Chapter Text
Loki let in a short gasp of air when he heard soft hissing by his ear.
“Please don’t be venomous…” He thought.
But he knew that given his current situation, it was very likely that the snake was indeed venomous. His body shivered as the snake’s forked tongue tickled the back of his neck. Goosebumps started to trail down his arms to where his wrists were shackled to the floor.
The cold concrete probably wouldn’t have bothered him much being who he was, however, that, combined with the fact that he was left in his cell wearing only thin breeches and a blindfold over his eyes made it a little chillier. It also didn’t help that he was severely malnourished and the small amount of magic reserves he had left were being used to heal the prior injuries he had suffered from the hands of his captors.
Smooth scales slowly glided past his jaw. Soon enough the rest of the serpent’s weight landed on his shoulders. He tried his best to be as much of a statue as he possibly could and suppressed another shudder as its tail wrapped down his back and around his torso.
“I wonder what color it is, or if it has a pattern …”
The thought flitted briefly through his mind. He was always fond of snakes. This particular turn of events was actually quite a welcome change from the other tortures he had received of late. As long as he didn’t aggravate the creature he would be just fine. The sensation was almost lulling in a way. It’s muscles bunching and relaxing as it wound its way around his frail and tattered self. The touch a strange comfort.
“ Almost like the embrace of a friend.”
At least that’s what he thought that might feel like. He never really had made enough friends in his lifetime to certify that notion. His friendship was always conditional. Just like the snake’s.
He deemed the serpent to not be an immediate threat and let himself relax a bit. Soon enough his mind started to wander back to the events that landed him in this Midgardian dungeon.
Thor was oh so willing to help after the events on Svartalfheim. His brother felt extremely guilty after Loki took the blow from the Kursed that was meant for Thor, and then Thor foolishly thought him dead and left him stranded on the planet. Luckily, one of the rifts that tore through the universe swept him up and plonked him somewhere on Midgard. He was able to wake up just enough to call out to Heimdall and he begrudgingly asked to have Thor sent his way. He couldn’t go anywhere thanks to the huge gash in his chest and once again fell unconscious, vulnerable to the world. It was not too hard after that to convince his brother to go back to Asgard and plead with the Allfather to grant Loki a lighter sentence.
The new sentence was to be banished on Midgard for the length of time that he would have spent rotting in Asgard’s dungeons. Loki figured that Odin was willing to let this judgment pass due to, 1) The fact that the dungeons were currently trashed and in desperate need of remodeling, 2) Many soldiers had perished in the initial attack and there were simply not enough guards to keep an eye on Loki all the time, 3) Loki was a main player in the defeat of the Dark Elves and therefore helped to save Asgard and the rest of the Nine, 4) Odin was weary and full of grief from the loss of his wife and could not bother to muster the energy needed to argue with his son.
That explained his presence on Midgard. His presence in this particularly delightful corner of the planet was courtesy of various shady and underhanded government dealings. Thor, the upstanding prince that he was, found it necessary to inform SHIELD of Asgard’s proceedings. Of course, they couldn’t just have Loki wandering around the world doing who knows what, oh no . They just had to crate him up and ship him to a facility where he could “heal”, in their words, from the major injury in his sternum. Sweet gullible Thor took those words to heart and went back home to help rebuild and stabilize what he could, completely believing that his little brother was in good hands.
Loki was not in good hands. Whether it was SHIELD or some other organization that they passed him off to, he was worse for wear. Yes, they let him rest up enough to deal with the major side effects of having a brush with death, but it was little more than that. He couldn’t be certain, because time feels different being locked up, but he was sure that was several months ago.
Heavy boots and voices from outside the door started to rouse him from slumber. He hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep. Even if he was lying on the ground with a large snake coiled around his legs he was still grateful for the rest. Norns knows he needed it.
“Something should have happened by now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The Brains upstairs want results. All night long and no results makes for unhappy, unstable, caffeine driven scientists that we get to deal with for the rest of the day.”
“Great… Sooo, which one of us gets to play snake charmer?”
“No way I’m going in there.”
“Are you afraid of the snake?”
“Which one?”
“Touche.”
The whine of metal hinges echoed and bounced off of the solid walls. During the conversation Loki was able to wake up more fully and anticipate the draft of air that wafted in from the hallway. The snake responded to it by curling more tightly around his waist, and squeezing a bit uncomfortably around some of his thin ribs.
Something he assumed was the butt of a weapon was jabbed harshly into his shoulder. He groaned, trying not to grab the attention of the fangs that were so intimately close. Sometime during the night the snake had decided to rest its head right on Loki’s neck, deeming it to be the best spot to fall asleep. Unfortunately that proved to be very nerve wracking and dangerous for Loki now.
