The Fates' Favorite (Loki Laufeyson)

Part 10

I groaned when FRIDAY woke me up the next morning.

"Little marauder, Mr. Stark requests your presence in the main floor meeting room."

"Okay, okay. I'll be there in 5." I hummed groggily, sliding out of the bed. I looked at the clock. 8am.

I had gotten 4 hours of sleep. That was better; I was getting better.

That didn't mean I wasn't entirely too tired, though.

Stumbling to the closet, I threw on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt before I pulled my hair into a messy bun, wrapping a blanket around myself as I walked out.

"Finally." Tony grumbled as I entered the room last. Everyone was already seated. "I asked for you-"

"5 minutes ago." I growled back, plopping down less than gracefully. "What is it?"

Tony stared at me for only a moment before he cleared his throat. "Hydra has a warehouse in Utah that we need to take down. Fury thinks the Intel inside i-"

"The shock house." I added with a point once the image pulled up on the screen. A large, metal warehouse with black doors. It was old-looking, nearly dilapidated as a way to blend in with the rest of the rundown area.

"The what house?"

"Shock house. It's where they'd... Take the unfortunate participants to the brain juicer, get them ready between missions or if they disobeyed commands." I sighed. "It's... Rather unpleasant."

"Were you ever..."

"Not often." I affirmed. "They had me work with a guy when I was first starting out, though. They made me go with him when he got it done." I chewed on my cheek at the memory, and Tony nodded.

"So you know how to get around the building?"

"I don't know that it's wise t-" Loki was cut off by Steve.

"If she knows the layout already, it's perfect." He seemed antsy, unusually pumped up about this particular mission.

I nodded at Tony, who cleared his throat. "You up for it, bandit?"

"Of course. It shouldn't be difficult; they don't guard the shock house nearly as well as some of their other buildings."

"Good. Go suit up; you, Nat, and Cap can read up on the way there."

It shouldn't be difficult. What. A. Joke.

Even Natasha and Steve seemed to be overwhelmed by the pure amount of chaos, which I couldn't believe was a common occurrence for them.

So many guards were stationed around the base, we were bruised up and battered before we stepped foot in the building. I had no idea why they had such harsh security until we got inside.

The oldest of the bunch couldn't be older than 14, making me nearly vomit at the sight of the children curled up on the floors, looking far more afraid of us than they were of the Hydra facility itself. And I understood. When I was a child, the outside world was nothing but a war. Where most kids would see mothers playing with their children at the park, simple interactions at grocery stores, or schools with kind teachers and students, I saw enemies, spies. You could never trust a soul.

"Hey, we're not gonna hurt you." Nat tried to ease as she crouched to the ground.

"Don't take another step." The oldest seethed, his hand instantly pulling up a small pistol.

Okay, so these weren't powered kids at least.

"They told you we're terrorists, didn't they?" I asked, following Nat's lead in making myself smaller. "Told you that you wouldn't survive without them."