In The Shadows | Loki

TROUBLE?

Bruce's POV~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        A quiet groan breaks the silence of the lab between Tony and I. I look up, startled, and Tony and I look at each other before looking to the only other thing in the room that could have made that noise. Ophelia. After a few moment, the noise comes again, and her head tilts slightly as she stirs. Tony moves before I do with a smirk on his face.
        "Tony-" But I'm cut off. He's standing over her as Ophelia's eyes flutter open, and she lets out a startled gasp, her body tensing. She didn't move though, that I noticed. She blinks a few times, and after a moment, it's clear she recognizes him.
        "Oh..." She groans again. "Why?" I hear her murmur the question. Natasha would have stopped him if she had been there. Her doctor, Bobbi, had been called away by Fury a few hours ago. Natasha had left because an agent had mentioned something about a Clint Barton.
        "How are you feeling?" I ask, grabbing a pair of gloves off the counter. A few had been left there in case I needed it. Ophelia glances at me, her eyebrows furrowing with some slight confusion. "Dr. Banner." I supply. She nods slowly, and I notice her frown.
        "I feel like.... I got thrown off the Helicarrier." She finally replies. I chuckle.
        "Do you mind if I check your pulse?" I ask. he begins to shake her head, but stops.
        "You can't..." She trails off when I hold up a gloved hand. "Oh. Sure then. How did you know...?"
        "Ah... Agent Romanoff explained." I say cautiously. After a long moment, she nods. I walk over, taking her pulse. I frown, looking up at the clock. "Your heartbeat.... it's really slow. It shouldn't be that slow." I murmur.
        "I feel like I have no energy if that helps." She says. "Can... you explain what happened? I mean, I kind of remember, but... it's fuzzy."
        "Reindeer games happened." Stark says, making her frown. "You know, the dangerous god in the cage?" Realization spreads on her face. "And I must say, the green mist spilling from... everywhere made you look very possessed and horror movie like." He says. "Especially with your whole face situation."
        "If I had the energy, I'd hit you." Ophelia deadpans. Stark smirks.
        "Yeah, but you don't, so you can't-" Stark is suddenly launched across the room. He hits the far wall with a loud smack just as Ophelia cries out in pain. I lean over Ophelia, looking for.... I wasn't sure what. She was grimacing, her teeth clenched as she tried not to cry out.
        "What happened?!" Natasha rushes into the room. "Ophelia!"
        "Yeah, I'm fine over here. Just peachy." Stark groans, slowly getting up.
        "Ophelia, are you okay?" I ask. She nods slightly, obviously not having the energy to do much else. She lets out a shaky breath.
        "That... shouldn't have... hurt." She finally gets out. Natasha has a hand to her earpiece, murmuring something about getting agent Bobbi back to the lab. "I really want to sleep."
        "Why don't we hold off on that for the moment, and focus on something else." Natasha says.
        "Okay." Ophelia says slowly. "Why did you tell all of them?" Natasha sighs, shaking her head. "Seriously Nat, I only tell people when I have too."
        "You were seizing uncontrollably, and the amount of mist coming out of you..... I'd qualify that as an emergency. I told them. Sue me."
        "Okay, are none of you going to mention the fact that she just threw me across the room?" Tony exclaims, frustrated.
        "Huh. I was right." Natasha murmurs. "Tony did make her snap."
        "She woke up?" Bobbi rushes into the room, walking instantly over to Ophelia. I'm ushered out of the way. Ophelia frowns.
        "Bobbi?" She asks quietly. "I thought you were on mission." Bobbi gives her a long look, and Ophelia sighs. "Sorry."
        "How do you feel?" It was the same question I had asked earlier, but this time Ophelia gave a different response.
        "I've got no energy. I used one of my powers and.... it hurt so much." Bobbi frowns, studying her. "Bobbi, I don't think I can lift my head."
        "You need to rest." Bobbi says after a long moment. "I... I don't know what else to do." Ophelia nods, letting her eyes flutter sleepily. It only occurs to me then that she was forcing herself to stay awake. Once her breathing becomes the deep breathing of sleep, Bobbi moves.
        "I have to go. If anything changes, get to me as quickly as you can. Call when she wakes up again too."

