What If... HYDRA Got Hold of Loki?

blindfold

Warnings: vomit, starvation

The blanket lifts up over the top of the cage, letting the light stream in. Loki forces his eyes open, and Pierce's face greets him from the outside. Of course it does. It always does.

"Rise and shine, Loki," Pierce says with a grin.

Loki groans and covers his face with his hands. It's stupidly bright in here. He hates it. He hates that he has to do things. He just wants to go back under the blanket and block out the world.

"How are you feeling?" Pierce asks him.

Loki lowers his gaze to the small pile of bile he's vomited up overnight. He's sure it would have been more if he'd had any actual food in his system. "Awful."

"Yeah, that'd be the drugs wearing off," Pierce says. "Come on out. I've got something to keep your mind off of it."

Loki was not, in fact, aware that drugs wearing off had such shitty consequences, but complaining will do nothing to make them go away, so, reluctantly, he crawls out of the cage.

He keeps his gaze on the floor. It's not so bright on the floor. It doesn't hurt his head as much when he's looking at the floor.

As if reading his mind, Pierce says, "Don't worry; I'll have you in the dark in no time."

That is probably the best news he'lll hear all day.

"Stand up."

Loki forces himself to his feet, and his legs shake beneath him. His arms are shaking, too. His whole body is shaking – and not the fun way it was shaking yesterday.

"This will be a quick one," Pierce assures him. "I'll let you have your dinner in no time."

Loki glances toward the doorway, and the sight of the bowl on the floor has his stomach doing flips. Usually he'd be ecstatic, but right now, he's not sure he wants to put anything inside of him. His body has already tried to vomit all the food he hasn't eaten. He doesn't want to give it something more to work with.

"I'm going to blindfold you, okay?" Pierce says. "And I'll tell you where we're going from there."

"Yes, sir." At least the blindfold is dark. Right now, that's all he wants.

A strip of fabric covers his eyes, and he can feel Pierce from behind him, tying it snug against his head. Loki takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. This is marginally better. The pressure against his head is oddly comforting. It doesn't quite relieve the pain, but it feels nice.

He's sure that nice feeling won't last.

With his sight blocked, he's left with only his hearing to tell him what's going on around him. He can hear Pierce's footsteps, though not all that far away, seemingly circling back in front of him. He braces himself for the worst.

And he braces himself.

And he braces himself.

But the worst doesn't come.

This is strange. What's he doing? Is he getting something ready? He's being awfully quiet about it. It's weird. It's... suspicious.

This is going to be awful, isn't it?

He stays as quiet as he can, listening for what he might be up to now. He doesn't hear anything. It's completely silent. No rustling; no footsteps; nothing.

So he waits.

There's nothing else for him to do. Pierce doesn't tend to like it when Loki asks questions, and if he hasn't explained his plan yet, he's clearly doing so for a reason. He just has to wait and see what it is.