Of Two Minds

Chapter 5 Part 2: Agent Loki On the Case

AVENGERS: PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

The following day the crew filmed a different scene on the set where Loki wasn't needed. However, he and Tom each had their own ideas of how they should spend the day off.

At Tom's insistence, Loki allowed him to take Jordan out for an early lunch. Tom spent a considerable amount of effort conversing with the prop assistant, reassuring him that he did not blame him for anything and forgave him for everything. Loki listened with interest to their conversation. While he held no doubts about Tom's sincerity, he suspected that it would be a long time before Jordan forgave himself. Meanwhile, Loki reviewed his own plans for the afternoon.

"You want to what?" questioned a supervisor at the prop department as he glanced once at the identification before looking up at the black-suited man with ginger hair and brown eyes.

"I need to ask a few of your staff questions over what happened the other day," the man told him, putting the wallet with S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials back into the breast pocket of his immaculately-tailored suitcoat. "I'll start with Jordan, Kaleigh, and Lin. Don't worry, no one is in trouble. I only want information. Do you have a small conference room that I could use?"

"We have a few."

"Thank you. What was your name again?" the agent asked the supervisor.

"Frank. Frank Jones."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent nodded as he wrote the supervisor's name on his notepad. "I appreciate your help."

Frank beckoned to Jordan. "Hey, Jordan. This guy wants to talk with you. Take him to Conference Room R."

Jordan came over with a frightened look on his face. He nodded once and left the prop room, making sure the red-haired agent followed behind.

The two walked to the conference room, Jordan shaking noticeably as he indicated the door for the agent. The agent gestured for Jordan to enter first and followed behind Jordan. Shutting the door behind him, he sat on one side of the table. "Jordan, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your supervisor Frank," the agent stated calmly, "which is that you're not in trouble."

"Oh," Jordan answered, his voice cracking as he replied in what was clearly not his usual octave. "I thought for sure I would be after what happened to Tom."

Loki feigned confusion, carefully keeping his disguise intact. Since it was too soon to know Jordan's part in the case beyond his official duties the day of the accident, Loki chose to talk to him before anyone else. "Why would you think you were in trouble when he returned to work the day after it happened?"

"I just... I just..." Jordan swallowed, "I thought it was my fault somehow. Y'know? I'm the one who grabbed the cubes that day without realizing that one was faulty and was going to... to... whatever it did to him!"

"We're not saying it's your fault," Loki urged, Jordan's distress already apparent to him. "Tell me what happened that day. Tell me what you saw without trying to interpret it."

"Interpret it?"

Loki smiled. "Yes. I want to hear only what you saw or heard. Let me interpret it once you've told me everything."

"I-I don't know what happened. The box has a few small lights on it, but all of the fancy effects are added later with CGI. The box they were using for that take was acting funny. It was throwing off all sorts of light, enough that the director stopped rolling because it was messing up the takes he was getting."

"Go on."

"Both Samuel and Tom said something about it, and they even said it was making funny noises too... a-a humming noise. Jeremy thought one of the lights was malfunctioning, and when the director said he wanted to replace it with the other one from the cart, Tom offered to hand it to me."