Ophelia~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        The next time I wake up, I don't feel like a useless lump of fat. I could actually feel my limbs in the way that made me want to move them. I slowly move my head, looking around. Nat was sitting next to me, looking at things on a tablet. Stark and Banner were working. None of them had realized that I had woken up.
        I slowly move, propping myself up on my elbows with more effort than it should have taken. My head feels incredibly heavy, but I keep it up. "Paperwork fun?" I ask Nat. She jerks lightly, turning to look at me in surprise. I'm surprised by how raspy my voice is.
        "Bobbi, she's up." Nat says into her earpiece before turning her full attention on me. "You-"
        "You." Tony Stark walks over, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "You threw me against a wall. You're mean." I make a face, glancing back at Nat.
        "You know, I was hoping that he'd hit his head and gain a better personality." Nat shakes her head with a small chuckle. "Too much to ask for?" She nods.
        "I'm right here." Tony Stark says with frustration.
        "Excellent observation. I see why they call you a genius." I retort. He smirks.
        "You're sarcastic. You must be feeling better." Nat snorts. I send her a small smile before a frown appears on my face as I struggle to sit up a little more.
        "Ophelia, I told you to rest."Bobbi says, walking in.
        "I never asked you to be my mother. Funny how things work." Tony lets out a snort of a laugh, and I see Dr. Banner crack a small smile. "Help me get up."
        "No." She says, completely serious. "You've been asleep for nearly a day. You need more t-"
        "A day?"I exclaim.
        "It's been longer since the incident with Loki." Dr. Banner supplies. I glance around the room.
        "Help. Me. Up." I say, voice hard. "I am not letting that son of a-"
        "Don't worry about him." Bobbi cuts me off.
        "I will worry about him. He's playing a power game. If I don't go back soon, then he's won." I shoot back. "This is a time where we can't let him think that he's won anything. That being said, someone help me up."
        After a long moment, Bobbi moves to help me.

Loki~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        After Ophelia was taken out of the room, they left four guards in her place. They stayed there for over a day, nearly two. None of them tried to make me say anything to use the bathroom. They did their duties, and mostly left me to do what I wanted. It was more boring than anything.
        Until they all just left. All at once, very suddenly, they filed out of the room. Not a word was said. None of them even glance my way.
        There were a few minutes where I was completely alone. I had no doubt that they were watching me. Monitoring my every move.
        The door opened again, and after a long moment two people stumble in. Ophelia is being supported by a woman with long blond hair. It's clear that Ophelia is barely standing. I'm surprised by the state she's in.
        She's so pale that he scars  are standing out on her face. Her normally wavy silver hair is hanging limply in her face. Her gold eyes are unusually muted, their normal sparkle gone.
        She's glaring at me while the other woman helps her walk. "Bobbi." She murmurs under her breath. The other woman stops, looking at her as she nods towards my cage.
        "No."
        "What's he gonna do?" Ophelia asks her. "Make it worse?" The other woman scowls, but helps Ophelia over anyway. They stop in front of the door that led out of my cage, and after a long moment, I step over to them. With Ophelia leaning on the other woman, she was slouched slightly, and I had to look down at her ever so slightly. Normally, she could almost look me in the eye.
        "Trouble?" I ask, and she scowls.
        "You're one smug criminal, aren't you?" She asks. I only smirk in reply.
        My head suddenly snaps to the side, a slight pain radiating up my jaw. Surprise filters through my system as I look back, my hand drifting up to my jaw. Ophelia's knees give out, and she's almost on the floor. The only thing keeping her upright was the other woman. She had punched me through the door of the cage.
        "Maybe that'll wipe the smirk off your face." I hear her mutter. The other woman almost carries her over to the desk, helping Ophelia sit down in the chair slowly.
        This was getting a lot more interesting.