Chapter 10

Tony nodded in agreement and his body relaxed. He crossed his arms and looked over at where Loki and I were standing when we went invisible.

"Yeah, Mr. President. We sure do."

"Let's start with you sending your goons to harass me while I'm working." Tony scoffed. Happy's eyes went wide and I watched Pepper hold back the urge to smack Tony.

"Excuse me?" The President asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'm just saying. They were distracting and...one could even say they caused the explosion." Tony shrugged as he shook his head.

"They were there to inform me of your silly project! I should have shut it down before it even started!" The President yelled.

"Mr. President, sir, Tony understands that bu-" Pepper tried to defuse the situation but as she took a step towards the man, his men raised their guns at her and she froze. Tony pulled her back and behind him as he crossed his arms.

"Real big of you, Brad, having your men pull guns on an innocent, beautiful woman." He said as he rolled his eyes. I couldn't believe he was talking to the President like this. Neither could Fury, he seemed like he was going to explode the second the President left.

"I knew you were trying to make more freaks to add to your stupid organization." The President harshly said as he looked over at Fury.

"Now, now. That's not what happened. Honestly. The machine just malfunctioned and...kaboom." Tony said, mimicking the sound of an explosion.

"It gave the girl powers." The President argued. His men slowly moved away from him and began sweeping the room once more. The President seemed to believe that Tony's machine was the cause of my powers before he even saw the tests we did. He already had suspicion that Tony was trying to make superheroes for some reason and this solidified it.

"It mistakenly gave her powers, yes. Bu-" Tony tried to argue but the President cut him off.

"I want her terminated." He harshly ordered. My eyes went wide and Loki pulled me closer to him, his arm resting under my breasts and his hand covering my mouth. I could feel my heart beating in my chest, it was going a million miles an hour. I slowly looked over at Tony and watched his eyes fall to the floor as he swallowed hard. Loki gently gripped my side and I looked up at him, seeing his angry scowl as he stared at the President. I felt like I was going to throw up. The President of the United States wanted me dead.

"Mr. President, I can't do-" Tony was cut off once again, but this time it was Fury.

"I can't allow that, sir." He sternly said. 

"And why not?" The President asked, half laughing at the man.

"Because she's not been deemed a danger to our planet. She's done nothing to have that order placed on her head." I couldn't believe Fury was standing up for me like that. I thought he hated me.

"She will be trained and briefed by my men. She's nothing to worry about, sir." Fury added, his deep voice turning slightly harsh as he spoke to the President.

"She's currently contained on the Hellicarrier, in Loki's old cage." Fury added, trying to ease the President's mind. Loki shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his old prison. He dropped his hand from my mouth put kept his other arm wrapped around me, keeping me close.

"Where is he?" The President suddenly asked. I raised a brow and looked up at Loki, who shrugged at my unasked question.

"Where's who?" Tony asked, equally confused.

"Loki. I know the criminal is on world. He wouldn't be anywhere else but here. Where is he?" His words turned harsher and harsher with each one he spoke. One of the President's men made their way over to us and Loki let me go as he pushed me towards the desk. He motioned for me to crouch down, so I did. Loki suddenly tensed up and groaned in pain as he flashed bright green for a moment. He fell to the ground and stayed tense for a few more moments. I wanted to run out to help him, but I knew that if they activated the device in his neck, I wasn't invisible anymore.

"There he is." The President chuckled. Loki's pain didn't last as long as last time and it seemed to be not as harsh. He inhaled as it stopped and slowly stood up, glancing over at me to make sure I was hidden. The President's men cocked their guns and pointed them at Loki.

"Pleasure to see you again, Mr. President." Loki smirked as he slowly lifted his hands up to his shoulders in a surrender position.

"You saved the girl's life after the explosion." The President said as he put his arms behind his back. He didn't tell his men to back down and I was praying they wouldn't search the room again. I slowly crawled under the desk and held my knees to my chest.

"I did." Loki nodded. I could see him from where I was and I could see the President's reflection in the glass door that sat over one of Tony's suits.

"Why?" He asked the God. Loki raised a confused brow and tilted his head slightly to the left.

"What did you gain from it?" He added.

"Nothing? I saved her to save her. She needed help." Loki half laughed. 

"You never do anything unless there's something in it for you." The President argued. Loki lost his smile and clenched his jaw as his brows slightly furrowed. He was getting pissed off at this point.

