"Scepter?" Loki shakes her head. "I don't remember? I don't think so but I might be wrong, I don't..." She sighs, pressing her fingers into her forehead for a moment. "Coming here, everything is fuzzy. Odd and and loud and pain. It's hard to keep track of what's happening."
She takes in a breath, slow and steadying. "I think they asked me questions. Lots of questions but I don't recall what they were anymore. Everything was too loud. I think I started screaming? At some point. Everything inside was too sharp to think. It was so hard to remember what people were saying..."
Wanda wraps both arms around Loki then, holding her close and stroking her hair. "Then don't try to think about it. I'm sorry. I just...I want to help you, but if I reach, I get so dizzy..."
She had wanted Strucker to pay for lying to them, for killing so many young, idealistic Sokovians in such a horrible manner, and now he has even more to answer for. But she also knows all too well what HYDRA does to uncooperative weapons. If they aren't very careful in their escape attempt, they're just going to make it worse.
Loki relaxes against Wanda, nodding her head. "Dizzy," she echoes. "So dizzy. Everything is too loud, too bright. You lose yourself in the world around you." She doesn't know what Wanda can do, not yet, but she knows overwhelm, she knows the flooding of the senses and overstimulation of having streams poured into your mind.
"Don't get dizzy," she says, her voice gentle. "Don't let it overtake you. Don't let it win." Whether hse's talking to herself or Wanda might not be entirely clear but she means the words, no matter who she's saying it to.
"You help," Wanda murmurs, letting her eyes slide shut. "Like...like an anchor. It's hard when I'm alone, but you're here now." The times they take Pietro away and leave her in her cell are the worst. It's too quiet and all these strange, unfriendly minds start pressing against hers too much. At least when they're working with her there's something to demand her attention.
But above all, it's not knowing what they're doing to him that's the absolute worst. She's seen what HYDRA can do to strip away what makes a person themselves - memories of some 'Winter Soldier,' possibly even whatever's happened to Loki. Pietro is not as good at playing a part as Wanda is and even though he doesn't know everything, because she doesn't dare tell him - she worries.
Loki can't stop herself from smiling, the expression honest and bright. It's good to know, good to be of use to someone who needs it. Wanda is...well, she's not sure what's going on here, what Loki's mind is doing around this wonderful woman, but she knows that if she is a good thing in her life, she is doing something right.
Carefully, Loki moves, pressing a light kiss to Wanda's cheek, then another to her forehead. "You've got me now," she mumbles gently. "I'll stay as long as...as long as I can." She wants to say forever, wants to promise Wanda the world but she knows better than that
Wanda settles against her, wrapping her arms protectively around Loki for as long as she's allowed.
It turns out to not be that much longer - Strucker had been hoping they might bond but not that much so quickly. He already walks a fine line with Wanda and Pietro, and holding Loki here too presents...complications. As fascinating as it is to watch Loki play with the best of their stolen Chitauri tech, HYDRA has bases elsewhere. There's no reason she has to stay in Sokovia as long as she remains in their custody.
One day she is there, and the next, she's gone. Wanda can feel it when she wakes - the twins are completely alone again with no friendly minds in sight. And she hates, but there's nothing she can do.
Not for half a year, anyway.
The Avengers continue striking whatever HYDRA bases they can find in the months after the Battle of Sokovia. Each time, Wanda hopes she might find some trace of Loki. Each time, she's been disappointed. But today...something feels different. HYDRA's security is better here (and actually able to hurt her, she finds), and actually getting into the base becomes a team effort between Vision disabling the various security systems and Wanda protecting the others.
They all breathe a little easier once they reach the main control room and turn them off. And with that problem removed and part of her finally able to relax, Wanda feels it. Loki's here. She must be.
And without any word of explanation to her friends, the Scarlet Witch is gone, racing down the corridor with only that faint presence to guide her to Loki's cell.
Loki hears the noises, knows something is going on, but isn't sure what. She just lays, sprawled on the ground, humming to herself. She does that a lot now, hums and sings and fills her own mind with noise to combat the emptiness and dark that tries to rise up and swallow her.
