Flawed Minds

Chapter Seven

Subject 88 - P.O.V

I had once again I found myself on the floor, my eyelids fluttering open as I tried to remember what happened. I could recall the unsettling numbness that I had felt and I shuddered, but now that I could feel the electricity on and around me, I knew that it was slowly building and building, and I dreaded the release. I rubbed my eyes and attempted to sit up; There were voices, so I looked around, then froze. A man stood near the glass inside my cell facing away from me, wearing dark clothes, accented with golds and greens, shoulder length black hair and had his fists clenched. I didn't need to ask who it was. I noticed Dr. Banner was glaring at him and the tension was inescapable.

"What's going on?" I asked, uncertain of what was happening. Silence. The man who I had guessed to be Loki slowly turned to face me, surprising me with shockingly bright emerald eyes.

"Lady Nova, my apologies for deciding things while you were unconscious," Thor spoke up. "This is my brother Loki, he's going to help you." I looked from one to the other, not saying a word. "If he steps out of line even once, that collar will knock him on the floor for twenty minutes, and we will get him out of there." He finished, glaring at the back of his brother's head as he continued to stare at me, his brow furrowed as though he were searching for something that he couldn't find. After a few moments he spun back around to face Thor, and I took the chance to struggle to my feet, feeling that standing would at least make me feel less intimidated.

"Very well brother." He said curtly. "I shall help your little mortal, and then you will let me out of here." Thor laughed.

"Of course I'll let you out. And take you straight back to Asgard." He stated simply, and walked to where Bruce was standing a few paces away from the doors with his arms crossed, still frowning at Loki, who turned to face me again in silence. This staring match seemed to last an age, until the lighting spreading over me quickly increased and the buzzing noise caused me to look down at myself. I raised my eyes in fear to find Loki striding over to me and I automatically motioned for him to stop.

"No no- you can't come near me, you'll get hurt," I said frantically, and he came to an abrupt halt a few feet away, confusion plastered over his face. I realized I was trembling as the building energy inside me increased even more; I wasn't even sure that I would survive this but I kept my composure somehow, keeping my eyes on him.

"You fear for my safety, mortal?" The disbelief was loud in his otherwise quiet voice and I winced, but nodded a yes. "You needn't be, your silly powers should have no effect on me."

"It's going to kill me," I admitted, averting my gaze to the floor as I struggled to stay standing.

"Come here." He demanded after a short pause, and I looked up at him confused; I was about to explode and he wanted me to go to him? He pointed at the floor directly in front of him, still looking at me with those piercing green eyes. "Now." I swallowed, panic rising, but started to walk toward him. Step by step, the buzzing of the electricity almost deafening now, sparks flying off me in all directions. I was a couple of paces away from Loki when I had to stop myself, my chest tightening; I was about to cry out for him to run but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him, my body colliding with his at the moment the energy exploded out of me, turning the room a blinding white and we were met with a sudden deafening silence.

To my amazement and confusion I felt nothing, no pain; for once I felt comfortable and almost as though I was in control. Loki, still grasping my wrists, also seemed completely unaffected by the outburst. I was so overcome by the feeling of relief that my legs buckled, but before my knees could hit the floor he had wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me upright.

"You have the most unusual eyes." He murmured, before reaching down to touch my face. As soon as his fingers met my skin I felt as though I was falling, my whole body tingled almost pleasantly, the white light surrounding us seemed to melt away, and all of a sudden we were standing in a cold grey room; one that I would never be able to forget no matter how much my brain was fried and no matter what Hydra did to me. I began to panic, my breathing became erratic and I tried to pull away from him but he had me securely in his hold. "You will explain to me what happened here, that is if you still want my help." He spoke sharply, but his eyes were almost gentle. After a minute of my attempting to slow my breathing, he yanked me across the room and spun me around, grasping my shoulders as I now faced a familiar dirty mirror and my own reflection for the first time in what must have been a decade. My knotted brown hair, pale dirty face, dark shadows around my eyes- which were a bright shade of violet. My reflection was almost a stranger to me, and yet I knew it was me. Loki's green eyes met my purple ones in the mirror as he spoke again. "Who are you, mortal, how did you end up in this mess?" I took a deep breath and turned, exploring the concrete room that I had known for years, the metal framed bed with chains and shackles that cut into my skin, the thin ragged bloodstained blanket thrown across it, no windows, the faint sounds of screams and babbling from the other patients. I didn't need to strain to remember details this time. Pictures were appearing in my mind, one after the other, my memories flooding back into my mind as though being poured from an invisible cup.

