A Game Of Love And Lies

Part 18

3rd person

Fury was rarely wrong. He was always extremely focused on his missions and after all these years as a spy, he had developed a very accurate gut feeling. The avengers were still kids taking their first steps in his eyes.

He sipped his coffee without losing Loki from his eyesight. He had ordered new cameras with very high quality to monitor the hostage's every move. It was going to be a long night.

The God managed to trick him once and it cost him agent Coulson's life. He could not let that happen again.

The avengers were mumbling and fighting in the background, not taking the situation as seriously as him. They were clearly not excited to have to work together so soon. Huge déjà vus. Clint was the only one not participating in the arguing and was mostly fidgeting with one of his arrows, not paying attention to the others. Waking up at two in the morning for Loki's sake aggravated him.

"I do not think we need to worry as much this time. I talked with my brother and whoever gave him the army is no longer helping him. He has no allies."

Natasha glanced back at the screen. Loki was laying on the ground, trying to rest while the girl attempted to get his attention. He seemed more nervous the first time he got captured and then he had a whole army by his side.

"What about her? The footage evidently shows them liking each other."

"Althea? I would not fear her. I kind of feel sorry for my brother. She knows how to play with other people's emotions. She usually does it whenever she is bored and she is not fond of someone. I remember a few years ago when a soldier made a misogynistic comment and she made him cry... Trust me Loki will crack in there."

As soon as Thor finished that sentence Loki placed his hand around her neck, proving him right. An agent asked permission through the intercom to open the cage. Complete silence filled the room from the whole team. Everyone looked at Fury waiting for him to respond. The agent kept repeating the question but Fury did not react. He narrowed his eyes at the screen. Why was Althea not struggling?

Loki, after a few seconds, let her go. Not a single mark on her skin. Fury's instinct warned him. Something did not feel right.

Tony was unexpectedly quiet. He was reading through Althea's old files with great interest. The documents were disintegrating after being kept for decades in shield's old records. The cover had turned from a pale yellowish to a vibrant orange shade and anything that was not laminated had to be handled with care.
Twenty years ago they digitalized their agent's papers but Althea was long gone and forgotten by then.

"Next to powers, you have written mind control with a question mark. What does this mean?"

Fury paced closer and peeked at the file over Tony's shoulder.

"We were not sure if that's what she possessed or if she had something else as well. At the time, if I remember correctly she could only shapeshift. She could not actually change her form but she messed up with your mind to make you think she did."

Tony was ready to ask the very obvious question but Bruce bit him to it.

"Why did you think she had more than one power?"

"Hydra used her as an experiment for the others for a long time. Mind control is one of the abilities that presented itself first but you never know if she has something that has not been discovered yet."

A worrying agent ceased their conversation.

"Sir... I think you would like to hear this."

He connected his microphone with the one that was placed in the cell. The two prisoners had set their differences aside in a questionable amount of time and seemed to be discussing in a foreign alien language.

Everyone stared at Thor for translation.

"I...have no idea what they are saying."

Fury started to worry. The only person that stood a chance of understanding them was Thor. He was gazing around the room unaware of the importance of the moment. Bruce's analytical mind tried to find a solution. He got up from his chair and offered Thor a notebook and a pen that he kept in his jacket.

"Some words could be similar or have origins from the other languages that you know. Try writing down anything that sounds familiar."

Thor tried to laugh it off. In his mind, everyone was exaggerating. Loki was locked up in a cage with no one to help him this time and Althea was one of his dearest friends. No panic was needed. Others came across as having a different viewpoint.

"Why are you so upset about it? A moment ago Loki tried to choke her so he is clearly not controlling her. They are probably just making fun of each other and being sarcastic."

Fury had crossed his arms in exasperation. He was not used to not getting what he wanted the moment he asked for it.

"Do what Dr. Banner said." He declared heatedly, not taking no for an answer.

Thor scoffed. He knew that only a few translated words would not save them. They both spoke incredibly fast for him to write down everything he heard. They suddenly switched to Mistan.

"Maybe I could have figured out something in Asterin but I'm completely lost with Mistan."

Steve was the one sitting closest to him so he tried to take a peek at the notebook out of curiosity. When Thor realized what Steve tried to do, he brought the notebook up to his chest so nobody could glimpse at the paper.

"Was that three words and a mini drawing of Mjolnir?"

"Maybe..."

Fury lost his patience. He was about to call his assistant to find a linguist but they switched back to English. They must have missed something important since they raised their tones once again. Both of them degrading and blaming each other for everything that happened. The security worried about Althea's safety, announced through the microphone a warning for Loki. He obviously did not care and kept approaching her with rage in his eyes.

This time both of his hands wrapped around her neck and threw her violently to the ground. The unfortunate girl tried with all her remaining power to get him off of her. His eyes full of emptiness and wrath as her lungs burned with pain. She clawed with her nails his hands trying desperately to escape.

Her face began to take a sickening color as her sight started to close in on her. Fury clearly convinced, gave the order for people to intervene. Snipers and paramedics rushed in. As soon as the door slid open, Loki stood away with his hands lifted to show his surrendering. Althea covered her bruises with her hands and refused the help of the doctors. Like an injured animal she dragged herself away from everyone. Fear overtook her features simply petrified of another person's touch. Screaming and yelling at people that came close... Chaos all around them.

Fury grabbed his coat that was hanging on his chair, ready to go back down to their floor and separate them. As he stood up a glitch caught his eye. A specific glitch on the screen that he had not seen in years. He demanded the technician next to him to move the 105 camera's view at the big screen over the avenger's meeting table so he could have a better look. Everyone stared at Fury stunned.

He placed both of his hands on the table and patiently waited for the glitch to appear again. Even Clint took an interest and left his gadgets, curious about what Fury was trying to see. In a few seconds, a colorful static glitch occurred again covering Loki and Althea.

"Thor, I remember that when Althea shapeshifted that static happened every time on our cameras. Did her powers grow and can now change the appearance of other people as well?"

"I thought you were aware of it..."

Fury pressed as hard as he could a button and set an alarm off. He announced through the intercom to the whole building.

"Althea and Loki have escaped, the ones in the cell are an illusion!"

He was correct. The fake ones started to fade. Phony Althea stopped crying and yelling and looked directly at one of the cameras. It was as if she knew from which one Fury was monitoring them. A grin curled on her lips challenging him to find them.