Her eyes are closed and her feet are propped up on the wall, looking more casual than she feels. There's loneliness in every part of her, a solid heavy ache where she had once been light and joyous. It's hard to remember why, hard to keep in mind that it had come because of a person, that Wanda had filled her heart with something other than dread, but it only takes a moment for it all to come flooding back.
Loki opens her eyes at the sound of footsteps outside her cell. SHe's not sure what she's expecting but not this. Not Wanda. Her heart leaps into her throat but then she's shaking her head, pushing herself into a corner.
"You can't be here," she says softly. "You can't. THis isn't--" She takes a breath, shaking a little as she does so. "This isn't real. Thisn't real. You're not here."
Because her mind has done this game, offered her hope in the form of a vision only to snatch it away once agzin.
'Loki..." she murmurs, voice barely above a whisper. She's frozen outside the door with a stricken expression on her face. What have they done to her?
It takes a moment for Wanda's hands to remember themselves, but once she recovers from the shock of actually seeing Loki, she rips the door free easily with a burst of scarlet power.
"I'm here," she says gently, stepping into the cell to kneel at Loki's side. Wanda doesn't attempt to touch her, but she does extend her hands. "And I'm going to take you somewhere they can't hurt you again."
Loki watches her, breath shaky, hands itching to reach out and touch. She's sure this isn't what's actually happening, sure that her mind is playing games again. However, there's a desperation that runs through her, a need for something, anything, to be kind and Wanda was such a kind, good thing to her.
Maybe...
Loki reaches out, careful in the way her fingers connect with Wanda's as if her touch alone could break this spell.
"Please," she says, her voice soft, pleading. "Please don't go. Please stay this time?"
But instead of pulling away or dissipating, Wanda's fingers lace with hers. Her gloves don't allow much skin contact, but her hands are warm, at least. "They can't take you away from me this time," she tells Loki softly, carefully raising their entwined hands to her lips to kiss Loki's fingers. No sudden movements, nothing that might risk frightening her further. It might have been good that she was taken away from the Mind Stone, but Wanda can only imagine what this particular HYDRA cell has done to her. Their tech is far beyond any of the other bases the Avengers have routed.
"I--" She starts, unsure of how to get the words to make it from her mind to her mouth. "I can walk." She's shaky, her body a bit weak from what they've done, but she moves to stand all the same.
After a beat, it strikes Loki that she has no idea where Wanda's been, nonetheless where they were going now.
"What happened?" SHe asks, reaching to touch Wanda's cheek. "You left and I didn't know where you had gone to. WHere--Where did you go? Where are we going?"
Wanda hovers close in case Loki wobbles and needs help stabilizing, but she seems to be some degree of functional for now. Thank goodness for small victories. Wanda would have carried Loki out of here if necessary, but it would have let them uncomfortable and vulnerable.
One brief moment of vulnerability is surely all right, though. Wanda closes her eyes and leans into that touch, exerting all of her willpower not to sob in relief. She can't be Wanda yet. She has to be the Scarlet Witch and get them back to the Quinjet, and then she can fall apart into a useless mess of a person.
"They moved you," she begins softly. "And then I think they moved you again? We escaped but I couldn't find you." A beat; Wanda raises a hand to Loki's. "I'm so sorry. I should have found you sooner."
"They didn't--" she starts, trying to make sure she understands. "They didn't keep you?" She had no idea what happened to Wanda, could only assume the worst and it's starting to dawn on her how wrong she was.
"And you came back here for--You came looking for me?" Loki bites down on her lip, trying hard not to let her legs give out. Wanda had meant to so much to her, even though their interactions had been brief. She carried her memory within her as often as possible and now, knowing that hse's all right, that hse's here to save her...
"You didn't have to," she finds herself saying. "You didn't need to come back here. If they--If something goes wrong and they get you again..."
Loki knows Wanda wasn't meant for here, wasn't meant to be caged and captured even if Lok isn't sure she can say the same about herself.
"They tried, but we got away from them," she begins. Wanda wraps an arm around Loki's waist to help support her. As long as she has one arm free, she can still defend them from any stragglers. "I'm...I'm with the Avengers now. We have been looking for HYDRA bases and I have been looking for you. And this time they won't be able to keep either of us."
