Controlling the Phoenix

Awaken

It took a few days for the figure in the cell to begin changing, and Loki would curiously look over every so often to see that more and more of the black charred bits had fallen away, revealing smooth looking pale skin underneath. As more chunks fell off, he finally realized that the small frame was laying in a fetal position with its back to him.

He found out the figure was female. Not by shape, since she mostly remained still throughout the day, but by the screams that came at night.

The first night it happened, Loki saw the guards run away from their posts. He clasped his hands tightly over his ears as her screaming overwhelmingly filled the silence that surrounded him.

The guards must have gone straight to Fury, because construction of an obscure soundproof barrier began immediately the following morning.

"You could not have shut that thing up any earlier?" Loki snapped at Fury, tired from having to deal with the constant disruptions in his night. "Where in gods' names did you find it?"

Fury glared at Loki with his one working eye, before turning his back to him to watch the work being completed.

"I was tempted to just let that thing keep you up every night, but too bad I can't have you unguarded and not listened in on." Fury paused to glance back at Loki's hateful expression with a smirk before he continued.

"As far as what that thing is... Last I checked, that's none of your damn business."

Loki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know not of what it is, do you?" He said in a low annoyed tone. He could read Fury fairly well, and he knew his assumption was correct when he opened his eyes to catch Fury look away from glancing at him. The pause before he responded confirmed it further.

"Why would I tell you anything after what you had done, Loki?" Fury asked, finally turning to face him with his hands clasped behind his black trench coat covered back.

Loki restrained from showing a hint of a smile, knowing he had reeled him in. "No need... I already know of what this being is. I was asking for your own sake, and figured you may wish to know of the dangers of containing it... But you seem to have things covered."

Fury crossed his arms, squinting at Loki suspiciously.

"That Widow woman found it, am I wrong? I am certain it showed itself as some sort of unique event? An interesting anomaly of sorts?" Loki spoke confidently while playing up his exhaustion to seem more genuine, hoping the slips of annoyance as he spoke convinced Fury that he was letting him in on some important imformation due to his lack of rest.

He was completely guessing based on how off-put Natasha seemed during their short interaction, along with the fact that they chose to contain it here. There would be no other reason for them to lock this woman up next to him if they already knew what she was, or didn't think she was potentially dangerous.

Fury remained silent, confirming his guess.

Loki continued. "Those laughable walls you are building around it now will not work. If it is kept away from sight for too long, you will have a much bigger issue than me to worry about in here. Just make the damn chamber soundproof, but keep it visible..."

As if on queue, the body caught fire again.

Fury turned around to yell at the guards. "Turn on the damn halon!"

Loki raised an eyebrow at the small slip of information.

It was a very efficient fire protective fluid, usually used to control fires and avoid the loss of valuable assets such as computer servers. The gas itself is exceptionally toxic to humans, causing immediate lung damage and eventually shutting down the nervous system.

Flooding the containment area with it would make it impossible for any ordinary Midgardian to survive.

Loki wanted to be able to keep her in sight even more now for his own curiosity. Half to learn more about what she is, and half to use her screams as an advantage to annoy the guards.

He could actually tune her screams out fairly well, but prefered that the Avengers thought they had an advantage over him.

"I don't believe you..." Fury said as he looked back to Loki.

Loki gave him his most convincing glare. "Do you believe I would wish to willingly go through the same torment again, just as I had to last night? My concern is for my own skin, since I am to remain here next to this thing that you know so little about." He spat.

Fury groaned quietly as he turned back to his men. It seemed there would be no harm in observing the creature, even if Loki was lying. Although fire proof monitoring equipment was hard enough to come by, and would be dangerous to install inside the cell, so he was not about to fully follow Loki's suggestion.

"Call in more workers." He commanded. "Make the extra containment only come down during the night. Otherwise keep this cell in view."

Fury then shot Loki a cold glance before leaving the containment area. Loki watched him leave, failing at trying to hide a victorious smile once he was out of view.

As night came, the new containment came down with a loud thud, surrounding the cell and completely cutting anything inside of it from outside eyes.

Loki could not believe his luck, as he would not have to keep pretending that the screaming was unpleasant, but also could keep an eye on the mysterious containment next to his.

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As morning came and Loki heard the sound of the extra containment being removed after the long night, he glanced up from his bed into the other cell and his eyes widened in surprise.

The shape of the woman he saw before had shed most of the charred skin.

She was pale and slender, and from what he could see, fairly attractive. A few inches of bright red hair had even grown from her previously bald and burned scalp, the color of which could very well match the fire that surrounded her.

She had moved herself closer to one of the glass walls of the cell, leaning against it with her arms wrapped around her knees, head down and rested upon them.

He kept an eye on her for the few following days, growing excited every time he heard the sound of that mechanical barrier lifting itself, just to see how much longer her bright red hair had grown overnight.

She remained in the same closed off position. Just hugging her knees and sporadically bursting into flames for days, until about a week later he noticed her lift her head up and slowly look around her surroundings in a daze.

He noticed this, yer remained still. Pretending to be immersed in reading the book he had in hand, and trying to see what she would do. He did not want to startle her, but seeing her elegant face look around herself as her now waist long crimson hair fell around her made him lose his focus.

They locked eyes, and he lost himself in her soft features and dark eyes before noticing how confused and troubled she looked.

Something about the way she looked at him felt very familiar for some reason.

"Where æm I?" She asked slowly. Her voice was quiet and soft, unlike the high pitched violent screams he heard from her during the night.

His eyes widened as he got himself up and walked over to sit as close to the glass separating them as possible.

Her words had sent his mind into a frenzy, because she had spoken in a dead language only he recognized.

It was the language of the people of his beloved mother, Frigg. All of the ones who spoke it should have been dead, or forcefully united with Odin's people as the marriages between the Aesir and Vanir were put into place long before his birth. He could understand this elder tongue only from the bits his mother had taught him in secret when he was young.

Just as Loki opened his mouth to try to form a response in her language, one of the guards noticed the woman had woken up and activated a deafeningly loud alarm.