This is it! The last chapter. I'm sorry it has taken so long to get this out, but what can I say? Life and good things took priority. As of this chapter being posted, all other chapters have been edited for grammatical and spelling changes. There were a few minor changes, just a way to get the flow of the story moving better, nothing that you need to go back and read again.
A few facts about this story: The shortest chapter was chapter 22. The longest chapter was chapter 17. This story has approximately 80,000 words.
For the last time (for this story anyway), thank you all for reading. I appreciate you sticking with me and the story as I learned the characters and also improved on my writing skills.
One last thing. I do plan on writing a sequel, though it is going to take me a lot of time. Keep checking back on my profile and this story for the next installment: Fealty.
Thank you.
Natasha had run off almost immediately, speaking into the microphone in her ear. It took Sigyn a little longer to stand, and longer even for her to help Selvig up, then down to the building. Loki was sitting on the steps inside the building, the six avengers standing above him.
"Stand up, let's go," Stark was saying, nudging Loki's boot with his foot. With a groan, Loki stood, his eyes flickering to Sigyn. "Ah, there you are."
Most of the eyes turned to her, only Natasha watching to make sure Loki didn't do anything stupid. "We saw you fighting down there," Stark said, stepping towards Sigyn. "Don't think that changes anything."
"I didn't expect it to," Sigyn said, helping Selvig lean against the bar. Without him to balance her, she was fairly unsteady. "Like I said. I only wanted to save the world."
"Helping save the world or not, you helped him create this battle," Captain America said.
"And I accept the consequences of my actions."
"You guys," said Natasha, eyes still on Loki. "She was the one that prevented the bomb from coming through the portal."
"We aren't going to decide anything right now," Stark said, turning his back to Sigyn to face the others. "Let's just get them out of the building and to S.H.I.E.L.D." The rest of them agreed.
Sigyn was just as tired as the rest of them. The barriers around her mind were becoming weak, letting in faint trickles of emotions. Anger, fatigue, but the strongest one was relief. The battle was over. She had used all her energy in preventing the bomb from hitting New York, to save Stark from floating through space for the rest of eternity. And it was over now, there was nothing more she had to do this day.
The group left the elevator and marched through the lobby of the building, where Loki decided a little bit of snark was called for. In an instant, standing where Loki had been, stood a second version of Captain America. "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!" He said, then changed back into himself. "I mean, honestly! How do you think you'll be-," he started again. Thor, having none of his sarcasm, slapped a mask over his mouth.
"Shut up."
People stood, gawking at them as agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. and military officials tried to take control of the situation. After a lot of discussion, which turned more to bickering, and a brief call to S.H.I.E.L.D., a plan had been put into place for the two prisoners. The group all escorted Sigyn and Loki to another building. By the time they reached the top, an aircraft was already waiting for them. After being cuffed and properly secured within the aircraft and sure that they wouldn't escape, the group of heroes left, leaving Sigyn and Loki surrounded by men with Phase 2 Weapons. Loki sighed.
Turns out, S.H.I.E.L.D. only had one prison cell to hold over-powered beings, and from what Sigyn could tell, it was a fairly recent installation. She had no idea how humans had developed anti-Asgardian technology, probably something to do with the Tesseract, but it seemed to make Loki angry. Inside the cell, Loki could use none of his magic, no simple illusions inside or outside the four walls, not even able to use a bit of his magic to keep the room warm.
Along with Loki's inability to use his powers, Sigyn's were gone as well. It had taken until the second day for her to be sure, but she was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost as soon as she laid on one of the beds attached to the wall. It was only when she had been woken by the clattering of metal against concrete that she knew for sure her powers were being suppressed. And for once, she was relieved.
In the past, she had been forced to protect her mind from those around her, to block out emotions so they wouldn't affect her or drive her to insanity. Even when she had been starved almost to death, not many visitors coming around her cell, the emotions pushed in, leaving her mind to be shredded by other people's feelings. Now, for the first time in her life, she didn't have to worry about anyone's emotions, didn't have to worry about blocking them out, or be afraid that she might accidentally affect them in some way. It was wonderful.
The bond she shared with Loki could not be hidden from her, or from him, but it was greatly diminished and she could no longer get a good read of his emotions. She reached out with her mind, trying to feel the guards around the cell, but again, there was nothing.
Sigyn opened her eyes, turning her head towards where the clattering had been, finding a tray of food on the ground. She looked over to where Loki sat on his bunk, a tray of food on his lap. Sigyn stood, stretched for a second, then retrieved the second tray before sitting back on her bunk.
