With Sigyn's power firmly twined in his, the spell spread rapidly as they regained strength. Had he been fully conscious through the pain and fighting to keep his memories straight, he would have been fascinated by the way the spell fed from them and doubled back to again thread itself through the strands of their power. What he remembered of the hours and days in which Amora's spell leeched at their combined power was broken images and bits and pieces of conversation that threaded through his dreams.
"…vis mentioned…sleep…turn?" Sif standing over the bed, watching them with concern.
"Don't." Stark's pet warning the Spider off from something. Sigyn's muttered response and the pull of their magic when she casts a…shield…their defenses stay up after that.
"…fenses up…ward themselves…" Hogun explaining something to the brightly colored solider.
The Man of Iron leaning against the window, gaze slanted and mistrustful towards him. This one he remembered clearest because jealousy and understanding made it all the sharper to his mind. There is a shift in the human's features when he looked at Sigyn said, "We found it. The next step is to synthesize and test it." A pause, he drew a hand over his face. "We have several…subjects…standing by, from when we raided the Mandrin's operation. I…just…how did you do it? You can't have developed all of your spells without testing them? How do you set aside your humanity-or whatever you call it for your lot-and test something on someone knowing it could induce a fate worse than death?" Though he knew the Man of Iron spoke to Sigyn, Loki found even he had no answer as he recalled everything he had ever done in the name of advancing his own strength.
"…seen it…war…" The Hawk standing his turn by the door as sentinel and talking at Sigyn, his gaze carefully averted from them. Loki cannot bring himself to regret bringing the Hawk under his control during the failed invasion. He had, after all, proven his worth in helping to thwart the Chitauri.
More than anything, he was aware of the pain that she endured as the spell tried to pull at her memories as well and found them lacking in the proper substance. It cut deeper than the pain that he was in, deeper even than anything Odin had ever done to him alone because it was him inflicting the pain on her because he was not strong enough to fight it on his own and needed her. When it ended, the absence of the pain was enough to finally shock him into true unconsciousness.
She was trapped again in memories and fragmented moments. Everything she held dear was sifted through and a different face applied to the body of her husband. It was jarring and uncomfortable and made her furious. Every time that Amora inserted herself into her memories, it was another invasion that made her hate and rip and shred the image of the sister that had trapped her so very long ago. Until…
…trapped in darkness, curled in on herself, the dried tears and broken sobs no longer present but still known. Cold stone beneath her fingers, the roughly cut granite that has become as familiar as her own skin. Sound and heat and touch have become narrowed down to only those things that she has come to understand as harm.
How long has it been?
She has lost count of the days since she woke in this place, darkness once broken by the visits of one whom shared her blood. Compulsion and heat and hate coursed through her in those visits and made them all the more bearable when she had knowledge that her actions were not her own.
The first time he came hope had soared like a living thing in her chest and she had embraced him like one who was loved only to be harmed and violated and broken. Now. Now there are only the times he comes to break the darkness and there is only terror and pain and despair because he is not the one whom was loved, one whom she had hoped would come by now, but has not.
The door creaks open and there is only the shaft of light that makes her bury her head into her arms and curl still further into herself. "Sigyn," comes the half-sob, half-croon word that makes a sob rise to her chest. If she can stay hidden, sink into the corner just a little further, just for another moment, perhaps he will leave. Just this once, just this once, she wants to beg, but begging will do no good.
She has done this before, knows how it will play out, knows that hope is the dangerous, double edged dagger that sliced her apart the first time. She doesn't know how much more she can take. Ragnarok would be a welcome relief away from this nightmare.
"Sigyn," comes the half-sob, half-croon that will be her undoing. His voice, but not his. Hope is a bitter pill to swallow, something she can't find in her now. "Love," and it is more sob than croon. She would gladly endure a hundred years more of pain and darkness if only he would leave.
