The Soldier

abort mission

„Play along, Tessa."

It was calming to hear his real voice again instead of hearing it only in her mind. But his words sounded way colder than she thought them to be suitable.

„What a good obedient soldier. Come over here."

Tessa looked at him puzzled and he nodded at somewhere behind her, a little higher up. A surveillance camera maybe?

„Look, you managed to escape and I almost let you run. But the Man of Iron handed me you on a silver platter, how could I deny that gift?"

Tessa understood and did play along, slowly walking in his direction. What was this all about? They didn't need to keep that show up anymore, right? They would leave soon, why-

„Come over here and put away my chains, soldier.", he continued, a light smile on his lips that made Tessa instantly happy too.

They would leave in a couple of moments.

She stood behind him, already putting away his bonds, when a loud crash in front of the closed door got her attention.

„Do not worry about this. Free me and we will leave.", Loki explained, sounding calm enough for Tessa to not worry.

Actually she felt really relaxed, maybe a bit too calm, considering their situation.

But Tessa's mind drifted away slowly, she only focused on putting away the bonds around Loki's wrists. That was all that mattered.

Do you trust me, Tess?, Loki suddenly asked her in her mind.

'I should probably say no to this. But right now, I trust you, yes. Why?'

There was a soothing coldness around her, inside her mind, on her skin exactly to where she believed her soul and heart were hidden, everything suddenly felt calm and collected and... cold.

I will explain later. Just open these bonds, Tessa.

She looked at her hands following his orders, and somewhere deep in her mind a voice was screaming that this was wrong. That this was not her, but somebody else moving her hands.

It took only seconds for that voice to vanish. Get lost somewhere in the void of that soothing, calming, collected coldness.

She was done with freeing his hands, immediately moving on to the bonds around his feet now. That was when she felt the energy inside her body rise again, when that coldness made place for something... loaded, powerful and strangely familiar.

Her muscles tensed and she looked up at Loki for a moment, earning a scrutinizing look and an approving nod, before turning back to loosening the bonds around his feet.

She was pretty sure, that it wasn't herself who was in charge right now. Like she was captured and forced to watch a scene her body was playing, not able to take a decision herself.

When the door was finally opened from the outside Tony - or rather Iron Man - stood there bewildered for a moment.

Trying to process what he saw - Tessa freeing Loki and looking up at him only for a second, barely long enough for him to notice what changed about her, even though it was so obviously visible.

The dark brown of her eyes, now a sickening, unnatural, cold shade of blue.

„It is the greatest hero of all, Tony Stark, Man of Iron, look, soldier. Remember when you thought he could protect you? You were given back to me by him, you are here now because he brought you back to me. Maybe I owe you my gratitude, you hero... ", Loki mocked him.