"My name is Nova," My voice was barely above a whisper. "My parents were astronomers, and they loved me; they gave me a name that they thought was fitting, when I was born I was their new star... When I was nine or ten, they started to change, they acted scared of me and I didn't know why at the time, but now I see it must have been my powers starting to show and my eyes changing. I was heartbroken when they sent me away, I never saw them again. They sent me here," I gestured weakly at the room we were in, almost forgetting Loki was there, watching and listening. "This was my hell for years, I grew up here. They always told me something was wrong with me, they told me I was ill and that they'd fix me. But they didn't; they were cruel and they never listened when I was crying- screaming for them to stop. 'Electroshock therapy will help you', and they forced me to go through with it, giving me drugs and almost making me feel as mad as the rest of them. I.. I hurt people here." My breath caught in my throat so I paused to breathe before forcing myself to continue. "I killed people, here. I spent so long trying to get rid of my powers so that I could just go home, so I could see my parents, but I ended up forgetting why I was there, eventually. I couldn't tell how much time had passed, but I was much older when Hydra came for the patients there, including me and by that time I believed I was better, I couldn't use my powers anymore."

"What happened after Hydra took you?" Loki's voice was soft, quiet enough to keep me in the strange trance I was in, and the room melted away once again to reveal another grey room, this one larger and brighter, more clinical; a table in the center furnished with leather straps and buckles. My head was starting to hurt, memories continued to slam into the forefront of my mind and I was getting dizzy.

"They found out what I could do, that's why they took me. I remember... They strapped me onto the operating table... They told me to keep still or they'd kill me. They cut me open without any painkillers and I could feel every slice, there was so much blood- I don't know what they did to me, that part is extremely hazy, but they put something in my neck first, they told me it was just to make sure they knew who I was, like a microchip for a pet.." I took a few steps forward to the tray laden with syringes, trembling as I lifted the one filled with a blue liquid "After they put it in I remember I had seizures, I never suffered from them before, even after everything. Whenever they happened I'd be injected with this, and the seizures would stop for about a while, leaving them free to do what they wanted with me." I stopped talking then, my throat tightening as I was overwhelmed with more memories; I turned back to Loki and locked eyes with him, unable to look away even as tears trickled down my face. I could feel that he was in my head, seeing what I was seeing, and his face changed to a mixture of anger and pity, if that were possible. I relived all of the horrors I endured at the hands of Hydra, from the beginning in that operating room, to everything I overheard, everything they did to me whether it was part of their experiment or not.. All the way up to the day I exploded the base I had been kept in. His eyes were wide and I thought I could see tears forming in them, but before I could figure it out he had closed the distance and held me in a firm embrace, his pleasant scent surrounding me as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around him, returning the hug. It was my first friendly embrace since I lived with my parents.

"I would have killed those pathetic mortals for you, they disgust me" He hissed, his voice low, dangerous. "I do not often have anything good to say about your silly little Avengers, but you will come to no harm while you are under their protection." After a moment, he stepped away from me and once again the room around us warped and melted, this time returning to the familiar cell; Tony and the others had joined Thor and Bruce outside the glass looking confused and concerned. My head was still spinning from everything coming back to me so fast, all the pain and hurt.. I wasn't sure if I preferred to remember it all, now that I finally knew everything in detail.

"Loki," Thor spoke, but it came out like a warning. At that moment Loki turned to me and placed his hand firmly on my forehead. I felt as though I was knocked out of my own body somehow; The room spun and I felt like I was falling down a deep dark hole, the last thing I saw was a pair of emerald green eyes.