Red. | marvel [1]

e l e v e n

"There's not many people who can sneak up on me." Loki turns in his cell to see the young girl who has fascinated him so much since he arrived. "Congratulations."
"You knew I'd come," Elana says, a perfect American accent flowing out of her mouth. It's not a question, it's a statement.
"I thought you'd come after," he admits. "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."
"I know what it feels like," Elana says suddenly, the words sounding foreign and fake.
"What?" Loki asks.
She turns herself, refusing to face him in her vulnerable state. "I know what it feels like to be overshadowed for your entire life, to be invaluable to people."
"What do you mean?" Loki asks slowly.
"I... I used to be in a secret project in Russia. But I wasn't valued. I wasn't the best at the physical things, and so I was shunned. I was always smarter, though. Always more intellectually advanced." Elana turns back around and gets closer to the glass. "I know how it feels."
Loki stares her down, prowling closer. "If I didn't know better, I'd believe you."
"What do you mean?" Elana says, still feigning innocence.
"Agent Barton told me all about you, Miss Sokolov," Loki grins.
"Like what?" she asks, smiling gently.
"You are Russian," he says.
"Yes," she nods, still not dropping the fake accent.
Loki stands in silence for a moment. "And... you're friends with Natasha," he says.
"I wouldn't call us friends, but sure. If that's how you want to define us."
"And Natasha cares about Barton," he continues.
"So?" Elana prompts, feigning confusion.
"I promise you, I won't harm Barton. Not until I make him kill Natasha. Slowly. Intimately. In front of you and in every way he knows she fears. And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, he'll scream and I'll split his skull. And you... I won't kill you. I'll take you and I'll make you kill anyone you've ever interacted with and then I'll leave you to fester in the new blood red colour of your ledger. You will suffer more than anyone else," he threatens. All through his threat, Elana's eyes had been watering. A tear drops out of her eye just as she turns away. Her voice is shaking when she replies.

"You monster."
He laughs. "No, you brought the monster."
Elana composes herself and grins, wiping the fake tears from her eyes. "So, Banner... that's your play."
"What?" Loki chokes, seeing the immense satisfaction in her eyes.
"God of Mischief and Lies? Please, maybe I should take your title," she shrugs, pressing her earpiece. "Loki is planning on unleashing the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She turns to Loki, who is currently turning an unflattering shade of anger red, "Thanks for your cooperation."

She leaves the room quickly, collecting Thor and Natasha on her way to the lab. She walks in as Steve, Fury and Banner are beginning to fight.
"Did you two know about this?" he asks, looking angrier than Elana had seen him so far. She has no desire to meet the Other Guy, especially not if he's going to be angry at her.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha asks, walking forward slightly.
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed," he seethes.
"Loki's manipulating you," Elana says calmly, taking a slight step forward.
"And you two have been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha snaps.
"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," Banner says.
"They're what?" Elana asks, rounding on Fury with fire in her eyes.
"You're only here because of Romanoff's insistence, Sokolov. Watch yourself," Fury warns. Elana just glares harder.
"I only came here because of the promise of Natasha Romanoff, so I'd  suggest taking your own advice before you make more enemies than you can count from Russia," she hisses. "Why are you building weapons of mass destruction?"
"Because of him," Fury says, pointing at Thor.

"Me?" Thor repeats, stunned at the accusation.
"Last year earth had a visitor who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned," Fury says.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor objects.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury fires back. "And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." Elana feels his eyes boring into her as she stares ahead and past Banner defiantly. "Like people with advancing technology, like people with super strength, like people who can't control themselves, and worst of all people who learn to spy and assassinate in other countries and then are suddenly in the United States."