The Robbed That Smiles

Chapter 08:

"That could've gone better." Stephen Strange muttered as he portalled himself and Thor from the government office, neither of them having wanted to fight against people who weren't their enemies or at least shouldn't be. The sorcerer sighed.

"We tried things your way, wizard. This country's government doesn't even care that my brother is innocent this time. They just want the Tesseract." Thor growled, furious as he stepped out from Strange's portal; it took a moment for him to notice the alarm in the sorcerer's eyes. Or the way Strange tensed, his gaze darting over their surroundings. "Wizard, what is…"

Strange raised his hand in a be quiet gesture, shushing the thunder god. His own gaze roaming over the room - the main room of the Sanctum where he entertained and evaluated guests, especially those he'd considered less than secure. A secure location, safe. It wasn't however, where he'd expected to portal into - his destination had been the Sanctum library. "This isn't right."

Irritated at being shushed, Thor started to criticize his colleague, but faltered as he watched Strange. Watched as the sorcerer armed his magic, the glint in his eyes one of a warrior expecting an assault. It immediately made Thor brace for an attack, expecting an enemy to lunge out at them.

"The Sanctuary spell's been broken." Continued Strange, observing the Sanctum cautiously even as he strode forward; his senses keen for any sign of an enemy as well as his fellow sorcerer Wong. His gut and the state of the Sanctum warning him of a dangerous threat.

"...I thought you said that was impossible." Thor glared at the sorcerer, his concern immediately switching to what this meant for his brother. It was less worry for his brother - aside from his fellow Avengers, none of the Midgardians would be able to really harm Loki - and more worry about what the mischief god might do if pushed. What his brother might construe as reasonable self-defense, the Midgardian government would likely consider cause enough to demand Loki be imprisoned. Or exiled.

"It is. At least for the soldiers who were waiting outside." Strange hurried into the hall, quickly noticing the signs of struggle. And the humanoid body lying comatose just below the window at the end of the corridor. Immediately he approached the unconscious stranger, not needing much to realize that whoever it was, was incapacitated due to the Sanctuary spell. That fact however did nothing to lessen his concern. The spell may have worked, but the stranger's location meant one thing. "...it was breached from inside. Whoever broke the Sanctuary spell, did so from inside the Sanctum."

"What are you saying, wizard?" Bristled Thor, immediately assuming his colleague was about to blame his brother. After all, nearly every Midgardian he met today had done likewise, whether justified or not. "If you think Loki…"

"Relax. I know it wasn't your brother." Strange interrupted the thunder god and continued searching the upstairs rooms. "There are security safeguards in place to inform me if he tries and succeeds at breaching any of the Sanctum's defences. It wasn't him. I've set similar safeguards for Miss Lokki, as well."

"Then who…" Thor's brow creased, but before he could say anything more, or voice a suspicion that hissed in his thoughts, Strange noticed the physical breach through the Sanctum wall. Straight through his sleeping quarters, and adjacent to the library. It took little time for the Midgardian wizard to check the breach and notice the monk, lying unconscious in the wreckage outside.

"Wong!" Strange hurried to his friend and fellow sorcerer, Thor following behind him until a noise drew the thunder god to a different direction.

Tense and worried about Loki - both his brother and his brother's female doppelganger - Thor quickened towards where he heard the noise. The sound was that of someone in pain, whimpering and breathing heavily. Somewhere in his subconscious he realized it was a stranger whimpering, but that mattered little - despite the fact that the stranger would likely be one of the Sanctum's attackers.

"Are you…." Thor coughed and covered his nose, stricken by the stench greeting him as much as by the cowering man's whimpers. His eye widened gawking at the stranger, his gut burbling at the bloody sight of the Midgardian's fingers. It tightened and his breath hitched as the god noticed the cuts on the stranger's cheeks and the severely frostbitten skin around the man's throat.

"Loki..." He subconsciously muttered, though whether he meant his brother or his brother's female counterpart, not even he was sure. At least after his initial assumption passed - shoved aside when the stranger started struggling to breathe; The frostbite damage taking its toll, along with the shock, as the numbness caused by the cold wore off. It took just a handful of seconds for the stranger to succumb to his injuries. "...what have you done?"

