Every Villain is a Hero

Chapter Eight

Norse Proverb: Repay treachery with lies.

Chapter Eight

Lisa was vaguely aware of goings on outside Jane’s mind but she wasn’t paying them any attention. She had found Jane’s memories but while her older archive was intact, her short term memories were damaged. If her mind were magically healed, then perhaps she might recover something but if Jane’s body was left to heal itself, the memories would be lost forever.

She was just about to tell Loki that, which she knew would be the best argument she could make for him healing Jane, because he wanted her access to her memories, but before she could say anything, she saw the files begin to fix themselves. The bricks jumped back into walls, the bent filing cabinets straightened themselves, dents flattened out, the plaster and carpets reformed, almost appearing to grow back.

She watched in amazement until the only sign of trauma was the files left scattered on the floor. It would be up to Lisa to put those away correctly, or as best she could.

‘Loki, I… Thank you. Thank you so much.’

He didn’t answer and she realised that she couldn’t feel him any more. She retreated to her own mind.

Blinking her eyes against the harsh florescent lights, she looked around. Fury was gaping at her, the nurse looked stunned and the SHIELD agent held a gun on her.

Well, she knew she wasn’t invisible any more but it wasn’t until she looked down that she realised why. Loki was on the floor.

Lisa got down on her knees and took his hand as she entered his mind.

‘Hey, you here? Loki?’

This was the first time she had ever entered his mind and it was unlike any other she had been in, using Asgardian architecture.

‘Loki, what happened? Are you okay?’

Nothing. Lisa began to drift through his mind. He didn’t have rooms in his mind, he had a palace and suites.

She drifted around, calling his name but receiving no reply. She hesitated when she came to a corridor that was incongruous with the rest of the mind-scape. No gold and gilt here, just damp rocks with mould, algae and slime growing on them. The doors were also made of rock, but closed with huge chains that would not look out of place on a ship’s anchor, and massive padlocks, the size of her head, holding the chains closed.

She didn’t need to know what was down here, it was his memories of the Chitauri and the Other. She had seen glimpses in her dreams but she didn’t know the full story of what they did to him and while she desperately wanted to find out, she wasn’t sure that she could live with committing such a gross invasion of privacy.

‘Lisa.’ He appeared beside her.

She jumped. ‘Must you keep doing that? I’m going to put a bell on you so you can never sneak up on me again!’

He smiled.

‘Are you awake now?’ she asked.

‘I am but only in here, I can't be out there for a while longer.’

‘Why not? You really worried me.’ She knew he would be able to feel her concern.

‘You are aware of the conservation of energy principle in physics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed?’

Lisa nodded.

‘Magic is just another form of energy. You’ve seen how much I eat-’