Blood and Knifes

2:8

Megan awoke slowly, as usual. The unusual bit was that they were in a hospital bed. They clenched their fists and closed their eyes, breathing in and out shallowly, sending the heart monitor to beep quickly. The door opened and shut quickly.

"Megan?" Questioned Doctor Banner. "What's wrong?"

"Trypanophobia," they breathed out. "Really, really bad trypanophobia."

"Ah. Well, now that you've woken up, we should be able to take out your IV." The beeping of the heart monitor increased.

"Not while I'm conscious."

"It's really a quick procedure-"

"No. You can't get near me while I'm conscious. So much as come near me with a-" they gulped, "a syringe, I will attack you. Don't believe me, look in my medical history."

Papers flipped, and they heard a gasp. "You incapacitated seven doctors?"

"Yeah, not my finest moment. Just... get Loki. He can knock me out until you're done. Please, I can't control myself much longer."

"Erm... I can't."

"The fuck you can't."

"He's currently being imprisoned in a heavily guarded cell," Doctor Banner apologized. "I can't get him out without proper clearance."

"Then fucking take me to him!" They growled. "Doctor, you of all people should know the stakes here." They heard a sigh, but when they opened their eyes a wheelchair was beside the bed.

Twelve minutes later, four security checks, and Megan was on the verge of breaking.

"It's okay Megan, we're here," Doctor Banner opened a final door to reveal Loki chained and muzzled in a glass cell.

"Loki!" He strained against the chains, feet scrambling against the floor in an attempt to reach them. Blood dripped steadily from his shoulder.

"Oh my god," Doctor Banner mumbled.

"Hell no," they growled, and ripped the IV out by themself. They limped to the glass door, examining the keypad that allowed entry.

"Doctor Porter, please, you need to sit down," Banner objected.

"Do you know the password?" They asked. Banner shook his head. "Then I'm going to either open the door or summon someone to open it for me." The keypad required six digits, five of which were apparent based upon fingerprint smudges. 0... 1... 4... 7... 8... "Would this password have been set by an agent?"

"I think it was Agent Coulson," Banner suggested.

They laughed, inputting the password. 070418. A small light blinked green, and the door slid open. They moved as quickly as they could, and fell to their knees before Loki, tugging at the muzzle until it fell around his neck.

"Megan," he rasped. "You're okay."

"Yeah," they grinned tearfully. "But you're not. Loki, what happened?" They distracted him as they guided him against the cell wall. Banner ran from the room, calling for a medic.

"Not my fault." He winced as they tore a sleeve off of their hospital gown and pressed it against his shoulder.

"I know, love. But what happened?" They reiterated.

"An agent came to... take my statement. He wasn't from SHIELD. When I questioned him, he started shaking and foaming at the mouth- ah!" He groaned as they added a bit more pressure to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It'll help slow the bleeding." They pressed a kiss to the top of his head and he winced again. "Love?" They brushed away some of his hair to find a nasty cut on his temple.

"I called for the guards, but they shot me with these-" he opened his hand to reveal four small darts. "-and then they chained and muzzled me, and one of them hit me in the head with a shotgun."

They remained silent for a moment, reflecting over what Loki had told them. "You said the agent was shaking and foaming at the mouth. Did he say anything?"

"Erm... yes. He said, 'Hail Hydra,' and then he tensed up. I think he bit down on something," Loki expanded.

"You caught a Hydra agent?" A new voice startled them. They turned to find Captain America, a metal-armed man-the one who had spoken, Mr. Stark, and Doctor Banner.

"You caught a Hydra agent and this is how they repaid you?" Mr. Stark repeated.

"What is Hydra?" Loki asked.

"I'll give you a history lesson later," Megan said, turning to the medics. "Doctor Banner?"

Banner brought the other medics into the cell, and they unlocked Loki's chains to rest him on his back on the floor.

"I'm sorry Loki, but we don't have any anesthesia that would work on you," Doctor Banner apologized.

"It's okay," Loki gritted out as the medics cut off his shirt. He looked up at Megan. "Now might be a good time for a distracting history lesson."

"Hydra was a Nazi organization back during World War 2," Megan started. "The Nazis had taken over most of Europe. They wanted to make Germany a global superpower. It's kind of similar to what happened in the pocket dimension. They killed people who were different- no disabilities, no SAGA, no Jews, and they wanted everyone to be of their own race, Aryan."

"Jews?"

"Jewish people. Judaism is their religion. And Aryan people had to have specific characteristics- most notably blonde with blue eyes. They were monitored very closely, they had to have the right shade of blonde and blue, and other features had to be similar too. Jews, non-Aryans, SAGA, anyone who went against the Nazis, they were put into concentration camps." They paused when Loki winced, and a flash of green light flickered all over his body. "Concentration camps were where people were sent to be killed. It was really horrific. Eventually the Allies-that's what the countries that fought against the Nazi's were called-won by breaking the Nazi enigma code. My favorite movie is about how the enigma code was broken. Maybe we can watch it together when we go home."

"I'd... like that..." Loki gripped their hand tightly, gritting his teeth.

"No judging me for crying though," they joked, even as a tear slipped from their worry-filled eyes.

"Never," he smiled, then cried out in pain.

"There's no inflammation of the skin near the wound," one of the medics told Megan with furrowed brows. "The pain shouldn't be so severe." Another flicker of light caught Megan's attention.

"Loki..." They looked into his eyes. "Drop the illusion." He took a pained look at the people in the room, but the flickering stopped, revealing a shitshow of a body behind. Medics gasped, but quickly got back to work, avoiding irritating any damaged flesh.

"Don't want to talk about it." Loki averted his eyes.

"Don't want to talk about-"

Megan cut off the Captain. "Have you read anything by Shakespeare? I have a good feeling you'd like him."

"When we first met, you were reading Macbeth."

"Yeah, that's my favorite of his plays. It's the first one I ever read. His tragedies are taught in school, but I took an advanced language arts class, so I got to read Macbeth and Hamlet while the rest of the kids read Romeo and Juliet," they explained.

Loki twitched his fingers, and their lanyard landed in their hands. "Read to me?" He asked.

They smiled and nodded, pulling out Macbeth and beginning to read. "When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?"