"Well," she said. "At least it isn't the sludge they had been so fond of feeding me."
"Yes, this is truly five-star treatment." Loki's voice was full of bitter sarcasm.
Sigyn looked up from her food. "You're only going to make this worse."
"I honestly can't think of a way of how this could get worse."
"I can," Sigyn said quietly, grabbing the spoon from the tray and using it to scoop up some soup from a bowl.
"And how's that?" Loki's tone was still sarcastic, but behind it, Sigyn could tell there was desperation.
"You could be in the hands of the one who brainwashed you." Sigyn's voice, while still quiet, was firm. "We could both be dead, or worse, one of us could be dead and the other suffering from the broken bond. I could still be S.H.I.E.L.D.'s test subject, tortured when it pleased them, starved to insanity. Without us trying to prevent it, a whole lot more people could have died and been seriously injured. I think whoever it was trying to control you would have just found another way with or without you. And your brother, Loki. Thor very well could have died during the battle, or on the trip here. You yourself could have killed him by dropping him out of an aircraft. Don't think I've forgotten.
"So, things could be much worse. We both knew we would have to face the consequences of what we did. You can whine and scream about it, or you can suck it up and try to redeem yourself. I, for one, am going to try to make the best out of this as possible."
Sigyn sat back into the wall and continued to eat her soup, acting like she didn't care about the effect her words had on Loki. She did care, and she knew exactly how those words were going to affect him. She needed him to jump out of his misery. He, at least, would most likely be going back with his brother, to face his father. If he was bitter and sarcastic when he went to meet his father things wouldn't go well.
They would most likely be separated, something that would be painful as the bond they shared
But most of all, she didn't want to fight with him. She hadn't given it a whole lot of thought since they lost the battle, but it was something that dwelled on her mind before they had gone to Germany. Based off of each of their history, Thor was mostly likely to take Loki home. Sigyn would be surprised if Thor allowed Loki to remain on Earth, especially after everything he had done or been involved in.
On that same note, Sigyn was sure S.H.I.E.L.D. would fight to keep her on Earth, despite being Asgardian. Despite Loki having told her some time ago that there was no other explanation for her long life and powers, she still doubted it. She had purposefully avoided thinking about that conversation, as well the other implications it had. She was almost positive that S.H.I.E.L.D. saw her as an asset, one that they surely would not like to forfeit.
They would be separated, she was sure. The bond between them would remain intact, but it would stretch and become painful after such a long-distance away. She didn't want to be far from him, but she also didn't want to suffer through the stretching of the bond. She wanted them to both enjoy the time they had left with each other, and to also be prepared for the pain of the stretching of the bond.
"I don't want to fight," Sigyn said after a long pause.
Loki didn't say anything for a long while, until after both of them had finished eating their food and laid their trays next to the door.
"It is difficult, my mind being my own once more." His voice was quiet, sounding as if he almost didn't want to talk about this but knew he needed to. "The last several months, my focus has been aimed at a single goal. Protecting my mind. You aided in that. Now that the hold is gone, however, I found myself searching for another goal to keep me occupied. Returning to Asgard, where Odin will never believe that I was not acting entirely upon my own wishes, has been the only thing I can think about."
"Your own wishes or not, Odin is still your father. He would believe you if you told him the truth."
"No, I don't believe that he would."
Sigyn shook her head, realizing that this was one battle she would never be able to win. With a small sigh, she stood from her spot on the cot and sat down beside Loki. She took his right hand and laid it on her lap, clutching it with both of hers. She leaned her head on his shoulder, just wanting to be near him, enjoying his company as much as she could.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of not having to constantly shield her mind from emotions around her, not having to worry about holding her constantly fighting power back. While Loki's hands were colder than hers, she enjoyed the way their hands fit together, the feel of his fingers.
They sat like that for some time, eventually both scooting back enough so their backs were against the wall. They didn't talk, not having much to say to each other, but understanding that each person needed their own time to prepare for when the door opened.
Sigyn had dozed off, Loki's right arm now around her shoulder, her head in the crook of his neck, when she heard the click of the door. Loki pulled her just a little tighter and she opened her eyes to find Thor waiting at the door.
"Let us go," he said, and Sigyn followed his eyes to where Loki's arm sat around her shoulders.
Slowly, as if that would make time stop, Loki drew his arm away, then stood. He straightened his clothes before turning back to Sigyn.
