I woke up with a brand new pain in my head. To my surprise, I wasn't in my bed where I had initially fallen unconscious. No, I was in the god-awful cell that I had been in now three times.
I let out a long sigh and looked around. My gaze met that of Clint Barton. He looked smug.
"I give you all the answers you desire, and you lock me up." I said, standing up.
"That's what happens when you kill two people." Barton replied angrily. "And try to kill a third."
"What are you talking about?" As soon as I was standing, a wave of nausea passed over me. I touched the pain in my head and my fingers came away sticky with my own blood. I curled my lip. When did that happen?
"Don't play stupid. You tried to kill Natasha. You're lucky it wasn't me who bashed your head in. Steve went easy on you."
I furrowed my eyebrows. What was he talking about? "I want to see Natasha." I said.
"What? You want to finish what you've already started?" Clint asked.
"Barton, that's enough." I looked over at Bruce, who had walked in at that second. "Natasha wanted me to let her know when he woke up. She wants to talk to him."
Barton turned his angry gaze on Bruce. "Fine."
"Let's go get her, then."
The two men left and I was left alone with just my thoughts. What the hell was going on?
Bruce came into the hospital area followed by Clint. Neither of them looked particularly happy. I sat up in bed immediately.
"He's awake." Bruce said dully. I climbed out of the bed and stood up. That's when I noticed that Clint didn't just look unhappy, he looked furious.
"Are you okay?" I asked him. My voice still sounded like crap. He nodded curtly.
"Thanks for letting me know." I said to them both. "I'm going to go and see him." I gave Bruce a small smile and he returned it.
I opened the door that led out of the hospital and continued with a steady jog to Loki's cell. I froze in the opening, down the stairs where I was out of his view, though I could see him. He was pacing, and the sight gave me a small stab of nostalgia of when we had first spoken.
I climbed up the stairs and he froze before turning to me. "Natasha." He said softly. His voice was his again. I had never been so relieved to hear his voice before. I never would have thought I would be this relieved to hear his voice ever. "Are you alright?"
I crossed my arms. I wasn't sure what to say. Loki approached the glass until he was as close as he could get to me. My mind flashed back to the last time we were in this position (though I was farther away now) when Loki had been threatening Barton and me, his voice a deep growl. He had seemed crazy at the time, his eyes swirling with madness and a maddened smile had been plastered on his face. The memory forced me to take a step back.
"Natasha?" He said, his voice was quiet. "What happened? Your neck..."
"What do you mean 'what happened?'" I questioned, my voice just as quiet.
"I don't remember. Barton told me that I killed two people, but I don't remember. I don't even know when this happened," He pressed his hand against the glass.
As soon as he did that, my mind flashed back again to Loki's threatening words.
His fist slammed against the glass. "I won't touch Barton," his voice was a low snarl, "not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately. In every way he knows you fear."
My mind flashing back to the present, I took another involuntary step back. "Natasha, please...you have to believe me. I don't remember. It wasn't me." His eyes were wide. "Remember I told you the creatures could take control of my body? Remember? That must have been what happened." He paused and added in a pleading voice, "please."
I looked at him, concerned. He looked desperate. His eyebrows were angled upward, and there was a stressed crease between them.
I heaved a long sigh. "I believe you," I said after a while. I stepped toward the glass cage, and Loki gave me a small, relieved half-smile. I pressed my hand on the glass next to his, so the only thing separating our touch was the glass. I then glanced at the camera to my right and pulled away. "When you - the creature - attacked me, it had your body but your eyes...your teeth, your voice. It wasn't you. So... I believe you."
Loki let out a sigh of relief. "Yes. It wasn't me."
I lowered my gaze, feeling relief wash over me. I knew he wouldn't do something like that.
"So...when am I getting out of here?" He asked, and I bit my lip not meeting his gaze.
"I don't think that's a good idea." I whispered.
"What?"
"I don't think that's a good idea." I repeated, louder this time. I met his gaze. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked angry.
He opened his mouth but words didn't come. Finally, jaw set, he spoke.
"But I cooperated with you. I did everything you asked me to do. I risked my life for you." He sounded angry and desperate. "I won't hurt you, Natasha."
"I'm sorry, Loki. I just don't think that would be the best idea. It's not safe. These creatures - they can take control of you body whenever they like and-" I tried to reason with him but he interrupted me.
"No, they can't. It takes a great deal of magic to take control of someone else's body. And magic takes a great deal of time to build up. It'll take a while, Natasha. It would be safe."
"It's still unpredictable, Loki. It's not safe."
"I won't hurt you, Natasha." He repeated. He stared at my face for a second, his eyes going from angry to disappointed. "You don't trust me, do you?"
My response blurted out of my mouth before I could stop it. "How could I?"
I watched as Loki closed his mouth and clenched his jaw. "Right. How could you possibly trust me?" He turned away from me and walked over to the one seat in his cell. Seeing this as my time to leave, I bit my bottom lip and turned around, walking out of the room.
I sat down on the bench and let my head fall back against the glass. I felt tears spring up in my eyes, but I blinked them away. My teeth were clenched, my lips pursed, I tried to think. Maybe she was right, maybe it was better this way. I just hated, hated being in a cell. I missed Asgard where I could roam freely, where everything was big and grand. Where I had power. Why did I give that all up?
