The North Star (B. Barnes & S. Rogers)

Chapter Three

Loki lays staring up at the kitchen ceiling, his eyes dull and absent. He's not really at the facility. His mind is elsewhere, back in the cell with the chains. It's darker. Colder. He's more afraid then before. Alone. His heart hurts, pounding heavily in his chest. But he feels weak too. Like his body is failing. Draining.

..................

Bucky, Steve, Natasha and Bruce sit in the common kitchen, Thor is sat behind them on the couch watching some Western movie on the tv. Bucky with his chin resting on the top of his mug, eyes closed feeling the warmth of steam against his skin. Steve pokes at his scrambled eggs, his mind on the information Bucky had told him the night before. Natasha and Bruce are sat close together drinking tea and whispering softly.

"It happened again!" Wanda shouts from the doorway, Bruce instantly on his feet and moving to her. "He passed out" she offers quieter and it's clear how worried Wanda is. Thor moves passed them heading off to find Loki.

.................

Loki is pushing himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the counter in front of him as he does. Thor enters the room first and casts a worried look over his brother, Loki rolls his eyes and turns away. The others are close on Thor's heel, Bruce moving straight to Loki.

"You need to rest" Bruce scolds.

"I need to figure this out" Loki argues pushing himself away from the counter.

"Loki" Thor starts to scold. Loki looks to him. "Perhaps Banner is right..."

"I can't sleep" Loki admits. "I can't...It's going around in my head like a...." he struggles slightly. "Carousel" he finishes. "All of it, all the time...." he takes a breath. "I have to figure this out so I can sleep, so I can feel like I'm not loosing my mind" the team share a look before Steve nods.

"Okay" Steve states. "What do you want to do?" he asks Loki who looks down at his notebook, he's been writing the things that have been happening to him down. He takes a breath and looks up towards the ceiling.

"Friday" he states. "Show me mountain ranges, narrowed down to cold climates, below freezing....with a lake, or lakes, old constructs, possibly underground" Loki rubs his head as he talks to the AI.

"Alright, what are you thinking?" Steve asks.

"I think someone is reaching out" he grumbles. "And I need to find them"

"Explain it" Steve pushes. "Why do you suddenly feel like it's someone?"

"It started off as a niggling at the back of my mind, now it feels....desperate" he looks to the others. "Who ever it is....they're running out of time"

"Hit us with the facts" Bucky comments. "Landscape, smells, sights"

"It's cold" Loki answers. "Dark. Smells like....like they've been there a while, and left alone..."

"What else?" Bucky asks.

"Flashes of mountains...and a lake..." Loki explains, Bucky looks thoughtful. Steve glances to Bucky and raises an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Steve asks.

"There is a place, a Hydra base....so far off the map that you have to have been to know it exists" Bucky answers looking to Steve. "Last I heard it was running with a shadow crew....it wasn't a threat"

"Military? Scientific?" Steve asks, Bucky shakes his head.

"Prison. It was a prison" Bucky answers. "Those too dangerous, those too out of control, those who have outlived their usefulness but are too valuable for them to just...kill. Those that are real power, I mean...the heavy guns"