I had lost track of time. I didn't even know how long I had been trapped in this miserable hell hole. I was as bored as ever when I heard a loud noise from somewhere down the hall.

What was that?

"I don't know." I could hear Loki tossing his ball up and down. He was lucky to have his hands. Mine were still stuck in their metal domes, meaning I still had to eat like an animal. I could feel it on my face, too. I hated it, but I couldn't do anything about it.

All of a sudden, everything became complete and utter chaos. Prisoners were running down the halls and fighting the guards. I didn't bother getting up.

Out of all the prisoners, one stood out to me. He was exceedingly tall. He moved slowly through the crowd. He stared at me as he walked by. I guessed he was the instigator of all this. I apparently wasn't worth his time. He moved past me and towards Loki's cell. Something about the way he walked struck me as menacing.

Loki, who is that?

"Who?" He paused. "Oh. I do not know, darling." My heart fluttered when he called me that. He had never done it before.

What's he doing?

"Just... staring." Staring? I was confused. What if he freed Loki? I prayed that he did, but my hopes were wrong. "He's gone now."

Weird. My stomach grumbled loudly. Fuck.

"What?"

I'm hungry.

"Do you not have food?"

No, I do. That's kind of the problem.

"Why?" I hadn't told Loki about the nightmares. I didn't like talking about them. "Lilith?"

I ignored him out as I slowly ate the scraps.

Couldn't they at least drug me with food that tastes good? I wasn't sure if Loki heard that part, but I didn't care. I felt the numbness taking over. I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was no use. Sleep enveloped me.

******

"I'm back!" I yelled into the black abyss. "Anyone home?" Thanos usually showed up by now. "Hello?" I was surprised, but not sad. Definitely not sad. I decided to take this opportunity to move around. I knew it wasn't likely to affect my real body, but I needed to move around someway or another. I ran around the dark space. It felt fantastic to finally run. The air shoved its way through my bouncing hair.

I felt free.

All of a sudden, a surge of power shot me across the space. Pain shot through me as I clutched onto the side I had landed on. The ever silent room grew loud with screams. Not just any screams, I realized, but Loki's. His pain surged through me like a wave in the ocean.

"Loki?" I felt his suffering. "Loki?" I lay on the ground, still holding my side. Suddenly, my body went into spasms. I felt like I was suffocating. The pain too much. I couldn't handle it.

******

I sat up with a gasp. I blinked quickly as my vision focused. I shifted against the wall and tried to sit up a little. My back was sore, so it cracked with every movement. I hissed through my teeth.

"Lilith? Are you awake?" Loki sounded upset.

Yes. What's wrong, Loki?

"I... I can't..."

Loki, talk to me. Please. What's wrong?

"My mother. She... She's gone."

Oh, Loki. I'm so sorry. I wish I could've done something.

"I'll be fine."

I wish I could be there for you.

"As do I." I didn't know what else to say to him. It was hard to comfort someone when you couldn't be right there with them.

How long was I out?

"Seven hours."

What the hell are they giving me?

"I'd like to know that as well."

We were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Thor walked in front of the barrier. He looked at me with pity. I returned it with a scowl. He frowned and moved towards Loki.

I heard bits and pieces of their conversation. Something about... revenge.

Loki?

"Everything will be alright, my love. Trust me."

What? Loki, what does that mean? He wouldn't answer me. Damn it, Loki!

I heard the sound of his barrier lowering and shot my eyes in that direction. Thor stepped back into my line of vision and looked at me with his sad little puppy dog eyes. He mustered up a weak smile, but I could see right through it. His happiness towards me was completely and entirely fake. "What do you want?" I hissed.

"I don't want anything," he replied. What does that mean?

"Lilith." A familiar figure stepped in front of him. I hadn't seen him in what felt like ages. His smile spread across his face, and I reflected it.

"Loki." It unintentionally came out as a whisper.

"Hello, darling." I tried to go to him, but my body was weak. As I attempted to crawl towards him my chains pulled me back.

"Loki," I repeated. Tears of joy formed and fell as I struggled to get closer to him.

"It's alright. Just hold on." He came as close to the barrier as he could without touching it. "Just hold on, my love. I'll get you out." Thor walked over and did something to lower the forcefield. As soon as he did, Loki rushed to my side. He put his hands on my face, looking like a mother fretting over her child, and then let me lean on his chest. "I'm so sorry, Lilith. I promise you I shall never leave your side."

"I'm so glad to see you. I missed you so much." He wrapped his hands around my stomach and held me close. I wanted to reach to him, to touch his face, but I was still restricted by my chains.

"Thor, you buffoon, don't just stand there. Unbind her." Thor hopped up and went to the center of the cell. He came closer to my hands, and I flinched. Loki stroked my hair to calm me. Something about the way Thor was standing over me just scared me. It reminded me of... him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." I reached my hands up for him to release them. The shackles fell to the floor, and I jerked my hands away. I immediately pulled Loki closer to me. "I love you so much, Loki."

"I love you, too, Lilith, but I am afraid we must go now. We haven't much time, my love. We have business to attend to. Come on." I pushed my hands on he floor in an attempt to push myself up, but my weak arms collapsed beneath me. I caught myself by the elbows. Loki's hand shot to my waist as he knelt beside me. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm weak. I haven't eaten much."

"Why not?" Thor interrupted. "We gave you plenty." I glared at him.

"No, what I got was scraps. Oh, and did I mention they were laced with drugs?"

"I was not aware of this. My apologies." He awkwardly looked down.

"Let me help you," Loki said, pulling me up. My knees wobbled under me. I felt like I was going to throw up. "You're alright, love. Thor, how could you let this happen?" Loki snapped at Thor.

"Loki, he didn't know." Loki didn't say anything else, but he shot Thor a look to kill.

I wrapped my arm around Loki's neck, expecting him to let me hobble along against him. He suddenly scooped me into his arms. I hissed with pain but settled into his arms.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"Loki," Thor said. "We have to go."

"Yes, alright. Let's go."

"I probably need to walk. I've become stiff sitting in there."

"Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded in response. He carefully set me down. I leaned on his arm, clinging to him with both hands.

He wrapped his arm around me to steady me. Now that I was really looking at him, I could tell he wasn't in perfect condition either. His hair was wild and uncombed. His clothes were partially tucked in. He was missing his shoes and had blood splattered on his feet. But the way he looked at me made me feel like everything really would be fine.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" I asked.

"I take you two to... refresh a bit, and we'll fill you in from there. Take haste though, we haven't got forever." We began to walk, and Loki supported me as best as he could without hurting me.

"This feels amazing and painful at the same time." He smiled at me wearily.

"I do not mean to pry, but why didn't you eat the food? Yes, I know it was contaminated but why not take advantage of that?" I hesitated.

"Because, every time I dreamt, he was there. He tortured me. I didn't want that. It hurt too much. I couldn't... I couldn't..." My voice began to break as I recalled the horrid memories.

"Hey, it's alright. You're safe now. I've got you." Thor guided us into a room and carefully shut the door behind us.

"I know."