I don't own any part of the Marvel Comic or MCU.
What I could do with the power flowing through those veins...
A dark eyebrow quirked upwards, regarding what was above him with growing suspicion. The trinket Loki had been tossing in the air froze at its apex, hanging from a single link of bronze chain. Its clear pendant began to glow and dangled tauntingly above his eyes.
Bolting upright from his bed, he grabbed the necklace with a shaking hand, the other beginning to wind absently around a section of loose hair. Blue webs began to spider over the amber stone, poisoning it with outside interference. Loki threw it at the other side of the room, where it collided with a thick, glass wall.
With all your strength, what good does it do you now?
Loki walked towards the gem with cautious, predatory steps, but his wild, harried eyes gave everything away. Long, skeletal fingers crept forwards, shakily brushing the cold, blue surface- the magic pulsating beneath tore a small gasp from his throat. Twisted, broken magic, stolen and forced into something unnatural- something evil.
Your mad scramble for identity...
He didn't realise he'd been picked up the corrupted gem until its edges pressed deep into his palm. Eyes travelled from the bleeding hand to the glass before him.
Blue. Cold, icy orbs stared back from his reflection. Loki's fist- a fist now wrapped in green and bronze fire- snapped shut, pressed the gem further into the wound. Instinctively, the god pushed as much of his own magic back, fighting the wrongness. He could feel the other sorcerer- he had met him, become familiar with his unique signature. Unique methods.
Yet as he fought, the gem absorbed the attacks, becoming bluer and bluer until it was that blue. The familiar, evil colour that stole all control and brought unwanted focus to the mind.
What have I to fear?
By the time amber burnt through the blue, Loki had collapsed against the glass. Forest green overcame the unnatural blue and Loki knew his hand was forced. Yielding was the only thing he could do- it didn't matter whether it was to Asgard or the Mad Titan or to Lady Hel herself.
Though... there was, perhaps, someone he could trust.
Dealing with both the sweltering heat and its effects on her colleagues was taking it out of Agent Hill- and in turn, she was definitely going to take it out on whatever mutant lived in this wasteland. They had an unnecessarily heavily guarded prison cell with their name on it.
All this confusion, telling herself that, yes, those glass footprints in the sand were real was taking its toll. Something, or someone, had walked across the desert, melting imprints in sand. Even in her line of work, there were some things that just did not compute.
And the footprints were only the beginning of her growing headache.
Currently, she was leaning against the metal fence, carefully avoiding the loops of barbed wire, file in hand. Due to the secluded nature of this desert, SHIELD had no intelligence on it- it was a clever choice. The mutant must have connections, probably in the records or scouting departments.
Waving over an agent, she ordered him to report the possible mole. If she'd had a heart, it would have warmed at the unquestioning way he delegated his current couriering job and marched directly to the communications tent.
The file. Agent Hill folded back the thick card, studying again the photographs of the mutant. The most recent photos, apparently taken from family computer files, showed a sixteen year old girl with long, long brown hair and greyish blue eyes. She wasn't conventionally pretty, her prominent cheekbones narrowing into hollow cheeks before flaring out into a wide jaw. Her mouth seemed to be naturally downturned, giving a serious nature even to the photos where she looked otherwise happy.
For what she lacked in beauty she made up for in memorability- this mutant would have no future amongst the faceless people of SHIELD.
Instantly, Hill felt a pang of... something... and it stayed with her even as she marched through the hastily set up compound towards the mutant she'd studied in the files. It wasn't right- by regular standards at least- to detachedly assess adults for their usefulness, let alone children.
Though as she faced the mutant's hidden house, all feelings melted behind her professional persona.
It wasn't fair to call it a house and, besides, who would build one so deep in the desert. It was a shack, haphazardly built with flimsy boards that looked like they had been dragged out of a seedy alley and corrugated metal sheets that were in the same condition. There were gaps between the joins and the wood looked vaguely rotten.
