AN: Hiya, random readers who have happened to click on this story. Believe it or not, I've had this idea in my head for almost a year now. If you have any writing pointers, feel free to let me know via review. I'd appreciate the feedback!
Happy reading!
Chapter One – What He Knows
The Dungeon, Asgard
Loki had been locked in this cell for so long he'd lost track of time. He was dimly aware of the guards passing by constantly, and the one- or two-times Thor came to visit. His adopted brother seemed to be the only one who took interest in the fallen prince now. Usually the conversations were one-sided; Loki wasn't sure what to say. But the God of Thunder returned anyways, usually talking about Midgard.
Now, Loki sat alone in his cell, leaning against the back wall while staring up at the ceiling. During his imprisonment, Odin had told Loki to use the time to reflect. Reflect. Loki scoffed at the thought. What was there to reflect about? He was always told as a child he was born to be a king. Yet, as he tried to rule Midgard as the all-powerful being he had been told he was, apparently Midgard had some sort of fighting squad—which included Thor, of all people, to chain him up and send him back to Asgard. No, instead of 'reflecting' on what he had done, Loki had spent his time thinking about what The Mad Titan, Thanos, would do next. He wants Earth, he wants power, he wants the stones. Surely Thanos would be making his next move soon. He knows where many of the Infinity Stones are, thanks to Loki. But the God of Mischief hadn't gotten any news about invasions to Asgard nor to Midgard, and he couldn't help but feel relief. If Thanos were to get what he wanted, there was no hope for anyone.
Lost in his thoughts, Loki didn't notice Thor standing with the cell door open. He was staring expectantly at the younger god he had known to be his brother.
"Are you coming, or not?" Thor inquired impatiently. Loki stood, narrowing his eyes with confusion.
"You're letting me free?" He asked, stepping out of the cell to stand next to Thor.
"No," Thor responded, "I'll be keeping close watch on you. The only reason Father agreed to let you out is because of what you know." That statement only made Loki even more confused, and he was overcome with curiosity. What I know? What could he possibly know that is so important?
"Where are we going?" Loki quickly followed Thor, who had taken off down the hall.
"Midgard," he responded. Loki groaned.
"Midgard?" He repeated. "What need would we of that wretched realm?" If his comment had bothered Thor, he most certainly didn't show it; the God of Thunder simply kept leading Loki out of the palace.
"I'll explain when we get there." The rest of the walk was lapsed with silence. When they reached the Bifrost, Heimdall was waiting. He nodded to Loki in greeting, who responded with a grunt.
"Safe travels," Heimdall said, placing his sword into the Bifrost and turning it; the portal opened immediately with a burst of color. Thor dipped his head and dragged Loki behind him as he stepped into the Bifrost.
Debriefing Room, SHEILD Heli carrier
Katrina sat in silence, as she usually did, watching the Avengers file into the room. She wasn't quite sure why she was summoned on this particular mission; it was with the Avengers, after all. The World's Mightiest Heroes hardly looked to need her help. Yet, Fury had insisted she joined anyways. So, here she was, sitting awkwardly while being flanked by Tony Stark and Clint Barton. She glanced at the two heroes on either side of her, slumping in her chair a little.
The agent wasn't much for small talk—she wasn't much for talk in general. Katrina liked to consider herself mute. Conversations were too hard for her, so she stuck to what she knew best; silence. As the team around her conversed, she sat observing. That was one of her skills. She was very observant. She could pick up the smallest detail in a conversation and could tell if someone was lying without even asking questions. Ever since she joined SHIELD, she had gained the title Silent but Deadly. Nobody really called her that—not to her face, at least. But that was what she was most known for. Agent Romanoff had once even joked that if someone were to look up the term in the dictionary, the only description would be her name.
It was several moments of just chatter. The noise reminded her of her days in school when her class was never quiet. It was almost comforting. Finally, after several moments, Director Fury entered the room. Behind him was Thor, and someone else. The room fell into silence. Next to her, she could tell Barton was seething. Yet, she was unsure of why. The man with Thor seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. After the two had taken their seats, Fury began speaking.