No more, she begs. No more of this. Enough. Death is a bitter release, but preferable to this. No more pretending to be him. "Isn't that what you wanted?" and it is her voice asking the question, rasping around the words, giving sound to the thoughts that bounced through her skull and were made known through the terror.
"No, it is not," comes the familiar voice, choked now with emotions she has never heard from him, but she doesn't hope-can't hope-and still hold onto sanity. The is the soft scrape of metal as he falls to his knees and the cool warmth of his touch has a scream tearing itself out of her throat and reaching for magic no longer hers to command and curling in on herself.
The touch vanishes and she is left with only sobs and hysterical terror that allows her to catch only half the words that he murmurs to her. "…sorry…never…for…to…happen…never…wanted…safe…only …find…it…please…Sigyn," he is saying, but she is still crying and allowing the terror to override her senses. The words stop after a long moment, metal scraping the granite, and then, "Thor. In here."
There are steps and muffled words and her sobs have begun to recede into dry hiccupping. When the hammer strikes the floor with a thump and echoes metallically through the room, she flinches, but doesn't fight the hand that closes on her shoulder.
"Sister," comes the low, rough voice she has known as long as his and its new, new enough that she responds to the plea in the tone. "Sister, look at me, please." And she does, because it is as much command as request. She lifts her head and tries to still the shuddering panic at seeing Thor and wanting to question whether or not he is real, but Amora never had his form, had never captured a part of who he is and transformed it into something twisted and to be feared.
She is shaking and closing her eyes and trying not to hope, but she can't help it. Thor is as much light to her as Loki was chaos and safety. A new way to break her? She wonders. The final push into madness to bring about Ragnarok?
"No it is not. You are safe," Thor says, but it is Amora's voice echoing in her head now, the Enchantress' face and touch bringing hope back, but it is wrong. It is jarring.
Sigyn woke with a jolt and a scream caught in her throat. No, she thought. Thor.His face came to her mind's eye and reestablished itself in her memory even as the image tried to hold onto its roots, but she'd had too much practice over the last…day?...to allow it to remain. The image came away and there was only Thor and Loki and the fading terror of an old nightmare.
Breathing deeply and feeling the receding traces of pain inflicted by the spell, she shifted her weight and curled an arm around the body next to hers and inhaled the familiar scent of leather and pine before memory caught her and she squinted at Loki. She levered herself up onto an elbow and studied him, relief washing through her as she found no lines of pain carved into his face. He did, in fact, look more than a few decades younger in his sleep.
She sighed again and tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind his ear. His breathing changed at her touch and she saw when he started rising towards wakefulness in the slowing movements of his irises as he rose from dreaming. For a moment, she held her breath when his eyes opened and he squinted at her. Then, he asked, "How long?" and she released the breath.
"No idea," she answered. "I awoke a moment before you."
"Did we…?" he started, but trailed off as he took in the room around them and noted the lack of destruction. His eyes alighted on Sif's sleeping form where she was sitting by the window with a book dropped into her lap and chin resting on her chest. "No, I don't suppose we did," he answered softly.
When he pushed himself to sit up, he flexed his fingers and called to hand a small amount of magic. Sigyn hummed in pleasure when her own power responded in kind. There was no sluggish pull this time and when she tested her own wellspring of power, she was pleased when she confirmed that most of her power had returned. The siphon, she noted, was also still in place and evening out the pool of magic between them.
Eyeing Loki, she asked, "Do you want to keep it in place for another day? Just in case?"
"It's not necessary. As far as I can tell, the spell is gone," Loki answered, still working with some of his magic. Though the color was a deep blue, he wasn't overly concerned with it as the siphon was still in effect.
"Can I check?" she asked, and he gave her a bemused look. "For the sake of argument, let's say it is gone, but it was keyed to anchor itself into bone. That means it could have simply gone dormant."
"And you do not think I know how to check for that?" he returned.