"Nice to see how quickly you assume I'm at fault." His brother's voice interrupted and the mischief god appeared suddenly behind Thor, the magic that had obscured him from view dispelled. Scowling down at the thunder god, who'd knelt to check on the Midgardian's injuries, he waited and stood regally over Thor, arms behind his back, the look on his face immoveable. After a moment he shrugged. "He and his buddies attacked - what do you expect I'd have done?" Loki inquired peering down at his brother, whose face reflected an inner conflict. It wasn't difficult to follow his brother's thought process - here was a dead Midgardian bearing injuries that couldn't be attributed simply to combative self-defense. But could to him. "Judging by your rather obvious displeasure at me, things didn't go well meeting with the Midgardians."

Thor sighed, his brother's observation reminding him of what agent Morfield had said about the Tesseract, as well as what Strange had quickly realized: That the Midgardians were right about the artifact's presence, but were going after the wrong god for it.

"If it'll help you could tell them this...person…" Loki gestured to the dead stranger while keeping his full contempt for the worm hidden from his face. "Endangered a pregnant guest of the Sanctum."

The thunder god's eyes widened, alarm filling him, though it was tempered by his experience with his brother's lying. "He attacked Sis?"

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Selfie's fine. I'm just giving you a way to help mitigate things for me. Regardless of what the Midgardians think of me or why they refuse to see sense with this statue nonsense, accusing one of their mercenaries of endangering an unborn child will certainly work to my...our advantage."

"Sis wasn't attacked then?" Asked Thor, completely unsure of his brother's verity. On one hand his brother sounded truthful but on the other his gut screamed at him otherwise. It didn't help matters when Loki simply shrugged dismissively in response and repeated his explanation. "Loki...if Sis was hurt…"

"If Miss Lokki was endangered, the suppression cuffs I placed on her would release and allow her to freely use her magic to protect herself." Strange interrupted, having finished helping Wong and questioning him about the identity of the Sanctum's attacker. The moment his friend and colleague had mentioned Mordo, he was shocked. Although he had expected to have to deal with his ex-colleague at some point, he never expected the man to aid the government's move on Loki. "More importantly," He continued after checking on the dead stranger, noting the man's injuries and ascertaining that the stranger was truly deceased. "Where is Mordo - the third attacker? And the soldiers who were waiting to ambush the Sanctum, where did they go?" Turning his attention to Loki, he asked the liar god who simply shrugged. A response that satisfied neither Thor nor Strange.

Thor grimaced sternly at his brother. "Loki…"

"I have zero idea what happened to the Midgardian soldiers. I was dealing with -" Loki gestured to the dead man lying on the floor. "This thing while whatever happened between them, shield-boy, and that other wizard happened." He paused, mulling over something before asking Strange directly. "Seriously, just how many wizards does Midgard have?"

"Enough." Replied Strange, leering at Loki and expressing through non-verbal communication his unspoken threat. That there were enough sorcerers on Earth to deal with the mischief god, either to banish him or seal him away if he became a problem. Loki just shrugged and rolled his eyes, dismissing the nonverbal threat. "What happened to Mordo - the 'other wizard' as you so eloquently put it?" Strange asked, sardonically emphasizing the word 'eloquently' - which prompted the silvertongue god to scowl at him.

"No clue. Now, if we're done, I'll just…" Loki paused and rolled his eyes when Thor reached for his arm, the thunder god's hand going right through the mischief god's illusion. "...Really?" He shook his head at his brother's annoyed yet still surprised look. "You're pissed off. The Sanctum is...well…" He gestured around at the Sanctum, emphasizing its current condition. "Did you honestly expect me to stick around to be blamed for shit?"

Thor gaped and then started to refute his brother's assumption, only for Loki to scoff.