It wasn't you, I reminded myself. And it was true. My head was so much clearer after New York, now that I was with Natasha everyday. I knew my head wasn't in the right place when I attacked Earth. What Coulson said was true. I had lacked conviction.
There was suddenly a brilliant, blinding flash of light that filled my cell, making me blink several times to get my eyes to adjust. The first thing I noticed was that there were strange but horribly familiar scorch marks on the floor of my cell making a pattern.
The second thing I noticed was that I was no longer alone in my cell, but after seeing the markings, it did not come as a surprise.
It was Odin.
As evenly as I could, I met the gaze of my adoptive father, but I couldn't help but feel a burst of fear. What was he doing here? At the same time, I couldn't help but feel excited. Was he going to take me back to Asgard?
All the excitement in me faded away as soon as I heard his voice. "Loki," His voice was calm, but I could tell he was very, very angry.
I stood up, my breathing coming in rushed spurts. "Allfather." I said, ducking my head, creeping around the cell, but he was standing in the exact center. I couldn't get away from him. He looked amused at my use of his formal title. "What are you doing here?"
Odin gave me a small smile, but it was far from reassuring. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was some sort of glint in his eye that was unfamiliar. A glint of extreme sadness or anger. I could almost feel it radiating off of him in waves. "I do not feel my punishment for you is a good fit." He paused. "I take you pity on you and how do you repay that kindness? By killing two mortals and attempting to kill a third? This punishment I gave you is not punishment, it's mercy. And you don't deserve mercy."
He took a threatening step forward, and I shied away.
"You're-" Odin began at the same time as a comfortingly familiar voice filled my ears.
"Loki?"
I looked over Odin's shoulder and met the gaze of Natasha. She had come back.
"Natasha!" I called, hearing the fear and desperation in my voice. I was still angry, sure, but I was so relieved to see her.
"-coming with me." Odin finished calmly as if Natasha wasn't there. I saw Natasha's eyes widen as a brilliant flash of light again filled the cell again, and I no longer felt the ground beneath me as I was pulled into the air.
I was surrounded by the colorful light on all sides. It felt like ages since I had last been inside of the Bifrost. In fact, the last time I had was when I was returning from Jotunheim. I furrowed my eyebrows as the light pulled me onward. The Bifrost was destroyed. Did Odin really use his dark magic just to get me?
After a minute, the light ended and I went crashing to the ground, rolling over several times before the movement of my body finally slowed. I blinked and stood up, looking around. Odin was staring at me, waiting. We were on the end of the Bifrost bridge, and in the distance, I could see the large waterfall and broken end of the bridge.
To my right, I saw the giant castle that would normally take my breath away, no matter how many times I have seen it. But something felt...off. Maybe it was the fact that I was back and I was mortal, or the fact that I was no longer a son of Odin, a prince. But I think the real reason was that the normally busy streets were empty and quiet. I looked around but there was not a soul in sight.
"Follow me. Now." Said Odin as if I didn't know my way around. I followed anyway, scared of what would happen if I didn't.
Odin led me into the castle, through many hallways. Every one of them was empty, other than the occasional maid rushing by, pausing only to curtsy to Odin before moving onward.
Still, despite the fact that this grand castle no longer felt like home, I couldn't help but absorb every echoing step of my foot on the beautiful golden floor. I wondered where Thor was, and I was almost tempted to ask.
I also felt the need to ask where we were going.
Eventually, Odin came to a thin staircase that descended into darkness. Odin began to walk down and eventually he disappeared into the blackness. I felt my stomach twist. I knew exactly where this staircase led.
The dungeons.
I looked behind me. An empty hallway. I could run. But where would I go? Even if I wanted to leave, I was still trapped on Asgard.
I no longer heard Odin's footsteps. Instead, I heard the footfalls of several people coming toward me up the stairs.
Three guards appeared and grabbed me by my shirt collar. I yelped in surprise and pain and stumbled after them. They surrounded me on all sides as we descended the staircase.
"Where are we going?" I asked. We reached the bottom of the staircase and made a right, turning into a long, dark hallway with white cells on all sides. The cells were not shielded with bars; they were shielded by a thin, golden screen. All three guards said nothing. Two of them had cold, stony faces staring straight ahead. Only one of them gave me a small, quick sympathetic glance.
That gave me no reassurance.
The guards stopped next to the only open cell in the entire place. They grabbed my arms roughly and tossed me in as if I weighed nothing.
I let out a huff as I hit the ground. The cell closed behind me and the guards moved away. I saw Odin standing outside of the cell, staring at me smugly.
"Why are you doing this?" I snarled. "What happened to you?"
Odin chuckled. "You are a killer, a traitor, a fugitive. You killed two innocent mortals during your exile. You are dangerous, and I no longer have a reason to keep you alive."
My eyes widened and I lunged for my adoptive father, completely forgetting about the golden wall until my hands slammed into it. I ignored the intense burning pain in my hand as I slapped at the screen.
But Odin ignored me and walked back the way we had come.