"Many of you are probably wondering why Loki is here," he began. Loki, God of Mischief. He led the attack on New York when the Avengers Initiative was first put into action. That's why he was familiar. Though she hadn't been there that day, she had watched it over the news. The event was so destructive, the News channels in England were talking about it. She'd know because that's where she was during the attack on New York; finishing an assassination mission in London, England. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Fury speaking again.
"He is only here because he has valuable information concerning Thanos, and the attack he is supposedly leading soon." Most of the Avengers seemed content with that explanation. All except Clint, who was still glaring at the God of Mischief across the table. "If any of you have any problems," Fury stated firmly, glaring at Barton, "feel free to take them up with me. Now, on with the mission report." Katrina brushed the hair out of her face, waiting for him to continue, when Steve Rogers—the man out of time, as people around SHIELD called him, interrupted.
"And who's that young lady?" He asked, motioning to where Katrina sat. She swallowed and glanced at Fury, who nodded slightly and turned back to Steve.
"This is Special Agent Monroe. She'll be accompanying you all in this mission because of her expertise in gathering information. Agent Monroe usually works alone, so keep that in mind," he added. Steve turned back to where Katrina sat and smiled.
"Glad to have you," he said brightly. However, when she didn't respond, he blinked in confusion.
"Ah, yes, forgot to mention one minor detail. Monroe is selectively mute, so she won't respond to anything you say by speaking." Steve nodded slightly, and Fury added, "that would be why she's here; none of you are very good at stealth missions, so I have assigned Monroe for that specific reason." He glared around the table of Avengers with his good eye. "So, can I proceed with the debriefing?" He asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Murmurs of agreement swept across the table, and the Director nodded.
"As I was saying, we have come to suspect The Mad Titan is planning an attack on New York. If it happens, it'll be much worse than Loki's little rampage." At this statement, the God of Mischief let out a huff.
"I wouldn't call it a rampage," he muttered.
"Oh, c'mon, Lokes. You're just a reindeer with daddy issues," Stark spoke up for the first time, not surprisingly with a joke. Snickers erupted around the table, and Loki growled and turned his attention back to Fury, who was standing with his arms crossed.
"If you're done, I still have debriefing to do," the director spoke, glaring at Stark. The billionaire just shrugged in response. "Now, we don't know much about Thanos, but that is exactly why we brought in Loki." Everyone's eyes turned on Loki, who frowned.
"Well, it's a long story," he muttered.
Debriefing Room, SHEILD Helicarrier
Loki glanced around at all the Avengers who had their eyes trained on him. "Thanos prefers to have someone called The Other do most of his dirty work for him," Loki began. He wouldn't go into much detail; the torture he endured from the Titan was not a subject he often liked to bring up.
"Thanos' main goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones. Midgard—Earth," he corrected himself quickly, "appears to have quite a few of them." He narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze around the room. "That's all that is really important." The room was wrapped in silence. Loki frowned. Finally, Banner spoke up.
"Is that really all we know about him?" He asked cautiously. Loki winced. He knew that was coming.
"Well," he started awkwardly.
"I'm sure Loki is telling all he knows," Thor interrupting, glancing at his adopted brother. Loki, however, blinked coldly at him.
"Whatever the case," Steve sighed, "we'll need to come up with a plan if he does end up attacking."
"What do you think I'm doing?" Fury inquired, eyes trained on the solider. Steve shrugged. Romanoff, who had been quiet the entire debriefing, spoke up for the first time.
"We can't just come up with one out of the blue," she decided. "It'll take time to create a plan." Fury nodded his approval at the agent.
"Yes, we will be embarking on several missions before we come up with the actual plan—for more information about our enemy, of course." Stark nodded.
"Makes sense," he said, standing. "Alright, I'm outta here. Business to help run." He smiled and began to leave the room. Loki sighed with relief. Before anyone could leave, however, Fury stopped them.
"Actually, Stark," He said, eye narrowed, "I wanted to speak with you about something." They began whispering to each other, and Loki rolled his eyes. He glanced at the new agent—Agent Monroe, her name was. She returned his stare coldly. She turned her attention away, however, as Stark let out a long sigh. Loki followed her gaze to where Stark was standing.