"Sure you wouldn't." Said the mischief god sarcastically. "Remind me how long it took before your Avenger buddies convinced you I was lying about leaving the Tesseract in Asgard three years ago? A week?" Loki spat, giving his brother a look that exactly matched the attitude and irritation in his words. It soon morphed into one of curiosity as Strange and Thor both reacted at his mention of the Tesseract. He glanced from one man to the other, gauging their reactions, his brain quickly zeroing in on a possible reason. "Don't tell me that this - that the Midgardians wanting to imprison me is all because of the bloody Tesseract." Loki growled, becoming more furious with every word. "I should've bloody fucking taken it then, if this is what I'm to deal with for the rest of my bloody..."

"Hate to interrupt the quality family time," Stark interrupted through one of his iron suits, having sent it to the Sanctum to check on things. It arrived just seconds into the mischief god's tirade, in time to catch mention of the Tesseract. "But there are more pressing concerns to deal with now other than debating whether the liar god lied or not."

"And what…" Strange started to ask, stopping when Loki dispelled the projection of himself without another word. He scowled, but also rolled his eyes, at the huffyness of mischief god's exit. Thor, though, didn't share the same sentiment and nearly rounded on the sorcerer for it.

"Wiz…"

"Now isn't the time for this." Stark cut across Thor. "Tell me Rogers is with you. Or that he's somewhere nearby." The inventor implored, before groaning when both Thor and Strange shook their heads. "Fuckin…" He muttered, before telling his fellow Avengers to come to the tower asap.

~0~

It was dark. And the space around him felt heavy, the air - it was difficult to breathe, difficult to do anything but gasp repeatedly for air that barely satisfied his body's need for oxygen. His heart raced in his chest as Rogers realized this, and it took all his willpower to not go into a full-blown panic and thus lessen the effectiveness of his breaths even further.

He floundered around in the darkness around him, reaching out for any sort of handhold or structure or rock, etc. Anything to help him get his bearings and give him some idea where he was. The only thing he could tell was that he was on some surface - he was standing after all, even if he couldn't see what it was he was standing on. Nor could he see any walls around him, but understood from the claustrophobic feeling in his gut that he was in an enclosed space. Yet when he reached out - there was nothing.

"Hello?" He called out roughly, as it was a struggle to get in enough oxygen with the air so heavy. It took him a few gasps afterwards before he managed to continue. His legs felt shaky and his heart thumped harshly. "Is anyone here?"

There was no answer and he started to step forward, his vision still overwhelmed by the heavy blackness surrounding him. Before he made it a step - barely seconds before the foot he'd lifted forward to begin his walk landed back down onto whatever surface he was standing on - someone grabbed him. By the shoulders, stopping his movement forward.

His reaction was immediate. Grabbing for the hands of whoever it was, he pulled them off him and spun around. Ready to face whoever or whatever it was that had grabbed him. (The hands he'd pulled off his shoulders felt strange, inhuman but humanoid, as well as cold and hard.) It took him a moment to realize that he could see nothing of the thing that had grabbed him. His hand was still clasped around their wrists, but he saw nothing. The darkness was that absolute.

"That way is death. You do not want to go there." The creature spoke, its voice human but with an odd tone and cadence. The sort that was produced using computers. It was then that he realized whatever had grabbed him was some sort of robot, with the inhumanness of its limbs being due to being made from metals and plastics rather than flesh.

"Then where?" He asked and then took another few gasps for air, his head starting to throb from the low oxygen.

"Please refrain from speaking. The space-pocket you are in does not contain enough oxygen rich air to sustain conversation."

"Space…" Rogers barely managed to say before the robot shushed him, repeating its warning. Feeling lightheaded and with a headache pounding full blast inside his skull, he decided to heed the machine's warning. Though he had so many questions he wanted to ask.

"Good. Now step towards me. I will guide you. Just do not let go of my arms." The robot replied and proceeded to do as it said it would; Rogers felt uneasy just going along with the stranger - the chances it was leading him into danger were high. But considering his only alternative was asphyxiating in the low oxygen environment, he took the gamble that if the robot led him to danger, he could fight it off. Unless the robot was leading him into an even worse environment.

