Prompt from daggers_and_swords: Y/N goes down to the cells to confront Loki, and to secretly confirm that she is not, in fact, insane.

A/N: why am I obsessed with the whole idea of this fic I cannot stop writing it. keep sending these prompts! I have some great ones lined up...

...

Against Tony's wishes, you return to work the next day.

Your new commute is a short one; you walk down the corridor to the elevator, take the elevator, and then walk down another corridor before arriving at your office.

Last night had been the best nights sleep you'd had in a week. The second your head had hit the pillow you'd been out like a light, not having to worry about criminals paying you visits in the middle of the night.

Subsequently you hadn't needed the lie in you would have had time for if you had still been tired when you awoke. Instead you ended up having breakfast with Captain America.

You'd almost curtseyed when he'd walked into the room, but had mercifully stopped yourself before any of your limbs had actually moved.

It had been a surprisingly pleasant breakfast; Steve was very nice and not actually all that intimidating.

Currently you're sat in your office, staring at your computer screen whilst not actually doing any work. You're thinking about the cup of coffee you'd found on your desk yesterday. Had Loki left it there? You'd assumed so at the time, and thrown it straight in the bin.

He'd probably poisoned it. Or something.

It had only reinforced your belief that he was in fact leaving his cell somehow, and that he wasn't just a figment of your imagination. And yet...

Were you going mad? It was entirely possible that being mind controlled had had some sort of weird effect on your brain. But he looked real. He'd brushed past your arm the first time he'd visited your apartment; you'd definitely felt him.

You decide that there's only one way to find out.

...

"I need to see the prisoner."

"Which one?" the guard before you remarks, and his colleague, stood on the other side of the door, chuckles dryly.

"Loki." you say.

"No can do Miss. Only authenticated personnel are allowed down to that level." the guard tells you, crossing his arms.

'Down to that level?' Where are they keeping him?

"I have permission from Tony Stark." you lie blatantly. The guard frowns.

"Mr Stark hasn't said anything about..."

"No, it's fine. I'd rather not go down there anyway, but he's insisting," you tell them, rolling your eyes. "He told me it'll help me to 'ground in reality' again; that it's really important for my recovery. I call bullshit." you finish, backing away from the guards.

"Recovery?" one guard asks, looking concerned.

"He said he could count on you guys to get me down there and out again if I needed, but don't worry. Will you cover for me if he asks though? Just say-"

"Well hang on, it sounds like you'd better do as he says." the guard on the left frowns, uncrossing his arms.

"No, really, it's-"

"Hey, come back. I'll take you down, alright? If it'll help your recovery..."

Three minutes later you're stood in a lift with an armed guard on your way to Loki's cell. You're not the youngest ever recruited SHIELD agent for nothing.

The lift descends for the longest time, and the air temperature drops dramatically. When the doors finally slide open, you walk out into a dimly lit corridor which reminds you forcibly of a hospital.

"Follow me." the guard says, and you walk tentatively behind him until you reach a door. He knocks, and then exchanges a few words with someone over a comms device set into the wall. Then the door buzzes open with a heavy clunk, and you walk through it.

You find yourself in a tiny, ill lit room furnished with nothing but a desk, chair and light. There is a large, heavy door made from solid steel set into the far wall, which is actually only about four paces ahead of you. The guards down here (there are only two of them) look bored to death. It's grim.

"A visitor?" one of them asks, eyeing you up.

"Stark's orders." the guard accompanying you says. The first guard grunts in surprise, before standing up and striding over to the door. He does a series of complicated things with the locks and screws and bolts which cover the front of the door, before it clunks open.

"He's been pretty docile since he got here, but if he does go for you..."

"I can handle myself." you tell the guard with a smile. He looks at you appraisingly, before opening the door.

Loki's cell is no more than seven metres by seven metres. Unlike the grim room outside, the walls floor and ceiling are white and the room is well lit, almost blindingly so. There's a bed, a chair, a toilet and a sink. That's it.

Loki is sat on the bed, facing away from you. The door thuds shut behind you.

"Back again brother? You were only here two days ago. Can you really not go-" Loki stops talking as he turns around and sees who is stood in his cell. You are rooted to the spot in shock.

He looks awful. Whenever you've seen him before he hasn't looked great, sure, but he was being held prisoner. Now however... he looks half dead. You can't make sense of it; he was in your office only yesterday.

You blink, and he looks like he normally does again. Now you understand. He's been using an illusion. Several illusions.

"Tell me how you're doing it."

He doesn't miss a beat.

"Doing what?"

"Getting out. Following me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

You stare at him. He stares back.

"Yes you do."

"I assure you, I don't."

He's lying. He has to be lying. You're suddenly very bored with the whole thing. Not angry, or scared, just fed up. Loki watches you incredulously as you flop into the chair which is pushed against the wall.

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting down. Is that okay?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"And I'd rather you didn't make my life hell, but we don't always get what we want, do we?"

He doesn't reply, still sat on his bed, watching you. You press the palms of your hands into your eyeballs.

"I think I'm going mad." you say, not specifically to Loki. Your voice catches as you voice your fear aloud.

What are you doing here? If he really hasn't been following you around, then you've just started having a mental breakdown in front of a mentally unstable criminal who's never met you before.

There's a long, long silence. And then...

"You're not."

You look up at Loki abruptly. He's looking at the floor.

"What?"

"You're not going mad. I've been following you." he says.

You stare at him, relief and anger coursing through you in equal measures. You want to scream at him; attack him, but you know that won't end well. Instead you sit and breathe until you've decided what you're going to say next.

"Tell me how you're doing it." you end up repeating.

"I cast an illusion in here, to make it look like I'm sleeping. Then I just... leave." he tells you.

"How?" you ask incredulously.

"I am a god. Your mortal mind can't begin to comprehend-"

"You teleport." you say, more to yourself than anything.

Loki scowls at having been cut off.

"It's more complicated than that."

There's a series of loud bangs on the door.

"Everything alright in there?" one of the guards calls.

"Yes." you call back. For now, you add silently in your head.

"This doesn't make sense. If you can get out, why don't you just escape?" you ask, watching Loki suspiciously.

"I'm safe here." is his simple reply.

"Safe from what?" you ask.

"You ask a lot of questions." he tells you, looking straight at you.

"Well, you don't make any sense." you retort. He smiles at that. It's the tiniest hint of the smallest smile, but you see it. There's another long pause.

"Why me?" you finally ask. He doesn't need you to elaborate; he knows what you mean.

"At first, because I wanted to you to kill me. No one else would. And then because my brother thought you were mad. I knew you wouldn't tell anyone."

You're seething with rage.

"That's twisted."

"I'm bored."

"So you make someone's life miserable and convince them that they're mad?" you ask angrily. Loki looks at you properly this time.

"I didn't mean for it to go that far. I'm sorry."

You don't know how to respond. You hadn't been expecting an apology.

"I'm assuming you've altered the CCTV already." you say, looking up towards the camera which is mounted in the corner of the room. Loki nods, and you sigh.

"Hey, come on, my shift finishes in ten minutes." one of the guards calls from the other side of the door. You stand up. Loki's already turning away.

"Thanks for the coffee." you say after a beat, as the door opens.

"I don't know what you're talking about."