They'll be fine for sure once they get back to the others, but the sooner she gets Loki on the Quinjet, the sooner Wanda will be able to relax. There's at least some basic medical equipment on the Quinjet to tide Loki over until they get back to the compound.
Loki nods, her mind foggy and uncertain if this is still something that
hse's experiencing or just dreaming. She leans heavily against Wanda,
walking slowly but still making progress all the same. She's not sure how
any of this is happening, how she's managed to survive to make it to now,
but here she is and she is praying to whatever might be listening that this
is going to not shatter when she tries to ground herself.
She stays quiet as they make their way out, still trying to process and
more than that, trying to remember that she's going to be free from this.
SHe's going to be with Wanda now and that things...things might be all
right.
"What happens now?" She asks after a long silence, her voice nervous.
"What happens after we get out? What comes next?" Because even as Wanda
is making promises, she can't help but think of the next terrible thing
that finds them.
Wanda feels better once they leave the compound, but she doesn't fully relax until they reach the Quinjet and she can help Loki into a seat. "Here - I think we have a blanket somewhere..." She rises and turns away to start checking the storage bins while she explains. "When the others are done here we'll go home to the Avengers' compound in New York. We'll be safe. No more HYDRA, no more experiments."
She finds a thin fleece blanket with the first aid kit and brings it back to drape around Loki's shoulders. "Are you hurt anywhere? I have learned some new tricks."
Loki lets herself be guided, studying everything she can with wide, nervous eyes. SHe's still not sure how any of this is happening but it seems to not be stopping, and she's learned to not fight. Besides that, Wanda is here, she says it's safe, and she seems to trust the people she's with.
If they were in danger, or rather more danger, she's sure Wanda would find a way to tell her.
But there are blankets here, soft and warm against her skin, and Wanda assuring her that things will be okay.
Loki let herself smile, a proper one that even reaches her eyes. She rests her head on the seat, eyes closed for a moment as she lets all of it sink in.
"I'm all right," she assures. "My head hurts but that...That's normal. That's always there." HYDRA tampering with her, trying to extract what they could from her, left Loki with a constant headache, a pounding behind her eyes and in the back of her brain. It aggravated the things inside her, left them shifting and slithering around in her brain and sometimes, it felt like the pain was the only way she could think clearly enough to function.
The pain cut through the screaming, oddly enough, and gave her a point of focus.
After a moment, something strikes her, then she's looking to Wanda with a more subdued smile on her face. "You both got out, didn't you? Does this mean I get to meet your brother?"
"Pietro is...he's..." Wanda stiffens, pales, and glances away. Oh, Loki...but of course she wouldn't know. Wanda just wishes she didn't have to tell her right now, before they're home and properly safe. She doesn't want to taint their reunion with sadness, especially now that she's gotten a real smile out of Loki, but lying is absolutely out of the question. She just...she can't.
Wanda bites her lip, tries again. "He didn't make it. It's just me now."
The smile falls away, her eyes closing and her lip going between her teeth. "I'm sorry," she says softly, her voice gentle. "I--I didn't know. I thought he would...I thought I would get to meet him."
Her eyes open again as one hand reaches out, touching Wanda carefully. "I wish I could give him back to you."
"You're here," she says softly. "I was afraid I would never see you again." It's not the same and they both know it, but Wanda's still relieved beyond words that they've found Loki alive. There are still many things that weigh heavily on her heart but with one of them gone, finally she can relax a little. And so she lets her head lean forward to rest on Loki's shoulder.
There's nothing to do but wait for the others to come back and take them home so Loki can get some proper medical care.
Wanda wraps an arm around her and stays like that until the others come back. Even then, she only raises her head a little in greeting before settling back against Loki's shoulder. She's not moving for anything or anyone, not until they land back at the compound, and no one tries to disturb them. She'd already told them about Loki when they'd first begun raiding HYDRA bases.
"Come on," she says softly, rousing herself after the Quinjet's door folds open. "We need to make sure you're all right. The doctors here won't hurt you and I can come with you if you want."
