LOKI'S POV

A door exploded into riotous symphony behind me as I strode through corridor after corridor authoritatively, bristling with anger, and in pain from the overuse of my magic getting here. I was too livid even, to enjoy the faces of everyone who saw me as I passed, sporting looks of pure and unfiltered fear at the proximity to my clearly livid form.

A million shadows of figures strode alongside me with each pounding echo of my treacherous footsteps that slaughtered the ever present blanket of comfortable silence. On this rare occasion I could barely muster the care to throw heed to it's gruesome death despite my rewarding of its loyalty through destruction. It would come back eventually. In a most inopportune moment it would resurrect it's immortal being and we would all fall victim to it once more

"Master Loki, I-"

"I give you one job Grayson, believing that I could trust you with it." I cut him off sharply, gesturing for him to open the cell before me that screamed of it's existence higher and shriller than the others and far more incessant. The cell that contained the minacious creature that had been the reason of my sudden arrival back here. The sole reason for many of my more questionable decisions of recent.

"Clearly I misjudged your intellect." I muttered under my breath, fragmenting the sharpened statement in each razor like syllable that flurried in fleets of an attack from my tongue. He stoically braved each one, silencing the crystallised groans of pain that seeped from each of his injuries, and deadened the words that so clearly brimmed with life, held upon his tongue.

I clenched my jaw, steeling myself and feigning an expression void of emotion. A stony face, absent of feeling, that had been so expertly crafted with delicate accuracy,that to any passing being, it would've easily been accepted for its misplaced apathy.

I tied the weight in my stomach tightly down, before stepping inside and cursing at the sudden incline of my heart rate. The guard sighed exhaustedly behind me and I briefly weighed the idea of incinerating him on the spot but dismissed it, as I wasn't sure of any other workers as perfect for the job of watching over her as he was.

Without another thought, I stepped forth with a deafening audaciousness, right into the path of risk. As if I greeted the very thing that held the most danger to me with open arms.

The quiet grew steadily hungrier, engulfing every scraping cry that escaped my vessel and punctuating the room with it's swathing silence that seeped into every corner with its sweltering, liquid discomfort. All I could do was fall victim to it's crimes, throwing my valiant footfalls into the quiet only to resurrect the noiselessness when they became deadened and mute.

I honed in on the only part of the room that had piqued my interest. The only form of life within the deadened cell, that moved so little it could've been an inanimate object among the others. But she would never fully become hostage to the bleakness of this numb and cold establishment. She held the only true colour in here, and so she was naturally obtrusive to the eye. So much so, I believed there wouldn't be a force on this earth that could dull her.

I reached her form eventually, looking on as she lay unmoving, curled up into a loose fetal position, facing the wall away from me. She was awake, I could tell by the unevenness of her breathing. That and the fact that I wouldn't have got this far with her staying fast asleep, Not with her reflex and constant state of being on guard.

I crouched next to her, studying the familiarity of her imperfections in the form of sweet soft skin and impeccably structured cheekbones. Her cheeks were void of the healthy flush I'd seen on the first day of meeting her as they have been for a while, so while disappointed, I was relieved that she hadn't changed all that much even under the strains of being held hostage by me.

The only slight difference was the heavy bluish hue that had darkened the underneath of her eye on the side of her face that was visible to me, proving her lack of sleep since I'd last seen her. Unsurprising, since she was curled up on a cold hard floor.

"Guard. Why is she sleeping here?" I called out, looking over at the bed with a sneer and trying to see any reason for why she'd chosen the floor to 'sleep' on instead.

"I believe it's a statement sir." Came the guard's unsure but vaguely amused sounding reply. I raised an eyebrow in distaste all the while trying to fight off the slight smirk that begged to turn up my lips at the consistent stubbornness of this peculiar mortal. Whether it would help her or hinder her in any situation she would still foolishly flaunt her disobedience, almost like she wanted to be murdered if only for the excitement of it all.

I was suddenly struck with the realisation that I felt the same way about it all. After all, centuries of my life battling the frequent boredom, I was bound to Find curiosity in the one thing I'd never experienced. The grip of death itself.

I clenched my jaw and fought to stop myself trailing my fingers down her arm as I'd done before, when everything was still so simple, when...when I hadn't kidnapped her... I mean, I suppose I should've known taking someone hostage doesn't earn anything in the sense of likability for myself. Not that it mattered anyway, I wasn't born to be liked and I would never strive to earn that pointless feeling from people. After all, likability never promises loyalty. Not in the way that fear drives it.

