Title: it was his lode, his lord, his appointed star

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from C. Day-Lewis

Warnings: Mentions of violence, torture, mind control.
Pairings: Loki/Clint

Rating: PG13(?)

Wordcount: 920

Point of view: third

Prompt: Clint gets captured and beaten. Before the rest of the team can get to him, Loki appears, and to their surprise makes quick work of the bad guys and rescues Clint.

Because nobody gets to torment the archer besides him, Loki doesn't believe in sharing his toys.

When Loki steps into the room, the HYDRA goons go silent. It's a nice change from the demanding rambling, actually, even if Clint's whole body shudders.

"What is this?" Loki asks quietly, head tilting in what seems to be honest curiosity.

The goons all look at each other. Clint wonders who's actually in charge of HYDRA this week. Is Red Skull dead again?

"We were interrogating the prisoner," the head goon says, spine straightening. "He has important information and – "

"Do shut up," Loki orders pleasantly, eyes focusing on Clint.

"You in charge of these fuckers?" Clint scoffs. "Gotta say, that's a step down." He just barely cuts off the sir before he says it. Fuck. He shudders again.

Loki's lips curl in what might be a sneer or a smile. Clint can't tell anymore. He could've, once. He'd almost forgotten how right it felt, when his whole reason for existence was making Loki's will happen.

"A regrettable choice of allies, yes," Loki drawls, stepping forward. The goons all move out of the way, showing a surprising amount of self-preservation.

"Here to interrogate me yourself?" Clint's attempt at bravado only makes Loki's lips curl again.

"Oh, dear Agent Barton," Loki purrs. "You know that you'll tell me anything I ask."

Yeah, Clint knows that. Being this close to Loki – it hasn't happened since Thor took him back to Asgard. He's been on Earth again for over a year, and focused on Thor every time the team broke up whatever he was doing. Seemed like he'd barely been trying, to be honest. Clint looked at him through a scope or from the top of a building, and never needed to get closer.

But now… tied to the chair with a shattered ankle and broken arm, with a concussion making his head swim, with at least two cracked ribs and an eye swollen nearly shut, Clint can't help it. His head hurts, and Loki is - no, Loki was, Loki's the enemy, and he killed Phil and tried to conquer the world, and he's crazy, and –

He's touching Clint's face.

Clint wants to jerk back, but he's frozen, staring up at Loki's eyes. "You're useless while broken, Agent Barton," Loki says. He almost sounds gentle, with a matter-of-fact tone. "These fools were trying to show initiative, I fear. You have my apologies," he murmurs, heat flaring out from his hand.

Everywhere the heat goes, it replaces the pain.

Clint would be relieved, except he remembers that heat.

"No," he whispers, wanting to close his eyes. He can't. "Please, Loki." Not again.

"Hush, warrior," Loki murmurs, hand dropping away. He turns, looking back at the goons. "Leave," he orders. "I have no more need of you." They start to flee, but then he says, "Wait." Glancing back down at Clint, his lips curl in an unmistakable smirk. "Do you wish to avenge yourself?" he asks. His emphasis on avenge is so sarcastic the air sizzles.

Clint's gaze slides from Loki to the goons who just spent the past three hours beating the shit out of him for answers he didn't have.

It's been awhile since he killed someone with his bare hands.

"Yes, sir," he says.

"What?" the head goon shouts, but the ropes are gone and Clint's body is thrumming with energy, and his master deftly steps out of the way, smiling.

The door doesn't open and their weapons jam, and Clint is determined to impress Loki with both his efficiency and ruthlessness.

He succeeds on both counts. He surpasses expectations.

.

When the Avengers find the HYDRA base, every enemy agent is dead and Hawkeye still missing.

It's a week before they realize what happened, and then only because an arrow lands at Captain America's feet. He survives the ensuing explosion because he recognizes the arrow, throws himself backwards, and raises his shield.

"What the fuck!" Iron Man yells.

Loki steps out of thin air, clapping. "Wonderful reflexes, Captain," he drawls, wearing his ridiculous armor. "You and your team misplaced something very dear to me, so I have reclaimed it."

He catches the knife a foot away from his eye and lets it fall, grinning at Black Widow. Another arrow shoots past her, embedding in the wall behind her. She lunges away, crouching behind some rubble from the previous battle, before Loki's appearance, and another explosion fills the air with smoke.

"Give him back!" Captain America demands.

Loki's smirk is full of false sympathy. "I think not," he says. "But he requested that I let you know he's happy and healthy." Loki shrugs elegantly. "It is an easy enough request to fill."

"Brother!" Thor thunders, landing heavily at Loki's back. "What have you done?"

Rolling his eyes, Loki flicks his fingers.

The arrow that hits Thor in the chest, sticking in his armor, isn't one any of them recognize. Or the smoke that starts billowing out, or the substance that starts eating his armor. Thor's scream of pain is one none of his team will ever forget, because it's a sound they've never heard before.

Loki vanishes, of course. He takes Hawkeye with him.

.

"Are you happy?" Loki asks, threading his fingers through Clint's hair. It's getting long again, longer than he's worn it in awhile.

"Yes, sir," Clint answers, closing his eyes in pleasure.

"Would you like to kill in my name?" Loki murmurs.

Clint smiles. "Always, Loki," he replies, already planning which weapons to use.

His eyes, when he opens them to gaze at Loki, are a clear, unclouded blue.