The Call [Loki x Siren Fanfiction]

Chapter 39

"So what are we gonna do with reindeer games?" Tony asks, breaking the silence in the conference room. We managed to haul Loki back to the helicarrier and put him in lockup. But now we don't know what we're supposed to do next. Do we wait and see if he'll just snap back after not having contact with the staff for a while? Should we let him roam about as if he were a free man again? Maybe we should just hand him a knife and let him loose on Manhattan! Point is, we have no clue what to do.

"Actually..." Thor says, already regretting what he's about to tell us. "I know a man who would have a good idea of how to assist us."

Ecstatic at any prospect of helping Loki, I'm instantly alert.

"Who is he? Where can we find him??" I ask. Thor waves me off.

"Issue is, there's no one he hates more in the entire world than my brother," Thor finishes, looking grim. My energy drains and we're once again sitting at a table in silence.

"Maybe we could try some cognitive recalibration?" Clint suggests, giving a sly look to Nat who chuckles darkly. Inside joke. I probably don't want to know.

"You've had contact with the staff, Barton. What do you think we should try?" Fury asks.

"We gotta get something inside his head besides the staff. Think of it as a mental defib. It's gotta be something big enough and important enough to him that his consciousness would break through the mental lockdown." Clint says, sighing. I glance up from the table to see everyone staring at me. My face starts to burn.

"Well, defib, go talk to him!" Tony says.

"Are we sure that's safe?" I ask hesitantly, trying to keep my emotions off my face. I don't want to get stuck in a cage with a man who blames me for his lack of staff. Nat glances at me, also emotionless, but I know she knows what I'm thinking.

"It should be. Take a watterbottle and sit outside his cell until if and when you feel it's safe to go in. We'll give you a panic button too, just in case." Fury says, speaking for the first time in a while. Half the time it feels like we're getting a good talking to from our father. I nod. He's right. That should work.

--

I signal to the guards that I'm ready to go in, and the metal door to Lockup slides open. I go to the nearest agent and ask where Loki is being kept. After quickly explaining that Fury sent me to talk to him, I'm directed to the back of lockup. Where they keep the big fish. Big fish being Loki.

Loki's laying on the floor in his cell, his still-cuffed hands resting on his chest. He looks like he's sleeping, but I know better. Even normal Loki barely slept, and he would never sleep during the day. I sit down, cross legged on the floor right outside the electric barrier. I carefully set the waterbottle out of his range of sight, leaving it open in the event I need it. Fingering the panic button in my pocket, I clear my throat.

"Hi," I say awkwardly. He sits up, slightly startled.

"What do you want?" He asks, laying back down.

"To talk to you. I want you back, Loki." I say, getting straight to the point.

"We've discussed this, little witch, this is me." He sighs, disappointed. I shake my head. It's not him. But maybe he doesn't know that.

"Do you remember what you were like before you touched that staff?" I ask him, prodding.

"Weak. The emotions of a lovesick boy who doesn't understand true power." Lovesick. Loki is still in there.

"True power? Loki, you can teleport! You can conjure weapons and stab people and all of those other amazing things! You don't need the staff!" I plead with him. After a minute, he doesn't respond. He's conflicted. I feel my stomach flutter at the prospect of getting him back.

"The staff, as you called it, merely made me recognize my weaknesses and get rid of them." He says, still not moving.

"Weaknesses?" I ask, trying to get in his head. Maybe I should have finished that psychology degree in the 80s.

"Love." He states. I could be imagining it, but he sounds almost nostalgic.

"Love isn't a weakness, Loki. I would know. It's an inconvenience sometimes, but it isn't a weakness." I sigh, standing up and picking up my waterbottle. As I walk away, he shocks me by calling out.

"Wait!" He cries. I turn around and see my Loki, one with conflicted emotions. One who's scared. "Can't you stay a little longer?" He asks me. I quirk an eyebrow, trying to hide how excited I am, and head back to his cell. Shocking both of us, I press the button that momentarily disables the electric wall and slip in. Now I sit down on the floor across from him, and he sits up, staring at me.

We sit there for a long time, not saying anything, just staring at each other. Eventually, Loki reclines his head on the wall.

"It's like someone else was shoved into my mind, little witch. I don't know what I'm doing or why I'm doing it. It's me, but I don't know him." Loki says, his voice quaking. My eyes nearly well up. This is my Loki. He's coming back. Slowly, but he's coming back.