I smirked to myself, finally tearing my eyes away from her distracting features to focus on why I was even here in the first place.

"Look at me." I ordered her quietly, seeing no movement from her as the words left my mouth. Only her quiet breathing accompanied the silence after it, barely loud enough to register in my ears. I smirked slightly, already knowing the extent I needed to go to to get her to face me.

"Aurora.." I uttered quietly, feeling a shiver roll over the back of my neck as the word slid perfectly off my tongue and dissipated into the air, leaving a sweet and soft, melodic lilt behind as it went.

Her entire body visibly tensed as the word left my mouth, and her breathing hitched ever so slightly. The word had seized her entire form like the grips of an electric current, leaving her shaken and tense. I bit back the threatening smirk and eagerly watched her form, knowing I'd succeeded.

She slowly turned her body and shifted so she was sat up, staring at me with a barely encased fire in her ferny gaze. The slight smirk on my face melted and I clenched my jaw in displeasure as I caught sight of the three long slashes that donned the high peak of her cheekbone on the left side of her face.

"someone's been doing their research." She commented huskily, the slight smirk on her face mocking and disingenuous. I forced the smile onto my lips again, painting the usual expression on my face of disinterest and sardonic pleasure. There were many who had faltered under this expression, becoming fearful of the unpredictability of the emotion behind my eyes. But not her, she all but got a kick out of it.

"I had my best people on it as soon as I left that ridiculous ship." I confirmed, sitting in front of her and studying her closely. She smiled grimly and shook her head softly.

"What an interesting life you've lead, Aurora." I commented softly, twisting the quiet threads of innocent curiosity into my tone intricately, finding the easiest way to get her to crack. Her eyelids involuntarily twitched as I uttered her name and she looked up at me, but her poise and expression remained admirably stoic as she regarded me dangerously.

"My name, is Ace." She spoke carefully, her voice low and deliberate as she silently slit me with the precise words that were woven in perfect, capable weaponry. She regarded me for some time, then after a while, something flashed in her eyes and a slow smirk began to draw up the sides of her mouth.

"How mad does it make you, that you could barely find even a fraction of information on me?" She implored quietly, grinning devilishly as she spoke with a barely retained fire growing within her impish gaze. Had I have not been so peeved by her question, I'd have found myself entranced within her glowing fern irises, hypnotically pulled into a state of little resistance.

However, instead I clenched my jaw, curling my hands into tense fists that rolled the protruding veins on my arms over my muscle in an almost therapeutic way. Her question had caught me off guard somewhat, but it would not throw me off my game.

"You've been thorough with erasing almost all of your past." I admitted, allowing my eyes to travel over the room she was staying in. My gaze landed on the rather crude painting that took up most of the wall opposite me and I had to bite back a grin whilst also wondering how I hadn't noticed it initially. She let out a short humourless laugh that brought my gaze back to her and caused a haunting echo to rebound off each whitewashed wall.

"Very thorough." She admitted quietly. "So thorough in fact I can't help but wonder exactly what lengths you went to to find even my birth name."

I smirked wryly, leaning forward and immediately being hit by the scent of her that she always carried around. The one that had lingered tantalisingly in my chambers even hours after she'd left. I raised my hand slowly and delicately draped my fingertips over the graze on her cheek, twitching my jaw when I felt the ragged skin and saw her tense ever so slightly at the contact.

"What problems have you been causing in my absence, little hex?" I queried softly, my tone condescending, yet edged with amusement. She let out a quiet laugh and leaned away from my touch.

"It was completely not my fault." She muttered defiantly, picking at the ragged skin that had begun to scab over already and looking off into the distance. I frowned and pulled her wrist away from her face gently with a dubious look on my face.

"I heard she was...provoked?"

Aurora laughed weakly and shot a not so inconspicuous look at the guard who was watching her wearily, raising an eyebrow at her that confirmed my suspicions of her false pleas of innocence. I knew already though. She was a good liar, but I was better.

"All I did was invite her to spend the night." She claimed, exasperated. "Not my fault she had some deep rooted internalised homophobia."

I let out a hum that could vaguely pass off as a laugh and observed her glittering eyes that shone with amusement and devilish chaos. She wore a mischievous smirk that glimmered with glee. Though even that couldn't display the true extent of her thrill at the memory of scorning that women.