"Whelp, I guess you're all hanging out at Stark Towers now," he mumbled.
"Only for the mission," Fury added from behind him. Stark scoffed.
"Yep, whatever you say," Stark sighed with a roll of his eyes. Loki stood as everyone else did and let himself be escorted out of the room by Thor.
Stark Towers, New York
Katrina followed everyone else into the living room. It was large and modern, which was to be expected. She shuffled to the side to let everyone behind her do their thing while she tried to figure out what to do herself. She watched Stark make for his bar, Thor and Loki plopping themselves on the sofa, Romanoff and Clint were heading down to the training room to spar, and Banner was sitting awkwardly in an armchair. Katrina frowned. She glanced around, then sighed. Why she was here, she still had no clue. She'd rather be alone in her bunk on the helicarrier than surrounded by many people—the Avengers, no less. Steve, who had been exploring the room, noticed her and approached her. Katrina frowned. Awesome, he's going to try and converse, she thought with little enthusiasm. She smiled at him, and he returned it.
"So, you're a SHIELD agent? How long have you been there?" He asked, obviously forgetting the fact she was selectively mute. She held up 8 fingers, keeping direct eye contact with him.
"Oh, 8 years. That's actually more than I thought." He smiled at her again, which she returned weakly.
"I saw Romanoff and Barton go to the training room. I was going to join them. Wanna come?" When Katrina nodded, he turned and began heading down the hall. Katrina followed excitedly. Sparring was her favorite thing to do when she wasn't alone. Plus, she was excited to show what she could do to the Avengers. They entered the training room, where Romanoff and Barton were circling each other. There were two other spaces available. Steve made his way to the far one and Katrina followed.
"Alright, uh, I guess were sparring then." Katrina smiled and held up her fists, focusing on the man in front of her. Steve threw a punch, which she expertly dodged before she grabbed his wrist. She twisted it, and Steve flipped with it. With a grunt, the soldier threw another punch. It was low, aimed for her gut. Katrina dove over it, rolling on impact and landing a little way behind Steve. She swept out her legs, catching Steve off guard and sending him on the floor. Katrina then pinned him, smiling.
"Well, that was quick," he muttered. Katrina shrugged, letting him up off the ground. "Again?" he suggested, to which Katrina nodded. They both got ready again, and this time Katrina got the first move. She quickly swiped at Steve's head, who was ready. He caught her fist and in turn sent a punch right for her stomach. She received it with an oof, yet she still retaliated with a blow of her own. She swung her fist right at his jaw, making contact and forcing the soldier to take a step back. Panting, she began circling him. They went at it for another 15 minutes, each of them getting a few good blows in. Finally, Katrina had pinned Steve with an arm against his neck. She could easily choke him out but refrained due to it only being a sparring session. Panting, she smiled at him.
"I guess you win. Again," he added. "You're pretty good." At his compliment, Katrina smiled brightly and stepped off him. He glanced at something over her shoulder; Katrina turned and saw both Clint and Natasha watching them. She glanced at Steve, who shrugged.
"Can we help you?" Steve called. The two agents just shrugged.
"I dunno," Clint asked with a smirk, "can you?" Natasha snorted, while Katrina stifled a laugh. The younger agent glanced from Clint and Natasha, to Steve.
"Alright, Hawkeye, you and Nat against me. Let's see how well you do." Clint shrugged, while Natasha smirked.
"Fine with me," the Russian spy said, still smirking. Katrina went over to the far wall to sit and watch the match. After a while of them circling each other, she stood and walked out of the room to find something better to do. Explore, maybe. That's when she ran into Loki, standing casually outside the door.