Loki is quiet on the trip back, just enjoying the feeling of Wanda close to her again. It's a comfort she didn't think she would be getting back and even now, she's waiting for something to take it away.
Opening her eyes, she looks around them as the doors open and Wanda stirs next to her. "A doctor," she says carefully. "I'm fine, I am. I don't need to see anyone, no one needs to see me. I'm seen enough, too much, too many people are already there, too much as been seen."
SHe presses herself into the chair a little, not away from Wanda but away from doors and anyone else hwo might come close to them.
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She takes in a breath, slow and steadying. "I think they asked me questions. Lots of questions but I don't recall what they were anymore. Everything was too loud. I think I started screaming? At some point. Everything inside was too sharp to think. It was so hard to remember what people were saying..."
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She had wanted Strucker to pay for lying to them, for killing so many young, idealistic Sokovians in such a horrible manner, and now he has even more to answer for. But she also knows all too well what HYDRA does to uncooperative weapons. If they aren't very careful in their escape attempt, they're just going to make it worse.
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"Don't get dizzy," she says, her voice gentle. "Don't let it overtake you. Don't let it win." Whether hse's talking to herself or Wanda might not be entirely clear but she means the words, no matter who she's saying it to.
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But above all, it's not knowing what they're doing to him that's the absolute worst. She's seen what HYDRA can do to strip away what makes a person themselves - memories of some 'Winter Soldier,' possibly even whatever's happened to Loki. Pietro is not as good at playing a part as Wanda is and even though he doesn't know everything, because she doesn't dare tell him - she worries.
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Carefully, Loki moves, pressing a light kiss to Wanda's cheek, then another to her forehead. "You've got me now," she mumbles gently. "I'll stay as long as...as long as I can." She wants to say forever, wants to promise Wanda the world but she knows better than that
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It turns out to not be that much longer - Strucker had been hoping they might bond but not that much so quickly. He already walks a fine line with Wanda and Pietro, and holding Loki here too presents...complications. As fascinating as it is to watch Loki play with the best of their stolen Chitauri tech, HYDRA has bases elsewhere. There's no reason she has to stay in Sokovia as long as she remains in their custody.
One day she is there, and the next, she's gone. Wanda can feel it when she wakes - the twins are completely alone again with no friendly minds in sight. And she hates, but there's nothing she can do.
Not for half a year, anyway.
The Avengers continue striking whatever HYDRA bases they can find in the months after the Battle of Sokovia. Each time, Wanda hopes she might find some trace of Loki. Each time, she's been disappointed. But today...something feels different. HYDRA's security is better here (and actually able to hurt her, she finds), and actually getting into the base becomes a team effort between Vision disabling the various security systems and Wanda protecting the others.
They all breathe a little easier once they reach the main control room and turn them off. And with that problem removed and part of her finally able to relax, Wanda feels it. Loki's here. She must be.
And without any word of explanation to her friends, the Scarlet Witch is gone, racing down the corridor with only that faint presence to guide her to Loki's cell.
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Her eyes are closed and her feet are propped up on the wall, looking more casual than she feels. There's loneliness in every part of her, a solid heavy ache where she had once been light and joyous. It's hard to remember why, hard to keep in mind that it had come because of a person, that Wanda had filled her heart with something other than dread, but it only takes a moment for it all to come flooding back.
Loki opens her eyes at the sound of footsteps outside her cell. SHe's not sure what she's expecting but not this. Not Wanda. Her heart leaps into her throat but then she's shaking her head, pushing herself into a corner.
"You can't be here," she says softly. "You can't. THis isn't--" She takes a breath, shaking a little as she does so. "This isn't real. Thisn't real. You're not here."
Because her mind has done this game, offered her hope in the form of a vision only to snatch it away once agzin.
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It takes a moment for Wanda's hands to remember themselves, but once she recovers from the shock of actually seeing Loki, she rips the door free easily with a burst of scarlet power.
"I'm here," she says gently, stepping into the cell to kneel at Loki's side. Wanda doesn't attempt to touch her, but she does extend her hands. "And I'm going to take you somewhere they can't hurt you again."
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Maybe...
Loki reaches out, careful in the way her fingers connect with Wanda's as if her touch alone could break this spell.