His stomach clenched as he considered that possibility, and he nearly ripped his arms away from the robot - the machine had clamped onto his wrists on their way forward, perhaps out of some sort of AI foresight. He stopped when the first waff of oxygen-rich air hit him and he sucked in a breath immensely relieved. The light was the next thing he noticed - it wasn't bright or shining, but he could finally make out his own hands and the barest outlines of his surroundings.

Including the robots hands, which were more human-like than he expected. As he continued forward, following his guide, he noticed how realistic the robot was. Realistic skin, limb portions, muscular composition - everything was uncannily real, and when they were in full light, he could see no evidence that the creature was anything but human.

He stared at the robot or android, his curiosity piqued. Five and a half foot tall, sporting dark umber hair, skin a mix of snow and ochre, and dressed in a leather and tweed outfit, the android stopped walking and motioned forward. Rogers barely even noticed. "How…"

"Hey! Hey! Tin-can!" Someone called out, shouting until the android turned towards them.

"My name is not 'Tin-can.' It is Fen. Address me as such or not at all."

"Whatever." The person muttered before barraging the android with questions in regard to the man's colleagues: questions along the lines of how long they would be unconscious and if the first aid applied to them was sufficient. Rogers just listened quietly behind the android, unnoticed by the man, until it clicked in his head who the other human was.

"Wait." Rogers interrupted the other's barrage of questions, stepping into the other's view. " You're one of the soldiers that attacked the Sanctum."

"W...You?! How…the flipping hell are you here?!" The soldier exclaimed and tensed, instinctively shifting into a defensive position while glancing for his firearm. The item in question lay on a bench table about thirty feet away, too far to be of use even if Rogers was a normal human.

"Relax. I'm not here to fight." Rogers held up his hands in a gesture that matched his words, emphasising his lack of hostility. "I'm as clueless as you. I don't even know where or what this place is."

"This is the Arboretum." Replied the android, Fen, while pointing to the trees, shrubs, and ferns. Many of which, on closer inspection weren't actually there. Enough were real to account for the oxygen rich environment, but most others were illusionary. The 'sun' too was fake, nothing but a light source suspended high above them. "The ship is yet to be named."

"...Ship?" Rogers asked, despite already having a guess to what the android meant, and when Fen unshuttered a window showing the dark, star-spattered expanse surrounding them outside, the Avenger simply stared out. "Space. We're in space." He muttered while Fen left, the android heading towards where the injured soldiers were. The uninjured soldier followed closely behind, barely bothering with the Avenger.

Rogers approached closer to the window, staring out at the stars in awe, his eyes scanning for any familiar constellations or such. Any hint suggesting that they were in space around Earth and not in a vastly foreign part of space as he feared in his gut. The more his gaze searched the expanse, the more he realized he recognized none of the stars or the constellations they made up.

He tensed, his thoughts on Mordo and what the sorcerer was doing - although the man had been truthful when saying the soldiers he'd portalled away weren't dead, that didn't mean he wasn't a threat. Mordo had known about the female Lokki after all, despite the Avengers keeping a lid on that fact about the woman. Keeping it secret from the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D, and only revealing it to a few of their own number. Mainly only those Avengers who'd been in New York the day Lokki appeared.

No one else should've known her identity.

(Even if S.H.I.E.L.D or any other government agencies knew of the goddess' presence, Stark had crafted an explanation for Lokki's sudden appearance, along with a false identity. It should've taken a while - at least a few weeks longer for anyone to see through it. Even longer, considering how focused the government seemed to be on Loki.)

Rogers grimaced, giving up searching for familiar constellations and instead reaching for the communicator Stark had made for and given to each of the team. It was only as he pressed the transmit button and got only static that he remembered it had gotten damaged recently. During a mission. Just that morning he'd been planning on giving it back to Stark to repair, only to be distracted helping Thor.

"I'm not sure if any of you will get this." Rogers spoke into the communicator anyways, not confident on it reaching his fellow Avengers, but figuring it was worth the try. "I'm on some ship, in some part of space that I have no idea where. Some wizard who attacked the Sanctum portalled me here. Along with some US soldiers." He paused and walked towards a more secluded spot, something about his environment making him feel uneasy. "The wizard is after Lokki - the female one. He knows about her. Considering her pregnant condition, she should be guarded."

