Stars Have Fallen - A Loki Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

8

"Your new friends in the Avengers tower seem to think you're something really special," Nick stated as he led Estrial and Thor down the main hallway. "And you've proved in your visits to our prisoner..that they're probably right."

Estrial looked questioningly up to Thor at her side. The demigod smiled at her encouragingly. "Now, if the circumstances were different, we'd ease you into this as slowly as we could," Nick went on, "but we need this now."

"'This'?" Estrial repeated in nervous curiosity. The three stepped into the elevator.

On the way up, Nick gave Estrial his usual stern gaze. "I'm asking for your help with something," he began to explain, "something that a lot of my staff are becoming incapable of doing."

Estrial responded with a head nod, showing that she understood.

Nick stared at her a bit longer before turning his gaze to Thor. Taking this as a prompt to talk, Thor announced, "it has been decided that you are the best candidate to oversee my brother's imprisonment, from here on out."

The one-eyed man nodded slowly, approving of Thor's words. "The guards here fall to his tricks...much more easily than I'd like to admit," he explained further. "But I understand you have an interest in Loki, and the ability to sense emotion."

Estrial felt her stomach erupt with butterflies. It was a feeling that was quite foreign to her; it felt but good and bad at the same time. But her newly developing emotions told her that she was excited, so she associated the feeling in her stomach with that. "Yes," she responded in a bit more confident of a tone.

The elevator came to a stop. The three made their way down another hallway, entering an office room at the very end. Inside of it, the sun shone in through the windows, lighting up the otherwise darkly colored room. On a desk sat a metal briefcase. Fury walked over to it casually and picked it up in his hands. Turning back to face Estrial and Thor, he spoke again. "This is a little something to help with the job," he told Estrial, opening the case to show her the contents inside, "if you'll accept the offer."

Two half-circles of thin gold glimmered, each one no larger than her palm. "I've had a man working with that Asgardian cell wall of yours," Nick told Thor. "And he was able to make something," he went on, pausing to watch Estrial carefully pick up one of the curved gold slivers, "something like a smaller, portable version."

Thor looked slightly suspicious. "How?" He asked almost defensively.

"I have no idea," Nick admitted with a raised eyebrow. He then turned back to Estrial to explain the use of the cuffs. "One goes of each of his wrists," he emphasized, "once they're on, they won't come off unless taken off by the one who put them on him. Loki won't be able to use any magic; he'll be as mortal as he can get."

Estrial frowned down at the gold in her hands. "No magic.." She mumbled. Twirling a single cuff in her fingers, she recalled memories of when she would watch Loki's magic from afar. "I accept."

Nick gently plucked the gold from her hands and placed it back into the briefcase. Closing it, he handed it to her slowly. She took it in her hands, but he did not let go yet. He leaned down a bit and, in a cautious voice, went on, "Estrial, I'm putting a lot of trust in you for this. But if for one second you make me question my actions, this operation will be shut down. Okay?"

Estrial met his menacing gaze and felt discomfort build up in her core. "Okay," she agreed meekly. She took the cold, metal case in her hands.

Leaning away from Estrial, Fury crossed his arms. "Keep him away from the common people," he gave his last warning, "he can be dangerously deceptive even without magic."

"I know," she insisted quietly.

Thor chuckled. "You must keep in mind," he told Nick, "Estrial has known Loki far longer than any of us...her shine began long before even my existance."

The agent nodded firmly. "Point taken," he grumbled, then gestured toward the door to his office. "He's all yours."

Estrial's eyes went wide. All hers? Loki? She wasn't sure how to react to this. A mixture of feelings exploded inside of her. She followed Thor out of the office, but by the time they reached the elevator again, she'd grown wary. Was she really going to be able to do what was being asked of her? Estrial clutched Thor's arm suddenly. When he met her eyes, his eyebrows drew down. "What's wrong?" He demanded in concern.

Estrial held her free hand up to show that it was shaking. She quaked quietly, staring at her shivering hand.

Thor calmed down a bit, realizing that nothing too desperate was going on. He took her hand and led her onto the elevator. "It means you are overwhelmed," he told her with a sympathetic smile.

"Overwhelmed," Estrial repeated. Her entire body was shaking now; she was, indeed, overwhelmed.

"It's alright," Thor insisted with a small snicker, "I get the feeling Loki will take kindly to having you as a personal gaurd..I see the way he looks at you; he will listen to you."

Estrial, however, didn't understand why this was relevant. The way he looked at her? It had never occurred to her that Loki looked at her differently than anyone else. But after hearing Thor say this, she couldn't stop thinking about how true it was. Even when she was only a dot in the sky, Loki's gaze upon her was pure and truthful, with no hint of deception. Perhaps this was because he believed she wasn't watching back. Or perhaps, out of hope that she was.