Witness

Chapter 12

Annie gasped for air, her lungs aching in pain . The ringing in her ears caused even more confusion for her as she blinked away the pain, air slowly making its way into her lungs again. With each coughed she curled up on the cold floor as each cough caused her body to ache.
Gasping she looked up , the Loki's tall form hovering over her, his bright eyes looking her over with intrigue .
"I'm not sure how you manage to stay conscious my dear but it's your own fault for any future pain."  His silky smooth voice spoke up in a soft tone that was a stark contrast to his torture.
Annie struggled to sit up, bruises forming on her arms and legs. She looked to the floor and shut her eyes a moment , taking as deep of a breath as she could , before turning her face up to Loki. Her eyes were stern and her tone forward and firm,
"I can't give you what you want . Your talents are being wasted ."
Loki smirked, she was impressing him consistently and he felt it was a shame that she would eventually die. He crouched before her, balancing on the toes of his shoes, lifting her face with one cold, large hand.
His icy eyes searched hers , as if some untold secret would show itself within their pained glares.
"One more time love. That's how many times I am going to ask you to answer me truthfully."
"And one more time I will tell you." Annie responded harshly, " I don't have the answer."
Loki searched her face as his grip on her tightened.
"Then you have chosen death." He finally said, seemingly with a hint of pity at loosing such an intriguing subject.
Annie could feel a sharp pain flood her mind as the grip Loki now had on her throat tightened as well. She was shoved back harshly against the baseboard of the bedframe, her head throbbing with the pain of striking it . Her strength was failing as she attempted to tear his hand from her, and the only thing she could do was panic.  A strange sense of acceptance came over her and the last bit of courage she had caused her to stop struggling and simply stare into his cold eyes , a small grin coming to her lips.
This action caused him to falter just a moment before a loud slam caused them both to look in the doorway to see The Winter Soldier standing there, weapon in hand .
"They need the subject alive." He said with no emotion.
Loki chuckled and stood, his grip loosening to a tight hold to where Annie could breath but that she had to attempt to stand with him.
"And you really expect me to bow to men's wishes. I don't answer to any man." Loki retorted sounding bitter .
"Men are not the one who ordered this." The Winter Soldier said , once again, with absolutely no emotion.
At this, Loki faltered and glanced down at Annie, who was simply staring up at them both in fear and anxiety. Suddenly his hand let go of her and she fell hard onto the floor as Loki stepped away and to the door.
"Next time love." He said, glancing back at her before he disappeared from the room.
Annie was gasping for air and touching her throat lightly as she struggled to crawl to the bed post to lift herself up. She managed to get to her feet and was now slumped over the foot of the bed, trying to lift her head. She felt eyes on her now and looked back to see the Soldier with his head cocked ever so slightly, watching her intently.
"You can stand there and watch me struggle all you want , I'm not going to stop trying." Annie said with as much strength as she could.
She watched him a moment before returning to her task of making it onto the bed. She had finally made it to the side of bed she was previously on and held tightly to the sheets as she pulled herself up and onto them, immediately collapsing on her back, her eyes shutting . She heard some movement and the door closing, now finally alone  Annie let a soft sob escape her lips before she covered her own mouth with her hand and her shoulders shook.
A movement next to her startled her into opening her eyes and looking up to see the Soldier standing over her, watching her just as intently as before. Annie scrambled to sit up, but she realized that he was closer than before and stopped, just sitting on her feet. She caught sight of his metal arm reaching out and she jumped and his hand paused before taking hold of her arm gently and turning it to expose the inside of her elbow.
"What are you doing?" Annie said, too tired to fight him.
The fingers from his other hand ran over the bruises on her arm before looking up at her saying ,
"You need something for the pain, I have that."
While he said this he presented her with a small syringe and some clear liquid in it . Annie didn't even realize the fact that he had already inserted her with whatever was in the syringe , she was watching his face as small expressions came over him, a bit of emotion showing in his eyes.
Annie could already feel whatever it was he gave her working on the ache in her head and in a moment of weakness she said ,
"Thank you."
She couldn't believe those words escaped her lips and she looked down at her lap , trying to focus on what she had just done.  She felt his hands rest themselves on either side of her and she looked up at him, almost startled at how close he was to her. His eyes seemed to be desperately begging her to understand his inability to say 'you're welcome’  and she felt pity for him. His face hovered near hers and Annie didn't even think she simply acted.
Her lips locked on his, her eyes shut and her hand was touching his face as she did so. She realized then that his lips moved with hers ever so slightly and she could feel his fingers press lightly against her thighs and curve around them.  She pulled back slowly , and looked back down at her lap, seeing very clearly how his hands were now wrapped around her thighs .
He started with miniscule movements at first but finally he drew back his hands and stood, looking down at her as she looked down at her lap. She felt a cold finger lift her chin up to look at him and she could feel herself shiver and waves of exhaustion suddenly took her. She remembered seeing his bright eyes and she remembered his lips on hers for a few moments before it all faded to black, a numbing, deafening darkness that made her shiver .