"Stay strong," she told him.
"Stay strong," he repeated back to her, his voice just barely loud enough to hear.
Loki walked up to his brother, a smile on his face. "All ready to go then, brother?"
"Just one thing," said Thor. The movement was quick, and Loki stared in shock as shackles were placed on his hands.
"Brother-," Loki began, but Thor just pulled him out of the room.
After a second, Natasha appeared at the door. "You're next," she said, looking at Sigyn.
Sigyn nodded, standing and walking to Natasha. In her hands was a second pair of shackles, and Sigyn held her hands out. Once they were snapped on, Natasha gestured for her to step out. Immediately Sigyn threw up the walls in her mind. The emotions of those around her began pressing in, but she built up the wall, strengthening it. She couldn't reach out with her mind, and a quick glance at the shackles in which were gently glowing red explained why she wasn't able. She could use her powers to affect herself, but the shackles prevented her from using them outside her body.
The group of men dressed in black, including Natasha, led her down the hallway, into an elevator, and stepped out 30 seconds later to the largest group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents she had seen in one location. She searched around, looking at all the faces, some familiar that had been controlled by Loki, but most of them not. She couldn't find the one person she was truly worried about. She saw Weber, part of the team that had accompanied her through New York, just to Sigyn's left.
"Where's Liz?" she called out to her.
But Weber was stone-faced. And after a brief moment where the two women stared at each other, Sigyn finally realized. Liz wasn't there. Liz would never stand in this building again.
Sigyn gasped with the sudden shock and grief that washed through her. One of the guards behind her pushed her along, and that's what triggered the tears. They ran heavily down her cheeks, dripping down her chin to her shirt, causing her vision to become very blurry. Liz, the sweet woman who had been kind to her when no one, not a single soul, had given her a second thought. She had brought Sigyn books, and a hairbrush, had fought for her basic rights while locked in a cell. She had cared for her after her rescue, and not just because Loki had told her to do so. She had been so kind. Liz, who, despite having been under Loki's mind control, still followed her into battle once her mind was free.
Sigyn couldn't tell where she was walking, just followed the blur of red hair in front of her. They stepped outside the building where a car waited. Barton was there, casually leaning against the car, opening the back door once she had approached close enough.
"Get in," he said. She did, climbing in slowly, her vision still obscured by tears. Once the door was closed, she used her hands to wipe the tears away, rubbing her face to try to get the emotion off. Natasha climbed into the driver's seat, Barton in the passenger seat, and then they were moving.
Sigyn closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths, trying to shove her emotions down deep. Where ever she was going, she was going to have to keep her emotions under control. Whatever base S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to hold her at, she didn't want to make a fuss and make herself not liked. Not that it had helped the first time.
When she was under control, Sigyn opened her eyes and watched as New York passed by. The streets filled with cars, people on the sidewalks. Sigyn was surprised when they turned into Central Park. Why would they bring her here? There was no way S.H.I.E.L.D. would have a base so public as this.
The car finally stopped, Barton opened the door, and Sigyn saw what was going on. She felt a thrill of excitement. Not ten feet away from her, Thor and Loki landed, Thor's hammer slightly spinning. At the sight of Loki, Sigyn's heart hammered. They couldn't be letting her go with them. Could they? And of course, Loki had that muzzle on him again. Sigyn wondered what he had said this time.
"Come on," Natasha said as Thor and Loki approached a stone formation in the brick. "It's time for you to go."
Sigyn looked at Natasha. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Wasn't my call," she said, but gave Sigyn as small smile.
Thor and Loki stood in a circular brick formation, and Natasha led Sigyn there as well. Sigyn looked around, finding Tony Stark, Captain America, Bruce Banner, and Doctor Selvig there. The entire group watched as Selvig and Banner moved the Tesseract from the case Stark had brought with him, to a clear holding cell thing. Really, Sigyn wasn't sure what it was. As they were doing that, Natasha and Barton kept an eye on Loki and Sigyn as Thor said goodbye to Selvig, then the rest of the group.
It was only when Thor finally offered Loki one end of the container the Tesseract was in, did Sigyn actually worry they were going to leave her here. But Loki took the handle with his right hand and offered his left to Sigyn. She looked at Thor, waiting for him to disapprove, but all he did was watch her, waiting.
Sigyn took Loki's hand, and with a final nod at everyone else, Thor twisted the handle. In a spectacle of blue fire, the three of them were gone.