Stark Towers, New York
Loki had gotten bored of listening to Thor and Stark banter, so he heaved himself off Starks expensive sofa and made his way to the hall he saw Monroe and Rodgers disappear down. He walked for a bit, slowly, until he reached the door. He opened it and slipped into the room. He stood there at the doorway, watching Monroe and the soldier spar. The mute girl was quite good, for her size. That was one of the first things he'd noticed about her; her height. He easily towered over than the girl. Also, her age; she didn't look to be that old at all. He continued to watch with his arms crossed, until Monroe had pinned Rodgers. He smirked. Perhaps he'd spar against her some time. He quietly exited the room again and stared at the closed door. He was caught off guard when it opened, and Monroe stepped out. She looked equally surprised to see him, too.
"Uh, hi," he greeted slowly. He knew she couldn't respond, so he decided to keep his sentences simple.
"I saw your spar. You did okay, for a mortal." Monroe shrugged. He tightened his lips, glancing around awkwardly. "Perhaps we could have our own match sometime?" he inquired. Monroe narrowed her eyes suspiciously but nodded anyways. "Alright. Well, -what's that term Midgardians use? See you around?" When the young agent nodded, he smiled. "Alright, then see you around." He turned and made his way back into the main room, where Thor and Stark had switched from bantering to doing something on the device Loki had learned was called a television. He plopped himself next to his adopted brother, staring at the screen. "What's this?" He asked, glancing at Thor. The God of Thunder shrugged.
"Some game the Man of Iron created," he responded without looking at Loki. He was intent on what he was doing. Loki frowned, then stood again.
"Stark, you wouldn't happen to have a library anywhere?" He glanced around. Stark, without looking up from the screen, answered.
"Yep. It's on the 37th floor." Loki nodded and make for the elevator. He was about to press the button which closed the doors when Monroe stepped in. She looked surprised to see him there, but quietly pressed the 37. Loki frowned.
"You're going to the library, too?" He asked. He didn't take her as one to read. Monroe glanced back at him and nodded. They waited in silence as the elevator climbed up the building. With a ding, the doors finally opened. Loki waited as Monroe stepped out, before he followed. The agent seemed to know exactly where she was going. She made a sharp turn and made her way through the rows of books, looking focused. Loki glanced around, then went on his own search.
Kitchen, Stark Towers, New York
Katrina was leaned against the wall, quietly watching the mayhem of the kitchen. Thor was grabbing three plates of food which she didn't doubt he'd eat himself, Tony was sipping a glass of alcohol, Steve was patiently waiting to grab a serving, Romanoff and Clint were nowhere to be seen, Banner was quietly eating his food, and Loki was staring at his brother with disgust. The young agent decided she wasn't hungry and turned to leave. She made her way out onto the balcony that overlooked the city. It was cold, and the moment Katrina stepped outside she hugged herself for warmth. She quietly sat and stared at the lights below. The city that never sleeps was certainly busy; there was a lot of traffic for the time of night, and Katrina suspected it was because of the Christmas shopping that everyone was desperate to complete. She, herself, had never celebrated Christmas. Well, not since she was very young, at least. After sitting, hugging her knees for several minutes, she heard someone else step onto the balcony.
"Too crowded?" It was Loki. Katrina turned to him and nodded. The God of Mischief sat next to her with a grunt. "You know, I didn't like you a first," he commented. "You seemed like just another useless agent Fury has hired. But," he turned to her, "you're not. Makes me wonder why you're so different from most of the other agents." Katrina continued staring at the lights below her. Finally, she turned to look at him.
"What makes me different," she croaked, her voice raspy from lack of use, "is how I was recruited." Loki blinked with surprise. Katrina was surprised herself; she hadn't spoken for years. Yet here she was, sitting on a balcony with the Norse God of Lies, speaking to him. She returned her gaze to New York, refusing to say any more. There was a moment of silence, until,
"Mind sharing?" Katrina glared at him and shook her head. Loki frowned, then sighed. "Alright, I'll just consider myself lucky to have gotten you to talk in the first place." He stood and made for the fancy modern French doors that separated the balcony from the Living room. He paused at the doorway and looked back at her.
"You know, you have a beautiful voice," he commented. "You should use it more often." And with that, he was gone.
AN: Thank you to those who are actually reading this far. Remember, if you have any writing pointers please leave a review!
Until next time~
