Thor looked over as the door to the observation room quietly opened and Loki slipped in. His brother was the only one in the room. For a moment, Loki reconsidered entering, then sighed and walked in. Thor turned silently back to looking into the interrogation room.

Daniel Diaz sat slumped down in his chair. He was a deeply tanned man with small eyes and curly brown hair. His clothes were dirtied from when Bishop had shoved him out of the trailer. He had his hands pushed deep into his pockets and his shoulders were hunched.

"Where's Gibbs?" Loki asked in a hushed voice.

Thor gestured towards the reflective window. "He is coming." He looked at his brother. "You have a scar."

Loki self-consciously touched the row of stitches on his cheek. "It's nothing, I assure you."

"Too bad," Thor said. "I thought maybe you had had your own trick pulled on you."

Loki remembered all the times he had stabbed Thor with one of his knives and made a face.

The door to the interrogation room opened and Bishop walked in, followed by Gibbs. McGhee opened the door to the observation room and joined the two brothers.

Bishop sat down and set a file down before her. Gibbs silently took the seat next to her and stared at Diaz.

"Why am I here?" Diaz asked sullenly. "Why would -" He paused for a moment. "- Naval Criminal Investigative Services care about me?"

"You deal drugs," Bishop stated, opening her file.

Diaz shrugged. "Yes, but why is that the Navy's problem? I thought some other acronym dealt with that."

Bishop ignored his statement. "Do you know this guy?" She took a picture from her file and pushed it in front of Diaz.

Diaz looked at the guy and frowned. "Yeah, that's Johnny. We were friends, growing up. Why?"

"Did you know he's dead?"

Diaz sighed. "Yeah, Clare told me. I'm real sorry to hear about that. He was a good friend of mine. I'll really miss him."

"Now, you and Petty Officer Samson exchanged a series of phone calls the week before he was found dead," Bishop said, setting the sheet of phone records before Diaz. "What were they about?"

Diaz thought for a moment and then waved his hand vaguely. "Stuff. I mean, we've been friends for a long time. I even introduced him to his girlfriend. Even though we're in totally different careers -"

"If you can call being a drug dealer a career," McGhee muttered.

"- we're still friends. We don't talk as often as we used to, but last week - that was different."

"What was different about it?" Gibbs asked.

Diaz shrugged. "He was asking about Clare a lot. Like, a lot. Like he couldn't be bothered to call her to ask her how she is."

"What specifically was he asking about?" Bishop pressed.

"Her disposition, kinda," Diaz answered. "Her attitude, how she was acting, her speech, stuff like that."

"Did he tell you why?" Gibbs inquired.

"Not really. When I asked, he said he was worried about her, and not to mention that he'd been asking about her. So I didn't."

"Why were you at Clare Leopard's place today?" Gibbs asked.

Diaz looked down. "Johnny's last wish. He told me to look after Clare, no matter what, and, uh...help her. I didn't know what he meant by that; thought she'd gotten on drugs or something. And although I was insulted that she was not buying them from me, for Johnny's sake, I was going down to see if she needed rehab or something. Especially after his death. I thought, even if nothing's wrong, she might just need a friendly face."

"And you're a friendly face?" Bishop queried.

Diaz looked insulted. "Hey, I introduced her to Johnny. What do you think?"

The two agents ignored that last part. "Did you know of any enemies Samson might have had?" Gibbs asked. "Other Marines, acquaintances, the like?"

Diaz shook his head. "Not that I know of. He tends to be quiet, but he's polite and professional. He doesn't make enemies. Why do you think I'm still friends with him? He's a nice guy."

Loki looked at McGhee. "They need to ask about the girlfriend."

McGhee made a face. "Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during an interrogation, Loki. Rule 17."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I understand, but Clare Leopard has something that's very dangerous."

"What?" Thor asked. "What did she have?"

Loki turned to him. "She had my scepter. The one you and your friends were supposed to keep safe!"

