance of a nobody possibly garner the attention of an organization like SHIELD?
"Your friend, a John Gill? He reported you missing, said you were taken away after he himself was attacked." Ellie blinks. It's been so long since she thought about her life before the bunker. "Anyway, he said some pretty crazy things that DC law enforcement took to be bullshit."
It's a struggle to remember exactly what was said on that night that Loki took her away. He loudly proclaimed to be the God of Mischief, but the other details remain blurry.
"To be honest," Fury continues. "We didn't think much of it until five days ago when the war criminal known as Loki made himself known. The testimony of your friend matched our information on Loki, and we got involved in your search."
It starts today. It all starts today.
Was it only five days ago he fucked her silly, murmured those words, and then utterly terrified her?
"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Director Fury asks, his good eye narrowing at her.
"Sorta," she admits. "I don't know the details. He got something he wanted five days ago. It will all go very quickly now, what ever he has planned."
"You don't know."
She shakes her head.
"He told you nothing?"
There are some things he did tell her, some things she knows, and the whole point of her misguided vent adventure was to find the good guys, to tell them what she knows, but Loki is on television with a funny hat and she can't remember anything. Not a single fucking thing.
This might be shock.
She shakes her head again.
Director Fury sighs, leaning back in his chair.
"So he took you three months ago. Why?"
"For my voice."
"Your voice."
"He likes to hear me sing."
Fury stares at her blankly, and Ellie winces. It sounds completely absurd to her too.
"Sing," Fury repeats, obviously skeptical. Ellie just shrugs. She obviously has no insights to the inner workings of Loki. Maybe she once thought she did, but that was in the bunker when she was plagued with Stockholm syndrome. She was delirious with loneliness and really spectacular sex.
Now she is just empty and guilty and her head isn't working as it should.
"And he didn't tell you anything?" Fury presses.
"I know he means to rule this world," Ellie repeats, doing his best imitation of Loki's smooth accent. Fury's lip twitches, as if he almost smiles. She tries to snap herself out of the shock. "That stuff that he was babbling about freedom, I've heard all that. I've seen him work some crazy voodoo on people, stealing their identity, but as for the how I have no idea. Oh shit. And there is an army. I don't know where or who, but he has some sort of fucking alien army. And a portal."
There. That's what she needed to tell the good guys.
"And something about a tesserer. Tessersomething. i don't remember."
The words sound truly insane, but Director Fury looks like he believes her. Ellie would rather be crazy again then have it be true.
An alarm is raised. Someone calls out for Director Fury and Agent Hill barks an order at the commandos to escort her back to her room / cell.
Ellie attempts to sleep. She tries to figure out just how long it's been since she's had any rest, but she honestly can't remember. After being a prisoner of Loki's for so long, this new location is disorienting, and Ellie is unable to sleep, despite her total exhaustion.
It feels like a long, sleepless time before Agent Hill returns.
"They're all here now," she says absently as she leads Ellie down the same hall as before, to the same bridge. "The team that we've assembled to take down Loki. We need you to tell them everything. Even the most meaningless details could help stop this psycho."
Ellie forces herself to nod, despite how truly horrible this is sure to be.
They reach the bridge. It is day now, and Ellie stares avidly at the sunshine streaming in through the massive window.
It's so beautiful she almost cries.
Alarmed by her overwhelming emotions, she strives for apathy again. She is numb, bordering on delusional, but that's probably from the lack of sleep.
This team of good guys is sure to have questions and there are many things Ellie absolutely refuses to say. Her own weakness surely is of no consequence to the mission to stop Loki.
Ellie approaches the table with great caution as she studies those gathered around it. Standing directly in front of her is a slightly disheveled man with brown hair, clothed in a purple button up. He leans with his arms against a back of a swivel chair
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" says the man, turning to address the patriotic dude she saw fight Loki in Germany who sits two seats away.
"Loki's gonna drag this out." There is a pregnant pause. "So, Thor, what's his play?"
Ellie's eyes go wide when she sees the looming blond figure, staring out the windows. He turns slowly, massive arms crossed over his massive chest. His armor is painfully similar to Loki's and she wonders if he is from Asgard too.
"He has an army called the Chitauri," the maybe-god in red replies.