"Guard, would you send that woman to the main room for me. I'd like a little chat with her." I announced loudly, not even casting a look in the guards direction as I gave my order. He let out a sharp exhale but before he could open his mouth, Aurora spoke up.

"Oh keep her alive, you psychopath." Came her scornful retort. I raised a single eyebrow at her and bit back the sneer threatening to show.

"I'm sure you know it's unwise to speak to your captor in such a way." I shot back dangerously, searching her unvexed expression for a reason as to why she wanted the woman alive. I saw none, so I decided to ask her myself.

"Why do you insist on her being kept alive, little hex?" I asked condescendingly, giving her a small smirk as if I was pitying her remaining humanity, when in reality I was incredibly intrigued by the unexpected show of moral.

"I'd like to speak to her myself." She replied quietly, lacing each dangerous word with a venomous malice. Her whole face spoke louder than her words as it lit up in mirthful anticipation for whatever it was she was imagining in her head. Something I already had a pretty good idea about.

I clenched my jaw to rid my mouth of the delighted grin that had begun spreading across it and leaned forward, taking her face in my hand and turning it slightly, so her cuts were more visible to me.

"Don't resist." I muttered quietly, kneeling up so I could hold myself over her and restrain her from lashing out the best I could. She tried to jerk her head back and look at me in confusion but I kept a firm grip on her jaw, holding her in place.

"What?...wait.. Loki NO." She yelled and immediately flew into action, spastically throwing each limb out in a flurry of well conducted attacks that were of little to no effect on my body pressed against her.

I carried on healing her, watching the skin begin to knit together whilst grunting in pain and irritation each time a punch or kick landed. She managed to loosen her chin from my grip and whipped her head around, sinking her teeth into my hand. I cursed aloud and wrapped my fingers forcibly round her throat, choking her as I resumed the placement of the other hand over her cheek.

She spluttered and hissed at me through her teeth but clearly knew she wasn't going to win. Though nothing stopped the pure hatred that sliced through me from her livid, glowing eyes. I was used to being looked at like I didn't even deserve death, but this look she gave me, spurred some withheld feeling inside of me that I had to fight to keep down.

Finally I'd sealed the cut entirely and I released her, standing and dusting myself off. I observed her carefully, acutely aware of how breathless I was and of how painful the blows to my torso, from her well aimed kicks, had become. More painful I'm sure, than any other injuries I'd acquired in my lifetime. But for a reason I knew not.

Possibly because of the already weakened state I was in, from using so much of my power in teleporting all the way to this damn facility. Or maybe, it was because it was hers. It was The injuries that she'd caused.

I shook it off as she stood, and shifted on my feet, resuming an unbothered stance that still held a decent amount of authority. She spat on the ground beside me, pawing at the new skin that had closed up the lacerations.

"You're pathetic." She spat, a malicious smirk curling up the edges of her crimson lips, forming the soft dimple just above her mouth that always sent a flurry of shivers down my spine. She slowly walked closer, drawing herself up until we were a hairs width apart, our quiet breaths caressing each other's skin in a dark, sinful comfort.

"You can't even be evil right." She muttered under her breath, uttering a scoff as she spoke and searching my eyes with her sage coloured gaze. I raised a single dubious eyebrow and held her eye contact, willing myself not to glance at her promising flushed lips.

"Is that so?" I replied in a hushed rumble, seeing her eyelids flutter ever so slightly as the words left my mouth. I leaned impossibly closer, studying her impressively expressionless face as I drew close.

"How's this for evil, darling."

I pressed my lips fiercely against hers, feeling the tension build beneath my fingers that had gripped her petite waist. She stilled for a second, then exhaled shakily and melted into the kiss, running her hands down my arms as I felt her muscles relax under my hands.

This had never been the plan. I'd aimed to be indifferent upon meeting her, inspecting the injury her guard had informed me of and dealing with the woman responsible before leaving. I'd planned to be curt with her, to regard her with the same sadistic outlook I perceived everyone else with.

But Everything went out the window with her. It always did. I lost almost all I had to her hypnotic enchantment every damn time. My sense, my authority, my indifference. And it aggravated the hel out of me.

