Lost in Glorious Mischief

The Cell

You wake up. The cells are dark. You have no sense of what time it is. You stand up and walk up to the glass wall. There is a light flickering in the hall. You can't see much of anything. You turn around and jump back when you see a black figure standing adjacent to you,
"Who is it!?" you ask, afraid to know the answer. "Surprise" Loki replies playfully.
A dim light in his cell flickers on. He is standing at the glass wall that joins the two cells.
"You, my dear, must have been tired. It's been a few days since you were last awake."
You stand there and blink. You still have no sense of the days or times yet.
"Great, more time lost," you whisper to yourself while you turn to sit on your bed.
"Do you happen to know what time it is?" you ask looking in Loki's direction.
He has now sat in the chair facing in your direction. "I would say around 2 am. Give or take. Why are you in a hurry to get out?" he says with a grin.
"No," you say " just confused. Did anybody try to wake me up?"
Loki looks at you.
Even in the dark, he can sense the pain you are feeling.
"They tried but stopped after the first few times. They come to check every once in a while. I'm sure they will be back," he says.
You move back up the bed so your back can touch the wall. Loki not taking his eyes off you. You don't seem to notice. You are lost in thought.

After a few minutes, Loki speak,
"You know I would rather be alone. However, if we are going to be stuck down here together we might as well chat."
You look up to see that he has moved his chair closer to the glass. It takes you a minute to bring yourself back to reality,
"Chat? Um, okay," you say staring at him blankly.
He chuckles,
"That means you are supposed to talk."
You feel a sense of embarrassment rush across you. "Sorry," you say to him "I've been asleep for a long time I'm not sure what to talk about."
Loki sees this upsets you.
"How long have you been asleep?" he asked.
"Well, Bucky says it's 2018.  My years are jumbled but anywhere between sixty-five to eighty years" sadness creases along your face.
Loki doesn't say a thing, he doesn't know what to say,
"I am sorry love, I truly am." He finally says in a whispered tone.
You shift your body around and wipe a tear from your eye and clear your throat.
"So, God of Mischief, I would ask why you are down here but the name kind of gives it away" you smile as you say to him.
He giggles, "That it does."
"Why are you down here?" you finally ask.
Loki is silent for a minute. Nobody has cared enough to ask why he is the way that he is.
"I was tired of being second. Was sick of them pretending to love me. That Thor was the favorite. All I ever wanted was to be loved. And I was. Until my mother passed away. I went on a bit of a spree. Killed many people, tried to end the world." He said chuckling, admiring his work. He then became serious "I knew he would stop me, Thor, and his merry band of idiots. In the long run, I knew this is where I belong."
"Thor, is your brother?" you ask.
"You've met? Oh yeah, I know, no resemblance. Well, it wasn't until recently I found out that my father merely stole me from my real home. He says he saved me, that my birthright was to die alone and cold," he scoffs;
"He believed that without him, I would have died. Perhaps that is true, but he has never looked at me more than what I truly am. A monster." He says leaning his elbows on his knees and looking down.
You are taken back and try to lighten the mood.
"Hey, I just tried to burn down a building my first day here and I tried to kill everyone in the building. I think if anyone is a monster, it's me." You say to him, trying to joke but partially feeling like it is true. He looks up at you and you can see him grin slightly.
You continue,
"You know, I think you did what you did because you were hurt. You said you wanted to feel loved? The pain of being rejected by the ones you love," you pause and look at him. He's staring at you, his eyes piercing yours,
"it's the worst pain anyone can feel."
"Well, love," he says to you while standing and walking to the glass wall; "pain is my middle name." He says jokingly. You both giggle a little but remain in silence.
The man before you seems different. Dangerous, but you have a sense of the good he has in him. Everything in you is telling you not to engage but you can't help but wonder if this man is capable of being loved. If what he says he did is true. Can he be changed?

After a few minutes, you walk to the glass wall. Loki is standing there looking in the opposite direction. Lost in thought. You reach the glass and he turns toward you. His eyes are the first thing you notice. They are breathtaking. Green with a hint of blue and gold in them. He looks at you and smiles,
"I knew you were gorgeous from afar but you close up, you are ravishing." He says to you. You blush and turn away.
"Have I embarrass you?"
You look back at him,
"No," you say "I just don't remember the last time someone called me gorgeous and meant it." Suddenly you take a step back,
"Claire?" Loki says to you turning to face the glass completely.
Your eyes widen, a pain shoots through your head. You fall to your knees reaching both hands to your head, closing your eyes, you let out a scream of agony
"Claire!" you hear Loki say faintly.
Light shoot across your eyes. You see a man, he is reaching his hand out to you. It's another memory. You look up it's a blond man wearing an army uniform. He gets on one knee and takes out a ring. The memory flashes to the two of you celebrating, then to a train and you waving goodbye. You hear the man say to you faintly "I will love you forever, gorgeous." You flash to another memory;
an army man arriving at your door. He hands you a letter,
"Ms. Porter, my sincere condolences." He hands you the letter and walks away.
The letter has the stamp of the U.S Military. You are then seen standing in a black dress and veil. Your gloved hand is resting on a casket with the U.S flag draped on top of it. Gunshots ring out.
The pain in your head subsides. You open your eyes. The lights are now on. You look up and notice Loki has now kneeled to your level. Tears begin to fill your eyes and fall down your cheeks.
"Claire?" you hear him ask "are you alright?"
You look away and stand up, you don't want him to see your tears. You quickly wipe them away.
"Claire? What did you see?" he asked.
"You look down at your hands. You can see your veins, they are glowing but diminishing every second.
"It was a memory of my past life. Everything is still fuzzy. They wiped my memory so often I never remember my past life." You say, shaking.
"There was a man, I think he loved me. We were to be married." Loki is now standing and looking concerned,
Hesitantly he asks,  "What happened to him?"
"He died," you say, looking at Loki noticing that he is genuinely concerned; "in the war. He said goodbye and I never saw him again." You can feel tears well into your eyes.
You sit with your back against the glass wall that joins the two rooms. You place your head in your lap and cry. Loki sits with you. Not saying a word. He allows you to grieve.

The rest of the night you and Loki engage in small conversations. You both give snide comments and laugh at each other's jokes. You mostly sit in silence. Occasionally grinning at each other. This goes on until you hear the door open. It's Bucky.
"Claire, it is nice to see you are finally awake," he says walking up toward the glass.
You stand and walk over to him,
"Will you be okay if I let you out?" he asked, You're not going to kick me through another wall are you?"
Loki giggles and you smile.
"No, I'm okay. Are you sure about letting me out though? What if I hurt someone again?" you asked, worried.
"It will be fine. Bruce and Tony need to run some tests to see what Hydra put in you. That way we are better equipped to intervene if you do lose control. We can help you control it. You just need to trust us." he says.
You are hesitant but nod your head. Bucky opens your door to allow you out. You look back at Loki, "Until we meet again, darling," he says to you with a smile.
You smile back and lift your hand to wave at him. You go upstairs with Bucky.