Getting Lucky

16. Meeting Winter

(Loki)

I lay unmoving for a moment, breathing heavily. James is still sprawled out on top of me, dead to the world.

Then it hits me.

'I should've just said 'Sputnik' to knock him out again.

I groan and facepalm myself for my shortsightedness, gasping sharply from the pain of using my hand. 'Oh right, he almost broke my wrist.'

"I can't believe it worked," I murmur to myself. Raising my wrist, I look closely at the slim crack in the bright gold surface. Not broken, but definitely a major sprain. 

My less injured hand absentmindedly strokes James' soft hair as my gaze trails back down to his peacefully asleep form.

"Damn you," I mutter jokingly, "How come you get to sleep while I deal with whatever the Hel just happened to you?"

'Actually, WHAT did happen.'

"Oh James, what did they do to you?" I whisper gently.

Slowly, I slide myself out from under him and stagger to my feet, cringing as I survey the mess.

"Well, this is inconvenient," I keep a calm head. The most important thing to do now is figuring out what exactly the HYDRA member did to flip his switch, then I can work from there.

"I can always... look through his memories?" I cringe at the thought. Digging through somebody's head is a serious violation of privacy, especially when it comes to going through memories.

I pinch the bridge of my nose with a sigh, "Even if I tried, I won't have the power to look at his head," Unless...

"Thor."

Since Thor was the one who put the cuffs on me, he's the only person who can take them back off properly. But the question is, how will I convince him to remove them without telling him what happened? Thor will insist on telling the other Avengers, and if they inform the government... James is dead.

I groan, "Why did you have to steal into my affections without my consent? this would all be so much easier if I didn't care about you."

But I do.

Crouching, I wrap my arms around James' upper body and begin half-dragging him over to the couch. Laying him down gently, I turn back around and begin limping over to the elevator. 

"This better work," I growl to myself as I step into the elevator. "JARVIS," I croak out, "please take me to Thor's room."

"Are you sure, Mr. Laufeyson? You sound like you are in pain," the AI responds, sounding slightly worried.

"I'm fine, just please, take me to Thor."

"Of course Mr. Laufeyson. I am sending a request to let you enter Mr. Odinson's floor now."

The elevator begins to move downwards and I let out a sigh of relief. This might just go well.

The doors open to Thor's room. Because he travels and isn't stuck at the Tower all the time, Thor's room is smaller than everyone else's and second-lowest (just above Banner's.)

Thor is sprawled out on his couch, half asleep. He watches me through half-closed eyes, "Hello brother, what are you doing here?"

I force a megawatt smile and hope that the dim lighting hides my injuries, "Just coming to see how you are."

Thor scoffs slightly, "What's the occasion brother? We both know you hate me."

I give him a genuinely hurt look, "I... I don't hate you, Thor. I just tend to push away the people I care about, you know that."