Deep within SHIELD’s Helicarrier sat a prison unlike any ordinary cell.
It was small, almost spartan, built almost entirely from reinforced adaptive glass.
The room had originally been designed for one purpose.
If the occupant became even slightly too dangerous, or if someone merely pressed a button from the control room, the entire chamber would detach from the Helicarrier and plummet from nearly thirty thousand feet.
It had been built for the Hulk.
Today, it housed a different monster.
Loki paced leisurely inside the transparent cage.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of anxiety on his face.
Even as a prisoner, the Prince of Asgard carried himself with effortless elegance, as though he were strolling through the halls of his own palace rather than awaiting interrogation.
Unfortunately for Loki, fate seemed to possess a peculiar sense of humor.
Whenever he reached peak dramatic composure...
Something embarrassing usually happened.
He stopped walking.
A faint smile spread across his face before he turned toward the entrance.
"Very few people can approach me unnoticed."
Evenson looked sideways at Natasha.
"We walked through the front door."
"We weren’t exactly sneaking."
Natasha merely shrugged.
Loki ignored the comment.
The pair had come at Fury’s request. Loki’s capture had happened far too easily, and Fury was convinced the God of Lies was still playing a larger game.
Someone needed to find out what.
Evenson folded his hands behind his back.
"We’ve crossed paths before."
"But I suppose this is our first proper introduction."
"We should fix that."
"I know who you are," Loki replied smoothly.
"Barton spoke about you."
"The man who sheltered Thor after he lost his power."
"The one who repeatedly ruined my plans."
"That’s me."
Evenson nodded.
Then added with complete seriousness,
"Although you’re forgetting one important detail."
"I’m the one who dropped you into that staircase."
Natasha quietly rolled her eyes.
Taking credit for someone else’s spectacular entrance was, admittedly, a very spy-like thing to do.
Loki’s smile twitched.
He had spent the entire flight believing Iron Man had somehow tackled him into solid stone.
Finding out there had been another culprit somehow made the experience even worse.
Still...
He suppressed the irritation.
He had bigger objectives.
"I’ll admit..."
"I didn’t expect someone like you to stand with them."
He gestured vaguely toward the Helicarrier around them.
"What are you trying to be?"
"A defender of the world?"
Evenson frowned thoughtfully.
"A defender?"
"I own a decent house in New York."
"I have the only customized car of its kind on Earth."
"My business could be healthier, admittedly."
"But my side job pays surprisingly well."
"I’ve even started seeing someone recently."
He spread his hands.
"My career is improving."
"My life is improving."
"So why wouldn’t I genuinely want to protect all of that?"
He paused.
"Oh."
"And after this mission..."
"I’ll probably have enough leverage to convince Fury to bump up my pay grade."
"I’m rather looking forward to that."
Loki stared.
That...
...was not the speech he’d expected.
He had prepared arguments against noble heroes proclaiming justice, freedom, and humanity.
He had not prepared for someone motivated by mortgage payments, salary negotiations, and dating prospects.
Strangely enough...
Those reasons were much harder to argue against.
"You deserve better than this," Loki said, changing tactics.
"I know your abilities."
"I know what you’re capable of."
"SHIELD forces you to keep your true power restrained."
"They bind you with promises of peace while denying you your full potential."
"Meanwhile..."
"They eagerly meddle with forces they don’t understand."
"The Tesseract."
"Do you truly believe they seek its power for the good of humanity?"
One advantage of Fury’s compartmentalized operations was immediately apparent.
Even Clint Barton had never learned Evenson’s role in Phase Two.
Which meant Loki had no idea Evenson already knew exactly what SHIELD intended to do with the Tesseract.
"So?" Evenson replied.
"You think I’ve been treated unfairly?"
"Isn’t that obvious?"
Loki stepped closer to the glass.
"Why accept the chains they’ve placed upon you?"
"Why submit?"
"Join me."
"In the new world I create, you would stand second only to me."
"You would finally possess true freedom."
"Freedom?"
Evenson laughed quietly.
"What a tired sales pitch."
He’d heard variations of it before.
Not in this universe.
But in another.
There had always been people willing to betray everything for power.
Ner’zhul.
Gul’dan.
History remembered them as mighty figures.
The Burning Legion remembered them as servants.
Gul’dan had commanded terrifying magic and legions of demons.
From the outside, he looked powerful beyond measure.
But he had never been free.
He had been a tool.
A disposable one.
The moment he ceased being useful, he became nothing.
Evenson met Loki’s gaze through the glass.
"I won’t become a slave."
"And I certainly won’t become someone’s lapdog."
Loki wasn’t disappointed.
Recruitment had only been the opening move.
He sat casually on the narrow bed inside the cell.
"Admirable."
"Very admirable."
"But do your companions understand you?"
"Do they know the kind of magic you wield?"
"The darkness behind it?"
He had never witnessed Evenson’s spells personally.
Everything he knew came from Barton’s reports.
To Loki, those descriptions pointed toward something unmistakable.
Dark magic.
Dangerous.
Corrupting.
Perfect for sowing distrust.
Before Natasha could react, Evenson suddenly turned toward the surveillance camera mounted high on the wall.
He pointed directly at it.
"Hey!"
"You bald guy in the control room!"
"My magic is incredibly evil!"
"The darkest of dark magic!"
"Unethical!"
"Inhumane!"
"Terrifying!"
"I’m extremely dangerous!"
He bared his teeth dramatically.
"Rawr!"
Silence.
Evenson turned back toward Loki and smiled.
"See?"
"They already know."
Natasha closed her eyes for a brief moment.
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