Fidelity

Lacking Conviction

            When I walked into his office, Director Fury stood up from his desk with a smile. “Sigyn,” he breathed, seeming a little tired, “Can I help you?”

            “Yes,” I said, awkwardly standing in front of his desk. “I wish to see what happened last night in Loki’s cage.” Fury stared at me curiously for a moment, then motioned to the monitors that covered one wall of the room.

“You want the tape from the security camera?” He asked. I nodded, and he crossed the room to set up one of the monitors to play last night’s footage. It started around the time that I had arrived, and Fury explained how to control the video to me before leaving. I sat on top of his desk, fast forwarding through our conversation until I had laid back against the glass. I kept going a little further, and found that two hours had passed before Loki finally moved. I pressed the play button, and Loki turned over onto his back slowly, looking at me curiously. After a few minutes, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hands. He rubbed at his eyes for awhile, and I wondered if her had been crying.

            Finally, Loki stood up, taking his blanket with him, and walked over to the glass behind which I was sleeping. He stood behind me for a long time, simply staring down at me, then he suddenly got down on his knees and leaned against the glass. He pressed his lips to the glass for a short moment, right behind my head, then he turned his back to me and settled himself against the glass. For a moment, I thought he had closed his eyes to go to sleep, but then I realized his body was shaking. He was crying. Unable to watch any longer, I pressed the stop button and turned off the monitor. I took the tape with me; I didn’t want Fury to see this one.

            When I was back in my room, I laid down and held the tape close to me. I found myself feeling the opposite of what I had felt the night before. I couldn’t bring myself to hate him, but I pitied him. What if there was some sort of truth behind his words? What if he really couldn’t stop what he was doing? He didn’t seem to be in control of himself, at any rate, and it frightened me. What had really happened the day he fell from the Bifrost?

            Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the hellicarrier. I was startled at first, until Captain Rogers burst into the room. He nodded to me, although he seemed panicked, and held out his hand. “Ma’am.” I quickly took his hand, allowing him to lead me out into the hallway. Agents were running like mad through the corridors, all of them carrying weapons. “Fury wants you on the flight deck,” Rogers explained, pulling me along, “I have to go help Stark. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

            “Wait, what’s going on?” I asked, grabbing his hand once more before he ran off. He opened his mouth to answer me, but a loud, animalistic roar thundered through the ship, making everyone freeze in horror. “The doctor?” I asked, terrified. The captain nodded, and he was off again, leaving me alone to find my way to the flight deck. Eventually, I made it there without getting hurt. Fury was already there, shouting orders through a little machine in his hand that I didn’t quite understand. I believed he called it a “phone.” When I approached him, he closed the device and turned to me.

            “Sigyn. Thor is fending off the monster as we speak, but I need you to do me a favor.” He had to shout to be heard over the wind caused by the jets taking off. I nodded, and he leaned closer. “I need you to make sure Loki doesn’t make it out of his cell. I’m sure he’ll take the chance with all of this commotion.”

            “Of course,” I said, quickly running off back into the hellicarrier. I made my way to Loki’s cell, careful to avoid the gunfire and fighting that was happening everywhere. As I opened the doors to his room, I immediately froze. The doors closed behind me, and I suddenly felt cold air on the back of my neck; Loki wasn’t in his cell. All of the guards in the room were dead, lying motionless in their own pools of blood. I heard a soft chuckle from behind me, followed by something cold being pressed against my neck. I didn’t need to look to know that it was his scepter.