The Soldier and the Spy.

Chapter 13

***Variel***

The second my foot slips on the water, the door to the warehouse opens with a bang.

"Lord Loki? Your majesty?" a frightened agent says, staring in surprise at the two of us grappling among the wreckage of the warehouse crates. "Excuse me, sir, which one is you?" He asks, and I almost laugh at the confused expression on his face. Both of us are in 'Frost Giant' mode, and he can't tell us apart. I decide to use this for my advantage.

"I am Loki," I say, morphing into Loki's usual form. "Please shoot this intruder," I add when I notice the powerful tranquilizer gun in his hand. It's strong enough to bring down a bull elephant.

"No, I am Loki! Do not listen to the intruder. She is trying to fool you. Now I order you to shoot her," Loki retorts, also changing back to his human form.

The agent looks back and forth between us. "Sir, both of you are you! I mean... which one is... the real you?" he stammers.

"Ask me a question that only I would know!" Loki roars.

"Umm... wh-what sort of question...Sir?" the agent asks.

"Ask me who my brother is!" I say, adopting Loki's smooth voice as my own.

"Very well... who is your brother? I mean, who is your brother, Sir?"

"Thor!" Loki and I shout in unison.

"And I thought I told you never to talk to me about him again!" Loki bellows.

"But you told me to!"

"I didn't tell you that! The impostor told you that!"

"Which one is the impostor?" the agent says. He looks like he's ready to cry. My feet hit something long and metal, and I get an idea.

"I am the real Loki!" I say. "See? I have the Chitauri Scepter! The impostor doesn't! Shoot him immediately!"

The trigger-happy guard fires three darts that bury themselves, one after the other, in Loki's outer thigh. He doesn't even have time to yell before he collapses in a heap like a deflated balloon.

***Captain America***

My head feels heavy, like it's been filled with lead. My eyelids feel sewn shut. But a thought hits me, and I drag my eyes open. Where's Variel?

I remember where I am, and try to call for help, but all that comes out is a weak moan. What was in that gas? I wonder, as I try to move my arms. All I can do is flop them limply. I hear a groan from beside me, and watch as Natasha's eyes flutter open too. After she discovers that she's completely immobile, all we can do is stare helplessly into each others eyes, taking a little comfort in the presence of another.

Something twitches slightly and makes a funny squeaking sound near my leg, and I decide that Clint is probably conscious now, too. Suddenly, I feel the glass cage move beneath me as we are lifted by some unknown source. I try to ask a question, and, to my surprise, I actually succeed.

"Wh-where are you... taking us?" I mumble, throat dry. I cough, and try again. "Where are you taking us?"

The answer is not encouraging. "To your death," comes the reply.

Now Natasha finds her voice. "Why?" she manages to force out.

"Because Lord Loki ordered us to kill you if we didn't hear from him in exactly two hours. And guess what? It's been two hours aaand... seventeen minutes, precisely."

"How... are... we... going... to... die?" Hawkeye gasps.

"Painfully. And stop asking questions, because that's all I'm going to tell you," the unseen man growls.