"I saved her because she needed saved. I gained nothing but the pleasure of knowing she's still alive." He harshly replied to the man.

"Mhm." The President nodded over to one of his men. Loki tensed up in pain again and dropped to the floor as he screamed. This time the pain seemed worse than it was at the lake. I covered my mouth with my hands to stop myself from crying and screaming for him.

"That's enough, sir!" Fury yelled. I heard the President scoff and Loki's body untensed as he passed out. 

"No." I whispered.

"Take me to the girl. Now." The President harshly demanded. I heard him and his men leaving the lab but stayed put, just in case.

"T.J?" Tony whispered. I slowly peeked out from behind the desk and let out a breath of relief when I saw they were all gone. I rushed over to Loki's side and gently lifted his head on my lap as I moved his hair from his face.

"Loki?" I softly asked as I ran my thumb down the left side of his face.

"Come on, Jesus. You gotta get up and take T.J to that cage." Tony said as he clapped his hands and quickly walked over to us. He knelt down and gently slapped Loki's face, trying to wake him.

"It'll take me 10 minutes to get up to the Hellicarrier with the President. She needs to be in the cage in 9." Fury informed us as he walked towards the door to the lab.

"Make it 15." Tony yelled as Fury left the lab. I wasn't sure if he would make it 15 minutes but I had a feeling he would try. 

"What's his problem?? How can the president be so...fucked up?" I asked Tony as he gently slapped Loki's face again.

"He's a cruel man." Pepper said as she knelt down next to me and sighed. 

"I'll go get the scents." She said as she got back up and walked away. Tony nodded at her and then ran his hands through his hair as he got up from the floor and walked over to his research.

"Listen, Alex, I'm sorry about this." He suddenly said. I hadn't heard him use my real name in days. It felt....weird hearing him use it.

"I'm sorry I asked you to be the test dummy. I'm sorry it exploded and caused all of this." He said as he gestured to Loki and me on the floor.

"I know you didn't mean for it to happen. And I trust you'll do everything in your power to help me." I softly replied. I looked over at him and saw the small, almost proud smile on his face.

"What?" I asked as I adjusted my hand under Loki's head.

"If I ever have kids, I hope they turn out like you." He replied, his smile getting bigger.

"Thanks, Tony." My heart did leaps in my chest. Not the same kind of leaps Loki causes, these were more...father daughter love leaps. 

Pepper walked back in with a small glass container in her hands. She knelt down by Loki and waved the opening of the container under his nose. He inhaled hard and his eyes shot open. He looked up at me and I smiled as I moved his hand back off of his face.

"Morning." I laughed. He smiled a little and slowly closed his eyes as he relaxed into me. The fear of the President gone and the comfort taking over.

"Look, kids, I know you wanna have a moment but you gotta get her up in the cage, like...." Tony looked down at his watch and then back over at us.

"7 minutes ago." He ushered us to get up. I helped Loki to his feet and he adjusted his uniform before looking over at Tony.

"The sensors will stop me." He pointed out. 

"Ahhh." Tony groaned as he shook his head.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, deactivate the sensors." He ordered. 

"Sensors deactivated." An automated male voice called out from around us. Loki smirked as he wrapped his arm around me. We disappeared from Tony's lab and reappeared on, what I assumed to be, the Hellicarrier. We were in a large room with a glass contained in the middle of it. By the door was a panel with multiple buttons and there was a walk way around the glass container, but nothing else in the room. The glass container was empty except for one metal bench on the farthest side from the door. 

"What the hell?" An agent asked as he stood by the panel.

"Open the doors and let her in. Ask no questions and act like she's been here all day." Loki demanded. I realized he was still holding me against him but I didn't mind it.

"Um-"

"Orders from Fury." Loki harshly added. The agent swallowed hard and pressed a few buttons and the door to the glass container behind us opened up.

"I'm sorry." Loki softly said as he looked at the door.

"In here, Mr. President." Fury's loud voice suddenly said from outside of the room. Loki pushed me into the cage and the door slammed shut behind me. Loki disappeared and the agent and I just stared at one another, both scared by the men outside of the room. The door opened and Fury walked in first. He seemed relieved to see me in the cage. I sat on the bench and crossed my arms as the President walked in.

"So, this is her?" He asked Fury as if I wasn't sitting right there.

