CRYING OUT IN PAIN, Anna slumps to the floor in fetal position. Her brown hair sticks to her forehead as beads of sweat drip down her skin and into her eyes. Eren stands over her, brandishing his glorified cattle prod proudly. She sucks in a shallow breath - her ribs ache from the force of his blows coupled with the subsequent tremors the localized electricity send through her - and glares up at him.

"Why..." she spits a wad of blood onto the floor. "Why do you do what Magnus says? Why do you listen to that bastard?"

Eren grunts, a single gruesome laugh bursting from his lips, "Because I want to. He might be the face of this operation, but I am the hands and feet."

"Is that what they told you? Did they tell you that they needed you? That you were important?" Anna pushes herself upright, scooting her back against the wall as she stares up at Eren from her seat on the ground. He takes a step closer, and she fights the urge to shrink away from him. "They lied to you. You are expendable, just like I am. They're just going to use you the way they used me, Eren."

Her voice is hardly more than a whisper at that last sentence, blue eyes filled with hope as she pleads with him. Anything - anything - to make a connection. Instead, his already dark eyes glint with amusement before turning a shade darker. Eren reaches down with the hand not wielding the cattle prod and uses it to stroke Anna's jaw, capturing it firmly between his fingers when she jerks away from his touch, and leans down until his face is only inches away from hers.

"You think you can appeal to my humanity," he whispers before removing his hand whilst throwing her jaw to the side. Standing, he turns his back to her and stretches his arms. His neck cracks, and Anna can hear the smirk in his voice. "I will be the destruction of gods."

Before he can speak, Anna manages to find a burst of adrenaline to pull her legs beneath her to stand and launches herself at him. He turns, spinning away from her, and her body reacts instantaneously by tucking into a forward roll. Using her elbow, she jabs Eren in the nose to buy herself time to whirl around to face him. Furious, Eren takes a step toward her and throws a wild right hook, but Anna uses her right arm to latch onto him and propels herself into the air. Hooking her legs around his neck, she leans backward to use her momentum to flip him to the ground. Surprised and out of sorts, Anna uses the opportunity to deliver a final jab that renders Eren unconscious.

"So much for the destruction of gods," she mumbles, using the back of her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth.

She wastes no time in stumbling through the open door to the observation room, ducking low to keep out of the line of vision of the guard standing on the other side of the door. Once in position pressed against the wall next to the door, Anna raps her knuckles against the metal and sucks in a breath. The door swings open and the guard steps through, giving her the opportunity to kick in the back of his knees to bring him to the ground before twisting into a powerful roundhouse to knock him out.

Her hand barely makes it back to the door to catch it before it latches shut.

Peeking out the door, she suppresses a gasp as a guard rounds the corner at the end of the hall. Luckily, he didn't hear the guard enter her room or her attacks, meaning the hallway is blessedly empty. There are security cameras everywhere, but at this point Anna is banking on the sheer momentum rather than stealth. The only way she's going to find Loki and get out of here is by moving faster than they are able to respond.

The memory of the location of the room where they tortured her is hazy at best, so she's half guessing as she forces her broken body into a sprint down the right of the corridor. Passing dimly lit rooms, she weaves through the labyrinth of hallways before the sound of Loki's shouts of anguish cause her to freeze in her tracks.

His voice is close - close enough to follow - so she ducks into an empty room and waits for the next patrol of guards to pass her. Seconds later, another cry echoes through the compound sending shivers down her spine. She can't wait any longer, so she slips from the room and walks straight into a third guard.

The man stares at her in shock for a moment before reaching for his gun, only to be met by a knee to the abdomen and a punch to the groin. Incapacitated, he grunts in pain giving Anna the opportunity to wrap her arms around his neck in a choke hold and send him to the ground in seconds. She releases him to the ground after his body grows limp, running toward the direction she last heard Loki's voice.

Another shout - louder still - encourages her to push her legs even faster until she arrives at the door separating them. The brunette takes a moment to catch her breath and analyze threat level of the room, then twists the handle to enter in a flash. Following her instincts, she quickly disarms three guards in rapid succession before moving on to the only lab tech in the room. Her blue eyes flash with recognition when she realizes that it's the same man who facilitated her torture, sending electricity through her body, before she charges at him.

