What If... HYDRA Got Hold of Loki?

''you in there?''

He doesn't know how long he's stuck in this painfully empty room, but finally, finally, Natasha comes back.

Loki perks up at the sight of her – which is ridiculous, he's sure, but he's been waiting for her. He's missed her, in a weird kind of way. He's been waiting for her to come back, and now she has.

But she hasn't come alone.

Loki doesn't know who the man accompanying her is. He thinks he may have seen his face before, but then, he's an old white man in a suit, and there's no shortage of white men in suits on his planet. He's met far too many of them since he began to take over this world. He can hardly keep them all straight.

The man certainly knows who he is, though. He eyes the god, a look of wry amusement on his face. "And there he is."

"There he is," Natasha agrees. "You're sure you can hold onto him?"

"Oh, I'm sure," the man says. "We've had a lot of dangerous people in our possession. He's not the worst prisoner we've had to deal with."

Natasha cocks an eyebrow. "He's not?" she asks skeptically.

"Not quite," he says, but he doesn't elaborate.

The man walks up to him, and Loki watches him carefully with every step. He doesn't trust him, He's not sure Natasha does, either, which only furthers his suspicion. There's something off about his man, whoever he is. He doesn't like it.

The man crouches down until they're at eye level, only inches away from each other. Still, Loki doesn't move. He just watches. All he can do is watch.

The corners of the man's lips twitch upwards in a slight smile – a smirk, almost. "You in there?"

Loki snarls at him. "Who are you?"

"Alexander Pierce," the man replies, standing back up and tugging on his suit jacket to straighten it out. "We've met before."

"Have we?" Loki asks coldly. "Your kind all blur together."

Pierce huffs a laugh. "'My kind'?" he repeats. "Humans?"

"Overzealous, arrogant pricks," Loki shoots back. He's hardly met the man, but he can still tell what kind of person he is. He'd recognize a haughty asshole with an overinflated sense of self-importance anywhere.

Pierce chuckles to himself. "Cute," he says, "but after the stunt you pulled, I think you're the last person who should be passing moral judgments on other people."

Loki's about to retort, but then he notices Natasha approaching and he silences himself instead, looking at her expectantly. What is she going to say? What does she want from him? He's eager to find out. He wants to know how he can help; how he can satisfy her.

"Alright," Natasha says. "You're going with Pierce. He's going to take care of you so we don't have to. You listen to him, and it'll all be smooth sailing, got it?"

Loki nods. "Yes, Master."

Natasha rolls her eyes.

"When will I see you again?" Loki asks her. Can he ask that? Is that wrong? Maybe he should have waited for her to give that information on her own.

But Natasha doesn't seem phased by the question. "If all goes well, hopefully never."

Loki gapes at her. "Never?" he repeats in disbelief. "But..." But you're my Master. I need you. But it's not his place to say that. It's not his place to question her decisions. It's certainly not his place to ask her to visit him. So instead, he asks, rather timidly, "What would you have me do in your absence?" Something more than staying in bed, he hopes.

Natasha lolls her head back, exasperated. "I don't know," she says. "Just... listen to them. Do what they tell you to."

Loki frowns. "Yes, Master." He supposes he can do that. He doesn't want to take orders from anyone but her, but if he has to, he will. If it will make her happy, he'll listen to them.

Pierce smiles, a bone-chilling grin that sends a shiver down Loki's spine. "Great," he says. "I'm glad that's taken care of." He gestures for Loki to follow him.

Loki forces himself to his feet, and though his legs shake beneath him, he's able to stay upright. His head feels fuzzy – he's lightheaded, maybe – but he does his best not to show how the world spins around him.

Pierce looks over at Natasha. "And you're sure we don't need to chain him up?"

"I don't think we have anything that'll hold him," Natasha says. "Unless you've got some vibranium lying around, I think the best protection you've got is me."

"And he always listens to you?" Pierce asks.

"He seems to," Natasha says. "I'm his 'Master,' or some bullshit like that. He's listened to everything else I've said."

"And there's no sign that it's going to wear off," Pierce says cautiously.

"Nope," she says. "We drugged him to hell and back 'til he barely knew his name and he still listened to me. If I tell him to play nice, he's going to play nice."

Pierce nods slowly, processing that. "You drugged him," he repeats thoughtfully. "And that worked."

"We over-drugged him," Natasha says. "Rogers said we'd probably have to up the dose. Guess they upped it too much."

"Hmm." Pierce lets that sink in. "That's good to know."

Loki swallows hard. He doesn't want any more drugs in his system. The ones SHIELD filled him with made him want to crawl out of his skin. He can't go through that again.

But, if Pierce wants him to, then he has to. Natasha told him to listen to them. No matter what they do, he has to listen. So if they want to drug him again...

"Alright," Pierce says. "I've got him from here. I assume that if I need your assistance, I can...?"

"If you need me, I'm around," she says. "But you should be fine."

"I certainly hope so," Pierce replies. He offers her a smile. "Thank you, Agent Romanoff. It's good to have you back."

She returns his smile with one of her own, and then, after sparing Loki one last glance, she heads out of the room.

Much like the last time Natasha left him, it feels as though her absence leaves a hole in his chest, but this time, it's so, so much worse. He doesn't know when he'll see her again. He may never see her again. His Master may be gone, forever, and he's left with Alexander Pierce in her wake.

Pierce turns to him, a smirk on his lips that sends a shiver down the god's spine. "Oh, don't worry," he says. "You'll be just fine with me."