“Come on! Move! Do something!” grunted the guard. Loki felt the weapon prod against the serpent’s middle. It started moving and tightened further around Loki’s ribcage. He let out a strained wheeze.
Another jab into his gut this time made him curl up in pain, jostling the snake in the process. He couldn’t see, but the guard was obviously holding the weapon at arm’s length if the force of the jabs was anything to go by.
“ Smart guard keeping his distance. I distinctly remember a few others who would enjoy my pain a little too much if they were here. They would probably have been attacked by the snake as of now.”
“Hurry up,” the agitated voice of the second guard sounded from the doorway, “I don’t want this cell open for any longer than is needed.”
“Do you want to come in here and do it?” rounded the first. A guilty silence followed. “I didn’t think so. Just be patient.”
A huff of mumbled curses could be heard as the guard tried again to prod the snake. It didn’t react as much this time. Loki suppressed a small smile. He found the guard’s antics slightly amusing.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” the guard muttered. “Okay… Fine…We’ll try it this way.”
A loud BANG! cracked through the cell and effectively made Loki jump out of his skin. That also made the serpent hiss angrily into Loki’s ear. The snake now jumped back up on his list to immediate threat status.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing!?!” shouted the man from the doorway.
“Getting the job done. What do you think?”
“By shooting at it?!?”
“I’m not shooting at it, I’m riling it up from far away. I’d shoot him but I can’t get a good enough angle right now.”
“ A charming notion, truly.” Is what Loki would have drawled out if he wasn’t trying to calm his racing heartbeat. His ears were still ringing from the gunshot and his panic was growing with the serpent’s fangs being just a twitch away. He could feel his pulse pounding quickly against the weight of the scales. His breath was becoming more erratic by the second as the serpent continued to crush his torso.
“If that’s how we’re doing it, then can I have a go?” the doorway guard asked.
“Be my guest,” the first said and hurriedly shuffled out of the cell.
“Maybe you should bite the snake instead, yeah? You are what you eat.” the door guard’s voice intoned from afar. “Oh wait. That wouldn’t change anything.”
BANG! Another shot ripped through the room. Loki couldn’t hear the hissing of the serpent above him over the high pitched wail left from the gun, but he knew it was there. He could feel it. The snake’s jaw stayed open, grazing over his collarbone now.
“ It’s gonna be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ve survived worse. It will just be a nip. It’s gonna be fine. I’m gonna be fine. I’m gonna be fine.” Loki was truly hyperventilating at this point. His breathing was coming in short gasps, unable to get a full breath in. The serpent wasn’t helping. Just because he had survived worse doesn’t make anything easier now. If anything it just triggered old negative memories of the past. Ones better left forgotten.
BANG! A third bullet lodged itself into the wall behind and Loki flinched hard, unable to hold back the small sounds of terror that escaped him. The snake finally had had enough. It reared its head back and sunk its fangs deep into the open flesh of Loki’s neck. Its jaw was fully clamped around the area, pumping venom into his bloodstream. A strangled cry tore through his lips. He bucked and writhed instinctively trying to get away from the snake to no avail. Not that he could have anyway, his hands were still chained to the ring in the ground.
The sound of the cell door slamming shut registered numbly in the back of his mind. As did the sound of two sets of boots clomping away.
After a moment of silence that seemed to stretch into eternity, the snake finally released its clamp and removed its fangs from his neck. It slithered off of Loki now seeming uninterested to what it probably thought was soon to be dead. Gathering itself in a bundle it huddled up in the far corner and went back to its previous slumber.
“It’s over. I’m fine. It was just a nip. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Taking a deep inhale Loki shifted until his back hit the wall. He could feel a small trickle of blood down his nape. He let the tension in his body smooth out.
And then the pain hit.
It was like a hot sharp needle swiftly pierced the inside of his brain. He flung his head back in shock and it hit the concrete wall behind him with a crack. Lights dotted the back of the blindfold for a second. He groaned in agony. The pain grew quickly filling his head. The worst of it being directly behind his eyes. He tried to push the palms of his hands against his temples, but the shackles were too short for it to really be effective.
His veins were on fire as the venom coursed through his blood. He started to twitch and spasm with how hot and itchy his skin felt. The burning around his eyes was becoming the most prominent. If he could have gotten the blindfold off he might have just clawed his eyes out. Prickly tears stained and soaked the cloth.
Occasional bursts of sobbing took over for the next few hours. The pain gradually died down to a dull ache. The pounding of the migraine lessened. His eyes still stung fiercely, but there was nothing he could do about that.
“I do hope the ‘Brains’ got the results they wanted.”
The bitter thought crossed his mind as he succumbed to a wave of exhaustion, falling into sleep once more.