"Anna, no," Loki's voice pulls her from her blind rage before she lands a fourth punch on the lab tech's face. Her left hand is clenched around his collar, holding him in place, and her right is pulled back to deliver another blow to his already crimson-stained face. "This isn't you."

She turns to find the source of the voice, startled to see the perpetually cool and collected raven-haired god in a state of disarray. Loki's pale skin is drenched in sweat, while his smooth black hair is knotted with blood. Tiny cuts cover his face, the blood dripping from the wounds in stark contrast from his alabaster skin. His shirt hangs in tatters on his tall frame, and Anna's eyes grow wide when she registers the charred remains of the fabric clinging to his sweat-covered chest. Burns cover a substantial amount of his upper body, and she instantly drops the lab tech at the sight of him.

"Oh, god," she mutters, rushing over to him where he's shackled to the wall. Her hands ghost over his face, careful not to cause him further pain, while smoothing the black hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Now is not the time for apologies, my love," Loki hums, his voice weak.

Squeezing her eyes shut to force back her tears, she nods. He's right. Now is not the time. Letting her thumb brush over his lips, she turns her back on him and rushes to the trio of unconscious guards.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she promises, searching the first guard for some sort of key. "We're going to get out of here."

Emptying his pockets on the floor around her, she slips a large knife into the waistband of her jeans before moving onto the next two guards. Both prove to be unfruitful, so she stands and returns to the lab tech. The man lies on the floor, sobbing quietly, so she pulls out the knife and presses it against his throat.

"Where is the key?" She growls, motioning toward where Loki barely stands, his magic-binding shackles attached to a hook hanging from the ceiling.

The lab tech gurgles a few incomprehensible words, and Anna digs the tip of blade into his skin to draw blood. He freezes at the painful prick, squeezing his eyes shut in fear, before blurting out, "Magnus. Magnus has it."

Anna's shoulders fall. She slams the lab tech into the floor, knocking him unconscious, before returning to where Loki is restrained. He's too tall for her to reach the hook holding his shackles from the ceiling, and she can barely reach past his elbows - let alone to the cuffs themselves.

"Leave me," the Asgardian tells her, his green eyes soft. "I'm of no consequence, not when your life is at risk. I took an oath to protect you, and I will not allow you to endanger yourself any further at my expense."

"No," Anna replies, shaking her head as she grabs a chair and pulls it up to him. Standing on the seat, she carefully runs her fingers up his arms to the hook before struggling to lift the chain of Loki's wrist constraints from it. Gritting her teeth with effort, she barely manages to slip it free, after which point Loki crumples to the floor and sends Anna and the chair with him.

She lands on top of him, quickly peeling herself from his burn-covered chest and maneuvering to his side to pull him upright. His godlike strength is rapidly diminishing, a fact that sends fear through her veins as she struggles to lift him so he can lean his back against the cool concrete wall behind them.

"Anna, I am not worth saving," Loki whispers. "I've killed so many that I can no longer see my hands due to the stain of the blood of countless innocents. I'll not add your blood to the blemish on my soul." His voice breaks for a moment as he catches his breath, emerald eyes studying her face. "Consider this my penance...for your betrothed."

Without thinking or hesitating, Anna's lips crush against Loki's. He yields instantly to her kiss, the two of them melding together as one, his lips soft as cool silk beneath her own. She can't help but notice the sensation, like ice cream on a hot summer day, as his tongue darts between her lips to request entry. Parting them immediately, their kiss deepens as she winds her hands up his neck and into his long, black hair. She moans into him, his lips pressing against her earlobe before trailing down her neck and collarbone then finding their way back to her mouth. Each touch, each taste, ignites a fire deep within her that she never expected - that she's never felt before - and leaves her craving more of him.

"I can't leave you," she mumbles between desperate kisses, claiming Loki's lips as her own. "I won't."

Now playing: "Wicked Game" by James Vincent McMorrow.

*****
Author's Note

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