"Please," she says, her voice soft, pleading. "Please don't go. Please stay this time?"
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"Have they hurt you? Can you walk?"
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After a beat, it strikes Loki that she has no idea where Wanda's been, nonetheless where they were going now.
"What happened?" SHe asks, reaching to touch Wanda's cheek. "You left and I didn't know where you had gone to. WHere--Where did you go? Where are we going?"
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One brief moment of vulnerability is surely all right, though. Wanda closes her eyes and leans into that touch, exerting all of her willpower not to sob in relief. She can't be Wanda yet. She has to be the Scarlet Witch and get them back to the Quinjet, and then she can fall apart into a useless mess of a person.
"They moved you," she begins softly. "And then I think they moved you again? We escaped but I couldn't find you." A beat; Wanda raises a hand to Loki's. "I'm so sorry. I should have found you sooner."
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"And you came back here for--You came looking for me?" Loki bites down on her lip, trying hard not to let her legs give out. Wanda had meant to so much to her, even though their interactions had been brief. She carried her memory within her as often as possible and now, knowing that hse's all right, that hse's here to save her...
"You didn't have to," she finds herself saying. "You didn't need to come back here. If they--If something goes wrong and they get you again..."
Loki knows Wanda wasn't meant for here, wasn't meant to be caged and captured even if Lok isn't sure she can say the same about herself.
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They'll be fine for sure once they get back to the others, but the sooner she gets Loki on the Quinjet, the sooner Wanda will be able to relax. There's at least some basic medical equipment on the Quinjet to tide Loki over until they get back to the compound.
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Loki nods, her mind foggy and uncertain if this is still something that hse's experiencing or just dreaming. She leans heavily against Wanda, walking slowly but still making progress all the same. She's not sure how any of this is happening, how she's managed to survive to make it to now, but here she is and she is praying to whatever might be listening that this is going to not shatter when she tries to ground herself.
She stays quiet as they make their way out, still trying to process and more than that, trying to remember that she's going to be free from this. SHe's going to be with Wanda now and that things...things might be all right.
"What happens now?" She asks after a long silence, her voice nervous. "What happens after we get out? What comes next?" Because even as Wanda is making promises, she can't help but think of the next terrible thing that finds them.
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She finds a thin fleece blanket with the first aid kit and brings it back to drape around Loki's shoulders. "Are you hurt anywhere? I have learned some new tricks."
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If they were in danger, or rather more danger, she's sure Wanda would find a way to tell her.
But there are blankets here, soft and warm against her skin, and Wanda assuring her that things will be okay.
Loki let herself smile, a proper one that even reaches her eyes. She rests her head on the seat, eyes closed for a moment as she lets all of it sink in.
"I'm all right," she assures. "My head hurts but that...That's normal. That's always there." HYDRA tampering with her, trying to extract what they could from her, left Loki with a constant headache, a pounding behind her eyes and in the back of her brain. It aggravated the things inside her, left them shifting and slithering around in her brain and sometimes, it felt like the pain was the only way she could think clearly enough to function.
The pain cut through the screaming, oddly enough, and gave her a point of focus.
After a moment, something strikes her, then she's looking to Wanda with a more subdued smile on her face. "You both got out, didn't you? Does this mean I get to meet your brother?"
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Wanda bites her lip, tries again. "He didn't make it. It's just me now."
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Her eyes open again as one hand reaches out, touching Wanda carefully. "I wish I could give him back to you."
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There's nothing to do but wait for the others to come back and take them home so Loki can get some proper medical care.
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Knowing that Wanda has had a chance to be happy, it fills her with a joy she doesn't remember ever feeling.
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"Come on," she says softly, rousing herself after the Quinjet's door folds open. "We need to make sure you're all right. The doctors here won't hurt you and I can come with you if you want."
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Opening her eyes, she looks around them as the doors open and Wanda stirs next to her. "A doctor," she says carefully. "I'm fine, I am. I don't need to see anyone, no one needs to see me. I'm seen enough, too much, too many people are already there, too much as been seen."
SHe presses herself into the chair a little, not away from Wanda but away from doors and anyone else hwo might come close to them.