"Alex Morrison." Fury nodded to me. The President slowly walked into the room and then did one lap around the glass cage, his judgmental eyes burning into me the whole time. I felt so small and trapped in the cage and it broke my heart knowing Loki dealt with the same thing.

"How old is she?" He spoke to Fury but kept his eyes on me. I was already pissed off at him for what he did to Loki, and I couldn't stop myself.

"25." I harshly answered. This surprised the President and angered Fury. The director mouthed "shut the fuck up" to me as he stood behind the President.

"Do you know who I am?" The President scoffed as he tilted his head a little to the right.

"I do." I nodded as I leaned back against the glass.

"She's just a little tired from being in here all day, Mr. President." Fury quickly said as he stepped closer to the man. The President narrowed his eyes at me and then turned and looked at Fury.

"I want her trained asap." He harshly said. Fury nodded and the President walked out of the room. Loki suddenly appeared in the cage and in front of me. I smiled at him and he sat down next to me as he looked over at the door.

"Terrible man. I don't understand how he's in charge of this country." He said as he crossed his arms.

"I didn't vote for him." I mumbled. The door suddenly opened back up and Loki turned invisible as the President and Fury walked back in.

"I saw you, Loki. " There was so much hate behind his words when he spoke to Loki.

"Damn." Loki whispered and turned visible again.

"How the hell did you get out of Tony's building! Why weren't the sensors on?!" The President screamed at Loki before turning to look at Fury. Fury seemed like he wasn't sure how to respond to the man. But Tony walked into the room, his suit leaving his body, and crossed his arms as he looked at the President.

"We thought it would be good if Loki helped her with her new powers. They seem similar to his and no one else knows what to do." He shrugged.

"She isn't training now, so why is he here??" The President harshly asked as he looked away from the two men and towards Loki and I. 

"I felt it would be best for Alex to have some friendly company when you two arrived." Loki smiled as he stood up and walked towards the glass.

"Being around such.... aggressive and authority fueled men could have been stressful for the poor girl. I was only trying to help." He flashed another innocent smile but that only seemed to piss off the President even more. The man pulled out a remote and pressed the only button it. Loki tensed in pain and fell to the floor as he screamed. I rushed over to his side and knelt down as I gently touched his face.

"Stop!" I yelled out as I looked up to the President.

"You are nothing here, Loki. Not a God, not a super powerful being. You are my prisoner. You do what I say when I say it. Your attitude recently is really starting to piss me off!" The President screamed.

"STOP IT!!!" I screamed as loud and as hard as I could. My voice echoed off of the glass around us, bouncing around and hurting our ears a little. The glass shook a little and Tony gabbed the remote from the President's hand. He pressed the button again and Loki gasped as his body relaxed. He close his eyes, his breathing hard and rapid.

"Make yourself useful, Stark-" The President harshly spat as he grabbed the remote back from Tony.

"-and put working sensors in this room. I want her chipped and the two of them stay in this cage. They can leave to train for 2 hours a day. That is it!" He yelled as he stormed out of the room. I sat back on my knees and ran my fingers though my hair as Loki opened his eyes and looked over at me. The room went silent and all I could focus on was Loki and the pain he was in. Not just from the device in his neck, but from being locked back up in this cage again.

"I'm sorry." I choked out. I felt so guilty about everything. If I had just died after the explosion, Loki would have never been here to see the President. He would still be out on his mission with Thor and safe from the cage.

Loki closed his eyes again and sighed as he faced the ceiling. I looked over at Tony and wiped the tears from my eyes as he looked down. Fury had followed the President out of the room. Tony looked back up at me and I saw the hurt in his eyes. He felt just as bad as I did.

"I won't let them put a chip in you. I won't let them keep you here, okay?" He softly said. I nodded and he nodded back before turning and leaving the room. I moved my knees and sat back on my butt as I watched the door close behind him. I crossed my legs and put my face in my hands, trying to hold back an ugly sob.

"Don't bother crying over it. Get comfortable and get some rest. Tomorrow we start your training." Loki mumbled. I looked over at him and saw that his eyes were still closed and his hands were intertwined on his stomach. I sniffed and wiped the tears from my face before slowly laying down on my back. I stared up at the bare, metal ceiling and felt my stomach turn in fear and guilt. I glanced over at Loki and only one thought ran through my head.

"Please don't hate me."

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