The flush that spread across her features was worth the glare she shot him and made him half-smile. "I know perfectly well that you're capable of casting simple diagnostic spells. I'm not questioning your abilities…I just-" she turned away from him and closed her eyes at the rush of memory and shook her head before continuing, "Never mind, Loki. You're obviously yourself. Forget I asked." Then she slid out of the bed and tested her weight.
Loki watched her for a moment, head cocked. "You wish to verify for yourself that I am well." His gaze darted to Sif and then to Sigyn, whose back was still to him. He could see in the tense line of her shoulders how much she was holding back in an attempt to not smother him.
"Like I said, forget I asked," she sighed and took a step away, only to have strong arms wrap around her and pull her against him, his chin falling to her shoulder. She felt it in the strength of his grip on her and the way he breathed how much different he was from the last time they had been conscious.
"I'm fine," he said and his breath stirred the hairs on her neck. "But cast your spell."
When she did, there was no spider-web of power threading its way through him. There wasn't even a trace to be found. "It's gone," she said and laughed, but it was more a sob than anything. "It's gone."
"She has tried to ensnare us before and failed. You know this," he said quietly. "Now would have been no different. Amora is not strong enough to overcome…us…our history. Will you trust me?"
At that she actually did laugh. "Always, love," she said, already knowing what would happen next, but he didn't say it, didn't need to. He simply released her and when she turned to look at him, he was already gone. "Jarvis, how far did you get on that trace?" she asked and her voice was shaking even as she mastered herself. It was childish, she knew, to feel like this every time he left without an indication of when he would return, but every time he did it he took a piece of her heart with him.
"Welcome back, Ms. Sigyn," Jarvis said and she felt a rush of gratitude for the AI when he said nothing about Loki. "I was not able to complete the trace, but I was able to track the thread to a generalized location that we should be able to work with once Sir has completed synthesizing the antidote for the first tests." There was a pause before he added, "Sir has also requested your help for this next part."
Sigyn nodded and was already on her way out when Sif started stirring. She paused in the doorway and looked back at the warrior. "How long has she been there, Jarvis?" she asked.
"For the last three hours. Had you not woken, Captain Rogers would have relieved her for another three hours," the AI returned.
She blinked at that and tilted her head back. "Steve and Natasha have rejoined us?" she asked.
There was a pause that had her frowning before Jarvis answered, "Captain Rogers is currently in residence among us. The Widow briefly rejoined us before I felt it wise to revoke her lodging privileges after she attempted to have you and the Liesmith moved from the Tower. She felt it in the best interests of everyone present as well as the residents of the city that you and he would be better contained in SHIELD holding cells. Sir and I felt otherwise. Were we wrong?"
Sigyn mulled that over for a moment. "No. You were in the right, Jarvis. You've already proven that you can subdue Loki for a certain length of time. SHIELD has not proven themselves in that regard and if we had been wrong about our abilities, they may not have been able to contain us. Your ability to subdue us would have given Sif and Hogun adequate time to get us to Asgard where they have the numbers to handle us." It wasn't the full truth, but it was close enough that Jarvis didn't ask for further explanations on why they had chosen the Avengers to act as defense against the possibility of them attacking.
"Duly noted," Jarvis said. "While you work with Sir, I will download the requested specifications about the trace. I have analyzed several possibilities and have several potential locations as to where the Enchantress may be hiding. Your insight will be most helpful in determining more potential locations and narrowing those down."
Sif blinked at Sigyn-who smiled briefly at her-before she rose from her place and followed Sigyn out of the room. She didn't ask what had happened, didn't need to ask. Loki's absence and Sigyn's presence told her enough.
A/N: I'm going to be doing a series of one shots related to the Avengers or Dragon Age as a method of expanding my writing horizons. If you have any particular requests drop me an PM into my inbox and I'll reply within a day. The requests will remain as anonymous as the requester likes otherwise credit will be given where the request was made. And, no, this project won't affect this current story. You can expect to see another chapter in 2-3 weeks or possibly sooner than that.