McGhee's voice sounded slightly uncomfortable. "Okay, that does sound important. But you can tell him."

"What?" Loki asked.

"You tell him," McGhee repeated firmly. "I'm not interrupted him."

Loki looked back at Gibbs and Bishop. "Fine. This is important."

Loki left the observation room and slowly opened the door to the interrogation room. Gibbs, Bishop, and Diaz all looked up at him, Diaz curiously, Bishop horrified, and Gibbs annoyed.

"Agent Gibbs." Loki forced his voice and expression to remain calm. "I need to speak to you for a moment."

"No, Laufeyson?" Gibbs demanded, standing quickly and knocking his chair over. "Really? You sure picked a dang good time."

McGhee and Thor both flinched.

"Really, really, Gibbs," Loki replied smoothly, holding his ground. "May I speak with you?"

Gibbs sighed and stepped out of the interrogation room, closing the door behind him. Crossing his arms, he glared at Loki. "Explain, Laufeyson."

"Ask him about the scepter," Loki said. "The scepter Clare Leopard had."

Gibbs rolled his hand for him to continue.

"It's a scepter I received from the same being who lent me the Chitauri," Loki elaborated. "When I was captured, the Avengers relieved me of it and deposited it with S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, it shows up in the hands of this woman, the girlfriend of your dead Marine. Do you call that a coincidence, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs' eyes narrowed. "There's no such thing as coincidences."

Loki allowed himself a slight smile. "That's what I thought. Listen, that scepter has extraordinary. It shoots energy from the stone at its center and it has control over the mind. You don't want that kind of weapon in the wrong hands."

"Like your hands?" Gibbs asked.

Loki inclined his head and was silent for a long moment. Then he looked down. "Yes," he replied vehemently. "Like my hands."

Gibbs turned and reentered interrogation.

Loki returned to the observation room, where Thor and McGhee both looked at him. "Did he chew you out?" McGhee asked.

Loki shot them a glare and then turned his attention back to the interrogation room. Gibbs sat down and raised his eyebrows at Diaz.

"Where did Clare Leopard obtain the scepter we saw her with?" he asked.

Diaz blinked. "You mean that thing on her back? She said it was nothing, merely a token gift from her new boss." He shrugged. "She's been looking for a better job."

Loki felt shudders run down his spine. "Oh, no," he muttered.

Thor looked at him. "Oh no what, brother?"

Loki took a deep breath but his head was spinning. Thanos' laugh was playing on repeat in his mind, bouncing around inside his head until he couldn't hear anything else. He crumpled to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

Little Asgardian...Little Asgardian...LITTLE ASGARDIAN....

"No!" Loki screamed. "No!"

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, most likely Thor's, and could see McGhee's face flickering in front of his, asking what was wrong. He collapsed onto his side and automatically curled up into a ball, trying to block out the immense pain drumming inside his head. He saw flashes of blue and yellow, and he thought he saw Thanos' hand descend and grasp his head in his large hand, molding it to what he thought it should be.

I will win, little Asgardian. And I will MAKE you pay for all the trouble you caused me. What, you had to disappoint me? Like you disappointed Odin? Like you disappointed Thor and the Avengers? LIKE YOU DISAPPOINTED FRIGGA?

Loki couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, he couldn't speak, he couldn't see or hear anything besides Thanos. His head felt like it was splitting open. He was vaguely aware of the door slamming open and Ducky falling to his knees beside him. A strange finger touched his forehead and the agony intensified, sending Loki into unconsciousness.

/***/

So...more headaches. Poor Loki. Will he ever get rid of them?

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. The scepter, the flashbacks, Thanos' voice in his head.... Feedback is always appreciated! And if you liked the chapter, please vote! It means a lot to me!

I was able to squeeze an additional update into my busy schedule. Don't worry; you should be getting another chapter tomorrow as well! So, I hope you enjoyed this one, and have a good day!

Skylar Wittenborn