Shattered Thoughts : Book Two (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier)

Chapter 4

    Bucky's phone pinged as he and Willow were heading to Avenger's Tower, it was from Tony. RoboCop and ChairChild, we found Thor. Come to the Tower. 

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  Thor was standing anxiously in the meeting room of the tower. "Greetings Lady Willow!" He boomed, rushing forward to shake Willow's hand. 

 "Hey Thor," Willow said, "And please just call me Willow or Agent Dariela."

"Of course my lady." Turning to Bucky, Thor extended his hand in greeting once again, "Captain Rogers has told me much about you my friend, and I will be honored to fight at your side."

"Umm, wow, Thanks Thor."

 "Agent Dariela, why don't you tell us all what you discovered while you were in Loki's mind." Coulson said. He had learned a long time ago that Willow didn't like being called by her first when on mission, especially when her male coworkers were being called Agent.

 "Yes of course Coulson, you may all want to sit down." Willow rolled her wheelchair next to the set of couches and motioned for the Avengers to sit down. Bucky remained standing, positioning himself next to Willow. 

 "I was searching through Loki's mind in order to find his purpose on earth. While I was there, I felt a second presence in his mind. It felt very powerful, and very old. I've never felt a presence so strong." Willow paused, Bucky placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She cleared her throat and then continued to speak, "Loki didn't come for a round two fight with the Avengers, he's running scared from something. Whatever presence was in his mind had been influencing his actions, and it left a trace. Which was what I felt when I searched his mind."

 "Lady Willow," Thor began, "Are you suggesting that my brother was not acting of his own free will when he tried to conquer earth?"

 "Once again, it's Willow or Agent Dariela, if you don't mind. And no, I don't think he was being completely controlled."

"So what exactly are you trying to say Agent Dariela," Steve said.

 "I've studied the effects of the tesseract, and I've been inside Agent Barton's mind. The tesseract left a nearly imperceptible trace in Agent Barton's mind. The presence in Loki's mind was very similar to that. If the scepter was used to control minds, it could also be used to influence actions." Willow shifted in her wheelchair. "In Loki's case, I think it brought out his strongest traits and made them extreme. I'm not talking HYDRA brainwashing, this was nothing like what Bucky went through at the hands of HYDRA." 

 Bucky shuddered involuntarily, and Willow continued to speak. "Loki isn't innocent, the scepter's control didn't break him and turn him into something he wasn't. It simply brought his strongest traits to the surface and made them extreme. It brought out the features Loki already had, the anger, pain, jealousy, thirst for attention, and taste for destruction."

  Complete silence followed the end of Willow's speech. She wasn't saying Loki was innocent, in fact, no one was quite sure what she was suggesting.

 Bucky was the first to speak, "So you could trace the presence in Loki's mind, figure out who supplied his scepter and his army?"

 "I can try."