Do You Have Heart (Avengers/Loki fan-fiction)

Chapter Eight - I Remember

ALINA'S POV

I don't know what it is; this feeling that makes me want to return to Loki and get every bit of information I can out of him: but it's there. I can't escape it: I have to find some answers. And Loki maybe the only person on this whole entire planet that can give me them.

My footsteps echo in the corridor as I approach the cell once more, slow strides punctuating every step. My heart races as I near the mischievous God; as I spot those eyes again, no longer on me, but somebody else. Nat, I think it is; after all, she was the next person due to go in and interrogate him.

Well, whatever she does, she is much more likely to get something out of him than I am. Something worthwhile and useful to SHIELD. I, however, am not here to get information for SHIELD. This is something much more personal.

"Thank you for your cooperation." I hear Nat's voice from behind the wall. I edge backwards towards the metal, diving into an alcove as my best friend walks past, speaking quickly into the communicator unit in her ear. I hear only snippets of her conversation with who I presume is Fury, on the other end. "Loki.....unleash the hulk..." she says, her words muffled by the metal in front of me "Banner....send Thor.." As soon as she mentions that name - Hulk - I know that I don't have much time.

Something is about to happen. Whatever that is, I don't know. But that's not my priority right now: my first task is to get some answers.

As soon as I see Nat disappear round the corner at the end of the corridor, I edge out of the alcove, scanning the area around me: nobody is here; no one at all.

My path towards him is clear now.

He stands in the centre of the cell, his arms held in front of him; hands clasped together, gaze directed towards the floor. I take a cautious step forward, closer to the glass, trying to keep to the wall, but he notices that I'm there before I even get the chance to think about moving. "Ah Alina." Loki's greeting seems friendly enough - not that I believe him in the slightest - "Did you enjoy our last conversation so much that you had to come back for another?" He smiles; not the smirk that most people are confronted with, but a genuine grin that lights up those eyes like a beacon, threatening to entrance me again.

"Well, you could put it like that." I reply, stepping closer to the glass "But I prefer the term 'finding answers, seeing as I still have a lot of questions for you." He laughs, throwing his head back as he does so before his gaze settles back on me "Well, I have to say, that doesn't surprise me. After all, you have been inexplicably fainting at strange points for the past two days. And that's not a normal occurrence for you, is it?"

How the hell does he know? Apart from the one incident at the cell earlier, he hasn't seen me. And, as for the first blackout, he didn't even know that I existed then: that was back before I confronted him with a seemingly harmless violin. So how does he know how long they've been going on for? Something isn't right here.

"How do you know?" I ask, hesitantly, perhaps not wanting to hear the answer. He chuckles a little, eyes diverted to the floor, before they lock with my own again, a warmth spreading through them as he smiles. "I've always known. I've always known everything, Alina." His expression darkens, eyes clouded with sadness, before he continues. "I can give you answers, my dear, I can. Whether you want them or not, that's your choice. Maybe it would be an unwise decision to take them right now. I can try and wait for a while, even though it'll be just as much of a hell for me as it is for you." His voice almost cuts out, and, for some strange reason, my brain tells me that the pain in his eyes is real. But I'm so confused.