Broken Minds

"We have camera's monitoring the cell," Agent Romanoff briefed me on the situation as we walked down the hall, "we will be watching in case complications arise. We haven't decided if he's a threat without the scepter so please be careful."

"So my main objective is the tesseract?" The small cube had captivated me since I read the papers Director Fury had given me. The ability to transport between worlds and an unmentionable power that had the high potential of destroying our world.

"It's the only thing that matters." She turned left at an intersection that extended down a lengthy hallway. We fell into silence while I began to wonder what sort of personality he would have. The files pertaining to Loki were very limited. I had managed to learn he was eloquent, highly intelligent, manipulating and as of late cold. We stood in front of a set or large metal doors that required a password input. I averted my eyes as Romanoff clicked in the digits causing the heavy doors to crank open. The inside of the room was large and housed a circular glass, cage, for lack of a better word. Director Fury looked angry as he mumbled things under his breath as he passed us.

"Be careful Miss Stark." He warned his one dark brown unlatched eye met mine and I nodded in understanding before he continued down the hallway. Agent Romanoff seemed hesitant to proceed but Fury hadn't called off the orders. There were no windows in this room as tons of light kept the cage illuminated showing the individual man trapped inside. He was faced away from us but I could see his strange attire from here. His dark brunette hair reached just past his shoulders as it curled softly at the ends.

The platform we stood on had only one control panel that had a handful of buttons. "Are you sure about this?" Romanoff asked before I smiled clicking my way down the short amount of steps coming to the glass siding. Staying on the platform she waited but the man behind the glass made no movement. Pushing the small green button the glass dividers whooshed open with the sound of escaping pressurized air. I stepped over the threshold taking a few steps in before the doors whirred shut behind me.

"You can leave now Agent Romanoff." I smiled to her for reassurance but she still held a skeptical look before turning away and disappearing behind the metal doors. I looked around overhead seeing no visible cameras but I knew they were somewhere. "Hello Loki." Upon hearing his name he pivoted and I got my first view of him. He was undeniably handsome that much was true but his dark aura was radiating from his very being. I looked to his eyes marveling at the brilliant sea foam green color that shone under the lights.

The cage was entirely white; the flooring at the paneling that wasn't thick impenetrable glass reminded me of a hospital. He wore black leather clothing with the exception of his cape that had hints of green on the lapel. Everything about him seemed mysterious and foreign. His eyes trailed over me, silently judging as he tried to size me up. "My name is Elena Stark."

"So Director Fury has enlightened me. You are related to the arrogant human who pretends to be a god in his technologically impressive suit."

"Tony is my brother yes." I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips and I desperately wished Tony was watching the monitor. "I happened to meet your brother also."

"Thor is not my brother." His tone changed while his fists clenched tightly at his sides and I realized we were standing mere feet away from each other.

"Then what would you call him?"

"A problem."

"Would you like to talk about it?" He twisted away from me quickly heading to the opposite side of the cage. Sitting himself on the padded couch that was his dismal excuse for a bed. I couldn't say I would be overly pleased to be trapped in here myself either.

"Tell me doctor," he tone was patronizing to go along with the smirk playing on his lips, "what is it you do for your people?"

"I study behavior. It's my job to help emotionally and mentally disturbed people adjust to life without harming themselves or others."

"So I which am I? Mentally or emotionally disturbed?" Amusement danced in his eyes while he questioned me.

"From the file I received it stated you were both."

"From your owns conclusions?"

"I haven't gathered enough information to assess that." He gave another amused smirk before he pressed his back against the glass and trained his eyes to the floor. I watched him as he sat motionless for several minutes. The biggest thing when it came to therapy was not to push the patient. Resignedly I waited but it was evident that nothing more was going to be said between us. Agent Romanoff came through the metal doors freeing me from the stuffy air of the cage as the glass doors opened. "It was nice meeting you Loki."

Without another look back I followed behind Romanoff as we left the large room leaving the silent man behind. I sighed feeling like a failure making absolutely no progress. This was going to be more difficult than I had originally planned. "You can try again tomorrow." She spoke softly but it didn't hold any true emotion.

We passed by a room that had glass windows showing two men behind see through computer monitors. "I'll be in here if you need me." Romanoff nodded before leaving me behind to enter the room. "Hey."

"Tell that degenerate that my technological suit would have kicked his ass if we didn't need him alive." Walking over to him the monitor displayed he was downloading something but he looked displeased.

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled patting his back before going to the other man. He looked a bit more rugged as he ran a hand through his light brown hair. "Hello Doctor Banner."

"Miss Stark." He pushed the monitor he was working on upwards as he extended out a hand. Shaking it firmly, "nice to meet you."

"Same to you Doctor. How goes the search?"

"No better than your useless attempt." My brother interrupted as Banner opened his mouth. I narrowed my eyes at him, he was never a strong believer in the importance of psychology. Not clinical psychology anyway.

"Oh Tony your ignorance on psychology continues to amaze me."

"Don't worry he had his face pressed to the monitor watching to make sure he didn't try anything." Doctor Banner received a disapproving expression from Tony as he threw him under the bus.

"He may not have time for me but I know he loves me."

"You have your moments." I rolled my eyes before telling Banner to ignore everything Tony says.

"Well I'll leave you guys to your work. Which way back to the headquarters looking room?" Taking the route they advised I reached the room that was bustling with the same people. Agent Coulson was hovering over someone's shoulder when he looked up to meet me.

"Miss Stark."

"Agent Coulson." I smiled. "Is Director Fury around?"

"He left briefly for a meeting is there something I can do?"

"It's nothing important but thank you."

"Of course. Would you like to retire to your room?" I nodded and he smiled before leading me back out of the room. "How are you enjoying the ship so far?"

"It's very high tech, not like I expected anything different."

"I was referring to the being in the sky part. Tony not so subtly mentioned your fear."

"Of course he did." We shared a laugh as we turned down a few hallways coming to a section with lighter shades of metal.

"Your room is this one here." He stopped at the third door on the left side, "Tony's is the one across the hall in case you needed to visit him."

"I'm sure that won't be likely." I smiled to Coulson before thanking him again. "If you need me don't hesitate to bother me."

"Noted, goodnight Miss Stark." The room wasn't locked but inside were my belongings, which wasn't more than two suitcases. At least the interior looked homey with the cream colored walls and light brown carpeting. A wide window stretched along the top of the back wall letting in light but not to where I could look out seeing us hovering in air.

"Tony." I shook my head with a smile. The bed was a decent size as I pushed on the mattress feeling it was very plush, my mind traveled back to Loki and his padded couch. I felt a bit sorry for him before remembering he wanted to destroy the world. Shoving Loki from my mind I noticed the conjoining bathroom that was just large enough to house the basic accommodations. A shower sounded nice as I let the water run steaming up the small room before getting in. Twenty minutes later between the relaxation of the shower and the day of traveling I crept into bed from exhaustion.