Re: Dr Strange!
Ikol gave the warbling cries of magpies, hiding behind Loki, the old spirit of Loki unable to fly further than the ring of runes allowed him as the blood glowed and something vengeful coiled into the energy of the room.
Loki himself, though, wasn't afraid. More he seemed surprised, staring at Stephen as he entered the room, as though he were a strange sight. Like seeing a classmate not at school or someone in a bathing suit at winter. He didn't look at all to Whitehall, even though he was distinctly aware of what was happening to him. For all Whitehall had done in his long life, the karma was, mercifully for him, not near the pain and suffering he had wrought.
It wasn't until Cloak wrapped around Loki's shoulders that he seemed to believe what he was seeing. His mouth, still bloody from his biting, broke into a tremulous grin, something edgy in his eyes, manic and unsteady. "You came... I... You found me. I didn't think... I thought no one could... Would..." Loki suddenly looked the happiest he'd ever been, even though his eyes were flooded. "You're the greatest! Good gods, and bad ones, too, I hope you know that!"
The runes were still circling him like a cancer on his vital organs, though. He was chained in a way that meant he hadn't been able to stand. His grey scrubs, even though he'd been hosed off to rid of the blood, still bore brown water marks where the edges of wounds had dried. He seemed all right, though, other than that. Physically able to move, no open wounds other than the very edges of thin, red surgical lines on his torso that were hiding under the thin cloth, and the recent bruises from the bullets. He didn't seem broken, though exhausted from the wear and tear of three weeks held in the cell, and even as Stephen watched, spark was lighting in those green eyes that Hydra had tried to smother with their neglect.