By rights, it shouldn't have even been standing, but for the clear glass that coated the shack. Covering the entire structure, it held it in an unshakable cage- preserved, protected against the elements.
This humble innocuous shack was one of the most terrifying things Hill had ever seen- and she had seen everything. Her instincts screamed that she should not engage someone who could melt footprints in a desert and mould a house out of glass.
Hill compartmentalised these fears and rapped sharply on the glass-coated door. She shuddered- touching the glass made it harder to deny. "Come out with your hands in the air, we're not going to hurt you," the SHIELD training was second nature, the words flowed of their own accord. The only reason she refrained from lifting her sidearm was because this- mutant or not- was a child.
A quiet voice came from the other side of the door, a deeper voice than Hill had expected with a distinctly English accent. SHIELD hadn't managed to obtain a voiceprint yet, but the microphone on Hill's lapel fixed that issue. "I'd rather not." There was a pause, "sorry."
"You don't have a choice, kid," the agent said. "This is Agent Hill of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division and if you don't come willingly, things will get messy." That was a lie. Legally, as this was a child, the best they could do if she refused was report her to the other authorities.
"Logistics?" There was a note of guilty mockery in the girl's voice. There was a sharp breath as the gravity of the situation kicked in. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm going with you, then."
Hill took a step back from the door and, after a moment, the door opened. The girl standing in the doorway was tall, taller than Hill herself, but seemed to try to make herself smaller. It wasn't really surprising given Hill's visible (and invisible) armoury.
Her hair was braided down her shoulder, reaching her waist, and a red rucksack was slung on her back. There were red patches of sunburn on her bare arms, but the undamaged skin was a tanned olive, contrasting with an icy blue camisole top. Curiously, she didn't seem to be uncomfortable in the heat, there was no sweat on her face or body.
The girl's general disposition reminded Agent Hill of the Hulk's more amicable counterpart, Doctor Banner. The shuffle, the lopsided gait as she clutched her arm and the way her eyebrows were drawn tight- a permanent expression of guilt.
As she walked slightly ahead of Hill, the Agent found herself reaching for the girl's shoulder- perhaps to comfort her- Hill wasn't actually sure but she'd seen others do the same. The girl stiffened and, before the awkward pat made contact, she ducked out of the way with an unintelligible mumble.
Hill rediscovered why comforting wasn't really in her nature.
This was just an idea that won't be finished. I just wanted to experiment with the 'Loki was playing to lose' theory and try to create a believable original character. I had so many ideas but I couldn't write them down, that's why this is so short. The gist would have been something like:
-Loki has been sentenced to remain on Earth with a curse like 'you will serve the first person who claims service from you'- like Poseidon and Apollo in Greek Mythology. Loki gets himself arrested by SHIELD so he can ask Captain America to claim his service- because he know Cap is as righteous as it gets.
-Meanwhile the girl (I didn't choose a name so lets go with Anna) has been apprehended by SHIELD. Anna is part of a group of young mutants who help those in hiding- she ran from her parents in England all the way to America by using this group. SHIELD want to monitor these mutants. Anna's power is to generate heat.
-Anna is in the base and not happy about it. Using her powers, she manages to escape the room she'd been put in and winds up near Captain America's room.
-Cap shows up in his room, and Loki used magic to project himself into the room and tell Cap the situation. However Cap isn't big on this servant thing and refuses. However Anna really wants to leave the base and manages to get to Loki's actual cell. She's caught as soon as she gets there.
-But Anna manages to yell a claim to Loki's service and pleads with him to get her out of the scary base. Loki has to comply and is like a grumpy fairy godmother.
-Also, Loki has the soul stone (not Heimdall or whatever- maybe he pickpocketed him) and is using it to counter the mind stone/tesseract's influence.
I didn't get much further but was going for a sort of buddy cop vibe + angst. I wanted Anna dealing with the fact that she has trapped another person and also her not knowing about New York because of her isolation. Then also Loki dealing with his identity and learning that most humans really don't care about him being blue. I didn't really have a plot and if anyone wants to adopt this story they're free to.