He concluded his message, the uneasy feeling grown stronger. To combat it, he walked around the Arboretum and then through a doorway behind one of the few real trees. At first he thought it headed to a corridor, but it was simply a walk-in closet or storage. Albeit one with a computer and small desk tucked in the far corner. There was another door beside the desk, locked. That wasn't what caught his eye - or rather his ear.

It was the computer. Its monitor was pitch for some reason, but the speakers were on and their audio clear, if a bit low. Straining to hear the audio, Rogers leaned in and held his breath. The voice unmistakably that of Stark.

-"...if the worst happens. If none of us make it. If he kills all of us, then…" There was a pause, Stark's voice lowering a bit. "Lokki, you need to..."-

"What are you doing here?" Fen interrupted, the android's voice drowning out that of Stark's. "This area is off limits to all but Lokki. She will be furious if she sees you here on her return." The android ushered Rogers out of the tiny room, its voice too loud for the Avenger to make out anything else on the recording. And its strength beyond what the man expected. "If the Arboretum is not to your liking, perhaps the Library or the Lounge will be?"

"I…" Rogers stopped resisting; Stark's voice and words echoing in his ears, along with the android's. He may not have caught all of the recording, but he understood much more than just a minute ago. Just from listening to the pronoun the android used. "This is her universe. Miss Lokki's."

"This ship belongs to Lokki, yes." Fen replied and tilted its head, not understanding Rogers' emphasis on the universe being Lokki's. "The universe belongs to no one."

"That's not what…" Rogers tried to explain, but the android just hurried off after pointing briefly towards a set of doors that the man assumed led to the aforementioned library and lounge. He sighed and glanced towards the makeshift medic area where the android was once again dealing with the soldiers. Partly tempted to see if he could help, he considered going over, but decided not after overhearing the android tell the uninjured soldier that his fellows just needed to rest. That there was nothing else to do.

"This is just great." Rogers muttered with a tinge of sarcasm, wondering if he should walk around the Arboretum - perhaps try to reenter the room with the computer again - or instead explore other parts of the ship. Despite the android's more-than expected strength and such, he knew he could make it back to the room quick enough to glean much more from the recording. Perhaps hear the whole thing and maybe figure out more about the frost giantess, like what exactly happened to her universe or how she got to theirs. It'd be useful and he could reach it before the android could stop him. But…

'Fen is helping the soldiers, if I distract him and something goes wrong with one of them…' The Avenger sighed, quickly deciding to wait until the unconscious soldiers were better before risking distracting the android. 'Maybe I'll find something elsewhere on the ship that'll be useful? Perhaps something that'll help get us back home.' He thought while pushing the button on one of the doors, judging it to be the library due to the book design etched onto it.

"Grrrr." A sharp growl the second the door opened caused Rogers to bristle and freeze, even more so when the growling became a roar. Not a long or loud roar, but a menacing one. His eyes quickly searched for the origin - and nearly jumped out of their sockets when they found it.

A bristling bear, with grizzled fur and coal eyes, glared at him from three bookshelves away. It growled at him, watching him and waiting.

"Oh boy." Rogers muttered, smiling nervously at the creature. His brain gone blank from the combination of shock and confusion seeing the bear. The last thing he'd expected was encountering a bear in a library on a ship in the middle of space. "Lokki certainly has interesting taste in pets."

"Grahhh!" The bear roared viciously at the word pet and stood on its hindlegs, making itself much more menacing.

"Sorry! Not a pet." Said Rogers on reflex, not realizing until the bear settled down and he sighed in relief that the creature understood him. "Wait...you understand what I'm saying?" He asked, to which the bear replied with a softer growl that seemed to be saying 'yes.' To clinch it the creature moved its head clumsily in a nodding gesture. Afterwards it started walking away down one of the aisles, not giving Rogers any more mind. "What in the…." He shook his head and mumbled before deciding to leave the library and try the lounge, not keen on reading with a bear sauntering through the aisles like some sort of beastly librarian.

He was just about to exit, his hand centimeters from pressing the button controlling the door, when a shockwave rippled through the ship.