I bit down on her bottom lip, probably harder than I meant to as a result of my irritation, but she just let out a throaty hum in response that sent a jolt of electricity tunnelling through me and beckoned me to press myself even closer to her heated skin. My mind was racing and my skin was prickling with the intense mismatch of body temperature and the way her lips felt against mine.

She shifted her hands slowly and I just kissed her harder, beginning to wonder just how far I could go before I was unable to stop myself from taking her right then and there. And I was already pretty damn close to that. Suddenly I was struck with something sharp and I broke apart quickly.

My eyes travelled down to my torso to see she'd pierced me through the stomach with one of my own daggers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ACE'S POV

I darted back breathlessly, putting a comfortable amount of distance between me and Loki as he processed what I'd done. I clenched my jaw tight and forced myself to try and look at the bleeding wound that I'd caused.

I didn't want to though, I never enjoyed pain, I never enjoyed being the root of despair. I did what I did, what I had to do and I held close the guilt of the aftermath as much as I tried to rid of it.

I had to grow a pair and just deal with it. I couldn't feel guilty for this or the feeling would only develop over time. This is me. This is what I'd always been like. I was conditioned to be ruthless and nothing could change me. Less of all an untrustworthy psycho god.

He stared down at the protruding dagger hilt that was sticking out of his abdomen, his eyes glinting with a melancholy disappointment but his face surprisingly neutral. In fact, he seemed wholly unsurprised by the way I'd simply stabbed him in that moment when he was compromised.

Before my eyes, I began to realise he was shimmering slightly, his whole body wavering like he was not all there. The sturdiness of his form began to crumble into mist as I watched and soon enough there was nought left but vaguely shimmery dust particles passing over the air in the place where he'd been.

I bit back my gasp of surprise and turned my head sharply as I could already feel the tension in the back of my head, willing to show me that he was still here.

Sure enough, the tall godly figure of my inner turmoil stepped languidly into view of the cell from the corridor, a bold smirk on his corrupt face and the dagger I'd pierced him with, between his slender fingers.

I reeled with irritation, feeling the bubbling anger Rise up within me at his resilience and at my predictability. He knew I'd attempt to hurt him and so of course, he'd created a double to enter my cell and converse with me. I laughed humourlessly, the edge in my tone and the steely look in my eyes combining with the ominous chuckle to paint me in a wildly psychotic light that would've surely warned anyone of my insanity in this very moment.

"Incredible." I uttered breathily, refusing to acknowledge the dangerously shameful look in Loki's eyes and instead, bathing myself in my rage that had steadily grown with every minute he looked at me like someone would observe a pitiful caged animal.

"Do you do children's parties?" I queried dryly, unable to stop the crazed laugh that tumbled out of my mouth as I collapsed onto the floor and sat, just staring. Loki observed me quietly, the guilt in his gaze becoming blinding as I laughed quietly to myself, having no audience but my own maddening conflict.

Tough crowd.

I heard him mutter something to the guard that I couldn't hear and then he was gone.

He'd just gone. Just like that. Leaving me with no explanation for my purpose here; leaving me to wallow in my hatred for him and only grow the outward loathing with each minute that passed under his captivity.

An unknown amount of time passed in which I spent sat dreaming up the cutest ways to slit Loki's neck whilst I ordered the paintbrushes and paints in as many ways as I could think of that helped with my thinking process.

"Can I ask you a question?" Greg asked rhetorically, accompanying his query with an irritating tapping against the cell bars.

"Absolutely not."

He ceased his idle tapping and sat cross legged on the floor on the other side of the bars observing me with a knowing glint in his gaze which I was not entirely comfortable with. The air itself quivered with silent question and I felt my flesh writhe under its ubiquitous inquisition. Uncomfortable, as usual.

"Why Ace?"

A fairly innocent question, though it was still so incredibly personal and probing. However, it was not the question I'd expected and so I was more inclined to answer it, given that it had nothing to do with the fact I'd just been making out with my captor not long before. Stockholm syndrome at its finest.

I halted for a second, stilling my fingers against the paintbrushes and I flitted my gaze up to the curious eyes I could feel burning through me to get to the secret it craved to know of.

I sat comfortably in the burning path of his stare for a while, bathing in it's scrutiny as I weighed each side of the decision to let him know just a little fraction of the life I'd lead. I knew that there was an incredibly high chance the information I fed him would filter through and reach Loki's ears whether it be through the 'hidden' cameras filming me 24/7 or through word alone from Greg's mouth.

