Chapter 4

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STANDING OUTSIDE THE FACTORY, Anna runs her fingers through her hair while talking to the police officer. It's been nearly five hours since Jane disappeared, and saying that she's frazzled is a bit of an understatement. She searched the factory compound herself - twice - before returning to Darcy and Ian in a mild panic, at which point they finally decided to stop throwing garbage into the portal and help her. After two hours of scouring dark corridors and empty offices, Jane had not emerged. At that point, Darcy called the police.

She repeated the story for the two men one last time, trying to stay patient with them while they asked routine questions about why they were on the premise, what they were doing there, where Jane might have gone, etcetera. Darcy looked a bit frazzled, truthfully, while Anna was starting to grow angry with the police who had yet to do anything substantial to find her friend.

It would be a massive lie if she said her thoughts hadn't flickered to Restitution, because they had. Repeatedly. The sting of the electric shock torture Magnus inflicted on her made her flinch involuntarily, and she found herself tracing the tiny scar on the inside of her right elbow from that first session. Thoughts of Loki flood her mind at the memory, reminding her of the first moment she realized she might have feelings for the Asgardian prince.

----Flashback----

While the guards drag Anna back to the cell she shares with Loki, she attempts to lift her legs but they will not respond to any commands. It's almost as if the electric current running through her body short circuited her brain, leaving her unable to move or function normally. In reality, her muscles are so fatigued that she lacks the strength to even stand - let alone walk - after thrashing involuntarily due to the electricity coursing through her body.

The high voltage and low current device ensured that the pain was high but not lethal, meaning Anna could be subject to more torment over a longer period of time. Even after this first session, the physical effects are minimal. Only two marks dot her skin - one on the left side of her neck and the other inside her right elbow - but her entire body is rife with pain.

She's barely conscious as they pull the door open to the observation room, one of them jamming finger on a screen to open the door to the cell. Loki's emerald eyes are on her before she recognizes it, and seconds after the guards toss her into the cell he catches her fall. Thankfully, Eren and the guards leave them alone, as Anna can feel a fresh wave of tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Anna," Loki whispers, holding her fragile body against his as he searches for signs of injury. "Anna, look at me."

She can't keep her eyes open, try as she might, and they slide shut despite his command. All she can think about is the pain of the picana - the wand used to deliver the shocks to her body - and the questions repeated over and over to her before each wave of pain.

"I don't know," she mumbles, pressing her eyes shut to prevent more tears from slipping out. "I don't know where they are."

"Who?" Loki urges. "Where who is?"

Wincing in pain, another tear slips down her cheek. Loki's voice is distant and muffled, an echo of reality held far away from her by the pain invading her senses. Suddenly, his cool fingers brush against the side of her neck next to one of the burns, and Anna jerks away at the sensation.

"What did they do to you?" Loki murmurs as Anna shifts against him, turning her face so it rests in the hollow at the base of his neck.

He secures his grip around her waist and stands, moving toward the single cot in the cell, but Anna is barely aware of the fact that they're moving. Just before she slips out of his grasp, they both fall into the mattress. Loki adjusts her body, lifting her legs on the cot as well, and Anna forces her eyelids open to gaze at him.

Emerald eyes meet blue ones as she forces out the words, "Elec-electric...sh-sh-shock."

Rage clouds his features, and her eyelashes flutter shut once more. The pain is changing, gradually being replaced by a numbness that Anna cannot fight as her body craves unconsciousness. Gentle fingers skim over the surface of her skin, and Loki breaks his hold on her hand to brush his cool fingertips over the burn on the inside of her arm.

Anna inhales sharply, and the sensation disappears momentarily only to be replaced by that of Loki's lips pressing against the skin inside her elbow. Her eyes open quickly, her heart hammering loudly in her throat, as she watches him brush his ice-cold fingers over the burn once more.

"I am truly sorry," he tells her, his lips hardly moving with the sound.

Whoever this man is, she is completely and utterly enthralled by him. His emerald eyes burn into her, piercing her very existence, and for a moment she forgets how to breathe. All the pain of Magnus's torture is forgotten, overrun by the sensation of his fingers and his lips brushing against her skin.

As she drifts out of consciousness, she can't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

----End Flashback----

"Jane!" Darcy's voice pulls Anna out of her memories. "Where the hell were you?"

She whips her head to the left, leaving the police officers where they stand to jog over toward Jane and Darcy.

"Tell me you didn't call the police," Jane groans, motioning to the uniformed men and women standing next to their vehicles.

"What was I supposed to do?" Darcy replies incredulously.

Jane scoffs, "Not call the police."

"I was freaking out!" Darcy explains.

It starts to rain, water pouring down around them and sending the police officers into their cars for cover. Anna slows to a stop in front of Darcy and Jane, her blue eyes wide as she realizes that the rain is not hitting the three of them.

"Jane..." Anna says slowly, watching the rain in awe.

"You call the cops, they call the Feds," Jane spits back at Darcy, ignoring Anna. "Next thing you know, we have S.H.I.E.L.D. crawling all over the, Area 51-ing the place."

"Jane--" Darcy tries to interrupt.

Jane ignores her, "We had a stable gravitational anomaly. We had unimpeded access. Our only competition was ten years old!"

"Jane!" Anna interjects, taking another step toward them. "You were gone for five hours."

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