Hero (Loki & Avengers)

Eighteen

I pull down the sleeves on my jacket so they cover my palms, praying that my powers don't go haywire again. 

I let out a shaky breath as I look up at the towering building in front of me. I hope Tony doesn't mind I borrowed one of his cars to get me here, but I'm sure he'll be more preoccupied with the Avengers compound that I just partially destroyed.

I haven't been here, to Mr. Connors' lab, since I stole his flash drive. I reach into my pocket and grab the very same flash drive. I made sure to keep a full copy for Tony at his lab, but I wanted to come to Mr. Connors with a peace offering, so I'm giving it back to him.

I nervously walk into the building, and the second I step through the metal detectors they go haywire. The security guard walks over to me, and I can see his eyes widen when he recognizes me.

He says something into a walkie talkie then rushes over to me. I put my hands up in surrender.

"Get on your knees!" The guard screams at me, causing people to stare. I obey.

Two men with heavy guns come out and each of them grabs under one of my arms, lifting me and pulling me forwards. I stumble to keep up with them as they drag me into an elevator. Instead of taking me up to Mr. C's office like I thought they would, they press the lowest level of the basement.

I blink back tears. I knew I was going to be afraid. I prepared for this.

The doors open to reveal a tall gray room with a balcony that wraps all the way around the middle of the high walls. Armed guards are stationed along this balcony against the railing.

The ground level of the room is lined with walls of desks and computer monitors, as well as some machines I haven't seen before but that look like they belong in Tony's lab.

In the center of the room is what looks like a huge circular glass cage, maybe ten feet tall and ten feet wide. There are two doors with a tunnel between them to get into this cage. The first door opens and the guards throw me into the tunnel. The door seals behind me.

Once it clicks shut, the second door in front of me slides open. I hesitantly walk into the glass cage. The white floor of it and the harsh lights make it feel blinding to be in here. I squint to adjust to my new surroundings.

The second door seals shut, but once it does and I'm completely enclosed by the glass, a sickening feeling takes over me. It's like the room is suffocating me, and the air feels pressurized.

The air is both too thick and too thin to breathe. I panic and run back to the glass door, trying to pry it open again to no avail. I see that outside of the glass there is a metal handle on the far door, and I extend my palm to use my powers and hopefully pull the door open.

It doesn't budge.

"Don't bother. Your powers won't work in there. We designed that glass specially for Substance X." A voice rings through the glass cage as if through a speaker of some sort, and I turn around to see Mr. Connors standing outside of it, "You're completely neutralized."

I'm about to protest, but then I remember why I came. I need his help, not to fight him again.

"I understand, Mr. C.  I know I must seem like a threat to you, but I swear I come here in peace. I need your help." I tell him, walking over to the edge of my cage right in front of him.

"You didn't seem to need any help when you killed two of my men. Pulled the blood right from their veins." He reminds me of the horrible thing I had to do.

"I'm sorry. I thought they were going to kill me." I tell him truthfully.

"For them to kill you they would have had to been ordered by me. Is that something you think I would do?" He asks me innocently.