Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 139

Fear.

It's fear that wakes Wanda up, just as it has numerous times before.

It's always fear. No amount of bubbly, playful joy can wake her up, but fear, that can wake her from the heaviest slumber. It's not even her own fear, which is perhaps the most frustrating part. She feels every nightmare in this building, and she has to suffer through it in silence.

She suspects she knows whose nightmare she feels today. Loki's nightmares are always the strongest. It's probably the reason they don't tend to last long: he wakes up fairly quickly. Thor wakes him up fairly quickly.

But Thor's not here right now, which puts her in a bit of an awkward situation. Is he going to wake up on his own? Is he going to be alright if he does? Would her company make him feel better or worse?

She knows the answer, really. It would undoubtedly make him feel worse. She knows how afraid he is of her, and she certainly doesn't blame him. But if all she does is wake him up because Thor's not around to do it... Well, that would be nice of her, right? She'd be helpful. She'd be helping him.

So that's what she decides to do. She quietly climbs out of bed, careful not to disturb Pietro on the other side of the room. She sneaks out without waking him up — not that it's difficult; he's a much heavier sleeper than she is — and starts off down the hallway.

She expects to find Loki in his room, but that's not where the trail of fear leads her. No, it leads her to the common room, much to her surprise — and what she sees in the common room only surprises her more.

Loki's back is pressed against the wall, seemingly awake but terrified all the same. He trembles with fear, eyes wide as he stares straight ahead at nothing.

Steve stands a few feet in front of him, a look of fear in his own eyes. "Loki, what's wrong?" he asks — he pleads. "Look at me. What's going on?"

Wanda furrows her brows, head cocked to the side. This is interesting. She steps into the room, and the subtle creak of the floorboards alerts Steve to her presence before she'd planned to make it known.

He whips around, and his worry turns to anger when he sees her. "Are you doing this?" he demands.

Wanda shakes her head slightly, but her attention still rests on Loki. She takes another few steps toward him. What if she...

"Wanda, stop it," Steve snaps. "Leave him alone."

Wanda ignores him, just walking past him until she's standing face-to-face with the god.

"Hey!" Steve grabs her arm to pull her away.

Wanda pulls his fingers off and throws him across the room — gently, of course. She doesn't want to hurt him; she just wants him out of the way. Her magic keeps him in place, though he continues is fruitless struggle to get free.

Wanda looks up at Loki, eyes narrowed with intrigue. "Where are you?"

"I—" Loki's eyes dart frantically around the darkened room. "I don't know."

She shouldn't do this. She knows she shouldn't. But she can help him. She can satisfy her own curiosity, and she can break him of this trance all at once. And maybe she can fix him, too. Maybe she can find what's been bringing out all these nightmares, and she can put an end to it — for both their sakes. And that's good. Helping him is good. And that's what makes it different this time. She's not doing this for herself – not really. She's doing it for him.

She raises her hands to the sides of his head, fingers hovering mere inches from his temples. Thin trails of scarlet creep into his head, and the cool blue of his eyes turns to a fiery red.