Agent Hill nods to a seat before moving to stand by the man speaking. Ellie slips silently into the chair.
"They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him your world, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
No one seems to notice Ellie's small, quiet presence, save for a redhead in a cat suit that sits directly across the table. The intensity of her stare makes Ellie nervous, especially when her eyes flick to the bruises peaking out of the collar of Ellie's jacket.
"An army from outer space," mutters the patriotic dude, sounding as dazed as Ellie feels.
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," says the rumpled one.
"Selvig?" asks the maybe-god.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He's a friend."
"He's incredibly goofy," Ellie murmurs before she can think better of it. All eyes snap to her. The men look a little startled by her presence. Ellie smiles ruefully. "I made him French toast," she says as if this is at all relevant.
In the last three months it seems she's lost what little people skills she once possessed.
"Who are you?" asks the patriotic one after a beat of stunned silence.
"This is Eleanor Tate," Agent Hill says, giving Ellie a small frown. "We pulled her out of an abandoned factory in Virginia that Loki was using as a base for the last couple months. She was his hostage."
They all ogle her a little more. Ellie studies the table.
She was in Virgina. Weird.
"It's Ellie," she corrects.
"Ellie," Agent Hill continues. "Dr. Bruce Banner, Steve Rodgers, Agent Romanoff, and Thor." She points to each person.
"You've had contact with Erik Selvig?" Thor asks.
"And Barton?" asks Agent Romanoff.
Ellie nods. "They are all… miniony, but other wise okay."
"How does he do it?" the redhead asks
"He uses that glowing stick of doom," Ellie supplies, feeling like an imbecile compared to these very serious good guys. "He holds it to their chests, their eyes glow blue, and they aren't themselves anymore."
Everyone is silent for a moment, absorbing the horror that is Loki.
"I want to know why Loki let us take him," says Steve Rodgers. "He's not leading an army from here."
"He wants to test your mettle," Ellie supplies, mimicking the gods voice. They stare at her like she's crazy. She feels a little crazy.
"You seem to know an awful lot for a hostage," Steve Rodgers replies.
Ellie just shrugs.
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him," says Dr. Bruce Banner, pacing around behind Ellie's chair.
She snorts at his very accurate assessment. Bag full of cats, indeed. It earns her glares from various individuals seated around the table.
"Have care how you speak," says Thor. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
Ellie sits up a little straighter, eyes fixed on the Asgardian. She sees nothing of Loki in this blond god.
"He killed 80 people in two days," Agent Romanoff says. Once more it gets very difficult for Ellie keep from crying.
"He is adopted," Thor explains, dismissively, making Ellie's heart stop in her chest. Blood pounds in her ears. She knew it. She knew he was like her.
And she hates the blond god a little for the way he so willingly denies any familial bond with Loki, how he throws out the word adopted like its nothing, like it absolves him of any guilt by association with the god he calls brother.
"I think it's about the mechanics," mutters Dr. Bruce Banner. "Iridium… what do they need the iridium for?"
"Should we really be discussing this with her here?" Steve Rodgers asks, avoiding Ellie's gaze. "What do we really know about this girl? Loki could want her right here, listening to our plans."
Ellie just doesn't have it in her at the moment to be offended. The trauma of recent months is rapidly catching up with her, making breathing and thinking and functioning difficult.
"Fury's cleared her. The story checks out," Hill explains. "She was found in a vent trying to escape."
"I wasn't with him willingly," Ellie murmurs. She goes back to staring at the tabletop when she realizes this isn't total truth.
"Look at the bruises on her neck, Steve," says Agent Romanoff.
Ellie cowers away from the team of good guys, pulling her legs off the floor to hug them to her chest.
"Do you even know what iridium is?" Bruce Banner asks her gently.
"It's a stabilizing agent." All eyes turn to the pair of new comers. The one who spoke turns to mumble something under his breath to a SHIELD agent, but Ellie doesn't catch it. She's too busy reeling from all she's learned.
"It means the portal won't collapse on itself," he continues as he looks around the bridge. "Like it did at SHEILD. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."
He condescendingly pats the Thunder God on the arm and it's almost amusing how much smaller Tony Stark is without the armor, compared to the massive Thor. Ellie recognizes him from the news.
"Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants," says Iron Man.
He speaks more gibberish that Ellie can't follow. From the look on the faces of the others gathered at the table, they don't get what he's going on about either.
"That man is playing Galaga," Stark announces suddenly, pointing accusingly. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."
Iron Man is a fucking weirdo and Ellie hates him a little too for acting so goddamn caviler when Loki's killed eighty people in two days and Eleanor can't breathe because she is in so far over her head here.
Stark talks about some about the materials needed for the portal as he plays with the screens before moving back to the table. She hugs her knees a little closer to her chest, feeling so small and stupid compared to these giant personalities. The good guys.
"Did no one do the reading?" he asks when he is met with silence. His eyes fall on Ellie for the first time. "I know you," he says. "You weren't part of the homework, but I know you."
Ellie mouth pops open in shock because no, the infamous Tony Stark certainly doesn't know her.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" asks Dr. Bruce Banner. Tony replies, and the two go back and forth, talking about science things and losing everyone else gathered at the table.
"Finally, someone who speaks English," Stark declares.
"Is that what just happened?" asks Steve Rodgers.
"Seriously, I know you." The infamous Iron Man points to Ellie again, swiveling her chair around to stare at her more intently. She raises an eyebrow at him.
Banner moves to shake Stark's hand, and only then does he turn away from Ellie.
"And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster," he tells the doctor before turning back to Ellie. "How do I know you?"
She lets out an irritated huff, letting her feet drop to the floor and crossing her arms over her chest as she scowls at him.
"Well, I don't know you," she mutters.
"Oh," he says with a boyish grin. He cages her in with hands on the arm's of her chair, face uncomfortably close to hers. "I think we both know that's not true."
Ellie smirks and hums Black Sabbath's Iron Man under her breath, making Tony Stark laugh.
"Okay, who is this?" he asks, pulling away.
"That is Miss Tate and she is here to give us a little insight into the megalomaniac we have locked up," says Director Fury.
"You're that singer!" explains Stark with glee, taking the chair next to her. "That's it. I saw you at some club in DC last February. You've got pipes, kid."
The memory assaults her and despite the alcohol she consumed on that particular evening, she remembers the club being closed down for a private party. She still can't remember the guest of honor, but if it was Tony Stark that would explain Loki's presence that night.
"Loki thinks so too," says Fury. "Okay, Banner. Back to the lab. All the insight in the world won't mean shit if we can't find the cube."
"I'll join you in one little minute," says Stark, leaning back in his chair and tenting his fingers as he studies Ellie. She stares at the tabletop as Fury takes a seat across from her.
"We're going for full disclosure here, Miss Tate." Nick Fury, with every last ounce of his limited patience. He glowers across the stainless steel table at the small woman absently braiding her wild blond hair. "Do you understand what we need from you? Time is a pretty big factor."
Ellie sighs heavily and tells her story, but only after demanding a condition. She wants to see him, has to see him, for no apparent reason.
The details of that long ago February night when she brought Loki home are glossed over. She tells them only of his bizarre questions and skips the rest, but the good guys undoubtedly read the subtext.
She talks about how he found her after a show, months after their first meeting, and how he threatened to kill her friend. She tells them about the driver and the doctor and Mr. Cutter, all their terrible and beautiful blue eyes, so like Loki's. She talks about how she would sing and how fear and anxiety prevent him from sleeping.
As she talks as stares at the tabletop but when she fondly remembers each instrument he gifted her, Ellie smiles softly.
The good guys neither appreciate or understand her smiles, so she stares at the tabletop again and talks about the strange incident in the kitchen when he seemed to converse with someone she couldn't see.
And how he seemed so frightened in the aftermath.
She tells them the tidbits he told her, about his portal and his alien army and his glorious purpose.
The good guys get all she can remember but she keeps the parts that don't matter to herself.
The sex was obviously of no consequence.
She gives them nothing that matters, because that worked so goddamn well with the god in question.
I'll try and move pretty quick through these Avengers chapters to get back to the original stuff. Two more set in the movie, and they should be out this week.
Thank you so very much for reading.
Reviews make me write faster. Just so you know.