EREN LEADS ANNA out of the van, his grip on her uninjured arm tight. Stepping out into the inky darkness of the warm Istanbul night, she recognizes the same factory building that Eren brought her to before. Unfortunately, she was so distraught after Rifat's death that she couldn't remember where it was - or, more specifically - how to get out of here.
She glances over her shoulder to see Loki unceremoniously removed from the van, his feet dragging on the ground as several men struggle to transport the Asgardian god. Clearly, he's heavier than his lithe, muscular frame suggests.
Ahead of her, Magnus swings open the familiar metal door as they follow him into the now-empty factory floor. Machinery lies dormant, remnants of the workers sprinkled throughout the production line. They must close in the late afternoon instead of operating at all hours, allowing their employees to see them in a positive light whilst providing enough secrecy to cloak the underground facilities.
Certainly makes it easier to kidnap people without anyone here to notice.
Soon they are downstairs, and Loki is deposited abruptly into a heavily guarded cell. The drab concrete walls flow into an empty floor, where the sole furnishing is the threadbare cot upon which his unconscious body is thrown.
Eren pushes her down into a frigid metal chair facing the window looking into the cell, the floor to ceiling glass reinforced with a layer of metal bars. She wonders if it's a one-way mirror as a guard rushes in nervously, his hands shaking as he glances back at the glass, before he clamps strange-looking cuffs onto Loki's wrists.
"What the hell is going on?" Anna says, teeth clenched as she watches Loki shift uncomfortably.
Given his temper, she knows the god is going to be pissed when he wakes up.
"We had to maintain pretenses," Magnus explains casually. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his impeccably tailored suit, a crimson pocket square matching his thin, exquisitely red tie.
"Pretenses?" Anna scoffs. "You mean kidnapping me? It's not fake considering I have no bloody clue what's happening."
Magnus smirks, "I assure you, my dear, this is all according to plan."
"You keep saying that," replies Anna, her eyes flicking at Eren before returning to the man in the suit. "I was not made aware of any such plan."
"Indeed you were," he retorts. "We discussed it. How Iron Man and his band of misfits have too much power. How the world is suffering from the tyrannical rule of these few mighty heroes who will someday run society into the ground. How we must do everything in our power to stop them. If I remember correctly, you were more than willing to voice your hatred for them upon our last encounter. Have your sentiments changed so much over the last few days?"
"I...no...I don't," Anna rambles nervously, gripping the edge of the seat with one hand.
Magnus laughs. Eren shifts in the corner of the room as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall to observe them. Anna glances through the glass at Loki, mentally willing him to return to consciousness and deflect attention from her. Guilt is rapidly filling her chest, a lead-filled cavity expanding and weighing her down, as she realizes what she has done. In her emotional response to Rifat's death, she unwittingly aligned herself with these men - these monsters - in a plot to capture and kill the Avengers. Their deaths, Loki's death, will be on her conscience.
She nearly winces at the last thought, part of her shaken to the core at the prospect of the raven-haired god leaving her and the other part shocked that she would care. Yesterday she would've been more than willing to pull the trigger herself on her fiance's murderer. Now, she isn't certain. After all - are they really all that different? In this moment, she feels just as bad - if not worse - than him.
As if he could read her concern for Loki, Magnus motions for a guard to approach.
"Wake him," he instructs, reaching into his breast pocket and retrieving a syringe filled with a golden liquid.
The man nods, accepting the syringe and punching in the code to open the cell door. He crosses the room quickly, uncapping the syringe and jabbing it into Loki's neck. Before Anna could take a breath, Loki's green eyes snap open - landing on the shocked guard - and his cuffed hands wrap around the man's neck.
With unparalleled strength, he tosses the man across the cell like a rag doll. The dense thud of the guard's body slamming into the concrete makes Anna shiver, blood streaking down the grey wall as his unconscious body hits the floor. Unconscious or dead, that is.
Loki's blazing eyes whip to his right as he abruptly stands to his feet, his fire-filled gaze landing on Anna. The rest of his body is not yet alert so he teeters for a moment before collapsing to the floor, breaking eye contact for a brief moment before staring daggers back into her. Anna clings to her chair even tighter, her palm cutting against the sharp underside of the metal seat, as she resists every instinct to jump up and run to the glass. She cannot bear watching anyone suffer - even Loki - and her skin is crawling at the thought that he might think she is responsible for it.
For whatever reason, however, Magnus and Eren believe her to be on their side. She needs to keep up the charade, if not for her sake for Loki's.
A glance at Magnus reveals that his countenance is unchanged. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the death of one of his men, let alone by the fact that a supremely pissed off Asgardian god is a few feet from him separated by little more than glass and metal.
"Do it," Magnus says, and Anna watches as Eren nods at a man in the hallway behind us.
Clad in a white lab coat, the man hurries into the observation room to a touchscreen panel of controls on the far wall. Tapping on the screen, the lights flicker in the cell before clouds of gas roll into the room. Loki glances up at the billows of blue smoke before turning back to Anna. He pushes himself off the ground, moving slowly toward the glass, and slams a fist into it.
She jerks at the sound, but the glass remains unbroken. Loki's eyes widen with surprise, matching her own, as his fingers uncurl and press flat against the glass. Long, white fingers begin to slide down the window as the room continues to fill with the dense gas until Anna can no longer see anything but his hand. Within seconds, it too falls into the smoke.
"Stop," she croaks, her voice filled with emotion.
Magnus lifts an eyebrow, "Pardon?"
"Stop this," Anna repeats louder, jumping up to the glass.
Tears fill her eyes as she narrows her eyes, searching for Loki, before turning to glare at Magnus. His face is still marked with indifference, as if he murders people every day. Purely acting off impulse, Anna launches herself at the man in the suit and tackles him to the floor. Eren is on top of her in a moment, his hands grabbing her shoulders and throwing her off his employer.
Throwing up her fists, Anna strikes at him with precision. He dodges her initial attack, only to be met with a powerful left hook to the temple. Dazed, he takes a step back, allowing her an opening to launch a series of jabs to his face and body followed by a kick to the ribs. Seething with rage, Anna lifts her left arm to deliver a final blow before a jolt of electricity shoots through her body.
Magnus stands behind her, a small taser in his hand, as she falls to her knees in front of him. The suited man pulls his crimson pocket square out, wiping a small dribble of blood from the corner of his mouth, before jabbing the taser into Anna's neck for a second time. She collapses to the floor, her body convulsing with pain, as he glances at the lab tech.
"Remove the gas," he tells the man before turning to Eren. "Put her in the cell with him."
The whirring of a fan begins to clear Loki's cell of the blue smoke, revealing his writhing body on the floor. Once the oxygen levels return to normal, Eren approaches Anna carefully and drags her over to the door. She struggles briefly, her mind screaming as her body fails to react, as the door slides open and she is tossed onto the floor next to Loki. Once the door to the cell seals behind her, she commands herself to roll onto her side.
Barely able to move an inch, she turns to face the Asgardian god.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, tears falling from her blue eyes as she watches his convulsions slow. "I'm so sorry."
Now playing: "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers.
*****
Author's Note
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