Pretty When You Cry

Chapter 11

When Loki woke up the next morning, the spot next to him on the bed was empty. Steve wasn't there.

At first Loki thought that perhaps he was being punished, or that Steve simply couldn't stand to be around someone as disgusting as himself. Both of those made sense in his mind.

Then he noticed that something looked different about the room. The walls, which were previously white, were now dark, and the window was gone. It looked a lot like...

Oh, fuck. He was back in Stark's dungeon. Loki couldn't help but to be afraid. His heart began to pound in his chest, and his hands began to shake.

Why hadn't Stark tied him down, though? It didn't make sense... until he saw it. The eyes. Dozens of sets of whitish yellow eyes, located on the faces of decaying corpses. They were on the other side of the dungeon, and slowly closing in. Green, brown, and black flesh dripped off of their bones, and their bodies were covered with torn clothes and gaping wounds. It was the people he and the Chitauri had killed, back from the dead. Back to make him pay for his actions. He'd been left untied so that they could easily get to him, so that they could watch him struggle.

Fast as he could, Loki got off the bed. He tried to make his way towards the door, but it was difficult, as he was very weak and had so many broken bones. It was a horrible, suffocating feeling to want to move so badly, to want to run away so badly, but to be unable to. To be forced to crawl along as literal monsters closed in.

After an enormous amount of effort, he got to the door, and began to claw at it, desperately trying to get it open. Loki reached up and began to turn the door knob. It caused him extreme pain, as he'd used his right arm - the one that was broken in several places. But it was worth it. The door began to open, slowly, god, why was it taking so long?! And then he could see light from outside. All he had to do was get out, and then he'd be free.

Loki pulled the door open another inch. He was so close. So, so close.

But then, the monsters reached him. One of them, a man with a large hole ripped through him, shoved the door closed.

None of them spoke. They just closed in, their skull like faces grinning as they attempted to bring about their preferred method of justice.

00

Steve and Bruce were in the kitchen, getting breakfast together, when they heard the blood curdling screams. Both dropped what they were doing, and ran to the bedroom. Bruce tried to push the door open, but it was stuck.

"What the hell?" he asked, confused.

"Maybe he blocked the door?" Steve offered. "Hey, Loki, are you okay?" he called out.

The only answer was another scream.

Not wanting to waste any further time, Steve pushed on the door, causing it to fly open.

The two men walked in to see Loki curled up in the center of the room, a few feet away, crying and shaking. Someone had opened the door, but they'd ended up pushing him away, into the crowd of zombies. At least, that was what he thought was going on.

Concerned, the two men got closer, but when they touched Loki he began to yell even louder. Bruce could make out that he was shouting "I'm sorry" repeatedly.

Then, suddenly, the screaming stopped. Loki still lay there, trembling and crying, but now he was talking softly, asking only that whoever was attacking him would "please make it quick".

00

"What was that all about?" Steve asked.

Loki was back in bed, Bruce having injected him with a sedative soon after they'd found him. He couldn't think of any other way to break Loki out of his psychotic trance.

"It was a psychotic episode."

"Why?"

"Because he was tortured for weeks on end. Do I really have to spell it out? But I think there's more to it. Torture victims may have flashbacks but rarely do they react in such an extreme way. The only other thing that I can think of is that its drug related in some way."

"You think Tony... I mean, Stark, was giving him drugs?"

"Maybe some type of hallucinogen. It's smart, really. One's own mind can become a dangerous weapon under certain circumstances. I'll have to test his spinal fluid, though, besides the regular blood based tests."

So Steve ended up helping to turn Loki over while Bruce stuck him with needles. Bruce had hoped the sedative would keep Loki out during this process, but he began to stir a little. Realizing how Loki might freak out again, Steve tried his best to calm the dark haired man down.

"It's okay," he whispered, as he began gently carding through Loki's hair. "Just stay calm."

The words and touches helped, because Loki didn't flinch after that, and Bruce was able to get the samples that he needed. Steve stayed nearby for the rest of the morning, afraid to leave Loki alone lest there be another episode.

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