But there was no part of me that truly found issue with Loki gaining this knowledge, being as small and insignificant as it is. Of course he'd be thrilled with the information he'd gained but maybe I could allow him this small victory, given that he would eventually die at my hands as soon as I fled the clutches of his captivity. What good would a dead man do with such a small and inoffensive secret.

I shifted my stance, raising one leg with my boot planted on the floor and curving the other against the hard floor as I lent against my knee and smirked, bathed within the innocence of the guard's bright eyed gaze. The look on his face showed how his incorrupt innocence led him to guess my nickname to be a childhood title, born of some fond memory or characteristic. The truth however, was far from being that virtuous.

"The agency I was recruited in...before SHIELD. They appointed their agents in ranks. In order of ability." I began, already smirking at the sullen tight lipped smile that had dulled the mirthful glee on his face somewhat.

"I believe the chief had some sort of gambling addiction, loved his damn card games-" I bit my lip, holding back the memory that begged to be relived in my mind before I began again-

"And So, the ranks were labelled... 'Jack', 'queen', 'king'.... and 'Ace.' I was the highest rank, hence the name." I finished, clasping my hands together with a definitive slap that signified the end of the little trip down memory lane. I'd already said more than I needed to and my common sense was cursing at me in every expletive I knew for it.

"So what agency was thi-"
"Why am I here exactly." I cut Greg off curtly, finalising my decision to end the sincerity then and there. He seemed to read my expression and gave up whatever pressing questions had been lined up in ranks on his tongue, ready to fire at me in fleets of attack, all for the benefit of his dangerous curiosity.

He sighed and stood up with a slight groan that had been intended to be quieter I was sure, but emitted amongst the smothering silence, it clattered and echoed its clashing symphonies for all within a yards distance to hear.

"Let me guess." I interrupted before he could speak,
"Possibly as bait for the avengers? Though, that's dumb, they're really not that invested in me. Orrrr... maybe just for Loki's peace of mind? So he can be confident I won't kill him while he 'takes over Earth'." I babbled, mostly to fill the silence as I was perfectly aware of a far more plausible reason for my captivity that I mostly just didn't want to believe. I couldn't stand the notion that Loki could be capable of such...sentimentality.

"I'm really not permitted to say, A" the guard sighed wearily, standing his ground but giving off the impression he wasn't happy with it. I collapsed on the bed after walking to it and just lay there staring up at the plain ceiling. Dull, blank, grey. Grey all grey. and boring so damn boring.

"You don't seem like someone who does exactly what he's told all the time I teased nonchalantly, playing on the slight stubborn tendency I'd picked up on from him and the fact he didn't seem overly happy with being such an obedient little chess piece in the game Loki was playing with me.

"It depends." He began. "I tend to follow the rules when the only alternative puts the life of my wife and daughter in danger."

I was quiet then. Respectful in my guarded silence. As much as I couldn't care about his wife and child, I also could not take such enjoyment in the despair caused by my murders. I would not allow unnecessary death when they could be avoided. And I would certainly not allow any grief to fall unto my guard as a result of my incompetence. Because, as much as I hated to admit it. Greg had certainly grown on me and I knew that he was a rare case and had to be kept alive upon my escape.

I chewed my lip in thought then. Of course I had to perfect the plan of my escape which I hadn't been able to devise in completion yet. I was going to have to hurry it up as well if I wanted to be there at the heart of the battle and fight with the rest of the avengers. There was no way in hell I'd allow for Loki to take over Earth... could you imagine what life would be like under the rule of a Shakespearean psychopath?

Not that I'd ever experience that anyway, I'd have already died a slow, painful death to provide for Loki's mirthful entertainment and safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally completed this chapter 😪

It took a ridiculously large amount of effort to write this one for some reason. I guess I was just finding it hard to write in detail all of the goings on when I'm limited to the small space of a prison cell where Ace is. I also had like zero motivation because all the drafts before this final one were absolute trash and I couldn't understand why I'd forgotten how to write.

But finally I forced myself to get on with it and I came out with a semi decent chapter so I hope you didn't hate it too much :~

Sorry if this part of the story is relatively dull I promise it will get spicier in next chapters ;).

What are your thoughts on Ace's real name? Inspiration not from the Disney Princess but From someone I read about once. I think it's a pretty name tho. What do y'all think?

That's all lads
Vote and comment pls
And thank you sm for reading
Xxx